Unworthy

Hel's Dominion

Thor struck his anvil hard as lightning cracked over the field. The grass waved violently as the wind roared and thunder growled. Rain hammered the ground, in thick sheets it caused the dirt to turn to sticky mud and pools of muck. Which were stomped through as Magni Skrognison strode through the field. His iron armour protected him from the constant downpour, as his long brown hair became slick with water. On his back he carried a simple longsword, while in his meaty paws he wielded a stalwart greataxe. Magni felt the wind whip around his bushy beard as he peered through the visor of his menacing horned helm. Black paint, done in the pattern of raven wings, adorned either side of his stern, blue, eyes. Suffering a constant onslaught of wind and rain, Magni began up a slippery slope. Once he crested it he felt the full force of the ocean's roar batter his body.

Before him stretched a cursed shoreline, dozens of ghostly shipwrecks lined the beach with waves washing over them in claws of white foam. An endless expanse of wrathful sea waved and crashed into the neverending horizon, where it met a just as turbulent grey sky. Lightning cracked again. The flash of light drawing his attention to a rocky cliff overlooking the ocean. Atop which stood a tall stone tower, it's top full of large windows so the light can warn passing ships of the jagged rocks. Except no light was shining. The ships had smashed themselves on the jaws of Jormungandr with no warning from the looming lighthouse. It brooded on the cliff, like a vulture over a dying animal. With an insatiable hunger, it had eaten many heroes trying to prove themselves worthy. If it remains dark then many more merchants and veterans will likely find their way to the underworld upon these rocks. Someone had to burn away the darkness and relight the fire.

Sea salt and rotten corpses make for a god awful smell. Crows, harbingers of Hel, feasted on the soggy flesh of the fallen. Lumps of meat now as they lay strewn about a forest of broken timbers, shattered hulls and cracked holds. But this did not deter Magni, who powered up the beach, axe in his hands. The spray of waves washed over him as the relentless rain poured from the heavens. Beneath his boots the sand was soft and soaked. He felt it stick to the soles of his boots with every step. Under his plate metal gauntlets his skin stung from the invisible, freezing icepicks of the wind, as did his cheeks. But still he strode through carnage will an indomitable will.

Every now and then a powerful gust of wind made the shipwrecks creak. Magni had become so accustomed to it that he tuned it out with the yell of the sea and the wrath of Thor. Just as he reached halfway up the beach, his ears pricked up at a loud creak that was out of beat. He stopped in his tracks. Like a stoic mountain he stood with the rain clanging against his armour.

Ever so slightly, he turned his head towards the sounds. It crept up to him from a shipwreck to his right. The front half of a longship stood there with the wailing figurehead of a maiden covered in rot and barnacles. From inside the hold, Magni could hear dull banging. He stepped to face the mystery. Sand crunched beneath his boot. A wave crashed over the figurehead, splashing Magni in it's wake. Inside the boat, the noise grew louder. It was some kind of scraping sound, like nails on wood. Something wanted to get out of the hold.

As he watched another wave wash over the ship, Magni saw the wooden timbers at the front were warping. Shifting his grip on his axe, Magni approached. Placing one cautious foot in front of another he slowly reached the ship. Once he was close enough, he realised that the wooden planks that made the ship were bending. Whatever was in there, it was pushing them from the inside. Stopping inches from the wreck, Magni leaned in as he listened for what was pushing the timbers. All he heard was the wood creaking with the sea shouting in the background. Without warning another wave smashed over him. Simultaneously a plank of wood shattered as a disfigured human arm ploughed through. Yelling, Magni stepped back as the arm tried to seize him. He then felt something shift beneath his foot. Magni yanked his boot away in time as a disgusting living corpse arose out the wet sand.