Author's Notes: I now realize I really should have named some of these warriors. :/ But I re-use the same ones for these conversations, so if it seems a bit confusing just keep those 4 warriors in mind - the woman, the short tempered man, the dark warrior, and the man who helped Thor and Loki to be allowed to stay (you can probably tell which one he is by his accent anyway, I think).

Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters, worlds, things, etc. Too bad, that would be fun. :) But alas, 'tis not meant to be. :'(

The storm lasted most of the next day. There was no way for the warriors to go on until it passed; travel was impossible. They struggled to keep warm, but they also had plenty of time to recover from the fatigue most of them were feeling. The warriors had tried to keep going for too long in order to end their trip sooner. A mistake the harsh lands of Jotunheim would not easily forgive.

When the sky cleared and no longer held any sign of the terrible storm, the warriors were finally able to move on. They had lost two of their company to the storm. They had wandered away from the group to try to get warm by such movement, but they had never returned. Once the storm had passed, they searched for them, but with no luck. And they did not have time to search extensively, so the warriors went on thier way. They had a message to deliver. The sooner they got it over with, the better it would be for everyone.

They spent the remaindr of the morning climbing a particularly steep mountain. Once they reached the top, they realized they were much closer to their destination than they had previously thought. Standing at the top of this mountain, the company looked down on the domain of King Laufey. The harsh ice of the structure looked far from inviting and to so much as look at it gave one the feeling of being somewhere they should not be. But the warriors certainly were not turning back now.

"Thor, Loki, this is as far as you shall go. You will wait here until we return." It was the very same warrior woman who had wanted to send them home before.

Thor was instantly angered. "What? Why? We've come this far. You can't seriously expect us to stop here!" He expected the warrior who who had spoke on their behalf before to help him again.

He was sorely disappointed. "She's right, lad. Best ya wait here an' let 'em do what they came ta do." He indicated the other warriors. "I'll be waitin' here with ya."

Thor's look of shock and betrayal turned to the woman as she added to that. "We can not affor to rsk taking the sons of Odin into the enemy's presence. If King Laufey should know that, it would complicate things exponentially. I can not risk your not returning home."

Now Loki spoke up. "Enemy? We are supposed to be at peace witht he frost giants."

The dark warrior stepped up beside the woman. "That remains to be seen." He smiled as if anticipating something exciting - something he should not have found so appealing.

"So you mean to start a war?!" Thor was surprised, but excited by this. "And you say for us to wair outside? You can't mean that..."

The woman was growing irritated with the boys. They had never been told what the message was. They had no idea what sorts of danger they could soon be in. "We do not mean to do anything. The Allfather gave us a message to deliver, and that is the extent of our business here. There is no question to the matter. You will stay here." With that, she turned and began the long descent down the mountainside towards the meeting place. The other warriors fell into step behind her. A small group of five stayed behind with Loki and Thor, for protection and to make sure they did not try to follow.

Thor dropped to the ground, frustrated beyond belief. He coudn't believe the warriors would do this. What right did they have to order him around like this?

"Thor! You can see everything from up here! We may not be able tro go with them, but we can still watch!" Loki had climbed a ways up the side of a mountain which was parially joined with the one they were waiting on. The warriors had tried to stop him, but a little extra ice and a few mirror images of the boy all running circles around the warriors kept them distracted long enough for him to avoid notice for just long enough. By the time they got past his tricks, he had already scaled too high up the vertical rockface for them to get to him. So, they let him go. As long as all he did was hang there and watch, he was not causing too much trouble. It was better to just let him be.

"I don't want to watch. I shouldn't have to watch. I should be there!"

Loki sighed and left Thor alone. He occasionally called down to the let the others know of the continuing messengers progress. It was nearly nightfall when they finally arrived.

"They have arrived! I can see Laufey coming out to meet them!"

Before Loki even finished speaking, Thor had run over and started climbing up to him. Loki could not help but laugh at his brother's sudden change of attitude towards watching. Thor glared at him as he reached the same height. He quieted his laughter to avoid starting a fight. He was not particularly fond of the idea of either of them falling from this height.

Down below, the warriors stood before Laufey. In comparison with the king before them, the warriors did not seem quite as intimidating as they normally would. Laufey looked down on them, clearly displeased by their presence. It seemed he had not expected this...

The warriors knelt to show respect to the king of the frost giants. That seemed to appease him somewhat. They stood back up, and the woman stepped ahead of the group again. She must have been the one entrusted to deliver the message.

Time seemed to slow to a stop during their conversation. Thor and Loki watched, unable to hear a word being said. They could see when Laufey spoke, but they could not even begin to guess at what he was saying. The muted scene before them seemed to drag on and on. They could have been there for minutes, hours, even days. The suspense of waiting to see what would happen made it impossible to measure the passing time.

The boys watched as Laufey grew steadily angrier as time ticked by. They could see a scowl twist his facial features. He was shouting now. The sound was still lost to the wind before it reached the ears of those waiting on the mountain, but it was not difficult to tell just by observing his face. Something the warrior had said had obviously angered the frost giant. He took a few menacing steps toward the woman, threatening her to continue.

The dark warrior stepped up next to her, meeting Laufey's threat with one of his own. Only seconds later, Laufey must have decided he had had enough. He reached out and struck the warrior so that he flew throught he air. He collided with an icy column a ways off. While the dark warrior was still picking himself up off the ground, Laufey moved on to attack the woman who had delivered the upsetting message form Odin.

The warrior dove to the side in time to escape Laufey's attack. She quickly sprung back onto her feet to try to fight back. She drew her sword, but Laufey was backing away from the group of warriors. Before anything else could be done, frost giants began to step from the shadows around them. The warriors were surrounded and greatly outnumbered by enemies. Laufey was no where to be seen now.

Loki and Thor watched in horror as the warriors fell one by one. They were fighting well, and many frost giants lay dying at their feet, but it was not enough. There were just too many of them. In no more than five minutes, all eleven of the warriors had fallen...

There was nothing the warriors on the mountain could do. There was no way they could have gotten to the others in time to help. If they had tried, they would only have died too.

Loki and Thor continued to stare as some of the frost giants began to leave. They watched as most of the frost giants stayed where they were, celebrating their triumph in some way or other. Laufey was standing among them now. As the two boys stared down at him, he lifted his head so it was as if he was looking right at them. The brothers did not dare to so much as breathe while Laufey looked their way. Was it possible he could see them all the way up here?

Laufey's face contorted into a wicked grin, and the boys knew he was fully aware of their presence. Glancing down, they saw the grost giants who had left already. The giants were coming this way... They were coming for them...

Loki and Thor began scrambling down the side of the mountain and just jumping once they were close enough to the ground. "They're coming this way!" The warriors who were waiting on the mountain with the boys had also seen everything that had happened, but they could not see the frost giants who were on their way to them. At the boys warning, one of the warriors ran to the edge where the mountain began sloaping downwards.

The warrior stepped back just as a frost giant's spear flew through the air wehre he had been only a second ago. "We must go, quickly! They climb much faster than we do. they will likely reach us within the hour. We don't have much time..."