Chapter Two - Into the Nightmare
"How long will this game go on?" Queen Frigga asked, clasping her hands in front of her.
Loki actively ignored his mother's stern gaze while trying to study his spellbook. "If I was playing a game, Mother, I'd be having fun."
"Do you not think Maysa beautiful?"
"I don't think anything of her." He flipped the page of his book, still pretending to read it. "I doubt my thoughts and tastes mattered that much in your decision."
"It is our right as your parents to act in your best interest, Loki. We will not be changing our minds."
With a flair of anger, Loki slammed the book closed and shot up from his seat, causing the chair to fall to the floor with a satisfyingly loud crack. He stormed toward his balcony, flinging open the doors and searching for something to glare upon or scream at, but losing steam when faced with the black curtain of night with its many stars.
"What have I done?" he uttered, leaning against the doorframe as the breeze skimmed over his heated features. "Is there some terrible wrong to which I have failed to make amends?"
Frigga drew near, but Loki pulled away from her touches, stepping out onto the balcony to regain his distance.
The queen admitted, "I cannot deny that your mischief played a part in our decision. However, this was not intended as a punishment."
Loki laughed, yet hurt saturated his words. "You are using old laws and petty politics to chain me to a woman not of my choosing, and you expect me to be grateful."
Frigga stood tall, proud and silent.
If he went to her now, Loki knew she would comfort him, but he didn't want his mother's affections this time. She knew what he wanted. Odin did too. They chose to inflict this misery on him.
"Leave," Loki demanded, waiting until he heard the door close behind her to wander back in and right his chair.
Not long after, Igus found him at his table staring blankly at his spells. "Lady Maysa's servant cannot find her, your majesty," he informed Loki in a grave tone. "Have you seen her?"
Loki sighed and turned in his chair to see Sari standing just inside his doorway. "No," he told the young woman. "Have you asked the guards?"
"Yes, Prince Loki," Sari insisted. "They say she is not in the palace."
His gaze shifted to the book of children's stories he'd given to Maysa that now rested on the edge of his table.
"She ran off into the forest hours ago. That was the last I've seen of her."
"Oh dear," Igus said, his brow furrowing with concern. "The forest can be a treacherous place during the height of summer."
The passages. Loki grew tense as he remembered.
There were mystical connections between the realms, and few people knew as many of them as Loki did. Mostly these passages were hidden. However, in mid-summer the magic that concealed them weakened, and all sorts of creatures would wander into Asgard's forest from across the cosmos.
"Lady Maysa could be lost or injured," Sari commented with a frown.
Igus asked, "What shall we do, your majesty?"
The disappearance of his betrothed was not a blessing in disguise. There was more at stake with the alliance between Asgard and Alfheim than trade and politics. A dead bride-to-be could send their realms into war.
Loki vacated his seat. "Bring me my armor," he ordered, "and summon Thor. We'll ride out to the bifrost. Heimdall can tell us where to find her."
Upon their arrival, the Gatekeeper of Asgard told the princes, "I cannot see Lady Maysa in any of Yggdrasil's realms."
"What does that mean?" Thor asked with bewilderment. "Is she dead?"
"I do not know," Heimdall admitted.
"If she was taken or found one of the passages out of the forest," Loki said, "then it is possible that she is in the Nightmare Realm, where you cannot see."
"Nothing good comes from there," Thor said. "A terrible fate will find Maysa if we don't first."
Though the terrain was somewhat treacherous and the night dense, Loki managed to find a scrap of material torn from Maysa's gown, which led them to some drag marks in the dirt and then to the cave and portal.
Loki searched their surroundings as he and Thor emerged on the jagged mountain top. "I know this place," he said. "We are atop the Great Mountain City."
"When have you been here?" Thor inquired in a stern tone as they scurried down along the trail.
"Several times, actually."
Thor growled. "I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that you'd frequent the demon realm, Brother. You go to no end to disappoint me."
"Save your breath," Loki said with a sneer. "We've got quite a journey through the tunnels ahead of us, and we'd best run to make up some time."
Maysa sat with her knees pulled up to her front and her arms wrapped under her legs. The large, dark space was cool with few fires, and she shivered while her mind conjured horrible images of her possible impending death.
Assuredly no one knew where she was or how to find her, though it was likely that her absence had been noticed hours ago. She cried a little, missing her family and wishing she had parted from them on better terms.
From questioning the other captives, Maysa discovered that the building was an auction house and, like them, she was to be sold as a slave to the highest bidder. A great ruckus arose in the chamber above when the auction started, and workers started coming down to collect them.
The burly, grotesque guards tied Maysa's hands behind her back with a thin, enchanted rope that shocked her flesh if she pulled too tightly on it. Then they marched her to the upper chamber and onto a stage in front of an audience of nefarious beings and the Dark Dwarves who had brought her here.
A tall Dark Elf dressed in fine robes joined Maysa on stage. He circled, giving her a close visual inspection. "She's a Light Elf," he told the crowd. "She looks intelligent, not likely a good working slave, but possibly could be trained up for bedroom pleasures."
Maysa gaped at him, feeling shocked and embarrassed on top of her fear.
He asked her, "Can you sing? Can you dance?"
When Maysa hesitated, he reached around and tugged at her restraints, giving her a painful shock.
"Yes," she told him with a wince. "I can sing and dance."
"Do you read, write?"
"Yes."
He turned to consider the crowd, then noticed a cloaked figure standing at the steps to the stage.
The hidden man asked in a silky voice, "May I approach? I wish to smell her."
The mysterious form ascended the stairs at the Dark Elf's nod, crossing the stage to stand before her. Maysa could see eyes that shimmered and swirled silver within the dark hood. His cool, white fingers curled around her chin, his long nails pressing into her tensing flesh. He tilted Maysa's head before leaning close to inhale the scent of her neck.
"Noble blood," he whispered, sounding surprised and pleased as the words danced on his tongue.
He withdrew a few steps and pushed back his hood to reveal himself, causing immediate gasps from all across the room. His long, fair hair and slim, golden crown stood out amid the dull colors of the crowd and surroundings.
"Vazelias, the Vampire King," voices whispered around Maysa, sounding fearful and in awe.
"Let the bidding begin," the vampire prompted, showing his long, white fangs.
With the first bid, the vampire doubled it, continuing to outbid everyone until with a challenging hiss, the other interested parties fell silent.
"Sold!" the Dark Elf declared. He accepted the payment, a bulging coin purse, then released the rope on Maysa's hands, pushing her toward the Vampire King.
With a swish of his cloak, Vazelias gathered Maysa close. His eyes were hypnotic and intense. Maysa felt her body weaken and her thoughts numb under his gaze. Even the willpower needed to scream was so very far out of reach.
She fell into his arms, fighting confusion as he carried her away through a sea of terrible, blurring faces.
"Sleep," he whispered. His lips teased a smile, and then all went dark and still.
The foul inhabitants of the Great Mountain City scurried out of his way as the determined Thor strode into their midst. He grabbed the first creature too slow to escape his reach and inquired after Maysa, giving her description.
The trembling ghoul cowered and hid behind his hands. "Dark Dwarves brought her to be sold at auction."
Thor growled, then released the quivering ghoul, acting smug when it dashed off in terror.
Loki pointed toward the largest, tallest building in the center of the city. "That is the auction house."
"I hope you feel bad for what you have done to this girl," Thor barked at Loki as he pushed past him.
"Me?" Loki asked, picking up the pace to catch up. "I didn't give her to the Dark Dwarves or even walk her into the forest."
"I know you did something to upset her. How can you be so insensitive to such a dear young woman?"
Loki should have ignored the criticism, but he was too agitated. "If you think she's so wonderful, Brother, then why don't you marry her?"
Thor shook his head, anger having robbed him of any amusement at bullying the populace. "If only I could make you understand," he said. "Try to see beyond yourself for once."
"If I'm not watching out for myself, who will? Apparently, not the family."
Thor glared, but didn't respond as they approached the large trollish creatures standing guard at the doors into the auction house. "Let us pass," Thor demanded of the doormen.
"Private auction. Invitation only," a guard answered back.
Thor grabbed Mjolnir and sent the troll flying through the doors with one great swing.
"Always so subtle," Loki chided, stepping forward to cast a spell, which froze the other guard in a block of ice up to his warty double chins.
Thor and Loki forced their way into the chamber, fighting off waves of auction workers, guards and other city residents eager to taste royal Asgardian blood.
Realizing with frustration that potential witnesses were fleeing through every available nook and cranny, Loki rushed at the man in auctioneer robes and froze him in place. He stepped closer to the wide-eyed Dark Elf and conjured a detailed illusion of Maysa's likeness.
"Where is this girl?" Loki asked with his most fierce, threatening gaze.
"Prince Loki," the auctioneer said in fearful recognition, "the girl has been claimed as the property of Vazelias, the Vampire King."
This news was distressing. Loki knew the Vampire King and could imagine the heinous plans he would have for Maysa.
"How long have they been gone?"
"Minutes, if that." He jerked his head in the direction of the opposite exit while his expression pleaded for mercy.
"Thor," Loki called out, "stop hitting everyone and come on! The Vampire King has her and they are likely headed for his castle in the Blood Lands."
Loki turned, taking in the fiends that stood between them and their exit. He raised his hands to cast a spell when Mjolnir whooshed past his shoulder and slammed through the crowd, laying out a path of bodies to the door.
Thor tossed aside his attackers and caught the returning hammer. He rushed to follow as Loki hurried out of the chamber, escaping into the packed city streets.
"Vazelias will try to get airborne as soon as possible," Loki said, casting his gaze upward as he pushed through the crowds. The bright lanterns hanging through the city made it difficult to view anything but darkness beyond them. "Do you see him?"
"No," Thor responded. He grabbed Loki in one arm and swung his mighty hammer in the other. The momentum pulled them into the air away from charging foes and toward the tunnels leading to the surface.
The confines, twists and turns of the tunnels soon forced them to run again. They reached the mountain top, trying to catch some hint of a form against the dark of the sky as they panted.
Loki cursed and kicked the dirt. "We won't catch him. He is much too fast."
"At least we have a destination. Let us fly," Thor insisted. "I'll carry you."
"All manner of deadly monsters hunt these skies, Brother, including vampires, chimera and dragons. Only the biggest creatures can intimidate…" Loki's voice trailed off as an idea struck him.
"What is it?" Thor asked, his voice on edge with the eagerness to get going.
"Move back. I've never tried this before," Loki said, then closed his eyes and willed his body to change.
Shapeshifting was always accompanied with some degree of discomfort. Loki had grown accustomed to it, but attempting to increase his size so significantly caused pain beyond any he had ever endured. He screamed through a widening mouth, elongating throat and thickening vocal cords that distorted the sound into a bestial roar.
As the process ended, Thor stared up at him. His look and tone in awe as he said, "A dragon, Loki. Amazing."
Loki stretched his black and green scaled wings, neck and limbs, coaxing the lingering pain and stiffness out of them. Then he flattened out on his stomach so Thor could climb on his back and they took to the air.
Sweet memories turned into nightmares, plaguing Maysa's mind while she slept. The faces of loved ones grew cruel and monstrous as they pushed her away into the embrace of a leering Loki with wicked fangs and hissing snakes for arms.
"Let me read you one last tale, little elf, before you die," this Loki said.
Maysa startled awake to the feel of a wet, cool cloth wiping at her face. She batted away the hand to reveal a pink-skinned girl with luminous, yellow eyes as big as eggs and twisty horns protruding up from her magenta-colored hair. The girl wore a simple servant's dress and appeared timid as she drew her hands into her lap with the bowl of water.
"Be still," she said, but took no action to stop Maysa when she sat up to inspect the large and lavish bedchamber that lacked windows. All around them was decorated in dark colors and expensive finery with free standing candelabras lighting the space.
"Where is the Vampire King?" Maysa asked, the events at the auction coming back to her.
"He will come soon," the girl uttered with a knowing, uneasy gaze.
"I was stolen," Maysa told the girl. "Please, I must get back to Alfheim or Asgard."
The girl shook her head, tossing her thin, wispy locks with the effort and revealing bruises and bite marks on both sides of her neck. She said sorrowfully, "No one escapes King Vazelias. You are his until death."
"Tell me how to get out of here!" Maysa cried, grabbing the girl by the arms and shaking her hard enough to spill the water bowl on the blankets.
The girl fought back, pushing Maysa down with surprising strength before leaping away. She stood poised, yet trembling, waiting for Maysa to make her next move.
"Enough," a calm, yet commanding voice said from the shadows. "Run along."
The girl flashed Maysa a relieved and then regretful look before dashing out the main doors and shutting them behind her.
Vazelias stepped from the distant shadows, studying Maysa with his unnatural, silver eyes. The jewels on his fine clothes showed in the flickering candlelight. His dark cloak shifted and curled around his tall, slender form like it was alive.
"What is your name?"
"Maysa," she said, prompted by some mystical force that overcame her desire to refuse to answer.
Vazelias sat on the bed at her side, and Maysa found that she could not pull away from him as he reached out to caress her cheek with his frigid fingers.
"It has been so long since I've tasted noble Elven blood," he said, going lower to trace her jaw line with his fingernail.
Maysa shivered and forced out the words, using truth as her only means of defense. "I am to be married. I was promised."
His eyes seemed to twinkle and his upper lip curled. "You are amusing, Maysa. Tell me, what nobleman has lost his prize?"
"Loki Odinson."
"Ah, Asgard's Prince of Lies and Trickery. This does please me," he said, widening his grin when her desperate gaze fell on his fangs.
Maysa asked, "Why?"
Vazelias pressed his thumb to her lips. It felt like the chill off his flesh slipped into her mouth and settled into her throat, freezing her ability to speak.
"Loki must be the mage that I can sense within the borders of my kingdom," Vazelias said. He drew even closer, pressing his hard chest against Maysa. "It will be a shame if he interrupts our first feeding. So, I'm not going to wait."
Though unable to move or speak, Maysa's mind was active. Loki is coming, she allowed herself to believe, surprised by the comfort that knowledge gave. Surely, he would not have come so far with any intent other than to rescue her.
The vampire stared into her eyes, enjoying the stir of emotion he could see there. His long fingers clutched the back of her neck, tilting her head. He leaned in to graze the sensitive skin with his lips. It began as a kiss, but his cold lips soon parted and he set the tips of his fangs. There was a sharp, shooting pain as his teeth punctured her neck, but Maysa could only tremble.
His grip tightened with his rapture, and the suction of his mouth bruised her flesh as he drank deeply from her veins. Maysa felt her panicked heart laboring to pump a reducing blood volume. She wondered how long the feeding would go on and if she could possibly survive when Vazelias pulled back, licking blood from her neck and his own lips.
"Your blood is intoxicating," he declared, practically purring in her ear. "I shouldn't have taken that much, but you are stronger than you look, my pet."
Maysa fought to stay awake, yet closed her eyes to avoid his lustful stare as he laid her down among the pillows. She dared not think what he might do next.
He slipped from the bed, yet leaned in to press a kiss to the side of her mouth. "I think I will let your prince find you here," he said before melding into the shadows.