Disclaimer: This is not intended to be faithful to the myth or canon of any of the deities described in this series. If you are a stickler for the traditional origins and lore, this would be a good point to close the webpage.

Thor charged at Shango, looking to knock him off balance, but Shango was light of foot and side-stepped Thor. Thor opened his hand, calling for Mjolnir, but Shango would not let go of the hammer. So he was lifted off his feet towards Thor, who drove his fist into Shango’s face with his other hand. Shango fell backwards, slightly dazed, the hammer a few metres out of his reach.

The einherjar cheered loudly. Odin moved as if to intervene. Loki saw and quickly intercepted. “Thor will never forgive you, if you end this now, Father.” He reasoned. Odin heaved a sigh of resignation and remained where he was.

Shango got up to his feet, rubbing his jaw. It was a long time since he had felt pain, perhaps not since he was human. Thor saw that he had rocked Shango.

“The audacity to invade my kingdom, outsider, my domain, and demand my hammer. What do you think the enemies of Asgard will do when they hear of it?”

Thor called Mjolnir and the hammer leapt into his grip. He swung the hammer on its leather handle a few times and flung it at Shango.

Feel me, Shango heard Mjolnir whisper. He was back on his feet, and just before the hammer hit him, in a sweeping motion, he shifted his body weight, grabbed the leather handle and threw the hammer back at Thor. Thor did not see it coming and Mjolnir hit him square in the chest, throwing him back several metres in the courtyard.

“Unless your kingdom is riddled with spies,” panted  Shango, “I would be back with your hammer before any enemies could muster an attack. And why do you still fight wars and come under attack, like mortals? Is your domain not a celestial one, Asgardian?”

Thor was back on his feet. He did not know if it was the blow from the hammer hitting his chest that shook him, or the realisation that it could be wielded against him. He decided not to throw Mjolnir at Shango any longer.

Thor raised his hammer up high and the skies darkened. I know what’s coming, Shango thought. With a loud cry, Thor summoned lightning into his hammer and threw the lightning bolts at Shango. Shango, with an equally ferocious cry, eyes sparking and fire flaming out of his mouth, absorbed the lightning into his body with his left arm and shot it back at Thor with his right. DAPADA!!! Thor parried with his hammer and the bolts deflected onto a section of the palace, blasting it to smithereens. Shango immediately spread both arms out wide and slapped his palms together with a ferocious thunder clap.

The sequence had taken a chunk out of Shango and he flagged, momentarily. Thor sensed this and moved to strike him. Thor punched Shango in the ribs and swung the hammer in an uppercut like motion. Shango ducked with a backflip, kicking Thor in the face, before landing on one knee, clutching his side. The hammer flew off into the parapets of the palace, breaking another wall.

Shango opened his palms out to the heavens and swung down, throwing lightning bolts at Thor. Thor too caught the lightning and sent it back into the skies. It began to rain, lightly at first, and then heavily. “You shall not have my hammer, outsider.”

“I swear you will say my name before we are done here!”

“Never!!”

Eshu looked up, shaking his head. “Do you not have rain in Yoruba?” Loki asked.

“We have rain,” Eshu responded drily. “And it is our people called Yoruba, not our domain.”

“I would like to hear more about your domain, once all the thunder and lightning has abated.” Loki said. Eshu nodded.

The fighting raged between the lightning gods. Both realised quickly that neither would be subdued by lightning or fire and only physical blows seemed to do any damage. Shango feinted a punch with his left fist and followed on with his right. The blow grazed Thor’s temple and he swung the hammer again, aiming for Shango’s chin. He missed and lost his grip on Mjolnir, sending it flying into the sky.

Call me!!

Thor and Shango both stretched out their hands to call the hammer and zipped one way and then the other, not reaching either of them. Thor strained and Shango strained harder, the two summoning the hammer with all their strength. The hammer was now simply rotating in the same place, with equal pull from the clashing deities.

The hammer suddenly stopped spinning as a hand held it in place. It was Odin. “Enough of that now, you two,” he admonished. “Nothing to be gained by this contest or the demise of either of you.”

Both wanted to continue but the authority with which Odin spoke compelled them to pause.

“Thor, my son, my shining star, you will go with Shango to his coronation and let him use Mjolnir for his benediction. Then you will return to us and we shall put this matter behind us. No, no, no, do not protest. I have spoken.”

Shortly afterwards, Thor was on the path back to their realm, with Eshu and Shango. It was a quiet journey with no words said by any of them. They leapt of the cart into the domain of Shango and as their feet touched the ground, Thor at last spoke up.

“My hand tingles. I sense something. It feels like Mjolnir but different. I feel… I feel…” and he stretched out his hand as he would to call his hammer.

There was a whoosh and a thud. And in Thor’s hand was Shango’s oshe.

*** TO BE CONTINUED – ONE MORE PART TO GO ***