Chilly Night-1

----Asgard----

The realm had just stabilized after the guards took care of all pawns Amora had hidden across Asgard. The bewitched men ranged from normal citizens to patrol guards, who were all taken into custody by the Einherjar. The guards soon received news that the prince was attacked, and orders were given to instantly provide support for him.

Loki and Thor who had just managed to snap out of their stupor after happily witnessing all the chaos in the realm. They fantasized about the intruders, hoping to meet them in battle. They soon happened to hear that the intruders had come to attack Vali, and they were flabbergasted to say the least. With dead expressions on their faces, they thought of how retarded the intruders had to be to go after that demon when they could literally go around robbing the rest of the realm.

Thor dazedly looked at the Loki and asked, "Do you think those intruders are still alive, brother?"

Loki who had his happiness dashed, replied sorrowfully in a matter-of-fact tone, "If they went after him with intent to kill, which they most definitely did, he should be gutting their bodies right about now"

Thor seemed to remember going hunting with his brothers, under the insistence of their mother who enforced 'brotherly bonding', and he remembered Vali skinning a troll madly with his blades during their hunt after it had intruded on their dinner.

He shivered, before nodding at Loki and they went back to the taverns to continue their drinks. They wanted nothing to do with the intruders, as going there would only reward them with sleepless nights.

A few citizens who were around, saw the princes who had unbothered expressions on their faces returning to their drinks, after hearing about the attack. 'Maybe they have a bad relationship with their youngest brother?' they thought and this soon became a rumour, spread to the gossip mills of Asgard and the rest of the realm. These rumours were brought to the attention of Vali in the future, who took it upon himself to 'teach' his brothers proper self-defense, as he didn't want them getting done in by other intruders.

----A few hours ago----

Skarf and Frodi had just left the barracks and were speeding along the streets of Asgard, kicking off the ground with their strong bodies attributed to their Aesir lineage. They were almost out of the region, closing in on their location, when they came across a group of weak shady individuals setting up explosives besides the empty street.

They wanted to interfere, but then their training kicked in and they remembered that their mission was always first priority. Not wanting to delay their return to the Vali's side, they settled on rolling through the shady group in a few seconds, rendering the sneaky bastards unconscious before they were back on track to their destination.

Though they were done with the battle in a jiffy, it alerted a few patrol guards as this region was close to the Queen's place of stay. The guards soon met with the guardian duo, who had just left the scene of the battle and informed them about the group of disruptors they had just dealt with and asked them to step aside, as they had to deliver an urgent report to the Queen.

These patrol guards were normally only responsible for maintaining order in the surrounding regions, as the Queen herself was guarded by the strongest female warriors in the realm. They could've been a part of the Valkyries, had they still existed.

As the guardian duo made their way past the patrol guards, they were sneak-attacked in the rear by them. The duo easily evaded as they were always taught to be on their toes, when on a mission away from their Prince.

Strangely enough, most guards stayed completely alert when protecting their 'masters' but the guardian duo had been through enough to know they were at their safest with their Prince. A complete tragedy in their opinion, which pushed them grind harder.

The patrol guards who had missed their attacks, spoke of nothing as they continued to target the duo diligently. The duo that could've finished them with ease, soon noticed how they were being stalled on purpose became uneasy and tried making a commotion that could alert the Queen's guards.

The bewitched patrol guards attempted to stop them but were obviously unsuccessful as a battle of such caliber would rarely go unnoticed, especially by skilled warriors. After seeing through their failed attempt to stall them, the duo informed the incoming female warriors about Vali's report about the traitor.

The duo knew that these warriors couldn't possibly be enthralled, and so they wasted no time in giving the report to them. They were already feeling uneasy after the traitor's attempt at stalling them, and it was an obvious attempt at delaying the Queen from knowing.

Amora could be called many things, but not a fool. As a fellow sorcerer, she had heard of the tales of Queen Frigga who was trained by powerful witches since she was young.

Without Odin present in the realm, Frigga held the spot of 'one of the strongest' and Amora wasn't going to taking her chances battling her. Knowing this, she left behind a few pawns that could delay or misdirect the Queen just enough, so that she could complete her mission and leave. The pawns were meant to be sacrificed anyway if needed, so they were perfect for the job.

After passing the report to the Queen's guards, the duo wasted no time resting before thrusting themselves off the ground in the direction of the barracks. They didn't make it far before they met with a few powerful Einherjar that informed them of their Prince's new location. After knowing that the Prince was the target of the attack, they wasted no time in rushing towards the dungeons followed by the other warriors.

They could feel the fluctuations of magic and battle from the direction of the dungeons, even though they were a great distance apart from their location. They rushed in the direction of the battle without holding anything back, now that they had a proper target to go towards.

When they made it to the site of the battle, they came across a destroyed hill on one side, on top of which stood Amora who was exuding powerful magic with obvious rage and pain in her face. On the other side stood Vali who had just backed off from the frost giants whose number had just dropped from 6 to 5.

With a bloodthirsty grin on his face and a bloody gash across his waist, he stood across his opponents with a bloodied blade in his hand. He had just gotten confirmation from Heimdall, and was now free to move as he liked without bothering about the traitor escaping.

The warriors who wanted to intervene and help their prince, were stopped in their tracks by the prince's own guardian duo. Confused at their behaviour, they were about to howl at them when Skarf spoke up,

"If you want to stop him from having a decent battle, as he always calls it, be my guest. Just know that the Prince is very severe, when dealing with people who interrupt his battle"

"You might even be 'accidentally' killed by him, and that would be the best case scenario" said the silent Frodi, who spoke up for the first time. The powerful warriors here, all more or less knew about the silent giant who was always serious and slaved for 2 centuries just to avenge his parent's killers personally.

So, hearing him talk was a shock itself and then they had to process the meaning behind the words he had just spoken. All of them hesitated and slowed down, except for a few loyalists who were prepared to die for their Prince either way. Just as they were about to rush in, the situation on the battlefield took a sudden turn.

---Himinbjorg, Heimdall's Observatory---

As chaos swept through the realm, the observatory was surprisingly calm with a peaceful atmosphere. The mood felt similar to when a couple was out on their dinner date, whilst observing the stars, having their food served by a black waiter.

Odin and Frigga stood beside Heimdall, with their hands behind their backs curiously observing the chaos across the realm that was being telecasted by the Gatekeeper.

Odin watched everything with an impassive face and critical look in his eyes, scrutinizing the actions of the slackers that were lax and other beings that deserved praise. It was easy judging the personality of a person and their loyalty to the realm, when it was in danger and this was a simple lesson, he had learned in his several millennia of experience.

Frigga had a sympathetic look on her face, along aggrieved eyes that hated these tests conducted by her husband on the realm. But she knew that it was necessary as it wasn't easy as it looked, ruling over and protecting an entire realm. Sacrifices were necessary, this was something she had learnt the hard way, but it didn't make watching several of her subjects die easier.

Even worse, the target of the attack was included in the test. Her son was in a life or death crisis, and even though she knew that Odin wouldn't let him get fatally injured, watching Vali send his own personal guards to warn her as much as it warmed her heart, annoyed her to a great extent.

She saw him walk into a trap, not before informing Heimdall which didn't make it any less reckless. She couldn't understand what he was risking his life for, as this could have been solved carefully if he was patient. The only reason she could think of was that he didn't want the traitor to escape and even then, it was an extremely gung-ho move in her eyes, completely different from the usual Vali who was patient and calculative.

As Odin and Frigga watched him engage in battle, though worried they had to admit, they were impressed. Vali's actions were quick, without any wasted movements as he kept an eye out on everyone throughout the battle, cutting down the robust frost giants one by one. They had to admit that watching him in battle was like viewing an artist paint.

Heimdall would never admit that spying on Vali when he was sparring was one of his favourite past times over the past decade. He soon received a request for help from Vali, asking for help in holding back the traitor from escaping, to which he gladly agreed after relaying the request to the couple beside him.

Frigga was a little worried watching him get injured, but after listening to Heimdall talk about Vali's request she soon realized, that she was overreacting like any other mother would have in her place. Since he had the time to make requests during such a battle, it was clear that he was holding back to prevent Amora from escaping.

Odin and Frigga knew what Vali's divinity was and they knew that he could tap into it, as he had done it before when he was just a child when Loki tricked him. They knew that the battle was more or less over now, and Frigga couldn't help but drop her worry and sigh in relief when she saw him produce a bloodthirsty grin.

The chaos across the realm had just subsided and was almost controlled, but it seemed that the long night had more to show.