Chapter 2
~Dangerous~
 
 

Shredding... flesh tearing, ripping, burning.  That’s what it felt like. 

      Color and relentless darkness swirled around Azure as she fell, body twisting and contorting as pain riveted through her.  She had been falling for mere seconds, but she already pleaded for the death she knew would come.  Her body was coated in a thick layer of sweat as the color and shadows pulled at her skin and tried to rip her body apart. 

      Her head swam as she fell, careening as light bubbled around her, blinding her and increasing the ringing in her ears. 

      She had expected this when she had activated the Aroura, for activating it to its full abilities was suicidal.  It worked as a branch between worlds, but no one had ever tested it out after the planets surrounding them in the galaxy of Gar'verra. There was no where to go to.  She had done this even though she could be falling, feeling this terrible pain for eternity, at least she was now in the void where no one could reach her… not even Thanos.

      She saw something in the distance as she fell, gravitating towards it at an alarming pace.  She could barely make out the shape of a realm, built with gold upon a core of crystal like spires that reached down, as if they were clawing at the void below.

      Azure drew too close, body burning as she broke the sound barrier, falling fast through their atmosphere and shooting over a pine forest on the side of jagged mountains. 

      The force of her body rushing through the air tore branches off large trees and uprooted the smaller ones.  As her height decreased she slammed through branches that tore at her skin, leaving small gashes and drawing blood. 

      Azure cried out in shock and lifted her arms, shielding her face as she slammed into the trunk of a thick pine, crashing through it before she fell rapidly, landing upon the earth with a thundering crash, the beauty giving way for her body.  Dirt washed over the forest as her crater was formed and she lay there, unable to move or even breathe.

      Her eyes were open but blood shot and burning with tears.  She made no movement, and only felt her body in that moment.  The burn on her chest was intense, though her advanced senses would be capable of increasing the production of healing once she had retested long enough. 

      Chest heaving, Azure tried to roll to her side, lugs giving way for a tremendous roar of pain.  Her ribs were out of place, but not broken.  It was nearly impossible for Azure to break a bone; or any of her people, for that matter.  Their bones condensed and solid, like obsidian.  She wrapped her left arm around her ribs, propping her right leg up.  Her claws were stained with violet blood and her forearms covered with lacerations that bled mildly.     

      Azure drifted in and out, eyes clouding over as pain throbbed within her.  It could be likened to being high for the first time.  Her mind full of thick fog, unable to process sound and feeling properly, unable to take control of her body and fight.  So, there she lay, deaf, and blind to this new world around her. 

      She didn’t hear the sounds of horse hooves thundering a mile or so away, but she felt the vibrations that crawled across her back.  She didn’t care if she was found.  The sooner the better.  She wanted to end it, end the pain that tore at her heart from the savageness of her parting from her home and brothers. 

      The horses were armed with golden plates of armor, as were their riders, prepared to face whatever threat had caused so much damage and fear to the resident people.  The horses led their riders down the path of destruction, stopping at the base of a large tree as the leader of the company pulled the reigns.

      The leader of the company was black haired with a braided beard and narrow almond brown eyes.  He gazed up at the tree that had broken in half with a burning intensity. 

      “We’re close.”  He grunted in a thick accent.  He dismounted and the others hastily followed, hands on the hilts of their various weapons, prepared to face this threat. 

      The leader with the dark hair was Hogan, a member of the warriors three.  He stepped carefully across the forest floor that had been riddled with debris. 

      There was a great wind and their eyes turned to the skies as a man dropped from the sky, landing hard on the ground, sending a heavy vibration through the ground.  Hogan glared irritably at the man who stool tall before him.

      “You could have scared it off.”  Hogan grunted, adjusting his grip on his ribbed mace.

      “Whatever has caused such destruction isn’t afraid of the people of Asgard.  It wouldn’t run.”  The man said.  His accent was thick and he looked at Hogan with blue eyes and blonde hair pulled back out of his face.  This was Thor, prince of Asgard and heir to the throne under king Odin. 

      “Exactly.”  Hogan huffed as he continued, taking careful and calculated steps around the second half of the tree.  “It must be looking for a fight.”  He observed and drug his hand over the gnarled bark, his fingertips coming away, smeared with blood.

      “It’s hurt.”  Thor observed and adjusted his grip on the hammer he held in his hand.  Mjolnir, that was it’s given name.  A weapon so powerful it could harness the power of his bearer; forged from the heart of a dying star.

      There was a cry of pain that echoed from up ahead.  Thor and Hogan stared at one another before assuming the worst.  The cry sounded human, meaning whatever being had broken through their atmosphere had hurt a resident of Asgard.  Thor leapt into action first, running towards the source of the sound, Hogan and his patrol at his heals. 

      The lip of the crater could just be seen and they jogged up a small rise to peer down into it…  eyes wide they stared.

      Azure sat crouched in the crater, slowly lifting her aching head to stare at the approaching men.  Once her focus narrowed onto them she tensed.  No one breathed as her lips curled back displaying fangs stained with crimson from her bloodied nose. 

      “Who are you?!”  Thor boomed his grip on Mjolnir tightening.  Azures eyes took notice of this movement and she got swiftly to her feet.  Her legs were bent in that Canine way which startled the men that surrounded her.   Eyes wide with fear and pain, Azure snarled, claws poised as her legs coiled beneath her.

      Thor misunderstood the wild fear in her eyes for pure aggression and raised his hammer.  Azure's pupils reduced to pricks as set sprung to life.  Her legs pushed off against the earth, sending her shooting into Thor, colliding with his torso and sending the two of them flying. 

      Thor was shocked by her sudden attack and stared as she pinned him to the ground, jaws opening wide as she made a move to slice into his jugular.  Hogan pulled back his mace and sent it slamming into her body.  She rolled across the ground with the force of the impact and same to a stop in the dirt, body screaming as she staggered to her feet. 

      “Gēm!”  she roared, legs crossing in calculated grace as she shifted around the group of Asgardians.  Her claws glinting dully in the sunlight.   “Gēm!”  She repeated (away!). 

      Her words were lost on them, for no one could understand her, and she could understand no one.  “Stand down.”  Thor grunted and wiped dirt of his chin.  “You must face Oin, charged with assaulting a prince of Asgard!”  Thor roared, angry to have been pinned to the ground by a girl, no matter how beast-like she was.

      “Fēkõ gēm!”  Azure snarled, fear evident in her voice as she commanded them to back way. (Stay away).

      This was all horribly foreign to Azure.  She, along with the rest of her people had always assumed that traveling via Aurora would dropped you in the middle of a void of nothingness. 

      Her fangs were bared as she slowly began to circle the group of seven men.  Her eyes tracking their every movement as they followed her with their eyes.  To them she was a wild creature of instinct and unreasonable. 

      A man beside Hogan was unable to take the suspense and gripped his sword, shouting threateningly as he ran at her.  Azure's body coiled before she sprang forward, knocking into the man and pulling him to the ground, agility and strength was her best element, and in this cluttered forest she had the advantage as long as no one intruded.

      She lifted a hand, slashing her claws through his chest plate, tearing a section off with the sound of metal screaming.  His clothed chest was exposed to her, vulnerable and ready to be torn. 

      Another two men ran forwards, a spear cutting through the air.  Azure anticipated this and bent to the side, the spear missing the tips of her hair before it lodged itself into a tree.  Azure snarled, body shaking with rage and fear as she stood, arms spread, claws brandished.  Pain was throbbing within her, but it only fuled her wild rage. 

      Azure grabbed one of the men by the neck, slamming her head into his with a sickening crack.  Blood stained her forehead, but it did not belong to her veins.   She then turned on the next man, lashing out with her left leg, coiling it around his sword arm and yanking.  The man dropped his sword and Azure slammed her clawed fist into his chest, sending him keeling over. 

      She whirled as Hogan and Thor surrounded her with the help of the remaining men, eyes fixed on her.  Anger brimmed in Thor’s eyes as he lunged forward.  He swung his hammer, knocking it into her chest.  The weight of the weapon surprised her and she wobbled, falling onto her back.  She snarled, ears swiveling as she used her arms to turn her body, legs sliding underneath a man before he fell. 

      Hogan lunged forward in an attempt to protect the downed guard but Azure had her claws at his neck, pressing them into the tender flesh of his gullet, ready to pierce if need be. 

      Hogan and Thor froze as the man whimpered.  Azure’s chest rumpled with a quiet growl, the sound unyielding until Hogan raised his hands.  Him and Thor exchanged a look.  Azure didn’t let go of the man she held onto but when someone grabbed her ankle she threw her leverage down onto one of the men, turning back to the two left.

      “Now!”  Thor cried racing his hammer.  The sky above them darkened and light flashes in the sky.  Azure stared in awe as lighting crackled dramatically above her. 

      A spiral of light shot down, meeting Thor’s outstretched arm that held the hammer.  Her eyes widened as he pulled back, slamming the Bae of the weapon into the ground.  Light coursed beneath the dirt, tearing the soil as it reached for her.  The sound was thunderous and the force of the impact coiled with Azure, sending her sprawling until her back met the rough surface of a pine, the wood groaning with the force of her body. 

      Thor and Hogan drew near to her as she struggled to get up, eyes lifted to meet theirs before Hogan pulled his mace back, slamming it into the side of her head, watching as her eyes rolled back and as she collapsed.

      Thor was breathing heavily, watching for any sign of movement from the stranger.   “What is she?”  Thor grunted, wiping spit from his chin. 

      “I don’t know.”  Hogan breathed, looking down at the unconscious girl… “Whatever she is.. she is dangerous…”