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Chapter Three

Thor woke with a start. Blackness enveloped him and for some reason he couldn't breath. He struggled against an invisible force that seemed to have him pinned to his bed. Panic began to rise up in his throat and his heart hammered faster in his chest as he managed to reach a hand up to his face, only to find something covering his mouth.

As he struggled his eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness of his chambers but still he could not see what was holding him down. His fingertips wandered frantically over whatever it was that was clamped over his mouth and his stomach clenched and turned to ice as he realised it was a hand, someone was holding their hand firmly enough over his mouth that he could not pry it off try as he might.

An involuntary whimper escaped his lips, muffled by the long bony hand that covered them as he tried again to buck free from the invisible weight that had him pinned to his bed but found he could not move his body at all.

"Shhhhhh" a seductively silky voice whispered against his ear.

"Your death will be quick and I promise the pain will only be brief."

Then Thor saw movement in the corner of his vision, his eyes darted to the left where he caught a brief shimmer of blue and a glimpse of wild golden hair. His eyes flared in panic as he realised who it was, who was here in his bed chambers, who held him pinned against his will, who had just threatened to kill him.

Thor felt the cool hand slide from over his mouth and he wasted no time finding his voice. He bellowed as loudly as he could, he wasn't even sure what he had yelled but he cried out again, this time forcing himself into a seated position as the force that had him pressed against his bed seemed to suddenly lift.

He hissed and threw a muscular arm across his face to shield his eyes from the sudden onslaught of light that hit him as the door to his chambers flew open and crashed against the wall.

"Thor?"

"Loki?" Thor managed to gasp out as he lowered his arm and saw his brother standing in the doorway, framed by the artificial light flooding in from the hallway, dressed in nothing but a thin pair of black breeches and a green tunic; his chest heaving as though he had sprinted here from his own chambers.

"I heard your cry brother? What is going on?"

Thor glanced frantically around the room, his blond hair tossed about as his head jerked from side to side.

"He was here!" his voice still sounded panicked and was more hoarse than usual. "He was right here!"

"Who was here?" Loki asked carefully as he slowly stepped into Thor's chambers.

"The Goblin King!" Thor blurted out without really thinking about how crazy it sounded.

Loki raised a questioning eyebrow and took a few more cautious steps towards Thor.

"Thor… that's impossible… you know that?"

Thor's eyes were still darting about the room in panic, desperately searching for the phantom that had woken him from his slumber. His breathing was shallow and more rapid than usual and his eyes were wild with unrestrained panic.

"Thor!" Loki gripped the blond man's shoulders and shook him firmly. "There is no one here!"

Thor started up at him with unfocused eyes before slowly his breathing seemed to slow and gradually his pupils were able to focus on Loki's face.

"He was here, he had….." Thor held his hand up to his mouth before lowering it back to his lap. The look Loki was giving him did not fill him with confidence that what he had experience was not a dream.

"The Goblin King does not have the power to return to Asgard Thor, you know that."

Thor nodded slowly but was still not entirely convinced that it had not been a very real Goblin King attempting to suffocate him in the night. There were too many shadows in his room, too many places the Goblin King could hide. He was sure he was here, hiding somewhere and he would find him. Thor leapt from his bed, naked from the waist up wearing only a light pair of grey breeches and dashed about the room frantically illuminating the darkness with the lights that were mounted on the wall about his expansive chambers.

Loki stood back, his shoulder blades pressed against the cool stone of the wall behind him as Thor rushed by him. A slender eyebrow arched above calculating eyes that showed both concern for his brother's strange behaviour and a greater understanding of what might be haunting him.

With the room now bathed in a glow as light as though the sun had hung in the sky for most of the morning, Thor began to search every possible place the Goblin King could have hidden himself away. Loki did not move as Thor rushed past him, searching behind curtains, under his bed, inside wardrobes and finally disappearing into his en suite to search there too.

"Thor?..." Loki started but was cut off by a low growl from Thor who rushed by in a race to search behind the curtain next to him, again.

"He was here! I was woken by him trying to suffocate me! He… he was trying to kill me…"

The God of Thunder's deep voice trailed off as he saw the way Loki was looking at him. It was the same way he had looked at Loki when he had ranted like a man possessed about how it should have been him to take the throne of Asgard. Thor swallowed hard before looking his brother in the eye.

"Perhaps it was a dream?"

Loki walked slowly over to where Thor now sat, perched on the edge of his bed and took a seat beside him. Turning his head to look over at his brother Loki put a hand on his shoulder.

"My sleep has been disturbed since I returned from the Underground."

"He has appeared in your dreams too?" Thor's voice rose at the end, hopeful that Loki had perhaps had the same terrifying nightmare as he had.

"No."

Thor lowered his head into his hands and rubbed them over his face and then through his hair. Loki stood and looked down at him.

"Try and rest."

Loki then quietly let himself out of Thor's chambers to return to his own. Leaving Thor alone in the brightly lit room. He wasn't sure he could get back to sleep but Loki was right, he should try or it would catch up with him in the morning. After extinguishing all of the lights he laid back down to sleep but sleep eluded him, instead spending the whole night chasing shadows with his eyes until the faint glow of morning seeped into his room from the edge of the heavy drapes.


Loki sat out on a large balcony that over looked Odin's kingdom, pouring over a book of sorcery when heavy footsteps caused him to look up from over the top of his substantial volume.

Thor looked terrible, the whites of his eyes were tinged pink and dark crescents were set beneath them. Loki arched an eyebrow and the corner of his mouth tugged up into a tiny smirk, for once the oh so glorious God of Thunder was a wreck.

"Did I not tell you to rest brother?" Loki quipped as he put down his book.

Thor dropped himself into the seat beside Loki and glared sideways at his younger brother.

"His shadow haunted me all night."

"Thor I told you, the Goblin King has no power to…"

"Don't you think I know that brother!" Thor snapped aggressively at Loki but immediately regretted it, shaking his head at his own behaviour.

"Forgive me Loki, it is not your fault."

A long silence fell between the brothers before Thor finally spoke again.

"It was him. I know it was him, he was there. Do you not see him in your nightmares brother?"

Loki shook his head.

"No. I see the Underground... but not him… not in my nightmares…"

Thor looked across at Loki questioningly but he did not continue.

"What do you do?"

"I sleep when I can." Loki stood, book clutched tightly in hand. "I suggest you do the same."

Loki took several steps towards the doorway into the palace before Thor's voice caused him to pause in his stride.

"And what if I can't?"

"You will drive yourself crazy brother." Loki uttered without even turning to address the blond God at his back.

Thor frowned at Loki's departing form. His brother's advice was sound but he wasn't sure Loki believed that the Goblin King had appeared in his chambers; even Thor was beginning to question this himself. After all, what proof did he have that it wasn't a dream? He could point to nothing to show that the mysterious immortal had attempted to smother him in the night. Perhaps it was just a dream. Maybe Loki was right and this was all some sort of supressed response to the trauma inflicted upon his mind in the Underground. His brow furrowed further as the sun began to sink in the sky and he rested his chin on the upturned heel of his hand, fingers cupping his cheek. He was still not so sure, after all, had he truly suffered any trauma during his time in the Underground? He didn't think so… but then maybe his subconscious was trying to tell him something, all he knew for the moment was that his head now hurt, he was tired and darkness had fallen upon Asgard. Perhaps he would sleep better tonight.