Chapter 3
The ground beneath your feet is soggy and slippery, making it hard to outrun the noises chasing you. You duck beneath a low-hanging branch, wincing as it snags in your hair and rips out a bit. You don't really have time to think about it too much, though. The thing behind you is getting closer; you can hear the rhythmic thudding and snorting vibrating in your bones. Whatever it is, it's big. Bigger than any dog or creature that you know of.
The moss squishes beneath your bare toes, and you find it hard to get momentum. Your breathing is labored, wisps of vapor appearing in the air. The darkness shrouds you, engulfing you, making you feel as though you're suffocating.
Suddenly, everything goes quiet. You look around, searching for whatever was chasing you, but there's nothing. Perhaps it gave up? After several moments of silence, you lean against the nearest tree and try to catch your breath. What on earth was that thing? Where are you? Somewhere in your mind, you're aware that this is all a dream, but that doesn't make it any less terrifying. As your pulse slows, you get the distinct feeling that you're not alone. This is it, you think, as you slowly turn toward the presence, knowing that you wouldn't like whatever was there. You're reminded of those Midgardian movies where you yell at the screen, telling the main character not to turn around.
In a blinding flash of light, you gaze upon what the beast was. A horse, much larger than any other you had ever seen, its hide blacker than the night. Its eyes burned bright green, and what you could only describe as a neon smoke emerged from its eyes and nostrils.
It rears up on its hind legs and you fall back to the ground. In that moment, you realize that this animal has eight legs, not four. What IS this thing?! A shriek builds in the back of your throat, and-
You jerk straight up in the bed, sweat glistening on your face and chest. You gaze around you, but the thing that catches your eye is Loki, watching you intently from where he sat on the edge of the bed, one hand raised as though it were going to comfort you. "I'm sorry," you say, letting out a sigh of relief that it was only a dream. "I had a nightmare."
"I can see that," he mused, dropping his hand to the bed. "What was it about?"
'I..." you trail off, unsure if he would think your nightmare silly. "I was being chased by a horse with eight legs." His face went from vague amusement to a blank slate at that bit of information.
"Was this horse darker than the shadows? With emerald eyes that burn with an unlit fire?" You nod your head, wondering how he knew about this beast.
"How did you know that?" you ask. He looks both relieved and uneasy, but not angry.
He stands up and paces a bit back and forth in front of you. "That is Sleipnir, Odin's horse. And...he's my child."
Dumbfounded, you blink at him, trying to understand. How was Sleipnir Loki's son? Loki definitely wasn't a horse. "Uhm, forgive me, but how is that even possible? I'm simply trying to understand the mechanics of that mating, and I'm coming up with some very interesting images."
The ghost of a grin surfaces before he explains. "My dear, I'm not bound to a human form if I don't want to be. I am able to change my shape into many things. One of which was a mare. I tricked a stallion by the name of Svadilfari, and we conceived Sleipnir."
Well, that was interesting, and very odd. "All right, but why do it? What was the purpose of that?" You can't fathom what in the world would make Loki want to turn into a female horse and give birth.
"Do I really need a motive to do anything?" he asks, and the look in his eyes lets you know that he feels very vulnerable right now. You can tell he's trying to hide it, but by now, you've gotten somewhat accustomed to his moods and behaviors.
"Well, no," you say, looking down at your hands. "I was just curious what you were thinking at the time, because in all of the knowledge you've given me, nothing like that has ever happened before in history."
His eyes soften even more at your words, seeming to remember that you're still very new to this world and trying to take it all in. "I will be honest, I did it because it seemed like fun at the time, and, well, because I wanted to know what that stallion felt like."
Okay, that was really weird. So he was into bestiality, it sounded like. Perhaps not all the time, but sometimes, and that was enough for now. Processing it, you nod your head, never taking your eyes from your hands. The sheen of sweat on your body has dried, and you feel a chill across your spine.
"I also have other children," he continues. "Some of them, I will not speak of, but I will tell you of two others. Fenrir is a giant wolf, and it is said that he will destroy Odin during Ragnarok. Jörmungandr is a giant serpent that was cast to Midgard by Odin. He wraps around the world and is able to touch his own tail. If he releases his tail, Ragnarok will begin. He and my broth—adoptive brother, Thor, don't get along."
You can feel his gaze on you, and you lift your eyes to meet his emerald orbs. He looks much like a child right now, and even though you're thoroughly weirded out by this new information, you do keep in mind that he is a god, and this really shouldn't come as a surprise to you.
"So, you're able to change your form and mate with almost anything..." He nods slowly. "Is this your natural form, then?" He smirks a little and comes to stand before you.
"I have two natural forms," He raises his hand, which is long, and slender, the color of porcelain. Before your eyes, you see a blue hue rushing through the blood vessels in his wrist and fanning out into his palm and fingers. "One is Loki, Prince of Asgard. One," he lifts your face with that blue hand, and you watch as his eyes go from those beautiful glowing emeralds to a deep ruby. "is Loki, Son of Laufey, who is King of the Frost Giants on Jötunheimr." His clothing has faded away as he completes his transformation. Clearly he isn't in this form that often, if he hadn't though to clothe it.
Admittedly, his second form is more terrifying, but you look on him with fascination. Quickly, you stand up and notice his height is much taller now that he is in his "other" body. You're about nose-high with his stomach, which makes looking at his face a bit more difficult since you have to crane your head back to see him.
"I think both forms are wonderful in their own way," you remark, and you feel that some of his defenses have dropped more. Reaching out, you stroke your hand down his stomach, admiring the smoothness and the icy termperature emanating from his body. The muscles underneath your hands twitch and he lets out a very soft sigh, eyes closing gently. Your hand trails down to the "V" on his body, but you quickly pull it away at the sight of him. Oh my, you think, tearing your gaze from the sight before you. Flushing a brilliant shade of red, you turn away, heart racing as you look for something to do to make it look like you aren't embarrassed, and admittedly, extremely turned on.
You hear the swish of something against the ground and risk a glance over your shoulder to see him back in his human form, striding away from you, green and golden robes brushing against the ground as he walks. Instantly, you think you've upset him and open your mouth to make an apology, but he turns his head ever so slightly and you see the smug smile at the corner of his mouth. Narrowing your eyes, you shoot a glare at the back of his head, then turn away to see if you can find some fresh clothing to change into.
"Would you mind if I went to bathe? I'm not feeling very clean after that nightmare." you say, having found another set of clothing suddenly sitting on the bed.
"The bathtub and shower are over there," he says and waves his hand to the corner of the cell. The walls surrounding the shower are transparent, making you swivel your head back to look at him.
"Really? No privacy?"
"Well, it IS a cell, my dear." he smothers a laugh and strides over to the outer cell wall, where the magical barrier is still up. He leans against it, making colors ripple away from wherever he touches it. "I won't watch, you have my word." he says softly, and looks outside the barrier, watching the other prisoners move around in their cells.
You shake your head in annoyance, moving toward the shower. "Won't look, my ass," you mutter under your breath, still feeling very embarrassed from before.
As you take your shower, you glance over at him every so often, and true to his word, he never once looked over at you. Part of you kind of wishes he did, just so you wouldn't be the only one to see the other naked. Then again, he also hadn't seem to mind you touching him one bit. That he was able to resist looking at you made you feel a little inferior, but you also liked that he kept his word. This emotion stuff was very confusing. He also saw you naked when he created you, you idiot! That was very true.
Just as you were going to rinse the shampoo out of your hair, you hear a loud crash, and the clinking of armor heading your way. Hurrying, you turn the water off and wrap a towel around your body just as Loki leaps away from the wall and the magical barrier implodes in a spark of green flames. All of the other cell walls have collapsed as well and the prisoners are pouring out, looking for ways to escape the armored warriors that are fighting with the guards that had been posted.
"Hurry, this way!" Loki yells at you. You rush to him, still wrapped in a towel and he reaches out to grab your hand, dragging you along behind him as he winds his way in and out of the throng of people and creatures. There's no way we can get out of this! You think as you try to make your legs move quickly enough to keep up with his long strides.
The sounds of fighting disappear behind you and you quickly realize that no one is following you. It's just you two with no walls keeping you captive. He seems to know exactly where he's going, so you can only trust him not to get you both lost. He comes to a sudden stop before a long rainbow bridge that glistens in the brilliant light of the morning sun. "It's so beautiful..." you whisper, almost speechless.
"And it's our way to freedom," he says quickly, running you both across it. As you get closer to the other side, you see a man in a golden set of armor, wielding a giant sword. "Heimdall," Loki greets the other man. "I am looking for no trouble, I simply want to be exiled to another world to complete my sentence."
The man in the armor looks upon Loki with a gaze that has seen many things. He looks conflicted, like a soldier that has been ordered to kill an entire innocent village. His deep voice rumbles as he speaks, "You know I cannot allow that, Son of Odin. My orders are clear, and I will follow them."
He raises his sword and begins coming at you. Loki darts out of the way, and shoots his hand toward the soldier, flashes of light shooting out of his fingertips. Heimdall brings his sword up and blocks the magic, sending it bouncing off in separate directions.
"Heimdall, you leave me no choice, then!" Loki shouts, clearly not wanting to hurt the other man. He shifts into his Frost Giant form, still nude, although your mind is about as far away from appreciating him as it can be. He lifts both hands to Heimdall and whispers something under his breath that you aren't quite able to catch. Bits of ice start to swirl up around Heimdall's feet and legs, freezing him in place. He tries to slash at the ice to chip bits of it away, but to no avail. He drops his sword as the ice moves further up his body and eventually covers his chest and neck. "You will regret this, Son of Laufey," he growls as the ice swallows his face and head.
"Quickly!" Loki says to you as he grabs the sword and runs to what looks like a pedestal in a giant room. He thrusts the sword into the pedestal and turns it clockwise until gears start to grind around the room. He steps back quickly and ushers you into a spot next to him, hand wrapped around your shoulders and pulling you close. You're still struggling to keep your towel up around your breasts, looking around you in awe at the sight before you.
On the ceiling above your head, a rainbow of lights start to swirl, faster and faster until it shoots down at you and you're sucked into what you can only describe as a wormhole. Time seems to pass very slowly in the wormhole. You're able to look around at the tunnel of lights and stars floating around you, and it feels almost like you can reach out and touch them. Loki advises against it, and you glance at him and notice that he somehow found the time to switch back to his human form and clothe himself in a wonderfully tailored Midgardian suit.
Suddenly, you're both laying on the ground in the middle of a field somewhere, the grass around you charred into an interesting pattern that you've never seen. His raven black hair is tousled, but otherwise, he looks to be in good shape. You, on the other hand, are still clinging to your towel, and it's split to go all the way up your hip, coming very close to showing things it shouldn't. Hastily, you adjust it and look at him, "Will you please conjure up some clothes or something? Honestly, all that time in there and you're only able to dress yourself. What a selfish asshole." As soon as you say it, you clamp your hand over your mouth and he glances over at you, narrowing his eyes as he sits up.
"I had more pressing things on my mind than giving you clothing when no one but me can see you," he mutters, his mood dour. He stands up and extends his hand out to you. You reach up and grab it with some comment about how you're still naked, but as he pulls you up, you realize that you're already dressed.
"Thank you," you say and look around. "Where are we?" you ask him, noticing how you're in the middle of nowhere, without even any city lights to provide you with any information.
"Midgard," he says, "Just outside of Norway to be exact. This way," He sets off in a direction, hands lost in the pockets of a jacket that appeared on him. It looked like it was expensive, and it fit him perfectly. You yourself are also now wearing a black, slim-fitting, single-breasted, wool jacket. Shoving your hands into the pockets, you follow after him, wishing you had been warned that it was the middle of winter here.