We left Jotunheim in the dark of night, with windswept snows covering our tracks. We were a somber bunch, me and the Jotunn I led, bent on revenge. Our souls were not filled with righteous enthusiasm as was the case with our first attack. Now, we marched with a purpose, prepared to die for vengeance. Our black eyes glittered with malice. The weapons we had forged from ice and snow were melded onto our forearms, glistening in the moonlight menacingly. We were fear itself, the monsters that mothers warned their wee ones about.
Tonight, I told myself, would be the end of my disgrace. I would cut down every Aesir who stood between Rani and I. I would destroy all evidence of my husband's cursed infidelity. I, Skadi, Goddess of the Winter, would emerge into dawn victorious.
We had been traveling between Jotunheim and Asgard through a secret entrance forged centuries ago, now forgotten by whomever created it. One after the other, we stepped through the portal, to hurdle through the Bifrost and land neatly outside the Plain of Idavoll. I waited patiently until my army made it through safely. Then I led them forward.
We marched slowly, our footsteps falling in the same cadence. We were no organized militia, but our sense of purpose kept us in tune. The closer we came to the Palace, which rose glittering in the falling snow, some Jotunn shifted into more animal forms. I led a legion of beasts, with faces of wolves, lions, and bears. Humanoid hands elongated and grew fearsome talons. I kept my normal giantess form. I would destroy them as myself, no other.
With only the moon to light the snow, we were hard to see. Our icy bodies matched the snow around us. About 300 yards away from the Palace's fortifications, I signaled the Jotunns to halt. The night was silent, with only the wind rattling the branches of Yggdrasil making the faintest sound. The heavy banks of snow, so difficult to walk on for Asgardians, hardened beneath our feet. I could faintly see the guards on the wall trying to figure out what we were.
I opened my fanged mouth and let loose a hair-raising Jotunn cry, letting it echo across the Plain. The other Frost Giants waited but a moment to do the same, so that their cries filled the air like a thousand nightmares.
I wanted them to know we were waiting.
YOU ARE READING
The Trickster's Bride
FantasyRani, a young Scandinavian girl, has spent most of her life in Midgard. But one day, she is kidnapped and whisked away to a place known only in legend. She resides amongst Gods and, her destiny has been decided for her: she is betrothed. As a bride...
