The warriors returned gasping, their faces pale from the cold and a deeper fear: dread.
By the time the third one arrived at Harry's tent, the camp was already brimming with alertness—spears readied, runes aglow, dwarven hammers at the ready like sworn pledges.
Harry was awake, eagerly anticipating their return.
"The enemy's numbers have doubled," the captain gasped, his voice shredded by the biting wind. "They're larger and better armed. This time they're not testing us—they're here to finish this."
A heavy silence hung in the air as the moon loomed low and cold, casting a pale blue light across Uru-Prime's shining veins. The air was thick with the metallic taste of iron and an old, sharp fear as if a storm was imminent.
Thor instinctively touched the haft of Mjölnir. "Send an urgent message to All-Father. Inform him we're engaged—tell him we need all the shields we can get." His voice was a blend of command and urgency.
Harry met his father's gaze steadily. The decision he had been wrestling with all week crystallized in that chilly air. "I will go alone."
Thor frowned. "What? I won't—"
"You won't come," Harry asserted firmly, his words slicing through the air. "If you join me, you'll become a target. If you do, you'll bring destruction upon us all. Take the men, gather reinforcements—do what you need to—but don't step into my path."
Thor's frustration simmered inward. "You plan to keep me from the fight?"
"You must go," Harry insisted. "Reinforcements are needed everywhere. If I fall, it is my choice. I won't allow you to die for me."
Thor's face displayed a mix of pain—a thousand questions mingled with unexpected pride. Finally, he nodded, though reluctantly. "I'll take the Bifrost myself. I'll make our case."
A commander observed them with a wry smile, his inscrutable eyes watching closely. "It's bold of you," he remarked quietly. "Foolhardy. Brave."
Harry's tension grew. "I won't have allies by my side when I do this. Chaos has no loyalty except to itself. I can't let it consume others. Tell the camp to hold steady. Instruct the dwarves to bring their smiths in. Tell them: if I die, I chose to stand."
Silence enveloped them before duty called back into action. Orders flew into the wind, carried by runners and glowing runes. Men and gods prepared for battle, sharpening weapons and huddling near the fires, whispering their fears into determination.
As the last command left the tent, Harry emerged.
He didn't don his usual gauntlets first. He stood beneath the dim sky, the armor at his feet illuminated by runes. The camp around him moved in small, practical motions; none would sleep that night. Dwarves and seasoned fighters joined in preparation, while the aurora above rolled like restless tides.
Harry raised his hands to summon his suit.
Light flickered. Metal pieced itself together in the air with practiced precision. The wings—his pride and the core of the armor—spread out in a deliberate, ceremonial manner. Initially glowing an electric blue, lightning feathers arched into sharp, harmonious shapes. The wings represented both beauty and danger.
He raised his chin and let the armor envelop him.
Taking a step set the world in motion as if holding its breath. The blue lightning trembled, and as he propelled himself off the frigid ground, the color shifted. The feathers morphed from a bright sky blue to a deep, smoky crimson, infused with a primal hunger. The air tasted electric and metallic, giving off the essence of ancient embers.
A low murmur washed through the camp, and even the dwarves paused.
Thor, witnessing the alteration, inclined his head. "There it is."
Harry sensed the change within him like an ebbing tide. Memories of Wanda's teachings—her strict lessons on charm and restraint, how to harness chaos without being consumed by it—flooded back to him. He had painstakingly practiced containment, meticulously weaving wards and sigils. He understood the rules, the consequences, the heavy price.
His voice was subdued yet firm. "If I do not return, bury them with fire. Sing them a song loud enough to reach all nine realms."
"No," Thor interjected, laughter tinged with despair—a futile attempt at levity. "You will come back."
Harry's resolve hardened. "I will try."
With a powerful beat of his newly blood-red wings, he soared into the cold.
The sky rejected him like an opening wound. The feathers behind him trailed smoke and sparks. Below, the camp shrank into a geometric configuration of lights, runes, and resolute people. Above, the desolate plain expanded, and on the horizon, the host of Frost Giants appeared like an encroaching storm, their dark spears and frozen forms marked with icy frost.
As he closed the gap, chaos filled his senses—a bitter sweetness akin to iron and rain. It stirred under his ribs, alive and ravenous. The wings beat faster, a thrumming wake-up call.
Harry thought of Midgard: of his mother's earnest expression, of America's gentle smile, of Odin in his hall, and of Thor's laughter. He thought of all the ordinary human experiences he vowed to protect.
The armor responded to each memory, each promise. The runes blazed with an irregular rhythm, as if Chaos itself were reveling. The lightning transformed into smoke, entwining with a primal hunger.
Far below, scouts rushed towards the ridge with news. An advancing wave of blue banners and horned spears rendered their numbers unimaginable. The Frost Giants unleashed a loud roar as they raised their weapons and unleashed their battle cries, making the very air quiver.
As he descended, Harry briefly closed his eyes and thought of his mother's steady, gentle voice: "You do not wield it—you let it flow." He never imagined such words would resonate here, beneath a crimson sky, with the world hanging by a thread.
Then he opened them.
He dove.
Where he directed his descent, the first Frost Giant was struck down as if a tempest had surged within him. Red smoke poured forth, not just illuminating but dismantling reality. Rocks hissed and shattered under its touch. The giant's weapon dissolved into sparkling frost that vanished without a trace. Screams echoed throughout their ranks.
Chaos did not merely cut—it redefined. A spear morphed into a torrent of black glass; a shield sprouted teeth, turning against its owner. The Frost Giant front line faltered as the ground warped beneath them, transforming into a fleeting sea of disarray.
Yet chaos is rarely orderly. Wherever it spread, it did so indiscriminately. A giant towards the rear discovered his hammer transforming into smoke and then into a bird, before fading completely. As the magic propagated, it became less obedient to commands and more responsive to a deeper hunger.
High above, Harry's wings continued to accelerate, and when he extended his hands, the chaos yielded just enough to carve a path. Columns of red wind sliced through the ranks, dismantling formations, shattering armor, sending enormous bodies crashing down. Frost turned to steam and disappeared. The giants howled like glaciers fracturing.
In the background, he heard Thor's voice cutting through the chaos: "Hold! Hold steady!" But it felt insignificant amidst the tumult.
For a moment, Harry experienced pure elation—the overwhelming power coursing through him, responding like a wild beast to its master. He felt indomitable; he felt divine. And then, in that same heartbeat, he felt the other reality: the understanding that anything he spared could transform into something else tomorrow, for chaos reshapes all. Allies and foes alike.
The line of Frost Giants buckled and shattered, but it also morphed back in unexpected ways. Here and there, remnants of the magic veered off course and struck neighboring tents, turning fabric into vapor. Asgardians and dwarves shouted, rushing to rescue their comrades from the smoke.
"Harry!" Thor's sharp, urgent voice rang out. "You must stop! You can't let it—
A booming howl echoed back—Laufey's war cry carried on the wind. "You summon fire upon us, child of Asgard! If you incinerate the moon, you shall consume your contracts too!"
Harry's heart raced. Amidst the noise, he glimpsed a group of miners trapped beneath a fallen slab. He dashed down, guiding them to safety as the chaotic winds parted to form a corridor. The armor reacted, wings morphing into shields as chaos intertwined into something fierce and protective, though fleeting.
The moment the rescue concluded, the magic surged toward other targets, like a river changing its course.
A frantic voice echoed in his ear—Thor's, bright with urgency: "Harry! Pull back! Pull back now!"
Harry clenched his hands. He attempted to reign in the chaos, but it resisted him like a beast relishing its freedom. The runes on his gauntlets blazed red before sputtering out.
There was no graceful conclusion to his actions, only relentless will.
Suddenly, he thought of the faces at funeral pyres, those who had sacrificed their lives with songs of hope. He remembered their families and the small acts of kindness they've shown him in camp. He couldn't let Laufey claim victory as he observed their ashes while their children suffocated in the dark.
So, he let the storm rage a little longer.
When the chaos finally subsided—as all storms inevitably do—it did not restore the world to its original state. The ranks of Frost Giants lay in chaos, their monstrous forms scorched and smoking. The ground was ravaged, reshaped into a terrain unknown to any map. Tents lay smoldering. Some of their own had become dazed or lifeless in the ashes. The aurora above dimmed, like a curtain pulled shut.
Suspended in the sky, Harry panted, wings smoking. His vision blurred at the edges. The metallic tang of power lingered in his mouth. Somewhere beneath him, men cursed; elsewhere, a child's laughter rang out—a bizarre yet half-crazy sound amidst the aftermath.
He had claimed victory. He had also transformed the battlefield into an unrecognizable realm.
Slowly, painfully, he allowed the armor to retract. The wings folded back, the red smoke fading into a sigh that blew away the last bitter taste.
He plummeted to the ground, catching himself on one knee. Among the survivors, there was a frenetic, stunned activity—gathering the living, burying the dead, tending to the scorched. Thor was at his side in an instant, hands gripping his shoulders, his face ashen and wet with a mixture of fear and pride.
"By the All-Father," Thor murmured, voice raw. "What have you done?"
Harry gazed up at the sky, which had returned to silence, though the stars appeared dimmed, as if recalling their suffering. He forced a smile that didn't reach his eyes. "I did what I had to do."
Loki stood a distance away, his expression unreadable. Then he approached Harry, placing an awkward hand on his shoulder. "You burned them," he stated simply.
Harry closed his eyes. "I burned them so they will remember what we are capable of."
A commander's mouth twisted in consideration. "And they will remember. So will you."
As the camp began the long, slow recovery, Harry understood the sacrifice had been made. The price, he felt in every bone, would resonate long after the smoke had cleared.
He had achieved victory. He had also ushered in a new winter to the moon—one that might linger indefinitely.
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