SHADOW OF DEATH
Chapter 40: The Valknut
Zuri and his assistants carefully shoveled warm sand over Shuri's painted body. Candles, incense, and smoldering herbs filled the underground cavern, the sacred birthplace of every Black Panther in the history of Wakanda. Her small frame would emerge as strong and as fast as the great cat she emulated and her small shoulders would bear the burden of the protection of her people. While T'Challa stayed in exile and Shuri stepped in as temporary ruler in Wakanda, it would be up to her to act as Panther.
Within Shuri's mind, her world descended into swirls of black and violet as she closed her eyes. Where the heart-shaped herb at first flooded her body with tingling pinpricks of pain, now she floated as if disconnected from her body entirely. She opened her eyes and found herself standing what could have been twilight or dawn. The dark sky showed both the hints of the sun and the marks of the night. She looked up and saw the branches of a towering acacia tree. Black panthers, darker than the night sky, sat upon each of its yellow, horizontal branches and peered down upon her with glowing feline eyes.
One panther leapt down from the tree and came to her, brushing its soft fur against her legs and letting out a resounding purr. She looked upon it curiously but felt no fear. The cat looked into her eyes and as it met her eyes, the cat's face morphed into that of a man. Yellow eyes became deep brown and black face turned a warm chocolate.
While younger, browner, and less-wrinkled, she would recognize that face anywhere. She threw her eyes around the man, her heart overflowing with a joy so strong she thought she might explode or burst into flames.
"Baba! Baba! It's you! Oh, we have missed you! I never told you enough how I love you!" she said, tears and words both streaming from her face. She inhaled the rich scent only ever found upon her father and felt those long-lost but so familiar hands clasp hers.
"Binti," he said. He didn't need to say any more. He stared into her eyes with an equal measure of joy, adoration, and pride.
He took her hand and pulled her to walk through the strange twilight of this savannah between worlds, the land where her ancestors dwelt with the spirits, the space filled with the not-quite living, but not quite dead. He took her to a towering eucalyptus tree, branches and leaves reaching higher than her eyes could see. She looked down to her feet and felt even more surprise as she noticed she could see the roots through the translucent earth below. The ancient, gnarled roots of the massive tree seemed as fathomless and endless as the branches above her.
Vultures sat upon its branches, peering down onto the land below. All around her feet, she saw the bleached skeletons of animals and humans. Nothing grew around this tree and even the air around its branches seemed somehow absent of life, as if the leaves itself drew the oxygen out of the air instead of producing it.
"Look upon this tree," he said. "It is an ancient tree, older than our people or any of the peoples on earth. Every few generations, the tree grows a new branch. Its roots creep into the soil of a people and suck out their life and strength. You can defeat a branch in one lifetime, but the tree remains, ready to grow again. You cut off one limb, another takes its place. Sometimes it attacks like a lion lunging upon a zebra. Sometimes it is attacks like a black mamba striking a hare in the shadows. Its name and its branches change. The aim is always the same: to steal, to kill, to destroy. It hates all that is good.
"Each people must fight to determine if they will feed the ancient tree and let it swallow all life in its thirst: human, animal, earth, and spirit. Or if they will cut it back, slash, and pull until it withers and dies in one place and goes to seek to draw life from elsewhere."
"What we are fighting now is another branch of this same tree. The tree longs to drink blood with its powerful roots and spread its branches farther into days not yet born. Your job, in your shamba and during the days of your toil, is to prune, cut back, and uproot this tree with all of your strength."
"Yes, Baba," Shuri said.
T'Chaka turned and led her through the unending twilight to where another tree stood. This time, a bulky baobab, heavy laden with fruit towered over the grasses around her. Where the first tree seemed to drink in the life around it, this one seemed to exude it. The air almost felt intoxicated with life. Its branches were full of birds and creatures chattering and singing as they feasted on the tree's bounty. She could still see endless roots in the translucent earth beneath her feet and she could not see where the branches above her ended in the sky.
"There is another tree-even stronger, even more ancient. It is rooted in the strongest of all magic. Where this tree is allowed to grow, a people will thrive. You must nourish and cherish this tree. Allow it to grow and bloom and strengthen within your borders. See it grows ever stronger and deeper and it in turn will nourish you, your family, and your people. If you do this, then your children, your children's children, and your children's children' children will reap the fruit."
Shuri nodded.
"Come, it is time to return," T'Chaka said. He took her hand and they walked back towards the acacia tree where the panthers lay, their eyes fixed upon Shuri. She blinked and found the panthers had all vanished and she was alone, still in the violet haze of this twilight between worlds. She blinked again and this time found herself facing the dim candlelit cavern and the familiar face of Zuri.
"Welcome back, princess," he said and helped her to her feet.
oooooo
The council meeting sat in the dining hall instead of the throne room- at Shuri's request.
"I'm a temporary ruler, while our new King is kept busy elsewhere. We should have a temporary space to meet in to reflect that," she said with a forced cheerfulness and they abided by her wishes. The long, cushioned wood benches were pulled into a circle facing a tall set of windows overlooking Birnin Zana. Shuri sat on a carved ebony chair on a seat made of a leopard skin. She wore a golden dress embroidered with scarlet patterns of gazelle along the hem and square neckline. Golden hoops dangled from her ears and wrists and she wore a tall, scarlet hat upon her head. She tried to stop fidgeting with her bracelets but she couldn't help it. She thought of the confidence and authority T'Challa so effortlessly exuded and she stretched her head a little taller.
"Good elders," she said, rising and formally addressing the gathering of tribal elders and advisors around her. She tried to hide how her hands trembled by burying them in the folds of her dress. She cleared her throat and continued. "We are here to discuss the current state of Wakanda. General Okoye-your report, please?"
She motioned to the bench where the General sat. Okoye momentarily dropped her stoic expression to grant Shuri an encouraging smile. Then Okoye rose and resumed her previous expression.
"Elders, Princess, I am afraid I have bad news," the General said. "Our satellites have noticed large, unidentified spacecrafts, approaching Earth as we speak. It will only be a matter of days before they arrive. We have also received a message from the approaching ships."
She projected a figure into the gathered company. It was a terrible, violet being with piercing blue eyes who spoke with all the somber ill-tidings of a vulture.
oooo
In the dismal red haze of Vormir's perpetual aurora, Loki blinked again, his thoughts tumbling noisily around in his head like marbles in a metal cup. He automatically followed after the flowing cape as it turned and led him out of the undisturbed waters. Their three sets of footsteps echoed as loudly as a cymbal in a cemetery against the soaking silence of the isolated shores.
The being who looked like Thor (but could not possibly be Thor) halted his forward motion by the edge of the waters and sat down upon the black-sanded beach. Jane followed his example, her eyes wide and her movements as indecisive and muddled as Loki's thoughts.
"Lady Jane, I am pleased to see you again. How fares Midgard?" Thor asked with a warm smile.
"Well enough, considering everything," she answered.
"You have accompanied my brother, then?"
"Yes," she said as color rose to paint her cheeks and she bit her upper lip self-consciously.
"I see. I am glad of it," he said. "And how comes Mjolnir into your possession?"
"It liked me," she answered simply. "So I kept it. Here, I guess it's yours again." She handed the hammer towards him, but he refused to take it.
"I am grateful for your generosity, my Lady, but it passed onto you upon my death. Now, in my rebirth, I will gather to myself a new weapon."
Jane replaced Mjolnir in her backpack and her blue eyes glowed strangely as she considered him again.
"You are different," she mused.
"I cannot deny it. One cannot pass through death and return unscathed by its shadows. I see all through the filter of my past life, my death, and the glories that await me in Valhalla upon my return. There is naught that compares and all I have seen since I departed these lands gives me new eyes now that I have returned."
Thor's great hands caught Jane's face and turned her from side-to-side so he could regard her more carefully. "I am not the only one who has changed," he stated.
Jane nodded her head and let her strange eyes fall to meet Loki. He could not return her gaze.
"What now?" Jane asked. "Do we return to Asgard without the Stone?"
Before Loki could answer, Thor spoke up. "We wait here," he said with so much assurance that Jane didn't bother questioning him further. Instead, she brought out her water bottle and nibbled on some nuts and fruit she carried in her backpack.
Loki stared off onto the surface of the waters which no wind rippled and no current rustled. It was as stale and lifeless as the air and the unmoving sun. Not a single bird sang. No insect hummed. No fish splashed. Not a single sprout of green marred the pristine emptiness.
"We cannot remain here," Loki said suddenly. He stood up and paced with his hands behind his back. "This place will swallow us up or put us to sleep or drive us mad if we stay as we are here."
"It will not be long," Thor answered.
"Until what? What is it that we wait for?" Loki asked.
"I cannot tell you until it is done."
Loki snorted in irritation and continued pacing. He felt he must be trapped in a dream which at any moment would reveal itself to be a nightmare and he couldn't shake the sense of foreboding that crawled along his spine like a serpent.
"You were gone," Loki finally said.
"Yes."
"And now you are back."
"Yes."
Loki sent out a tendril of magic to enfold the being, seeking out any illusions or spellwork or warps in reality that could explain what his other senses failed to comprehend. There was a greater magic emanating from the being than even what his powerful brother had possessed and this made Loki even more suspicious. He did not have time to question the interloper further for at that moment, their barrier of oppressive silence was shattered by the sound of wings. The jarring soundwaves of caws wrapped around the travelers, rousing them from to their feet.
"It is done," Thor said. Two giant black ravens alighted on either of his shoulders. In the beak of one, a golden glowing stone shone brightly against its dark plumage. The bird dropped the stone into Thor's waiting hands and gave another loud cry. Its companion answered with its own call. A wave of energy rippled out from the stone like a tremor that causes a tsunami and Loki gasped and nearly doubled over when it rushed over him.
"It cannot be," Loki said. He anchored his feet more firmly to withstand the unexpected weight of power. "It must be the Soul Stone, but I cannot believe it."
"It is indeed the Stone which you sought, the last of but two of the Singularities," Thor answered grimly. "This one has been bought by a heavy price."
"But I refused to pay it," Loki said, more to himself than to Thor.
"It has been paid for by another who gave of his own life to obtain this for you."
Loki's heart filled with heavy lead and he almost could not ask it. "Who?"
The ravens gave a mournful song and Loki knew the answer before Thor spoke it aloud.
"Hail the new King of Asgard," Thor whispered sadly as he knelt onto the sand and gave Loki the homage due only to the king. "And Father awaits us in Valhalla."
Thor slipped the Soul Stone into Loki's frozen fingers and rose to his feet again. The Stone burned so fiercely in his hands that Loki dropped it onto the sand.
"Jane, destroy it. Quickly," Loki said in a rush of panicked words. "Let us be done with it."
Jane moved to retrieve Mjolnir but Thor held her arm.
"Nay, brother. This one cannot be destroyed."
"Its fellows are no more. Surely, this one will follow their paths into oblivion," Loki answered.
"Aye. A man may wield the other Stones and bend them to his will. He may twist and corrupt Power or Time or Reality or Space or Mind, but Soul stands apart from her sisters for what man has the power to create or destroy a soul?" Thor answered.
Loki faltered. Thor's statement was so eerily reminiscent of something Odin had said in their last meeting that Loki wondered if this was not the All-Father disguised as Thor.
"Come. We have tarried long enough in this sacred space. It is time we return to Asgard," Thor stated, paying no heed to Loki's turmoil.
Jane placed one hand on Thor's arm to keep him from continuing on. "Thor. Wait. I think we need a moment to catch up. This is all kinda a lot to take in."
He nodded, but frowned as he did. Loki waved a hand over the Stone causing it to vanish into his storage. Even from there, he could feel its weight crushing in on him and calling to him. This was no mere relic. This was a source of nearly unlimited potential and its tendrils soaked into his own magic, both sapping him and enlivening him at the same time.
With a gasp, he let his head fall between his legs as he sought to catch his breath. He did not manage three breathes before an Asgardian transmitter began to beep. He lifted his head and withdrew the device from its place in his satchel.
"Skadmire," he said when he saw who was attempting to contact him from Midgard.
"Trouble here, little prince," said the Jotun. "Yer sister's pet o'a Titan says he will destroy Midgard if you fail t'give Hela the Soul Stone. She is waiting fer ye on Asgard as we speak."
ooooo
Note: Last time I posted, I posted two chapters. Make sure you have read 38 and 39.