Prodigals (IC)

[N/A]

Odin pulled himself up by the armwrests of his chair to stand above Thrude.  He bent his head down to stare at her with his one eye.  His face was as stone, unreadable, unmoving.  After what felt like an eternity of silence, he spoke.  "Thy father spoke to me these same words in an age long past.  His intent was noble, as thine is.  He, too, sought to protect the people of Midgard, as we had before The Pact with the other powers bound our hands.  And his power was stolen from him, and corrupted so thoroughly that the mortals to this day curse his name.  By placing thy power in mortal hands, thou doth risk not only thy eternal life, but thy name and thy very soul."

[N/A]

Thrude looked up into her grandfather's eye.  "Aye, my king, I know the risks.  But I would not be worthy of your name if I cowered from them.  We owe a debt of blood to the peoples of Midgard.  And if I am to protect them from all who may threaten them, then I must be able to move freely among all the Nine Worlds.  This is the only way."

 

Odin lifted his great spear Grugnir from behind his seat and grasped the haft with both hands.  "VERY WELL!"  He raised the spear into the air, and dark clouds blotted out the sun.  Thunder echoed across the sky.  Tendrils of electricity burst from his eye and from the blade of Grugnir, dancing up and down the haft.  Hridgandr floated into the air, followed shortly by Thrude herself.  She stood in mid-air for several moments, her hair floating in all directions, before a burst of rainbow-colored energy erupted from her solar plexus, surging like a tidal wave into Hridgandr.

 

A vortex opened up beside them, a tear in the very fabric of space spiraling outward.  Beyond the tear, the Rainbow Bridge, shining brighter than any star, sloped downward, vanishing in the distance behind clouds.  Odin bellowed.  "IF THOU WOULDST BESTOW THY POWER UPON A MORTAL, THEN CAST THY WEAPON INTO THEIR WORLD, SO THAT IT MAY FIND A WORTHY SOUL!"  Thrude reached out with both hands, pushing against the howling wind blowing outward from the portal.  She gripped Hridgandr tightly, then hurled it in.  Wreathed in frost and lightning, it fell downward, parallel to the bridge without ever quite touching it.  In a matter of seconds, it fell below the clouds and disappeared from view.  As soon as it pierced the Midgard sky, the vortex closed behind it, and Thrude's feet floated down to touch the ground.