His Queen | Book 1

Forty: A Thousand Colours

On the command of Thor and his mighty cheer, they followed him. Their horses running behind. The sound of a thousand thunder strikes the pavement as they followed the lower roads of Asgard and through the city until they found the rainbow bridge.

They followed the road. It's pure energy siphoning straight into the palace of Asgard. A thousand colours alight the glass bridge, bursting with energy as each hoof hit the bridge.

The closer they get to the observatory, they can see Heimdall himself guarding the entrance. Sword in hand. For Sigyn knew this would happen and she hoped he would not let them pass. He stands firmly before them unwavering. Expecting them.

His bright golden eyes trained on them. Or past them. Constantly seeing everything in the universe at once. There was something always other worldly and comforting about Heimdall, all-eye-seeing, gatekeeper of Asgard. He is stern. He is soft and malleable. Intimidating. Face virtually concealed by his helmet. Something glints beneath his visor like twinkling stars.

The party dismounts their horses and send them back as they have been trained to find their way back home.

Heimdall waits.

Loki cleared his throat stepping beside Thor. "Leave this to me." He was confident in his words. "Good Heimdall..." he greeted with a charming smile.

"You are not dressed warmly enough." he spoke finally. His voice always slowed Sigyn's heart.

Loki titles his head. "I'm sorry?"

"You think you can deceive me?" asked Heimdall. "For I can see every blade of grass."

Vali licked his lips. Sigyn knows he will not let them pass and something inside of her was grateful.

"You must be mistaken."

"Enough!" roared Thor, and overtook his brother. He was not going to beat around the bush or pretend Heimdall has not seen them plot. "Heimdall may we pass?" it was more of an order.

"Never." said Heimdall, firmly. "Has an enemy slipped by my watch; until this day. I wish to know how that happened."

"Then tell no-one of where we have gone until we have returned." Thor strides past Heimdall, and he does not draw his sword or attempt to stop them. He let them all pass.

"What happened?" Volstagg said, as he passed Loki. "Silver tongue turned to lead?" he chuckled, continuing into the observatory. Loki glaring at the back of his head.

"Come now, get me off this bridge before it collapses under your girth." he spit back, harshly.

Volstagg laughed.

Sigyn comes to her husbands side and puts her hand to his elbow. Squeezing. She gives him a sullen look. Their son was already inside taken to his uncles side, hardened and battle ready. She guides him past Heimdall and into the observatory.

Heimdall followed. He claimed the large control apparatus at the centre of the observatory. He lifts his mighty sword and slides it into the pedestal and twisted it to the left. Energy in the form of electricity spurted out of the pedestal hitting every large and small cog around them. Dancing and spitting from one to the next. The observatory comes to life around them.

Rumbling trough their feet and the dome began to turn. Machinery below the floor grinded into place and clicked together.

The dome began to spin faster and faster and faster.

The observatory's turret swings around and falls into place, aiming into a section of space. The turret winds up and fires shooting a stream of energy straight into the fabrics of space itself. Sigyn can feel the pull from where she stands. Any loose pieces of clothing is straining toward the stream.

"Be warned." Heimdall's deep voice said, aloud. "I will honour my sworn oath to protect this realm as its gatekeeper!" he speaks effortlessly over the noise. "If your return threatens the safety of Asgard, the Bifrost will remain closed. And you will be left to die on the cold wastes of Jotunheim."

Vali perked his brows. "Sounds delightful."

"Couldn't you just leave the bridge open for us?" Volstagg shouts.

"To keep this bridge open would unleash the full power of the bifrost and destroy Jotunheim with you upon it."

"I have no plan to die today!" Thor shouts back. Looking into the deep of space pulling at his form, desperate to have him.

"Good." said Heimdall. "Now go." he pushed his sword further down into the panel.

Their bodies stretch towards the maelstrom. Changing form as if every atom of their being is elongated by the pull of it. In that instant they are jerked off the platform and into the vortex. They are shot through space and time at the speed of light.

Thor at the front.

Vali behind him. His arms are stretched out, hands dipping into the stream and like glitter of seidr the bifrost dusts away like a boat carving through the sea. Stars glint past them. Deep pockets of black space. Bright galaxies. Swirls of light and space dust. They are formless. Energies. Light as the feather of a bird. The bifrost carves its way through space like a skilled butcher.

A hole is ripped open in the skies above Jotunheim. The bifrost thunders through and crashed into the ice. Snow flurries from the impact and the bifrost retreats. The bitter coldness hits their warm bodies and it comes as a shock at first.

A shiver runs down Sigyn's spine and she brings her arms into her chest. Their breath can be seen on the wind. The cold. It is harsh. Jabbing at them eager to find a weak point. Caressing their rosey cheeks drawing blood to the tips of their noses. Icicles are already forming on parts of their clothes.

Jotunheim. A icy waste land of large mounds of ice and what was once a great civilisation. There is proof of giant houses and towers around them. Now left to ruins and pieces.

Vali shrugged his shoulders and a black fur coat appeared around him. He pulled it tight, hugging his chest. He looked around them. The winds of winter wail and scream through cracks and deep crevices. Screams of long forgotten pain and desolation.

It seems deserted.

"Welcome to Jotunheim, young prince." Fandral says, teeth chattering. "Where it is cold all year 'round."

"I did not notice." sarcasm rolls off his tongue as naturally as it comes to his father, Loki. "I came in the hopes the sun would be shining." he gestures to the rolls of dark, hazy clouds overhead. Bits of hard snow fall around them.

Sigyn's eyes fall to her husband. He stands with no regard to the harsh coldness bitting them. But instead intently looking around for hidden Jotnar. He knows they have been alerted to their arrival. "Are you not cold, my love?"

Loki looked at her. Then shivered. "Of course. I am freezing." he replied, as if that knowledge should already be known. His breath fluffing outwards. A gush of icy wind screams from up side the cliff they landed on. Sigyn's white hair blows around her face and she hugs herself closer.

Vali's feet crunched across the snow and he dares look over. "It's a long way down." he stated. Nothing put a deep black crevice stared back up at him. "Looks like it pierces the centre of this world. I wonder what happened..."

"Asgard happened." Loki answered.

Vali stepped away from the edge. "It is not as cold as I was expecting."
"How can you say that?" said Lady Sif. "It is freezing worse than the winters on Asgard."

"I hear the winds of Helheim hath no competition to the winters of Jotunheim." Vali takes his coat from his shoulder. "Would you like my coat, Lady Sif? I have no need for it. I can fashion another." he puts it around her shoulders and she thanks him kindly.

Something somewhere cracks and crashes down shattering like a thousand mirrors. The world of Jotunheim is crumbling around them. Doomed for eternity. And ahead of them lay the ruins of a city.