Chapter 8 - Tournament of Titans (1)
Kal dodged the blade as it descended from above and quickly raised his shield just in time to hear the heavy thud of the arrow piercing into it.
He was currently grinning at the maelstrom of activity that was occurring around him, Thor was busy hammering away at Volstagg who in turn was laughing as Thor used a sword to hack into his friend's shield sending pieces flying away with each strike.
Kal quickly rolled to his left as the Lady Sif tried again to strike him with her own blade whilst he was momentarily distracted watching Thor. She followed her attempt with a series of increasingly fast strikes that had Kal been anyone else he would have been defenceless against and left beaten bleeding on the floor.
However, Kal was not just anyone, instead, he just sidestepped or dodged her attacks with ease, to anyone watching Kal's actions was beyond the norm even for Asgardians.
Sif grimaced in frustration, her blade was a whirlwind of motion and should have at least forced Kal to parry, but to her great frustration, Kal was also a blur of motion, simply he stepped, pivoted, or bent out of the way of her attacks. All with his sword held loosely in one hand and his shield hardly raised.
Now whereas Thor was laughing as he hammered away at his target a boisterous look upon his face, Kal's was one of pure concentration his eyes were constantly moving to track his opponent and her blade.
Suddenly he moved and Sif found herself overextended on a thrust, with Kal to her side and before she knew it Kal's blade was on the back of her neck.
"That is your head and I believe makes the match mine, well-fought Lady Sif." Kal offered in his usual polite tone with a smile on his face offering her a bow of her head.
"Indeed, it is, next time though you are mine." She returned his smile with one of her own and nodded as well.
Whilst she hated losing Sif had too much respect and honour to be bitter about her loss, besides losing to Kal was fast becoming the norm for many of Asgard's finest warriors.
She looked at Kal gone was the boy of their youth and what stood before she was young man and warrior.
He was 17 now, tall with board shoulders and musculature that could make even the most stoic maidens' blush. He had also grown to be quite handsome to her eye, whilst Thor was handsome in the brawny, blonde-haired, and big way, his little brother was leaner, with chiselled features, and had crystal blue eyes that one could get lost in.
Kal had also grown powerful in the years since that frightened boy she had met on that field, he was as strong as Thor, as quick-witted as Loki sometimes, and was as swift as Sleipnir. Making him a marvel of a warrior to behold.
He also did not seem to tire either, she had watched him practice all day without breaking a sweat, then train more at night and when she returned in the morning still seemed to have an abundance of energy.
"AH HA" Thor cried as tried to strike his brother from the side whilst he was distracted.
Kal merely ducked under the blow and swirled to face Thor. "You know brother, shouting AH-HA kind of gives away your attack?"
"Where's the fun or honour in hitting something not ready to fight back?" Thor laughed.
Sif stood back as did most of the other warriors in the training yard as Thor and Kal began their match, which was fast becoming a daily ritual between the two.
"30 on Kal" Fandral stated to his friends Volstagg and Hogun who were next to him.
"Your on, Thor will best his little brother as usual." Volstagg took the bet with a wide grin whilst shouting encouragement to Thor.
The third member of the trio Hogun merely shook his head and turned to focus on the princes battling it out, his keen eye-catching everything he could.
Sif watched in admiration as the two princes fought, such a display always reminded her of the difference between the Royal family and the rest of Asgard.
Whilst she had been nowhere near close to striking Kal even at her near blinding speeds, Thor's strikes were forcing Kal to block and parry, the sound of metal clanging rang clear across the courtyard. Occasionally, the two would become locked as their weapons met with each trying to break the other's guard with their strength alone.
Sif was pretty sure that had she tried to parry either of their blows her arm would fracture in a thousand places and even the blunted training swords they were using would go through her like butter.
The match ended as it usually did with a tactical victory for Thor, who managed to slip past his little brother's guard due to greater experience and landed a clear strike on his brother's head with the same force that would have cut Siff in half.
Sif called it a tactical victory as the strike instead of resulting in Kal being seriously injured or knocked unconscious instead resulted in Thor's sword shattering upon impact sending pieces flying everywhere. Leaving Kal only with a slight bruise on his forward where the weapon had struck, which faded as quickly as it appeared, his body healing the damage in the golden sunlight.
"You know if you keep breaking them, father is going to start making you pay for them." Loki quipped from his position lounging on a ledge at the edge of the courtyard whilst reading a book, having not joined in the practice.
"Hey, blame Prince hit everything really hard here. If he would just stop hitting me so hard, they would not break so often." Kal injected with a laugh, whilst slapping Thor on the back.
"I am not the one with the near impervious skin dear brother, therefore the fault is not mine," Thor answered back with his own laugh and landed a slap of his own on his little brother's back.
All of which just resulted in Loki just sighing, rolling his eyes and returning his attention to his book, muttering about the foolishness of swords.
With their match over the princes moved over towards Loki whose ledge at the edge of the courtyard was also home to benches, a table of refreshments as well as the group's belongings. The rest of the group moved over as well to join their princely friends as they rested from training.
Kal sat down and was quickly joined by his best friend Haldor who quickly grabbed a whole jug of water and drained the contents in a single swift motion. Kal's best friend looked exhausted he was panting furiously, drenched in sweat and Kal even without his gifts could hear his friend's heart hammer away.
Haldor too had grown over the years whilst he was nowhere near Kal or Thor's height he was still tall and clearly a warrior, he had strong powerful muscles, a slender frame, along with friendly brown eyes and straight brown hair.
"Fun match my friend?" Kal quipped to his friend with a smile.
"Not funny, Fandral is slippery and quicker than a person should be." Haldor gestured over to Fandral who had worked up a decent sweat and was currently being attended to by several servant girls.
"Really he always seemed rather slow to me," Kal stated with a grin, earning a playful shove from Haldor.
"Well, he's fast for normal people, you know, not whatever you are. Seriously how are you not sweating, you just fought your brother, five of Asgard's most promising warriors and have been out here since yesterday" Haldor stated with a chuckle in disbelief.
"Well because I am a son -" Kal started.
"YES, YES, son of Odin. Should I bow to kiss your feet oh great one?" Haldor teased his friend with a smile, earning him a small playful shove from Kal.
The two joke and spoke more, interacting with the rest of the group discussing recent events, the best fighting techniques as well as talking about the upcoming Tournament of Titans. A contest Odin had declared to designate who amongst his warriors would be the Champion of Asgard, naturally, all of the present group even Loki had signed up.
Eventually, the talk subsided and most of the group returned to training, except for Loki, Kal and Haldor. The former remained on his ledge reading his book, whilst the latter two were just happy to observe for a time.
Kal quickly noticed however whilst he was observing the whole field, Haldor's vision was stuck on a singular warrior, the Lady Sif. An event that was becoming increasingly more common over the years
"You know you could just ask her out. It would be less creepy than staring" Kal's statement caused Haldor to snap out of his trance.
"I, what, who are you talking about?" Haldor asked clearly flustered by his friend's question.
"The Lady Sif." Kal gestured over to her as she elbowed Hogun in the face causing him to fall to the ground.
"I was not, looking at Si-" Haldor began.
"Oh yes, you were. Seriously you have it bad for her." Kal shook his head in mock concern.
"I don't! Who told you tha- …. Oh, you right basta-…. You used that creepy sight thing on me didn't you." Haldor accused his best friend with a glare, he hated how Kal always seemed to know everything.
"I concede I did, elevated heart rate, your pupils dilated not to mention blood rushing to a particular organ. However, even if I had not it's sort of obvious, you stare at her all the time." Kal chuckled as his friend went scarlet.
"It doesn't matter, she doesn't even notice me. What maiden will next to the sons of Odin." Haldor lamented, gesturing to Kal who just shook his head.
"True you are kind of skinny compared to me," Kal stated in mock conviction.
"HEY" Haldor gave his friend another playful shove.
"Peace friend I jest. In truth, I think you undervalue yourself, besides me and Thor would only be a problem if we were interested in pursuing her which we are not." Kal stated in honesty.
"Really? I mean I know you are not interested but you've seen how Thor looks at her," Haldor lamented as he nodded towards Sif and Thor who were sparring.
"I have. I have also heard him speak about her too, and beyond the desire of friendship, he wants nothing more from her. Trust me." Kal reassured his friend.
Haldor gave Kal an appreciative smile and nod then returned his gaze to Sif with a hesitant yet more hopeful expression than he had before. Kal sincerely hoped his friend went for it, he thought it would be good for both him and Sif.
Haldor needed to know if a future was possible there and if not then he could move on from his infatuation, whilst Sif needed to know that she had options beyond the disinterested Thor.
A few moments passed before Haldor spoke again this time with a slight solemn tone Kal was not used to hearing from his friend.
"You know all this won't last right?" Haldor stated whilst nodding towards the training occurring before them.
"Of course, once the tournament is over, there will be less need to train," Kal stated confused at his friend for pointing out such an obvious fact.
"No, I meant all of this. Carefree days, training for tournaments, talking about maidens, all of it." Haldor stated seriously a solemn look upon his face.
"What are you talking about?" Kal stated in bewilderment, wondering where this was coming from.
"You're a prince and I want to be one of the elite warriors of Asgard." Haldor turned to face his friend with a sad smile.
"And you shall." Kal gave his friend a reassuring smile and a pat on the back.
"Thanks, but what I mean is that soon you and I are going to have some mighty heavy responsibilities and choices to make. And we won't be fighting in simple tournaments soon" Haldor sighed to his friend.
"I understand that my friend, is that what concerns you the danger of battle? My father says it's a mark of a wise warrior to worry about war but if it frightens you know that I will always be at your side." Kal declared giving his friend a reassuring pat on the shoulder.
"I know that my friend, I'm not worried about that or battle even, I want to fight. I'm just worried about you is all." Haldor said with a gentle smile.
"Me, what do I have to worry about? Lest you forget I am impervious to harm." Kal started with a slight smugness to his voice.
"That is what I am afraid of my friend," Haldor whispered with a slightly resigned look upon his face.
However, before he could respond to his friend's words, Kal received a sharp kick from his brother on his back causing him to look at Loki who merely gestured with his head down the corridor he could see from his seated position.
Kal then sighed as saw who was approaching it was a few the ladies of the court, including Amora, her sister Lorelai, and the lady Sigyn causing him to prepare himself for the upcoming interaction.
Whilst Kal appreciated and respected many of the ladies of the court, as most were like his mother or the Lady Sif working for the best interest of Asgard, the approaching group were not among that number. No, the approaching group instead were made of the ambitious, the social climbers or else the ignorant.
Now, Kal would admit on occasion he did like the attention these young ladies gave him and knew his brothers felt the same but today he was not feeling up to pandering to them especially as he knew they where here for one thing.
"Oh, greeting Prince Kal, Prince Loki, and Lord Haldor, I can see you have all be engaged in rigorous training for the upcoming tournament," Amora spoke in her usual sweet voice that Kal both enjoyed and hated at the same time.
Her statement caused Loki merely to scoff and close his book, whilst Haldor just gave Kal a look that told him what his friend really thought about Amora's statement and general being.
"It's so nice of you to notice, Amora I am surprised you could tear yourself away from ….. who is it this week?" Loki responded to Amora with his usual sharp tongue.
Kal was not sure what caused Amora to scowl more, Loki's constant refusal to call her a Lady or his statement about her romances at court. The former Kal always felt was a little petty of Loki but the later he conceded Loki did have a point there, Amora went through the men of the court like she was changing dresses.
"So, what brings you to the trainyards today, are you here to practice some of the more martial skills of our people?" Kal was quick to intercede, not out of fondness for Amora more to simply avoid listening to her and Loki argue again.
"We are not my dear Prince, we are just here to watch the brave warriors of Asgard train for the tournament and to offer our assistance however possible." Amora response was given with such sincerity Kal almost believed her, almost.
Kal knew exactly why Amora and the others were here, they were here to try and get one of Asgard's most promising warriors to wear their favour and hopefully make the future champion of Asgard their champion first.
"The ladies are most kind," Loki spoke with a smile and sincerity that was about as believable as claiming Thor was the god of humility.
Kal remained quiet as he watched the Ladies of the court start taking their places either on the rows of benches at the trainyards edge or like Amora more subtly just inside the hallway and leaning on one for trainyards outer ledges.
He was suddenly surprised when he felt a presence sit next to him having been distracted by Amora he had not noticed that Lady Sigyn had moved to sit next to him.
She was a beautiful young maiden around his age, who came from a strict and traditional family as Kal understood. She was stunning almost Amora's equal, she wore an immaculate and beautifully woven golden dress and possessed radiant golden hair.
She was also quiet, reserved, and hardly ever spoke a product Kal believed was a result of her very puritan upbringing. She was by far the most proper lady at the court and never spoke unless directly addressed so her to brazenly sit next to him was strange.
Before he could talk to her, however, he was altered to Haldor's need of assistance by Amora's sister Lorelai standing in front of Haldor almost throwing herself on him.
"My dear Lord Haldor it would be a great honour for you to wear my favour in the coming tournament." Lorelai was leaning over Haldor whilst casting a glance at her sister.
"Oh that is very nice but you see- " Haldor's protest was cut off when Lorelai leaned forward and placed a hand on him.
"Please my Lord for me." She almost whispered and to Kal's surprise, Haldor subtly nodded and took the offered favour.
Once he had taken Lorelai removed her hand gave a quick bow and then scampered off giving her sister a smug look that caused Amora to scowl. Haldor for his part looked perplexed at what had just happened and confused as to why he had taken Lorelai's favour.
"Well seeing as my sister has found a champion in your dear friend, my prince. Would you do the same honour for me?" Amora moved forward like her sister had, but Kal was quick to react before she could lean over him.
"Oh, I'm sorry but I have already agreed to be the Lady Sigyn's champion." He quickly said wanting to avoid either insulting Amora or getting caught in her schemes neither of which ended well.
Kal turned to Sigyn who whilst shocked, quickly nodded agreeing with her Prince and blushed slightly as she gave Kal her favour. After which she promptly parted all without saying a single word, rushing off to a group of giggling maidens nearby.
Amora forced a smile to her face that didn't quite reach her eyes and Kal just as promptly gripped his stuns friend arm, and offering a quick apology pulled his friend back onto the training yard ground to continue to practice.
Leaving Amora alone with Loki, who was smirking at Amora enjoying the show of Amora being upstaged by her sister getting a champion first and then Kal picking Sigyn over her. However, Amora's gaze wasn't anywhere near him it was now fixed solely on Thor.
"It's never going to happen," Loki stated bluntly.
Amora merely scoffed and turned her sharp gaze on Loki, who had returned to his book. "Well, I guess you are not competing, so I need not ask you to carry my favour."
"Actually, I am, and I am deep in my own training," Loki stated holding up his book which he returned to reading.
Amora accessed Loki for a minute before making a considering face. 'Well, a prince even Loki is better than a Lord, so I can still shine there.'
"My dear prince, it would be an honour fo-" Amora started her voice becoming sickly sweet again.
"Not for all the gold on Asgard," Loki stated his eyes never leaving his book.
"Really, I sure I can't convince you?" Amora stated laying a hand on Loki's knee whilst her eyes flashed green with magic.
"You know you are supposed to only have one favour, right?" Hogun asked Fandral who was currently tying another Lady's favour to armour, as they prepared for the tournament to start.
"My friend, why be so cruel to limit only one maiden to the magnificence which is me," Fandral replied with a wide roughish grin.
Kal for his part was adjusting his cloak and trying to make sure he did not trip over it during the coming tournament. 'Seriously how does Thor fight with one, it's so impractical'
His musings were interrupted by the sound of cheering from above that caused the room to almost begin shaking. The noise was a clear signal that his father had commenced with the opening speech and that it was time to embark out onto the field for the tournament.
The tournament of titans was an event held irregularly throughout the history of Asgard, it was only held when the current King believed that Asgard required a champion to defend it and the nine realms in his place.
It consisted of three stages.
The first was the Test of Endurance, a continuous free for all melee that lasted an entire day, where competitors fought without rest and were eliminated if rendered unconscious or voluntary left the arena. It was common for teams of competitors to fight together in the early stages of the test before breaking apart towards the end.
The second was a Contest of Skill, a more structured event where the remaining competitors then fought one on one, with the matches ending only when one warrior conceded or was unable to continue.
Which led to the final stage, the Duel of the Titans. Where the two remaining combatants would battle one on one for the honour and glory to be crowned the victor of the tournament and the new champion of Asgard.
"Nervous little brothers?" Thor quipped as he placed his winged helmet on his head turning to face Kal and Loki.
"Never, I am not sure about, you and horn boy though?" Kal replied gesturing to Loki's very ostentatious golden horned helmet, causing Thor to start laughing and Loki to roll his eyes.
Loki for his part was still fiddling with the Lady's Amora's favour he had warped around his arm and was still confused as to why he had agreed to wear it.
"Oh very funny, it's a traditional helmet, and we will see who is joking after the tournament," Loki replied with a smirk.
As they were starting to walk down the corridor that led to the arena's battlefield Kal spotted Haldor had ended up next to Sif causing him to become a nervous wreck. Especially since he was wearing Lady Lorelai's colours on his arm.
"I see you favour the Lady Lorelai, an interesting choice I hope her favour aids you this day," Sif stated her voice was proud like always but Kal could see something in her eyes.
"Oh um yes, I MEAN no, well I am wearing it um, but it's just to be nice." Haldor stumbled over his words and even dropped his shield whilst talking causing him to pick it up again.
The act caused a rare smile to appear on Sif's face "Interesting." She quietly whispered only loud enough for Haldor to hear and Kal with his hearing as she swiftly departed through the arena's doors, to loud cheers at her appearance.
Haldor just stood there looking stupefied until Kal took pity and shook his friend slightly to wake him for his daze. Doing so caused Haldor's confused face to break out into a grin which Kal just rolled his eyes at and pushed his friend out onto the arena's field.
Soon it was just the princes remaining, protocol dictating that they be the last to enter the arena's field. Kal would be the first to depart as the youngest and waited a few moments to hear his father's announcement.
"And also competing today, are my own sons, the Princes of Asgard and future protectors of the Nine Realms. PRINCE KAL." Odin's voice boomed and he grandly gestured to the arena doors that Kal exited.
He entered calmly and winced slightly at the noise that greeted him, the roar of the crowd was deafening and Kal gave small waves of his sword to the crowd that caused the roaring to intensify.
As he entered, he also noticed that the royal box was occupied by more than just his parents and their council.
Whilst their mother was seated to Odin's righthand side, sitting to the left of their father was a very smug and equally stunning Amora. She wore a gorgeous emerald dress and fine jewellery that made her look like a princess of Asgard. Kal realised her presence was because Loki for some unknown reason had agreed to wear her favour thus requiring her to be seated with the Royal family.
Sitting next to their mother, was another figure that took Kal a moment to recognise it was Lady Sigyn who whilst Amora looked like a princess Sigyn looked like a queen. She wore a regal golden dress, held herself like a highborn lady was expected and where Amora looked smug at her placement Sigyn simply looked like she belonged there.
Kal was puzzled as to why Sigyn was sitting in the royal box at all but then remembered he had agreed to wear her favour which was currently wrapped around his upper arm. Kal quickly composed himself and gave his parents a salute and Lady Sigyn a deep bow.
The action caused, another roar from the crown and the Lady Sigyn to blush slightly returning a bow of her own, it also caused Amora's smug façade to crack for the moment as she was upstaged.
"AND PRINCE LOKI" Odin announced again gesturing to the door.
Loki's entry caused another roar of the crowd but one that was slightly less than Kal's had been. Loki accompanied his entry with a display of magic causing illusionary fireworks to go off above him and he gave grand bows to the people.
Loki quickly gave his parents a salute and then gave Amora a very reluctant bow before he hurriedly went to stand next to Kal. Loki's payment of respect had been so fast that the crowd hardly had time to cheer it before he was stood next to his brother a grimace still on his face.
"FINALLY CROWN PRINCE THOR" Odin's final announcement was almost drowned out as the crowd was already on their feet before Odin had finished.
Thor's entry dwarfed Kal's and Loki's entry easily, the roar of the crowd was so intense Kal could feel his bones shake. Thor milked it for all it was worth, roaring back to the crowd, waving at his adoring public and even throwing his weapon in the air then catching it again, causing the crowd to go wild.
Thor instead of a simple salute knelt before their parent and raised his weapon pointing to the Allfather whilst his voice boomed across the field.
"FOR YOU FATHER!" his announcement caused another roar as well as Sif to roll her eyes at her friend's action.
Kal merely smiled and shook his head at his brother grandstanding but heard Loki next to him whisper bitterly "Show off."
With that Thor took his place next to the Lady Sif and the Warriors Three reading themselves for the Allfathers command to begin.
"You are all proud defenders of Asgard, titans amongst the warriors of the cosmos, but there can only be one champion. I hereby command that this Tournament to begin!" Odin struck Gungnir on the ground commencing the start of the test of endurance.
Kal exploded forward like the rest of the warriors on the field and quickly became embroiled in the grand melee that was occurring.
He quickly discarded his shield as it was little use to him and gripping it in his left hand flung it forward like a discus causing it to shatter against a veteran warrior that collapsed at the impact.
As he hit the floor unconscious a shimmer of light emerged around him causing the warrior to disappear safely removed from the melee.
The test of endurance was arguably the most dangerous part of the tournament as not only did it last for a whole day but it was also a mess of limbs, arms and blood. As any warrior over the age of 15 could compete, meaning that the arena's field was packed with warriors.
Kal saw Thor craving his way through the ranks of more experienced warriors, clearly forgetting the endurance part of this stage, as he gleefully swung his weapon with full might causing men to go flying.
The Warriors Three were more subtle the three walking in tandem back-to-back creating a circular area which they controlled, allowing them to both rest for moments and remain in the fight. Each one supports the other in a true display of camaraderie.
Sif was busy weaving through the ranks of the gathered warriors, her movements were precise controlled and well aim. Not a movement or action was a waste of energy, each time her blade moved it caused pain, each footfall brought her closer to her targets and each raising of her shield blocked a potential blow.
Loki was busy doing what he always did in a fight, cause problems. Loki's illusions danced around the field causing warriors to waste their strength striking phantoms. Whilst the real Loki waited and struck only when he was sure he would hit his target, then disappearing again before someone could catch him.
Haldor was close to Kal he was doing very well, whilst he was no Sif or Thor Kal was impressed by his best friend so far. Haldor's strikes although rare were precise and struck with such force that men crumbled beneath them, a few warriors some more experienced than him had already fallen to his friend's blade.
Kal for his part was a blur of motion that to watch. He was so fast that watching would cause one's eyes to hurt, he stayed mostly in a small area to be close to his friends, but his movements were so meticulous that not a single blade, limb or arrow came close to hitting him.
Kal's sword was fast becoming the main dispatcher of foes on the field, which whilst Kal was revealing in, was causing two problems for him.
The first was that warriors were actively starting to avoid him making it harder for him to stay near his friends.
The second was the blade itself was starting to bend, each strike and blow Kal delivered was so forceful that the weapon was starting to chip and even bend slightly. Meaning that he would soon need another or else fight barehanded which was not idle when surrounded by the elite warriors of Asgard.
Kal's distraction at the state of his weapon caused him to miss a very large Einherjar at his side who struck him with a very large axe.
Kal winced slightly as the weapon struck unlike other times he had fought in practice duels, the weapons in this tournament were not blunted and held an edge, along with the usual enchants that came with them.
Kal was quick to react his hand moving to grip the Axe's handle and he slammed his head into the attacking Einherjar who just collapsed at the strike. Kal then pulled the weapon from his side and looked down at the damage.
Kal grinned as he saw only the smallest of cuts and bruises that quickly healed 'Impervious indeed this tournament is mine.'
He hefted the Axe and then flung the weapon across the field striking an opponent that was about to strike Haldor from behind.
"Thanks!" Haldor yelled as he quickly parried a strike from another attacker.
'This is going to be fun!' Kal grinned to himself as slammed his fist into a warriors chest that came running at him sending the man flying.
The test of endurance lasted all through the day and the night, with the crowd ebbing and flowing as the first stage of the contest dragged on.
The arena's field was a mess of blood, sweat and vomit, as the few dozen warriors that remained continued to battle it out the only 'team' that was remaining was the Warrior's Three that was still standing back-to-back.
Even Kal was starting to feel tired, only a little in truth but he was starting to feel his muscles beginning to strain as a result of continuous action. For the first time since his childhood, he was short of breath and was starting to breathe more rapidly.
Kal saw a blur in the corner of his eye and turned to parry the incoming strike, the blow came from Thor who looked up and was slightly surprised to see Kal. The thrill of battle had made Thor slightly berserk and not truly seen his target.
Both had avoided each other thus far not wanting to fight their brother before they had too and in honestly both believed their match would come soon enough anyway in the final stage of the tournament.
However, Kal's blood was up the same as his brother and merely smiled at his brother and pushing back his brother swung his now severely chipped sword to strike Thor, who quickly recovered and parried.
The two stood a few feet apart, eyeing each other then suddenly moved forward pushing off the floor with a force that the ground shook. Both swung their weapons with a roar and aimed for each other's heads too.
However, the sound of Gungnir striking the ground sounded the end of the Test of endurance and caused both Kal and Thor to halt at the last second.
Kal's blade was almost touching his bother neck whilst the point of Thor's blade was less than an inch from Kal's eye. The princes merely grinned at each other and lowered their blades.
"You are lucky little brother, a few more seconds and you would not be fighting in the Contest," Thor stated whilst straightening up.
"Funny, I was about to say the same thing to you big brother." Kal grinned whilst casting away the now useless blade.
Odin began addressing the crowd and announcing the remaining warriors, but Kal drowned that out heading to the edge of the Arena where benches, racks of replacement weapons, and food had been placed.
He spotted Haldor who was looking slightly the worse for wear, as Sif examined his skull a large gash was visible above his left eye.
"Ow!" Haldor complained as Sif applied a healing salve to the wound.
"Silence else I will not aid you," Sif stated forcibly holding Haldor's head firmly in place as she worked.
"I take it, it was a good fight," Kal stated as he approached his friends and offered Haldor a drink, which his friend accepted.
"It was a deed worthy of song dear Kal!" Volstagg stated gripping Kal in a half hug from behind whilst he eat a leg of chicken.
"It was nothing," Haldor stated looking bashful at the praise.
"It was not! You should have seen this one Kal. The lady Sif was about to be struck from behind by an honourless cur, when who should dive to take the below but are very own Haldor!" Volstagg boomed.
His statement was backed up by both Fandral and Hogun who agreed with the valiant act, causing Haldor to become almost crimson at the praise and was doing his best not to look at Sif.
"It would have been better if he had not used his head to block the blow," Sif stated in her usual nonsense attitude, however, Kal could see a small smile had formed on her face.
The group's discussion was cut off by the sounds of trumpets and caused them to raise their heads to look up towards the royal box that now had a golden project of the table that listed all the remaining warriors.
"Now, the first match of the Contest shall be," Odin flicked his hand forth causing the table to glow as two random names were selected "Fandral against Agnar."
Fandral merely gave a little smirk as he looked at his opponent, the aforementioned Agnar was an aged warrior with a great white beard, wearing blue armour, who was almost Heimdall's size and wielded a very large longsword.
"I shall be back soon my friends," Fandral stated as he moved off to the centre of the arena to fight in the first match, giving bows and blowing kisses to the maidens as he went.
Kal watched the first bout intensely and despite Fandral's statement of a swift victory, the match was not over quickly.
Fandral may have had youth and speed on his side, but that mattered little against Agnar who's strike and speed in full plate armour surprised Fandral. The aged warrior moved like an avalanche, slow at first but soon became fast and overwhelming.
Despite being elderly, Agnar was still a warrior and thousands of years of experience were now on display.
What was worse was that Fandral was indeed striking the aged warrior but his blows seemed to be like an insect stinging a raging bear.
Eventually, however, Fandral's blows started to mount up, each scratch and cut caused Agnar to slow a little and tire as his power was used up to heal him, and after a solid hour of fighting Agnar finally relented.
The aged warrior fell to his knee gripping the hilt of his sword in both hands whilst panting heavily and shaking his head, as his aged voice sounded out between laboured breathes "I yield."
Fandral who was also exhausted reached out a hand which the aged Agnar took "Well fought, my friend."
"You as a well young warrior, if I was a century or two younger I would have had you," Agnar stated as he stood towering over Fandral
"Of that I have no doubt" Fandral gave Agnar a respectful bow, causing the crowd to roar in appreciation of both his victory and respect.
He then returned to his friends with a grin on his face but collapsed on the bench as soon as he arrived.
'This may be more difficult than I thought' Kal looked around the field at the other competitors and realised apart from his brothers and his friends, there was not a single warrior left not at least a thousand years old.
Kal was pretty confident in his ability, he was practically invulnerable and thought that should be enough to carry him through the contest where his lack of experience could not.
'Practically' though was the word that stuck in his head, was he like Agnar just a beast that could be felled with time and continuous strikes. And what about the others how far could raw skill or power carry them when faced with centuries if not millennium's worth of experience.
Kal soon got his answer, Thor, Sif, Loki and even Haldor won their first contest but the first of the young warriors to be eliminated was Volstagg who was soon followed by Hogun.
Volstagg had the misfortune to face General Tyr himself in his first match which ended very swiftly. Volstagg had charged at Tyr with all his might, and Tyr merely parried Volstagg's blow and backhanded the youth with his stubbed forearm.
Causing Volstagg to spin once and land unconscious on the floor, ending the match in less than a minute. Tyr had then twirled his sword once in his hand then rested it on his shoulder and departed the arena's field to the roar of the crowd.
Whereas Hogun had fought a brutal sluggish match with another aged warrior named Rongor, who Kal knew as an old friend of his father. The two had pulverised each other and Rongor had one by simple fact that he had collapsed unconscious after Hogun did.
Kal's first match was a quick affair like Thor's had been. Kal had merely dashed forward and after a few dodges had landed a blow so hard the experienced warrior he had been facing had simply crumpled under it.
The rest of the matches however were now becoming slow affairs as each match was quickly followed by another resulting in every warrior present becoming tired and sluggish with each fight.
Muscles were straining to keep up the effort and the lack of rest was starting to take its toll, even Kal was starting to feel drained and he saw Sif almost asleep on the bench at one point.
Eventually, it came down to the final ten warriors and to Kal's pride, Thor, Loki, Sif, Fandral and Haldor were still amongst the contestants.
"The final stages of the Contest, and with only 10 left we are going to start fighting each other." Haldor gave Kal a grin, his friends face covered in bruises. "I promise to go easy on you."
Kal chuckled at his friend's statement, Haldor looked like he survived a war he was battered bruised and bleeding in several places. Whereas Kal apart from his cloak being torn and his armour being a little scratched he was perfectly fine, the few wounds he had received had healed quickly.
"I will try to be gracious in defeat." Kal bantered back.
"We have reached the final stages of the Contest, and soon we shall witness our grand victor however before we proceed we should honour the greatest warriors of Asgard," Odin announced standing up from his great seat.
His statement caused the crowd to begin cheering again, however instead of the deafening wall of noise before it was a cacophony of sound, as the crowd began competing with itself to chant one warrior's name the loudest.
Thor's name was clearest and most shouted by the crowd but Kal could also hear his name as well and much to Haldor's pride he could hear his name on occasion as well.
"I wish to state before we proceed that you have honoured Asgard with your courage and skill, whilst there can be only one Champion, know that you are all deserving of glory and honour." Odin gave a small bow of his head to show his respect.
The remaining warriors returned the gesture with deep bows of their own, Kal had not idea what Thor or Loki was feeling but his chest was swelling with pride and desire to show their father that he was worthy of the title of champion.
Odin then struck Gungnir once more to begin the final matches, the final list appeared before them and glowed as two names were selected.
"Now, let us proceed the next match shall be Prince Kal against -" Odin's voice trailed off as the other name appeared.
"The match will be between Prince Kal and Prince Loki."
Chapter 9 - Tournament of Titans (2)
"The match will be between Prince Kal and Prince Loki."
Odin's announcement caused several reactions, for himself a slight frown at the thought of his sons fighting each other, for the crowd they exploded into cheers combined with chants for the competitors and finally, it caused every single one of their friends to look at either Kal or Loki.
Kal for his part looked over towards Loki, who was busy fixing his vambraces hardly paying attention to the crowd or the observers around him. He caught Kal looking at him and just gave Kal his usual playful smile, and wink.
Loki was perhaps in the best shape of all the fighters except for Kal, his armour barely had any starches upon it, and apart from exhaustion combined with a little sweat his brother was unscathed.
Which made sense Loki dealt in magic and misdirection, he never got into a slugging match, like Kal or Thor and when he did it was either because he was in serious trouble or was playing with you.
"Try not to hurt him too much." Thor patted Kal on the shoulder as he started heading towards the centre of the arena.
Sif and Fandral merely gave nods of encouragement to both princes not wishing to pick sides, whilst Kal returned their nods, Loki simply sauntered past them.
"Good luck and keep your guard up," Haldor advised whilst Kal passed him, Haldor's eyes however were fixed on Loki who was looking calm as ever.
The two princes took their spots opposite each other in the centre of the ring, Kal was armed with a sword whilst Loki merely stood unarmed. Seeing the two one would think the match horribly unbalanced.
However, Kal knew better than that, Loki was never truly defenceless, his brother's skill with a blade and magic was not something one simply dismissed.
The arena was quiet for a moment as everyone waited with bated breath for the match to begin, the only sound Kal focused on however was the steady breathing of his brother.
Then the sound of Gungnir broke the silence, as Odin signalled for the match to begin.
Kal didn't move, he knew it was what Loki would expect him to do, explode forward in a burst of speed to try and end the match in one strike, just like he and Thor usually did. So instead, he waited and began sidestepping keeping his eyes on Loki, not wanting to play whatever game Loki was cooking up.
His brother merely smiled at Kal's caution and tipped his head to his little brother.
Loki also began to sidestep matching Kal's movement, if with a bit more flourish and style than his younger brother, causing the two to start circling the centre of the arena.
Kal's breathing was steady he knew the match would all be about keeping Loki in front of him and not allowing his brother a chance to play his tricks. Whilst Kal was difficult to injure and healed fast, he hated magic as it affected him the same as everyone else, something Loki was aware of.
'Okay, keep circling wait for an opening and when he gives you one stri- DAM IT' Kal's thoughts had distracted him for a moment and in that split second Loki suddenly disappeared from his vision. Causing Kal to curse at his own foolishness.
Kal reached out with his hearing to try and find his brother, which was an immediate mistake as he was suddenly overwhelmed by a high pitch screeching noise. A curtsey of Loki's magic.
"Ahh!" Kal opened his eyes at the pain and swung wildly around him expecting an attack.
Suddenly he felt a slice and stab in his side as Loki appeared, rushing past him striking just underneath Kal's outstretched arms as he went by and then before Kal could react he disappeared again.
Kal swung at where his brother had been but connected with nothing but air, he tried using his vision to find Loki, but this time was met with a blinding flash of light. Which caused him to stumble backwards flailing his sword about as he went.
Kal hated magic.
Another series of strikes struck Kal as he was blinded, this time they were more forceful and one of Kal's shoulder guards came off.
Kal was still trying to refocus his vision, whatever spell Loki was using had been effective, Kal had to give him that when he felt something hot strike his back.
The blast flung Kal forward and he landed face forward he quickly rolled onto his back and leapt up. His cloak was ablaze with a strange green fire that Kal could feel was burning him, forcing him to discard the crimson material.
"What in the name of Helheim was that a fireball really?" Kal stated as his vision refocused.
"Energy projection brother practised it just for yo-" Loki smugly replied his voice oozing with pride at his performance so far.
However, Loki was cut off when Kal's foot suddenly connected with his chest sending him flying into the side of the arena wall, causing his concealment spell to fail. His arrogance in flaunting his achievement allowing Kal to find him despite his spell.
Loki had barely time to recover, rolling out of the way as Kal descended upon him barely moving in time as Kal's sword struck the ground just where he had been causing it to fracture under the blow.
Loki tried to strike Kal with his blades whilst he was overextended but Kal twisted with unnatural speed parrying the blows.
More pain erupted in his chest, as Kal's free hand slammed into his chest sending him flying again this time he blacked out for a moment when he hit another of the arena's walls.
The crowd was now on their feet cheering like mad for Kal to finish the fight, an event that caused Frigga to wince both at how blood-crazed the crowd could get at times and the blows her sons were inflicting on each other.
Kal moved forward again but this time did not follow with another strike instead he merely lifted his blade slightly pointing the tip to the now kneeling Loki.
"Yield brother, you fought well but you can't beat me," Kal stated calmly as he looked down at his elder brother, wincing slightly as Loki coughed up blood.
"Think so?" Loki merely replied with a grin.
The action caused Kal to frown but suddenly heard a buzzing noise underneath him, he looked down and saw one of Loki's hands was on the ground, a trail of green magic was emanating from it. The trail formed a circle at Kal's feet with Asgardian runes glowing.
"Oh, Sorðinn" Kal cursed as the ground beneath him exploded in green fire sending him first into the air and then crashing back to the floor.
Loki seized the opportunity and sprinted over to where Kal had fallen.
Kal was on his back, dazed, and for the first time in a while was feeling real pain, most of his armour had been seared off or just blown away, his sword had left his hand landing how knew were leaving him almost naked.
Loki not wanting to take chances quickly created multiple illusions of himself and surrounded Kal each one bearing a dagger at his fallen brother.
He was about to demand Kal yield when the ground shook violently cracking beneath his feet causing him to stumble to the ground and for his illusionary selves to disappear.
The shaking lasted several whole minutes and even Odin had to steady himself on his seat, tiny pieces of rubble falling from the ceiling.
The cause of the quake was Kal, who at landing, feeling immense pain and seeing multiple Loki's standing over him had had enough, so with one fist had struck the ground with all his might.
Now, the quake lasted longer than he had expected and the cracks that formed ran nearly the entire length of the arena floor were unexpected, but he could worry about that in a little bit.
Kal rose like a spirit of vengeance moving so quickly that even to Odin Kal suddenly appeared before Loki. Kal simply bent down and lift his brother by the throat with one hand then reeled back his other hand in a fist and struck.
The blow was loud and final, with Loki going limp as he was rendered unconscious, the glow of magic surrounded Loki and he disappeared from the field transported to the healing room.
A few moments of silence occurred before the sound of the crowd roaring could be heard at Kal's victory. Kal for his part shook his head and felt the sunlight strike him as his wounds healed and faded leaving not even a scar.
He turned to face the box and remembering that he had taken her favour which was now ash due to Loki's spell, he gave the Lady Sigyn a deep and respectful bow, to make up for the loss.
One at which her regal and noble nature cracked as she blushed a deep crimson, returning the gesture with a flustered bow.
Kal was initially not sure why his bow had invoked such a reaction, however as he moved back towards his friend, he realised that apart from a vambrace on his right forearm and some of his trousers he was nearly naked.
Kal was now blushing as he tried to cover himself as he felt the eyes of many Asgardians upon him.
Upon returning to his friends Thor was no help as he merely grinned at his little brother whilst giving a boisterous laugh. It was Haldor that took pity on him and threw his friend a cloak.
"You just had to lose your shirt, didn't you?" Haldor laughed, as he moved to give his friend a place to sit.
Kal paid little to the other matches, as he replaced his armour and weapon, but kept track of the victors.
Sif had faced Tyr and after a duel of blinding speed and feats of athletic prowess, Sif managed to claim victor, by the skin her of teeth when she got past the general's guard and delivered a blow to the side of his head.
Haldor had the misfortunate of drawing Thor for an opponent, a fact which caused him to violently swear at before moving onto the field.
As predicted Thor won the match but Haldor had made a good showing, even landing a blow before Thor struck him so hard Haldor was unconscious before he hit the floor.
Fandral had lost to an aged warrior called Einhar, a former berserker who despite Fandral almost cutting him to pieces with the number of blows, would simply not go down. The old berserker just powered through the pain and eventually won by pommelling Fandral into the ground.
The other victor was a warrior named Lodur, who Kal had heard his father talk of and remembered something about the man being an old companion of his father. He was impressive, fighting similar to Sif with speed and agility, wearing nothing but a simple tabard for armour and a short sword for a weapon.
The remaining 5 competitors were allowed a few moments left as they sorted out the final matches, as one person would have to fight twice before the Duel of the Titans could commence.
It took a while but Odin finally rose and announced that Einhar and Lodur would fight first, the victor to face Thor, whilst Kal would face the Lady Sif.
Kal turned to Sif who was as usual was nonsense, she was patching her armour and sharping in her sword. She twirled it a few times to make sure the balance was right, and then went back to sharpening it.
The match between Einhar and Lodur was one of pure skill, Kal was slightly in awe at both power and skill the aged Asgardian warriors wielded.
Einhar's rage was something to behold, he powered through like an unstoppable force, raining down blows that even Kal would be weary to take. The strikes were like little strikes of thunder, booming and causing the ground to explode when they missed Lodur and struck the earth.
Whilst Lodur was a blur, dodging and weaving with such grace that Kal believed the man at times had to be weightless, and when he struck it was precise and devasting. His cuts were small and looked superficial as he danced around his opponent.
The match however was over quickly as Lodur's strikes although they seemed small and inefficient, quickly overcame Einhar.
Each cut was targeted, a jab at Einhar's shoulder suddenly resulted in the loss of function, another at his leg resulted in the same. Eventually, Einhar was paralysed unable to move his limbs reeling on the floor at his defeat.
With their match over, Kal and Sif took their place both readying themselves for the match.
Sif although appearing her usual calm self on the surface was slightly panicking inside, as she faced Kal across from her.
She was under no illusions about the difference between the two, whilst she was a trained warrior Kal was still a prince of Asgard with the power she could never hope to match. She just prayed to her ancestors that they allowed her an honourable showing before Kal claimed victory.
That being said she didn't intend to make it easy on him. Whilst Kal was nearly impervious to harm he was not yet invulnerable and having watched Lodur fight she had gained an idea on how possibly to win.
Kal was a powerhouse of a young man but that made him brash and his technique overly simple, he either overwhelmed a target with furious blows or let them tire themselves out trying to hit him.
What he was not good at was improvising, as Loki had demonstrated during their fight. Kal never really had to adapt to something he just changed between his two tactics until one worked, which meant to beat him all Sif had to do was outsmart him.
That was the theory anyway, as the moment the match started Sif felt pain as Kal faster than she had ever seen before appeared before her and struck her with his sword.
The blow hit her fully in the side of her chest and sent her flying, with more pain following when she slammed into the arena walls, causing her to start seeing stars.
She shook her head trying to dispel the confusion from her head, however, as her sense came back to her Kal was again upon swinging his blade once more, this time she raised her own to block the strike.
The result though was her wrists feeling like they had fractured as she again flew through the air, this time though she managed to land on her feet and skid to a halt. She then had to roll out of the way as Kal descended on her for the third time, her act sparing her further pain as his strike missed her.
"Ahh" Sif groaned in frustration, she was quickly becoming tired of being thrown around like a doll and wanted to start attacking.
Taking the opportunity at Kal missing Sif whirled around and started her own offensive, starting a series of lighting fast strikes on Kal.
The offensive was short-lived, the first dozen strikes she made hit Kal squarely on his side but to her further frustration they did nothing.
Sif almost groaned at the result, she neither had Thor's power to harm Kal nor Loki's magical abilities, meaning that even if she found a weakness she did not have the capability to use it.
However, ever the warrior she continued on regardless of the futility of the act hoping that perhaps Kal would provide some kind of opening she could exploit.
For Kal, he was amazed at Sif's current tactics whilst her strikes were, unfortunately, doing little to aid her he was impressed by her lasting this long.
Each blow he had landed had caused bones to break, the one she had parried had fractured her wrists as well as torn muscles there. The fact she was standing would have been impressive but that she was still actively attacking was cause for amazement.
It was after the thirteenth strike she had made that Kal deflected her blade with his own and kicked her with his foot, sending her crashing into a wall and then falling to her knees.
Not wanting to prolong the match any further he sprinted forward before she could raise and knocked her onto her back. Placing a foot on her chest he levelled his blade at her throat in an effort to cause her to yield.
Sif struggled for a few moments and even drew a dagger trying to stab Kal's leg which simply broke when it connected with his almost impervious skin.
"Sif please just yield." Kal's voice was one of concern as he did not want to hurt his friend any more than he had.
Sif struggled and tried to pry his foot from her chest but seeing the futility of the act merely slumped beneath him.
"Fine, I yield." She stated with a groan.
At which Kal offered a hand to lift her up which she took, and as he pulled her up, after which he raised her hand up with his causing the crowd to burst into a roar. Causing a smile to appear on Sif's face as she heard the crowd start chanting her name.
"Thank you, Kal. Not believe this will make me go easier on you, next time I will be victorious." Sif stated as they released their hand offering Kal a small bow as she then departed towards the benches.
"I would not have it any other way," Kal stated with a smile.
He quickly provided his own bow to the royal box and then departed the field to allow Thor and the warrior Lodur to battle.
Kal watched hoping to gain insight into his own fight with Thor as he was sure his brother would be victorious even if Lodur had millenniums of experience on him.
As the match started Kal suspected that the match was like watching his and Sif's fight just with different players. Thor opened up with a powerful and fast attack that Lodur was unable to block fully.
The lightly armoured aged warrior was sent flying, however where Sif had crashed into the wall Lodur had stabilised allowing him to instead skid to a halt just short of the warrior.
He then even parried Thor's next blow, who was laughing like a child at yule full of glee at the joy he was having.
Lodur made a valiant effort, but it was clear that he no longer possessed the skills he once had in youth, he was not able to recover like Sif had or dodge out of the way as she did. Instead, he could only parry or take the blows Thor dealt out.
Even then though the match was not a quick affair, whereas when Sif paired the blows she was static in her defence Lodur redirected Thor blows cancelling out most of the force of them before they caused him harm.
It was a slow process, but Thor's strikes were clearly beginning to drain the aged Asgardian, little by little Lodur became slower his reactions more sluggish and Thor's continuous assault insured that he was left no opening to attack the Prince.
In the end, Thor force Lodur to one knee, the aged Asgardian signalled for the prince to halt by raising one of his hands as he panted kneeling on the floor.
"Well fought my prince, well fought. Thank you for a glorious contest, I yield." Lodur conceded between laboured breathes
"No, thank you! That match was most enjoyable." Thor boomed his smile wide on his face.
Thor then turned and lifted his arms in victory causing the crowd to chant his names in massive roars, as Lodur quietly limped off the field to be attended to his wounds. His route made him pass Kal and as he did, Kal could not help but bow his head a little at the aged warrior.
Lodur smiled at the prince and gave a bow of his head in return, Kal hoped that when ages passed for him and his days of glories had passed that someone would be afforded the same honour of respect.
"FOR ASGARD!" Thor's roar caused even more noise from the crowd as he was still celebrating his victory.
Kal sighed at his brother's antics, humility was a word that Kal suspected was not in his brother's vocabulary.
Thor's celebration was allowed to last a few more minutes until Odin's raise from his seat and striking Gungnir on the ground caused the arena to fall silent.
"Many have honoured us these past two days, glory has been won, songs shall be song of valiant deeds." Odin's voice was projected all across the arena clearly.
"However, we still have one last event to go, a final bout to decide Asgard's Champion! It will commence after a short rest to allow the two contenders to prepare."
At Odin's declaration, the crowd exploded once more, with both Kal's and Thor's names being chanted by the enthralled crowd.
Kal gave polite waves and bows from his place at the Arena's edges whilst Thor was never one to pass up an opportunity, began showboating as he left the centre of the arena.
Kal took the short rest to sharpen his blade, fix his armour, as well as pick up a shield whilst he had not needed one before he felt it might prove of use against Thor.
In truth, he was slightly nervous, whilst he and Thor had fought in the past it was only ever friendly sparring matches and neither had truly sort to harm the other or use their full strength. This time however would be different there would be no holding back and that worried him slightly.
Kal was difficult to harm and arguably as strong as Thor but that was the issue he did not know who in fact was stronger.
Thor had proven himself able to match Kal every time they sparred, and his brother was able to wound him if only a little, but that was training, and Thor had never pushed that advantage. So, the question was what would happen now.
Kal's musing was interrupted when someone picked up a shield next to him, Kal turned and was surprised to find the Lady Sigyn had descended into the arena. She held up the shield perfectly to allow Kal to slip his hand into the hold.
As Kal's hand slipped into the shield hold, Sigyn without asking started to tighten the straps and adjusted the shield, once she was finished she stepped back and turned to pick up his sword.
With her back to him for a moment, Kal moved his arm bearing the shield and found that it was perfect, just tight enough that he could hold it without issue yet loose enough that he could discard it if needed.
He quickly stopped moving his arm when Sigyn turned to face him holding his sword out for him to take which he did so.
"Uh thank you, Lady Sigyn." Kal said a little awkwardly.
"You are most welcome your highness, it is the least I could do for the man that carries my favour. It is my duty as a Lady" Her voice was formal and refined, a small smile lined her lips.
She then gave a small curtsy and then produced another of her favours to tie to his arm.
"Well yes, thank you. I will try to bring you honour." Kal's words were clunky and made him wince at how he sounded.
"The honour is mine, my prince." Sigyn moved forward and placed a small kiss on his cheek as she left to retake her seat.
The action caused the crowd near him to cheer, and several young maidens to sigh at the romantic scene.
Kal however was just feeling awkward and trying his best to keep a polite smile on his face. He had nothing against the Lady Sigyn, she was good company at a formal event or meal, but Kal in truth had only taken her favour to avoid one of Amora's schemes.
To him, Lady Sigyn and Amora were the opposite ends of the spectrums of the Ladies of the court. Amora was all schemes, scandals and seductions trying to gain position by getting the right man. Whilst Sigyn was all protocol, obligation, and sophisticated talk, doing her duty as a Lady of Asgard.
Both of which held little appeal for Kal, but when forced to choose, he went for Sigyn's bland boring sense of duty over Amora's schemes that always lead to trouble.
His small side scene played out Kal saw that the time for the Duel of the titans was approaching, and so marched to the centre of the Arena.
"Prince Kal and Prince Thor are you ready?" Odin asked his sons as they took their position.
Both nodded, Kal a bit more focused than Thor who was grinning like mad.
"Very Well BEGIN!"
Kal had learnt three fundamental facts since the start of the match; One, Thor had been holding back, Two, he currently was only NEARLY impervious to harm, and Three, real fighting was painful.
Any semblance of technique had been abandoned quickly, as the two princes ended up in a slugging match to see who would falter first.
Thor's armour was in tatters as a result of Kal's relentless assaults, his torso was covered in cuts, he could no longer see out of his left eye due to the swelling, he was sure his right arm was broken and the knuckles on his fist were bloody.
Yet Thor gladly endured it all, his little brother's assault had been spectacular to behold and painful to endure. Thor was proud of his little brother, Kal was moving as fluidly as a river, as swift as the wind and was hitting like a bilgesnipe.
Thor was laughing as his brother's blade struck him in the side, he quickly dropped his arm to trap the blade there, although painful it was necessary as it allowed Thor to again unleash his own battering on his little brother.
Kal for his part was fairing a little better than Thor, whilst he was arguably sturdier and equal to his brother in strength, Thor had actual combat experience and it was showing.
For every blow, Kal had landed Thor had returned three and with such unrelenting fury that Kal had no time to heal. His armour like Thor's was in shambles, his shield had been destroyed in Thor's opening salvo and his body was covered in cuts and bruises as well.
His blade moved like lighting, striking Kal's side repeatably in the same spot and then went for one of Kal's legs hammering away at it trying to and disable his brother's ability to rapidly move.
Thor had discovered that if he focused his strikes repeatably in one spot he could cause lasting damage to his little brother, expanding the small bruises and cuts he could inflict into actual wounds. The repeating strikes prevented his brother from healing as he normally would, thus leading to their tattered stakes of both opponents.
However, despite the brutality of the match, Kal was enjoying himself as well he was sore, bleeding, tried and loving every second of it.
Kal had struggled with understanding the thrill Thor and the others always talked about when they discussed battle or fighting, to Kal fighting was all work and in honesty was too easy most of the time.
His opponents stood still like statues and crumbled like paper when struck, so he had never really gotten any joy from it.
Until now, Kal was tired, his body ached, his muscles were on fire, and he was in so much pain he wanted to blackout. Yet in spite of all that he was having fun, he felt the rush of adrenaline in his blood for the first time, a fire in his heart that demanded victory and every blow he took or dealt out was given with the jubilation that he was for once fully committed.
Kal laughed as kicked his brother off of him to release his arm and then sprinted forward to attack Thor whilst he was down, unleashing a series of blows on his brother's torso's that Thor took with a laugh.
Thor blocked then stood up and the two began hammering away at each other neither carrying to block nor parry only focusing on beating their opponent into the ground.
Kal could swear Thor was moving so fast that he could see sparks of lightning coming off his brother like a tiny storm was raging under his skin. Whilst to Thor he would swear that Kal looked like a burning star almost glowing as if a sun burned under his brother's skin.
The two battled for what seemed like an eternity with the crowd watching enraptured with the spectacle cheering and screaming at every blow, all waiting for something to give.
It finally did, Kal landed a sharp blow that struck Thor in the rips causing the prince to spin to the floor, Kal winced as he heard Thor's ribs finally shatter his brother failing into a heap before him causing the crowd to roar.
Kal was smiling in victory as Thor went down, the blow finally ending the brutal contest between the princes.
Expect it did not.
The crowd who were already roaring Kal's name suddenly went silent as Thor unbelievably got back up.
"Good strike" was all Thor said as he spat out a mouth full of blood.
Kal was almost too stunned to move, he could hear Thor's bones fracturing as charged forward and could see the damage his brother was doing just by moving.
Kal jaggedly blocked Thor's attack he could feel the weakness behind Thor's strike, his brother strength was failing fast, and not wanting to prolong the fight Kal struck Thor in the head with his fist with an almighty blow.
Blood spurted forth as Kal both saw and heard Thor's nose shatter and his skull fracture slightly, Kal winced his blow was harder than he had wanted but was glad that it would end the fight prevent Thor from further injuring himself.
Expect Thor again did not stay down, he coughed out even blood and when he returned to his feet he was swaying. To Kal's eyes, Thor looked like death, his nose was a bloody pulp, his eye was swollen, almost all his bones were fractured and Kal was sure Thor had punctured a lung.
Yet, Thor still charged again striking at Kal who this time took the blow, there was barely any force to it and with all the gentleness he could muster struck Thor in the chest to knock him down and end the match.
However, like before Thor once more rose ignoring both the pain and harm he was doing to himself by simply moving. Whilst Kal was not fine by any standards he was now far better than Thor and was even beginning to heal making Thor's actions more doomed.
Kal repeated his previous action but again Thor rose, causing the crowd to go insane with noise at his actions, cheering and screaming their prince as he struggled on.
Yet whilst the crowd loved it, the same could not be said for Kal or his parent. Frigga had turned away not wanting to see Thor in such a state and Odin was on the edge of his seat his kingly restraint almost gone as he was ready to end the match.
However, their compared to Kal who when Thor attacked once more griped his brother almost holding him up to whisper.
"Brother please stay down." Kal pleaded to look in the bloody mess that had once been Thor's face.
In response, Thor smiled or at least attempted to and whilst spurting blood from his lips stated, "And miss the fun never."
Despite his bravado, Kal could tell two things; firstly, Thor was in immense pain and secondly, whilst there was breathe in his body Thor would never quit a fight.
Kal was both horrified and in awe of his brother at that moment. Kal always knew Thor was stubborn and a bit prideful, but it never connected for Kal until that moment that for Thor he had to win no matter what.
It didn't matter Kal was sturdier than Thor or healed quicker or that Kal was arguably stronger than him, Thor was the crown prince and the older which meant he had to win. Everyone expected it, in the name of Valhalla even Kal had expected Thor to win if he was being honest.
Except now he wasn't going to win, Kal was, and Thor driven either by pride or a sense of obligation was breaking himself upon that realisation.
Kal dodged another attack from Thor and sidestepped his older brother, he had given up on attacking Thor as doing so did nothing but injure Thor more. Kal was running out of options and getting desperate to finish the fight, however, he had no idea how to as no matter what he did Thor was just getting back up.
Kal could also hear the crowd beginning to murmur the cheering starting to die down as they watched Thor begin to flail about trying to strike Kal. All of which made it worse for Kal as all he could hear was the people starting to doubt and pity Thor.
As Kal watched Thor almost fall to his knees trying to him, he knew what he had to do to end the fight.
Kal squared off against Thor providing Thor with an easy target to hit and seemed to start attacking his brother again causing the murmuring to increase as they saw this as the end of Thor's battle.
Thor responded by summoning the last of his strength and swinging with his remaining might at his little brother's head sparks of electricity dancing on his blade as it cut through the air. In truth, he knew the blow would be weak and that Kal would dodge it.
However, he was shocked when it struck Kal cleanly on the side of his head the blade shattering on impact, and Kal went down with an ungraceful fall.
The entire arena went silent as Kal crumbled to the ground at Thor's feet, Thor readied himself as best he could, raising his fist to continue the fight for when Kal rose. Except Kal did not raise he stayed down at Thor's feet shallow breathing the only indication he was alive.
Thor was about to check on his brother when he heard the familiar sound of his father striking Gungnir to grab everyone's attention.
"People of Asgard I give to you your champion PRINCE THOR!" Odin announced.
The reaction was immediate the crowd who had been so quiet and murmuring doubts about Thor, exploded back into life a wave of noise overcoming Thor who was stunned at his victory.
Thor merely raised his arms to his side and basked in the warmth of victory, not noticing the smile on Kal's face or the smile on his mother's face.
Kal waited a few moments after he heard his father's announcement before he 'groggily' got up again, shaking his head as he rose.
"What happened?" Kal stated as he rose to his feet, causing Thor to turn to face him.
Thor merely enveloped Kal in a hug and lifted his little brother off the ground spinning him causing the crowd to roar again.
"A battle for the sagas my brother that is what has happened!" Thor stated in delight, he placed Kal back on the ground and took Kal's hand and raised it in triumph alongside his own.
The action caused an even greater roar from the crowd, a roar that continued even as Kal left the field returning back to the tunnel where he had first exited.
As Kal entered his changing room he was suddenly greeted by two figures he had not expected. One was his mother Frigga, and the other was the Lady Sigyn, who was holding a small bowl and cloth.
It was his mother that moved first wrapping him in a tight embrace filled with love and affection, which Kal returned already feeling better as a result of the hug.
"I am so proud of you," Frigga whispered into his ear, a deep pride in her voice.
"Thanks, I tried my best," Kal stated as he winced slightly from the pain in his ribs.
"I know you did my dear, but I am even more proud of you for giving Thor the match," Frigga stated quietly as they separated so that Sigyn did not overhear.
"Mother Thor won all on his ow-" Kal tried to state.
"Hush now, as I said I am proud of you and so is your father," Frigga stated with a proud smile "Now the Lady Sigyn wishes to attend to your wounds."
"Oh no that's not really nes-" Kal tried to protest but a quick jab to his ribs by his mother prevented that.
"Lady Sigyn my son would be delighted to have your aid," Frigga stated in her queenlike manner before she turned to whisper to her son.
"Hush darling, let the poor dear help you she was very upset at witnessing your injuries you know."
"My prince." Sigyn stated giving a small curtesy as she came before him, she did not meet his eye, but he could see a ghost of a smile on her face.
"Uh Lady Sigyn, thank you for your help," Kal stated awkwardly, causing a polite giggle from Sigyn.
"The prince is too kind. It is my honour and duty to help" Sigyn stated formally her eyes still not meeting Kal's as she set the bowl down to start attending to him.
"Well, I will leave you two to it," Frigga stated as she left, giving Kal a knowing smile and nod towards Sigyn.
Kal gave her a polite as she left whilst resisting groaning at his mother's subtle insinuation, knowing full well that his mother very much like the Lady Sigyn, especially as a prospect for the future. Something that Frigga was starting to talk to her son's more about every day.
Having lost one battle of the day and not wanting to start another, Kal merely sighed after his mother left them alone and act that caused Sigyn to look at him with confusion forcing him to smile at her.
'I really need to get off Asgard' Kal thought as he forced himself to stay polite. 'I wonder what Midgard is like?'