Um...slightly less sad chapter to make up for the previous one?

Loki was strapped to a table and being carved into by a bunch of dark sorcerers (darker than him, that was).

He didn't very much appreciate it.

He grimaced as the glint of a knife signaled the main sorcerer's move from his arms to his chest. It stung a little, sure, but that wasn't what Loki found concerning.

No, it was what was being carved into his skin.

He belatedly recognized the runes there as those of blood magic.

And sure, blood loss could be a problem soon, but blood magic allowed sorcerers to do unspeakable things to others.

In this case, steal another's magic.

He grit his teeth as the knife was dug in deeper.

He supposed he wasn't completely opposed to blood magic (just blood magic being done to him). It was messy, and it was gory, and most people considered it too dark to do.

But truthfully, Loki had...considered trying this branch of magic a few times. Most recently with the annoying Midgardian sorcerer who had trapped him in a neverending loop. Yes, he thought. It would have been interesting to steal what pitiful magic the sorcerer had, just for the sake of revenge.

It wouldn't have killed him, of course. His magic had surely been learned, unlike Loki's natural magic.

Which brought him back to the matter at hand.

The problem with sedir was that it was tied to the sorcerer's life force, so if someone were to drain it out...

Basically, he was dying, and there was nothing he could do about it.

He felt kind of pathetic, to be honest. He could feel their magic, and it wasn't very strong (hence why they were trying to steal his).

The only reason he was even here was because they had threatened the lives of Asgard's citizens. New Asgard, which was still trying to heal from all it had been through.

Loki couldn't let any of them die. Thor, who had been off in the United States at the time, would've killed him. (No, it hadn't been because he cared about Asgard. No. No!)

He curled his hands into fists and tried to break out of his restraints again. But, as before, a flash of pain shot through his body, immediately halting his efforts and increasing the intensity of his headache.

"You would do well to stop doing that," the sorcerer said, continuing to carve runes into his stomach. The others just nodded along, like the pathetic underlings they were.

He scowled. "You would do well to stop carving into me," he grit out, earning a slap in the face.

He wasn't fazed, even as he felt himself growing weaker and weaker from the loss of magic. "It's true. King Thor will surely kill you all if you keep this up." Not that he really wanted to depend on Thor, he just didn't have many options as of now.

The sorcerer scoffed. "King Thor is a weak king who doesn't know how to rule. He is nothing without his famed hammer."

Loki struggled not to gape. Idiots. Do you not know of Stormbreaker? But before he could say anything more, the sorcerer buried the dagger in his chest. "Do stop talking. You're getting annoying."

He gasped as it was pulled out, warm blood trickling out of the wound. The carving continued after a moment of smug silence, and he was finding it steadily harder to breathe.

The sorcerer smirked, finishing yet another rune and starting another. Loki was finding it harder to focus, too. "It won't be long now." Wonderful.

"Drop the knife," a gruff voice said from the shadows. The sorcerer froze.

It was Loki's turn to smirk now. Oh, they are so done for. All of the sorcerers turned so slowly and so in unison it was almost funny, to see Thor's hard face. Lightning crackled all around him, and he held Stormbreaker in one hand.

Loki didn't exactly know what happened next since he had promptly blacked out. But he assumed that Thor had taken care of them since he was currently undoing the four leather straps holding him hostage.

"Loki?" he asked, cupping his cheek briefly and brushing the hair out of his face.

"Thor," he murmured, leaning into his touch slightly. (If anyone asks, that didn't happen.)

His brother sighed, probably in relief, and Loki belatedly realized that Valkyrie was there, too.

"Y'know, Lackey. When I told you to distract them, I didn't mean give yourself up to them."

"Seemed like a good idea at the time." He shrugged, then frowned, catching a glimpse of the rest of his body. "That's a lotta blood."

"You're okay," Thor assured him.

"I know." A pause. "I'm tired."

Thor smiled. He seemed tired, too. "Go to sleep. I'll be there when you wake."

Well, Loki didn't need to be told twice. He drifted off into a dreamless sleep that bordered on unconsciousness.

But Thor was there, and that meant he was safe.

Pathetically sentimental, sure; but still, all that mattered.