Loki dodged the attack. That was close. The chains slowed him down. He had no defense. His magic was bound in the cuffs and they weighted him down. A chitauri launched itself in his direction. He sidestepped and hit it with his elbow. It was like a fly had attacked the beast. The chitauri was not affected at all. Growling with frustration, Loki decided to pounce again. He pushed his whole weight onto the side of the beast in a desperate attempt to make it fall. It was a fruitless attempt. The beast easily returned the attack and beat Loki to the ground. He had not even the slightest chance to respond before the beast hit him in his chest. The air in his lungs disappeared as his diaphragm apparently stopped working correctly.

The chitauri was about to tear the god's head off when a dagger penetrated its chest. Behind the beast was Balder standing grinning. "At your service, Loki!"

"Why do you help me?" Loki couldn't help but ask when Balder pulled him to his feet. "Shouldn't you be in the front with the cavalry?"

"You are alone and unprotected, Loki. I do it because it's the right thing to do, my friend. You would have done the same for me!"

No, I would not.

"What do you say? Should we pair up and beat the enemy together?"

Loki hesitated.

Another chitauri attacked. Balder took it down, rather gracefully actually. "What are you waiting for?"

The chains did really not come in handy in this fight. He knew he was defenseless. "I will allow you to form an alliance with me." The words were dragged out of his throat.

"Always so stiff, Loki!" Balder laughed at Loki's choice of words. "Do you ever loosen up, my friend?"

I pick my words more skillfully than you and your barbaric wording!

…

"Heimdall, close the bifrost!" Volstagg shouted and swung his axe. He beheaded another chitauri.

The golden walls' spinning started to decrease. Heimdall had been freed from the beast's grip and now put his sword down to end the break in to Asgård. The bifrost was closing. The ancient magic, who seconds ago had allowed entrance to the golden realm, was now shutting the beasts out. The door was closed at last. No one was granted entrance anymore.

Hogun danced around the remaining chitauri. A dagger punctured a vein in its leg, beneath the armor. The warrior was panting but still remained clever and used smart tactics. Fandral sneaked up to his prey and with a well placed sword-cut, he targeted the beast's neck. The chitauri temporally lost its focus on Hogun and turned around to face Fandral. It was enough for Hogun to make his final attack.

Volstagg and Sif cheered. Hogun mended a small cut in his arm but couldn't help smiling brightly.

"We thought that you had betrayed us, Heimdall," Sif said.

"My child, I apologize for so easily giving into the intruders wishes. The possibility for me ending my days in Valhalla is over. I will face my punishment with a head held high."

"What made you give in to them?" Sif couldn't help but ask. She had a hard time believing that Heimdall, out of all people in Asgård, could do such a thing. "Did they threaten someone dear to you?"

Heimdall reverted his golden eyes from hers. "No."

Volstagg snorted. "Do not ruin the glorious moment of success with pitiful talk! Heimdall, you owe us nothing more than a good story, a way of presenting us in the most brave manners!"

Sif smiled along with the warriors but knew that Heimdall wouldn't be forgiven so easily by Odin. Unless he spoke up and told everyone his version of the break in. She hoped Heimdall had legitimate reasons because this didn't seem correct at all, she could definitely smell a rat here.

…

Frigga gazed worriedly at the crowd of evacuated people. As the queen, she had a responsibility for her people, she was a protector. Frigga sighed softly as she oversaw a little boy being tended to. He cried and asked for his parents. A healer bent down and talked gingerly with him. The real heroes were people like the healer. The heroes who offered comfort and cared in hard times. Sadly it was the fighters who were remembered in the history as heroes.

Who would remember that anonymous healer when Thor and Odin came back with victory? If they came back from the battlefield... no she couldn't think like that! They would come back. Loki on the other hand... what would happen with him? Perhaps he would make it out safely. Perhaps he would not, he had enemies everywhere. Both on the enemy's side and on his side. If he ever chose a side. The chance that he played his own game and eventually got stabbed in the back was possible.

She walked over to the healer and the crying boy. "May I ask why you cry, young man?" She bent down to the boy's level.

The healer excused herself and turned on her heel to find another patient.

The boy had hiccups and had a hard time to answer the question. Frigga waited patiently.

"My mom and dad is gone!"

Frigga restrained herself from pointing out the grammatical error. This wasn't the best situation. Instead she smiled warmly and squeezed his shoulder. "Why won't we go looking for them?" Frigga suggested and extended a hand for him to take.

...

"How long will this take?" Gwen asked and cringed in pain on the horseback. She had never actually touched a horse before and now she was riding one. Her whole body ached. She knew she probably wasn't sitting in the right way but the muscles in her thighs protested too much to change her position.

"A day in this pace," one of the guards said. He was grinning towards her, clearly sensing her discomfort.

"Can we at least take a break?"

The guard laughed it off.

"She's not out in the blue," the other guard said. "The horses would not die from a little water!" He pointed towards a breathtaking lake. "We would not die from rest as well."

"Thank you," Gwen mimed towards the friendlier guard.

He shrugged his shoulders to avoid her gaze.

Gwen jumped off the horse and groaned as her stiff limbs finally could stretch. The horses were lead down to the water and she fell back to rest. The grass was soft and the sun shone in her face. When Gwen closed her eyes she could faintly imagine being back home. The heat in the air was vibrant, it felt like summer. However, the momentary bliss was gone, Gwen screamed when her face was splashed with water. She got up and stared at the rude guard.

"What was that for?"

"I thought you looked dead... so I decided to wake you up!"

No way in hell that was your reason!

"You could at least just have shaken my shoulder or so."

"I would have to touch you then." His face was twisted in repulse.

Gwen's jaw dropped. "What?"

"I said I would have-" He started with a sneer.

The other guard put a calming hand on the rude guard. "Forget it, it was just a prank, just for the sake of some fun. Let it be!" He shot a frightened eye to Gwen. She scanned his features. He was scared and out of his element. Something had escalated and was heading in the wrong direction. He sensed it before her because he knew the usual routine and recognized when something wasn't right.

Their threatening weapons in their holsters made Gwen shut her mouth. She had a growing bad feeling about this.

…

Back to the battlefield.

Asgård was winning. It was clear. Still, the victory had a high cost. Even though Asgård suffered fewer deaths, there were deaths on their side as well. Unnamed warriors fell. This was the dark side of war, the part which always remained forgotten in the history. Agony and fear were never glorified in the tales of battles, even though they were present. The sad fact still stands; war could be destructive for one side, and for the other side be constructive, although, war was always destroying for the individual no matter side.

Odin's voice boomed across the field, "Asgård, the luck is with us. Only a a short time remain until our victory will be here! Do not fear, my friends!"

The army continued with new energy. The Asgardian army outnumbered the chitauri by far.

One person present in the battle was not easily manipulated by Odin's propaganda. The fallen prince was still slowed by the heavy chains. He was tired now, his arms grew heavier and his heart speed in his chest. Loki cursed under his breath. He fell on his face as a beast gripped the chains that connected his feet and pulled. Loki suffered humiliation as he was dragged in the dirt. He turned on his back clumsily, only to face the attacker, a little bit too close for his taste. Loki's only weapon was his chains. He tried to whip the beast's face. The chitauri responded by a blow to Loki's solar plexus. Gasping for air, Loki stared into the eyes of his soon to be killer.

The eyes of the chitauri lost its sparkle and life.

Loki panted heavily, both from the blow and also the surprise.

"Do you think I would leave you to deal with them alone?" Balder said while grinning. He helped Loki up. "I just turn my back for a few seconds and you're down for counting!"

Loki scowled. This was the second time Balder saved him. Loki was starting to get a long list of things he owed the other god. "It was a trick!"

"If you claim so," Balder laughed it off and wiggled an eyebrow. With flourish, he brought down another chitauri.

…

The hostile guard turned his head towards Gwen. "So, little midgardian girl, why are you here?"

"I would prefer if you didn't call me 'little girl', it's degrading!" I'm older than you think I am.

The guard threw his head back and laughed at her. The horse became stressed by his outburst. The guard calmed down and patted the horse's neck. "I call you whatever I want!"

"What do you have against me?"

"Nothing. Everything."

"What kind of answer is that?"

The guard jumped off his horse and announced; "We're taking a break!"

"Again?" The friendlier guard was confused. "Already?" He shook his blonde hair out of his eyes.

"We've got to eat." The hostile guard sneered in Gwen's direction. "I bet little princess here is already faint."

"I am fine, thank you," Gwen retorted with anger. "Don't call me princess!" She jumped off her horse as well.

The friendly guard looked through their bags. "We have no food with us since-"

"I know that! We were supposed to be at the mountain at the end of the day. Looks like we're not," the hostile guard cut off. "We're going to hunt our food. Let Gwen here prove that she's not a little princess." He threw a bow in Gwen's direction. "I've heard you handle the bow quite well." Something familiar flicked in the guard's eyes. A glint of green in his usual gray eyes.

Gwen picked up the bow and a quiver. "Where have you heard that?"

"Rumors spread so quickly here." He ordered them to leave for the nearby forest.

Gwen didn't move.

The friendly guard took a few hesitant steps in the direction of the forest. His face showed hesitation and frustration. "We never got orders of-"

The hostile guard turned to Gwen. "What, afraid of the big dark forest?"

The stubbornness in her kicked in. "Why would I be?" She fastened her quiver on the shoulder. "I'm not scared." She followed him in his tracks.

Sweat pearls rolled down the forehead of the friendly guard. "I am not sure if this..." his voice died down and he accepted their fate. He ran a hand through his blonde hair. With a feeling of defeat, he followed.

Gwen walked between them. They were each other's counterparts physically. The friendly guard had blonde hair and a round face. The hostile guard's features were sharp and he sported deep brown hair.

The brunette turned to Gwen. "Have you ever killed someone with that?" He pointed at the bow in her hands.

She shook her head. "It's more of a sport on Midgård."

"Hunting is a sport here as well."

They continued walking. The shadows grew longer and the air got chillier. The forest offered nothing to hunt, no one detected sounds of animals. It was dead silent. Gwen suspected that they scared them of. Their heavy footsteps were probably heard from miles away, scaring the prey away.

"We've been walking for hours!" Gwen couldn't help but exclaim. She wasn't entirely sure whether it was a matter of hours or not. She had lost track of time.

"Growing tired?" The hostile brunette asked.

The blonde guard offered water for her to drink. She accepted and thanked him. He brushed it off with an embarrassed look on his face. "I only want to help, milady."

The other guard snorted. He had something sinister in his eyes.

Gwen decided to call this off. They had been walking aimlessly for too long. She had a hard time believing that this was a part of their orders. They had been refraining from the schedule too much."We've got no hunting fortune, we only waste our time out here." She kept her voice calm to not disturb them too much.

The brunette harshly pushed her further. "Do as I tell you, or you will be left out here to die!"

"You have no orders of killing me off!" She had confidence in her saying. Yet, Loki's hostile behavior earlier told her that it might not be the case anyway.

"You could always stumble and fall to your death, little princess." He pushed her again, harder this time. "No one would blame us. Princess, you stand no chance alone in the forest."

She threw a gaze over her shoulder to give him a witty retort. Only to found herself completely alone. They had practically vanished into thin air. She brought an arrow out of the quiver and mounted it on the bow. "Is this a game?"

Only the wind responded.

A bush rustled of movement. Gwen squinted her eyes and tried to make out something from the thick bushes.

"I am here!" The voice of the brunette was easily recognizable.

"Get out of where you hide!"

"I heard a lot of things about you, Gwen, you're the little midgardian who-"

"Shut up!"

An arrow graced her cheek.

She turned around with raised bow, ready to shoot anytime. She was shaking in her whole body. "Stop hiding and face me! Don't be a coward." Her aim was terrible.

Another arrow came straight for her from the bushes. She sidestepped just in time. The possibility of getting shot made her weak to her knees. She was scared now. Deeply scared. Her eyes began to water and she wished she was somewhere safe. Gwen blinked furiously. Home. She longed for her apartment and its safety.

The guard cackled. He taunted her.

Adrenaline pumped through her system. Flee or fight! Gwen aimed towards to where she thought he was hiding. "Get out of the bushes, or I'll shoot!"

The bush rustled again and the third arrow made its way towards her. This time she was hit, in the shoulder. Despite the pain, she released the arrow. Gwen aimed a bit to the right, only to scare him. The last thing she wanted was to actually hit someone. The arrow wobbled extremely. It was a terrible shot. Yet, she could hear the impact, Gwen had hit something, someone. She dropped her bow. Gwen's knees failed her, she fell to the ground. Oh no, it couldn't be!

Out from the bushes fell the senseless guard to his face. With horror, Gwen recognized the blonde hair. It belonged to the friendly guard. His face wore a plastic expression of surprise. The arrow was placed between his eyes.

She had shot someone innocent.

Thanks for the support so far!