Infinity

Chapter 27 And So It Stands

He quickly pulls a sword out of the cooling trough and swings it downward toward me. I defensively raise the staff to counter. A mighty crack is spread across the building.

I look up, the sword is bent across the golden surface of the staff.

"If that's what you mean; then yes." The Blacksmith laughs, musing at his own work.

"You wouldn't mind if I took it a touch early to..." I smirk, "To play with it?"

He laughs, "Not at all. Use it well."

I nod, "It would be foolish not to. Thank you." I say, taking the staff with me down to the vaults.

I dismiss the guards that protect the vaults.

This is it.

I carefully approach the boxes that contain the Infinity Stones. Treating them as if they were wild animals who were unsure of what I was.

I place my hands on the first box and gently lift it from its pedestal.

The Tesseract.

I carefully open the box and pull the cube from it. I let the box drop from my hands, letting it hit the floor with a slight clink.

The cube burns at my finger tips, but I don't mind. I take the cube in my hand and crush it, revealing the pale blue stone inside. I carefully place it on the staff, where it sinks in. My hands feel blistered.

I pull the second box off its pedestal and do the same to it as the one before, carefully placing the green stone into the staff.

I do the same to the third, and then I pull my purple stone from my pocket and place it the middle of the staff.

My hands are shaking, the skin on my fingers is shredded, from the shards that protected the stones. I can feel their power in my hands, it feels like a thousand bolts of lightning.

There's no pain this time. There's no soul binding. There's nothing. Nothing at all.

I feel renewed.

I cannot lose.

Not with this kind of power.

I place both hands on the staff and focus on the power of the Tesseract. I can feel it open a door, leading to the Bifrost. I step through. I'm surrounded by the golden dome.

Heimdall looks up from his post.

"Heimdall, you swore your loyalty to the rulers of Asgard, did you not?"

"I did."

"You swore your loyalty to me?"

"I did."

"Then I am asking you to remain unwavering in your ways... I ask you to keep my whereabouts secret."

"Going to face the Mad Titan alone?" Heimdall asks, looking out at the stars.

"I am."

He nods grimly, "As you wish."

He slides his sword into the control panel located in the middle of the Bifrost and the golden gears begin turning, spinning faster and faster until the doorway is open.

"He's been waiting." Heimdall says, "He's just on the other side."

I nod, "I will return." I step through.

The white light leaves me in a place of darkness, what looks to be the farthest stretches of the universe. The sky is black and purple, dotted with billions upon billions of small dots known as stars.