The Gift of Battle

CHAPTER FORTY FIVE

As he flew through the air, Thor suddenly felt the Sorcerer’s Ring throbbing on his finger. He felt an incredible power radiate from it, control his hand, his arm, and guide him. It forced him to swing his arm around, impossibly fast, to reach out and grab the stone railing with one hand.

Thor was amazed to find himself grabbing holding of the stone and, in the same motion, swinging himself back up and around onto the bridge. As he did, he kicked the Blood Lord in the chest, and he, clearly not expecting this, went stumbling back, landing on the ground.

Thor could hear his people cheer.

Thor charged and slashed, ready to finish him off, but the Blood Lord surprised him by rolling and blocking. He then swung his halberd around for Thor’s feet. Thor jumped, it barely missing.

The Blood Lord gained his feet and the two of them faced off, once again slashing and blocking, weapons sparking, as they drove each other back and forth.

“I am stronger than you, Thorgrin,” the Blood Lord said, between blows. “Darkness is stronger than light!”

He brought his halberd down and Thorgrin blocked it. But the blow was stronger this time, and as he pushed, it came closer and closer to Thor’s face. With shaking hands, Thor barely held it back.

“Give in,” the Blood Lord snarled. “Give in to the sweet darkness and join me for all time!”

Thor managed to push back the blow, sending him back.

But at the same time, the Blood Lord surprised Thor by immediately swinging up with his halberd, straight up with lightning speed, coming underneath Thor’s sword and managing to smash it out from his hands, disarming him.

Thor watched in horror as the Destiny Sword went flying up in the air, spinning end over end, then skidded across the stone floor of the Canyon bridge.

Thorgrin stood there, facing him, unarmed, the Blood Lord between he and his sword, grinning back an evil grin. Thor realized he did not need the Sword. He did not need any weapon; he had all the power he needed within himself.

Thor lunged forward, unafraid, and tackled the Blood Lord, driving him down to the ground. The Blood Lord was caught off guard by the sudden move, and his halberd went flying as he fell, clanging on the stone.

The two of them rolled on the stone, Thor trying to pin him down; but the Blood Lord was twice his size, and all-muscle, and as Thor final pinned him, the Blood Lord managed to roll and then pin Thor.

The Blood Lord held him down, choking him, and as Thor reached up and grabbed his wrists, holding him back, his huge, sharp claws came down right for his throat.

Thor, losing air, weaved in and out of consciousness. He struggled back with all that he had, but he realized he was losing. The dark force was prevailing. The Sorcerer’s Ring was shining less brightly, as if it, too, were dying.

As Thor felt himself go weaker, images passed through his mind. He saw his mother, her castle, the skywalk. He saw himself kneeling before her, asking forgiveness.

“Forgive me, Mother,” he said. “I have failed. I have lost for all time.”

She placed a hand upon his forehead.

“You have not failed, Thorgrin. Not until you admit failure.”

“He is too strong for me,” Thorgrin said. “I have lost the secret. I do not know how to vanquish darkness. My faith does not match his.”

She smiled down.

“It is your final lesson, Thorgrin,” she said. “It is the final secret you have been missing all this time. The one you need to win for all time.”

Thorgrin stared back, in and out of consciousness as he was choked.

“Tell me, Mother,” he said.

“It is not power,” she said. “It is not power that makes a warrior great.”

Thor blinked, feeling his life force ebbing away.

“But what is it, Mother?”

She smiled.

“It is love, Thorgrin. It is love that makes us powerful. Love for your family. Love for your people. Love for your country. Love for honor. And most of all, love for yourself. That is the power you are missing. It is a power greater even than hate.”

Thor blinked, several times, realizing, and as he did, he felt his body grow warm.

Thor suddenly opened his eyes, feeling the Ring throbbing on his finger, seeing its light shine more brightly. He looked up at the Blood Lord’s face, saw him scowling down, and finally, Thorgrin understood. He understood the secret to battle. The secret to power. And he suddenly felt an insurmountable power.

Thor swung his arms around, knocked the Blood Lord’s arms’ grip from his throat and threw him off of him, sending him tumbling back on the stone.

The Blood Lord turned and looked back in shock. He scrambled to his feet, and for the first time, Thor could spot real fear in his face.

The Blood Lord scrambled for his halberd, running to it and gripping it with both hands as he faced Thor.

Thor, feeling all-powerful, walked to the Destiny Sword, reached down and picked it up, knowing that nothing could stop him now.

The two of them stood there, facing each other, and the Blood Lord let out a fierce battle cry, raised his halberd high, and charged Thor.

He swung down at Thor, and this time, Thor blocked it easily with the Destiny Sword. Their weapons clanged and sparked as he came at Thor again and again, swinging left and right. But this time, something had changed: Thor reacted more quickly, blocking the blows easily. Thor felt more powerful than ever, and he blocked each blow as if it were nothing.

The Blood Lord noticed, too, as he stared back at Thor with increasing fear in his face.

Finally, the Blood Lord stood there, breathing hard, spent.

Thor, though, was not tired at all. He stepped forward, slashing again and again, his blows more powerful than ever, the Blood Lord raising his halberd and blocking them, but barely in time, weakly. With each sword slash, his reaction time became slower, Thor pushed him back further, and it was getting harder for him to even lift his halberd.

Finally, Thor came up and around with a great slash, and as he did, he knocked the halberd from the Blood Lord’s grip.

It went flying, end over end through the air, over the side of the railing, and plunging down into the Canyon.

The blow had also managed to knock the Blood Lord down onto his back. He lay there, staring up at Thorgrin, shocked. Terrified. Clearly, he had never expected this.

Thor stood over him, calm, relaxed, stronger than he’d ever been. He had conquered something within himself, and for the first time in his life, he felt free. Fearless. Invincible.

The Blood Lord must have sensed it, because he looked back at Thor as if he knew something had shifted within him. He raised his hands weakly.

“You cannot defeat me, Thorgrin!” he yelled. “Lay down your sword and accept me!”

But Thor stepped forward, drew back the Destiny Sword, and with one definitive thrust, he plunged it into the Blood Lord’s heart. The thrust kept going, the sword lodging in the stone with a tremendous noise, like an earthquake, the entire bridge, the entire Canyon, shaking as it did, as if Thor had plunged the Sword into the spine of the world itself.

The crowds on both sides of the Canyon gasped as the Blood Lord lay there, flat on his back, staring up at the sky with a look of surprise.

Dead.

Suddenly, the dark clouds above parted and there appeared a black funnel cloud, whirling down from the sky like a tornado. It came down right for the body of the Blood Lord, scooped him up, and carried him away, spinning, into nothingness.

As he died, suddenly, all of his creatures, on both sides of the Canyon, even those attacking Thor’s people, burst into flames, dying, too. His entire army, wiped out with him.

Thor felt the Sorcerer’s Ring throbbing in his hand, and he reached out and slowly raised his ring finger, knowing the time had come. He aimed it down at the Canyon, and slowly, it began to shake.

A wall of red and purple light rose up from the mist, swirling, climbing higher and higher; as it increased in velocity, it spread, all the way through the Canyon, aglow with all different colors as it grew more and more solid. Thor’s heart lifted as he realized: the Shield. It was, after all this time, restored.

Thor watched as on the far side of the Canyon fresh hordes of Empire soldiers tried to cross the bridge, to attack him and his people. But he watched with joy as they bounced into the Shield and were killed on the spot.

His people, finally safe, let out a great cheer.

And Thor could not help smiling himself.

The Ring, finally, was protected. It was one again.