A soldier sat bound to a chair, their face covered by a white mask that was stained with dirt and blood. They looked up at their captor. A tall man, with shoulder-length blonde hair, Asgardian armour and a ruby-red cape that, as it reached the ground, seemed to form a pool of blood. His skin was tan, and his baby-blue eyes stared menacingly at his prisoner. He had seen many men fall today, as well as his mother. He had fought hard, but not hard enough. An internal war raged within him.
"Where is Malekith?" He asked, sternly. A dull clicking resonated from behind the mask, they could not speak. "This is hopeless," The man sighed towards the Einherjar to his right. A messenger entered the room, through brass doors.
"My Lord, your father wished your company." He announced, thudding his lance into the ground.
"Very well, send him to the dungeons." The blond man signalled towards his captive and left with the messenger.
Their footsteps seemed to call out infinitely, as the soldier was escorted by two armed guards to the dungeons of Asgard. The Einherjar could hear the clicking, and it unnerved them deeply.
"Here." One of the men waved their hand in front of the summoned barrier that sealed the cell, and it dissipated. The prisoner willingly walked forward, and as they turned to face the guards, the barrier had returned and the men were gone.
So this is it. The prisoner thought, blankly. The soldier had never enjoyed removing their mask, but what use was it to them now? Nobody would notice, the cell opposite was empty, the dungeon guards were sworn to guard the entrance, and patrols only happened every so often.
The mask fell to the floor with a clatter.
The soldier's face was pale, but unmistakeably feminine. Her eyes were a matte blue, emotionless, as was her expression. She had white hair, as did all Dark Elves, pulled back into a plait that ran down her back. She stepped closer to the barrier, and looked to her left, there, at the end of the corridor, was a cell that undoubtedly had someone in it, she could sense it.
But, that mattered little to her, she was going to rot in this cell, unless she got out, but only the Kursed could break through this magic, she knew that much. Maybe the person in the other cell could be of use after all.
"Hello?" Speaking their language made her throat ache and tear, "You there, in that cell."
A body appeared, with slicked black hair and a hungry, tarnished look about him. His face was angular yet delicate, she did not know who he was, but she could tell he had power. He looked at her.
"Yes?" He replied simply.
"Who are you?" She croaked, rubbing her neck firmly. He merely looked at her, acknowledging her presence but not saying anything. It was no use. She sat on the floor, cross legged, thinking. Time seemed to turn fluid in the dungeons, she wasn't sure whether it was passing quickly or slowly, but she ensured that the guards did not see her face on their patrols. She heard footsteps behind her, and she clicked to herself quietly, replacing her mask.
"I am Loki Laufeyson, of Jodenheim. What I want to know, is who are you?"
"I am Nofet. Of Svartalfheim."
"An elf?"
"Yes. I wanted to-" She hesitated, "I wanted to ask you if there's any way out of these cells."
"Not technically." He replied, "These barriers are enforced by the same magic that keeps Asgard's shields impenetrable."
"The shields have fallen, the generator has been destroyed." It appeared as if Loki did not know this, as it made his expression twist between shock and pleasure.
"Well that is interesting." Loki vanished, it had been but an illusion created by the original. Nofet stood, and went to the edge of her cell, she was weak, much weaker than Loki, she did not want him as an enemy, yet she was unsure if she wanted him as an ally. She considered trying to free herself, but thought better of it – it would only weaken her further. She closed her eyes.
"Come on." He held out his hand, inviting her to leave with him. Beneath her mask she smiled slightly. She placed her hand in his and stepped down into the corridor, the guards were on the ground, motionless. Well, she thought, he's definitely efficient. It had only been moments since he had left her cell.
"Where are we going?" She asked,
"To Thor." Loki smirked, as they stormed through dozens of enormous doors and long halls, Asgard was certainly luxurious, however through every arched window she could see the devastation her people had created outside. "Good work with the whole 'destroying Asgard' thing, by the way." She clicked a response, he smiled. "Don't talk much, do you?"
"It hurts." She sighed, "Your language pains me."
"I understand," He nodded, "Thor and four warriors should be beyond these doors, I'd advise you to either flee, or stand behind me." Nofet nodded and thought about this, Loki was no ally of Asgard, yet I doubt her people would look kindly of her standing with him.
"You have my- and my people's- thanks." She bowed, and he took her hand, kissed it gently and turned to face the doors. "Good luck." She added, turning on her heels and running from her saviour.
She wondered if they'd cross paths again, probably not, she decided, as she ran out onto a balcony. It was lucky that so many Einherjar had died in her people's onslaught, so that she could move with relative ease throughout the Asgardian palace. She looked out onto Asgard, beneath the plumes of smoke and ash, it really was beautiful, buildings made of gold surrounded by the sea which flowed into space. It was dusk, the sun was setting on an odd sort of day, she couldn't say that the universe hadn't changed over 5000 years, but then, she couldn't remember much about how it used to be. I think, she thought, I prefer the universe being flooded with light. Of course, when she returned to her ship she could never let anyone know her opinion; it was the wrong opinion to have.
She glanced over her shoulder, and stepped up onto the bronze wall. She could tell there were some ships of her people's nearby, she looked around, there was one lodged into the main hall of the Asgardian palace. She knew where she was headed now.
Hopping down from the wall, she ran, quicker this time, taking large bounds at a time. She had surprising stamina, for her size, and could run faster and for longer than most of her brethren. She'd been running for roughly ten minutes when she reached a staircase, one that must have risen three storeys in height. She walked slowly up these steps, as she didn't want to be caught off guard on such uneven ground.
She was halfway to the top when she heard the clatter of blades. A fight was going on. And she couldn't hear the firing of Elven weapons, it was a fight between Asgardians. She leapt up the remainder of the stairs, three to four steps at a time, she was at the top in no time at all, and she was nearly sent tumbling down from whence she came by a wave of Einherjar, all running in sync towards the main hall. Well, this might prove more difficult than I thought. She hurried after them, keeping to the shadows, where there were any, keeping well behind when there weren't. The first room she came to, a female Asgardian was fending off twelve Einherjar, I know her, Nofet thought, Lady Sif. Sif had been distracting these brutish men for a good couple of minutes, but she knew she couldn't let up.
Nofet managed to avoid being seen, and crept into the next room, picking up a fallen Elf's gun on her way out. In this one she found Loki, a Midgardian woman, and the man who held her prisoner a few hours ago, the blonde man, and another warrior, one of possible Dwarven-decent, judging by his stature and weapon choice, and his lengthy auburn beard. Loki and the others scrambled into the downed Elven ship, leaving the semi-dwarf behind.
"You there!" He shouted, waving his weapon in the direction of Nofet.
"Hello," She said, calmly, but her voice was gravelly and tore through her throat. This seemed to confuse the man, presumably he'd made the assumption that she would of fired at him by now. "I don't want to fight you, I want to get onto the ship." She tried to reason with him.
"I'm sorry, but I can't let you do that."
"I'm sorry, too, then." She sighed, and readied her weapon. The rifle was lightweight but effective, it was created in the Darkness when her people still had the Aether to power their creations. It shot pure energy. She aimed at the man, as he prepared himself.
"They're in the ship!" A swarm of Einherjar rallied themselves behind Nofet, she daren't move, in case the lodged herself onto one of their blades.
"Come on then, what are you waiting for?!" The bearded man bellowed and waved his mighty axe in the air above him. Nofet lead the young Asgardians onto the floor, however as soon as the fighting began, she slipped away unnoticed, gaining entry to the ship.
Once inside, she felt at ease, although she kept her mask on. She knew the others were inside, perhaps they would let her help them, let her show them how to fly. She made her way to the Pit and found her captor, her saviour, and a Midgardian all in one cramped area. Do they realise this room extends beyond that of the control panels? She mused to herself. Her captor began slamming his great fists down on the controls, not knowing what he was doing.
She hesitated for a moment, and realised he hadn't turned the generator on, she slid under an overhanging screen and managed to reach the necessary keypad. She gently pressed in the right code, and the rest of the ship began to hum to life, amidst a morbid red glow.
