Of all my new minions, Gax was most loyal, virtually acting as a servant and spy for anything I asked of him. He kept me fed and translated my common tongue for all the other creatures who I assigned to ranks and fleets. The few weeks spent in the Outer Darkness were beyond busy with such things.
When not giving assignments and plotting my return, I was practicing with Mjolnir. I took special care to use both arms as equally as possible; even Father hadn't thought to do that and was dependent on his dominant side. Now, the hammer came to me whenever I opened either hand. I mastered short flight with its power. I also made examples of any creatures I found too grotesque to look at, using them as target practice for my lightning.
Gax, of his own accord, displayed their sizzled bodies for others to see. They'd been cooked from the inside out, so after a few days in the stale air, their flesh was scavenged entirely. Only a pile of blackened skeletons remained. If it hadn't been so far from Asgard, I would've collected them to decorate the palace permanently; the bones of large creatures were far more impressive than the pathetic humans that waited for me there.
For all the freedom granted to me in the outer darkness, it couldn't last forever. I craved more. It was time to stake my claim and return.
"What think you, Master?" Gax asked, hobbling toward me in his hunched-over stance, flickering his tongue more than usual.
"I'll be making a portal for us. I know it can be done." I tossed Mjolnir comfortably a few times, looking down my nose at it.
"Where go we?" he asked, bouncing his eyes as he followed Mjolnir's path. It hypnotized him somewhat.
I amused myself by gripping the hammer and waving it back and forth for his benefit. "Asgard used to be my home. Perhaps we'll give it a new name." I paused and looked at Gax squarely. "That means we'll call it whatever we want. Understand?"
He grunted affirmatively.
"The question is where we land first." I stepped to the edge of the precipice where I normally commanded the soldiers below, training them to stand in ranks and take orders through hand signals. They were sorted by height and race, neatly falling into a few categories. What we lacked in numbers we made up for in strength. "There are a few places on my mind, but I want to surprise them."
"Will follow Master," Gax said, pointing to the monsters below. "Say where."
"I believe it." I turned to him and switch hands with Mjolnir. "You think all of them are ready?"
He blinked a few times before nodding.
"One more day, Gax. Yggdrasil is mine."