Frozen: The Blackest of Tidings

Chapter 3: In Ancient Winters

HIS SHOES creaked against the wood, the crackling of the fireplace meeting his ears as he pondered on his plans for the day. Despite missing the wealth and plentiful pastimes he experienced in Asgard, Earth was slowly growing on him. That was if he could actually get out of his domain to go and explore the realm.

A smirk curved his lips, eyes glinting with determination as victory filled his lungs. His fist gripped tightly, success filling his thoughts as he traversed the expansive hall. All his endeavours and hard work would finally culminate in his ultimate goal. Or so he felt.

He could not forget the missteps and failures that plagued his road up to this point. With the merging of the worlds and the impending doom looming on the horizon, he had made some plunders he would regret. Working for Thanos came to mind, the Mad Titan living up to the name as he treated him cruelly and used his wiles to his own gain. God Himself bore witness to his undermining at the hands of the Eternal. Even after leaving the lunatic, the lunacy followed him onward like a wild, hungry dog, his memories rapidly returning.

Four months ago, fires rose to the skies above, the raging heat beating against his face though his skin denied the fury entry. The clanking of his shoes and heavy sceptre resounded in his ears, resolute focus embracing him as he snuffed out the world around him. He cast his gaze around, the dreary realm seeming to amuse him.

Beasts roamed the field, their reptilian growls and scaly skin reverberating the rage and suspicion exuding from their pliant and beady eyes. They varied in size, the smallest equating to lizards and the largest comparing to tall trees with humanoid builds. Like the world around them, they burned, superficial crackling giving off their invulnerability to the heat.

With barks and ferocious snarls, the creatures moved away from him, the smirk on his face raising his pleasure at his newfound strength. Ignoring the futile pests, he trod onward, eyes set on the epicentre of the burning wasteland whose flames blackened the skies with ash and billowing smoke.

A circular crater swallowed large boulders, the abyss burrowing far into the ground into a shrouding darkness. His feet crunched against the ground, his sceptre echoing as he struck it against the ashen earth, its resonance resounding against the walls of the chasm. Fire shot out of the depths, spraying out into the skies, engulfing the edges of the pit and spilling over to the surface of its rim.

The pillar of flame hit the skies, spreading out and illuminating them with an orange glow. Like the snap of a finger, they subsided, a thunderous roar emanating from the ditch echoing through the valley. A gale rose from the pit, winds pushing the fabric of his cloak violently as a figure shot out of the depths. A crash banged from behind him, his turn bringing a large creature to view.

His growls vibrated the scales of his body, two horns casting shadows over his chiselled back and spreading out behind him. Four smaller growths protruded from his skull, cascading back along his head and stretching out to that of the larger obtrusions on it. A large tail slithered down from his back, its girth sweeping the ground as it wrapped around his enormous legs.

Turning his titanic, enormous humanoid build, the beast shifted, the fissures of his reptilian face stitching a frown that pulsated in his veins. With soulless, cold grey eyes, he fixed his gaze on the outsider, the glowing blue orbs igniting the anger in him like the flames that raged out of the pores of his skin.

"Loki Laufeyson." His voice vibrated, an ominous resonance echoing through the air. "To what do I owe this unpleasant intrusion from the Asgardian reject?"

"Come now, is that any way to speak to an old partner? We are enemies of those pompous fools anyway, so why should we fight each other ..." A smirk grew on his face, the unearthly calm in his voice reflecting in his eyes as he looked straight into the eyes of the beast. "Surtur, the Fire Demon?"