Scorpio

TWELVE - Out of Relebak

Heimdall struggled briefly against his restraints as the alien guards hoisted him onto a ship, testing the resistance of the chains that bound his wrists.

Brittle, he noted, accidentally aloud. Almost instantly, he was struck across the face and treated to an unpleasant view of an alien's spittle-lined gums - a warning. Heimdall resisted the urge to roll his eyes as the alien withdrew its jaws, then resumed his slacking posture, giving no struggle as he was forcefully seated in a lump of a chair within the slim larvae ship.

"Velon 175 of Relebak," Heimdall read from the engraving on the wall as his alien entourage turned to escort some other poor prisoner into their deathbed - or rather, deathchair.

However, he misjudged the hearing capabilities of the closest guard who leapt towards his neck at a frightening speed; teeth and hooves displayed in an intimidating fashion. But Heimdall neither shrank back nor shouted, for as soon as it sprang, a gleaming golden-hilted projectile dropped from above him - smoothly impaling the guard through the top of its skull to the bottom of its chin.

"Might've done you better to wait a second before welcoming me to your death chambers, Heimdall," a deep, familiar voice chided.

Heimdall smiled tiredly as the rocket door closed, feeling Thor power down the taser lines holding him in his chair. With a sharp snap of his wrists, his restraints sprang loose, and he yanked his sword from the alien's impaled head.

"I knew perfectly well what I was doing," Heimdall responded, making a face as he nudged the corpse onboard with his boot.

The tall, matured, yet still weaponless king snorted as he forcefully ripped the taser wires from Heimdall's supposed death-chair, weaving it into a few simple loops. Lighting them, he began setting them in various areas around the ship, his shadow dancing among the crackling blue lights.

"For this alien to have heard me," Heimdall continued, ignoring Thor, "it must have been the catënur the Norns prophesized I would come upon - a mythological Greek spirit that seeks and possesses bodies. Usually one of their most defining characteristics are their hooves, but the attribute I am going after is the fact they poison the blood of whoever's body they possess."

"You are hiding something," The thunder god responded knowingly, studying a single cubicle that held a larvae noticibly larger than its neighbours. Heimdall winced, nodding, despite knowing Thor's back was turned.

He opened his mouth briefly to speak the words occupying his mind, but held himself back from the words he knew would be the hardest to take. Instead, he looked past giving his king what would've been the most stressful line of his prophecy (therefore possibly endangering his trust) and responded with his next morsel of usefully prophesized information.

"Their hooves attract certain rocks, serving as an ore for the gems they consume." Bringing down his foot with a resounding crack, Heimdall nudged the split hoof apart with his sword.

"Three of them enables breathing in space for extended periods of time." He leaned down and tossed four pieces to Thor. "The last is from Yggdrasil."

Thor didn't get a chance to answer after catching the pieces in his fumbling grasp; for in that moment, the velon-rocket rumbled - takeoff was upon them.

"Alright, so how do we get the blood into the cubicles?!" Thor shouted over the roar of the fire igniting below them.

"One drop suffices for a life. A whole limb should take out a colony!" Heimdall shouted back. "If I were to cut through a tube, the heat would get to the larvae quickly and they would wake. So we must act with haste. Most importantly, though, is the catënur corpse is only poisonous through contact to its blood. Do not allow it to stain your skin."

Thor clambered down from his perch, holding two wires bent into forks in either hand. Upon recieving a nod from his king, Heimdall swiftly sliced off two limbs from the catënur corpse.

In the millisecond that the limbs were detached, Thor stabbed each in the opening; quickly yet carefully lifting them out in front of him. Wasting no time, Heimdall followed him to the center-most artery in the rocket; his sword at ready.

All around them, the larvae were blossoming like mad; absorbing the nearby heat greedily as the temperature in the spacecraft grew warm.

"Now!" Heimdall ignored the tick, tick, ticking in his heart, focusing on the task at hand. He sliced open the artery, just as Thor plugged in each limb in the open ends.

The former golden gatekeeper then pressed the severed pieces together, despite knowing his actions did nothing to change his fate. But Thor seemed to appreciate the gesture, and visibly relaxed as every creature in the cubicles turned a deathly pale color; although he looked quite pale himself.

Heimdall couldn't help himself. He was bound and sworn in by oath, he could not have Thor troubled any further.

"My sword. The stones." Thor looked at him questioningly.

"Take them. Don't come after my physical body. I...won't be there anymore."

There. He said it.

Thor's eyes widened slightly. "Heimdall, you don't mean..."

"The glass is built to break as soon as we leave this planet. Only one of us can leave this craft, and be clear of the poison-tainted waters. The other, weaken the nose for the former to escape. Any sooner or later than the last moment will cause both to fall back into the velon."

Thor looked about wildly. "We still have time. We can escape!"

"Yes, we can." Heimdall agreed. "But if we did, we'll never get out of here."

Not giving time for his king to process his words, Heimdall picked up and threw Thor over his shoulder; climbing like mad up the side of the rocket.

As Thor regained his senses, he and Heimdall paused for the briefest of moments on the very top of the highest cubicle; containing a dead chitauri dragon larvae. Heimdall pressed his sword into his king's chest, making a face as Thor refused to accept it.

"For Asgard's sake, take the sword! If you will not have it for yourself, keep it for Sif. My time has run out. But you've still got plenty more ahead of you."

Thor shakily took the weapon, strapping it safely across his back.

"Five seconds until we clear the planet."

"Four..."

"Three..."

"Two..."

"One!"

On the last count, Heimdall ran around the entire circumference of the nose on rows of cubicles; bolts and screws flying out as he passed. In the instant the last bolt was undone, a horrid cracking sound began; indicating the glass beneath Thor's feet was going to break.

JUMP, Heimdall commanded. And don't you worry about me.

Thor felt tears prick at his eyes as he soared through the air, taking the nose cap with him as they broke out of Relebak.

I will always be with you.

Then, the glass gave way and Heimdall fell towards tangled mess of poisoned alien larvae in the rocket, which, in turn, plummeted back into the planet which it came from.