Ormar made his way slowly through the thick layer of dead leaves and old plant matter that had settled on the ground in the thick forest, accumulating over the years to form a spongy surface that muffled sounds and let his dark skin blend in perfectly. The smooth scales on his belly passed over this cushioning warmth of long dead decay with barely a whisper of movement in the air around him to signify his passing.

He flicked out his forked tongue and tested the scents that made up the mosaic of life and death around him. He disregarded the small animals that were normal in the heavily wooded area and concentrated on the smell of the patrolling Aesir that were crossing through the trees on a regular basis.

Ormar would have wrinkled his nose in distaste if it were possible in the form of the large Python he had chosen for this mission. He always preferred to take the form of a snake when he was out to do harm and Loki had promised him the opportunity to do a lot of harm tonight. Not just any harm, though, tonight would let Ormar do some damage to any Aesir he came across and that was well worth the effort.

Ormar hated the Aesir; they had driven his Vanir family out of their home during the war and set them out to live like animals on the empty tundra of the frozen North.

The truce that had ended the war didn't reach into the hearts of people like Ormar who lived and breathed resentment and spent their time dreaming of ways to get back at those they saw as oppressors. Loki had traveled the world gathering those darkly simmering persons together and keeping them ready for their chance to get back what they saw as their right.

Ormar had been ready and waiting when he got the call from Loki to come and put this plan into action and he was so excited by the destruction to come that he could barely contain it. He had to keep telling himself to slow down and stick to the schedule so that he wouldn't mess up so many months, and even years, of planning.

He slithered slowly over to a spot where the trees began to thin out so that he could coil his powerful body in a patch of sunlight and keep watch over the driveway that led to the garishly large mansion that sat within the forest, separated from the woods themselves by a smooth expanse of landscaped gardens.

It made Ormar seethe inside to see these Aesir villains living like kings while the remains of his own family were forced to live in the shadows on the outskirts of civilization, squeezing a meager living out of the humans that had been allowed to breed themselves into domination. If it weren't for the Aesir council of elders and their draconian methods of ensuring obedience to their laws, Ormar would have single-handedly decimated the human population to put them back in the livestock yards where they belonged.

Ormar waited patiently all through the day, soaking up the energy from the sunlight that he basked in, for the movement he had been told to expect. He was able to stay in his animal form for as long as he wanted because he also had the genetic mutation that affected Loki and his offspring, allowing them to use energy only during the change itself and afterwards reverting to normal energy usage. Ormar soaked up as much as he could now, though, because he knew he would need to change at least once during the night to come and he didn't want to be vulnerable.

He raised his head as he heard a car coming from the direction of the house. The sun had only just sunk down below the horizon but Ormar didn't need much light to tell that the big truck wasn't the car he had been told to watch for. He kept his head up and was on the alert; he had been told that the Alfar prince would be leaving the house right at sunset.

It was well after dark by the time the loud roar of the flashy Italian car finally passed Ormar's hideout and Ormar felt a rush of relief; the long wait had stretched his patience to its very limit.

As the Maserati drove off away from the house, Ormar slowly uncoiled himself and headed for the rendezvous point with the Nithavellir that Loki had recruited to take care of the guards. They were only able to do jobs at night since their bodies weren't capable of processing the heat and radiation from the sun, it would burn them to a crisp; but it was late enough now for them to have gotten themselves in place.

Nithavellir were very different from Aesir and Vanir in more than just the way they handled energy. They were only able to absorb energy by directly consuming blood and their bodies had adjusted over millions of years to make them perfectly suited for it. They were short, even shorter than was normal for humans; that put them just high enough to reach a person's neck. They had long, sharp teeth and that wasn't just the canines; every tooth in the front row was a dangerous weapon. Their fingers and hands were extra-long and the nails at the ends were as strong as steel.

Nithavellir didn't have to kill to get the blood that gave them superhuman strength, but they rarely left a victim alive simply because they enjoyed the killing. They were a vicious race and lived for the kill; in fact, they had gone on a spree the last few nights in order to prepare for tonight's activities, leaving a trail of dead bodies in the forests all along the river. They hadn't even bothered to hide their tracks, thinking that it wouldn't matter if anyone traced them here to the Falkor's house as they would be long gone before that happened.

Ormar slithered into the clearing off to the side where they were waiting expectantly, all of them wearing dark clothes, and raised his head up high into the air on the strong muscles of his sleek body. One of the Nithavellir approached him cautiously.

"Is it time?" he asked in a voice that sounded like gravel scraping against rock, "Is the Alfar gone?"

The humongous python slowly nodded his head before lowering himself down to the ground and slithering off into the darkness of the woods.

"Come on," the Nithavellir said to the rest of the group, "let's set the charge and get in position."

They moved off, blending into the shadows as they made their way to the driveway in front of the house, far enough away that they couldn't be seen from the front garden. One of the small people bent over a small metal contraption as everyone else scattered to the surrounding trees to wait. The guy setting up the charge finished what he needed to do and ran off to the trees as a loud explosion rocked the air and a bright flash of fire shot up into the night.

After just a few minutes, the spent device was surrounded by several of the Aesir who were patrolling the grounds. The Nithavellir kept a count and stayed hidden until the milling, frantic group totaled twelve. As if this had been a signal to them, they emerged from the trees like dark oil spreading across the surface of water. They were deathly silent and blended in so well that the Aesir guards didn't see them until they were completely surrounded by the twenty small, evil-looking Nithavellir.

One of the guards quickly got out a cell phone and pushed a button to send out a call. He was immediately targeted by two of the attackers but the rest of the guards shot bolts of power out to keep the Nithavellir away from him. He quickly relayed the details of the situation to the person on the other end of the line and then put the phone away to join in the battle.

Nithavellir were jumping on the backs of guards and trying to gouge out eyes or rip out throats but despite their sharp nails and strong hands, they couldn't withstand an assault by a bolt of pure energy. As quickly as they could grab a guard, the Aesir would shock them off and counter the attack with powerful kicks and punches. The Aesir didn't want to run out of energy too quickly and they didn't know how long it would take for backup to arrive so they were conserving it as much as possible.

The Nithavellir quickly changed tactics and joined into pairs. As one was being repelled, the other would sneak in and do as much damage as possible before the guard was able to switch his attention. The guards could easily take on one by themselves, but trying to take on two at a time was too much. Three of them had succumbed to the onslaught but five of the attackers had been put out of action, as well, when a tall, dark-haired man detached himself from the shadows of the trees and started laughing in a deep, rumbling barking sound.

The action came to a halt as the fighters turned to see him. The Nithavellir started to grin wickedly as the guards quickly regrouped.

"Are you boys having fun?" Lucky asked with amusement. "Are you getting these lapdogs warmed up for the big game?"

The remaining Nithavellir snickered cruelly and turned back to the guards to press the attack once again.

They started to move to close the gap between them and the guards when they were shot by a powerful blast of energy that hit them like a physical strike and threw them back where they fell to the ground just in front of Lucky.

Instead of getting angry, Lucky let a wide grin light up his face. "Tyr," he said with a chuckle, "So nice of you to join the party."

"I didn't come out here to play games, Loki." Tyr shouted in his strong baritone voice. "This is the end. I'm not putting up with your threats and schemes anymore."

"Oh, you're not?" Lucky taunted, "What do you plan to do; take me off to jail like you did my son? You think I'm just going to lay down and let you carry me off!"

The Nithavellir didn't wait to see what the two Aesir were going to do; they came here to fight, not talk, and they wanted back in the action. They ran quickly at the Aesir guards and started up the attack once again.

Grima and Frey, who had come out with Tyr, stepped into the fight; Frey with a large sword and Grima carrying a long spear that she wielded with no wasted efforts. The guards used their remaining energy to blast the Nithavellir into a group and Frey and Grima quickly finished them off.

Lucky looked over the group of broken bodies with contempt.

"That doesn't matter," he said with a sneer, "I came here to fight you, Tyr. I know you won't deny me an honorable fight."

Tyr slowly made his way to a clear space as he and Lucky started to circle each other, looking for an opening.

"I doubt that any fight with you could be called honorable," Tyr said with derision, "but I'll take you on anyway."

And with that, the real battle began.

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