"If you wish to create war you must be prepared to make sacrifices. For no war is won without them. Whether the sacrifices be great or small."
The icy wind burned on the cheek of the Thunder God, Thor. He looked over the city of Asgard from a precipice. The grand place seemed to be so silent and devoid of all good things. It ached his heart to see his people having to abandon their home even if it was for only three days. Nonetheless, the All-Father ordered it and so it was done. Still that was no small comfort for Thor. Another strong wind blew by and some of Thor's long blonde hair flew into his eyes. With one of his strong and large hands Thor pushed the hair out of his eyes. The view of Asgard was available to him once more. Two days away from his home felt like eight months. Whoever killed that Valkyrie would pay. Thor swore by it. At that moment once again another strong gust of wind made its presence known. The Thunder God's red cape blew in the wind along with his hair, but this time none of it distracted his view of Asgard. If someone could so easily Asgard and kill a warrior Valkyrie in such a gruesome manner just how vulnerable was Asgard? And just how vulnerable were his people now that they were outside of Asgard?
"Ho Thor! Why dost thou watch fair Asgard from this point all alone?" Hemidall asked as he walked up beside Thor. The cold wind chilled Hemidall's beard and sent a shiver down his back. His feet crushed the snow under him as he walked up beside Thor. Seeing Thor was worried distressed Hemidall because what gave Thor a cause for concern should give everyone a cause for concern. It took a lot for Thor to be worried.
"Asgard hath quite thee great beauty about it Hemidall. My heart aches grievously that we are all separated from its beauty. A dark and heinous crime hath been committed and so thee All-Father hath decided to see it be cleaned from Asgard's glorious walls. Still…."
Hemidall sighed as he placed his hand on Thor's shoulder and gave it a tight squeeze, " Thou feels a threat still looming on thee horizon. Dost what I say true?"
"Indeed. Something augurs ill Hemidall. And I feel we shalt soon be confronted by the fiend," Thor said his eyes growing smaller as he pierced deeper into Asgard. Then he heard the approach of a fast moving person through the snow. Turning around immediately Hemidall and the Thunder God saw a young Asgardian man running towards them. He fell into the ground in front of them with a thud. He raised his face up and it was covered in white snow.
"Lord Thor! Malekith and his foul elves attack our people!"
The shock in Thor was evident as he gripped his hammer, Mjolnir, tightly and took off into the air with Hemidall holding onto him tightly.
Malekith leaped over an Asgardian and while he was in the air he kicked a turned Asgardian in the back of the neck. The Asgardian warrior fell down to the ground and hit it hard. Malekith drove his sword into the Asgardian's back. The lord of the elves relished in this battle. Blood gave itself to the ground and screams gave the air company. Destroying these weak Asgardians was so deliciously sweet that Malekith couldn't get off the high of its sweet nectar.
An older Asgardian charged at Malekith with a large golden ax in hand. The man was older in years. He had a long gray beard and blue eyes that spoke of weariness. He wore weak leather armor and he moved slowly. Malekith laughed at this Asgardian's foolish attempt to attack him. The lord of the elves jumped into the air and bought his sword down on the Asgardian. Surprisingly the old coot threw up a shield to block Malekith's blow. The dark elf hadn't seen that hidden defensive weapon.
"I will not fall so easily elf!" the old Asgardian proclaimed proudly as he swung his ax at Malekith's head. The elf was too swift for such a slow blow to make impact. He merely ducked his head. As the man stumbled on his feet trying to maintain his balance, Malekith bent down and flung his sword upward into the man's stomach.
"Neither will I old man," Malekith laughed as the gray bearded man let out a gurgle and fell on the ground dead. Without a doubt Malekith could say that being in battle was like making love to him. In the midst of battle he lost himself and all that remained was the fiery rage and passion of war.
The lord of elves placed his black boot on the body of the dead man and laughed, "Foolish man. Why did you even try to fight me? All of your efforts were futile."
"Die elf!" a young Asgardian man said as he charged at a distracted Malekith. The man swung his scythe at the elf and grazed him on the arm. Malekith fell to the side and hit the dirt. As the man tried to drive his scythe into the ground to split open Malekith's chest a black boot knocked the weapon out of his hands. That boot had come from Malekith.
"Foolish boy!" Malekith yelled as he jumped up off the ground and grabbed the young Asgardian's scythe out of the air. The lord of the elves spun around decapitating his young opponent. The blood splattered all over Malekith's black armor, blue skin, and white hair.
"This is too easy," Malekith laughed loudly as he charged off into battle with the other battling Asgardians.
Thor landed on the ground with Hemidall behind him. He saw the battle taking place and his heart sank. His people were losing to Malekith and his elves. How could this be happening? Never before had the elves proven themselves to be this capable. Thor could hold back no longer. Battle was awaiting him.
"HO dark elves! Have at thee!" Thor yelled as he launched Mjolnir into a group of six elves that were charging at him. They were all dressed in black armor from the neck down. These elves hair was shaved down to barely anything. When Mjolnir made contact with these elves it dispersed them across a great area. Normally when a blow like that from Mjolnir would have killed these elves they were now only stunned. How could this be? Magic must be having a hand in their sudden newfound power.
Hemidall walked forward beside Thor and said to him, "I must say these elves hath become a great deal stronger."
"Indeed, but nonetheless they will fail!" Thor exclaimed as Mjolnir returned to him and he flew off into the air. From there he would have a better vantage point over the elves.
Meanwhile on the ground below Hemidall battled against a shorter elf that was wielding a large ax. Hemidall had a mace in his right arm and an axe in his left. A blow from his mace blocked the blow of the elf and swiftly swinging his own axe forward Hemidall was able to decapitate the dark elf.
Moving forward Hemidall saw the carnage the elves were creating and with a smile he said, "Battle has indeed come to me again!"
Four of Odin's priests, cloaked in white and armed with long gray swords, guarded the door of the temple that the Valkyrie had died in only two days before. Inside of the temple their fellow priests were performing a ceremony to purify the city and none were allowed in.
The leader of the Titrais gods, Skaris, looked up at the four priests from the bottom of the many stairs of the temple. He was going to get in there and confront who had wanted to confront for so long no matter who tried to stop him. Skaris had managed to keep himself hidden from the priests because his entire being was of a darker color. He wore a black body suit all the way to his neck and his many strands of black hair glistened in the dim light of Asgard. His face was a pale gray and it sunk in deeply, but his fully black eyes held a more menacing appearance than his face. Skaris's lips were thin much like his body.
Skaris would soon prove that appearances could be deceiving as he launched himself into the air and landed upon one of the priests like a black angel. The body of the priest fell to the ground with a thud. Skaris lifted his black boot up and sent it crashing down on the side of the priest's head. A disgusting crack followed and soon the other priests were upon Skaris.
Raising up an open palm, Skaris knocked two of the three approaching priests back with a magical invisible blast. The last he dispatched with a roundhouse that knocked the priest into a nearby wall. The priest hit the wall with such force that he made an indent in the brick. As he fell out of the indention he created Skaris delivered another kick square in the priests stomach. The man doubled over and fell out dead.
The other two having recovered from Skaris's blast rose up to attack the god. Lifting their swords high in the air they were preparing to attack the god, but before they had a chance Skaris attacked. His black eyes instantly turned a bright red and his hair began to billow wildly like it was a pack of snakes. The sword of the two priests turned to a green liquid and fell on their cloaks. The liquid quickly ate through the cloaks of the priests and devoured their bodies like a pack of ravenous wolves.
"You cannot hide forever Odin," Skaris said as he walked up to the door of the temple and touched with his middle finger. The stone and gold that made up that door melted away as if it were ice cream on a hot day. The door made a hissing noise of death as it dissolved away into a pile of gunk.
Skaris stepped over this pile of magically melted stone and gold with a passion in his heart. He was here for Odin and he would not be denied. Before this day was done Odin would answer for his sins and made to suffer for them.
Rage, fury, frustration, and anger all flowed through the field like the Nile across Egypt. Hemidall felt all these emotions inside of himself and used them. He channeled his anger into a ferocious blow that took off the arm of an elf that thought to attack him. Then he used the fury in him to fell three elves in one stroke from his axe. With his frustration he slammed his mace into the face of a fat elf and finally with his anger he cut an elf in half who had just slain an Asgardian boy.
Blood covered the body of Hemidall and as he rose triumphantly from his latest kill an arrow found it's way through Hemidall's neck. The keeper of the Rainbow Bridge fell down into the snow dead. The arrow had come from the leader of the elves, Malekith.
Knowing that they had done what they had come here to do Malekith yelled out to all of his troops, "Leave this forsaken place my elves! Asgard has suffered this day!"
Simultaneously all the elves let a cry of victory ring from their lips and they began to make their way back to their new home. They left behind them many corpses and much blood. They had indeed accomplished what they came here to do. They had broken Asgard and soon they would be broken even further.
Skaris walked down the dark hall with hate on his mind. He was focused and determined to find his target. The King of the Asgardians, Odin, would fall soon by the hand of Skaris. He would not leave this temple till he did.
"I'll find you Odin! You can't hide from me forever," Skaris exclaimed as his body moved down the hall like a shadow.
As he came to the door where Odin was performing the cleansing ritual three priests attacked Skaris. They were all wearing white robes and all of them had axes in both hands. They lifted their weapons up high and came down on Skaris, but they only hit air. The gangly god had left behind a shadow copy of himself and was now behind the three priests.
Opening his hand a black circle appeared and Skaris threw the circle out. As it flew across the bodies of the three priests it drained their life forces and killed them. Then using his mind Skaris redirected the circular disk into the door guarding Odin. The door exploded open widely and a gaping hole was left for Skaris to step through.
Stepping into the door Skaris saw a surprised Odin over the place where the dead Valkyrie had been found. Looking onto the black god Odin asked furiously, "Who dost thou be foul invader?"
"I'm a product of the Great Germination you have been trying to stop for so long Odin. My name is Skaris and I've come to make you pay for your sins," Skaris replied.
Odin knew good and well what Skaris was talking about. The World Tree was like any other tree and so it gave birth in what was known as the Great Germination. Normally other World Trees would sprout from the seeds of Yggardsil, but Odin had went about making sure that none of the seeds grew to become other World Trees. He didn't want there to be too many other realms to have to deal with. That would result in too many potential threats and other problems. So he simply eliminated them, but it seemed a seed had escaped his sight.
"Ahh yes Odin. Now you remember," Skaris said with a scowl.
"I stopped the Great Germination with only a pure intent. Hast thou no heart for reason?"
Skaris laughed and jumped high up into the air. He extended his hair and wrapped it around Odin's neck. The All-Father felt his neck being squeezed by Skaris's hairs. Odin fell to his knee and his body slowly began to transform into stone. Slowly from his ankle up his body changed to stone.
As Odin finished his transformation Skaris landed on the ground with a graceful leap. Looking down at the trapped body of Odin he laughed. The first part of a large plan had begun. Soon all of Asgard would fall.
Suddenly two ravens flew over Skaris's head. One of them cried out, "We're too late! The All-Father has already fallen!"
Before the raven had time to say any more Skaris blasted him with a yellow ball of energy that knocked the raven out of the sky. It fell to the ground with a thud. All of its feathers had been burnt off and his body was scorched. The great raven of Odin was dead.
The remaining raven, Hescamar, shrieked at the sight of his companion. Looking upon the god covered in black he said, "Don't hurt me! I'll do anything! I'm your humble servant!"
Hescamar came down from the air and landed on Skaris's shoulder. Skaris smiled and said, "Perhaps your servitude could be of advantage to me!"
Skaris turned around and walked outside of the temple. He had plans to make and only so much time to make them.