for "mini_nanowrimo" hence no friends lock 3
2200 ♥ 21000 (10.48%)
I fought with this part all day. I wrote a lot but stayed, somehow, stuck at 500 words. I kept deleting and fixing and toying and nothing would come out right. Then I rush home, am about to go on a date and I start typing (while cramming food down my throat so I don't faint on said date) and it just works. Hmmm. Not exactly sure what happened but I guess I work well under pressure.
The Golden Age of Asgard
Although no one spoke and the area is quiet, the tranquillity had been broken. The brothers forge ahead, making their way onto a path that led them up a hill. It seemed to take no time to reach the top and from there Odin was still. Loki stayed uncharacteristically quiet, keeping watch. Using his staff, Odin dug it into the dirt making a secret symbol. He crouched down with ease and reaching into his cloak, he pulled out his bag of runes. He cast and read and cast once more. He lifted his head and stared out toward the North land. There was one direct path but it was over hills and valleys. This land was laid out like bones jutting out left and right.
Loki grew restless, he couldn’t help himself. He tried to follow the one eyed gaze of Odin but there was nothing out there to see. He changed himself into a rook once more and flew straight into the air. From his great height advantage, he can see the army of frost giants marching, slowly along. They are far off but there is no mistaking a giant. He makes to turn back and report his findings when a strike of lightening stalls him. He hovers in the air, wings flapping gracefully. Even from his great distance away, he can see the damage the bolt does. A blackened crater marks the spot where giants once stood, never even knowing what hit them. A gradual wave of blistering heat overcomes him and Loki begins to choke. His wings give out as he panics, trying to grab for his throat. His eyes sting and water. He is blind and falling, falling, falling. He squeezes his eyes shut tight and does the only thing the Chaos God can think of.
"Clever, clever. But you attract more attention to us than I would have preferred." Odin is standing over Loki at the bottom of the hill. He is positioned with the sun on his back and he looks even more menacing than usual. Loki is suddenly reminded why he is called the Father of All Things and feels like a small child. Loki opens his mouth to respond but can not. He can not move his arms. He has no arms to move. Loki is a feather, physically fine from the fall, if a bit singed around the edges from Thor's amazing lightening bolt throw. He turns back to his original form and stands. He shakes his head slowly, clearing his mind.
"What kind of attention?" Loki asks after a moment. Odin laughs at this, at Loki, and turns to carry on the journey.
Time moves differently in Asgard. Gods have no need for clocks and the seasons do not change much from one to the next. The sun still rises and the moon still rises and the tides shift and pull but their world spins slowly. The time it takes for Odin and Loki to reach the place where the frost giants were plundered is no time at all. Loki has spent most of that non-time complaining to Odin about a lack of warning and sharing knowledge. Odin grins a wicked grin but does not say much in response. Loki pouts like a boy-child, running his slender fingers through his seared hair to tame it.
The Gods survey the damage. The crisp and smouldering ground will soon heal. The land will sprout something awful and incredible from the spot it was touched by a God, it almost always does. The blood and ash mixture of the frost giants is odd, it smells of winter, soot and something otherworldly - metallic even. Loki desperately wants to know what will come from this one-sided battlefield but can not ask without giving too much of himself away in the question.
"You are lucky, I think, you brought attention to yourself but it gave me time to deal with situations in my own way. In the end, this may have given us a head start."
"I still don't understand what has happened. Why is Asgard under attack from the frost giants?"
"Asgard is not. We are. In reality, the frost giants were no match, army or not, but they were certainly meant as a distraction."
"Who is it? Who wants to block our path?"
"Your daughter," Odin answers without looking to Loki. He senses the deep shudder that passed over him but makes no comment.
"What does she want?" Loki asks, his voice low and dangerous.
"She wants my son."