Disclaimer: Characters belong to MARVEL and Norse Mythology. Music composed by Patrick Doyle.

Music: Thor OST Track 8 – Frost Giant Battle

Part 1: Chapter 7

"Sif, you ought to stay back!" Fandral shouted over his shoulder.

"What? Why?"

"You can't take that thing on with only a spear. Hogun, do you have your morning star?"

"Of course not. I was not expecting to be fighting trolls in Svartalfheim, after all. It's not as if I can wear it on my person." The man scowled when a dagger was tossed to him and he caught it. "You want me to fight with this?"

"Unless you would rather arm wrestle with it," Fandral said with a crooked grin. Hogun narrowed his eyes at him and his mouth tightened into a thin line. "Now come on, he needs our help!"

Fandral gave Sif one last look with an apologetic smile, while Hogun glared daggers at the back of Fandral's head. Since he would be using the real one on the troll, preferably, it was the best substitute.

As she watched her two companions' retreating backs get smaller and smaller, Sif chewed on her bottom lip. While she appreciated that Fandral hadn't used her being female as an excuse to tell her not to fight, she was still disappointed. When she heard loud thuds to her left, Sif inclined her head to try and see around the cliffs. Not one, not two, but three more trolls were lumbering out of the canyon, and the three men didn't seem to have taken notice.

Sif pursed her lips and shuffled impatiently from side to side, waiting, hoping that the others would turn around and look. She gazed down at the weapon in her hands, pressing her thumbs into the somewhat blunted wood. It had been completely smooth at one time, but after many hours of practicing alone, it had as many bruises as she did. But Fandral was right. The spear could easily break in half if she tried to fight. After leaning the spear against a nearby boulder, Sif pulled the Vanir cloak over her head and dropped it in the dirt. She then picked up her spear again and took off at a run.

"Fandral! Hogun! Behind you!" The blonde whipped around at the sound of the voice with a look of complete disbelief on his face.

"Sif, what are you doing—?" Then he saw the other trolls. "Mother of Odin!"

"Pay attention to what you're doing, fool!" Hogun shouted before leaping out of the way of a descending club.

Fandral grumbled something unintelligible, but whatever he said was most likely not suitable for children. Just as a club hit the ground next to him, Fandral slashed a deep cut into the troll's wrist with his sword before it could attack again.

Sif heard a throaty growl above her, and her eyes darted between the troll's warty face and its club. When she made no move, the troll snarled, revealing a mouth with only four crooked yellow teeth. Saliva sprayed as it ran at her. Just as Sif took a couple steps back, she tripped over a pointed rock that was sticking out of the sand. She landed on her back, and the troll had its arm raised, poised to crush her, when another club struck it in the face. It crashed into the cliff-side behind it and lay motionless. It seemed that one of the other trolls had also been in mid-swing and accidentally hit the wrong target.

It wasn't until the troll hit the ground that the red-haired man took notice that other people had joined the fight. He turned his head towards the source of the noise, and his eyes widened when he saw not only three people, but three more trolls had showed up. He didn't have time to reflect on this because he suddenly went flying into a boulder when a club sent him through the air. He felt as if his ribcage had shattered, and he was finding it difficult to sit up.

He let out a groan when he was suddenly lifted up by his armpits from the ground and practically dragged away. It was the dark-haired man, and judging by his appearance he was most likely from Vanaheim. He grimaced and pressed a hand against his abdomen, immediately regretting this entire thing.

"Let me borrow your ax."

"Excuse me?"

"I cannot fight a troll with a dagger. Let me borrow your ax." The man was still hesitant. "I will give it back."

He held his weapon out, begrudgingly, and the man took it from him without saying a word of thanks. He was curious as to what the Vanir planned to do with it, but he got his answer when he embedded the ax in a troll's forehead, and blood ran down its flat nose before it landed in a heap on the ground.

"I could've done that."

Still somewhat shook up, Sif got to her feet and tried to get her breathing under control. She looked over her shoulders to see that Fandral was still trapped in combat with his own troll, and Hogun was talking to the red-haired man, who was sitting on the ground. He appeared to have been injured. They probably hadn't seen what took place.

Not wanting to take a chance of the creature getting up again, Sif ran over to where it was unconscious against the wall. Sif was unsure as to where a troll's weak spot was, if it even had one, and she didn't want to risk stabbing at it only for her spear to snap because the flesh is rock-solid like its head. Then she noticed a thick vein bulging from its neck, and she knew that would be her only chance.

She saw a ledge just above the troll's head, so she made her way towards it. As she slowly inched her way up, she could feel her pulse beating in her skull. When she at last reached the top, Sif had to fight back the fear that was building up inside. She mentally scolded herself, reminding herself that a warrior would not be afraid. Sif closed her eyes and breathed deeply.

Thor, give me strength and courage, and guide my spear so that I might slay my enemy. She pushed off with her feet and leaped at the troll's neck. Help me!

As soon as the spear point pierced the skin, the troll's eyes flew open and it released a loud roar. The blade was lodged deeply into the creature's jugular by the time it got to its feet, and Sif was barely able to hang on. Blood was squirting from the wound and splattering on her face. The troll reached up to try and grab at her, but Sif pulled down on the wood. The spear tore through the flesh all the way to the collarbone before separating from the troll's neck. It pressed its large hand against the wound to try and stop the bleeding, but the cut was too large and blood flow too hard to contain. Sif scrambled away, getting black dirt all over her hands and clothes. She then got up and leaped to the side when the troll finally fell to the ground, never to get back up.

Sif noticed that Hogun was standing with the wounded man again, and he was waving his arms. He was trying to get her attention, and once he knew he had it, he made hand gestures as if he was putting something over his head. Then it dawned on her. She ran back to where she had dropped her cloak, snatched it up from the ground, then dashed over to Hogun and the stranger. After handing the cloak to him, Hogun immediately tore strips from the bottom and made a makeshift sling for the man's left arm. Sif said nothing.

Fandral's opponent growled when he sliced into the creature's flesh once again. There were so many gaping wounds that it was only a matter of time before the troll could take no more. It appeared to be standing on its last legs, anyway. Unbeknownst to him, this was the only one that was still alive.

It was well known that trolls were unintelligent creatures, so despite the fact that it was dying, it still continued to try and bludgeon Fandral to death. Because it was gradually succumbing to blood loss, its arm swing was becoming more lethargic. Without even putting forth much of an effort, Fandral avoided all of the troll's flailing attacks until it finally crumpled to the ground, scattering black dirt and dust.

A/N: Did anyone notice that I matched up Sif's prayer with Thor's theme? Well, I had intended it to be that way. I thought writing actiony stuff to a 4 1/2 minute song was hard. "The Compound" is gonna be a nightmare. 8 FUCKING MINUTES.