It was a lovely and quiet day out in the gardens. Loki could hear Thor playing fake sword battles with his friends not too far away. He didn't like to practice with Thor- he enjoyed winning far too much, and when he lost, he insisted that Loki had been cheating.
Loki instead preferred reading a book about spells and incantations quietly under the shade of a tree. Today he was reading an exquisite book on how to summon atronachs and create incantations to generate life, but he didn't think he had the ability to cast such spells, so he didn't take what he was reading too seriously. Instead, he sketched out ideas in the corner of the book until he heard his mom calling from the entrance of the gardens, Loki looked down at the book pleased with his little art work. Closing it, he stood up, and stretched out his legs and back.
He heard rustling of leaves behind him, and someone grabbed him from behind, dragging him a good distance away. Loki tried to scream and fight, but the man had a choke hold on him and a held a fabric with an odd smell to his face. Another man came and tied his legs and arms together. The young boy passed out before he had any chance to escape.
Loki woke up slowly. He was laying on his side, gagged, the dirt he was laying on was filthy, he was still tied up, and facing a makeshift wall. It was sometime past dusk, torch lights silhouetted a group behind him. He could overhear their conversation.
"Would you look at this!"
"Odin practically left us a gift of his mongrel son."
"How did you find him?"
"You should not have brought him here!"
"How much money can we get for him?"
"How much would Odin pay for a limb?"
"Per limb?"
"The idea isn't unreasonable."
"He's just a child!"
"We agreed that you would get the blonde one!"
"The blonde one was in a group."
They continue to talk amongst themselves, but he heard footsteps approaching him. Loki tried to wake himself up, but everything was spinning and pulsing. A hand picked up one of Loki's elbows. Loki felt a knife cut through the fabric of his left sleeve, the knife grazed his skin. Loki writhed around, trying to get away but he was still lethargic. Loki looked into the face of his attacker. He looked malnourished, lacked many teeth, and had scabs and growth all over his skin and face. The others around him were not so much different.
"Don't worry we won't kill you, just cut off a limb or two to send the All-Father a message." The man continued to try to cut off the limb. Loki threw his body weight forward, pulling the crouching man with him down, the man tumbled over him. Loki still couldn't see clearly as everything spinning from whatever that drug they gave him was. Loki guessed where the man's face actually was, and kicked the man's distorted face until he dropped his knife. Loki kicked the knife to his hands, trying to pick it up as the group attacked, tearing at him. He was able to cut his band during the assaults. And began cutting at the people around him quickly. He ripped the gag off his mouth.
"Stay back! I will defend myself! I will kill you if you get one more step closer!" Loki threatened, pointing the dagger at the crowd that had ganged up on and attacked him.
The group of pilfers and vagabonds laughed at the little boy and his tiny dagger. "You couldn't kill a rabbit if it had its legs broken!" The assemblage had knifes too, they weren't intimidated by a spoiled boy from the Asgard throne. Some attacked him with fists, while others attacked with shanks. Loki was back on the floor, defending himself from the onslaught. "NO!" Loki screamed as he prayed for someone to save him, a little boy was no match for the herd of convicts. He outreached his hands trying to protect himself when a bright flash of light happened over his tightly closed eyes. The abuse paused. Daring to peek open his eyes he saw what he had drawn in his spell book. He had summoned an atronach, he would would have normally been overjoyed, but he was too frightened to feel as such now. He slowly, painfully stood up beside it. The attackers looked at him and the summoned creature in fear. Loki held his hand open toward the crowd, the atronach extended its hands toward them likewise. However, when it nearly touched the crowd, they began to scream as their flesh turned to a bright shade of red, quickly turned to ash, the atronach disappearing with them.
There were more people, but a bit further away from him than the people who were disintegrated.
"I warned you! I TOLD YOU STAY BACK! Tell me how to get back to my kingdom or I'll…" Loki looked at where there used to be people "or else I'll do that again!" The people, shocked and scared, backed away in fear. The wiser among them ran away. Loki wasn't sure how he had summoned the creature, but Loki rose his hands again, once more they began to glow "TELL ME!"
The few remaining people fell onto their knees or crawled onto the floor, pleading for their lives to be spared. He could hear babies and children whimpering. Loki was shocked, both of his actions and the actions of the people who were just trying to kill him a minute ago.
"TELL ME I SAID!"
One man in the background pointed in the direction to the road.
Loki took off running, despite the pain in his legs and body from gashes and bruises from shanks and fists. Pain that told him to lie down, to call for help. Loki was not sure how far he had run, he lacked breathe completely, but his legs couldn't stop. He ran through villages and forest trails and past very surprised guards who tried to help him. Loki ran into the Great Hall where his father was fighting with guards, his mother clinging close to him. "FATHER! MOM!" Loki threw himself to his father, crying, guards chasing after him.
"Loki! What happened! Where were you?" Frigga wiped at her eyes and held onto the boy, seeing the bruising and blood on his skin.
"I killed them!" Loki gasped for air, "I KILLED THEM!"
"Who did this? WHERE LOKI?"
Frigga looked up at her husband.
"I… don't… know." Loki gasped between each word, exhaustion hitting him full force.
The guards that had followed him told the All-Father that the first collected guard had seen him first from a trail coming out of the eastern mountain forest. Odin shouted at a servant to ready his horse immediately.
The All-Father took up arms with his knights, leaving swiftly.
Frigga carried her son to the medical bay. A few hours later, the All-Father was back at the kingdom with a long line of prisoners between the soldiers who were led to the dungeons.
Thor came excitedly to the medical bay the next morning to visit Loki. "Did you know that father found a group of rebels yesterday? They will have to go to court today. He was looking for you, you know. Had this whole place in an uproar because of you. " Loki didn't reply to his brother.
During the trial, some prisoners spat, some pleaded, others insulted and cursed.
"It wasn't our idea to kill him!"
"The mongrel ain't even yer son!"
"I had no part of it!"
"He killed our husbands and wives!"
"I have children, please!"
"Go to Hel, All-Father!"
"He is a monster!"
"What he is, is of no concern to you! He is my son, and is a prince to this kingdom of Asgard. You are guilty of treason, conspiracy, kidnapping, attempted murder, and endeavoring to ransom my son. Therefore you will receive the sentenced of death, and will be held at dawn tomorrow." The prisoners gasped, cried, and cursed as the guards led them away.
Back in the medical wing, Frigga watched over her son.
"Mother, what will happen to the prisoners?"
"Shh... Don't worry, everything will be alright. Please get some rest." Frigga lightly touched his jaw, kissing him on the forehead.
Loki knew that they will receive the death penalty. I don't want more to die because of me, these people didn't hurt me. I already killed those that wanted to hurt me. When Loki received the medicine to help him sleep and heal, he put it into his mother's drink while she walked off to talk to a servant for a second. She was sleeping on the chair next to him soundly within half an hour.
Loki got up, walking discreetly to the dungeon. He placed a glamour on a passerby to look like one of the prisoners had escaped. The guards of the dungeon rushed after them, he'll remove the glamour before they hurt him, he told himself. He rushed into the dungeon and looked for the specific prisoners. Once they saw him, some spat, some looked at him in question, others in fear. Most of them were adults, some were nursing babies, some elderly, and some were children his age. He opened the barrier field, and led the people out. He placed another glamour on the prisoners so they could run away without being seen. He knew where he could get them to safety, he knew a portal around here to another world he once found not too far off. The group followed him blindly to their freedom. They were half a mile away from the portal. He could save these innocents from their families' mistakes. They were out of the guardsmen's scouting areas.
But then guards appeared out of nowhere, both from the front and soldiers on horseback behind them. They grabbed onto the running prisoners before they could escape. They were all forced to kneel in a line on the ground. Loki shouted at the guards to stop, that this was his fault. He led them out.
Odin stood behind him, and turned him around. "This was not wise Loki. Go back home, don't turn around or come back. Go now."
"No! DON'T HURT THEM! THEY DIDN'T DO ANYTHING!"
"Then stay and watch."
Loki fell onto his knees, defeated, and looked at the people on their knees, crying.
Odin waved his hands, the sound of weapons slicing through the air. Loki screaming, held his hands over his head, his scalp touching the floor, he did not want to see their deaths. He wouldn't, couldn't.
Odin walked away.
A guard stood in front of Loki, holding his shoulder until the boy wanted to stand up. The guard covered Loki so he wouldn't see the prisoners being stacked into a pile. He helped the crying boy up onto his own horse, and the guard walked with him back to the castle.