Thor cursed, staggering as he slammed into the broken cobblestone streets of the Dark Elf city.
Dust exploded around them in clouds. Soren landed beside him.
Behind them, the self-destructing space they'd barely escaped twisted and howled, collapsing into itself with flashes of sickly Light.
Thor slapped the grime from his arms with a grimace. "By the Norns... if we'd been even a second slower~"
He didn't finish.
Soren glanced over his shoulder. "This place is dead. There's no life left."
Thor followed his gaze, sweeping the empty ruins. Towers leaned broken.
Black stone crumbled under their boots. Not even the sound of the wind stirred the desolation.
"Right." Thor muttered.
"Let's get out of here before something else decides to wake up."
He tossed Soren a look, 'please don't argue' ~and Soren nodded, already preparing to teleport.
Their return was faster.
Two, three sharp teleports later, they were standing at the broken edge of the worn platform where Bifrost had first delivered them.
Thor stomped heavily onto the magic circle. "Heimdall! Get us out of this damned place!"
The air above shimmered, then split with a crack of golden light. A pillar of energy swallowed them whole, and they were gone.
In a flash, they materialized back at Heimdall's observatory, the weight of other worlds dropping from their shoulders.
Heimdall stood waiting, his tall form silhouetted against the vast cosmic view behind him. His eyes immediately caught the strange, pulsing stone tablet that Soren cradled like a living thing.
"You've returned." Heimdall's voice carried a hint of relief, and deep curiosity. "And with... that."
Soren shifted, feeling the residual hum of the tablet under his fingertips.
Thor answered first, wiping sweat and grime from his brow. "More than just a sightseeing tour, Heimdall. We found a vault."
"Ancient and cursed, and ready to kill us six different ways."
He chuckled dryly. "You'd have loved it."
Heimdall gave a faint, smile but didn't reply. Instead, his golden gaze locking onto the stone.
As if drawn by an invisible thread, Heimdall reached out, but stopped short of touching it. His eyes narrowed, the light within them intensifying.
It was as though he could see through the stone, past its layers of magic and into the heart of it.
Seconds dragged on.
Soren felt the hairs rise on his arms.
Finally, Heimdall exhaled sharply. For a moment, his usually implacable expression flickered with some fatigue.
Thor caught him by the elbow. "Heimdall? What did you see?"
Heimdall steadied himself, his gaze still heavy with unseen visions. His voice, when it came, was slower, deliberate.
"This tablet... isn't just a record. It is the last will of the Dark Elves. Their knowledge, their power, even their damnation all sealed within."
Thor frowned. "And the writing? Can you read it?"
Heimdall nodded once, solemn. "Some. Enough to understand the warning." His gaze shifted between Thor and Soren.
"If you wish to claim what lies within." Heimdall said, voice lowering into a near growl.
"What kind of condition?" Thor asked, a deep frown creasing his brow.
Heimdall's gaze sharpened, his voice as steady as a drawn blade. "The blood of the Dark Elf."
"Without it, the tablet cannot be opened. And worse, if an outsider tries to force it..." He glanced at Soren, then back to Thor.
"They'll awaken something. A guardian. A behemoth born from the magic within."
A heavy silence followed his words, pressing against them like the air before a storm.
Thor's face twisted with realization. "So that's why... no signs of dark elves anywhere."
His hand dropped uselessly to his side.
"We've been spinning our wheels the whole bloody time."
All their careful searching, the dangers they'd faced, and… nothing.
"Well, that's just perfect." Thor kicked a loose stone across the floor. It clattered away uselessly.
Soren remained silent, but his eyes never left the tablet.
Heimdall, meanwhile, stepped closer to the relic, his gaze distant. "I looked deeper into it just now."
"There's a vast space hidden inside, a pocket realm."
"And it's filled with dark magic. Older, stronger than anything I've felt in centuries."
"You're certain?"
Heimdall nodded, his golden eyes dimming a little under the strain. "I glimpsed cocoons... dozens of them, perhaps more. Each one pulsing with the energy of the Dark Elves."
At those words, Thor turned cold.
Malekith's words, a curse spat into the void: "The Dark Elves will never die."
"He wasn't lying."
Beside him, Soren looked even more curious. His expression didn't carry the same grim tension. If anything, he seemed... intrigued.
"They survived in there." Thor said tightly, as if tasting bile.
Heimdall nodded once. "Waiting for blood to free them."
Thunder crackled faintly in the air around Thor, the storm rising in him without conscious thought.
"Then we end it now!"
In one swift movement, Mjolnir spun into Thor's hand, the air vibrating with raw power. Lightning danced along his arms as he turned toward Soren, eyes burning.
"Give me the tablet. I'll smash it to pieces."
Soren stepped back, cradling the relic tighter against his chest. "Thor, wait! Don't be an idiot!"
"You heard Heimdall! They're a threat, and this universe can't handle another Malekith!"
"I heard him!"
"And I'm telling you, destroying it won't solve everything!"
The storm intensified, flickering lights casting deep shadows on their faces.
"You're willing to gamble the universe because you're curious about some old relic?!"
Soren didn't falter. "This isn't just a relic!"
"It's knowledge! Secrets we've never even dreamed of! The Dark Elves shaped the Aether itself, who knows what else they left behind?"
"There could be weapons. Cures. Technologies that could save entire realms!"
"And you think you can just!" He made a crushing gesture with his hand, "Smash it all away because you're afraid?!"
"You dare~!"
"Enough." Heimdall finally moved, stepping between them with a raised hand.
The force of his voice silenced even the thunder.
Breathing heavily, Thor lowered Mjolnir an inch, but the storm still crackled hungrily around him.
Heimdall turned to Thor first. "He is right, Thor. Destruction is easy. Understanding is harder."
Then to Soren. "But tread carefully. Knowledge gained from such darkness always comes at a price."
For a long moment, none of them spoke.
Finally, with a low growl of frustration, Thor thrust Mjolnir to his side, the lightning bleeding away.
"You're mad."
"But fine. Keep your damned stone. But I swear..." Thor pointed at the tablet, "The moment it turns on us, I'm ending it."
꧁𓊈𒆜༺⚜༻𒆜𓊉꧂
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PhantomDream