Night draped itself over Asgard like a velvet curtain, but the city blazed with light.
The golden towers shimmered against the dark sky, glowing with the strange, pulsing energy that only the gods could tame.
Laughter echoed down marble streets; music, raw and jubilant, poured from every open hall. Tonight, Asgard celebrated.
At the heart of it all, Soren found himself with a heavy goblet in his hand and Thor's voice in his ear.
"Soren!" Thor bellowed, sloshing golden wine over the rim of his own massive cup.
"How's the drink of the gods, eh?"
Soren lifted his goblet. The wine was thick, sweet, and burned like fire down his throat, but his enhanced body barely registered the alcohol.
Around them, warriors clashed tankards, beautiful women spun in wild, fiery dances, and the night pulsed with life.
He raised his cup in return.
"Better than most mortal swill."
"Though I thought gods would brew something... stronger."
Thor barked a laugh loud enough to rattle the plates on the banquet tables.
"Stronger?! You insult our honor!" Thor slamming his cup onto the table so hard the wood creaked.
"Then drink, mortal! Drink until the stars fall!"
Soren laughed, a real, open laugh, and tipped back his goblet. He lost count of how many refills came after that.
The warriors of Asgard, proud, boisterous, half-drunk, gathered thick around them, tankards raised high, shouting for more songs, more wine, more stories.
Drums pounded in the distance. Dancers twirled like firebrands in the center of the hall, their movements fierce and wild, earning roars of approval from the crowd.
Thor clapped Soren on the back, nearly knocking him forward into a roast boar.
"By the Norns! You drink like a dwarf!" Thor roared with admiration.
His cheeks were ruddy, his hair loose from its usual ties.
"I'm starting to think you're not human at all, Soren!"
Soren wiped his mouth, chuckling.
"Just good genes."
At that, a new voice cut through the haze of laughter and song.
"Oi! Healer Soren!" A broad-shouldered young warrior with a braided beard stumbled forward, sloshing wine over his breastplate.
"Heard you crushed that cursed dark elf Malekith! Saved the Nine Realms and all!"
The crowd around them whooped and clanged their goblets together.
Thors pounded his chest with a fist. "I say we see if the man fights as well as he drinks!"
The crowd roared louder, stomping the stone floor with their boots. Some even pounded the tables, chanting:
"Fight! Fight! Fight!"
Soren leaned back in his seat, eyebrows raised, looking amused.
Before he could answer, another Asgardian, red-faced and half-toppled in his chair, hollered,
"Bah! You'd be kissing the dirt before you even drew your blade! Only one worthy to challenge Soren's might!" He swung an arm dramatically toward Thor, nearly clocking another man in the head
"Is our future king!"
"THOR!" The hall roared in drunken approval.
"THOR!THOR!THOR!"
Thor shifted awkwardly, scratching the back of his neck.
He could feel the crowd's eager eyes pressing in, the warriors of Asgard chanting his name between gulps of mead.
Friendly duels were the lifeblood of Asgard, but still, he wasn't sure if Soren, an outsider, would find it insulting.
Before Thor could fumble out an apology, Soren just laughed low, easy, and confident.
"Thor."
"Let's give them a show. No magic. No powers."
"Fists and skill."
"See if Asgard's finest can stand up to a little real fighting."
The hall erupted in whoops and whistles.
Thor's grin widened. His heart, forever hungry for battle, thundered in his chest.
"You've got guts." Thor shook the lingering haze of drink from his head.
"Don't expect me to go easy on you."
Soren casually setting down his goblet, the floor vibrating slightly under the heavy cheers.
"I'll worry about myself."
"You should worry about staying on your feet."
Thor barked out a laugh and stomped toward the center of the hall, where the crowd had eagerly cleared a wide ring around them.
"Fighting only!" Thor called out, raising his hand in a vow.
"No magic force, no tricks!"
The warriors around them roared approval, slamming the hilts of their blades against the ground in rhythm.
"Understood."
"But don't blame me if you wake up with a black eye."
Thor's blue eyes gleamed, all laziness gone, replaced by the thunderous energy of a born warrior.
With a guttural roar, he charged, muscles coiled, fist pulled back, a punch so heavy it split the air.
The crowd gasped, some of the maidens squealed and clutched at each other, their eyes amazed.
Soren didn't move. Didn't even blink.
At the very last second, when Thor's hammer fist blurred toward his face, Soren smiled, a small, almost taunting curl of the lips, and stepped.
Not away.
In.
With a precise snap of his shoulder, Soren drove his own fist forward, straight into Thor's.
BOOM
A shockwave burst outward from the point of impact, toppling nearby goblets, rattling the great wooden tables, sending loose plates spinning onto the floor.
꧁𓊈𒆜༺⚜༻𒆜𓊉꧂
PhantomDream