Isis Knite was, she thought, a 25-year-old college student: a normal-looking woman of 5'7" tall, 125lb, with black hair, blue eyes, and olive skin. However, she felt like she didn't fit in with the other students. In her room at night she sat, trying to stay awake, afraid to sleep for she feared her dreams.

A man stood before her: he was tall, with black hair and deep forest-green eyes, and well built. He tells her she is his lost love and he misses her, he has been looking for her for a long time. Suddenly a thing made of ice grabbed her and carried her away. As the green-eyed man fought to get to her, the ice creature took her into darkness, growling that she will never see him again. She was afraid and alone in the dark; it is cold and icy. Suddenly the ice creature grabbed her again, took her to a cliff, and threw her over the edge! As she fell, screaming, she saw the Earth, as if she was falling from space.

Isis usually woke up screaming. She dared not go back to sleep, for the dream would just repeat itself, over and over again.

This was not the first 'unusual' thing in Isis Knite's life. Over the past few years she had noticed other strange things: oddities that should only belong in mutants like the X-Men. She has heard what others were thinking; she has teleported to different places just by thinking about it, and she feels 'fed' by standing outside on clear, starry nights. She found this alarming; it wasn't normal! She never mentioned it to her parents, though. Mutants were not well received in society, and she did not know what they would think.

"Am I going crazy?" she wondered.

One day in literature class her professor started talking about ancient Norse myths: what gods and demigods were worshipped, and what powers people believed they had. Some of the stories mention the strange abilities she had experienced. She thought about it, and decided to research it more.

She spent a lot of time in the library, reading book after book, until she came across a story about Loki: the Norse god of mischief, lies, and evil. One book even had a picture, and it looked just like the man from her dreams: the one speaking of undying love for her! Isis, not knowing what to think, checked out the book and went back to her room.

She sat by the window, looking at the artist's rendering of Loki, and suddenly a voice filled her mind.

"I will find you my love no matter where they take you. I will look forever if I have to."

Sitting there by her window, Isis drifted off to sleep with the book in her lap. The dream started again, but this time, she spoke to the black-haired man.

"Who are you," she asked? "Why are you in my dreams? What am I doing here, and what is that thing made of ice?"

As he reached for her-to hold her in his arms-Isis stepped away so he could not touch her. He looked at her, puzzled.

"What is wrong?" he asked.

"I don't know who you are," she whispered.

He closed the space between them. "I am your love, your life-mate: I am Loki."

Isis stepped back. "Why are you saying that you love me? I do not know you! Why are you in my dreams?"

"We are life-mates," he replied, "and have been for a few centuries. In this dream realm we can be together." He looked at her with pain in his eyes. "Why do you ask these things? Don't you remember me?"

She shook her head. "NO, I don't know you, or what you want!"

Loki stepped forward quickly, grabbed her and wrapped her in his arms, holding her tight.

"What have they done? What have the Jotun done to my goddess of the night?" A tear slid down his face.

Suddenly the ice man (was this the Jotun he spoke of?) appeared, snarling, and yanked Isis from Loki's arms. Loki tried to catch her, but the iceman threw her aside and attacked Loki.

Isis hit the ground, hard, and she woke with a start. A tear fell from her eye as she looked down at the picture and she started to cry. She felt lost, like her heart had been ripped out. What did it all mean? Was it a dream, or was it real? How could she tell?

At class the next day Isis asked her teacher more about Loki.

"There are lots of story about him," the old man replied. "Some say he was decidedly evil, some say it he was acting from a broken heart, and others say the trickster couldn't help himself: he was just born that way."

Isis took her seat and thought of ways to find out more about the Loki from mythology. Was he the Loki that appeared in her dreams? If he was, then why did he say he loved her, and why did the ice men-the Jotun-want to hurt her? She barely heard anything the professor lectured about for the rest of the hour. When class was over she went back to her room.

Maybe, she thought, if I go to sleep I can find him and find out what is going on. Maybe, just maybe, I can figure out why I am so different from everyone else. She lay down in her bed and opened the book to the page with his photo, so as she started to drift off to sleep she thought about him.

He stood under a great big tree, and as she slowly walked up to him he turned and saw her.

"You came back," he said as he wrapped his arms around her. "Quickly, where are you? What planet did they hide you on?"

She looked up at him, puzzled. "I am from Earth. I've never been anywhere else." She looked at him, troubled. "Have I? Who am I, and why am I so different from everyone else?"

He looked at her with love in his eyes, and a bit of amusement. "Midgard," he said, "of course, they would hide you there." He took a deep breath. "You are not from Earth-Midgard-you are Isis, a goddess of the stars. You were not born to Midgard, but Asgard, the same place I call home."

"Why do the ice men…"

"Jotun," he corrected.

"Jotun, fine. Why do they want to hurt me? I don't remember them, or you, or Asgard. What is happening to me?" Isis grew insistent, demanding answers.

He groaned as if pained. "They hurt you to get to me. They wanted me to do something for them and I wouldn't do it, so they took you away-kidnapped you. I have been looking for you for hundreds of years. That is why I have been in your dreams. We can talk here, but somehow the Jotun find a way-in your dreams-to keep me from finding out where you really are."

"I'm sorry," she said, shaking her head, "I don't remember you. I only knows of my life on Earth, and then only for a couple of years. I don't remember anything before my late teens." She looked up at him and saw the worry in his face. "What is wrong?"

He sighed. "It hurts that you do not remember the love we shared, or our life together. I swear to you, I will find out what they did to you and make them pay for it." He pulled her tight and lowered his head. "It is time for you to go back." He looked her in the eyes. "I'm coming for you." Loki kissed her passionately.

With that kiss Isis woke up, feeling alone.

CHAPTER 2

Isis thought about what Loki said and tried to remember her life before she woke up in the hospital. Then she realized she couldn't even remember how she ended up in the hospital. She still had so many questions that need answers! What was a goddess of the stars? Why did she feel so alone whenever she woke from her dreams? Why did she feel like half of her was missing?

Isis decided that more research was needed, but the library, museums, and the Internet were the only sources she could imagine. This will have to work until I go back to sleep and can talk to him again, she thought to herself. And this time I will have him tell me everything he knows about me, to see if anything rings a bell. She also thought she should talk to the people that raised her; she already know that they were not her real parents. She needed to find out where she came from, who she was, and why she couldn't remember anything.

Isis got dressed and went to see if her teacher was in his classroom; maybe he knew something about star goddesses that might help her. She found her teacher in his classroom speaking with a new student: a tall young man about her age, with fair skin, ice blue eyes, and brown hair. She walked into the room, and when her teacher saw her he asked her to come in.

"Good morning, Isis! I would like you to meet our newest student. His name is Traiton; he just transferred here from New York."

As Isis stepped up she felt cold, like someone had just walked over her grave. Something creepy was in the air, but she couldn't say exactly what it was.

"Hello, Traiton," she said, extending her hand to shake his, "it is nice to meet you."

"Likewise," Traiton said, but he would not let go of her hand. Isis had to pull away from him before he would let go.

"Professor," she said, "do you have a few minutes? I need to ask you about yesterday's lecture."

"Yes, of course," said her professor, and he took his leave of the other students.

The Professor escorted Isis into his office. "How can I help you, my dear?" He asked.

"What do you know about star goddesses?" she blurted out. "I can't get them out of my mind, for some reason.

"Hmmm," he said. "Well, they are the children of the moon goddess-Diana-from Greek mythology. There is not much on them, but they do pop up in other cultures' myths, and are called by many different names."

"Thank you," Isis said. As she began to leave she saw the new student, Traiton, still in the classroom staring at her. She walked out of the office and tried to walk past him, but he stepped in front of her.

"Excuse me, Isis, right? I was wondering: could you show me to the dorms? I still don't know my way around here," he explained.

"Sure I can," Isis said, "just follow me. I'm going there now."

As they walked out together Isis felt the chill creeping up on her again, but stronger this time. Traiton walked close to her, seeming to examine the grounds, and did not say anything until they reached the dormitory. "This is it," she said. "Now, if you will excuse me, I need to go to my room."

"Of course," Traiton said.

Isis left Traiton in the lobby and went to her room, and laying down she thought of Loki as she drifted off to sleep.

He was standing under the big tree again, but as she walked up to him he did not turn to face her.

"Why did you come back here?" he demanded. "It is dangerous for you to keep coming back."

"I had to talk to you: to ask you some things," she explained.

As he turned around she saw that he looked like he has been crying.

"What is wrong?" she asked, "why are you crying?"

"I did not think you would come back. I want you to be safe, but I missed you so much!" he confessed.

Isis took a deep breath. "I need to ask you something," she admitted.

He smiled for the first time. "Darling, you can ask me anything your heart desires, and I will grant it." One of his hands reached for her hair, tucking it back behind her ear, and suddenly Isis felt a little giddy.

"Can you tell me of our life together?"

He eyes lit up. "I can and will tell you everything," he promised. "We met during a war with the dark elves. Our people were allies. We fell in love the moment we saw each other, and became mates with the blessing of your Mother and the All Father. We lived in Asgard for a long time, and were happy." His face soured. "Then the Jotun-Sciotha-showed up and everything fell apart. He took you from me, and I have been looking for you ever since."

As they stood there, the air grew cold around them. Loki looked up with anger in his eyes.

"What is wrong?" she asked.

"The Jotun Sciotha is coming. I can feel him and his troops."

"How do you know they are coming?"

"By the change in the atmosphere," he explained. "You can tell when the air gets cold like this, especially when the weather is hot. The sudden change is a sign even mortals can notice."

Isis remembered what happened in the classroom and on the way back to the dorm rooms, and became worried.

"Loki," she look at him pointedly, "can the Jotun look like humans?"

"Yes," he said, "Some of them have the power to do so. Why do you ask?"

She shrugged, not wanting to tell him of her suspicions until she was sure. "I just wanted to know, to be sure. It seemed like a good question," she explained.

When they turned around they saw it: a huge Jotun was coming right at them! Loki grabbed Isis and kissed her passionately, then released her to attack the Jotun.

"Isis!" He yelled at her, "Get away from here! I will find you again in your dreams, and come for you, and bring you back home! Now GO!"

Isis sat up in bed, freezing cold and sweaty, feeling lonely. She lay in bed trying to go back to sleep, but couldn't. With a sigh she picked up one of the books she got from the library to see if the star goddess was in it.