The Sins that Bring War Pt. 9

The Runes of Jasmine

"The enemy that you do not know is the worst kind of enemy to have. No defense can be made against such an enemy."

Magik had ropes around each of her wrists to lead the two steeds that she had earned from the battle with Eliza. One was the gray steed that Belasco had created for her before the battle had begun. Magik had one of the Rasputin take that horse to a place to hide during the battle. The other horse was a black one that Magik had taken from a Titraux warrior. It was the horse she had rode when she confronted and killed the Titrais goddess, Eliza. Magik carried the woman's dead body across her shoulder as she led her two horses. The body didn't seem heavy at all despite the armor that Eliza wore. Illyana could feel the magic emanating from that armor and she now realized just how lucky she was to have won against Eliza. The woman was full of magical energy. No wonder she had defeated and killed Loki in battle.

Admiring the dead goddess was something Magik couldn't do for long. Her physical appearance was hampering her at the moment. Illyana's face was covered with dirt and sweat along with hair that had the muddiest of red dirt attached to it. She had so much dirt on her that she constantly had to wipe it out of her eyes. The young woman had become positive that she must have damaged some part of her eyes by now. Her brother had always warned her about rubbing her eyes too much. In this case though it was either do that or try to guide two horses blind. Even the famous Eldritch armor was caked with drying mud. It would be almost impossible for one to admire the craftsmanship in the armor with the way it presently looked.

Illyana's army honestly didn't look much better at the moment. Many of the Rasputin's tails had been detached from their bodies. Broken beaks were a common injury between the Rasputin that possessed them. Some of them were even walking with swords still stuck in their sides and legs. Magik admired their resolve, but she also knew that Belasco had bound them to her. They would follow her into battle with Mephisto himself if she willed it. She wasn't really sure if she could call them "they." After all the Rasputin were all possessed of one mind. Perhaps it was best to call them "it." The way they moved in battle was flawless and without mercy. If the Titrais gods had anything to fear from Asgard it was these creatures. She had come to the Plains of Umin with 25,000 of them. She now possessed at least triple that number.

As the demonic army traversed the hill they were presently on a loud rumble could be heard from the distant. With the ground shaking beneath them Magik did her best to calm her horses and looked up into the Asgardian sky. She saw a vast purple and red wave moving across the sky towards the Golden City. Staring up at that moving mass full of glowing red eyes made Illyana swear she had been knocked a little bit too hard on the head while fighting Eliza.

No way they're here! It can't be! Why the hell would Sentinels attack Asgard?

Those mechanical monstrosities attacking Asgard sickened Magik. She had seen the destruction and pain they had managed to wrought on her world. There wasn't a chance in hell she was going to allow them to do that here. Asgard wasn't her home, but she had damn sure become accustomed to it. Besides as much as she hated Belasco seeing him get killed by Sentinels was not the way she wanted to see him go out. Magik wanted the pleasure of slaying Belasco herself one day and she wasn't going to allow a bunch of oversized robots take that from her.

Concentration overtook Magik as she reached out to the abilities that had made her valuable to Belasco in the first place. Almost a half-mile away from her and her army a tiny yellow light began to take shape. It quickly formed into a flat disc and expanded itself outward into the size of a baseball field. Looking back to her forces the apprentice of Belasco gave her orders, "As many of you try and fit on this disc as possible. We will be heading directly into Asgard. The rest of you get back there as fast as you can."

Untying the ropes around her wrists Illyana leapt on her gray horse and took off to where the teleporting disc was awaiting her arrival. About 300 Rasputin (give or take a few) followed behind her. The black horse managed to keep up with Magik staying right at her side. Magik admired how quickly the steed had become loyal to her. He would make a fine companion for her in the days to come.

"Come my friends. We ride to war once more."

The gigantic purple and red machines landed in the Golden Realm each impact of their feet shaking the ground violently. As the Sentinels tore their way through the city many fled from their homes and ran into nearby alleyways and the strong arms of approaching warriors. Ganim was at the head of his regiment as they came into the city to help fight off these mechanic monstrosities.

"Hit them!" Ganim yelled as he reared back his long golden-shafted spear. With all the strength he could muster the short man flung his weapon high into the air making impact with a Sentinel as a hundred other spears did. To all of the Asgardians great dismay not a single dent had been made in the robots. The robotic beasts would continue their march through their home that had already been in a state of devastation for weeks and all the noble people of this city could do was watch.

A young child gripped Ganim's hairy right arm tightly and asked with a trembling voice, "What magic hath made such creatures?"

"Migard magic," Ganim replied grimly as he could only stare upward as the Sentinels ripped through their majestic towers and palaces. At least what was left of them.

Suddenly an elderly woman began to cry out and pointed to the sky as she jumped up and down wildly. Her actions made everyone else near her look up and they all began to cheer with excitement. Ganim quickly stared skyward to see dozens of the famed Valkyries of Asgard. They held all the strength and grace of the steeds they wore and each sword held in their hands glistened in the sunlight.

It was rare the time that Ganim took the time to notice something beautiful, but watching these warrior women fly off to what could possibly be their dooms with an almost symmetrical pattern made the Asgardian feel a great sense of pride. His people were a proud breed and even now in the face of these unstoppable machines they would face them strong in resolve.

"Fly! Fly!" Ganim chanted over and over again as slowly everyone else joined in the chorus with them. Cheering on their warriors made the Asgardians gain their own sense of bravery. They had a glimmer of hope that all men needed during times of distress because in that glimmer came the will to fight and survive. All who cheered in the chorus of survival knew one thing. The hearts of Asgard were as one and none would be able to crush that.

Brunnhilde rode at the head of Valkyries towards the first Sentinel she could get to. She knew that the swords her warriors carried wouldn't do extensive damage to the Sentinels, but they would fight on anyway. Asgardians weren't famous for giving up and Brunnhilde wasn't about to attach that reputation to their name.

"Attack their heads! No creature is without weakness there!" the leader of the Valkyries exclaimed as she flew ahead of her troops. Throwing her arm back the warrior flung her sword forward striking the eye of a Sentinel. Electricity poured out of the machine and spread down its face.

Bending to the side Brunnhilde picked up the spear that had been attached to the side of her flying horse. Lifting the spear up on her shoulder the Valkyrie pulled it back and sent if flying straight into the neck of the same Sentinel. Once more electricity flowed freely from the machine except this time the robot began to stumble and crumbled to the ground. As it made its descent Brunnhilde swiftly flew by the creature's eye and pulled her sword free.

Looking behind her she saw many of her Valkyries mimicking her attack method and taking down many of the Sentinels. She knew it wouldn't be enough though. The machines were many and their attacks weren't destroying them fast enough. If the Asgardians were to survive they would need more aid.

"Back foul machines! Thou reign of terror here hath ended!" Grand Vizier's boomed throughout the sky as falling rocks of magma rained from the sky striking down dozens of the machines at a time. The mechanical monsters crumbled under the crushing weight and heat creating a bizarre symphony of electricity and exploding rocks.

"Pull back Valkyrie! Pull back!" Brunnhilde yelled to her troops as she ducked and dodged the falling rocks. It was her hope that none under her care would fall to the Vizier's magical might. In his zealousness he had forgotten that she and her soldiers were in the sky. For all she knew he could be attacking from the halls of King Thor's castle. His magical strength was one that was well respected in Asgard and he was now displaying the range of his wrath.

"Brunnhilde! Where will we ride?" a Valkyrie asked as she rode close to her commander.

"To the sanctuary of Amora. Ride there!" Brunnhilde replied as she swung her horse to the right and began to dip towards the ground.

Balder pushed through the crowds of people and made his way to the man who was riding on the shoulder of the Sentinel. It was obvious that this black clothed man was the leader of these metallic monsters. Finally making his way to the front of the crowd he called out to the surrounding soldiers he could see, "Take down that machine! Now!"

Ganim was one of the soldiers that heard Balder's command and turned to where the greatest of Asgard's generals was pointing. Seeing the man that was standing on the Sentinel's shoulder he lifted his axe back and threw it forward. The weapon slammed into the machine and the Sentinel tumbled backwards. The black suited man jumped forward and rolled into the crowd of Asgardians.

Jumping up high into the air the pink skinned man avoided the crowds of raging Asgardian citizens looking to tear him to pieces. Bastion cursed himself for allowing himself to be fooled by Skaris into coming to this forsaken place. No metal could be worth this? And what was the point of seeing mutantkind fall if he wasn't around to orchestrate it?

"Shoot him down!" Balder yelled as he saw the person, who he assumed to be the planner of this attack, descend to the ground. No arrows shot off though because everyone had been distracted by a new coming to the battlefield. New, smaller forms of the mechanical horrors were pouring out through four portals that surrounded the corners of the city.

"Damn!" Balder exclaimed as he saw the swarms of machines heading directly for the people. Only to add to his frustration he began to feel the ground rumble beneath him signaling the march of horses which must have meant that Magik had failed in her attempt to stop Eliza. Surely if he couldn't defeat the woman no way the apprentice of Belasco would to be able to complete the task. Looking to the east Balder found that much to his surprise Magik was at the lead of her army charging forth into Asgard. The sight gave him hope and shame all at once because a woman had accomplished what he could not. Just maybe though that meant there was hope indeed left for his kingdom if such miracles could happen.

Illyana saw Balder looking over the hill towards and her and the relatively meager amount of Rasputin she had bought with her. Seeing the utter devastation before her Magik had only wished her other demonic servants would come swiftly. For if this assault continued for long the foundation of Asgard would be shaken to its very core. Nothing would be left of the Golden City and all hope for the Asgardians would fall into darkness. She would not allow it. Not as long as she had breath. Looking bad to her Rasputin she ordered, "Fight as many of these monster as you can. Take the battle to them! Be fearless!"

The Rasputin immediately took off ahead of their master and charged into battle with the Prime Sentinels that terrorized the weaker citizens of Asgard. At first the machines quickly mowed down the Rasputin, but as the demons grew in number they began to overtake the Sentinels and ultimately slaughter. It was the bigger Sentinels that were going to be the problem though and that's why Illyana had held back from joining the rest of her troops in battle. Looking skyward the young sorceress began to chant a wicked verse and the ground beneath the feet of the 40-foot tall robots began to turn to lava and quickly the machines began to sink in. Some tried to free themselves of the magma only to fall forward flat on their face. The ground beneath them simply devoured most of them.

"May Hela feast upon the soul of whoever sent you here," Magik cursed as the last of the giant Sentinels fell.

Balder swung his sword and barely missed cutting off Bastion's head by an inch. Angrily he exclaimed, "Stay still coward and let me kill you swiftly!"

"Kill me? You must be joking. Better men have tried," Bastion rebuked as he launched a small yellow disc into the air that attached to Balder's chest like a magnet.

"What sort of trickery is this?" Balder asked staring down at the small circular device.

"The kind that works," Bastion replied devilishly. An enough electricity to power New York for a day went flooding into Balder and knocked him out cold. The leader of the Sentinels moved forward and planted his foot on Balder's head as if he had just landed on the moon. Smiling he said, "To the victor goes the spoils."

"Thou first mistake was attacking Asgard. Thou second was staying around till I joined the fray," Thor's voice boomed across the battlefield. At his side was what little remained of his father's guard. Most of them had been used as reserves in the war against the Titrais and as such had died. The Thunder God knew his father wouldn't be pleased with the current state of things. Especially the depleting of his guard, but drastic times called for drastic actions.

"In case someone forgot to mention it; I don't make mistakes!" Bastion replied as he flung four spherical gray balls with glowing red centers. Upon striking the ground the objects seemed to burst open sending hundreds of nano-Sentinels in the shape of mosquitoes into the air.

The machines began to fire upon Thor and his soldiers indiscriminately with tiny red lasers. One shot would sting, but hundreds of them coming at you simultaneously could be quite fatal. The warriors were doing their best to swap away and hack down the mechanical bugs. In a short amount of time many of the soldiers were beginning to weaken under the multiple blasts. All except for Thor who with his axe and shield tore as many of the machine bugs from the sky as he could.

Bastion watched the desperate fray with a smile.

Balder couldn't see Bastion's devious smile as he moved up from behind. With his sword ready the Asgardian was prepared to strike down the foreign invader with a single swipe of his sword. Before he even had a chance to do that though his weapon was flung away from his hand and he fell to the ground his body completely numb.

"Such attacks do not suit you brave Balder," a sinister voice said as it lifted Balder off of the ground with one hand wrapped around the general's neck.

Looking into the eyes of his captor Balder saw something…familiar. He couldn't quite place it though. It was just the eyes and nothing else that Balder held to be something he had once laid his sight on before. The rest of the combatant was a display that held a large degree of grim freshness. Pale gray skin and black diamond armor along with the massive hands wrapped with magical bandages hot as a steady flame. The long, crooked nose and yellow teeth along with the black eye patch gave off a foul aura to Balder. Not to mention his long black cape which seemed to billow and shake as if it was waiting for its master to finish off Balder with great excitement.

"Who art thou?" Balder asked weakly barely able to maintain consciousness from lack of breath and the heat that was burning through his armor and to his neck from his enemy's hand bandages.

"Ask me after you wake up."

With one tight squeeze of his hand Balder's opponent knocked him out and flung him to the side as if he were rotten meat to be disposed of. Looking over the chaos that had once again consumed Asgard he laughed, "It seems without good Odin the Golden Realm is full of golden whimps."

"A few of us still have some fire," Adversary rebuked as he came speeding across the battlefield by flying low. He flew straight into the man who had attacked and defeated Balder. There was a loud rumble that shook all within range of hearing it and a bright blaze of burgundy colored light which quickly subsided to reveal Adversary being held in a head lock.

"Not enough fire to make a rabbit's leg roast I'm afraid," the gray skinned man laughed every muscle in his body bulging as a response.

"You would not think me disposed so easily I hope," Adversary replied as his body shrunk to the size of an ant easily allowing the god to break free of his challenger's grip. Quickly the god began to fire off fireballs that though looked tiny in size hit with enough force to knock a herd to their knees. Firing ball after ball was sending his rival reeling back until the black diamond armor he was wearing began to glow.

"A valiant effort, but a Raven of Odin hardly falls so easily," Hescamar boasted as blue arrows composed of mystical energy began to fall from the sky and strike Adversary. The pain inflicted by each arrow that made contact was equivalent to that of having your arm cut off with a tiny sharp rock a hundred times over. Despite his best efforts to fend off the attack all it took was for one arrow to make its mark and the god's concentration was lost.

"HESCAMAR!"

The rage and anger seemed into every syllable of that word made the raven quickly turn to find the source. Much to his surprise and dismay, Thor was charging towards him carrying two bloody swords that had come from fallen Valkyries. Hescamar had known this confrontation was bound to happen eventually, but he had hoped it would have happened under circumstances he could control. It seemed that the Norns were not on his side in this matter.

Hescamar had no time to muster any magic to his aide. Thor was moving so fast he was upon the raven like a blur. Each one of his swords struck Hescamar in the torso, but his diamond armor had provided more than suitable protection for him. At least this time it had. The Thunder God's blows had created more than noticeable cracks in the armor.

"I thought you would be happy to see me," Hescamar said as he smacked Thor in the face sending him flying backward into the ground. Quickly, the raven thrust his foot into Thor's stomach knocking the air out of him. While he maintained the advantage he created a black knife in his hand and flung it at Thor's heart.

"Traitor!" Thor yelled moving his sword and blocking Hescamar's knife. Using his other sword Thor struck the leg of Hescamar creating another large crack in the raven's armor.

Hescamar quickly backed away from Thor and with a slight tremble in his voice said, "I fight for what is right Thor. It is about time the Asgardians pay for the crimes they have committed."

"What crimes dost thou speak of? Asgard did nothing to invoke Skaris' wrath!" Thor exclaimed getting to his feet holding both swords in front of him ready for immediate attack.

"Could you be that foolish Thor? Do you think Skaris attacks Asgard out of malice? Your are as naïve as your father was devious," Hescamar taunted as he charged forward at Thor with a black lance ready and lifted above his head prepared to strike.

"Watch thou tongue!" Thor yelled as he charged forward and knocked Hescamar's lance from his hands with one sword. With the other he struck once more against Hescamar's torso cracking the armor so severely in that area it began to crumble off in large chunks.

Horrified at what had been done to him Hescamar yelled out to Bastion, "Our stay here is done. Let us be gone!"

"Thou shalt not leave this duel so soon!" Thor exclaimed charging at Hescamar once more, but only running into an apparition. Hescamar had already taken his leave and so had the one he called Bastion. All that remained in Asgard were a few mechanical monstrosities that had not yet fallen and a few more broken spirits.