Growing up in Asgard came with a surprising amount of responsibility. Thrúd was taught from a fairly young age to never show vulnerability around anyone, even her own parents (though Thor was a little more lenient on that subject than Sif was, at least when he was sober). She was Aesir. And it was her duty to act like one at all times.

That meant no sulking, no outward expressions of shame or doubt, and absolutely no displays of weakness as long as she lived in Asgard.

Well, she thought, Asgard doesn't exist anymore.

Besides, those rules only really applied to when other people were around her. Surely no one would care if she did all of those things completely alone.

That was her current situation.

After she effectively disturbed the peace, caused a mass panic, destroyed a good chunk of public property and was publicly ridiculed, Thrúd wasn't proud to say that she ran away like a coward. But that's exactly what she did. No amount of pleading or convincing was going to change the minds of that mob, she knew this.

But that logic still didn't stop the shame from washing over her like a massive tidal wave.

So here she was, sitting with her arms hugging her knees, burying her face into them with Mjolnir set not five feet away from her, its handle pointing away as it sat. With her massive leap, Thrúd fled the city and found herself in a mini archipelago, but the presence of the dwarves was still felt. With all the waterwheels and counterweights and other crazy contraptions they have created over here to utilize the natural flow of the surrounding water, it was hard to not think about how flawlessly she had offended them by her arrival.

Thrúd lost track of time once she found a good place to sulk. Whether she was sitting here for an hour or a half a day, she wasn't entirely sure. All she was aware of were the negative thoughts swimming through her head.

Dad's gone.

Mom's busy.

I found Mjolnir but I have yet to do a single useful thing with it.

"CAW!"

This fucking bird won't leave me alone.

And with dad dead, there's no one in the realms to teach me how to use this stupid thing.

Peeking up over her knees, Thrúd found the hammer in question right where she left it. Another pang of shame came over her like a storm cloud at the prospect of not knowing how to effectively use the tool her dad could operate in his sleep.

Still, Skjoldr's advice was fairly sound. If Thor could figure it out, why couldn't she?

Thrúd shrugged to herself as she released her grip of one of her arms and raised it toward Mjolnir.

I've got all this other shit bothering me. What's one more log on the fire?

She snapped her fingers, and nothing happened.

Oh well, what the fuck does Skjoldr know anyway? He's never so much as lifted a normal hammer.

"Feeling alright there, lil lady?

Thrúd jumped at the new voice. First, she looked up at the rock she was leaning against and found Huginn looking down at her. Deducing that the voice didn't come from him, Thrúd continued her brief search until she found yet another dwarf. A female dwarf with a long dress, a work apron with countless pouches, and a kind, chubby face. In her arms was a crate of who-knows-what that she was just about stack on top of another crate.

She wasn't sure how she hadn't noticed a blacksmith's shop only a few yards away to her side, let alone one with someone inside.

Unsure as to whether or not there were tears in her eyes, Thrúd chose to not take the chance of letting this stranger see her like this and wiped them anyway before rising clumsily to her feet.

"Sorry, ma'am. Didn't mean to disturb you or anything. I'll be out of here in just a-"

"Aw, no worries there, darlin'! You ain't disturbing nobody." She finally set down that crate and looked back over to Thrúd. Then her eyes went noticeably wider. "Say . . ." She pointed a finger. "Is that-?"

"Yup." Thrúd gestured to Mjolnir with an underwhelming wave of her arm. "That's it. That's Mjolnir."

Not showing any signs of noticing Thrúd's lack of enthusiasm, the dwarf left the tent she had pitched and walked over to the weapon in what seemed to be a total state of awe. "Well I'll be," she breathed out, walking all around the hammer, inspecting every angle she could from its dormant position. "I haven't laid eyes on this relic in, well, I can't remember when!"

That took Thrúd by surprise. "You've seen Mjolnir in person before?"

"Seen it in person?" She chuckled. "Lil lady, I'm drinkin' buddies with the ones who made it . . . er, well, used to be anyway." Her demeanor suddenly shifted, having gone from bubbly to somber in a millisecond.

But before Thrúd could question what was wrong, the dwarf bent down and lifted the hammer out of the sand, holding it to her face for a closer look at its intricacies. Thrúd, on the other hand, was stunned to silence. Never, ever had she seen anybody lift her dad's hammer besides her dad himself and Odin on the rare occasion. But here was this random dwarven lady, lifting it up and twisting it this way and that with a critical eye.

"Shoot, I can't believe how well the balance has held up! And all the details and markings not even fading a little, what with all the use your daddy has gotten out of it." Thrúd knew what the dwarf was implying, but there was no judgement in her tone. It was purely observation.

But still, anyone other than an Aesir holding this hammer . . .

"How- how did you-" Thrúd tried to ask, unable to find the words.

The dwarf looked over to Thrúd, then to the weapon in her hands, then let out an amused laugh. "Oh c'mon, now! Dwarves made Mjolnir! We gotta be able to hold what we're working on, don't we?"

"I, uh, I guess."

"Oh but look at me! Goin' on and on about this little trinket. Haven't even introduced myself." She thrusted out her stubby, gloved hand after setting the hammer down. "Lúnda."

Thrúd took it apprehensively. "Thrúd Thorsdottir."

"Shucks, I know who you are. Tattoos, wild red hair, Mjolnir, it wasn't hard to figure." Thrúd was thankful that that was the way this dwarf knew of her and not by the demonstration in town she had just run away from. "Now, uh, why're you all the way out here?"

Shit.

Thrúd must have made a face that gave her away due to Lúnda's quirked eyebrow. "Well," she started, "I actually was in town first. Just right over there."

"Oh! Right in Nidavellir. Stop by for the festivities, didja?" Thrúd wasn't sure how to exactly answer that, but thankfully she didn't have to. Lúnda gasped in embarrassment. "Oh shoot, I shouldn'ta gone and said it like that, seein' as how it's a denouncement of Odin and the Aesir and such. I'm sorry, lil lady. Didn't mean nothin' by it."

"No, no," Thrúd waved her hand, shooing away the concern. "I'm glad Odin's gone too. No, I came over here to see if there was anything I could . . . I don't know," she shrugged. "I found dad's hammer after it went missing during Ragnarok, then I came straight to Svartalfheim to see if I could make a name for myself like how dad did. Except, you know, not in that way."

"Well I mighty appreciate that."

"Anyway, I ended up in town because somebody thought it'd be funny to throw me right in the center of a party unannounced. It . . . didn't go well."

"Aww, I'm sorry to hear that, darlin'. People from 'round here are still a little shy around outsiders. 'Specially Asgardian outsiders. Don't take it too hard."

Too late for that.

Frantically looking for a means to change the subject, Thrúd laid her eyes on the makeshift shop that Lúnda had just set up. "Well what about you? What are you doing out here? I'm assuming you hated Odin as much as any other dwarf. Why aren't you at the party."

Lúnda's solemn expression returned. "I, uh," she scratched the back of her neck. "Got back from a funeral for a friend. Good friend o' mine." She swallowed. "Not really in the partyin' mood, y'know?"

Thrúd saw that this subject was upsetting her. "No arguments there. But still. Setting up shop around here, away from the city? I doubt you'd get very many customers out here."

Lúnda winked at her. "You'd be surprised. I'm the first stop shop for a certain tall, pale drink o' water and one vixen of a goddess. They make their way aaaaallllllll over the realms, usin' weapons, breakin' those weapons, usin' armor I made them, breakin' the armor I made them. I found it beneficial to set up wherever I can for customer convenience. I've heard tell that they make their way 'round these parts on more than one occasion."

While listening to the dwarf's explanation, Thrúd looked inside the shop and found it surprisingly barren. The tent was pitched and the worktable was set up, but the tools seemed to be missing. Looking to the side, Thrúd found more crates that appeared to be filled.

"You, uh, want a hand unpacking, Lúnda?"

The dwarf let out a breath and placed a hand over her chest. "You'd help out lil ole me? Well I'd be touched! C'mere! I'll show ya what needs the most attention.

Thankful for the distraction from her negative thoughts, Thrúd followed the plump dwarf over to the shop. "See these here boxes?" Lúnda gestured to the pile. "These go on the inside. Just bring them in and open em up and I'll find their home."

Thrúd nodded in understanding. Leaning forward, she picked up the first three crates available to her with ease . . . then nearly dropped them all on the sandy ground at the loud barking that came after she lifted them. Behind the pile was a dog, a very round dog with brown fur and a wrinkly face that was tied to a stake in the ground.

Lúnda laughed. "Oh Helka, you be nice now!" She lightly chastised. "Thrúd here is givin' me a hand." She turned her attention back to the goddess. "Don't you worry about her. She's mighty friendly. Though I want to keep her tied up until we get everything sorted out here."

Remembering what happened last time she released a dog from its bindings, Thrúd was in no hurry to untie this one.

With her strength, it didn't take long for Thrúd to transport the boxes to Lúnda's preferred spots. After only three other trips, all the boxes were inside the tent, and after another twenty minutes, the boxes were opened and their contents appropriately dispersed. If she were honest with herself, Thrúd was hoping that her first time helping a local to the realm would be a little more adventurous and dangerous, but if helping this kind dwarf unpack her belongings was a steppingstone to making a name for herself, then she'd gladly put up with it.

The final box officially empty, Thrúd dusted off her hands before resting them on her hips. Looking around with satisfaction, she called out to the dwarf who stepped around the corner. "Hey Lúnda! Is this how you want it?"

Lúnda didn't answer. Rather, she let out a slew of very unique curses.

"Oh slap a dreki and ride it sideways!"

At least, she thought they were curses, given her irritated tone.

"Is . . . everything OK? Did I put something where it shouldn't be?"

Lúnda stepped back into the tent. "No, no, you've done nothing but help. I just realized that I don't have enough Dwarven Steel to repay ya. Here I was, all ready to give ya a lil touch up on them fancy weapons o' yours as thanks and I don't have enough. Runnin' outta Dwarven Steel in Svartalfheim, aint that just the way?"

Thrúd attempted to wave off the kind gesture. "Oh, you don't have to do anything like that," she laughed awkwardly, not used to this amount of forwardness coming from a single person. "I'm just happy to help."

"And that makes me about ready to bust with joy, lil lady! But I can't have ya helping me without some sort of compensation. But I ain't prepared for a trip to the core, not after just setting up, at least. I wonder if I've got something else in here for ya . . .?"

"The core?" Thrúd raised an eyebrow.

"The apple core. Just a lil nickname we gave one of our old mining sites in the mountains over there. Nobody's mined in there for a real long time though, on account of Odin redirecting our work elsewhere. All that time away has let all sorts of animals and creatures and what have ya make it their home. Ain't nobody wantin' to go back in there 'less they really have to."

Thrúd turned to look in the direction of the mountain that the dwarf pointed to. It was hard to make out from this distance, but she was able to see tiny entrances to shafts and a system of troughs snaking their way around the site.

Lúnda continued. "Well, seein' as how I owe ya one and I need the steel anyway, I'll just take that trip to-"

"I'll do it."

Lúnda's eyes widened. "You'll wha?"

"I'll go. You said it's full of monsters, right? What kind are we talking? Ogres? Trolls?"

Lúnda thought for a moment. "Well, it's been a while since I've been there myself, so I can't say fer certain. But . . . I'd say the occasional wretch and such would be a safe bet."

Thrúd smiled at the answer. "Perfect. I'll go and clear out the mines, and I'll find some steel for you to use!"

For a moment, Lúnda looked unsure. One hand leaned down on the table while the other came up thoughtfully to her chin. "Well . . ." she trailed off, still unsure.

"C'mon, Lúnda," the young goddess pleaded. "I'll take out whatever's in there and get you your materials. It's a win-win!"

Lúnda contemplated the offer for a few moments more before she slapped the tabletop with her hand, her mind now made up. "Ah Hel. Why do I have to be such a softy?" She picked up a hammer hanging from the wall and pointed it at Thrúd. "First ya come over to my shop and help me set up, then you offer to get some supplies? Lil lady, you're quickly climbing the ladder of my favorite gods! You find me what I need . . . and I'll see if I can touch that bad boy up," she said, gesturing to Mjolnir.

Walking over to one of the chests that was moved into the tent, Lúnda took out a lump of rock and held it out to Thrúd. "This here is what you're gonna be lookin' for. Bring me back a few handfuls of these bad boys and I'll be able to turn them into a thing o' beauty!"

Thrúd nodded excitedly despite not understanding how this dwarf could craft steel from slabs of rock. But if what she's heard of dwarves is true, then she could turn that hunk of rock into steel no problem.

Unable to keep the smile off her face at the thought of finally using her skills to demonstrate her lack of respect towards her deceased grandfather, she turned on her heels and walked her way over to the shore in the direction of the apple core, Mjolnir tight in her grasp. "I'll be back in a few hours. Just you wait."

"CAW!"

"No you don't!" Thrúd pointed at Huginn. "You'll probably just teleport me in the middle of an ogre feeding frenzy or some shit like that. You wait here."

If ravens were capable of scowling, she was positive one would be sent her way.

Behind her, she could hear Lúnda walk over. "Here, I'll set up the gondola for ya!"

"No thanks," Thrúd waved off the offer, picking up Mjolnir. "I've got my own ride."

Taking a few steps back, Thrúd leapt forward and used the hammer to propel her toward her destination, leaving behind a charred pit of sand as well as the blacksmith and raven behind. The two of them exchanged an awkward glance.

"So . . . you must be who everyone's been ravin' about."

Huginn's head twitched.

"Sorry, bad joke. Anyway, you hungry, lil fella? You're looking a bit," she smiled, "peckish."

"CAW!"

The daughter of Thor couldn't hear their one-sided conversation. She wasn't sure if she'd be able to focus on anything anyone else had to say to her with this new sense of direction overwhelming her senses.

Lúnda had just given her exactly what she was looking for; a chance to prove herself useful and to make a new story for her dad's hammer. She'd be damned if she were to pass that up.

Having gotten used to the sensation of soaring through the air with Mjolnir guiding her, Thrúd easily landed on the island which sported the mountain in question. Skidding to a halt on the sand and allowing the sparks to dissipate from the hammer, Thrúd looked up and got a better sense of her new surroundings.

Thrúd had always hear stories of the dwarves and their resourcefulness, but never in her wildest imagination had she ever pictured them capable of creating something at this scale. Large cranes, reaching anywhere from one to three hundred feet in the air held on to large platforms and boulders with rope as thick as her dad's arms. Catwalks big enough only for dwarves to walk across crisscrossed amongst each other in a complex spiderweb-like system. All of this was built inside of a pit, almost like a bowl, with a large lake resting at the bottom.

Across the lake was the side of the mountain that, according to Lúnda, was home of the apple core. Now that she was closer, she was able to see more openings in it, over half of them with chutes and troughs slithering out and dumping water into the lake waiting to be used again.

Upon closer inspection, Thrúd was unable to see any outward signs of an infestation of creatures of any kind. Looks like they're all inside, she thought.

During her brief flight over here, she had secretly hoped that Lúnda was wrong about the creatures only inhabiting the inside of the mine and that they would be crawling about the moment she landed, waiting for a hammer to smash their skulls in. Sadly, that appeared to not be the case.

Letting the hammer rest at her hip, Thrúd began to walk closer to the mining site. Soon, she found herself in the shadows of the massive cranes and amongst the abandoned piles of rocks and boulders, none of which fit the description of the kind of rock that Lúnda required. Picking one up, Thrúd tossed it up and down in her hand a few times before throwing it as hard as she could into the pit and into the water below.

She wasted no time in picking up another rock and chucking it even farther.

A smile spread across her face as she lifted another rock with one hand and Mjolnir with the other. Lobbing the rock straight up, Thrúd took the handle of the hammer in both hands and swung as the rock came back down, shattering it into countless pieces and showering her in dust and sharp pebbles.

Hey, just because Odin never let dad have any fun doesn't mean I have to be bored on my missions.

Satiated for the moment, Thrúd put the hammer away and continued toward the mountain. Climbing stairs and ladders as she came across them, the daughter of Thor eventually found herself on what appeared to be a loading deck of some kind. Tracks led uphill and into the mountainside, no doubt leading to the mines inside.

In Asgard, Thrúd had seen the kinds of buildings that the engineers and architects were able to make along with a few useful contraptions that made daily life more convenient, but she couldn't even begin to fathom the amount of thought and effort put into this method of transportation. There was no car waiting for her to give her a ride, but she could tell one was supposed to be waiting here to bring workers to their sites. Where it was, however, she couldn't tell. More than likely stuck inside, not having moved since these mines were abandoned however long ago.

Stepping onto the tracks, Thrúd did her best to balance on them as she walked across them up to the mountain, avoiding the water that flowed underneath.

They must have used the water to propel the cars forward. Shit, these guys thought of everything.

As she continued the awkward ascent up into the mountain while balancing on the tracks, Thrúd checked to make sure her weapons were properly fastened, not wishing to drop them and having to jump off to find them.

Confirming their security, Thrúd marched on until she was bathed in the darkness of the mountain. The light from the outside was a passable source for a while longer, allowing Thrúd to stumble her way along the track, only occasionally slipping into the center and drenching her boots in the water.

Ignoring the unpleasant sensation seeping into her feet, Thrúd continued into the darkness until she finally found a different source of light up ahead. She tried not to let the oncoming incline dissuade her from continuing, however.

With a frustrated sigh, Thrúd hung her head low, allowing her wild hair to fall around her face and shook her head. "Shit, this sucks."

She took back her curse when she looked back up at the top of the incline.

At the top, she found a wooden car with an opening in the back to allow dwarves inside. The very thing that could be giving her a smooth ride inside to the apple core if it wasn't caught in the greenish-yellow growths sprouting directly underneath the tracks, effectively chocking the wheels in place.

At the very least, I can break that thing free and ride it the rest of the way.

With her second wind blowing over her, Thrúd ascended the incline until she was able to reach the loading platform on the backside of the car. Gripping it and hoisting herself inside, she took this opportunity to catch her breath while sitting on one of the provided benches.

Before she was able to get too comfortable, a noise reached her ears, causing her to perk back up.

It was a growl. Not from her hungry stomach, but from some creature that apparently shared this tunnel with her. Getting up from her seat, Thrúd walked over to the front window to take a peek.

On the other side was a decline with a wulver waiting at the bottom, feasting on the carcass of some discernable animal. After looking at the blockage underneath the car and back to the beast below her, it took no time for a smile to creep across her face as a new idea began to sprout.

Taking her curved blade out from behind her waist, Thrúd gripped the edge of her window and leapt out, dangling over the edge of the track right next to the blockage which she could now recognize as a nest of those gross floating eyeballs she encountered when she was in Helheim with Loki. The honeycomb-like openings were the perfect size for those creepy shit balls to sprout out of, but thankfully this one appeared to be abandoned.

With one hand hanging onto the car, the other gripping her sword and with both feet bracing herself on the track itself, Thrúd slashed the blade and hacked away at the nest, careful not to hit the wood surrounding it. With only a few slashes, Thrúd managed to disconnect the nest from the track and watched as it disappeared beneath her.

Flinching at the crumbling noise, Thrúd looked down at the wulver to see if it heard. Thankfully, it was too enamored with its meal to notice anything else. It also didn't seem to notice the creaking noise that the car began to make now that they were free.

Sheathing her blade behind her, she swung herself up and fell into the window. As quickly as she could, Thrúd stepped out the back, placed one foot on the platform and the other on the track, and pushed.

With grit teeth and a massive grunt of effort, the young goddess gave the car the last push it needed to get itself moving again.

Positive the car had the momentum it needed, Thrúd scrambled back inside, made her way to the window and reveled in the sensation of her stomach rising as the car began to roll downhill for the first time in who-knows-how-long. A tiny paddlewheel protruding from the center of the floor began to rotate wildly as the water passed by underneath it, splashing water across the cab.

The wulver noticed this new development a few moments too late, however. Looking up from its meal, the beast snarled at the car barreling toward it. Legs tensed to jump clear, the car knocked the carcass off the track and crashed into the wulver moments before it could leap.

"Haha!" Thrúd cried out. "Eat that, fucker!"

What she wasn't expecting to happen though was for it to wrap its massive arms around the car, its claws digging into the wood. Thrúd's smile vanished. "Oh shit."

As the minecar continued along the tracks with a nonstop clickety clack, the beast worked its way to the other side where Thrúd's head was poking out of and slashed its claws. Jumping inside at the last moment, Thrúd pressed her back to the wall, away from the massive arm reaching inside trying to cut her open.

Taking out the blade again, Thrúd cut at the hand with uncalculated swings, some of them hitting their mark and some of them not. With a roar, the wulver poked its head inside, snapping its jaws and dripping its saliva onto the wooden floor.

Working her way to one side of its arm, Thrúd closed the gap between herself and its face, took out Mjolnir, and swung as hard as she could. Its head snapped to one side before coming back at her with another snap of its jaw. This time she brought the hammer down on top of its skull, but it still roared back at her in protest.

"Why won't you fucking die?!"

Rearing her arm backwards for another blow, the wulver let out a cry of pain as its foot caught itself under the wheel in a vain attempt to right itself. The wheel now misaligned, there was an obnoxious scream coming from the outside as the wheels began to grind unnaturally along the track, causing the wulver to lose its grasp on the car and fall into the darkness, forcing Thrúd to crouch low to keep her balance.

The car had had enough abuse by then, however. With one lurch, it tipped onto its side and skidded to a halt along the track, rattling Thrúd inside like a coin in a can.

Thrúd groaned in pain and gripped her head, making sure she wasn't bleeding before rising to her feet. With the car now on its side, she had to crouch even lower to stand on her feet. After placing Mjolnir back on her hip, she shuffled her way over to the window now above her and poked her head out to see where she had landed.

The car came to a stop at what appeared to be an offloading platform; a wooden deck built into the side of the track for dwarves to exit their cars and find their workstations. The deck offered a good view of the pit that it lead to, adorned with more cranes loaded with large boulders as well as a waterfall with a waterwheel at the bottom which powered some unseen contraption.

More chutes and troughs transported water this way and that, leading Thrúd to wonder why they were still operating if no one was here to supervise them, let alone use them in the first place.

As Thrúd crawled out of the window of the toppled minecar, an answer came to her.

Loki.

His adventures across the realms with his father certainly must have led them here at least once. And if there was one thing her friend excelled at, it was touching things that weren't meant to be touched.

Not that that mattered at the moment. All that mattered was finding these stupid rocks.

Climbing down from the toppled car and onto the deck, Thrúd rubbed the sore spots on her arm from the crash as she made her way to the other side, getting a better look at what must have been the apple core.

Hands planted on her hips, she let out a long breath to settle herself back down from the crash, and to really let the size of this place soak in. She just entered the mine and this is the first room she finds? This alone would take hours to fully comb through. That's not even mentioning the other rooms and tunnels that no doubt occupied the mountain.

Thrúd cracked her neck. "Well," she huffed, "let's get started."

A loud thud behind her stopped her from leaping down to the next level.

Turning around, she found herself face to face with an ogre, just in time for the gross beast to roar right in her face with enough force to blow her hair back and making her shield her face with her hand and shut her eyes.

When the roaring stopped, Thrúd opened her eyes and let out a smile.

"Or," her hand hovered over Mjolnir, "you can help me get some more practice in."

Before she could grasp the handle, the ogre swung its massive arm in a wide arc that Thrúd was easily able to duck underneath. Reaching for her mace instead, she placed herself behind the ogre and struck its knee in one fluid motion. The ogre shrieked in pain and surprise before turning around to face her once again, this time bringing both fists overhead for a downward smash.

Thrúd leapt backwards, out of the path of the beast's arms as they crashed to the ground. Placing her mace in her left hand, she reached for her blade with her right and wielded it in her preferred reverse grip. The ogre lunged forward for another attack, but Thrúd interrupted it with a smash to its face with her mace, followed up immediately with a slash across its cheek with her sword. She repeated this process two more times; swipe, slash, swipe, slash, until it backed itself up to the edge, too stunned and sliced up to make any other movements.

Satisfied with the damage she has inflicted so far, Thrúd returned both weapons to their resting places behind her waist and gripped Mjolnir's handle. By the time the ogre shook itself out of its stunned state, Thrúd had already doused herself in lightning, feeling the hammer enhancing her already natural ability.

Swinging her arm forward, she thrusted herself at the beast with a godly "RAAAAAHHH!"

She rammed herself into the ogre's gut, propelling the two of them over the edge of the observation deck and into the pit, plummeting at potentially breakneck speeds in an almost graceful arc.

The ground shook and cracked upon their impact. Thrúd landed on the beast's belly next to a small, ankle deep body of water, the waterwheel being turned by the water chute not far in the distance.

Damn, if I ran a little faster, I could've had us land in the pond and fried this thing.

Despite the fall and the blow from the hammer, the ogre still squirmed beneath her, albeit with not as much gusto or strength as before.

Rolling off the creature's belly, Thrúd slammed Mjolnir down on its hand, pinning it in place and shattering every bone in it in the process. Ignoring its roar of pain, Thrúd leapt to the other side, unsheathed her blade once again and thrusted it into the other arm. With two of her three weapons preventing the ogre from rising to its feet, Thrúd took out her mace and approached its head.

The ogre struggled with every ounce of its remaining strength from the waist down, but it did no good to loosen the makeshift restraints. Raising her mace overhead, Thrúd summoned another bolt of lightning to the weapon before pounding it down on its face for the final time.

After the ogre stopped moving, Thrúd let out another breath that she didn't know she was holding. Panting heavily, Thrúd placed the mace back behind her, tore the blade out of its arm and wiped the blood off on her skirt before returning it to its sheath. She stopped herself from snapping her fingers to summon Mjolnir and picked it up instead. Spinning it in her grasp, she nodded her approval. "Nice job, big guy." She shook her head and laughed. "Shit, I am turning into dad."

Before she placed the hammer back at her hip, a large boulder came into her view, the same kind of rock that Lúnda had shown her earlier. Gasping in delight, Thrúd threw the hammer into the boulder with zero hesitation, taking pleasure in the site of the rock being blasted to pebbles identical to the one she destroyed in Skjoldr's company.

Running over to her loot, she slid down on her knees next to the pile and began picking up the rocks with both hands before freezing stock still in realization.

"Shit," she cursed. "I have no way of carrying these."

Letting them fall to the ground, Thrúd dusted off her hands and looked left and right. Her descent to this new level gave her a now unobstructed view of the pit, revealing a massive door built into the wall.

Standing up, Thrúd pointed at the small pile of rocks. "Don't move. I'll be back soon enough."

She liked to think she intimidated them into submission as she walked over to the door, eager to see what she'd find next. Sure, she was cursing herself silly for not having the foresight to bring a bag or something else with her to transport the rocks with, but she also promised Lúnda she'd clear out these mines as well as she could. Surely there'd be something along the way that would allow her to carry them with her back.

With all her weapons secured in their respective homes, Thrúd pried her fingers in between the seam of the double doors and yanked them apart . . . and was met with a towering figure in an equally imposing suit of armor.

His tinny voice spoke to her.

"Hello, my love."