SVARTALFHEIM: VICTOR
When the two boys shed their disguises, Victor surged at Loki, in his mind, his mind went white hot with anger, his stupid passage cost him dearly, he'd make him pay tenfold. Turning into a dragon, he blasted off at Loki, leaving Maximilian to deal with Gullveig, Loki saw him rushing at him and the forge and redirected his left hand at Victor and white flames blasted at him. Victor was immediately grounded at the fire washed over him and he blocked the uncomfortable heat with his leathery black wings, his clawed feet dug into the ground as he slowly struggled forward towards the god of mischief, with every step his feet dug into the stone floor, his reptilian maw was contorted in a hideous snarl, black fire curled outward between the jagged teeth. From the corner of his eye, he could see Maximilian's deft sword work against Gullveig, seeing Maximilian gave him a boost of confidence and he pushed against his father's tsunami of fire. When he finally got close enough, he mustered his strength and flung his wings out, sending Loki, backwards.
Loki got up, his red fire horns blazed and sneered: "Enough of this charade, away with you!" Loki, slammed his palm against Victor's scaly chest, and Victor's dragon form melted away and he returned to his scrawny human form and tumbled over. Loki picked him up by the scruff of the neck, and hissed maliciously: "You've interfered enough son, cease your heroics before you force my hand." and Loki flung him at Maximilian, causing them to collide.
Maximilian and Victor landed on top of each other, tangled in limbs. Victor coughed: "Excuse me Maximilian." he smirked
Maximilian rolled his eyes: "I see the weapon is still forging."
Victor sighed: "Yeah about that..."
Both the boys looked up, Gullveig had left them be as she stood next to Loki as Loki grasped the weapon. The weapon was a double sided spear just slightly shorter than Loki, a good 5 feet, and the silver points blazed with a red fire. Loki ran his fingers down the slender goldenrod: "I name thee, Logeirr, spear of fire."
Victor was horrified by the beautiful column of gold and fire that lay in his father's hand, his father spun around and winked at the fallen boys: "Send the Aesir my regards."
Loki slashed the spear downwards and a rift to a separate dimension appeared. Loki took Gullveig's hand and stepped through it, the rift's edges burning through the fabric of space and time. By the time the two fiendish villains had stepped through, the rift closed in a wisp of smoke and ash. Ivaldi collapsed in the ground, his hands smoking. Maximilian rushed over: "Ivaldi! What did you make him?" Maximilian shook Ivaldi violently.
Ivaldi breathed heavily: "A weapon... a weapon that would allow him to cut through passages through Yggdrasil with ease. He needs it to mobilise his armies for Fi'mbulvintr in preparation for Ragnarok. It's said that it's design could return to the user wherever the user is, as Loki was the first to touch it, it recognises Loki as it's owner, Loki can go anywhere he likes."
Maximilian cursed: "Bragi's beard... Where did he go?"
Ivaldi shook his head: "You'd be fools to find him if you can."
Victor brushed Maixmilian aside: "That's what he and I do. We're not letting Loki harbinge Ragnarok."
Ivaldi laughed at Victor's adamant claim: "You're a naive young boy. Ragnarok has been prophesied by Mimir's head, the oracle that sits in Odin's chambers. Nothing can change the fact that Ragnarok will come."
Victor opened his mouth to speak but Maximilian spoke first: "Thank you Ivaldi, start preparing for the worst, I fear Loki isn't finished."
Ivaldi bowed for the Odinson: "Very well."
Ivaldi vanished into the stone wall behind him, leaving the boys in the cavern with the unlit forge.
Maximilian exhaled in relief: "Odin damn it, we failed..."
Victor straightened his shirt: "Don't need to remind me."
Maximilian walked over to the cavern mouth before stumbling over as his left leg gave way, he gasped as the Uruz rune left him for its slumber and all the pain hit him. Victor rushes over to the kneeling warrior: "Max? Your ankle's burnt."
Maximilian grimaced: "Yeah I know... I noticed..."
Victor slowly helped him up onto an empty workbench: "Can you do your healing thing?"
Maximilian squeezes his eyes shut, Victor could see small beads of moisture cling to Maximilian's eyelashes as Maximilian tried to mend the burn. After a few moments, Maximilian shook his head: "Sorry Victor... I can't."
Victor rested his hand on Maximilian's shoulder: "It's fine. It's not magic, but I have bandages back home."
Victor draped Maximilian's left arm on his shoulder and hauled the larger boy up, pulling him up and through the door. Maximilian drew a short sharp breath: "I'm sorry Victor, Gullveig slowed me down, I should have helped you with Loki."
Victor gently shook Maximilian as they walked up the ramp: "Hey, Maximilian, look at me." Maximilian glanced up at Victor: "It wasn't your fault Maximilian. Like you would have said, we can't break down now. We're soldiers now, we don't have that luxury."
Maximilian looked downwards, resigned: "You've grown so much..."
Victor nodded: "We may lose one battle, we may lose many. But we need only worry about winning the war, because if we don't many lives will be lost as well as our chance to fight back. So until the end, we have to give it everything we've got."
Maximilian seemed to take this in on the way up yet his face was contorted in pain, Victor felt like he had said his piece, his blonde haired lover seemed to stop rocking on his leg in pain when they finally breached the surface of the rocky valley, Victor craned his neck skywards and shouted: "Sleipnir! Midgard, now!"
For several suspenseful moments, the sky remained stubbornly grey. Suddenly in a flash of white lightning, and the bolt hit the ground as Sleipnir materialised. The horse whinnied as Victor hauled Maximilian onto the back of the eight legged stallion. Maximilian groaned as slowly maneuvered his wounded leg to straddle the horse. Victor scrambled onto the horse, rubbed the stallion's neck and whispered: "Thanks... now get us out of here."
Sleipnir snorted and Victor felt the stallion's legs suddenly move under him as Sleipnir gallop out of the dark stony realm.
