CHAPTER 4
Saffron walked Isis over to her bed, sat her down carefully, and then walked to the door to make sure Traiton had gone. When she was sure they were alone, Saffron turned to her friend fiercely.
"What the hell were you thinking? You know that teleporting wipes you out!"
Isis looked up at her friend. "I know," she said, "I just had to see him again. I need more answers."
Saffron rubbed her hands over her face, frustrated. "Him," she said. "Who is 'him'? Why won't you tell me his name?"
Isis looked down at her feet. "I can't," she said in a soft voice.
"Why not," Saffron pressed?
"Because you will think I am crazy, and won't believe me. That's why not."
Saffron sighed and looked at her friend. "Isis," she said, "how long have we been friends?"
Isis looked up at her. "Since...since I came here, to college, and we met. You know: forever."
Saffron sat down next to her friend, and her voice was soft.
"Isis, look. I know that anything you tell me is the truth: period. And I know you are not crazy. You can trust me with anything!"
Isis looked her friend in the eyes. Her heart told her Saffron was right. She was being afraid for nothing.
"Ok," Isis said, "but before I tell you what is going on, I need to ask you something, ok?"
"Ok: shoot."
Isis took a deep breath. "Look, you know about my gifts, right?'
Saffron nodded. "Yeah: telepathy and teleportation, and maybe dreamscaping. What of it? You obviously haven't run away screaming from the stuff you see in my head, so it's no big, right?"
"That's just it, Saff. I can't hear your thoughts; I never have! I can't hear Traiton's either! What's going on with me that my gifts aren't working on some people?" The look on Isis' face told Saffron that her friend was truly worried.
The news bothered Saffron as well. In fact, it shocked her.
"I don't know! I always assumed you could hear what I was thinking." Saffron frowned for a minute. "Look, Isis: you know I always speak truthfully. You can trust me! Just tell me what is going on!"
Isis looked up at her friend and took another breath.
"Ok, Saff: I'll tell you. But you have to promise me you won't laugh at me."
"Cross my heart."
"Ok. Do you remember the stuff I have been telling you about? The dreams I have been having about meeting a man in the woods?"
Saffron nodded. "Yeah. What about them?"
"Well, he isn't somebody I just dreamed up. He's a real person, and he says we are 'mates'."
Saffron's eyebrows rose. "Ooookay...So, does your dream hunk have a name?"
Isis nodded. "He told me his name is Loki...and...and I think I love him! I feel so lost when I cannot be with him!"
Saffron took a deep breath.
"Loki...as in Loki, God of Lies and Mischief, the Trickster of Asgard? That Loki?"
"Yes."
Saffron took another deep breath, and looked her friend in the eyes.
"Isis, are you 100% sure that this man in your dreams is Loki?"
Saffron sounded stern, and Isis looked up at her friend, surprised. This reaction was not what she had been expecting. She had thought Saffron would think her totally nuts.
"Yes, I'm sure," she answered.
Saffron stood up suddenly, so Isis had to look up at her friend, who was now banging her head on the opposite wall in frustration. Suddenly Saffron whipped back around towards Isis, and her face was fierce.
"Well, it's about FUCKING TIME!" Saffron yelled.
Isis' jaw dropped, and at that Saffron laughed.
"Don't look so surprised," Saffron said. "Yes, dear friend, I know exactly who and what you are. I have been unable to say anything about it until now."
"Wait...what? How?" Isis stammered.
"I was under a guise of silence until you had come to some realization of your true love," Saffron explained. "The rest is not important right now; all will be revealed to you when the time is right. Magic is tricky that way, a lot of these things you must learn on your own. Now, where was Loki when you saw him?"
Isis thought for a moment. "I don't know for sure," she admitted, "it was always in a dream. We were in some woods; the trees there were huge. I could hear the wind in the leaves all around me. That's all I know."
Saffron nodded thoughtfully. "Ok," she said. "I think I know that place. It is the Realm of Wandering Winds. Was he able to tell you anything?"
Isis shook her head 'no', and then looked up at Saffron. "There was a lovely lady there, too. She said she was my aunt."
Saffron crossed the room and sat next to her friend. "What did she say?"
Isis frowned. "She said I have to go back to where I was found, and find the Amulet of the Moon. The Amulet will tell me everything I need to know."
"Hmmm," said Saffron. "This means you have to go back to Kansas, right?"
Isis nodded. "Saff, will you come back to Topeka with me? I really feel I need you with me. I don't think my parents will understand all this."
Saffron patted her knee in a comforting gesture. "Of course I will. What are friends for? Look: exams and the end of the term are in two weeks. We can go then, ok?"
Isis nodded. "That sounds good."
Saffron patted her knee again. "Great. Now get some sleep, ok?"
Isis nodded. "I will. Thanks again, Saff, for everything."
"No problem. Like I said: what are friends for? Now get some sleep, girl. I'll talk to you later, ok?"
Isis locked her door after Saffron left, and began to get ready for bed. Suddenly her computer beeped at her. She flipped her laptop open: there was an email waiting for her from her adoptive parents.
Dear Isis,
Hello my sweet girl! How is college? Dad says to say hi, and he loves you. Honey, I'm sorry I can't tell you much about when you came to us. We found you lying in a field after a tornado swept through the area. You were in a coma when we found you, and when you finally woke up in the hospital all you could tell us was your name: Isis. You couldn't remember anything else. I know this is probably really fuzzy for you right now; it was a difficult time, and you were badly hurt. We petitioned for custody of you, and you eventually came home with us. We have tried, as best as we could, to love you as our own daughter. I hope you know that.
I'm sorry I can't tell you anything more, dear. That's really all I know. We searched and searched for your biological family with no luck. A lot of people died that day, and a lot of people went missing and were never found. The storm was really bad.
I look forward to the end of the term, and to seeing your lovely face once again.
Love always,
Mom
With a heavy sigh Isis shut down her computer and went to bed, but she couldn't sleep. She started thinking of the things Saffron and Loki had told her, and especially of the Realm of the Wandering Winds. If Loki was there, and she had enough energy, maybe, just maybe, she could teleport herself to him...She closed her eyes and concentrated, and her bedroom disappeared with a FLASH.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Isis was in the woods again: in the same woods she had met Loki in her dream, but this time, they were real. She could hear Loki yelling, so she ran towards his voice. She soooooooo wanted to see him again, to hold him, and feel his arms around her!
She came to a clearing and stopped short. She could see Loki arguing with a tall Jotun just a few feet away. She hid behind a tree. She wanted to see Loki, all right, but she knew that Jotun was up to no good.
"You stay away from her!" Loki bellowed.
The Jotun laughed, cruelly, and the sound cut into Isis' soul like a cold knife.
"Do you think she would be in such a hurry to remember you, or even love you, if she knew what you really are? You are a fool, Loki Odinson."
Loki glowered at the giant. "You leave her out of this! This is between you and I!"
The Jotun glanced behind Loki, to the shadow of the tree behind him, and to her horror Isis knew she had been seen. Her feet froze on the spot, and she could not move.
"Do you really believe she loves you? That she always will, no matter what?"
"Of course! We are mates; the bond is unbreakable!" Loki insisted.
"Really," the Jotun smiled coldly, "let's just see about that."
Before Loki could move or utter another sound the Jotun grabbed him by the throat, lifted him off his feet and slammed him into the nearest tree. Cold washed down over the Jotun's arm, and where it touched Loki's body the sorcerer began to change. Suddenly Loki dangled in mid-air with skin of Arctic blue and eyes as red as blood.
Isis screamed at the sight, and Loki turned to her, shocked to discover she was there...
And afraid...of him.
Sciotha laughed. "Loves you, does she?" he taunted, and dropped Loki to the forest floor.
Loki took a step towards Isis, holding his hands out in a placating gesture.
"Isis, my darling, my mate...let me explain..."
She backed away from him in horror, shaking her head.
"You...you're one of them! You're one of the demons that have been trying to hurt me! This was all a lie!" She backed away from him, terrified.
"Let me explain..."
"No! Stay away from me!" Isis screamed. She stumbled back, tears flowing freely down her face, and turned to run away from Loki. She had to get away from these blue demons...had to teleport back to Earth...
She never had the chance. Sciotha grabbed her first, his ice-cold hands rendering her immobile.
"Let her go, Sciotha!" Loki bellowed. "This is between you and I. Leave her out of it!"
Sciotha laughed coldly. "I think not, Odinson." He ran his hand down the side of Isis' face, and she jerked at the coldness of his touch. "She is very lovely. I'll say this for you, Odinson, you have great taste."
"Let her go, Sciotha!" Loki bellowed, and a ball of fire appeared in his hand. "Deal now with me!"
"Oh, no, Odinson. I think I will take your Isis home with me to play," Sciotha said, wrapping one cold hand around her neck. He kept her body positioned between Loki and himself, so Loki could not attack him. "Have you moaned in his arms, sweet thing?" he breathed in her ear, and then nipped at her neck. "I will make you scream," he promised, and glared at Loki again. "I will enjoy making her scream," he growled, and with a flash of arctic blue light they disappeared.
Loki lifted his face to the sky and howled his grief to the winds.
"Halastjarna," he bellowed, "I need you!"
A brilliant flash of white light announced the arrival of the Goddess, and Loki fell to his knees. Returning to his Aesir form, he looked up at her with tears falling from his eyes.
Her face was grave. Her big brown eyes were full of sadness and worry as she took his chin in her glowing hands.
"Loki, child, what ails you? Why have you called me?"
"He...he took her...I was too slow...too late. He will hurt her, and I don't know how to find them!" he stammered.
The goddess put her hands on Loki's shoulders and gripped them tightly. "Loki, Child of Destiny, Son of Two Realms, speak plainly! Who took whom, child?"
Loki took a deep breath. "A Jotun lord named Sciotha-my sworn enemy-has taken Isis. Isis, my love, my mate...he has her, and will hurt her, and I don't know how to find them!"
Halastjarna's face hardened in anger. "I know who can find them, my child. We shall find Isis and return her unharmed." She shook Loki slightly by the shoulders, making him look up at her. "Worry not, Loki. All will be well again. Have faith, my child."
Loki nodded, and the goddess stepped away. With another blinding flash of light she disappeared.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Halastjarna teleported straight into Saffron's college dormitory. She arrived with another brilliant flash of light, making the young woman jump and scream.
"Saffron, Daughter of Ra, and Guardian of the Lost Stars: merry we meet, my child!"
Saffron dropped to one knee with her right arm over her chest.
"Merry we meet: great goddess," she answered. "You know who and what I am! How do you know me?"
"I am Halastjarna: Goddess of the Shooting Stars, Protector of the Wanderers. I have come to you for aid, my child." Halastjarna reached down and lifted Saffron to her feet. "Saffron, Daughter of Ra, I ask you now to rise to your power to aid me!"
Saffron nodded. "What is it you ask of me, great goddess? I will rise up for you, and do it!"
"The Jotun Lord Sciotha has taken Isis, Isis your friend, Isis the love and mate of Loki, Trickster God of Asgard. He has taken her captive, and we do not know where he has taken her! Can you find her for us, oh Guardian of the Lost Stars?"
Saffron's face set in anger. "I will find them, my lady, and bring Isis back safe. This fallen lord Sciotha will rue the day he crossed the stars, to his own ruin!"
Halastjarna smiled and gripped the young goddess' shoulder tightly. "I know you will not fail me, child of Ra. Go, and be victorious! Merry we part, Daughter of Ra!"
Halastjarna vanished in another flash of white light.