Golden Horns and Red Thorns

Anything But Nothing

     We arrived upon Nidavellir. It seemed so empty and... eerie. Cold. I had a feeling that it wasn't supposed to be like this here.

     Growing up on Asgard, you have the trouble of deciphering what is a true story and what is a fable. Nidavellir was not a common constant in these tales, but it did make an appearance every once in awhile when the story was about war. The tale of Mjolnir and how it came to be and Bor's staff Gungnir, are just a few weapons to name in stories that have been created on Nidavellir. Being the Royal Guard to Odin, I've heard quite a lot about Eitri the Dwarf. A gruff creature of a few words, and the words he did speak only had to touch on the subject of weaponry and war.

     I was always interested in meeting him, but I knew I most likely never would. The dwarfs are known to be kind, but their short tempers are something to watch out for. One wrong word, one wrong move, it would be just about end-game, so Odin did his best to interact only if absolutely necessary and swore Asgard would protect them from harm. Who knew such an anger could be held in creatures of such a small size. But from what I've heard, Eitri is far  from small.

     Maybe it was the fact that we were approaching a dying star that made the atmosphere so dark and cold. That's what I was hoping for at least. But, as we stepped out of the small pod, it was easy to see at first glance that there had been an attack. 'He beat us here...' I thought.

     We walked through the rubble, weapons broken and scattered along the ground. A staff similar to the one I had caught my eye on the left of our small group. I swiftly walked over to it, picking up the cool metal in my hand and twirling it around. It was weighted perfectly, whooshing whenever I spun it. I lost my staff when the Statesman exploded, becoming weaponless like Thor. 'Might as well, while we're here.'

      I ran to catch up with them, looking around us. I had a bad feeling about being here.

     "You said Thanos had a gauntlet... Right?" Rocket asked Thor.

     "Yes, why?"

     I heard a movement behind us, causing me to swing around in its direction. I pointed the staff, noticing a small lever on the middle point of it. I pressed it, and a blade sheathed out of the end away from me.

     "Thor..." I whispered, trying to keep quiet about the discovery of something else being here.

     "Did it look anything like that?" Rocket pressed, pointing to a mold of a hand that would fit Thanos' weapon. We all turned to look, causing me to let my guard down. I walked up next to Thor, the staff's blade barely grazing the ground. My breath hitched in my throat, and I could feel Thor's uneasiness radiating off of him. It quickly turned to panic.

     "I am Groot.."

     "Go back to the pod." he demanded. As we turned around, a giant dwarf swung at Thor, flinging him across the area into a pile of weapons.

     "Thor!" I yelled. I ran up to the dwarf, lunging the staff at him, only to be thrown backwards into a stone wall. The dwarf stormed up to Thor as Rocket and Groot took cover.

     "Eitri wait!" Thor exclaimed, standing up and showing his hands to signal he wasn't to cause harm. "Stop!" The dwarf yelled once more, taking another step. "Stop." he whispered.

     "Thor?" Eitri boomed in disbelief, staring down at the Asgardian.

     "What happened here?"

    "You were supposed to protect us." Eitri stated. I stood up still on guard and quietly made my way to the pair. Rocket and Groot came out of the shadows, walking towards me. I put my hand up, silently telling them to not make another move. "Asgard is supposed to protect us!" he yelled louder this time.