Part III
Loki did not dare go into any of the halls where the other gods might decide to confront him again, so he went into the forest. He sat down in the mouldering leaves at the base of an ash tree and closed his eyes. An ash tree, like Yggdrasil, whose branches and roots reached to all the realms, who would see everything if only it had eyes.
Loki let his senses stretch east, toward the mountains. Trees were beginning to grow their leaves again, and the pines were shaking off the cold that had settled on them for so long. Creatures stirred in their burrows. Some were already seeking out mates. In the mountains, though, the snow had not yet melted. Life was scarce there. Although Loki tried, he could not sense anything beyond that. Thor was still far away, too far for him to reach. Loki drew back in on himself. Even if he had found his brother, he was not sure he would have summoned him. He had to do this alone.
With his eyes still closed, Loki looked inward. He could not hope to best the man or his horse by strength, and he had few ways to trick them. Temptation, however, was almost always as good as a clever trick. Early summer, the time for mating. He had watched Svadilfari, the giant's horse, for many months and knew it was a stallion. A stallion was always in need of a mare.
Loki opened his eyes. His hands trembled. He had never done something this difficult before. He had perfected the imitation of form a long time ago and could fool anyone with his illusions. He had changed his own form before, as well, but always into a body he was familiar with. He tried to picture the form he would take: a stallion, jet-black . . . but no. A mare, dapple grey and gentle-looking, with hindquarters strong enough to deliver a strong kick but legs made for running. A horse faster than even a giant's horse. A mare in heat. Loki closed his eyes again. This time when he opened them, he was no longer a god, but a mare with soft brown eyes.
The Æsir gathered to watch the smith work. The day was becoming evening, and the horse's haunches glistened with sweat as it dragged a great block of stone into place. The smith placed the stone, and then turned the horse back the way they had come to gather more boulders. Suddenly, for the first time since the builder had begun his work, the horse stopped. It raised its head and perked its ears. The man spoke to it but it ignored him. It pranced in place, smelling the air. Then, it whinnied, a shrill sound, and the gods saw a second horse approaching at a gentle run. It slowed, walked up to the stallion, and stopped barely a horse's length away. The mare perked its ears. The stallion went mad.
The smith shouted and tried to grab hold of Svadilfari's harness, but the horse jerked out of his reach. It whinnied again and tugged at the ropes holding it to the cart, but the smith had hold of them and was clearly fighting to hold the horse with all his strength. The stallion bucked, throwing the smith away from it, and cut the ropes with sharp hooves. The mare turned and bolted for the forest, faster than any horse the gods had seen. The stallion snorted and followed at a gallop, seemingly as fresh as it had been that morning. In an instant, they disappeared into the forest. With a yell, the smith ran after them, but it was clear he would never catch them.
"Well done, Loki," Odin murmured as the sun set. "You have kept your oath."
The next morning, the smith went back to work, but it was clear he had not caught Svadilfari. He tried to work twice as hard, but it was not enough. It was clear he would not finish, even with two days left. As it approached evening, the smith stopped working. He picked up a boulder and threw it with a yell at the wall of the fortress. It did little damage, but the show of strength shocked the gods. He turned to where the gods were standing and screamed at them, and then pulled a tree from the ground and threw it aside.
The Æsir gathered quickly. "All-Father, it is clear he is not a man but a mountain giant, as we suspected from the first," one said. "We must break our oath."
"We do not make deals with the giants," Odin agreed. "We must drive him away." Odin closed his eyes. "Thor," he said, and across the mountains Thor stood and took notice. "We have need of you here."
By the time evening approached, Thor was there, Mjölnir in his hand. He immediately went to Odin and knelt. "What is it, father?"
"While you were gone, a builder came to us and we swore oaths. If he finishes the stronghold by the morning of two days from now, we must give him Freyja's hand in marriage, the sun, and the moon. He demanded too high a price and now we know that he is a mountain giant, making our deal null. Drive him away from here."
"Yes, father." Thor stood and nodded at his mother, who gave him a strained smile. Thor had expected Loki to be in the hall as well, waiting for him, but he was not there. Thor walked towards where the gods were watching the giant lay waste to the land around him. Storm clouds began to gather. Thor felt energy thrum under his skin. This was a real adversary, a fight worthwhile.
Thor saw his friends in the crowd and greeted them with a grin. "No time for pleasantries, but I trust you have been well."
"Good to have you back," Fandral said with an answering smile.
Thor scanned the crowd. He did not see Loki in the crowd, either. "Where is Loki? Not reading at a time like this, I hope?"
When no one answered, Thor looked back at their faces. All three warriors were pale. "What?" Thor demanded. The Warriors Three exchanged a look.
"He is not here."
"Where, then?" The warriors still said nothing. Thor felt anger and frustration building in him. "Where is my brother?" Lighting flashed in the sky and a boom of thunder rolled through the clouds.
"He drew away the giant's horse yesterday evening," Hogun said quietly. "We have not seen him since." Hogun lowered his eyes. "We . . . believe he used a mare as bait."
Thor smiled confusedly. "But why–" Understanding hit him like an arrow. His face darkened. "I see."
The giant only had time to look up when he heard the crackling of lighting. "You dare place such demands on us?" Thor screamed above the winds, and when he let Mjölnir fall, the blow shattered the giant's skull. Thor landed heavily beside the giant's body, using the power of his hammer to lessen the impact of the fall. A shockwave rolled out around him, but the walls of the fortress hardly even trembled. Thor stood. "It is done," he called to Odin. The clouds roiled, but there was no more lightning and the last boom of thunder faded away.
Thor's grip on Mjölnir loosened only slightly. There was still anger in him, and . . . fear. Thor frowned and looked toward the forest. If Loki had been the bait, how long had he – could he – run? All night, or was he still running now? And why would he do such a thing? What if he had been hurt?
Thor walked toward the forest without a backward glance. He knew most of the gods did not care for Loki, and he understood why. Loki's tongue was sharp, and he was not a warrior like the rest of them. His way of fighting was strange and his tricks seemed dishonorable. But had not a single Æsir thought to look for him, not even their own father?
The light was dimming in the forest. Thor continued a little way into the trees before he paused, listening. He wanted to call out, ask for his brother, but something made him keep quiet.
Thor walked as quietly as he could. The trees thinned and he came upon a clearing where the light still shone well enough. Thor stopped and stared. On the other side of the clearing was a mare he had never seen before. When Thor appeared, it perked its ears and walked steadily toward him. It stopped so close Thor could feel its warm breath on his face. Its eyes were brown and soft, not green, but there were an arrogance in the arch of its neck and a teasing mincing of its steps that were difficult to miss. "Loki?" Thor breathed, and set a hand slowly on its neck.
The mare nickered and nuzzled at the front of Thor's armor and under his arm. Thor laughed until he realized that Loki was trying to chew on his cape. "No, stop that," Thor told him, and pushed away his head. The mare puffed out a breath and gave Thor a look that was very clearly one of amusement. "Brother," Thor said quietly, and he put a hand on the mare's neck again, as though holding Loki's shoulder. "Will you come home?"
The mare immediately turned away, brushing Thor aside and swishing its tail as it did so. It walked back the way it had come.
"Brother, wait!" Thor said. He felt guilty, he realized. He should have stayed. He should have been there and kept Loki from having to do what he did. The mare stopped and looked back at him. "Only tell me . . ." Thor took a step forward. "Are you hurt?"
The horse blew air dismissively and seemed to shake its head. It gazed at him for a long moment, and then turned and disappeared into the trees.
Over the next year, Loki was seen in Asgard even less than usual. Whenever Thor saw him, Loki would only speak pleasantries or tease him. He avoided physical contact, Thor never saw him sleep, and his eyes were strangely empty, as though he were one of Loki's illusions. Though it worried Thor a great deal, he was often gone on quests and was rarely in the stronghold, the Æsir's new home, so it was difficult to say that it was not all simply his imagination.
One day, while Odin was in the throne room discussing matters with Thor and some of his best warriors, the guards opened the door unexpectedly. Everyone looked up to see Loki, pale but grinning, walking toward them. Beside him was a dark grey foal on spindly legs – too many legs. Eight, Thor noted faintly. If foals could normally be considered awkward at best, this one hardly seemed to know how to walk at all. However, that did not seem to dampen its enthusiasm, as it kept up with Loki well enough and looked around at everything curiously.
Odin rose. "Loki, it has been a long time."
"Yes it has, father." Loki knelt, still grinning, and the horse stopped beside him. It strained its neck forward, trying to nibble at Odin's shoe without having to climb the stairs. "Sleipnir," Loki said in a soft but commanding voice that Thor had never heard him use before. The horse jerked its head back from Odin and perked its ears towards Loki.
"What is this . . . creature?" Odin asked with a frown. He did not seem to be quite sure whether he was insulted by the foal's antics or charmed by it.
"His name is Sleipnir. He can already outrace even the best of your horses, and I do not doubt that when he is grown he will be able to best any horse in all the realms." Loki looked up at Odin hopefully. "If you will permit me, father, I will place him in your stables. He will be the best of all horses, and no horse would be worthier to be your mount."
"How did you come by him?"
The foal tried to nuzzle Loki's neck. Loki absently put a restraining hand on its nose. It fell still and began trying to nibble his fingers. "He is mine." Loki's voice dropped lower and his eyes flicked away briefly. "His sire is Svadilfari, the giant's horse."
Odin was silent for a moment. Thor felt his heart constrict. He wondered whether Loki had wanted this, or whether this was yet another sacrifice he had had to make. He looked at his brother's brave but uncertain smile, and knew that only a word could crush him.
"Very well. Place him in the stables."
Relief spread across Loki's face and he let out a breath of laughter. "Of course." At Odin's nod of dismissal, Loki stood and walked back down the hall, his hand on Sleipnir's neck.
Thor smiled to himself. If there was one thing Loki was very good at, it was turning a bad situation to his best advantage. He found joy in few things, and if this horse was the thing to make him happy for the time, so be it. With Sleipnir as Odin's mount, perhaps Loki's joy would fade, but that did not make it any less real now.
And really, how could a horse with eight legs not be the best of all horses?
