Visitation

by kalimecat

Loki has returned to Asgard and is imprisoned for his crimes. While in prison he has the occasional visitor, will the love of others bring back the fallen prince or is he truly too far gone?

64. Battle Ready

HELLOOOOOOO READERS! HO-HO-HO-MERRY CHRISTMAS!OMG READERS IT HAS BEEN SOOOOO LOOOONG! TOO LONG! Dear readers, I am sooooo sorry that it has taken me so long to update this story. I know you all probably thought that I forgot about this story and forgot about you, but I assure you that I never did. I always had you and this story in mind, but I started back to school (Graduate School) this fall. Whoa and it's been a lot of work and a lot of writing and it took away from my time to work on this story. Always know that I have treasured each and everyone of your reviews, favorites and follows. They all mean so much to me. I didn't mean to leave you all in so much suspense and honestly I thought that ths chapter would go a lot smoother, but It was extremely difficult to write, but I wanted to get this chapter out here as a Christmas Gift! And Seasons Greetings and Happy Holidays to all! Well hopefully you like it. Sit back, relax, grab a cup of coco or eggnog, cider or something spicier, snuggle up with your blankets and get ready...Happy Reads and writes and most of all GOD BLESS YOU! With out further ado:

Chapter 64

The brilliant power of gold ray energy which was inside of the Asgard's Destroyer was channeled full force and pumped out of the eye-sockets of the machine. It was hot and searing like a blast from the sun itself. It was met with the power of destruction that was the Aether. Lord Malekith hollered like a wild animal as he used all the strength and energy that he could muster to control the Infinity Stone. The Aether was a force of destruction and chaos, by nature it was hard to control. It moved and ebbed on its own like a tide of its own free will. Still, Malekith concentrated and he saw the effects as the dark matter, seemed to suck in the blinding white light the was being radiated from the robot's eyes. It sucked in the light drawing it and changing it and using its power to add to its own. It was as if the golem knew exactly what the Dark-Elf general was doing, without any orders or instruction the metal guardian emitted a more powerful blast to stop the invader in this sacred space.

The Destroyer tried harder and Lord Malekith tried harder, each seeking to overcome and get the advantage over the other until, finally. KABOOM! The energies collided and caused a large combustion of great, piercing, yellow light and horrendous, red haze, that sent flaming fractals spiraling in all directions. The whole Weapon's Vault shook fiercely. The explosion caused the walls and ceiling to start to crack. Pieces of the alabaster arced ceiling started to cave in. Great pieces like boulders felt and broke up the stoned, tiled floor below. Shards of the Aether splattered all over and flew into the columns causing them to fall and collapse and some disintegrated as if they had been merely made of sand, rather than marble. Likewise, many of the magnificent weapons which the kings of Asgard had assembled for eons tumbled off their high pedestals. Gorgeous silver and gold goblets fell into the cracks and crevices of the broken floor. Swords and shields clattered as the hit the ground. Crowns and jewels and armors tumbled into the river that ran through the weapons' chamber. They seemed as if they would be lost forever as river itself was said to be bottomless and flow right into the Forever Sea.

Malekith was tossed back several feet and he was nearly blasted out the door by the powerful explosion. He batted his ghostly white eyelids open. At first all the leader of the Dark-Elves noticed was the swirling of the red of the Aether in a thick shrouded fog. It was as if the Infinity Stone had been destabilized for a moment. Malekith's eyes widened as he beheld the power gem faltering in it's ability to reassemble itself. He had remembered such a moment only a few days ago on Svartalfheim, when Prince Thor had hit the exposed Aether with a burst of lightning from his hammer the crystal had been in such a state of shock. Malekith, having bonded with the Aether could feel the gems pain, it's need to be drawn in protectively to his bosom. On it's own the Aether general chose for a female to be its housing. He had been jealous of this fact from the start. It seemed unfair to him that the infinite power of that sacred liquid stone should so often be claimed by the "weaker" sex in mind. He had studied much with the Aether priests and even with his wife who was an Aether priestess. They had explained to him that the female form was by nature a cradle, an incubator and a life giver and the Aether used it to give itself new life and new energy, all the while it would often drain the woman which it had chosen dry. Still, with the help of his wife he had found away to draw the Aether into him and shelter it. He was probably the only male of their species who had been blessed to do so. Malekith pushed himself up off the ground where he had been tossed aside, he had lied in the blood of a Valkyrie. So much red liquid, poured from her that he knew she was dead. He didn't even take time to look at the fallen soldier. Had he looked down, he would have noted how pretty she was, but not just pretty, he would have seen the gray hair that had fallen from her broken helmet. She had given all her youth to serving as a Valkyrie. His booted feet splashed through her blood and made his way to draw the Aether into himself.

Just before he did so, he watched as the Aether did it's own bidding. It was a sight which the warlord relished to behold. He saw the stone of infinite destruction flow and move about and decimating all that it came in contact with. He watched as the ash slithered and wriggled around the mighty droid which was the Destroyer. It was made of the strongest of metals, not just titanium harvested from Asgard's high mountains, but also uru from Nidavellir and meteorite ore. It was nigh indestructible and he watched as the scarlet dust immediately corrupted the shine of the machine. It started to rust right before his eyes. The Aether slowly began to corrode the metal from glistening to ghastly in a matter of seconds. He would have loved to sit back and watch the gorgeous golem be ground into the dust by the Aether. He rubbed his hands together and licked his lips, he could not wait to gaze upon the whole glittering world of Asgard to be done in in the same manner and then soon the rest of the realms would follow. Thanos would be pleased and he would be allowed to rule by the Mad Titan's side, unchecked and unbridled. He'd waited nearly 5000 years for this moment and he was more deserving of it than that treacherous snake in the grass Loki. Lord Malekith growled as he thought about the trickster. They were so close and for a moment he had briefly though that the enchanter could be an ally, that together they could have formed an unbreakable tyranny, he had even been slightly willing to defer to Loki as king, slightly. He had even been impressed that Loki's plan had seemed to work without a hitch, but his duplicity was simply unspeakable and his stupidity was simply incomprehensible. Loki had had victory within his clasp within his fingertips and he just let it go for love. Lord Malekith's nose crinkled as the word had trailed into his mind. Love. He wanted to spew the word out of his mouth like vomit. He had thought once that he had loved his wife, now he could hardly recall her name. He had been pleased when she gave him children, they were sources of pride. The Dark-Elves had faced low-populations for years it was one of the side effects of the Aether and those who were able to reproduce were considered great. He'd thought he'd loved his king, but when his king stopped pleasing him he had been willing to kill the man, he though he loved his people, but when the chips were down he'd been willing to sacrifice every last one of them for the glory of the Aether. He thought that Loki had also have such ambition, but Loki was a fool and Malekith didn't suffer fools.

As the name of the self-proclaimed king of Asgard entered his mind the Dark-Elf general turned his head. He had almost forgotten his purpose in coming the Weapon's Vault. He was there for the Tesseract. He growled and showed his teeth as his soulless eyes scanned around for the blue cube. In the midst of the flying bits of Aether ash and debris that swirled about he saw it. It drew him in like moth to flame. He started to step toward the Tesseract, as he drew closer he could make out the slender form of his enemy. His horned helmet made him distinguishable. Malekith reached for his machete. This would be his moment. This would be his moment of glory and triumph, he would gut Loki like a fish from the back. He started to rush toward the enchanter with his arms raised over his head, both hands gripped the handle of the machete and he had a fiendish, devilish grin on his face. But he was still a far ways off from the trickster and even as he ran full force and leaped over the broken floor and toppled columns and pedestals, Loki was quick and with a simple slight of hand he saw how emerald eyed wizard had caused the Cosmic Cube (Tesseract) to disappear in thin air. Malekith was roaring and fuming with anger as he beheld Loki cause the Tesseract to vanish. He couldn't pull off the Convergence without the Tesseract. He had to have it. Even if he slaughtered Loki, that wouldn't cause the Tesseract to appear, oh the contraire, the blue cube would be lost to him forever. He had to get his hands on the Tesseract.

While he was gazing at Loki, he then noted the woman. She was tossed but a few feet from the self-proclaimed king of Asgard. She appeared to be unconscious. The Valkyrie helmet that she was wearing did not even seem to be enough to protect her from being knocked out. Malekith couldn't help but allow his tongue to lap over his ashen lips as he beheld her form. Unlike the army of shield-maidens she wore no armor to keep her body concealed from the warlord. Oh, how he loved to collect spoils of war. Soon, he intended to collect, but he could not collect until the war was actually won. Instantly, Thanos' words replayed in his head. "Trick him up." He heard the Mad Titan's command. Thanos was wise and he knew more about the Infinity Stones than probably any being in the universe. To trick a master of deception like Loki was a feat that Lord Malekith wasn't sure he could take on. He'd been hesitant. He wanted to obey his liege's command, but he'd never used the Aether in such away. Perhaps he'd seen his wife and the other Aether priest work such mysticism with the power crystal. He'd scoffed at it. He had no interest in using the Aether to cast illusions. They'd tried to explain to him that the Aether could alter realities, but the only reality he'd been interested in altering was the light, the light that had caused their people to hide in the shadows and had left their kingdom in ruin. But Thanos had told him. Thanos, had instructed him. So, he had to try. Malekith immediately turned to the swarming red ooze and ash that continued to destroy all around him. The whole vault would have been destroyed if not for the fact that Malekith had sucked it back within him.

The Aether was drawn into him like he was a magnet to the Dark-Elf general. Black and red ash were rapidly rushed toward him. They flooded his orifices. The Aether shards rushed up his nostrils and into his mouth as if they were going to drown him. His face was instantaneously darkened. The Aether was sucked into his eyeballs and they were soon filled with a blood red hate just like the color of the Infinity Stone. The Aether went into Lord Malekith's finger tips making his fingers blackened ang gnarled. All the while it flooded his senses and it filled him. It filled him with heat and energy, that all at once made him feel powerful enough to explode and weak enough to quake and faint. Malekith's reddened eyes rolled about in his head and his being was filled with the Aether's high. It would have been too much for a mere mortal, but that was not what he was.

He growled as he tried to temper the power within him. 'Easy, easy," he spoke to himself as he tried to quell the stone that surged through his veins. It wanted to be released. The as Convergence drew closer the stone became more antsy, more insatiable withinside him. "You'll feed, you'll feed." he told the stone, which bubbled and bounced and longed to destroy and gave his mind the delicious thoughts of what destruction he would have the honor of bringing. Soon with the help of the Aether the worlds would be painted in black again and all would cower and grovel at his feet.

Malekith's bloodless lips started to part into a sickening smile as the visions filled his head. All at once, he gasped with the startling realization that the Aether was not the only thing that he needed to make his long awaited dream a reality. He still needed the Tesseract, but how to pry it from his enemy. He then turned toward the fallen Aesir beauty he studied her form. His eyes glowed red as he felt the Aether move within him. He remembered the Mad Titan's words. "Trip him up," those were Thanos' orders. Oh, and how he wanted to. How he wanted to best the trickster at his own game and humiliate him. As the Mad Titan had explained those things to him Malekith had to admit he was delighted, but he was wary. He had never wanted to show any sign of weakness to Thanos, but he had his doubts. He had never felt the stone's power in such a way. In the brief moments Thanos had explained what the stone could do and they hadn't had the time to practice. Every moment was of the essence and he had to make haste to get the Tesseract first and foremost. Now, he had to make good on what Thanos had told him. He remembered the Aether priest including his wife experimenting with the stone and learning of many of his capabilities. It was a wondrous weapon indeed. He thought that once his wife and her father had possibly tried to show him how the Aether could cast illusions and alter images. This had delighted their king. He had become soft in his old age, less of a man of war, but wanting to conquer territories peacefully. It was ridiculous and Malekith had paid no head to any of them. Malekith was no mage, no enchanter, he was a warlord, he wanted a weapon of mass destruction not a mystical mirage maker. Now, the aspect of the Aether he'd take so little time to appreciate could have been his saving grace. There was no limit to the crimson oozes power. He smiled. He should have never under estimated Infinity Stone. "You have always served me well and I have always served you well," he spoke to the stone. It had brought life to his people for 1000s of years it would not fail him now.

Malekith harkened to Thanos' instructions. He had to allow the Aether to harden and be contained in a solid form. He tried to cause the Infinity Stone to form in such a way. He caused it to harden inside of him. It felt as if the Aether was under his complete control for that moment but using the Infinity stone in such a way took a great amount of concentration. His head started to hurt. Still, he continued to harness his focus. He allowed a small amount of the Aether to form in his palm. It was only a tiny blob. That he caused to harden into a crystalized form. It looked like a chip off of a garnet stone. Lord Malekith used the blob of Aether to scan over Lady Sigyn's unconscious form. Slowly, he did as Thanos had instructed him, he recited the incantation in his mind until a likeness formed. It was perfect. It looked just like her. It had worked just as Thanos had said it would. He should have known that it would. Thanos was a conqueror, a destroyer of worlds, the only being that Malekith had ever been willing to kowtow to. Still, despite Thanos' knowledge and prowess, Malekith couldn't help but wonder if even Loki's treachery could not be seen by the Titan. Thanos had trusted him to be his bidding, but Loki had failed, and his resolve had faltered when they were so close to claiming victory and there was nothing in their way. Pathetic. He wondered if this was the right trick to pull on the Master Mage of Asgard. Surely, Loki was shrewd and astute enough to see through such a ruse. But perhaps he wasn't. The Aether was pure power, it was the power to change. It was the power of more than illusion itself it was the power to mold reality, even Loki wouldn't be clever enough to cipher it off the back, Malekith reasoned. But there was more. A query burned in the general's mind; would the sight of this woman's peril be enough to drive the "King of Asgard" to give up the Tesseract?

Lord Malekith turned up his nose, his bloodless lips formed a sneer as he beheld the image he had created. "Pretty," he surmised in a whisper as he examined what the Aether had done. Malekith concentrated as hard as he could for Sigyn image to form perfectly. But if it was him, the answer would have been no. Pretty females were easy enough to come by and even those who were not so comely, well now that he knew what the Aether could do even that didn't matter now. Even if it had been his wife...what was her name again? Lithoniel. She had been so fair, much like the blonde-haired maiden who he duplicated. She'd taught him much about the Aether and she'd helped him in his quest to a point. Perhaps she'd been a good wife, once. The feelings he'd had for her were the closest he'd ever felt to love, but Even for his wife of 700 years he wouldn't have given up an Infinity Stone. He would have watched someone gut her like a fish before he would have surrendered his power. In fact, he had. Malekith practically laughed. Maybe had she been more supportive of his conquests, maybe if she hadn't stood against...he wouldn't have destroyed the ship that she and his youngest children were hiding on, but he might have felt a twinge more sorrow about it. If Loki was as wise a man as he claimed to be he'd do the same, but Malekith had observed he wasn't. Malekith remembered the enchantress whose name Loki had forbidden him to speak at the point of a sword, how soft he was to weep for her, he'd killed the Kursed for her and even now, for love of family he'd betrayed Thanos. Fool. Well, he'd soon see if Loki would make a fool of himself for this woman's image.

He smiled as he used the ruby-like gem in his hand. He concentrated intently and watched as the gem glowed dim like an ember. He watched as the true form of the Aesir woman was masked in debris and wreckage. "LOKI! HELP ME, PLEASE!" the shrill, petrified voice of the blonde-haired maiden was perfectly replicated by the leader of the Dark-Elves.

Loki rose to his feet immediately upon hearing Lady Sigyn's desperate cry. He turned to find Lord Malekith holding Lady Sigyn tightly, his sharp machete that was still slick with blood was pressed again Sigyn's neck. Her large and lovely hazel eyes trembled as she looked toward the newly reformed dictator of her people. The would-be king gasped upon seeing her in such a distressed position. Loki's dagger instantly appeared in his hands. The horns of his helmet rounded aggressively. His thin lips curled into a line. "Let her go, Malekith!" Loki declared as he tentatively moved closer to the insane warlord.

Lord Malekith's smile only depended as he beheld the enchanter. It was working. "Oh, so this, is something you want," he uttered as he looked down at the golden locked woman in a bedraggled dress with contempt. "Your worthless whore," he hurled the insult. The woman continued to make the appearance of desperate struggle and Malekith watched as the king of Asgard became all the more incensed.

"LET. HER. GO." Loki barked once more as he took painful steps toward his foe.

"GIVE. ME. THE. TESSERACT." Malekith hollered back in a mocking tone.

Emerald eyes flashed quickly; he looked down momentarily. "I don't have it," he stated all too quickly.

Malekith tossed his head back in raucous laughter. Then he fixed his face like a stone. "We both know that's a lie," he stated.

"Let her go, or I'll drop the Tesseract in the abyss," Loki qualified.

Malekith was not moved by Loki's threat. He held his head haughtily high, "Then she still dies," he uttered heartlessly.

"Do it, Loki!" The young handmaiden to Queen Frigga raised her voice. She was panting and struggling. Malekith's talons were still digging into her dirty and injured flesh. "It doesn't matter now," her chest heaved while the machete pressed closer to her neck. "Save Asgard! Save the Nine Realms!" her soprano voice implored him. Loki's jade eyes darted downward for, but a second. His eyes darted back and forth. He had to rendezvous with Thor. As long as the Tesseract was kept out of Malekith's reach then Thanos' grand scheme couldn't be realized. Perhaps Asgard and a few other realms would fall, but Convergence zenith would only last a few moments. Malekith wouldn't be able to spread the Aether all over as he would like, and Thanos wouldn't be able to make his way back into the branches of Yggdrasil. He couldn't surrender the Tesseract...but Sigyn. Loki's heart raced within his chest and his icy palms felt hot and sweaty. He felt as if his daggers would slide right out of them

As soon as Malekith noticed the slightest twinge of hesitancy within Loki, he pounced. "Shame," Malekith spoke in the language of his people. "So weak," he continued. Then he shrugged. "This will be the second of your wenches to die by my hand!" he proclaimed. His thick sword now toyed and teased Lady Sigyn's soiled flesh and a bit of blood trickled down. "Pathetic!" Malekith continued in his native tongue. "Perhaps, I'll have a little fun with this one before I dispose of her," the Dark-Elf general showed a pleasured grin and revealed his sickeningly sharp teeth. He then allowed his blackened tongue to lap at Sigyn's ear, she squirmed and tried to get away, but his blade was there at her throat. It was as if she was attempting suicide. "All these deaths, because of you!" Lord Malekith spat.

Loki's heart pounded in his chest. Malekith's words even in Svartalfheim language burned his ears. So many innocents had died because of him. Commoners and nobles, men, women and children, people who knew and people he never met before...dead and it was because of him. When this had started...he...he had never truly wanted to hurt the people of Asgard, but he had. People who he'd loved had been hurt, Thor had been disgraced and beaten within an inch of his life, he didn't know if he had cost the king his life because of his vile actions. He shook his head as he weighed his options and felt the fear well up inside him. He was afraid to surrender the Tesseract to Malekith then all the hope for stopping Ragnarok could be lost. But he was more afraid losing another woman that he cared about to the ruthless warlord. He thought of Dagmar, her beauty, her smile, her passion and bravery. He'd been so angry, he'd been so foolish, his words in an attempt for vengeance upon Odin and Thor had led the Kursed right to her. He bore so much guilt that he was responsible for her death. He hadn't even been there, hadn't even been able to defend her or offer a word of protest. He would have taken the blow for her if he could have, had he been there he would have tried to heal her. Maybe the love he had for her, maybe it would have been enough to bring her back from the brink... it had worked for Mother, but even if it wouldn't have worked, at least he could have held her, smiled at her once more and kissed her pomegranate lips one last time and told her of his love for her. He'd always bear the guilt of her demise, but he tried to comfort himself and tell himself that Dagmar knew how he felt. He had confessed his love for her before. Even when she spoke to him in the world between worlds, he told her how much she meant to him, but Sigyn, well with Sigyn he had never confessed...there was so much left of said, things he desperately wanted to say. He couldn't just let the sweet maiden die without a fight. He'd just told Sigyn he couldn't save everyone in this fight for their lives. And maybe he couldn't, but he could save her. "Haven't I lost enough people I love, Sigyn," He mouthed quietly to the blonde-haired woman. He let a wry smile play across his thin lips. He hoped that she'd heard and knew the truth no matter what happened next. He winked his green eyes in her direction. "Very well, Malekith," Loki responded. "Give me Lady Sigyn and I will hand over the Tesseract," he conceded coolly. He stretched forth one of his hands ready to receive the maiden.

The edges of Malekith's mouth turned upward. He wore a bemused expression. "You take me for a fool!" Malekith shouted through his laughter.

Loki shrugged, "Why, yes," he retorted only to be given a humorless growl from the Dark-Elf warlord. "You're a fool if you think with your inadequate knowledge that you can truly harness the power of the Tesseract," the articulate Asgardian explained.

"You are not so powerful!" Malekith started to puff, his nostrils flared. "If you can do it, I can do it!" he yelled at the dark-haired monarch.

"That's another one of your foolhardy tendencies Malekith, you and I are not the same," Loki warned.

Malekith grinned as he felt the Aether burn in his palm. The crystal wanted to explode into its chaotic form, it took great concentration for him to keep it still and maintain his illusion. "Oh, of that I am sure," Malekith continued. "You are an imbecile!" he spat furiously. "You could have ruled at Thanos' side unchecked and all-powerful. You are the true fool if you honestly believe that Thanos will let you get away with your betrayal of his trust," Malekith rambled quickly in his own language.

Loki gulped. "I don't." he announced. "I just don't care," he stated proudly as he squared his shoulders. His horned helmet seemed to rise a few feet taller as he realized that the statement was true. Loki inhaled deeply. For the first time since he'd fallen from the Bifrost and into Thanos' domain he wasn't afraid for his life of Thanos. He knew that if they lost this day the consequences for his betrayal of the Mad Titan could easily result in a fate worse than death. But Loki realized he'd already done that to himself by causing all this needless pain and devastation to the people he cared about the most. He now realized that living a life devoid of love and full of hate was the worst fate for any being.

Thick white lips continued to sneer at the changed royal. He wished to spit at him, but he'd hold his saliva for a more opportune moment. "Do you care about this?" Malekith shouted. He vented his frustration as he shook the Aesir woman before him. The queen's handmaiden let out a pathetic mew like sound the rugged edges of the machete rubbed against her dirty flesh and more crimson liquid spilled down her throat. He was getting dangerously close to an artery. "Do you care about this, huh?" he hollered all the more fiercely. " Put the Tesseract in my hand or I'll put her pretty head in yours!" Malekith declared as he squeezed Lady Sigyn's face tightly so that little lips puckered.

She twisted her face out of the Dark-Elf's cold clasp, "It's ok, Loki" Sigyn panted. "Don't do it!" she entreated him with large, gold eyes that watered from the pain of a sword against her skin. "I'm not afraid," she managed to squeak out just loud enough for him to course, she wasn't afraid. She had nothing to be afraid of. She was so pure and brave that her soul would naturally fly straight to Valhalla's door, but he was afraid. Afraid to live without her.

Loki slowly bridged the gap between him and Malekith. With fluid motions he placed one of the daggers behind his back. With an elegant twist of his hand the dagger that he was holding in his left hand disappears in a slight green light only to be replaced by the glowing deep blue cube, the Tesseract. Malekith's pitch black pupils grow wide as he beholds the Space Stone. It is glorious. He hadn't truly been this close to it. It is almost just a wondrous as the Aether that burns inside him. Malekith becomes so excited as he watched Loki hesitantly relinquish the Tesseract to his grasp can scarcely concentrate enough to hold the image of Lady Sigyn. Loki is so close to him, that he is sure the trickster will see through his sham, but Loki's eyes are closed for a moment and Malekith quickly snatched the Infinity Stone for the king's hands. As quickly as Malekith managed to retrieve the Tesseract, Loki's nimble fingers manifest his dagger once again and he quickly struck several quick jabs into Malekith's side. He made sure to render devastating strikes under Malekith's ribs. He made sure to strike in places that he knew could cause his opponent to bleed out and strike vital organs. Malekith screamed out in pain. He faltered and flailed and dropped the sword that he had pressed against Lady Sigyn's throat. He'd let go of his sword, but he hadn't dropped the Tesseract as Loki had hoped as he had planned. Malekith's fingers stayed tightly pressed against the glittering azure cube. He held fast with all his might and his talons seemed like that with crack the Tesseract open. His other hand that had once held the blade immediately strayed to his wounded side. Jet black blood oozed between his ghostly white fingers. Loki was pleased to see that his daggers had dealt their damage and punctured the thick armor. Loki left his dagger there inside Malekith's flesh. The raven-haired enchanter seized the opportunity and reached out to take Lady Sigyn by the arm and pull her away from the Dark-Elf general.

He reached for Lady Sigyn's slender arm, to pull her into a protective hold and place himself between her and Malekith. He could find a way to get the Tesseract back from Malekith the trickster convinced himself. The most important thing was keeping Sigyn who may have been too stubborn and brave for her own good out of harm's way. His agile hand went to reach for hers he touched nothing but air. His hand phased right through her. The Sigyn that was before his eyes dissipated and fizzled into nothing nothingness in a flash of dark red light.

Dumbfounded, the emerald-eyed enchanter stared at his empty hand. His eyes darted upward to look at Malekith, his lips, dangled slightly ajar in confusion. "Wh-what?" he gasped. He looked down at Lord Malekith had fallen to his knees, panting, he gave a terrible wail as he removed the cutlass that Loki had rammed through his thick, iron and bilgeschnipe hide infused armor. He allowed it to fall on the floor and clanked loudly it did so. Soon the echoing clank was replaced by the sound of Malekith's inane laughter. He laughed wildly and loudly; he was practically hysterical. Loki would have stood there baffled and blinking for a few moments more if it was not for the roar of the unbridled guffawing that roused him from his stupor. His eyes brightened and then narrowed. He spun and turned on Malekith. He hoisted him to his feet. The Dark-Elf general wavered on his feet slightly as it seemed as that only Loki's hand was holding him upright. His nasty breath spewed in Loki's face as he continued to chuckle. The self-proclaimed king of Asgard growled. He pulled out a fresh gleaming blade and pointed it at Malekith. "Where is she?" Loki demanded.

Malekith's sickening smile was revealed. His soulless eyes filled with glee, "Jokes on you, trickster," Malekith whispered back cruelly.

Loki gaped, still his eyes desperately searched for Lady Sigyn. His nose curled at the thought that joke could have honestly been on him. Where was Sigyn? He'd seen her, he'd seen the palpable fear in her eyes, and it was more than he could bear. He'd her, he'd her voice, shrill and desperate and ragged, it broke his heart, pulled on his heart strings. He'd been compelled to take her in his arms and then she was not there. How could she not be there? It couldn't be. Malekith was no wizard. He was a warlord. He couldn't conjure illusions, not illusions that great, not an illusion strong enough to pull the wool over his eyes. It couldn't be! Could it? Loki felt a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. He felt foolish, but his own pride was of little consequence, Sigyn's safety was paramount. "I kept my word," Loki snapped his blade now against Malekith's throat. "Now, where is she, you devil?" Loki demanded.

Malekith's eyes flickered they mocked tenderness; he pursed his lips and clicked his tongue with feigned pity. "Ohhh, you want her you snake in the grass, well you can have her!" Lord Malekith shot back at the ebony-coiffed enchanter. With that Malekith hurled his sticky, putrid saliva in Loki's face. Loki was disgusted. He yelped as he hated filth. Loki went to wipe his face free of the offending liquid then as he did, so he noted more of Lord Malekith's smoke and mirror parlor trick faded all the more. More of the façade masked in the Aether's ash started to fade. Loki had seen that the Weapon's Vault was a wreck. He'd seen that the pillars had fallen, and the pedestals were knocked about, the priceless artifacts rolling around and tumbling to the ground, broken and cracked, but as the veil of the Aether came down in that dim crimson colored shimmer Loki saw that the whole the Weapon's Vault was on fire. Loki was about to demand Lady Sigyn's whereabouts once more, but before he could utter another word from his silver tongue. He noticed Malekith seemed to be powering up. He formed the red ooze in his hands and then produced a magnificent gust of the Aether. The power rushed toward him and pushed him back against one of the pillars that was still standing. Loki's helmet was knocked off his head. His cranium slammed against the cold granite that held up the structure. The young royal's thin body ricocheted off the stone pillar and fell into the pool that ran through the Weapon's Vault.

The leader of the Dark-Elves laughed as he watched Loki's thin body fall into the narrow-made stream that ran through the chamber. Malekith looked around at the handiwork of the Aether, of himself. He boasted in and of himself. He'd taken out the Asgardian's mechanical defender. In the years when he'd fought King Bor the weapon had seemed quite miraculous to his people. Now, it was just one of many of Asgard's delectable delights that was his for plundering oh this would be so rich. Thanos would be so pleased. As the harnesser of the Aether surely Thanos would make him second in command just as he had intended to do with that pathetic farce of a ruler, Loki. He was a fool and now he would reap his folly. Malekith could not contain his chuckles. He started to laugh louder and stronger, prouder and longer, but as his sinister guffaw grew and so did the pain in his side. He hissed and let out a small screech as he clutched his side. The puncture that Loki had left there was deep, blood continued to gush. the liquid dripped on the floor even though his hand was resting there. He looked all around, his breathing was ragged and practically frantic, he was sure that there was something in here that could quickly heal his wound, but truly he didn't have time to look.

His dark eyes darted around; Malekith watched the room as it started to smolder. There were still a few flames that were ignited in the corners. Malekith took a deep breath and held out the hand that wasn't clutching his side. He sucked the remaining, floating, embers back toward his hand and absorbed them. He looked around at what was once Bor's greatest treasure trove. The vast collection of treasures that he'd amassed had put Asgard on top. Well, now they were his, and he wouldn't simply keep them locked away as shiny relics, he'd use them and unleash brutal wrath on all the worlds even those beyond the Nine Realms. There was no need for them to go to waste. He watched as the fires that the Aether had caused started to taper off, all the relics shouldn't be lost. He hobbled closer to the stream that he'd watched Loki fall into. The cool, ice blue waters still rippled from the splash where Loki's body had fallen in. His feet inched closer the pool, his black blood dripped all aroound. The black eyes of Lord Malekith gazed down at this former accomplice as he saw him sinking into the pool that in and of itself was a weapon as it was a bottomless pit. The general didn't bother to stand and watch his handiwork. There was a part of him that wanted to present Loki's corpse to Thanos. Surely, the Mad Titan would be ever so pleased, but he hadn't time. "E-bat, Taahskane," It translated to mean "farewell your grace." With that he gave a bow and spat into the water which Loki had fallen. Quickly, he gathered himself and proceeded to leave. Time was of the essence. The Aether made it known as it boiled in his veins. He stepped lively and moved quickly. He stepped over the bodies of the Valkyrie and the soldiers of Svartalfheim alike. Malekith pulled out a communication device and started to speak into it in his native tongue as he limped out of the Weapon's vault.

8888888

Lady Sigyn started to cough as her lungs desperate tried to clear the smoke. Her cough was ragged and deep. She sat up in a bolt. Her lungs were hungry for clear air. Tears sprang from her eyes and started to run down her cheeks. She coughed a few more times and then once more tried to compose herself. She started to fan in front of her face as she tried to clear up the smoke and Aether ash away. "Loki? Loki?" she called out in confusion before she even opened her eyes to look around. She got no response. Finally, Sigyn's golden eyes managed to pop open, despite the smoke. She took sharp inhales. It was easier to breathe now that she saw there was not nearly as much smoke or Aether as she had initially thought. Sigyn rubbed the back of her head. Her hands immediately came against the cold metal of Valkyrie's helmet. She was amazed that even with the helmet, her head had still been injured and felt the blow from the explosion caused by the Aether and the Destroyer. Slowly she removed her helmet and allowed her fingers to massage the offended spot on her cranium. Her hair was a tangled mess of mud and blood, twig and grime. "The Tesseract?" Sigyn muttered. The last thing she remembered was reaching for it and inadvertently her hand grazing Loki's. The cool feel of his hand on her skin had been a welcomed sensation for more reasons that one. She smiled and she would have been blushing if her thoughts hadn't been called back to the present moment. "The Tesseract!" she shouted once more. "Loki, do you have the Tesseract?" she asked but still got no reply.

Finally, Sigyn looked around, she didn't see Tesseract anywhere and she didn't see Loki either. She also didn't see Malekith. Sigyn's heart started to pound, but before she could put 1,2, 3 together. She noticed Brunhilda bounding toward her, her mighty sword was drawn, and a battle cry rang through her throat. "Lady Sigyn! Lady Sigyn," she shouted as she raced toward her. The warrior easily jumped over the toppled statues, cracked columns and the dead bodies. Sigyn stumbled to her feet in response to her name. Immediately, it seemed that Lady Brunhilda was at her side. "Are you alright?" she demanded.

Sigyn nodded her head. "I think so," the blonde-haired maiden responded simply still blinking.

"What happened here?" the leader of the Valkyrie questioned. She looked around and all the desecration and decimation. She was appalled. She'd been on many battlefields. She's seen carnage and many a bloody sight, but it hadn't been for many centuries that she'd seen so many fallen sisters. Her heart felt as if it was going to burst. She clenched her gauntlet encrusted fist, she growled. They'd be avenged. Every one of them would be avenged. Then she saw how the Weapon's Vault had been almost totally demolished. She looked around at all the priceless artifacts that had been just scattered about like marbles some of these relics were as old as time itself. She looked all around; it broke her heart. Some of these prizes her own father had collected for the king himself. Her brother, Heimdal had guarded these wonderful artifacts for so many centuries. She'd felt as though she'd let them down, by allowing the Weapon's Vault to be desecrated so. Her eye quickly scanned around once more, and she saw how even the great golem the Destroyer lay in complete disarray. It was just lying there, broken, busted and disgusted. It was a wounded warrior, that was left to die without honor. She remembered being a young girl, her father a member of Odin's war counsel and Bor displaying their latest weapon to his troops. She had been in attendance with her father, she'd begged to go. Heimdal always got to go to such things, she never did, but she begged and pleaded, and her war-hardened father wasn't so hard when his little girl burst into tears. So, she saw the Destroyer for the first time when it was bright and shining and perfect. It was marching and powerful and taking command like a good soldier and she squealed with delight as she beheld the big robot. Now, much like that time, the Destroyer was just a distant memory.

"Malekith...Malekith...Malekith's men went for the relics. The Destroyer immediately leaped in, defended the Vault," Lady Sigyn explained breathlessly.

Brunhilda nodded. "It looks like The Aether has bested even the might of the Destroyer," Brunhilda assessed.

"Yes, I suppose," Lady Sigyn hung her head. "It fought mightily. Defended us to its last," she expressed.

"Much like my Valkyrie," Brunhilda put her hand to her heart in recognition of her fallen sisters.

"No, Brunhilda," Lady Sigyn gasped. "Not everyone, please say not everyone Is dead?" She begged; her golden eyes were filled with water.

"I found two still alive, I got them out. They are ready to go back into the fight!" she announced proudly. She raised a first in the air. She didn't have time to mourn for those who had fallen. Not yet at least, that time would come, but there was still a job to be done. There was still a battle to be fought, a war to be won and she knew that her soldiers wouldn't be able to take their rightful place of rest in Valhalla if she didn't lead the rest of the shield maidens to victory. "Where is Shevera?' Brunhilda asked. "Is she with you?" Brunhilda's voice sounded hopeful.

"Lady Brunhilda," Sigyn started, her voice hitched. She only knew what she saw, she didn't see a body, but she knew what she saw, the powerful blast of the Aether...there was no way..." I...I...I... she's gone," Lady Sigyn stammered.

The Valkyrie general raised an eyebrow, her brown eyes were widened. She wanted to scream, but she held it together, she merely muttered. "No. Not Shevera too," still the shield-maiden knew this was no time for tears. If the day was won then there would be time for tears after, but the dead would have no tears shed and that is what they would all soon be. Time was moving quickly, and they had but an hour or two to keep Ragnarok from befalling them. She nodded to herself a few more times. "The Tesseract." the leader of the Valkyrie returned the conversation to that of the objective. "Where is the Tesseract?" she questioned sternly.

"I don't know," Sigyn stammered. "I...I...I... I last saw Loki..." She began again.

"Loki?" General Brunhilda's nose curled as she said his distasteful name. She allowed herself to growl. The very mention of that vile traitor made her skin crawl. His name made her want to vomit. He was the worst kind of wretch she had ever encountered. He was their prince; he was supposed to protect and defend their people and he'd done this to them. Why? He'd caused this pain and destruction and devastation. He'd caused the lives of her Valkyrie to be lost. Women who would have once laid down their lives to save his. Had he been true to them? Had he been a real King, he would not have needed to plan their demise, they would have fought gallantly for him and laid down their lives. Now, when this was ended no matter what the fate of Asgard and the Nine Realm's was she swore to herself that Loki would not see another. "Is the Tesseract in that monster's hands?" she demanded of the queen's handmaiden.

Sigyn shook her head. "I don't know, but it is better that it is with Loki that in the hands of that monster Malekith," Lady Sigyn tried to explain.

"NO!" Brunhilda declared. Her dry lips quivered. "No." her voice returned to a more even tone, but it was just barely contained. "They are the same kind of monster," she stated firmly to Lady Sigyn, immediately the warrior woman's sword was displayed. "They are a two-headed monster," Brunhilda elaborated.

"Please, General Brunhilda, I saw Loki, I saw him trick Malekith, set his brother free, set all the captives free," Sigyn was practically entreating Valkyrie to understand. Clumsily, Lady Sigyn reached out her hands and tried to grab Brunhilda with her wrists. Brunhilda easily flicked her wrists from the blonde-haired daughter of Admiral Arn. With a flick of her wrists, she revealed her weapon, a bold, bright and gleaming silver sword. Sigyn threw her hands up in a defenseless position. "With this blade, so true I once proudly killed a two-headed beast, it was an ogre," she expressed. Her eyes distant as she reminisced about her victory.

"Loki is not the same as Malekith...no...'" Sigyn's words came out in a nervous huff.

Brunhilda's blood was boiling. Her whole body was trembling as she heard the name of that crazed dictator once more. She could not help it. She could not control her anger. She pointed her blade right at Lady Sigyn and then she put an open palm in her face. "Hush!" she ordered loudly. "You do not know," She grumbled. "You do not know what you speak of!" she declared to her once more. "He has left us nearly defenseless, he has slaughtered our people, my sisters!" Brunhilda declared as she thumped on her silver breast plate. "And he will answer for that! He is no better," she swore. Her tone was bitter and miserable.

Timdly, Lady Sigyn managed a gulp. The Valkyrie General's blade was raised at Lady Sigyn's throat. Though her hands were still raised upward in a position of surrender she carefully attempted to push the tip of the blade away from her. "I meant no disrespect to the fallen, General Brunhilda," Sigyn stated in a whisper. "I only meant that perhaps the Tesseract being in Loki's hands is better for us," she pointed between her and the other woman.

"It is better for me," the general acknowledged, "Because Loki may be easier to kill," Brunhilda stated. "Lady Sigyn, you have served well, but if you don't have the heart to do it, or see it be done then stay out of my way when the time comes," Brunhilda warned. Her lip slightly trembled.

"Finding the Tesseract is more important than killing Loki, isn't it?" she asked Sigyn, bowed her head. "Isn't it?' she asked a little louder.

"For now," Brunhilda agreed as she sheathed her sword once more. "The Tesseract isn't the Weapon's Vault," Brunhilda noted shrewdly. As she scanned around the chamber as the last of the Aether dust settled and the smoke blew way. "Neither is Malekith," She observed.

"Neither is Loki," Sigyn stated, but there was an air of worry housed in her voice.

"Well, if we can find one, we have a better chance of finding the others," Brunhilda paced about as she looked for clues. It did not even take a minute before Valkyrie's carefully trained eyes found what she was looking for. To become a Valkyrie a woman had to possess excellent vision. There was a ritual that the Valkyrie performed. They would journey to the top of the Mountain of Riski in Alfheim. There the Giant Eagles made their nests. They were magnificent birds with brilliant golden feathers. Their eyesight was unmatched by any avion in the Nine Realms. They would have to take an egg from one of the nests. This was a feat initselfitself because the bird was very mighty and brave and strong, and it was a fierce protector of its young. The Valkyrie were tasked with fighting the valiant bird of prey without killing it, for the bird was supposed to be sacred unto the Valkyrie. Of course, this did not mean the giant birds would not attempt to kill one of the warrior women. If the bird could be subdued the The Valkyrie was to take one egg only. They would then drink the raw yolk of the egg and it was said that that would give their eyes 10 times sharper than any other. This was absolutely necessary for the solemn duty that the Valkyrie were charged with to find the survivors on the battlefield and make sure they were secured. General Brunhilda had drank the Eagles' egg and so her eyes were nearly as sharp as her elder brother, Heimdal. She quickly beheld what she was looking for. "There," she pointed to inky, black splotches that were scattered about. "It's Malekith," she stated knowingly. "He's injured, but he's on the move," she let out a growl. Her blade was at her side immediately. "Come on!" she ordered the other Aesir woman. She didn't waste any time waiting to see if Lady Sigyn had followed her command or not, Brunhilda ran at full-speed out of the Weapon's Vault. She was a blur. Even if the queen's lady-in-waiting would have wanted to catch up with the Valkyrie general it would have been impossible. She heard Brunhilda call, she shouted orders for her troops and as she made her way toward the door to exit the weapon vault Sigyn heard the booming huzzahs of what sounded like 1000 warrior women rallying behind their leader. Sigyn's heart swelled as she heard their resounding sound. If only there truly were 1000 of the fearsome troops, but still the damage that only a few of them could do was fabled and renowned. They had overthrown kings and laid waste to many armies. That is why Odin had always trusted in them. She was sure that the whole father was trusting in them still. Wherever he was. In her heart Sigyn prayed that the great king was still alive.

She started to run after Brunhilda after all they needed every woman they could get and to ride with the Valkyrie was a great honor. It was something that she had dreamed of ever since she was a little girl. Her parents had hopes of their daughters, who possessed beauty marrying well and into the royal family. On the day when she had actually secured a proposal from Prince Loki her mother wept. Her father ran to her and scooped her up, spun her around and kissed her cheeks, just like he used to do when she was a little girl. "Oh Sigyn, you have made me so proud!" the admiral proclaimed. "I could not be any prouder! This is wonderful news, I could not be any prouder than if you had been inducted into the ranks of the Valkyrie, this day," he beamed at her and he tossed his head back and laughed. They both laughed. They all laughed and cried and screamed together like giddy children. She'd never thought that she'd be able to do that, become a Valkyrie, it had certainly seemed like she should set her sights on finding a handsome husband. She had done well enough in her combat classes, she had even excelled at archery, but to be made an honorary Valkyrie on this day...on the day that was most significant... the day when they fought to stop Ragnarök, the day when they fought for the future of all the realms, well Sigyn wasn't sure that she was worthy of such a tremendous honor, but she wanted very much to live up to it. In the end she hadn't made her father's dreams come true of marrying royal, but perhaps, she could finally...finally make her father proud. As an honorary Valkyrie she should obey the general's order. They hadn't a second to spare. Not a moment to lose, not a second to spare. Sigyn's feet started to hasten back into the fight, but something kept them rooted to where they were. She hoped Loki was alright. She was almost sure that he was. He had to be. That trickster was always one step ahead of his enemies. She wiped her brow. Her matted blonde hair was plastered to her forehead. She reached for her helmet and started to put it back on. She shook herself and started to run behind Brunhilda once more, but as she did so, she noticed a gold and shiny curved image behind one of the cracked columns. She rushed toward it. She went to pick it up. She clasped the horned helmet. "Loki," she gasped as she clutched the helmet to her breasts.

She noted how close Loki's helmet had been to the pool. The flooring around the pool was starting to crack. Bits of rubble and debris had started to fall in. Ripples formed on the surface of the water. Perhaps it was just from the fragments of limestone falling from the ceiling, but perhaps not. Her heart was pounding, the sound of its incredible thump rang in her ears. She looked up at the room, none of the stones that had fallen down had seemed large enough to make a ripple of that size. Still, she had to try. After taking a few quick and timid steps back Lady Sigyn went diving into the pool.

It was one swift motion, a graceful swan diving into the dark waters that ran through the Weapon's Vault and gave it beauty and opulence and danger. The waters were rumored to be endlessly deep and flowed right into the Forever Sea. The water was shockingly cold against Lady Sigyn's dirty skin. First contact with the chilly pool sent Lady Sigyn immediately swimming back toward the surface, gasping for air. She gasped and slapped and splashed about as she tried to get her bearings about her. She shivered in the water, teeth chattering. "Ohh, that's brisk," Sigyn nearly laughed as she tossed wet gold locks out of her face. "Ok, Sigyn," she told herself. "Focus," she practically scolded herself. "It's just like limbo," she reminded herself. "How low can you go?" she slightly chuckled and then gulped. "More like how low it goes?" She looked down at the dark water. With that she plunged herself right back in.

Her eyes stung as she opened them in the water. She looked around and swam to the left and to the right looking for Loki. She wished she could have called out his name underwater, but alas she couldn't. She could only see bits of glass and stone that seemed to catch the light. They floated down in the water, and they almost looked magical. Sigyn swam deeper. Was Loki even down here. She saw no sign of him. All of a sudden, she started to feel like it was very foolish of her to decide to dive in. It was absolutely ludicrous. Why in the world would Loki have fallen into the water? He had probably escaped with the Tesseract. Loki always escaped, even if just narrowly. This was foolish of her to be down there. But there had been something about the way that Loki's polished golden helmet had just been lying about, tossed aside and abandoned. But that was just the thing, Loki didn't toss his things about. He was always so neat and meticulous. He always picked things up and kept himself neat as a pin. She remembered times when they'd made love, it wasn't that he couldn't act on impulse or that he couldn't be spontaneous, oh he could, his appetites were enough that sometimes he could take her quickly and he'd do away with their clothes leaving them sprawled over the floor, bed, chair, chandelier for a moment, but by the time act was over and she'd come down from her high, she'd turn her head only to find their garments folded or hung up neatly. Loki wouldn't just drop his helmet in the heat of battle, would he? He wouldn't just leave it be. Truly, maybe he could conjure another one. And besides Loki was an excellent swimmer. She knew that. Even if he did fall in, it wasn't as if he wouldn't have been able to swim back to the top.

Thoughts continued to play in the mind of the lady-in-waiting to Queen Frigga. As they did, she felt debris falling on her. More and more fragments from the ceiling and from the flooring around the pool were starting for fall into the water. They were falling all around her like rain. Lady Sigyn panicked. She started to try to dodge between the bits of rubble and rock the was hurling toward her from above. It was like hard torrential rain. Lady Sigyn tried to swim in between, but she could. She took on hits, large stones fell from above, they struck her in the back and in the shoulder. Lady Sigyn started to scream as she felt a piece of limestone collide against her shoulder blade. It was so painful, how could she not scream out, but her cry was strangled in the water, and she lost air. Lady Sigyn immediately clapped her mouth shut as she felt the sweet oxygen escape her lungs. Her hand wrapped around her throat, and she started to kick vigorously as she tried to make her way back to the top. She was struck by more and more falling rocks. They pelted her and hit her on the head and knocked her back down a bit. This time when Lady Sigyn opened her eyes up, she thought she caught a glimpse of something. Something gold and shiny. She blinked again. It could have easily been a piece of golden tile from the ceiling. Then something else caught her attention from the corner of her eye. Something that looked like fabric. The water was a vibrant azure color, but this was a distinct shade darker. Lady Sigyn pushed herself to go deeper into the depths of the pool chasing the green fabric. All the while her lungs were screaming, pleading for her to go back up for air. She surely needed to. But if she made her way to the surface, she knew that she'd never reach Loki, by that time he'd be too far down and there would be little chance of reaching him in time.

So, Lady Sigyn pressed herself. Inwardly, she whispered her prayers to the kings of the past, for strength and to merciful Yggdrasil itself that had already blessed the Aesir to be a hearty people that could perform feats thought to be impossible for most other species. She thought of the stories that her father and mother used to tell her when she was a girl. They'd tell her tales of her ancestors. Her father's clan came from the sea. They were all excellent seamen, excellent swimmers. And their blood swam through her veins. She pressed herself further and deeper into the water that was like a pit. Her legs kicked as fast as they could and propelled her downward. As she went deeper into the depths it became harder to see. Things were getting darker and darker, blacker and blacker, but still the light caught Loki's pristine golden armor and it glistened enough for her to follow the trail. She pumped her arms and took incredible strokes and moved through the water like a bullet. For the first time she felt grateful that her fine frock had been so tattered, it gave her the freedom to move about in the water as easily as if she had been wearing her bathing suit. She didn't need any encumbrances. She needed to reach him. Had to reach him, but with every stroke she swam to get closer to him he seemed to sink further out of reach. Below them was nothing but Forever Sea and wretched black abyss. Sigyn's arms were starting to ache abominably. With her mouth shut, she let out a grown. Her legs instantly became sore from their constant kicking. They burned with weariness. The crushing weight of the water made her head pound and her chest feel like it would burst. For a moment, Lady Sigyn started to panic and thrash about. It was as if her body was revolting despite what her mind was telling it to do. It was like a willful civil disobedience of her own system, refusing to commit suicide. Sigyn's hand clumsily groped in the water trying to catch hold of Loki. She was almost there, just a little closer, she gritted and strained and forced her eyes open. She saw his pale hand drift in the water. She reached for it in desperation. Her own hands just barely skimmed his flesh, but she wasn't able to get a firm hold on him. He sank further

out of her reach as bits of rock and stone tumbled down all around him. There was a nagging in the back of Lady Sigyn's mind telling her that she had done all she could do. She couldn't go any deeper. Her lungs were screaming, bleeding, begging for air. If she swam to another depth, then Asgard would be out another fighter and they needed every person possible for the fight. They'd already lost several Valkyrie. She wasn't the strongest warrior, she knew this, but she could still lend her bow and blade and cut down a few of their enemies, she was sure. The water was getting darker, heavier, colder and Loki...Loki was becoming more and more of an infinitesimal speck lost at sea. It broke her heart, but she just couldn't reach him. There was nothing but black water the further down she went. Nothing but an abyss. It was positively frightful to think about going any further, she was frozen kicking slowly for a moment where she was, but then she thought of Loki. She thought of when she'd first heard a few years ago that Loki had fallen off the Rainbow Bridge into the black hole. It sounded so awful. Such an empty, sad and scary demise. In the times when she'd cared for Loki in the dungeon, he would sometimes mention the Void. It wasn't exactly as if he was having a conversation with her. He was feverish, delirious, talking to himself in moments when he could find peace from screaming in pain. The words that he'd used to describe it were heartbreaking, "Dark...cold...help, fear...alone...pain...cold...no more...alone...no more," She hadn't known what to say, hadn't truly known how to comfort him, but as she wiped his sweat soaked brow she'd told him "no more," she'd told him that he wasn't alone. She couldn't leave him. She couldn't leave Loki to that torturous fate once again. She couldn't let him die a second death in the exact same way... after all...she'd promised. She couldn't let Loki suffer like that, not after he'd come this far.

Clenching her teeth as tightly as she could and squeezing her eyes shut, she forced her legs to kick with every last ounce of energy they could muster, she willed her arms into swift strokes as if she were crawling her way to the bottom of the pool. And just when it seemed as if her legs would go limp, her arms ached and were unable to persevere even one stroke further, her hand was stretched as far as it could go and she finally caught the hem of the fabric of Loki's cloak!

Without hesitation, Lady Sigyn began wrapping the emerald cloak around her arm. She balled it up around her clenched fist and used it like a hook to reel Loki in. Her fabulous catch of the day. She pulled on the cape until he was drawn close enough to her so that she could take hold of him. A take hold of him she did. She pulled his body against hers and allowed it to rest there. With her one free hand, the daughter of Admiral Arn immediately and most urgently began struggling to swim back to the top of the pool. It was hard. Her attempts seemed futile. Loki's unconscious body was weighing her down, he was slight in frame, but the water soaked and armor cloaked, he felt like he weighed a ton. Lady Sigyn struggled. For every inch she gained it seemed to be dragged down another three. She gritted and groaned, she kicked and bucked and stroked and pulled all that she could, but the light of the surface seemed so very far away. It seemed to get dimmer and dimmer as he fingers twitched trying to breech the top of the water. Finally, the blonde-haired hand maiden to Queen Frigga had to stop, all her energy was spent. She was still conscious, but the air was out of her lungs. She allowed herself to drift for just a second. She wanted to survive, but her body was quite frankly exhausted and begged her to relax. She drifted. Parts of her body naturally started to float, her feet and her free hand. It was Loki's weight that was keeping her from being able to float to the surface. His licorice locks floated in the water like aimless jellyfish tentacles and brushed against her face. She turned her head toward him. She saw his slack jawed, listless expression. Lady Sigyn righted her body, she mashed her lips together and with dogged tenacity, powerfully pumping legs and one strong stroking swimmer's arm Sigyn's hand made its way the breech the surface of the pool that ran through the Weapon's Vault.

The crown of Lady Sigyn's golden mane breeched the disturbed surface of the water like a whale. Her whole head soon game above water and her pink lips spat out water like a whale spouting from its blow hole. She gasped and sucked in air ravenously, her lungs had been starving for sweet oxygen. She was so grateful that she had made it to the top of the pool that she nearly cried. She was so excited that she threw her hands up in the air. She almost forgot herself and nearly dropped Loki back into the pool. Immediately, she gathered him back in her arms once more and held him close to her. Her arms were still quivering. It was hard for her to hold on to him. He was so heavy. "Loki!" she gasped as she looked down at him, she made sure to situate him so that his head was resting on her shoulder. It kept lulling to the side. "Come on, come on," she said as she struggled to swim to the ledge and get them both out of the water. "Wereokwereokwereok," she kept mumbling as she swam slowly to edge while panting. Loki's body weighed her down but she kept going. She was getting more and more fatigued from swimming, but she was so close to the ledge. In one last gallant effort, Lady Sigyn reached her hand out the was the limestone that made up the edge of the pool. She practically leapt out the water and caught hold of the ledge. Her fingers skimmed the stone, they almost slipped, but she held fast and pulled she and Loki out of the water.

She groaned as she dragged her soaking wet and trembling body out of the water. She was breathless by the time that she did the same for Loki. She had to nearly toss him to get him out and still his feet dangled in the water. Sigyn rolled over onto her side and then onto her back. She was shivering, her whole body convulsing, her chest was heaving and her throat burned. Her heart raced fast within the cavity of her chest. It was trying to find a regular heartbeat again after having held her breath for so long. Her lips trembled as she panted. She let her head lull to the side. She was so exhausted. All she wanted to do was sleep. She doubted she could have moved another muscle. Lady Sigyn's golden eyes started to close, she could slowly feel her mind and body giving in to the luxury of unconsciousness when all of a sudden she started coughing fitfully. She coughed hard and her eyes popped open as her body fought to dispel the excess water from her lungs. Her stomach ached as she did so. She rolled over onto her side, clenching her stomach, gasping in relief that she could finally breathe again. Her eyes slowly batted open as her breathing regulated. Things swirled about in her blurry vision, but finally, her vision came into focus enough for her to once again take note of the man that she rescued. 'Loki!" Sign called out, but her voice was strangled in her throat. Her hand reached toward him, she crawled and clawed her way to him. She stretched forth a shaky hand and she finally clasped his limp, wet wrist. She tugged on it and tried to pull him a little closer to her and pull his legs out of the water. Her first efforts were feeble at best. She noted from he didn't have a pulse. Her eyes widened. Sigyn corrected her posture and hopped to her knees and scrambled toward Loki. She clutched onto his breastplate and then dragged the rest of his body out of the water. Loki was laid sprawled out limp and listless of the broken limestone. "Lokilokiloki," Lady Sigyn mumbled to herself desperately as she examined him. She looked him over. His mouth was ajar, but no breath escaped his lips, he didn't even bat an eyelash. "Oh no, no, Loki, Loki!" she exclaimed, taking him by the shoulders and shook him roughly. He didn't wake or rally. "LOKI!" she screamed as she roughly patty his checks to revive him. He didn't even twitch. "Loki?" Sigyn questioned timidly. She rested her hand on his golden armor. "Oh Loki," she sighed, and she could feel tears pricking at the back of her eyes. She flung herself over him and she let her head rest on his breastplate as she started to hug his still form. She didn't hear his heartbeat through the metal that guarded his chest. Surely, she would have heard the thumps echoing inside the metal had his heart been beating. The queen's handmaiden couldn't help the way her lip started to quiver. "Oh, Loki, I'm so sorry," she muttered. She then saw Loki's dagger dangling from his side. She immediately grabbed it and plunged it into the center of his breastplate. She ripped the dagger clean through the gold. She ruined the armor, and she knew that Loki was very fastidious, but she was sure for this he wouldn't mind.

Once the breastplate was torn through, she peeled the metal back off of Loki's chest like it was a banana. The metal scraped against her fingers, but she didn't care. Soon, Loki's chest was completely exposed. Water ran out of the broken breastplate. Sigyn placed her hand on his chest that was hard and unmoving. Panic seized her once more and immediately she began to pump. With all her strength she pressed down on his chest. She did several pumps and then looked at his handsome, unflinching face. It seemed to be growing paler by the second. She didn't hesitate a moment longer. She pinched his pointed nose shut and placed her mouth over his. She heaved in three deep breaths into his mouth, filling his lungs and expanding his chest. She repeated the sequence a few times. Each time she watched for Loki to start breathing on his own, but when she saw that he wasn't she quickly returned to her act of resuscitation. Her arms started to shake as she grew more and more tired. She wanted to call for help, but there was no one around. "Loki," she finally panted after taking a merely momentary pause to catch her breath. Her golden eyes welled with tears as she found that her best efforts were failing fast. Her eyes were running, dripping with fresh, hot salt tears despite her best efforts.

Then a cough. Small and hardly noticeable at first. Another quickly followed. Sigyn quickly wiped her eyes and those golden orbs widened as they stared down at the enchanter. Her hand on her heart as she watched and listened to his small croups slowly morph into full on heaving thrusting whoops that vigorously worked to dispel water from his lungs and replace it with air. Dirty water spewed forth from his mouth and tumbled down the side of his face and chin. He groaned as the fit that he was having caused him to be tossed into an upright. State. His eyes flung open: wild, wide and bewildered. He would have been even more perplexed had he not seen sweet Sigyn's face when his eyes first opened and felt her tender touch. Her hands were on his shoulders and steadying him as they rested on his chest and back holding him upright. "Loki you're ok? You're, ok? You're, ok, right?" she cooed in his ear. He was shivering and still coughing violently. She stroked his licorice locks that were plastered to his pale face which slowly started to take on some color once more.

He shook himself and gathered his wits about him. The last thing that he remembered was looking for Lady Sigyn, he was frantic to know where she was, that she was alright, safe, then he remembered a red tempest swirling out around him, he remembered pain, a crash and then a splash, cold and darkness all around him. He remembered wanting to escape and making some effort to, but he couldn't like being trapped in a fever dream. Now, he was awake, and he found Sigyn was here. "Loki," she heard him speak his name. He watched as her pretty lips moved, but what she was saying was indistinct, maybe before of his coughing, or maybe because of his frenzied thoughts.

Her hands gently caressed his cheeks, getting his attention. He stared into her rich hazel eyes; they sparkled like pure gold. "S-s-s-Sigyn," his skillful, silver tongue stammered like he was saying his first words. His hand shook as he reached up to touch her face. He had to make sure that she was there, that she was real this time and not another illusion that he was so stupidly falling for. The skin of his fingertips grazed her flesh. The touch was tender and yet he hated how many new scars and bruises had been formed on her skin. It was his doing. Still, he felt her reach out her hand to take his. She pressed it deeper against her cheek and she nodded, smiling with tears pouring. She was unable to iterate much more. "Sigyn," he said this time more slowly. "You're alright? You're alright," he smiled at her.

"Yes, yes I am," the blonde-haired woman stated back. "And you?" she pointed to him, but she was scarcely about to let him answer for himself, because her hands were ready to perform a thorough examination.

He chuckled slightly and then let out another rattled cough. Water continued to spew from his mouth, but Lady Sigyn didn't seem to mind. She continued to smile a tenderly touch his thin face. "Yes! Yes, yes," Loki murmured quietly. "Thanks to you, I think," he said to Sigyn somewhat sheepishly, he was practically blushing. "What happened?" he asked holding his head.

The golden locked maiden grinned. "I was going to ask you the same," she chuckled. "But I'll go first," she pointed to herself. "I found your helmet...I don't know I figure you had fallen into the pool. I dived in..."

"You saved me," Loki gave her a lopsided smirk. "I thought I was going to save you," he shook his head.

"Yes," her gentle voice stated. Lady Sigyn quirked her features, she shook her head, "What happened, I think I was unconscious for a bit..." she shrugged.

"There was an explosion," Loki slowly explained. His tone was soft and pensive. She noticed that his emerald eyes started to dart about.

"Loki?" Sigyn inquired. "What happened? Where's Lord Malekith?"

Loki shook his head, he closed his eyes for a moment, his thin lips twisted downward. "Gone," he confessed and sighed.

"You vanquished him?" a broad smile spread across Lady Sigyn's face.

"No, no, the complete opposite," Loki stated with an awkward chuckle and then he looked down.

"I don't understand. Where's the Tesseract? Do you have it?"

"No," the words came out quickly from Loki's mouth. His eyes opened finally, but there was no shine in his emerald pupils, he just had a vacant stare.

"Where is it?" Lady Sigyn inquired once more. Her smooth fingers gently rubbed against Loki's cheek. She tried to break his trance, but he continued to glance out dazedly at the destruction. "Loki," she whispered to him. Trying to rally him.

"Gone," his words came out empty.

"Gone where?" Sigyn continued to press. She took him by the shoulder and nudged his pointed chin up with one hand so that she could look into his enchanting emerald eyes. "Loki!" she called to awaken. "Loki! Convergence! We haven't got much time!" she cried desperately.

Finally, the enchanter blinked. He took in the lovely face of the woman before him. "I...I...I...I... I gave it to Malekith," Loki admitted, then looked away and twisted his chin out of her hand.

Her face became scrunched and pinched, baffled by the revelation. "What?" she questioned as she allowed her hands to fall by her side. "What? No!" she backed away from him. She shook her head. "Why would you do that? How could you?' Sigyn blinked her big eyes. Sigyn's heart pounded in her chest, and it tightened all at once. Her mind raced. No! It couldn't be like everyone had said and everyone had said. Was he betraying this again?! Was he confessing this terrible evil to her once more! NO. She wanted to put her hands over her ears. She wanted to scream. For a moment she thought about reaching for that dagger that she had used to cut open his armor and stabbing him clean through heart. She couldn't let him destroy them now. She was fuming outwardly.

"Sigyn!" Loki called to her and stumbled to his feet and reached for her. She dodged his efforts. She still held his dagger in her hand. She bared her teeth and pulled the blade on him while her other hand pushed him backward. He fell back but put his hands up defenselessly.

"Why?" she demanded of him with hot fresh tears in her eyes. Anger quickly started to dissipate in her as she looked down at Loki's expression. She remembered the change she'd seen, when Loki went from a maniacal traitorous tyrant... to a lost prince...on the verge of being found. She'd believed she'd found him. She believed in him. Sigyn mashed her lips together. She let the knife fall from her hand. She lowered herself next to him. 'Why?' she questioned gently.

Loki looked down and then looked up his green eyes shimmered with a strange sincerity that Sigyn wasn't completely sure she'd seen before. Their eyes met for a moment, "For you."

His words left her speechless for a moment. "Why?" was all the fair-haired Aesir woman could manage in her stunned state. Loki shook his head, mashed his thin lips together once more. "Why?" she pressed further. She'd notice that Loki's expression had morphed back into that slightly dazed look. His eyes seemed focused on the broken form of the Destroyer. "Loki?" she cooed.

"I thought...you...were...in danger..." he slowly began to explain, but he didn't blink as he spoke. "I saw you, heard you...Malekith had you in his clutches..."
Sigyn blinked, "But I don't remember..."

"So, I offered the Tesseract...I... I thought," his voice trailed off. "I stabbed him," Loki admitted. That explained the drops of blood that Brunhilda had found. "But" Loki continued. "When...when I went to reach for you...pull you out of his grasp," Loki stopped, swallowed hard. "You. Weren't. There," Loki ground out the words. His green eyes were no longer blank with bafflement, but angry.

Sigyn's hand was on his shoulder. "But I'm right here. I'm right here, now," she stated to him. The queen's lady-in-waiting tried to offer the queen's son a smile.

"I know," Loki's cool hand came to rest on top of hers and he returned her gentle, affectionate expression. "I'm glad you're alright, it's just..."

"Just?" Sigyn prompted when Loki's silver tongue stopped.

"I... was...tricked," the words tumbled from the enchanter's lips so softly that Sigyn had to strain her ears to make the words out, but she did hear them, nonetheless. They startled her, but the confession had left Loki completely rattled. The fabled trickster hated to be the butt of any joke. Not that he hadn't had an enemy get the upper hand on him before. Oh, he had. He hated to admit it, even now, but Thor's miscreant band of Earth's Mightiest Heroes had a few tricks up their sleeves. The corners of his mouth nearly went up as he thought of it, but this was different. The only other time he had felt so completely incompetent because of a trick was with...Angrboda. She'd used him, used his powers against him and left him feeling so ashamed. He could hear the mockery that was taking place all around him. Lords and ladies of the court laughing behind their backs, servants snickering that the great trickster got tricked. And it was the same. He could hear Malekith's mouth mocking him with the fact that with the Aether he now possessed Loki's prized power.

"Tricked? Tricked how?'

Loki grit his teeth, "An illusion..."

'An illusion?" Sigyn repeated. "Like magic? Like the same kind you use?" her words were merely trying to piece together the facts of the matter, but Loki her questions were digs. They were his own daggers twisted deep into his side. "But Malekith isn't a magician, is he?"

"No, Sigyn it's not Malekith...solely, it's the Aether," Loki tried to expound.

"The Aether? But I thought it could just destroy."

"The Aether is an Infinity Stone..." Loki began.

"A seed of Yggdrasil," Lady Sigyn whispered in a hallowed tone.

Her devotion was commendable. "Yes, Sigyn. The powers of the Aether are vaster than we really know. But...I... I should have known," Loki chastised himself and he balled up a tight fist. "The Aether is the Reality Stone, it has the power to alter states, be they real such as its destructive capabilities or creating illusions so elaborate that even I can't see through them," his eyes slammed shut with embarrassment. "Malekith is limited and narrow minded, so one dimensional, all he wants is Darkness so that his kind can flourish once more. I should have known what the Aether could truly do. I shouldn't have been deceived," Loki muttered miserably to himself.

"Oh, but Loki, you are a master of illusions," Sigyn stated confidently.

"And I fell for!" Loki spat. 'It was so real, so life like...more powerful than the ones I can cast. I doubt I'll be able to see past them."

"No, Loki you can't think like that! You are Asgard's most powerful enchanter..."

The royal scoffed. "That didn't matter..."

"It does matter!" Sigyn earnestly protested and took him by both his shoulders and forced him to face her.

"Malekith has both the Aether and the Tesseract now and we are running out of time, there's very little hope now Sigyn..." Loki went on still wagging his head, his long black locks slapped him in the face.

Lady Sigyn put her fingers to his lips, "But there's still some hope, even if it's just a smidgen?" her words almost came out as a question. "You're Asgard's greatest enchanter," she told him again. "There's still time! There's still a fight to be fought!" she declared as she pounded her petite fist into her palm.

Loki chuckled as he heard her hearty determination. She sounded like Odin himself. "We'll fight til the last Asgardian breath," he echoed Odin's sentiments that the old king had shared with he and Thor many times.

A broad smile spread across Sigyn face. "I believe in us," she spoke of their people of the power and might of Asgard. "We still have a good many citizens left strong enough to fight, we still have warriors, and we still have Prince Thor," Sigyn stated excitedly.

Loki shook his head swiftly, "But Thor doesn't have Mjolnir. I tried to show him how to use his powers...but," Loki went on rambling.

"He has you." Sigyn stated back with a broad smile on her face. Her response caused the wizard to stare back at her as if he didn't know the words that she said. Her lips pursed. "Doesn't he?" she questioned quickly. Loki nodded his head. "I believe in you," she confessed as she held his narrow face in her hands.

Loki turned his face toward her right palm which rested on his cheek. He puckered his lips to plan a kiss there. "Come on," he stated and looked up at her fondly. He rose to his feet first then pulled Lady Sigyn to her feet as well. "We've got to get to the others in the throne room." Loki reached down for his helmet and dagger, all the while noting the armor that had been destroyed. Sigyn stood dumbfounded for a moment, the feeling of his lips on her hand in such a tender way had never happened before.

"I'm sorry about the armor," Sigyn added quickly.

Loki turned to her, "You don't need to apologize for anything, Lady Sigyn...you saved my life," he expressed with a wink and a smirk. He picked up the cut-up armor and slid it back on. "Besides I think it's easy enough to mend," he then melded the armor back on to himself. It looked perfectly polished and sturdy. Sigyn went to touch it. It wasn't just an illusion; it was good as new. She beamed up at him. He took her by the hand and the two of them started to make for the exit. They were very near the steps that led to the door to get out of the Weapon's Vault. Sigyn tugged on Loki's arm and held him back. "Come on, Sigyn! What's wrong?" the dark-haired mage inquired. "Are you hurt?' He looked at her up and down, tattered garments, exposed skin, glistening and wet, in another place and another time well it would have been enough to inspire many a naughty thought and activity.

"No." she remained rooted where she was. "Don't you hear that?" she asked wide-eyed.

"it's nothing, Sigyn," Loki stated all too quickly. "Come let us make some haste," he started once more to go up the steps, but she still held fast to his hand and didn't budge. In exasperation he sighed, but then he heard it.

"Help! Help!" The cry came out like a yelp.

"It could be one of the Valkyrie," Sigyn insisted. "We have to help her!"

"We have to get to the throne room, Lord Malekith and his thugs are headed there now," Loki's eyes darted back and forth.

"Ok, you go to the throne room, I will go back for her," Sigyn stated quickly. She flipped her blonde-hair over her shoulders and she was ready to make her way back in search of the shield-maiden.

Loki caught her by the shoulder. "No, I'll go," Loki pointed to himself. "They need warriors in the throne-room," Loki admonished her.

"Exactly, you are a better warrior than me," Sigyn pointed out.

"I'm not sure if that's true," he looked down at her fondly. "If she's injured, depending on how severe the injury is, I might be able to heal her," said Loki. With that, Lady Sigyn agreed to follow through with Loki's plan. They were out of healing crystals and moving someone who was injured would have too many risks.

"You...you...you have to get to the throne room," Sigyn stated as she gave Loki's hand a squeeze.

"I will," Loki assured her and returned the gesture. "I'll see you there, don't be afraid, Sigyn," he admonished her. She nodded, but in the back of her mind she thought of how hard it was not to be afraid. It wasn't like their very lives, their culture, the Nine Realms were at stake. No pressure. "Now, go!" he pointed as he gave a stern command. She didn't hesitate. This time she took off running.

Help! Help!" the faint, muffled cry continued to echo about the smoldering chamber. Most of the Aether ash had settled in huge gray, red clumps and mounds throughout the Weapon's Vault. Loki looked around and saw the Destroyer, the poor machine coated in the thick, scarlet excrements of the Aether. It looked like it was bleeding. Loki closed his eyes and reached out with his hand for a moment. He didn't have time to look for the Valkyrie. Where are you he asked as he closed his eyes in concentration. He quickly found her. She had fallen behind the Great Wishing Stone. The stone grew the more people wished upon it. Loki's hand shook as he used his energy to levitate the stone as made his way to her. He jumped over the cracks in the floor and over the fallen relics and raced toward the Valkyrie. He heard her scream once more as pressure seemed to be relieved. She didn't hear him coming. Loki was nimble and light on his feet. The warrior woman was shocked to find the gold clad traitor standing over her. She screamed out. "GET AWAY! GET AWAY FROM ME YOU WRETCHED TRAITOR!" she screamed out. Loki continued to advance toward her. She tried to fight. She started to kick and buck. She immediately tried to reach for her sword, but she found that her arm could not move and she turned to the side to see that her arm was broken. The brave Valkyrie did not care. She had spikes on her shoes and if Loki got close enough she'd be sure to give him a swift kick to his groin that would leave him singing soprano for the rest of his life, which she was sure to make decided short. Still, the once son of Odin continued to loom over her. He slowly started to bend down. The Valkyrie thrashed about she tried to raise her other arm in a defensive position, even just to raise her non-broken arm caused her extreme pain as she found that it was terribly burned and scarred from the Aether attack.

"Lie still," Loki ordered her.

"NEVER!" she screamed squarely in his face. She then hocked a wad of spit at him. She followed up by aiming the boot with the spike at Loki's nose. Loki quickly deflected the attack, by raising his own dagger against it. He ushered her foot back down nearly delicately. "Let go! Let go of me!" she protested and raised her second boot against him. Her leg also quivered as the Aether seemed to have instantly chewed through her armor. She didn't bother pointing the blade at Loki this time. Confounded, that the self-proclaimed king of Asgard was a master of the art of knives. Instead, she hooked her leg around him and dragged him down toward her. She had the enchanter's head trapped between her leg and floor and she was working fast on crushing his windpipe.

"I'm trying to heal you..." Loki croaked out.

"I'd sooner die," she continued.

"Well, that can be arranged, Shevera" Loki snapped. He literally snapped his fingers and he disappeared from out of the clasp of her thunder thigh. He stood up and dusted himself off. He started to walk away, but he could hear Lady Sigyn's sweet soprano voice entreating him. "Haven't enough of our people died, King Loki," He saw Shevera struggling, trying to roll over on her side and push herself up off the ground. He could hear her grunting and groaning as she pressed herself on to her knees. Her broken arm hung limp by her side. She looked around and noted that her sword was afar off. With one hand she started to try to crawl toward her sword, but she soon collapsed from strain.

Loki walked back toward her and found her in her collapsed state. She was panting and shivering and starting to thrash. She was only just barely holding on to consciousness, but she weakly protested "No, no, no, no" as Loki's hands hovered over her. An electric green light came from his hands. He pressed them against her flesh and examined her wounds. They were great. She had many burns that because of the Aether had blistered and bubbled and begun to fest. He noted her broken arm and he cracked ribs. Loki concentrated and the lime green light which radiated from his fingers radiated heat and slowly the bones were set back in place and the painful blisters started to heal. He slowly started to turn Shevera over. Her eyes shot open. They were intense and brown and filled with fury. Her hand was immediately around Loki's slender throat. She was growling and snarling like a beast. He pulled his blade on her. He pointed it back at her side. "It would be a shame to have to undo my handiwork, Shevera," Loki said as he twisted his blade so that it caught the light. He offered her a crooked grin. Bitterly, she huffed as she released his neck. The enchanter raised himself up off of his knees and started to walk away, he had to get to the throne room.

Instantly, Loki felt a sharp, jagged edge against the back of his neck on the slight sliver of skin that was not covered by the collar on his armor and the back of his helmet. Shevera's mighty silver sword was broken. The fine tip had been broken off, but the cracked half of the sword that she held firmly in her hand was still enough to decapitate the traitor if she wanted. "I should smite you where you stand," Shevera declared.

Loki slowly raised his hands in surrender. "We don't have time for games, Shevera," Loki hissed. "There is mere moments before Convergence is at its peak," He tried to explain the lieutenant.

"And whose fault is that?" the Valkyrie continued to growl at the traitor. "You brought us here! You are the one who had Ragnarok tapping on our door," she pointed out to him as she trailed the rough edge of her blade against the slightly exposed flesh in the back of his neck and brought it to the front so that the rough edges where silver and steel bad been broken off fit snuggly beneath his Adam's apple. She sneered as she studied the man. Men. Men had so many little extra parts that could be exploited in battle. She stared at it, tempted to cut it out of his throat and watch him bleed out. It would have been a fitting end. To let his blood spill out from his pale neck like the blood that ran on the golden streets because of his evil deeds. Loki was quick and clever, but it would just be a flick of her wrist and the act would be done. "I should kill you!" she growled once more. "You don't deserve to live," her voice quivered with fury. "And all we sisters swore that we would...if we were given the chance. "The Norns have granted me such a chance!" She raised the hand that wasn't holding the sword toward the heavens. "But you saved my life," she confessed with regret. "The creed of the Valkyrie is to never repay an act of kindness with an act of evil," she stated miserably as she started to withdraw her sword. "But you have done so many acts of evil that I can't see how it would make a difference," she practically growled.

The raven-haired mage slowly turned himself around. He turned around only to find Shevera's hand on her hip and her blade raised. "Don't stand on ceremony on my account, Shevera," he remarked and stretched his arms out and made himself an easy target.

"Oh, don't tempt me with a good time," the warrior woman declared. "I'd love to kill you," she stated with a smile on her face just as smug as his. "I'd consider it my most noble kill," she thumped her chest as she declared it so. "But unlike you I honor the promises that I have made to my family," she pointed out. For a moment the enchanter's face seemed perplexed. "The Valkyrie are my sisters, my family," she qualified. "I uphold our family name and our traditions," she confirmed as she finally sheathed the broken blade. "You didn't say thank you then either, Shevera," he had almost a boyish glint in his eyes as he crossed his arms over his chest and looked at her up and down. He noted the distinct hold that she had on the silver sword.

"I didn't hear a thank you for saving your life," Loki added as he saw the proud shield-maiden start to turn her back to him.

"I don't intend to say thank you," the shield-maiden immediately snapped. "At least not verbally," She pointed the tip of her sword at him. "I only mean to say that I intend to honor the code of the Valkyrie, my surrogate family for all these centuries. And I intend to find out what you really are." She wiped under her nose as she stepped closer to him. "Are you a traitor? A savior? Foe or friend? Trickster? Coward? Tyrant? Prince?" she questioned as she slashed her sword through the air with every word. Her sharp weapon swept pass Loki's face several times, but he didn't flinch.

Finally, he caught Lieutenant Shevera's blade between his two palms. Loki's gave her a lopsided smile. "You demand all this of me at the tip of a sword?" he asked her. "My, my, my, the Valkyrie certainly are the most polite and hospitable ladies in the kingdom," he mocked.

Shevera squared her jaw and scrunched up her face as she pushed the sword through his pale palms. The tip of the blade collided with his golden breastplate. She stopped just short of thrusting it through his head. "This is the only thanks you'll receive from me, Loki," she spat. His shrewd green eyes looked up and down at her quizzically for a moment. "That I spare your wretched life right now...in this moment!" she declared. She quickly drew her sword back and sheathed it. "A life for a life," she stated solemnly as she brushed from the of the fly away strands of hair out of her face. "That is the creed of the Valkyrie," she explained. "I had promised that if I came across you, I would ram you clean through," she told him. "And for the lives you've taken and the pain you've caused our people, Odin knows you deserve it," she ground out through clenched teeth.

"I'm not stopping you from exacting your justice upon me," Loki stated to her.

"You couldn't stop me even if you wanted to," the warrior qualified. Loki crossed his shoulders over his tarnished gold breast plate. She narrowed her gaze as she dared him to protest her words. "I am letting you live because you let me live," her statement was simple. "You healed me," she confirmed even more imbittered. "Made me well enough to fight by the side of my sisters," the thought of them allowed Shevera's strong features to soften just a bit. "This is the fight of our lives," there was a rumble in her tone. "And you have brought us here!" she threw out her finger like it was her sword and pointed it at Loki condemningly. "You have brought Ragnarök snarling at our doorstep!" she yelled. "And if we are to die this day, then we are to die this day," she expressed. "I will die fighting!" Shevera insisted of herself. "And I will know the truth of you, Loki. I will see you for what you really are. "The whole kingdom will." she stated. Shevera didn't know Loki well, but she knew that the enchanter loved his illusions, he loved to stay shrouded in mystery. But she couldn't believe that the Fates would not give them all the dignity of finally seeing Loki for what he really was. "The Valkyrie will not give you a chance to betray the crown nor the people of Asgard again. We have pledged to kill all the enemies of Asgard. And if we see that what you really are...is...an... enemy... we will make sure that you die a heinous death," She nodded. Her face was stern and stoic. "1000 blades shall slice through your pale flesh," She brought her face next to his and whispered the words in his ear.

Loki's Adam's apple bobbled in his throat as he took a gulp and then a breath. "I've been warned," Loki replied.

"You've been promised," the shield maiden declared.

The raven-haired enchanted couldn't contain his smirk any longer. "Promises, promises," he muttered.

"WE all so wish to make good on them," she declared. She licked her lips. She wanted to kill Loki. Her palms itched to take the blade and slaughter the fiend. "But I'll fight with you, for now," the shield-maiden stated as she extended her hand toward Loki. He took her hand and shook it firmly.

"Thank you," the self-proclaimed king of Asgard said to the Valkyrie leader with a slight incline of his head as they started to rush from the Weapon's Vault.

---

Lord Malekith hobbled his way out of the Weapon's Vault. All the while the fiend was cackling. His hand clutched his wounded side. Blood gushed and poured from the open wound between his fingers which held fast to the offended area, still his couldn't contain the sinister grin with danced upon his bloodless lips. Lord Malekith gloated within himself. Thanos had shown him many wondrous things which the Aether was capable of. He'd never known. He continued to smile as the red liquid stone bubbled through his veins. Was the stone feeding off of his pleasure and delight or was he feeding off of its? He didn't completely know. Nor could he say he completely cared. It made no difference now he and the stone were one. He allowed the surges and swells of the Aether to consume his very being. The raw energy and power tickled and pleased him. He stopped on the steps, winded. He allowed a small amount of the liquid mass to be drawn out of him. As he drew the small crimson blob from him, he could feel the pain in his wound lessen. The Aether had many capabilities, but healing was not one of them. Oh, the contrary, it was a force of destruction. In the centuries that his society had been on the decline, some of his brethren had come to wonder what the use of the Aether was. If they should keep to the ancient ways. Even his youngest son had started to fall prey to the new ideas that flitted about in the air. "But why father? Why do we love something that brings pain?" he questioned. He saw his youngest son's face in his mind's eye for the first time in years. The boy had a pale round face and big black eyes. He had immediately bristled at his son's crazy questioning.

His wife's gentle voice soothed their son as she pulled him on to her knee. "Creation and destruction hand in hand my son, one feeds the other. Some destruction is necessary for some creation," the Aether priestess told her youngest with tenderness. "Think even of eating, for you to be created into a strapping elf like your father and brothers you must eat and the things that you eat must be destroyed..." she tapped him on the nose and he giggled.

Thanos had similar views of his wife. Thoughts of balance and destiny. Malekith hadn't exactly agreed with the titan's lofty ambitions, so to speak, but they had the same endgame. In the end they both wanted to see less and less of the newer species flourish and that was enough for Malekith to have aligned himself with the Mad Titan all those eons ago. "DESTRUCTION IS POWER!" he finally spat out at his young family. He froze their foolish prattle. "Destruction is power," he tried to lower his tone.

"Your father is right, the Aether is a source of great power," his wife started to explain as she rubbed their boy's back.

"Think of fire, Kalcon," Malekith could hear himself saying his youngest son's name. He hadn't thought of the boy's name in so long. But he remembered having liked the name when it was chosen. "To the most primitive of beings, fire is the greatest source of power," he chuckled as he thought of the pathetic human race forming their society around the flames that they'd taken so long to learn how to generate.

"But, father, fire can be good it can give warmth and heat and cook food," his little son said.

"And it can burn, and it can consume!" he practically yelled at the little lad as he pounded his white fist into his white palm. "That is what they fear! That is what gives true power!" he instructed. "And those who are dependent on it, without it they perish. But we...we are able to flourish without such things. That is what makes us great! That is what makes us greater than them and we will rule over all the weaker ones with great power!" he proclaimed as he stood up from his resting chair within their home and stalked around the floor with his hands raised as if to summon more power.

Malekith turned his attention from his memories for they were long ago things. From his pleasant, faced wife and child. They were distant and they were weak. He doubted a boy a like Kalcon would survive the harshness of the powerful society that had wanted to create. Malekith looked at the blob flickers of red that radiated off of the liquid crystal reflected in his heartless eyes. "You have even more power than I ever realized," he expressed. "I never knew all that you were truly capable of, my beauty," his talon-like finger attempted to stroke the Aether like a beloved pet, but the Aether became erratic in his hands. It wiggled and oozed until it wound and twisted its way right back into his body.

He felt his body shake and quake and start to seize up as the infinity Stone was anxious within him. He remembered that the power of the Aether was desperate to be released. His body could hardly contain it any longer. It was too potent to be held back much longer. "Soon, soon, soon," Loki whispered as he tapped his stomach. "I will release you," he promised the stone. "And I will release you," Malekith stated as he grinned from ear to ear and produced the shiny cobalt cube. It was so beautiful. He couldn't believe that Loki had yielded the Tesseract so quickly. Thanos had told him that with Convergence being so near that the power of Aether to create such a powerful illusion would be easy, but still, Malekith had questioned his leader. He couldn't have imagined that Loki would fall for such a simple trick so quickly, but Thanos had been confident. He knew that the self-proclaimed king of Asgard was sentimental and feeling. Had he been the one to find the Loki when he was a babe, he could have bred that sentiment out of him, but in thousands of years it was an ingrained fatal flaw that was hard to kill.

Malekith continued to stare at cube with curious entrancement. "To think he would choose the beauty of woman over you," he purred at the Infinity Stone in his language. It made no sense. The Aesir woman was attractive, but most of their women were. When this day was done Malekith planned to claim several as his own, he only had 4 female soldiers among his rank and by now who knew if they were even alive. They certainly needed breeding stock. He'd make sure that one of the women which he kept would be Loki blonde wench.

All of a sudden, the beautiful, blue cube started to rumble and shake slightly in his palm. Before long it seemed as though the world was morphing before his eyes. He saw space and it appeared as if some asteroid was around him. Instantly, he saw the startling bloody face of the Other before him. It was snarling and terrible. "YOU HAVE PROCURED THE CUBE, THEN?" the Other asked and declared at the same time.

'Yes," Malekith practically stuttered. "Thanos' plan worked perfectly," The Dark-Elf general panted.

"Of Course!" The Other snapped. "We have no time for the sniveling!" he barked. "Do you realize what time it is?" the Other questioned. "THE WORLDS ARE ALLIGNING, RAPIDLY" The Other hollered. "LORD THANOS, GROWS RESTLESS!" the creature hissed. "He has waited too long, too long," The Other mumbled as he rubbed his double-thumbed hands together worryingly. "Thanos will have the stones and he will be freed; he will enact his plan..." The Other stated sharply.

"Yes, of course," Malekith uttered placatingly. "I shall not fail as Loki has," Malekith added slyly in the language of the Dark-Elves.

"If you keep standing around idly you just might," the other snorted through his bone like headdress. "GO!" he ordered with a shout.

Malekith began to rise from his feat to nod at Lord Thanos' second in command. He longed to take his place and reign alongside Thanos and after he had completed this most sacred mission and procured Thanos not 1, but 2 of the stones which he coveted and craved for so many eons. Surely, Thanos would elevate him. When Lord Malekith finally stood he found that the image of the asteroid that housed Thanos Sanctuary was gone. The leader of the Dark-Elves looked around gaping for a moment. He then looked back at the sapphire stone. "Wondrous," he mouthed. "Oh, the things you shall do in my hand," he declared unto himself. He envisioned images of his army going and invading throughout the cosmos and instantaneously arriving there. The people of those worlds wouldn't stand a chance. They would not need the use of the Bifrost. For so long that privilege had been reserved only for the Asgardians. Well, no more. The might of the Bifrost would seem like small potatoes in comparison to the power of the Space Stone. It was just then that Malekith realized that all the power that the cube possessed would be consequential if he didn't know how to use it, how to harness it. Much like the Aether. Lord Malekith was not an enchanter, and he didn't have knowledge of the mystical elements of the stones. He panicked instantly. He needed to contact the Other again and have he and Thanos instructed him on how to wield such power. "Take me to Thanos," he shouted at the glowing, sapphire cube in his hands. The Tesseract continued to glow, but nothing happened. He shouted again. He spoke it his language and in Aesir, but nothing happened. He tried to picture Thanos' domain, the forbidden isolated space rock which he floated upon, but the cube didn't yield its power, it didn't open up and show him another space. How would he be able to make sure that Thanos was able to get through to the Nine Realms? The binds of the fates had entrapped him for so many centuries, but now he could be free, but there was only a small window of time in which he could be set free with the help of the Tesseract and Malekith didn't know its inner workings. "I will wield your power," he grumbled toward the Tesseract. "And if I can't I know someone who can," Malekith grinned viciously toward himself. He knew how to use the Aether now to make an illusion powerful enough to trick a trickster and he was sure if it worked once. It would work again. It would be simple. For his first trick had proven to be simple yet effective. It would be like taking candy from a baby once again. Malekith grinned as he made haste. He just had to get there.

Lord Malekith quickly traversed the steps that led from the Weapon's Vault up to the main floors of the palace. Because of the explosions that he had created with the power of the Aether it was more like traversing a cavern or a cliff. Many steps had been blown to pieces. They were simply missing now; they left half staircases that led to absolutely nowhere. Pillars had fallen over toppled and smashed into rails and banisters, causing holes to be placed in the walls and the ceilings to start to cave jumped and dodge and scurried up the steps quick fast and in a furious hurry. He was grunting and growling as he tore up flight after endless broken flight. Every now and then his powerful panting would give release to the Aether. Thick shards shot forth from his mouth like a dragon breathing fire. But these shards were not just pure blasts of energy that were formless and could disappear in a moment. They had a solid form weight and depth. They formed new steps for Malekith to climb up. "The power grows," Malekith stated as he breathed heavily, all the while, he was racing up the newly created steps still like a madman on all fours. "The Convergence draweth nigh!" he roared as he finally reached the top.

Lord Malekith didn't have the decorum nor time to open the illustrious door that led to the chamber, he simply thrust another potent blast from his chest. Red energy shot forth everywhere, it tore through the walls like it was nothing but a pile of sticks. Lord Malekith was huffing, he was breathing through his nose furiously as he saw the sight before him the wall he had burst through had slammed a few of his own soldiers. They lied beneath the newly created rubble, groaning and moaning and twitching.

"Lord Malekith!" one of the Dark-Elf soldiers saluted his sovereign. "He came as soon as we heard the call," he expressed in the native tongue of the Dark-Elves.

Malekith scrunched up his face with displeasure out his soldiers. Especially the ones who were picking themselves up off of the floor. There were less than 20 of them. He was about to yell, but then he remembered the call. The message that he and the two who had been teleported into the communication tower had sent forth. He stopped and listened; his pointed ears rotated. Where was the beautiful screeching? It was so faint, nearly silent. "Those beasts," Malekith ground out," They are relentless!" he growled as he clenched his hand into a fist. The Asgardians would never stop. They'd do anything to foil even the simplest of plans. Malekith allowed himself to smile, that would make their inevitable defeat all the more Malekith brought his soulless, black eyes to look up at the tiny band before him. "Where are the others?" Lord Malekith demanded.

The troops looked at each other and shrugged. "We all came when we heard what was being transmitted over the loudspeaker, but we have been scattered my lord," the soldier expressed.

"What manner of contraption is that that the Aesir now possess," another one of the warriors of Svartalfhim questioned. "It is like out bombs, but it did not kill?"

"Never mind that!" Malekith immediately snapped. " There should be more of us," he berated the men as he looked at the pitiful ranks which he had left.

"Some of the men remained behind on the mothership… to guard Prince Thor's hammer," the soldiers continued to explain.

"I doubt that we have more than 100 now, sir. The Asgardians now outnumber us,"

"They have outnumbered us this whole time, that is inconsequential!" "Another soldier chastised his comrade. Malekith was glad of the soldiers' actions for he would have done far worse, but he needed those troops. "Our technology is superior," the soldier stated with pride.

"Yes, indeed Lord Malekith we surely still have the advantage!" declared a Dark-Elf warrior. "I was transported to the ship, and I heard your order through the transmission. I brought more weapons," the soldier presented a crate full of some of the most powerful weapons within their arsenal. The crate was full of vortex blasters and grenades. The Dark-Elves were pleased and started to cheer.

"WE HAVE THE AETHER!" Malekith shouted toward his simpleton soldiers.

"HUZZAH!" the troop roared.

"And we have this!" Malekith stated as he revealed to them the Tesseract. He could not truly see their facial expressions as they were hidden by ghostly white masks, but he heard their eager hoots and shouts. They cheered and started to parade about triumphantly.

"NOTHING CAN STOP US! HUZZAH! HUZZAH!" they cried.

"SILENCE YOU FOOLS!" the Dark-Elf general yelled. "We will celebrate grandly when it is all said and done, but we must now get to the throne room. WE have a mere 2 hours, and our window shall close."

"Aye, Lord Malekith," one soldier added. "As I came from the rainbow bridge, I saw the circles form the alignment has begun!"

"We haven't a moment to spare men!" Malekith told his force. "ONWARD! ONWARD TO VICTORY!" He rallied the troop. He drew his sword out from his side and raised it high into the air. All the while he released bursts of hot, molten red and black Aether ash that seemed to instantly break through the walls around them.

---

"I don't like this," Lord Drek muttered. He had taken a rafter position next to Hogun. He now regretted volunteering to go up on the rafters with Hogun. He had thought that it would give him an advantage. That he'd be able to see the enemy coming. He could calculate things better that way. He was sure that Hogun had taken the position for similar reasons. Still, being next to Hogun was nerve wracking. The man was like a sphinx. Unreadable. He even for a wizard such as himself. He knew math. He knew how to figure and calculate better than any mage, he imagined, but Hogun was like an uncrackable code. Drek tried to keep his eyes focused and peeled. He had his bronzed hands wrapped tightly around the hilt of the gravitational rod that Lady Jane had given him, but perspiration was dribbling from his brow and the back of his neck and causing his hands to become so slick that he thought he might drop the reactor and the remote. He feared. There was so much at stake, their lives, their very way of life, the cosmos, no pressure. But Hogun's eyes barely batted. They remained narrow and focused. His positioning of his body was terribly uncomfortable as far as the master mage was concerned. He was coiled like a tiger, ready to pounce and spring into action at any moment. His hands were on his mace. "I don't like this," Lord Drek reiterated once more. This time he gained the silent warrior's attention enough to garner a head turn.

"Shhh," Hogun pursed his lips as he turned to the wiseman. Lord Drek immediately tried to stand up, but the beam which he had carefully balanced himself upon did not seem sturdy enough to keep his balance he stayed in his crouched position. Still, he wanted to give the young man a what for, for his disrespect. He was surely old enough to be Hogun's father and in Asgard respect for elders was considered of the utmost importance.

"I say, Hogun," the older man continued. "I do not think that we should just be sitting here waiting. We don't have much time! We must make a move!" He tried to explain to the warrior.

"We have orders," Hogun simply stated but he didn't turn back around to look at the revered scholar.

"Orders that make no sense! Orders that are obsolete now. Look!" he pointed toward one of the once opulent stained-glass windows that had been blown out. From there he could see the faint outlining of the portals for the worlds starting to open. The flat spheres were starting to reveal the other worlds, he saw lush green, and he was sure that he was looking at one of the Everwood forests of Alfheim. "That one will be over our heads in minutes," the mathematician pointed out. "We have to act; we have to fight. Not wait here like sitting ducks. The Dark-Elves are headed here, but if we can cut them off before they arrive our chances may be greater, "the master mage argued.

"This is the best place for us to be."
"No, it is not!" Lord Drek protested angrily. Once more in his fury he nearly rose to his feet, but the beam which he was balanced on started to rock. He quickly lowered himself back down. "Now, listen, Sir Hogun, I am trying to tell you that as a mage I've done all the calculations already in my mind. By going toward, them it could gain us precious minutes. It could gain us exactly 12 minutes and as you know in this situation every minute is of the essence."

"Tell, me master mage, how many battles have you fought?" The elder gentleman began to huff and puff at the rebuff that Hogun gave him.

Below, similar conversations were arising. Bardok who was posed and positioned behind the large door that led into the throne room. He had stuck his reactor right in the cracked flooring, by one of the large open windows. He was certain that it would be a good place. The Dark-Elves must take to the windows. They'd either attack from the windows or try to flee out of them, but either way those who went that way would soon find themselves taken for a loop. Bardok was pensive. He looked at the remote in his hand, but he was worried about trying it. This was all they had to defend themselves and their kingdom, relying on these mechanics. He almost smiled. Lady Jane was clever, and he knew that the machine would work. He needed to believe that the machines would work. Trying to kill all the Elves would require a good bit more effort than just vanishing them here and there and keeping them away for a few minutes in ore to let the Convergence pass. The youngest master mage of the realm had seen them work himself and he was confident. Yes, he was confident. Besides, the other young mages had gone to the courtyard and they had surely already encountered the Dark-Elves. "Captain Frell, Captain Frell," Bardok called into his communication headset.

"Bardok," the captain of the guard responded quickly. He too had taken a strategic position. He was poised behind one of the last standing pillars in the great throne room.

"Have you heard anything from the courtyard squadron?" asked Bardok.

"Master Bardok, they are hardly a squadron," Captain Frell chuckled. They were students, scholars, young people who probably knew more about debate than about fighting an enemy.

"They are our squadron, for now Captain," Bardok responded readily. "We are all Asgards defenders at this point," he informed the Einherjar.

"You're right, you're right," Captain Frell concluded. "My niece is one of the leaders of that squadron," he said taking on a proud tone. "I assigned her the task. It was much to her liking," he boasted. "She's the only one of them with any real battle experience anyway," he went on. "Besides her impressive military lineage," he went on as he stroked his beard. All the while Bardok rolled his eyes as he listened to the esteemed Einherjar captain.

"Captain Frell, all of the students have done necessary combat training in their education," Bardok pointed out.

"Oh, yes, right of course, but those are mere basics, Master Bardok, you understand, they still must be led by one with more advanced training," he went on.

"Oh, yes, I understand," Bardok rolled his eyes once more. "What experience exactly does your neice have again?" he inquired.

"Oh, she has a good bit, on the weekends I'd been training her myself," Captain Frell declared as he squared his shoulders.

"Captain, you said yourself that training is not the same as combat experience," the young mage countered.

"Oh, yes, I know, but she was a part of a female hunting party in her hometown," the Einherjar went on to explain. "They were very successful in chasing down big game and she led her party many times," the captain continued to sing his niece's praises.

Bardok shook his head and he listened. He supposed that it was good to have someone feel proud of your accomplishments. Honestly, it was something that he hadn't personally known much about. His grandmother had been proud of him, but she passed away and his father, well, he was proud now that he had become accomplished and wealthy, but he hadn't been so proud originally. "She is with a well-equipped team. Most of those scholars studying at university to pass the mage trials meaning that they had knowledge in how to use combat arts," Bardok explained. Oh, yes, Bardok truly did understand that the miliary warriors of Asgard would never exactly hold mages in the same esteem as they held their own. In a sense that is why he had personally been so proud to train under Loki. Prince Loki had made most of the young hopeful scholars very proud at one time. He went through basic training to become an Einherjar and passed. Even though he didn't officially join their ranks he'd still continued to fight alongside his brother as an equal combatant. He'd been proud of his mentor. After hearing Hogun's report of what Loki had done setting Thor free, well Bardok couldn't help but feel those same feelings of pride and elations that he'd felt all those years ago when he was a boy desperate to find his place. Bardok quickly tried to quell those feelings. He'd believed in Loki, admired him, but look where that had led them? Look where they were. He wouldn't allow himself to be another simpleton that the wily trickster duped again. Just because they were taking advantage of the window of opportunity that he'd created for them and that was all. If he had the chance, if someone else didn't beat him to the punch, well he'd look Loki in the eye and end him if he showed the slightest sign of betrayal flickering in his green eyes.

"My niece had reported to me that they had seen Lord Malekith and a small band moving in. I'll contact her for an update, that way we can make sure everyone is ready" he expressed. He ended his communication with Bardok and immediately began to dial in frequency for his niece's communication device. His niece was a bright and eager young woman. She had been living in the Imperial City for a few years now. She'd been studying at the University where she wanted to be a lawyer. But she had incredible skills and prowess and he'd enjoyed training her. She was his sister's daughter. He'd promised his younger sister that he'd look out for her oldest daughter, and he had done that. He made sure that she had a place to come for a home cooked meal a few times a month if she wanted. He and his wife had greatly enjoyed having her around. They had raised 5 sons together, but it was nice to experience the joy of a daughter for the first time. "Aileen, come in," he called to her through the communicator. He waited. He heard the chirps and beeps from the frequency that allowed him to know that her coms were on. "Aileen, come in, acknowledge!" he stated this time more forcefully. He heard the communication frequency chime in again and again, but he got no response. "Peculiar," the captain stated. "She doesn't answer," he couldn't help the way his breath hitched. "It's not like her not to answer," Captain Frell muttered to himself.

"Keep, trying to contact her," Bardok stated.

"Perhaps I and a few of the soldiers can go and meet them," he proposed.

"Captain Frell, I cannot believe that you would even suggest such a thing," stated Bardok. "WE are moments away from Convergence, everyone has to be in position."

"But" the captain began to protest.

"Now, Captain Frell you know there can be no buts. These positions were planned out. You are a leader of an Einherjar company we need you here," the young mage insisted.

"You still have Sir Hogun," Captain Frell explained.

"We have a plan in place and there's no time!"

"You're not my superior, Young Bardok," the captain expressed angrily. Bardok may have been a Master mage of the realm, but he was the youngest mage in Odin's court and as far as he was concerned a mage never out ranked a true warrior of Asgard. Technically, Hogun did out rank him, he had a good mind to contact Hogun. What if the young scholars needed help and support? Surely, Hogun would not approve of abandoning them. Then again he doubted Hogun would say much of anything. He was known as Hogun the grim for a reason. Captain Frell knew he didn't need to contact anyone for the answer that he desired. He had been a man of war long enough to know better. This was Asgard's critical hour and in a time like this orders and plans came first.

"Lady Jane,' the Master mage called to the mortal woman. "Is something wrong. You should get to your position," he warned her and pointed to the broken gilded throne. He squinted and curled his lip as he looked at the throne, albeit he wasn't much a fan of that spot for Lady Jane. Jane kept coming toward him, her breathing haggard. "You don't like that post?" he asked.

"I like it fine, Master Bardok," Jane expressed.

"I think I know a better position for you," he began with a sigh, "how about... how about you go...to the north wall," he pointed to a spot that was heavily guarded with a few soldiers and his fellow mage Lady Leoma. "I think it would be a much safer position for you," Bardok offered a nervous smile.

"I'm not interested in a safer position," Lady Jane shook her head. "I chose that space for a reason,' she stated firmly. "It gives me the ability to see the layout of the throne room," she said as she pointed around. The throne room was a shambles. It was a far cry from the regal room she had entered upon her arrival. It looked like a thing out of dreams. Now it looked like a nightmare. Thor had taken the time and explained to her the history of the throne room. There was symbolism in each and every column. The 1st 8 columns represented the original Einherjar, there were runes carved into each of the large columns outlining the history of the original clans, telling what their clan stood for. The subsequent columns that continued to hold up the throne room were supposed to represent the women in the royal family their names ever engraved as a part of Asgard's history. The throne room also contained several beautiful marble statues. The statues were of the most revered warriors in Asgard's history. The most fascinating thing in the throne was the murals. The throne room had a vast array of gorgeous murals. They depicted Asgard's more recent history. And recently Jane had been led to understand that that was the last 4000 or so years. These golden images were paintings of peace treaties, celebrations, garden parties and images of the current royal family. Odin and his parents and then on to Odin as his own family and heirs. But those golden images had been broken and corrupted. The lovely paintings and statues were toppled and cracked. The depictions of King Odin and Prince Thor and Queen Frigga had fallen from their lofty places of overlooking the throne room, she didn't bother to even look for Loki's head. If his likeness had been decapitated Jane was surely glad for it, in her estimation he didn't deserve to call himself a king of anything. He certainly didn't deserve to sit next to her beloved Thor and be recognized in the same pantheon as him. A piece of marble from the ceiling in which Thor's perfect face had been painted onto had fallen from the ceiling, it lied on the floor. Jane had looked at it as she crossed over closer to Bardok. She couldn't help the feeling of the pit in her stomach as the notion was planted in her mind that that could be the closest, she ever came to seeing him again. There was still so much she had to say to him.

"I'll need to see the layout of the room being that I have the master controller," she pointed out as she held up a larger remote. "If I see the need, I can activate anyone of the reactors," she explained. "But I don't like this," Jane confided in the young mage. She hugged herself tightly. "All's quiet," she stated as her eyes shifted around. "Too quiet," she went on. "We haven't gotten any word of what is going on. I don't trust this plan," Jane elaborated.

"Lady Jane, this is partially your plan," Young Bardok pointed out.

"My plan was to use my reactors to buy us time. My plan was never to sit around and or rely solely on kindness of monsters!" the scientist shouted. "Hogun says that he saw Loki free Thor, but what does that truly mean? Where is he? We don't know? At least some of us should go to look for him," she insisted.

"Lady Jane, Convergence is nigh," he pointed above them. "WE all have to stay here,"

"But what of Thor?" Jane Foster shook her head. "You don't know where he is? He could be hurt or dying, Loki and the Dark-Elves could be torturing him right now."
"Jane, I doubt that Loki had Thor right where he wanted him, there was no benefit to him stealing him away to torture him," Bardok shrugged and placed his hand on her shoulder.

"You may trust that monster, but I surely don't," she wriggled away from his clasp.

"Trust is not the word that I would use right now," Bardok cautioned her. "It's a necessity that we believe our eyes. There's no need for Loki to play games. He'd already won," Bardok continued.

"You don't care what happens to Prince Thor!" Jane railed accusingly.

"We care everything about Prince Thor!" Bardok shot back. "But what is most important to Prince Thor is Asgard's survival and the survival of the Nine Realms. If you care about Prince Thor as much as you say that you do, then you will do what it takes to preserve his home and your own," Bardok instructed. "This is not about trusting Loki, this is about fighting for our lives and doing what we have to do to keep the Dark-Elves from destroying us!"

The auburn-haired scientist was about to protest more, but just then they heard a rumbling and rattling around the doors of palace throne room. Immediately their heads swiveled. Bardok watched as Lady Jane gasped in horror. "Go!" Bardok ordered the astrophysicist. "Everyone, hold your places," he called quickly and sharply into the communication devices. Beeps and clicks could be heard going off in the throne chamber. Bardok raised his hand as well and he looked around and saw the hands of Lady Leoma, Captain Frell, Hogun and Lord Drek raised their hands too. They all readied their weapons and their reactors. "Go!" Bardok ordered Jane again. "Hide!"

Jane gripped her controller tight in hands and started to turn around and run back to the throne. The throne was wide and broad and even though it was cracked and crumbling. It was so splendid and golden and yet its splendor was almost left to lie in ruin. Perhaps it would have made a great hiding place, but Jane Foster had no intent of using it as such. She ran quickly to the throne, and she scrambled to pick up the beautiful golden arrows that Lady Sigyn had bestowed upon her. She did hope that Sigyn was alright. She had become a good friend. She hated to think about her being lost. Sigyn probably needed this weapon more than she did. But jane was determined not to let the weapon go to waste. She'd put it to good use. She was determined that she would end the lives of at least some of Malekith's soldiers with the arrows. It would be even sweeter if she had the privilege of using these arrows which Loki had enchanted against him. She'd make sure she shot this arrow that didn't miss right through his heart.

The throne room was quiet. The warriors and wizards within the wrecked regal room waited with bated breath as they heard the doors rumbling. Some grabbed for their swords, but most had been admonished to use Lady Jane's machines. What they had in numbers the Dark-Elves had made up for in power. Lady Jane's device essentially was a non-lethal version of the vortex forming blasters that the Dark-Elves already had in their arsenal. Their main objective was not simply to kill the Dark-Elves outright as it would have proved difficult as long as Malekith was in possession of the Aether, they just had to make sure that Malekith didn't get to release the Aether across the Nine Realms. They just had to keep him away from the portals for a limited amount of time.

"Brace yourselves!" Bardok ordered through the communicator.

"Stay sharp, men," Captain Frell admonished the few soldiers who were with him.

"Eyes up," Hogun whispered moreso to Lord Drek than to anyone else as he had noticed the wizened old mathematician had his eyes shut just as tightly as his hand was groped around the neck of the reactor.

The busted door to the throne room creaked open. The throne room door was massive. It was made large enough for giants to enter without having to dip down, but upon seeing just the slightest movement one of the palace guards who had been stationed among the scholars went immediately charging toward the door that was barely ajar and only one body had entered. The man did not hesitate even despite the calls of his commander. "DIE! YOU DARK-ELF SCUM!" he hollered from the top of his lungs as he went running full force upon the intruders into the throne room. His eyes only saw red. His blade was drawn at a feral angle over his head. The young soldier had felt nothing but shame and guilt and rage for the fact that he had not been able to defend the royal palace of Asgard and its inhabitants properly. His family had been so proud of him for having the position. His mother had admonished him that he was guarding that which was most sacred and precious in the world. And he'd let it be destroyed. Well, his wounded pride for not being able to defend the palace would be avenged. He'd avenge it. He went running at full speed ahead. His mighty sword was swinging vigorously in the air, all tall figure immerged from behind the door and the guard swore that it was Malekith himself.

The figure stood tall and proud and slightly confused as he faced his attacker. All the while the guard kept screaming, "FOR ASGARD!" The proud warrior figure before him in dirty armor began to pull a powerful sword out to defend himself. Before steel could strike steel, Jane Foster immediately sprung up and stood before the great, gilded chair. She started to fiddle with the knobs and dials on the remote of the reactor and just as he ran past her the reactor switched on in a flash and the guard had disappeared. It happened instantaneously. The guard could hardly feel a thing. He didn't know what hit him. His arms were still swinging vigorously trying to ram the Dark-Elf through. "DIE!" he hollered, but he soon found that he was no longer in front of the tall warrior with his blade thrusting through him, but instead he was now placed on one of the tops of one of the broken-down beams from where the ceiling had been blown out by the first Dark-Elf attack.

"Behold," the calm voice of Hogun stated to the guard. He called his attention from trying to thrust a sword through no one present. Hogun's strong finger pointed downward, and the guard's brown eyes finally recognized the proud figure who had just entered. It was no enemy at all.

"Master Heimdal!" the guard and Hogun gasped along with countless others. Slowly, the Asgardians started to come from their posts to greet friends rather than foes. They were all relieved and threw up their hands and raised their voices in elation as they beheld the gatekeeper along with Prince Thor's boon companions.

Lady Leoma immerged quickly and rushed forward to meet Asgard's esteemed guardian. "Master Heimdal, Lady Sif, Volstagg and Hogun we are so happy to see you all!" the wisewoman said as she gave a customary greeting and a sweeping bow. They may have been to fight in the fight of their lives, but lady Leoma's belief in etiquette and courtly manners never faltered. Along with her many gifts that had earned her the esteemed privilege of being a master mage, she had often tutored many youngsters in the ways of court elegance.

"It is good to be seen, Lady Leoma," Heimdal stated back and he returned her formality despite the fact that he looked like he had already traversed to through Helheim. "It's good to see all of you," Heimdal raised his voice to greet all the citizens of Asgard who were gathered there.

"Yes, we are all alive and well, for now," stated young Bardok tentatively. He wiped the dour expression from his face, he was tired and weary, but he managed to greet the group of warriors with a smile. "You have no idea how relieved we are, we thought that you were the Dark-Elves," he confessed.

"Oh yes, so we've heard," chuckled Sir Frandal.

Hogun leaped from the rafters and beams where he had stationed himself. He was followed suit by the young guard who had been so ready to take the life of Lord Heimdal who he had thought was Lord Malekith. The guard blanched with embarrassment and sank to his knees. "!000 apologies, Master Heimdal," he entreated the gatekeeper. "Had...I...known..." he started to stammer.

Heimdal raised his massive brown hand. He allowed his lips to crack a gentle smile in the direction of the palace guard. "Think nothing of it, my friend. You are poised and ready for battle, as we all should be," He explained. He placed his hand on the man's shoulder. "Malekith and his horde are on their way," he informed all.

"I am pleased to see you all as well my friends," Hogun the Grim's raspy voice entered into the conversation. He came toward his comrades with his arms outstretched. Hogun was not an emotional type, he was stoic and stern, but in the moment, at beholding his close friends alive and worn, but well; when he hadn't even known if they would ever have the chance to see each other again, well he was overjoyed and overcome. He rushed in to greet them.

The three other warriors eagerly returned his embrace. "The Warrior Three and Lady Sif, still stand!" Frandal exclaimed.

"The team remains," Hogun echoed the blonde's sentiments. They had all always been a great team, since childhood. His family life had been complicated as a lad. He was so young; he truly could hardly remember his parents. His brother, who was cruel and callous toward him, well he'd all, but forced himself to forget, he was lucky to have been taken to the orphanage and found by his elderly aunts and cousins. Without them, well who knows where he would have been perhaps, he would have ended up a slave, a thief, he wondered if he would have even been alive. He had them for many years and they were good to him. They were good and kind people, but they were elderly when they found him, they raised him and they provided him with the kindred and family that he needed as a boy, but they passed away shortly after he reached adulthood. He had a few remaining cousins, they were polite enough to invite him to spend the holidays with him from time to time, but over the years they had drifted apart. It was his fellow warriors, his friends that had truly become his family. He fought with them, and he fought for them. He would die with them and die for them on this day if he must. The crowd of warriors and wisemen cheered at the reunion.

"I'm glad to still have you boys by my side," Lady Sif confirmed to her friends as well as they all let go of the long group hug.

Volstagg threw back his head and laughed. His matted red-hair flopped over his shoulders as he did so. "We are all together again for one last fight," he said as his big, meaty hands slapped Frandal and Hogun on the backs and caused them to lurch forward.

"Well, almost all of us," Lady Sif stated sorrowfully. They still needed the leader of their merry band. Sif couldn't help the nervous feeling that gnawed at the back of her gut. She had left Thor up there with Loki. It had been at the crown prince's behest, but still, it had been against her better judgement.

Before the others had a chance to respond to her words the young scientist came rushing from behind the throne. "Lady Jane!" Frandal exclaimed upon seeing the lovely astrophysicist. "A vision if ever," he bowed to her and tried to take her by the hand. His fingers briefly grazed Jane's and he was willing to bring them to his lips and press a kiss upon her bloody and bruised knuckles. She slid her hand right out of his and left his lips puckered and dangling in the air. The blonde-haired Casanova immediately righted himself and cleared his throat. "Prince Thor will be so pleased to know that you are safe," he stated and nodded to himself.

"I swore I would protect her, for Prince Thor's sake," Hogun pointed out.

"And I would be so pleased to know that Prince Thor is alive and well," Jane retorted quickly as she turned to face the Warrior's Three and Lady Sif. Her brown eyes narrowed in on Lady Sif. "Sif, where is he? Where is Thor?" Jane inquired with her eyes wide and trembling. "Is he alright?" she pressed the female Einherjar. Jane took her by the shoulders and scrutinized her expression.

Now, normally, Lady Sif would not tolerate anyone laying such a hand on her, especially another woman, but perhaps it was because of the height of the situation. Because of the stress they were under and because this could very well be the last time that they beheld each other again. There was no point in holding on to her warrior's pride. Or perhaps it was just the very fact that she recognized and understood Jane's feelings. They echoed and mirrored her own. Her heart too was filled with nervousness and worry over Prince Thor's whereabouts. She too was left to wonder if he was safe. She was sure that Thor had learned now was their darkest and most needy hour. They needed Thor now; they needed him to fight with them. She was sure that Thor would come. He wouldn't fall prey to Loki's schemes again...she'd seen that he was resolute and stronger than he was before, but Loki was so treacherous, so cunning...she couldn't be sure. "Sif, where is he?" Hogun's words also interrupted her thoughts. "I saw him vanish," the silent warrior went on to explain. "I saw Loki flick his wrist and Thor vanish from sight. I saw Loki proclaim, "Long Live the House of Odin,' Hogun went on. "But I saw no more," he also informed Lady Sif.

"The last I saw of him he was in the Southern Tower with Loki," the dark-haired shield-maiden told those who eagerly had gathered around.

"LOKI!" the auburn-haired scientist practically shrieked as she heard the name of that slippery, ink-haired traitor, that monster that Thor called a brother. "You left him there alone!" Jane started to rail. Her eyes were wide, and her nostrils started to flare.

"Jane," Hogun's voice cautioned as he watched the astrophysicist raise a finger against Lady Sif. Hogun's narrow eyes watched Sif's knuckles formed a fist around the hilt of one of her blades.

"After everything that he has done!" Jane Foster continued to fuss, she tried to tug her shoulders free of his clasp, but the warrior's hands were strong.

"Jane," a baritone voice stated. "I've looked in Loki's eyes and I've seen the change there," he reported.

Lady Jane's eyes flickered as she looked up at the imposing figure on a man. Covered in such dirt and grime, he looked somehow even more intimidating than when she had first seen him in shining armor at the gate. "Change? Change...change?" the mortal woman muttered to herself in disbelief. "A man like that can't change?" she started to shout. "You can't be serious about trusting him?" she snarled as she gave the guardian of the Bifrost an Incredulous look.

"I am and I do," was Heimdal's stern response. Jane's eyes batted rapidly. She gasped and she could hear the collected sighs of awe of those around her.

"Jane, I didn't want to leave Thor," Sif finally stated. "But time was running out." Sif tried to explain. " Time is running out," she urged her and the rest of the Aesir to hear. "This is what Thor wanted. He wanted for me to be here and fight!" she raised her sword. The people started to applaud. "I'm an Einherjar general and my place is here leading our forces in battle," she confirmed. "He wanted me here to protect you!" she pointed back at the astrophysicist. It caused a lump to form in her throat. This was the woman that Thor loved so fiercely. This was the woman he'd given his heart to. It wasn't her. It was a mortal who'd he'd known a few short days in the eyes of an Asgardian lifespan, it was merely a few hours, but it was Thor's choice, and he was her friend. "I came to follow my prince's command... what could be the final command he is to give," she allowed her dark tresses to fall into her eyes as she hung her head. "I don't want to trust Loki, any more than you do," she took a deep breath and looked at Heimdal. Maybe Heimdal saw something in Loki that was dead and buried and had recently been resurrected, maybe she did true, but her eyesight wasn't nearly as good as the gatekeeper's, and she couldn't fall prey again to being fooled. "And maybe I don't." she confessed and held her head a little higher. "But I saw him heal Prince Thor," she admitted.

"We saw the blue light and lightning come from the tower," Volstagg and Frandal testified to the astonished Asgardians.

"People of Asgard," the youngest court mage spoke up quickly. "This isn't about Loki!" he reminded them. The warriors and scholars and peasants and nobles who were assembled in the broken throne room were starting to murmur. "This isn't about him," he turned and looked at Jane. "This is about us," he continued to speak. "Be Loki for us or against us, be he vile traitor or loyal prince, that's not what matters now. "Now, he has given us a chance. Prince Thor has given us a chance! Fate has given us a chance! A chance to do the most noble thing of all and we will seize it!" he insisted. "Won't we? Won't we?" he asked the crowd. The response was palpable. The voice of the children of Asgard were quickly raised. "Lord Heimdal, what news do you all have of the Dark-Elves," Bardok's quickly turned toward the gatekeeper. "Where are they? Can you see them/" he questioned.

"No," the great gatekeeper stated with shame. "The Aether's power is too great now. As Convergence draws nigh, the intensity of its darkness is only strengthened. It obscures even my vision of Farsight," he explained.

"But if you were back at the Bofrost site?" Lady Leoma asked. "Would you be able to see their positioning then?"

Heimdal sighed. "Even being near the Bifrost won't help me now. In times past, Lady Leoma Convergence would have gifted with their most powerful sight, but because of the fact that the Aether has been unleashed, once Convergence reaches its zenith then my Farsight shall be completely blinded. It will only last a few minutes, but my gift will be null and void when it is needed most, I'm afraid."

Lady Leoma put her hand on the guardian's back. "We still have time. Perhaps we can stop the Dark-Elves before Convergence reaches its peak," she encouraged. "That's the goal, isn't it?"

"That may be the goal, my lady, but it is unlikely we shall achieve it," Lord Drek's words were terse and negative as per usual. He pulled out an electronic abacus that he kept on his person. He moved the disc up and down and symbols and numbers flashed upon the screen. "We have less than 2 hours until the peak," he reported.

"The Dark-Elves must be near," Bardok started again. The palace of Asgard was huge. It was meant to be a labyrinth. But it wasn't so large that Malekith and his soldiers wouldn't be able to make their way to the throne room within a few minutes.

"Very near," one person in the crowd muttered. Their hand pointed upward toward the once glittering dome that was part of the ceiling of the palace. The ceiling which had been made of diamonds. Now, fragments of diamonds were scattered on the floor. Perhaps, in another time the poorer citizens of Asgard who had assembled for the kingdom would have tried to gather a few of the diamonds for themselves, but now such opulence was of little use or benefit. What good were riches in the barren world that Malekith intended to create?

Other eyes darted upward and followed the pointed finger. They gazed up in horror as they saw large shadows start to form around the opening in the palace. They hadn't suspected that the Dark-Elves would attack from above. Hogun's mouth dangled as he stared up at the sky that was visible through the cracked diamond dome. The way that the light tried to shine through the seemingly impenetrable red darkness that covered the atmosphere was much like an eclipse and it was hard for him to stare into. Still, he could make out scattered images. Hogun didn't waste any time. He looked around and noted the beautiful arrows that dangled from the quiver on Jane's back. He reached for them immediately. He drew out arrow and bow, he tied the end of the arrow with a piece of rope. He shot it up and toward the rafter. He then began to climb up the robe toward the rather. His movements were quick and sure, and he reached the beam where he had been perched and poised in record time. Once standing back on top of the plank he drew his mace and waited for the attack.

"Get to your positions," Captain Frell shouted and he started to quickly push people out of the way as he made haste to take his own stance. The Asgardians started to scramble back to their posts and charges. Jane rushed to get to the quiver the rest of the golden arrows that Hogun had left scattered on the ground in his haste to draw one. Her fingers fumbled as she grabbed at as many as she could. Seeing more and more shadows looming and apparently descending through the blown-open dome she rushed to get back to her hiding place behind the throne. The throne that the love of her life should rightfully have the opportunity to sit on. She hoped Thor would, but she'd protect it for him until she saw him seated there. As she raced, she stumbled, she tripped over the tattered shreds of what had once been a lovely gown. The finery had been much appreciated, but what she would have done for some yoga pants under her armor now.

"Come on, Jane come on," she heard a voice urging her and she felt hands hoisting her and then realized it was Frandal. She staggered behind the swordsman. When she turned back around to face her foes from behind dais, she was amazed that she didn't see the ghastly image of the Dark-Elves, but rather a nearly angelic sight. White-winged beasts fluttered downward with a rowdy sort of neighing. On top of the steeds were strong proud figures that seemed nearly divine. About of dozen of them landed in the midst of the palace throne room.

The Asgardians started to cheer at the valiant entrance of famed female fighters. Their silver armor gleamed in the slightly existent sunlight that seemed to be trying to make its way closer to the palace. The General jumped off the back of her horse. "You are a sight for sore eyes," Heimdal greeted his thick lips curved into a smile at the sight of his closest family member.

"Likewise, good Heimdal, likewise," she responded.

"It is wonderful to see you ladies, but you should have kept your Pegasi flying overhead," Lady Leoma stated. Brunhilda responded to this only by raising her brow from beneath her helmet. "This is the throne room!" she insisted.

"Now, now, Lady Leoma," began Lord Drek, he came up and wrapped his thick brown arms around his longtime colleague.

The elderly woman turned her gray-haired head toward her younger friend. Drek was always a bit of pensive and anxious mad, despite his stature, she was surprised that he was not in agreement with her position. "The throne-room has been all but decimated by those beasts, we the people of Asgard should at least show it the utmost respect..."

"These horses are fighters same as we riders," Brunhilda rebuffed the wisewoman's words. She stroked her horse's muzzle. "Efeti!" she called to her winged mare. The Pegasi stood at attention. "Show round about," she ordered. The horse unfurled its magnificent wings and the animal started to spin about the full wingspan extended. Noting, General Brunhilda's mare, the other mares followed suit. Soon all of the Pegasi were spinning with their wings outstretched all of a sudden creating a powerful whirlwind effect. The rubble and debris started to be blown about clearing a path and allowing for the beauty or the ornate floors to be seen once again. The crowd shielded their eyes and a few of the Aesir started to feel themselves being lifted off of the ground. Brunhilda didn't bat an eyelash, but she grabbed Efeti's reins and halted the horse. The others fell still as well. "Our mares will blow them away," the general decreed, only to have the huzzahs of her women follow.

"We didn't know that we would have the aid of the Valkyrie, this is marvelous!" exclaimed Captain Frell.

"Of course," Brunhilda tossed her head back and laughed. "Once we saw that Prince Thor, had been freed we knew that this was a fight still worth fighting and a Valkyrie is always ready to lend her sword in a fight worth fighting," she declared and the shield-maidens around her echoed her sentiments. "I brought 50 of my maidens. I have strategically positioned bout 10 to fly around the perimeter of the palace, 5 remained in the Center Square to continue to do evacuation," she stated.

"And the rest? Where are the rest?" questioned Bardok.

The leader of the Valkyrie started to hang her head. The rest of the warriors followed suit. They would have a proper time for mourning when the day was done. The Valkyrie who were tasked with escorting the slain to the gates of Valhalla in the days of old had a great many elaborate funeral customs and sacraments, even more so than the normal rituals of the Aesir, but there was no time to honor their sisters properly now. The women lifted their swords high in the air in acknowledgement of the fallen. "Slain," Brunhilda ground out the word. Her eyes flickered with fury. "Lord Malekith was making his way toward the weapons vault," she began to explain. "Shevera was leading another ground and they cut him off, defended the vault. Malekith didn't have many soldiers, but with the Aether at his disposal, well he was besting out forces," she hated to admit it, but the Asgardians needed to know what type of odds they were truly up against. "The weapons vault was nearly destroyed, but we drove him back," she expressed. "I am sure he has regrouped by now and is on his way here. It won't take long," she warned.

"Shevera was defeated?" Lady Sif gasped. Shevera was an excellent warrior. When Sif had thought of joining the ranks of the Valkyrie Shevera had been assigned as her mentor. Sif had always considered herself a superior fighter, but Shevera had humbled her. She had bested her many times with the sword and in hand-to-hand combat. She'd taught her much. She was a better warrior because of knowing Shevera. She was indebted to the lieutenant as were many women who had been wooed in the art of war. Shevera had been disappointed when after about 6 years, Sif left the life of a Valkyrie. Shevera knew why and tried to convince her that she could have everything with the sisters, but Sif couldn't shake the thought that there was one thing that she would never be allowed to have. She didn't know if she would ever experience marital bliss, but she had at least wanted the option to choose if the time ever came.

Brunhilda mashed her lips together. Shevera was one of her most trusted warriors. "Her body was not found among the wounded," she announced simply.

Sif bridged the gap between herself and the other female warriors. "She will be avenged," she promised them.

"You're damn right," Brunhilda snapped back immediately.

"Brunhilda," Captain Frell began, "There are young scholars who went to the courtyard to cut Lord Malekith and the Dark-Elves off there. Do you think that the Dark-Elves shall cross through there?" he asked.

"I think they already did," she replied.

Captain Frell immediately started beaming. "This is wonderful news!" he exclaimed as he turned around and faced some others. "That means that your devices must have worked Lady Jane Foster," he inclined his head toward the auburn-haired Midgardian. "Perhaps my niece and her classmates were able to transport them outside the city limits," he stated all too eagerly. "You should send some of the Valkyrie to the courtyard, with the young people," he started to chuckle. "The Dark-Elves are not such a wise lot, without the leaderships of Lord Malekith they are surely lacking and will try to go through the same way again," he chuckled thinking of their folly. "Those young people aren't exactly warriors," he informed the leader of Asgard elite women. "Your women will be better able to take out the enemy," he informed her.

Brunhilda's strong hand reached out and touched the captain on his shoulders. She started to shake her head. "I'm afraid there is no one left to assist."

"What?" Captain Frell gasped. "What do you mean?" he questioned. His breath hitched. "You think the scholars ran away?" He raised his eyebrow. It made sense. They weren't warriors really, they had basic training, but they hadn't devoted their life to making war. They probably did their task and headed for the hills. Honestly, he didn't blame them, and he was happy for his niece. Although retreat was not the method that the Aesir military taught, the captain knew that sometimes I was the best that could be done.

"No, no, I don't" Brunhilda stated firmly.

"Wh-wh-what are you saying?" Captain Frell's voice came out breathless. Captain Frell had led troop after troop into battle, he didn't need the warrior woman to explain, but she did. He scarcely heard her words. "My niece!" he cried out. "My niece!" he shouted once more with wide eyes. He scrambled. Like a desperate man. He fumbled frantically and fiddled with the dials and knobs on his communicator. He started to call loudly into the receptors. He called her name, over and over again into the piece. He turned up the volume louder hoping that he would be able to hear her. He hoped that he would hear her voice proclaiming that she was ok, or even a sobbing whisper begging for help. As the torturous seconds passed, he became desperate just to hear raspy wheezing breaths on the other end alerting him that she was still alive. But he was loathe to report that he heard none of it. He only heard the empty echoes of static from a non-receiving end. "My niece! My niece!" his eyes grew wider with each word. Soon the Captain broke into a full-on run. He was running straight for a window blindly ready to dive into the courtyard and find his niece. Captain Frell was running as fast as he could at full speed, but soon he felt arms coming around him. Arms grabbing him and circling him. It seemed like multiple, like some octopus had come from the depths to wrap him in its many tentacles. He fought and bucked and desperately tore against those who were holding him back. He was a strong many of an impressive build, but even in his desperation he wasn't able to pull free. He found himself on his knees. He wasn't sure if he had put himself on the ground or if he had been subdued, but either way the Captain of the Guard had been reduced to a sobbing mass on the floor. He was surrounded by a bevy of beautiful, strong women holding him down. "My niece, niece, niece," he choked out as tears ran from his brown eyes down through his tangled brown beard.

"she'll be avenged," one of the Valkyrie swore to him,

He huffed and puffed collecting his breaths and composing himself. He was not one prone to tears and he soon found that fury and duty had replaced sorrow. He sniffled, "You're damn straight."

"all our loved ones will be avenged," Volstagg swore as he came over and with big red arms he hoist Captain Frel to his feet. "Brunhilda," Volstagg's voice called out to the leader of the most distinguished shield-maidens. "In the outdoor atrium, we saw 100s of Aesir frozen," he expressed wide eyed.

"Frozen? Like in ice?" she questioned.

"No even worse they are frozen... in the Aether ash," Volstagg went on.

"They are coated in the black ash like crystalized beasts from a tar pit," Heimdal stated. "Men, women, even children," the gatekeeper expressed mournfully. His shame welled up deep from inside as he realized how many of his people he'd been unable to protect.

"So many fallen to be avenged," Brunhilda stated. "But we will avenge everyone," Brunhilda turned to her warriors and they raised their voices in raucous huzzahs.

"These may not need to be avenged," Volstagg chimed back in. 'they need to be defended," the red-bearded Viking," pointed out.

"Defended?" Lord Drek announced, he was almost laughing. "Volstagg, we cannot defend the dead," he continued to laugh.

"They may not dead!" the chubby red-head bristled. "They were frozen, covered in Aether ash, but perhaps they could be thawed," the member of the Warriors 3 surmised.

"This is preposterous!" Lord Drek continued.

"Perhaps not so preposterous," Lady Leoma stepped between the two men who were nearly chest to chest. "There may be away," she scratched her chin. "Do your calculations," she pointed to the mathematician's abacus. Convergence is nearly at its peak. Making the Aether's powers at the most potent they have been in ages, but once Convergence passes the Aether's abilities may weaken and there may be a way... it would take some configuring, but it wouldn't be bout of the question at least I don't think we can determine so at this juncture," the elder wisewoman concluded. "I don't know where my family is, he offered the other warrior in a form of comfort. "I don't know if my wife

"Lady Leoma, you are now just making wild conjectures," Lord Drek started to protest... "We don't know... we don't know these things are possible," he whispered in exasperation in her ear.

"There are children in that crowd!" the burly warrior yelled in the face of pompous mage. "I looked at their faces, unlike you," he sneered. "One reminded me of my daughter," Volstagg started to smile as he thought of his daughter. His adorable chubby faced little cherub with sweet freckles and a type of red hair that was somewhat between the shade of his and his wife. Her older brother had the exact same coloring. His youngest child was still bald. He thought of his beloved Valka. Her hair was as fiery and as passionate as she was and her appetite. Would he ever see them again? "I don't even know if my wife and children are alive or dead," the red-haired Viking confessed sorrowfully. "But I'll not rest thinking that someone else's babies can be saved and know that we didn't do everything we could to save them," Volstagg declared as his face started to redden to match his beard. His husky meat hook reached out and took Lord Drek by the collar. He hoisted him by the purple threads, ( that were most singed and covered in blood, but still denoted his rank within the court), off the ground.

"Mmm, yes, I did spy a couple of beautiful babies in the lot," Frandal said with a lustful smirk taking over his face as he thought of the Aesir maidens he had spied. Their forms frozen. "When this is all said and done, they may be traumatized and need comforting. Frandal's arms will be wide open, waiting for them," he winked.

The strong, and strapping general pushed passed the flirtatious fencer. With her broad shoulders she nearly knocked him over. Truth be told he was a bit turned on by the general's forceful gesture. He licked his lips. Frandal had envisioned many a night being spent with a Valkyrie. But sadly, for him the sisters had an ironclad will built up from being vulnerable to his sex and charms. "Take heart Sir Volstagg," the leader pf Valkyrie proclaimed. She placed her hands on his shoulder. "I can tell you that they do live," she stated proudly.

" What?" the red-bearded Viking gasped as he heard her words. He couldn't help but go bounding toward her. He raced up on the general. He was panting when he reached her even though she was only a few feet from him. He reached out big meat hooks and gripped her by the shoulders. He blue eyes were wide, and his bushy red brows were raised. "Valka..." he stammered his wife's name. "You..you...you've seen her?' he asked and could hardly contain the tremor in his voice. "Where is she?" he demanded. He looked around for her.

"WE found her and two of your children," Brunhilda nodded. Frandal and Hogun both came up and patted their friend on the back.

"They're alive. They're alive, they're alive!" Volstagg continued to exclaim. He spun around and faced his friends and his dirty grubby face beamed radiantly as the revelation was revealed. "Thank the Norns," he raised his hands in the air. "He started to dance about in a jig. This whole time he had been persevering, but his heart had been full of worry for his wife and children. He was fighting for the lives of all the families in Asgard and he was happy too, but all the while he hadn't known if those most precious to him were going to be there if the day was won. "Was she fighting? Was my girl fighting?" Volstagg asked jauntily, with a smile on his face. Valka was one of the strongest women he knew. She was a master of the battle axe just as he. He knew that if Dark-Elf attacked her or their children, they'd have another thing coming for them.

"She was fighting for her life," Brunhilda confessed.

Volstagg crinkled his faced, he shook his head, his eyes staring blankly. " WHAT!" he practically screamed. "No! What? Where is she?" he started to demand. "What happened to her?' he started to shake Brunhilda by the shoulders. "Is she alright?' he continued to question. "What about my children? Are they alright? " Volstagg spewed forth question after question.

"I think that she will stabilize, a few of the soldiers went with her and a few others who they evacuated to the encampment where Queen Frigga waits," the Valkyrie general reported.

Volstagg's eyes welled up with tears. He tried to bat back the flood, but they flowed despite his warrior pride. "Thank the Norns' he stated as he sniffled. "Thank the kings of the past," he expressed as he blew a kiss toward the heavenlies. "And thank you! ThaThank you Valkyrie!" Volstagg proclaimed and he flung his massive arms around Brunhilda and embraced her tightly. He kissed her dirty, bloody cheeks.

Lady Brunhilda tentatively returned the hug. Then the leader of the fierce fighters nearly vehemently wipes away the kiss that Volstagg had planted on her cheek. Lady Brunhilda could not recall having received such a gesture from a man since her girlhood and she desired it not. Valkyrie were not known to accept affection from men, before long she was forcing the massive Viking to his feet. "The person you should truly thank is Lady Sigyn Arndottir." With that Volstagg exchanged glances with Heimdal and Frandal.

"I knew it was a good idea to send her back on search and rescue," Frandal stated proudly as he squared his shoulders then he winked at his friend.

"She led us right to your family," Brunhilda confirmed with a smile. "She wouldn't rest until we evacuated them."

"Did Lady Sigyn return to the encampment outside the city with Queen Frigga," Jane Foster asked nervously.

"No, she rode with us back to the palace, she was determined to fight," Brunhilda stated proudly.

"Fight?" Jane shook her head. Sigyn had helped her and protected her since she'd arrived in Asgard. She'd proven to be a true friend. But from what she had observed of lady Sigyn she didn't seem to be much of a fighter. Jane looked down at the golden arrow that she had clutched in her hand. She felt guilty for having such a magnificent weapon, when she didn't even know how to use it. Sigyn should have had these arrows. She was somewhere within the palace with monsters running about and she was unprotected. "Fight with what?" Jane demanded. "I have her weapons," she raised one of the beautiful, gilded arrows in the air.

"A lovely trinket, but she doesn't need to rely on the corrupted magic of some villain," insisted one of the Valkyrie.

"Well, she has to have something to fight with?" the scientist continued to protest. "How could you all just leave her alone?" she demanded indignantly. She marched up to one of the Valkyrie and stood flat-footed in their faces and looked them squarely in the eye. The warrior woman loomed over the astrophysicist, yet Jane didn't bat an eyelash. Frandal came up behind the short human and took her by the shoulder and tried to pull her out of the Valkyrie's face. Jane Foster didn't flinch, instead se fought against his hands and remained rooted in her spot, her narrowed eyes, puckered lips and jutted-out chin demanding an answer.

"She's one of us now," one of the Valkyrie shouted from behind their leader. "A Valkyrie relies not spells," the woman said as she looked down on Jane in disgust. "She relies on her spirit," she thumped a fist against her silver breastplate.

"She relies on her skills," another confessed as she stepped forward. She pulled a whip from her belt. She slapped her whip through the air and she managed to lasso a reactor out of one of the other Asgardian's hands and pulled it toward her own.

"And her steel," Brunhilda's strong voice stated as she unsheathed her brilliant silver blade.

Jane bristled. "And Sigyn has those things? " she pointed at each other warrior women. "Lady Sigyn has skill, steel and whips?" she demanded.

"She's a Valkyrie," General Brunhilda's voice was firm as her stance. "Honorarily," Brunhilda qualified with her voice somewhat stern. She held a gaze toward the auburn-haired scientist. Brunhilda walked a little closer to her. She placed her heavy strong hands on the human woman's shoulder. "I care for Lady Sigyn as well. I am the leader of the Valkyrie and have been since before Prince Thor was born," she declared to the mortal scientist. "I do not just allow anyone to ride with us, to fight with us," she nearly spat her words. "I would not dub her that if she were not worthy of the title. If she did not have the heart. Lady Sigyn stayed behind in the Weapon's Vault in hopes to find the Tesseract," the general confessed with a sigh.

"The Tesseract!" Lady Sif yelled.

"What happened to the Tesseract?" Frandal questioned.

General Brunhilda shook her head. "I cannot say, we went to defend it, but the Aether attacks were too great," the brave Viking woman hung her head in shame.

"Well, we have to go back! Some of us must go to help Lady Sigyn look for the Tesseract," Jane protested.

"The Mortal is right," Lord Drek piped in. Jane's head swung as she was surprised to hear the pompous mage agree with any word that came out of her mouth. "We can't just let the Tesseract be lost or fall into the wrong hands," he went on.

"There's no time," Heimdal contradicted the words of the high-ranking wizard in Odin's court.

"Master Heimdal, I must protest!" Lord Drek quickly countered. "The Tesseract is too powerful, and with portals opening the Cosmic Cube will be an invaluable resource," he explained. "I myself have never had the honor of studying the Tesseract, but we are a skillful group and I'm sure with the knowledge of all the mages we could unlock its secrets," he boasted as he turned to his fellow mages. "Bardok, you have studied the Tesseract, have you not?" Lord Drek questioned as he turned to him.

Bardok's eyes widened as he heard his name. The Tesseract Talisman had always been a fascination of Prince Loki's. In his time under Loki's tutelage, he'd come to take on some of his tutor's interests. He began doing his own research. He wrote papers on the quantum mechanics of the power within the talisman to impress his professor. One Loki had allowed him to have a glimpse of the powerful relic, not actually touch it, but at least just behold such a rare specimen. It had only fueled his curiosity about the talisman more. He inquired much of Loki about it. He wanted to know if they could study it together, at first Loki had seemed pleased with his interest and he was certainly pleased with the research, but by the time he was practically begging for Prince Loki to take the talisman out of its special casing, Loki's attitude immediately changed, he had said that it was impossible for him to ever hope to harness the power of the Tesseract. Bardok had felt awful and stupid for his inquiry, but for what purpose had Prince Loki brought him to see the wondrous power he could not imagine. Did Loki just bring him to the weapons vault to mock him? To dangle a carrot before him and yank it away? He knew that they were many who said Loki, was cruel, arrogant a snob. In his time with Prince Loki that was never who he'd seen him to be, but in that moment he'd certainly felt the sting of such a mentality. How could he think that he would be worthy to take a relic of the house of Odin? He wasn't even a noble. His family may have been wealthy once, but his father had squandered most of their wealth. Bardok immediately bowed his head. "I-I-I-I-I'm...s-s-sorry, Prince Loki," he muttered. "I..I... I of course, sir, the...talisman should be used by the House of Odin... ...I-I-I-I w-w-was wrong...t-t-to ask. It—t-t-t... w-w-was, tr-truly an honor and pr-pr-pr-privilege to see the weapons vault at all," Bardok apologized profusely.

"Yes, precisely," Loki stated, "For members of the royal family," Loki reiterated as his green eyes danced back to take a glance at the talisman that contained a speck of sparkling blue infinity stone. "Like myself," he uttered with more confidence as he straightened is already straight tunics.

"Of course, your highness," Bardok stated. He was glad that he'd found his tongue again since Prince Loki always seemed very irritated by his stammering.

Loki turned toward him, sharply. "You should leave," he responded coldly. Bardok had immediately shrank back. "You can continue the rest of your work in the library," he instructed. "The guards will see you out," Loki inclined his head and instantaneously palace soldiers appeared at his side and marched him up the steps.

Bardok's mind was snapped from his musings as he heard Master Heimdal and Lord Drek continuing in their argument. "This is the center point of the Convergence. This is where we must concentrate most of our energy and effort," he gave a stern declaration. " Protecting this spot is our best chance of keeping Ragnarok from happening," he stated as he pointed his solid brown finger at the floor. "Besides," he began as he closed his gold eyes for just a moment and then allowed them to pop open. Heimdal was never one to show much emotion. His face was always impassive like a figure carved from fine dark wood, but there was something near kindred to a distressed shock that flickered in his fiery golden eyes. "It is already out of reach," he confessed and blew out a breath.

Young Bardok felt a wave of relief rush over him. Bardok didn't know if he knew enough of the Tesseract to do anything with the infinity stone and he doubted he was powerful enough to wield it even if he did possess the knowledge. He certainly didn't want the pressure to perform such a feat when all their lives were dependent upon it. Still, the gravity of Heimdal's words seemed to be lost on the rest of the crowd. "W-w-what do you mean, M-m-a-aster Heimdal?" Bardok inquired.

"It is not within the Weapon's Vault," Heimdal reported.

"Heimdal is right," Brunhilda stated. "We must protect the Nine Realms from Ragnarok and protect and the people of Asgard. All the people...whoever we have left," she stated resolutely. Brunhilda inclined her head toward the mortal woman. She had not truly had contact with mortals in many centuries. Millenia ago Odin had commissioned that some of the most valiant mortals be given a chance join the Einherjar in Valhalla, but that was long ago. Still, she was starting to respect Prince Thor's scientist for her valor as much as she had respected those men of old. "I'll send two Valkyrie to guard the Aesir who have been frozen," said Brunhilda. She pointed to two of her soldiers. They nodded and went to follow orders. "Do you have one of those devices which you can spare?" she pointed to metallic rod in Jane' s hand,"

"The reactor?" Jane questioned. "Here, they can have mine," she stated proudly. She tossed the gravitational phaser to one of the warrior women who caught it effortlessly. They saddled up on their winged beasts and flew off to their new posts.

Jane braced herself as the powerful wings of the Pegasus mares caused a gust that nearly knocked her over. Even after bracing herself, she still fell over and knocked into Sif. She was strong and rooted to the ground. She caught her as if she was as light as one of the Pegasus feathers. She helped her stand back up. "I don't like this," Jane said as she looked at the tall dark-haired shield-maiden. She knew that Lady Sif wasn't her biggest fan, but she seemed to consider Sigyn a friend, surely, she would share her worry about the blonde-haired handmaiden to Queen Frigga. "What if Lady Sigyn is hurt," she whispered to her.

Lady Sif placed a hand on Jane's shoulder. "I know you are worried for Sigyn, but the Valkyrie trust in Sigyn's abilities and you should too," she stated sternly. "They gave her the title of an honorary Valkyrie, that's the same title they bestowed upon me," Sif boasted. "They don't just hand it out to anyone," the warrior woman almost seemed jovial. "Who knows," the Einherjar shrugged. "You may get the title too, if you fight with us on this day and if your little contraptions actually work," Lady Sif added with a wink as she looked down at the scientist.

"They work," Jane confirmed. "I'm sorry," the mortal mumbled toward Thor's friend. "I...I...I just I watched Lady Dagmar die. I still feel responsible, feel guilty...I just don't want to lose anyone else," she shrugged. "Sigyn gave me her weapons, but what if she needs them... I don't want to have that on my conscience," the auburn-haired astrophysicist muttered more to herself than to the shield-maiden before her.

Sif's eyes narrowed as she heard Jane's words. In part she did consider the mortal responsible for some of the suffering that occurred. Then she reminded herself that the mortal woman was innocent like a child. Although she was full of folly, she truly had had no concept of what would really happen. Besides blaming Jane Foster changed nothing. "We have all lost someone Jane Foster," Sif qualified. "Some have lost more than you," she reminded her and took a step away.

"Of course...I... I wasn't trying to say..."

"Maybe like with you there is more to Lady Sigyn than meets the eye," she qualified and started to turn away. As she did so she saw a bedraggled, wet figure crawl through the window.

"Thanks Sif," a nearly chipper voice responded in a winded fashion as she stood upright.

"Sigyn!" exclaimed Jane Foster as she pointed at the other woman. It didn't take long before she and Lady Sif came rushing toward the lady-in-waiting to Queen Frigga. Jane immediately wrapped her arms around the blonde-haired woman.

"Sigyn! Sigyn! Thank the Norns!" the shield-maiden exclaimed as she clasped her hands together. She looked up at the ceiling. It was broken and cracked and the beauty of the murals that had been created eons before were nearly destroyed, but there was still one depiction left of the king of the Norns of old crowning the first King of Asgard. "You're alright! You're alright?" the dark-haired warrior demanded of her. "You're not hurt at all are you?" she continued to question. Her deep brown eyes beheld the small woman.

"Yes, yes, yes," Sigyn nodded with a smile on her face. "And you all, you all are alright?"

She may have heard the response of the other two women, but she didn't have hardly a moment to respond herself as immediately it seemed as though there was a flood of people rushing up to her. They were celebrating and exclaiming and asking a million questions of her. She felt the embrace of her friends, Volstagg and Frandal and Hogun and a few others. There were so many that her golden eyes couldn't behold them all or focus on them all at once. "Lady Sigyn," it was Heimdal's low tenor tone that finally broke through the cacophony of voices that were bombarding her ears. She immediately turned to face the tall, strong gatekeeper. His massive, mahogany hand reached out toward her and pulled her from the others, bringing her toward him for but a moment. His lips folded into a kindly smile, but only for a moment and then his stern demeanor returned to his face. "It is good to see you alive a well, my dear," he assured her.

Sigyn shrugged and nearly blushed, "It is good to be seen alive and well, Master Heimdal. It is good to see you alive and well, as well," she pointed out. "It is good to see everyone alive and well!" She tried to call everyone. She doubted that her high voice was heard over the crowd. She would have shouted it again. She wanted them to know. She wanted all of them to know how happy she truly was to see all of them. So many of the people present meant so much to her, they had been her friends and neighbors and teacher and fellow palace workers and even the ones that she didn't know... she was happy that they were alive too because they were someone's friends and neighbors and coworkers as well. And they needed each other. They all needed each other for the battle. They needed every Aesir they could get this was the fight of their lives.

Heimdal once more placed his hands on her shoulder and called her attention back toward him. "Sigyn, do you know what happened to the Tesseract?" he tried to whisper. Sigyn gasped and faced him wide-eyed. She started to shake her head; her mouth dangled open. It had always been pointless to like to Heimdal. She was sure that he knew, but if they found out so much more blame would fall on Loki. Others would think that he'd done something devious and deceitful once more. And he hadn't. Had he? She gulped for a bit. Her tongue felt thick and dry within her mouth. He'd saved her. Hadn't he?

"Sigyn!" the golden-locked woman's neck snapped as she turned her head toward Brunhilda. The General of the Valkyrie stepped forward. "Did you see Shevera?" she asked. Her voice housed more than concern.

Sigyn blinked her bright, large gold doubloon eyes, "I heard her!" she cried out desperately, nervously. She bit her lip after saying it. She felt eyes scrutinizing her. Maybe she hadn't said the right thing. She didn't mean it to come out as it had. "She's...she's alive," Sigyn quickly qualified. As far as she knew the lieutenant was alive.

The other Valkyrie immediately started to applaud. They cheered and hooted in a distinct Valkyrie salute. "Thank the Valkyrie of old," Brunhilda said as she turned toward her warriors. "I knew she would not be so easily overcome," Brunhilda confirmed quickly of her dear friend. "She has always been the best of us," she assured her army. The women clapped and let out more woots and whistles affirming their belief in the valor and might of one of their own. "Well, where is she?" the general inquired.

"Does she need us?" one Valkyrie called out.

"We shall rescue her!" another exclaimed and raised her silver sword.

"No!" lady Sigyn Arndottir blurted out. Her voice was nearly shrill. She quickly tried to correct her tone. Speak calmly. "I mean that won't be necessary, she's in good hands," Sigyn stated proudly. Then she winced. Maybe she shouldn't say that.

"Where is she? With Queen Frigga?' questioned Brunhilda, her eyes were knitting together from underneath her helmet.

"Sigyn you couldn't have possibly gotten her there..." Frandal began.

"Well, no...no...no...not exactly," she started to mumble.

Brunhilda marched forward with stomping strides. She loomed over the honorary member of the Valkyrie. "Well, who exactly is she with?" the general demanded.

Sigyn pressed her finger toward her lips, then shoved it back down by her side. "Loki," she closed her eyes as she said it and her voice came out as a yelp.

"LOKI!" it seemed as though the whole of the assembly gasped his name at once.

"It's not what you think!" Sigyn protested. "Loki's helping!" she expressed. "Sif!" she turned to the female member of Thor's boon companions. her bright amber eyes entreated the other woman. "Tell them!" she practically begged.

The proud daughter of Tyr remained tight lipped for a moment. She didn't want to give that monster any credit, but she also didn't want to let Sigyn appear a fool. Although she was often foolhardy, Lady Sigyn had gotten Asgard this far. Sif sighed. "We all saw him free Prince Thor," she pointed out to the crowd. "I must confess that I saw him heal Prince Thor as well," she stated despite herself. "Loki had a planned devised. A contraption..." she inclined her head in the direction of Lady Jane.

"I don't care!" Brunhilda railed, she grabbed one of the small steel hatchets that she had on her belt and raised it in the air. "LOKI CANNOT BE TRUSTED!" she shouted. The crowd roared and echoed her sentiment.

"I trust him," Heimdal stated proudly as he came to stand behind Lady Sigyn.

A hush came over the buzzing crowd of Aesir scholars and soldiers and civilians. "Master Heimdal what are you saying?" Brunhilda immediately protested. "You can't be serious? After everything that he has done. You more than anyone..." she began to rail. General Brunhilda's protest could hardly be heard as the crowd continued to break into clamor and shouts among themselves.

"Asgardians!" the youngest master mage of the realm called the Aesir assembled in the crumbling throne room. "This is not about Loki!" he reminded them. "Trust Loki or don't," he explained to them. "He may very well still be a snake in the grass," he expressed. "But even if he is, that slithering serpent has created a path for us... an opportunity and we are going to take it," he stated firmly and pounded his fist into his palm. "We have to stay the course! We have to stick to the plan," he reminded them. Slowly, the group started to quiet. They looked to each other and nodded resolutely amongst themselves. "If Loki comes our way and causes anymore mischief then we'll deal with him," Loki's form apprentice spoke sternly. A few proud fists raised in the air at his words. "But the Dark-Elves and Malekith they are certain to come, and we must be ready for them!" he decreed.

"HERE! HERE!" the Aesir cried out with their weapons raised. The warriors quickly started to disperse back to their designated places.

"Come on, Lady Sigyn, you can take a position next to me, behind the throne," Jane Foster suggested. "it's just as fitting a place for you as it is for me," she started to chuckle. "And you can have these back," Jane removed the quiver and arrows from her back and presented Lady Sigyn with her bow as well.

"No, Jane," Sigyn practically pushed the weapon back into Jane's hands. "I gave them to you!" she exclaimed with wide eyes. "You need something to protect you!" she pointed out. "I mean you are not Aesir; I doubt you have trained properly for battle."

"And I appreciate that Sigyn, I really do, but I'd be all thumbs with these..."

"Oh no, these arrows don't miss," Sigyn boasted.

"But I think you still have to know how to use them properly and that I don't," Jane confessed.

"Well, I suppose...I never thought of it like that, but Jane the arrows are enchanted, I'm sure that you could still use them just fine...Loki made them full..."

Jane held up her hand, she halted Sigyn's lips mid-sentence. "This is my weapon," Jane insisted as she held up her reactor and the remote. "I'm well trained and I'm prepared to use it," she gave her friend a wink. Sigyn smiled and reluctantly conceded, she followed Jane to her place behind the broken throne.

All of a sudden, the Aesir started to hear screeching and scratching. Like something scaling the walls. They heard indistinct words, guttural tongues and calls that sounded like a battle cry. Hogun, Frandal and Volstagg, rushed toward one of the large windows and looked outside one of the windows, they saw a swarm of Dark-Elves trying to climb the palace walls. With grappling hooks and picks and some with just their hands they scaled up the steep golden plates and bricks that made up the palace. They seemed to scuttle and shimmy up the palace like insects. "Looks like we've got some company," Hogun stated as he looked back at his friends.

"Not if I have anything to say about it," declared Brunhilda as she gritted her teeth and knitted her brows together. "Ladies!" she called to her troops. The female warriors obeyed her pointed fingers, and they went charging toward the window.

"General Brunhilda, this was not our plan," Lord Drek insisted.

"We are supposed to wait for them. We should get the people into their positions," Bardok explained.

"That was your plan, but the Valkyrie have no such plan of lying and waiting for the enemy our plan has and always will be... ATTACK!" Brunhilda shouted. The Valkyrie immediately lunged forward heading right toward the window. They wrapped their whips and lassos around their waists and started to go out the window. Some of the Valkyrie held the other ends of the lassos like tethers while their sisters dived out the windows headlong with their swords a blaze.

"FOR ASGARD!" the women shouted in one loud triumphant voice. Their feet pounded on the sides of the palace as they raced down the sides of the walls in a gravity defying way. Their swords swung vigorously against their enemies. The Dark-Elves raised their blades against them as well. They could hear the clank of steel clashing against steel. They could feel themselves surrounded by the army of Svartalfheim soldiers. The Valkyrie were vicious warriors, they chose the dead, but they took no prisoners in war, unless specifically commanded by their king. Odin lied in the Oversleep and they had heard no command from Prince Thor. Brunhilda had given her troop no quarter and they were ready to take it. They wacked and smacked and thrusted with their silver blades. Their swords were aimed for vengeance. They were pointed n ready to go through stomachs, to chop limbs and sever heads if they had to. They struck the Dark-Elves clean through, they didn't hold back, but no black as tar blood spilled from their bodies. Nobody fell over. Instead, a wave of the Dark-Elves just kept coming and climbing up. The Valkyrie kept fighting, but no soldier fell, and it seemed for everyone that they attempted to cut down more and more rose washing over the women and seemingly trampling them in an endless onslaught.

"What manner of trickery is this?" the plump red-headed Einherjar asked as he looked at the proud warrior women fighting with all their might against the Dark-Elves that weren't vanquished.

"Where are they all coming from?' questioned the blonde-haired swordsman. "There is no way that Malekith had that many soldiers left," he puzzled.

"No time to worry about that," Hogun stated as he pointed back to the massive hit that the women were taking. Although, the Dark-Elves seemed to be suffering few casualties, Asgard's female fighting force was falling fast.

"What are you all waiting for?" called Lady Sif as she rushed to the window. "Come on!" she yelled to her comrades as she immediately dove out the window.

"SIF!" Volstagg bellowed after his friend as he saw the shield maiden fling herself out of the large broken stain-glass window.

"Did she even have a rope tied to her?' asked Frandal. His blue eyes were wide with amazement, admiration and fear. He looked at Volstagg who wore the same expression. Hogun's face was nearly impassive as he just shook his head in response. The Warriors Three stuck their heads out the window the three of them had lumps in their throats and knots in their stomach as their eyes bulged from their sockets searching for where Sif fell. They should have known that the experienced shield-maiden quickly landed exactly where she needed to. Right in the fray of the confusion and commotion. Sif pulled out her double saber and stuck one end of it in the wall. She planted her sword deep within the wall and held on to the center hilt. She disconnected the other end of her blade. She rooted her feet to the wall. She extended her arm with the newly formed sword, and she began to attack the enemy. Lady Sif became bewildered as she found that her expertise could not land her a blow. She could see her sword striking armor, but it was as if the hits just bounced off. Lady Sif was relentless. She kept slicing and finally she hit one of the Dark-Elf soldiers. She knew that she had struck on through as she heard a pained cry and felt sticky, black blood spew onto her face. The Dark-Elf's body fell back through the sea of others and from 100 stories high.

"Sif got one!" Hogun proclaimed proudly. Volstagg's hands immediately started to clap.

"Atta girl, Sif!" Frandal cheered as he threw his head back and laughed. He had just finished trying to rope around his waist and to one of the columns within the throne room. "Well now that we know that they can die, shall we?" he expressed this as he turned to the two other members of the fabled Warriors Three. They nodded and they all followed suit diving into the action.

"This is not the plan!" Lord Drek screeched as he beheld the best of Asgard's warriors rushing into the fight.

"It is obviously Lord Drek that the plan has changed," Lady Leoma, stated as she too rushed toward the window. She watched as Asgard's forces seemed to be starting to do better. A few more Dark-Elves fell off the side of the palace walls, but for the effort that the warriors were putting in it seemed to be putting in few elves seemed to be falling by the wayside. On the contrary, she saw that more and more elves seemed to be rising and slaughtering more and more Valkyrie. The gray-haired mage beheld as one of the Dark-Elves speared a Valkyrie clean through. The soldier yelled out in pain. "Pull her up!" Lady Leoma turned back toward the other Valkyrie who were holding the ropes and spoke. One Valkyrie started to quickly heave-ho and pull the rope back. Lady Leoma watched as a floppy silver-clad body was hauled through the masses of fighting warriors. The Dark-Elf who had speared the Valkyrie beheld through black eyes as she was being reeled in. He cruelly pulled out a dagger and in one swift motion he cut the rope that held her fast and secure. She screamed out again as she started to fall. "NO!" Lady Leoma shouted as she watched one of the warrior women tumble downward. Lady Leoma practically leaped out the window herself. Her long, straight, gray hair blew about, and her tawny wrinkled fingers stretched forth as if desperate to catch the woman. And she did. She caught her in mid-air. She levitated her back through the window and into the throne room. Blood oozed about the Valkyrie's side It made the sparkling silver armor look as if it had been tarnished. Lady Leoma carefully used her telekinetic abilities to lay the woman on the floor. The astute mage rushed toward her. She examined her body. The wounds were severe. "She's still breathing!" she shouted to the other Valkyrie. They raced toward their fallen comrade. They cradled her and encircled her.

"Put pressure on it!" one demanded while another pressed their hand deep into her wounded side.

"She'll bleed out," the other stated. She ripped her blue cape and pressed it, but the blood saturated the piece of cloth immediately.

"We need a healing crystal!" another warrior shouted. "Hold on, my friend, hold on," she said tenderly to injured Valkyrie as she removed her helmet, the woman's hair was plastered to her forehead. There was no response. Eyes were wide, but heads shook, as if they had none. Desperately, she looked to the master mage. "Lady Leoma," her voice cracked. "Can you help my sister?" she wondered aloud.

Lady Leoma crouched down. She was a dedicated scholar. She had learned much, and all though well versed in many arts. Her gifts more so lent to telekinesis, and elemental manipulations. She could perform some healing with the help of herbs, maybe with water, but without anything, how could she truly? She pressed her hand toward the wound. There was internal damage, without a healing crystal she doubted she could perform the feat. "There is internal damage," she expressed.

"They're not what they seem, they are not what they seem," the shield-maiden panted as her eyes closed. Neither Lady Leoma nor the other Valkyrie had time to mourn the warrior or to render the last respects to the fallen, for immediately there was a rumble.

"What's that?" Bardok asked. He felt the whole palace shake.

"It's not good," Master Heimdal stated. He took large, heavy strides toward the broken stain glass window. The Dark-Elves had started to use their powerful vortex forming bombs. They threw the bombs against the golden walls that were now dripping with blood like it was rainwater running down the side of the palace walls. Large craters were immediately formed into the outer layer of the palace. Plates and bricks and planks flew off from the blows. Worst of all many of the Valkryie were sucked up right into the vortexes.

"Come on, men!" shouted Captain Frell, "Go! Go! Go!" he commanded them. Quickly, the guards charged toward the window. They all had the passion of Berserkers as they raged. Some of them didn't even bother to tie ropes to themselves. They plummeted out the window with swords in hand. They knew that they would die, but they wanted to take as many Dark—Elves out as they could if they had to perish. And still, their valiance seemed to be in vain. They threw themselves out the window, their swords drawn and pointed, but they found they crashed into nothing, but other warriors of Asgard, the invading army were like ghosts and they passed right through them as if they only hit into the side of the palace. Some didn't even have the dignity of being allowed to fall to their death as had bombs tossed at them and then they were sucked up into instantly formed black holes and ripped apart so quickly that they couldn't even let out a scream. Luckily, a few others were caught by the hands of the Valkyrie who still remained and still fought.

One guard fell right onto Volstagg's back and was caught there. The man gasped grateful to not be hurling to his doom. Frandal was still effortless allowing his sword to dance, but his finesse as a fencer proved futile. He felt his arm growing weary from continuously attempting to strike down the enemy only to watch the blows glance off of them. He'd only managed to chop off the limbs of 2 or three of the soldiers of Svartalfheim. It was like they weren't even there, but they had to be there for they were launching bombs and taking them out. Still, looking back and seeing how Volstagg's broad back had caught on of their own caused the blonde-hair kibitzer to laugh out loud. "Volstagg, seems you picked up a couple extra pounds," Frandal called to him. The redheaded Viking was so busy punching and swinging his broken battle-axe trying to hit any Dark-Elf that he could he hadn't even noticed the man on his back. "I have to say, the extra weight looks good on you!" he chuckled all the more. "Finally, my friend it looks like you're putting that broad body of yours to good use," he pointed out the palace soldier who rested on him.

"Volstagg, don't ever lose a pound!" the soldier stated to him from his back.

"Come on!" Lady Sif hollered at her friends, "More fighting less wisecracking," she admonished. And every remaining Asgardian who was holding the wall continued to fight with all their might, but Malekith's hoard just kept right on coming like a tidal wave. For everyone that they managed to cut down, there seemed to be 20 more that were invincible.

"This is impossible," Bardok expressed as he shook his head. "There is no way Malekith still has this many soldiers," the young scholar surmised.

"I don't believe he does," Heimdal scrutinized the situation. "Still, we are about to be overrun," he expressed. The hands of the Dark-Elf soldiers were nearly breaching the ledge of the stain glass window. Heimdal rushed to the window with his famous blade, that also served as the key to the Bifrost. He was ready to defend the throne of his king at all costs. Before he could put his blade down to chop hands or heads or whatever came his way Jane Foster came rushing over.

"Here, try this!" Lady Jane called as she rushed in with her reactor and remote. She planted her reactor rod near the side of the window. She cranked up the level on the remote. Her eyes were narrowed, and her mouth hand formed into nothing but a thin line. She turned the dial up as high as it could go. She caused the reaction that she wanted. She caused a gravitational anomaly to occur. If it wasn't for the intensity of the moment, she would have wanted to relish in the pride of the moment that her machines had actually worked. The scientist would have been jumping around with excitement. Instead, she had to remain focused. She continued to twist the remote, bodies vanished. They disappeared in a ripple-wave that was formed in the air, but not that many Dark-Elves disappeared. In fact, it was the opposite. She had caused more of the Valkyrie and guards to seemingly evaporate into thin air than the enemy. Her reactors were not lethal. She hoped that the Valkyrie and other soldiers were not dead, but she had no idea where the reactor had transported them too.

"We're losing too many! Stop!" called Bardok desperately. His eyes were wide as he watched her machine transport members of Asgard's forces out of sight. They had no idea where the warriors were going them or if they were even alive. He rushed over to Lady Jane and grabbed it out of her hands.

"Hey!" Jane shouted as she gaped down at her empty fingers. "What are you..."

"Look!" Bardok pointed out. He pointed down at the side of wall, there had always been less Asgardians than Dark-Elves from the start of the battle, but now it seemed as if there were less than 2 dozen Aesir troops still standing. "You have vanished half of our army!" he expressed breathlessly.

"And the Dark-Elves," Jane quickly rebutted breathlessly, her hands grasped for her machine. "This is what I made machines for... this is why we are supposed to be using them," she protested.

"Stop!" Bardok put his hand out halting her. "We don't have time for this. Your machines work, but they can't cipher who they should vanish and who they shouldn't vanish. They are no different than the blasters and bombs that the Dark-Elves," he said angrily. "We don't know where you've blasted the Valkyrie or Einherjar to!"

"Well...well...well can't you just magic them back?" Jane asked with eyes wide. A few weeks ago, her reactor was purely experimental. She hadn't had the chance to work all the kinks out of it just yet or think of everything. It wasn't as if she had her lab and her books of theory, her computer in the catacombs.

"We don't know where they are!" Bardok yelled. "The Dark-Elves are about to overwhelm us," he nearly screamed.

"Give me the reactor, I'll try to focus the reactor on the Dark-Elves," she stuck out her hand.

"There's no time for mishaps," Bardok shook his head, still keeping the device out of reach of Lady Jane's ever grasping hand. "Besides, there is something out of place about all those elves. Maybe it isn't all your invention's fault," Bardok started.

They saw a blur of dirty, tangled blond hair go rushing by. "Sigyn!" Jane shouted as she saw the maiden race toward the window. "What are you..." she started.

"Your reactors may not be able to tell the difference between Dark-Elves and Aesir, but these arrows can," she raised the golden weapons in the air. With that, she placed the arrow in the bow and tugged back on the string so that it was tight. She set her sights. She knew that when she had seen Malekith and his few soldiers in the Weapon's Vault, she couldn't imagine that he had that many reserved warriors. She thought of what Loki had said to her. "Fly straight, fly true," she spoke as she let the arrow fly from her hands. She opened her eyes that had been closed in a silent prayer and she watched the golden arrow sail through the furious flurry of Aether ash. It still was concentrated around the palace and attempting to obscure everything. The ash seemed to have gotten more intense. It swirled about quickly and covered everything, but the purity of the shiny of the arrow could still be mad out in the red haze. Sigyn squinted as she clutched at the edge of the broken window to gaze out and see what her arrow would do. She watched as the arrow whizzed right pass the men and women of Asgard. It even went through some of the Elves, but it went right through them. It didn't kill the or maim them, it just sailed through as if they weren't there. But that was impossible! Her arrows didn't miss. Finally, Sigyn watched as the tip of the arrow landed upon one of the Dark-Elf soldiers. It knocked the ghostly mask right off of his face. The arrow struck him in the forehead. He was killed instantaneously. He didn't even have the chance to make a sound or make a screech. His body plummeted backward falling through red clouds and finally into the moat that encircled the palace. "That's it! That's it!" Sigyn said in astonishment to herself. "That's it!" she cried louder.

"Lady Sigyn, you shot one! That is good work, but it is far from it," Lord Drek stated. He came up behind the Lady-in-waiting to Queen Frigga and tapped her on the shoulder with pride. "Come on, girl do not hesitate, shoot another," he encouraged as he pointed down at the influx of Dark-Elf soldiers.

The fair-haired maiden seemed to pay no heed to Lord Drek, she turned around and looked at the rest of the company present particularly Master Heimdal. "They're not all real!" she finally exclaimed.

"Lady Sigyn, what are you talking about, girl," Lord Drek started to fuss as he was in a panic. "Give me those arrows!" he demanded.

"Master Heimdal, they're not all real, it's an illusion! A distraction," the queen's handmaiden insisted.

"Rubbish! Rubbish!" Lord Drek shouted. "There's hundreds of them girl! Your brain is addled with fright," he insisted. He attempted to manhandle her in order to wrestle the quiver off of her back, but Lady Sigyn quickly managed to dodge the ex-quarryman's massive mitts. she dashed over to Master Heimdal

"It's the Aether," she explained to the gatekeeper.

"Heimdal, take them from her!" Lord Drek ordered. "We are running out of time," he stated frantically, he pulled back out his abacus as he started seeing the Dark-Elves who were scaling the building getting closer and closer. Sigyn stood in front of the guardian in dirty golden armor nodding her head emphatically. "Sigyn! Stop it, child! Pay her no heed, Master Heimdal," Lord Drek continued to admonish. "What does she know of the Aether," he scoffed.

Heimdal's intense gaze met with hers. "It's been so long since the Infinity Stones have even been with us... so much of their power has been forgotten," he began. He scratched his chin. "The Aether is the Reality Stone," Heimdal explained. "It can manipulate realities... so illusions are possible," he expressed and looked up.

"This vast! This elaborate? Impossible!" A few of the citizens chimed in. They could not believe the warriors crawling up the side of the walls were not real.

"But the arrow already proved it," Sigyn spun around and spoke to a guard sharply. "I aimed for a Dark-Elf, and it only hit one," she expressed.

"But how are we to tell the difference?" Bardok argued. "We don't all have arrows, and our troops are already losing," he pointed out.

Without warning wind started to whip through the broken stained-glass windows throughout the throne room. The wind was so strong that it started to blow bits of debris and rubble all about. The tempestuous wind came right through the giant crater that had been created in the throne room. The gust was so strong, so powerful that it nearly blew the warriors of Asgard off the sides of the wall. It surely would have blown them away had they not been securely tied and tethered to the columns in the throne room. Still their bodies blew about like kites on a string. Lady Sif was desperate, her sword still tried cut through any opponent who was in her path. A few of the Dark Elves flew back. They blew away like shingles off a house in a storm. Even so, the brunette shield-maiden wouldn't just let the enemies go. She boldly raised her blade to get one last slice in. She'd not allow these fiends to fly away whole only to rise again. She hacked off a foot or an arm, whatever she could, to make sure they stayed down.

"What's all this! What's all this?" Volstagg hollered as the wind continued to blow all the more fiercely. His bulbous body bobbled like a balloon as it blew about beyond his control.

Frandal's blonde hair was becoming wind-whipped all about his face, but he still managed to spy, Volstagg, Hogun, Sif and the other warriors who remained being rattled and dancing in the wind. He stuck out a finger, pointed and laughed at them all. "If we survive this," he began trying to raise his voice over the howl of the wind. "This should be annual game the children play during the celebratory festival!" he suggested. He stretched out his hands and tried to hold his body straight to ride the wind currents.

'My cord! My cord can't take much more!" One Einherjar started to yell as he watched his rope start to fray and unravel from the tension.

"SHUT-UP FRANDAL!" Lady Sif shouted at her ever-jovial friend. "PULL US UP!" she shouted all the louder.

The mages were still arguing amongst themselves. "Did you hear that?" the mortal scientist questioned as she heard a small symphony of voices chanting for help.

"Come on!" Heimdal called as he tossed his hand above his shoulders signaling for all left in the throne room to help. His brown hands were the first to take hold of the closest rope to him. It didn't take long before the rest of the Aesir followed suit. Everyone went to reach for the closes tether. "HEAVE-HO!" Heimdal's burly voice called to all. With that they tugged and pulled on the ropes and chains with all their might. They simultaneously grunted and strained as they yanked.

The soldiers below started cheering as they felt themselves rising back up. The window continued in its powerful fashion, but still a few of the Dark-Elves were blown off the edge by its fury. There was a distinct clap of thunder. The thunder was so loud and booming that it shook those that were still inside the palace. It shook them to their very cores and caused them to fall off balance, but they did not lose their grip on the tethers.

"What's all this? What's all this?" The red-bearded Viking wailed as with the boom of thunder it seemed as though the whole palace lurched, and his big belly was slammed against the wall. He hit the wall and bounced right off. He tried to grab hold to the edge of the wall and he managed to do so successfully. He saw that his friend Hogun had done the same. The two seemed to be holding on for dear life as thunder continued to roar all around them and all around the palace. The wind picked up all the more. The garish, red, haze of Aether ash started to blow back. The thick fragments of red and black dust blew all over and blew into the warriors' faces and eyes and they stung and cut and burned the flesh that they came in contact with but the ash was also being blown away. Volstagg caught a glimpse of Hogun the Grim, but the dour warrior was not grimacing. In fact, in mouth was curled ever so slight and made it was just the Aether ash, but the plumper warrior was sure that he spied a twinkle in his eyes. They were soon able to be pulled up toward the ledge window.

There was a flash and furious flurry of what seemed like 100 streaks of lightning. They went in every direction and were perfectly aimed at targeting the Dark-Elves. As the remainder of the Asgardians who had defended the outer wall of the palace had managed to be hauled back inside the palace throne room. They were panting and breathless, but still in tack. They stood by the window, one had clutching their wounded areas, sides and stomachs, arms and heads, the other hand clutched tightly around their weapons as they readied themselves for another bout, but as the blinding, white lightning came down, sizzling and crackling toward the side of the palace, it zapped all of the Dark-Elves and the ones that were real remained and the illusions, vanished into thin air.

The Aesir had not time to marvel at what had just occurred for another sound immediately followed. It was the sound of feet crashing against the tile. Heads turned and they found the form of a stately golden prince before them. His clothes were bloodied and tattered. His red cape nearly ripped to shreds; his armor so dented a warn that it looked like it had been through hell and back. Still, he was clothed in his symbol, his was cloaked in glittering, dazzling, white lightning. It was all about him, dancing off of his body and it was set a glow in his eyes and about his head like a halo. He was radiant. The crowd didn't know whether to tremble before him or cheer.

Lady Jane had shielded her eyes from the blinding flashes of light that had come off of the person. Slowly, she lowered her arms as she started to notice that the intensity of the glow was fading. She squinted to make out of the form before. She gasped as she beheld him with recognition. "THOR!"

A hush came over the crowd. A bright smile spread across Lady Sif's face as she saw her prince radiant and proud and strong once more. She hadn't trusted Loki to do the thing he said. She hadn't wanted to leave Thor alone with that backstabbing, betraying brother of his, but she had obeyed his command as leader of Asgard's army. She had hoped that she wouldn't come to regret having such trust. Her heart skipped a beat as she saw that the traitor had kept his word and helped restore Prince Thor's powers. She was about to run over and greet her best friend, but before she could, she saw the lithe form of Lady Jane racing toward Prince Thor.

The lightning that was flickering all around him slowly started to dissipate as he saw her coming. The Angry glow of the bright white flame faded from his irises and allowed her to see the beauty of his bright, blue eyes once more. "THOR!" she called out a second time, she was standing right in front of him, but not daring to touch him as she didn't know if he would electrocute her.

"Jane," the blonde-haired son of Odin breathed, despite the group of warriors that was assembled all around him, he only saw her. He didn't hesitate. He rushed and raced toward her as well. His big, strong muscular arms immediately wrapped around her and scooped her up and spun her around in delight. The two of them were practically giddy with laughter. "You're alright, you're alright," he mouthed to her while he held her. She bobbed her head to overwhelmed to speak. She thought she'd never see him again. She thought she'd never have a chance to see his handsome face again, to be embraced by his strong physique, hear his deep voice. She thought that she'd cause him to die and that everything that had happened would have been her fault. Tears started to stream from her eyes. She cupped his face in her hands. "I wouldn't let any harm come to you," he started to swear.

"I thought... I thought," her breath hitched. "I'd never see you again," she started blubbering.

"I have no plans to die today," he confessed to her. He had a big smile on his face. His confidence and bravado melted her fears away for a second. The Aesir heard Prince Thor's famous line and they applauded, but the couple couldn't hear.

"Good," the astrophysicist stated. "You couldn't die," she expressed as she battled back more tears, "not before I give you this..." she stated firmly and planted a large, passionate kiss on his lips. The crowd of Asgardians went crazy hooting and whistling as they watched the pair. Soon, their cheers of encouragement were noticed by the couple. Jane's cheeks slightly reddened as she felt Thor's grip slacken on her waist. The crown prince of Asgard beamed at his people as they saw him. They chanted his name in ecstasy. He was more than elated to look out into the crowd and see so many Asgardians, alive, dirty and battered, but all and all they were unharmed. The last moments when he had seen his people, they were a broken, whimpering, sobbing mass of soon to be oppressed people. They were downtrodden and they were nearly vanquished. They had been ground into the dust. They had looked to him to be their hero and their savior and there he was defenseless, beaten and defeated. Aside from the betrayal from Loki, the worst part was knowing that he had let so many down. To think that the children of Asgard would suffer and possibly die because of his failure, his weakness well that was something that Prince Thor had not wanted to bear. Seeing the dirty but smiling face of so many of his friends did his heart good.

"My friends!" Prince Thor called as he pulled his arm from its position around Jane's hips. He ran over to his group. The Warrior's Three and Lady Sif came bounding toward him. Thor embraced them and clapped each of them on the back.

"This is good! This is good!" Volstagg echoed as Thor wrapped his arms around his full body. He practically picked the plump warrior up and tossed him in the air.

"I could not be happier to see you!" Thor exclaimed. "Any of you," he pointed out to the crowd around him. "I feared..." the golden-locked royal started as he shook his blonde tresses, but a smile was clearly plasters all over his face. "Frandal," he chuckled as he small his smooth friend. "I should have known you would sneak by clean as a whistle," he pointed out

"Hardly clean as a whistle, more like filthy as a hog," the fencer laughed. "But I supposed this face is 2 gorgeous to just die in it's prime," he said as he framed his visage with his hands.

Thor rolled his eyes. "Normally, I'd tell you to shut-up, but I must admit you are a sight for sore eyes," Thor confessed gave the thinner blonde man a great big-bear hug. He released Frandal and turned to Hogun. "Same for you, my friend," he stated turning to Hogun and wrapping his beefy arms around the warrior's shoulders.

Hogun the Grim allowed a broad smile to flash across his face for but an instant, he quickly returned the gesture of the son of Odin. He looked him squarely in the eye and said, "I never stopped believing you would prevail."

"That makes one of us," Thor confessed.

"My liege," Heimdal stepped forward into Thor's view. The gatekeeper gave his sovereign a sweeping bow.

"None of that, my friend, please," Thor said objecting to the deference. He grabbed Lord Heimdal by the shoulders and raised him up to his full height. Thor's eyes nearly welled up with tears as he beheld his long time mentor. He didn't know if his father was alive or dead, but seeing Heimdal made him feel the strength of having a father's support by his side. "Thank you, for everything that you have done," he managed.

"Tis my sworn oath, my prince," Heimdal replied. "I see you do not possess Mjolnir," he pointed out.

"It seems as though Loki kept his word," Lady Sif scoffed.

"His word?" Frandal asked.

Thor nodded. "Loki said he could teach me to summon lightning and thunder without the hammer," he explained.

"And it certainly seems as if he did old boy," Frandal encouraged. "Those were some of the most powerful blasts I've ever seen you render!

'Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!" Volstagg bellowed heartily, "Bigger is better," his round elbow wiggled its way into Thor's side teasingly.

"Not in your case my friend," Frandal retorted as he smacked Volstagg in the gut.

"Huzzah! Huzzah! Huzzah!" Someone roared from the crowd. "Prince Thor has saved the day!" the person applauded and soon other's followed.

Prince Thor raised his mighty hands to settle the enthusiastic crowd of Aesir. Their applause slowly simmered and fell silent. "Good people of Asgard, we are not out of this yet, Malekith is still out there," he warned them. "You have already all given so much," he stated to them. "But I must ask you to give a little more," he urged them with regret in his tone. "Lord Malekith is still out there... he could be upon us any moment. He is still as ruthless and hellbent as ever and now he is also desperate as his window of opportunity grows short," the prince of Asgard spoke.

"Very short," Lord Drek chimed in. He popped his head between Prince Thor and his friends. He muscled his broad shoulders between them as well. He pulled out his abacus and began configuring and calculation, frantically moving the knobs and buttons about. "We only have hour until Convergence is at its peak," he was practically panting and his eyes darted about as he expressed the sentiment.

"Malekith could come bursting in here at any moment...and he will," Thor told the people. "And we must be prepared... prepared to fight to the death!" Immediately the swords of the warriors were raised and their voice were lifted. "We fight for our family and our friends," he explained to them. "For King and our kingdom," to this the Aesir cheered heartily. "We fight for the lives of all the Nine Realms," he stated proudly as he turned to Jane. "The Nine Realms have always looked to the people of Asgard for protection and we haven't failed them yet! WE WILL NOT FAIL THEM TOAY!" Thor shouted.

"HUZZAH! HUZZAH! HUZZAH! FOR ASGARD! WE'LL FUGHT WITH YOU TIL THE END PRINCE THOR!" the all bellowed as they raced back to their positions. ]

"This is wonderful, Prince Thor," Sigyn stated as she came up beside him as they took to their posts. "At least now you don't need the hammer, so we haven't lost all our assets."

"Lady Sigyn!" Thor smiled down at her. "I'm so glad you are safe! We will still need the hammer, it's the power of the dying start that will set the Aether into stasis, but what Loki has shown me will at least give me the power to fight the Dark-Elves without it. My connection to the hammer should be restored within the hour though..." Thor winked at her.

"Lady Sigyn, what exactly did you mean by 'lost all our assets?" Heimdal questioned as he raised his thick brow.

"I...I...I...I" Lady Sigyn Arndottir started to stammer. She nibbled on her lip. She didn't want to reveal Loki's secret, but they didn't have time. She supposed Prince Thor had to know. "Malekith has the Tesseract!" The words came tumbling out of her lips in one high pitch squeak.

"WHAT!" the thunderer roared.

"How?" Lord Heimdal gasped and placed his hand of Lady Sigyn's trembling shoulder.

"We're doomed," Lord Drek stated and threw his abacus in the air.

"What? How could this happen! This is disastrous!" Captain Frell exclaimed.

"I sent several shield-maidens down to defend it, your highness," Brunhilda burst into the conversation. "My maidens tried to defend the weapons vault as best they could but..." the proud general's voice trailed off. She bit her already bust lip before the crown prince. The pride of Valkyrie was that they were an elite fighting force, they never failed in a mission. "Malekith was in possession of the Aether...I don't know if it was the contained space, but the blast power... it seemed even greater than when it was out in the square," she regretfully reported.

"It's because of Convergence," Heimdal expressed as he put his steady hand on Brunhilda's heaving shoulders. They were kin and like him they had grown up devoted to serving Asgard even above serving themselves. Feeling as though they had failed Asgard was a fatal blow for both of them. But they had no time to allow such blows to cause them to lay down and die. They still had to fight. "The closer we get to the zenith the stronger it's power will grow. By now its power is going to be nearly uncontrollable."

"But I don't understand...why does the Tesseract even matter?" Volstagg demanded.

"Malekith needs the Tesseract to hold the portals created by the Convergence open longer," young Bardok stated. He shook his head. "It means that the Convergence could go on forever." His eyes went wide as the realization dawned on him. Immediately murmurs and rumbles of confusion and fear started to trickle down through the ranks of those standing closest to Prince Thor. He heard the way the whispers and worries fell from one citizen to the next like dominoes, whether they were soldiers or civilians.

"What'll we do! What'll we do!"

"It's hopeless!"

"We're doomed!"

"Merciful Yggdrasil! All-fathers save us!" they cried.

"ENOUGH!" the thunderer bellowed. All mouths snapped shut and all eyes were drawn to the stately blonde prince who stood in their midst. "It doesn't matter what Malekith has! It matters what we have!" he protested. He pointed to the individuals in the company. "We have a fight to fight!" Prince Thor declared to them. "We have our strength," The golden-locked son of Odin motioned toward the vast assemble of warriors and civilian alike. Each one of them possessed an incredible amount of strength. "We have our skills," he inclined his head toward Lady Sif. There was no finer warrior in the room than his dear friend. "We have our weapons," he winked at his beloved Jane. He was so proud of Jane for what she had invented. She thought that it was just an invention of science, something to measure gravitation, but it was a weapon that allowed them to fight fire with fire. "We have our wits," Thor reached out to the mages among them. "You all are the best and brightest scholars that Asgard has to offer," he reminded them. "We have our courage! By Bor!" Thor began to grumbled and the thunder began to rumble in the distance behind him. Soon the Asgardian's were applauding their Prince's words. "I'll not hear another negative word out of any of you!" he demanded. he pointed his finger that was charged up with lightning toward the crowd. "COURAGE! Courage is what you have to have now!" he encouraged them. "You must muster all the courage that you can now," he explained. "And we you run out you turn to your brother and sister and you borrow some of theirs!" he expressed. Before Thor could finish his king's speech the people of Asgard were yelling victoriously. The gave a few hearty war chants and then they dispersed, they eagerly made their way to their places and positions.

"Thor this seems rather dire," Jane Foster's voice came into the thunderer's ear..

He looked down at her. A smile flashed across his face bright as lightning. "Well, the situation has been dire, my dear," he nearly chuckled. It wasn't that he liked the look of worry etched across her face, but the way she looked to him was desirable.

The scientist slapped the prince's shoulder, half playfully and half perturbed. "I'm serious!" she scowled. "The Tesseract isn't that the thing that Loki used to open up those big wormholes in New York City?" she asked. Thor nodded. Jane felt a shiver run down her spine. "So Malekith could summon those... those leviathans again?" she inquired with wide eyes. She'd watched those images from the attack on NYC live on her television. She'd never believed in aliens until she'd met Thor. It was a complete paradigm shifts, but there were many in the scientific community who had hypothesized such a possibility for many years. The realization wasn't so bad when she considered that the aliens were dreamy, hunky god-like beings who gave her, her current boyfriend, but when she'd seen those terrifying, extra-terrestrial monsters, well that had been a whole other matter.

Thor's hulking armored shoulders shrugged. "I suppose he could, but I doubt he'll be interested in doing that... he's only interested in spreading his darkness and annihilating us that way. You must get to your post," He inclined his head.

She knew he was right. "What about you?" she asked giving a double take as she looked back and forth between his face and her spot behind the throne. Lady Sigyn was already there.

"My place is here," he assured her. "I'll try to keep Malekith focused on me as long as I can," he stated. Jane didn't bother to question him anymore. She planted one last kiss on his lips and then hustled off with her reactor in toe.

The Aesir were positioned like snakes coiled on the rocks, like tigers in the grass, they lied in wait. Thor wasn't crouched down in some hidden position though. He was out in the open, front and center. He had never failed to face an enemy head on. He was the only visible person within the throne. He stood in the center. He beheld the broken throne room, and he took a deep breath, he breathed in the smell of blood and sweat and dust and sulfur of metal and flame that still lingered. For all the Aesir this was a special place, a place that represented the strength and stability of the monarchy. It was toppled like the pillars and posts around the great chamber. For him it was personal. The palace was his home. He played in the throne room, sometimes when he shouldn't have. He and Loki had darted behind the stately columns playing hide and seek. He'd sat on his father's knee while he sat on the throne. He looked at the throne, broken and nearly unrecognizable as the chair of a king. He looked up at the ceiling. The beautiful mural of Asgard's history was cracked and pieces fell all over the floor. The most recent portrait of his family had been disfigured. The image of his mother stood a lonely figure in the garden with no maidens or flowers around her, no family. The depiction of his father had all but been obliterated. He hoped it did not truly mean that his father was gone. His face was intact, but had fallen to the floor, decapitated from the body and lied at his feet. Most of the image of Loki's body had fallen from the ceiling, but the head was still connected. His scrawny face showed his true trickster self. His face and Loki's were not so far from each other. Thor gulped. He didn't know if he could dare to hope that they could ever be close, united, brothers who stood side by side again. Once this hall had been filled with images of them, a legacy of loyalty that was supposed to be a pillar for their society to stand on. That's what father had told him and that's what he'd thought. He'd thought wrong. Whatever scheme Loki had now it didn't matter. Thor told himself. It didn't even mean it would work. Even if it did work, it didn't change the terrible things that Loki had done. He looked down at the painted plaster from ceiling...he closed his eyes. They were just the remnants of shattered brotherhood?

The door swung open. The mist that was in Thor's dissipated as lightning flashed in his bright, blue pupils. He growled and grunted and instinctively reached for Mjolnir. It wasn't by his side, but in only an hour or so it would be. He'd be happy to have his old friend again. Even if he was able harness the power now without the aid of the hammer now. He was ready to attack. Before Thor could launch his attack of enhanced lightning abilities a battle cry came charging toward him. A blur of silver raced toward him. " DIE!" the assailant yelled. "DIE YOU DARK-ELF SON OF A..." they had a broken sword ready to decapitate the crown prince. "ODIN!" they gasped. Immediately, they made themselves fold into a bow.

"Lieutenant Shevera?" Thor questioned upon seeing her. "We thought that you were lost!" He looked her up and down. "Brunhilda!" Thor called to the leader of the Valkyrie. The general sprang from the rafters, performing a triple somersault and stuck the landing with her blade in tow. She looked up at the prince, she didn't have the chance to ask him what he required of her because she immediately saw her sister in arms and close friend.

"Shevera!" she hailed her second in command. "Glory be," she cried as she wrapped the woman tightly in an embrace. She looked her up and down. There wasn't a scratch on her. "I thought that you had fallen at the hand of that devil, Malekith," her nose twisted.

Shevera held her general's shoulders firmly, "I did, and I would have been a goner if it wasn't for..." her voice dropped, almost annoyed. She inclined her head toward a slender figure waiting by the gigantic doors. He was wearing his golden horned helmet, but the Valkyrie had made sure to tie him up and bring him as a captive before her liege and superiors.

"Surprise!" Loki called for his bound position. Shevera had stated that she wouldn't kill him in honor of the Valkyrie tradition, and she'd agreed to fight with him, but that was Prince Thor's call. If he wanted this traitor to the crown to be executed, then she was bound to honor his words and commands and she would. Loki had only half-way agreed to be bound. He hadn't agreed at first, but the fabled lassos of Valkyrie were nigh unbreakable. They tightened with resistance and besides if he came bound hopefully it would be a sign to the people of Asgard of good faith.

"Loki!" Brunhilda practically screeched. "Wretch!" she hollered. She wasted no time. She marched toward him, proud and with her sword drawn. "Shevera," she snapped turning to her right-hand shield-maiden. "We had agreed to kill on sight," she scolded her. "Have you failed me for the first time?" she questioned incredulously.

"Never, my general," Shevera swore. "The only reason I have spared this foul and unholy creature is because... he saved my life in the Weapon's Vault... " she confessed. "In accordance to the creed of the Valkyrie set from the first Valkyrie, A Valkyrie always spares a life for a life," she reminded her commanding officer.

"This is different!" Brunhilda did everything within her power to keep from shouting. "He is the reason our sisters have fallen," she growled. Tears in her eyes.

"It is Prince Thor's call now," Shevera stated. She turned toward the Crown Prince of Asgard. Thor hadn't moved from his spot in the center of the throne room. He looked at Loki bound. He watched as other citizens of Asgard started to hear the rumblings and they curiously, nearly like children peaked their heads from their hiding places as spied Loki in their midst. The reaction was abject horror and out right rage. They immediately took up what every was near them and started to pelt it at the dark-haired enchanter. Thor watched as bits of rock and debris, pieces of metal, sticks and glass were hurled in the trickster's direction. The first few hits may have taken Loki by surprise as he let out a few nonchalant ows in response to the hits. More and more projectiles kept being launched his way and Thor was amazed that Loki didn't even put some force-field around him. He just took their beating. There hadn't been a public stoning in Asgard for some time, but it seemed there would be one now if he didn't do something. He started to stride toward his brother, he tried to tell himself that it was out of military necessity and not out of the natural tendency within him to be a protective older brother. He wasn't a protective older brother any longer. As he walked, he heard the citizens bombard Loki with cutting remarks.

"DIE!"
"TRAITOR!"

"BASTARD!"

"SNAKE!"
"MONSTER!"
"FALSE SON OF ODIN!" they shouted endlessly. Finally, Prince Thor was standing right in front of Loki, whose head was down caste and his horns were bent. Thor could shield him from the physical attack, but he couldn't shield him from the people's words and what they thought of him. He'd never been able to do that. Heimdal came up on the other side of Loki, his powerful form was enough to block the darts that were being aimed at the ebony locked enchanter.

"I almost thought you'd high-tailed it and ran," Thor expressed, but there was no joy in his voice. He looked down at Loki.

Loki looked up at him, a crocked smile on his thin lips, long dark locks fell in his face and obscured his shining evergreen eyes. "I told you, I'd fight by your side for Asgard," Loki offered.

The blonde-haired son of Odin started to form a smile. He slowly stooped to untie the lasso around Loki. Suddenly, a voice appeared in his ear, "Sire, do you think, you should? You don't have to do this," Bardok warned.

Loki looked at him. "Hello, Pupil Bardok," he said almost chipperly. Bardok's blue eyes looked down at him in contempt. Once he would have referred to him, by titles such as your highness, my prince, professor, friend... now he couldn't even look at him, but he managed to do so and when he did he punched him in the face and Loki fell back against the door and then onto the floor. The crowd cheered. Thor helped Loki up and untied him while chuckling.

"Can't say you didn't deserve that,"

"I deserve everything they have to give and more," Loki admitted as he rubbed his sore wrists.

"You were supposed to retrieve the Tesseract," Thor stated in bewilderment. "Malekith has it,"

"I know..."

"How?"

"I gave it to him," Loki confessed as he stood with square shoulders. Lightning crackled around Thor's fists and punched Loki square in the chest hurling him backward.

A/N: HELLOOOOO READERS! OMG You made it! You finished this long chapter! Wooohooo! Give yourself a pat on the back and go grab more Christmas cookies or eggnog. I know that was a LOOOOONG chapter and I honestly didn't intend for it to be that long... I also thought it was going to be a lot more action packed, but s I always say the story unfolds as it unfolds. Anyway we are so close to the end, it's just battle, battle battle to the end now! That being said, if you have been reading this story please feel free to let me know what you think. You invested quite a lot of time in the reading and you deserve to let me know what you think and what you want to see happen in the story! Lastly, I just want to say that JESUS is the REASON for the SEASON. The greatest gift anyone can receive this holiday season is the Lord Jesus Christ in the their life. His story is amazing and it starts with his miraculous birth! If you would like to know more, please feel free to message me! Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night. Happy Hannukah, Joyous Kwanzaa and all around Happy Holidays!