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Chapter 6 - Bland Victories
🕑 Added 2026-01-09 23:03:08 +0000 UTCNornheim
The ravens allowed him to do more than just surveil the enemy. He could, in a certain range, conjure anything as long as he had a line of sight.
The plan, one that Sif was vehemently opposing both as a warrior and a woman, was to conjure females with exaggerated assets. His illusions would act as if they had accidentally walked close to the brigands and run away while screaming.
Seeing as there were no females among the outlaws, he wagered they were rather pent up with stress.
He closed his eyes, only seeing through the raven, and let his seidr course through.
Twenty beauties, with varying looks and rather revealing clothing, appeared within an opening near the caves. The enemy scouts were already caught, so there was no chance of discovery.
The conjured females, singing and playing instruments, walked into the sight of the brigands and stopped. The outlaws erupted in cheer, pumping their weapons up and down. Without hesitation, they gave chase to catch the pretty females.
Screaming, his conjurations ran, oversized parts bouncing.
Loki raised his left arm, and the communicator bracelet glowed with a green light. “Brother, they took the bait,” he said.
“Well done, brother. We are waiting at the ready. Come join us.”
“I will be there shortly.”
He still hadn’t been able to discover how to negate gravity, not that he was working on it too much, but there was an alternative he discovered. A cloud gathered beneath his feet and lifted him up over the trees.
It was in truth a force field disguised as one.
Loki braced and accelerated the cloud. Thor and the company had already taken their places.
Landing next to his brother with a nod, he waited.
The sound of leaves rustling in the wind and the animals was more prevalent than the breathing of a hundred warriors.
The stillness was only disturbed when the screams of the conjured women reached their ears. Thor raised his hammer, signaling the soldiers to be ready.
As the first of the females arrived in the clearing, they began to disappear one by one. Loki dropped the camouflage screen covering the company, and the brigands stopped.
The Einherjar were agile and quickly surrounded the enemy. Spears pushed the brigands closer, and a wall of shields kept them imprisoned in the circle.
“I am Thor, son of Odin. In the name of the Allfather, surrender,” his brother demanded, standing at the front of the soldiers.
The brigands, a mismatch of individuals dressed in coarse furs and leather, only gripped their weapons tighter. One of them, a rugged Nornheimer with a long, unkempt beard and hair, attacked Thor, brandishing a double-sided axe.
His brother blinked and slammed Mjolnir into the brigand’s face. He went flying over the Einherjar, dead before impact.
“Or fight; that sounds more fun to me,” Thor smirked, resting Mjolnir on his palm.
The brigands dropped their weapons one by one and knelt.
—
“That was easy,” he commented, watching his brother rummage through the camp of the brigands.
“And boring,” Thor said, taking a rough iron helmet as a trophy.
“We defeated the enemy without a single casualty,” he added. It would make for a nice tale, taking down three times their number without a loss.
“I am grateful for it, yet I do wish I was allowed to fight,” his brother complained, turning the helmet over.
Loki glanced at the scorched ground, the place where he turned the corpse to ashes. “With how easy that one fell, I doubt they would offer you any challenge.”
“I suppose you are right,” his brother admitted, throwing the helmet away.
“Round them up for marching. They will be imprisoned in the village while we assault the other camp,” he called out to the soldiers.
The brigands were chained together, and surrounded by the Einherjar, they were marched back to the village.
—
The villagers were gleeful to see the brigands in chains, jeering and hurling insults.
“Chief Urd, as they were planning to assault and plunder your village, their fate is yours to decide.”
“My prince, we are grateful,” Urd bowed. The village guards quickly took the brigands to be imprisoned amid the cheers.
“For now, we rest and march again tomorrow,” Thor declared, dismissing the Einherjar.
Their companions were about to leave to rest, but his brother saw Lady Sif’s slumped shoulders. “Sif, don’t tell me you are still sour over our tactics. It worked wonderfully,” he said.
“I think she is angry for a different reason,” Loki suggested, smirking.
This would be fun.
“What would it be?” his brother asked, head tilted.
He conjured the bait again, the one with milky skin and melon-sized assets. “I mean these conjurations, they are rather comely, aren’t they? Lady Sif, for all that she is a great warrior, is rather lacking in certain areas,” he said, winking at Thor.
Thor’s eyes slightly widened before he slapped his palm to his forehead. “You are right, brother. How could I not see that?” He gasped.
Sif looked at them with a gaping mouth, still as a statue. Her eye twitched, and she screamed, charging at both.
Loki disappeared, and Thor ran, cackling.
Fandral and Volstagg were sniggering while Hogun was awkwardly coughing.
—
Chief Urd had thrown together a quick feast, and Thor, once he was reasonably sure Sif would not murder him, was delighted to attend.
She had calmed down after chasing his brother around for a while. Though, she was silent and frowning.
“Don’t think I forgot about you, Loki,” Sif muttered, eyes narrowed at him.
“Sif, learn to take a jest,” his reply was tired. “Have you ever seen me chase someone around with a sword over words said in good fun?” Loki asked.
She parted her lips, raising her hand, but stopped. “No,” she said, almost too low to hear.
“Of course not,” he winked.
Thor quickly got into the mood, and after a couple of mugs of mead, he was singing.
Loudly.
He enjoyed the atmosphere as well, singing a song due to his brother’s insistence.
—
At dawn, they marched again. Thor intended to discuss a plan the next time they set camp since the night before was rather busy.
Some of the men started to grumble in good humor about requesting horses as he just lay on a cloud platform, floating while the rest of the company had to walk. To their luck, it started raining, and Thor ordered a camp to be set up while Loki set up a barrier, blocking the rain and the wind.
“Thor, where do you think these brigands even come from in the first place?” Sif asked as she entered the tent.
“Perhaps we could question the prisoners once we return?” Fandral suggested. They should have done it the previous night, but the festivities took priority.
“They are Nornheimers. They might have been simply desperate enough to turn on their fellows,” Loki added. That was one of the most common reasons for banditry among the worlds under Asgard’s protection.
“You could be right, brother. Still, it is best to hear the truth from them,” Thor said.
Loki conjured the screens, each one showing one of the five camps, along with the map.
“The northern camps haven’t moved yet, but they are gathering, most likely to stage another attack,” he said. The outlaws were sharpening their weapons, producing arrows, and polishing what armor they had.
“How will they inform the other camp?” Hogun queried. The brigands did not possess steeds, and sending a messenger on foot seemed inefficient.
The entrance of the tent flapped, and a raven came in. It was thrice the size of a normal one and carried a bird of prey in its claws.
Loki took the parchment wrapped around the bird’s leg, handing it out to Thor. “They have trained hawks to carry messages.”
“Well done, brother,” Thor said, glancing at the message.
“Here is our plan. We will split into two groups and cross the river from here and here,” he said, pointing at two locations. One was the bridge on the upper side of the river, close to the northwesternmost camp.
The other was on the opposite side, down the southeastern camps.
“Both forces will circle around and take out the outer camps first,” Thor said, and Loki crossed out the camps. “If they surrender, bind them and leave them with a small guard force. We will then move on to the camps in the middle with the same purpose,” he finished.
Loki crossed out the middle camps too, leaving only the closest one to the river.
“And we’ll be in a position to surround the main camp. Their backs will be to the river, instead of ours,” Sif summarized.
“Exactly,” his brother said, slapping his hand on the small table.
“How will we split?” Fandral asked.
He knew they all wanted to go with Thor.
“Sif, Fandral, with me,” Thor said, pointing at the two. “Loki, you will take Volstagg and Hogun.”
The sole lady among them, as well as the self-proclaimed Fandral the Dashing, smiled.
Volstagg and Hogun merely tilted their heads.
“You will cross the river from the bridge here, and I can conjure a platform on our side,” he added.
Loki did feel like this was a bit too much planning against mere brigands when both of them were technically gods, but at least they wouldn’t have to carry the fallen back.
He did not buy into the whole dying in battle to reach the Valhalla belief. Loki did not think the promised warrior's rest could lessen the pain of loss.
“We have our battle plan then. Not that these brigands are a danger in the first place,” Thor said flatly.
—
Thor watched, hidden in the foliage. The enemy had sentries keeping an eye on the bridge.
Itching to try a new move, he spun the hammer with the strap and launched himself upwards. Summoning thunder when the skies were clear would alarm the brigands, and the shockwave was enough to send both bandits flying.
Raising Mjolnir, he gestured for the company to move forward. Fifty Einherjar, along with Sif and Fandral, quickly crossed the bridge, following him to the camp.
The camp, if it could even be called that, had no defensive measures. Only a handful of tents and firepits; there weren’t even guards around.
The enemy was preparing for an assault, but they were not expecting one.
Surrounding the enemy in a quick manner, the company waited for Thor’s signal. He, on the other hand, just walked to the camp.
When he was noticed, the brigands were alarmed. Several rushed at him, but a swing of Mjolnir sent one flying like a ragdoll, and they stopped.
“I am Thor Odinson. You have disrupted the peace of Nornheim. Surrender,” he ordered.
Their response was to laugh at his face.
“I was hoping you would say that.” Thor grinned and threw Mjolnir. The legendary hammer slammed into the chest of one brigand, flying him forward, and picked up two more on the way. They hit the tree fast enough to break bones fatally.
Sif and Fandral bellowed out fierce war cries, charging at the enemy. The Einherjar followed from all directions.
With nowhere left to run, the brigands decided to fight, but by the time they raised weapons, it was too late.
—
Loki raised both hands, palms open, and the emerald shimmer sprang from their side of the river, creating a bridge. He took the first step, and the company followed, safely crossing the raging river.
He had already scouted the area just in case, and they were free to move.
The camp was fifteen minutes away on foot. Loki gave the order, and the company approached while he took to the skies. He raised his right hand, and his fingers glowed a vibrant blue, firing blue beams from each.
Each beam went through a target, the intense heat turning them to ashes, and curved, seeking new enemies.
He killed around ten of them in total, leaving the rest to the company. His fellow Asgardians tended to be cranky if they felt the victory was not earned.
“Thor,” he said, raising the bracelet close to his face, “we cleared the outer camp.”
“So did we. March to the next one, brother; let us finish this little quest,” Thor said.
“See you soon, brother.”
—
Thor swung his hammer, and the bone beneath gave way with an unpleasant crack. Just because it was his duty did not mean the fight itself was enjoyable.
Still, it was better than just sparring.
“Thor, one of them is escaping,” Sif called out, running an enemy through with her sword.
Thor turned around, seeing the fleeing coward, and threw Mjolnir. He must have used more strength than intended because the brigand’s head disappeared in a shower of blood and gore. Wincing, he summoned Mjolnir back.
Thankfully, the hammer had spells to keep it clean.
—
“Brother, just in time,” Thor said as Loki and his company arrived through the trees.
“No need to delay anymore. Let us greet them,” he said, tilting his head towards the camp.
Thor nodded, and Loki followed. The company once again surrounded the camp, causing the brigands to
The enemies were quick to raise their weapons, pulling back, though with the river behind, they had nowhere to go.
“I am Thor Odinson,” he said, and one of the brigands flinched. “You are outnumbered and outpowered. The other camps have already been defeated. Surrender.”
“Why? Why would an Odinson come for us?” The brigand, most likely the leader from the way he dressed, asked, color drained from his face.
“You threaten the peace of Nornheim, a world under Asgard’s protection. There is no other reason needed,” Thor replied, though the usual passion for justice was absent in his voice.
The leader dropped his sword. His men’s gaze flickered at the fallen blade, and they followed along, kneeling.
“What will happen to us?” the leader asked with a blank stare.
Thor gazed across the river. “That is for the village you intended to assault to decide,” he explained.
“However, if you are helpful to us, I am sure my brother can put in a good word with the villagers to lessen your punishment,” Loki chimed in, patting Thor on the shoulder.
His brother glanced at him and nodded.
“What do you want?”
“How did over three hundred of you gather? And from where do you hail?” Thor questioned the leader.
“We were prisoners in Skeld’s Crossing, a town to the east. The warden of the town, Eirik, told us to attack Weftspire, and he would set us free. We don’t know why,” said the Nornheimer, shaking his head.
“I doubt this Eirik would use criminals to destroy the village just because. We should speak to Urd,” Loki advised.
He was already writing down this little excursion of theirs to add a new quest to the story mode of Realms of Valor.
“Round them up; we leave at once,” his brother ordered. This had just gotten more complicated.
Comments
Marius Petrauskas
Nice
DJC (MagicLover2128)
I think you left out a part of the sentence in one of the paragraphs during Loki and Thor’s raid against their enemies.
