Daggers
I'm back bitches! Really sorry this took so long! I've had exams and people keep dying on me... Won't be regular updates but will update at least twice a week.
Can I just ask: what don't you like about Jade?
Sorry again
- Lerjuits
He wandered down the bitterly cold valley, hearing the chitauri scuttling along in the shadows assessing him. The only light to guide him came from the distant stars high above his head. He walked for what felt like an age until he came to a set of white stairs, edged with a row of barely glowing lights, then he climbed. He climbed until the air was thin and then some more. When he reached the top he laid eyes on a dark figure that he could identify even in the murky darkness.
"Hello little king." That voice was like a great wind howling through his soul, stripping his essence bare until he was nothing but a frightened child. Loki attempted to hide his fear, grateful for the reassurance of his staff and helmet.
"Thanos," he replied coolly. The being known as Thanos turned slowly and stepped into the low light. Loki resisted the urge to rush forward as he spotted the bundled up baby in the arms of the being, settling for a slight shift on his feet that he hoped Thanos did not notice. Thanos clearly did as he chuckled softly down at the sleeping baby.
"I must congratulate you on becoming a father. She really is beautiful, just like her mother." Loki clenched his teeth, his control crumbling.
"Leave them out of this. Just hurry up and kill me so you can let her go!" He succeeded in keeping his voice even most of the way through that, though it raised a little towards the end.
"Don't be like that, little king. We're having so much fun! But don't worry. I will kill you. We're just waiting for one more guest before we start the party..." He didn't want to know what Thanos meant by party. Before he could retort he was set upon by twenty or so chitauri. Even though Loki put up no fight they still assaulted him mercilessly. The last thing he saw was Thanos grinning down at him, then he blacked out.
Katrina and Jade stood alone at the mouth of the cave, assessing the depth of the hole in the mountain. It seemed to stretch on forever, and it was dark enough to rival a black hole. Jade pulled out an electric torch (courtesy of Jane) and pointed it into the blackness, even then they couldn't make out the far wall.
Jade looked to Katrina questioningly, receiving a nod in reply they began to walk. By the time they could no longer see the exit if they turned around Katrina was aware of a heat that grew with every step they took, so intense she could barely breathe and sweat poured from every orifice of her body. A glance at Jade told her that only she felt the discomfort.
Deep within the mountain they came to a large black boulder in the centre of the cave veined with a silvery metal. Katrina had a hunch that the rock was the source of the magic, so made her way slowly toward it with Jade at her back.
She gingerly reached a hand out and touched the tip of the boulder. Darkness surrounded her, an oppressive grip rather than the warm blanket of the portal from Earth. A million tiny hooks plunged into her skin, claiming her as part of the abyss. The heat of a thousand stars seared her skin, melting flesh like candle wax. Katrina was being sucked in deeper, drowning in the claustrophobic blackness, threatening to pull her away from existence and into the sea of black.
She held onto the thought of Eira during the entire ordeal, and with the desperate will to save her daughter she battled against the magic. After what felt like millennia she burst free, panting heavily, brought to her knees with the burning pain. Eventually her breathing became regular and the ability to think past the sizzling of her limbs, keeping one eye on the barren landscape she waited for Jade to follow her through.
Moments later Jade stumbled to existence to her left, drawing air in in one shuddering breath. She was affected but not as much as Katrina. Katrina rose to her feet and nodded at her friend that she was ready. They began a steady pace along the starlit canyon, using the torch to avoid any large rocks or fissures.
Halfway into their journey, they heard a scuttling in the shadows beside them, Jade swerved the beam of light in the direction of the noise in time to see something crawl into a crack in the wall of the canyon. The friends glanced at each other speaking volumes with just their eyes before stepping up the pace. When they came to a staircase they could either climb it or follow a thin path carved into the side of the canyon, it was not clear which Loki would have taken.
Katrina stopped, analysing the two, then listened to her gut, which told her to ascend the stairs. She began her assault of the pale staircase, Jade sending her a confused look before following. They climbed until their thighs ached from the grueling exercise.
At the top they crouched down and Katrina signalled for Jade to turn the torch off. Once they were in darkness again, they began to scope out the terrain. A throne of the same rock as the canyon sat a small distance from them on a platform lined with small blue lights that may as well have not been there. Directly to the right of the throne was a tall pillar with heavy black metal chains hanging to about knee height, blood smeared thickly along the stone.
A group of creatures that Katrina recognised from footage of the battle of New York strode into view, dragging a battered figure to the pillar, chaining the body to it before disappearing again. The light was too dim to identify the tortured individual from their distance, but the young mother already had a sense of dread. Jade nodded at Katrina pulling out her sword as Katrina grabbed her daggers. They made their way towards the figure cautiously, with Jade taking the back and keeping a look out for any more creatures.
By the time she recognised the night black hair through the drying blood, Katrina felt like weeping. She got down to one knee in front of the god she loved sliding away her daggers and lifted his head with both hands. Loki's lip was bust and would scar if not cleaned soon, the left side of his face was swollen like a grapefruit forcing his eye closed, and his nose was clearly broken but not too crooked and his breathing wasn't restricted by it. He would live and wouldn't need too much medical help other than for his concussion. Loki's unobstructed eye slipped open a small amount at the pained sigh she released.
"Katrina..." He winced as he took a deep breath, he possibly had some broken ribs too.
"Shhh... I'm here. It's going to be fine." She tried to give a reassuring smile but it came out as more of a grimace.
"Errm... Katrina." Jade tried in vain to get her attention. Katrina noted a slight urgency to her friends voice but was too occupied getting the shackles off the father of her child.
"You shouldn't have come," Loki wheezed as she managed to pick the lock of the first shackle holding his hands above his head. His hand dropped with a loud thud, Katrina winced and looked at him apologetically.
"Katrina!" Jade shouted, causing Loki to look up. Katrina saw the tensing of his jaw and span around.
Jade had her sword raised, her feet apart in a defensive stance. Directly in front of her were a dozen of the creatures (chitauri, she recalled) clicking in their own language, strange guns in their hands. At the head of the group stood the nanny from the palace, smiling that sickly sweet smile, a slumbering Eira in her arms. A cot appeared off to the side and she laid the baby down, placing a soft kiss on her brow that made Katrina's blood boil and her stomach turn, before returning to stand at the front of the group.
"Let me kill the bitch!" Jade seethed, and Katrina knew the bloodlust would be evident in her eyes.
"Ladies! So glad you could join us!" The woman chuckled and transformed into a being with a gnarled chin and red skin, a helmet covered his head the lower half of his face jutting out from beneath it. Yellow teeth grinned at them, the skin drawn back in a terrifying display of intimidation.
Katrina drew her daggers and hurled one at a chitauri soldier that was edging forward, it hit it between the eyes and the creature dropped dead. The eleven others charged forward instantly but Katrina didn't care, she only had eyes for Thanos. She grabbed a gun from a soldier as she twisted his head until his spine snapped and headed for the being in charge.
Jade whirled her sword about, dealing death like a demented angel, the picture of destruction and beauty. She despatched the creatures straight to the gates of Hel, all the while attempting to keep her best friend in sight.
Katrina attempted to shoot the aliens but the gun refused to work for her so resorted to using it as a club until it became ineffective. Throwing it at the creature in front of her before running at it and slicing at it with her dagger until it stopped screeching and collapsed. Eventually the path was clear to Thanos and she ran at him, hearing both Jade and Loki's pleas for her to wait.
Time slowed as her new found battle senses kicked in. She swiped left and right but he continued to succeed in dodging the blade. As she swung the dagger to the right again she anticipated his actions and managed to scrape his cheek, leaving a tiny gash in the wake of the blade. Needless to say the powerful being was not happy of being made to bleed by a worthless mortal. He growled loudly before swinging at her, narrowly missing as she darted away. Katrina lunged at his unprotected shoulder (the only area of his torso not covered by his chest plate), throwing her entire bodyweight into the movement.
Thanos allowed the blade to come within two inches of his flesh before he reacted, grabbing her wrist and twisting. Katrina gritted her teeth in agony and switched the dagger to the other hand. During her attempt to stab him he grasped the other hand too, claiming the weapon for his own devices. He spun her round using her wrists to propel the motion, crushing her to him, his chest plate pressing into her back. In her peripheral vision she saw Thanos grinning at something, she followed his line of sight to see Loki rising unsteadily to his feet, gazing at them with his bruised panic stricken face, and Jade being overcome with adversaries. She heard a blood curdling laugh next to her ear.
"Let's give him something to really panic over, shall we?" Thanos whispered.
Thanos raised the dagger above her head. Katrina looked at Loki with wide eyes, struggling desperately to get free. Loki ran, it was impossibly difficult with his broken ribs but still he ran. Thanos drove the dagger down.
The blade arced through the air, screaming past her nose and down towards her side. Katrina and the dagger became one with a strangled exclamation of pain. It sank deep into her side, then was withdrawn by the wicked being who wielded it. A crimson flower blossomed at her side, large wet petals gushing out of her. The blade crashed to the floor, having done it's duty.
