A powerful gust of wind swept across the palace courtyard, threatening to drag Max's hood off her head. She clung to the material, shielding her face from the elements, and tried her best to keep pace with Loki. Although she'd been in Asgard for a while—too long at this point—and had seen just about every part of the royal palace, this was new. Odin's guards patrolled their usual vehicles, monitoring all the hovering boats she and Loki usually took on their quest to find a path to Earth, so Loki had come up with a new plan on the morning they left for Nornheim: steal a servant's boat.

She wasn't thrilled at the idea. After all, the hovercrafts docked in the grimy behind-the-scenes portion of the palace probably cost someone a pretty penny at some point. It didn't feel right to take from those who had so much less to give, but Max squashed her sense of morality down, as deep as it would go, if it meant getting home. There was a witch waiting to be bartered with in Nornheim.

Darkness clung to the courtyard, the early morning sky black and starry. The recent storm had finally moved westward, leaving behind a good few feet of snow that the servants had been busily clearing for the last two days. She would have thought that here, in a place where magic and science conjoined, there would have been a more effective way to get rid of some snow, but apparently handing a servant a shovel was just as good.

Because of the weather, many of the palace occupants had stayed indoors these last few days, though Max still kept her distance. She couldn't bring herself to talk to them about something as casual as the weather—that would have been a defeat. A fighting spirit burned in her belly, and she wouldn't douse it by sitting around a feasting hall, guzzling wine like she used to and laughing about something inconsequential.

Loki had no issue with her living a hermit's life—in fact, he seemed to prefer it. A few of his companions had visited them in his room, including the young lord Biorn, though Max was seldom invited to participate in their conversations. They were low and hushed, words exchanged over a dying fire in Loki's hearth. Being excluded didn't bother her: she'd spent a lot of her time reading tomes from the library about witchcraft and Nornheim, feeling she ought to at least have a little knowledge behind her going into a new situation.

"This one." Loki's voice carried over the wind, and she followed him to a non-descript wooden craft at the far end of the lot. There were already a few blankets nestled in the hull of the boat, though there was no plank or bench for her to sit on. The floor would do. Not like she needed to see where they were going anyway. Shrugging, she tossed her bag in and let Loki lift her up by the armpits. Her long legs eased over the side, and once she was in, she noted that the boat seemed a little wider.

Blinking slowly, she bit back a yawn. The excitement of their secret departure should have kept her wide awake, her senses heightened for signs of onlookers, but she'd barely slept for the few hours that they were in bed, and her warm outer layer and the twinkling sky wasn't doing anything to help her stay focused.

"Carr will understand," Loki told her as he hopped in, the hovercraft rising several feet smoothly as soon as he touched the rudder at the back. "When he sees it missing, I assume he will put my absence and his boat's together."

"You didn't tell him you were taking it?" she asked, her eyebrows rising somewhat. From what she understood, Loki had a fairly affectionate relationship with his two servants. Carr was the elder of the two and never hesitated to do what was instructed of him. It felt a little worse to deceive him than a nameless kitchen figure.

"I'd rather he had no accountability," Loki insisted. Her hand jumped to the thick siding of the craft when the boat rocked back and forth, the breeze creeping into her hood to kiss her cheeks. "Odin will find us missing by dinner this evening. Carr and Olek will be the first he'll interrogate."

Max crossed her arms, breathing out slowly and steadily as Loki wove the boat out of the courtyard. Behind the palace they crept, sticking to a small, unmaintained roadway that she assumed the servants took to get to work each day. Not a single guard made himself known as they passed, but she kept her hood on all the same. Every time she passed palace security, they watched her like hawks. She was sick of being watched, studied. By now, she'd hoped Odin would think he'd won by blocking all the obvious escape routes, but Loki seemed to doubt that.

And Loki's suspicions had started to become Max's concerns too. It was obvious that he knew what he was doing. He'd seen beneath the shiny veneer of palace life, just as she was beginning to, and it was obvious now that there was more than meets the eye at play here. Politics were alive and well in Asgard, and she seemed to be embroiled in a game that she could not possibly hope to win alone.

As they veered away from the palace walls, Loki took them through dark alleys and narrow streets. It was strange how quiet the city was at this hour: she'd thought it might be similar to Manhattan in the sense that there was always something happening, no matter the time, but it quickly became apparent that even Asgardians needed their sleep. With her head resting on the boat's thick edge, her head on her folded arms, she did her best to take in the sleepy cityscape through her watery gaze, the wind stinging her eyes.

Many times not long ago, she and Loki had crept out of the palace with secret plans in mind: picnics, heated pools, countryside tours. Although they'd hurried off without telling a soul, there was no fear then, no anxiety about being caught. How simple it had been then to just go about their business without a care in the world. Her eyebrows furrowed as she considered the changes thrust upon her.

Max had grown accustomed to the route they took the countryside. They'd pass by beautiful farmlands and abandoned forts, a veritable feast for the eye. This time, Loki took her toward the mountains, their towering peaks ominous in the distance. She shivered, some of the wind working its way under her clothing, and held herself tight once they'd escaped the city limits. Undetected. No troubles. If only she hadn't been so tired.

Loki called her name sharply, and she sat up with a gasp, realizing that they were suddenly at the foot of a mountain—and she'd drifted off to sleep without noticing. Clearing her throat, she sat up and rubbed her eyes, blinking rapidly to clear the drowsiness away. When she looked to him, worried that there might be trouble ahead, he merely smiled, his hood down, and shook his head.

"I was only checking to see if you were awake," he told her, his features illuminated by moonlight. "Sleep. You won't be missing anything in the mountains, I promise."

A part of her wanted to stay alert, to watch the road they traveled together. It wasn't like she'd be able to do anything if they ran into trouble, but she wasn't interested in waking up suddenly to a fight. Still, she struggled to keep her eyes open for long, and without a word, she grabbed her bag to use as a pillow, then curled up at the front of the boat. Before she dozed off, the last image in her mind was of Loki, his gaze fixed to the horizon, his expression distant—concerned, almost.

His face left her with nightmares as she slept, waking up at the slightest bump and jostle, only to drift back to an uncomfortable slumber moments later. It was all very incoherent, even to her dream-self, and when one final bump sent her rolling across the floor of the boat, all her nightmares were gone. Vanished to the depths of her mind, hopefully never to surface again.

"Sorry," Loki chuckled as she sat up, a hand on her head, her food fallen down to her shoulders. "I didn't expect that to be so rough."

She offered him a small smile, slightly disorientated, and cleared her throat. "Are we in Nornheim yet?"

"Nearly," he told her. Clambering to her feet, she managed to stretch without losing her balance as the hovercraft skimmed the snowy landscape. The mountain range loomed behind her, still impressively large despite the distance between it and them.

"How long was I asleep?" She wobbled toward him, arms outstretched to steady her. He perched on the edge of the boat, an arm resting lazily on the rudder, and Max took it upon herself to climb onto his lap. His free hand encircled her waist, pulling her snug against him.

"Hours," Loki said, kissing her cheek with lips cooler than the winter air. "Do you feel rested now?"

She shrugged. "A little."

The day had taken on an uncomfortable brightness, the glare from the snow hurting her eyes. While the early morning had been beautifully clear, the clouds had rolled in while she slept, blocking out the sun with a thick layer of grey. The air, she noted, wasn't as cool beyond the mountains, and she almost wanted to get rid of one of her layers. However, a thick white fog rolled across the landscape in the distance, swallowing the trees and snow-covered fields, hiding the little rolling hills so much so that Loki raised the elevation of the hovercraft.

"The border," he told her as she opened her mouth to ask, "between Asgard and Nornheim. Placed there by the witches to remind travellers where they were going."

Max pursed her lips, studying the wall of fog as it drew closer and closer. "Charming."

"As I told you, Nornheim lacks much of Asgard's pastoral pleasantness."

Unfortunately, lacking pastoral pleasantness was one of the larger understatements Loki had ever given. Once the ship had cleared the fog, during which Max pulled his arm tighter around her waist, unable to see more than a foot in front of her, Nornheim was almost Asgard's polar opposite. Without the snow, Asgard was awash with golds and greens, its countryside plush with knee-high grasses, sweeping willow trees, and dark blue lakes. In comparison, Nornheim was nothing but ash.

The province's landscape sent a chill through her, straight down to the bone, despite the uncomfortably warm air. As soon as they cleared the fog, sweat started to drip down her face, and she slid off Loki's lap to remove her thick cloak and jacket. He slowed the boat's speed, giving her time to take in the clusters of dead trees, the earth scorched by an unseen fire. Black and grey soot coated the ground, the foliage scraggly and depressing. White, grey, black. There was no colour here, and she wondered if that was purposeful to discourage visitors.

"Wow…"

"I can't say I ever visit for pleasure," Loki mused, drawing her back to him with his hand on her lower back. "In my experience, the residents aren't especially fond of Asgardians."

She sighed, rolling her eyes. "Perfect."

"You hardly need to worry about that," he continued as they navigated the seemingly barren landscape. "Most of the population lives within the… royal palace. We're unlikely to meet anyone all the way out here."

"See you say that…" Max scanned the horizon, the neutral toned woodlands branching up and blending with the cloudy sky. "And then all of a sudden we're under arrest or something."

Loki gave a small laugh as he nuzzled her neck. "Now, now, no need for dramatics."

He might have been able to take all this in stride, but for Max, this was a whole new world that she had to learn in a matter of minutes. She had to absorb it, understand it, and survive it—again.

They traveled for what felt like hours, the scenery offering nothing of interest most of the way. It wasn't until the day had started to darken that Loki slowed the hovercraft, cutting the speed as they neared a thickly forested plot of land. Some of the trees held leaves here, though like much of the foliage she'd already seen, they looked dead, on the verge of falling. While the trees were situated near one another, there was just enough space for Loki to get the boat through.

Although they'd seen no one thus far, the silence of the wood made her anxious. Out of the corner of her eye, shapes flickered but always disappeared whenever she looked in their direction. Occasionally, the squawk of a horrible sounding bird echoed above the canopy. Although she didn't say anything to Loki, a part of her wanted to turn back and run to Asgard. With its pastoral comforts and secure walls, at least there she felt safe.

Caged, yes, but the cage was quite secure.

"We'll camp here," he told her when the boat came to a gentle stop, slowly lowering to the ground. She looked back at him with a frown, the forest's humidity sitting heavily on her shoulders, and Loki quickly met her stare. "I don't to traverse the land by night. If I was alone, perhaps, but I'd rather us wait until dawn to start again."

Max pursed her lips, but said nothing as she went for her bag. Spending the night somewhere meant she'd be in this awful place longer than anticipated. Still, she could see the merit in hunkering down and waiting the night out. Even if there weren't any people around, now that they'd stopped moving, the forest's soundtrack crept to life. Creatures that sounded like cicadas shrieked in the distance, no doubt spurred on by the warmth. A twig snapped to her left. Something cackled softly to her right.

She jumped when Loki gently touched her arm, his hold firm.

"Don't let the forest play tricks on you," he told her, his voice kind, reassuring. "It's not real… Just your mind adjusting to a new place."

"A place that looks like the set of a horror movie," Max muttered, then offered a weak smile. "I'm fine."

"Of course you are." He kissed her cheek before clambering out of the boat, a hand extended for her to take. "I've never doubted that."

Nibbling her lower lip, she took his hand and climbed over the side. Sandy earth scattered beneath her feet, and it was like walking on a beach with a thick layer of rock only an inch or two beneath the sand. Unpleasant. She couldn't imagine walking around without shoes.

"We'll sleep in the boat," Loki told her, and she watched as he lifted the ends to tuck the vehicle between two thick trees. "I'll build a quick roof, I think…"

"Do we need one?"

"The clouds worry me," he said, hands on his hips as he gazed upward. "The rain here tends to be a little… acidic."

Max rolled her eyes, groaning. "It's like a dream holiday destination. I'm so surprised Nornheim isn't crawling with tourists."

She caught a flash of his grin as he moved toward her, then let him take her bag and set it back in the boat. After all, she didn't need to carry it around aimlessly. However, without something to hold, she felt lost. Loki set to work right away, finding a sturdy branch to replicate magically a dozen times over—material for their roof, apparently. Meanwhile, she all but twiddled her thumbs, staring at the eerie landscape with a growing sense of unease in the pit of her stomach.

"Max?" She flinched at Loki's voice, head snapping in his direction quickly. Panicked. A little embarrassed. "Why don't you collect some kindling? I'll start a fire once I'm finished here… Prepare something to eat for you."

"Sure."

Collecting little twigs seemed about the extent of her abilities in that given moment, and she didn't need to be told to stay close to their camp. The thought of wandering more than ten feet from him made her want to puke. The ache behind her eyes increased each time she bent over and stood back up, a few thin twigs gathered in her arms. Every so often, she'd glance back to make sure she could still see Loki, an affectionate smile spreading across her lips whenever she saw him.

He'd gone so far out of his way to get her home. This couldn't be a pleasant journey for him, and yet he took her without hesitation. If only she could persuade him to just come back to Earth with her. They could find a new place to start their lives, somewhere Loki could really do something with himself. It was a pipe dream at best, sure, but she still enjoyed picturing it.

It was midway through her musings, the image of her and Loki living somewhere beautiful and relaxing—tropical, probably—dancing around her head, that the sound of a growl broke her concentration. Max stiffened, swallowing hard, her throat painfully dry. Out of the corner of her eye, two large figures encroached on her, slowly, carefully. She hadn't been paying much attention to where she'd wandered, so focused on her dream life back home and gathering appropriately sized sticks that she'd sort of… lost track of herself.

When the shapes stopped moving, she took a few shallow breaths and turned toward them, careful to make no sudden moves.

"Oh my god." Max closed her eyes tight, blocking out the image of two monstrous wolves with unnaturally blue eyes. Bigger than any wolf she'd ever seen—in her limited experience with them at zoos as a kid—and at least twice as wide as her, the creatures stood before her with their hackles up, their heads a smidgen higher than hers. She opened her eyes slowly, hoping that while they were shut the creatures may have just vanished, then let out a low whimper when she found they were still there.

Okay. Okay. Think. They hadn't attacked yet, nor were their lips pulled back in a snarl. In fact, they seemed just as shocked as she was to be standing face-to-face, and she briefly wondered if she could use that to her advantage.

Clearing her throat, she raised her eyebrows up high, her mouth morphing into a wide grin, and crouched down a little.

"Hi puppies!" she squealed, taking on the voice she usually used on babies—or unfamiliar dogs. "Puppies, puppies, puppies! Hello!"

The wolves stood, unmoved, watching her with unblinking blue eyes. Clutching her gathered sticks to her chest, she held out one hand, fisted, for them to sniff.

"Good puppies," she cooed, a tremor passing through her voice. "Good puppies… Pretty puppies…"

Nose twitching, the wolf closest to her leaned toward her hand, the forest falling completely silent. Max's hand shook, watching as the creature's lips started to pull back to form a snarl, and when it lunged for her, she screamed at the top of her lungs and hurled her bundle of sticks at it. Stumbling over her feet, she managed to turn and take off without falling, though she nearly went down face-first when her toes caught on an exposed root. As she ran, the breath of the wolves tickled her neck, its heat so close that she was surprised she had any distance on them at all.

Through the trees, she spied Carr's boat, tucked beneath a thick, pointed roof. Just as she was about to shriek Loki's name, he appeared in front of her by a good ten feet.

"Down!" he ordered, and without hesitation she dropped to the forest floor, a layer of ashy earth dusting her face as soon as she hit the ground. Even with her arms thrown over her head, her eyes closed, she saw the light, felt the magic, and seconds later, two heavy figures thumped down behind her.

She sat up hastily when Loki touched her arms, turning back to see the fallen wolves only a few feet from her. Their eyes remained open, tongues lolling out of their mouths. Trembling, Max wiped the dust from her face, rubbing her hand too hard across her skin. Loki took over shortly after, smoothing the backs of his fingers over her cheeks, nose, and forehead, his cool touch welcome after her run. Her body ached, particularly around the knees and the base of her hands, though she hadn't broken any skin.

"They just came out of nowhere," she said, her breath catching in her throat. With a shake of her head, she tried to meet his eye, but he was glowering at the wolves. "I wasn't paying attention… I-I should have stayed closer. It was stupid of me to... to…"

He shuffled by her without a word, edging toward the wolves. Once he was close enough, he lifted one's head, tutting, before letting it fall heavily to the ground.

"Are they dead?" she asked, her stomach slowly cramping, knotting, the queasiness from before seeping back in. Loki shook his head, leaning around the closest one to examine the second slightly smaller wolf.

"Stunned," he replied. Max noticed the way his jaw clenched, the muscles bulging before he added, "They're Odin's wolves… His pets. He keeps two ravens as well."

The knot grew heavier, harder, and Max crossed her arms slowly to hold herself. "So he knows where we are."

"Suspects where we are, I think," Loki said as he stood. He then held a hand out, helping her to her feet. "His wolves are spies. Scouts. He'll be waiting for them to return… Perhaps with you in tow."

"Why me?"

"Because I would follow shortly after," he muttered, releasing her as soon as she was up and stalking toward their little camp clearing. Max followed, her ears twitching at every sound, significant or not, eyes darting around. The forest had quieted once more, and she wondered if any creatures who might have wanted to investigate the strangers thought better of it with the wolves around.

Loki's hand suddenly wrapped around her wrist, and she stumbled as he dragged her toward him. Max frowned, her wrist sore from his touch, and watched as he marched toward a tree. Wordlessly, he touched the trunk, his eyes closed, and from it crept a wall of light. It moved from tree to tree, silent still, until their entire little camp was surrounded by a wall with a dark blue tinge, still clear enough to see a wobbly version of the forest on the other side.

Without thinking, she reached out and touched the shimmering wall, then inhaled sharply and retracted her hand when her skin started to sizzle.

"Max." Her name sounded like a groan coming from Loki's mouth, and she cradled her stinging hand to her chest. "Don't… touch it."

"Yup, should have realized that," she said, nodding. The tips of her fingers were covered in burns, the skin bubbling and blistering as tears brimmed. She sniffled, blinking them away quickly. "I'm sorry."

Loki gently gathered her hand and splayed it out over his palm, examining her fingers. "Hardly something to be sorry for."

His irritation was palpable, and while Max knew she wasn't the root cause for it, she probably wasn't helping by being a bumbling idiot. She drew in a deep breath, squaring her shoulders.

"I'm sure it'll be fine by tomorrow," she offered, trying to pull her hand back. Loki glanced up at her, then closed his fingers around her, the tips pressed to her palm. "It's just a burn, right?"

He nodded, then left her briefly to get something from the boat. When he returned, he had a small bottle of liquid that he tipped over her hand. That hurt more than the shimmering wall, and Max bit back a cry, though Loki caught her by the forearm before she would wipe her hand on her clothes.

"It'll speed the healing," he told her. "Give it a moment."

Her lips twitched as she waited for the pain to ease, and when it passed, her fingertips had lost some of their puffiness. Instead, they were hard. Swollen, yes, but manageable.

"I dropped all the kindling I collected," she said lamely, almost as an apology, but Loki seemed to think nothing of it.

"Hardly matters." He moved toward his pile of building materials, picked up one of the thick branches and snapped it in half over his knee. He dropped one and broke the other, doing it over and over again until he had a pile of smaller pieces. From the base of the pile, a small fire sprung forth, and she suddenly felt a little silly. He hadn't need kindling—he'd just given her something to do so she didn't feel useless.

Biting the insides of her cheeks, she wandered back to the boat, but when she realized there was nowhere to actually go, she climbed onto the edge and sat, legs swinging, eyes fixed on the fire. The flames licked the thick pieces of wood, climbing higher and higher, the warmth growing.

"How about something to eat?" Loki suggested, suddenly in front of her, a hand on her leg. She nodded, only then realizing just how hungry she actually was—her last meal had been in the wee hours of that morning, just before they slipped out of the palace. Maybe that was why she was feeling so ill now that they had stopped moving.

"Yeah, sounds good."

She felt him studying her face for a moment, and tilted her head to the side when he leaned in, offering her cheek instead of her lips. Loki kissed her all the same, then pinched her chin between two fingers to bring her back to him.

"We'll see the witch tomorrow," he breathed, "and then all will be right… All will be as it should."

Max nodded, her hands wrapping around his wrist, and then pressed her lips to the back of his hand. He was right, after all. As long as she could pay the witch's price, she would be home by this time tomorrow.

And all of this would have been worth it.

AUTHOR'S NOTES:

I don't know if you could tell, but I was obsessed with writing Loki and Max in Nornheim. I had such a fantastic time writing this chapter, even though, really, not a lot happened, so I hope you enjoyed it!

Sidenote: as ridiculous as Max's reaction was to the wolves, I would TOTALLY do that when faced with the same thing. Wolves are my obsession, and I'd be all over that shit. COME CUDDLE ME, BEASTS. LET ME LOVE YOU.

Now, about my writing schedule. If you've been following my notes (and maybe my tumblr), you know about my RL situation and whatnot. I've taken on a more full-time freelance ghostwriting schedule, but what I've decided to do it dedicate the first half hour of my morning to fanfiction. So, I'll be working on updates every day, and publishing ASAP. It's not much, I know, but I still want to be able to update as much as possible, despite my workload.

Oh! And I've also started moving this series onto AO3. I'm over there under the same pen name, and there's a smutty Loki drabble on there that I've never posted on this website, so… feel free to check that out. I've only just started moving The Sky is Falling, so if you're on there and want to relive the magic, come say hi!

I also need a name for this series. I have absolutely NO idea what to call it… I mean, I'm aiming to have four full-length stories about Loki and Max, followed by maybe a few five chapter one-shots of some kind. So. I guess I need a title for the series. Guhh. Maybe I'll hold a contest for it. SO MUCH TO DO. SO LITTLE TIME.

MMKAY. So I'm literally planning the next update tomorrow and getting to work on it ASAP. You can always check my tumblr (lokisaphrodite) for more up-to-date updates on how chapters are going, either under the story tag (title, obviously) or my fanfiction-update tag. Yup.

K I HAVE TO GO WRITE EROTICA FOR CLIENTS NOW. SEE YOU DARLINGS SOON!