After leaving so Thor could prepare for his entrance, Loki had made his way to the front of the throne room. The Warriors Three—Volstagg, Fandral, and Hogun—were already at their places of honor, along with Lady Sif. The four were Thor’s lifelong friends. Together, they had gone on many adventures in which Loki had taken only a reluctant part.

The room had grown crowded and was filled with muffled conversation as everybody eagerly awaited Thor’s arrival. But first, Odin appeared, seated on his golden throne, spear in hand. His expression showed pride—and perhaps a hint of sadness—as he looked out over the room. Loki felt a pang, wondering if Odin had ever looked that way at him. Shaking off the thought, he focused on the door again.

“Where is he?” Loki heard Volstagg mutter. “I’m famished. And Odin will not be happy with the delay.”

Turning, Loki gave him a look. The huge warrior was always hungry. “I wouldn’t worry,” he said softly. “Father will forgive him. He always does.”

Then, as if in response to Loki’s words, the room erupted in applause. Standing at the opposite end of the throne room holding his hammer high above his head was Loki’s brother and the future king of Asgard, the mighty Thor.

As Thor knelt in front of Odin, Loki watched, his expression unreadable. Today, everything would change. For better or worse, he could not tell. Would Thor be a good king? A wise king? Or would he be a rash and foolish one? There were times Loki doubted that Thor was ready—he didn’t listen and he was quick to judge. Would Asgard benefit from such a leader? Watching him now, as Odin spoke the words his own father had spoken to him thousands of years before, Loki had to admit Thor looked like a king.

Odin had just gotten to the final part of the ceremony when a chill filled the room. Loki shivered and rubbed his arms. Trying to ignore the feeling, Loki turned his attention back to Odin, who hadn’t stopped. But then, the banners that hung from the high ceilings suddenly crackled.

Upon his throne, Odin’s expression grew serious. He seemed to know exactly what was causing this strange phenomenon. “Frost Giants,” Loki heard him hiss.

And then, as he and everyone else watched in shock, Thor stood up and ran from the room. The Warriors Three and Lady Sif followed. Sighing, Odin went after them.

Loki turned and looked at his mother. “What is going on?” he asked.

“I have no idea,” Frigga answered. “But I suggest you go and find out.”

Odin ordered the guards to be on alert and then followed the chill out of the room. Thor was ahead of him, charging down toward the Vault, the deep labyrinth where Asgard’s greatest treasures and direst threats were held...under the protection of the Destroyer. He had a very good idea about what the Frost Giants were after—the Casket of Ancient Winters. The Casket enabled anyone who held it to create a never-ending winter. Laufey, the Jotun king, had wanted to use the Casket to turn all the realms into frozen ice lands that he could rule. Years earlier, Odin had taken the Casket in order to ensure it would never be misused. For the safety of all Nine Realms, he had it placed in the Vault. Although it was guarded at all times, someone must have gotten in.

When he arrived at the Vault, his assumptions were proven true. He found Thor, with Sif and the Warriors Three, staring at the remains of a great battle. Two Asgardian sentries lay on the floor, frozen solid.

Towering above them stood the Destroyer, Odin’s deadliest weapon. It was a suit of armor, three times the size of a man, animated by the mystical Odinforce. When a threat to Odin or Asgard was felt, the Destroyer would awaken, and the Odinforce would burn bright, laying waste to anyone or anything that got in its way. The Jotuns who had found their way into the Vault had not survived to find their way out.

Now, the Destroyer held the Casket of Ancient Winters in its hands.

Thor turned, and his eyes met his father’s. While Odin’s eyes were troubled and resigned, Thor’s blazed with unabashed fury. This was an act of war! While up above, a roomful of the most important people in the Nine Realms had been celebrating, the Vault had been broken into and two sentries killed. All of Asgard could be at risk. Something had to be done.

Odin watched as various emotions played over his son’s face. He knew Thor was angry and that he wanted revenge. A part of him wanted that, too. If Laufey had sent the Frost Giants, it meant that he no longer valued the truce. On the other hand, if Laufey hadn’t sent them, and the rogue Jotuns had acted on their own, then Odin might be starting an unnecessary war by retaliating. To Odin, the more troubling question was how the Jotuns had gotten into Asgard. With the all-seeing Heimdall stationed at the base of the Bifrost—the Rainbow Bridge connecting the Nine Realms—it should have been impossible for anyone to enter unnoticed.

“The Jotuns must pay for what they’ve done!” Thor shouted, interrupting his father’s thoughts.

“They have paid,” Odin said softly. “The ultimate price.”

Thor didn’t care. He was burning with the desire to avenge this insult to Asgard. “This is an act of war!”

The king shook his head sadly. He had hoped Thor would think rationally about the consequences. “I have a truce with Laufey,” Odin reminded Thor.

“He just broke your truce,” Thor said. “We must act!”

Odin turned to Thor’s friends.

“Leave us,” he commanded. When he was alone with his son, he asked, “What action would you take?”

Thor puffed out his chest. He knew exactly what he would do. “March into Jotunheim as you once did and teach them a lesson.”

“The Casket of Ancient Winters belonged to the Jotuns. They believe it’s their birthright,” Odin said, his voice heavy.

“And if they had it, they would lay waste to the Nine Realms!”

“This was the action of but a few, doomed to fail,” Odin said. “We will find the breach in our defenses, and it will be sealed.”

“As king of Asgard,” Thor began, and Odin lost his patience.

“But you’re not king yet!” he roared. Father and son stared each other down for a long moment. Odin knew Thor thought him weak, but Odin had the well-being of Asgard to consider. Thor thought only as a warrior. Under no circumstances would Odin permit Thor to travel to Jotunheim. It would solve nothing and most certainly send the realms into war. Thor was not ready for such a war, and Odin feared he was too old to see it through.

Thor looked as though he might challenge his father. His face was hard and his eyes glittered with anger. But without saying anything, he turned on his heel and left the Vault.

Alone with the dead sentries and the bodies of the Jotun warriors, Odin felt his limbs begin to shake. He was uneasy and unsure about Asgard’s future and about his own health—and that frightened him.

Thor stood in the banquet hall, stewing over the argument with his father. No, he was not king yet; but it was his birthright, and he was not going to let a few words in a ceremony stand between him and protecting Asgard. His brother and his friends were there, unsure how to speak to him in the midst of his rage.

Finally, it was Loki who took the first step toward Thor.

“If it’s any consolation, I think you’re right,” he said. “About the Frost Giants, about Laufey, everything. If a few of them could penetrate the defenses of Asgard once, who’s to say they won’t try again? Next time with an army?”

“Yes, exactly!” Thor said. He was glad his brother agreed.

“But there’s nothing we can do without defying Father,” Loki pointed out.

Thor considered this. He looked out the banquet hall window over the splendor of Asgard. Then he looked down at Mjolnir. Loki saw Thor get a gleam in his eye. The kind of gleam he got when he saw a chance for battle.

“No,” Loki said. “Stop there! I know that look!”

“It’s the only way to ensure the safety of our borders,” Thor said. “We’re going to Jotunheim.”

Fandral was usually up for anything Thor proposed, but this idea stunned him. “What!?”

Sif was more serious. “Thor, of all the laws of Asgard, this is one you must not break.”

“If the Frost Giants don’t kill you, your father will!” Volstagg added.

Thor didn’t care. He knew this was the right thing to do. “My father fought his way into Jotunheim, defeated their armies, and took their Casket! We’d just be looking for answers.”

“It is forbidden!” Sif warned.

Thor spread his arms and brought his brother and his friends close to him. “My friends, trust me now. We must do this.”

There was a pause. Then Loki said, “Yes, of course! I won’t let my brother march into Jotunheim alone. I will be at his side.”

“And I,” Volstagg said.

Fandral nodded. “And I.”

Hogun, a warrior of few words, nodded as well. “The Warriors Three fight together.”

“I fear we’ll live to regret this,” Sif said.

Volstagg rolled his eyes. “If we’re lucky.”

All they had to do was get past Heimdall, the guardian of the Bifrost. He had the gift of seeing anything that happened anywhere in the Nine Realms. He would certainly be ready for them. As the watcher over the Bifrost, he was sworn to be loyal to Odin; if the All-Father had forbidden travel to Jotunheim, Heimdall would prevent Thor and his friends from making the journey.

But Thor had to ask.

Loki wanted to take the lead and convince Heimdall to permit their voyage, but Thor had no patience to wait. When they reached the gateway to the Observatory, where Heimdall stood his endless watch, Thor strode forward.

“Heimdall, may we pass?” he asked.

For a long moment Heimdall just stared at them from under his heavy golden helmet. When he spoke, his words were slow and careful.

“For ages have I guarded Asgard and kept it safe from those who would do it harm,” he said. “In all that time, never has an enemy slipped by my watch—until this day. I wish to know how that happened.”

Thor nodded. This was good news. Heimdall would let them pass even though it was against Odin’s rules. “Then tell no one where we’ve gone until we’ve returned,” Thor said.

Thor walked past Heimdall. The rest of the group followed. Loki looked irritated that he hadn’t gotten his chance to speak. Volstagg couldn’t resist needling him a little.

“What happened?” Volstagg joked. “Your silver tongue turn to lead?”

“Get me off this bridge before it cracks under your girth,” Loki snapped.

Volstagg and Fandral laughed.

“Be warned,” Heimdall said as the group passed him. “I will honor my sworn oath to protect this Realm as its gatekeeper. If your return threatens the safety of Asgard, Bifrost will remain closed to you.” He let them think about that for a moment.

If the Bifrost did not open to them, they would be stuck in Jotunheim, surrounded by a huge army of angry Jotuns. The thought sobered them all.

Except Thor. “I have no plans to die today,” he said.

Heimdall did not smile. “None do,” he said.

Heimdall inserted his sword into the lock that controlled the Bifrost, opening and closing the pathways to the Nine Realms. The great Observatory, a clockworks sphere that channeled the energies of the Bifrost, began to spin.

“All is ready,” Heimdall said. “You may pass.”

Thor, Loki, Sif, and the Warriors Three stepped up onto the platform at the center of the Observatory. Soon the Bifrost would appear there, allowing them to travel instantly to any of the Nine Realms.

On the outside of the Observatory was a long, narrow cone. It turned and aimed toward Jotunheim. A beam of rainbow energy shot out from it across space and became the Rainbow Bridge.

“Couldn’t you just leave the bridge open for us?” Volstagg asked. He looked nervous. He always was before a possible fight.

“To keep this bridge open would unleash the full power of the Bifrost and destroy Jotunheim,” Heimdall said.

The Bifrost could remain open only long enough for a group to go across it. Its energies were too powerful to contain if it stayed open for too long.

“Ah. Never mind, then,” Volstagg said.

Thor started toward the Bifrost. At the edge of the bridge, he stopped and looked back toward his friends, grinning.

“Come on!” he said. “Don’t be bashful.” 4TsQxk3bWzl5q/obe/Ae1WmC77cnlNyl7sa/1Tm5l1q/Bjda2jd2wWoxlyDg08NS