Chapter 14: Nauthiz Revealed
Eldred heard his apprentice's return and had felt the mortal return as well. Both irritated him and satisfied him at the same time. He was glad that everything had returned to its former state and that his apprentice would be present to read the vision that he was summoning in the cauldron he stood over anxiously. He could see the tesseract, but something was trying to surface besides the powerful cube. Eldred knew that with it he could bring himself to ruling all the nine realms with Odin's Jewel. All he needed was for his apprentice to collect it along with the information that he could gather on the surface. Eldred had his limitations at the moment and knew that with both Sylvan Alfskind and Jotun blood in him that his inclination toward magical prowess exceeded his own as far as magnitude. What made Eldred more powerful than his apprentice, and perhaps most dangerous, was that he knew how to use these strengths and the youth's weaknesses against him in the most efficient of ways with an indeterminable amount of patience. He could hear the young man's footsteps approaching the girl's assigned quarters and his heart seemed to still be racing. Eldred shook his head and considered listening to the next few moments, but the idea of having to sit through meaningless drivel between his apprentice and that vapid mortal were nauseating. Instead, he turned back to the books on his desk both filled with information and blank waiting for information.
(*)
Loki opened the door to his captive's room quickly and felt nearly as anxious to see her as he had when standing in the vision of the temple. He stared in confusion at the form of the girl lying asleep peacefully on her bed. Her colour had returned and she seemed to be breathing as if nothing terrible had befallen her. He moved slowly to the bedside and reached under the blanket covering her, taking hold of her wrist and pulling it toward him slowly. It felt warmer, certainly, but had the damage been removed? As he took her hand and wrist fully in both his own he noted that there was no sign of ever having been frozen. He sighed heavily and gently sat down on the edge of the bed silently. She stirred for a moment, but didn't wake. He looked down at her form, relieved that they had made it back safely and presently after accomplishing the task.
"She's been asleep since before your return," Brenhin said. Loki jumped at hearing his voice, unaware that the servant had been close behind him this whole time. Brenhin had never seen the young sorcerer so anxious before. He frowned. "Are you sure you're alright?" he asked quietly. Loki nodded, not taking his eyes off of the mortal. "Well, you certainly took long enough. You were practically gone half the night."
"It felt longer," Loki muttered. He looked down at the smooth pale skin, warm and soft in his hands. It was a novel feeling and despite Fandral's intimate descriptions of the women he had laid with, nothing came close to describing the unusual thrill he was feeling at the moment. To be terrified at the thought of having her dying one moment and then this peaceful beside him was almost intoxicating. This was what had softened his brother, he realized. He shook himself and placed her hand back on the bed. He narrowed his eyes and then turned slowly to Brenhin at realizing there had been no sleeve whatsoever on her arm. "Brenhin, is she . . . nude?"
"Of course," Brenhin replied. The servant shook his head as his younger master leapt off the bed and did his best not to scold Brenhin as loudly as he obviously wanted to. "I wasn't about to have her sleeping in those clothes in case a fever followed everything else. Besides, I'm sure she's more comfortable like this."
"Whether she is comfortable or not does not excuse the impropriety," he whispered harshly and turning a faint shade of pink. Brenhin hid a smile and looked away. The two suddenly heard Eldred's voice from deeper in the fortress. Darcy shifted again as the older sorcerer finished calling for his apprentice. He turned back to the girl for a moment and then scowled back at the servant. "Stay here until she awakens and make sure that she is clothed before anything else happens."
Brenhin watched the youth hurry out of the room and down the hallway toward his master. He shook his head and took the trickster's place on the side of the bed, looking down at the girl's face with contentment. "He really has no idea how happy he could be if he would just love one of your kind . . . a woman, I mean. I don't know if being mortal would make that much of a difference, but it would certainly be easier than finding a fellow Asgardian," he remarked as she stirred and shifted again, muttering in her sleep. Brenhin thought it odd that she was muttering her own name, or at least what his younger master had told him her name was. He reached down and touched the side of her face. "Who knows, though, perhaps he'll become as intelligent as he thinks he is one day and you'll still be this lovely."
(*)
"You managed to return from Asgard unscathed, I see," Eldred muttered. He felt a change in the boy, although he couldn't place exactly what had changed. Loki approached him, looking irritated at the summoning.
"Master Eldred it is very late and I . . ." he began.
"Have neglected your duty to me for the sake of the trinket you took," Eldred interjected angrily. Loki frowned and rolled his eyes. He had left Asgard to get away from this kind of nagging and aggravation. Eldred slammed a large book closed and glared firmly at his apprentice. "Do not think that you can slip away from what is owed to me, little prince. I am not your family and I do not feel obligated to treat you with kindness. I share what I have with you; my home, my servant, my books, and my knowledge and I expect you to hold up your end of the bargain."
"I have never asked anything of you beyond our bargain, Eldred, do not speak to me as if I have in any way done less than what you've asked of me," Loki corrected. hotly. Eldred slowly stepped out from behind the desk where he had been seated and walked slowly over to the cauldron where he had seen something unusual a short time prior. Loki watched him cautiously and noted that his master didn't feel like standing his ground or making a display which meant that something more important had been on his mind. The apprentice, still feeling shaken by the vision from before, folded his hands behind him and approached the cauldron as well. Part of him realized that Eldred was right, of course; he had neglected recording a volume a week for the old sorcerer and reviewing a volume of his work for blank pages or missing sections. This had been the agreement regardless of need for time spent away from Asgard since he had been a much younger prince. He remembered the bargain reaching fruition and finding the tasks far less tedious at fourteen or fifteen years of age. Back then he even kept the journal daily and writing down facts seemed more important than the pursuit of a title and acceptance. Even Eldred seemed less tiresome a creature back then. He looked into the cauldron briefly. He narrowed his eyes as something strange came to the surface.
"What do you see?" Eldred asked, noting that his apprentice had gone from irritated to suddenly interested in what had appeared on the surface of the foaming liquid.
"I see a symbol, a rune," he said. He looked more closely. "A rune within my father's tesseract."
"Then it is something important indeed," Eldred said, hiding well how ecstatic he was to think that the symbol might have been the powerful Nauthiz, a rune that Eldred had sought for years before making his home in Sylvanheim. One might have said that his bargain with Loki was based entirely on its finding, although Loki had no knowledge of it. Eldred waited a moment. "Do you recognize it?"
Loki stared down at the symbol, watching it shift and dance on the surface. He frowned. For all the time he had spent studying magic and writing it down, he had never taken time to memorize the oldest runes in their entirety. He tried to recall it from years past, but couldn't remember at all what this symbol was. "No," he said softly, still trying to look down at the symbol and place it. He looked up at his master and shook his head. "I don't recognize this rune. It must be very old."
"Then you should know it after the years you've spent studying the oldest forms, or perhaps you didn't attend to your studies then as well as you would've done now," Eldred replied with a tone of contempt. Loki didn't seem to recognize it, but instead went hurriedly over to the desk and found one of the books open to a blank page as well as a pen. He quickly dipped it in ink and scribbled out the two lines intersecting at just the right location to form the symbol he had seen. He glanced up and nodded toward his master who joined him shortly. He set the book before Eldred and waited for the master's reply. Eldred grinned brightly. "Nauthiz, the stone of conflict resolved, of closings, of destiny."
"What does that have to do with the tesseract?" Loki said as he looked back down at the symbol, trying to remember if he had, indeed, seen this symbol before and still couldn't place it. "The cube is has no symbols at all and I've never seen this in the palace before."
"I am sure the rest will be revealed to you," Eldred said now appearing very pleased with the situation. The sorcerer waved one hand over the cauldron and the visions within disappeared as he took the drawing and the book in one hand. He looked back at his apprentice, very content at what had just been revealed. "You shall return to Midgard tomorrow night. I have many questions that need to be answered, for both of us. Nauthiz is part of an ancient magic that has not been practiced for years."
"Master Eldred," he began slowly. "I don't think the stone and the tesseract are in any way connected. I swear to you that this symbol is not on it at all and it has never been used in Asgard."
"All will be revealed," Eldred said firmly with a gaze that told the trickster his master's former good mood had faded into hostility. Loki felt exhausted after the incidents of the day, the night, and the previous time spent on earth. It had actually been over a week on earth, but Darcy couldn't feel the passage of time as fully in Sylvanheim. "You are dismissed, Loki, go."
The younger sighed heavily and shook his head as he hurried towards the door. Eldred had a habit for being cryptic and confusing at times, but it was all the more irritating for this particular evening which seemed to be dragging on eternally. He stormed back to his quarters and closed the door behind him with a heavy sigh. He leaned back against the door and shut his eyes for a moment, trying to center himself even now. He had to continue with what he and his master had discussed as well as this new path with the tesseract and Jane without losing all of his time and energy to both. Perhaps, part of him thought, if Volstagg was willing to hear me, then father might be willing as well. I could return home and all would be amended. Mother would surely be willing to stand and defend me.
"And you really believe it could be that simple without a word of apology?" a familiar voice asked. Loki opened his eyes and looked around the room.
He gasped as he noted a face had appeared in the mirror over one of his desks. He stared into the face in shock as the form of Drifa grinned back at him. She reached through the mirror and placed both palms on the desk. He stepped back against the wall and watched as she pulled herself through the mirror and slowly climbed over the desk until she stood in front of him. She stood for a moment, appraising him, as he stared back in amazement. He had never known another being to have magic this powerful and she seemed as though she would do everything in her power to unnerve him. She turned back to the mirror and waved one hand, causing some unseen hand or blade to cut a deep gash in it as he watched. The gash began as one line, but then another began to form as well. The two lines continued forming until they made the symbol that had been seen in Eldred's cauldron. The flame in the corner torch lighting the room suddenly went out and Drifa disappeared. He moved toward the mirror and slowly, deliberately, reached one hand out towards its surface. As his fingers grazed the symbol it slowly shrank into nothing. Whatever this was, not only did Eldred seem intent upon it, but this new oracle was in on this as well. He contemplated going and reporting this to Eldred, but shook his head. The night was short enough and with all of the enchantments he would have to face, he needed to get as much rest as possible.