Chapter 717

"Let them drink. This is their fate."

Evenson felt that, given the dramatic circumstances, it would be a terrible waste not to deliver that line with proper gravitas.

Besides, he’d gotten away with this sort of theatrical nonsense plenty of times before. Apparently, surviving his own bad decisions had only encouraged him to push his luck even further.

Thor, meanwhile, hadn’t even examined the contents of the cup in his hands when a strange uneasiness settled over him. For some inexplicable reason, he suddenly felt that Mjolnir, his faithful companion of so many years, was about to abandon him and transform into a completely different weapon.

Perhaps an axe.

A dog-themed axe, naturally.

Was this what it meant for the times to change?

Thor glanced at Odin.

His father appeared perfectly composed, showing no outward reaction whatsoever. Yet there was something remarkably resolute about his gaze, as though he were silently declaring that Asgard would never be enslaved.

Thor blinked.

That had to be his imagination.

"Are you certain this will cure the poison?" Odin finally asked.

He and Thor had at last accepted the cups Evenson offered them, and neither man looked particularly pleased with the arrangement.

The liquid was a nauseating shade of green, thick and viscous, with wisps of steam rising from its surface.

It looked less like medicine and more like something that should have been disposed of behind a stable.

Thor raised his cup to his nose.

The moment he inhaled, an indescribably foul odor shot straight through his sinuses and into his skull. His eyes watered instantly. He jerked his head aside with a snort that would have done a bull proud.

This is supposed to save someone’s life?

It looked and smelled like the sort of thing that could kill a perfectly healthy person on the spot.

Odin nodded in agreement with his son’s unspoken concerns.

He also wondered why Thor had felt compelled to smell it in the first place. The stuff looked revolting enough without any further investigation. What was next? Would his son decide to lick it?

Honestly, Thor could be painfully straightforward at times.

Loki would never have done something so foolish.

The two boys had practically grown up together, yet somehow they’d developed into such different men. If only they could have learned a little from each other.

Odin couldn’t help sighing at the thought.

If only he could somehow combine the best qualities of both his sons into one person. What a peaceful retirement that would be.

"Well, it should work," Evenson said.

He sounded considerably less certain than Odin would have liked.

Evenson had always regarded fel magic as an extraordinarily versatile force. Set aside its destructive nature for a moment, and it could accomplish many of the same things as the Light. It could strengthen the body, heal injuries, and even restore someone from the brink of death.

The mixture he’d prepared was particularly potent.

It contained the concentrated life essence of thirty immortal beings, harvested after their souls had been driven to an exceptionally high state of quality through prolonged torment.

One dose of this all-purpose fel tonic ought to do more than cure a little poison.

It could probably make a corpse sit up and ask for dinner.

Still, Evenson wasn’t foolish enough to guarantee the result.

No matter how sound the theory, reality had a habit of introducing inconvenient complications.

He also didn’t fully understand the physiology of high-ranking Asgardians such as Frigga, who possessed several genuine divine offices and the power that came with them.

One thing he knew for certain, however, was that such a concentrated dose of fel energy would change their bodies somehow.

The question was how much.

Odin stared down at the steaming green liquid.

It should work?

That was hardly the reassuring answer he’d hoped to hear.

Could Evenson not give him a straight yes or no when the life of his wife was at stake?

Then again, Odin reminded himself that they had little choice.

Frigga’s poison was incurable. If she refused the treatment, she would die.

This strange concoction, revolting as it looked, offered at least a chance of survival.

That was enough.

Odin motioned to Thor, and the two approached the bed.

Odin carefully lifted Frigga into a sitting position. Thor did the same for Sif, taking particular care not to disturb the connection between her and the queen.

Their lives were now linked through their clasped hands, and Thor handled Sif with extraordinary gentleness.

Perhaps, somewhere in the back of her mind, Sif regretted being unconscious.

To be cradled so tenderly in the arms of the man she loved while he personally fed her medicine was the sort of romantic fantasy she could scarcely have dared to imagine.

She wouldn’t have minded if the cup contained poison itself.

Unfortunately, she was missing the entire experience.

"Wait."

Just as Odin and Thor brought the cups toward the women’s lips, Evenson raised a hand.

"There are a few things I should probably mention first."

Both men turned toward him.

Three eyes fixed on the Warlock with varying degrees of suspicion.

Evenson hesitated, looking distinctly uncomfortable.

"My medicine may have some side effects."

"What sort of side effects?" Odin asked.

He understood perfectly well that every medicine came with risks. Nothing powerful enough to save a dying woman could be entirely harmless.

But Evenson’s decision to mention the matter at the last possible moment suggested that these particular side effects might be rather significant.

Would the medicine weaken them so severely that they would never again enjoy normal health?

Might they become frail, sickly, and incapable of performing even the simplest tasks?

If that was the price of survival, Odin could accept it.

He gazed down at Frigga.

She had stood beside him for countless years. Together, they had raised two children and taken in an adopted son. She had been his partner through wars, triumphs, and the endless burdens of ruling Asgard.

They were old now. Their remaining years were precious, and he would gladly trade almost anything for one more day at her side.

But his gaze soon shifted to Sif.

The young warrior was in the prime of her life, with a promising future ahead of her. Yet she had been willing to risk everything to save Frigga.

Such loyalty was rare. Such devotion deserved to be rewarded.

Odin and Frigga already owed Sif more than they could ever repay.

Very well.

He would settle the matter once and for all.

After the Dark Elf crisis was over, he would announce Sif’s marriage to Thor before all of Asgard.

Whatever else happened, the young woman would have her wish.

Meanwhile, Evenson was explaining the actual side effects.

"First, the ends of their hair and their fingernails might turn green. Green markings may appear on their skin, and their eyes could change color as well."

He was basing this prediction on what had happened to Melinda.

But that wasn’t exactly a reliable comparison.

Melinda’s fel infusion had been administered in small doses over multiple sessions. The concentration had been relatively low, and the dominant force within her had been the hellfire of the Ghost Rider.

The mixture he’d prepared now contained a far greater concentration of fel energy than Melinda had ever encountered.

On the other hand, Frigga and Sif were Asgardians. Their bodies were far more resilient than those of ordinary humans.

The final result was anyone’s guess.

Odin and Thor exchanged a glance.

Is this medicine or hair dye?

If drinking the stuff meant turning green from head to toe, they could only hope the changes would remain cosmetic.

Evenson cleared his throat.

"There’s something else. The poison inside them is exceptionally potent, so I had to make the medicine much stronger than usual."

He paused awkwardly.

"They might also... grow something long."

Odin and Thor nearly dropped their cups.

"What?"

For several seconds, neither man seemed capable of processing what he’d just heard.

Grow something they didn’t have before?

Something long?

On their bodies?

"What exactly do you mean by that?"

"A tail!" Evenson hurriedly clarified when he saw their expressions. "I mean a tail! Get your minds out of the gutter. This medicine doesn’t have any of those ridiculous effects!"

Odin visibly relaxed.

Then Thor turned to him with a puzzled expression.

"Father, I was thinking about tails. What were you thinking about?"

Odin’s face stiffened.

For several agonizing seconds, the King of Asgard struggled to produce an answer.

"I... I was thinking about tails, too."

"Oh."

Thor nodded, though he still looked slightly suspicious.

Odin had successfully escaped his son’s scrutiny.

As he considered the matter more carefully, he decided that a tail wasn’t particularly alarming. If it proved inconvenient or unsightly, they could always have it removed later.

There was no reason to make a fuss over such a minor inconvenience.

And he certainly wasn’t imagining how Frigga might look with green markings covering her skin and a little tail behind her.

Absolutely not.

"If neither of you has any objections to those side effects," Evenson said, "you can give them the medicine now."

Privately, he hoped the tail would be the worst of it.

Horns would be awkward enough, but hooves would be a disaster. These were other people’s wives, after all. If he turned them into something that looked like a pair of demons, explaining himself to their husbands would become considerably more difficult.

Odin and Thor exchanged one last glance.

Then, together, they tipped the cups toward the women’s lips.

Frigga and Sif remained unconscious, but the instinct to swallow was still present. It took some effort, and the thick liquid went down slowly, but eventually both women managed to consume the entire dose.

Odin and Thor withdrew to give the medicine time to work.

For several seconds, nothing happened.

Then Frigga and Sif suddenly convulsed.

Both men nearly jumped out of their skins.

That first violent spasm, however, was only the beginning.

A moment later, the women’s bodies began to convulse uncontrollably. Their limbs jerked and their backs arched, their movements so violent that they looked as though they were suffering from severe seizures.

Their joined hands slipped apart.

"What is happening?" Thor demanded, panic rising in his voice. "Evenson!"

"Relax," Evenson said, doing his best to sound calm. "The medicine is probably taking effect."

"Probably?"

Odin and Thor fought down their anxiety and turned back toward the bed.

Gradually, they noticed something encouraging.

The black veins that had spread across Frigga’s and Sif’s bodies were beginning to fade.

In their place, intricate green markings spread across their skin.

The patterns were strange, almost alien in appearance, yet there was an undeniable beauty to them. Their curves and interlocking lines looked like an elaborate design painted by an otherworldly artist.

Thin wisps of smoke rose from the marked skin.

The green patterns looked as though they had been branded into the women’s flesh by an invisible iron.

Odin watched in tense silence.

Thor clenched his fists.

Then, after what felt like an eternity, the convulsions stopped.

Exactly one minute had passed.

Frigga and Sif drew in sharp, simultaneous breaths.

Their eyes flew open.

As Evenson had predicted, both pairs of irises had turned a brilliant emerald green, gleaming like polished gemstones.

Odin and Thor rushed to their sides.

The women were alive.

But something was wrong.

Neither appeared to recognize the men standing over them. Their eyes stared blankly at the ceiling, their faces devoid of expression.

They seemed to be awake without truly being conscious, trapped somewhere between the waking world and a dream.

Then Frigga spoke.

"Where... am I?"

Her voice was faint and confused, like that of someone who had just awakened after a long sleep.

But she wasn’t in her bedroom.

She was standing on a street somewhere in Asgard.

Frigga looked around, struggling to understand what had happened.

"What’s going on?"

She tried to remember the last thing she’d seen.

The Dark Elves.

The memory struck her with sudden clarity.

Had they captured her and brought her here?

If so, why hadn’t they killed her? Why had they simply abandoned her in the middle of the street?

She couldn’t make sense of it.

Perhaps someone nearby could explain.

Frigga turned to examine her surroundings more carefully.

The street was in chaos.

Fruit, overturned baskets, and shattered containers littered the ground. Goods had been scattered everywhere, as though an entire marketplace had been ransacked.

Then her hearing returned.

And with it came the screams.

People were shouting in terror, fleeing through the streets as fast as their legs could carry them.

One man rushed past Frigga without so much as a glance. He didn’t bow to his queen. He didn’t even slow down.

He simply ran.

Then another person appeared.

Then another.

Soon, the street was filled with people desperately fleeing an unseen threat.

Frigga looked up.

The sky had turned a deep, unnatural crimson.

This wasn’t the warm glow of a setting sun.

The heavens themselves looked as though they were burning.

"Your Majesty! Please, save us!"

"Queen Frigga, help us!"

Frigga looked around in bewilderment.

She hadn’t noticed when the crowd had gathered, but a great many people were now clustered in front of her. They stared at her with desperate, pleading expressions.

Yet their eyes kept darting toward something behind her.

Whatever they saw there terrified them even more than the inferno filling the sky.

Frigga slowly turned around.

There was nothing behind her.

Nothing but fire.

An ocean of flames stretched across Asgard, devouring streets, buildings, and everything in its path. The entire realm was engulfed in a raging inferno.

Only the patch of ground beneath Frigga’s feet remained untouched.

For the moment, it was the last safe place in the realm.

But the flames were advancing.

They surged toward her with merciless hunger, consuming every trace of life in their path.

"No!"

Frigga threw up both hands.

An invisible barrier sprang into existence before her, stopping the advancing inferno.

She planted her feet and summoned every ounce of strength she possessed.

"I am the Queen of Asgard!"

Her voice trembled, but she forced herself to continue.

"I will protect my people!"

She poured her power into the barrier, desperately trying to hold back the endless sea of fire.

But the inferno was too vast.

Its power threatened to erase all of Asgard, and against such overwhelming destruction, Frigga was little more than a leaf caught in a hurricane.

Cracks spread across her invisible shield.

She tried to reinforce it.

It wasn’t enough.

The barrier shattered.

Flames swallowed her and everyone gathered around her in an instant.

Agony tore through her body as the fire consumed her.

Overwhelmed by pain, grief, and helpless fury, Frigga threw back her head and screamed.

"This wasn’t how our story was supposed to end!"