In a dark cave hidden away from the world a thin, weak looking man with only one hand sits alone staring at the ground. His hair and beard look like they haven't been trimmed in years. Scars litter his body showing he was a warrior in his prime but now just a withered husk of a man.

  “I knew you would come eventually”

  “So why would you still do it if you knew?”

  From the darkness a silhouette of a woman appears. She wears a long scaled robe and heels that produce a piercing click with every step. But, the most noticeable trait would be her eyes. Far too narrow and cold to be humans.

  “Someone had to stop him. We all heard the prophecy it was only a matter of time before something happened”

  “You say that but since you locked yourself away there is chaos. Cities burn, there is no-one to keep check on them with the ‘law-bringer’ pretending to be a guard dog.”

  “Why do you say pretending?”

  “We both know you lost most of your powers Tyr”

  “Even then, im forced by my honor to guard his cell”

  “Huh honor. Isn’t that what you swore by when you locked Fenrir in this crypt. That's what it is right? A crypt. You never meant to release him, you all hoped he died down there.”

  “.......”

  The silence lasts uncomfortably long as they stare at each other. Even as the years grew Tyr still holds the stature of the one known to police the other gods. Weak as he may be, the pressure released from his mere stare reminds all who he was.

  “So what do you want, J?rmungandr?”

  “I’ve come to free him from this hell”

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  Tyr goes quite processing what he has been told. Maybe she doesn't realize what this means.

  “Do you know what you're doing?”

  “Yes I do. I'm freeing my husband”

  The air seems to freeze for a few seconds before Tyr slowly stands. He grabs at the wall behind him, rocks falling as he pulls a two-handed sword the size of a door from the cave wall.

  “Come. i’ve grown tired and my blood is the only way to free him from those chains”

  ------

  For years he was chained away from his loved ones. Forever thrown away in darkness, only lit from the flames of his anger and rage. Weakened by time and the runes from the metal, his strength and mind fades. Only brought back in fits of rage of the people who locked him here for FEAR of what he might be. Memories long forgotten haunt him of his wife who tried to convince him not to go.

  “Please don't go. You know they hate you, fear you.”

  “J?rm I have to, they will never change if we hide. They have to see we are different than they think we are. We are more than just monsters”

  “But they don't see that. They see us as freaks”

  “Not him. He judges all fairly. He was the one who gave us freedom, he could have cut us down long ago. But he didn't, even for just that i have to go.”

  ------

  In a cell as black as night even the littlest of sunlight is blinding to the eyes. The only light from the maw of a beast trapped illuminates the thick metal room. Made from steel as black as night not to keep him from getting out but to stop anyone from finding him. The chains would stop the beast not the walls.

  Slowly the sound of gears fills the room. And the tiniest bit of light shines into the dark void eaten by the shadows. But, it's enough to notice if you are used to the complete void.

  “ Did you come here to mock me? With your precious prophecy? Was it worth it? Your honor, your name. Do they still trust you? Their, Oh so honorable knight is nothing more that a betrayer and a liar”

  “...stop”

  “...i….is.. That you?”

  “Yes”

  As a wet thump and a dragging sound is heard slowly a silhouette of a woman is brought into view. But even then for one locked away in the abyss he can't see any features other than a tattered dress and a limp leg. His eyes far too used to darkness. He knows shes there but can never actually see her again.

  “Why…”

  “I had to”

  “.. you know he will come”

  “I know”

  “....Thank you”

  Years of not seeing each other only adds to how important this one moment is for them. He cares not for the scars she gained earning this chance. Only for the moment that it is possible.

  Such a shame that even as they hug and cry in reunion, the sound of thunder haunts the horizon.