"Your majesty, there is one more thing to report," Yalena said just before finishing up the daily report. "There was a large explosion in America, a secret SHIELD facility, total devastation, still much is unknown, but SHIELD fully mobilized their forces right after."
That had me look up from the report I was skimming. This was far more important than yet another request for a freer capital system. Fewer restrictions and less price control. It was really unending.
"Do we know anything else?" I asked.
"I'm afraid not, they are keeping the cards close to their hands, but whatever it is, it's serious, real serious." She reported.
I narrowed my eyes, "Nothing from your sister?"
"Only that she is alive, we don't talk about our jobs."
I couldn't help but admire the two of them; they had grown so much, both of them. Ever since being reunited. They still had their issues, but given that they were essentially spies working on two different sides, they got along surprisingly well.
Few relationships could survive that kind of difference in loyalty.
"Very well, what you have brought to me is important." I said as I stood up. "So important in fact that I need to act."
The events Yalena had described were something I had asked them to track long ago; it might have been strange, but really, it wasn't.
Massive explosions in secret weapons labs aren't a small matter, nor is it something that can make SHIELD go on full alert.
SHIELD was powerful, maybe more so here than it would have been without me around. The threat of Camelot and Albion needed a response, and Fury had positioned himself to be that. He got even greater amounts of support from the UN, and with his swelling budget, so did his forces and means.
One must never forget that Fury was entrusted with the greatest and most powerful weapon humanity had, the atomic bomb.
And that was before he tried to gear up for dealing with me.
His current power was beyond most nations, and anything that could freak something like that off was dangerous.
Walking through the castle, I quickly found Sir Agravain.
"Your majesty." He greeted me.
I held up a hand to cut him off, "Sir Agravain, I need to prepare the city, the realm, and my knights. Tell them this: We are preparing for war!"
Sir Agravain stiffened, eyes widening slightly. "War, my king?"
"I do not wish it to reach my realm, but it seems Earth might find itself besieged by enemies from the stars. I can't be sure Albion won't face their aggression, so it's better to be safe." I replied, my tone sharp as steel.
Agravain bowed deeply. "I will see to the readiness of the Round Table and alert Sir Gawain. The capital will be on high alert."
"Good. Keep Camelot calm, but vigilant. No public declarations yet," I ordered as I swept past him, my cloak brushing the marble floor. "If this is what I think it is, panic would spread faster than the truth."
"What will you do, my king?" He quickly asked, rushing to my side as if wanting to stop me.
"I will go to Asgard and seek answers." I answered resolutely.
"My king, you shouldn't rush off on your own. Why not send a messenger? Maybe Sir Gareth?" He asked, clearly unwilling to have me go off on my own.
Yet I simply shook my head without stopping. "To visit the home of the gods, none but me can do it; only a god may stand in the halls of the gods and not bow. So, I have to do it, but fear not, my loyal knight, I shall come to no harm within the halls of Asgard."
Agravain slowed but did not try to bar my path again. His jaw was set, his knuckles white where his gauntlets gripped his sword hilt. "Then at least take Lancelot or Mordred with you. Do not go alone."
I paused at the threshold of the great hall and looked back at him. "This is not a quest for a sword-arm, Agravain. This is a matter of words, not war." My voice softened a fraction. "I will return. Hold Camelot until I do."
He bowed deeply, the steel of his armor ringing faintly. "By my life, my king."
I turned from him and continued through the castle. My boots rang against the stone as I passed servants, clerks, and guards who all bowed low but did not meet my eyes.
Even without speaking, they could sense it—the storm in my bearing. Something great was moving beyond the horizon, and Albion's Lionheart was striding straight toward it.
As I passed through a doorway, I changed into my armor, a flash of gold covered me, and my entire body was encased in magic shaped into steel.
My divine powers started to leak out of me; most couldn't feel it, but my knights did. They knew something was happening and came towards the castle, making it easier for Agravain to inform them of what was happening.
But it wasn't them I wanted to reach, no, my divine aura reached beyond them, to the walls of Camelot. There, in the shadows of those great white walls, lay a small, simple building, one where few people were allowed.
The royal stables.
There my horses lived, dozens of the finest steeds in the land.
That included my own personal steeds, Dun Stallion, the white steed, and Llamrei, the black steed.
Both belong to my Lancer forms, one for the white lion, and one for my dark Alter Lancer.
Those horses weren't normal, and they too felt my aura and knew what it meant.
Dun Stallion felt the summoning and whined loudly, kicking open the doors and running into the streets, making tourists scream and panic as he rushed through the streets of Camelot, rushing towards the castle.
"Father!" Mordred greeted me as I came out of the castle, having rushed there when she felt my power flood the city.
"No, Mordred, I go alone. Go see Agravain; he can explain it to you more." I said as I stopped before Dun Stallion, who reached the castle just as I reached the bottom of the stairs.
"But Father?" Mordred asked, not satisfied with my answer. But I was already on Dun Stallion's back.
"Come, Dun Stallion, ride!" I shouted, ignoring Mordred as my horse burst into motion.
The streets of Camelot were filled with people. My own people, those who lived in Camelot and those who came to see it from all corners of my realm, but also outsiders, the few tourists that were still allowed into my kingdom.
Seeing me come riding down the streets caused them not to make way, but to stop and stare, to take pictures and videos of me.
It did make it a lot harder to make my way through my city, but Dun Stallion was clever and still managed to make his way through the crowds.
Outside, I steered him towards the small walled-in circle of grass, the mark of the Bifrost still seared into the ground from Loki's last visit.
As we reached the center, I summoned forth my lance, the divine weapon Rhongomyniad shone in my hand, and I pointed it towards the heavens, feeling a gaze fall onto me.
"Heimdal!" I shouted, my voice came out like thunder, strong enough to shake the great banners hanging on the wall behind him. "I seek an audience, welcome me to Asgard!"
For a heartbeat, there was silence. Then the air shimmered, as if the world itself were drawing breath. The faint hum of the universe became audible — a deep, resonant vibration that filled the bones more than the ears.
The Bifröst answered.
A beam of prismatic light descended upon the field with the force of a falling star, striking the grass and stone until they hissed and steamed. Wind tore through the clearing, bending trees and sending dust spiraling. Dun Stallion reared, but I held him steady, my voice unyielding even against the fury of divine power.
The light grew brighter—painfully bright—and then, just as suddenly, it steadied into form. The Bifröst opened.
Much like when I had teleported with Nightcrawler, I noticed more than most people would.
The world under Dun Stallion's hooves disappeared; instead, a surge of energy gripped up and down, and changed. We entered a straw-like space, where space was manipulated masterfully.
Distance became almost pointless; tens of thousands of light-years were reduced to mere meters. This allowed for travel across the universe, maybe not always instant, but to cross a galaxy in seconds, it's not far from it.
I could also see a flaw, a great giant flaw in this design, though maybe it wasn't a real flaw; folding space like this could cause great instability where the bridge connected. It was why a mark was burned into the ground when it was used.
It wasn't intentional, but because of this flaw, the folded space still had its own rules, gravity might flip and flob around, but it was still there, and it could cause quite a bit of problems if it was allowed to interact with a planet for too long.
Something that could make this convenient means of transportation into a weapon of planetary annihilation. And one that couldn't easily be defended against.
The bridge was just space twisting and turning, compressing and extending; it wasn't really something you could hit, which was no doubt why Asgard was so feared across the cosmos.
Only nine realms large, a small army, but with Odin at the helm, and the ability to destroy enemy capital worlds, none would dare challenge them.
Dun Stallion stood unsteady on his legs when the trip finally ended. While the trip was smooth, it was still disorienting for him. The rush of color and feeling of flying wasn't something he was used to.
Before us stood a giant of a man, golden armor and a great sword in his hands, his eyes were all-seeing. "Arthuria Pendragon," he said, his deep voice carrying effortlessly across the bridge. "Welcome to Asgard."
I inclined my head at him, keeping Rhongomyniad at my side without pointing it at him. "Heimdal, Watcher of Realms, guardian of Asgard, it is an honor to meet you."
He inclined his head slightly, the faintest smile ghosting across his face — an expression that on most men would have seemed warm, but on him felt more like the shifting of stone.
"The honor is mutual," Heimdall said. "You are a friend of Loki, and of Asgard. I have seen your care for Thor, even if he hasn't seen it. I have seen you advise Loki, you are a friend."
I gently tugged the reins and had Dun Stallion turn around, watching the cosmos beyond Asgard. "Tell me, Heimdal, when you look upon Midgard, did you see that explosion, one fearsome enough to shake the earth itself?"
Heimdal looked out at the cosmos as well, his gaze reaching far further than mine. "I saw it, but it is hardly a great deal, is it? Just another folly of humanity."
I hummed lightly, "Maybe… maybe not. I fear it is something greater, some dark hand extending itself towards Midgard while the All-father sleeps."
"Is that so? I have seen nothing, yet there are things my eyes fail to see. I presume you are here because of this?" He asked, eyes still locked on something far in the distance.
"Indeed, I seek an audience with Lord Loki and the Queen," I requested, causing a brief pause.
"Very well, they both wish to see you, Asgard is open to you, Goddess of Midgard."
(End of chapter)
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