Chapter Fourteen
No. It couldn't be. If half the tales told of the Flickering Realm were true...
Odin felt his stomach clench. Atum stared at him steadily, impassively. Frigga cried out and Loki burst into wordless sobs again. No. Not wordless. As Frigga turned to embrace their son, Odin heard the words Loki was saying over and over, like a chant, a spell, a prayer- 'I'm sorry. I'm sorry.'
Odin forced himself to move forward, and examined the portal before meeting Atum's eyes.
"Could this be re-opened to retrieve them?"
"No." A dark, malicious voice echoed from all around them. Atum tensed, clenching his fists. Odin's expression became grim, and Frigga's already pale face went utterly ashen, and she pulled Loki into her arms, protecting him as best she could.
Chthon's voice- for that was they all knew it to be- laughed mockingly at them.
"The young ones live, for now. They will perhaps survive for a matter of days, if I allow it. If Atum comes willingly to my realm, I will allow him to see that they are unharmed. If not... prepare yourselves for grief."
As the echoes of the evil voice faded, the occupants of the room stood in silence.
Atum spoke first. "Does he really expect me to fall for that?" He shook his head in disbelief. How foolish did Chthon think he was?
Frigga's panicked eyes focused on him.
"He said the children will go free if you do as he asks. If you pretend to co-operate..."
"I will be doing nothing of the sort." Atum's voice was decisive.
Frigga looked ready to argue, but Odin quickly forestalled her. He studied Atum closely- there might be a good reason why he had refused.
He spoke cautiously, choosing his words carefully.
"Do you truly care so little for your half-brother that you would allow him to die?"
Atum rolled his eyes in exasperation.
"Thor and the girl would be guaranteed to die if I did do as Chthon asked."
Loki blinked, confused. "But he said he'd free them if you went to his realm."
Atum wanted to throttle the boy for his naive presumptions. "No, he did not. He said that I would see them unharmed, if I entered the Flickering Realm. Meaning that, as soon as he has what he wants, they will be of no further value, and he will let them die. Make no mistake: they survive there now only because he wishes them to."
"I will send another to retrieve them then." Odin considered his warriors- who would be willing to undertake something as dangerous as this?
Atum rounded on him. "Did you hear nothing of what I just said?! No-one of your race could survive in Chthon's presence unless he explicitly wished them to! Anyone you send to retrieve the children will be dead within minutes."
"But you can survive there." Frigga's voice was desperate now. "You have to go after them!"
Odin winced. No-one in their right mind told Atum what to do. He moved in front of Frigga, in case he had to defend her.
Atum's next words came through clenched teeth.
"Do not presume to give me orders, Asgardian. I have already stated why I will not be entering the Flickering Realms myself, and I am not subject to your commands. I might, if I am so inclined, find another way to retrieve the brats, but do not ask any more of me than that." With a final glower, he strode out of the room.
Odin and Frigga exchanged worried looks.
"Odin...if he will not help us..."
"We will find another way, dearest. I will summon all magic users within Asgard at once. There has to be some means of accessing the Flickering Realms safely..."
"Father," Loki spoke up shyly. "May I help? This entire mess is my fault..." Tears pooled in his eyes as he looked at the floor.
Odin shook his head. He understood his son's guilt, but this was far too dangerous for him.
"No, Loki. Thor is already in jepoardy, I cannot risk you also."
Loki nodded, sniffing. "Could I at least research for knowledge of the Flickering Realms? I might be able to discover something useful..."
Odin nodded, and Loki walked away slowly, his shoulders slumped. Odin turned to Frigga.
"Can you arrange a meeting for the council as early as tomorrow at dawn?"
"Tomorrow? Odin, who knows what the children are facing at the moment? You cannot plan to leave it that long!"
He placed a hand on her shoulder reassuringly. She shrugged him off. Odin sighed.
"I cannot convene the council today because I need to see if Jord will speak to me." His voice was weary. "She needs to know what is happening, and I also hope she will be able to persuade Atum to be of some use. If I am successful, we may not need aid from other sorcerors."
"And in the meantime, Thor and Sif are facing who-knows-what at Chthon's mercy!"
"We have no choice, Frigga, do you understand that? We will just have to pray to the Norns that they will survive until we can reach them."
Frigga's expression was stern, though her eyes were fraught with worry.
"I hope your faith in them is enough to see them through this nightmare." she said cuttingly, glaring at Odin. "I will arrange for the meeting you have requested, then I am going to inform Tyr, Heimdall and Alti of the news. I hope I have some good tidings to give them soon, my Lord."
She walked away without a backward glance.
Odin put his head in his hands. What did she expect him to do? He was as petrified about Thor and Sif's fates as she was, but he had to believe they still lived. Immediate action, if done without thought, could change that. They would hold out for a day or two. They had to...
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Sif sat up slowly, dazed and confused. The last thing she remembered was falling...
"Are you alright?" Thor's voice startled her, but she hid it quickly, and climbed to her feet.
"I think so." Memories of what had happened came flooding back suddenly- her room cloaked in darkness, Thor coming in, the windstorm dragging them towards the portal... "Where are we?"
Thor shrugged uneasily. "I don't know. This place seems to keep changing, and I would have explored, but I didn't want to go too far from you while you were unconscious."
Sif looked around at the landscape. It was a bleak place, from what she could see of it:
The light was dim, as though lit by a perpetual sunset, and the shadows were long and dark. Spires and islands of rock seemed to provide the only secure 'land' for as far as the eye could see. Above them, the black and orange sky seemed to writhe. Planet-like shapes that appeared occasionally exploded or disintergrated periodically. Everything within this desolate place seemed to gravitate towards an enormous, endless shadow that lurked at one end of the dimension. Scuttling, slithering noises could be heard, and as Sif glanced around, she saw numerous reptillian shapes darting in and out of sight.
She shuddered, and Thor, who had been following her gaze, nodded.
"My sentiments exactly. I can't see any evidence of a portal out of here. I don't know if it's worth going to look for one? We will have to look for food and water anyway, so..."
Sif looked around nervously. "It might be better to stay close to where we entered, Thor. I have no idea how big this place is, and if we got lost..." She shivered at the thought. "Besides, do you really think there is any suitable food or water for such as us in a place like this?"
"There has to be some sort of nourishment nearby, the N'Garai have to eat, surely?"
Sif blinked at Thor, startled. "The N'Garai? The Elder Chthon's spawn? Is that what those things are? And how do you know anyway?"
Thor mentally kicked himself- he had forgotten that Sif didn't know that Chthon was the being that had haunted Asgard. He explained quickly, trying to make it sound less serious than it was.
Sif was pale with fright by the time he had finished, however, but she made an effort to stay calm.
"I'm sure someone will come and find us soon. I don't think we should move around too much. I do not want to draw the attention of those demons, and I would imagine you don't either."
Thor shook his head. "The N'Garai are the least of our problems, really." He gestured at the garguntuan shadow. "I think that is the Elder itself." He frowned slightly. "There's one thing I don't understand, though. I was under the impression that being in this place for more than a few minutes would mean death, yet I feel fine. Are you alright?"
Sif nodded.
"For now..."
The voice seemed to be coming from everywhere at once, and was almost deafening. Just the sound of it made despair wash over the two young Asgardians. This place was entirely under Chthon's control, and nothing got in or out without his permission. How would they ever get away?
As the horrific voice faded, sounds of the N'Garai's movement could be heard again- moving towards Thor and Sif. They moved immediately, hiding themselves in the shadow at the base of a cliff. Nonetheless, they drew whatever weapons they had. (Thor, a dagger from inside his boot, Sif a small pair of throwing knives that had been concealed in her sleeves.) They knew their time was limited. There were only two of them, and scores of N'Garai. If it came to a fight, help would have to come very swiftly...
To be continued...