before he released it. The soldier screamed out, dropping his javelin and falling from his horse with a clang of metal; Thor grabbed the javelin, spun around, and plunged it into the man’s chest.
But Thor suddenly felt the wind knocked out of him as he was tackled hard from behind, driven down, face-first, into the ground. A warrior landed on top of him, with a full plate of armor, crushing him; Thor spun, wrestling with the man and reaching up and grabbing his wrist, right before he sliced Thor’s throat with a dagger. Thor held his wrist at bay, arm shaking, then finally lifted his head and head-butted the man, breaking his nose.
The soldier cried out, and Thor threw him off of him. As he threw him, the man landed in the path of another horse, and was trampled instantly to death.
Thor was beyond exhausted, struggling to catch his breath, while all around him his six brothers were fighting for the lives; he could see they were all starting to lose the battle. O’Connor cried out as a Nevarun managed to slice the side of his bicep, blood squirting out; Elden received a mighty mace blow on his shoulder, sending him stumbling back onto the ground; Reece ducked the blow of a sword, but Thor could see his reflexes were not as quick as they should have been, and he almost lost his life. Thor knew he had to do something quickly, or else his brothers would all die.
Thor felt a heat, a power rising up within him, and he prayed to God that this time he could control it. Just enough to get them all out of this, to get Gwen to safety.
Please God, help me through this. Help me win this battle.
Two more soldiers charged for Thor, and one of them reached back and threw a throwing knife right at him. Thor saw it tumbling end over end through the air, saw it coming, too-fast, right for him. He had no time to react. He stood there, defenseless, and raised his palm, trying to summon his power to stop it.
The blade froze in the air a second before it reached him, and then dropped harmlessly to the ground.
Thor raised his other palm, feeling a power surge through him greater than he had ever felt, and knew that this time something was different. Something was shifting within him, and he felt more powerful than ever.
Thor summoned the earth to obey him. He felt the cracks on the ground, felt the contour of the boulders, and then moved his hands in both directions, trying to command the earth to open up.
There came a great rumbling noise and the ground began to tremble, then to shake, and a chasm began to open up in the earth. The earth began to split in two, separating, opening several feet, the gap becoming wider and wider. Several soldiers, charging for him, dropped into the chasm, shrieking as they and their horses plunged down to the depths. Another Nevarun, fighting with Elden, stumbled backwards, falling into the chasm right before he dealt Elden a fatal blow.
Thor looked over to see a Nevarun raise a double-handed axe high overhead and bring it down for O’Connor, who lay there, prone. He was about to kill him. Thor swung his palm in his direction, and directed a ball of energy at him. The soldier went flying, backwards, off his feet, dropping his axe and falling into the chasm, sparing O’Connor. Thor spun and directed his palm towards another soldier who was lunging his sword for Reece’s back, and he managed to stop the man’s arm in mid-air, allowing Reece enough time to spin and strike the man with his sword.
Thor spun again and again, stopping all the Nevaruns from attacking his friends, sparing each of their lives and allowing each of them to prevail, and kill their attackers. The battlefield began to quickly shift, with only a handful of Nevaruns remaining.
Thor was beginning to feel optimistic when suddenly he felt a great blow on his back, like that of a hammer, smashing into his armor, and knocking him down to the ground.
He hit the ground hard and rolled to his feet to see their leader, facing him, wielding a two-handed war hammer in just one hand. In his other he held a long chain, dangling from his palm, which he swung overhead. He wore a malicious smile. Behind him, Thor could see Gwen, tied to his horse, forced