As it turned out, the awkward silence brought on by my story of the past did not last long. By the time we had passed into the third land of our journey, Damian and Cassidy were already back to talking.

"Look I'm just saying, I think he was secretly a mage." Damian said defending his point for the third time in the last five minutes.

"And I keep telling you! That there is no way in hell Houdini was actually magic! I mean he spent most of his later years debunking cases of the supernatural as fake." Was Cassidy's reply

The bickering continued for another few minutes until finally they turned back to me and Damian asked "Well? What do you think?"

"Yeah! Tell this moron that he's crazy." Cassidy added

I tried to look deep in thought for a moment before I said, "I'm more a fan of David Blaine." Which elicited eye rolls from both of them much to my amusement. But I did bother adding, "What does it matter anyway? Even if he was a mage, he clearly wasn't skilled enough to make it into any of the towers. Otherwise, he wouldn't have bothered with the whole stage magic thing."

Cassidy opened her mouth to reply but she was quickly silenced by Damian's raised hand. Pointing ahead he said "Looks like we're about to cross into another land. We probably want to make camp here for the night. If I'm right, the next area is Jotunheim."

"As in the Norse Plane home to the Jotnar?" I asked

"That would be the one yes. We're essentially traveling through the portions of the magical realm on the outer edges. The ones that've touched Earth on occasion. So while some of the planes we're moving through are less known, we will end up in a few more famous ones as well. I've been trying to lead us through the least dangerous parts of the magical realm possible. But avoiding Jotunheim would take far too long."

"Sounds good to me. Let's set up camp so we're rested for our trip through the icy plane."

We immediately set about doing just that. While Damian and Cassidy began unpacking the tent and getting our camp set up, I started to trace out warding spells on the ground around us. Ensuring that anything attempting to approach us while we slept would be unable to cross a certain point until the warding spell was removed from the inside. The task took nearly an hour to complete as I had never had to create a complex protective circle that large before. By the time I was, done I found that I was well and truly exhausted. Turning I found that Damian and Cassidy had succeeded in setting up the rather large tent I had brought for us. The thing stood about ten feet tall and twenty feet wide and was the kind of tent made to hold large numbers of people. I entered the tent which I had enchanted in a manner similar to my coat pockets. The interior of the tent proved to be approximately the size of a two-bedroom apartment and had three rooms including the two bedrooms. The main room currently held a couch and a table along with some chairs. Damian and Cassidy were already seated at the table and going over the maps to plan the next day. Or at least Damian was planning. Cassidy was preoccupied with looking over the assorted maps detailing a variety of planes in the magical realm.

"So there are two beds and a couch. Who gets what?" I asked the two walking up to the table at which they were seated.

"Rock Paper Scissors?" Damian's reply.

Looking back I realize that as the owner of the tent, I should have just taken one of the beds and left the two of them to decide who would get the other one. At least that's what I was thinking as I laid on the couch trying to find a comfortable position to sleep in. Damian had won the first round and Cassidy beat me out for the remaining bed. Next time, was my only thought as I prepared for sleep to take me.

I was awoken some hours later by Cassidy roughly shaking me, "Come on, Get up. It's time to go."

I grunted groggily but sat up, nonetheless. It took me only a minute to gather my thoughts enough to remember where I was and why. Quickly hopping off the couch I got changed and we broke down our small makeshift camp. The mountainous region we were currently in looked exactly the same as when we had gone to sleep, as places like that had no concept of time let alone day or night. Once packed we made sure we were dressed for cold weather and took the plunge past the border and into Jotunheim.

Jotunheim lived up to the stories. Being a frost-covered tundra full of freezing cold wind. In the distance, I could snow-capped mountains. And not for the first time I marveled at the sheer oddity of the magical realm. That this place could be so wildly different compared to the part of the realm we had just been in seconds ago. I turned to look back at where we had come but saw only the shimmering air that marked the boundary between planes of the magical realm. Damian was looking around trying to get his bearings in the snowscape so that he could determine which direction we had to go to reach Faerie. Once he had a good idea of the path we needed to take he set off with Cassidy and I in tow. Our trek through the snow-covered wasteland was slow and we frequently had to stop so that Damian could consult his map again. It was after we had resumed walking following one such stop that Cassidy seemed to begin losing her patience.

"I don't suppose there are any locals we could ask for directions?" Cassidy tried asking

"Doubtful. The Wyldborne avoid settling in places already inhabited and the Jotnar are notoriously temperamental. Asking them for help is likely to only end in trouble." I supply

She followed up with "The Jotnar are giants right?"

"Not exactly," I explained, "They're referred to as frost giants sometimes, but that's a bit of a mistranslation of some scholars back on Earth. The Jotnar as a whole come in a variety of different sizes. So while some of them resemble what you're no doubt picturing, there are plenty who actually look a lot closer to you or I."

She glanced at Damian for confirmation, but he just shrugged and said "I don't know. I've never been in part of the magical realm before, so I have no idea what the Jotnar look like. My kind supposedly originated from a plane called Wald der Nacht which connected to Earth numerous times in the Black Forest region of Germany. But most, shifters aren't interested in visiting the magical realm. Then again, most people in general aren't interested in visiting the magical realm. They're perfectly content to let the border cities be as close as they ever get."

"Alright let's put a pin in Jotnar for a second to address something that's been driving me crazy." Cassidy said frustrated, "You guys keep talking about the magical realm, and planes and stuff but sometimes you use actual names and other times it's just called that plane full of fields or some shit. What's the deal with that?"

"Sorry," I said with an apologetic chuckle, "I forgot you might not know a whole lot about the magical realm. Essentially what we call the magical realm is a vast collection of interconnected planes, sort of like countries on Earth. But the planes are unpredictable. Some of them remain in the same place, but others will shift about with little warning or seeming pattern. Likewise, some of these planes will occasionally connect to Earth. Among the planes that connect to Earth, there are ones like Jotunheim which just make brief contact and those like the border cities which have much more stable connections. The border cities are essentially an overlapping space of a magical plane and Earth itself. Hence, why the time zone and weather of the border cities match with the point of Earth the cities are tethered to. Eden City is tethered to South-Eastern Wyoming and as such shares its unfortunate weather. Actually, until now I thought that the border cities just sort of came about randomly, but I recently found out that they may have been forcefully tethered to Earth by magic. In which case some of the points at which they're tethered make a little more sense. As those places would have been out of the way and less inhabited back then."

"Ok. So the reason why some planes of the magical realm have names and others don't is because the ones with names were the planes that most often connected with Earth?"

"Yeah, sort of. Some of the planes also received their names from explorers who would try to map out planes of the realm."

"Guys." Damian interjected, "As fascinating as this little lesson is, I really think we should pick up the pace. This place is messing with my senses a tad, but I smell something that reeks of fish and booze coming towards us at a steady pace."

"That would be a Jotun, possibly a few. We should absolutely pick up our pace. Don't bother worrying about our footprints. Jotnar are pretty skilled trackers so I doubt we could fool one in this terrain." I replied and we lapsed into silence as we tried to hurry through the snow faster.

As if to spur our flight we heard the sound of a horn in the distance. Followed by a loud bellow. After hearing that, we had devolved into full-on sprinting. Not wanting to find out what would happen if a Jotun caught us in its land. Unfortunately, luck was not on our side. A point that was made clear when a large ball of solid ice slammed into the ground ten feet to the left of us. It was quickly followed by a dozen more balls of ice that began raining down from above. We tried to dodge as best we could, but Damian ended up taking one to the shoulder which knocked him down halting our progress. Cassidy went to help him up while I turned to begin looking around us for the source of the assault. It was clear to me now that we weren't going to be able to avoid the Jotun. And that we would most likely have to fight whether we wanted to or not.

I began to prepare for the fight as I saw a figure appear from the snow some distance away. He was approximately ten feet tall with white hair and a strong build. Despite the freezing temperature around us, the figure's only clothing was what appeared to be an animal hide worn about the waist to cover his nether regions. He had a thick beard, much of which was encased with ice. And his frosty blue eyes became clear as he approached. He bellowed out something in an unfamiliar language.

Not knowing what he had just said, I chose to go the safe route and say "Apologies noble Jotun. We are travelers passing through your land. We seek no quarrel with you but rather hope to pass in peace so that we may reach our eventual destination."

There was no way of knowing whether the Jotun, and despite only meeting one of their kind before I was certain that's what he was, would understand my words. His brow seemed to furrow for a moment before I saw him do the strangest thing. He grunted out a few more words in his strange language before sticking out his tongue as an abnormally large snowflake seemed to form and then fall onto it. I was mildly interested to note that despite his strange appearance he still had a normal-looking tongue. Then my interest was overpowered by surprise as the Jotun opened his mouth and spoke English.

In a harsh and gravelly voice, he said "You are not Jotnar. Nor are you of the Aesir or the Vanir. Who and what are you?"

I shook off my momentary surprise to respond, "I am James Grey, Son of Michael Grey, protector of men, master of Aether and Iron. My companions and I seek passage through these lands so that we may continue our journey." I chose to respond in a style I hoped would be familiar to the Jotun.

"I am Hravgr Byleistrson. And why should I allow you to pass when I have been wanting so a good hunt?"

"What if I challenge you for the right to pass? You and I shall fight here and now, and if I win you must grant my companions and I your word that you will not interfere in our journey."

"You would dare to challenge one of the noble Jotnar to battle?" He asked mildly surprised. A sentiment I could tell he shared with my companions who were by now looking at me with expressions of incredulity.

"I do."

The Jotun smiled wickedly and let out a bellow as he drew a large axe and charged me. Unfortunately for him, while I had been talking I was also busy preparing my magic. As he closed the distance I flung a hand forward and unleashed a blast of wind directed at his legs. While the attack wasn't particularly strong, it managed to catch Hravgr off balance nonetheless and sent him falling down into the snow. Trying to capitalize on my opportunity I called out "Brystag" and willed the snow around him to turn to ice holding him down. I then unzipped the thick winter coat I was wearing and shoved my hand into the pocket of my enchanted coat beneath it. I withdrew from the enchanted pocket a Roman gladius as it was the easiest to remove from the pocket space. I rushed towards the downed Hravgr as I saw him use his own magic to break the ice.

He rose with an amused chuckle saying "You thought to use ice magic against one of the frost Jotnar. That was foolish of you."

I didn't bother with a retort instead choosing to slash at his knee as he attempted to stand causing him to drop back to the ground and bellow in rage. He swung the hand holding his axe in my general direction and I managed to jump back in time to avoid being sliced. I threw my free hand out and cast a spell that launched specks of crystalized ice into the Jotun's eyes. He slapped at his face with his own free hand and began swinging his axe wildly. I knew that he was only momentarily blinded, so I darted forward and with a roar swung my gladius down severing the hand gripping the axe.

Then I spoke for the first time since the fight had started, "Do you concede defeat or will I be forced to separate your head from your neck?"

He was panting from pain and exertion but managed to say "Aye. I concede defeat. You have won. You have safe passage from me and mine through this land."

"I thank thee Hravgr, you are a mighty warrior, and I wish you fortune in battles to come." Then returning the gladius to the pocket space I pulled it from, I turned to the others and gestured that we should go quickly. Not bothering to see if they had understood I once more broke into a run.

"Why are we running again?" Cassidy called out to me.

"Because Hravgr isn't the only Jotun out here. And while he said that he wouldn't stop us, other Jotun not connected to him are still free to do so. The sooner we get out of here, the better."

We ran full tilt for as long as we could. As a werewolf, Damian had no problem with prolonged physical exertion like that. But I saw Cassidy begin to slow after a while and I felt the familiar burn of my muscles that signaled I was reaching my limits.

"Cassidy, you said your magic was for physical enhancement right? I think now would be the time to use it." I called out and she nodded. I saw strange patterns begin to appear on her skin as she activated the spell held within them. She suddenly began to speed up, no longer winded by the running. I reached a hand down in a practiced movement and activated the rune on my shoes granting me heightened speed and endurance.

Thanks to our magic were able to quickly cross Jotunheim in no time at all. We reached the shimmering air which marked the edge of the plane and stepped on through eager to escape the cold. However, on the other side, we were greeted by more frigid air. Despite the temperature being almost as cold, the environment around us was forest rather than the tundra of Jotunheim.

I turned to Damian and said, "Is this Faerie?"

"Yeah. If I'm right we should currently be standing in the territory of the winter court of Faerie."

Cassidy always the curious one asked, "How many courts are there?"

But I dismissed the question with a wave, "I'll tell you some other time. We can't stop though. We need to keep running until we reach the gate to Avalon. Otherwise, we're likely to encounter the Fae. And trust me, Jotnar may be dangerous, but you have no idea how bad Fae can be."

We continued our long run on high alert. Wanting to be slightly more prepared for a fight than we were with the Jotun. Our extended flight through the plane was rewarded as the air around us began to warm. I had almost begun thinking that we may actually manage to make it to Avalon before we reached the Fae. But my hopes were quickly dashed as an arrow came soaring out from between some trees narrowly missing us.

"For fucks sake," I cursed, "What is it with all these creatures and trying to kill us with projectiles out of nowhere?" My eyes were already scanning the surroundings in an attempt to pinpoint where the arrow had come from. The others looked back concerned but I told them, "Don't slow down. Just keep running, once we reach a clearing or something we can set up for a fight. But as things stand, whoever fired that arrow is a lot more familiar with fighting in these woods than we are. At least in a clearing, we'll have a clear line of sight."

Eventually, we reached a meadow-like clearing in the sea of trees. In the center of the clearing was a massive boulder. One side of the boulder seemed to shimmer oddly in the light. This was the gate we were looking for. The entrance to the Dvaram Avalon.

I gestured to the boulder and said "Get your backs against the boulder that way they can't hit us from behind."

"Why don't we just go through the gate Damian asked.

"Because inhabitants of the planes don't like crossing into the territory of others. But Avalon isn't a plane of the magical realm, it's like Eden City. The Fae would be free to follow us into the gate and we'd end up having to fight them anyway. Might as well do it here where we at least have a decent position."

Once we reached the large boulder I asked Damian to watch for further arrows while I began drawing a protective circle around us. Arrows began to come flying from the woods, but Damian was fast enough to bat most of them aside. One or two arrows managed to hit him, but he didn't seem to particularly care. Unless it was magic, silver, or wolfsbane, there really wasn't much that could harm a werewolf for long. Once my circle was complete I powered it up and the arrows began to bounce off of an invisible barrier.

It took a solid two minutes for our assailants to realize that their arrows were having no effect and so the barrage stopped. A moment later we saw a group of seven figures emerge into the clearing. Their skin was a mottled grey and their faces held a variety of ugly features. Each one only stood about three and a half feet tall with long arms, stubby legs, and distended bellies. The closest thing to clothing any of them had were filthy strips of leather tied to their bodies.

"Goblins." Was all I could say at the sight of them, the disgust in my voice clear.

The group of goblins were grinning at us with broken teeth, and I swear at least one of them was drooling.

"Fuck!" Damian eloquently contributed. Not that I could blame his reaction. Goblins were essentially the Fae equivalent of chimpanzees. Intelligent enough to learn and understand things, but with a sadistic streak a mile wide and the physical abilities to literally tear a man apart.

The goblins began approaching the protective circle. They had cast aside their bows in favor of blunt weapons meant for close-ranging carnage. Just because a goblin was strong enough to kill a man barehanded, didn't mean they weren't also big fans of bludgeoning. As they approached I noted with a moderate level of discomfort that five of the goblins were clearly aroused. I suspect that the only reason the other two were not, is because as far as I could tell they were the females of the species.

"Damian, are there any more of them still hiding in the forest?" I asked the werewolf

"No, I only smell the seven in front of us." He responded

"Good. I'm going to try to get rid of them all at once. The problem is, I've already used quite a bit of magic today so if I use a big spell I'm likely to collapse after. Just be ready ok?" He nodded in agreement, and I threw forward a hand concentrating before saying "Solig" and unleashing a column of white-hot fire at the goblins. This time the spell covered a wider area at the cost of some power. Nonetheless, it did its job as all seven goblins ignited. The last thing I heard was the sound of the goblins screaming as they burned. And then I slipped into unconsciousness.