Transformers & The Avengers

Chapter Twenty-Three: The Casket of Ancient Winters

The great white ice plains of Norway, stretched for miles in all directions. The pure white powdered snow made it easy to spot the two dog sled teams as they made their way across the frozen tundra. The teams consisted of four people, two per sled, one musher and one passenger. The mushers urged their respective dog teams onward as the canines charged forward, the heat of their breath, turning to mist upon contact with the freezing temperatures.

As the teams glided across the frozen fields, the passenger on the lead sled team, a man who was completely covered from head to toe in winter gear, a large dark grey trenchcoat with a light grey fur hood, dark winter boots along with a red scarf wrapped around his neck and face. A pair of tinted goggled covered his eyes, making his face completely obscured. A pair of mismatched gloves on each hand, a black one on the left and a white one on the right. He looked ahead as the sleds crossed the frozen tundra to a cluster of mountains located on the far side, apparently their destination.

After a while the sled teams stopped a few yards from the base of the nearest mountain and dismounted their respective sleds. All but two of the dogs where left behind to rest after a long trek. As they approached the mountains, the atmosphere of the area began to change putting the team slightly on edge, as if the mountain itself was trying to warn them not to approach. Even the sled dogs could feel the unsettling atmosphere of the area as they raised their heads and howled into sky, as if signaling what's to come.

Regardless of the strange sensations, the man in the trenchcoat, the team leader, marched forward, completely unfazed by the area. The other three members of the team hesitantly followed. They walked for a few minutes before coming over a rise, revealing a large frozen lake that separated them from the mountain. Fortunately for them, there appeared to be a bridge, constructed entirely out of ice, that snaked its way across the Icey water to what appeared to be a cave in the mountains base.

"There it is!" One of the guides said in Norwegian to the trenchcoat man as he pointed to the far side of the lake.

The team then proceeded to cross the ice bridge to the other side. Once there, they followed a path that lead to the mouth of the cave. However, the entrance was blocked by a large metal gate, with padlocked chains locking it shut. The gate was clearly constructed in ancient times, due to the centuries of ice and rust that had accumulated on the metal over the many years.

The shrouded man approached the gate and reached out his hand to the chains that bound it shut. But as his hand got within a few inches of the metal lock, ice instantly beginning to form on his fingers and then started to spread like an infection until his hand was completely covered in frost. The cloaked man gasped in pain and he pulled his hand back, cradling it in his other hand. But once his affected limb was away from the enchanted metal, the frost disappeared and the hand returned to normal. The cloaked man flexed his hand as if to check if there was any damage. He then turned to one of the men on his team and the man nodded as if reading his employer's mind. He lifted his foot up and delivered a powerful kick to the ancient chains. Thanks to the ravages of time, the metal easily shattered upon impact, without any frost forming on the man's leg at all. With the way now clear, the team proceeded to enter the cave.

As the team walked through the cavern, the deeper they entered the tunnels, the darker it became. So much so that three of the men had to pull out torches in order to light their way. But the cloaked man didn't use a torch as he walked ahead of the group, apparently having no problem navigating the darkness, despite having such heavy goggles on. The eeriness that the men felt outside the mountain, only increased once they were fully inside the natural formation. The two men near the back of the team began to move nervously as they pointed their torches around the darkness, only for their light to fall upon a horrific sight.