God of War: Daughter of War

As the lift got closer to the area it was supposed to be resting in, so Kratos and his family could continue on their way and reach the ringed temple Flurry had noticed, they found that the Dark Elf King, Svartaljofurr as Flurry called him, flew down into the formally hidden area as well before commanding his forces to end them as he flew off. Sure enough more dark elves flew down onto the walkways that were in front of them, the way forward no doubt, causing him to punch one in the face as he grabbed his foe's weapon and threw it so it impaled it's owner and the opponent that was right behind him. While he did that Pandora switched to her chakrams and danced around the incoming attacks, allowing her to slash at their sides and direct their attacks into each other, something that proved to be more effective than she originally thought. Flurry stuck to her bow as she loosed a few arrows into the incoming enemies, taking them down before they even had a chance to reach the area that she and the others were standing on, and that included taking out a draugr brute that showed up, allowing her and her family to clear out the area around the lift.

Atreus was sad that they weren't even given the chance to try for peace with the dark elves, Svartaljofurr wasn't giving him and the others a chance to explain themselves or even tell him why they were here, though before delving deeper into the area Kratos found a growth in an area behind the lift and wiped it out.

With another golden chest looted, and another skill added to Kratos' list thanks to the gem inside it, the family continued into the area that was in front of them, before discovering a runic chest that was further along the path, causing them to look around for a moment as they sought out the runes to open it. The wheel that was on the other side of the bridge just lowered the center of the structure, before lowering the two edges as well, which allowed him to find his way to one of the runes and smash it, especially since he found his way up to a stone chest to loot as well. While he did that, however, Flurry found where the other two runes were located, they had to lower the area a little, but stop before lowering the rest of the structure, so when Kratos rejoined them he crossed over to the runic chest and looted it without delay. From there they lowered everyone once more and found a tunnel leading deeper into the realm, which they entered without delay and found a chamber with another wheel that moved the moveable bridge, something everyone ignored for the time being as Flurry found an area with a growth in it.

Atreus, for some reason, thought that Kratos didn't care about Faye, since he brushed off his comment about hearing her voice earlier, where his father told him that this wasn't the time for such a discussion as he tore through the growth and opened the way up to another area, as he would discuss this when they were no longer in danger. While he did that they found that Pandora also raised the bridge a little and discovered another stone chest, which had a rune inside it that she handed over to Flurry, in addition to everything else that was inside the container, letting her sister check the item out as they continued to progress. Based on what Flurry found there was a bit of magic inside the rune, so she weaved a little bit of her magic into it and discovered that doing so allowed her to grant all four of them a bit of power, likely allowing them to deal with the dark elves a little more easily than before. Since she was sure that they would find more runes like this in the future she made sure to store them in an area of her bag that still allowed them to benefit from it's power, which her sister was able to confirm by telling her that she still felt it's blessing.

With that done the family continued into the depths of the area they were exploring, though as Kratos boosted Atreus up onto the upper area they found that Svartaljofurr grabbed the young boy as soon as he was up there, where a pair of his soldiers moved out to stop them, causing Kratos to smash their heads together as Flurry held her hand out and grabbed onto the Dark Elf King with her magic. Pandora, on the other hand, swung her halberd and slashed through the rest of the soldiers that were sent to take care of them, while at the same time their foe struggled against Flurry's magic, which two of them weren't even surprised by since she was in one of her elements. Kratos took it upon himself to smash into a pillar off to their right, or maybe it was part of the overall structure, and pushed it off the ledge as he rode it, allowing him to jump and collide with Svartaljofurr, knocking his target to the ground while ensuring that his son was safe. Of course the figure looked at him for a moment as Flurry grabbed onto Pandora and jumped over to the platform they were on, causing the Dark Elf King to flee from the area before they could hurt him, where Kratos made sure his son was fine before they faced the enemies that were coming at them.

Fortunately they were able to eliminate the soldiers that were coming at them without delay, allowing the family to move towards a doorway off to the left that brought them to a new chamber, with a lift that didn't seem operational right now, but the door beyond that allowed them to look out over an area that had more growth covering everything.

"We're probably going to have to remove all of this to reform the bridge." Atreus commented, all while they dropped down onto the walkway that was below them and his father hurled his axe at a pair of cores off to their right, breaking them and ruining the growth they were linked to, even though there was a lot more for them to worry about if they wanted to get to the Light.

"Indeed. Expect resistance." Kratos replied, because the Dark Elf King knew they were here and knew that they weren't to be ignored, so they were likely going to have to fight their way through his army, and devastate the dark elf population in the process as he considered things, while a light bridge formed nearby for them to use to progress.

All three of his children nodded their heads as they crossed the bridge and the made their way up to the upper area, since there was a few cracks for him and Atreus to climb along, though this time only a few soldiers were waiting for them, not a large force like Kratos was expecting. While they did took down their enemies, however, a chunk of rocks shifted for a few seconds before rising into another creature, one of the ancients, beings that were said to have existed since the beginning of time and were fragments of Yimir, the progenitor of all things in the Nine Realms. Ancients were humanoid shaped, as in their bodies happened to have a head with a torso that had both arms and legs, though they had no vitals, save for the core that powered them, something Kratos knew they would have to target, despite the fact that it looked like the ancient was keeping it's core hidden from it's enemies. He had to wonder what set off the ancient, as Faye had told them that the creatures in question were supposedly peaceful and only attacked when provoked, which meant that a dark elf must have struck it to use it against them and, since they had wiped out the dark elves in the area, the creature would assume that one of them must have hit it.

Kratos braced himself for a moment, because Faye had warned them that the stones that formed the ancients were some of the strongest around, in fact he was sure the dwarves would love to get their hands on it's materials, though before he or Pandora could do something Flurry moved between them.

"Sister, what are you doing? That's..." Atreus started to say, though he caught himself as he noticed something that just stopped him in his tracks, Flurry wasn't reaching for the weapons he had seen her use since their adventure started, nor was she drawing another one out of her bag, rather she was reaching for the greatsword on her back.

"An ancient, I know. A primordial foe... the perfect opponent for this particular weapon." Flurry replied, because what she had told her brother at the start of their quest to honor Faye's last wishes was true, she would only unleash this weapon when she felt that a worthy foe was in front of her, and since she wasn't about to fight any gods right now, and there was a low chance of them fighting a dragon, a primordial foe like this was the next best thing.

The ancient took a stance that looked like it was screaming or shouting, like a battle cry of some kind, and attacked Flurry as she approached it, only for Atreus to find that she drew the blade from it's resting place on her back before parrying the attack with the weapon's edge in one swift motion. In the next instant she swung both her arm and the blade, which knocked the ancient back and put some distance between them, though to be sure her family didn't get hurt she put up a barrier around them, making it so they could relax a little, plan out their next move, and then progress once she was done with her foe. Such a thing caused the ancient to charge up some power inside it's chest before loosing a beam of white blue energy at her, something that was followed by her swinging the blade at the beam as she knocked it backwards into her foe's chest, scorching the stones that made up it's body. When she closed the distance between them Flurry found that the ancient seemed to gather more energy in it's fists as it tried to punch her into the ground, though by using the edge of her weapon to parry the incoming attacks she was able to cancel out the power of it's attacks.

Flurry found that when she went on the offensive that her blade cut into the stones that made up the ancient's body, which caused the creature to screech in pain as it opened it's chest to blast her while she was right in front of it, though before it had a chance to do so Flurry unleashed a few attacks that severed it's arms, legs, and head, leaving the torso that struck the ground a few seconds later.

"Flurry... that... was... amazing!" Atreus remarked, as he couldn't believe that his sister was so skilled in combat, especially with such a weapon, though at the same time he really didn't see why she preferred to keep this weapon on her back and not use it all the time, because there didn't seem to be anything special about the weapon, other than it was sharp and could cut through ancient stone like it was nothing.

"It was a decent foe." Flurry replied, mostly due to the fact that she didn't want to reveal that she had fought stronger foes in the past, especially since they were presenting themselves as nearly ordinary people to her young brother, though as she said that she slipped the blade back into the sheath it had been resting in.

Kratos and Pandora were simply amazed, as they knew that Flurry had trained with the reforged Blade of Olympus during their time in the Land Between Realms, but now she was able to wield it without releasing any of it's power, making it look like an ordinary weapon to those who had no idea what it truly was. Flurry, on the other hand, found that some parts of the ancient's body took on new shapes, like the magic was rewarding the one that beat the creature in question, where it wasn't long before she found a bag full of Hacksilver, close to three thousand by her count. In addition to that she found a stack of Soft Svartalfheim, another rune that granted them more power as she added it to the new area in her bag she set up for the runes, and some powerful stones she guessed were fragments of the ancient itself, 'Ancient's Rubble' if she had to name it. The last item she picked up was the magical heart of the creature, still faintly beating while containing most of the ancient's power, causing her to but it away in her bag and make sure it was contained, as she last thing she needed was for the creature to be reborn and rampage inside her bag.

While she did that Kratos found a golden chest that he opened, causing him to add more to Flurry's bag after both he and Pandora checked the container out, though once he was done with that he found the core of the nearby growth, which looked like a cage of some kind, where he broke the outer edge without delay. With that done he brought the edge of his axe into the side of the core and then did something different, he froze the entire core before it had a chance to resist, all while his children figured out what he was doing and nodded their heads while he worked. A moment later he pulled the weapon out and then crushed the frozen core, something that caused the section of growth that was above them to just shudder for a few seconds before dissolving before their eyes, which allowed the main light bridge to return. That also had an interesting side effect as the empowered crystals also created two walkways near them, one leading to a dead end and the other returning to the passage they had walked through to reach this point, where they discovered that the lift had also been activated.

As such the family stepped onto the lift and Kratos turned the handle, allowing it to move up to a familiar area, where they activated two wheels to raise the rune structures, causing everyone to step onto the bridge and cross the gap that would bring them one step closer to their main goal, only for Pandora to notice something.

"There's a door, but it's totally locked up." Pandora remarked, as there was a glowing blue material door at the end of the path, likely an entrance that would have allowed them to enter the temple, but there was also a metallic lock on it that had to be linked to a sandbowl on the other side, meaning they would have to deal with more dark elves before reaching their main destination.

On the left side of the area they discovered another smaller growth that happened to be blocking the way to a runic chest, with three bells around them, so Kratos destroyed the growth before he and his daughters dealt with the bells, allowing him to eventually open and loot the chest. With that done they decided to check out the other side of the area and found that Sindri had moved over here and set up a new workspace on this portion of the realm, right next to a triptych no less, and he was pleased to see that they were totally fine. In addition to that Sindri was amazed that they were able to take out an ancient, though he was less impressed with Kratos simply replying 'yes' to his following questions, even though it did cause the dwarf to be more interested in the items Flurry showed him, as he claimed he might be able to make items out of this later. Once they were done talking to him Atreus decided to ask the dwarf why Brok was blue and Sindri wasn't, a fact that caused Kratos to exclaim 'boy' in surprise, as it wasn't a question he really should be asking, but the dwarf was all too willing to tell them that it was due to his brother not being careful, as he handled too much raw silver with his hands that it turned him blue.

After that the family focused on the triptych for a moment as Kratos opened it up, revealing some information on Groa, a giant sorceress who had visions, and it was Odin himself who slew her so he could steal her knowledge, no doubt a book or even an entire library.

With more knowledge obtained Kratos found a hole in the wall and beckoned for the others to follow as he crouched for a time, allowing him to make his way inside as he found that his children were following after him, though as they found an area to stand up in they noticed that Svartaljofurr had noticed them as he flew deeper into the darkened temple. As such that meant more dark elves came out to fight them, as per their King's orders, where Atreus joined the others in dealing with the incoming enemies, taking care to note who his family members were fighting so he didn't hurt them whenever he loosed one of his arrows. Flurry and Pandora found that this was a good excuse for their father to use his newest skills, as in the frost attacks that all of those skill stones had given his axe, where they had to wonder if those were the screams of frost trolls as well and were resonating with the axe, and the one who used it. Between the four of them the soldiers had no hope of winning, allowing Kratos to focus on the growth cores that were above them and destroyed his target, opening the way for another stone chest to be looted as he progressed deeper into the temple.

They found more dark elves waiting for them up ahead, joined by nightmares no less, though it didn't change anything as Atreus continued to learn his place in combat, while at the same time listening to both his father and to Flurry so he could improve his skills so they didn't get annoyed with him.

While the family moved deeper into the temple Kratos found that there was a structure lowered to block passage, at least for anyone that wasn't a dark elf, and Atreus discovered some writing on it that claimed 'from darkness keep safe the Light', which made them wonder if the writer had rushed their statement. Flurry spotted a few growth cores on the other side of the structure that her father destroyed so Pandora could loot another stone chest, while Atreus located an area all of them could jump up to continue progress, so once everyone was ready they jumped up it and then crossed over to a wall to climb around. Such a thing granted them a good view of the dwindling Light and the massive growth that was all over the central chamber, though while Atreus was sad to see another phantom of a light elf being slain Kratos told him not to assume anything, as they were seeing the end of a war and had no idea what started it. Following that he jumped over to a ledge that brought them close to where one of the cage cores was resting, though in addition to that there were a lot of dark elves in the area, meaning it was only a matter of time until the main force descended upon them.

The moment the coast was clear, and there were no more dark elves for the time being, Kratos struck the cage core and froze it without delay, smashing it to pieces as another section of the massive growth was removed, allowing some of the Light to emerge from a slot in the structure that reformed a small light bridge behind them.

With that discovery made the family crossed over it without delay, allowing Atreus to deal with some of the nightmares as Flurry rapidly took down a few dark elves that were coming at them from behind, where she took up the defense of their rear as her father and Pandora focused on moving forward. Kratos made sure to destroy the cage cores that happened to be along the way, restoring a pathway for them to use that ended up bringing them to a growth shaped like a walkway, one that brought the family to an area that had more growth cores to take care of. As such Kratos got to work dealing with the cores as Atreus and Pandora focused on the enemies that descended into the area, leaving the defense of their rear to their sister as she loosed arrows into the air, striking down the dark elves that dared to come towards her. Fortunately the four of them were able to clear the area as Kratos found that the next part of the path involved walking through a tunnel made of the very growth that was all around them, causing them to head in without delay since they knew it was either this or just kill every dark elf until they stopped coming so Flurry could safely fly them up to the Light.

As they climbed one of the inner walls Kratos explained what Freya told them earlier, since Atreus had failed to listen, but was interrupted by a dark elf awakening from one of the walls as Kratos grabbed onto it's face, allowing his son to stab it in the forehead and kill it before they shoved it into the slot it came from. After that the four of them had to crouch to pass through area portion of the growth, though another dark elf attacked them and their father smashed him into the ground, smashing it and causing them to fall out into an area that gave everyone a view of the Light's main pillar. Kratos did save Atreus before he fell over the edge, though they had to be quiet as they discovered that there were more dark elves living on the various sections of growth that were around the area, only for Pandora to point out a cage core that was up and to their left. Naturally their father struck it with his axe, froze it quickly, and then shattered it, which caused the entire area to shudder and shake as parts started breaking, where he jumped down to a walkway as Atreus and Pandora joined him, all while Flurry took to the air with her sickles and slashed through some of the dark elves, allowing her family to focus on the path while lessening how many enemies they had to fight.

These enemies were far weaker than the rest of the dark elves, allowing Kratos to cleave his way through their enemies before finding and destroying another cage core, this one causing the entirety of the growth that was around them to fall apart as Flurry wrapped her magic around all four of them, protecting them as she floated them down to the Light as the temple was freed from the dark elves. Once the growth was totally destroyed she dismissed her barriers, allowing them a chance to watch as the temple started to restore itself as the Light fully surged up into the air, restoring what Freya had no doubt been expecting to discover when she opened the way to this realm for them. It was marvelous Atreus was focused on the fact that he could 'hear' Faye inside the Light, something that caused him to reach out and touch the beam, a bad move since it instantly focused his hand back in pain, causing Kratos to frown for a moment. They knew what Freya had said, to restore the Bifrost one had to step into the Light, though Flurry had to wonder if she could just use her magic and hold it inside the beam for a time to get the desired result.

"Flurry, Pandora, Atreus. Stay here." Kratos stated, where he raised his right hand for a moment and unhooked the axe for a moment, allowing him to hold it out for Flurry to take, a sign he had told them about several times in the past, mostly so they knew that when he did this he was allowing them to carry it for a time.

"Woah, you're letting us have your axe?" Atreus inquired, showing them that he must have forgotten what their father had shown them previously, which Flurry wasn't even surprised by after seeing how the adventure had started, though he did seem annoyed that it was the eldest child out of all three of them that the weapon was handed to.

"No, he is letting us carry the axe for a time." Flurry said, where she took hold of the Leviathan Axe and let her father let go of it, so he could focus on the Bifrost and what he was about to do, all while she handled the weapon like it was her own, which was why he likely handed it to her, since she cared for her weapons, "Don't worry, father, we'll hold down the fort so you can fill the Bifrost."

Kratos nodded as he gripped the Bifrost, allowing Flurry and her siblings to turn away so they could focus on the enemies that were no doubt coming their way, though she knew that they would be more than ready for the dark elves when they arrived, they just had to be patient and wait for their father to finish with the Light.