Chapter 4
If you are expecting me to say that I fell off the damn horse, forget it.
I actually did well for myself and even impressed the four of them in the process of learning. I was not so sure about Loki, but he was hard to read. I did need a boost up into the pretty golden brown horse named Artemis, Sif guided my feet in to the stirrups and I shook a bit nervously as I looked around myself. Thor carefully braced me with a hand behind my back and gave me the basic movements and commands to properly control the horse.
After a couple of practice laps around the courtyard with Thor and Fandral nearby to catch me in case I fell, everyone mounted their own rides and we left through the gates at a moderate pace. I looked at one of the guards and he gave me a nod and smile of approval and I returned the smile, maybe it was not so bad over all.
"You are doing well," Fandral said as he rode up next to me on my right and Sif fell in on my left. Thor rode taking the lead and I was going to thank him when he continued his statement with a flirt.
"You are like a true Queen on your mount."
He winked and I couldn't hide the smile that erupted that time and I sighed, laughing I shook my head and gave him a sidelong look.
"Fandral," I said, sighing, "Give up, you are nice but I would rather have you as a friend."
Behind us Loki gave an amused snort and Fandral smiled in his charming way, showing every tooth in his mouth and twitching his mustache at me. Sif nearly fell off her horse laughing, her head back and dark hair shining in the sun.
"Then friendship it shall be," Fandral replied in a way that made me think he was not ready at all to give up his flirting. I leaned over to talk to his horse and I said:
"If he flirts with me again, make sure he falls on his head."
The horse grunted as if he understood me and Sif laughed even harder at the scene, I sat back and looked around me still feeling like I was an impostor in this strange land.
"Looks like you have finally met a beautiful woman immune to your charms Fandral." Thor teased over his shoulder with obvious amusement in his voice. Fandral rode ahead and took up position next to Thor as the cool late morning breeze blew past us as we entered the city proper. They talked with each other and Thor laughed and shook his head, he glanced back at me and nodded at me.
"He is right," Sif said and I looked over at her. "You do smell pleasantly, I have a warrior's sense and you smell like flowers or a garden in full bloom."
I blushed never realizing that I did smell like perfume, and felt a bit freakish thanks to the meeting earlier coupled with this new revelation but I internally assumed it was better than smelling like old socks. I pulled the collar of my coat up and smelled it, but only smelled clean fabric and the soap I used earlier.
"I guess that is a good thing," I replied and looked at the stone gate ahead, people milled about it and two guards held post at it as we passed under it. They saluted Thor, who gave them a wave in respect and both men stared openly at me as we went by.
We rode through a Market, and it was filled with sights and smells too wondrous to imagine. One shop displayed spider web fine fabrics that shimmered in the light brilliantly, they turned in the breeze and waved in a riot of colors that dazzled my senses. Another sold spices exotic and the smell of them made me think of a market in Morocco, and I looked at the overflowing baskets of fruits and felt a pang of homesickness remembering Pike Place Market near the waterfront in Seattle. One shop had a window filled with crystal trinkets and cups that sparkled prettily in the sun, their shine causing me to blink my eyes to keep from blinding myself as we passed. I heard the rhythmic clang of a blacksmith hammering at a metal, forging and tempering steel into something useful and I ducked low on the horse to see through the open door of his workshop as we passed.
People looked at us as well, all eyes falling onto Thor first which made sense to me, but they soon followed back to me and people pointed and whispered to each other as they saw me and I looked down at my hands. I tried to will them to look at someone else, and wondered if I would ever get used to people staring at me in a way that said I was a pretty thing and admired. One older woman with gray streaks in her brown hair ran up to our group and insisted on handing us apples as we passed by, I took one from her hands and smiled politely passing it to Sif as she handed me another holding my hand in hers and reaching up to brush her fingers across my face.
"Thank you." I said to the smiling woman, and her soft smile widened in to a full grin briefly as she walked with the horse I was on.
As we left the market for a worn dirt road, Sif took a bite of her apple and chewed thoughtfully. Her entire countenance relaxed and at home on her horse, and I made a conscious effort to relax my own body to look more like her. Behind me, I could feel Loki's eyes boring into my back and debated throwing the apple over my shoulder at him, instead I chose to ignore him. I did not want to know him, and he was definitely creepy as hell, all quiet and shit.
"What do you think if Asgard so far?' Sif asked me taking another bite of her fruit as I bit into my own apple.
"Honest opinion?" I replied to her question and turned over my response in my head.
"Of course Lilliana, I want to know what you think." I chewed and swallowed the bite in my mouth and took in a deep breath, thinking how to word what I was thinking without being offensive. It did not pay to have someone here angry with me.
"I think it is a gilded cage." I said and looked down the apple in my hand, trying to remain casual. "I have read fantasy stories back home and wished to see places like this, but I can't shake the feeling I am here for more than my protection. Plus one person in particular creeps me out like crazy."
Sif took another bite of her apple and thought about my words quietly, and I finished my apple next to her wishing I had just lied and told her I loved being there.
"I did ask your opinion, but I hope you change it." She said. tossing the core into the bushes and took mine and threw it aside as well.
"Still cool with me?" I asked her and she smiled warmly.
"Do you mean to ask if I still like you?'
"Yeah." I said looking down as the reins in my hands, feeling bad still.
"I do," She patted my shoulder. "You are honest with your thoughts and speak your mind openly, a rare trait for people here, everyone is so afraid to say what they think for the fear of offending the Allfather. And your scolding Loki earlier was amusing."
I grinned a bit and looked over at her.
"This is the strangest Birthday I have ever had. Strange in a good way though." I said patiently and laughed to myself.
"Birthday?" She asked me and I laughed as she looked at me.
"We celebrate the day you are born on Earth, we call it a Birthday. I guess you don't have that here." I replied and she smiled and looked at me.
"No, we live so long, It is hard to mark the passing of time properly. After a while. We stop thinking of our live in years, but in deeds." She replied and I nodded at her as we rode on down the path, the sun dancing through the trees.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Loki was impressed with Lilliana as he quietly listened to her conversation with Sif, she was more clever than he had previously given her credit for. Her comment about Asgard being a gilded cage proved most astute, and he was somewhat happy for someone else seeing it as such. His gloved hand fidgeted with the reins as he listened more carefully to their conversation as they rode on. Trying to catch any clues to unraveling the carefully guarded girl. He saw the way he marveled at the pretty little trinkets in the market and found it strangely childlike, innocent in her curiosity and strangely endearing.
As the women continued talking he found himself wondering more about this book she was talking with Sif about.
"So in this book, this fiction," Sif continued, how does this man survive on a planet with no food or water?"
"He uses his skills as a scientist to make water using chemistry and the basic chemical reactions he knows of and he grows food in the soil by introducing bacteria to the dead soil of the planet." Lilliana replied.
"He is a Botonist….. a person who studies plants and their chemistry."
"Interesting, and the people from his home, do they know of his plight?"
"Yes and no." She replied thinking deeply of how to explain her answer and bit her lower lip thinking. "They figure out he is still alive on accident, and he figures out how to communicate with the people on Earth."
"Clever, does he survive his ordeal?" Sif laughed and Lilliana then leaned into her close.
"You can borrow the book if you want; I've read it at least a dozen times. And I have three other books with me."
"No," Sif said. "I believe I will irritate you with my constant requests for explanations on Midguardian technology."
"It's O.K." Lilliana smiled and it faded as she thought a secret thought, she looked down at her hands. Loki cleared his throat making them both look back at him, and the girl rolled her eyes as they both turned.
"Something got your attention? Timmy fall down a well, pirates, or raiders?" Lilliana asked with annoyance and Loki frowned at her and she turned back around in her saddle, he frowned and glared at the back of her head.
"No, I was thinking perhaps I should read this book." He said and brought his horse up to her right. "It does sound fascinating."
She looked up at him nervously, and then her brows knitted in a look of irritation as he felt a bit shocked that she would be so defiant toward him. Lilliana sighed and rolled her eyes and made an effort to ignore him, he did not back down, and eventuality she looked at him.
"You don't even like people from Earth, what would you care about a stupid book? Jeez, and if being creepy were an Olympic Sport, you would definitely have to be tested for performance enhancing drugs. Seriously, you got this whole Dracula meets the Devil kind of vibe nailed." She said and Thor turned in his saddle as Sif hid a laugh behind her hand.
"Challenge me again Little Mouse," He warned her angrily. "And…."
"And what?" Lilliana spit at him, cutting him off rudely. Fandral turned on his horse to look back at them, Loki raised an eyebrow at her. He sat back in his saddle watching her as her brows knitted in more anger and she glared back at him.
"Until your stupidity in New York, we were happy to think we were alone in the universe. Yeah, maybe a few people claimed to be abducted and experimented on, but that stupid ass stunt really made us afraid as a planet. Did you ever think were happy? That everything was great? I'm one of those people who had their eyes forced wide open that day and I want so bad to have my ignorance back. So when you figure out how to give me that, then you can threaten me. Until then, you show me how to control the freak show I currently am, and stop trying to buddy up to me. I am not here to be your friend, nor do I want to be." Deafening silence fell on the group as she spoke, scolding him and treating him like an impetuous child, and he swallowed heavily and glared at her angrily.
"There it is again, trying to look all creepy, totally failing at it too. You think you can bully everyone by being tall and arrogant, whatever. Go cry Emo kid and leave me alone, I got cooler people to chill with." She said and sighed as he allowed his horse to fall back behind the group.
Sighing heavily, he watched the fight leave her and Sif put her hand on her shoulder gently.
"I don't know why I am cursed." Lilliana said and Sif leaned in gently, a quiet calm returned to the group as everyone settled back into their saddles. A butterfly landed on the comb in her hair and fluttered away. He reflected on what she had said to him, and wanted to have the girl flogged for her insolence toward him. There was something about her though, the way her voice trembled when he looked at her, she had a look in her eyes after she spat her insults at him, not defiance, nor any fearful anticipation of a punishment.
"You are not cursed Lilly, you are honest, and that alone is a virtue." Sif said and smiled at her.
"When you know who you are; and when your mission is clear and you burn with the inner fire of unbreakable will; no cold can touch your heart; no deluge can dampen your purpose. You know then you are alive." Lillana said and Thor and Fandral turned in their saddles again to look at her incredulously.
"Are these the words of a wise warrior from Midguard?" Thor asked her and she laughed patiently.
"Chief Seattle, he may have been a warrior at one time, but her became a man who sought peace the older he grew." she said, and Thor nodded appreciatively at her.
"Sounds like a wise and brave man Lady. Tell me more." Thor said and she sighed.
"He was a Native Tribal Leader, and the city you found me in was named for him. I read all of his essays and that just popped into my head, I have a strange sense of recall at times" She said and Fandral raised his eyebrows. The words she had spoken however, echoed in Loki's mind as they rode into the North Woods and he studied her body language from behind.
"You have given us much to think on." He said and she turned to look at him, she was about to say something, but thought better of it and turned back around riding on in silence.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
We rode until midday and we found a nice glade in the woods near a river for the horses. They drank from the river and grazed from the tall grass as we ate a picnic lunch made up of whatever Fandral managed to steal from the kitchens. I sat on a flat stone that Thor had carried over for me, obviously showing off how strong he was and listened to Fnadral's story, laughing despite myself. He felt the need to insist he charmed the maids into giving him the food, and they gave him the items as he told his story, but he basically stole everything. The dark bruise on the back of his hand betrayed him, but we all humored him as he elaborated as the truth came out.
"And one of the women, a rather large lady of merit with strong arms from kneading bread, began throwing potatoes at me. I nearly lost my life as a soup pot was flung by a waif of a woman as well; I am quite shocked she could throw that strongly." We all laughed at his story and he stood up and walked over to his horse, from his saddle bag he produced a cloth wrapped bundle and handed it to me. Loki chose to sit on a low tree branch, away from the group and that was fine by me.
"All the peril was worth it however, to steal this for our most honored guest." I opened the cloth to find a little glazed cake inside it, and he smiled brightly. "A honey cake for you, best served with a drizzling of cream but still good dry."
I blushed and re wrapped the little cake setting it aside and Sif shot him a look that told him non-verbally to behave himself. He sat back down on the grass, and smiled at me and I giggled softly at the gesture.
"Thank you Fandral. But don't risk your life against soup pots or women with potatoes to steal me any more food, I have a feeling they will try to over feed me here anyways." I said and popped a grape into my mouth.
"Do you have any stories of Midguard lady?" Fandral asked me and I sat back feeling all eyes on me as they waited patiently to hear something come from me. How do you explain being a Drug Mule for an asshole who will beat you or let one of his goons rape you if you try to quit or get arrested? I shook my head and picked at a piece of bread in my hands and sighed, looking at the river and thinking more as my eyes studied the rocks and the shore on the other side.
"Nothing that exciting." I said, glancing down and looked up to notice a path traveling into the woods across the river. I touched Sif's arm to get her attention as I chewed a bite of bread and pointed at it.
"There is a path over there, between the bushes." Sif squinted over at it and her eyes widened some when she saw it herself.
"There is," She said and Fandral and Thor turned to see the path for themselves and they eyed it cautiously. Loki made a noise of interest behind us, as he stood up and walked to the rivers edge and looked across at the path.
"Perhaps the Little Mouse has found something interesting after all." Loki said over his shoulder to us from the river and I resisted the urge to walk up to him and slug him for his teasing.
"We could see where it goes." Sif said and Thor looked at it cautiously and began forming a plan quietly how to cross the river. Thinking to himself as he stood by.
"How would we get over there to begin with?' Thor asked standing and walking to the shore and the rest of us followed suit and stood there following him. I picked up a dry stick and tested the depth as Loki watched me with some interest as I worked.
"We could walk for hours and not find a way to cross it" Thor added and I began debating if I could wade across it if I needed to, it looked like it would get up to my waist, but I did not know how comfortable it would be to wear wet leather pants..
"Perhaps we could roll a log into it and use that as a bridge?" Fandral suggested as I found our crossing. I grabbed Sif's hand and quietly pulled her over as the two men continued to try to form a plan and Loki followed us as he rolled his eyes at Thor and Fandral, who obviously did not notice us.
I showed them both where some rocks broke the surface and they both looked at me, as they created a perfect path of stepping stones across the river. I carefully stepped across using the first four, and turned and pointed out a path.
"It is not too deep here, maybe two to four feet at most," I said and they both nodded at me. "We could still use the rocks though and stay dry."
I then carefully moved from one rock to the other until I was halfway across the river and I noticed that Fandral and Thor were still locked in their planning of how to cross when I picked up a smaller rock out of the water and threw it so it splashed in front of them, breaking their concentration and causing them to look up for the source of the stone that disturbed them.
"Are you two coming or what?" I shouted and they both saw me standing on my rock as Loki began selecting his path across, Sif kept moving around me completing her crossing. I have to admit, for a tall guy Loki was graceful, I nearly slipped as he came up behind me and he caught my arm to stop me from going over into the water.
"Thanks." I said, but still yanked my arm back from him defensively as I turned to cross.
"Or," Fandral said clapping Thor on the shoulder, and pointing to us as we carefully balanced and hopped from one stone to another.
"We could use the stones in the river to cross if we are light of feet." And he ran over to begin his crossing.
Loki nearly slipped on the same stone I had but caught his balance as Fandral started across the river. Thor waited patiently until Fandral gained some distance and began crossing himself, soon we were all across and standing at the mouth of the path and I stepped forward to start, but Thor held me back.
"We do not know yet what is down there." He said warning me gently, "Let me take the lead followed by Fandral, Lady Sif will walk ahead of you, and Loki shall take the rear and warn of us of danger from behind."
"Exactly what threat do you expect Thor." Loki sighed and I couldn't help myself and I gave a little giggle in agreement, he was being overly cautious for no reason.
"We know not where we go brother, and any threat is possible, thieves may use this path." He said glaring at Loki, and I put a hand over my mouth to hold in another giggle and the two men continued to glare at one another.
"I swear to God you two have to be siblings," I sighed regaining my composure. "You two would argue over whether or not water was wet. Are we going or what?"
The group looked down at me and Fandral smiled in his gifted way that put everyone at ease. I put my hands on my hips and stared at Thor as he looked down at me bemused.
"She has a point." Fandral said and Thor began leading us ahead quietly.
"Look out everyone. Big spooky path of doom." I said and Loki snorted behind me and I could see Sif holding in a laugh from the way her shoulders bunched.
"So 'Blair Witch Project'." I added, and everyone stopped progressing and looked at me for clarification.
"Blair Witch Project?" Fandral asked and I threw out my hands and rolled my eyes.
"You guys really need Netflix here, because most of my jokes are going to fly right over your heads." I sighed and rolled my eyes again in exasperation.
"Netflix?" Thor asked then and I put my hands on my hips as Loki laughed behind me.
"Never mind, let's just keep going." I said and motioned for them to keep walking and the group moved on.
At Sif's prompts, I gave a synopsis of the Blair Witch Project, and Fandral glanced back looking disturbed by the story.
"This is meant to entertain?" He asked as I finished the story and I clapped my hands to describe the blow that killed one of the characters, causing her to jump.
"Yeah, but movies like that are not for everyone." I answered and he nodded his agreement still looking a bit horrified. There was tall grass higher than my head and heavy brush on either side of the path that created a wall on either side of us when Thor stopped short, and Sif and Fandral formed a wall behind him that preventing me from seeing what they were looking at. I jumped up and nearly slipped on some loose dirt, Loki put his hands on my shoulders before I hit the dirt and I repressed a grimace. I caught a glimpse of what they were looking at, seeing a clearing and some old growth trees, but couldn't see much more.
"What is that?" Sif asked Thor and Fandral in a hushed voice and I tried jumping up again to see, quickly becoming frustrated. Loki, who stood at my back, craned his neck to see what everyone was looking at and I got an idea and looked at him as he regarded me.
"Crouch down." I said to him and he looked at me with a raised eyebrow, and I sighed.
"Why?" He asked, resisting my request.
"I need to be taller, so just crouch down." He bent his knees slightly and I put my arms around his neck and he got the immediate idea of me being lifted piggy back style, he knelt down on one knee and I could feel his annoyance as he stood.
"I am grateful you are small and light." He said and hitched me up higher onto his back by putting his hands behind my knees so my arms hung loosely around his neck, preventing me from choking him.
"Just go forward and shut up. Also, touch my butt, and I will strangle you." I said and motioned him forward. He sighed and walked to join the group, and I could see everything now. Over their shoulders I could see stone ruins, long forgotten and left to nature. It looked like an old temple of some kind and I made a noise of interest, Thor turned his head and was surprised to see me eye to eye and on Loki's back.
"Her idea." He said, and studied the scene carefully over Sif's shoulder. Everyone turned to see what Thor was looking at, and I rolled my eyes as Loki groaned. I pinched his shoulder and he turned his head to glare at me over his shoulder, I hitched myself up a bit higher and looked at the clearing and used his shoulders as leverage.
"I improvised." I said as Thor looked at Loki and grinned as the sight, repressing laughter as he walked forward.
"If I was part tree, I wouldn't have to climb this jerk, and all of you were in the way." I said to Thor, becoming annoyed as Sif turned her head and looked amused.
"This will probably be the only time Loki has a girl riding his back." Fandral joked, and we all ignored it.
We all studied the fallen columns and crumbling archways around the central domed structure as the light shifted slightly through the trees, a curtain of vines blew aside showing a doorway behind a statue that lay on its side, its features eroded and distorted by time. I stretched further and Loki made a sound of protest and I settled back into position, noticing a slightly Celtic notwork pattern that graced some of the columns and on the archway around the door.
"Shall we explore it?' Fandral asked suddenly, and we all jumped in unison and the rest of the group seemed to think on whether or not to go in and see what we found.
"Let me down," I said to Loki and he held me up as I squirmed trying to get off his back. "I want to go in and see what it is."
"I am still not entirely convinced that is a wise course of action." Loki said to me over his shoulder and hitched me up higher to not strain his back.
"I am inclined to agree with Loki." Sif chimed in and I sighed heavily from my perch, and draped my arms over his shoulders.
"No one is here," I said and smacked Thor's shoulder. "Thor is here too, what can go wrong with just looking around for a few minutes?"
Fandral came around behind me and helped me off Loki's back and took my hand and cleared his throat, I was starting to feel like a novelty again until Fandral made his argument in my favor.
"The Lady discovered the path, and we did walk all this way, perhaps we should indulge her and see what treasures await us."
"The Allfather may be interested in hearing of this discovery." Thor mused, rubbing his chin, and scratching his close cropped beard. "We do have light still, I see no harm. Should anything be amiss, we can offer protection."
"Yes!" I said and jumped a bit as Fandral held my hand fast, and I resisted teasing the Nay Sayers in our group and allowed him to tuck my hand into his elbow and he drew his sword.
"Lady, may I escort you on this expedition of discovery?"
"You may," I said and we both walked ahead. "Hurry up guys, before Fandral and I discover all the really cool stuff first!"
Fandral guided me around the fallen statue and insisted on checking in the structure first before I entered, his head reappeared a few moments later.
"You must see what is in here." He said excitedly and used his sword to hack the vines out of the way as Sif ran up to see what he had seen. Fandral gave me his hand and helped me up onto the mossy statue that lay across the doorway, lifting me and planting me on the other side, he then helped Sif over and into the domed structure.
"Whoa." I said as I looked up at the opening in the center of the dome to allow the sunlight in, my eyes trailing down and along the walls. Between each inner column holding the roof about thirty feet above us was a statue of a man or woman holding a sword, vines and various flowers climbed the walls and across their features obscuring them. We turned in the center of the room, and were openly amazed by each of the statues, and Thor stood in awe of them quietly.
"What was this place?" Sif asked, and she and I looked up at a large stone throne that sat between two pillars. I walked up to it and sat in the throne crushing some ivy and moved some of it aside to sit without dirtying my clothes, when I noticed something carved in the front of it below the seat of the throne. I moved more of the vines to see the words and was forced to squint.
"I need some light." I said and motioned for Loki to come forward. "There is something carved here, and I can't see it in this light."
Loki leaned forward with a green flame in his hand and we found a carved figure with a crown over it, and below were carved two words, Loki brushed the dirt away with his gloved hand and I made out the words clearly:
VENI, CORONABERIS
"Come, you shall be crowned." We both said at the same time, and he looked at me in awe for a second, catching himself and relaxing his face back to his normal stoic features.
"It's Latin," I said. "I went to a Catholic School, we had to learn it because we had to read some stuff in the original language. I never thought it would come in handy though."
Suddenly behind us, a stone fell startling us, and we turned to see Thor shrug apologetically at us, and I looked up to groan and I saw another carving behind the throne on the wall.
It was set back in an alcove behind the throne, and I had to carefully pick my way through some foliage that was trying to reclaim the floor of the structure. I grabbed Loki's wrist and drug him behind the throne needing the light he made. I carefully moved some of the flowers that were blooming around it, and found a carved woman and I traced her face and ran my hands lower on the carved legend and saw the words:
HAEC FORIBUSQUE MANET TEMPESTAS PER PATENTIAM EXPECTAMUS
"Patiently, she waits through the storm." I read out loud and Loki gave me a look that said he was actually impressed, I just shrugged and rolled my eyes trying not to look to high and mighty. This guy was creepy, but at least he was not one hundred percent asshole.
"The Little Mouse has me impressed." He said and I ignored him to study the carving again and then allowed the overgrowth to fall back over it, I then turned back and walked to the center of the room thinking to myself as Loki extinguished the flame in his hand and I turned back to him.
"This is like a Stillaguamish Tribal Longhouse, and stop calling me that you arrogant prick." I said and he looked at me in interest laced with mild annoyance. "They built theirs of straw and bark, but the basic idea is the same. The central vent for fresh air and allow smoke from the fire pit to escape as they cooked. See the remains of soot up around the center hole?" He looked up and then back at me, and eyebrow raised as he saw what I did.
"I do, very observant," he said and I pushed the dirt floor around with the toe of my boot. Loki began moving foliage around to see if there were any more carvings, and I proved my theory by uncovering a bit of darker carbonized ash in the dirt.
"This was important," I said continuing my train of thought. "Maybe a Tribal Elder or Chief lived here, the lack of other structures tells me they were either pulled apart for building materials, or were made with less permanent building materials like wood or grass. But this building had to be permanent, maybe a meeting house or palace" I looked around the room and everyone was staring at me again making me feel freakish, but the looks on their faces also told me they were interested.
"The Stillaguamish Tribal Center on Earth talked about how the more settled and Agricultural Based tribes of North America tended to have more permanent structures like this, even the Vikings built similar structures after humanity left the age of being Hunter Gatherers, and we had more time to build on our knowledge. Forging tools, weapons, and telling stories, and the Bronze Age came along and changed everything, Oral Histories were shared in houses like this." Loki stared at me and raised an eyebrow, and he turned again as I gave him a look that told him I was tired of being the freak show.
"How do you know all of this Lady?" Thor asked me patiently, and I turned to face him briefly.
"Books. Knowledge is a better weapon than punching stuff Thor." I said and smiled at him in a knowing way and I heard Loki laugh behind me.
I circled the room again and then did a This quick measure of the ceiling from the floor, and slowly began digging near the throne.
"Damascus Steel." I said and Thor made a sound to question me, I turned and sat back down on the throne as Loki and Fandral looked at me to see what I was going to say next.
"Damascus Steel is a type of forging that was developed during the third century and was in practice until the seventeenth century in what is modern day India on Earth. The steel was marked with swirls and whorls, but was some of the strongest and most beautiful weapons forged. The technology was known to so few, that we lost the ability to create weapons in that manner when the smiths died, and even with modern technology, we still cannot figure out how they made it. Knowledge in the hands of few dies eventually and becomes forgotten, that in itself is the true tragedy of time." I said and Loki stared at me again, nodding in agreement to my statement. He motioned me over pointing at another carving for me to see, I stood up and walked over to him and crouched down to see what he was pointing at.
"You are a fount of reason and knowledge, yet fierce in combat." Sif said then, and I looked at her and smiled as I looked up at her as she stood over us.
"Having a brilliant mind is one thing, knowing how to use it is a lost art." Loki said and moved some grass aside for me to see the carving, but the words were too eroded for me to make it out.
"Sorry, too far gone, and fuck you." I said to Loki and turned to Thor.
"Do you think Odin will know for sure what this place once was?" I asked Thor as he pushed some debris about with his foot, I walked over to a pile of old pottery and knelt down to carefully uncover the delicate antiques, I glanced over at Loki who was looking at a pile of relics himself and quickly looked away when he noticed me.
"That I cannot say," He said to me, and Fandral walked up behind me as I uncovered a piece of pottery causing me to yelp and nearly dropped it. "Can you remember the inscriptions you found in the stone?"
I elbowed Fandral in the ribs and gave him a look that backed him off and looked at Thor as I looked at the clay pot, and studied the swirls and ridges in the glaze.
"If I can read it, I can remember it." I said, carefully setting the pottery back down as I found it, and rolled my eyes. "I have an eidetic memory."
Everyone looked at me for clarification except Loki, and I sighed heavily.
"She remembers everything." Loki said looking at a few items piled up along the walls, and began studying a bronze goblet, turning it in his gloved hands carefully.
"She is far cleverer than we all previously thought." He picked up a small item and turned it over in his hands, removing his gloves and tucking them into his belt, he gestured for me to come over to him as he pulled a few threads from the edge of his riding cloak.
"A compliment from Loki," Sif said, her voice dripping sarcasm. "Mark this day."
I walked over to him and he had just finished threading the few threads of silk he had pulled out of his cloak through the bail of a carved stone pendant. He passed them over my head and dropped the necklace against my chest and raised one finger to his lips.
I looked at the carved soapstone and found it to be a simple oval with a flower carved in it, and I smiled back at him then. He looked at me and sat back to look trough the pile of items again.
"Your discovery," He said low, "You keep something of it."
I nodded and studied him for a moment, looking for motive, but he kept his face bland. I sat down on a dirt rise near him and Fandral looked at me as I looked around, I studied the faces of everyone and sighed openly as I thought.
"Why do you think the other buildings may have been used as building materials?" Fandral asked and I smiled while shaking my head.
"I can't tell for sure, but it could have happened that way. Many of the Roman aqueducts were used that way after the fall of the Empire and we entered the Dark Ages, even the stone roads were pulled up to build shelters by the people out of desperation. But it is more likely that they were primitive structures made of straw and other less permanent building materials." I tucked the pendant into my jacket and let it slip into the tunic I wore under it to hide it.
"History is littered with the skeletons of Fallen Empires, all it takes is someone to exhume the corpses and listen to the ghosts before the voices are lost completely." I said and looked around the base of another statue and found nothing and looked over at Loki as he stood up and put his gloves back on, walking back to the center of the room.
"Very astute girl, but still a long way off from understanding this place. All you have are theories and speculation as to what happened here. Perhaps The Archives will have…" Loki began, but a shrieking sound that raised the hairs on the back of my neck and sent a chill rocketing down my spine startled him into silence. It sounded like a rabid Velociraptor courtesy Jurassic Park, and I slapped and hand over my mouth to keep myself from screaming when it called out again, and my heart decided to do a few back flips off my rib cage.
"Bilgesnipe!" Fandral said pulling his sword, and Thor looked over at him and nodded, I looked at the men and did my best not to scream as the roar bounced off the walls of the building again.
"What is a Bilgesnipe?" I asked removing my hands from my mouth and everyone looked at me.
"We will explain later," Thor said "But for now, we need to run back to the horses and hopefully avoid a confrontation with the beast." I nodded and began following them out of the building and Loki steadied me when the shrieking cry came through the woods causing me to jump and nearly fall backwards over the fallen statue.
We ran along the path quickly and quietly, Loki behind me tripped over a root I had stepped over and I turned to help him up but he had already regained his feet and kept going pushing me along the path quickly and quietly. The Shriek came from closer again, and we all stopped and waited to see where it was coming from and how close it was. I slapped my hands over my mouth when the shriek came again, and nearly started crying in fear as I shook and we heard the call from the path behind us along with the sound of something running heavily toward us and gaining fast. We all turned and began running as fast as we could, Fandral pushed me in front of him and Loki stayed right on my tail.
"Brother! Get her back to the horses, the three of us will hold the beast back and find you both." Thor shouted but the Bilgesnipe was right behind us.
Loki grabbed my wrist and pulled me into the brush at the side of the path as a leathery creature about the size of an Elephant, with a ridge of horns and two that crossed in front of its face like mammoth tusks burst from the trees. It uprooted a medium sized tree in a show of force and Loki lay on top of me and covered the top my head as the tree was thrown over us and exploded against other trees showering us with splinters.
"Get up and run girl." Loki said and rolled off of me. He lifted me up and urged me to run toward the horses, and the creature began chasing us and I nearly screamed when it knocked another tree out of its way, and I lost Loki when he fell to the side to dodge its tusks.
"Keep making for the horses!" Thor screamed off to my right grabbing its attention. "We will catch up to you there."
I dove through the brush trying to find the path again, and listened for the river hoping I could find at least one landmark I knew, but was unable to get my bearings. I stopped and wrapped my arms around a thick tree and took a moment to catch my breath, and I leaned against it feeling the bark against my cheek. Sweat was in my eyes blinding me, and I had just calmed my breathing when I heard a sound on the other side of the tree and peeked around it shaking and nearly screamed when I saw the Bilgesnipe sniffing around. It was looking for me, and had followed my scent.
It stomped through the bushes on cat like paws, and sniffed around and I forced a scream back down my throat as it drew closer to my hiding place, I thought about climbing the tree, but none of the branches were low enough for me to grab. I turned and flattened my back against the trunk and looked around me desperately for any way to hide or escape, and I saw a crack in a rock wall about fifty yards form me. It was not big enough for Thor, and even Sif would have a hard time squeezing through it, but I could fit if I hit it just right.
I could squeeze into the small cave and wait it out if it was dumb animal, and I hoped it was, so I turned around and faced the tree and waited for my chance to make a break for the crack. I watched it as it drew nearer, and was getting ready to run when I heard someone call out my name in the distance, and it looked in the direction of the voice and growled low in its throat. It was the best chance I would get, so I ran and I didn't mean to stop until I was relatively safe in the rocks. If worst came to worse, I planned to try and climb up on them and get higher than the beast.
It saw me run and it gave chase, snarling on my heels as I bolted over a fallen tree and it snapped down crushing it like tinder in its jaws trying to catch me and missing me by inches. I ran faster and barely made the opening before the Bilgesnipe closed its jaws on the air where I once was. It crashed into the rocks and gave an angry shriek as I pressed my back against the small cave in the rocks, it looked in at me and I could feel its hot breath in front of me as it snapped at me and reached a clawed paw in to try and get me. It let out an angry shriek and I pressed my hands against my ears to protect them from the sound as it echoed off the walls of my tiny hiding place. I screamed and It dug at the cave entrance, trying to get me it head butted the cave walls and I felt hot tears begin to fall down my cheeks as I screamed again at the beast in fear and anger. I hoped against all hope that Thor or someone would hear my scream and find me here.
The beast rammed the cave opening again, and the rock behind me shifted, making my hiding place even shallower, and I dug my feet into the soil as it snaked a paw in and it came inches from my face. Its nails caked with the blood of its previous kill and I thought instantly of how Loki fell as we ran. The paw retreated and I sank down low and tried my best to catch my breath when I felt a claw snag the laces on my boot, and I was yanked angrily out of my hiding place like a rag doll. I screamed as I was flung through the air and my jacket got snagged on the walls and it tore before I came to rest on the grass outside the cave hearing a sickening pop in my arm as it broke from my trying to brace myself in the fall. My head struck a rock and my blood mixed with sweat, and I tried to push back in the grass to get back on my feet. I cradled my broken arm and cried in pain as I felt the bone shift and move back into its proper place. Panic laced my brain and I backed away from the monster trying to get away, it roared down at me and I screamed as it bore down on me with claws extended.
Then the fire came.
It was not like the fire in the Throne Room back in the castle before Odin, it was an inferno that erupted from me, and it washed over me, burning the Bilgesnipe as it tried to retreat. Flowing like water over the both of us, but not burning me as it wrapped tendrils over the legs of the beast, and up its face and body. I screamed as the beast burned, and arched my back as the arm that was broken healed instantly causing me to feel white hot agony, I screamed so loud something must have torn loose in my throat because no sound came but a rush of air.
The last thing I saw before I fell into blackness on the cool ground as the flames retreated was the beast burning and collapsing to the ground at the fire consumed it.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Loki raced through the forest with Thor and Fandral, Sif returned to the horses to see if Lilliana had arrived as instructed before them. They lost the Bilgesnipe as it crashed off into the woods, and the three of them decided to check the woods in case she lost her way and got turned around. Late afternoon was upon them and he knew that Thor would refuse to leave until the girl was found. They heard howls from the beast followed by a scream of pure agony echoing off the trees, Loki pushed on ahead of them trying to outrun fate itself as he vaulted a fallen tree and urged himself forward through the brush.
"What?" Loki choked out as they came upon the scene and took in the burning remains of the Bilgesnipe, Lilliana lay on the ground on her back and was shaking, her eyes rolled into the back of her head as he back arched skyward and then she became very still. Loki and Thor immediately ran to her and checked her limp form as Fandral stood and looked at the burning beast with his mouth open and put his hands on top of his head.
"Did she?" Fandral asked, and Thor shook her gently, looking for any signs of life in the girl and Loki stopped him then, placing his fingers close to her nose feeling a shallow, weak breath. He waited a few seconds more and felt another, he sighed and felt relief at feeling her life begin to return, but her skin was cold and her face remained lifeless and pale.
"She is alive." Loki confirmed and saw relief flood across Thor's worried face, and Fandral let out the breath he was holding. Thor stood, not letting go of her and cradling her head gently so her neck would not twist about. She looked so small and frail in the large man's arms, like a child lost and then found again. Loki took a cloth and wiped at the blood on her forehead and found no cut, the wound being healed but leaving the evidence.
"Thank the stars." Fandral said and put his hands on his knees. "Did she do that?"
"I believe she did, involuntarily though." Loki said looking at Fandral and Thor. "Little Mouse is drained from the release of power, she may remain unconscious for a while yet." He said as they began walking quickly through the woods toward the horses, wasting no time as they moved through the brush.
"We should get her to Eir." Fandral said and ran ahead to tell Sif she had been found. Loki folded her loose arm over her stomach to prevent it from flopping about and Thor sighed heavily, another burden on his mind.
"I blame myself for this brother." He said and worry tinged his voice. "I should not have sent her running by herself for the horses, I only meant to get her away from the beast."
"She is not dead, you can be thankful for that." He said and Sif came running with Fandral back through the forest toward them, panic creasing her usually calm face.
"I was still foolish, Father will demand answers." Thor said and he crossed the river soaking his boots and pants as he slogged forward with his arms clutching her closer. Loki chose to step across the stones again to cross the river, but he did not harass Thor for his choice as speed was their ally. Fandral and Sif crossed behind him staying relatively dry.
"Just tell him the truth," Sif said as Fandral took Lilliana away from Thor so he could mount his horse, and was about to pass her body back up to her when he hesitated briefly.
"She is cold as death." She said and Sif grabbed Loki's riding cloak and wrapped her in it carefully to keep her from flopping about limply and to keep her warm as Thor took her back to the castle.
"I will take her straight to Eir." Thor said pulling her close and positioning her head in the crook of his elbow jabbing his heels into the animal's flanks, spurring the horse forward and riding off in a trail of dust and disappeared around the bend in the road.
"We should ride," Fandral said. "We can help Thor if we soften the blow to Odin before he hears of her plight elsewhere." The three of them clambered onto their horses, and began riding back as fast as they could, Loki giving Artemis a slap to the rump and spurring her to gallop back to the stables with them.