Retaliation

The action of returning an attack; Counterattack

Vaniria, A black castle nestled between a vast labyrinth of pine trees and jade vine. It was unremarkable in its luxury with basic gothic fixtures and bland red decor. It wasn't even the biggest castle on Vanaheim, consisting of five floors and 16 bedrooms. Yet it was coveted, wanted for the magical grounds it sat upon that made the gardens green and the people content. The heart of Vanaheim had attracted the demons and it had been what had destroyed them using Fury as a vessel. Through it, she had started a war with the inhabitants of Vaniria, the overlords who had killed their way to dominion over the Vanirs. Fury burned them alive for their sins, they called her the harbinger of war, and so she was.

The heart of Vanaheim didn't refer to the world's life source, in reality, it was just a catalyst of magic that formed a millennia ago and attracted many with its beautiful blue glow that reflected off the jade vine and danced in the shallow streams.

When Valerian stole the cobalt energy the jade vine that had grown so wildly around it like a shrine, shrivelled and dead. The pine trees stripped themselves of their bristly needles and the Vanir turned over the kingdom to the demons. And Fury, she was the wife of an overlord, A thief who stripped away customs and locked away the jewels and fine gowns of the inhabitants of Vaniria before him. Yet the unimpressive castle with Valerian's hideous gargoyle statues above the entrance was her home, the only one she had known. Unconventional, she knew. But she wanted to give the heart back, with Valerian dead, perhaps she could. and If she defeated him. She would...

Flakes of glittering snow fluttered from the sky in a circular descent, bathing the golden city in fog. Fury revelled in the sight as her boots shuffled from the dark forest and like a gate shutting behind her, the entrance sealed shut.

"What are you doing?", Sif eyed her with crossed arms, barely visible through the white haze. Fury sealed her lips shut, observing the warrior's silver fur-lined jacket. The Goddess trampled through the snow when she didn't answer, a frown painting her expression. The vampire averted her gaze. Loki had disappeared. Fury spoke.

"Wrong turn",

"There are evil's in this forest. A malevolence that you cannot fathom. If you wanted to meet a most unauspicious demise you simply should have set yourself aflame.", Sif lectured with fear glistening in her green eyes. She hesitated in asking.

"...Did you see her?"

"Who?", Fury cocked her head in bewilderment.

"The Ghoul who roams the woods.", A smile crossed her wind bitten lips. "Oh, you didn't know?"

"Consider yourself blessed that she didn't lure you back to her den and feed on your flesh. For a woman who possesses so many shiny weapons, I'm surprised she didn't rob you at least...", Sif concluded with perplexion.

Loki seemed to have forgotten that vital piece of information before he led her into the pitch-black abyss. She knew It didn't feel right. He always had some sort of plan. Some inkling of trickery that bit her in the ass.

Fury reached for the silver hilt of her sword, her fingers curled at the nothingness that met her grasp. Fuck. She loosed an irritated sigh.

"She swiped that magical sword of yours didn't she?", Sif's dark eyebrows furrowed and her arms crossed over one another. "Pity"

Fury bared her teeth at the woman in annoyance, snapping her sights back onto the groaning amber coloured trees that peppered the woods in bright spots among the darkness.

Loki

She waited a moment but got no reply. Frustration rose in her chest.

"I would bid it farewell. Now that she has your scent there is no retrieving it", Sif chided and began to trudge through the snow, back to the comforts of the Golden city.

"Fuck!", Fury breathed out and followed after the dark-haired woman who turned to her.

"I thought I would let you know that Valerian has just announced that there is to be a ball to commemorate his return in 11 days. I suggest you make yourself scarce", Sif warned and trampled the snow with ease, back to the castle.

Fury thought of Loki. That conniving little shit.

My dear Fury, back so soon

That demon forest bitch stole my sword

I know

You know?... Wait. Let me guess. The demon bitch was the bearer of the sword...The shadow of the woods.

Fury trudged through the inches of soft snow beneath her feet, carefully placing her steps so that the shin-high ice didn't eat her alive. She had already lost Sif beyond the mist and haze. She kept stepping through the frost with snowflakes raining upon her in perfect membraneous flakes of crystal transparency.

"Ugh", Fury sighed upon reaching the cobblestone garden, shaking off the flakes of ice. Wow. She marvelled at the hedges that were bathed in a light layer of snow. Red, blue and purple flowers beautifully donned the white spray, illuminated by the orange glow of the path lights. Even the square glass nestled in the hedges couldn't be spared from the soft assault of snow. Fury brushed her fingers over the vibrant green leaves, catching ice in her palm. She squinted towards the palace, seeing its soft shadow amidst the white.

"No, the 'Demon bitch'...Is just a Ghoul'. She is, however, the 'shadow of the forest' ", Loki's accent spoke with delay to her question. His corporeal form swiped away the frost on the concrete bench and he sat with crossed heels. Fury snapped her sights to the dark-haired God.

She was content. At present, being buried in snowflakes she was content. Her sword was gone. Her demonic ex-husband was to pop up at any moment and try to kill her again. Her bones still ached and her magic was minuscule but she felt euphoric standing against the winds that slapped ice against her cheek. Fury targeted the place beside Loki and planted herself beside him. His long leather jacket splayed open against the breeze, tapping her knee. She smirked.

"Tell me, why we are allowing a Ghoul to rob us?",

"The decrepit woman will lead you to her den. When you return to the woods she will recognise your scent almost instantaneously and snare you. Be warned she is inexplicably ghastly.", Loki breathed out, hugging his jacket closer with crossed arms.

"I'm stealing back my sword and killing her? Why didn't we do that in the first place?", Fury's eyebrows furrowed in confusion and Loki smiled that sinister grin.

"Next time you'll have that brilliant shield on your mind that you've mastered so infuriatingly and the Ghoul will be bewildered. She will hunt you or some form of yourself while you retrieve that blade.",

Fury narrowed her eyes to the God who took such pleasure in mischief, a light flickered in his eyes but dimmed just as swiftly. She saw a childish demeanour within him. A passion for trickery and chaos that she saw in no other. But amongst his childishness, she saw the anguish of unhealable scars and unequivocal torment. A broken soul. Perhaps that was how he saw her.

Loki was silent and brooding. He opened his mouth to speak but closed it again, his chest rising and falling in his action.

"She stole something from you didn't she?", Fury's voice was rife with theory and excitement. How a ghoul had bested Loki. His emerald eyes rolled in his skull and he tossed the snow off his lap in a sweep of his arm.

"An amethyst jewel", He breathed out.

"I think it will clash", Fury answered, motioning to the black and green ensemble of leather that bound him. He sneered

"It was Frigga's"

"It'll cost you", She continued, ignoring his vulgar muttering. Her hands clamped together with her elbows pressed onto her knees, a contemplative stance.

"What is your price?", Loki asked with narrowed eyes.

"The Ghoul gave me some inspiration...I'm going to rob Valerian. You're going to help me", Fury breathed out with a smile. Loki waited. Waited for her assurance that she was indeed jesting. She wasn't

"...Are you insane?", He asked slowly, uncrossing his ankles.

"Most definitely", Fury replied and stood from the concrete bench before she froze in place.

"Dare I ask why?", Loki mirrored her action, towering her in his height, blocking the snow from landing on her skin.

"He wants to play. Let's play", She reasoned and crossed her arms over her chest. Loki hesitated then spoke.

"...What are you going to steal?"

"It's a surprise", Fury couldn't contain the smile that burst from her lips.

"Will Valerian suffer without it?", Loki pried.

"No. But he'll just about tear the palace down seeing me with it",

"Then we have an accord",

"Excellent", Fury and Loki shared an equally wicked smile. His lips pursed with intrigue and a dark eyebrow raised, examining the silver-haired woman like she were an equation he was trying to solve. She loosed a sigh and stepped past the God, closer to the palace.

"Where are you going?", His voice pierced the whistling wind.

"To bed", Fury replied with exhaustion as he appeared at her shoulder.

"And the Ghoul?", Loki pressed. Fury rubbed the scratches against her white skin, soothing the itchy sensation. She was sore and sick. Her body ached and her head pounded with the beginnings of a migraine. She sighed.

"That is tomorrow's problem",

She watched those dark brows furrow and he stopped her from taking another step. His cold hand lightly gripped against her skin. Those beautiful green eyes were light with hints of icy blue as they pierced into her own. She wanted to ask what he was doing but suddenly she was surrounded in green mist, cradled by its soft tendrils of emerald and forest green like the pine trees of Vaniria. Fury fell into the viridian abyss and it swept her into a deep slumber.

Fury dreamed she was fighting in a battle. Herself on the frontline, the harbinger of war. Asgard was white from the heavy snow and her grey horse shivered beneath her. The woods that bordered the lands of the Wildmen groaned at her arrival like a shriek of terror and before her. The magical Asgardians fell pray to Fenrir and his wolves. Ripped to ribbons of sinew and flesh. She watched from upon her steed with her flaming sword gripped tightly against her palm. Her silver hair was long, longer than it was now, it swept down to her hips and twirled in ethereal waves, unrealistic to her mane.

"Fury", Valerian's voice swept her from the battle. He was on the frontline, watching her with those black and orange eyes. His black hair was shaved at the sides and spiked.

"Valerian", She murmured under her breath and dismounted her steed. Beneath her midnight black armour that swirled to life with violet sigils, the ground quivered and the Wildmen scampered away like whimpering dogs. Valerian waited with his sinister swords at hand, their dark blades reached from his collar to the dirt.

She fought him through life and limb. Dancing like she knew all the steps. Clashing against his blade like he could not harm her. But her blue eyes flickered from him and she was not in the woods. Valerian had waged war on Asgard, the golden city which now bellowed smoke into the snow peppered sky. And that snow that fell so calmly was a canvas for the Asgardian blood that stained it crimson.

Fury wasn't winning, she wasn't close. Valerian tossed her beaten body into the snow, sneering at his easily beaten opponent. She groaned and clutched at a slash in her side that spewed red onto the ground. Her magic wasn't enough to defeat him. He violently grabbed at her silver hair, bringing himself tauntingly close to her face as he tugged her upright.

"Furya...My wife. I'm going to give your friends a most unpleasant death and when you are too weak to raise that sword, I'm going to lock you in that dungeon. You remember the one. Then I'm going to take what I want from you and when you plead for death when you scream for a reprieve from the nightmare I'm going to defile what is left of you.", Valerian whispered with a soft grin, jamming his other hand into the open wound on her waist. But she didn't scream nor did her gaze meet his black and gold eyes.

She watched Loki fight the Wildmen with ethereal grace, defending his city with effortless tendrils of power. His midnight-black hair was dishevelled underneath that horned golden helmet. His gaze turned like he could sense her aggrievement. Those green orbs glistened with fear.

"Or you come with me now and your friends live", Valerian smiled, following her eyes.

Loki manifested himself close to Valerian.

"Uh uh uh", The black-eyed beast tsked toward the God of mischief. Fury hissed at the blade that pointed into her sternum. The slightest movement would seal her fate. Loki stopped, holding his hands in surrender.

"As much as I'd like to see you suffer. I ache to witness the God of Mischief break", Valerian sneered and buried the sword beneath her armour, cutting through sinew and flesh like it were soft butter.

"Fury", Myra woke her from her slumber, shaking her softly.

"Myra?", Fury questioned, fighting the dryness that crawled up her throat. The curly-haired woman held an unsavoury expression, retreating to an array of medical devices that were splayed on the table of the medical ward. Fury spoke, rubbing her tired eyes.

"What happened?",

"Fury", Myra spoke with a soft tone. The same voice the doctor had when he told her that she was dying. That the heart of Vanaheim was killing her. She placed her hand on Fury's shoulder as some sort of comfort.

"Odin had some concerns about your health. About your uncharacteristic pains and fatigue...and it seems that while your body couldn't sustain living with your fire ability...You're dying without it", She breathed out.

Fury sucked in a deep breath. Dying...again. Perhaps this was the world's way of telling her that she would never restore the heart of Vanaheim, that she would never defeat Valerian. And so what if she died? She would be free from this meaningless existence. Away from Asgard and the wildmen.

What choice was she left with other than grovelling to Loki for her power? She wouldn't.

"Do you have any family? Any siblings?", Myra spoke after a while, narrowing her eyes with sympathy. Fury replied without any real comprehension of what she was saying.

"I had a twin sister...She was a vampire...She's dead now.",

"A home?", Myra questioned, hoping to reveal any sort of comfort.

"I had a home at Vaniria...I spent the rest of my life running...Being faster than my enemy", Fury spoke mindlessly, glancing down at her hands.

"You were a mercenary. A protector of worlds. I've seen you fight. I don't think anyone will ever forget your fight with Sif... What I'm saying is you don't need to run from Valerian. He is weak and you are not.", Her chestnut coloured curls bobbed with the dip of her head. Myra spoke again.

"You kill him before you die. You have three months, have him dead in two",

"I'll have him dead in one", Fury rose from the white hospital bed and clamped her feet to the ground.

Fury trained until her limbs wouldn't allow her to. She ran like death chased her. Until the sweat poured from her like rain. Valerian was strong. She was stronger. She grunted in pain as she forced her chin up to the beam on the roof of her bedroom, her arms threatened to buckle from the repetition of hauling her weight.

"Someone seems to have forgotten about the Ghoul", She didn't have to look to know who it was.

"Blow me, Loki", Fury hissed without thought, grunting with the effort it took to pull her chin back up to the smooth wooden beam. She dropped, landing in a kneeling position to soften the fall. Her white skin gleamed with sweat and her muscles pulsed underneath her black compression tights and skin-tight tank. She was ready to face the demon bitch.

"Hey!", He spat back, warning her foul language. She smiled a crooked smile, feeling her fangs brush past her lips as she bounded back to her feet.

"I thought I'd scrape in just under the line, steal back our things and then rob Valerian tonight.", Fury spoke energetically, sweeping her ponytail over her shoulder. Her hair was long. Longer since becoming a goddess. It seemed to grow an inch a day and swept close to the dip of her spine.

"Just in time for the ball tomorrow", Loki breathed out with a nod. He had been surprisingly patient and hadn't bothered her, he even offered to train her after Thor's morning combat lessons. She took all the help she could get.

"Exactly", She smirked, wrapping her hair into a bun to keep it off her sweaty skin.

"Your hair is long", Loki spoke absent-mindedly, motioning to her silver locks. Fury breathed out, ripping her tank over her head.

"Yup",

Her vibrant red sports bra was soaked in sweat underneath her shirt. Its zip front had slipped down slightly from her vigorous exercise and she quickly zipped it back up. The black tank hit the bathroom tiles with a soft thump. She felt quite fearless.

"Give me five minutes", She spoke, ripping her clean vest and cargo jeans from the dresser. She had moved back to her room, despite his weak requests.

"Fine", He breathed out with crossed arms and exited her chamber.

"Fury", Thor's bounding voice ricochetted off the narrow hallway that divided hers and Loki's chamber. In true Thor custom, he was chest to chest with her momentarily. Unlike his usual calm, his blue eyes raged with a storm. Mjolnir was grasped firmly in his palm and his brushed grey armour glistened under the soft light. He spoke with a heaving chest.

"What if I gave you the option to run? To be free of Asgard. Would you take it?"

Fury met those piercing eyes. Her mind was void of thought and reason. His question was valid. She spoke.

"I've grown weary of running from Valerian. I am going to fight while I still can fight because once he found me freedom was never an option.",

"Then let me help", Thor pleaded softly, gripping the handle of Mjolnir.

"No.", She responded firmly, shouldering past him with urgency.

"Fury", His voice was deeper this time, more commanding in its tone but she didn't falter in her step.

"No", Fury inched her head back to him mid-step with a smirk. A soft breeze shot past her followed by light footsteps and his hand halted her with its grip on her shoulder. He spoke softly.

"Stay.",

She turned on her heel at the words, clashing with those soft blue eyes that seemed to hold the weight of the world. Underneath his light voice, the words tangled into a web. He wanted her to leave that sword within the depths of the woods. To abandon the war against the wild people. To rebel against the 'King'. Perhaps she should have, but there was no halting the uprising of Valerian. He would never stop trying to find her. No. He would be her conquest. Her last.

Stay...stay the words ricochetted around her mind. They melted her concrete heart. How she wished she could have stayed in Asgard, stayed with him. To forget about the Wildmen, about Loki. Fury breathed out, wiping away the stray golden hair from his sight.

"No",

Then she walked away.

White snow rained lightly upon Fury's black thermal sleeves. She wore gloves this time to combat the freezing winds. Though the snow was light the weather had become so very cold. Those tactical gloves hugged her kevlar vest closer for warmth.

"You are not wearing that", Loki's voice sneered with insult from his seat at the garden. The courtyard was practically abandoned during the freezing weather.

"My ball gown is getting tailored", She snarked back with a smirk.

"You are trying to scare the Ghoul and you look like a terrible Halloween costume", The God surprised her with his Midgardian knowledge.

"I'm sorry, I left the fucks I had to give back at the palace", Fury bit and stepped forward, closer to the woods.

"Fury", Loki breathed out with irritation.

She bared her teeth and thought of her magical disguise. It took only a moment for her catsuit ensemble to appear against her skin. It was tight and smooth on her body. She hissed, catching his staring orbs.

"Better?",

"Marginally", He spoke, catching her spiked shoulder armour in his sight. She sneered.

"Oh. Bite me, at least mine doesn't have horns popping out of it.",

A wide smile consumed his expression, forming soft lines at the corners of his eyes. Fury narrowed her eyes and swept toward the woods with her cape-ish coat flapping against the bitter wind.

Cast your clone

Loki spoke within her thoughts, careful to deter the ghoul from his words. Fury cast her splitting image to her side, a mirror image of her likeness. It bowed its head to her before she set it loose in the opposite direction to her path.

She built the wall within her thoughts. An impenetrable shield.

Lift the veil

Fury imagined the dark forest bathed in the soft glow of luminescence and it became so. Loki shifted beside her. His hand tapped against her spiked shoulder plate, halting any of her movement.

Watch

The dry leaves rustled with life, snapping and crunching under the weight of a fast and agile creature. She watched the gangly shadow stalk the decoy of herself. It was unbelievably fast and disturbingly decrepit in its skeletal appearance.

Now we sneak

Fury blinked her blue eyes and before her, a stone cottage appeared, bathed in sunlight. Beneath her feet the ground sunk from the wet mossy soil of the Ghoul's home. Oh my god. The smell. It made her gag.

Her hand covered her mouth from the overwhelming stench of lavender and rosemary that sprung from the shallow body of water around the ruins of the grey stone cottage. No. That wasn't it. Fury stepped closer to the water that was glossy and layered in some sort of gunk, kneeling before it. The gunk gathered at her fingers in a slippery coat. It was oil. The whole moat was filled with fragrant oils. It was weird. A disturbing thought entered her mind, widening her eyes with realisation.

Please don't tell me the ghoul is covering what I think it is.

A groan loosed from between her pointed fangs.

"Loki", Fury snapped her head behind her. He was gone. Loki. She thought. A soft tingle ran up her collar, triggering the panic to grow in her mind. She couldn't sense him. Not like she had been able to. Not through their bonded tattoos. She breathed out.

"Shit',

Her legs leapt over the moat. Closer to that decrepit cottage. Its wooden door was ajar and cracked in too many places to be repaired. Above it an eyeball watched her, moving as she did. The lidless orb seemed to narrow at her like she was its next challenge. She moved quicker across the threshold.

A dry heave escaped her. She wanted to vomit anything she had ever eaten at the sight. Fury placed her hands on her knees to steady her.

Skin. Asgardian flesh draped from the cottage, like wallpaper. Hair still bristled from the hacked flesh that was brushed with crimson liquid. Blood was jarred and contained in decorative glass bottles on a wooden stand. Like a sacrificial altar.

Fury straightened her stature, stumbling closer to the Ghoul's display of jewellery and other shiny objects. Her eyebrow raised. Everything was caked in dirt and gunk. It made Her face scrunch with disgust as her blue eyes fell upon her once silver blade that was buried beneath a newly carved tile of skin.

The feeling of dry reaching came back to her.

"Oh, that's disgusting", Fury coughed and ripped her sword from the table in swift yank.

"One down", She breathed out. Beyond the collection of silver and metallic tooth fillings, rings and bracelets she couldn't see anything Amethyst. Why hadn't she asked him what it was? A bracelet? A ring? A crystal? She circled the small chamber, darting her eyes over the mantle of the fireplace.

"A tiara?", Fury whispered with surprise, wiping the dust off the amethyst jewels that were surrounded in vines of silver filigree. How would she carry it back? She breathed out.

"I wonder...",

In her consciousness she projected her magic into the silver tiara, imagining it appearing on her nightstand in Asgard. Her blue eyes fluttered open but the Tiara remained in her palm. A breath escaped her lungs. She needed to leave.

Her steps shifted the dirt floor with a gust of wind from her swiftness. That eye followed her out of the ruins of that broken front door. Its dull bronze handle wasn't worth closing but she did, If only to contain the stench of rotting flesh. Its rusted hinge squealed with a high pitched growl. Fury cringed at the sound, setting her sights toward the woods that were bathed in the night but something else caught her sight.

Sunken, glazed eyes met her. A rotted face with thin strands of hair sprouting from its caved skull. The Ghoul's hunched pink body stiffened at the sight of Fury and black sharpened teeth glinted at her, webbed with charcoal spit.

"...oh, this is going to hurt like a bitch", Fury gripped that Tiara in her hand and raised her sword with the other. No flame licked at the blade. Nothing. Her heart thrummed a deafening beat within her chest. Shit.

The gangly creature leapt across the moat in a single bound. Its claws extended mid-leap, aimed solely at her throat. Fury slashed at the Ghoul, tossing its wrinkled form to the side off the end of her sword in a splatter of green blood. It's weight almost buckled her arm as she ran. She ran as fast as her legs would take her against the mushy ground but the creature was faster. So much faster.

Talons pierced the flesh of her shoulder like a steel blade slicing through her armour. A yelp escaped her. She slashed behind her, turning on her heal but the ghoul merely snarled from those jagged teeth even as her blade met its flesh. Fury groaned.

"Oh...shit",

The needle-like claws dove into the front of her shoulder, cutting through her armour like butter. She stared into those depthless eyes, glossy and white. They were an endless void of nothingness, of no pain or fear. Outrunning the beast was impossible. Killing it was impossible. Fury's body flung like a cat toy out of the creature's grasp. She yelped as the moat of oil consumed her, seeping into her claw wounds with a bitter sting. The ghoul flung itself onto her, submerging her head underneath the oil bath. Fury tried to fight against it. Tried to breathe but it was strong. So strong. She felt the claws cut through her skin, tearing her body apart. No. No. No. Fear gripped her heart. It paralyzed her.

Nothing. Her mind was void of thought. Void of an escape. She was terrified and flailing beneath the beast. Worst above all, she was alone with no one to come to her aid. With no one to distract the Ghoul. Fury raised her hand above the body of water but it seemed to hit a solid ceiling. She was trapped beneath the surface like a magical snare. The lavender roots slithered towards her, snaking around her wrists, pinning down her ankles. She couldn't move.

She couldn't open her eyes, couldn't bear to see the beast looking down at her, watching her writhe beneath its decrepit body. Fury screamed, allowing the oil into her lungs as the beast cut into her skin, burning at her waist.

Light streamed through the oil and a shadow appeared on the bank of the water. It watched her struggle. It revelled in her defeat. It was Valerian. She knew it was. He would watch the water plants curl around her limbs until her breath was torn from her lungs and her body lay motionlessly in the beast's keep. No. She couldn't die. Not now. Not before she saw the life drain from Valerian's eyes. She was stronger than him. So strong. And Fury, she was not afraid.

A fire burned within her core. It consumed her. It became her and that creature, that ghastly beast, it had chosen its victim poorly. A goddess burst through the oil, through the Ghoul's magic. A being of pure ethereal grace and power. And that beast it beheld her in awe and wonder. Fury towered the creature with anger surging through her core and she saw it. She was glowing like a beacon of light and pure magic. An iridescent lux of power.

Fury snarled toward retreating eyes. Perhaps if she were a human she would have felt sorry for the miserable creature. Perhaps she would have spared it's quivering little life. But she was not a hero and she was not an esteemed warrior. So she gripped the sword firmly in her palm and struck with unequivocal agility. It yelped a sorrowful cry before its head rolled onto the moss-covered dirt. The hunched body limply splashed into the moat and she watched the lavender and rosemary plants extend their roots. It bobbed for a moment before the enchanted plants dragged it beneath the surface.

Yuck. She smudged the green ooze that sprayed her form and trudged toward the dark forest. Her eyes widened. Tree by tree the darkness retreated like a spotlight had been cast upon the woods. Sunlight beamed through the branches of plants that had never seen it and the wild Fel sprung from their hiding place.

You have freed us

She heard that low feminine voice within her mind and bowed her head to the catlike creature. Its luminous orange orbs examined her.

Fury checked that the Tiara was still in her palm. The silver filigree was now stained in her crimson blood from the wounds on her shoulder. She sucked in a breath, lightly touching the tear at her side, a ghastly gash that poured blood.

"Ugh", A groan fell from her lips.

Your Magic will work now

The Fel communicated without speaking a word.

"Loki", Fury groaned, clutching at her waist with her sword gripped loosely in her fingertips.

The God of Mischief appeared after a short while, dazed and confused. Fury flashed a glare and his ghost became a solid being.

"Furya",

She silenced him by tossing the dark-haired God the Amethyst Tiara. He caught it with ease and stared at the silver object with lustful eyes then flickered a glance to her fading form like it were a choice between taking the beloved Tiara or saving her. She knew from the look in his sparkling orbs that the Tiara was much more than just some jewellery. Perhaps he'd take it and run.

Fury buckled underneath her weight and her knees sank deep into the mossy soil. Pain rippled through her core with unflinching malice. It dribbled down her waist with the same viciousness. She sucked in a deep breath, baring her teeth in the agony. Her hands quivered against the profuse quantity of red liquid and the stench of her Lavender and Rosemary infused armour made her gag.

A shadow stepped into her sight and she raised her head to look at it. It was one of the Fel, a black and white creature that padded to her side. She watched its little glowing paws sink into the soft soil. It sniffed her with wide nostrils, shaking its head with a soft sneeze. It watched another being approach with light feet.

"Furya", Loki's low accent sounded and the soil shifted beneath him. Her blue eyes sighted his pale face that had been clawed and bruised. He handled her softly with a shadow of fear in his emerald orbs. She coughed and set forth an eruption of burning within her core. Liquid dribbled from between her sealed lips. It was disgusting. Fury spat out the blood and sighed a miserable groan.

Loki grimaced at the crimson spatter and sunk close beside her. The Fel held Loki's stare with an unnerving stillness. Her blue eyes narrowed with curiosity, perhaps they were talking to each other. No. They were indeed communicating with each other.

"You know...You didn't have to kill the Ghoul", Loki smirked, raising his sight to her. Fury spoke, her voice was hoarse and dry of humour.

"After it did this", She motioned to her bloodied form with a growl, "Yes I did",

Loki's green eyes surveyed the tatty cottage for a while, seemingly halting at the Ghoul's detached skull by the body of water. For a moment it seemed that he had forgotten that she wasn't a pristine warrior of honour or valour. That she was a little twisted, a little disturbed. Loki chided.

"Very well",

The Fel tapped its small glowing paw against Fury's thigh and wrinkled its pink nose at The God of Mischief in a silent hiss. Fury groaned with pain. Damn it, Loki. Was the mischievous little cretin going to heal her or what? She knew what he'd say. 'Heal yourself'. She sneered with disdain in a silent battle. Yet before she could even attempt to try Loki summoned a green swirl of magic. Its sparkling tendrils licked at her skin, sewing and healing her beaten form.

"What happened to you?", Fury asked as the tendrils receded, taking with them the bite of her wounds. Her eyes flickered to the precious jewel she had stolen from the Ghoul. Loki had it disguised as a thick banded ring that sat upon his middle finger. Why hadn't she thought of that? It would have been easier to carry.

"I think it is time we leave.", Loki avoided her sight with swiftness but she grabbed at his hand. Through his eyes, she saw the Ghoul strip his magic. She saw him fight the wrinkled beast with his two daggers in hand and not much else. All the while the beast defiled his mind, his memories. Fury saw a black-haired woman flash through his memory. A lightly tanned skin woman. She triggered pain to explode within him.

"Furya, do restrain yourself!", The God of Mischief hissed, ripping away her grasp. A smile crept on her lips as he disappeared into the wind.

"Oh no, baby come back", Fury teased in a joking manner.

"If you insist", That voice resonated from behind her, softly startling her. She laughed and petted the wild Fel before following him out of the woods.