5th chapter, a lot fo thanks to my new beta reader: LoverOfArchangels :)

By now, I'll post a chapter every Thursday :)

Thank you to all who favorited, followed and reviewed! :D

Derama17 : Thank you for taking the time to read my fanfiction and writing me a review even if English isn't your first language! :D

SuperPsychoLove : I'm glad you loved the last chapter, and for Eisa... I'm keeping the surprise~ :D I think that the whole "making his family proud" is one of the main part of the character until the whole "coronation and everything that follows" mess... :3

FANFICTION

THE RISE OF LOKI, GOD OF MISCHIEF

CHAPTER V : Cat & Wolf

[After Queen Frigga and the Princes are attacked, a new threat of war against the Mountain Giants or another group enemy of Asgard is now upon their heads. Thor is injured and poisoned, Odin accepts to send the one and only spy he can trust without doubt: Loki. But soon after his arrival in Jotunheim, he disappears from Heimdall's view and meets the daughter of one of the traitors: Eisa. He sends her back to the Bifröst.]

Jotunheim, second day of Loki's mission

Loki smirked, leaning forward to have the best view. He was sitting upon a rock, above the path he was following and put his cheek in the palm of his hand, the elbow resting on his lifted knee.

He didn't have to wait that long before seeing the girl, Eisa, walking right in front of him, without noticing him. He let her follow him long enough so he could set up a trap for her and now, he was getting impatient.

The girl kept walking forward, continuing on the path – or so she thought. She suddenly gasped, sensing the ground disappear from under her feet and falling. She thought she would fall but instead, she just stopped to the bottom of a pit, blinking in disbelief before hearing the loud satisfied laugh of Loki as he slid down his rock and walked towards the pit where she was sitting, mouth hanging open from shock.

"Look what the cat just caught…" He purred with satisfaction, his green eyes gleaming happily at the vision he had before him.

Eisa scowled and glared at him, despite being in a vulnerable position.

I have to admit, I'm almost impressed you kept up with me for so long," he said, cocking his head to the side playfully.

"Don't think I am defeated so easily," she replied.

"I don't remember you being so fierce when I shooed you away yesterday," he remarked.

"I dropped the game when you got me angry. Never anger a woman. That's the first rule; did your mother teach you nothing?" She mocked, her eyes taking the playful glint he had in his own.

"You think someone like you could scare me?" He asked, chuckling in amusement.

She got up so quickly and kicked off the ground so fast, he didn't have time to react before she landed against the wall of the deep pit and used it for momentum. She grabbed a root and used it to balance herself out of the hole, surging towards Loki so quickly he only had time to let out a shocked gasp before she had grabbed his collar. She turned him around and pushed him backwards, a dagger of her own at his throat. His feet were on the edge of the pit and her hand around his collar was the only thing keeping him from falling in.

He glanced down at the fall waiting for him and swallowed. He has had much worse falls but he would have never expected the crying pleading girl to be so fast and so strong. His pride was wounded. Deeply.

He looked back at her and saw a cold gleam he didn't see before, he couldn't help himself but feel intrigued at all the faces she had shown him already.

"You tricked me, shame on you. I should have thought you'd lead me to some sort of trap." She said with a hard voice.

"Now, surely, we can discuss this?" He said, raising his palms to show he was unharmed and beaten even if it was hard for him to admit it.

She stared at him then frowned before giving a wicked smile.

"Give me one reason to do so?" She mocked, using the same sentence he had the day before.

He clenched his teeth before smiling, trying to look as charming as he could.

"Because I am a Prince of Asgard and hurting me would mean having you in prison for the rest of your life – if not longer?" He argued thoughtfully, "Or perhaps the sentence is death? I don't remember, such a pity if you were to lose such a pretty head…"

She stared at him, eyes narrowing before pulling him back on the proper ground. She wanted him to fall on the dust but he was much too quick and nimble. He turned to face her with all his height.

"Why are you following me?"

She sighed deeply, putting her dagger back in the sheathe that she had kept hidden the day before.

"I told you why. I want to find out the truth about my mother," she said simply. "Believe me or not, I don't care about your mission and with or without you, I'll reach the Mountain Giants."

She leaned forward, smiling just enough to make Loki's heart miss a tiny beat. He frowned at the feeling, trying to ignore it while his greyish green eyes met the bright emerald ones. "Now… I'm sure a Prince like you would want to sleep peacefully without worrying about someone attacking him in the night, right? Keep me with you and you won't have to worry about that, at least."

He snorted, smirking and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Tempting, really, but I won't fall for your charms, Lady Eisa."

"You are a hard man to read, I'll give you that," she said, tilting her head, looking impressed.

He smirked and they stared at each other for a long moment, none of them willing to give up the staring challenge. Loki took his time to observe her from head to toe, she was pretty but not the most astonishing woman he ever saw. She had long auburn hair tied in a messy braid, fair skin and clothes that were comfortable and easy to move in. But her eyes, her eyes were mesmerizing… A deep green that kept changing colours: lime shade to emerald green, then taking turquoise and seafoam shades. He couldn't look away and definitely didn't want to.

"You're interesting, I'll give you that," he finally said, his voice low and huskier than he thought it would be.

She smirked, her lips pink and inviting but she straightened up.

"Does this mean I can join you in your quest?" She asked.

"I am not teaming up with a lost little mouse," he answered firmly.

She laughed, jerking her head backwards before taking a step forward, her long red nails scratching his jaw just enough to send shivers as she smirked.

"You think me a mouse? I'm more of a wolf, really…"

She leaned even more forward, her lips just inches from his ear.

"And I eat kitties like you for breakfast…" She whispered.

He grabbed her hand and pushed her away so they could face each other once again. She seemed surprised by his reaction and he smirked.

"Do you really think you can charm me so easily?"

She didn't answer, glaring at him and he released her hand, taking a step away and waving his hand ever so slightly to take away all illusions, the path appeared once again.

"I won't force you to go back to the Bifröst; I have a more important task to execute. But if you wish to disobey your Prince's orders and go straight to your death, then be sure I'll take the first chance to watch you writhing in pain. Die, and it'll be on you. Survive, and it'll be on you as well. I won't let someone like you insult me," he said with his royal voice before smirking at her darkly, "But I can't wait to see the wolf as scared as a puppy and calling me for help… Not that I will give you any in all cases," he added with a shrug.

He left her, completely astonished and started to walk back on his path. After a few minutes, he realized she hasn't followed him and he smirked to himself. He probably scared her off enough this time and she won't cling onto him like a leech any longer.

A few hours later, after checking several times he wasn't followed, Loki stopped at a rock to take a break. Night would fall soon and he didn't want to sleep without a cover. But if he kept going on, he would reach a valley between two mountains and there would be hours of walk before being able to find a cave or anything where he could rest. He sighed before glancing around him, scanning the area for a good place to stay without worrying too much. After another hour of walking, he finally found a cave that wasn't too deep and settled there, making a fire with his magic and sitting by it, watching carefully outside as the night took place. He ate a little and finally lay on the hard ground, his body aching from the walking.

But even as he tried to fall asleep, he couldn't do anything else but stare with wide opened eyes at the burning crackling fire. He wondered how Thor was doing, if anything else happened to his family while he was away. He was two days away from the fortress of the Mountain Giants. He was just a few days away from making his father proud, at last.

His heart beat in excitement at the glory he would bring with him when he'll be back in Asgard. He looked up at the stars of Jotunheim and it's with a smile that the Prince fell asleep, dreaming of his hopes coming true.

Loki woke up, startled and sat up, glancing around. He blinked away the sleepiness, his heart hammering in his chest while he accustomed to the darkness, the only thing he could see was the embers of the fire. He's pretty sure he slept a few hours and a natural fire would have turned off by then, but his fire was magical. There was no way it could have abandoned him like that.

He frowned but before he could do anything, he heard a loud noise, sounding like a grunting huff made by a very, very large creature, the sound resonating in the entire cave and all of Loki's being. It was the same sound that had woken him up. He glanced outside and finally realized that he couldn't see the stars.

His eyes widened and he got up suddenly, getting his dagger out and watching the wall that had appeared at the entrance of the cave. He gritted his teeth, cursing the Mountain Giants that must have noticed him and put a giant rock in front of the entrance to lock him up.

He heard an irritating screeching sound and looked around, trying to determine where it came from but all sound resonated and echoed in the cave. He focused then turned astonished eyes towards the rock when he noticed that the sound came from it.

Frowning and intrigued, he stepped forward slowly and his green eyes only grew wider when he noticed that the rock was moving…

The wall, covered in plates as big as breastplate of a red so dark it looked black. The breastplates were sliding upon each other and against the rock of the walls, creating this friction irritating sound. Therewith he realized that the breastplates were scales…

Loki frowned even more, leaning forward, hesitating fingers approaching the hot giant scales but suddenly, it was gone. He jumped away, raising his dagger and blinking, almost blinded by the moon and the stars shining in the sky.

He swallowed before approaching slowly, watching the area. Did he just dream? Maybe the Jotunn air wasn't good for his sanity…

He stepped outside the cave, eyeing his surroundings but there was nothing in view. Nothing but mountains and the infinite sky above his head.

Loki blinked, trying to find a good reason to have such hallucinations and slowly let his dagger down, keeping it in his hand but looking around in disbelief. The heavy huffing sound broke the silence and he turned around sharply, dagger raised and ready to strike. The Prince's lips opened in shock as he looked up, up and up before his eyes finally settled on the head of the beast.

A gigantic rangy creature covered in scales thicker than a Giant's skull. The body was so long, so huge, it was impossible for him to see it all. It almost looked like a giant snake if it wasn't for the wings on its back reaching as high as the Fortress' ceiling back in Asgard. Its legs and paws were massive and muscular with talons sharper and longer than swords. And the head… The head was triangular with vicious golden eyes, shining dangerously in the night with jaws and teeth so impressive it would make even the bravest of Valkyries shiver in fear.

A dragon… Loki thought to himself, eyes wide opened in shock and fear when he recognized the creature he only heard tales of.

He shivered in fear, his heart beating hard in his chest, his little useless dagger of no use when, he himself, was just a toothpick to the creature that was watching him with a cold predatory gaze.

His hand trembled around his weapon and he thought about diving back into the cave, but then, the dragon moved ever so slightly and the paw resting on the roof of the cave he was in only minutes ago suddenly crashed. Rocks flew, dust raised and the dragon shrieked, the sound so frightening it sent cold shivers down the god's spine as it resonated in the Mountains.

Loki covered his head with his arms, miraculously avoided the rocks falling around him but when his eyes glanced up, he suddenly saw the beast that obviously wanted to swallow him all. The dragon opened his gigantic jaws, offering a beautiful view of his sharp teeth. The trembling god saw the flickers of a golden fire in the back of its throat. Without thinking, Loki turned around and ran straight towards the precipice.

He jumped off right when the violent fire hit the rock he was standing on a moment ago. He felt the flames scorching his hair and clothes and for a moment, he felt like floating in the air before gravity took over and his body dropped. He probably yelled but his voice was covered by the angry shriek of the dragon and its moves.

Loki eyed the platform of rocks where he would most probably land and die, cursing his inability of flying unlike Thor.

Thinking fast, he used his magic and made solid roots appear, attached to the rock itself. He managed to grab one, stopping his drop in a sudden move that made his teeth clack against each other before the momentum he had while falling took over him once again. His hands tight around the liana, he started to slide down, his hand burning so violently he screamed through clenched teeth but refused to let go. He thought he would fall on the rock platform anyway; going down way too fast to get out of it unscathed but his descent finally slowed to a stop. He didn't even have time to breath that his burning hands gave up and he fell, yelping and hitting the platform violently enough to have the air of his lungs ejected. He coughed and took a deep breath, his whole body shaking in fear and adrenaline from the heart stopping fall he had.

He lifted up his hands, trembling like a leaf from pain and panic, observing his fingers and palms cut, bloody, and still stinging in a burning pain from the friction against the roots.

But he didn't have time to think that he was safe before he heard rocks falling, he just had just enough time to roll to avoid one hitting his face before he jumped to his feet, kneeling on the ground while he heard another terrifying shrieking roar that shook the mountains.

He glanced up and saw the gigantic red scaled dragon in front of him. The creature had jumped from one mountain to another in order to keep an eye on its prey; it was so big he just had to extend his paws to reach the other side of the mountain facing Loki.

The god shivered when he saw the golden eyes lowering towards him. With a speed and clarity of mind he didn't expect, the god stopped shaking and frowned, focusing as he moved his hands with sharp determined actions. He threw spells, illusions and magic all around him, hiding him from the view of the dragon and making several of his own silhouettes at different places on the mountain's side.

For a moment, he was scared the magical creature could see through his tricks but the golden vicious gaze looked at each and every Loki standing on the mountain and shrieked in rage, furious. The dragon opened his jaws and threw a fire so hot that even if it was far away from the actual Loki, he felt his body heating up so violently that drops of sweat rolled down his face. He gritted his teeth, focusing on the spells he had to perform.

Magic is all about a whisper, something tempting but never impelling. He closed his eyes for more focus, shutting out the angry shrieks of the dragon as it manoeuvres and leaps from mountain to mountain, attacking each and every of his illusions of himself in a desperate attempt to get to him.

Suddenly, the dragon jumped on the side of the mountain where Loki was and it shook violently, breaking the god's concentration. Rocks flew and fell around him so he jumped backwards right when the ground under his feet cracked and fell. His back was against the wall and his feet were barely resting on the very small edge left of the platform where he had landed. He swallowed, trying to focus again but the mountain shook another time from the shriek of the dragon and he almost fell into the emptiness. His bloody trembling fingers and nails grasped the stone desperately as his chest went up and down with heavy breaths. He saw the pure blackness where he would fall, knowing that such a fall would last for a long time and there was no way he could pull a trick to save himself this time.

"Loki!"

He almost jumped in shock to hear his name but glanced down, seeing Eisa on another path several meters down from his position. He was almost glad to see her. Almost.

The mountain shook again and the young woman clenched the mountain side tightly, her lips thin in concentration as she looked around. But if Loki heard her, the dragon has too and he turned his head down to her, shrieking before diving.

oki's heart stopped when he saw the red creature's jaws closing on the young woman before flying off the mountain, its gigantic figure looking endless. But then, the furious shriek proved to the god it had been an illusion. He would have laughed but the woman's voice reached his ears another time.

"Jump!"

He wanted to glance down before doing so, but the edge he was standing on shook and his feet slid off. He fell forward, towards the emptiness but after only a few meters down, his fall was stopped. At first he didn't understand what it was until he realized it was wind slowing down his fall.

Elemental magic? He wondered in disbelief.

It was the hardest magic of all, even his mother and himself were avoiding this kind of magic, it was taking too much of a toil on the user and it was too unpredictable.

He glanced down and saw Eisa, the real one, hiding under a cave, out of the view of the dragon, moving her hands and biting her lips in focus. Then her magic failed, as you would expect from an elemental spell and he fell. His hands just had time to grab onto the edge of the platform where Eisa was but one of his hands let go. He yelped, knowing his other hand, after the liana, wasn't able to hold on much longer.

Eisa ran to him and fell to the ground, catching his arm to try to lift him up. Loki glanced up, astonished at seeing the girl holding his one hand, her brilliant gaze looking straight into his soul. He pursed his lips then swung his body to grab the edge of the platform with his other hand. With his strength and the Völva's help, he managed to climb onto the platform and run for cover just as the dragon glanced in their direction, but saw nothing.

The two magicians' chests were lifting up and down with their heavy short breath, hiding behind rocks and praying it wouldn't fall onto their heads. Both of them were shaking and Loki glanced down at his opened bloody palms, wincing from the stinging pain.

"You're welcome…" Eisa said between two puffs of breath.

He glanced at her, not understanding what she meant.

"What?" He asked, frowning lightly.

"I saved you. You're welcome." She said, throwing him a hard look.

He blinked in disbelief at the impudence she dared use with him.

"Are you deaf?" She asked, frowning at him.

He snorted then glared back.

"How dare you use such—"

"Later, drama queen! There is a dragon on our tails, if you haven't noticed!" She exclaimed and as to prove her words, the creature shrieked viciously.

Loki swallowed back his pride and glanced outside, he couldn't see much from there but he moved his hands, making more illusions of Eisa and him appearing on the mountains, running, standing, jumping to attract the dragon's attention.

"You used elemental magic," was all he could say, more impressed than he cared to admit.

She gave a frustrated sigh before turning towards him, hands on her hips and looking highly annoyed – which annoyed him.

"Do you want to die burnt then eaten by a dragon or buried alive in the mountains? Because, royal ass or not, you're not going to last the night if you keep bothering yourself on meaningless details!" She hissed.

He stared at her, a part of him wanting to slap her for her words and behaviour and another forced to admit she was right.

"We need to get rid of it," he said, frowning.

"Finally some sense!" She mocked. "But how? You're Loki, the God of Mischief, don't you have some ideas?" She asked.

"Why would I trust you?" He replied, looking down at her fragile looking frame.

"Because I have no other choice but to trust you to save us both…" She answered, sounding as if the words were ripping off her throat.

He observed her for a long moment wondering if he could really believe her words or if she was trying to get to something at the end. But the shriek of the dragon reminded him that it was the main threat for the moment and he mentally shook himself, forcing his thoughts to remain as clear and calculated as ever.

"You and I can't possibly kill that dragon. Our only choice is to lure him and slow him down long enough to escape the mountain," he said.

She watched him intensely, drinking his words as he started to explain his plan. At the end, her green eyes lit up, an amazingly tempting fire in the mid-darkness before she grinned, her smile as mischievous as his.

"Do you think you can do it?" He asked finally, staring at her.

"Let's go slay a dragon, Your Highness!" She answered.

So, yes, Eisa is back and you know more about her personnality now :) I hope it's not too much of a change from the last chapter, but I want a badass character! :P

Dragon is one of the main creatures in Norse mythology, so I thought I'd add a bit more of fantasy to light up the mood - and also, I'm trying to make Loki more playful and mischievous than what we saw in most movies.

I hope you liked it, next Thursday: "Tool"

Tell me what you think so far! :D

Yours Truly,

May