Chapter Text
“Lord Hrid. We have him.”
Hrid closed his eyes, nodding. It had taken a while, but finally after months of stakeouts, they had finally managed to track and even subdue the source of the darkness that now plagued his kingdom. According to the reports from his generals, the one responsible was the retainer to Lady Embla, the goddess of closure herself. He heard back from Fjorm, how Embla’s forces had been attacking the realm of Midgard, specifically Askr as well as parts of the Emblian empire. Why his kingdom was now being targeted, he did not know.
But that was what he was about to find out. Hrid stood up and made his way to the dungeons. If the servant of Lady Embla desired to be released, then he would be complacent. Hopefully, some negotiations could be made. Yet he had this feeling in the back of his mind, that was going to be far from the case.
Dammit.
Elm paced back and forth around in his cell, muttering under his breath. Damn these Niflese people.
He was loath to admit, but he had gotten cocky. Because Nifl was still recovering from its battle with Muspell, he figured he would take advantage of the kingdom’s weakened state. His plan was successful in the beginning, but he wasn’t expecting that Hrid and his forces had been tracking him down this whole time, waiting for him to let his guard down before completely overwhelming him and his unit. Everyone besides him was killed off, and he was taken prisoner as a result.
It was winter now in Nifl, which made conditions down in the dungeons rather unforgiving. Pacing around his cell did nothing to help remedy that. Elm finally sighed and collapsed to his knees, wrapping his wing-like cape around himself in an attempt to keep warm. Parts of his cell were frozen. Even the door was iced over.
Wait.
Looking at it further, he realized that the door was completely made out of ice. Really, ice? As though that’s going to hold the retainer to Lady Embla? The people of Nifl might not be as strategic as he thought. All he had to do was shatter that door, and he would be well on his way to freedom!
He didn’t have his weapon with him, but…it didn’t matter. It was only ice. As a Divine Beast, a careful, calculated strike would blow the door to smithereens. Elm transformed into his bat self, and readied himself to strike. He found the perfect spot to attack and then–
BONK!
“Gnngah!!”
His attack barely left a dent. If anything, it left a small bruise on his head. Groaning, he charged up another attack, unwilling to be defeated by a mere block of ice. But this attempt met with the same result. Growing increasingly annoyed at all these failed attempts, Elm let out a frustrated screech and began attacking the ice over and over again. Yet nothing, no matter where and how hard he hit, would shatter it. Exhausted, he transformed back into his human form. Already, he could feel his head throb from the pain.
“The door has been fortified with magic. It will not melt, nor will it crack no matter how hard you attack it.”
Elm stopped his continuous blows when he heard the voice. A silver haired man appeared from the darkness of the corridors. Elm took a moment to glance him up and down, taking note of his regal attire and figuring he could be of some higher standing. While he could acknowledge the man’s strikingly handsome appearance, he just rolled his eyes and turned his back to him.
“I never asked.”
“I figured I’d explain that your efforts to escape will get you nowhere. But that’s not why I’m here.”
Elm reluctantly moved to meet the other man’s gaze. “And…you are?”
“My name is Hrid, the Prince of Nifl.”
“The prince, huh?” He jeered. “So, I’d be willing to bet on why you’d be so eager to meet with me right now.”
“...Why are you doing this?”
"So quick to the chase? Tch.” Elm stretched his arms behind his back, yawning. “And? What about it?”
Hrid grit his teeth. This arrogant…he was lucky he was behind a wall of fortified ice. “The war between Embla and Askr is over. So why are you still targeting villages, closing them off? Why are you targeting my kingdom specifically?”
“Oh. Your kingdom was easy. After the whole war with Muspell, it stood no chance.”
The prince of ice was normally calm, composed, slow to react to anger. But after the death of his mother and sister, learning of his other sister’s sacrifice that would eventually lead to her death as well, narrowly escaping death fighting Surtr and his daughters…
He slammed his fist against the door of Elm’s cell. The ice spider-webbed and crunched from the blow despite its fortified powers. Elm, surprised, stumbled back onto the cell’s cot.
“But…you said it was magically fortified…”
Hrid didn’t answer, just glaring at Embla’s retainer while he rested his fist against the cell’s now cracked door. A small glow emanated from him, and with a small flash of light, the door was repaired to what it was before.
“My powers are ice.” He murmured, barely coming out as a growl. “I can create it, as well as destroy. Don’t even try to test me.”
Elm blinked a couple times, shocked. Then he grinned. “Or…what?”
Hrid narrowed his eyebrows, glaring daggers at Embla’s retainer. When he found that this intimidation didn’t work, he just sighed and with a wave of his cape retreated back to his room. Elm watched as he left, grinning triumphantly.
“Yeah…that’s what I thought.”