Heroes Assemble!

Death Is Inevitable

Thor stepped through the large, orange sparks of magic and looked back, his eyebrows raised. Walking through the Sorcerer's portal was nothing like travelling via the Bifrost or even by using one of the Seidhr's magical methods. This was much more like walking from one room to another with no feeling of magic associated with it at all.

Seeing Carol and the Sorcerer also stepping through, brought Thor back the reason that he'd come here in the first place. His father, Odin.

It took little to survey their surroundings. It was a desolate sort of place. There were no buildings or any signs of inhabitants at all; simply wide expanses of green, some trees way off in the distance and, of course, the cliffs which led directly to the sea beyond.

But of his father, there was no sight.

"You are certain that this is the place?" Thor questioned.

"I am. This is the last recorded place that Odin was," Strange replied. "He said that the solitude was peaceful and without the lights of man, the stars shone brighter, making him feel closer to his home and his love."

Instinctively, Thor looked up. But in the light of day, the stars could not be seen.

"Well, wherever he is, Odin's not here now," Carol commented.

"Yes, I can see that," Doctor Strange replied with a frown. "However, I assure you, this was the last place that he was."

"It's possible that the Dark Magic that I felt was the All Father summoning the Bifrost to return home to Asgard," Thor mused.

"Possible, but doubtful," Doctor Strange replied. "The magic that I felt was being released, not gathered and used. At least that's the best description that I can give."

The All Father release his magic? Impossible, Thor decided. There was nothing that could make that happen.

"There is one way to be certain," Thor decided.

Then looking skywards, he called for his oldest friend.

"Heimdall, open the Bifrost!"

Normally it would take very little time for Heimdall to respond, for the clouds above to gather and for the Bifrost to descend in a rainbow of magic. A minute on a bad day. But the longer that Thor stood there, looking skywards, the more he began to get an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach. He'd called like this once before and hadn't been heard. He didn't like the feeling then; he didn't like it now.

"Heimdall, open the Bifrost!" he called again.

"You're thinking something's wrong?" Carol stated after, once again, there was no response.

"I am," Thor frowned. "It is unlike Heimdall to not hear my call."

"I'm sorry, Thor, I can't help you here. Norway is one thing, Asgard quite another," Doctor Strange said.

"It is of no matter," Thor replied. "If need be, Stormbreaker can summon the Bifrost."

But even as Thor hefted Stormbreaker in preparation for doing just that, Heimdall appeared.

"Thor," the Gatekeeper of Asgard said.

Something, though, was wrong, different. Thor could see it, feel it. Heimdall wasn't here on Midgard. No, he was still on Asgard. But Thor knew that he, himself was still on Midgard, even though it looked as though he'd somehow now found himself back home.

"Heimdall? What is this? How is this possible?" he asked.

"The magic that courses through me that allows me to See," Heimdall replied. "I have tapped into it to allow you to See what I am seeing."