Chapter 7: Fight

Loki was not really awake but not really asleep either. Even so, horrible dreams and memories, powered by his magic, tortured his mind. While immersed in this state the scenery around him changed drastically. The green tinted clouds opened up, pouring water onto the ground below in sheets. Lightning arched across the sky, wind tore through the trees and the small creek turned into rapids causing water to cover the stones which served as a path to the shore. The large stone in the middle stood out, become the only stone not under several feet of water.

Loki's eyes shot open as his wet socks rubbed against his feet oddly. "Why would my socks..." He pondered to himself as he looked down to find his boots covered in water from the rushing rapids. He pulled his feet out of the water and huddled into the middle of the rock. His powers were drained from his emotional outburst, attempting magic now would be suicide. The pouring rain stung his skin and limited his vision to the shore which was only a little ways in front of him, but agonizingly out of reach.

BOOM-CRACK

Lightning lit up his surroundings and Loki buried his head into knees, quivering. His usually calm and mature attitude was stripped away to reveal that he was merely a young child that was scared, cold, and shivering in the rain.

A heavy cloak was found and thrown over her shoulders and Kayla burst onto her balcony. She shifted her body into a dragon form and ran forward. Tossing herself out into the air she dove down, the ground rushed forward toward her. Her wings snapped out at the last second and her tail brushed the pavement below. The accumulated speed shot her forward and towards the forest. Lightning crackled through the clouds around her, often missing her by only a small amount. The rain obscured her senses. Sight, smell, and hearing were rendered almost completely useless. She was flying blind. She threw all sense of caution into the wind and pumped her wings to gain more speed. She could have waited and gone on horse back but that would have taken more than twice as long. Only one thought was coursing through her mind.

'Loki is out there. Alone'

Loki's head peaked up cautiously from its cover when branches snapped. The rain continued to pelt him and he was soaked to the bone and shivering furiously.

Trees snapped and broke like twigs as a giant scaly beast burst into the clearing. Its large antlers swung back and forth as it sniffed the air. A bildgesnipe, he had never seen one before, but stories of their danger rang in his mind. They had killed some of the best warriors in Asgard. Loki caught more movement out of the corner of his eye as shadows raced along the ground from all directions towards the bildgesnipe. The spots of darkness swirled around it obscuring its body from vision with a dark pulsating cloud while its primal screeches echoed from within. The tendrils of darkness imploded folding around the form of the bildgesnipe, creating a shadowy form of it. It stood, beady black eyes glaring at Loki. It pawed the ground, facing towards him, its call echoing through the trees.

Kayla circled around the clearing as best she could with the wind. She could have sworn Loki would be here. One of the exotic monsters of this land was in the clearing and she watched in terror as a Serron took control of the already dangerous Asgardian monster.

"Great, a Nadzor" she muttered to herself. They were a low class Shadow in terms of power on their own, but their power grew to the amount of the thing they were controlling. Puppet-masters were the nick-name Scott had given them and this one had just taken control of one of the most powerful creatures in Asgard.

If that wasn't enough, the rain cleared enough for her to get a good look at the river and a familiar green cape flapped in the wind. The rock. She mentally slapped herself, the river had flooded all exit and now and the puppet-master pawed the ground preparing to charge towards the figure that was there.

The monster rushed towards him and Loki squeezed his eyes shut, readying himself for the end. He wondered if it was like the stories portrayed it. Would he be allowed to go to Valhalla? Was he too young? Would he be confined to the depths of Hel?

"I am sorry father! Thor!" A final unheard call, in hopes that they would forgive him for his foolish outburst.

A blast of air hit his face and a roar registered in his brain. He peeked through his fingers. A silver tail whipped back and forth as the form of the person he had come to know as a friend latched onto the thing. It stumbled backwards and fell onto Kayla's tail. Struggling to free her tail, she used her strong legs to push against the monsters back but to no avail. Blue light wrapped around her as she returned to her normal form. Muddy but freed she stood and her hands move to a fighting position.

Kayla dove down onto the monster, had her fighting instincts not taken over, Loki probably would have died right there. She bit at its neck as it bucked and turned, trying to throw her. Her tail whipped around and her wings flapped out as she started to loose her grip on the thing. It fell, throwing her off, her first instinct was to fly, but she knew that the force of the air would throw Loki off the rock and into the rapids below. She clamped her wings to her side, fighting that natural instinct to flap them. Suddenly she was yanked by her tail and slammed down on her back. Groaning she pulled her head out of the mud. She pushed against the Shadow to free her tail, but ended up shifting back to a human instead. Standing she pushed the mud out of her eyes.

"Loki, don't move! I'll be right there!" she screamed but it never reached him as it was stolen away by the wind.

Aura wrapped around her fists as she blasted bolts at the thing as it struggled to stand again. A movie flashed into her mind, giving her and idea. She pressed her middle and ring fingers to her palm and fired shots of aura at the thing, making it stringy and sticky. Pinning it to the ground effectively. She tromped through the mud until her toes were next to its head. Its head rolled around in an unnatural motion until it its head was almost backwards. There was a sickening crack as the spine dislocated and the spinal cord snapped, allowing the Nadzor to have free motion of the creatures head. It bent back facing her as a spear of shadow magic burst from its mouth. She rolled, but it was too late, the spear slammed into her side, spinning her face down into the mud. She rolled over a grimace plastered over her face as she grabbed the wound. Blood blossomed through the rips in her clothing and onto her fingers. The rain mixed with the thick red liquid letting it run down her arm and into the mud in a large stream. She moved, attemting to sit up and winced, snapping her head back. She managed to suppress the scream that was coming through her lips. She stood her hand clenched to her side to try and stop the bleeding. She limped back up to the Shadow. That bolt had been its last try. The bildgesnipe it was attached to is dying from a broken spine and the Nadzor was only barely keeping it alive. It had to disconnect from the thing and leave, she needed to defeat it here and now before it left. If she didn't it would only continue to ravage the area. Her hands pulled up to her chest forming a circle. She shut her eyes as power swirled around her and formed a small ball inside her hands that gradually got bigger. Power was drained from her body and the bleeding increased as she formed the portal needed to vanquish the Nadzor. She gritted her teeth as it was sucked in. The portal snapped shut with a pop. Relaxing Kayla tipped her head back. Feeling the rain on her face wash away the blood from the other minor scrapes she had accumulated.

Loki watched in awe as Kayla made short work of the... thing. The glow around her was gone in an instant and she stood before the dead bildgesnipe. She turned to look at Loki, her hand clamped to her side. As she approached Loki saw the blood. He gasped, breathing heavily 'Blood, there was so much blood.' he thought, unable to look away. Dark red coated her lower arm and stained her clothing. Large drops dripped between her fingers with every labored breath. She looked up and smiled forcefully trying to calm him down. Trying to say 'Its alright. I'm okay.' but it wasn't convincing. He gripped the rock staring at her.

Pain. Burning pain shot through her chest with each breath. Her hands shook and she struggled to stay upright.

"I'm loosing too much blood" she muttered as her vision blurred. Shaking her head she continued to walk, she couldn't fall asleep now. If she did she might never wake up, but she was so tired.

"Kayla? Are you alright? Talk to me?" A panicked voice yelled into her ear, she hissed moving her head away from the noise and she continued to walk as best she could.

"Yeah Scott. I'm fine. Just not so loud, kay?"

"No you are not fine. Your heart rate is slowing, your body at base is bleeding and coughing up blood. What sh- um I mean What the heck did you get yourself into this time?" She laughed, then stopped as more pain fired through her chest. She didn't like swearing and Scott had a potty-mouth to rival anyone's. He tried to keep it calm around her though.

"Puppet-master. It took over a bildgesnipe. As a last effort it shot a shadow spear at me. Caught me in the side. I'm bleeding pretty badly."

Scott swore colorfully through her earpiece.

"That's it I am bringing you back right now."

"NO! Don't. I'm fine. Loki is in danger. It's my job to help him. I'm fine."

"Bu-"

"Hunter! This is an order. Whatever happens, do not bring me back." With that she switched off her com-link to the base and continued her slow path to the edge of the river.

Static electricity built up around her and she stopped.

BOOOOM!

The world around Kayla turned black and she was thrown forward.

Static energy had built up around the creek. Loki could feel it. Suddenly an earsplitting bang echoed through the area and a blast of white light obscured his vision. A shock wave pushed him back on the rock.

When his eyes started functioning again, Loki saw Kayla laying face first in the mud. Not moving.

"KAYLA!" He screamed. He could barely hear his own voice through the ringing in his ears. If she could hear him. She didn't move. "KAYLA!" He screamed again. The teenage girl didn't move at all. No matter how loud he yelled.