I had never been down to the vaults before, and I wasn't looking forward to it. I followed behind Odin, Loki, and Thor silently, still gripping Obsidian tightly in my hand. Echo was padding silently behind me, the only sound coming from his nails scratching against the floor. When we arrived in the vault everything was frozen, and the vault itself was so cold that I could see my breath in front of my face. Echo moved forward and pressed his giant body against me, warmth radiating from under his fur. Odin walked forward to examine a giant blue box on a pedestal on the far wall of the room as Thor stooped low onto the ground examining the bodies of the fallen guards.
Loki stood next to me un-moving. He had been acting really weird since the ceremony, not really saying anything.
"The Jotuns must pay for what they've done!" Thor roared standing up, anger flashing in their eyes.
"They have, with their lives." Odin said calmly, examining the square box glowing blue. "The Destroyer did it's work, the Casket is safe, and all is well."
"All is well?" Thor shouted, Mjolnir started to spark to life, electricity humming in the air. "They broke into the Weapons Vault! If the Frost Giants had stolen even one of these relics..."
"But they didn't." I said trying to soothe Thor's anger.
He has always had a bad temper, as long as I have known him. Letting it all out now in front of Odin is not a good idea.
Thor whirred to look at me.
"I want to know why!" He said just as loudly.
"We have a truce with Laufey." I shouted back, starting to get angry.
Loki placed his hand in mine.
"Cade, it's okay." He hummed through my mind.
"He just broke that truce!" Thor reasoned turning back to Odin. "They know we're vulnerable."
Odin finally looked up from the casket and trained his eye on Thor. "What action would you take?" He asked him, still in a calm voice.
I opened my mouth to speak, but Loki pulled me backward against his chest. "Just let them talk it out. If Thor wants to make Odin mad then let him." He said, wrapping his arms around my waist.
I allowed Obsidian to shift back into a bracelet on my wrist.
I really don't want to cut Loki. That might ruin the mood.
"March into Jotunheim as you once did, teach them a lesson, break their spirits so they will never try to cross our borders ever again!" Thor said eagerly.
"You are talking as a warrior." Odin replied taking a step towards Thor.
Echo started shifting back and forth. He could sense a fight coming, and I could too.
"But this was an act of war!" Thor shouted louder. He looked at me to try and get me to agree with him, but I said nothing. Loki squeezed me tighter against him.
Worry was swirling inside of him, and something else, something he was shielding from me.
"Loki, it will be all right." I murmured, pressing a kiss to the tip of his chin.
"Their plan was doomed to fail. We will find the leak and seal it." Odin continued, still in a calm voice.
"As the king of Asgard-" Thor began to say.
"But you're not king!" Odin shouted, finally loosing his cool.
A chill crept into the room, and Loki stiffened behind me, realizing what Odin had just said.
"Not yet." Odin finished, a taunting smile on his face.
Thor stormed away, electricity crackling in the room around us.
Loki and I started to leave as well, but Odin stopped me.
"Cadence could you stay here a moment?" Odin asked me, a stoic expression on his face.
"Yes, my king." I said bowing my head. "Loki can you take Echo and go try to calm down Thor. Make sure he doesn't electrocute anyone please."
Loki nodded slowly and began to walk away with Echo following close behind him.
I turned back to look at Odin. He was no longer standing up straight, but was leaning against the pedestal holding the blue box.
"Are you all right?" I took a step towards him, ready to help him to his feet.
He nodded and waved me away. "At the moment, but I can feel the Odinsleep coming quickly."
"Oh."
"Cadence I just wanted to ask you to watch over Thor and Loki. The pull to go into the Odinsleep is much stronger and I fear that I will not be able to guide them much longer. I need you to be the shoulder they can lean on Cadence, you have to promise me that." Odin said to me.
"Yes of course. I will always be there for Thor and Loki. I promise." I responded immediately.
He smiled and stood up straight.
I slowly went up the stairs and went full speed to find Loki and Thor.
"This is madness, just madness!" I heard Frandral shout from a room ahead.
I pushed open the doors suddenly. "What did I miss?" I shouted.
Loki and Thor were standing by the back windows that where open showing the glory of Asgard. The sky was getting darker, almost to the point of rain, but it was probably Thor.
The warriors three were clustered to the side, with Sif standing with them.
"We're going to Jotunheim." Thor shouted merrily.
"Nope, no way. Not after the discussion you just had with your father! There is no way we are going." I said.
Sif turned around and stared coldly at me.
We weren't even on Jotunheim and I was already having chills.
"Would you look at that the little Valkyrie is scared!" She taunted me.
"Sif, if you keep talking this little Valkyrie is going to rip your head off." I retorted, smiling sweetly.
Echo let out a growl from where he was sitting next to Loki.
Thor laughed at my threat.
"Now my friends, let's not fight! I know that this journey may seem impossible, but I know it will be worth it." Thor said trying to inspire us.
"Fine I will go, but only to make sure you don't do anything stupid." I said casually.
Loki chuckled under his breath and stood up. Echo looks around the room, and sighed before getting to his feet.
I guess he was coming too.
We made our way down the rainbow bridge quickly, but we wouldn't be able to sneak past Heimdall. In his own words he could "see all.", plus we needed him to open up the Bifrost.
He was waiting for us, his speculation all over his face.
"I got this," Loki whispered and took a step forward. "Good morrow Heim-"
Heimdall cut him off abruptly, "I know you wish to go to Jotunheim, you are not dressed warmly enough."
I pulled my dark cloak around me tighter.
"Do you think that you can deceive me? Today of all days? Not one enemy has ever made it past my defenses, until this very day." He said in that calm voice of his. His golden eyes looked at us all coldly.
"Then let us go to Jotunheim and figure out what happened for you." Thor interjected smoothly.
Heimdall narrowed his eyes, but walked away from the entrance and onto the pedestal.
"What happened, silver tongue turn to lead?" Volstagg jeered as he lumbered past Loki.
"Volstagg don't be jealous that Loki is smoother than you. It isn't becoming." I teased him.
He let out a booming laugh and walked to the swirling opening in the wall.
"Are you sure about this?" I asked Loki.
He placed one of his hands against my face and turned it towards him.
"I promise I won't let anything happen to you Cade. Have I ever broken any of my promises to you?"
I shook my head. His lips softly brushed mine, and I met them with mine just as eagerly.
"Hey, love birds come on!" I heard Frandral yell.
I pulled back and looked at everyone waiting for us. I focused on Thor and saw something cross over his face, but it was gone as soon as I saw it.
As Heimdall opened the Bifrost, he shouted a warning, "I swore an oath to protect Asgard, and if letting you back endangers Asgard, I will leave you on Jotunheim to die in the cold."
Echo growled in responce.
"Heimdall you are just as positive as I remember." I shouted over the roar of the Bifrost.
A twitch of a smile pulled at his lips.
"Couldn't you just leave the Bifrost open for us?" Thor asked him.
"To leave it open would unleash the full power of the Bifrost onto Jotunheim, destroying you and Jotunheim." He replied calmly.
"I have no plans to die today." Thor announced a broad smile on his face.
"None do." I murmured under my breath.
Heimdall turned and looked at me. He opened his mouth to speak, but whatever he said next was lost as we were pulled into the Bifrost.
If you've never been to Jotunheim all you need to know is it's cold and it snows, and it all looks exactly the same. I have heard so many stories of Asgardians dying in the wilderness of Jotunheim because they had no idea where they were going. I had only been to Jotunheim once with Odin, the time that I got Echo, and that one time was enough. Last time I said I would never come back. Laufey was a creepy guy and the last time I was here, he offered Odin several hundred of his ice crystals, in exchange for me. A story that when I told Loki he laughed like a maniac and said I should have stayed with a frost giant, because they would make me happier than a normal Asgardian guy.
We landed in the middle of a frozen plateau, the thunder of the Bifrost echoing around us, across the frozen terrain.
"So which way?" I asked Thor. "Should we flip a coin?"
"My gut says that way." Volstagg said, pointing out in front of us.
"And that is never wrong!" Frandral teased, laughing.
Sif rolled her eyes, just as saucy as usual.
We set off towards the North, hoping that we were going the right way. A frozen palace, rose in front of us, sitting in ruin, no doubt from the last war.
Laufey sat in the shadows of the ruined building, lounging in a frozen throne a sly smile on his lips.
"You've come a long way to die Asgardians." Laufey challenged from his throne.
My eyes crept to the edges of the ruins around us, noticing the frost giants hiding in the shadows.
Well we are surrounded. Great.
Echo growled, his hackles raising. His gaze was focused on the closet frost giant, his lips pulled into a snarl.
He must remember what happened here.
"I am Thor Odinson." Thor shouted, his voice echoing.
"I know who you are boy." Laufey snapped. His gaze turned to me. "Have you come to accept my offer?" He said leering, his gaze racking over my body.
Obsidian lengthened into a huge sword in my hand, almost the height and width I was. I raised it in a challenge for him to come closer to me, my lips pulling back into a snarl.
Laufey chuckled. "I'll take that as a no then."
Loki stepped in front of me protectively, a wicked smirk on his face.
"We are not here to discuss that." Thor bellowed. He too shifted his stance to stand in front of me.
"Unfortunately." I heard Sif murmur under her breath.
Can I get one break? One small break?
"How did your people get into Asgard?" Thor said this, electricity began to hum in the air.
Laufey was still leering at me, but he finally shifted his cold black eyes to look at Thor. "There are traitors in the house of Odin."
Storm clouds began to form quickly above us, thunder rumbling across the sky. "Do not dishonor my father's house with your lies?" Thor bellowed angrily.
"Your father is a murder and a thief. Why did you come here? To start a war? You crave it! You are only a boy pretending you are a man." Laufey spat standing to his feet.
"This boy has grown tired of your mockery." Thor growled low.
"Thor stop and think. Look around you we are out numbered." Loki whispered quickly in his ear.
I leaned forward putting my free hand on Thor's shoulder.
"Don't let Laufey get to you. He wants this war more than you do." I said trying to calm Thor down.
He turned, his bright blue eyes finding mine.
"Thor please. Let's go." I pleaded with him.
He locked his jaw, but I knew he would stop.
I breathed a sigh of relief.
Loki turned to Laufey. " We appreciate you generosity." He said with a wave of his hand.
He grabbed my hand and turned around walking back the way we had come, but as we walked back a frost giant stepped in front of us, blocking our path.
"Cadence will stay. The rest of you are free to go." I heard Laufey say calmly, still standing.
Shit.
I turned to face him. "Why me?"
"You are the last Valkyrie in existence, something that I wish to have at my disposal." He smiled at me, showing yellow teeth.
"Unfortunately that is not going to happen." I whistled loudly and Echo lunged on the frost giant in front of us instantly tearing out his throat. The blue black blood of the giant splattered onto the snow.
"Damn." Loki muttered under his breath drawing his knives.
Frost giants exploded from all around us, crawling all over the snow.
A wicked smile gleamed on Thor's face as he charged the hoard of frost giants rising from the ground like a swarm of bees.
I charged in behind him swinging my sword at anything that moved. Echo flanked me, slashing with his claws and tearing at frost giants that dared to come near us.
Why me? Laufey could have anybody else. Why me?
I heard Volstagg cry out in pain to my left. He was grasping his arm, that had turned blue from the cold.
"Don't let em touch you!" He bellowed as he swung his axe into the nearest frost giant.
Okay and they can't touch you. How did Laufey think this relationship was going to work?
A frost giant came out of the ground in front of and attempted to grab my leg. I swung my sword down and cut off his head clean off.
I let Obsidian shift in my hand, becoming dual blades, letting me go hand to hand with a frost giant on the right.
He laughed at me, probably thinking about my size no doubt.
It's not my fault I'm short, but sure underestimate me.
He swung his fist down into the ground, ice rose in sharp spikes and raced towards me. I rolled out of the way, my blades in my hands. I raced forward catapaulting myself off the ice, and driving my two knives into his back.
He screamed in pain and tried to reach around himself to grab me, but I was too quick. I dug the knives in deeper, tearing through the front of his chest. I pulled with all my might, and severed the monster in two.
"Loki, where are you?" I thought desperately trying to find him in the chaos.
I rose off the ground and flew in the direction I thought he had gone, looking through the mass of bodies for a flash of green.
I found him.
His arm was in the grasp of a frost giant, but Loki wasn't screaming in pain. His entire arm was becoming blue, almost like he was shifting. I had seen Loki shape shift before, but this was just odd. I landed beside him and drove my sword through the frost giant in front of him.
"Loki are you alright?" I asked him, pulling his blue arm towards me, so that I could look at it. His wrist gauntlets had cracked and fallen off in the cold temperature of the giant's grasp.
That's impossible, he should have lost his arm, but it was fine. It was actually turning back to it's usual color.
"I think so." Loki whispered to me softly, still looking down at his arm. He looked me in the eye, fear flashing behind his.
I opened my mouth to speak, but before I could I saw Frandral go down.
"Loki we have to go now." I grabbed him and pulled him towards Frandral.
Volstagg had him by one arm and Sif had him by the other.
Echo materialized out of the shadows, his usual grey coat now spotted with black blood. He seemed happy, which was kind of unnerving.
As we made our way towards the way we had come in, frost giants rose around us.
"Do you ever give up?" I said angrily.
Thor landed in front of us and slammed his hammer into the ground, successfully clearing the way.
"Miss me?" He asked me, having way too much fun.
"No." I said frowning.
He rolled his eyes. "Come on."
We ran over the frozen terrain, with the entire frost giant army on our heels.
Heimdall is definitely not going to open the Bifrost.
Loki was by my side, silently gliding next to me, not talking.
When we reached the cliff, Thor cried out for Heimdall, but nothing happened.
"Okay, new plan. Not dying!" I shouted and raised Obsidian in front of me.
That is a lot of frost giants.
Thor stood beside me, his hammer raised in a challenge.
"I like that plan." Sif said holding out her sword as well.
Wow the first nice thing she has ever said to me, right before we die.
Laufey was leading his giants right towards us.
"Well, Cadence if you had stayed I would have spared your friends, but now I guess not." He teased with a gleam in his eyes.
"I'd rather die with them, than ever be with you." I snarled.
Anger flashed in Laufey's face, and as he lunged forward a brilliant beam of light cut through the darkness of Jotunheim. Odin appeared in armor of gleaming gold upon a giant black horse.
"Yes father! We will finish them together!" Thor shouted a crazy smile on his face.
Really?
"Silence!" Odin bellowed, a murderous look on his face.
"Allfather, you look weary." Laufey taunted.
"Laufey, end this now." Odin said ignoring Laufey's jeer.
"Your boy sought this out, and now there is only war."
"Then look at these actions as a boy being foolish." Odin continued.
"They have shed blood. We are beyond diplomacy now." Laufey cocked his head to the side, finding me behind Odin. "But if you are willing to acknowledge our deal, maybe I would make an exception."
A chill went through me, and I tried really hard not to throw up.
Loki placed his hand in mine, trying to comfort my nerves.
"No." Odin said flatly.
"Then your boy will have what he wanted, war." Laufey snarled.
"So be it." Odin challenged.
As Laufey and his men charged forward, Heimdall took us back to Asgard swiftly.