From The Ashes - 018 (Patreon)

Chapter 018 – 'Soul of Will', Primis

[2012]

Asgard. A world inhabited by gods that ruled and protected the Nine Realms.

One could only imagine the majesty and grandeur of such a world but in reality, the word 'world' was strangely inadequate.

Looking like a paradisical continent that was suspended in the dark void of the Universe, surrounded by countless light-bleeding stars, its rivers and oceans flowing into midnight-shaded cosmos around it.

There was only a single city on this immense continent, its beauty almost impossible to describe. Bright colours, equally untainted by mortal pollution and time, filled every corner of the Asgardian city, the architectural style characterized by prosperity and affluence.

Most of the buildings had graceful arcs without losing their simplistic style, the wealth of the inhabitants visible in the size of their homes and the lack of any obvious signs of poverty.

The streets were wide and a carefree and a lively atmosphere was normally present in every corner of the city.

The largest gate on the absolutely colossal city walls led to a bridge that glowed with soft rainbow colours, looking like a passage of light and mystery when one walked on it, at its a golden construct of divine magic that was the cornerstone of the Asgardian rule.

This cornerstone though lay inactive on a large bedrock in the sea at the edge of the divine continent, the rebuilt Bifrost unable to connect to the Nine Realms as despite the intact 'shell' its essence lay dormant, waiting to be rekindled.

Without the undercurrent of dimensional magic that silently waited to be called upon to connect the Nine Realms with one another, a quiet and somewhat empty atmosphere was surrounding this place, and even the gatekeeper with eyes that could peer into the myriad worlds couldn't manage to add a spark of vitality to the golden dome that represented the outer shell of the Bifrost.

Suddenly though this unwanted peace was interrupted as a cloud of dark royal-blue mist 'bloomed' in front of the dome on the rainbow bridge, receding only a moment later as three figures appeared.

Seemingly unsurprised the gatekeeper parted his lips to greet the visitors: “Welcome home, princes. The Allfather will be pleased to hear that you brought your brother back Odinson.”

His gaze turning to the tall dark-haired man, the gatekeeper couldn't help but pause, a trace of fear and terror blooming in his heart, his expression staying carefully schooled and measured.

Being born with a connection to the inter-dimensional force known as the Bifrost, Heimdall had been witness to life on an uncountable number of worlds and stars in the midnight firmament

He was the first protector of Asgard, his gifts and loyalty making it so that his King trusted him with secrets that even the Princes and the Queen-mother had no knowledge of.

So when his gaze fell on the stranger that had shattered the Tesseract, which should have been impossible in the first place, Heimdall was much more aware of what kind of existence he was facing than the Prince was.

An undying body of fire that shared a hint of the divinity of the Eternal Flame. Strength to topple mountains and seas, enough even to suppress Asgard's Strongest.

Just these two characteristics would be enough to force even the Allfather to take the stranger seriously, though what worried Heimdall more was that even under the use of his godforce, which was the innate vitality and magical strength of all Asgardians, he could see that the dark-haired man was not from Midgard.

In fact, Heimdall, for the second time in his life as the gatekeeper, found something blocking his vision, a kind of inexplicable power denying him to see beyond the ordinary.

And yet, even this realization wasn't the most dreadful thing about the stranger.

The thing that cause true terror to well up in his heart was that he had seen how the being in front of him had defeated the colossal green-skinned battle companion that his Prince met on Midgard.

Soul of Will.

The stranger had used a power almost forgotten by time, an ancient force intrinsic to all things living. A power that was said to have vanished in the sand of history, as it should have.

Heimdall could only faintly remember a single race that had possessed this power – the Primis.

A race of people that lived peacefully on their own planet until extraterrestrials came for the resources of their homeland, which led to the Primis being forced to take up arms for the first time in their history.

And shockingly, even when facing highly advanced weaponry and technology, the Primis crushed the first wave of invaders as some of their warriors had awakened their 'Soul of Will'.

They had later perished still under the siege of warships and an unending stream of soldiers since the resources on their planet had turned out to be even more valuable than expected, drawing the greed of many powerful organizations and even other civilizations.

If that had just been the end of it, it wouldn't have been something worth remembering but it was said that a single Primis had escaped the destruction of his race through unknown means. And a short decade later, that single Primis, now a man and more importantly a warrior, had left whole planets in ruin as he had taken revenge for his people, the blood he had spilled enough to fill oceans.

His 'Soul of Will' had enabled him to destroy whole armadas by himself, crushing everything in his path of vengeance, and therefore immortalizing the memory of his race in the long history of the Universe with his single-minded determination to destroy those that had dared to break the peace of his people.

It was a story taught with graveness as it was supposed to serve as a reminder of terror and destruction even a single wielder of 'Soul of Will' could unleash if forced to the edge.

And Heimdall remembered the story, he remembered it well.

"This is Noah, a warrior from Earth, who has taken the Tesseract's power for himself and had promised to help us reignite the Bifrost.", Thor introduced after acknowledging his greeting with a short nod.

“This matter cannot be delayed, Heimdall. So I will have to bother you to inform my father immediately.”, Thor added seriously, “He will also want to talk to Loki, I am sure.”

“Of course.”, Heimdall agreed, knowing that the rekindling of the Bifrost was incomparably important to Asgard, even if the trepidation in his heart couldn't quite be soothed so fast.

Minutely lowering his head as etiquette demanded it, the gatekeeper watched the Prince take off with the help of his hammer, his shackled brother in his grip while the silent dark-haired stranger simply erupted with an azure blaze, turning into a flaming bird that caught with the Prince in an instant.

Worry and anxiety in his heart, Heimdall wasn't sure what the consequences of bringing a warrior that could use the 'Soul of Will' here would be.

Did 'Noah' come as their savior or as disaster incarnate?