OK, it is the weekend prior to Thanksgiving and to show how thankful I am to my fans for sticking with me, I have decided to put the next chapter up for you. Enjoy! We return to Thor in the heat of battle against Surtur on Muselheim. Remember to review!
Surtur's character, if you have seen the Thor video game screencaps, that is sort of the inspiration behind the character only in a more "manageable" size.
I found that when I was doing this chapter, I listened to "Truth beneath the Rose" by Within Temptation. You can access it here on YouTube if you need to listen to it.
Chapter Nine – A fiery fight to the death
Muselheim
The castle gates of the fire demon lord Surtur rested just beyond the craggy jags where Thor, Sif, the Warriors Three, and the armies of Asgard were now hiding. With the advancement of their legion, Surtur's forces were forced back into the confines of the castle and village walls.
Victory was nearly in the hands of the Asgardians. They just needed to take the palace and force their king into surrendering to them.
Thor slowly looked over the edge and saw that there were archers in the towers ready to pounce on them. Boy, were they in for a surprise.
He lowered back down to join the warriors who were about to invade the castle.
"My friends, we have been waiting for this moment for many years now," he said. "It is time that we bring home victory." He then stood so that all his army could see him. "For Asgard!" he shouted raising Mjolnir high above him
"Asgard!" all the men shouted raising their swords in support of their prince.
"Charge!" he commanded, holding his weapon out before him.
The infantry, Sif, Hogun, Fandral, Volstagg, and himself charged over the rocks that separated them from the palace and moat of lava running hard toward their destiny.
The demons of Muspelheim all stared down as the infidels of Asgard were coming over the rock wall that separated the village and castle from the fiery wasteland that surrounded them.
How was it that the Asgardians found their palace? It was surrounded by miles of mountains with only a few exits and entrances in or out. The lava rivers were treacherous to cross alone, but the plateau where the palace was located was now swarming with Asgardians.
A tower guarded ordered archers to fire upon them in their native tongue.
Arrows ablaze with fiery tips flew through the air toward the Asgardians…and several of them fell.
From the sky above, the dragon like creatures looked up and watched as rocks of fire came flying, from catapults no doubt, at the walls.
Chunks of black stone fell from their foundations and holes would begin to allow the Asgardian soldiers access.
The commanding officer spoke to his second, "Warn Master Surtur and his queen," it spoke in tongue. "Order them to leave. Prince Thor and his forces were about to enter the palace."
The soldier left, but the commander was going to fight to the end.
Thor arrived outside the main gates and knew that there was only one way to bring the doors down for them to have access.
He took Mjolnir in hand and spun his trusty weapon around above his head. The wind alone brought him off his feet and high above the palace walls.
He watched as the demons were trying to strike him with their arrows, but there was nothing they could do to defeat his powers.
Once he had the required lightning and energy that he needed, Thor unleashed his full-force on the castle gates. Wind and lightning unleashed a fervent attack that the doors attempted to buckle against, but eventually shattered against his mighty force.
The Asgardian forces cheered as he came back to the ground to join them.
The five of them led the charge through the open gates for their soldiers to follow the way.
Thor and his friends ran down the main walkway toward the main residence door.
From an elevated level balcony, Lord Surtur watched as his castle and kingdom were on the verge of collapse as the Asgardian forces, led by their brash and over-zealous leader Prince Thor were invading.
He returned into his throne room where his queen was being escorted out of the chamber. Though a bloodthirsty king, he did not want anything to happen to his eternal companion.
She kissed her clawed hand and pressed it to his chest.
It was their sign of affection for one another.
And she left the throne room.
One of his leading commanders arrived to him. He told him, "The Asgardians are here and coming for you."
"I will deal with them," Surt told him so his minion could understand him. "Fight to the end."
Going back to his black throne, he pulled out his golden bladed sword. If he was going to die, he would go down with his flaming sword in hand. It was his ultimate weapon, one that he had hoped to take to Asgard and cut off the head of his oppressor, Lord Odin Allfather.
Now it appeared that he would be fighting his son, Prince Thor Odinson.
He was just a boy however. He would take care of him.
Fandral attacked a fiery monster of Muselheim by cutting a large swipe across his chest.
Hogun unleashed an attack of ferocity with his mace, causing severe damage at the neck and taking a sword in his other hand to stake another one in the head.
Volstagg with his axe swung hard and decapitated a demon. Its head bobbed on the floor and landed near Sif.
Sif however was spinning around, twirling her duel-bladed sword to cut off heads and slice mortal wounds into the royal guard that stood outside the throne room doors.
Thor took Mjolnir and pounded several demons to death with his force.
Finally, the door was clear.
"You four," Thor ordered, "continue to eliminate the guards in the palace. I have a score to finally settle with Lord Surtur."
Sif came to him, breathing heavily from the battle. "Come back to us," she whispered to him just before she placed a hand on his cheek.
Thor kissed the inside of her palm and stared down into her eyes. "I do not what I would have done without you Sif," he said to her. "Gods be with you."
She smiled and they went running after group of guards that were approaching.
He turned to the throne room doors and used Mjolnir to force them open.
Slowly and confidently, he entered the massive throne room. However, there was no one there.
"Surt!" he called his enemy's name. "I have come to challenge you!"
There was an echoing laughter.
"Have you now?" the voice of his enemy reverberated about him and the chamber. "What makes you worthy of even stepping before me?"
"I am Thor Odinson," he introduced himself. "My people are in the process of bringing down your forces. Soon, there will be nothing left for you to rule. The time of your defeat has come."
Surtur's voice laughed again. "I will not cease until life has been taken from me," the voice continued to mock him. "I initially wanted the life of your father's, but I suppose watching his son die at my hands will give me the vengeance I long for."
"Then we shall see demon. Show yourself."
"So be it."
Thor suddenly had to look up as Surtur came down upon him, a sword of flames in his hand. He barely had the time to get his hammer up to block the attack, but did as his legs collapsed beneath him.
Surtur was much larger in height and stature than he was, but that would not sway him from the battle. He resembled him with the Frost Giants of Jotunheim, just of the fire realm.
Swooshes and swipes, strikes and blocks, the battle between the prince and lord was intense. It destroyed many of the stain-glass windows and art pieces that were on prominent display in homage to their leader.
But Thor was determined to win this fight.
Sif and her friends were nearly completed with the royal guard and were taking on the last remnants of the other guards who were retreating from the outside to the castle; thinking they would be safe inside.
Not so much, she thought.
Fandral and Hogun imprisoned a large group within a container, a portal dome that would keep them secured until they relinquished power from one of the crystal points.
Not that it would happen anytime for a while. They were prisoners of war.
Once she was done imprisoning a demon, she felt compelled that she needed to go check on Thor.
"I am going back to the throne room," she told her friends. "Guard them."
And she left.
Thor gave one more powerful strike onto Surtur's chest area, sending a wave of cracking fire from within his body.
The howl that came from his mouth after the strike was enough to cause him to cover his ears.
The demon landed with a thud on the red carpeting and writhed in pain.
He slowly sauntered over toward his rival and was ready to end the battle with the demon. Finally, this war would be over.
He would be free at last to do as he pleased.
"It is about time we ended this," Thor said to his enemy and raised Mjolnir above his head; ready to give the killer blow.
Surt looked on with dread.
But a pain grabbed at his heart. His heart skipped a beat and another beat. The pain was so unbearable that the God of Thunder dropped to one knee.
"What is happening to me?" he asked; his words painful to come from his mouth.
Thor saw into his heart and mind, linking them as one, and saw Jane. She was pale and sickly. Her eyes were glossy as her fingers loosened around a hand that she held. There was one final breath that she released and a loud noise of an apparatus that was monitoring her life.
His heart broke as Jane Foster suddenly died.
"No!" Thor cried out to the sky above him.
Sif charged toward the throne room and saw Thor as his hammer dropped to his knees and collapsed backwards.
Surtur was there, getting up after being nearly defeated. He was taking advantage of Thor's pain.
She finished with the demon, grabbed her sword from the gut, and raced down the aisle to her lover's side.
"Farewell, Prince of Asgard," the demonic king loathed as his flaming blade nearly struck down upon her lord.
Sif sliced upward across Surtur's chest before he could strike Thor with his sword and finally staked him in his own abdomen.
"Back off!" she said to him.
The fiery king fell backwards, coming off her two-bladed sword, and crashed to the ground.
After all the hell that they had been through, all the years of fighting, it was finally over…and she would be remembered in the stories told from this day forward.
She bent down to check on Thor who was in agony from his chest pain. "Come on Thor," she said. "Tell me what to do."
She dragged him upright and that is when the rest of the Warriors Three arrived from clearing their way through the palace.
"What is wrong?" Hogun asked.
"Is he wounded?" Volstagg wanted to know.
"I do not know," she replied. "He was about to kill Surt when he suddenly collapsed."
"It's Jane," Thor blurted out beyond painful gasps in breath. "It's Jane. She's dying."
Dying, Sif thought. How could she be dying and at the worst possible time ever?
"Heimdall," Thor called out softly as he tried to get to his feet. "Heimdall."
"He may not be able to hear us," Fandral said. "We need to get out here. We'll go back to Asgard and see what the Allfather has to say."
They were in agreement, but Sif had Hogun and Fandral assist Thor in leaving the palace.
Her eyes returned to Surt's body that was lying on the floor, still and dead.
But his people would take care of him. They needed to care for their prince now.
Once back at their camp, their troops broke it down, and summoned for a portal so they could return to their home realm.
They passed through the portal that led into Asgard.
Asgardians of all rank and stature met the portal and began to celebrate with dance, music, and flower petals raining from the balconies above. Soldiers cheered that they were coming home.
The warriors continued until they arrived to the castle.
Lord Odin and Queen Frigga were there to greet them.
Sif tried to hold Thor back, but he charged ahead to meet them.
"Father," he said, "I need you."
"Come in and help yourselves to a celebratory feast in your honor, my son," Odin was trying to welcome them back.
"Something is wrong with Jane on Midgard," Thor asked in desperation with his hands on his father's biceps. "I saw another vision of her. She is dying at Loki's hands."
"Loki?" his father said softly. "Are you certain son?"
"You of all people should know," he said. "Do you not see everything? Would Heimdall not have told you what he has foreseen?"
"Come to the palace son," his father interrupted him, "and all will be explained to you through the gift of vision."
Oh I wonder what will happen...actually I know what is going to happen, but you have to review if you want more.
