The Secret Rebellion (Book 3 in The Secret Series)

Chapter 24: Story Time

Chapter 24: Story Time

"It was a valiant battle, my friends! Heads rolled, teeth flew - it was the stuff of legends!" Thor cried, slamming his tankard back on the table with zest. 

This was met by a loud cheer by the accompanying Asgardians, who all sat around the long table in Odin's dining hall while listening avidly to Thor's retelling of our fight. Some devoured meat savagely, while others were too intrigued by Thor to attempt to eat and gasp simultaneously. 

I sat on Thor's right, elbows on the table and propping my head up, trying to keep my eyes open. Tony was already asleep beside me; a handy pair of sunglasses kept his closed eyes hidden, and he was miraculously defying physics by staying upright. In truth, we were both exhausted. I was sporting a marvellous gash across my arm which still burned like acid, while Tony boasted a black eye and a slight limp from the fight with the Dark Elves. 

Thor never seemed to tire though, and ate his way through four chicken legs before speaking again. 

"The Dark Elves won't be coming back now," he claimed boldly, a lopsided grin on his face. 

The Asgardians cheered again. Odin sat solemnly at the opposite, far end of the table, but even he managed to crack a small smile. The war was over. 

"Thor, tell us what happened again!" someone yelled over the noise, and this was met by agreement. Thor smiled mysteriously. 

"Again?"

"Yes!"

"Not again," I groaned quietly, but my voice was lost amongst the others. 

Thor had a glint in his eye as he glanced around at his audience, holding everyone's gaze. It was undeniable; Thor was an excellent story teller.

He settled back in his seat at the head of the table, and began to speak, voice soft at first. 

"It all started when we saw one of the cursed Dark Elf ships flying overhead-" he was interrupted momentarily by the hissing and booing of the diners. He continued. 

"So, being the fearless warriors that we are, we three - Eldrid, Iron Man and I - quickly decided to follow it. We followed for miles and miles-"

That was a slight exaggeration. We'd actually been lucky, and it had stopped flying after about ten minutes. 

"It was tiresome. Yet we persevered. We chanced upon seeing the ship stop suddenly, hovering high in the sky. It was then that, within a few moments, the Dark Elf base was revealed as its invisibility melted away. This new ship was enormous!" Thor threw out his hands to give a poor representation of how big the ship really had been. 

I shuddered in memory. The vast, inky black ship had been terrifying. It'd been the mother-ship, the base of the Dark Elves attack on Asgard. Upon finding it, Thor had been elated, Tony nonplussed, and I worried. 

"So what did you do?" someone asked, playing to Thor's desire to tell this exaggerated tale. 

Thor grinned again, and his voice rose dramatically. "We did the only thing we could have done - we smashed through the side of the great ship, and into the bowels of the base!"

Tony snored quietly, but thankfully no one heard as the Asgardians clapped again for Thor. 

"Inside the ship, it was like a black maze - twists and corners met us at every turn, and there was machinery you'd never have seen the likes of before. By crashing through the wall, however, we seemed to have triggered an alarm-"

"'We'?" I asked, smiling slightly. "If I remember correctly, you were the one who hammered your way through the ship and left that gaping hole."