The Warriors Teen, Part 2

Young Thor and his friends, Sif and Balder are embarking on a quest to obtain four magical items needed to forge an enchanted sword. However, as they climb Asgard’s Hidden Hills, the thunder god realizes that his friends have been silent the whole time and finally asks them to be straight with him. The pair are annoyed with Thor volunteering them to join this quest without asking them first, regardless of the fact that they would have joined him. When Thor takes offense to this, Sif gets annoyed when he starts talking about being brothers of Asgard as though the women are not equal. Losing her temper, she decides to take point and press ahead as a show that she is just as capable as they are.

Following after her, Thor tells Balder that this conversation isn’t over. When they round the corner they find Sif motionless under a dwarfing shadow. When they look up to see what is casting it, they too are paralyzed with fear. That is because they are now face-to-face with the first challenge on their quest. Before them is the dragon Hakurei, whose scales are the first item on their list. When the dragon asks if the younglings are looking for him, their silence makes him laugh. He then breaths fire at them and, luckliy, the three young Asgardians are able to leap for cover before being incinerated. Balder notes that the dragon seemed to be waiting for them, as if he knew they’d come. Thor, despite the protests of the others, leaps up onto and demands — as the son of Odin — for the dragon to bow before his commands. The dragon has no respect for his royal line and attacks instead.

The creature starts whipping its tail around, knocking Thor out and putting Sif and Balder on the defensive. Striking the dragon with their swords proves harder than they though. When Balder tries to come to Sif’s aid, she chastises him for treating her like a weakling. Confident that she can hold her own, Balder rushes to Thor’s side and helps revive him. He tells the thunderer that they need to get onto the dragon’s head, suggesting they climb up the side of the nearby rocky outcropping overhead. Balder then rejoins Sif to create a distraction while Thor climbs. They manage to hold their own for their friend to get to the top. Then, letting out a battle cry to honor Asgard, Thor leaps from the peak and plunges his sword deep into Hakurei’s head, taking down the massive dragon in a single blow.

With the battle over, Sif and Balder congratulate Thor but he tells them that he couldn’t have killed the dragon without them. He also realizes how he had wronged them by not consulting them before committing to this quest and promises that from now on, they will work as a team. They then all cross their swords in a show of solidarity. Balder notes that Hakurei is still alive and suggests they take one of his scales and leave before the dragon wakes up. After their first victory, Thor’s party muses that nobody can stop them.

Little do they know that they Harkuin was tipped off by Loki who has become determined to make their quest end in failure. Unknown to the tickster he is being watched through the looking glass of a mysterious woman who also seeks to stand in Thor’s way![1]

Recurring Characters

Thor, Sif, Balder, Loki, Hakurei, Karnilla

Continuity Notes

1. This woman is indentified as Karnilla the Norn Queen in Thor: Son of Asgard #4.