It was the last thing Illya Kuryakin expected to encounter in Sweden; the THRUSH satrapy he and Solo had finally located in Uppsala was run by a man named Ingram Söderberg.
The man was enamored of the old Norse gods, and he built his facility in an out of the way location, modeling it after a very famous temple called Ubsola.
But Illya suspected Söderberg's version of Norse beliefs was most likely perverted to suit his purposes somehow as he was a member of T.H.R.U.S.H after all…
Going by the descriptions in the ancient Gesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiae pontificum, Adam of Bremen provided a description of the temple, parts of which these Thrushies had copied in the construction of their satrapy.
'It was adorned with gold with a triple throne for three gods. In the center sat the mightiest and that was Odin seated on either side of him was his son Thor and his wife Frigga. A golden chain surrounded the temple and hung from the gables of the building. Beside the temple stood a great tree with its branches spread wide."
The triple thrones which were physically unoccupied stood outside the front of the building, but what Illya observed was something to even turn the strongest of stomachs.
The satrapy most certainly filled Bremen's description right down to the sacrifices.
Sacrifices in the Norse tradition continued for nine days, and during the course of each day a man was sacrificed along with two animals.
This was the time of the spring equinox, and Kuryakin presumed it was of significance as to why they'd be making all these sacrifices.
There were dozens of animals that had already been killed, a horse, cow, elk, a dog, cat, rooster...the list went on and on.
It included a number of human corpses as well, their bloated bodies hanging with indifference; the stench of it all was nearly overwhelming and Illya covered his nose with his handkerchief.
As far as he could see, Solo wasn't among them
An appointed priest was the one offer up sacrifices to the deities from the people. In this case Ingram Söderberg was the priest and the people were the members of his satrapy.
Söderberg was dressed in clothing that the ancient Scandinavians wore; he was covered with animal skins, a leather jerkin and he walked in leather sandals.
His people wore similar getups, along with robes, capes and some with metal war helmets. Others bore large wooden shields with painted runes and symbols, and they wore swords at their sides.
He found it amazing the kind of lunatics T.H.R.U.S.H. would gather into their midst, then again the Hierarchy consisted of power hungry mad men so this lot probably fit in quite well in their own way.
As Illya continued to watch the carnage taking place in the middle of this so-called sacred grove, until he finally spotted his partner.
Napoleon had been stripped, and was bound to a pole; his head drooped forward and for a split second Illya feared he was dead, but then Solo raised his head, looking at his captors for a brief moment before closing his eyes.
It was only a matter of minutes before Napoleon would have his throat cut; they would drain his blood into a wooden bowl and scatter it with a branch from their sacred tree on the three thrones where presumably the entities of Thor, Odin and Frigga sat, although they invisible to all.
The Russian knew of course, they weren't there.
Illya had to move fast, and he went to the side of the building not visible to the others; there he found a open window and he quickly climbed inside.
No one was there, as it seemed everyone was outside for their rituals.
Looking around, he spotted a blanket embroidered with Nordic symbols. He grabbed that, wrapped it around himself like a cape, covering his own clothing. Mounted on the was was a long barbed spear called a krókspjót. Though such spears were made of iron, this one was not, and was obviously a replica as it was shiney, and most likely made of stainless steel with a silver plating.
He removed the long spear, and holding it, it looked quite menacing as it was taller than him.
There were oil lamps in front of a nearby shrine; Illya took his handkerchief and after blowing out one of the lamps he dabbed the cloth into the oil and smeared spearhead with it.
He had several small glass smoke bombs in his pockets, and hoped that would help mask the scene he was about to create in order to save his partner. There was simply too many of them for him to use his gun, so a bit of trickery was needed instead.
He lit the spearhead, letting it burn like a torch and stepping out of the building, he took a deep breath and tossed one of the smoke bombs in front of himself.
Illya walked through the smoke, which had gotten everyone's attention. As he came into view with his cape the flaming spear, the effect of it was quite dramatic, and it made him look otherworldly.
In the loudest voice he could muster, he bellowed in Finnish, then Swedish, and lastly in Russian, commanding them to stop.
"Minä käsken sinua lopettamaan! Jag beordrar dig att sluta! YA prikazyvayu tebe ostanovit'sya!"
"Who are you my lord?" Söderberg called out in Swedish.
That told Kuryakin the man was taking the bait.
Illya replied in Swedish. "I am...Loki and my fellow gods are not pleased with this human you have chosen for sacrifice. He is not one of you. I command you release him NOW!"
One of the underling Thrushies was so awestruck that he immediately obeyed and cut Solo free.
Napoleon dropped to his knees at first, but when he looked up and realized it was his partner putting on the show, he quickly stood. The man who released him handed him his cape and Solo wrapped it around himself.
VY!" Illya shouted in Russian as he knew Napoleon would understand him."Podoydi ko mne, TEPER'!"
Napoleon obeyed his partner's order to come to him.
Just for good measure Illya called for another sacrifice.
"Du!" Kuryakin pointed at Söderberg. "Jag väljer dig!"
He'd chosen him as the sacrifice to be made.
Illya threw his still burning spear and it landed right at the feet of Söderberg; the Thrushies grabbed the now screaming man and tied him to the pole where Solo had been.
"NOW! Illya called out in Swedish.
He and Napoleon heard the gurgling scream as Kuryakin threw the remaining smoke bomb, and they ran inside the building using the white cloud as cover.
Illya knocked over the remaining oil lamps, setting the place on fire. It went up fast as the agents escaped through the window which Illya had first entered.
Solo wrapped the cloak tightly around himself as he followed his partner to where he'd parked their car off in the woods.
Their valises were still in the trunk; Napoleon took but a few seconds to grab some clothing and dressed himself in the car while Illya took the wheel.
"Söderberg...that was heartless Illya," Napoleon said as he slipped into a shirt. He was well aware of his partner's ruthless side, but this definitely surprised the American.
"Oh I should have let him slit your throat instead?"
"Well no, of course not."
"Napoleon we would have eventually killed him ourselves, so it is immaterial that he died at the hands of his own people as a supposed sacrifice. Their satrapy is destroyed, and their leader is dead. Those birds will flutter off quickly enough, and the Council will most likely kill them because of what happened here."
Illya's attention had been taken away for a split second, and Napoleon yelled as something had just appeared in the road in front of them.
"Look out!"
Kuryakin slammed on the brakes, sending a cloud of dirt into the air around them.
A figure dressed in green leather, and wearing a helmet with large horns stepped towards the car.
His hair was as black as raven, and his eyes piercing, at first they seemed blue but then looked green, either way they were a contrast to the palness of his skin.
In his hand he held a scepter that had a long golden handle and a black fitting which held a blue gem encircled with silver blades. He pointed it at them.
"Those idiots were becoming tiresome. Thor wouldn't do anything about them, and now thanks to you, I can't be blamed. Still I don't think you were as good a Loki as I am."
He disappeared in the blink of an eye, but just as quickly he reappeared.
"By the way the burning spear and smoke bombs were well done."
Blip… he was gone again.
Napoleon and Illya sat for a second, staring at each other.
"I won't say anything if you don't tovarisch."
"Mmm-huh," Illya nodded, still wide-eyed in disbelief.
They'd both seen some pretty strange things over the years but this one just might have taken the cake.