Chapter Four:

Thor's Trial

High in the sky over Belarus, the Slavic God Perun flew in his chariot, striking down aliens with his axe and smiting them with stones flung at such high speed, they became lightning bolts.

"Haha!" he shouted, thoroughly enjoying himself. He looked down to see his nemesis Veles curled up on a mountain far below. "You have outdone yourself for this year's battle, Veles. I had worried you were going soft."

The bearlike dragon glanced at his opponent, his eyes wide with fear. "I am not behind this one, Perun," he said.

Perun looked at him, confused. "What do you mean?" he said. "Surely these are your—"

He was cut off as an alien's scythe slashed him across the chest, knocking him from his chariot. Veles took off from his perch and caught him as he fell, lighting back down on the Balkans below. Perun stumbled to his feet, looking down at the large gash across his chest. His divine nature had saved him from getting fully cut in half by the creature, but the wound looked deep.

"I don't understand," he said. "If these aren't your forces, who are they?"

"Perhaps I can answer that."

The ancient foes turned to see a large raven perched on a snowy tree branch nearby. A raven Perun was all too familiar with.

Meanwhile, in Ireland, deep underground in the realm of Tir na nOg, the Tuatha De Danann were gathered together in council, watching the destruction occurring in the mortal world above.

"What are they?" Brigid asked, as one of the giant monsters rampaged across the neighboring island of Britain, toppling Big Ben with a swipe of its claw. "Fir Bolg? Fomorians?"

The Dagda sat at his cauldron, staring into it and stroking his beard thoughtfully. "No," he said. "These are different. New."

"They are strong, that's for sure," the hero Lugh said, flipping around his spear anxiously as his wounds were treated by the Healer God Dian Cecht. "I haven't had a fight that intense since Balor."

"Seems the Nords know what they are," Goibniu the Smith said, nodding to the large raven sitting patiently on top of Aengus's throne, the twin of the one that had summoned Perun.

"Like we would ever trust a Viking," the sea god Manannan mac Lir spat, turning his sword in his hand. "We remember how they ravaged our people's lands centuries ago. I suspect these creatures are nothing more than an elaborate trap."

The Dagda looked up from his cauldron, studying the raven carefully. "Seems we need to gather some answers ourselves. My queen?"

A figure lurking behind the raven, stroking its feathers, looked up, her eyes fierce and fiery. "Do not worry, my husband," she said, her voice echoing with the ghostly wails of those fallen in battle, her long nails wrapping around the raven's throat. "I will ascertain the truth."

Far below the realm of Midgard, where the invasion took place, Thor rode through the realm of Helheim, his goats pulling his chariot through a misty bog as a legion of Valkyrie flew behind him. In the distance, he could see a vast palace where the realm's queen lived. He pulled on the reins and his goats skid to a stop, still quite a distance away from the palace. He didn't want to give Garmr any reason to think he had brought a snack.

He walked the rest of the way, two of his Valkyries lighting down beside him while the rest remained behind. He climbed the steps of the great hall and entered the palace, soon greeted by vicious growls, a gigantic mastiff stepping out of the shadows, his muzzle dripping with blood.

"Garmr, heel," a woman's voice said.

Garmr lowered his head and backed off, but his growling continued. At the far end of the hall, Thor saw Helheim's queen, the Lady Hel herself. One half of her was beautiful, with long raven hair and a piercing shadowy eye glaring at him with disdain. Her other half was nearly skeletal, blue skin stretched tight across her face.

"Why have you come here, Son of Odin?" Hel asked.

"My lady," Thor said, bowing before her. "I come with an urgent request from Asgard."

He explained the entire plan to deal with the invasion above, including the keeping of the Souls of Humanity safe in the underworlds, to be released and restored after the war was complete.

Hel reached out and pet her dog, who had settled by her side and was now happily panting, licking the blood off his paws. "And why do you need my assistance?" she asked. "Valhalla and Folkvangr should certainly be enough for you."

"But you lay claim to all souls who do not die a valiant death," Thor said. "Our purpose is to save them all, valiant or no."

Hel picked at a bony blue fingernail. "So, you expect me, your destined adversary, to simply turn over what is rightfully mine, give a free do-over to those who deserve an afterlife in my domain, even though billions before them were not made such an offer."

"Please, my lady Hel," Thor pleaded. "This invasion is an aberration. By all divine laws and destinies established by any pantheon, it should not be occurring. Everyone who has died or will die in this war were not meant to die in this manner, and to simply let their deaths stand would be to overthrow true justice."

Hel sniffed. "I seem to remember your queen Frigg making a similar argument to me millenia ago. Something about 'My son should not have died. The entire cosmos had sworn not to harm him.' And yet, Lord Baldr is here, bound to my realm for all eternity. If I did not bend my law for him, what makes you think I would do it for a million mortals?"

Thor clenched his fingers around Mjolnir's handle. He looked up, the roots of the World Tree just barely visible through a skylight in the hall's ceiling. He could only imagine the devastation still rampaging across Midgard, the people he had protected for centuries fighting and dying by the thousands.

"Please, Lady Hel," he said. "Surely there is a deal that can be struck. Something I can offer you in exchange for your cooperation and collaboration at this time."

A smile crossed Hel's face, a cruel smile made almost maniacal on the skeletal half of her visage. "I will agree to your plan, Son of Odin, on one single condition."

"Name it." Thor stood ready, bracing for whatever answer she might give.

"My father goes free."

"No."

"But, Allfather," Thor protested. "Midgard is in grave peril. We must act."

Odin turned away, his twin ravens fluttering after him as he crossed the hall to look out on the palaces of Asgard. Around the table, the various Aesir were gathered, as well as Freyr and Freyja of Vanaheim. Most were anxiously studying their flagons.

"You know as well as I do what will happen if Loki goes free," Odin said. "Midgard may burn, but if Ragnarok begins, all of Yggdrasil will burn with it. Is that what you want?"

"Of course not, Father. But surely there is some deal that can be struck, some loophole found, that will push Ragnarok back to another day. We cannot just leave the mortals to their fates?"

He looked around the table. "Tyr? Vidarr? You are both with me, aren't you?"

The War God looked uncomfortable, rubbing the stump of his missing hand. The God of Vengeance beside him didn't say anything, taking a long swig of mead. "We are both willing to fight and defend those of Midgard alongside you, Thor," Tyr said. "However, I feel unleashing the hordes of Jotunheim and Muspellheim upon the mortals would only add to their problems."

"There are still other triggers of Ragnarok that have to be fulfilled beyond Loki's freedom." Thor crossed to Heimdall, patting the guardian on his shoulder. "My friend, has Lord Surtr obtained the Sword of Freyr yet?"

Freyr shifted uncomfortably beside his sister at the question. "No, he has not," Heimdall said, his eyes shifting to the fires of Muspellheim.

"And Fenrir, does he remain bound?"

"Tightly."

"Naglfar?"

"Able to sail, but hardly battleworthy."

"And what about," Thor swallowed, "Jormungandr? Does he still sleep?"

"For now. But the battle above makes him restless."

Thor spread his hands, looking out at the gathered Gods. "See," he said. "We have little to fear."

"The Norns have prophesied again and again throughout the centuries." Odin turned his one good eye on Thor, his expression fierce. "Once one trigger occurs, the rest will fall in short order. They have never been wrong."

"Except predicting this invasion," Thor said.

The room was silent. Odin turned back to the window, stroking Huginn's feathers as the raven perched on his shoulder. The other Gods shifted awkwardly. Thor's shoulders dropped, and he felt the hand of his wife, Sif, on his arm, comforting him. He smiled at her, her hair of literal gold glistening in the sun's light.

"Perhaps," she said, "we may just have to make do with Valhalla and Folkvangr, and leave the unvaliant to their fate."

Thor gritted his teeth and clenched his fist. He grabbed one of Idunn's apples off the tray in the middle of the table and bit into it. "I don't want to do that," he said. "I am the protector of Midgard. That means all who live there."

He turned to Mimir, the God of Wisdom and a severed head currently floating in a bowl of mead and lapping it up with his tongue. "Lord Mimir," he said. "Is there nothing you can suggest?"

Mimir glanced up at Thor. "No, laddie," he said. "Not unless you plan to singlehandedly beat the combined forces of Jotunheim and Muspellheim into submission yourself so they'll be in no shape to start Ragnarok until Loki is bound up again."

"If that is what I must do, then that is what I must do."

At the far end of the table, the Queen of Asgard raised her hand. "If I might make an alternative suggestion."

"Coerce an oath from them all to not take any action toward Ragnarok until the war is over?" Thor asked, shaking his head as he, Frigg, and Heimdall rode out to the gates of Asgard. "Are you really sure that will work, my queen?"

"I did it with Baldr, didn't I?" Frigg asked.

"Well, you did forget mistletoe," Heimdall pointed out.

"Hush, boy," Frigg said. "I've learned from my mistakes."

Thor pulled up on his reins, and his chariot slowed to a stop at the gates. Heimdall jumped out and opened them. "Alright," he said. "I can cast the bifrost to wherever you need."

"Can you see everyone we need to coerce?"

Heimdall nodded. "Surtr is sitting on his throne. Fenrir is pacing. An army of Jotnar seem to be amassing in Jotunheim. Hel must have sent them word of her plan. Hel is . . . playing fetch with Garmr. Aww. Who knew she had a playful side."

Thor cleared his throat.

"Right." Heimdall shifted his gaze. "And Loki is still under the serpent. Sigyn just went to dump the acid, and he got splashed."

"Good," Thor said. "Jormungandr still sleeps?"

"As always."

"Let's get it done."

Heimdall prepared to cast the Bifrost, first to Muspellheim, when Thor heard a loud voice like thunder shout out to them. "Ho, Aesir!"

Thor looked up to see a chariot riding toward them through the sky, a large serpent at his side. The rider looked familiar, not too far off from Thor himself when he looked in the mirror, but slightly different here and there. A smile crossed Thor's face, and he raised his hammer.

"Ho, Perun," he said. "Welcome to Asgard."

The Slavic God and his nemesis Veles pulled up to the gate before them. Thor and Perun clashed their hammer and axe together to make a thunderclap, as they always did in greeting. "We have responded to your father's raven," Perun said. "You plan to form a coalition of Gods?"

"We do," Thor said. "But I have little time. Odin will explain the situation in the great hall. I am on a mission of my own that I must attend to."

Perun's face lit up. "Do you expect a battle?" he asked.

"I fear so."

"Then I will attend you. Surely whatever foe you face will tremble before the might of two Thunder Gods."

His adversary stared at him. "I thought we were here for a meeting," he protested.

"I'm sure it will not be long. You may stay and await our fellow Slavic brethren until I return."

Veles rolled his eyes and grumbled. "I'm going to go see where they keep those golden apples I've heard so much about," he said before slithering off.

Perun watched him go before leaning toward Heimdall. "He's of the same nature as your Loki," he whispered. "Keep an eye on him."

"Already am," Heimdall said. "Now, if there are no more going."

He cast the Bifrost, and Thor rode it down, accompanied by his stepmother and fellow Storm God. As they rode, Thor spotted a raven following them down. It seemed his father wanted to keep an eye on things.

As he expected, Surtr was not amicable to Frigg's proposal.

"Ha," the fire giant shouted. "You expect me to delay Ragnarok simply because Midgard is burning? Do you not realize that is my entire goal? Even now, I have soldiers seeking far and wide across the Nine Realms to find Sumarbrandr."

"Surely, there is something we can offer you," Frigg reasoned. "Something that will convince you to stay your hand for the time being."

Thor studied the giant. His skin was a mixture of black and glowing red, as if he were made entirely of molten magma. Above his head on the volcanic wall behind him, an empty wall trophy hung, a small plaque inscribed with runes that read "The head of Freyr, Lord of Vanaheim." Thor knew full well the giant could never be bargained with. Only made to stand down.

"I challenge you to Holmgang, Lord Surtr," he said, stepping forward.

Surtr stopped laughing and cocked his head. "Ah, I see," he said. "An appeal to honor, knowing of course that I pride myself a noble warrior." He leaned forward. "Alright. If I win, Ragnarok proceeds as planned. If you win, I, and all the fire giants of Muspellheim will take your oath."

"Agreed," Thor said. He steeled himself as the giant rose. Surtr was among the strongest fighters he'd ever faced, but he was fairly certain he still outmatched him, especially without Sumarbrandr at his disposal.

"Do you need a second, brother," Perun asked, offering his axe.

"Not yet," Thor said. "We have other opponents yet to face. Stand ready."

"Understood." Perun stepped back, as did Frigg.

Surtr approached Thor, a flaming sword appearing in his hands. It wasn't the Sword of Freyr, but Thor could tell it was among the finest in Muspellheim's armory. "You know," the fire giant said, smoke billowing from his mouth, "I've always been disappointed that you were not to be my destined opponent in Ragnarok. Thor Odinson is a much more impressive kill than a fisherman's boy. Perhaps if divine destiny is being interfered with, as you say, maybe today is my lucky day."

Surtr let out a bellow and struck with the full might of his blade. Thor blocked the strike with his hammer, the two weapons clashing with the force of an atomic blast.

Surtr proved a brutal opponent who pushed Thor to his very limit. Thor fought with all of his might, and though it came close multiple times, he ultimately managed a victory. Surtr knelt before him and made his oath with Frigg, as did all of the fire giants who served him.

Next came the giants gathering in Jotunheim. Hrymr, captain of Naglfar, stood at their head, and he was not satisfied with simply himself being bested by Thor, but demanded that Thor face each of the Jotun gathered. Thor had been hesitant, still nursing burns on his arms from his fight with Surtr, but he took up the challenge. He took on each giant, one by one, steadily whittling down their force until they stood at half-strength.

A brief respite was called, allowing Thor to rest for his next battle. Perun, Frigg, and Odin's raven gathered around him. "You're tiring, Thor," Perun said. "Please, allow me to stand in your place."

Thor looked at his friend. For just a moment, he was tempted by the offer. His eyes drifted to the west, roughly the direction he knew Midgard lie from Jotunheim. The Norns had assured him that no time would pass there until he had finished his task, but considering all that had happened, could he really trust that?

"No," he said. "I must make a stand for as long as I must. For Midgard."

Perun looked like he wanted to argue, but he was like Thor. He held the same values of strength and valor, and he understood the same as Thor did. If Thor did not stand until his last breath on this, the enemies of Asgard would take it as a sign of weakness, or lack of conviction, and call their oath into question. That was something Thor would not risk.

"You have proved your strength, my son," Frigg said, reaching out and touching him. Thor did a double take, looking down at her hand. Frigg was not his mother, had never called herself his mother, hadn't forced all of reality into an oath to protect him as she had with Baldr or anything like that. It was never a point of contention between them, really, but it had always been generally understood between them that they'd never expect a true mother-son relationship from the other. For her to call Thor son, it felt . . . warming somehow.

He placed his hand over hers. "I know," he said. "But I must still."

After a few minutes, Perun and Frigg left the tent to ensure his weapons and armor were in good condition, the raven flying out behind them. A short time later, a young Jotun maiden entered the tent, carrying a bowl. "May I offer you some wine, my lord," she asked.

Thor lifted his head, eyeing the bowl with suspicion. "What is this?" he asked.

The girl bowed her head. "My lord Hrymr sent me. You are our guest here in Jotunheim. Rules of hospitality demand we provide you with food and drink as needed, even as our enemy. Do not worry." She put the bowl to her lips and drank from it. "No poison."

Thor was still hesitant, but he knew his own rules of hospitality. He took the bowl and drank. Strangely, it didn't taste like the meads and brews he'd expect from those of Norse mythology. It tasted like something he'd once had while visiting the British Isles.

He finished it in one gulp. "Thank you," he said, handing the bowl back.

"May I ask you something?" the girl asked.

"Shoot."

"Why do all this? Why go to all this effort, just to protect a people who haven't worshipped you in ages? Who now treat you as a fictional character, turning you into a costumed superhero in these moving pictures of theirs, half the time portraying you as little more than a musclebound buffoon."

Thor smiled. He had rather enjoyed watching his fictional outings with the Avengers. "In fairness to them, 'musclebound buffoon' has not always been inaccurate."

The girl continued to stare at him. She had a strange serious expression to her face, a dark edge to her glare.

Thor rubbed one of the bandages on his arms where a Jotun had grazed him with an axe. "It doesn't matter to me if they believe in me or not," he said. "It never has. I proclaimed myself their protector centuries ago, and have held to that proclamation ever since, protecting them from Jotun and trolls and dragons and all else who would do them harm. It is my nature, and my oath. I will hold to it, to the very day Jormungandr's poison seeps into my veins."

"I see."

For just a moment, the girl's voice no longer sounded like that of a young Jotun girl, but that of a much older woman, the faint echoes of a ghostly wail seeping through its thick Irish brogue. It seemed almost familiar to Thor. He looked up to see that the girl had vanished, the tent door flapping in the wind. A single black feather fluttered to the ground.

Thor got to his feet and picked up the feather. He peeked through the door to see Frigg stroking his father's raven as it sat on her shoulder. He looked back at the feather. Something told him someone in their party wasn't quite who they said they were.

The rest of the battle went about as well as Thor had hoped. He'd worked through most of the heavy hitters in the first half, so finishing off the rest was a struggle but nothing he couldn't handle. A few attempted some underhanded tricks, but they all seemed to fail by random chance, one stepping on a rock that suddenly moved under him, while another tried to sneak through the nearby river only for a gigantic eel to swim by at that moment and gobble him up. Once they were all defeated, the giants of Jotunheim all gave their oaths freely.

Frigg visited Jormungandr herself, Thor staying far back from the monster. He was still more inclined to sleep, so after a promise of a decade of good dreams in return, he took the oath as well.

Finally, there came Fenrir. As the party approached the island of Lyngvi, Thor pulled Perun aside. "Now is the time I will need your aid, my brother," he said. "Fenrir is destined to personally kill Odin, and it took our full might and the loss of Tyr's hand to restrain him before. This is not a battle I will be able to face alone. Will you stand with me?"

Perun grinned broadly and hefted his axe.

"And here I thought I'd miss out entirely."

"You will have my aid too," that same strange Irish voice said.

Thor smirked and turned to the raven sitting on the ship's bow he had mistaken for Huginn. "I thought that might be you, Lady Morrigan."

The raven shifted, her body shifting and growing until a tall statuesque woman with pale features and a ghostly glow sat poised in its place. "It is the Morrigan, if you don't mind," she said.

Frigg narrowed her eyes at her. "We do not care for deception in Asgard, witch," she said.

"Oh, hush, my dear," she said, slinking past her and up to Thor, her eyes scanning every inch of his muscular body. "The Tuatha De Danann and I simply had to determine whether or not we could trust the message we received this morning. Do not worry, your father's pet is being well tended to. I merely took a few drops of his blood to perfect my disguise."

The boat bumped up against the shore of Lyngvi.

"As a Goddess of War, one of the few things I value most is true valor," she continued, running her finger along Thor's breastplate. "And you, Son of Odin, carry that in your every step. You and the Aesir can count on our aid in the coming battle."

Thor nodded his head graciously. "I thank you for that, my lady," he said.

"Now," the Morrigan said, stepping out of the boat. "I understand we have a wolf to beat into submission."

With the aid of Perun and the Morrigan, Thor's battle with Fenrir ended swiftly. In the end, all there was left to do was ride the Bifrost to the cave where Loki was bound. Hel stood beside him, her dog Garmr at her side. Odin and Muninn waited for them there as well.

Loki greeted Thor with his familiar smile, one eye cautiously watching the bowl his wife Sigyn held over his head to protect him from acid. "Well, hello, 'brother,'" he said. "At least, I understand that's what we're being called these days. I hear you've been busy."

"Loki," Thor said, doing his best to ignore his banter and address his other enemies in the room. "Hel, Garmr, Sigyn. I have come to extract from you the same oath I have extracted from all of your allies. Loki, Son of Farbauti, will be temporarily freed from his chains in agreement with his daughter Hel's condition for her aid in the war on Midgard. While the war rages and Loki is free, none of you will take any action toward the commencement of Ragnarok. Will you all take the oath?"

Behind him, Perun hefted his axe with a crack of thunder while the Morrigan raised her hands and summoned green fire to swirl around her, just to press the point home.

Hel's one good eye studied Thor and his allies. She bowed her head, Garmr doing so in turn. "I, Hel, Daughter of Loki, do swear to abstain from any action which might bring about Ragnarok for as long as this war persists."

Garmr let out a loud low bark that the raven Muninn confirmed to be his own taking of the oath. Sigyn repeated her stepdaughter's words, accidentally letting her bowl spill a bit in the process.

"Ow!" Loki cried out, wincing from the pain. He pushed through it and made the same oath. "Now, will you please release me and get rid of this blasted serpent?"

Thor looked to his father. Odin looked hesitant, but swallowed his fear and waved his hand. The serpent vanished, as did Loki's bonds.

The God of Mischief slumped to the ground, letting out a long moan of relief and rubbing his wrists. Sigyn and Hel went to his side. "Are you alright, my dear?" Sigyn asked him.

Loki sat for a moment, looking back at the stone where he'd been bound for centuries. He looked up at Odin and Thor as a wicked smile crossed his face. "I feel better than I have in eons."

He jumped to his feet, snapping his fingers and clothing himself in bright green and gold robes befitting a Trickster God of his status. "Well, ladies and gentlemen," he said. "I understand we have a war to fight."