Hi all!

I know, fast right? ;) I was in an inspirational mood, so here you go!

ENJOY

Chapter 67

Loki sighed into the soft fabric of his pillow. He was annoyed, angry and bored as hell. The door of his chambers which he'd thrown open in a rage was slowly closing, shutting out the soft lights of the hallway. Loki waited for the sound of the door falling shut before turning himself on his back. He stared up at the ceiling.

It had been a week since his final trial. Only minutes ago the daily morning meeting had come to an end. Some issues about the Elves had surfaced, a final attempt to get on Asgard's nerves, possibly figuring out a way to get there hands on their precious Valkyrja stone. Anyhow, Odin had agreed on sending a small party of Asgard's highest in rank to come to an agreement with the Elves once more. Of course that meant that Thor, lady Sif and the Warriors Three would be leaving. Since Arya was the new Captain, Odin had decided she had to join as well. But Loki… he got to stay behind. But that wasn't the biggest reason for Loki's frustration. What bugged him was that ever since his trial, Odin had clearly gone back on his plan on letting Loki in on various decisions. In fact Loki felt he was back where he'd started. Just a useless face next to Odin.

Deep inside he realised his anger was only fuelled by his utter boredom. Even a short trip to Alfheim, he'd give anything to go. Besides, he was the one who did the talking! Thor would just ruin everything! Arya was there as well though…. Speaking of Arya… Loki's girlfriend had been awfully distant lately. He realised the fact that she was busy being the Captain played a big part in it, but Loki couldn't help but feel Arya was trying to avoid talking to him. If they had time to talk at all, their conversations were short and often quite cold. Loki just didn't really know how to apologize for his stupidity…

After another twenty minutes of starring up at the ceiling, Loki decided he at least could spend his time more usefully in the library. However, not even one hour later, Loki was rudely dragged form his book by two guards.

"I'm just reading!" Loki snapped at them before either of them could say a word. The guards exchanged a glare.

"The king and the Lords wish to see you!" one of the guards finally said. Loki raised his eyebrows and sighed.

"Why?" he asked rather harshly. Now he'd finally found a book that could cure his boredom, but no… Odin wanted to see him. Perhaps he could have mentioned his problems during the last week!

"He didn't say, my lord," the other guard patiently continued. Loki sighed once more before slowly putting his book down.

"Let's not keep papa waiting then…," he said sarcastically while gesturing to the guards they could lead the way. On his way to the throne room Loki tried everything is his power to calm his frustrated pride.

"You wished to see me?" Loki asked when he entered. Odin and the four Lords looked up from the table they were standing around. Heimdall was also present.

"Yes, Loki!" Odin answered, taking Loki by surprise he didn't snap at him for his rude entrance. "Please join us."

Loki frowned and walked closer to the table. To his surprise he found the Valkyrja stone lying cold and quiet on the dark wood. Before he could ask any questions, Lord Steldor started talking.

"Heimdall is keeping an eye on Alfheim as we speak…," he said in a low voice. "It seems the Light Elves have their minds locked on getting the stone back and…"

Loki smirked. "Let me guess," he said. "Thor messed up?"

Odin cast a meaningful glare on his stepson, but Loki only smiled. "No surprises there…," he continued. "What am I supposed to do about this?"

To his surprise it was Odin himself who answered. "I would like you to travel to Alfheim as well. You understand the power the stone possessed and you understand how it regained its original form. The Elves are talking about a relic that was stolen from them centuries ago. They know very well that objects like these change over time. Until we properly understand what the stone has become, rather good or bad, I want to keep it on Asgard. I need you to settle this once and for all. Use your knowledge on the stone."

Loki carefully scanned the emotionless features of the Allfather. Somewhere he expected to find a catch, a trick. Why this sudden change of heart? And since when was Odin prepared to admit that Loki knew more about the stone then some? However, Loki knew Odin wasn't' sending him for his knowledge, but rather for his supreme negotiating skills. Thor had messed up, that much was clear, Loki was merely there to clean up after him. As always.

After a short silence Loki nodded. "All right… I'll go after them." Odin nodded.

"You will be accompanied by two guards. You are only to visit the palace, solve the problem and then return. If you cannot reach an agreement by nightfall, you return and these matters will be discussed later." Loki nodded once more. Things would be settled in no time. Negotiating was a game. And there was no better opponent then a light Elf. However, Loki would not have gained the title of God of Mischief if he didn't have a few loopholes to make the game a bit more interesting.

"You leave at once!" Odin concluded. Loki bowed shortly before turning around. With a steady pace, he made his way to the stables. Two guards and Heimdall followed in his wake.

Loki bit his tongue. "What does he think I am?" he hissed. "His little errand boy?"

Heimdall caught up with Loki. "You know he's merely testing you, Loki."

"Testing?" Loki asked. "He was testing me for weeks! Now he hasn't spoken to me for days and now this?"

Heimdall sighed. "Your fate is in the Allfather's hands, Loki. If you seek to reclaim what you lost, you will have to follow his orders. Whether you like it or not."

Loki wanted to say something back, but he knew it didn't have any use. After the four of them had left the stables and galloped towards the shining orb of the Bifröst, Loki figured that this trip would at least be a nice change. They dismounted their horses. While Loki took his spot in the front of the Bifröst his thoughts trotted off to another matter. Why did Odin choose him? Sure he knew things about the stone, but the Elves certainly didn't trust him… While the rainbow grabbed hold of his body, Loki realised just how much of a test this would turn out to be.

Once his feet finally landed on the firm ground once more, Loki relaxed a bit. He'd almost forgotten how beautiful Alfheim was. As far as the eye could see, there were white mountain peaks standing firm against the horizon. In the valleys, large forest lay like dark green pillows in the deep, only disturbed by the occasional shiny blue curves of a river. But the most interesting aspect for Loki had always been the mist. The soft dim clouds were always present, flowing over the rivers, curdling between the trees and tumbling down the mountains. There were quiet some different tribes of Light Elves. They lived isolated from one another. Loki had always fancied the Wood Elves most of all. They were swift like shadows and quiet as ghosts. Always in for a joke and far less boring then the Mountain Elves. His kind of people! The Mountain Elves were the once always causing trouble. There where the Wood Elves were mostly interested in the world around them, the Mountain Elves had their eyes on the skies, reading the stars like a book. They were a lot more spiritual and also responsible for the Valkyrja stone. Apart from the Wood and Mountain Elves, there were other tribes such as the Water Elves, who mostly lived in their underwater kingdoms, they were a bit weird in Loki's opinion. And of course there also were the Cave Elves. Alfheim had a wonderful collection of enormous underground caves, which Loki had always found very intriguing, but he'd never had a good chance of mapping them out in detail. The Cave Elves were believed to be the ones standing closest to their dark brothers, the Dark Elves. They didn't mean much harm, but they did like their privacy. One time, Loki had run into a few of them when he'd have to go after his friends who had ignored Odin's warnings. They were very fascinating creatures, in the creepy sense of the word. Pale as snow, with eyes that were fully black. They walked on all fours most of the time, with their backs curved. They were mostly naked and very fast and agile and feared light. But most of all, Loki figured they were just as intrigued by any intruder as they were with them. There weren't many of them though, and since they never left the darkness of the caves, they weren't much of a problem.

But no matter how much Loki wanted to go down into the valleys, he had a job to do, so he followed his escorts to the entrance of the Mountain Elven city. A newcomer would either be left speechless, of would agree with Loki that the Elves were big show-offs. The buildings carved out in white rocks stood high along the main road leading to the biggest and most breath-taking building of all: the royal palace. It was quite the climb to reach it, but Loki's attention was quickly diverted to something else.

"Where is everyone?" Loki suddenly asked. Last time he'd visited the city the street had been lined with Elves, now it stayed quiet. The two guards accompanying him came to a halt.

"Perhaps they're all at the palace?" one of them said. But Loki shook his head.

"No…," he said in a loud whisper while a shiver ran down his spine. There was something up, something oddly familiar, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. A sudden low sound made the three of them jump a foot in the air.

"What…," one of the guards asked, but Loki quickly cut him off. "Silent!" he hissed. They waited until the sound slowly died away between the mountains.

"That was a fire horn…," Loki said after a few seconds. Only the Wood Elves used those in case of wood fires or… attacks. Loki rushed over to the side of the town where the mountain dropped down into the valley. The mist was rolling in, but Loki could clearly hear the sound of crackling trees, falling due to the raging heat of a fire. Smoke was rising from below the mist, but Loki knew there was something else going on. A sound that was very out of place on a realm of peace filled his ears: the sound of fighting.

"The Elves are under attack!" one of the guards shouted. Loki looked up to the skies, Heimdall would have noticed this, why did he send them down? A second later the low rumbling sound of the Bifröst filled the air just before the bright rainbow beam slashed its way downwards, through the mist. A hundred battle screams filled the valley while Asgard's army attacked whatever threat was down there.

"Sir! We need to get you to safety!" one of the guards shouted, but Loki didn't listen. A sudden though, accompanied by a feeling of absolute panic had taken over his mind. Thor would never have left Alfheim without challenging the threat himself. That meant… that Arya was down there.

"Loki!" one of the guards shouted. But Loki was already sprinting along the cliff, his eyes fixed on the path down into the valley. The guards would quickly catch up with him, but once Loki had the cover of the mist he could use his knowledge of the realm and the forests to his advantage. It didn't take long for the sounds of the following guards to die away while the sounds of battle came closer. Loki knew he wouldn't be of much use on the ground, so he climbed the nearest tree he could find, using the entangled branches to make his way further into the forest until he reached the battle. But once he came to a halt, Loki felt his body freeze. There was a clearing ahead, filled with motionless bodies of Wood Elves and Mountain Elves alike. The Asgardian warriors were quickly joining them, while they bravely tried to fight off their attackers. Loki couldn't breath, he couldn't think. Here, under the peaceful trees of Alfheim the Frost Giants were bringing death in their wake. Loki didn't know how, but suddenly his legs were moving again on their own accord. He needed to get away from them! But in his fear, Loki didn't quite realised which way he was going. In the darkness of the trees and the vast labyrinth of branches he quickly lost his way. Terrified and out of breath Loki came to a halt. All around him the battle continued. There were simply to many Frost Giants. The sound of the Bifröst hitting the ground, delivering new forces swept through air.

"Heimdall!" Loki shouted to the skies. But he knew it was in vain. Heimdall couldn't save him while he was surrounded by Frost Giants. He'd have to find a way out of the forest, back up the mountain, but he had no idea where he was anymore.

"You!" a sudden voice sounded. Loki turned around, half expecting some very agile Frost Giant to have climbed up the tree as well, but he stood face to face with a brown haired young Wood Elf. Her beautiful face was scarred with a deep cut on her forehead. The blood slowly dripped into the angry frown between her eyes. With a swift motion, the Elf brought her fingers to her lips and whistled loudly. Within seconds five new Elves appeared around Loki, every single one of them aiming their tightened bows at him. Loki raised his hands in defence.

"Wait, wait!" he shouted. "I'm an ally! I'm Loki, from Asgard!"

"Oh, we know who you are!" the female Elf hissed back. "You're the reason they're here!"

Loki's eyes grew big. The Frost Giants were after him? How did they know where he was? And how did they even find a way to Alfheim without use of the Bifröst?

"Please…," Loki said softly, not able to hide the fear in his voice. "I didn't know… I didn't mean any harm."

"I say we take him and hand him over!" one of the other Elves said. Loki could hear the absolute hatred and despair in the man's words. This was never meant to be their fight.

Loki started panicking. He couldn't go back to Jötenheim! He just couldn't! Loki quickly observed his situation. Fighting his way out wasn't an option and these Wood Elves knew these trees better than he did. That also counted for the woods beneath him, but perhaps the fighting would keep them distracted. Without saying a word Loki quickly jumped between two branches and let himself fall down. The landing was anything but comfortable, but he didn't have time to care. Loki started sprinting once more. Several arrows flew around his ears, but he didn't stop. He zigzagged between the fighting warriors, never giving anyone enough time to identify him and start the chase. Suddenly Loki spotted a few familiar faces to his left. Thor and his friends were retreating to the side of the forest, probably to come up with a new strategy. Loki ran towards them.

"Loki?" Thor asked angrily.

"Odin send me!" he explained out of breath before anyone could say anything. "It seemed you needed some help."

Thor frowned, but his brother quickly continued. "The Frost Giants must have attacked right after I landed. They're here for me apparently and…"

"Hand him over!"

Loki jumped almost a foot in the air while an arrow buried itself in the ground right next to his feet. His friends immediately pulled him behind them while the female Elf and her companions closed in.

"We can end this right now!" the Elf continued. Thor raised Mjolnir while his friends raised their weapons as well.

"Let us not act too rash! How can you be so sure they want Loki?"

"They made their message quite clear! Hand him over!" the Elf snapped back.

"Don't you wonder how they got onto this realm?" Sif asked in an attempt to change the subject.

"The only way in is through the Bifröst!" one of the Elves shouted back. "One more reason to not trust Asgard!"

Thor bit his tongue. This was leading to disaster. The last thing they needed was to create a crawl between Asgard and the Light Elves. "I give you my word that Asgard has no part in this!" he said loud and clear. "We do not know how they…"

"Portals…" Loki suddenly whispered. Thor turned to his brother.

"What?" he asked.

Loki looked up from the ground, surprised that he'd only thought about it now. Yet, the question remained on how they ever found any of those portals.

"There're portals in the caves. Lots of them, some of them lead directly to Jotenheim. Heimdall has always had trouble seeing them. That's how they got in!"

"Portals?" the female Elf asked. "Only a few know of their location. Perhaps you showed them in? Your reputation would only flourish!"

"You just said that they're hunting me!" Loki shouted back. "Why would I lead them here?"

"Enough!" Thor shouted. "Asgard will take care of this! Loki's under the protection of the king, we will not hand him over to our enemy!" He turned to to the sky and shouted: "Heimdall, take us out of…"

"No!" Loki suddenly shouted. His eyes were fixed on the forests in front of him. Red flames of raging fires cut through the blue skies like scars. Those weren't the Frost Giants' doing, but were lit by the Wood Elves in an attempt to scare their attackers off. They were destroying centuries of legacy, their homes, their cities… because of him. "We can't leave!"

Everyone turned to Loki. "This is on me!" Loki continued. "I need to fix it, and I can!"

"Loki!" Arya started angrily, but he didn't listen.

"You!" Loki said pointing at the Elves. "You go and tell the Frost Giants you found me. Tell them I'm hiding in the caves. If we can lead them there and I can lure them in, they'll be at the mercy of the Cave Elves. In the dark, the Frost Giants have the disadvantage. And then I'm not even counting on the animals that live there as well."

"That also counts for you, Loki!" Thor answered in an angry growl.

"I'll take fire with me, that'll hold them off long enough. I know a few portals that lead to Asgard, all I have to do is find one. In the meantime, you and the others get the wounded out of here and station yourselves at the entrances of the caves. Any Frost Giant that still manages to escape will run into a blade!"

Everyone remained quiet for a couple of seconds.

"This is madness!" Sif exclaimed.

"Yes, I agree," Arya said sternly. "I cannot let you do this!"

"You think you can stop me?" Loki answered a lot harsher than he meant.

"Yes!" Arya shouted back. "I am the Captain and you have to follow my orders!"

Loki felt terrible at the surge if emotion he felt through Arya's words, but he couldn't let his feelings get in the way today.

"Then I'm afraid I'm disobeying your orders, my lady!" he said back. Arya's face sunk into an angry scowl.

"We don't have a choice!" Loki continued. "A world is burning! The Elves are no match for The Frost Giants and Asgard doesn't' know these grounds. We need to get the army out of the forest, get them to the caves where they will have the advantage!"

Loki pierced his eyes into Arya's green orbs. "Your job is to lead the army and protect the realms! The life of one man is not your priority!"

Arya and Loki stared at each other for a few seconds. Loki could see the rage building up inside the young warrior, but he stood his ground.

"I don't like to admit it," Thor suddenly said, "but Loki's right."

Loki nodded to his brother. Slowly everyone else seemed to settle on the idea, no matter how crazy. The Elves dropped their bows and nodded as well.

"It's up to you, Captain…," Thor finally said.

Arya swallowed. "Do as he says!" she finally said, before turning back to Loki. "But I'm coming with you, Loki!"

"No!" Loki shouted, but Arya quickly cut him off.

"I've trained in the dark for years!" she said. "Having a bow by your side might not be a bad idea. I'm your best shot, I'm going with you!"

Loki stared at his girlfriend in awe.

"And that's an order!" Arya said resolutely. "Now everyone get to your stations!"

Everyone nodded and spread out. One of the Elves led Loki and Arya to the entrance of one of the caves, where they went in hiding, just out of sight, waiting for a signal from one of the Elves.

"You shouldn't be here, Arya," Loki said after a short silence.

"Well, that makes two of us then!" she answered dryly.

Loki sighed. "Arya, I'm sorry for what happened, all right…"

Arya laughed. "Really?" she said. "You're apologizing for one stupidity while pulling off the next? You really think this is the right moment?"

Loki smirked. "Well, we could be dead by tonight, so… sure I do!"

Arya laughed. She wanted to be angry, but she simply couldn't.

"Are there really portals in the caves?" she asked.

Loki nodded. "Yes, we just need to get to them in time."

"I heard that last time you made everyone jump off a cliff…," Arya said playfully.

Loki turned to the young warrior with a smug smile playing on his lips. "Well, if you ask nicely, I could try to find you one those as well. Perhaps a romantic jump of a waterfall?"

Arya laughed. It felt good… The last week she'd been scared without measure. Even though Odin had had mercy on Loki, the thought that one step over the line would lead to his immediate death scared the living hell out of her, especially because she felt responsible for Loki's stupid actions. But how could she stay angry at this man? Arya lend in closer to Loki and smiled before softly placing her lips on his. Loki closed his eyes in relief while he let Arya's wonderful smell wash over him. He wanted to make this kiss last forever, if only to prevent it being the last.

And there you go! I hope you liked it :)

Please review and have a wonderful day!

Thank you for reading so far!

Rumple x