Golden Horns and Red Thorns

You Have My Word

     There will come a time in your life when you feel something so strongly, you feel it inside of your bones. The marrow becoming filled with something new.

     Fear. You could taste it in the air. You could smell it radiating off of people. You could touch it.

     I was talking to an elderly woman and her daughter when the alarms sounded. My head whipped up, my blood running cold. He was here.

     A voice sounded over the intercom.

     "Everyone report to the nearest escape pod to your sector. Everyone report to the nearest escape pod to your sector. Drop everything. We are under attack. I repeat, we are under attack. This is not a drill." The voice I recognized was never known to sound panicked. But this time, he was. Heimdall. As if on queue, the vessel was hit. An explosion went off on the other side of the ship, shaking the entire thing. 

     'I had to get these people out of here.'

     I helped the elder stand up and the daughter was in shock, her eyes flitting to everything that moved. I grabbed her face so she could look me in the eyes and listen to every word I said when I spoke to her.

     "Drop your things. You need to go. Go now. Grab any one you see that isn't moving." I turned away from them, taking in my surroundings. Everyone was yelling, shouting their children's names, running towards the escape pods. I was trying to find anyone who wasn't making a move or needed help. Some Asgardians tried to take their belongings with them, but realizing halfway through running that it didn't matter now, and dropped what they had. I was shaking. I knew what was happening, but none of them did.

     'We have to make a distress call , or none of this is going to matter' I thought. I had to get to the control room. I pushed my way through everyone, trying to get there as fast as I could. A dark shadow took over the interior of the Statesman. I looked out of the windows of the ship, seeing a much bigger one coming towards us, and fast. The ship shot at us more, causing more damage.

     The screams of my people grew louder. A voice at the back of my head was telling me to look for Thor and Loki. 'Protect the throne, Tera. It is your duty'. But what is the point in protecting the throne if there are no people? No Asgard? Yes, our home planet just blew up, but Asgard is a people, not a place. 'I have to save my people'

     My legs became numb with fear and panic, but I continued to run. I got out of the crowd, and rounded the corner of the corridor that the control room is in. I rammed straight into Heimdall.

     "What's happening, what's going on?" I questioned, out of breath, grabbing onto his wrist as he did mine. Relief washed over me when I saw him. If anyone knew a damn thing about what was going on, it would be him.

     "You already know, Tera." He stated. Of course he knew I knew. He could hear everything.

     "I mean the damages. How bad are they? Where is Thor and Loki? The Valkyrie? Korg?"

     He began to walk with me to the control room. "Damages for now are external," He began, but another hit interrupted him, shaking the ship and causing me to stumble. He lifted me up, and we started to run. "The King is rounding up the soldiers and any ammunition that might be on the vessel. The Valkyrie and Korg are helping the Asgardians on the escape pods."

     We reached the control room. "And Loki?" I pressed.

     "I am not su-"

     "In here." His voice came from the other side of the ajar door. I walked in, seeing Bruce Banner - not as Hulk - in there with him. They were trying to figure out how to send the distress call. Banner was pressing just about every button there was, and Loki stood over his shoulder, trying to decipher what the few labels said. "Heimdall, get Tera Rose on an escape pod." he demanded, not looking at either of us.