Chapter 17

The explosion was felt through the entire palace putting the gang and the two Jothun princes on high alert.

"What in Norns name?!" Helblindi shouted as a large crack appeared on the walls.

"Sir, it came from below. The prisons." One of the guards mentioned.

"Well, don't just stand there man! Move it!" Býleistr shouted. That seemed to get everyone out of their stupor and had them all rushing towards the lower levels.

Meanwhile, down below, rubble from the ceiling had fallen causing an uneven surface. Those in the cells were largely unaffected but Sigyn and her Frost Giant escort were buried under it. The click-clack of heels could be heard as the dust settled causing the cells' occupants to look in the noise's direction. It was Laufey who reacted first at the sight of the woman that was casually approaching them. "You.... You....!" the Giant sputtered as his red eyes widened.

"Is that any way to greet your creator Laufey?" Ymir asked as she stopped in front of his cell. "You have greatly disappointed me," Her eyes narrowed as she looked down on the bruised former Frost Giant king.

"F.....Forgive me," Laufey said as he genuflected. "I encountered opposition when trying to recruit capable men for your army."

"Opposition?" Ymir queried. "You got opposition from other Jothuns?"

"Y....Yes..." Laufey mumbled.

"Preposterous," Ymir muttered as she started gathering magic in the palm of her hand.

"They..... They are tired of fighting oh great Creator!" Laufey reasoned. "Maybe with time......"

"The Jothuns exist for the sole purpose of fighting for MY glory!" Ymir told him without pause. "What good is a commander that cannot rally his troops." she said not noticing that the rubble nearby shifted. The Frost Giant had shielded Sigyn from the worst of the falling ceiling and they had only just gotten free. Sigyn had glanced in Ymir's direction and saw that she was about to send a glowing ball of magic straight at Laufey. She didn't like the giant but she also did not want to see him dead. Acting fast, Sigyn sent her own wind magic in the shape of an arrow to knock the ball off course. Ymir's magic hit Laufey in the shoulder instead of the heart causing her to turn angrily and look at the person who foiled her attack. Laufey let out a harsh breath while trying to stop the bleeding.

"Your weapon," The injured Jothun said as he handed Sigyn's warhammer back from out the rubble. She quickly looked him over and determined that he was in no condition to fight at the moment. Her own abdomen throbbed and a cut on her head was bleeding as she stood up and glared at Ymir. "Good luck," The Frost Giant managed to whisper as the two women were now caught in a stare off.

"And just who are you?" Ymir asked looking like she had just eaten a lemon. She stared at Sigyn with distaste.

"Your opponent," Sigyn said as she took a fighting stance, easily swinging her warhammer up. This caused Ymir however to let out an actual laugh.

"You?" The eons-old Giantess asked incredulously. "And here I was hoping for a challenge."

Sigyn's eyes narrowed but she would not fall for such tactics. She knew her opponent was just trying to goad her into attacking recklessly. The Valkyries still in the cell wisely backed up as the battle was about to start.

"Kynda!" Sigyn chanted causing a massive fireball to appear before her. She immediately sent it hurdling straight at Ymir.

Ymir was unimpressed and batted the fire away like it was a flea. She however did not anticipate the hammer behind the fire that came crashing into her. The weight and momentum that the hammer traveled with caused Ymir to be flung back. Sigyn hoped she had made quite a dent in the woman but sadly she was mistaken. Ymir, while being sent back a few meters, was still standing and the woman had managed to catch her warhammer.

"Interesting," Ymir quirked a brow. "There is gravity magic on this so you can control its weight," She commented before flinging the weapon back at Sigyn.

The Librarian ducked as the warhammer impacted the wall behind her. When she stood up she frowned at Ymir who was watching her expectantly. "Why give me back my hammer?" Sigyn asked as she gripped the long handle and easily lifted it.

"You are at a disadvantage against me either way," The other responded. "This might just give you a sporting chance."

"Don't you dare underestimate me! I still have some tricks up my sleeve!" Sigyn said as her eyes narrowed. She activated her flight magic, the same she had used to keep up with the dragon riders, and charged at Ymir. The two women clashed causing a powerful discharge of magic to sweep through the room and probably the whole upper floor.

The fight between the two women was still in full swing when Hiccup, Astrid, and the rest of the gang along with the Princes and several more sets of guards managed to make it through the rubble and thick magical aura. Their eyebrows shot up as they saw the women battling it out in the air. The icy cell doors had long since been broken due to the fight and the Valkyries were huddling the other prisoners into safe zones so as not to become casualties. One of the Valkyries was even attending to Laufey's shoulder and managed to stop the bleeding.

"I must say," Ymir said while dusting off some invisible lint. "You have surprised me." A ball of white energy gathered in her hand now. The same magic she was going to use to end Laufey. "But tell me," She smirked. "What would you do, when you can't get to the ones you care about in time?" With that she lobbed the ball of energy at the Valkyries that were attending to the wounded.

"NO!" Sigyn's eyes widened and she turned her head sharply. She was too far away to stop the magic. Astrid acted quickly and used Stormfly's magnesium fire to intercept the ball of magic mid-air. Sigyn gave her a grateful nod but then Ymir whispered in her ear, having gotten way too close while the other was distracted. "Your opponent is me," She laughed before hurdling Sigyn towards the ground with alarming speed. The Asgardian let out a breath as she managed to get up. Sigyn proceeded to glare darkly at the chuckling Ymir.

"As amusing as toying with you ants is, I do have other business to take care of here." Ymir spoke looking not even out of breath.

"You. Are. Going. Nowhere!" Sigyn growled angrily while punctuating each word. She was covered in cuts and bruises and bleeding more profusely from her temple but the woman had Ymir in her sights and was not about to loosen her grip. Sigyn gathered what magic she had left and used her hammer, pointed at Ymir, to channel it. Soon two magic circles appeared on top of each other one was scarlet while the one below that seemed to be a soothing seafoam green. Both conjured circles crackled with magic and Brynhildr who recognized the attack for what it was ordered everyone to take up defensive positions and use and all shield spells they could cast.

"Kynda! Stormr!" Sigyn called out causing a stream of fire and gale force winds to come out of the magic circles. The two spells fused and engulfed Ymir, as well as the dungeon wall. The large fiery cyclone kept going straight and when it was over the gang could see a very large hole in the wall, or more precisely several walls, as well as one of the palace towers that was crumbling. "My bedroom!" Helblindi shouted but he was mostly ignored. Everyone looked around to see if Ymir was still there but they could not find any trace of her.

Sigyn sank to her knees, completely exhausted and magically drained at the moment. "Holy Hell in a handbasket!" Dagur's brows shot up as he looked at Sigyn, the large hole in the wall, and then back at Sigyn again. He would never have guessed that the geeky head-librarian he and Meixiu had been conversing with for more than a week could have had that up her sleeve. Hiccup and Astrid had rushed to Sigyn to help her up while the guards took charge of the prisoners that were still huddled together.

"Is she gone?" Hiccup asked, "Like really gone?"

"No," Sigyn growled as she stood on shaky knees and leaned on her weapon. "That was just an Afterimage spell. I realized it too late."

"Afterimage spell?" Astrid asked as they helped the woman walk back to the group.

"Something akin to the Astral projection spell but more solid." Sigyn mumbled as she found a place to sit. "You can channel your power through an afterimage but not an astral projection."

"So she's still in......."

"Niflheim, yes." Sigyn sighed. "And probably near a very large power source if she could channel that much magic. But I'm more interested at what she wanted." Sigyn said and this time looked straight at Laufey. "You know don't you? She came here for another reason than to kill you."

"Yes" Laufey hissed out as his shoulder throbbed. He pursed his lips but he still answered Sigyn, mainly because the woman had saved his life. "She came here to retrieve her weapon from the Springs of Creation."

"Her........ Weapon?" Fishlegs squeaked while Heather's eyes narrowed.

"The bow Ragnarøkkr, capable of ripping the Realms asunder." The former King said with such finality. The entire room had turned so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Surprisingly it was Snotlout who broke the silence with "OH YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!"