Book 2: Phantasm [Thor]

Chapter 23

They couldn't bring Loki with them. Making their way back to the ship they had brought, it had been destroyed. An unforeseen blast from Malekith's ship obliterated their only mode of transportation to and from this world. And even walking or flying Thor was sure he wouldn't be able to retrace their steps back to the portal Loki took them through. They were completely stranded and as much as the prince wished to bring his brother they needed to make haste. Taking Thor's cloak no longer covered in blood they laid it over the dead prince out of respect before leaving. The ground too hard to dig a grave and they were running out of time.

"When we get back to Asgard you can send back a search party to recover him," Anya reassured. Looking down at the young woman he nodded with a grave expression, holding her hand tightly in his. "Thor, we need to get back to Earth."

Through his grief the Asgardian noticed the slight fear in her voice and her widened eyes causing his brows to narrow. "What's wrong? Are you ill?"

Her head shook. "I know what Malekith is planning."

Making their way through the harsh terrain the wind picked up, the clouds growing darker overhead. A storm was brewing and they needed to find cover as the black dirt and sand kicked up blinding them. Thor raised his red cape to shield the young woman from the gusts, his other arm holding the agent tightly to his side so they weren't separated. Through the storm the god finally found a cave up ahead.

"Just a little further!" he shouted over the noise.

When they were finally inside Anya attempted to straighten out the bottom of her dress that twisted in their walk across the open terrain. That's when the young woman realized she still had blood on her hands. Loki's blood. But there was no water for her to wash it off for the time being as she straightened herself up to look at Thor and explain what she meant earlier.

"Malekith is going to unleash the Aether," Anya said. "Not just on Asgard but the entire universe to return it to its natural state of darkness. He wants to finish what he started, what your grandfather fought to prevent."

"Anya, how do you know this?" Thor asked.

The young woman began walking further back into the cave in thought with the prince following close behind. With the intensifying wind, finding refuge further in would protect them.

"I saw it in my mind. When he extracted the Aether there was a connection between the two of us. I'm not sure if he realized it, but I saw all of his plans. He's going to go to Earth first. But why would that be his first planet to go to?"

There had to be larger ones out there and ones of greater importance in his efforts to destroy the Nine Realms.

"The Convergence," Thor stated. Now the pieces were falling into place. "Did the Aether's power grow from Midgard?" She nodded. "That is where it will be the strongest for this Convergence. Where the portals will have the most strength and create bridges between all worlds."

Malekith would have complete access there allowing the Aether to affect the entire galaxy.

Anya sighed heavily, rubbing her forehead with the back of a hand in frustration. "I just had to be too nosy for my own good and stumble upon the Aether. It would be better if it just remained lost."

"You were doing your job," Thor stated. "Finding it was by chance. It was only a matter of time before it surfaced. And better all of us knew where it was before Malekith gained control of it first."

"But he has it now. You tried to destroy it and it only pulled itself back together. The Aether is like the Tesseract... but it doesn't have a physical form, its organic matter, and that makes it more dangerous and unpredictable."