Fire and Ice

It’s not possible. You stood frozen in place. The entrance to the Bifrost lay just 20 meters ahead of you but you couldn’t force yourself forward. It’s an illusion...right? In front of you stood Heimdall, completely frozen in ice. On either side of him stood a Frost Giant, their eyes locked on you. What’s happening? Without realizing your feet began to move backwards, retreating down the rainbow bridge. Stop. Your body was not obeying. What are you doing?! Your feet continued to move backward. I said stop. Your body finally obeyed coming to a stop now 30 meters away from the Bifrost entrance. Illusion or not, I cannot leave Heimdall. Your eyes moved to focus on Heimdall, his position looked like he was frozen while attacking the Frost giants, something you did not doubt they had the powers to do. But there had to be a way to get him out, to unfreeze him. He can't be dead...right? As if sensing your question you noticed the slightest twitch in Heimdall's eyes. He is alive! Okay, I just need to take out these two and I can save him. Your eyes shifted between the two Frost Giants, both at least double if not triple your size. You knew your flames had little to no effect on them, and as for weapons, all you had were two small knives. I'm screwed. Your hands began to shake as you felt another blast of cold hit your face. The Frost Giants seemed to sense your hesitation and took advantage of it, both beginning to charge at you forming swords of ice in their hands. Snap out of it! You clenched your fists and a burst of flames erupted from both, hitting the ground with force before dissipating. The act seemed to startle the giants who came to a quick stop about 10 meters away. 

“Weak flames like that will not be able to save him.” 

That did it. All the fear you had felt was instantly replaced with rage. You quickly grabbed the knives out of your boot and began running towards them in a full sprint. You refused to lose someone else important to you. The one Frost Giant was posed ready for the attack, the other however still seemed puzzled by flames a few moments ago. You took that to your advantage and made a slight turn for him. You tossed a knife in his direction. He snapped out of the trace in time for him to raise his sword to deflect the knife. Perfect. You gave a slight smirk, with his sword raised, you were blocked from his view. You took the chance to dive between his legs, quickly popping up on the other side and jumping on his back driving your other knife into his neck. The Giant let out a low growl and lurched forward causing you to be tossed from his back onto the rainbow bridge. You rolled a few times before regaining your footing, and not a moment too soon. The other Giant stood over you, sword raised. You quickly rolled out of the way of the first swing, however could not regain your balance quickly enough to dodge the second one. The tip of the sword caught your side opening a small gash. You quickly stumbled out of reach, clutching your side. Not good. Normally your powers make up for your lack of fighting skills, but they were useless against them. Your eyes darted between the two Giants. The one you got with your knife was face down on the bridge, your knife was still in his neck but ice began to cover the blade. You knew there was no getting it out. Your eyes flicked back to the Giant in front of you who seemed to be sizing you up as well. No weapons, no fire... You bit your lip, trying to think of a way out of this, but the other frost giant had enough. He dashed towards you an ice sword in each hand now. Damn. You waited for the swing of the first sword ducking out of its way, but the second sword came in too quick. You tried to pull away but it caught your cheek opening a gash just under your eye. You stumbled back again but the swings kept coming. You tried to stay on your feet, keeping out of the way of most of the blows and taking as little damage as possible from the ones you couldn’t. The Frost Giant seemed to get annoyed with your swiftness, instead of swinging his sword he broke it off and threw it in your direction. The action caught you off guard, you raised your arms blocking the back of the sword from hitting you in the face, but the impact knocked you to the ground. You quickly tried to scramble to your feet but you were weighed down by something on your chest. It took you a moment to realize what was happening, the Frost Giant had you pinned, with one foot on your chest he held you against the ground. 

“You will not be able to dodge now.” 

He brought his remaining sword up, a smirk appearing on his face. You grabbed his foot trying to squirm your way out from under him. He gave off a sharp chuckle. You began to panic. You grabbed his leg on either side and summoned as much fire as you could muster. The giant flinched lifting his leg a bit, you took the chance to wiggle out from under him but were cut short by a heavy blow to your stomach. You gasped, the air left your lungs and you could taste blood in your mouth. Your vision was covered with stars but you could see the anger on the Giant's face as he rubbed his foot harder into your stomach. You tried to scream but nothing came out. You tried to bring your hands up again but your body refused to move, your arms falling limp at your sides. You heard a crack in the distance and figured the giant was strengthening the ice on his sword for the final blow, but you couldn’t see a thing. You took a breath waiting for the blade to strike, waiting for the end, when you felt something wash over you. I won’t. You took a deep breath. I can’t. Your arms began to move, your hand brushing against something on the ground. I refuse to die like this! Your hand wrapped around the familiar object bring it up in front of you. Your other hand met it, a flame erupting between the two. You heard a clang as the Giant's sword hit your knife. The impact sent a shock wave through both your arms but you kept them up. You heard the Giant growl as he applied more pressure to the sword and in turn, applied more weight to his foot holding you down. The taste of blood once again filled your mouth but you refused to give in. I’ll save you Heimdall! The flame on your knife grew larger as you began to push back against the Giant's sword.  

“Enough.” 

The Giant's low voice sounded almost annoyed. You felt some give on your knife and began to push back more before you realized what had happened. Through your flames, you saw the Giant bring up his other arm, a blade of ice forming over his hand.  

“No.” 

The soft gasp left your lips as you stared down the other blade coming for your throat, unable to block it.  

“No!” 

You screamed it this time, closing your eyes and willing the blade to disappear. You heard another loud crack followed by a thud and the pressure on your stomach disappeared. Am I dead? 

“(Y/N).” 

You heard a familiar voice and felt a firm grip on your shoulder. You opened your eyes and caught familiar gold armour peeking through your flames.  

“Heimdall.” 

The name came out as barely a whisper. The flames around your knife slowly dissipated and your eyes caught the body of the remaining giant in two pieces just past your feet. Your gaze shifted back to Heimdall, bits of ice falling from the Bifrost sword in his hand. Your knife clattered to the floor as you threw your arms around the man, tears beginning to fall down your cheeks.  

“You saved me!” 

You felt a hand on your back give you a soft hug. 

“No, you saved me. Are you alright?” 

You pulled away from him. Your stomach and chest were throbbing but other than that the rest of your wounds had begun to heal.  

“I should be asking you that.” 

You gave him a once over, no noticeable injuries, but being frozen like that could not have been good.  

“Let me heal you.” 

“There will be time for that later.” 

Heimdall began to stand up but quickly stumbled, a sight you had never seen before. You quickly moved to his side helping him to stand. 

“You shouldn’t move.” 

“The Bifrost. Thor.” 

His eyes were fixed on the Bifrost as he attempted to step forward, falling again. You knew he needed to be healed as soon as possible but you also knew he wouldn’t let that happen until he had completed his task.  

“Okay.” 

You dropped down beside him, throwing one arm over your shoulders and helping him to stand. The effort sent a sharp pain through your stomach but you ignored it, focusing on the Bifrost ahead of you. The two of you stumbled forward, you taking most of the weight on one side and the Bifrost sword taking the weight on the other. You tried to heal him while you were moving but the pain in your stomach made it impossible to focus. Just get to the Bifrost. Then I can heal him. You felt your body slowly grow heavy but forced your feet forward. Almost there. You passed the entrance to the Bifrost, as the taste of blood entered your mouth one more time. Just a few more steps. You reached the bottom of the steps and slowly began to climb. Stars entered your vision but you shook them away. We can do this. You reached the top of the stairs. Heimdall barely managed to lift the sword into its place turning it with one swift motion as he stumbled to the floor. You tried to hold him up but your body gave out and you collapsed with him. All the pain you had been suppressing hit you at once and you rolled over coughing up a mouth full of blood. You tried to focus on your breathing as you heard the electricity began to build around you as the Bifrost powered up. Just stay conscious. You’ll be fine. You need to heal Heimdall. So just stay awake. You focused on your breathing trying to keep yourself from passing out. Heavy footfalls began to fill the room, causing you to slowly raise your head. A familiar red cape filled your sight. Thank the gods.