Martin had never rode on horseback before, let alone a horse that could travel between worlds, but he quickly learned that he did not enjoy it. Luckily for him it was a quick, yet agonizingly quiet ride that only took around twenty minutes via the magical horse. After departing Valhalla, Kara guided her steed toward the massive tree floating through the endless abyss. As they neared Yggdrasil, Martin could see the massive figure of Nidhogg just below the base of the tree.
"I shall drop you at the outskirts of Midgard for a quicker route to the roots of Yggdrasil, from Midgard it should take you about an hour to reach the roots." Kara informed Martin as they began to descend to the base of the tree.
"How the hell am i supposed to slay something that big?" Martin asked as he gazed upon the massive entity.
"You'll find a way. You have no other choice." Kara replied as she glanced down to her right.
"HOLD TIGHT!" Kara yelled as she pulled the Horses' reigns and tried to avoid a large creature hurtling toward them.
The creature was a winged demon, covered in flames with one horn protruding from the center of its forehead. The creature had missed but turned sharply to come back at them. Kara raised her spear, aiming for its head as it sped toward them once more. The creature veered to the right at the last second to avoid Kara's Spear, and plunged itself face first into Martin's Axe, pulling Martin off of the horse and toward a fiery sea below. Martin pulled the axe free from the demon's skull and grabbed the horn of the demon to hold onto as he plummeted.
Kara steered the horse straight down at full speed, catching Martin and pulling him back onto the horse as the demon plunged into the flames. As Martin fixed himself on the horse, Kara veered the steed hard to the side, crashing onto a volcanic bank to avoid the lava. Upon impact the horse fell down throwing Kara and a Martin to the ground, letting out a shrill scream of pain as it collapsed onto the ground.
Martin rose to his feet and extended his hand to help Kara. She ignored his offer, grabbed her spear and stood, making her way to her injured companion.
"She has a sprained leg, she won't be able to walk, let alone fly until I am able to heal her." Kara explained to Martin "I shall stay here while you venture toward Helheim, from there you can descend the roots of Yggdrasil. We shall catch up to you within an hour or so, she won't be able to fly for a while but I can get her running again shortly."
"Where are we now? And which way do I go?" Martin asked as he looked around at the vast empty plains of fire.
"We are currently in Muspellheim, be cautious there are many demons in this land. You shall head north away from the Fire Sea, and you will find a root descending to Helheim." Kara told him as she pointed northward.
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Kara approached the horse and removed a horn with a leather strap attached from saddlebag.
"Take this, if you are in peril, blow this and I will come to you as quick as I can" Kara explained as she handed the horn to Martin.
"Blow horn if getting torn to shreds by demons or falling into a pit of lava, Got it." Martin replied sarcastically. "Well I guess I'll get going, thank you."
Martin turned away from Kara and began crossing the fire plains. Kara bent down and began tending to her steed.
After about 15 minutes of walking, Martin began to feel the earth under him shake. The shaking became stronger and Martin realized something was coming from below and began sprinting to avoid it as it emerged from the volcanic rock.
A new demon emerged, this demon was 10 foot long and 5 foot tall, walking on four legs it looked like a pitch black rhino with three horns protruding across its head. The demon charged at Martin revealing a wide mouth full of razor sharp teeth.
Martin rolled out of the way, and raised his axe as the creature charged by and struck its back leg. The axe bounced off of the thick hide of the demon and fell out of Martin's hands.The creature turned sharply aiming its horns at Martin.
"I need to grab my axe and then quickly aim for its head." Martin thought to himself as he and the demon stared into each others eyes.
Martin and the Demon began charging at the same time, Martin leapt toward his axe and grabbed it. As Martin raised his axe to strike the demon, a large blood red demon plummeted from the sky and beheaded the smaller demon with a large flaming sword made of obsidian.
The new demon pried its blade from the earth and turned toward Martin. The demon was around 12 foot tall with horns around around its head like a crown with the largest in the center. The new demon bent down, picked up the slain demon's head and threw it at Martin in one fluid motion. Martin barely managed to jump out of the way, and as he stood back on his feet the new demon began to walk toward Martin.
"Another Midgardian sent to be slaughtered by Odin I see." The demon stated as it made its way toward Martin. "I Surtr shall put you out of your misery."
Martin turned and began running with all his strength. The demon crouched then rocketed itself into the air, readying its blade to come down on Martin. Martin saw the shadow on the ground, looked up and saw the demon descending rapidly toward him. Martin stopped and rolled backward as the blade plunged into the earth once more. Martin wasted no time, he gripped the axe with both hands bringing it across the lower side of Surtr.
Surtr let out a deep bellowing cry, then back handed Martin sending him flying a short ways. Martin stood unsteadily as Surtr leapt into the air once more. The demon rose his flaming blade above his head, readying it to strike Martin. Martin readied his own axe in both hands, hoping to parry the giant's blade and the Rune began to glow a soft blue.
The sword came down upon Martin's Axe and a surge of strength rushed through Martin as he deflected the flaming sword back up into Surtr's face, breaking the horn in the center of its crowned head.
The Horn fell as Surtr backed away, Howling in pain and anger. Martin picked the horn from the ground, and began to back away with it as Surtr continued its rage.
In an instant, an object smashed into the demon's chest, exploding with lightning. Surtr was launched several hundred feet away, crashing into the ground.
A large bearded man landed beside Martin, reaching out his palm toward Surtr's direction. A moment later, a large hammer landed into his hand.
"I am Thor, Son of Odin, my father sent me to aid you. Hand me your Battleaxe." The God explained to Martin as he reached out his hammer toward the battleaxe.
Martin lifted the battleaxe toward the hammer and a spark of lightning leapt toward axe, engraving a new rune into the blade.
"This rune shall give your axe the ability to return to your hand such as Mjolnir does to me." The god explained."Now you must be going, I shall take care of Surtr."
Thor turned away from Martin and blasted into the air toward Surtr who was lifting himself up. Martin began running toward the root, only stopping once he reached it.
Martin took a moment to catch his breath then pulled his flask out of his jacket pocket, taking a large swig and emptying the flask. Martin sighed then began to descend the large tendril into the darkness below.