Chapter twenty-five

The Asgardian's visit to Jotunheim was going surprisingly well. Not in the fact that many agreements and treaties were being made, but more in the sense that no one had died yet. There were many times, however, when it felt like an outright war would break out in the middle of a corridor or in the great feast that had been thrown in their honour. It was definitely a good thing seeing as how the chieftains were visiting; their policies were more along the lines of stab-stab, kill-kill and war-war. That would be pretty interesting, as the other option, sitting in awkward silence was dead boring.

I was sitting on my own, in the shadow of the queen; the Asgardians on the other side of Farbuati so anyway of annoying them was out of the question. Tritan was all the way on the other side of the hall all we could do was send funny faces at each other and winks when no one was looking.

Several times during dinner I considered getting up and sneaking away to see Bonecrusher. Flying is way better than anything that could happen in this hall. I was about to shoot a glance at Tritan and leave, when I caught the gaze of Drafilie. It was cold, staring straight at me and made me incredibly uneasy. I shifted uncomfortably but excused myself to Farbuati and left the hall.

I walked along the cold, dark halls of the Jotun ice palace. The fire that burned on the many torches did little to light the halls and instead threw long shadows that made the corridors more menacing. I stepped out to the ever darkening courtyard, dusk hanging on the edges of the horizon.

"Was it me, or was it a bit tense in there?" Tritan asked from beside me. I jumped before looking at him.

"I didn't see you leave." I said. "And yeah, I couldn't sit there a minute longer."

Tritan glanced around the courtyard before he told me, "I think my father has figured out that you and I have been secretly meeting for the past few nights." His tone was tense and his red gaze swept across the courtyard and into the dark corners where the light couldn't reach. I tensed slightly, but walked over to the two chained Ice Beasts.

"And what will he do?" I asked. "It's not like we've been doing anything wrong."

"No," Tritan agreed. The colour in his face darkened somewhat. I smirked at his awkwardness. I nudged him with my elbow. He smiled and returned my nudge.

I smiled more broadly and prepared to have a small play fight when Tritan's stance sobered and he said, "My father will not be happy when he discovered you've been coddling his Ice Beast."

"Codling?" I repeated. "Is what I've been doing really so bad? All I've done is show Bonecrusher some semblance of kindness and I'll be punished for it?"

"Not you. You won't be punished." Tritan said. "You don't understand what my father does and how he is." Tritan warned me. I shook my head and continued further into the courtyard.

"I don't care, Tritan." I said. "Well I do care, but I don't care that you're father is crazy, or how he will react. He has no right."

"No." Tritan said. "Bonecrusher is his, don't you see that? He wants an army of Ice Beasts and that's what he will get. He will launch war on Asgard and he will..." Tritan trailed off. He tilted his head to the side and listened. "We are not alone." His expression became remote towards me. I looked away, we had reached the Ice Beasts I greeted Bonecrusher by stroking him under the chin.

"We know you're here, Asgardians." I said, not taking my gaze off Bonecrusher. He purred in response.

"So that was your grand plan?" Sif asked, coming out of the shadows. "Lure us here and kill us?"

"No, and no." I replied. "One, we didn't lure you her, you came of your own accord. Two, Farbuati has no intention of breaking the peace treaty to launch a war we have no way of winning. We learn from our mistakes you know."

"I don't believe you." She said. A sword whined out of its sheath.

Bonecrusher growled at her and stepped around me to face her. His teeth were bared and his eyes were slits.

"Enough." A voice growled from the darkness.

The small cabin on the edge of the forest stood empty. Of course it had stood empty for decades before now, but this time it was different.

There were obvious signs that whoever had been living there had left in a rush. Snow had been thrown everywhere and had melted as the red and white Quinjet had taken off. Trials of footprints led to and from the cabin so many times that the snow had begun to mingle with the quickly forming mud.

The holes in the roof that had once been patched by magic now began to wear away. The enchantments gone, leaving only holes. A once comfy and secluded home was now reduced to simply being another abandoned cabin on the edge of the woods.

Inside the cabin, dust that had been recently disturbed began to settle once again on the various possessions the recent tenants had left behind. Different personalities shone out of different objects, baskets of wool, game cases and weapons were the most prominent. Not much had been left, but there was enough to know that the multitude of owners would not be back for them.

Outside, surrounding the cabin, the forest was alive as ever. Birds chirped, bushes rustled as creatures moved through them and small squirrels darted up and down the trunks of trees. Gradually, the animals began to bunker down against the storm that was pressing closer. The clouds were thick, dull and a dark grey. Dawn was coming, and with it, a rescue mission unlike any other.

The Avengers Quinjet flew through the skies at high altitude, soaring over seemingly empty forests. Inside, conditions were cramped. Eight people and two dragons that were ready for a fight that had long been coming did not leave much room for comfort. Every hero, anti-hero and mythical creature were suited up. Strapped to the humans were their various iconic weapons: the shield, the hammer, the armour, the bow, the guns and the Katanas. A few were not in sight, like the dragons teeth, or the metal coated claws and the green skin.

Deadpool had sharpened his Katanas before they left with a near religious zeal, loaded his guns and packed his pouches with enough explosives to make a mountain side quake. He knew confidently that if he swung his swords, shoot his guns or leave a grenade anywhere, the surrounding people would be cut down like wheat in a field.

Tonight was the night.

The two large dragons shifted, unused to the small amount of space. After days of flying, soaring, generally avoiding the small cabin at the edge of the woods, and hunting to gain strength for the oncoming battle, the space inside the Avengers Quinjet felt near on claustrophobic. But they would endure it, for her; the girl they cared so much for.

Although everyone in the plane knew the dark haired, electric-blue eyed girl well that they cared more than enough to save, none of them felt as determined to save her than Deadpool felt he did. He felt like he owed it to her, after all she had given him. She had given him friendship, when no one else would, when everyone called him a monster and a psychopath. It was because of that, and the various other promises that he had made to himself for her. That and a few other things. Okay, Deadpool owed Ink a lot, and right now saving her was the best he could do to repay her.

"Enough." A voice emitted from the shadows, ringing out into the dusk. I would've known that voice from anywhere, so did Bonecrusher. He's purrs stopped immediately, he withdrew himself and stepped away. His averted his gaze from me and stared at the frost covered ground. However, he still kept that protective stance that he had taken to protect me from Sif. Now he was protecting me from his master.

"Father," Tritan said, already becoming a statue. His face became unreadable and cold, two things that he was the opposite of.

"No." Drafilie said and stepped out of the shadows and into the half light of dusk. The scars twisted around his face, looking gruesome and menacing as ever. "This time, you have gone too far."

The Asgardians shifted uncomfortably, their armour groaning and weapons whining. This wasn't about them, it had never been about them, and they were beginning to see that. Only now did I truly begin to understand how dangerous Drafilie was. Farbuati had always held him at arm's length when it came to the meetings, and he was always at the far end of the hall whenever we had dinner.

Bonecrusher grumbled quietly, slowly sinking his head to the ground as Drafilie prowled ever closer. I put my hand to his massive shoulder to try and comfort him.

"Don't touch him," Came the command. I looked at Drafilie. His face was like granite, cold, hard and still, but violence glittered in his eyes. He didn't care that he was facing the grand-daughter of his queen. I dropped my hand and backed away from him, but I didn't want to leave Bonecrusher with what was coming next.

I felt a hand on my shoulder. "Ink, you need to go now." Tritan whispered into my ear. "You don't want to see what's coming."

"No." I said defiantly, staring at the Sky Chaser with worry and concern written all over my features. I didn't care that it may look weak of me, in front of my people and in front of the Asgardians. I cared only for the Ice Beast.

Bonecrusher, the poor, poor Ice Beast; his nose was touching the floor in an act of utter submission, but that would not be enough now. I had gone too far. I knew what was coming next, of course I did. The scars of it were written all over Bonecrusher's hide.

Drafilie formed an Ice Spear out of nowhere. I didn't want to look, but I couldn't tear myself away. I couldn't take my eyes off the Sky Chaser I had grown so much to care for. The hit happened so fast I almost didn't see it. Drafilie had brought the curled end of the spear down so fast. He had sliced Bonecrusher's eye with it. I gasped, in horror, in disgust, but Bonecrusher only whimpered. There was a low groan that reverberated through the ground and into my core.

Windcutter groaned slightly too, but kept still, not moving an inch. He kept his gaze away from Drafilie and Bonecrusher. Drafilie lifted his spear up again, and I filled myself with steely resolve. I was going to step in front of that spear head. I couldn't allow this to happen, once was too much, but Bonecrusher had suffered for much longer than that. I glowered and took a step forward.

Tritan stepped out in front of his father's Ice Beast before I could. Drafilie didn't lower his spear, but growled, "get out of the way, boy."

"No." Tritan said defiantly. "No longer will I stand by and watch as you harm these creatures when they have done nothing wrong. They are kind, and amazing, and you are wrong to use them as you do."

"Traitor. I knew you never had it in you." Drafilie said. In that sentence, he disowned his son forever.

"Ink," Lady Sif now replaced Tritan at my side. "Go now." I looked down at her. Her ha was on the shoulder of my ice armour, as she was unable to touch my skin. She knew what was coming, wanted me to get away because she knew what Tritan and the two chained Ice Beasts meant to me. But...

"I can't." I said. I stepped away from her hand. She dropped it and took glance behind her. She sprinted down the nearest corridor to find some help.

I looked on, eyes shindig in the gloom as the two Frost Giants prepared to fight.

The invisible Quinjet landed, stealthily, retro-reflection panels engaged and unable to be detected by radar, GPS or anything else. The facility was quiet, as though it was empty. There was no welcome party, no sign of life. This was where the energy signature had come from. Everyone knew the plan. Everyone knew their parts.

Deadpool drew his swords.