As the mist gradually dispersed, Hela coldly watched Thor and Loki huddled beside Frigga.
The aftermath of the duel still shook the Faroe Islands. Heavy dark-gray clouds pressed down upon the sea, brewing lightning. Beneath them, blizzards howled across the frozen ocean, giant waves solidified into icebergs, and whirlpools became ghastly white craters. On the other side of the horizon, towering flames occasionally tore through the clouds. Thunderous blasts that shook the earth and ice slowly rolled in from afar before exploding beside their ears, clenching humanity's fragile insides.
The Faroe Islands had vanished. The unfortunate humans and buildings buried beneath ice and molten rock were gone, leaving only a few patches of rocky ground and charred black spires protruding from the ice to show that this had once been an inhabited island. The safest place on the battlefield was the towering tree formed from runes. The runes isolated the ever-changing environment outside, while neither storm nor heat could cross the rune-carved stone Frigga had thrown onto the ground.
"Dear Mother, it has been a long time. I still remember how you tricked me into going to the land of the dead." Hela carefully examined her mother, her tone rising with mockery. "You look much older. A distinguished lady like you should take better care of yourself. Is raising these little brats really so troublesome? I can kill them and save you some worry."
"No!" Frigga cried nervously. Then she lowered her voice. "No, they are your brothers."
"If that is what you want,"
The spikes on Hela's ornate helmet rose high. One hand rested on her hip, while the other gripped the black longsword called "Night Sky" as though wielding a riding crop, its tip pointing at Thor and Loki. "As long as they do not interfere with me,