Page 12 of Thor

Except...wait, was that something moving?

Sibyl crept closer. At first glance, she thought it was a huntsman spider, a really big one, like they got back home. Big and pale and scary, they could be as big as your hand, but weren't actually dangerous, unless you were a bug. Or maybe a small bird or lizard.

Only...that didn't look like a spider. It didn't move like one, and it didn't have enough legs. It almost looked like...

Sibyl jumped back. That was a human hand, feeling around the rocks like it was looking for something. A hand sticking up out of the rocks like Thing from the Addams Family.

Not...possible. Hands didn't come out of graves in real life. Only in zombie movies. Sibyl refused to watch zombie movies, because she was pretty sure they mostly ended the same way – with people being chased and killed and eaten. Nope. No way was she doing zombies.

She backed away slowly, hoping the hand wouldn't hear her and come after her. Or that the hand's owner wouldn't, if zombies could...

She almost burst out laughing. Zombies didn't exist. This had to be a prank, a joke, a battery operated toy that someone had put here to scare her. All she had to do was lean in, pick it up, and turn it off.

She took a step forward, then another. There was a slight dip in the ground level here, like the hand was in the spot where they'd found the hammer. Well, that would make sense, if someone wanted to prank her.

Sibyl stepped down, then marched forward, determined to grab the thing so she could confront the prankster and...

She'd forgotten about the ice. The layer of ice that had stopped her digging any further, that was so slick under her slippers she couldn't help but slip, unable to stop herself as she flew forward toward the cairn.

HELP, was her last desperate thought before her head connected with the cairn and darkness claimed her.

TWELVE

HELP.

The call came again, more urgent than before.

Thor knew he needed his hammer – weaponless, he'd be no match for the wolf – but the call was so insistent, he could not bear to make her wait any longer.

He rose, sliding through ice and rock as effortlessly as if it was air.

Only to discover he'd arrived too late. The lady he'd been summoned to protect lay lifeless on the rocks.

No, wait – she still drew breath. Yes, her heart still beat, for blood leaked sluggishly from a cut somewhere beneath her hair.

"I am here to protect you, mistress, as I promised," he said, lifting her in his arms.

Even though he called her mistress, knowing it was her voice that had summoned him to her side to assist her, he'd never seen this woman before in his life. Her small stature, her dark hair...surely he'd remember such things, even without a face as lovely as hers, clearly illuminated by the glowing diadem she wore.

He'd never seen anything like that, either. Crowns were fashioned in silver or gold, with gemstones, or so he'd heard. One that glowed like a star, with only light, but no heat...was wondrous. Magical, even. The only other time he'd heard of a star coming to earth had been when his father told the tale of how his hammer had been forged, from the metal of that fallen star. But the dying star his father had caught was nothing to this glimmering miracle.

His mistress must be a powerful witch to possess such magic.

But she was not dressed for snow – she did not even wear a cloak. She must not be far from camp.

Thor scanned the area. Sure enough, he could see the lights and hulking shadows of a temporary camp further down the hill, beside the lake.

All the tents were occupied but one – one that held two pallets, presumably for his mistress and her servant.

In the absence of the servant, Thor was all she had, so he tore a strip of linen from his shirt and used it to bandage her head, so that the blood would not stain her pillow.

For a long moment, he watched her sleep, wishing he dared to wake her.

Then he heard the crunch of footsteps outside the tent.

Ah, this must be her servant. A tall, blonde girl, of an age with his mistress, but more like his own people than this little witch.

Thor knew neither woman would want him present while the servant prepared her mistress for bed, and slipped out of the tent, waiting until the servant was inside before placing himself outside the entrance to stand guard.

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