Turned Into A Monster
Chapter 3 – A Land of Ice
Schona's feet settled into the frozen snow of Jotunheim as the flash of light from the Bifrost died away to nothing. It did not surprise her that the realm was dark but she found that it took a long moment before her eyes could see the frozen plains, the colossal stalagmites and the desolate mountains in the distance. Entering the winter realm sent an exited chill down her spine that only the sea could match but also was accompanied by the pain of the blistering sun. The sight of the winter realm, the howling winds and the frozen chill that clung to her body arms all made her feel at home.
Schona pushed back her fur-lined cloak so that her arms were touched by the cold, her long white hair lifting from the wind. She wouldn't have worn the cloak except that she found anyone besides her mother thought it was odd that she not wear anything against the cold. It unnerved them so she acted accordingly.
"It is beautiful here,"
The group all turned to her slowly, confusion written across their brows except for Volstagg who shrugged in response. "This from the princess of Winter,"
Hogun frowned. "We shouldn't be here,"
"Too late now," Thor murmured, his eyes on the Jotun city in the distance.
"Actually, it's not," Fandral smiled, putting his arm about Schona with a grin. "We could turn right around, hop back to Asgard, share a mug by the fire. Could be nice,"
Schona's cheeks turned blue and a shy giggle fell from her mouth, drawing Loki's eye. The sight of Fandral smiling happily at the feat he'd accomplished made the God of Mischief want to send the idiot off the side of the cliff. However, being a man of great restraint, he discreetly waved his hand just as a great gust of wind howled around them. The wind tossed the god's hair, making him let go of Schona to quickly brush it back into place. Loki smiled until his eyes caught on Schona who turned a raised eyebrow at him. She might not have been able to feel the glare he'd turned on Fandral but she had certainly felt his magic.
Thor just ignored them and headed off towards the distant city.
"Perhaps we should wait," Loki suggested, getting an annoyed look from Thor. "To survey the enemy… to gauge their strengths and weaknesses from a distance,"
"I'm liking that," Volstagg put in with a smile, nodding enthusiastically. "Gauging, surveying. Particularly the distance part,"
"We know all we must. It's time to act," Thor told them firmly, leaving them to follow as he continued on towards his destination.
Silence descended once more as the group followed Thor across the ice fields. They fell into a line as they traveled across the varying width of ice shelves, sometimes having Schona using her gifts to reinforce the ice. Loki remained at Schona's back, frowning at as he watched her face grow less and less responsive and the color in her skin disappear. It was not unusual for her to become stoic and cold when they traveled to the colder places of the realms, however this was the Realm of Winter. When they'd traveled into her mother's domain in Asgard many years back, she'd become so silent that even Loki could not trick a smile from her whilst there. He wondered what might happen if she stayed here for too long, how much she would change from the Schona he'd known from childhood.
"It feels good, doesn't it?" Thor suddenly asked, shocking them all with the sudden question in the midst of the uncomfortable quiet. "To be together again, adventuring on another world?"
"Adventuring?" Fandral shivered. "Is that what we're doing?"
"What would you call it?"
"Freezing," Fandral.
"Starving," Volstagg.
"Whining," Sif.
"Subversion," Hogun.
Thor let out a loud belly aching laugh.
Schona's thoughts traveled as she walked, keeping the only slight heat of Loki's body in close contact with hers to keep her from traveling too far. Thoughts of meeting the Jotuns weighed heavily on her shoulders as they grew closer, silently hoping that all would go well but knowing that it wouldn't. If they were to meet the Jotuns, Thor would be looking for a fight at any chance he had. Fighting energy was all that Thor ever seemed to exude, the energy to go and do.
Maybe she or Loki could do something to stop it? Maybe Loki could use his silver tongue to convince the Jotuns to tell Thor what he wanted to know? Maybe Loki and her could manage to encase Thor in some sort of magical barrier to keep him from doing anything brash? Could her mother's ties to the Jotuns be enough to stop anything violent happening or possibly cause them to forgive whatever it is that Thor says to them? The hopes died in her mind as they came to her. She knew that there was enough tension between Asgard and Jotunheim that all it would take to start a war was to stir the pot. Schona would simply witness the first blow.
A hand touched her elbow and she looked up into Loki's eyes. They had reached the city.
The Jotun city was surrounded by a great wall of thick ice with a door of the same make that blocked them from entering. Both wall and door looked to have been built long ago and seemed as if there had been a terrible battle that had frosted over to the point that there was no hopes of removing the debris and fixing the damage. It caused the whole group to go silent in unrest while Schona marveled at the structure that was made of her own element.
"Where are they?" Sif whispered, glancing around nervously.
"Hiding," Thor answered bitterly. "As cowards always do,"
"You are quick to judge," Schona spoke smoothly, the only bite being in the words themselves. Everyone looked at her in surprise until they remembered where her own mother had first appeared from. Jotunheim was just as much an ancestral home to her as Asgard was. "The war ended long ago,"
Thor laughed a hearty laughed that started in his chest. "You would fight me on this?"
Schona shook her head.
Thor frowned at her, annoyance sitting on his brow. "You should know your place, Schona. I am the soon-to-be King of Asgard while you are an almost-Jotun," He turned away from her, his arms crossing as his hammer hung from his wrist. "I hear your advice but I will choose to ignore it. You should chose to embrace your powers as a Goddess instead of sympathizing with Frost Giants,"
The group stared at Thor in shock. It sounded like a diplomatic answer but in truth it had merely been an insult hidden by kind words and the voice of a friend. It made Schona frown up at him, stripping off her coat to toss on the ground. She watched him shiver but she just glared at him, walking up until they were chest to chest.
"You would not make a good king,"
She didn't stand around to wait for what he would say next. Instead, she walked past him and towards the city, letting silence settle over her as she walked towards her goal.
"What is your business here, Asgardian?"
Schona's footsteps came to a shuttered stop as a Jotun sentry appeared from the shadows, his blood red eyes trained on her petite white form. She shouldn't have been surprised by his appearance but she'd been thinking about Thor and hadn't heard him. This Frost Giant was easily twice her size and width, the width of his forearm probably the same width as her waist. The color of his skin was shocking, a deep blue that she'd only seen on the dead that her and her mother came upon in the mountains, and even then the Frost Giant's was much richer and darkened. His skin was also marred with scars that could not have been created in battle, but rose up like embroidery in tapestries and had the look of ceremonial tattoos. But his eyes were what held her gaze. It was as if the same blood that coursed through her veins traveled behind his eyes, glowing with warmth that Schona did not think they possessed.
"I-"
It was then that Thor stepped in front of her, Mjolnir settled into his grip as he glared at the sentry. "I speak only to your King, not to his foot soldiers,"
"Then speak,"
Schona's eyes moved to the turret above the great door into the city as King Laufey stepped out form the darkness. Like his sentry, his eyes were shining blood red from the shadows and his skin was a deep blue. However, King Laufey still differed greatly and it made him all the more intimidating to Schona as she studied him. The king had far more ceremonial scarring across the expanse of his chest and face, raised over his skin in dark and angry patterns. On the crown of his head were also ridges of bone that looked as if it were a made crown but Schona could see that it had grown up from his skull. Even though she knew that King Laufey was not to tallest of his race, he still had a majesty to him that the rest of the Jotuns did not.
"I am Laufey, king of this realm…"
Schona watched as his eyes moved over their small group, not taking more than a few seconds with each of the Warriors Three and Sif. However, when they touched on Thor and Loki, his expression soured greatly. He knew as well as she did what would occur today before they left. However, when his eyes turned on her, they lightened greatly, seeming to be very pleased to see a girl he'd never met before.
"Schona Skadison, Goddess of Ice and Silence," he greeted, bowing his head to her though his eyes never left hers. "We certainly know who you are. Your mother came many years back with a small babe in her arms that looked like a Goddess of Frost. It was an honor to hold you in my arms and it is a pleasure now to lay eyes on a friend… no matter if they are Jotun or otherwise,"
Schona bowed her head to him in respect.
"And then the Odinsons," King Laufey growled, his eyes moving from Loki to Thor with varying harshness. This only served to make the grip Thor had on Mjolnir tighter. "One of tricks, the other of smashing… but both of death. Why have you brought the stench of your blood into my world?"
"I demand answers,"
In a flash King Laufey's demeanor changed from calm leader to enraged warrior. "You demand? One does not demand anything of me in my own realm. Least of all an Odinson,"
"King Laufey of Jotunheim," Schona interrupted, stepping between the two brothers to stand at the head of their group, holding a fist to her chest and keeping her head down. She ignored the angry shuffling sound behind her and the burning at the back of her neck from Thor's glare. She needed to keep things civil which meant that now was not the time to be gracious to the spoiled prince at her back. So she spoke, her vocal chords straining from their lack of use. "I know that I have no right… but I humbly beseech you to answer the questions of these two princes. We have come here merely for answers, not for blood,"
She kept her eyes down as she waited for him to speak, feeling the ice shifting beneath her feet as if the ice itself was waiting for his next words.
"You may continue, Lady Schona,"
Now she raised her eyes to his, meeting the Jotun's blood red gaze carefully as she continued her speech; "Thank you, King Laufey… Just this morning, Jotuns broke into the Weapons Vault of the Allfather's palace… the princes have come to ask if you have any knowledge of this,"
Those of Schona's party, mainly Thor, assumed that the king was finished speaking to them when he didn't. Thor frowned, pushing forward to stand beside Schona, glaring up at the turret, his eyes harsh and rebellious.
"How did your people get into Asgard?!"
The king glared at the boorish prince before he answered; "The house of Odin is full of traitors,"
These words had Sif and the Warriors Three exchanging a puzzled looks to each other, disturbed by the Jotun king's words but not willing to speak. Loki and Schoan on the other hand remained stoic in their expressions. They both knew that a reaction was what the frost king wanted from them.
And Thor gave it to them. "Do not dishonor my father's name with your lies!"
"Your father is a murderer and a thief!" King Laufey growled down at him. "And why have you come here? To make peace? You long for battle, you crave it. I see you for what you are, Thor Odinson, nothing but a boy, trying to prove himself a man,"
"This boy has grown tired of your mockery," Thor bit out dangerously, taking a step forward as Frost Giants suddenly surrounded them, waiting for the inevitable battle.
However, Loki stepped in, stopping his brother with a hand and a warning. "Thor. Stop and think. Look around you; we are outnumbered,"
"Know your place, brother," Thor bit out.
"You should listen to his counsel. You know not what your actions would unleash…" The King's eyes grew unfocused as his thoughts carried him where the group could not see, his face showing nothing but sorrow for something long lost and pain. "… But I do," After a long moment, he looked back at the Asgardians and waved a dismissive hand at them. "Go now, while I still allow it,"
Thor was shaking with anger but Loki quickly grabbed him as Schona stepped in front of Thor and bowed low to the Jotun king. "You are most kind to us, King Laufey of Jotunheim… I offer my sincerest wishes that you fare well in the coming times. I am sure my mother would say the same,"
King Laufey bowed his head back to her in return.
With that the others began to walk away as Loki and Schona tried to pull Thor away, turning him around and getting him walking.
"Run back home, little princes,"
Thor stopped with a smile while the others sighed.
"Damn,"
In one quick move, Mjolnir appeared in Thor's hand as he spun around, knocking Schona aside when she would have gotten in the way. The hammer swung up like an uppercut, knocking the Jotun clear across the plaza and beginning the fight.
The Asgardians reluctantly drew their weapons and gathered into a circle around Thor, ready for battle. Sif twirled her staff twice, Volstagg pulled out his battle axe, Fandral readied his sword, Hoggun swung his mace once and Loki let the throwing knives appear against his palms. Schona muttered a few words to herself as an iridescent quiver of arrows appeared against her back and a curved bow appeared in her hands. A few more words and three snow white wolves appeared at her side, her companions given to her by her mother; Is, Snö and Kall. Her comrades looked down in surprise as their soft fur touched their sides and the animals growled a warning to the approaching Jotuns.
A thick mist suddenly appeared around them, thicker than cream and twice as hard to see through. Everyone backed up into each other as Volstagg and Sif waved their weapons to try to dispel the fog but it only seemed to grow worse.
"Loki, we have to see!"
Loki quickly raised his arms, concentrating as the fog slowly disappeared, swirling away and revealing the many faces of the Frost Giants.
"Actually, could you bring the mists back, please?" Volstagg murmured to him.
Frost Giants came at the Asgardians mercilessly, swinging at them with fists of ice and weapons of sheered black stone. It didn't take long before the Asgardians were separated across the battlefield, Frost Giants raining down on the from above. Schona stayed off to the side to the side as soon as she realized that the Frost Giants were blatantly ignoring her as a fighter among the Asgardian group. She took advantage of this, notching arrows and firing at the Frost Giants that came after Loki, Thor, Sif or any of the Warriors Three. Her hunting wolves went to battle as well, digging fang and claw into the vulnerable flesh of the Frost Giants.
As time raced by, Schona could see that they were fighting and winning the battle but she knew this couldn't last long. They did not have the advantage of home territory or an advantage in numbers, even if they were well endowed with fighting skills and power. It seemed as if Frost Giants were appearing out of nowhere and as one Frost Giant fell, five more appeared to take his place.
Ice daggers suddenly flew at her and Schona barely had time to mutter a spell which made her body shimmer, the ice daggers passing through her as if she'd become mist. The Frost Giant that had flung them stared for a second in shock before the mist that was Schona settled and an arrow met his exposed neck.
"Don't let them touch you!"
Schona spun around as one of her wolves- Kall- growled and jumped past her, letting loose an arrow into the eye of Frost Giant just as he slashed at her with his iced over hand. Kall took the brunt of the attack but the dissipation of Schona's magic that made up the wolf allowed the Frost Giant to turn his attention thoroughly on her again. With an arrow to the eye, he still fought well, swiping at Schona as she ducked and dived around him. She tried to let loose as many arrows as she could in rapid succession but the heavy Frost Giant would not go down. By the time he looked like a pincushion, Schona was out of breath and had a fair amount of her own wounds.
"Duck!"
The silent goddess dropped as a wave of magically generated fire flew over her head. The fire hit the Jotun in the chest and knocked him several hundred yards, leaving behind a roar and the smell of burnt flesh. She stood and smiled over at Loki in thanks, only to watch as a Jotun came running at him.
As quick as the lightening that Thor commanded she fired an arrow, watching it fly inches from Loki's cheek and hitting the Frost Giant in the shoulder, knocking him to his knees with a grunt. This gave Loki enough time materialize one of his throwing knives into his hand and stab it into the Jotun's heart. However, Schona's heart stopped as she watched the Jotun's hand latch onto Loki's arm. She fired an arrow instantly, hitting the Jotun right between the eyes and getting him to let go of Loki. Schona watched as Loki just stood there and stared down at the arm that she couldn't see.
She would have run to him except that she heard a pained yelled that did not belong to a Frost Giant that had her spinning in fear. Not far from her, she could see Fandral impaled by an ice stalagmite, nearly piercing his heart. She quickly raced to him, firing arrows at oncoming Frost Giants as Is and Snö protected her vulnerable back. Once she reached him, she and her wolves fought off other Frost Giants that dared to try to get past her to Fandral as Volstagg appeared by his side.
"That's unfortunate," Fandral gasped. "Not a good look, is it?"
"Just try not to bleed," Volstagg told him as Hogun suddenly appeared as well, helping Volstagg remove Fandral from the stalagmite with a grunt.
"How's the face?" Fandral moaned, still managing a smirk.
"Flawless,"
That's when they all heard a foreboding cracking of the ice beneath their feet and the sudden shift in the icy air.
"That can't be good,"
"Yes, it could!" Volstagg smiled, throwing Fandral over his shoulder. "Might be an early spring!"
Schona fired arrow after arrow at oncoming Jotuns, trying to keep up to the speed that the Jotuns were approaching. The rapid succession ended when she fired an arrow into the heart of a Frost Giant and turned just as another appeared to her left. Before she could pull another arrow, the Jotun kicked her like a child's ball, his foot meeting her delicate body with a sickening smack. Schona went hurtling across the courtyard until she came to an abrupt stop when her back hit the icy barricade of the wall. As she met the ground with a painful slap, the magic of her quiver and wolves dissipating into a heavy white mist before disappearing completely.
"Schona!" Loki roared, changing directions and suddenly transporting across the battlefield to her side. He could see the blood trickling from various cuts but he knew that all of those were now insignificant to the sickening crunches he'd heard emanate from her body.
She was dying.
"Thor, we must go!" Loki screamed at he lifted Schona into his arms, running away without looking back at his brother or his comrades.
"Then go!" Thor shouted back, fighting off Jotuns mercilessly.
They all looked up at the sudden roar as ice shards went flying everywhere to see a large beast coming out of hibernation, red bloodthirsty eyes trained on them.
"RUN!"
No one had to be told twice. The small group ran as fast as they could away from the Jotun city, their wounded in their arms as they ran for their lives. As they ran, they could all hear the loud roars and feel the thuds of the running creature beneath their feet, coming to kill them until a loud clash of thunder and lightning crashed down back at the city. Everywhere the ice began to give way, the creature falling through as the Asgardians continued on, outrunning the failing ice until they came to the edge of the of a cliff where they skidded to a stop, glancing back at the army that would soon be upon them.
"Heimdall! Open the bridge!"
Suddenly, a large paw came up over the edge, making them all jump back in shock as the creature they had thought had fallen through the ice appeared before them. Everyone stepped back as the beast emerged, giving a great roar as it readied to finish them. But before it could, a figure flew through the air, into the creature's open mouth and through its head. The creature gave a moan before it collapsed to the ground, its body falling off the edge of the cliff as Thor landed before them with a victorious grin on his face.
Then Thor's face changed as he looked past his friends, seeing the enormous army of Frost Giants surrounding them, King Laufey himself leading them. The Asgardians all turned before stepping as far back as they could, the Frost Giants grinning like a sadistic predator looking down at its cornered prey.
As the Frost Giants moved in for the kill, a deafening roar and the sound of thundering hooves stopped them all in their tracks. The sky opened up and light poured down from the sky, revealing the Odin Allfather on the height of ice behind the Asgardians, astride his powerful, eight-legged steed Sleipnir, clad in battle armor, Gungnir in his hand. At his side stood Skadi, an incredibly tall and thin being with long white hair and completely milky white eyes, wearing soft animal skins.
"Father!" Thor bellowed happily, raising Mjolnir. "We'll finish them together!"
"Silence!" Odin hissed at his son, gaining a confused and disappointed look from Thor as he lowered Mjolnir to his side.
The ice beneath King Laufey's feet shifted, raising him toward the Allfather until the two rulers were both face-to-face. Skadi bowed deeply to the Jotun king who returned it with a bow of his head and an extended hand which she took. To the surprise of the Asgardians, it did not burn her skin.
As King Laufey turned his attention away from Skadi, the Goddess of Winter turned her attention to the small group of Asgardians. At the sight of her dying daughter she let out an unearthly shriek, letting loose the winds of winter around them. Until Odin placed a hand on her shoulder to sooth her, no one could see a foot in front of their face because of the raging snow. But the wind died as Skadi jumped from her perch with a nimbleness that set her in front of Loki, ripping her daughter from his arms as gently as she could manage.
She then turned on King Laufey. "You did this,"
King Laufey lowered his eyes in shame. "I never wished to harm you or yours, Skadi. You are the gem of our land and she is a crystal no matter what you two are by blood. We did not attack her until necessary to do so and I apologize that it became necessary,"
Skadi hissed at him, crouching like an animal and ready to strike. The only thing that kept her from doing so was her daughter resting in her arms.
"Skadi," Odin hissed. "Take Schona. Go,"
Skadi hissed on last time as she looked upon King Laufey. "If this comes to a war, Jotun, I will not choose you,"
The frost king nodded. "Understood,"
Skadi turned and disappeared into a torrent of snow and ice crystals.