The Nordic lands.
A realm of perpetual winter. An endless, striving cold brushes over towering forests and gargantuan mountains with its eternal icy touch
A place so alien to Anhur and deities like him; a god that resides in the desert, who's steps only knew the sand dunes that baked under the blazing sun. But, while just as much as an illusion as his own designated territory, the tundra was a foreign world to him.
His weary pawed feet left deep imprints in the thick blanket of snow with every sharp crunch, and it was proving to be a great irritation. For a lion, unable to roam silently, shackled by heavy frost, to have his mobility stifled, was a mockery for his skills at stealth. While he had no intentions of intruding, but any potential threat that could be stalking him would easily be aware of the war god's presence.
The hike through the thick pine forest of shrouded snowfall would eventually prove fruitful for Anhur. He was fortunate enough that no enemies had attacked him, yet anyways. Though Thoth, the wisest and most intuitive of his pantheon, had yet to make his arrival to this mystic realm of Smite, Anubis and Neith's providence on rout instructions were reliable enough. He knew he was close to the Asgardian stronghold.
The Nordic Gods are the kings of Vikings, Warriors, Fighters. They are renowned for their tenacity and strength. And not only that, they too know a great deal of magic. No doubt, surely, Anhur would find his first recruits here. Both Egyptian and Nordic pantheons have yet to trade blows, but neither have they decided to openly communicate with one another. Until now that is. Unable to send a proper message ahead before venturing, he thought it best to send himself. It would be considered a bold endeavor, to travel alone, especially in a land that is nothing like his own. Yet he ventured onward, as the war god he was, harsh cold and stubborn tundra would not derail him so easily.
But what of a dragon?
A powerful roar rumbled through the very air, halting the lion god in his tracks. Letting his sensitive ears pinpoint the source, he listened carefully. Following the roar, he could sense the sound of trees being ripped from their roots, thick wood snapping and breaking, the very ground quaked and shook more and more violently with every moment-whatever manner of beast this was, Anhur knew that it was much larger than him, and approaching rapidly fast.
The war god realized the direction and turned to face the incoming threat as his celestial spear materialized in his pawed hands and prepares himself for battle.
Ripping through the trees, a massive creature appeared, the beast was larger than Sobek, and far more ferocious. Its entire body was covered in thick, sickly green scales, its claws were like meat hooks, its tail long and thick with protruding spikes, its massive jaws were filled with gnashing teeth that dripped with toxic venom, it bared horns like that of a great ox, it's back extended huge leathery wings, and its eyes glowed like emerald fire, as though they pulsated with some foul energy.
It charged straight at the lion god, snarling and rampaging with relentless fury, it did not care for what was in its way, it would simply plow him over like everything else that had stood in its way. But what the beast failed to understand was that Anhur is The Slayer of Enemies! He had heard of hellish creatures like this one before, tales from the land of Greece that speak of great serpents that could spit fire and wreak havoc, but he had never seen such a monster before until now, but this mattered little to him, this beast may seemed fierce, impressive even, but it is no Apophis.
Just as the dragon was within striking range, Anhur raises his hand upward in a lifting motion as a great stone obelisk, etched with sacred hieroglyphs, springs from the earth and snow, forcing the great drake to collide into it. The weight of the impact nearly shattered the pillar, tipping it over even before the dragon recovered. With a single thrust of its heavy tail, it topples the obelisk aside completely, smashing it in two. But the lion god had already flanked the beast, though had been more swiftly if not for the snow, and thrusts his spear into its side.
However, the creature's skin proved more durable than he anticipated as the spear's strike bouned off the thick hide, only aggravating the dragon. The beast retaliates, swiping a massive claw at him, but Anhur manages to evade, the snow proving to be more of an issue than the actual monster. He had to rely more on his magic than his own mobility at this point.
While he has another opening, Anhur wills a second pillar to appear, shooting out from the ground at a tipped angle and jamming into the monster's chest, severely disorienting it with a painful grunt, he then shifts the pillar as it sinks back into the ground only to erupt up again behind the stunned dragon. Just before the beast could react, the lion god throws his golden spear with perfect precision, soaring like a ballista bolt. It hits it's mark, stabbing through the dragon's palm and nailing it to the monolith, making the beast howl and scream with agony. The drake tried to break free, but it soon realized that his feet were slowly sinking into sand.
Sand within the snow?
No, it was the monolith. The pillar's etched symbols began to glow with flowing magical energy, beckoning sand to manifest from the base and slowly drag the dragon down. Having successfully trapped the brutish creature, Anhur lunges at it, a new spear appearing in hand as he prepares to drive it through the monster's heart.
But, the dragon was not so helpless as the lion god had assumed. Just when Anhur had victory within his reach, he noticed something odd in the beast's expression; its snout shaping into what looked like a smile...
The dragon clenched something tightly in it's free claw, and its entire body began to glow and emit the essence of some kind of spell. Anhur, in mid leap could not react in time, as he, shocked at what he was witnessing, saw the dragon slip free from his trap as though the dragon became mist, and then was slammed down by the dragon's wounded claw, pinning him to the cold, snowy ground.
The mystical glow had faded as fast as it had appeared, but it did not matter, Anhur was now the trapped one, and at the foul beast's mercy.
Anhur struggled as much as he could, but the drake's sheer strength and weight dwarfed his own. The dragon, savoring its victim's squirming, rears its head while still glaring fiercely into the lion's gaze with its radiant, terrible eyes, and opens its giant maw as fire rises from it's throat to vomit in a blast of scorching flame.
"FOR VALHALLA!" a loud, masculine voice cried, right before the dragon's jaw was smashed by a flying hammer that surged with lightning, knocking the beast's head away with thunderous impact and causing it shoot it's streak of green flame at some unfortunate trees. The strike of the hammer was so powerful, the drake had lost his grip on Anhur. As the lion god managed to break free and managed to recovered, he saw the mystical weapon fly back towards its masters hand, the hand of the thunder god, Thor.
A muscular, brutish looking deity, his body coursing with same lightning that channeled through his weapon, one whom clearly fancied himself a brawler more than a warrior like Anhur. His hair was long, disheveled, his beard; bushy and both an auburn brown, like the pelt of an animal. He clad himself in bulky armor, a combination of iron and leather, that boasts the shape of his body to be more immense than he actually was, in the hand that clenched the huge hammer was a gauntlet of both rock and metal, and, as though to reflect his ego, a flowing cape flapped gracefully as Thor descended into the fray.
"Finally managed te catch up with ye, yer fast for a bloated worm!" He exclaims merrily in a gravel tone, as though he was enjoying himself.
The dragon, shaking its head to regain its bearings, then feels its jaw from the impact. When it looked back at the two immortals, it made a spiteful hiss, but just as it seemed it would attack, it hesitated, then, made a peculiar decision, one that Anhur did not think the beast was too primitive to do...it fled.
Wings outstretched, it took off with one powerful flap, blowing snow and rocking trees from the ascent.
The Asgardian prepared to resume the chase, but before he could pursue, the dragon quickly whipped around and spat a massive blast of jade flame, casting it down at them like a meteor.
Anhur, sensing the danger, grabbed Thor's arm impulsively and leaped out of the impact's range. An excellent call on his part, for when the steam and mist had settled, and the dragon long gone, both gods rose from the ground to find a massive blast zone
before them. The very earth was scared by the dragon's breath, what was even more disturbing was that some of the few trees and other vegetation that were still standing were not just burning, but decaying.
The Asgardian, paying no attention to the damage, scanned the skies to find his quarry nowhere to be seen. He then made a irritable sigh, only to shrug it off with casual demeanor, "Father won't be pleased about this one...But it was a good chase while it lasted!"
The thunder god switches his attention back to Anhur as he greets him exuberantly, "You have me thanks for your quick think'n, if I had stayed there a second later, my beard would've seared off!", then he bellows a prideful laugh.
Anhur, retaining a more civil behavior, trades the enthusiastic gratitude with a humble bow of his head before replying, "I see the Asgardian's have their fair share of...excitement." He then glances back at the damaged scene once more before inquiring, "And what, or rather, whom was that beast you were hunting?"
"Bah! Fafnir? That greedy slug? Just an old nuisance. I had hoped we wouldn't have te deal with the likes of him in a realm such as this, but it would seem even enemies of the gods are being taken here as well. But I am more curious of what the mighty Slayer of Enemies is doing in a place like this?"
The lion god raised an eyebrow, surprised that he recognized who he was, "You know who I am?"
"Of course! I've heard of yer epic deeds, yer appearance is...uhm, iconic. If ye ever find ye'self vanquished in battle, yer welcome to the halls of Vahalla!" The nord laughs once more, giving Anhur a hard slap on the back, the gesture was meant to be endearing, but it only left the lion god with a sore back and a minor look of annoyance.
"I will...consider your invitation, if that ever occurs. But, to answer your question, I am on a mission, tasked by my father. I've come here to find your stronghold and request an audience with your king, there is an offer I wish to propose to him."
Thor, immediately intrigued, as he strokes his beard intently, answers, "Well, you did aid me in battling that Fafnir..."
Anhur found that statement questionable considering, it was himself that did most of the battling before he had arrived...
"I will return the favor by escorting ye there. We are not that far."