The beast had been enormous. A massive, wolf-like, wild thing. Not exactly what Loki had been expecting when his brother had barged in his rooms with the news of a mysterious creature terrorizing the western villages.
When word of the beast had reached the court, Thor and his marry band could not refuse such a gluttonous opportunity for adventure. Hasty in his impatience Thor had not took time to gather informations or spin a strategy, he barely had time to drag Loki with him in his rush for glory.
Such a fool.
Teeth the size of a hunting knife sank in his shoulder dying the end of his flaxen hair red, and charges of pain run down his arm, making his left hand convulse. Thor smile flashed through his red-painted face. The Beast head was just within Mjolnir's reach.
The hammer descended with shattering force between the yellow eyes of the Beast, it's frontal bones splintering with a wet crunch, showing the pale gray matter underneath.
A sensation like pin and needles woke Thor from the see of blackness he was floating in, between the feeble light of the rising sun and his unfocused eyes, he could barely make out his brother's grim face, Loki's spindly hands hovering on the shredded tendons of his shoulder, bathing them in green light.
"Thor!" said Fandral popping in his field of vision "How do you feel, my friend?".
"Don't answer!" snapped Loki. Thor closed his mouth with an apologetic smile, his head was still reeling but the coldness from the loss of blood was slowly receding.
"Thor, please, don't move." huffed Loki, his green eyes trained on his healing joint.
"'M not moving..."
"Yes! Yes you..." the vitriolic rebuttal died on the sorcerer lips, with effort Thor turned his head to the side, his gaze taking in his left hand where a carousel of tremors was shaking his limb, his fingers clenching and unclenching spasmodically and Thor could feel none of it.
"Loki-Loki I'm not... I cant' feel it! I'm not-"
"Thor! Don't worry, just- Fandral! Keep him still!"
The last thing Thor felt, before losing consciousness for the second time that day, was his friend's weight pushing him in to the ground and Loki's frantic voice.
No one at the Palace had been able to identify the Beast, it's carcass decomposing at incredible speed, the purplish flesh practically melting off of the ivory bones. Even Loki, who had seen the animal with his eyes and was himself a renowned scholar, had no idea concerning the nature of such a monster.
"It was a wolf... If wolves could be 13 feet tall and thrice as long, that is."
"This wonderous creature of which you speak, Prince Loki" said the augur carding his bony fingers in his long beard. "Was it, maybe, provided with some kind of poison or foul secretion?"
"None that I could see."
"Mmh, this is no good news, Prince. As long as we cannot discern the identity of the Beast, I fear the ailment which your Brother is undergoing will remain uncured."
Since Thor had been brought home, his condition had been worsening considerably, the tremors had turned in to violent spasms, leaving him gasping and writhing in the sweat-soaked linens of his bed. The fever which had struck him, could have been explained easily with an infection of his injured shoulder but, and this was the strangest thing in Loki's eyes, the wound appeared clean, the flesh was a healthy red, with no trace of bacteria or fungi. Loki had spent hours trying to mend the shredded tissues but the wound simply wouldn't close, the only thing he could do was stop the hemorragia and wait.
The Augurs at the court could only confirm that the wound, while inflicted by a physical being, had a supernatural connotation, something that was contrasting the Healers work and even Loki's magic.
It was already dark when Loki finally left the dungeons of the Palace, the fumes of the alembics still clinging to his hair and skin. The full Moon outside bathed the tall corridors with a silvery sheen illuminating his steps and when his stomach cramped with a gurgling sound, Loki pressed a hand to his belly. He had been so absorbed in his researches that he had totally forgot to dine, he was probably too late to find something in the feasting hall, but it was never too late for scavenging something from the kitchens. He turned toward the stairs that led to the lower floors when an echoing groan stopped him.
He turned his head to the corridor at his left, where a tremulous, golden blade of light spilled from the open door of the Healing Chambers.
He bit his lip turning his head toward the bottom of the stairs. The pained sounds of his sick brother had no effect on him, none at all. After all, Thor was the sole responsible for what had befallen him. He was reckless, and stupid, and arrogant, if he had just took the time to study a strategy, to ask Loki for his opinion... Another low groan ricocheted from the walls of the dark corridor.
Loki heaved a sigh.
The tall oak doors of the Healing Chambers opened without a sound under his hands, revealing the stone floors bathed in the warm light of a small fireplace where the potions that were being brewed bubbled constantly, diffusing the room with the strong smell of herbs and poultices.
"My son." said Frigga extending her free hand toward Loki, the other one busied pressing a wet cloth to Thor's burning forehead.
"How is he?" Loki asked, compelled only by his mother sad but hopeful smile, he was aware that his and Thor's growing apart was weighing heavily on their mother's shoulders.
"He is fighting, as always." answered Frigga rinsing the cloth in a shallow china basin by the bed.
"As always..." repeated Loki.
"Oh, Loki. You know your broth-"
"The servants..." Thor's raspy voice cut like a blade through the room. His feverish eyes where clouded, wet hair plastered to his clammy skin.
"The servants, I can hear them moving- … moving in the other wings of the palace!" said Thor with a mad grin on his face. "The mouses are scurrying away in the dungeons and the horses scrape their hooves in the stables, near the north wall!"
"Hush, brother" said Loki watching Frigga bring a tremulous hand to her lips. "you are upsetting Mother."
"Oh, brother... " wheezed Thor, a tired lough stealing what little air he had left in his water-filled lungs. "My dear, dear brother." The God reached a trembling hand toward Loki. He didn't know why, but his heart had started to race in his chest, where this the final moments of his brother? Was this going to be the end of the mighty Thor, God of Thunders, in a hospital bed, mind clouded with fever and madness? Loki had stared to bow toward the outstretched hand, straining to hear his brother's fractured words, when with lightning speed Thor's finger grabbed his hair.
Frigga stood with a shout, the china basin crashing to the floor.
"Thor! Thor what are you-!" Loki flailed wildly trying to loosen Thor's grip from his tresses.
"Hush, brother, hush!" bit out Thor, repeating Loki's earlier words from behind clenched teeth.
The hand in his hair pulled viciously and Thor almost smashed his forehead with his own. Loki could hear his mother's calls for help and when he opened his watering eyes, locking them with his brother's one, it was like watching a stain of thick oil spread in a glass of water. The light blue of his brother's irises was slowly being eaten away by a sickening yellow. Finally, with another powerful convulsion, the hand in his hair let go and Loki fall to the floor gasping for air.
Thor was still arching and howling in pain when the Healers barged in to the room followed by five guards.
"Quick, restrain him!" said the Head Healer to the wide eyed guards.
In a second, five men where trying to pin Thor to the bed in a whirlwind of limbs and curses.
"There's blood coming out of his mouth!"
"Don't let him bite his tongue!"
"Sir, it's- it's not the tongue! He is..."
Loki was still on the floor when something small fall near him. He reached for it with a trembling hand, the golden light of the candle illuminating his bloodied fingers holding a tooth.
"Sir, this is all very strange!" stammered a nurse to the Head Healer.
With a snarl, Thor threw the guard holding his right arm against one of the empty beds, the two guards holding his legs soon following the first.
His brother was now standing on his bed, a red waterfall cascading from his mouth where a new set of sharp teeth was pushing out the old ones, the yellow in his eyes had spread to the white sclera and the red flesh of his injured shoulder seemed to bubble and pulse. Loki crawled back toward the wall while the remaining guards and healers tried to subdue his raving brother, he had almost reached the door when Thor flung a fully armored guard in his direction. The last thing he felt was the crack of his skull impacting against the wall.
"Here he is!" said a voice cutting through the darkness. Something heavy was lifted from him and light and air flooded back to Loki in a grateful rush.
"What- ...my brother, Mother, is she..."
"She is fine, Loki" said Odin, while a couple of guards dragged him to his feet. "As for you brother, he is in the dungeons."
"The... dungeons?"
"Yes. Tell me Loki, have you ever heard about lycantrophia, before?"
"Lycantrophia? Surely you jest, Father!" said Loki rubbing his aching forehead.
When Odin did nothing more then stare at him with his cold, blue eye, Loki took a deep breath and closed his lids.
Descending to the dungeons Loki took in the destruction caused by his brother the previous night. He had killed at last eleven people and injured twenty before the palace guards were able to stop him. While Loki stepped inside the darkness of the dungeons, the pieces in his head started to shift and click together. The Beast had probably infected- no, infused his brother with it's essence. If so, the enormous wolf of the Western Woods was no mere beast grown too much, but rather a Spirit incarnated, something older even than the Gods themselves.
"I'm here to see my brother."
The guard stepped aside, opening the sturdy door to let Loki in.
When his eyes landed on his brother he had half a mind to turn back and get out. Thor was completely naked, dried blood covered him almost from head to toe, he was kneeling on the dirty floor and his arms were spread above his head with thick chains.
Loki would have been a liar -a worse one than he already was, at least- if he said that seeing his glorious brother in such state, didn't bring a smile to his face. The Trickster bit his lip and cleared his throat.
"So... How have you been?"
Thor lifted his tangled head, once-more-blue eyes fixed him from behind a thick curtain of dirty blond hair, the sclera of his left eye was completely red and he seemed to sport an impressive collection of cuts and bruises all over his body.
"You don't feel like talking, I got it."
His brother gave a pathetic cough, the chains connected to his arms rattling and chiming musically. Loki huffed in irritation, there must have been a way to get rid of this annoying conscience ruining his mood when, finally, he had the chance to bathe in his brother's disgrace!
He picked up a bowl from the floor and walked to a faucet at the other side of the room, rinsed it a couple of times and filled it with fresh water.
"Come on, drink..." said Loki softly, kneeling by his brother and pressing the rim of the bowl to Thor's chapped lips.
Loki kept the matted hair out of his face while Thor took small sips of water.
"I know what you are thinking." said Loki with an almost casual tone, putting the bowl down and unclipping his cloak from his shoulders. "And you are wrong. As usual."
Pale hands clutching green fabric hovered uncertainly around Thor's shoulders, at the end shifting around the blond's middle and tying the cloak around his naked waist.
Loki answered to his brother's lifted eyebrow with a shrug.
"I think the guards suffered enough." said Loki scrunching up his nose.
"Thanks, brother."said Thor with a sarcastic snort.
"You are welcome!" replied Loki, svelte hand disentangling a twig from his brother's long hair.
The trickster worked quietly for some time, the silence broken only by Thor's heavy breath and the sporadic rattle of his chains.
"I'm going mad." Thor said quietly. Loki shifted his eyes from his hair to his face.
"I can..." he went on. "I can hear everything. And the smell. Oh, this smell..."he had started to rock back and forth, his hushed words almost drawn out by the tinkling chains. "The smell of people, of their blood it's just-!" What if his brother was right? What if Thor was going to stay like this forever and lose his mind? What if there was no cure? Loki felt his heart racing. No more living in his brother's shadow, no more being the second son, the weak one, the 'strange' one. He could leave Thor like this, ratten the healers and the augurs work, he could... "I will never go back at what I was! I will stay a beast, locked here in the dungeons and-!"
Loki grabbed Thor's face in both his hands, cold fingers sinking in the sweaty flesh of his brother's cheeks.
"Thor, control yourself!" Scared, blue eyes zeroed on his owns. "We will cure you, okay? We will cure you and you will go back at being the unmitigated ass you have always been." Loki's firm voice seemed to shake Thor out of his rambling.
And when Thor croaked out a pathetic 'brother' Loki's doubts melted like snow under the sun.