Winter Wonderland(Locus and Valkyrie)

Cold wind slid under large wings, as the goliath that was Locus soared through the air. Each flap sounded almost deafening, and with each dive bomb, a sonic boom followed, as the dragon swooped back to higher air. Locus' ever changing eyes scanned the winter landscape, peering through the heavy snow almost as if it weren't there. Something was off, it wasn't the time of year for this sort of weather. The only thing that had ticked him off to this were the expedition crews retreating quickly, towards a point where the weather just stopped. The sight was that of a large white wall of snow, the blizzard cutting off at one point, and moving slowly south. The drake finally decided it was time to travel further into the blizzard, humming with glee as the temperature dropped more, the further he flew in. His wings flapped harder, stronger, faster, propelling him through the air like a fighter jet, the cold climate enhancing every aspect of him, it was pure heaven.

Pure heaven until the scent of something terrible filled his nostrils. His body curved, following the wretched scent. It was something he hadn't smelled in quite some time, the Jotun. A race that he had gladly gone decades without seeing, but oddly enough they had made their way back to Midgard. Mayhaps they were attempting to kick start Ragnarok, for about the fifth time this century, always being foiled by either him, or one of the other protectors of the realm. Locus stopped flapping, beginning to use the blizzards harsh winds as his propellant, to silently guide above the fields, out of sight. His eyes went back to pacing the field, before they latched onto an armada of Jotun marching south. They seemed to be unopposed, which was very odd, no asgardians, midgardians or any other protector in sight. He must have been the first responder, which was a rare occurrence.

Locus watched them closely from above. They were better armored, better funded than they one had been. Their weapons were top notch, armor seemed very well made as well. The way they held themselves, with such pride, decorated with trinkets from the other realms. It seemed they were ransacking and stealing what they could, leaving marks of terror on each world. At least until Midgard.

The skies above the army of Giants raged on with a blizzard as it typically would, but a strange occurance began when the blizzard clouds began to darken and rumble with thunder way too sudden for it to be a natural weather phenomena.  The crackle of lightning could be seen in the clouds before a sudden bright flash of light, brighter than the lightning, coated the skies.  Within the bright flash of light, a large circle of multi-colored lights was torn into the sky.  Second later something that could only be described as a “rainbow bridge” extended out from the wormhole-looking circle, stopping a few stories above the surface.

From the Bifrost, the Valkyrie Freyja stepped out of the vortex of bright lights.  The Valkyrie was donning well forged Asgardian armor; specially built for the cold, had a blade sheathed at her hip, and was wielding a spear in her hands.  She would stretch out her grand angelic wings and take flight into the blizzard above the Frost Giants below, the Bifrost quickly disappearing as soon as she had left it.  The display of her entrance was grand enough to purposely get the attention of the Jotunar, to let them know Asgard knew all about how they managed to get into Midgard.  They surely won’t be allowed to stay within the realm, that much is clear.

Freyja circled the army a few times in the skies before finally swooping down and landing roughly in the snow in front of the Jotnar’s march, the snow being thrown up from the impact.  The Valkyrie’s bright blue eyes stared intently on the gathering before her, the freezing air blowing her bright blonde hair in the breeze.  “Jotnar!”  She finally spoke in a loud and commanding voice, pointing her spear at them threateningly.  “You know the laws that Asgard had placed upon your filthy kind!”  She continued, her voice carrying a thick norse accent, “Jotnar are to never travel to the lands under the protection of Asgard!  That includes Midgard, does it not!?”  The Warrior Angel taunted them, they knew full well they weren’t allowed into Midgard, they’d been fought out of this realm for centuries.  “So!  Turn yourselves around and return to Jotunheim!  Or face the wrath of the Valkyrjur!”  Freyja finished, a smirk rising on her lips as she anticipated the battle that would most likely commence.

A small voice pierced the air, as giants all grunted in confusion. Locus' eyes locked on the being who spoke out. A Valkyrie.. an eyebrow raised, to see what the woman would do. Pupiless eyes drifted back towards the giants, their faces twisting in disgust as their leader called out from the back, throwing slurs at the one who stopped them from advancing. This one was at least a good ten feet taller than the rest, and as he approached her, seemed to tower like a skyscraper. His armor was adorned with a necklace of elven ears, and the hands of what seemed to be dwarves. The dragon grunted in disgust, what vile creatures giants were.

He remained silent, above the army of giants and the lone valkyrie. He usually didn't seem them traveling alone, let alone away from anyplace of death. As the leader found his way to the front, he plopped the blade of an axe into the snow, which by itself was larger than the woman, and twice as thick. The handle was the same circumference as her body. The icy monstrosity leaned down, belching in her face, and laughing "What a useless cunt, standing before us. Looks like asgard will lose one of their whores." The giant's hand reached for the axe and swung it at the valkyrie. It was the second his hand moved that Locus dropped from the sky with a boom, landing on the giant before the axe got even near her. With an ear shattering roar, the dragon dug his claws into the giant, ripping him in half. He stood tall before the army, and began to bellow towards the woman "Cocky one, aren't you?"

The Valkyrie would react quickly to the Giant’s swinging axe by flapping her great wings hard and dashing backwards with her spear extended outwards defensively.  Her next move was to rush back in while the Giant’s side was left open from his swing and drive her spear into his heart.  But to Freyja’s surprise, a massive dragon swooped down from the heavens and landed roughly on the Jotunn!  The Valkyrie looked in awe at the size of the mighty beast before her, noticing the color of the scales and the number of limbs, she could deduce that it was a Frost Dragon; like those whom dwell in Niflheim.

This sparked some confusion within her as Frost Dragons aren’t usually friendly, and considering it had just ripped her attacker in two while saving her life; this dragon must not be her enemy.  Her interest was piqued more when the creature spoke to her, in the voice of a man, and called her “cocky.”  Freyja smirked and leaned on her spear in the snow before responding, “Aye, I have been called arrogant before.  Though it is not without merit…  I know how to do battle very well!”  She said with a loud, strong voice as if to display her mightiness to the majestic creature.  “Although, if you are as enthusiastic about slaying Jotnar as I am, I would gladly accept you as my Brother in Arms!”

Locus turned head towards the Jotunn, letting out an ear piercing roar that echoed through the blizzard. Their faces twisted with disgust at the site of a frost dragon siding with an Asgardian. His deep voice boomed again down at the woman "Yes, well, I hope what you say is true...and I wouldn't say enthusiastic, but rather honor bound.." The dragon's tail whipped at an approaching Jotunn, ripping a large chunk of flesh off with ease. The other giants looked in horror, their eyes beginning to widen with rage as they watched the serpent mow down their brethren with relative ease. "Sad part is, they put the weak in the front to make the enemy believe that this will be an easy fight...but alas, it's just a clever trick.." His claws ripped another one to pieces before he turned to the valkyrie "Ready yourself, because the one thought to be the leader was just a decoy. The real one is hidden in there somewhere, and I can feel him charging something.."

The ice giants began to move forward, the front line raising their shields, and large jagged spears protruded from them. Locus was amused, simple asgardian metal was no danger to him. It would simply bend or break upon contact with his scales. But it was the longbow manned by two giants that worried him, his eyes stayed glued to it as they readied themselves to attack. "Don't underestimate them, Asgardian..they've gotten this far, it says quite a bit." Their spears broke on his hide, each prod produced a quick flick from his tail as he thinned the herd. It was ten minutes of simple flicks of the tail, before a fireball passed in front of Locus' head. His eyes darted to a group of Jotunn holding glowing staves "Well I'll be damned."

Freyja didn’t need to listen to the Dragon’s advice, she knew the cowardly tactics of the Jotnar.  Whether those be from Jotunheim or Niflheim.  She didn’t have opportunity to underestimate her enemies, she knew all of their tricks.  But then these Jotunar began to surprise her.  As the Dragon wrecked his way through the front-line, Freyja noticed two things that stood out from the norm.  One, the Jotnar were advancing with a Skjaldborg formation; or “Shield Wall” formation.  Freyja had never known Frost Giants to use military tactics such as this, they usually act like unorganized berserkers.  The second thing, and quite more important, was that they were using Asgardian weaponry!  

“These are not ordinary Jotnar?  Something strange is happening here!”  The Valkyrie called out as she spotted the two Giants manning a massive long bow aimed at her new scaled companion.  She’d take the spear she came with in hand, took a few steps forward, and hurled it across the battlefield with great force and speed.  The spear would impale one of the two Giants in the chest and sink him into the snow.

Immediately after throwing her spear, Freyja drew Himmeldansr; her magical sword, and her shield, Dregskala, appeared from a metal bracer on her left wrist.  The Valkyrie charged forward, using her incredible strength to shield bash a few Giants yards away from her and slay a few more with her sword in a flurry of fluid, even graceful movements; like battle was but a dance.  It was clear this Valkyrie’s skill in battle was not a mere boast.

Combat went on until a large ball of fire suddenly shot passed Freyja and at her Dragon ally, though it missed.  Freyja turned her head to the origin of its flight and was caught by a second ball of fire to her chest!  “GYAH!”  The Warrior let out a cry as the impact sent her body flying backwards a few yards, although she landed on her feet.  Her breastplate was smoking and blackened from the flames, but she was otherwise unharmed.  Though she was shocked at what had just happened, Frost Giants, or even normal Giants don’t use fire magic like that.  That magic originates from the Fire Giants of Muspelheim.  “Be on your guard, Dragon!”  She called out in a booming voice, “There are Eldjotnar within their ranks!”