He didn't expect the dragon to be there when he jumped.
But he was.

Quickly, Baldur chased to the top of his head and glanced into the creatures eye.

"I hope you weren't too late.", he warmed and tied the boy to the saddle. "And you. Well, let's pray you're what I want. Otherwise... this won't end pretty."

Pulling a face, he took a step back to have a better view of where the dragon was flying. It would be best to return to your side. There was this unsettling feeling inside his chest. It made his heart pull together with every beat.

But as his eyes wandered up to the mountaintop again, a curse left Baldur's lips.

"Atreus!", the voice of the stranger chased through the air, followed by a thud.

Annoyed, Baldur clenched his hands into fists. He didn't have time for this.

"Don't you know when to give up?!", he screamed, feeling the rage grow inside.

He was fed up with this. He just wanted to go back to the ponds, back to you. He longed for the moment when you would touch him again and he would be able to feel it for the very first time.

Oh, how excited that thought made him.

With a leap, Baldur come closer to the man.

But reached out and timed their hits so perfectly that each one of them stumbled back with a groan. Blood dripped from their noses.

"Why won't you let me have what everyone deserves?!", Baldur asked and wanted to push him off the dragon.

But the man grabbed him by the torso, turned him on his back and let fists rain down on him.

Unimpressed, Baldur let it happen. He didn't feel the impact anyways and it was only a waste of his energy to try and fight against it. It was only a matter of time until the old prick would be exhausted.

"STAY. AWAY. FROM. MY. SON!", the man screamed with so much rage that the blood on his hands seemed to start burning.

He kicked his face, jumped up and wanted to run across the dragons armoured back to grab his son.

With a jump, Baldur reached him, tore him off his feet and almost fell into the depths.

"You won't stop me!", he screamed, fed up by the resistance that kept him away from that one thing he desired more than anything. "I will break you! Why won't you die?!"

The man pulled his head in, dodged a hit and returned it with such force, that Baldur almost lost his balance and flew into the air.

With an exhausted groan, he landed next to the boy, but manages to jump up just in time to catch the man mid air. Groaning and growling, the two fell on their backs and started wrestling.

The man was powerful, it was easy to tell. Despite the curse, Baldur still had to struggle. In that moment he felt so different from usual fights. He felt average, instead of mighty.

The realisation made a smile light up on his face.

"Finally.", he hissed and pushed the man off him. "Someone interesting!"

He reached out to land the final hit.

But the man took him by surprise.

With a scream, he dodged the fist, grabbed him and slid off the edge.

He must have hoped it would make his enemy falter and fall, but Baldur's reflexes were as sharp as ever.

Quickly, his hand jumped up and grabbed the soft metal of the armour to bury his fingers in.

The dragon screamed. He shook himself as if he was trying to get rid of some vermin.

The man did the same, found a place to hold onto and started punching Baldur in the face.

With every hit, blood splashed up.

One more kick and he couldn't hold on any longer.

With his teeth gritted, Baldur was thrown into the air and caught by a powerful wind.

His eyes jumped through the sky, thinking what he could do to prevent falling to earth like a rock.

His hands jumped up, grabbed one of the leather strands that attached the armour to his dragon and held onto it. He turned, his feet pressing against the dragons belly, and pushed himself back up again.

He crawled back onto the dragons neck just in time to catch the man off guard. With one kick into the face he threw him away so far that he slid over the dragons wing and out of his field of vision.

An annoyed sound left Baldur's lips.

"Finally...", he rolled his eyes.

But not a second later, the creature below him started to scream.

With his eyes filled with horror, the dragon threw his head back and started screaming as if the life was about to get drained from him.

Confused, Baldur frowned.

All of a sudden, the dragon started trembling. He lost his balance, the left wing gave in. Blood filled the air like rain.

Struck by the vibration, Baldur lost balance.

He threw a glance over his shoulder.

In the distance, the stranger lost his grip and disappeared.

"That fucker!", he hissed and grabbed the boy.

Not a moment later, the dragon crashed into the temple in the middle of the lake.

Huffing, Baldur wrapped his arms around the boy and let himself get thrown across the room. Blue light filled his eyes. Magic was in the air.

Blood covered the floor as his loyal companion broke down with a soft scream from its mouth.

"No!", Baldur jumped up, but realised it was no use.

A pillar had pierced the neck of the creature. It was already dead.

"You better be worth this!", he growled and grabbed the unconscious boy to drag him over to the activator of the bridge.

All of a sudden, the door was torn open and the stranger rushed in. His face was distorted by anger.

"Too late!", he laughed. "It's locked in."

With a growl, the man wrapped his large hands around his neck.

Baldur grinned.

"And when the bridge opens the full weight of Asgard will come crashing down on you. Ha!", he dug, grabbed his head and smashed it onto the metal device. "It's over."