A Gods Favor

I Beg You

Thor and Elora landed in the dungeons in front of a group of prisoners attempting to flee up the stairs they just blocked and Elora raised her hands as Thor spoke.

"Return to your cells, no further harm will come to you. You have my word." A man came from the right hall and punched Thor across his jaw. "Very well, you do not have my word."

Thor knocked the man aside and the fighting resumed. Elora created shields behind the guards who were coming down the stairwell before using telekinesis to pull men into Thor's hammer or slam them into the few remaining cell barriers.

-

Yrsa marched beside Sif as her father called out commands.

"Send a squadron to the weapons vault! Defend it at all costs, secure the dungeons."

"Odin," Yrsa heard her mother call out and turned to see her approaching with Jane Foster in tow.

"Frigga?" Odin spoke over his shoulder to his guards as he walked toward his wife. "Go! It is a skirmish. Nothing to fear."

He and Frigga exchanged a few words as Yrsa stepped up to Jane. "It is good to see you again, Jane, I was not aware you were here."

Jane looked around before directing a nervous smile at the princess. "It's a long story."

"Yrsa, come." Odin said, stepping away as Frigga put an arm around Jane and headed in the opposite direction.

-

Any prisoner still standing had been herded back into a cell as Thor, Fandral and Volstagg surveyed those on the floor while Elora stared at Loki who sat at the edge of his cell, reading.

"It appears you've grown into quite the formidable witch." He said without looking up from his book.

"I had a lot of time and anger to work through." She said as she sidled up to his cell. "I chose to channel them productively and not on a temper tantrum."

The corner of his mouth twitched as he turned a page. "You always were the better person."

The dungeons began to shake as stone and dust fell around them and guards called out that the throne was destroyed and they made their way to the king.

"Jane," Thor looked to Elora and they both darted out, heading to find the Midgardian.

-

Yrsa entered the throne room behind Odin to a mass of bodies on the ground and giant holes in the walls. The throne itself was torn to pieces.

Odin directed Gungnir to the last surviving enemy and fired a blast before surveying the scene.

"Frigga," he whispered and they turned to leave.

-

Elora had never run so fast in her life. She held her skirts high around her thighs and had kicked off her slippers at some point to try and better keep up with Thor who had nearly a foot on her. It didn't matter. Her lungs burned and the shock of her bare feet on stone made her brain rattle with every pounding step but it didn't matter. There was something pulling at her, telling her to go faster, that they had to get to Frigga and Jane. The Elf from her earlier exploration into the relic flashing in her mind.

They turned the corner into Frigga's chambers and watched as a sword was pulled from the queen's side before she fell.

Thor's scream ripped open Elora's heart as he went after the men in the room and she skidded to the floor beside the queen. Her hands instantly covered the wound.

"Please," She closed her eyes. For the first time in two years she reached for the well that she knew no longer existed but she had to try. "Please just this once, just a kernel. Just something, PLEASE!"

She did not know who she begged but they did not answer. No sparks left her fingertips and her hands did not warm with the long gone power she has so lovingly cultivated. She looked up to see Thor, Yrsa and Odin staring down and she crawled backwards, leaving handprints of blood along the way.

This was their loss so she stood and made to exit, finding Jane and taking her away to allow the royals to mourn.

-

Yrsa lit her mother's pyre, a single tear falling as her arrow struck true.

-

Elora watched the boats drift to the edge of Asgard beside Heimdall. Choosing to avoid the crowds gathered at the funeral, her shame at not being able to save the queen weighing heavy on her heart.

"They do not blame you." Heimdall whispered as he placed a hand on the arm she had wrapped around his.

"But I do."