Chapter 11
Loki and Leya fought desperately – the Dark Elves were vicious and strong, and as soon as they felled one, another appeared to take its place. Leya strained to see over the Dark Elves, locating Thor in the distance. He was weakening, struggling against Malekith, and he didn't look like he could hold out much longer.
"We need to get to Thor," Leya gasped, out of breath.
Loki looked over at Thor, "I know."
The two raced over to him, battling the elves out of the way. Thor saw them, and his gaze flicked briefly to Jane. Since she was still unconscious, it seemed the Dark Elves had ignored her, which Leya was thankful for. Thor turned his attention back to Malekith while Loki and Leya refocused on the horde of Dark Elves closing in around them.
"Look out!" Loki shouted, shoving Leya out of the way as a Dark Elf leaped for her. Loki struck the elf in the chest with enough force that he was thrown backward onto a sharp, protruding piece of an upturned tree trunk. The elf thrashed in pain, glaring at Leya and Loki.
Leya exhaled, but her relief abruptly turned into horrified shock as the impaled Dark Elf leaned forward with a snarl, yanking Loki toward, him, stabbing Loki through the abdomen.
Leya must have screamed, but she couldn't hear anything except the blood pounding in her ears. All she could see was Loki, Loki as he shoved the Dark Elf away from him, Loki as he turned to look at Leya with an unsure expression. Leya ran to Loki as he fell, just managing to catch him. Jane must have come to at some point while they were fighting, because she suddenly appeared as a blurred figure in the corner of Leya's vision. Thor, too, ran to them, momentarily escaping Malekith's blows.
Leya knelt on the ground, Loki resting in her lap, cradling his head in her arms. cradling Loki's head.
"No, no, Loki," Leya pleaded softly.
Loki gazed at her, still and silent even though Leya knew he must be in excruciating pain. Loki's eyes never left Leya's face as he slowly reached up and wiped away tears Leya hadn't realized were on her cheeks.
"Hush, love, don't cry," Loki whispered. His mouth twisted in an attempt to give her one last irresistible smile.
Leya stroked Loki's face as his eyes closed and his breathing slowed.
"Don't leave me," Leya whispered, her voice barely audible. But Loki was still and motionless, the life gone from his body.
Suddenly, Loki's body disappeared. Alarmed, Leya frantically looked around, then looked up at Thor.
"What – what happened? Bring him back, bring him back!" she cried, her voice breaking. Jane quickly went up to Leya and embraced her, trying to steady her.
"Shh, Leya you need to calm down," Jane tried to quiet her. But Leya was beyond soothing.
"No! Where is he!" Leya shouted, fighting Jane's grasp.
Jane let go, perhaps out of fear of what Leya might do, and instead Thor went up to Leya and wrapped his arms around her to restrain her. Leya could not break out of Thor's iron grip, but that didn't stop her from trying. Leya shouted, kicking and punching, but of course Thor held her firm. Leya eventually gave up. Perhaps out of the combination of mental and physical exhaustion, Leya collapsed.
When Leya came to, Thor was carrying her. They were in a large cave, dark, moldy, and dripping. Thor noticed she was awake set her down gently.
"What happened?" Leya rasped, her throat dry.
"You fainted," Jane replied, concern on her face.
I never faint, Leya thought. Well, I suppose there's a first for everything.
"Where are we?" Leya asked.
"We're investigating, I picked up a signal on my cell phone in here, for some weird reason," Jane told her. Now Leya noticed Jane was holding her phone out in front of her. Suddenly, Bach's Double Concerto rang out, echoing loudly off the cave walls and making all three of them jump. Jane looked confusedly at her phone, but then Leya felt a buzzing in her pocket and realized it was her phone ringing. Surprised, she pulled it out and answered, putting it on speaker.
"Hello?"
"Hi, Leya? It's James."
James!
"James!? Uh, hi!" Leya replied, caught off guard, "How. . . are you calling me? Where are you?"
"I'm. . . in my flat, drinking coffee," James replied, "Why do you ask?"
"No reason, I just didn't expect to have service here. . . " Leya said, attempting to sound nonchalant. She paced around, trying to figure out where the signal was best.
"Okay. Well, um, I was wondering if you have any free time this weekend. I found this great little restaurant –"
Leya stopped listening as she abruptly fell through the ground in a spot in the cave. She let out a yell as she whooshed downward. Leya hit the ground hard, clutching the phone.
"– so what do you think?" James finished, apparently oblivious to the noise coming from her end.
"Um. . ." Leya tried to think of a coherent response as she scrambled to her feet. She could've laughed. She didn't even know where she'd be next weekend. "Listen, I'm sorry James, but this isn't a great time to chat, I'll call you back sometime?" Leya offered.
"Oh, all right. No worries!" James replied, sounding a bit disappointed. Leya felt guilty, "Ok. Bye." She hung up just as Jane and Thor landed on the ground next to her.
"Ow," Jane grumbled, "Where are we?"
"I think we're back on Earth. Actually, yes. We're back in London," Leya said, slowly recognizing her surroundings. How the hell?
"Well, what do we do now?"