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Chapter 12 - To Boldly Go
🕑 Added 2026-01-30 22:38:12 +0000 UTCSvartalfheim
The room was wide and had six capsules inside. One was opened rather recently from the way the dust was disturbed.
The brothers shared a glance before approaching the other capsules. The rest of them seemed nonworking and had black sludge inside.
“Devices to keep the cursed soldiers in stasis. It appears only one of them was in working condition,” he said.
“Pity, we could have fought them,” Thor complained.
He rolled his eyes, “Yes, how unfortunate.”
Loki approached the console that the capsules were connected to. The Allspeak did not translate written language, but he had come prepared. His seidr flowed into the console. The words glitched at first and switched to the closest Asgardian equivalents.
“Let’s see,” he muttered, searching to see what they were doing here. Sifting through the data with an incomplete translation was challenging, but he eventually found what the Dark Elves were doing.
“What does it say?” Thor asked.
“The Dokkalfar were indeed researching a way to keep the cursed soldiers alive for longer. It appears they were rather effective on the battlefield against Asgard’s army,” he summarized the logs on the console.
“Not effective enough.”
“No, they were not.”
The rest of the palace did not have anything else to offer. It was abandoned for thousands of years, after all. He was after Kurse Stones the most but had to leave with an empty hand. Still, the weapons would be worth much.
At his brother’s insistence, they kept exploring. The ship was not in working condition, nor would it ever be, but once he managed to get the console working, the blueprints were available.
He took them as well.
Asgard had no need for ships due to Bifrost. However, anything could happen in the future. He could also trade them for something interesting as well.
There were no treasures of gold, gems, and other riches. The Dark Elves were a society that had no need for any of it.
If nothing else, his brother at least enjoyed himself smashing the city up.
—
Asgard
“Where were you two?” Their mother asked, eyes narrowed. She had entered Thor’s room minutes after they had returned.
“Just lazing around, Mother. Did something happen?” Loki asked. It was for the best he handled it. Thor’s abilities in lying were non existent.
She didn’t like that answer at all. “I couldn’t find you two anywhere. Lady Sif and the Warriors Three didn’t know where you were either.”
“Didn’t they have an appointment in the simulation room for some self-reflection?” he muttered. Not like they kept those four abreast of everything in their lives.
“Lunch is about to be served; you two better not be missing again,” she warned, giving up on discovering whatever her sons were doing as long as they were safe.
“That was close,” Thor muttered.
“A mother’s instincts are terrifying,” he said, shaking his head. “It is a good thing she can’t place tracking spells on us anymore.”
“Tracking spells?” his brother asked, taken aback.
“Yes, how do you think she always found you when we were children?”
Thor’s eyebrows shot up, “I thought she asked Heimdall.”
“He is the gatekeeper, not our personal watcher.” She could ask Heimdall where her children were, but a responsible mother would never leave her children out of her sight.
“You didn’t tell me about this,” his brother said with a low tone.
“And invite Mother's wrath?” He’d prefer Ragnarok over that.
Thor’s appetite had returned after the little excursion. He enjoyed himself to the full, spreading infectious joy across.
Once his hunger was sated, Loki informed his mother about his plan to visit Nidavellir.
“Nidavellir?” she asked. Her sons had visited the realm of the dwarves before. And this time, he was letting her know.
“Yes, I had some ideas. I want to see if I can get the dwarves to give me a sample of Uru,” he said.
“Uru?” his mother exclaimed. “The dwarves are unlikely to part with it unless you make a compelling offer. Which I know you can.”
“Thank you, Mother.”
—
Nidavellir
As great as Asgard was, Nidavellir was a different beast. A multi-ring structure built around a neutron star, the dwarves living on it created some of the greatest and most horrific weapons to grace the face of the galaxy. Gungnir, Mjolnir, and Hofund were three of the best known ones in the Nine Realms.
“Loki, welcome,” Eitri greeted him at the Bifrost site, shaking his hand rather enthusiastically. Short, with long hair and a beard, his angular face was extremely similar to that of Asgardians and Midgardians.
“Eitri, a pleasure to see you again.” He shook the hand back just as enthusiastically. When he had first arrived in the realm of the dwarves, he was gaping like a fish out of water. His parents had not told either of the siblings about the true nature of Nidavellir. To see that they were rings built around a neutron star was truly a wonderful experience.
“Have you returned to accept my offer of working in our forges?” Eitri asked.
When his fame in seidrcraft had spread across the Nine Realms, the inhabitants of Nidavellir had heard of him as well. Eitri was interested enough to take him on a private tour of the realm. They had discussed ideas, and once he mentioned one of his ideas—a device that could create anything through pure energy by building the necessary atoms almost instantly—Eitri had offered him a place in Nidavellir as a craftsman.
“Hah, unfortunately not. I came to see if I could convince the dwarves to give me a sample of Uru,” he said.
“That is…not possible.” Eitri stroked his beard. “Even if you are a prince of Asgard, we cannot hand you Uru just like that.”
He actually liked both princes for different reasons. If Loki were to accept his offer, he could work with Uru all he wanted.
“I am not here as a prince, but as an individual looking to make a trade,” he explained. Uru was a vital strategic resource. One that they would never give away without the Allfather’s express permission, even to his son.
“Trade? For Uru? It has never been done before,” the dwarf replied, his eyes sharpening.
“But…” Loki started, letting Eitri continue.
“But if you could make an excellent offer, I can be persuaded to.”
“Working Dokkalfar weapons in perfect condition. Specifically, black hole grenades and particle rifles.”
“Asgard had those?” His eyes shone. The Dokkalfar were all but forgotten, and as one of the ancient enemies of Asgard, their weapons were advanced enough to fight Asgard. d.
“No, we did not,” Loki replied. He pulled out a particle rifle from the pocket dimension. Handing it to the wide-eyed dwarf, he waited.
Eitri rolled his shoulder, and he followed behind. The master blacksmith took him to a room where the dwarves tested weapons. He raised the rifle and fired. A crimson bolt struck the metal post, followed by several more. Each one left holes through the metal as the dark matter particles tore the metal apart at a molecular level.
Eitri smiled. “As destructive as they are said to be.” The dwarf put the rifle down, and Loki handed him a grenade next. Eitri primed the grenade, quickly rolling it in front of the post. It exploded, creating a miniature black hole that broke down the post to subatomic particles. Crimson tendrils that were the spaghettified atoms began to converge in one point while the post quickly dissolved, leaving nothing behind.
“They are nothing like Mjolnir or Gungnir, but definitely weapons of great advancement,” he praised. Enemy of Asgard or not, the Dokkalfar craftsmanship was impressive.
“So?”
“I will give you an ingot equal to the Uru in Mjolnir. I want two hundred rifles and half as many grenades,” he offered. They could disseminate the technology behind those weapons and use it to advance the knowledge of Nidavellir.
Using dark matter could create a new branch of weaponry.
“Here, or do you have a storage?” Loki asked. No need for the dwarves to move the weapons later.
“This way,” he said. Loki followed the dwarf again. The storage building was full of scrap metal, pristine weapons left to gather dust, and tools. He pulled the rifles and the grenades out of the pocket dimension out at the back in an empty section.
“Two hundred rifles and half as many grenades. Consider the rest as a token of my appreciation,” he said, gesturing to the swords, shields, and bladed gauntlets. He couldn’t be bothered to separate them from the racks.
“How generous,” Eitri chuckled. He knew the boy was too lazy to sort them out.
“Doesn’t Asgard have laws or bans in place against trading Dokkalfar weapons? As far as I know, Bor forbade anyone from setting foot on Svartalfheim without his permission, and it still stands,” Eitri said.
Not that anyone wished to visit Svartalfheim, Bor’s decision made sense to prevent anyone from trying to uncover the secrets that lay buried on the planet.
“The ban does stand. Asgard didn’t find many working examples of Dokkalfar technology, and those that they did were long turned to scrap. As such, there was no need to ban the trade of it. Not like I am giving them to sworn enemies of Asgard either,” he replied. Technically, it was a loophole. One that his father would be very dissatisfied with.
Which is why all Heimdall saw was him and Eitri discussing ideas on the device he had mentioned years ago.
“True,” the dwarf admitted. He wouldn’t tell anything to Allfather unless he was forced to.
“Wait here,” Eitri said, disappearing between the buildings.
Uru was kept secure at all times to prevent any piece from going missing. He would have to wait for it to be retrieved.
“I don’t know what you intend to do with it. You can’t melt it without the heat of a star, but the results will certainly be interesting,” Eitri praised, handing him several ingots.
Loki thanked the dwarf and left after exchanging words of farewell.
—
Asgard
A star was, in its most simple description, a burning ball of gas. A neutron star was the gravitationally collapsed core of a massive supergiant star. As the second smallest and densest stellar objects in the universe, they were only surpassed by black holes.
If he could produce plasma hot enough, he could melt the metal.
But it was not what interested him for now.
Why did Uru have seidr of its own? Why didn’t any of the other known metals share the same properties? Did seidr have something to do with Uru’s immense durability? Could the ease of channeling seidr through Uru be replicated on other metals?
His workspace in the Hall of Science, the official one he used for appearances or when he needed the resources, would be busy for the foreseeable future.
The density and the innate seidr made the scans difficult. Instead of doing hundreds of scans to piece what he learned together, he prepared to do a high-intensity scan that would take time.
The background process in the Realms of Valour continued to decipher the secrets of seidr for him, but this was something he wanted to work on himself.
Replicating the seidr channeling properties of Uru would allow him to create materials that could be a cheaper alternative to the metal. Uru would still be extremely valuable due to its durability. However, arming every single Einherjar with weapons that could channel the innate seidr in their bodies would enhance their effectiveness tenfold.
That is if it was even possible in the first place.
Runes could allow any Asgardian to channel seidr without training, but it was a crude method, not to mention time-consuming. He couldn’t just sit down to create runic arrays for thousands of soldiers.
If a single rune was damaged, the entire array could explode. At worst, it would mean soldiers could die. Weapons and tools that shared the same ability without the dangers of the runic arrays would be worth the effort.
—
The Nine Realms and the realms outside of it that were under Asgard’s protection had nothing else of importance to explore.
Which meant it was time for him to explore other worlds.
With each use, the range of his portals and the ease of creating them increased. In a couple of centuries, he could travel to anywhere within the galaxy without the Bifrost. A couple more centuries, and intergalactic travel would be available to him.
That was without furthering his understanding of seidr.
His target was a planet that seemed to possess many amenities. With the number of different spaceships visiting the planet, it was obviously a vacation spot. It would be the first truly alien planet he would ever visit.
He stumbled out of the portal. The distance was the longest he had traveled so far. Bright neon lights assaulted his eyes. Dozens of smells were intermixed.
And it was loud.
Aliens of all shapes and sizes were enjoying themselves.
He was about to walk towards the buildings to see what they offered when an alien of blue color—awfully similar to a jotnar but lacking the size and the lines indicating ancestry—bumped into him.
“Watch where you are going, fool,” the blue alien, one that he recognized from somewhere, glowered at him.
He and his subordinates wore full-body armor with segmented plating in dark colors. All three walked as if the sun was rising for them and were looking down on him.
“I was not going anywhere. You would know if you used your eyes,” Loki retorted. He ignored the blue alien in favor of deciding on an establishment to visit.
The blue alien wasn’t going to let Loki’s words go and snorted. “This one has a mouth on him.”
He turned to the blue alien, suddenly remembering where he had seen them before. “I remember now. You are a Kree, aren’t you? My father did say you were all arrogant savages.”
The relations between Asgard and the Kree Empire were nonexistent. His father had described the Kree as savage and deceitful. They had experimented on Midgardians, and his father had responded by slaughtering every single Kree on Midgard and threatening them with war should they ever return.
That was fun.
“And who is your father, boy?” the alien demanded.
Revealing his father’s name would be satisfying and equally troublesome.
Gravity lost its hold on him, and it was he who looked down on the Kree now.
“Boy? I am over two hundred years old. As for my father, the likes of you don’t have to know his name. Now get lost,” Loki said. He flicked his hand, as if shooing the blue aliens away, and an unseen force caused them to fly away. They blurred out of sight so quickly even their screams were not heard.
Loki just floated away. He didn’t know the laws of this world, and killing the Kree might cause trouble. If they were arrogant enough to return, he would test just how resistant the Kree were to plasma.
---
Notes: I am taking some liberties when it comes to the relations between Asgard and the Kree Empire.
Comments
Marius Petrauskas
nice
