Chapter Fifteen: Coming to a Head
She wished to talk to him against her better judgement. It was always this cat and mouse game between them. He was fun. His mischievous spirit brought out a more wild and unbothered side to her. Most would say he was a bad influence, but she didn't care. She knew who she was. She could handle herself.
She found herself drifting towards the room where his cage held him.
"What are you up to?" Fury said, intercepting her path.
"None of your concern," she said casually.
"Unfortunately, it is my concern," he said.
She conceded with a not so impressed look on her face. She leaned on one of the columns in the hallway and crossed her arms over her chest. She supposed they could talk. He wasn't that off putting.
"What would you like to discuss?" she said, trying not to be difficult, but her attitude was seeping through in her tone of voice.
"Do you think you could make Loki tell us where the tesseract is?" he asked.
The thought did cross her mind. She wasn't that proficient in the art of mine controlling magic, and besides Loki is a magic wielder. He had methods of combating that. The most she was sure she could do was knock him unconscious like she has done with his brother. That won't help anyone.
"Mind controlling spells aren't my thing," she answered. "And, I don't believe in torture."
"That wasn't what I asked," he said, giving her a hard look that would weather weaker people.
"No," she said, meeting his gaze, pulling herself off the wall and walking down the hall casually. "If I had a strong link to the tesseract of some sort, I could've given you a visual of where it is. Unfortunately, that's not the case."
She didn't want to talk about this. She felt guilty for all this. After all, he wouldn't have chosen Earth if she wasn't here. He wouldn't have flown across space into who knows influence to gain power to come here. She frowned. Things used to be so much simpler.
"I feel the need to apologize…," she began uncomfortably. "I didn't directly cause this, but I am the reason he's here on Earth as opposed to any other inhabited planet. It's as Stark said."
"He traveled across galaxies to impress you," he surmised.
She would almost be flattered if it wasn't so… wrong. He didn't do this for virtuous reasons. Loki wasn't the type to show his hand before he was ready. She knew he was holding a grudge against her. After all, she had a hand in scattering him across the universe and rejected him. He really was going to go through with that wedding and the night that followed. She didn't understand why he was so serious about it. Was it because he saw her as a status symbol, an avenue of revenge against his brother, or did it stem from somewhere sincere? As much as it hurt to know, he probably couldn't see past his own self.
"I also believe it's to spite and play games with me," she said.
"Games?" he said incredulously.
"You know, we'd play king of the castle. The winner gets to flick the other in the head. This is just in your world. That's all," she said airily as she walked on casually.
She didn't miss the look of shock. She walked on, leaving him behind. She stretched her arms above her head and heard Havi whine by her feet. She bent down and picked him up. He's gotten quite bigger than last time. No longer could he perch on her shoulder, and he required two arms to carry effectively. She gave him several kisses on top of his head. The creature purred comfortingly.
She heard a couple of voices down the hall. She stepped through curiously. Immediately, Stark's eyes were on her pet. She gave him a look for that. The almost child-like amusement and persona were off putting.
"What is that? Some feral chinchilla with wings?" he said casually, eating blueberries out of a small bag.
Havi hissed at him, and his hackles around his face rose briefly. It earned a concerned look from not only Stark but Banner and Rogers as well.
"I'd be nice to Havi, if I were you. He understands English, and his species is known for its potent venom," she chuckled with a closed mouth smile.
"… noted," he said, taking a deep breath and gathering his swagger back. "You've been on Earth for a hot minute, right?"
"Yeah, and what's your point?" she asked.
"You've had a run in with Fury and SHIELD. Do you think something's up?"
Without missing a beat, she said, "Of course. Why is SHIELD in the energy business? They're an intelligence organization. Their trade is information. They shouldn't give a shit."
She didn't miss the small cringe from Rogers. It seemed being here on Earth had her looser with her tongue. He was born about a century ago and recently been brought into this whole new world. From what little she knew of the early 20th century Earth, they were far more conservative. She could understand the culture shock on his part. It took some getting used to, but she had the benefit of already visiting many different planets over the centuries. She could acclimate better from her previous experiences.
"My apologies, Rogers," she said, giving him a small smile to which he returned after a beat. She then returned to her normal tone and said, "SHIELD truly has no place messing with powerful and volatile objects like the tesseract. Their reasons must be beyond clean energy to run the risk of wiping out an entire state."
"See?" Stark said, gesturing to her as he looked at Rogers and continued to eat blueberries. "I'll look into it when Jarvis breaks through the encryption."
"What?" Rogers said incredulously.
"Jarvis has been running the program since I hit the bridge. Soon, I'll know every dirty little secret SHIELD has ever tried to hide. Blueberry?"
Apparently, Stark is nosy as well. She wasn't pleased they shared traits in common. She would like to believe they were farthest from alike. She was flippant and disrespectful, yes, but it was only when someone deserved it. She also didn't make rude comments to people unwarranted. Only when she's provoked or has a terrible history with that person, do her fangs come out.
"And you wonder why SHIELD doesn't want you around."
"An intelligence agency who fears intelligence? Historically not awesome."
"We have orders. We should follow them," Steve implored.
She knew his type. He was naïve, believing blindly in who he was aligned to and didn't appreciate loose cannons. He was a soldier through and through. To have an effective army, one must blindly follow orders to get the job done. It wasn't a good frame of mind to be in, obviously. SHIELD wasn't the one to give allegiance to.
"We don't owe Fury anything," she said.
"Besides, following isn't my style," Stark said, swallowing a handful of blueberries.
"Steve, this doesn't sound suspicious to you," Banner asked.
She wasn't the only one looking at Rogers expectantly. Surely, he would show a bit of skepticism. She knew she was far too skeptical that she was now deemed cynically. It was for good reason. It was better to be safe than sorry.
"Let's just focus on finding the cube," he said.
He then left the room, and she shrugged with just her shoulders and looked ahead at the other two men.
"That's the guy my dad never shut up about?" Stark said incredulously.
"You do antagonize him," Freyja said without hesitation. "It's what you're good at."
"You know what, witch," Stark began, looking both amused and miffed by her lack of acquiescing to his ego once again.
"What, tin can?" she said, firing back with a smirk present on her face. "Just like Fury, I don't owe you shit either."
He squared up. He wasn't a tall man, but she wasn't a tall woman either. If she didn't know that he was an ordinary man, maybe he would've had some intimidation. But he didn't, especially without his armor. She raised her brows up at him expectantly, wondering if he would actually try something.
An amused look crossed his face along with a smirk. It seemed he wasn't taking this too seriously, but she did notice a bruised ego in there. That was unmistakable.
"You're lucky you're pretty," he said, leaving her presence.
He basically said to her that he didn't take her seriously because of her beauty and gender. It didn't surprise him. He probably hung around many models that were eager to hop in a not ugly billionaire's bed. They probably didn't talk back and challenge him. He probably thought it was cute of her to verbally joust with him. After all, many people saw beautiful, feminine women as empty husks, props of beauty to be admired and not taken seriously. She really wished she didn't take those damn potions as a dumbass kid.
"Yeah, don't I know it," she said with dripping sarcasm and then sighed a, "See you later, Banner."
She left the room and walked along the hall. It didn't take long for her to feel the pull once more. She didn't know if it was magic or not, but he was a friend. Seeing him would be an act of defiance and would be… interesting. So badly she wished he didn't walk this path. It forced her hand once more to oppose him.
She was drifting there to his cage and once more she intercepted. This time isn't Thor or Fury but some soldier she didn't know.
"They're asking for you in the main room," he said.
"Okay," she said simply.
She might as well go. It didn't take long given that the soldier insisted on guiding her there. She walked in beside Thor and Romanoff. He gave her a smile, and she returned a small one as acknowledgement that he's not bothering her. She could sense the tension in the room when she looked over at the others.
"Did you know about this?" Banner asked Romanoff.
"Do you want to think about removing yourself from this environment, Doctor?" she said, stepping in his space.
"Oh, I was pretty well removed."
"Loki is manipulating you."
"And you've been doing what? I'm not going to leave because you're getting a little twitchy," he fired back, tone growing heated. "I would like to know what SHIELD is doing building weapons of mass destruction."
He gestured to the screen to some kind of projectile weapon. Immediately, Freyja's face pinched in disgust and distrust. She didn't feel betrayal given she never trusted them in the first place, but they did have some explaining to do.
"It's because of her," Fury said, pointing at Freyja.
She scowled at him incredulously. "I haven't attacked you," she said simply.
"No, but a hit man from space sent after you did. He leveled several streets in New York City," he said. "About nine months ago we learned that not only are we not alone, but we're hopelessly and hilariously outgunned."
"My people and her people want peace with your planet," Thor said.
"But your two planets aren't the only ones out there are you," Fury fired back. "You're not the only threat."
It wasn't unfamiliar. People tried to stop war before it began. Sometimes, it was a preemptive strike that ended devastation. Sometimes, it ended with an agreement both parties were satisfied with. She doubted it would be the latter with SHIELD. They were cold, callous, and clinical.
"Your work with the tesseract brought Loki to it, and his allies," Thor said, expressing her sentiments surprisingly.
"Some may see this as a challenge, and the next aliens that come might not be as nice as me and more powerful," she said.
"You forced our hand," he said defensively to her. "We had to come up with something."
Excuses. He wanted to solve the problem, but he was creating more problems here. It would make everything so much worse with his involvement and creation of more deadly weapons.
"A nuclear deterrent," Stark said, "because that always calms everything right down."
Fury turned around and said, "Remind me again how you made your fortune, Stark."
"I'm sure if he still made weapons, he'd be drowning in cash," Rogers said.
"Wait, how is this now about me?"
"I'm sorry isn't everything?"
Freyja rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest. She more or less expected something like this, but it didn't lessen the frustration. They're not perfect, infallible beings. Even gods and goddesses have their flaws. She knew that first hand.
"I thought humans were more evolved than this," Thor said.
Ah, there it was. She knew he didn't totally overcome the touch of space racism. His people believed themselves superior over everyone else, including her people of Vanaheim. They especially didn't think much of Midgardians. After all, they did once worship them about two thousand years ago. Maybe, that's why he was pitying her and treating her like she was fragile beyond just her gender. During her time on Asgard, she heard them say the Vanir were weak and far too feminine given their obsession with magic. Thor probably felt that way about her sans the too feminine thing probably.
She felt the need to say with a pointed look at him, "They're no more evolved than us. After all, Loki came here to conquer them."
Thor looked at her and said, granted in a nicer tone to her than Fury, "But they treat their champions with such mistrust."
In unison Freyja and Fury said:
"I'm not his champion."
"They're not my champions."
She looked at Fury and scowled at him to which he returned briefly. She was glad they were on the same page, but she was growing angry with the tension building in this room. Thor's proclamations and the idea that she was going to be under some shady man's thumb got under her skin in a bad way.
"Are you all that naive? SHIELD monitors potential threats," Romanoff said.
"Captain America is on threat watch now?" Banner said incredulously.
"We all are."
"I've had enough of SHIELD's stalking for the past few months when all I've been doing is helping my friend Baldur with his photography," Freyja said heatedly.
Thor bristled and interrupted Fury before he even said a word yet, "Will stop talking about Baldur?"
Oh, there was that jealousy and possessiveness she hated. It was so unwarranted given she wasn't his lover. They may have been promised to one another as children, but make no mistake she wasn't anybody's. That promise was broken, and she had no intention of restoring it.
"No, I won't," she said defiantly, unable to keep the anger out of her tone. "Do you want to know why? He's my friend and about the only person who's been decent to me for the past year."
"I told you that I wanted to bring you back to Asgard to spare you from this place, but the bifrost was broken," Thor insisted.
"And, I told you that I don't want to go back to Asgard," she said tightly.
"Enough!" Fury commanded.
Her lip curled and Havi hissed. It earned a look from Fury despite the anger growing on his face. It seemed Havi felt the tension in the room and saw everyone around her as a threat to back away from except for Thor for some reason. She pet her avefelis gently for comfort for both him and herself. She may be furious with them, but they didn't deserve to be poisoned to death.
"You speak of control, yet you've caused chaos," Thor said.
"That's his MO, isn't it?" Banner said. "We're not a team. No, we're a chemical mixture that makes chaos. We're… we're a time bomb."
The tension grew even higher. Everyone was walking on eggshells already when it came to Banner given his alter ego, but he was normally so composed. Now, though, everyone seemed to be losing their cool and letting out all their grievances with one another. It felt good, yet wrong as if it totally wasn't their choice. She couldn't resist the pull though.
"You need to step away," Fury insisted.
"Why can't the guy let off a little steam?" Stark said casually as he placed his hand on Rogers' shoulder.
"You know damn well why," Rogers said, pushing his hand off. "Back off."
Again, Stark squared up. This time it wasn't her that his ego was threatened by but Rogers who towered above him due to their height difference. He'd probably take Rogers seriously given he wasn't a beautiful, young woman. Not to mention, they argued as if they had a past or some sort of beef deeper than what she was privy to.
"Oh, I'm starting to want you to make me," Stark antagonized.
"Oh yeah, big man in a suit of armor. Take that off, what are you?"
"Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist," Stark said without missing a beat.
Freyja rolled her eyes. That said nothing about his character. Those were things he acquired, and to be honest he couldn't even claim it all as his accomplishments. His father made that company from what she gathered given so many people on Earth were enamored with him. He just benefited from his father's hard work. It was a tale as old as time: a rich son simply coasted off his father's success and drowned himself in hedonism. Granted, he has been doing selfless things as of late from what she's seen in the news if it's to be trusted.
"I know guys with none of that worth ten of you," Rogers said. "You're not the man to make the sacrifice play: to lay down on the wire and let the other guy crawl over you."
"I think I would just cut the wire," Stark said with a smirk, but she could see in his eyes that he was bothered.
"Always a way out," Rogers scoffed. "You may not be a threat, but you better stop pretending to be a hero."
"A hero? Like you? You're a laboratory experiment, Rogers," he said, getting in his face with a clenched jaw. "Everything special about you came out of a bottle."
"Put on the suit," he said. "Let's go a few rounds."
She felt herself exhale a long breath through her nose, trying to expel the tension as thick as glass in the room. It somewhat helped when Thor chuckled, but she did eye him suspiciously.
"You people are so petty and tiny," he said.
Again, he's flaunting his perceived superiority. She rolled her eyes once more. He couldn't possibly understand he was just as petty when it came to Baldur. She wasn't even in love with either of them, and yet he became jealous and stupid. It was unwarranted and stupid.
"Yeah, this is a team," she scoffed.
She went to leave, but Thor grasped her arm to which she immediately pushed it off. Havi whimpered, rubbing against her leg. She went to leave again, but yet again he grasped her forearm but with a better grip this time and brought her closer to him much to her contempt. Her lip curled, and she was very tempted to lash out with violence.
"You're not going to Loki," he said. "It's not safe."
"Don't tell me what to do," she said with bared teeth.
"Agent Romanoff, will you escort Dr. Banner to—"
"Where? You rented my room," he said.
She looked away from Thor's face, but he still held her in space with his massive hand around her forearm. She could see frustration and anger growing on his face, barely bottled to remain civil and possibly hold his alter ego back.
"The cell was just for—"
"In case you needed to kill me, but you can't. I know I tried," he said.
Some of the anger ebbed at the admission of his suicide attempt. She could feel her face relax a little, and the compassion came through. She could understand, but it was still dark.
"I got low. I wanted a way out, so I put a bullet in my mouth, and the other guy spit it out," Banner hissed. "You want to know my secret, Agent Romanoff? Do you want to know how I stay calm?"
Everyone braced. The agents placed their hands on their guns strapped to their thigh holsters. Even she raised her free hand just in case he began to turn green.
"Banner, put down the scepter," Fury implored, speaking to him cautiously.
It seemed he came back to himself when he realized what he'd done. He put the scepter back on the display rack and rubbed his face. She lowered her hand and relaxed once more, directing her attention to Thor once more.
"You have three seconds to let go of my arm," she warned.
"Freyja—"
"Three."
"Loki will just manipulate—"
"Two."
"Oh my, God," Banner whispered as his machine let out warning beeps.
One.
Someone grasped her around the waist and dragged her away from the explosion. Her back smacked into his metallic and leather armor. Immediately, she grasped the meaty arm around her to take it off her and get up from the ground. She took off at a rush, not looking back, shouting to find Havi. Another jolt to the ship and off she fell down one of the shafts.
She whispered a spell quickly and stopped the fast fall. She froze mid air for about two seconds before landing flat on her stomach with a soft smack. She took a moment for a breather before she stood once more. She looked around frantically, wondering how she would get out of the lower decks of the ship. She could always teleport and—
"ARGGHH!" she heard a beastly roar and knew that anywhere on this ship she went wouldn't be safe.
She worried for Havi's safety. She knew of his capabilities, but he was still a baby. She wandered aimlessly, trying not to draw attention to herself. She wasn't afraid of a fight, but she would prefer not to. She's heard stories about the Hulk, and she knew it would be a hard fight and end in death if she got sloppy. She would like to avoid it if all pos—
There was a roar and suddenly a Romanoff burst through the wall and smacked back against one of crates. She barely pulled herself up into a sitting position. In came the Hulk, looking to finish off the spy. And, she knew she had to intervene.
She raised her hand and invoked the spell, "Vær rolig."
Immediately, the mind she was attempting calm and put to sleep fought back. She's never felt anything like it. Rarely, she used this spell, so her being rusty didn't help. It felt as if someone was knocking at her brain with the effort of gaining some kind of foothold.
She tried her best. The mind she was attempting to calm was wild, feral, manic, angry. It was so difficult to keep him at bay that she could feel her limbs shaking violently. She could hear blood rushing through her head. Her vision was blurred and losing focus. Her concentration was beginning to crack.
"Vær rolig," she chanted the spell again.
The beast wasn't roaring anymore, but his veins were popping still and fighting her on the calming spell. It felt as if the Hulk was winning against her in it. She smelled copper.
"Ah!" she gasped.
Beefy arms wrapped around her once more today, lifted her easily, and took her elsewhere. Her eyes closed out of reflex, but she heard the Hulk smash into the wall she was against previously. She opened her eyes finally and tried to get up off the ground. She looked down and saw Thor's giant arm draped across her waist. She removed it without a second thought and stood from laying on her side. Thor followed her to a stand.
"You're bleeding," Thor said. "You shouldn't fight, Freyja."
She rubbed her nose and saw on the back of her hand that there was a streak of blood there now. It seemed she overwhelmed herself. Any further, she may have caused an acute brain hemorrhage. It was a good idea he intervened.
"Don't tell me what I should and shouldn't do," she said while forming a fire ball easily.
She threw it at the Hulk, and he took it without hesitation. He roared at them despite the scorches on his face, looking almost demonic sans the green skin. She felt a twinge of fear and swallowed it down.
The Hulk went to strike, but she jumped out of the way by herself. She watched as Thor blocked the Hulk's massive arm. It was her opportunity. She molded a larger ball of fire and threw it at his kidneys.
It merely scorched and angered the beast. It left Thor and rushed towards her. She dove and slid underneath his legs and stood once more next to Thor.
"Do you want to work together on this one?" Thor asked.
He was still angry with her obviously, but she could tell he was trying. At least, he wasn't trying to tell her what to do this time. If he was willing to extend an olive branch, then she could return the gesture. It was necessary given the Hulk was now charging towards them once more.
"Fine by me," she answered. "I have a plan."
"You always do," he said, and she didn't miss the affection in his tone.
She shrugged it off. She wouldn't let it break through her anger and frustration with him. In his attempts to be close to her and keep her as his, he just pushed her away. He'll understand or give up eventually.
She raised her arms, feeling the magic crackle around as she said, "Summon your hammer, and I'll cause a distraction."
"That's too—"
She gave him a pointed look, and he nodded his head after a moment's pause. It was just in time given the Hulk finally arrived.
She hopped out of the way, skidding along the floor. She tried her best to merge both the elemental magics she was taught in both her hands. She winced as the chaos and desperation were beginning to seep in causing burning and electrical zaps on her hands. She felt the pain and pushed through. The Hulk was getting closer.
"Argh!" she screamed softly as she pushed her palms next to one another.
The lightning-fire blast left her hands, and she winced once more. It managed to knock Hulk back through one of the walls. She looked down at her hands and saw mild burns, somewhat regretting her decisions.
She looked over trying to find Thor. She saw him. His arm was up, clearly having trouble summoning his hammer. It was taking some time. Was he no longer worthy? She didn't know the standards by which the hammer was grading his worthiness, but she didn't think he was all that worthy to yield that kind of power. He was better than he was when she first met him again over a year ago. But, he still possessed arrogance, superiority, and this need to be dominant over everything. It wasn't even the fun kind of dominance (boors often had the reputation of being good in bed). No, it was the kind that saw her weaker, lesser than rather than an equal or a partner. She couldn't stand that shit.
But the hammer returned to his hand and smashed the incoming Hulk. Oh, he was worthy. Hmm. Maybe, there was something she wasn't seeing. She doubted it, but she wasn't unfair. As much as it could pain her, she could admit when she was wrong.
The Hulk stood and raged towards them. He was burnt and missing teeth, but he was still undeterred. She was going to dodge once more, but a hand grasped her torso, and she immediately began thrashing.
Thor roared and rushed forward. She saw him hop onto the Hulk's back and put Mjölnir across his neck without missing a beat. Her fingers electrified and she was about to pierce one of those massive fingers. Unfortunately, it was too much for the Hulk, and he hopped through the ceiling, bringing them near an open hangar bay. In the jump and change of scenery, the Hulk dropped her. She rolled across the floor, stopping next to Thor.
"Having fun yet?" she said with dark sarcasm, turning her head towards him.
"A little actually," he said with a small smile.
"Lucky you," she sighed.
The Hulk looked as if he was going to attack once more, but a fighter jet appeared near the hangar bay. Without a second thought, she casted her shield wall spell. Thor looked as if he was going to move. So, she placed a hand in front of him to stay behind her spell.
The bullets fired from the guns strapped to the ship. It incurred the Hulk's wrath, and he finally left the two of them alone. He jumped from the ship and attacked the fighter jet. Her head dropped, no longer caring what happened.
She was panting harshly, her heart pounding in her chest, and her muscles ached. Thor offered her his hand, having recovered before her and bending down to meet her eyes better. She understood what he was trying to do. He was trying to romance her like Asgardian men typically do. The chivalry would be nice if she didn't understand the deeper meanings behind it. Women were seen as weaker, to be protected, and to be put on a pedestal and locked away in the home. Men and women weren't equal on Asgard, and Thor is a product of Asgard. So, she didn't take his hand and stood on her own.
She would've taken it if he saw her as an equal.
"You should check Loki's cell," she told him. "I'll join you in a minute."
Despite the hurt look, he nodded his head. He left, and she had her chance to show a bit of weakness and vulnerability. That fight hurt more than she would like to let on. Truly, it was the spell to try and calm the Hulk's mind. It had backfired, leaving her with a mild migraine and exhaustion.
She managed to pull herself together after several deep breaths and attempts to regain control. The Midgardians may believe they're immortal, infallible beings, but she really didn't feel that right now.
She walked quickly down the hall, hoping for the best but preparing for the worst. And well, she was disappointed.
"The humans think us immortal. Should we test that?" Loki asked, stepping over to the control panel. "Don't worry, like I said before, I'll take care of Freyja. She's in good—"
"Oh, you have got to be kidding me," she said incredulously.
She saw Thor trapped in the cage. Loki was taunting him about her as if he owned her. She wondered if he truly believed that, or if he was simply rubbing salt in Thor's wound. Oftentimes, he did say things he didn't mean, and he did hold a strong contempt for Thor. She was done being their rope in their game of tug of war. She almost preferred being bullied. Almost.
"You came to me, love," Loki said, a wicked smile grew on his face. "You're just in time to see something I'm sure you'll enjoy."
She gave him a warning look, raising her hand as she began to mold fire into her palm despite the burns in her hand. It was plenty of warning to step away. He raised his hands, but he didn't look intimidated.
"Oh," he feigned hurt. "I thought you'd be glad to see your old tormentor perish below."
She looked at Thor briefly. She could see in his eyes that he was wondering if she felt that way as well. After all, she did deny every chance at closeness with him, and she probably still will. He used to cause a lot of pain in her life. It was plenty of motivation to be petty, but...
"I've forgiven him. I won't become what I hate just for revenge, nor will I remain a doormat like I once was," she said, looking at Loki sharply.
"How noble of you."
"Move away, please," she heard behind her.
She turned around to see Coulson wielding one of SHIELD's weapons developed from the tesseract. From the corner of her eye, she looked at Loki still. He wasn't one to underestimate. She knew from experience. He complied and put his hands up though.
"It's a prototype. Even I don't know what it does. Wanna find out?" he challenged, firing up his weapon.
"Coul—" his name ended up on a horrified gasp.
The real Loki came from the shadows and stabbed Coulson from behind. She raised her hand, ready to strike him with fire despite the pain in her hand, but he was quick. He grasped her wrist with his free one and put his weapon to her forehead and there was only darkness….