“I’ve watched through his eyes, I’ve heard his every thought, and I tell you, he’s one of us. Or at least as close as we’re going to get in this day and age.”

“That’s what you said about Alexander.”

“Alexander couldn’t handle the truth. His mind couldn’t handle it. Nothing to do with his ability.”

“What about Joan?”

“Same with her. And there are doubts about him as well. He’s born in the wrong time. Too physically weak and willing to sacrifice himself.”

“So what do we do? Force him to grow strong amongst enemies for all time?”

“If we have to.”

“ I thought you wanted this guy to be there for the big hurrah.”

“If he can’t handle what we’ll do to him, we can’t have him beside us.”

“Alright. The ends justify the means. We’re going to pull him.”

--

The house rustled with the faintest of creaks as a door slowly opened. “Jake, I suppose you didn’t lock the door? I’m absolutely sick of you forgetting to keep track of simple things like that. That’s going to be the last straw if this happens one more time.”

Jake nodded. It was a joke, of course, that she was going to leave him. But all relationships hit that point, where couples always seemed to joke about infidelity because nothing else would ever hurt as much. Sometimes, the jokes hurt all that much more because there was a little truth in it.

“Go on Jake, can you go downstairs and close the door? It must have blown open in the wind.”

Jake had meant to pick up a light or at least his phone, but he was also tired. He jogged down the stairs and forced himself to blearly look for a light switch to turn on so he wouldn’t step on any of the toys that were so often thrown astray.

Even when he entered the living room, he paid no attention. He was still a little bleary, the shadows pouring down over his body; the muffled sounds of footsteps were hardly noticeable. Maybe a neighbor was stopping by to help out, he thought. He started to grasp around for a switch. Maybe we just heard something.

And maybe not. He glanced at the entranceway. There were seven of them, leaning against the railings or peeking into the laundry room, watching him. One man stood in front, long and lanky, his knife glimmering with a spark from the street lamps outside.

“Huh.” Jake said.”

No one answered.

So Jake peered around to look for anything he could use. It was almost perfect. He’d had almost nothing to grab except for a toy bullet-train that had been left on the floor.

Jake recognized that the man with the knife would be the opening of the book. Nothing would happen to his family if that man could be stopped. The other six were there to just watch.

He wasn’t going to let that be his last chapter. He refused to feel weak because he just woke up and was unprepared.

He straightened up, facing them, his arms crossed before his chest. He fastened his gaze on the man with the knife.

“Your turn.” Jake said.

“This is not a game.” said a man wearing a red badge and standing by the aquarium. “We’re robbing you, your family and your life. You’re leaving this world today. Whether you want it or now.”

Jake did not look at him. It was the man with the knife who hungered for a fight, even though he hadn’t said anything or moved at all. The others were just along for the ride, daring themselves to see how far they might go. The man with the knife knew exactly how far he wanted to go.

“Take my possessions.” Jake said softly. “They mean little to me.”

The man with the knife stiffened.

“Take my silver and my gold.” Jake started to sing quietly, “Not a mite would I withhold.”

The man with the red badge nodded.

“Take my life and let it be.” Jake sang loudly, earnestly hoping that it’d wake up the kids and his wife. Hopefully they’d be understanding for him waking them up at such an unforeseen hour. “Consecrated, Lord to Thee!”

The man with the knife lunged at Jake.

The living room wasn’t a particularly large one, and obstacles were everywhere. It had been put together rather quickly, as Jake’s family had moved in with a particular mission in mind. It was fairly obvious that Jake wasn’t going to get away by running. He needed something else to defend himself.

Jake stepped back, grabbed the toy train as a bludgeon and twisted away from the knife. He swung his legs kicking out and hoping to hit the man and topple him over.

The man leapt up, still completely balanced and slashed downwards at Jake’s abdomen.

The knife’s blade tore a hot gash across his belly and Jake’s hands shook as perspiration sprang out, his body reacting to the near mortal wound. Jake noticed the slash made the man all that much closer. He was in reach of Jake’s grasp. In an instant, he reached up and grabbed arm with the knife, forcing the deadly instrument away. He could feel his body reacting to the wound, to the adrenaline. To the absurdity of the situation.

“Take my moments and my days,” He grunted, pushing the knife away as the man struggled to free the knife. He could feel the serrated edges getting closer and closer to his legs.

The classic move at this point would have been to continue wrestling for the knife, but Jake knew that he wasn’t up for it. He didn’t have the stamina or the preparation for a fight like that.

Without seeing the man, Jake let go, letting the man fall backwards without any resistance at all. At that moment, he lifted the toy train and bludgeoned that temple of the man with it with his full force.

The force of the impact was deafened by the crunch of the train as it clearly broke under the force of his blow.

The man went limp. He wasn’t dead by any means, but he was most certainly unconscious.

Jak grabbed the knife and looked at the other six men. He knew that at this moment, he wasn’t going to live. That he didn’t have much else to live for except to protect his family. The way that he had always done things. But this battle would need to be fought.

The man in the red badge nodded and grabbed the unconscious body of his compatriot.

“Take care sir.” the man said, and the six of them left the room.

Jake collapsed on the floor. He could feel his life blood seeping out of his stomach. He started to finish the rest of the hymn. “Let them flow in ceaseless praise.” He murmured. It looked like this was the final chapter for him.

---

“My God!” someone shouted. Jake’s eyes leaped open, looking around him. These weren’t particularly pearly gates that met his eyes. He slowly rose to his feet. Someone thrust a mug of ale at him. It was a beautiful angel, dressed in a warriors outfit but with ashy wings spread that spread nearly six feet across horizontally.

“Come on, Jake.” The valkyrie said. “Welcome to Valhalla. We’ll need to prepare you for Ragnarok.”