Chapter 7: The Return

Hela stared at the scene unfolding before her. The giants were wreaking havoc on the southern and western gates. She had always known those would be the weakest, they had never had the same structural reinforcement as the other gates. That had surprised her when father had redesigned the city, but he had simply said that if an enemy was to come they'd come from the leylines, and they were always in the north and east. Clearly her brothers had thought the same. The walls were crumbling. Hela watched and then she said. "Send in the Jotun." There were several different types of giants, there were the frost giants, then the fire giants, and then there were the Jotun, the earth giants.

Hela watched as they appeared from deep underground, roaring and bellowing out their marching cries. Asgardians came and fell to their deaths, some were eaten. It was a sad fate, she thought. But it was one that needed to happen. If her brothers were going to put a fight on against her then she was going to make them pay for it. "Again." She barked, the order was passed down the line. More of the Jotun appeared, and this time the entirety of the southern wall crumbled. "Send in the cucubuths." The hounds of Hel, her own personal pets. They howled and bounded in. Hela smiled as she heard the screams of the Asgardians.

Her uncle appeared then. Ve was a bearded half giant, half man, but his face had been scarred by the experiments he had performed. He now looked more serpent like than man. He slithered out his words. "All is going as you said it would, niece. Soon the city shall be before us. And when it is, what will you do?"

Her uncle was a fervent planner, he had been banished to Hel some thousands of years before she was. Odin had never wanted to be reminded of the war between the Aesir and the Vanir, and the role Ve had played in it. "I will crown myself Queen, and offer my brothers the chance to bend the knee." She hoped they could reach an agreement, but she doubted it. Frigg had been a bitch.

Ve snorted. "They are sons of Frigg and Odin; they shall never bend the knee to you. You shall have to kill them and drink wine from their skulls."

Hela sighed. "I suppose that is true. I have already broken Thor's hammer. The same Hammer that my beloved Hoor wielded once. A shame that he is not here. Perhaps if we find that stone within this palace, we can bring him back." That had been the one thing that had kept her sane throughout all of this. The thought that she could use the stone to bring back her beloved brother.

Her uncle said nothing. Instead, they remained where they were watching as the Jotun and the Cucubuths took down the Asgardians sent to the guard the southern wall. There was one Asgardian, she supposed he was a member of the Vanir, standing there, bellowing orders and slaying the Jotun with impunity. She respected that. A member of her guard came, dressed in skull and bones with the face of a jackal, he bowed and then barked. "Your Imperial Majesty, the western wall is ours."

"Good." Hela said. She looked at her uncle, having to crane her neck to look at him. "Uncle, take your giants and beasts and take pave a way for me."

"Yes, niece." Her uncle replied. He bellowed a command, receiving a bellow in return, he then marched off to do as he was bid.

Hela closed her eyes then, imagining the beast who was her other half. "Wake up my darling. It is time for you to wake. You have slept long enough. Deep within the bowels of Asgard, do not slumber any more, my darling. Awaken and fulfil your duty. Oh Fenrir, you are the mightiest wolf of all, it is time for you to live up to your name."

Hela opened her eyes, and heard the howl of a wolf. She smiled. Drawing her swords from within her, she advanced. Hovering above the ground, she saw her soldiers bow before her; fallen soldiers were turned into cucubuths, and the daggers of night appeared. She stopped before the fortress which had once been a hut and called out. "People of Asgard, you are fighting a losing battle. You cannot defeat me. For I am Asgard, and I shall continue to win for as long as you fight. It would be better for you to surrender and to lay down your arms and recognise me as your Queen."

The Vanir appeared, cutting down five cucubuths before being stopped by her hand. "And who are you?" She asked, impressed by his stamina.

"I am Hogun of Vanaheim." The man replied.

"And will you bend the knee?" Hela asked. Her grip on the man's throat tightening.

She loosened it as he opened his mouth to reply. "I know only one King, and that is Thor Odinson, God of Thunder and of Fertility."

"That was the wrong answer." Hela said, she tightened her grip on the man and held on, until the man slumped down. "Dinner." She called to the cucubuths. They came scrambling to eat. She walked passed them, and settled down at the base of the tower, waiting.

There was a crackle of lightning, and there before her was Thor. "HELA!" the man bellowed.

"No need to shout, brother dearest. Let us talk." She said, drawing her swords.

Her brother snarled. "The time for talking is over." He jumped then and prepared to hit her. She moved to the side, and flicked her sword, piercing his armour and sending him hurtling back. Thor grunted and got back up, he tried the same thing again, and this time she got his neck. Then his eye, and finally, she sent him hurtling back all the way to the palace.

"How disappointing." Hela said, before floating up and deciding to be reunited with her wolf.