It had been months since Loki launched an attack on Midgard in an effort to rule it. Slowly, the warring realms got the message that Asgard was still there, doing its duty to the universe and protecting it from itself. But what surprised the realms the most was the ability of the Midgardians to defend themselves with only the help of one god.
"That is impossible. One god and a gaggle of giggling Midgardians against a Chitauri army." A fire giant, with war blackened skin, with a crown of smouldering embers said to his war council. Surtr was the ruler and king of Muspelheim.
"The Chitauri really have dropped the dragon egg for the Midgardians to pull out a victory." Another man, his skin red with hair of flames, said to Surtr's left.
"You give the Midgardians too much credit. They were led by Thor, father." A woman the size of a toddler compared to the size of the other members at the table, said to Surtr's right.
"And Loki, well, isn't much of a fighter." She added, crossing her arms over her chest and leaning back against the chair.
"Loki is a master magician Princess Vara. Capable of doing much more than just little tricks." The king said to his stubborn, headstrong daughter.
"Then he should stick to turning wine into snakes and leave the fighting for the real warriors." She scoffed at the weak little trickster.
She had heard stories of him from her mother. That he was the spare prince of Asgard. And now that he was scorned by his brother's ascension to the throne, rebelled against Asgard, his brother and his father.
"How many more times does Loki need to be beaten to a pulp to realise he is out-classed by his brother?" She smiled.
"This is not our concern, my king. We need to talk of much more urgent matters." The man on Surtr's left said to him.
The king nodded solemnly and turned to his daughter.
"You are excused." He said simply to her.
She nodded and got up. She walked out the room and heard the heavy metal doors close behind her as she left.
She had been down this path before. Her father never discussed anything to do with their war with the Asgardians with her. He said that when her time came, if it came, that the council would bring her up to speed.
Princess Vara of Muspelheim was a petite woman, with long black flowing hair and the skin tone of ashes. The looks possessed by her mother, Sinmoera, but with the red glowing eyes of her father. Being well of 5 centuries old, she was but a child in the eyes of her father. Her mother had been long dead, so long that she seldom remembered what she looked like. Whenever she felt like she was losing her mother, she would climb up to the caldera of the life giving volcano that all of Muspelheim revered, Central Volcano. She found her solace there. It was where she felt closest to her mother. She would go there today, to remember her mother and what she always said to her.
"No man can be trusted. With a heart of fire or ice, light or dark, no man is trustworthy." Her mother's words reverberated in her head as she looked into the boiling and bubbling lava below in the volcano.
She fondled her necklace, thinking that perhaps, her mother was right.
She watched as the Central Volcano spewed its last lava for the day, which signalled the beginning of the night in their realm. She then hurriedly returned back to the safety of her palace keep. Being smaller than all the other Fire Giants was not a good thing in terms of being out in the dark alone.
Every night, the two royals of the realm would eat their dinner in the dining hall and retire to their rooms. Vara waited several hours at the royal dining table for her father to join her, but close to midnight, she decided that he wasn't coming, so she ate her meal and retired to her room.
She stared out of her balcony door, hearing the noises from the nearby barracks. A lava tear ran down her cheek and she wiped it away. If only there was someone in this realm, someone who was smart and funny and ambitious. Someone to come rescue her from the mundane war council meetings and talks about her choosing a mate. Someone to show her the universe. She chuckled softly to herself. Of course not, she wasn't that lucky. This was her life and the outlook looked worse than the burned and charred landscape that greeted her every morning.
She turned and climbed into her bed. She turned over so that she didn't have to the see the burnt orange sky that was her home. A home she hated.