It took Loki several moments to even focus on what his eyes were seeing, to actually believe they were not playing tricks. For Sif was kissing him, Loki. But that was impossible. She could not be kissing him. He was here, not tangled in Sif's arms. And why would Sif be kissing him anyway?

Yet from this angle, it was becoming impossible to deny what his eyes revealed to him. It was the same face he saw when he looked in the mirror, the same hair he spent far too long trying to enchant into straight locks, the same long fingers, now twisting in Sif's thick, dark hair that he used to wield his magic.

For far too long a moment, Loki stood transfixed, watching Sif kiss him. Watching the way she pressed herself so close to him, the way she tightened her arms and tipped her head and gently whispered his name in a soft moan. Loki…

It was like watching a fantastical dream play out before him, one he had so carefully tried to suppress over the years. And for a moment Loki let himself live in this dream, this world where the beautiful warrior maiden Sif would kiss him, would actually care for him and return his affections. Let himself imagine what it would feel like to have her lips pressed so tightly against his, to have her fingers wrapped around his neck and her body flush against his…

But it was not a dream. It was reality and what was happening was impossible. Suddenly the sickening truth hit him. The dark sorcerer had already reached Sif. It was him she was kissing so fervently. A powerful shapeshifter, a dragon maybe, trying to seduce and lure its prey away. She was clearly enthralled by the dragon's spell and must not know what she was doing. And Loki could feel the strength of the magic now, how it thickened and condensed around the two entwined figures, how it steeped them in a black, dense aura of power. It was strong enough to bring even Loki under its spell; to have disorientated him in the forest and to make it hard for him to concentrate. He could not even begin to imagine the effects it must be having on Sif, without her own magic to protect her.

He did not have time to question why this shapeshifter had taken his form, before fear started to rush through him. It was not an emotion he was accustomed to, but this sorcerer was even more powerful than Loki could have ever imagined. He did not know how his own magic, so feeble in comparison, would be able to overcome it. His only power now lay in surprise, for he was certain his magic still concealed him and neither were aware of his presence.

The magic that had been simmering within him ever since he had first entered this evil forest finally began breaking free. It mixed with the jealousy that had consumed him before and remained within his heart. A jealousy and rage that now roared back into his consciousness, even stronger this time. For whoever this shapeshifter was, he had no right to kiss Sif like that, no right to pull Sif under his spell and trick her mind and body against her. Focusing all his might and power together, mixing it with all his fear and jealousy and longing, Loki cast the strongest magic he knew how to summon. With a sharp flick of his wrist, the magic that had been crackling and building in his palms shot forwards, a dazzlingly bright emerald beam that rushed past Sif and hit the sorcerer square in his face.

There was a sharp flash of light, so bright Sif could see it beneath her closed eyelids. It was followed by a tremendous crashing, hissing noise, the sudden stench of burnt flesh and the very ground seemed to quake beneath her feet. The force of the impact knocked Sif backwards, away from Loki and as she struggled to regain her balance, she opened her eyes wide. In the space of a pounding heartbeat, Sif saw the trees shaking around her, the very air flashing a deep emerald which seemed to engulf the entire forest in fierce green flames. Then, it was gone and Sif blinked, whipped her head around quickly, taking in her surroundings and instinctively falling into her battle stance.

It was like being awoken suddenly from a deep and pleasant dream. She was disorientated; her heart pounded, her breath came fast and shallow and her mind spun. But Sif knew she had not been dreaming, that she was still in this dark forest and she forced her eyes to turn towards Loki, feeling strangely embarrassed to face him now, after what they had just done. But as her eyes sought out the figure in front of her, she caught sight of a flash of green further away, deeper within the trees. Sif found herself looking into deep, emerald eyes, full of an intensity that seemed to pierce into her very soul. His gaze held hers for a moment that seemed to last a lifetime and Sif knew she was looking into the eyes of Loki himself. But that was impossible…

The realisation hit her immediately, but she was slow to turn to the figure in front of her, afraid to see his face and confirm the truth she knew she would find there. The face was still clearly Loki's, but the eyes were different, their depths not reflecting back all the years of their strange friendship, all the intense emotions that consumed the bright emerald gaze of the one within the trees. Sif's eyes glanced quickly between the two Loki's, her heart thundering in her ears as the pieces of the puzzle slowly fell into place.

As if sensing the game was over, the features on the nearest face started to twist and distort. The brilliant green of his eyes discoloured into a pale, sickly yellow, feverishly bright with a magic that made Sif's blood curdle. The smirk started to twist into a hideously large mouth, filled with sharp fangs the size of Sif's fingers. Lips that had pressed so tenderly against hers were now a thick, putrid red, cracked and coarse. The pale, soft skin she had so gently caressed now turned a fetid yellow, blistered and blackened slightly where the green light had collided with it. The fingers that had tangled in her hair now grew into thick, sharp claws; the arms that had held her so tightly now stretched and deformed into large, scaly wings. The body, once so slender and warm, started to contort and grow, stretching up above her; the clothes disappearing and replaced with thick, jagged scales the colour of dried blood, rough and calloused like old leather.

Sif craned her neck upwards, motionless and frozen as the dragon reared above her, growing larger and taller by the second until it seemed to fill the whole clearing with its foul red mass. The bile began to rise up within Sif's throat and she had just enough time to worry that not only had she been kissing a dragon impersonating Loki, but that Loki had actually caught her doing so. Then a mighty, thunderous roar shook the entire forest and vibrated through every bone in her body. The dragon opened its mouth wide in what appeared to be a twisted smirk and, with its sickly yellow eyes focused ferociously upon her, its giant, horned head and monstrous fangs suddenly swung down towards her.

Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I'd definitely love to know what you think. More chapters will be on their way soon!