NIFLHEIM: VICTOR
Skylar and Victor dragged themselves into the blizzardy night. Skylar rolled her sleeve up and the Isa rune glowed. She looked back at Victor: "Hold on tight."
Without hesitation, Victor held onto Skylar's arm and they dissolved into the blizzard.
Skylar felt her limbs lighten and turn into snow, she looked back and she saw Victor cling to her arm and both of them slowly turned into snow. Victor's eyes were windening: "Skylar, what is this?"
Skylar looked him in the eye: "Stay close to me."
And with a sudden 'woomp' and both of them dissolved into the thick blizzard. Victor and Skylar now were snowy apparitions of their physical selves, Victor looked extremely worried, his eyes grey eyes were wide with fear. Skylar extended her arm and said: "It'll wear off once we get to the castle of King Hrym." Both the teens were snowy silhouettes and the harsh winds blew them across many miles to the icy palace of King Hrym.
Both teens were spat out into deep snow in front of the giant ice castle of King Hrym. Victor and Skylar's snowy forms materialised into their regular human forms, and they lay in the snow collecting themselves after their disorientating experience for a second. Skylar sat up, and walked over to Victor. Skylar's eyes were tinged with tears, crystal moisture clung to her eyelashes: "Up, Victor. I cannot afford to lose another loved one today."
Victor got to him feet: "Take heart Skylar, I'm sure your mother is fine."
Skylar: "Let us not dwell in the past now. We must free your friend."
Victor noticed the hard edge on her voice, and just simply nodded. The two of them saw the gleaming spires of the ice castle that stabbed harshly into the grey-blue sky. A solitary pair of jotun guards stood glaring into the thick blizzard. Without hesitation, Skylar notched two arrows and let them fly. The Isa rune on her arm blazed a cold blue color, the snow in the air swirled around the whizzing sharp projectiles, collecting around the tip, forging it into a brittle razor sharp point of ice and flint. The thin points punctured through the giant's skulls before Victor could draw the knife. Skylar returned her bow to the strap on her back without a word. Victor watched as she wordlessly lead them through the icy gates. Victor watched the chill emanate from eyes, the blizzard seemed to thicken as her Isa rune seared on her arm.
The courtyard was a frosted expanse of snow and dead vegetation. A rogue horde of giants with a wide array of weapons, they collectively roared and charged them, without batting an eye, Skylar threw two hunting knives with deadly accuracy at the eyes of the first giant. The instant the knife made contact with the giant's eyes and punctured them, they began spreading a deadly white frost over its body. Within seconds the frost had encased the giant, Skylar flicked her wrist again and several knives flew out of her robe and with the precision of an artist, the knives arced through the air in wavy spirals slashing at the flesh of the giants with an artist's strokes. By the time the knives finished their whirlwind strikes, the blue blood of the giants was splattered across the floor artistically. By the time the knives returned to Skylar's hunter sash under her robe, mesmerising patterns of arcs and spirals of jotun blood decorated the ice covered brick floor, artistically swathed. The steel doors loomed ominously over them. Skylar looked at it with fury, the blizzard seemed to attune itself with her thoughts and pelted the door with frost and ice. However, no matter how hard the blizzard barraged the door, the cast iron looked back out into the blizzard with indifference, finally Victor worked up the nerve to approach Skylar: "Why don't you let me try, I think some craftiness would do us good."
Victor walked up to the door, inserted the fine tip of the blade into the keyhole, it slotted in snugly, with his tricksy fingers, he vibrated the knife in the keyhole, and within seconds there was an audible click in door. Victor pushed the iron doors ajar: "Let's go. Maximilian needs our help."
The halls were eerily silent, the wintry draft whispered like a ghost through the stone tunnels, there were ghostly blue flickers as the blue flame torches illuminate the ice and rock halls with their dim effervescent glow. Victor and Skylar were tightly packed together, their hearts racing: "Skylar... it's too quiet." Skylar nodded: "I think it's a trap."
Victor felt a stronger, colder draft of wind come from another darker hallway. Victor looked over yonder: "I think Maximilian and Hrym are that way." Skylar nodded in agreement and they crept down the halls.
The duo felt the wintry breeze intensify as they crept down the hall. Eventually, they reached the opening of a room. Like the Hall of Odin except carved out of stone and ice, as both of them presumed to the room to be the throne room. The hall had a raised strip catwalk in the center above a sea of bones, ice, and steel. The catwalk was flanked by large Corinthian columns of ice. The catwalk lead to a large throne, the throne of King Hrym. the throne was a large niche carved into the stone interior. Two stone armrests came out of the wall. They stepped closer to the wall, drawn to the power in the throne. But beside the throne was a macabre piece of art.
Maximilian looked timeless, his roguishly handsome face contorted in shock, his arms extended outwards, his tunic practically gone save for a few tattered strips of cloth. Victor rushed over carelessly, he touched the ice around Maixmilian's face, the icy cold substance surrounded Maximilian's rosy cherubic cheeks: "Maximilian... what did they do to you..."
Suddenly the twin doors at the front of the throne room opened, a familiar blue humanoid emerged: "Victor Lokison, I knew you wouldn't abandon your friend. And you young lady must be the daughter of Skadi. Your mother was a fine warrior, Thrym sends his regards."
Skylar drew two arrows in her bow: "You destroyed my home, hurt my mother, ending your reign of terror will not be a hardship."
Hrym laughed: "I've defeated a son of Odin, you will be no challenge."
Skylar looked at Victor: "Can you free him?"
Victor thought back to the moment in the snow when he heated himself to keep Maximilian warm: "I have an idea."
Skylar nodded and unleashed a torrent of arrows, Hrym bellowed with laughter and unleashed a blizzard of ice shards that intercepted every arrow. The two dueled with blazing speed, arrows and ice flying in every direction, twin icy whirlwinds of steel and snow clashing over the frozen bridge. Victor turned his attention to his frozen friend. He looked at Maximilian's blue eyes, he remembered back to the hours they spent in the blizzard, he felt his hand grow uncomfortably warm. He thought back to when Maximilian kept him warm in the cave, he remembered barely awake and conscious, how Maximilian lit a small fire and covered him in his cape, his hands grew even hotter, briskly melting the ice. Victor felt a few warm tears flow down his face as he remembered how Maximilian was willing to sacrifice himself to keep him safe. Every hair on his arms started to stand up, as on his palms, small ghostly white flames licked at the ice, melting it at an increasing pace. Victor pressed the weakly flaming palms against the ice. Victor found that the ice should be weak enough that if Maixmilian was knocked off the pedestal, the ice should be broken. But before he could suddenly he heard Hrym roar and the sound of something sharp whistle through the air.
Then pain.
Victor felt a piercing agony hit his back, first like fire, then burning cold. Victor looked down, just in his side, just under his ribcage was a foot long shard of ice, stained in his own blood. Victor stared in horror at the icicle protruding out of his stomach. With the last of his strength he applied all his weight onto the block of ice before he collapsed, blood slowly leaking out of the ice covered wound.
