SVARTALFHEIM: MAXIMILIAN
The two boys fell onto the smooth rock ground. Sleipnir was already galloping away back to whence he came. The sky was smoky grey and choked with dust. Large sinkholes riddled the ground. Enough to fit Victor's house in each of them. Victor slowly got up: "Where are we?"
Maximilian stared at the dusty choked: "Svartalfheim. Home of the dark elves, or better known as dwarves."
Victor suddenly grabbed his shoulder and pulled him behind a rock as the thunder of armoured footsteps shook the ground. Victor and Maximilian peeked out from behind the rock. A large group of almost 50 draugr thundered past, a large wolf, with burn marks, Garmr, leading them with a familiar figure riding on the back of the wolf, Loki. His red satin red flowed in the wind, his radiant red hair barely rustled. His brown leather tunic was immaculate his red fire horns bathed the surrounding gravel and rock in red light. Behind him on a skeletal steed rode Gullveig, her liquorice black hair, tan skin, fire eyes, black cape and tunic were unfettered in the Svartalfheim wind.
The entourage proceeded down one of the sinkholes down a winding ramp on the edge, carved into the rocky cliff face. Victor focused for a while before he shapeshifted both him and Maximilian into draugr. Victor whispered under his breath: "My illusion game is shaky at best, so if I get hurt in anyway or if we engage in combat, I might not be able to hold it." Maximilian nodded: "Let us move."
The two boys merged with the draugr slowly following the group at the back, imitating their slow shuffle. The entourage of Loki continued deeper yet in silence. Maximilian and Victor huddled together closer as the air got progressively chillier as they walker. Victor could not summon wildfire lest Loki or Gullveig be alerted to their position. Finally they reached a large archway carved out of a sheer rock face, seemingly nothing beyond. Loki placed a hand on the rock, before knocking twice firmly on it: "Ivaldi! Open the door!"
Slowly the rock shimmer and melt away. A grungy dwarf around 4 feet tall, in a faded red apron, straw hair and beard, calloused hands, eyes dark grey like stone. Around his waist he had a large brown utility belt, and a wide array of mallets and other such workshop tools. Loki smiled devilishly down on the dwarf: "It's good to see you Ivaldi, son of Ivaldi." Ivaldi the dwarf grunted: "What brings you back to my lair Loki? Freedom isn't good enough? You've only been out for three days. Fimbulvintr isn't good for my business."
Loki raised his hands apologetically: "Pardon me, it seems freeing myself has caused interdimensional strife, but when the slate is wiped clean, when the star of Ragnarok dawns on the nine realms, when the dust settles I will need tools to administer my vision. I have planned it for millennia, so Ivaldi, I wish for you to forge me a weapon as deadly as Gungnir, as mighty as Mjolnir, as refined as Sumarbrandr. Reject me and..." and Gullveig flicked her wrist as red tendrils of fire brushed Ivaldi's arms causing him to wince in pain. Loki finished his sentence: "I think you get what I mean."
Ivaldi cursed: "Once upon a time you had some honor Loki. Very well I will craft you such a weapon, but you will need to wait before it will be ready."
Loki raised his eyebrow: "How long?"
Ivaldi shrugged: "How hot can you heat my forge Loki?"
Loki pointed a finger at the base of the large smeltery where a pile of tinder sat, in a single bolt of white hot fire, Loki ignited the tinder and a roaring fire started, heating the metal in the forge. Loki our both hands forward and a steady beam of fire heated the forge.
Ivaldi walked up to the smeltery and started waving his hands in the air slowly like he was caressing the weapon. Victor and Maximilian could both see a long rod of molten metal levitating and slowly slendering and shaping. Maximilian whispered to Victor: "We can't let them create this weapon! We have to do something!" Victor whispered back: "I agree. Brace yourself."
Victor concentrated for a while before he sent a wave of black fire outwards, not as strong as in Helheim but strong enough to disperse all the draugr and stagger both Loki and Gullveig. Gullveig cackled: "Victor! Miss your parents already?" She flicked her wrist and the black fires were sucked into her palm and shot out as bright red flaming snakes that flew at the boys. Loki kept shooting flames at the forge: "Hold them back Gullveig darling!"
Gullveig's snakes were slashed in half by Maximilian as Victor concentrated on creating a fireball between his hands, when the orb of swirling black flames the size of a football danced in Victors hands, Maximilian ducked as Victor lobbed it at Gullveig. Gullveig swatted it aside and hissed: "You disappoint me son, I taught you to use your emotions, you're holding yourself back!"
Behind him, Victor howled: "I'm not your son!"
And with his anger surging, a black fire whip lashed out at Gullveig. It looked very impressive until he realised what Gullveig was trying to do. Maximilian shouted at Victor: "No! Control your anger!"
Victor's clarity cane too late as Gullveig seizes the whip and flung Victor towards herself and seized him by the neck midair. Gullveig smiled sweetly: "I think it's high time I used stricter discipline."
Suddenly Gullveig's hand erupted into flame and spread across Victor's body, Maximilian shouted in concern as Victor engulfed in flames and the son of Loki groaned in discomfort. When Gullveig's flames subsided and a charred, smoking, woozy Victor fell onto the floor coughing profusely. Maximilian swung at Gullveig with Gram, and the sorceress vanished in a column of fire. He looked at Loki while helping Victor up: "Victor we have to stop that weapon from forging."
Victor raised his sword: "I agree, let's go get him."
Victor closed his eyes before transforming into the same dragon and blasting off at Loki. Gullveig materialised behind him, summoned a blade of red fire and swung it at his head. Maximilian heard the sound of the fire burning through the air before blocking it with Gram.
Maximilian lunged at the sorceress: "Your sword work is sloppy." He commented as Gullveig barely parried a flurry of his strikes, realising her disadvantage, Gullveig has tendrils of fire shoot out of the ground to wrap around Maximilian. As he ducked and weaved he could see dragon Victor forcing his way to Loki, as Loki blasted the forge with one hand and Victor on the other, who blocked it with his wings and inches closer and closer.
Maximilian felt a tendril brush his left ankle and searing pain flowed like lava through his body. He looked down to see his pant leg smoking. Inside, he was cursing, wishing his Uruz rune would activate, trying to give his a rune a rise. He felt his hands tingle as a few weak bolts of golden energy flowed over his blade as it severed one of the tendrils. Maximilian's face lit up as the same buzz tingled in his bones. Maximilian whirled his blade around him and several more tendrils fell to the ground and turned to smoke. The more he fought, the more he felt the buzz, the more energy flowed on his sword. His blade felt lighter in his hands as it cleaned through the air with the grace of a leaf blowing in the wind, the tendrils vanished on the floor as Maximilian made quick work of them.
Maximilian was almost at Gullveig when there was a sound like a large gust of wind and he was slammed from the side by Victor.
