Chapter 45
Back to the Present
Hiccup and Toothless as well as all the others on the battlefield were blinded by the light the lightning produced as it shot into the air and crackled into the clouds. They shielded their eyes and when the light finally subsided they could breathe easily for Thor stood at the epicenter of the blast, broken ice crystal shards around him end free from Ymir's hold.
"You witch!" Thor bellowed "Ready your head to meet my hammer!"
"You tell her hubby!" Sif called from somewhere on the field as she cheered her husband on.
Ymir cocked her head to the right as if she was regarding Thor as a minor nuisance. She threw the unconscious Sigyn to the side and then stalked closer to the Thunderer. "Batteries should be seen not heard," Ymir stated impassively, which caused Thor to bristle.
Jerry, who had reverted back to his humanoid form, clutched his injured arm that he received from the backlash of thunder. It would heal in a few hours but he instinctively stepped back as he knew that look on his uncle's face.
Thor lifted his hand, his signature move for calling his hammer to him. It looked like time stopped on the battlefield as everyone watched. The eerie silence was interrupted by the destruction of one of the Ice Palace walls as Mjolnir came flying out from wherever Ymir had left it when she had possessed Thor's body.
"Feel the fury of my hammer!" Thor called out and eagerly awaited for the familiar grip of his weapon, though that never came. Thor's eyes widened near comically as Ymir seemed to have plucked Mjolnir out of the air as it was about to fly into his hand.
Ymir's red eyes examined the hammer that she had taken from its trajectory with mild curiosity. But that lasted but an instant and the curiosity vanished as quickly as it came. "The fury of your hammer?" She taunted. "If it wasn't for the actual weapon here I would have thought you were making suggestive comments towards my person."
Thor, and several others choked and sputtered at that statement. All eyes were on Ymir as she casually held the hammer. And their eyes widened as she then just as casually crushed it into scrap.
"MY HAMMER!" Thor exclaimed.
"It was useless and small," Ymir stated nonchalantly before adding "Just like its owner. An ant facing a Queen."
Ymir conjured an icicle spear and advanced on the still shocked Thor. "This is the end for you!" She said and was about to deliver the final blow when she was tackled to the ground by none other than Loki.
"Keep your hands off my brother!" Loki shouted as he and the woman landed in the snow with a heavy thud. The Trickster groaned as he felt blood along his thigh. Eir was so going to kill him if the blood loss didn't.
"Loki, you called me brother!" Thor called out happily, snapping out of his daze about his broken hammer to look at Loki with incredulous eyes while the Dragon Riders had to send a volley of fireballs at Ymir to keep her from advancing on the injured Loki.
"Don't get used to it!" Loki shouted. "A little less gawking and a bit more fighting! Ymir has nothing to recharge her powers with. She's vulnerable!"
"But my hammer!" Thor exclaimed.
"You were made by Creation magic itself son. It was never the hammer. It just channeled your powers!" Odin spoke up as he threw Gungnir at Thor. The Thunderer caught the spear with ease. "Creation magic must defeat Creation magic. Nothing else can."
"Thor....." Sigyn had regained some consciousness and called for the Prince's attention. "Her legs....." She couldn't finish the sentence as she slipped back into unconsciousness due to her injuries. Freya was near, the beautiful woman decked out in battle armor checked on Sigyn and started tending to her wounds. The fighting had all but stopped as Thor faced Ymir.
Thor and Ymir both had spears now as they squared off. Soldiers on both sides wisely backed off as this would be the battle that decided it all.
Ymir smirked as she sent a wave of frost towards Thor. Ice sprouted up and encased him up to his lower torso. She then dashed forward hoping to impale the Aesier with her spear. Thor, however, was quick and managed to deflect the blow before shattering the ice with his thunder.
"That's fighting dirty!" Thor growled.
"This is a battle you oaf! If you got it, flaunt it!" Ymir shouted before sending several energy balls at Thor.
"You sound like my brother," Thor mumbled as he dodged.
Ymir lifted a brow and said "Smart brother....." just before she charged. Spear clashed against spear and Loki had to roll his eyes and shout "Use the spear like your hammer Thor!" when it became apparent that Thor didn't know the full extent of Gungnir. Odin of course only let them touch the spear on special occasions and Thor sometimes tuned out several lectures when they were younger.
Thor sent the thunder through Gungnir and an insanely powerful beam of light shot out causing Ymir to dodge. She barely managed to avoid the attack as it seared part of her cloak. The beam of light kept going, breaking through enemy lines and hitting the ice palace. When it stopped a very large hole could be seen going through the palace all the way to the other side.
"MY PALACE!" Both Hela and Ymir shouted. Loki's daughter shot a glare at the woman that had sent her fleeing from her throne.
"Oooookay, that is way overpowered!" Snotlout muttered as the Dragon Riders watched from the sky along with the Valkyries.
"Are you kidding?!" Tuffnut asked. "That was SO COOL!" The twins then declared in unison.
"There has to be a catch, right?" Hiccup asked aloud. "Because if that isn't the case then why hadn't Odin used this destructive power at the beginning of the battle."
Thor readied himself for another strike just as Hiccup said that and then frowned when Gungnir wouldn't respond. "Loki?!!!! I think it's broken!" Thor shouted as he now had to parry attacks from Ymir as she drove him back.
"It needs to recharge you dolt! Didn't you read the user's manual father gave us?!" Loki shouted before coughing up some blood as Eir tended to him again.
"I had a date with Sif that night!" Thor reasoned as he got blown back into the crowd while Loki groaned.
"Of course you did," Loki muttered and rolled his eyes.
Ymir took great pleasure in driving her ice spear through Thor's lower abdomen. Thor shouted in pain and drew the icicle out while trying to stem the flow of blood. He stood up on shaky legs and glared at the white-haired woman.
"When will you realize you are no match for me?" Ymir asked haughtily.
Thor let out an angry snarl as he charged at Ymir. Both of their powers clashed sending shockwaves through the crowd. Cracks started forming in the ice around them as it looked like a stalemate again. It was then that Thor noticed what Sigyn wanted to tell him. He moved quickly, not giving Ymir a chance to react as he broke off the power clash and did a leg sweep.
Ymir yelped as she fell to the ground. She landed in the snow with a 'thud' but quickly got up again and formed another spear. Thor used Gungnir to parry and then he got closer. With all his might Thor used his thunder and directed it at Ymir's right leg. The woman shouted in pain as the thunder broke bone. She retreated backwards and now stood with a limp.
"Wait what happened?" Snotlout was confused as he watched the faceoff.
"Thor targeted her legs because Ymir's defenses are low there." Astrid explained as they watched. "With her magic she must have been focussing most of her defense around her hands and upper body."
"Do you think one lucky hit can save you?!" Ymir growled. "My power is greater than you perceive!"
"Now that I know your weakness you will be easy to beat!" Thor proclaimed.
"Think again!" Ymir shouted and outstretched her hand. A blue glow of magic encompassed her hand as she chanted in a song-like language. The blue glow intensified and then shot out towards the corpses of those slain, whether they be friend or foe.
People shouted in astonishment as the corpses stood up and bared their weapons at Thor.
"She..... she can control the dead?" Hela, who had made her way towards her father asked astonished by the display.
"No, it's a puppet spell," Loki managed to say as his daughter pressed a cloth on his wounds. "Though I've never seen a spell that could move this many corpses,"
"Tell me Thunderer..... How will you beat me when you have to face all of them!" Ymir proclaimed.
"Soldiers arms at the ready!" Odin shouted. "This woman dares to touch our fallen brethren!"
"This isn't looking good," Fishlegs worried. "Asgard's and all the other armies are now at a disadvantage,"
"What do you mean?" Ruffnut asked. "Sure they have the bigger numbers now but these guys faced worse odds than that."
"I don't think that's what Fish meant." Hiccup said. "The corpses are the problem. How do you defeat soldiers that are already dead and can reanimate?"
"And the armies will get exhausted by continuously fighting reanimated corpses," Heather muttered. "Underhanded but effective,"
"Isn't there anything we can do?" Hiccup asked aloud.
"There may be one thing," Astrid stated as she looked at the Dragon ring on her finger.
True to Heather's prediction, the Aesier, Vanir and Jothun armies were now being pushed back. Their soldiers slaughtered by the reanimated corpses. Cutting off a limb or a head did not deter these things as they advanced. Each soldier killed joined the enemy ranks.
Hela and Fenrir were at Loki's side since he could not move much due to injuries. Jerry was fighting along Odin yet none of them could find an opening to get to Ymir. Their armies were being cut off and integrated into the enemy ranks.
Ymir stood at the back with Sutr and she gleefully controlled the corpses. "Run little ants, there is nowhere you are safe."
"Agh...." Thor was driven to his knee as the corpses started to overwhelm him. It was Sif's warcry that shocked Thor. He saw his wife charge into the fray while she shouted "Get your undead hands away from my husband!"
"We are being outnumbered," Býleistr proclaimed as he stabbed a soldier that was about to kill his brother. "We must retreat before they cut us off!"
"We can't......" Thor huffed. "We just can't."
"I hate to say it but my oaf of a brother is right," Loki muttered. "We won't have another chance to get this close to Ymir."
"Our forces are dwindling. I have no other choice but to call for a retreat," Odin announced.
"Hey, don't count your chickens yet!" Was shouted causing Odin, Thor and several others to look up. The twins were flying overhead while smirking. "Guess what! We got help!"
"You what?!" Loki asked as his eyes widened. There in the distance, from the general area of the Bifrost, a large number of dots could be seen approaching. "What are those?!"
"Take it easy father!" Hela admonished. "I just got your wounds rebandaged!"
The dots came closer very fast and Ymir noticed the new additions. "What the hell?!!!" She shouted as the first volley of fireballs hit her corpse army. Soon a huge amount of dragons littered the sky as they bombarded the corpses continuously with fires so hot that they turned to ash.
"If you can't beat them! Burn them!" The twins proclaimed before high-fiving each other. Skuld's last verse popped into several heads as they saw the Midgardians and Dragons in the sky:
The Midgardians and Dragons that have joined this cause
Shall help to face 'The Twilight of the Gods'
The Riders were leading the dragons into battle. Astrid's ring glowed brightly and she still couldn't believe it. When she said there might be a way she had just been contacted by the dragons through the ring. The fate of the Universe hung on this battle and the dragons wanted to do their part. They had immediately flown to the Bifrost to try and open a gateway for the dragons.
"I thought the dragons would never join the wars of men," Tyr gasped as he looked up. He knew of the old stories. Dragons were happy to have friendly relations with all races but they mostly stayed out of their conflicts. It could be said that they were the Universe's neutral party. Sometimes they were even called on if rulers needed unbiased opinions. Them joining now meant only one thing. 'Ymir must die.'
"My army!" Ymir shouted as she looked to the sky. "How dare these filthy reptiles appear before me!" It was then that she spotted the twinkling light in the sky amongst the dragons. The light came from the Dragon ring upon Astrid's finger as its magic worked to communicate with all the dragons.
Astrid was deep in concentration, giving out orders to several dragon groups through the ring and didn't see the shards of ice being directed at her from below. But Stormfly did and moved evasively. The sudden jerk of movement startled Astrid and caused her to lose her balance, making her fall off Stormfly. The Nadder squawked in shock and dove after her rider but Ymir would not let Astrid be a nuisance. She kept shooting shards at Stormfly making the dragon dodge and unable to get to Astrid in time as the ground came closer.
The shriek of a Nightfury however could be heard through the air as Toothless and Hiccup dove near vertically to catch Astrid.
"You got her bud?" Hiccup asked as Toothless looked down at Astrid who now hung upside down from his paws. The Nightfury gave Astrid a gummy smile while giving Hiccup an affirmation.
"YMIR! Your battle is with me!" Thor proclaimed as he managed to fight his way closer.
Ymir looked at Thor and scowled. This prince was starting to become an annoyance to her. "I will end you today!" Thor shouted.
Ymir scoffed but then her eyes widened at the amount of power Thor was gathering. This wasn't just any regular attack he was preparing for.
"No!" Ymir shouted. "You will not seal me again!" She proclaimed and shot several icicles at Thor who was standing before her. The icicles pierced his body but he did not budge.
The thunder power kept gathering and Ymir faltered as she recognized the spell forming. The spell Thor had conjured was starting to interfere with her magical energy. The intent was clear and she had only one more argument left to make. "Are you ready to lose your powers?" She hissed at Thor. "Doing this...... you will never control thunder again!"
"Then so be it!" Thor proclaimed boldly as beads of sweat formed on his brows because of the spell he was about to unleash. "Losing my powers is a small price to pay for getting rid of you!"
"NOOO!" Ymir hissed as the spell started to suck her in. Her white cloak was already being drawn in and she quickly unclasped it. The portal Thor had created acted like a vacuum and soon she began to lose her footing.
"Darling!" Sutr shouted as he gripped Ymir's arm tightly. The one-armed King stood with his feet firmly planted on the ground. Ymir's small frame was already off the ground and would have been sucked in if not for her lover. The area around Thor was also being affected as well. Soldiers had to find things to hold onto as the vacuum that Thor created started to spread.
"I don't know if this is good or bad," Jerry muttered as he held onto a boulder. Several other soldiers had gotten the same idea as well. The leftover animated corpses however weren't that bright and were now also being sucked into the vortex.
"This spell won't end until Ymir is swallowed up." Odin stated. "If this continues the entire Realm will be consumed!"
Just as Odin said that a large fireball was shot at Sutr's feet. Followed by another and another until the Fire Giant King lost his footing. Yet he did not relinquish his hold on Ymir and both were swept into the vortex.
Heads turned to see who had fired the shots. They saw Stormfly standing there with her talons clenched into the earth, her spiky tail bristling and smoke coming from her beak. The Nadder's eyes were focussed as she stared at where Sutr and Ymir once stood. "That should teach them to mess with MY rider!" The dragon proclaimed as she stood tall. "That B-"
"Stormfly language!" Astrid admonished yet patted the Nadder. Stormfly felt very pleased with what she had done and cheering soon broke out from the crowd.
"THOR!" Sif's cry however startled everyone as heads turned to where Thor was now laying face down in the snow, having fainted from the magical exhaustion.
AN: The Epilogue will be up tonight as well