Screams filled her head and a dark laugh echoed through her mind, incredible power tightening around her until she felt her lungs struggle to draw breath. Flashes of light blinded her and then an awesome heat rushed over her body, bringing with it the smell of burning flesh and hot metal.
With a sharp inhale, Maryn awoke. The sight of metal walls around her made her tense for a moment before she turned her head and saw Thor sitting in a chair nearby, his arms folded and his chin dropped to his chest in sleep.
The nightmare that roused her flashed though her mind before slipping away in shreds she could not grasp; the images gone before she could remember them.
"Thor," she murmured, sitting up slowly before recognising the absence of pain and the calmness of her magic, although she did feel weak.
The God of Thunder woke with a jaw-cracking yawn, his arms stretched above his head before a wide grin split his features, "You are awake, little sister."
A small smile graced Maryn's features as she pulled her knees to her chest, wrapping her arms around them, "I feel better."
Nodding, Thor sat forward in the metal chair he was using, the piece of furniture dwarfed by his body. "You look better."
Not needing to see the truth of his words because she could feel it, Maryn breathed deeply, letting go of some of the tension she had been feeling. "I am sorry I kept that from you."
Thor's countenance turned grave, "You should have told me," he said reaching out and cradling her hand between both of his. "I would never have allowed you to use your magic to bring us here if I had known."
Shaking her head, Maryn smiled, "You would have had no choice, brother, even if you had not agreed with my using it."
"Truer words have never been said." Thor teased her before the grin dropped from his lips again, "Did Loki hurt you?"
Feeling defensive at the accusation against her husband, Maryn sighed, "No. In fact, he helped me. I will be able to learn control once again and keep my magic under my power."
He searched her gaze, no doubt making sure she was telling the truth. Satisfied with what he found, Thor leaned forward and kissed her forehead, "Stay here and rest. I will come and sit with you soon."
"Where are you going?" Maryn asked him as he stood and let go of her hand.
He stopped in the room's doorway, "I have questions that need answers and the humans are the only ones that can answer them," And with that he was gone.
Still feeling weak, Maryn didn't want to force her body into following him and so she lay back down on the thin mattress under her. Closing her eyes, she tried to remember what she had been dreaming about.
The sound of Fenrir's claws clicking on the metal floor made her smile and turn her head to look at him, "Where have you been, Fen?" she asked him softly, reaching up to ruffle his ears, his body so large he filled the room where she lay. With a soft whine, the gargantuan wolf laid his chin on her chest and closed his eyes as Maryn scratched his cheeks and snout.
The sudden muffled sound of an explosion and the feel of the flying machine trembling around them made Maryn sit up and Fenrir turn his head toward the doorway. Dread filled Maryn's chest and she nodded toward the exit, "Go and defend the humans," she ordered the huge animal.
He snarled and lay his ears back, unwilling to leave her side when there was a threat so close.
With a hard look, Maryn pointed toward the doorway, "Defend the others!" she ordered.
With another unhappy growl, Fenrir manoeuvred his body out of the room, and then hesitated, before taking off down the corridor toward the explosion sight.
Pushing back the blanket that had been over her legs, Maryn carefully slid off the edge of the medical cot. The moment her feet touched the ground and her full weight descended, her knees gave way and she gasped, catching herself on the edge of the bed. Although her pain was gone, she needed to remember she was drained. Gritting her teeth she held herself up with all her weight on her arms and hands until a little strength returned to her legs and she was able to stand without fear of collapsing again, although she was a little unsteady. Making her way carefully to the doorway of the room, she held onto the bed and the wall as long as possible before leaning in the doorway and looking out down the hall running either side of the room.
Knowing the carrier was under attack made her wish for her full strength; but as had been happening lately, her powers weren't able to help her and she would be unable to assist the humans this time.
Frustrated at herself and the weakness in her body, Maryn steeled herself and stepped out into the hallway, listening carefully for any sounds of fighting or calls for help. Turning in the direction the explosion had come from she stumble through the metal hall and out into an open area where three men were fighting. One was clearly a part of Nick Fury's team, while the other two were dressed in black but had no insignia or other symbol to show whom they were loyal to.
Summoning what she could of her magic, Maryn reached out a hand toward them, pushing back the two mercenaries and freeing the other one who looked scared to death.
"Go," she told him as he gulped up at her from where he had been pinned against the wall by one of the men in black. He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose, opened his mouth to say something, before thinking better of it and hightailing it from the area.
Turning her attention to the two men she had trapped in a corner, Maryn narrowed her eyes at them, "Who do you work for?"
They glared silently at her, refusing to speak and ready to fight in a moment.
Maryn saw that bright power of the Tesseract twisting around them, its power shining from their eyes, although they looked normal to anyone else who saw them. "What do you want here?" she tried again.
The hair on the nape of her neck standing up was all the warning she had that a third mercenary had escaped her notice, and then a cloth was pressed to her mouth and nose. As the fumes of whatever chemical that the cloth had been soaked in wound into her brain and made everything turn hazy, Maryn heard the man behind her speak quietly, "Lord Thanos has a use for you, princess."
Loki strode up the ramp of the small flying machine, his mind frantically searching for the reason he would kill the agent who had confronted him before he sent Thor, locked in the glass prison, plummeting from the carrier. He remembered escaping the cell and leaving a copy to fool his brother as he transported to the room where the humans were keeping his sceptre and took it back. However, as soon as he saw the agent holding out a weapon trained at his copy when he returned to the prison, his body seemed to have a mind of its own, and no matter what he did, he couldn't stop himself from stabbing the human in the back with the sceptre.
The grief-stricken cry of his brother wasn't enough to bring him out of the trance and he could feel himself smirking as he moved back to the controls of the glass room.
The leader of the humans had unwittingly given him the key to sending the glass room plummeting to Earth and his controlled body used it. He pressed the buttons and sent Thor plunging to the ground far below.
It was only after the weapon the wounded agent held had discharged, and its blast had thrown him to the metal grating a few feet away from where he stood, his head slamming into the ground on impact, that he was able to take control of his body again.
As quickly as he could, he made his way through the carrier and out to the aircraft that would carry him to where he was to have the portal open and allow the Chitauri entrance to Earth.
The sight of Maryn's unconscious body laid out on the floor of the aircraft shocked him. He knew she would have been too weak to make it there alone and lifted his sharp gaze to the mercenaries sitting on the seat opposite where she lay, the jostling of the aircraft lifting off from the carrier's runway not breaking his concentration on them. "What is the meaning of this?" he motioned toward her but knew if he made any move to touch her or check that she was alright it would be read as weakness.
One mercenary spoke up, his shoulders lifting in a careless shrug, "Lord Thanos believes you need motivation to complete the mission."
Hiding his rage that Maryn would be used against him, Loki sneered at him, "I need no motivation other than my own, boy. You would do well to remember that." With an emotionless wave of his hand toward Maryn, he then took a seat and leaned his head back, a great weariness settling on his shoulder. Knowing he needed to communicate with The Other, Loki closed his eyes and fell to meditation, however, the thought of Maryn so close, and that she was being used to control him, sent anger simmering through his blood. The Other thought that he would be easier to manipulate because of her, what he didn't know was that Maryn had power even Loki had not seen before, power that once she learned to wield it would be unstoppable. He knew that, although he wanted the crown, he would fight to keep her safe no matter what – it was the one thing that Thanos and his followers did not plan for.