Tadaaa! Exams are over! (still waiting for my results though...) I know I kept you waiting! So here you go!

ENJOY!

Chapter 45

"Loki! Fandral shouted while pulling his sword out of the belly of a six feet tall bandit. He turned to face The God of Mischief who was fighting next to him. Loki quickly slit two throats at once before turning.

"There're just too many!" Fandral shouted. The left side of his face was already scarred by a deep bleeding cut, but even if the golden warrior felt any pain, he refused to show it.

Loki ducked and let Fandral stab the bandit behind him, yet the moment his sword took hit, the bandit disappeared like a dust cloud in the wind.

Fandral sighed. "That's already the twentieth time!" he called out in frustration. Loki straightened up again and threw one of his daggers right past Fandral's ear to eliminate a female bandit who had crept up behind him.

"That's the problem!" Loki shouted back while the female bandit dissolved as well. "There're not many at all! They're illusions!"

Fandral frowned while avoiding a flying axe. "That's what I thought at first!" he declared. "But I thought illusions can't do any harm!" he said while gesturing at his face. "Look at my façade! The one who fixed me this put her arm right through me!"

Loki nodded while placing a well-aimed kick in a bandits back. For a couple of seconds both of them were busy fighting off their opponents. A sudden earthquake made every bandit fall to the ground. Only the illusions remained up straight. Loki and Fandral managed to do the same. They both searched for Thor who had obviously caused the earthquake, but the God of Thunder had already flown off. Loki and Fandral shared a look before fixing back on the remaining illusions. Now that they didn't have effect any longer, they all disappeared as one, leaving behind a dozen clumsy bandits who were trying to get on their feet once more. Loki and Fandral didn't waste any time and slashed their way through the bandits before a new set of illusions would appear.

Sadly, another group of at least fifty bandits, stormed their way.

The two warrior sighed.

"Sorry fellers!" Fandral shouted as they came closer. "I need to take a piss first!"

Loki laughed and pulled Fandral away from the battle towards a large building in the centre of the city. It used to be the local school, but now it had been transformed into a hospital/hiding place for the remaining people of Storborg. Loki ran straight for the wall. Just before he would have hit the hard dark stone, he waved his hand through the air. A ripped out door instantly appeared. The young king and the golden warrior rushed inside and Loki put the illusion of the wall back in place.

Breathing heavily, the two friends sank to the ground. They were immediately surrounded by a bunch of worried healers, but Loki waved them off.

Fandral threw him a playful and accusing glare.

"At least give me the chance to get a girl during my break!" he said with a grin.

Loki smiled shortly. He closed his eyes for a second and took a deep breath. He head was aching, as was the rest of his body.

Fandral looked worried.

"You're alright?" he asked after a short silence. Loki looked up and tried to smile, but his exhaustion was starting to show. They'd been fighting the bandits for three hours. Just the seven of them. Well, six since the last hour, because Arya had taken an ugly hit on the head from a rather big bandit. Volstagg had immediately taken her to the temporary hospital. Of course she'd woken up after five minutes, but the healers refused to let her go.

"I'm fine!" Loki answered shortly. He got to his feet, ignoring the scorching pain in his muscles and the pounding of his head and made his way towards the few improvised beds the healers had prepared for the wounded.

Loki searched for the annoyed face of his Captain, until a sudden darkness covered his view. The pounding of his head increased and the young king stumbled back. Fandral only just managed to keep him from falling.

Loki growled and rubbed his temples, waiting for his sight to return.

"Is it these sorcerers?" Fandral asked when Loki seemed to be able to stand up straight again. The young king didn't answer, but instead continued his search for Arya. He really wanted to see her right now. Her kind and ever excited appearance always gave him the strength to go on.

Fandral threw the young king a dark look, but Loki didn't even turn around. The golden warrior sighed. He wasn't stupid! He'd fought alongside Loki many times before. He knew when the younger prince was using too much magic and he knew what magic could do to others.

"Just let me go!" a sudden voice sounded. Both Loki and Fandral turned to the source. Arya pulled her arm from a healers grip and made her way to her bow and arrows which were stacked against the wall.

The annoyed healer followed her and tried to take hold of her arm once more, but Loki was first.

"Trust me, good healer," the young king said kindly, "she's able to fight!"

"My king, I do not think this wise!" the healer answered, but he knew better than to go against his king's wishes.

"We will keep an eye on your patient, sir!" Fandral joined in while winking towards Arya, who rolled her eyes and sighed. Loki scowled.

The healer raised his shoulders. He had other patients to attend to, so he turned around and left the trio behind.

"Thank you, my lord…" Arya said respectfully while picking up her bow.

"Your most welcome, my fair lady!"

"She was talking to me, idiot!" Loki answered immediately.

"Oh, I don't think so!" Fandral responded.

Loki raised his eyebrows and sighed.

"We better get going!" Loki said. "Enough resting!"

Fandral clapped his hands together.

"Action!" he exclaimed. "Let's g…"

"My Lord Fandral!" a worried voice sounded. Two female healers came rushing towards the trio, but only had eye for Fandral. Immediately the warrior had put on his most charming smile possible.

"You're hurt, my Lord!" one of the girls exclaimed while softly touching the bleeding cut on Fandral's forehead.

The golden warrior seemed confused at first, but quickly managed a painful scowl on his face.

Loki and Arya raised their eyebrows simultaneously.

"Oh yes…" Fandral said with a gasp. "Yes, I believe I am hurt… Very hurt… practically dying!"

The two healers giggled. "Let us help you , my lord…." The second girl said while gesturing to the hospital area of the building.

"Action, Fandral?" Loki asked playfully. The warrior threw him a big grin.

"Maybe later… I'll be there in a second…" he answered before turning back to the girls.

"Ladies, shall we?"

Arya and Loki watched the golden warrior walk off.

"You've got to be kidding me…" Loki whispered.

Arya smiled. "Let him get his kicks… Maybe he'll fight harder afterwards…"

Loki smiled. "Oh, he certainly will…"

It stayed silent for a while.

"My lord…" Arya suddenly started. Loki looked down. "There's magic here… we can all feel it… dark and powerful… Those illusions… they can hurt us! I thought that wasn't possible."

Loki smiled. "Everything is possible with magic… it depends on the way you use it! Nevertheless…"

Loki grew silent while a frown spread across his face. Arya waited patiently.

"Nevertheless… It takes a awful lot of magic, dark magic, to perform this kind of spell… And besides that, these sorcerers are invisible and… I believe they are, somehow, blocking the Bifröst.

Arya looked up in astonishment. "The Bifröst?" she asked in disbelief.

Loki nodded almost invisibly. "I felt it when we got here… some sort of pull at the Bifröst's beam… I thought it nothing, but now… it would explain why Heimdall dropped us so far from Storborg and why we still don't have any reinforcements."

Arya turned silent while all the colour drained from her face. The strength of the Bifröst was legendary. It could destroy worlds on its own! To know that it was being held back and controlled by dark – invisible – sorcerers…

Loki looked down and noticed Arya's fear…

"Of course it's only a guess!" he quickly added, immediately wondering why he was giving Arya false hope. He was never wrong! And he absolutely never gave people false hope!

Nevertheless Arya seemed to calm down a bit. That's when she noticed Loki's exhaustion, his pale face and tired eyes.

The young Captain frowned.

"My lord, are you sure you're all right?"

Loki snapped from his trance he'd just found himself in and tried to remember what Arya had asked. He smiled and from one second to the other his exhaustion disappeared.

Arya frowned. Loki had done that quit a lot in her presence. One moment he seemed to be an open book, waiting for someone to care, but the second somebody did, he would close up behind that brilliant smile.

"I fine…" Loki answered. "Great…"

Without saying another word the young king made his way towards the door. Arya sighed and followed. Before she knew it she was standing outside again.

The young Captain whistled between her teeth. "Oh damn…" she whispered. Her eyes scanned her surroundings. Almost everything was burned down or destroyed. The ground was littered with bodies of bandits, but most of all citizens who never made it to the school.

Loki put the illusion of the wall back in place and turned to Arya.

"Most of them are illusions, Arya…" he explained while gesturing to the fighting bandits.

"If we want to fight this battle, we'll have to get rid of them first! We're going to split up. Get the others and tell them to fall back! I'll create a diversion…"

Arya nodded. She took hold of her knife, knowing that if she was going to slash her way through lines of bandits, her bow wouldn't help.

Be quick and be careful!" Loki added sounding genuinely worried. Arya couldn't help but smile, yet her smile faded when another sight caught her eye. She looked skywards. Loki followed her stare. High in the sky they could see the blinding light of the Bifröst coming closer, but it seemed as if the rainbow collided with an invisible shield. The light disappeared, pulled back to Asgard.

Loki and Arya looked at each other. The young Captain wasn't able to hide her fear. Loki's predictions had been correct. Somehow the Bifröst was being controlled.

The young king smiled and tried to put his Captain at ease…

"Don't worry…." he said. "Once we discover these sorcerers everything will be all right!"

Arya smiled uneasily and Loki wondered once again why he was selling nonsense like this.

"Go now!" the young king ordered. Arya nodded, took a deep breath and threw herself into the fight.

Loki followed her with his eyes until she was nothing more than a dark shadow between the fighting bandits.

"Loki!"

The young king almost jumped a foot in the air when a sudden voice rang beside him. Fandral looked at him with an amused smile on his face.

"A bit distracted, are we?" the golden warrior asked gesturing to the spot where Arya had disappeared between the bandits. Loki scowled.

"You have to find Thor!" he answered shortly. "Tell him to get over here, I need him! And while you're at it, find the others and tell them to fall back. Arya is already searching."

Fandral nodded. "What are you going to do?" he asked while unsheathing his sword.

"We'll need to keep them busy while we're discussing our next move…" Loki answered. His eyes turned dark. "They're not the only one with a sorcerer in their midst!"

Fandral sighed.

"Loki!" he warned. "You're using too much! Maybe it's better to rest now and use your magic when we have to face these sorcerers!"

The young king turned and locked his eyes with Fandral's. "We're already facing them, Fandral!" he bit back. "Now do as your told!"

The golden warrior sighed, knowing too well that once Loki had set his mind on something there was no going back.

"Of course… my king…" he said, not able to hide his irony. Without another word Fandral rushed into the fight.

Loki sighed and rubbed his eyes. Fandral was right… and that scared the young king more than he was prepared to admit. He was dealing with forces beyond his own, but if he lost his magic… then things weren't going to end well!

The young king waited. Five minutes later Thor came flying towards him and landed next to Loki.

"What's your plan?" The God of Thunder asked, sounding out of breath.

Loki scowled. "I need a lift…" he admitted after a short silence. "Get me to a high spot where I have a good view over the fight!"

Thor grinned. "My pleasure!" he said while taking hold of the annoyed king.

And just like that, the God of Thunder took off, taking the young king with him. Ten seconds later they already landed on top of what probably had been the central watch tower. Under normal circumstances there would be an enormous bell hanging in the ridge of the roof, but right now it was lying five storeys down, together with most of the roof.

Thor dropped Loki harder than was necessary and the young king almost rolled off the tower, but he managed to break his fall. The God of Thunder looked down on his brother, scowling angrily, but Loki choose to ignore Thor's childish behaviour and got to his feet. He turned his back towards his brother and looked over the city.

Everywhere he looked he saw bodies of citizens covering the in blood drenched ground. Only a few bandits had joined them in death. To his left, the young king found Arya, now joined by Lady Sif, fighting her way over to another fighting figure, Hogun. To his right he spotted Fandral and Volstagg, currently making their way back to the school.

Loki closed his eyes and concentrated, ignoring Thor's staring eyes behind him.

Everywhere around them, groups of fighting illusions of Lady Sif, the Warriors Three and Arya appeared out of thin air and battled the bandits.

Loki opened his eyes. His illusions were far from what the other sorcerers had created, but they would have to do for now.

"Get me back to the school, we must regroup!" Loki ordered. Without further notice, Thor took hold of his younger brother once more and dragged him back to the ground.

With another painful and disgraceful landing Loki found himself back in front of the school where his friends were gathering.

"Aargh… really Thor?" Loki growled while scrambling to his feet and dusting off his ruined armour.

Thor only threw him a hateful scowl.

Loki stretched his neck and shook his head before fixing his attention on his friends. Without saying a word he gestured to the building. The illusion dissolved and the seven warriors entered the school.

"So what's the plan?" Sif asked while putting her sword and shield down. She sighed and sank down on the ground. The others followed her example. Only Loki remained standing.

The young king seemed lost in thought, so the female warrior repeated her question.

"I have a plan!" Loki interrupted. "But I doubt you'll like it!"

The others turned silent.

Loki paced around them for a couple more seconds before continuing.

"We need to get rid of these illusions, otherwise we'll never defeat these bandits." he started. "To do that, we need to find the sorcerers. I don't know how many there are, but they are powerful, skilled, dark and invisible!"

"So what do we do?" Fandral asked. "I don't want to spoil the fun, but we're no match for this."

"We've fought sorcerers in the past!" Sif interrupted. "We can do this!"

"Yes, but now we're talking about a group, Sif!" Fandral threw back. "And we can't even see them! How are we supposed to fight an invisible threat!"

"That's why we need to find them first. We have to force them to show themselves!"

"Any idea how we do that?" Volstagg asked.

"You don't do anything, I'll find them!" Loki answered. "I know what to look for. If I can drop my other illusions, I can focus on them and find them."

Arya nodded. "I take it you'll need back up?" she said.

Loki smiled. "Yes… Thor, Hogun and Sif will keep the bandits at bay! Fandral and Volstagg will stay here and protect the citizens. Once I drop the illusion on the building, the bandits might attack here. You, Arya, will come with me and keep every threat away while I'm searching!"

Everyone nodded in agreement.

"But how will we defeat them, once they're found?" Hogun joined in. Loki turned silent while a dark scowl ran over his face.

"Dark magic is stronger than light magic. It always has been! It's easier to use power for bad purposes than good…"

"Your point being?" Thor asked angrily.

Loki didn't answer. Instead he turned his hand around and opened his palm. Inside lay the dark Valkyrie Stone. Everyone shivered when the cold darkness of the stone washed over them.

"No!" Thor roared while getting to his feet. The God of Thunder stepped forward until he was towering over his brother. His normally bright blue eyes were cold with hatred, but also fear.

"You use that stone and you bring everyone here in danger! You cannot control this, Loki!"

The young king scowled. "You know nothing, Thor! I can control this!"

"It will turn you mad!" Thor shouted back. "And then we have to deal with you as well! You're going to get us all killed!"

Loki smirked. "Why, Thor… That almost sounded as a complement."

Both brothers turned silent.

"It's the only way, Thor!" Loki continued. "You just cannot defeat darkness with light magic, and especially not this amount of dark magic! This is the only dark magic I know! I know how to use it and I know how to control it!"

"Thor…" Fandral voice sounded. "maybe this is the best way…"

Thor turned to his friend in disbelief, but the golden warrior didn't give in.

"As much as it pains me to say, Loki has done this before and for as far as I'm concerned, Asgard has never been better off. If the stone turned Loki 'mad' than it certainly hasn't had its influence."

"That was just one person, Fandral!" Thor bit back.

"The Allfather used dark magic to defeat stronger threats as well!" Fandral immediately answered.

"My father knew how to use it! He could control it!"

"So can I!" Loki shouted furiously. Thor turned back to his brother. Before he could stop himself, he'd push Loki backwards. The young king flew through the air and painfully hit the wall behind him. Within a second Thor was standing in front of him and pushed him hard against the wall.

"No, you can't!" she roared. Loki tried to free himself from Thor's grip.

"How would you know what I can do, Odinson?" he shouted. "You don't know me! You never cared! Don't you ever tell me what I can't do!"

"I do know you, Loki! I've watched you for a thousand years! Power is your weakness! Use this dark stone and you doom yourself!"

Loki finally managed to push Thor back. "I will use this stone, whether you like it or not! I can control it! It's the only way! Once their souls are taken, we kill the bodies and the threat is gone for good!"

"Thor, we don't have time to argue!" Sif shouted behind them. "If Loki thinks he can do it, then that's his decision, if he fails and turns dark, we'll kill him!"

Thor and Loki looked at the female warrior. Loki slowly nodded. "Fair enough…" he said while walking passed his brother.

"Once I located the sorcerers I will direct you to them. We'll corner them and I use the stone." Loki ordered the others.

"Will we be able to see them?" Fandral asked.

"I don't know… I depends on how many there are. If we manage to corner them, they might just drop their illusions to focus on us."

"All right!" Fandral shouted. "Sounds like fun to me!"

Volstagg smiled and hit his fellow warrior on the shoulder. "For Asgard!" he roared.

"You said it, my friend!" the golden warrior responded.

Everyone turned to Loki. The young king looked at them one by one, wondering if he had to give some boring speech about how they were going to succeed, but a loud crushing noise, coming from outside, reminded him of how little time they had.

He nodded and smiled. "To battle!"

I know, maybe not that much yet... but more will come! I certainly hope you haven't given up on me yet (because some epic stuff is following! Just saying...)

Let me know what you think. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me any time! ;)

If you have any ideas, you can always PM me! Who knows... inspiration is always welcome! Holidays are coming up, so I'll have more time to write.

Please review :)

Thank you for reading so far!

Rumple x