Waking

"Tiella" woke with a start, gasping for breath. She looked around to see the others dragging themselves from the ground.

They were in some sort of building. The light was dim but all around she saw the figures of tall warriors surrounding them. How had they come to this place? The bite of the cold told her that they had been returned to the realm of Nifelheim. But how..why?

Seeing Balar she scrambled to his side. His eyes opened and he smiled weakly. God's he looked old. What had happened?

"We did it." He breathed. "We killed her."

Tiella reached into his tunic to draw out the life stone that bound them and gasped to see that it was cracked. The once bright white pearl that sat at its centre now dull and grey.

Taking her own stone from about her neck she levered his head forward and removed the damaged talisman.

"What are you.." he began to ask and then gasped as she hung the undamaged stone upon him. His body became enfused with a soft white light as her life force seeped into him and the damage done by Hela was reversed.

Tiella clasped his hand as she watched the magic take effect, but without the other stone to anchor the magic the spell became chaotic. There was a sharp crack as the stone failed and grew lifeless to match the twin.

Balar sat and looked around with concern.

"Cali where the hell are we? And who are these people?"