Author's Notes: Well, the last chapter was just a bit of fun. I guess its only real purpose was to show the passing of time and show their need to hurry. But I also wanted to add in a more lighthearted chapter before I bring this story to a close very soon.
I apologize for how long it has taken me to get this chapter up. And I will warn you now, this chapter will likely be pretty long. It is time for me to be wrapping this up and ending it one way or other. Probably only one more after this. So, the end is nigh!
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. :'(
They did not stop until the sun was gone from the sky. Despite a growing exhaustion among the small group, they had tried to keep their frantic pace up for as long as they possibly could. But now that night had fallen, they were at too great of a disadvantage against the frost giants. In the dark, they could scarcely see to walk along the slick ice and perilous slopes of the mountains. The frost giants were only slightly hindered by the night and would have no problem continuing their pursuit of the weary travelers. With the night against them, the warriors thought it would be best if they were to stop until daylight when they could see their path and any possible attackers that may be coming their way.
This time, there were no complaints about how long or how fast they were traveling. Each of them knew that the frost giants were not far behind them, and they needed to return to Asgard as quickly as they possibly could. Their travels now surpassed even that of their journey into Jotunheim. As important as it was for them to have gotten there to deliver their message to Laufey, they were much more eager to get back home, while they still could.
They slept in shifts. Some keeping watch while others slept, then they would switch places after a couple of hours. The four warriors took turns at this, but left Thor and Loki to sleep the entire night. Thor slept soundly until dawn. Loki however could not bring himself to sleep. He was waiting. Waiting for the frost giants to make their move. He knew they were close. They were much too close for him to rest peacefully. And he would know when they were coming much sooner than the warriors would be able to see them in the dark. Loki lay in the snow, staring up at the sky, but his true focus never turned from using his magic to hunt for the frost giants.
To everyone's great surprise and relief, the frost giants did not attack that night. They resumed their retreat as soon as the sun was up. By midday, they were near the place they needed to be to be able to take the Bifrost back to Asgard. Thor didn't understand how the warriors could tell where they were in Jotunheim. To him, everything looked the same. It was all just more snow and ice, and more snow and ice, and even more snow and ice. There was no end to it.
Loki could see the subtle differences in the mountains as they went. He could see the slight changes in the land. On the return, he recognized places they had passed or stopped at on the first journey. But he no longer felt the excitement of being near home. Something was wrong. He could no longer detect the frost giants anywhere nearby. He could not find them at all. It was as if they had just...disappeared. This troubled Loki to no end.
They all kept an eye on the mountains, looking for anything that did not belong. They had to be extra careful now that they had lost their chance at having an early warning. There was no way to know where the frost giants could be.
Had they found a way to hide their presence from Loki?
And maybe even from the eyes of the travelers?
Had they simply fallen behind?
Or maybe they had given up entirely? Not likely...
They dared not to get their hopes up at making it back to Asgard without incident. The moment they stopped suspecting an attack, was surely the moment that such an attack would occur. They had to be ready.
The group paused at the base of a mountain. They stayed back among the rocks surrounding it so that they would be out of sight to anyone watching. Just across the open area ahead of them was the place where they would take the Bifrost back to Asgard. There had still been no sign of the frost giants. They carefully looked around the area ahead, searching for some hint as to what the frost giants were planning. Surely the frost giants were not allowing them to escape back to Asgard so easily.
But there was nothing. No sign of malice in the valley ahead of them. It looked the same as any other snowy patch of land in Jotunheim. As far as they could tell, the mountains held no mysteries either. It seemed they would just have to risk it and get across as quickly as possible, and pray for the best.
One of the warriors took a step out of their hiding place. He walked a few feet out into the snow. No one followed him at first. He knew they would not follow, but someone had to take the first step eventually. So, he stopped once he was plainly out in the open. Turning back to face the others, he had a large grin on his face. "Ya see, lads? Nothin' ta worry 'bout! They've all gone!" He laughed as he thought of how foolish they all must have seemed hurrying along and worrying for nothing.
He died with that smile still on his face.
His body fell, his spirit gone before the corpse hit the snow. There was a Jotun spear protruding from his chest. No one in the group had seen where the spear had come from. All the others could do was stare in shock. They watched the spear pierce their companion's body, they watched as he fell, and they watched as half a dozen frost giants sprung from their hiding places somewhere beneath the snow.
The three remaining warriors and Thor drew their swords, bracing themselves for what they desperately hoped would not be their last fight. They stepped out from among the rocks so they would not be pinned against the mountain. They would fight this on open ground, where they had the best chance of survival, even if that chance still was not a good one.
Two of the warriors charged at the nearest frost giant in hopes of catching it before it was ready. The frost giant swatted the first warrior aside as he approached and deflected the attack of the second with relative ease. But it had not seen past these first two, and thus was caught unaware when the third dropped in. He had leapt just into the air while the previous warrior held the giant's attention, and just as the frost giant caught a glimpse of him and turned its head, his sword connected with its neck. The frost giant's head fell to the ground and rolled in the snow; the body tumbling down only a second behind.
This entire attack only having taken a matter of seconds. The warrior on the ground picked himself up and stood with the others, ready to face the others. The second warrior held a smile on her face, daring the Jotuns to attack them. If this was to be her last fight, she was taking some frost giants down with her.
Thor ran at a frost giant at random, diving past two others to get to it. Loki tried to help compensate for his brother's recklessness by drawing the attention of these two. He sent short bursts of fire aimed at each of them. He missed the first, but the flame hit the arm of the second. It let out a fierce cry and ran towards him, closely followed by the other.
The three warriors engaged the final two frost giants. Even though there were three of them against only two Jotuns, this fight still favored the frost giants. They had to move quickly, their superior speed likely their strongest advantage right now.
Thor dealt a series of quick slashes at his frost giant's legs. In response, it kicked him back several feet. It followed up with a swing of a spear aimed at his head. Thor ducked under the Jotun's arm and managed to slip behind it, but the frost giant dropped to one knee on the ice. Thor was pushed back as it hurled a large amount of snow into his face, temporarily obstructing his vision. He dove to the ground and rolled to the side as the frost giant tried again to impale him on its spear.
As he came up to a crouch in the snow, Thor had to flinch away as a burst of fire hit the ground beside him, burning his arm and side. Angered by the apparent carelessness of an ally, he looked about for his little brother. Loki was on his knees in the snow, surrounded by a layer of ice. The ice was forming a bubble around him and acted as a shield against the frost giants' attacks. He was unable to keep up the ice shield and attack at the same time. It split his concentration too much, and would likely cause both his offense and defense to weaken and fail.
Loki would drop the ice just long enough to send a short burst of fire at the frost giants. His haste greatly hurt his aim though, so he could only hit them about half of the time. The other half...he just hoped Thor and the warriors could dodge his attacks as well as these frost giants seemed to be able to. He saw one of the flames fall very close to Thor, and he saw the angry look his brother sent him for it. But Loki had bigger concerns than Thor getting a slight burn on his arm, like the two frost giants who just broke through his ice shield perhaps?
The warriors knew that Loki was going to need help, and soon. But there was nothing they could do at the moment. They just had to hope that both boys could hold their own until they had finished with their own frost giants and were able to help them.
A warrior shouted as she swung her sword in a wide arc meant to slash the frost giant's chest. Having miscalculated just how much taller it was than she, her attack met its stomach instead. The bloody wound was not fatal, but it should slow it down soon. It howled in pain and knocked her back. One of the other warriors tried to come to her aide, but fueled by its pain and rage the frost giant had short and unexpected burst of speed in it. The Jotun lunged forward and stabbed its spear down at the warrior on the ground. It caught her in the chest and pinned her to the ice. She gasped sharply as her life drained from her, her blood staining the snow.
Before the wounded frost giant could stand back up, another warrior turned form the second, which he had been fighting alone for the time being, and he jumped up onto its back. He drove his sword down through its skull and on down into its body. It collapsed, dead. But the warrior had had to turn his back on the other Jotun, a mistake certainly not overlooked by the frost giant. As the warrior turned back to face it again, it bashed him with its club. The blow was more than sufficient to cave in the warrior's chest and send him tumbling to the ground. Wounded so terribly, the warrior would lie in the snow in agony and die only a few moments later.
Thor watched in horror as the warriors began to fall one by one. While his attention was drawn elsewhere, the frost giant in front of him struck his chest, sending him flying back into the snow. He sprung to his feet and met the frost giant's next strike. The Jotun attacked again, but Thor deflected the blow with his sword. Thor counterattacked, leaving a gash along the frost giant's shoulder. It swung its spear at Thor just as he slashed at it with his sword again. The weapons crashed together, locked in place as the two enemies glared at one another. Thor shoved against the frost giant's spear with all his might, forcing it to shuffle back a few hurried steps. This also served to separate the two.
Thor ran towards the Jotun, sword raised. He ducked as the frost giant jabbed at him with its spear in an attempt to use his own momentum against him. The weapon passed harmlessly over Thor's head. From here, he stabbed upward at the Jotun. It roared in pain as the sword pierced its chest. Thor pulled his sword out of the frost giants and stumbled back as it fell to its knees for a moment. It then proceeded to fall face down into the snow.
His opponent slain, Thor turned to see where his next target would be. The only surviving warrior seemed to be managing well enough against the frost giant he now battled. The warrior was using the ice to his advantage, to gain speed as he slid to avoid the frost giant's attacks. When he would attack, the Jotun always seemed to manage to block or dodge the strike. The two were evenly matched, and it was only a matter of who would make the first mistake. Seeing this, Thor looked on to see how his younger brother was fairing with his own two Jotuns. Two frost giants against one boy was hardly a fair fight, even if the boy was supposed to be a son of Odin and quite a clever magician for his age. Loki did not fair well against the relentless frost giant...
Loki jumped back as one of the frost giants swung its club down at him with sufficient force to shatter his ice shield. He tumbled back onto the snowy ground as razor sharp shards of ice cut through the air around him. He held up his arms to protect his face from the frozen onslaught and winced as it produced numerous cuts on his arms. Loki turned, trying to scramble to his feet to retreat far enough away from his assailants for him to be able to get another decently strong shield up between them. But before Loki was able to even push himself up off of his hands and knees, one of the Jotuns had swung its heavy club at him. It struck his side and forced him back onto the ground. Loki rolled a few feet in the snow before coming to a stop on his back. Despite the complete lack of oxygen in his lungs, he tried to push himself backwards to put as much distance as possible between the frost giants and himself.
Loki could see Thor running towards him to help, but it was not exactly a short distance to cross. Eyes back on the frost giants towering over him, he hurled a large burst of fire at them. The attack was rushed and desperate, but for the most part it hit its target anyway. One frost giant shied away from the blast and avoided being burnt, but the second was not so lucky. It cried out in pain as the fire came in contact with its chest and rapidly spread.
The burning Jotun swung its club wildly, vaguely aiming at the boy responsible for the immense pain it was now suffering. Loki quickly pulled up another shield from the ice. It covered him just as both frost giants' clubs came crashing down towards him. They hit the thin layer of ice, and instantaneously shattered it completely, allowing the attacks to continue on to batter the boy beneath. He tried to flinch away, but there was little he could do once they had broken his best, possibly only, defense against them. Loki was somewhat aware of the strangled cry that escaped him, just before his world went black...
Too late to help, Thor watched as his little brother was overcome by the Jotuns. They broke his defenses and each struck at him while he was helpless. The burning frost giant fell to its knees in the snow almost immediately after, its wounds proving too much for it. The other hit the boy a couple more times before Thor came to his 'rescue'. Loki now lay completely still in the bloodstained snow.
The thunder god leapt on the back of the Jotun still slowly dying from its many burns. He slit its throat with his sword, effectively putting it out of its misery, all be it much sooner than it deserved. Before it could fall the rest of the way to the ground, Thor jumped from its back, using it to gain extra height. He swung his sword at the other, aiming for its head. The Jotun lowered its head and avoided the worst of Thor's strike. The sword left a deep cut across the side of the frost giant's face. In retaliation, the Jotun swiftly sunk its large fist into Thor's stomach, knocking the wind from him and causing him to fall back on the charred corpse of the other frost giant.
The Jotun took a step towards Thor, preparing to bash him with its already bloody club. It stopped short as a sword was plunged into its side from a clearly unexpected attacker. The warrior pulled his sword back out of the frost giant, prepared to fight on. Thor looked over his shoulder to see what had become of the frost giant with whom this warrior was battling until only moments before. The Jotun now lay dead, crumpled at an awkward angle. There was a deep gash across its chest, exposing its cut vitals beneath the dead blue skin. The warrior was clearly exhausted now, sweat shone all over him, and he looked to be on the verge of collapsing. But he would fight until the end, be it the end of this battle, or his life.
Thor rose to his feel and simply watched the two fight for a moment. The Jotun swung its club at the warrior's upper body, and he responded by diving to the side, using the ice to slide around the frost giant a little ways, then springing up to slash at its exposed shoulder. With a shout, the Jotun staggered some but then took another swing at the waiting jumped into the air as the frost giant's club sailed towards his legs. With very careful timing, the warrior dropped down on the weapon as it passed beneath him. It was pulled from the frost giant's grip and crashed down into the snow. The Jotun was pulled off balance by this, and it stumbled forward against the warrior. He allowed himself to fall to the ground to avoid what he knew would happen next.
As the warrior looked up at the Jotun, a blade rather suddenly appeared protruding from the giant's chest. Thor, having seen an opportunity to finish off the Jotun, had stabbed his sword through its back while it was vulnerable. The body of the last Jotun fell, landing on top of the tired warrior.
Thor helped the man roll the heavy corpse off of him. The warrior slowly stood up, his energy spent. The frost giants slain at last, Thor finally looked back to where his brother still lay on the ice. Loki had yet to move at all. Thor ran over to him, and only then was he able to tell the boy was even breathing. Stepping up next to Thor, the warrior also looked down on the broken and bloodied figure in the snow.
"I'll carry him the rest of the way. If we get him back to Asgard soon, he may be okay. I've seen men hurt worse and lived." He knelt in the snow and carefully scooped the fragile boy into his arms. As he did this, he added, "Then, I suppose I've also seen men look better and not make it to see the next sun rise." Seeing the stricken look on Thor's face when he said this, he realized it would have been better for him to have kept that comment to himself. But as he began to walk across the frozen wasteland, he couldn't help but notice how limp and pale Loki's body was. Could a mere boy survive such a beating from a couple of full grown frost giants? The warrior wasn't sure. But all he could do for the boy was get him home as quickly as possible, and pray it wouldn't be too late...
It didn't take long for Thor and the warrior to reach the location at which the Bifrost would appear for them. The warrior called for Heimdall to allow them to return with haste. Only a few short minutes later, the three of them were back in Asgard at last.