The corridor seemed to go on forever and ever.
Which wouldn't have been a problem in case of a normal corridor. But seeing as it was supposed to be a maze, Loki was starting to get the feeling that he took the wrong turn somewhere, even with a map in his hands that said he should be at his destination by now.
So quite possibly a wrong turn of pages in that damned book he had to find with the map added to it, just after a fight with Thor which were happening more and more frequently lately.
These kind of quests were the older prince and his band of fools' tasks.
Aren't you one of those fools, always tagging along? The mocking voice sounded strangely like Sif's.
"Stupid maps!" he yelled, throwing the entirely useless piece of parchment down, before picking it up again. They might be stupid, but were his only chance of ever getting out of there.
Getting out of a maze, constructed to lead people astray, depending solely on a thousand-years-old paper? Congratulations, Loki, you really are a fool.
Then he took a right turn and entered which could only be the inside of the mountain he saw in the distance earlier, before going into the maze.
Torchlights sparkled into existence, outshining his own golden-green fire.
A statue, tall and horrifying, stood before him, accompanied by five others in a semicircle.
Just about the two-hundredth statue he met during his way down. Although the texts of the books did say that he has to find the Heart of the Mountain if he seeked the Keepers, he doubted these would be them. Dissatisfied, he turned around to leave.
"Look at that. Our guest has just arrived and is already departing," spoke an ancient voice, which was undoubtedly male.
"How rude." A younger woman this time. Loki spun on his heels.
"Who are you? Where are you?"
"We stand right in front of you," spoke an elderly lady, voice scorning,"And the question is... Who are you?"
"My name is Loki, Son of Odin."
"Ahh... So it, indeed," said a younger man, yet nobody was to be seen. Loki's eyes widened for a moment before narrowing; so the ones speaking were indeed the statues.
"Tell us Loki, second Son of Odin..." chirped a little girl,
"What wind brought you here?" finished an even younger boy.
"I came here seeking wisdom."
"Wisdom?" The old woman's voice was not surprised at all.
"Wisdom, he says..." said the man in a mocking tone.
"Wisdom or attention?" The Trickster would have sworn that the oldest male's statue bent forward slightly. He took a step backwards. Something told him that statues that could use telepathy are bad enough, and the ones that can move... Worse, logically.
"I..."
"Do not try to woo us with your famed silver tongue, trickster," warned the crone.
"We see into your heart and soul... And behind those."
Then what was the point in asking his name?
Fear ran through him, like a knife. Except if...
"All names contain magic," Mother said to him once, "And although not all people are able to use this, you have to be careful. It is old magic, but not entirely forgotten. Never gave your name out to those who you do not trust, except if necessary. They are sacred. They are what their wielder is. They are what the one who possesses the name did, does and will do. Others will only know it if you give it willingly. There is no other way. Not even for those who can walk in others mind."
"And what about those who already know my name yet I didn't give it to them?"
"Unless it was spoken by you, it holds no power."
He was an idiot. The Keepers were said to exist before Asgard did, of course, they would remember it.
"Scared?"
"Scared and always looked down upon by others..."
"Always neglected in favour of the one who shines bright..."
"You thought we could help you to become his equal?"
"Better yet..."
"Surpass him?"
"Silence!" he yelled, panic seeping into his heart. He has to get out. Quickly.
"Silence, he says."
"He came to us for our knowledge, and now orders us to keep silent..."
"You have a weak mind, prince."
"Do not insult me!"
"Weak, yes. But sharp, so very sharp... Full of possibilities and a chance to improve... To grow stronger..."
"Wishful thinking, and you know it..." said the boy, disdain clear in his voice.
"He's unworthy..."
"Now, now, what are we to do?"
"He's unworthy of our knowledge. But he ventured so far."
"A protector," whispered the woman.
"Yes... A protector might suffice... And he might suffice as a protector. A guard."
"What are you talking about?"
"The last one is long times dead..."
"We should have seeked a new one millennias ago..." Anger flooded him, washing away all his fears.
"Answer me!"
"But now, he came. We didn't have to look."
"Don't dare to ignore me!" The flame in his palm flared, but the voices paid no mind.
"Because that's what they always do..."
"Hidden by your brother's shadow which simply, stretches and stretches for miles and miles..." The head of the little girl's statue turned towards him.
"You came to us with fire," rang the old man's voice clear and loud. "And with fire you'll live until the day you die."
"Son of water, carrier of fire, who grew up in the realm of the Four Winds in a form given by Mother Nature..." snickered the man.
"Yes. Yes."
"It's perfect," they said in union and the world went up in flames.
Or was it him?
Thor did see the blade coming from below.
He was just too occupied with his thoughts to actually parry it, which resulted in his own blade flying through the yard, spinning around itself thrice as it did so. Sif lowered her own weapon, frowning.
"Thor, is anything amiss? I've never been able to disarm you in such way." Of course she noticed. She always noticed when there were too many dark thoughts on his mind.
"Nothing." She snorted.
"You're a terrible liar. Out with it." Thor's mouth jerked into a grim smile.
"My brother."
"What of him?"
"I'm worried. He disappeared after our last fight. No one saw him for two weeks, and no one knows where he could've gone. Not even Mother."
"And then?" Asked Volstagg, coming over, "He did disappear before, countless times."
"No," the blonde shook his head, "Not for this long."
"Maybe he had found pleasures he doesn't want to leave?" piped in Fandrall, sheathing his sword.
"What? Women?" Volstagg let out a laugh, "That'd be a sight to see. The womaniser Loki, whose snake tongue always gets tied up when he has to talk to any of the female kind, if it's not our Lady Sif or our gracious Queen."
"That was three hundred years ago. Just because we never saw him do it, doesn't mean he can't now," Fandrall said. The prince stood up. "Thor? Where are you going. Hey! Thor! Ow!" he yelled, grasping the back of his neck where Sif slapped him. "What was that for?!"
"You are an idiot," she informed him, striding after the Thunderer, grabbing his shoulder, effectively stopping him. "Thor. I'm not sure we have any reason to worry, but know that I'm always here to help you."
"I know, Lady Sif. And thank you."
The gatekeeper stood firm.
"Your request is denied." Thor's head dropped, his knuckles whitening as he tightened his grip on Mjöllnir.
"Heimdall. Please."
"My apologies, Prince Thor. Your Father forbade travel to that realm for a reason. You are under no..." The all-seeing eyes widened as something flew through the air, striking him in his neck. "You..." he whispered, falling onto one knee. Fandrall patted him on the shoulder.
"No hard feelings, I hope, but our friend here and his brother somewhere are in trouble."
"My friends!" Thor yelled in surprise, not entirely unrelieved, "What have you done to him?"
"Just some tranquilizer. Apparently we should have used a bigger dose, but it'll do for now."
"We have to act quick if we wish to be gone before he regains control of his body," Sif said, taking Heimdall's sword, "Where to?"
Thor's eyes hardened.
"Stovheim."
"It's... Dusty."
"Great observation, Fandrall."
"Dusty and cold. Combinations of the things I don't like. You know what I'd like? A girl..."
"Oh, be silent for once!" Sif yelled, having had enough of his hours long complaining.
"No wonder nobody came here. It's a realm of ruins and ghosts."
Something squealed nearby and a huge black shadow scurried away towards a half-standing house.
"And overgrown rats, apparently."
"We must be gone. Soon," said Hogun, his eyes watching the ever grey sky with worry.
"As soon as we find Loki."
"Which brings us to the question," spoke up Volstagg, "How are you so sure that he's here?"
Thor looked rather uncomfortable, Sif noticed. This isn't going to be good. For the Trickster and his brother, at least, when they get back to Asgard.
"I'm not. I merely... Broke into his room."
"You?" Fandrall asked his voice filled with disbelief, "You slipped past the billions of protective spells?"
"Not I. Mjöllnir. Although I meant "breaking" literally."
"Thor, we all know that you are sure to take your brother in a fair fight..." sighed Volstagg, "But do you remember the time when Fandrall kept talking in rather. sexual verses for two months after he soaked Loki's book of Vanaheim's realm?"
The prince paled. He did forget about that.
The torch in his hand flared, revealing five dark holes.
"Oh, great, now what?"
"Five paths. There are five of us," said Hogun, as if there was no other choice.
"I don't think it's a good idea to split up," argued Volstagg, "It's a realm no Asgardian set foot upon for centuries."
"But we will find Loki faster. If he is indeed here."
And there was no arguing that.
They all wanted to leave this wretched place as soon as possible. Just what exactly possessed the second prince to come here on his own will?
The water dripping from the ceiling will sure drive him crazy, Thor thought after what he thought to be five hours.
Five hours of monotone walking, while listening to the liquid's drip-drip sound, only his torch, the fire and Mjöllnir keeping him company.
Was there no ending to this damned corridor?
He had never liked going underground...
Suddenly Sif entered from behind a door on the right, looking as if she had been through a battle. She stopped in surprise.
"Thor?" her voice was unsure, trembling. "Is that really you?"
"'Tis me, Lady Sif. Did you find anything?" She shook her head, relieved, drops of blood flying through the air from the injury on her temple
"No. Nothing of... Our interest."
"I see," he bowed his head, tired of the whole thing suddenly. But they had to go on. For Loki.
And for Mother whose heart would break if his little brother would die.
Sif patted him on the shoulder as a mean of comfort.
"Look, just because we saw no signs of him being here so far, doesn't meant that you are wrong."
"No, it simply means that I made a wrong decision, and my brother could be lying somewhere dying on an entirely different realm."
"Or he could be home already, waiting for your return to scold you for entering his room," she countered. Thor forced himself to smile. Yes, that would be so much like the Trickster.
"He could be..." He mumbled, before his head snapped up, taking Sif unawares. "You heard that?"
"Heard what?"
The rumble came again. This time he was sure it was not his imagination. Something big was coming towards them.
Big and fast.
Covered in green scales with golden horns sprouting from its head and black mane running along its back from the head till the end of its tail.
"Watch out!" Thor yelled shoving Sif to the ground as the beast flew past above them before landing with a challenging roar. The shieldmaiden's eyes widened with the mixture of fear and excitement.
"A dragon. But they were supposed to be gone for millennias. The last one was killed by your..."
"Great-grandfather. Seems like he missed one," Thor grinned, his blood already singing with battle fever as Mjöllnir came to life in his hands.
And then suddenly Sif grabbed him from behind darting into the direction the dragon came from.
"What are you doing?!"
"Using some common sense! We cannot fight it in such closed place, he has the advantage here!"
"What? But he can barely turn in here! How could he have the advantage?!"
Bright fire lit up the corridor, just barely not reaching them. The dragon gave out an angry growl before lunging after the pair. Sif took a sharp turn which led to another corridor, just before the beast let out a second wave of emerald flames.
"Dragons are nasty creatures," growled the Thunderer. "The scrolls did not lie."
Sif pressed her lips together, jumping over a fallen boulder.
"They rarely do, and... Just what..."
Six huge statues towered in front of them, grinning as if something very good just happened.
They didn't have time to look around; a massive head slammed into the two and sent them flying a good twenty meters. Thor groaned as he pushed himself up after wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth. Next to him, Sif just detached her sword from the shield, nodding, before she rolled aside from the tail that slammed into the ground in the place she was just a moment before.
"Hello there, ugly!" The dragon's head snapped towards him, releasing the inferno that was raging inside it just a moment after he managed to find shelter behind a crumbling pillar. "I'm sorry, did I say something offensive? Or you just can't handle the truth?"
He jumped, before the shove of the beast's massive shoulder brought down the pillar onto him. Mjöllnir flew from his hand, hitting it in the nose then returning to its owner.
The dragon stiffened for a moment before letting out a roar that shook the mountain if the falling rocks were anything to go by.
That's when Sif fell onto its head, her spear ready to impale the creature when the dragon reared, letting out a shriek of shock, before it took off into the air.
The shieldmaiden could do nothing but held on for dear life as the beast trashed around, slamming its head into the rocks again and again, desperate to shook her down. It snarled as Mjöllnir came at him the second time, this time with Thor holding onto the grip and crashed into its body.
Saliva run from its mouth as the monster roared in fury, the hot breath nearly scorching enough to melt his skin off. Sif screamed as the creature went into a dive straight towards the ground, her blade falling out of her hand in the process of searching for another handful of fur to hold onto, before it changed course once again, not loosening its grip on the Thunderer for a moment as the huge body twisted around itself.
The ground was rushing towards him - or him towards the ground? - with too much velocity for the Prince's liking. He saw Sif fall past them.
The world went dark for a moment after the crashlanding. The wind was knocked straight out from him. Granted and Asgardian's body is extremely durable, but it wasn't designed for falling from quite a height, then withstanding the impact and the massive body of a dragon.
A buzz in his ears drowned out all other sounds, then he felt something warm and slimy flowing onto his face - blood and saliva, he saw, as his vision returned.
Good. So at least it could bleed.
"Such a petty fight." Thor's head snapped sideways as he was struggling to stand up. Luckily the beast seemed to be just as dizzy as he was.
"Who spoke?!"
"Only now he realises."
"I thought he would do better than that..." growled an elderly voice.
"He's still fighting us. He's still fighting himself and his instincts. Otherwise this one would be done for," answered a woman.
"Well, no surprise there; Would you like to be unmade then reconstructed into something else?"
Whoever these were, they could wait, Thor decided as the dragons regained his composure.
Mjöllnir jumped into his hand and he brought the weapon down onto the animal's nose with as much strength he could muster. It shrieked, backing away from him, but he would have none of it, the strikes raining at the creature. The monster brought it's head back, heat radiating off the scales.
"Sif!" he yelled, but didn't need to say more as the shieldmaiden slid between him and the dragon, her spear going straight through its neck. Blood gushed out of the wound in red streams as she yanked the weapon back.
"Such an ending. Who would have suspected?"
Thor turned, not caring anymore the dying monster that was thrashing and twisting, tremors shaking its body.
"Show yourselves!" he called out. Laugh came as an answer.
"Oh, you see us, Thunderer. More than you could see the truth beneath the lie."
"The truth beneath..."
Sif gave out a yell of horror. Thor spun around, ready for battle, but there was no one to fight, only Sif, who covered her mouth with one of her hands, pale in the torchlight, looking sick, her eyes fixated on a body.
Thor felt as if he was walking on half frozen water. He's knees finally gave up in front of his brother.
Loki's eyes immediately opened.
"Not... Not so loud if you would..." Blood bubbled up as he formed the words. "Th-they lied. They said you wouldn't come. Yet here you are... Oaf..."
"Don't speak, you idiot. Sif, the Norn Stone!"
The woman shook as if waking from a dream.
"Ah, yes!"
"I know that I'm an idiot," the Trickster coughed. "You do not have to yell it. Hey, you know they also said and with fire you'll live until the day you die. No fire, save for the torches, and definitely not dead. Yet, that is..."
"Sif, where is the stone?! You still owe me a duel for forcing me to come after you. So don't you dare, you hear me?"
"Clear, and loud," Loki tried to joke. "And as if I could. You always act on your own accord, no forcing involved."
"I do not..." He was pushed roughly aside. Powder of the stone ran through Sif's fingers onto the gaping wound before she pushed together the edges of it with one hand at covered it with the other.
The voices screamed as green light shone through her palm.
And they screamed harder when Mjöllnir destroyed the first statue, then with a mighty crash it hit the second on its way back. The young man crumbled to dust immediately as soon as the hammer touched it, same as the remaining three did.
Only pieces of the six stones remained, yet Thor didn't feel satisfied.
"That was entirely unnecessary. They failed to realise it, but a century or two and their power would have disappeared along with them."
"You," the Thunderer seethed, his eyes blazing as he was looking at Loki, who was still clutching his neck as Sif pulled him up, then immediately caught him before he started to fall back. "You imbecile! And they say that I'm the reckless one!" He pulled the black-haired god into a bone crushing hug. "You're supposed to be the clever one out of the two of us. What would I do without you?"
"Suffocate someone else, more probably than not," Loki offered, gasping for air before he broke free. Thor smiled.
In this moment walked the Warriors Three through the door.
Fandrall whistled, looking at the destruction.
"Did we miss something?"
Asgard looked most peaceful from Loki's balcony. Quite unlike the evening would be.
The Trickster turned the page, completely engrossed in his book. At least he wanted to be.
"And the ambassador of the Vanirs then..."
"Thor," he said, sighing as he shut his book. "I know. I was there. I was turned into a dragon, not an amnesiac, and this happened before I was turned. Besides, you don't have to make me feel better for almost killing me. Were I in your stead, I'd have done the same, if you didn't eat me first."
"Ah... Well," Thor said, his expression slightly hurt. Like a kicked puppy. "I'll be going then? Getting ready for the feast.
"All right. We'll meet there."
Thor's face lit up before he shut the door. Unfortunately he didn't know that Frigga threatened the younger prince into attending by telling him that the very possibility of him prohibited from renting books and maps from the Great Library was hanging in the air..
Loki set down the book onto his drawer.
"You may come out now. He's gone. Not like he could see you, anyway."
"Better to be safe than sorry," stalked the echo out from his own small library. Loki frowned.
"You were supposed to be gone by now."
"Oooh, so cold. Don't worry princeling, I won't be bothering you much longer."
"Yet you're bothering me now."
"You don't think I'll disappear just like that for forever, do you?" asked his copy, giving him a toothy grin. Loki stood up and stretched. Being a dragons certainly took a toll on people's body.
"I do hope so. Also, I hope that I can get the blood out of my cloak. I hope that the evening goes well, and Father succeeds in reaching his goals. I hope Thor doesn't make a fool out of himself like last time. And I hope that a few years from now, this will wall be remembered as a mere nightmare."
The other Loki's eyes glowed eerie blue as his form started to dissolve into thin air.
"We shall see."
So, first of all this story was inspired by Kabudragon's picture. ( art/ Thor-and-Loki-Strength-390842135
Stovheim is supposed to mean something like Place/Land of Dust. One of the outer realms, not one of the major Nine, which I made up.
The Keepers are based on the Undying and the Weeping Angels. Only, they do not move that much. Besides, they'd be slower than a snail. So you can definitely blink with them around.
I apologize now for any mistakes and/or errors I might have made. Plus for the fact that it's not as good as I wanted it to be. ^^"