Earth-717: Thor Vol 1

Chapter 9: Dungeons and Dragons

Having made it across the bridge, Thor's party was now in the midst of a foggy, small forest, consisting mostly of dully coloured trees and piles of soggy leaves. They had spent most of the night making their way through said forest, frequently touching the trees as a way of charting both their progress and their proximity to each other. Jane was surprised to see some form of natural life left on the Dark World.

As the dawn broke over the continent, Faradei scouted out an exit from the forest. At the edge of the tree line, the party looked out at the valley beyond, and saw both the lake with the towering column ruins, and a large temple a kilometre away from it. In the far distance, beyond another mountain range, the top of Brigandir could be seen.

The Temple of Arishem itself was about forty metres in height, with numerous etchings and markings all around the outer shell. Atop the entrance stood a statue of a humanoid being with a rectangular head, and four semi-circle slits where its face should have been.

"Arishem," said Faradei. "I have seen artist's renderings of him in our mythology books."

"Then we've made it!" exclaimed Thor. "At last."

"Not quite. Still have quite a trek to make to get there. Although, if you want to call it quits and say we made it, I suppose you could . . . . but think of all the people who would be mad at you!"

Thor heartily laughed.

"You jest quite well, for an Elf."

"And you fight quite well, for an Asgardian."

"Oh, ho ho!"

Thor gave a light punch to Faradei's shoulder. Holding Aeltri's coat close to her chest with both arms, Jane looked out at the temple, exhaling with relief at knowing that their long journey was finally going to be worth it. She then turned to Aeltri, who smiled at her. Faradei scanned the skies one last time, before nodding to the rest of the party and leading the way to the temple.

As the group passed by the lake with the ruins, Jane took it upon herself to look at it. The towering columns carried a majestic air, as if they were bygone relics of a proud age long since forgotten. Some of them were even connected by bridges, suggesting a network of some sort, of which she could not discern the function. Aeltri caught Jane's gaze.

"What are those?" asked Jane.

"I am not quite sure," answered Aeltri. "They appear to be some kind of grouping of towers. The markings, and positioning . . . . perhaps some, monastic site?"

"Man, this must've been quite the place back in the day. Feel kinda bad for the Dark Elves, to be honest. All this place . . . . just empty."

"Yeah . . . . it is sad."

"Are they all gone?"

Aeltri shook her head. She then stopped in her tracks, and Jane followed suit.

"No, the Dark Elves still live, on the other continents," explained Aeltri. "Far as I was told, they've abandoned this whole area because of the shame they felt at the end of the Great War. They were a proud people once."

Aeltri sighed.

"Not quite so anymore."

"Far as you were told?" asked Jane.

"Well, yes," replied Aeltri. "Nobody really talks to the Dark Elves anymore. Recluses now. Keep to their own. Like I said . . . . it's sad."

Faradei, who was leading Thor and Sif towards the temple, then saw that Jane and Aeltri were several paces behind them because they had stopped to observe the ruins.

"Excuse me, princess!" called Faradei in a mocking tone.

Jane and Aeltri turned to Faradei, who then looked up in the sky with terror. Everyone turned to see that Zedonius was in the distant sky behind them, and that he was roaring into the air, signalling that he had found his objective.

Thor immediately rushed to Jane's side. She was frozen in place upon seeing the fearsome dragon.

"Jane. Jane!"

Jane did not move. Thor then grabbed her by both shoulders and shook her, startling her out of her trance.

"Jane, you must go! Now!"

"W-What a-about you?!"

Thor clasped Jane's left hand with both of his own.

"I will fend the beast off. I said I would save you, and I intend to."

"But Thor!" yelled Sif. "You cannot fight the dragon alone! I will . . . ."

"You," interrupted Thor, "will keep Jane safe. All of you, go to the temple, and finish what we came here to do."

"But . . . ."

"Go!"

Sif shook her head in frustration before reaching her arm around Jane's shoulder, ushering her to start running alongside her. Sif gave Thor one last backwards glance before she and the rest of the party broke into a sprint towards the temple. Closing his eyes for a moment, Thor heard Zedonius roar once again, before turning around and starting to spin Mjolnir with his right hand.

"Now, beast . . . . 'tis you and I. For Asgard!"

Leaping off the ground, Thor flew straight towards the gigantic dragon, whose belly started glowing the same orange hue as his reptilian eyes. Holding steady, Thor flew under the stream of fire that emitted from Zedonius' maw, before ramming his hammer directly against the beast's chest.

The resounding clap of a shockwave was heard when Thor's hammer struck Zedonius' skin, and the dragon was knocked clean out of its flight trajectory. Spinning for a moment, Zedonius quickly recovered control of his flight before lashing out with his tail, smacking Thor in the side. The force of the tail whip attack sent Thor flying backwards, which caused him to crash through one of the columns of the lake ruins.

Rearing his head, Zedonius held his wings outstretched and soared over the network of ruined towers. Perching himself atop a cathedral structure, he then snaked his head down to see Thor flying back up towards him. Zedonius let out another stream of fire, which Thor dodged by flying laterally, circle strafing around the cathedral.

At this time, Jane looked over her shoulder as she continued to run, seeing that Thor was battling Zedonius in the distance. Breathing heavily, she stopped running.

"He's all alone out there! You have to help him!"

Sif turned around and seized Jane by the wrist, tugging her along.

"There is no more we can do for him!" yelled Sif. "He gave us this chance! We must not waste it!"

Jane knew that she was helpless to assist Thor, but she struggled against Sif's grip anyway. Aeltri then turned and called back to Jane.

"Jane! Please! We must go!"

Wincing to herself with tears in her eyes, Jane then turned back around and ran after the rest of the party, hoping that both Thor and herself would live long enough to see each other again.

Zedonius followed Thor with his eyes before shifting his body so that he could attempt another spinning tail whip. Reacting quickly, Thor darted upwards over the dragon's tail, before hovering and holding his hammer towards the sky.

"Foul lizard! Servant of evil! You face the wrath of Mjolnir!"

Stormy clouds welled in the sky before a large burst of lightning surged from above and into Mjolnir. From there, it bounced towards Zedonius, striking the beast and rippling across his skin. Zedonius howled in pain, gripping the cathedral roof with his talons as numerous shards of stone tore off of the walls.

Reeling his head in, Zedonius then abruptly burst his head forward and launched a fireball from his mouth. The attack was so quick and unexpected that Thor did not brace for it, and he was blasted out of the sky. His armour singed, Thor was too stunned to react as Zedonius pounced down from the top of the cathedral.

Slashing at Thor's belly with the claws on his left wing, Zedonius then lashed out with his other hand, grabbing Thor out of the air. Landing on the side of a column, the mighty dragon then slammed Thor against the white stone, breaking the column apart. The two combatants then tumbled at the loss of their support structure, collapsing into the lake below.

Thor quickly clambered onto a stone platform, taking a moment to shake off some of the water that had drenched his clothing. Turning around, he saw that Zedonius was flailing about in the liquid. However, the dragon quickly reasserted itself, before glaring and growling at the son of Odin. Opening his mouth to show the lines of serrated knives he had for teeth, Zedonius then charged forward, intending to swallow Thor whole.

Bending his knees slightly, Thor was able to vault himself over Zedonius' head at just the right moment. Zedonius had built up too much velocity to break off his charge, and as such slammed his face against another column. It took him only a moment to realize that he had wedged the tip of his jaws into the stone.

Grinning to himself, Thor then jumped towards Zedonius, bringing his hammer down on the dragon's spine. Cracking some of the beast's scales, Thor then repeatedly beat Zedonius on the same spot. After four blows, the dragon finally broke free of the column and reached around with his neck, snatching Thor off of his back with his jaws.

Thor yelled as Zedonius bit into him, breaking off pieces of his armour. Zedonius then whipped his head around and let go, flinging Thor towards the base of the main cathedral. Zedonius followed up with another fireball, which wounded Thor even further. Before the dragon could finish him off with a final flame blast, Thor spent most of his remaining energy launching himself into the air.

Flying around the cathedral, Thor prepared to try another ramming attack. However, he was blindsided by Zedonius anticipating this move and swinging around the corner with a wing flap, smacking Thor out of the air again. Landing on his side on another platform, Thor winced as he grasped at his left arm, which was bleeding.

Utterly exhausted, Thor could only watch as the villainous dragon calmly approached him.

Faradei ran into the temple first, followed by Aeltri, Jane and finally Sif, who checked behind to make sure no one was following them. The interior of the temple was a dark, wide hall, and looked like a place of worship. Another smaller statue of Arishem stood at the front of the hall, and before it was a small altar.

"This," said Faradei, pointing at the altar. "This is what we use."

Jane ran up to the altar, but before the party could do anything, they heard another voice from behind.

"Unfortunately, you shall never have the chance."

Everyone in the party turned around to see Malekith strolling into the room, alongside Kurse and a squad of his followers. They then could see the Cryptorium hovering in the air outside the temple, turning off its cloaking barrier so that it would be visible. Faradei aimed and fired an arrow as fast as he could, but Malekith shot the arrow out of the air with a red lightning blast from his left index finger.

"A fine effort you all have made," said Malekith. "Of course, it was all for nothing. I knew that this was your objective as soon as I detected the Aether's presence in Svartalfheim. Where else could you go to try and save the mortal?"

Sif glared at the Dark Elf.

"You . . . . you have been waiting for us."

Malekith laughed before shifting his gaze to Jane. She started breathing faster as he regarded her form.

"It truly is a miracle, my beloved, to see you alive again."

"I'm not your wife," insisted Jane.

"Not yet . . . . but you will be."

"Enough!" yelled Sif, drawing her sword. "You want her? Claim her yourself."

Malekith smirked as Faradei drew another arrow. Kurse growled, clenching his fists. Jane looked between Sif and Faradei, gulping as she knew that they were vastly outnumbered. She took a step back, and looked to her side to see Aeltri standing there. However, rather than use her magic powers as Jane would expect, Aeltri pulled out her dagger.

Jane raised an eyebrow, before gasping as she watched Aeltri stab Sif in the back.

"AGH!"

Jane screamed. Aeltri then turned to look at Faradei, covering her whole forearm in green flames.

"Princess?!"

Aeltri screamed as she unleashed the flame blast, striking the floor at Faradei's feet. Jane gasped again as the force of the attack bashed Faradei against the wall, and he collapsed to his side. Sif recovered from being stabbed, only for Aeltri to fire a charged energy beam at her, smashing her square in the chest. She too was knocked against a wall, before landing on the floor with a groan.

Before Jane could say anything, Aeltri then seized her arm, dragging her forward.

"No! No!"

Aeltri threw Jane to the ground in front of her. Jane was now on all fours, and was between Aeltri and Malekith.

"Malekith!" called Aeltri.

Malekith looked at her, seemingly unsure of Aeltri's intentions.

"I am Aeltri, heir to the throne of Alfheim. As you can see, I am also a mage."

Jane looked over at both Sif and Faradei, but they were unconscious.

"I have spent my entire life having to hide my power, being told by my mother how much I would be despised if my secret were to be outed. My putrid mother, whom I detest with every fibre of my being!"

Malekith let a hint of a grin form on his face.

"I understand that there Light Elves who shared my predicament," continued Aeltri. "Shared my power, and the misery it brought me. Who didn't want to hide anymore. Who decided to join you instead of live in fear."

Malekith nodded. Aeltri then smiled and gestured towards Jane, offering her to him. Jane looked up at Aeltri, still in shock at what was happening.

"Aeltri . . . . why?"

Aeltri looked at Jane with saddened eyes.

"We all have our choices to make," answered Aeltri. "It's a shame, really. I was really starting to like you."

Kurse stepped forward and picked Jane off the ground. He then heaved her over his shoulder as she swung her arms and legs in vain.

"No, dammit, no! Lemme go! No! Sif! Faradei! NOOOOOOOO!"

Malekith then held out his hand towards Aeltri.

"Aeltri," he said. "Know that you've made a very wise choice. Welcome to my kin."

Aeltri licked her lips and nodded with cordiality as she took Malekith's hand. They then walked together along with the rest of the Dark Elves out of the temple and back towards the Cryptorium. Malekith then stopped for a moment to fire a red energy blast at the ceiling of the temple hall, causing it to cave inwards, burying Sif and Faradei inside.

Zedonius clambered over to Thor, gripping a column with his right wing and the cathedral with his left. As he reached forward with his head to again try to swallow Thor, the God of Thunder burst up and used Mjolnir to smack the dragon's face away. The sudden counterattack snapped part of Zedonius' jaw, which caused him to fall directly into the water.

As Zedonius tried to free himself of the liquid, Thor raised his hammer again, and summoned as much lightning as he could. A relentless storm of white bolts struck Zedonius all at once, reverberating through the water and back into his body. Thor shouted in agony as he maintained the attack for almost a whole minute.

Once it was over, Zedonius let out a final roar before slumping down in the lake, dead.

Falling to his knees, Thor let the electrical energy seep back into his own body, healing some of his wounds. He then opened his eyes and launched back into the air. As he flew towards the temple, his eyes widened upon seeing the Cryptorium, and Jane being carried inside it.

"JANE!"

Jane saw him and reached out with one hand.

"THOR!"

The door of the Cryptorium closed, and the massive orb lifted off the ground. Thor yelled as he threw his hammer at the orb, but it quickly flew out of range.

"NOOOOOOOO!"

As Mjolnir returned to him, Thor could only watch as the Cryptorium rapidly sped off into the distance.