Thor listened.
It was too quiet.
He stood in front of something that looked like a black mountain with millions of holes in it.
Maybe it was their palace or whatever they called it.
It was dark and cold, but the stars above provided enough light to have a decent visibility.
Thor was holding his hammer in his right hand, ready to fight if someone would dare to attack him. He entered the mountain through one of the countless holes and realized immediately that his search for Loki might be harder than he had expected.
This place was like a labyrinth, myriads of corridors crossing each other and some of them were even dead-ends.
Also it was almost impossible so see something inside those cave passages.
Should he just wander around without a clue?
That wouldn't bring him closer to Loki.
That is if he was here at all.
He needed a plan, because in the end he had to find one of those exits again.
Suddenly there was a high pitched sound and seconds later, Thor was surrounded by Chitauri creatures.
All of them were hissing and snarling at him, but there was a bigger one that started to speak.
"You are not allowed to be here, it is forbidden to trespass the land of the Chitauri. We will bring you to our leader."
Well, that was easy, Thor thought. He didn't even have to think of a plan, the plan had come to him. If Loki was in fact on this planet, he would be either with the leader or imprisoned.
So as an exception he let himself be captured and escorted through those endless identical black corridors.
He tried to memorize the way they went in vain. It was a complete impossibility.
All of a sudden, they entered an impressive hall which had no ceiling at all, so the stars in the sky were could send their light into this huge room.
Now Thor was able to see that one of the Chitauri who had been standing next to a black table, was coming up to him.
"Oho, I know you! Aren't you one of those Avengers?" The creature wore a much more imposing armor than the others and had a self-satisfied look on his face.
"I am. And you are the leader of the Chitauri." Thor said.
"That is correct. Now tell me, why are you on our planet without an invitation?"
"I am looking for my brother Loki. He may have been here." Thor got interrupted.
"Really, that worm is your brother? Are you sure?" The leader laughed and shock his head in disbelieve.
"You saw him then?" The god of thunder decided to ignore the Chitauri's question.
"Saw? Haha…Yes, I 'saw' him. He actually worked for us, but unfortunately he got our leader killed. And now he has to pay. So turn around and go back to where you came from. You will never see him again. He is ours."
"You are wrong. I will not leave this place without my brother." Thor growled.
"Oh, you don't have to, you can stay here. In fact, if I think about it, it would be rather nice to have a second plaything."
Then the leader snarled at his minions, who surrounded the god of thunder and then they attacked him all of a sudden.
They tried to wrap an iron chain around his ankles but Thor fought them off. He swung his hammer in a circle and swept the ones in the first row off their feet.
As they saw his power, they send for backup immediately and within seconds, Chitauri creatures of every size and shape, were coming out of the black corridors into the great hall.
Thor fought tireless and tried to get closer to the black table where the leader had gone back to, the moment the fight had started.
If he could get his hands around that bastards neck…but then what?
He could threaten to kill him, so that his soldiers would back down.
Hmm, he thought, that could actually work. Thor spotted the leader and threw Mjolnir straight at him. The Chitauri was caught by surprise and couldn't escape the mighty weapon. It collided with his chest and the cracking of bones and the shattering of his armor was audible throughout the hall. Every single soldier stopped and didn't dare to move, as Thor grabbed their leader by the scruff of the neck. And now he spotted Loki who was chained to the black table.
"Now, unchain my brother and show us the way out of, or I swear I will kill you right here!"
"Ha, you wouldn't survive. The minute you snap my neck, my soldiers will rip you into shreds." The wounded leader spat blood as he spoke.
"I am the son of Odin! No one on this planet can kill me. You have felt the power I possess, and that was only half of it. Do as I say and you will live!"
The leader realized that his enemy was too powerful to face in a battle right now. He had to capitulate but that didn't mean that vengeance was out of the picture. His time would come, but the only thing that mattered now was to survive.
"Alright", he said through gritted teeth and commanded: "Torturer, free our little worm from the straps!"
The order was carried out at once.
Only now, Thor could take a good look at Loki. He was completely naked. Blood was gushing out of his mouth, covering his lips and cheeks. Even though the straps were removed, he made no attempt to get up.
"Loki, come with me, we are going home."
There was no answer, no reaction at all.
His brother continued to stare at the stars high above him.
"What have you done to him?" Thor screamed at the leader, tightening his grip even more.
"Oh, you know, just a bit of torture, nothing a god couldn't cope with. "
Thor fought the urge to kill the bastard with one single blow of his hammer. That monster was their ticket out of this lair, so unfortunately he needed him alive.
"Alright, tell one of your minions to carry my brother, while you and I will walk right behind him. My hand remains on your neck. You show us the way out, no one follows us. If you try anything stupid, you're dead. Understood?"
"Yes." The leader growled and began to speak to his people in a language Thor couldn't understand.
He'd better be instructing them what they had to do, Thor thought.
It seemed that he was obedient, though, because all the creatures started to crawl back into the dark corridors. Soon there was no one left in the big hall but the leader, the torturer, Loki and himself.
"Good, now show us the way out." Thor demanded and they started their journey through the dark labyrinth inside of the mountain.
Luckily he didn't have to pay too much attention to the leader, for he was still holding the neck of the Chitauri and so it was impossible to lose him in the dark.
When they finally reached one of the many exits, the leader said to him: "You may escape now, Odinson, but your brother is ours. We are not done with him. He has to pay for what he's done. One day, we are going to reclaim him."
"You won't get him back. I'll make sure of that. Now tell your soldier to lay Loki down on the ground and to step back."
The Chitauri did what he was told and his soldier carried out the task.
Thor released the leader and told him to stand right next to the torturer. When they stood side by side, Thor held his hammer high up and said: "You will never get my brother back. Never!" Loud thunder could be heard and suddenly a lightning, bright as day, struck down from the sky and killed the two unaware Chitauri in an instant.
Thor lowered his hammer and the clouds that had appeared out of nowhere vanished into thin air again.
"Heimdall!" He screamed. "Take us back." And within seconds, the two brothers were back in Asgard.
Here the sun was shining and the comforting sound of leaves rustling in the wind and birds singing songs to each other was all around them. Thor sighed. He was glad to be back and that he had been able to find Loki so fast.
Finally he had the time to take a look at the damage the torturer of the Chitauri had done.
Loki was lying on his back in the grass and he hadn't moved, not even a bit. Blood was still staining his face but it seemed to stop oozing out of his mouth.
Thor knelt down beside Loki and took the red cape off his own armor to cover his brothers' naked body with it.
"Loki, you are save now. Get up. We can walk back to the palace now. It's not that far."
There was no answer, he continued to stare into space.
"Well then, I guess I'm gonna carry you."
Thor shrugged as his brother didn't respond to that either and lifted him up to carry him on his shoulders.
They reached the palace without any interruptions but when Thor climbed up the stairs that lead to the throne room, his brother started to moan, as if he was in great pain.
"Only a few steps left and then you can lay down again, Loki. Hang in there."
They entered the magnificent hall and Thor did what he promised and laid his brother onto a couch. Loki however, did not remain on his back for long, he rolled to the side and threw up a gush of blood, but there were some kind of little fleshy pieces in it as well.
What the hell was that? Thor frowned.
When there was nothing left inside to throw up, Loki laid on his back again, holding his stomach. He stopped moaning but it was clear to see that he was still in agony.
"What is that?" Thor asked with a concerned look and pointed at the strange puddle on the floor.
"Loki, come on, talk to me."
But instead of an answer, Loki opened his mouth as wide as he could and Thor held his breath in horror.
"That on the floor is your…"
Loki nodded before his brother could end the sentence.
"What did they do to you?"
Thor was shocked and wasn't even sure if he really wanted to know every detail of the torture Loki had been through.
And it had to wait anyway, because his brother was unable to speak with his tongue lying in bits and pieces on the floor.
"Thor, my son! I see you've found Loki!"
The voice of Odin echoed through the hall. He and his wife walked up to their sons. The queen gave Thor a long hug and then kneeled down next to the couch to caress Lokis face and to whisper soothing words to him. He seemed to ignore her completely, staring into space again.
"What's wrong? Why is he like this? Why is his mouth bleeding, and what's that on the floor?" She asked worried.
"He was tortured by the Chitauri. He's been like this since I brought him back. I believe they cut his tongue out. Those are the remains on the floor. But he'll be fine, mother. He's save now, here with his family."
Thor explained and placed a hand on her shoulder, trying to comfort her.
"Alright, Thor, get your brother to his chamber and make sure that he gets plenty of rest and everything he needs for his recovery." Odin said. "I will talk to him when he's well again."
Then he turned to Loki and sighed.
"Oh, Loki, I am not angry with you. Not anymore. But I want you to explain to me, why you took the Tesseract. I need to know the truth. I am not going to hurt you, or punish you. I believe you've suffered enough. So, when you feel well again come to me and we discuss the matter. Alright?"
There was no sign indicating that Loki had heard what's been said to him. He was completely catatonic.
Something inside of Thor feared that his brother was far more wounded as it seemed.
A god's body was capable of healing almost every injury, but his mind was as delicate as the one of a mortal.