"If you fail, if the Tesseract is kept from us, there will be no realm, no barren moon, no crevasse where he can't find you."
Loki ran. Feet slipping on the loose shale and clothes snagging on sharp rocks. There was no sound of his pursuers but he knew it was just a matter of time. They seemed as adept at navigating the secret passages between worlds as he was.
He took a sharp right past a large boulder. He needed to get out of sight and catch his breath. When the creatures had first arrived he had had some success using projections of himself. Appearing and disappearing and watching the confused troops swivel round trying to attack an enemy that was no longer there, their ranks disintegrating into a disorganised rabble. If he timed it just right he could get a solider to impale a comrade in their enthusiasm to kill Loki's projection.
When Loki had grown bored of this, and the creatures were worked up into a sufficient frenzy, Loki had led them to the end of a long valley blocked off by a wall of rock (no doubt the site of an ancient waterfall, long dried up). It appeared it was a dead end and Loki let them whoop and jeer with excitement as they closed in for the kill. Then ... he let the rocks fall. The group heard the rumble first and had time to look up at the boulders and see their fate. The leader locked eyes with Loki's projection, which smirked before winking out of existence.
At the top of the cliff Loki sat and watched the dust settle. He was still sitting there, a little smugly, when he spotted the next, larger group of soldiers picking their way along the ridge lining the valley.
Every time he defeated or evaded an attacking force they seemed to find him again in greater numbers and better equipped. His pursuers had taken to attacking their prey from the air on chariots and were later accompanied by huge lumbering flying creatures (seemingly more suiting to the ocean than the air). When Loki first happened across a passage to another world (like the secret ones between Asgard and Jotenheim) he was sure the mindless beasts would be without the skill to follow. He was wrong. Since then he had slipped blindly from one world to the next so many times he was not sure if he could remember how to get back to where he had started.
To his right Loki heard the crunch of gravel under running feet; he needed to get under cover before the flying chariots found him. He found himself missing the forested world he had passed through earlier. At least there his enemy had been limited to being on foot like him. There, Loki had been able to separate a solider from its group and had tried to manipulate the creature into revealing their strategies and their reason for stalking him. After all it seemed a lot of effort for one man (or one god). Despite the best his silver tongue had to offer not one word passed the soldier's lips and Loki was left wondering whether the poor creature was even capable of speech.
Skidding left, down a narrow break in the boulders Loki tried to shake off the feeling he was being herded. He was tired, hungry and sore from one to many close calls with the soldiers' weapons. His projections no longer seemed to distract the troops and he was running out of both tricks and other options. He was getting desperate. Stumbling over a rock on the uneven surface, Loki crashed to the ground, gravel scraping into his palms. Suddenly the unmistakable whirring of flying chariots could be heard. Quickly Loki rolled sideways under a small overhang in the rocky corridor. He watched the chariots whizz by and readied himself to get to his feet but stopped when he noted a darker area at the end of the overhang. It was small, not much wider than him, but definitely a hole.
Scrambling forwards, hope sprang anew and he wriggled head first into the narrow opening. It was damp and stale inside but tolerable. With no light and no idea where the tunnel went he pushed blindly forward, ignoring the way the rough floor scraped his knees raw. He toyed with the idea of creating a light with magic but he did not want to announce his presence to anyone who might be at the end of the tunnel. He tried not to think about what he would do if this route was a dead end (after all it wasn't like he could turn around).
After some length of time, Loki noted faint light up ahead. He began creeping forward more quietly, keen to avoid any attention if his enemy was present. His tunnel opened up into what appeared to be a series of caves, dimly lit by a light source somewhere out of sight. Loki paused at the exit of the tunnel waiting and listening for any sign of the enemy. There was no sign of occupation, but a muffled sound of running water. 'A waterfall?' Loki wondered. It would be a good base of operations if the cave entrance was hidden by a waterfall. 'Not to mention useful for a drink' Loki thought licking his rather dry lips.
Easing forward, Loki slithered out of his hole, grimacing as he stretched his stiff limbs in ways they had been unable to in the tight confines of the tunnel. 'Right..,' Loki pondered 'first step: water, second step: food, third step: rest and planning. The first and second might be achieved by finding the waterfall...'
A shuffle near the entrance interrupted Loki's thoughts. He froze as a particularly large solider lumbered into view. The tunnel was too narrow to dive back into. Loki drew his knives. One soldier was not a problem. He threw himself forward before the soldier could fire his weapon. His first strike, low and to his enemy's left was blocked and he was spun off into the wall. Springing back he managed to topple them both to the ground. There were more shuffling sounds to the left and right of the struggling pair but Loki was focussed on getting his knives past the energy weapon the soldier underneath him was now using as a shield. He dodged back as the soldier made a swing at his head with the weapon. This was his opening. He drove the right hand knife home. He was about to add his left hand knife to the soldiers chest when he was yanked several feet across the cave by his right ankle. His chin bounced off the ground. The knife in the soldier's chest was ripped out of his grip by the force.
Twisting over onto his back, he slashed at the hands reaching down at him. That drove them back temporarily. They surrounded him. He wasn't sure how many there were but could see other soldiers pushing to get through to the front of the circle. He slashed again as another soldier reached for him. There was a lull for a couple of moments then, almost as one, the soldiers all lunged for him. Loki's arms were caught in several vice-like grips. The knife was ripped from his hand. He tried to kick out but someone held his ankles. A large fist smashed into his face making the back of his head bounce off the ground and leaving him dazed. The creatures used the distraction to pull his arms out to the side. Another fist from the right caught his nose and snapped his head to the side. Then it became a free-for-all. Boots smashed into him from either side. There were sounds of excitement that sounded quite animal-like.
Loki strained against the hands holding him, struggling to free his arms to protect his head and chest. One brute had the idea of stamping on his exposed midsection, leaving Loki unable to breathe for what felt like forever and temporarily stopping his struggles. Another boot caught him in the ribs and pain exploded in his chest. He would have screamed if he had any breath. Instead what came out was a slight wheeze. A second later something smashed into his left jaw. Blood welled up in his mouth and he wasn't sure if it was from loose teeth or his ribs but what he did know was he was choking on it. Held on his back as he was, and unable to move his jaw to spit or swallow, he couldn't get any air in or out. Just as he thought he would suffocate, a halt was called and he was flipped over onto his front. There was a pause as Loki managed to gurgle some air into his lungs. Then they started again.