Asgard’s Fears

Deep within the vastness of space laid a majestic divine kingdom. Rimmed by never-ending waterfalls and topped with towers of gold, it floated through the void. At the far ends of the sea, a small building clung to the water's edge and held within itself a shattered key of the land's former glory.

Despite its current state, the building's caretaker still maintained his prior duty of watching over his kingdom's many distant territories. On this day however, one such realm, by the name of Midgard, had caught the man's all-seeing gaze and furrowed his brows in worry.

It wasn't long before the watcher requested for the prince to come over with haste as, from what he could surmise, an invasion of massive proportions was bound for the planet within a matter of hours. He didn't know where the humans had received this information, as his eyes had not seen any fleets even close to the size that was being discussed among the people. But, seeing as over half of the population was awaiting the invasion with bated breaths, he couldn't idly dismiss the threat.

Within mere minutes the prince had arrived alongside his four stalwart companions, armed for battle and armored for war. They all shared similar expressions across their faces, a mixture of worry, excitement, and bloodlust, without a hint of fear. The nine realms had been thrown into chaos ever since the destruction of the Bifrost and the only difference now, was the world in which it had decided to descend upon.

Upon landing, the first to speak was Prince Thor as he clasped the watcher's arm in greeting, "Heimdall, old friend. What's the situation on Earth, has anything changed since you last looked?"

Heimdall closed his eyes and shook his head, before turning towards the tall blonde man to answer, "I'm sorry my prince, but I have yet to discover anything new. No matter how far I search the space surrounding Midgard, I cannot discover any signs of an invasion force. Despite that, as the foretold time draws nearer, the humans grow ever more anxious by the second."

Thor's brow furrowed in confusion as he heard the news and turned to see his companions in similar states to himself. Were this any other world, he may have put off sending aid until any proof of an attack could be discerned. Yet, ever since his last journey to the little blue planet just five months prior, Earth had held a special place in his heart and the prince couldn't bear to watch Her come to harm while remaining idle.

With less than 3 hours before the promised invasion, Thor couldn't take any chances and so he quickly came to a decision, "I will go and plead with father to send Sif, Voltagg, Fandral, Hogun, and myself to Midgard. With the Bifrost being damaged there's no way to send the army, so we must work together with the humans to fight against this threat."

Looking around, he saw the four nodding in agreement with him and so he continued, "In my last visit, I learned of the Son of Coul and his organization that acts to protect the planet against such things. With their help, we should be able to stand against whatever these invaders bring to bear!"

Thor's fist clenched around the grip of his hammer as sparks scattered across its surface. This news had truly angered him after finding out that his Jane was in harms way. So much so, that even if his father couldn't send the other four, he would insist on going himself.

Seeing the fury within his prince's eyes, Heimdall nodded and said no more. Instead, he reached within his armor and retrieved a scroll, containing all the information he'd gathered on the supposed enemy, before handing it to Thor. The king would need to know of scale this threat posed in order to act accordingly. He'd just awoken from the Odinsleep not even half a year ago and sending too many warriors to another realm on his own power would tire him greatly.

Without another word, the prince took the scroll, spun up his hammer, and left for the palace while his entourage swiftly gathered into a longboat to do the same.

Heimdall sighed and rubbed his brow as he watched them depart. Too many conflicts had sprung up across the realms ever since news of the Bifrost being out of commission had spread. With Asgard's armies being trapped within its own land, even the young humans had already lost a world to invaders.

Heimdall pitied the people of Reach. While he couldn't find the world, the memorial being broadcast all across Earth had him enough insight to what had happened to the planet. Alas, finding a lifeless world was hard enough for even his eyes, let alone one that was most likely dust by now. He could only hope that his prince arrived in time to forestall the same fate befalling Midgard as well.

He would also need to find the time to speak with the Queen, his old eyes were seeing less and less these days. First the humans, who they'd always believed primitive, had somehow managed to hide away a world from his sight for years and now this new enemy that can supposedly do the same.

Heimdall was beginning to wonder if it was about time to start training his young son to take over his position. Who knows when a force he can't see will get the gall to invade Asgard next?

The watcher sighed once again while rubbing his golden eyes, dark days were coming and he just hoped his prince would be up to the task of protecting their home in his father's stead. He sent out a silent prayer to watch over the young blond lad, Asgard had just lost one prince and now, of all times, they couldn't afford to lose another.

_______________________________

Author Note: For those who are interested in advanced chapters, I've just started a Patreøn and will be adding more chapters to it as they come.

You can read ahead or support me at: patreøn.com/TrojanRabbit