~ Chapter 9 ~

When Thor became aware of his surrounding he was alone. The coldness was seeping in through his back and his leg hurt. For a dizzying moment Thor tried to remember what had happened. Then it came to him and he groaned.

"I really need to stop falling through ice." he promised himself, looking around for, "Loki?"

There was no response, only his own thoughts.

With some effort he rolled over his side and came face to face with a ravine. For a moment Thor couldn't understand what he was seeing, he couldn't understand. Then fear and dread mixed together in his body, leaving him cold and numb.

"Loki?" he called weakly. "Loki?" Stronger. "LOKI!" he screamed down the dark abyss.

No. No. No. This wasn't happening. This wasn't happening!

Thor pushed himself up into a sitting position and turned his hands into fists. There was almost nothing around him, only a small pathway along the ice wall that he had the luck of landing on. There was no sight of his Jotun companion anywhere.

"Don't do this to me." he begged from his heart. "Please answer me."

Along a deep breath he threw his head back.

"LOKI."

Small clutter of ice shards fell down the ice, across his face.

There was no sensation in his body, not even pain. But he knew the moment he truly regained awareness and started to move, that would change.

More shattered ice fell across his face and melted ice dripped onto his hand. With great effort Loki opened his eyes but found no strength to keep them open. He could feel his body concentrating on preserving his life the best it could, keeping his core warm while his outer layer sank to a freezing degree. This way he wouldn't die because of the cold. Few knew, but that was the natural way for a Jotun to die. They normally grew to old to keep their core warm. Or they lost their will to live like after the Heklas destroyed their world. Many who lost their families stopped caring for their lives and grew cold. When that happened, their bodies would return to where they came from. The ice. As statues.

They had areas dedicated to the dead where they could go to rest, a graveyard. Only travelers from other realms didn't know that when they walked among the many ice statues of former Jotuns, they were witnessing their last moments of life. There were even some thieves who thought there were treasures buried in the statues. Ruining them in their search. That made the Resting Hall a forbidden place for all living. Guarded by a Frost Beast. It lay dormant under the ice until something disturbed its sleep.

So Loki's body was struggling to keep him alive. There was no way he wanted to die before Thor. Not after he found his only one.

With new found strength the Jotun Prince forced his eyes open and instantly regretted it.

Above and around him on the ice wall, surrounding the place he fell, crawled with Black Albors. The creature were scaly and completely black in shades of gray. Almost as big as the Ice Wolf and solid shell. They were also known as ''Eaters'' because while they preferred ice, they were known to eat anything that came their way.

They were lonely creatures. Finding one was not uncommon in the lower levels of where Jotunheim's main halls lay. Two? If you were lucky. If you saw three at the same time, it was a sign of good fortune from the Gods.

But this...

This was impossible.

There had to be at least 40 Black Albors that he could see. Who knew how many more were hiding in the walls. That also explained the abnormal ice wall they had climbed earlier. The smoothness was a residue left by their number. The small cracks in the wall had actually been where they had put their feet.

First the stray Heklas. Now this.

What the hel was going on?

Turning his head slowly he instantly regretted it once more. He stared into the eye of a gigantic Black Albor.

Found the leader.

It's yellow eye narrowed and spun around in its socket. It was inspecting him and judging if he was food or friend.

They were not smart by any means, but really short temper. Piss one of and that's it for you.

Loki didn't dare to turn his face away from the Black Albor. It's antennae reached forward and almost touched his skin before it backed away and crawled up the wall.

Loki still didn't let his breath out. He wasn't out of danger yet. He needed to find Thor. Hopefully he hadn't fallen all the way down here and was way more safer than he was. He could feel it in his soul that Thor was alive. All he needed was to find him.

The Jotun tried to move but stopped as he felt something else.

His hands ghosted down to his stomach and the ice spike piercing his flesh.

Fuck.

Thor walked slowly across the ice, following the trick Loki had showed him hours earlier. He was descending. There was no way he was leaving without knowing Loki was with him. He couldn't live with himself if he abandoned Loki down there.

It was only a small memory and he almost lost it but Thor had managed to remember that they had fallen together. Until he hit the ledge and he lost his frail hold of Loki. He had no idea where his sword had fallen but he didn't care.

The Ice Wolf was left behind and he couldn't ask it to make the same jump as them and hope it made it safely. He had to go alone. He owned at least that to Loki.

If Loki hadn't found him in the ice maze that first time, he would most likely not be alive. Asgards golden heir would have been eaten by that monster and no one would have known what happened. His father would have declared war against Jotunheim once more for his safe return. More lives would have been lost, Loki would have died. His friends would have died. Everyone would have died.

What was more... Loki had stirred desires in him that he had never felt before. No beautiful woman of Asgard had ever impressed him more than Loki had in their short time together. He wanted to hold the blue giant. Embrace him. Touch him. Make him his.

Thor didn't want any one else to have Loki. Loki belonged only to him. He was important. He was precious.

That was why...

He wouldn't go back without Loki.

At the end of the ice tunnel ran the Ice Wolf. It broke out from the ice prison and into the light of a clear day in Jotunheim. With no time to waste, it took of at full speed toward the ice palace of Jotunheim.

Home to the Jotuns.

TBC