So... here I am again :) I guess I've just been looking forward to writing these chapters ;)

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Chapter 68

"Arya, run! Just straight ahead!" Loki shouted to the sprinting silhouette of Arya in front of him. Obviously she was a lot faster than he was. The dancing light of her torch slowly died away in the dark narrow tunnels, leaving Loki running in the dim light of his own torch, but the it was enough to show the pale forms of cowering Cave Elves, desperately searching for shelter in the darkness of their caves. They weren't attacking… Secondly, Loki had realised quite early in their attempt to lure the Frost Giants into the caves that he'd made one major mistake. Even without the casket on their planet the Frost Giants had been able to draw power from their world of ice. In the valleys of Alfheim their only source of power was to be found along the rivers and the mist, yet inside the caves, they had an advantage. The air was cold and heavy with water, little streams were flowing down the stone walls and apparently the caves also didn't have a shortage of underground lakes. In other words, the Cave Elves had soon realised they weren't a match for their invaders and cowered back into the darkness. Loki cursed his own stupidity once more while he forced another sprint out of his legs. He had to get to Asgard, fast. Hopefully Heimdall had spotted the danger and was sending more troops down. Once Loki had found a portal and managed to escape, they would turn around a find a way out of the caves… hopefully. Either way, the Elves and the army of Asgard would be overrun by the Frost Giants, unless of course, the Frost Giants would leave as well.

A sudden terrifying thought almost made Loki trip. If he was right and the Frost Giants knew about the portals, who knew which ones they'd mapped out? For all he knew they had knowledge of portals leading directly to Asgard. Loki was certain Farbauti would never risk attacking Asgard. That was probably the reason they waited so long until they knew Loki was on Alfheim. Yet then again… how did they know? The answer was simple really… There was a traitor on Asgard and for once, it wasn't Loki himself. The question that remained was of course: who was the traitor? And how much did he tell the Frost Giants?

Another thing Loki didn't understand was who would know about these portals besides him? But much time to think about it he didn't have, because the sound of marching footsteps were closing in on him. Loki cursed under his breath. The light of his torch would betray his location, but without it the Cave Elves, who probably weren't in a very good mood for the time being, would perhaps attack him. A light up ahead told him Arya had come to a halt.

"Loki, duck!"

Loki immediately obeyed. A heartbeat later two arrows skimmed over his head. Loud roars of agony filled the tunnel, but Loki didn't turn to see the casualties.

"Just keep going Arya!" he shouted. "There're to many!"

Arya nodded. When Loki ran past her, she grabbed his hand and dragged him more or less through the tunnel, while she handed him her dagger, just in case he'd have to protect himself in the near future. Loki wanted to thank her but he was having trouble not to trip over his own feet.

He was certain there was a portal to Asgard in these tunnels, all he had to do was find it. Every now and then they would come across a hissing Cave Elf. They seemed to be getting angry. Loki only hoped they would chose the Frost Giants to attack instead of them, but he seriously doubted that.

Just when Loki started fearing he wouldn't find the portal anymore, the tunnels began to look more familiar.

"There!" he suddenly shouted. Arya ran in the direction of Loki's outstretched finger.

"Loki! There's nothing here!" she said out of breath. They'd reached the dead end of a tunnel, the light of their torches casting dark shadows on the solid wall in front of them.

"No, this is it! The wall is the portal!" Loki said, not able to hide the despair in his voice. If this portal wasn't active anymore, they were doomed. Carefully he stretched out his hand. His heart skipped a beat when his fingers slid through the stone without problem. Now it only had to lead to Asgard… but that was problem for later.

"You go first!" Loki said resolutely. "It's never safe to go through with more than one person!"

Arya nodded. Loki could feel her hand shiver in his. "It's all right," he said kindly while placing his other hand on Arya's pale face. He quickly kissed her forehead and let his fingers run through her raven locks. "I'll be right behind you!"

The young warrior swallowed. There was something wrong, she was certain of it, but she was too scared to give it much thought. Her legs moved on their own accord when she turned around and stepped through the portal. The moment Arya had disappeared, Loki's smile dropped. Tears were burning in his eyes. He'd lied, of course he'd lied. There were no rules on portals, his last escape from Jotenheim had proven that. But if he'd told Arya the truth she'd never left him. The problem with portals was that they were tricky. Sometimes they only worked one way, other times it was just impossible to get to them from the other side. If Loki remembered correctly Arya would fall down a rough three meters from mid-air before landing on a nicely cultivated field on the outskirts of Asgard. The Frost Giants were still following, they'd soon catch up. Since they now had knowledge on portals they would, if they didn't already know about its existence, realise the wall had to be a portal. If they went through, Asgard would be in serious trouble since most of its forces were on Alfheim, waiting at the exit of the caves. The only solution was to somehow destroy the portal on this side, since it was as good as impossible to destroy an invisible portal in mid-air on the other side, especially without magic.

The sound of marching footsteps drummed in his ears while he raised Arya's dagger and started cutting into the stone walls next to the portal. Sparks lit up the tunnel while the sharp sound of the metal blade against the stone echoed through the air. With tears in his eyes and his heart beating at a hundred miles an hour, Loki furiously cut into the wall. Slowly, yet steadily, the stone started to crack.

-xxx-

With a loud scream of terror Arya fell down until her body painfully touched the ground. After the cold wet air of the caves the soft afternoon sun felt like heaven. Clumsily, Arya got on her feet. While dusting of her clothes she looked around. She couldn't suppress a sigh of relief when she spotted the golden beauty of Asgard in the distance.

"Loki, we made it!" she said while turning around, ready to hug the man she loved, but there was no one there. Blinking against the sunlight, she looked up to where she assumed the portal was, but she saw nothing but the blue sky.

"Maybe it takes a while…," she mumbled to herself. Honestly she couldn't really tell how long her journey had taken. It felt like mere seconds, but perhaps it took longer… she didn't know. All she knew was that travelling by portal wasn't her favourite. Arya waited for another five minutes, counting down the seconds with her heart beating out of her chest.

"Loki? Can you hear me?" she shouted to the sky, but all remained quiet. Arya swallowed. The fear had set in, something was wrong. She had to go back! But how?

Arya started jumping as high as she could, but without a target to jump towards there wasn't much use. "Loki!" she shouted in despair. The next moment a loud crackling sound filled the air, immediately followed by a blast of energy and wind coming from the portal. Arya was thrown backwards in the sand. When she looked up she could see a dark purple swirl, slowly vanishing in the air.

"Loki!" she shouted, but by the time she was standing under the portal once more, everything was quiet. Arya stared up in panic. The air around her felt cold, as if an enormous amount of energy had just been sucked away from it. "No!" she shouted. "No! What did you do?"

A soft zooming sound suddenly cut through the air. Arya looked up to find a small Asgardian vessel landing right next to her.

"My lady!" the guard at the steering wheel shouted. "Lord Heimdall send me to collect you!"

Arya blinked confusedly. Her mind was racing.

"Heimdall…," he repeated. "Yes! Heimdall!" Arya clumsily climbed aboard the vessel. "Bring me to him! Bring me to the Bifröst! I need to get back to Alfheim!"

The guard frowned confusedly. "My lady,…," he tried, but Arya turned to him until their faces were only inches apart. "Get me to the Bifröst, right now! That's an order!"

The young guard swallowed and nodded. "Yes, yes of course, yes mam!" he stammered while he tried to take off as fast as possible. A few minutes later, they landed in front of the Bifröst. Even before the vessel had properly touched down, Arya jump off and raced inside.

"Heimdall!" she shouted to the quiet form of the golden guardian. "Send me back!"

Yet Heimdall remained motionless. "I cannot do that, my lady. Even if I did, you wouldn't be able to find Loki in the caves."

"Then send me into the caves!" she shouted back. Heimdall turned to the young warrior. "If I could use the Bifröst within the caves, I already would have rescued you both! However, the Bifröst would destroy the caves and bury the Cave Elves alive, extinguish an entire part of Alfheim, cause earthquakes an avalanches in the mountains! Loki either has to find a portal or has to get outside!"

"But the Frost Giants…," Arya said, not able to hide the fear in her voice. "It was a dead end! They'll kill him!"

Heimdall turned his gaze back on the stars. "Loki destroyed the portal by making a wall collapse on top of it. It opened another tunnel, he escaped for now, but he won't last for long…"

"Then we have to do something!" Arya shouted in frustration. How could Heimdall remain so calm? Loki was trapped inside the caves with hordes of bloodthirsty Frost Giants in his wake, The Elves and the Asgardian Army could be overthrown.

"I'm the Captain!" Arya suddenly said resolutely. "The army is on Alfheim, I have to lead them into battle! I demand you send…"

"Thor is leading the army, you are needed here on Asgard!" Heimdall interrupted. Arya fell quiet. Somewhere she wanted to protest, but she felt as if Heimdall had a plan. The golden warrior turned quiet for a couple seconds. His eyes stood sad, yet serious.

"Loki won't make it at this rate," he finally said. "We need to convince the Allfather to give Loki his immortality and his magic back. It's the only way he'll make it out alive. The Allfather knows this, but he fears Loki's powers. He doesn't trust Loki yet. That's why I need you to help me convince him before it's too late."

Arya couldn't deny the big lump that was forming in her throat. Her stomach twirled in a knot. The thought that Loki's fate was in her hands, terrified her beyond measure. But they didn't have much time to loose. She was dragged from her thoughts by the loud rumbling footsteps of the next reinforcement entering the Bifröst. Heimdall made his way to his spot in the middle and readied the Bifröst.

"You will be send to the outside of the caves! You will be under the command of prince Thor. Understand that you are the last forces I am allowed to send in, in order to keep Asgard safe! May the blessing of your forefathers be with you!" With that said he turned his swords and watched the warriors walk into the burning light of the Bifröst. When the last one had disappeared, he walked back to Arya. "We don't have a minute to loose!" he said shortly. Arya nodded and followed the golden warrior outside where they stepped aboard the flying vessel and took off towards the palace.

-xxx-

Loki was sprinting through the caves. His heart stubbornly struggled to keep up with his burning lungs, but he couldn't slow down. The Frost Giants were closing in on him and judging by the sound of their footsteps their numbers were growing. Loki had been overthrown with joy when the wall next to him had revealed an escape route, but now he realised he had no idea where he was. This part of the tunnels was new to him and every turn he took seemed to guide him deeper and deeper in the cave network. Every now and then an furious looking Cave Elf would block his path or throw themselves at him from out the dark creases in the walls. His only weapons were Arya's dagger and his torch which was hardly burning by now. Yet, at least Loki had learned something new about the Cave Elves: they had exceptionally long and sharp nails and they just loved to bite! With every step he took, Loki felt he was being watched more closely. In the darkness he could see the crouching, hissing silhouettes of the Cave Elves. If they decided to attack as one, he would be doomed. So he ran as fast as his burning legs allowed him, trying hard not to slip on the wet ground.

Just when Loki started wondering whether his death would be less painful by Cave Elf, Frost Giant or at his own hand, he suddenly spotted some light up ahead, accompanied by a thundering sound. In fact he even noticed how the few brave Cave Elves who had been following him, slowly gave up the chase and hid back into the darkness of their caves.

But Loki's hopes on a way outside these dark endless tunnels were soon demolished when he ran into the clearing. High above him, the sun shone through a hole in the mountain side, creating a genuinely wonderful scene. But Loki didn't have time for sightseeing. He ran forward and only just managed to stop himself from running off the edge of a cliff. Loki looked down, the cave was enormous and filled with soft warm sunlight. The ceiling was lined with stalactites, some of them reaching down a few meters into the depth below where an underground lake sparkled in the rare sunlight. The lake stretched out to the other side of the cave where the ground surfaced again and disappeared into a another dark tunnel once more. A bit to his right Loki found the source of the deafening noise. A enormous waterfall appeared from within the walls and thundered down into the lake. At the bottom of the waterfall Loki's eyes locked on about a dozen silent forms.

Nymphs… Loki couldn't help but stare. Nymphs were exceptionally rare, but could be found on every realm, if you knew where to look. But above all they were dangerously beautiful and known for luring several different species, men, women and children alike, to their deaths. Loki had read enough stories on how they preferred to drag their victims into rivers, trees or thicket bushes before devouring them alive. Only once in his life Loki had seen these creatures and that was a very long time ago, on one of his mother's field trips. Under any other circumstances, Loki would have been amazed by this rare sight, but now he was only interested in finding a way to escape. Behind him, the Frost Giants were getting closer. His only way out seemed to involve jumping off the cliff. But that would mean he'd be at the mercy of the Nymphs, not to mention that the Frost Giants had the advantage surrounded by water. Secondly, if he made it through the lake in time, he'd just be running through another tunnel. Until Loki suddenly spotted something. In the other corner of the cave he saw a small hole which sucked the water down. He was quite certain the Frost Giants wouldn't fit through. The Nymphs probably did, but Loki knew they did prefer light, so there was a chance they wouldn't follow him. Perhaps, just perhaps, the water would flow into a river and guide him outside. The fact that the way out would probably involve some epic deadly rapids, was a problem for later.

Loki quickly made up his mind. He really didn't have much of a choice. He walked to the edge of the cliff, as far away from the Nymphs as possible. For now it didn't seem like they'd noticed him.

"Perhaps I'll just die from the fall…," Loki mumbled to himself. Every fibre in his body screamed that this was a bad idea, but the marching footsteps of the Frost Giants were closing in.

Why is there always a big deadly hole for me to fall into? Loki asked himself. He took a deep breath and leaped of the cliff.

Please, don't let there be rocks down there! he thought just before hitting the water. The smack almost knocked Loki out, but the adrenaline in his body kept him awake. His skin was burning, he muscles were screaming, but Loki pushed himself to the surface. Air, finally! Loki looked around him, the Nymphs had noticed something was up, but the foaming of the waterfall made him hard to spot. So Loki looked up to see the Frost Giants appear at the cliff. A shiver ran down his spin when the large form of his mother, Queen Farbauti, made her way forward. Loki had to admit, he was surprised to see her on the battle field. Her ruby eyes crossed his stare. Farbauti raised her arm and stretched out her fingers while a sickening grin spread across her face. Loki felt the water around him cool down while a thin layer of ice formed on the surface.

Oh no…Loki thought in panic, but it seemed Farbauti was standing too far away to create a layer that was think enough. The fact that the sun was shining inside, warming up the air, probably also played a part in it. Loki breathed out in relief while his whole body shivered in the ice cold water. The Nymphs had left the water in panic as well, since they weren't used to temperatures like these.

But Loki's joy quickly vanished when he saw Farbauti make her way to the waterfall. She locked her eyes on her son in the water and smiled a terrifying grin. Loki almost froze when he realised what she was up to. As fast as he could he started swimming towards the tunnel, following his first plan would turn the water into his grave. Farbauti slowly reached for the thundering water. The moment her blue fingers touched the waterfall, the water turned to ice in mid-air. Loki felt a new wave of ice cold water wash around him, but he couldn't stop now. With a cracking sound the ice crept down the waterfall and spread across the lake. Loki desperately swam for the shore, but the ice caught up with him. He quickly found himself surrounded. Before he knew it, Loki was pushed down by the growing ice. He went under and witnessed the icy surface close above him. The water around him was freezing cold and Loki felt his body paralyse. He had to keep moving! As hard as he could Loki planted Arya's dagger in the ice, trying to get through, but every cut immediately closed again. The ice was clear enough to show the cave above him. Low thuds warned Loki someone was walking over the ice towards him. A heartbeat later the towering form of Farbauti blocked out the sunlight. Loki furiously hit on the ice. He wanted to scream! But he was running out of breath and his frozen legs barely managed to keep him swimming towards the surface. He was so cold…

"This is exactly what you deserve, my son!" Farbauti's voice sounded through the ice. She sounded far away, but Loki could understand her clearly. "Perhaps this will be a lesson for all of Asgard!" Farbauti continued, clearly enjoying the sight of her drowning son. "There always will be traitors to bring ruin! You are pathetic and tiny and your belief in trust is pitiful! Just one man is enough… but you would know about that, wouldn't you, trickster!"

Loki used all his power to hit the ice one more time. If only he had his magic, he would blast this sick woman to the other side of the universe! But Farbauti's words triggered a new hatred inside him. Who was the traitor? He'd never know...

"Farewell, Rakki, my son," she said with a smirk. "I'd somewhat expected you to be smarter than this, yet then again, no… I did not."

Loki tried to lift Arya's dagger in a final attempt to cut through the ice, but it was in vain. In his body was shutting down and no matter how hard he tried, he sank deeper and deeper into the lake, leaving the soft sunlight behind.

Air! Loki thought in despair while he slowly sank into darkness. I'm sorry Arya…

Short, I know, but that's because I'm evil and wanted to end with a cliffhanger! :D *maniacal laugh*

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