Chapter 4

It had been 4 days since Loki had been taken and they were still no closer to figuring out where Loki was or how to save him. Thor was wondering through the palace lost in thought. He wanted nothing more than to save Loki, but there were no leads so Thor had nowhere to look. He was pulled from his thoughts when a guard approached him.

"My Prince, the AllFather requests your presence in the Throne room. He will be contacting the Creed leader by hologram."

Thor nodded and left for the throne room. He arrived and found his father and the council standing in front of the hologram panel.

"Father I have been told you are going to contact the leader of the Creed?" Thor asked.

"Yes. I have been trying for awhile, but now he is willing to discuss the situation with us."

Thor nodded and Odin pressed a few buttons on the panel. The leader of the Creed people appeared before Odin, Thor and the council.

"All Father, haven't you caused my people enough grief?" the leader sneered.

"I have a question for you, my gatekeeper has informed me that some of your warriors captured Prince Loki. I want to know if you sanctioned this?" Odin asked.

"Yes I did. He is currently being held in the dungeons below my castle." The leader answered.

"Why?" Thor asked.

"He was taken for his crimes against the Creed people in the siege last week. My four best warriors felt they were owed some vengeance for the many deaths that were caused during the siege so I allowed them to come to Asgard and take someone for their vengeance. Your Prince Loki was the first one they found when they entered the realm and because he was in the middle of the siege and caused many deaths himself he was the one chosen for vengeance." The leader explained.

"How did you find your way into Asgard without use of the Bifrost?" Odin questioned.

"There are many hidden ways into Asgard All-Father. It is a pity you don't know much about your own realm." The leader smiled.

"I demand that you return him or else force will be used against you." Odin demanded.

"If I so much as see one Asgardian enter my realm I will kill him." The leader warned.

"I am sure there is some sort of arrangement that could be made. What do you want in return for Loki's life?" Odin bargained.

"Sorry Allfather. No dealing your way out of this one. If you're lucky we will return his body."

With that the hologram faded. Thor immediately threw his hammer through a pillar.

"Father I compel you once again, please let me lead the Warrior's three and Lady Sif into the Creed world and get Loki back."

"Thor we cannot just barge into the Creed world. They will kill him before you even reach him. For now leave while the council and I figure this out!"

Before Thor could leave, Frigga came rushing in with a book clutched tightly to her.

"I found something! Hopefully a way to bring him home!"

Odin and Thor listened intently as Frigga explained the plan.

"So this spell will keep us hidden from everyone else until we reach Loki?"

"Yes, but that is as long as you don't draw attention to yourself. You must go and come back quietly as possible. The spell also won't last long so you will need to hurry."

"Father please allow me to lead my team and bring Loki home."

Odin pondered this for a moment before turning to Thor.

"I will allow it. But Thor you must move quickly and no matter what you see or hear, you get your brother out and you get back here to Asgard. I will not have you risking your own life to do something foolish."

"Yes Father. I will assemble my team and meet you and mother on the Bifrost."

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Loki had lost count of the days. With no windows to keep track of time, he couldn't tell if it was night or day. He kept waiting for Thor to come bashing in the door and take him away from the pain, but he hadn't come yet. Loki was lost in a daze when the door to the room opened and the warriors walked in.

"How is little Prince today? Have you decided to talk yet?" one asked.

Loki said nothing. He rarely said anything anymore. Everyday they came in here to torture him and ask him how to get into the weapons vault, but Loki wouldn't talk. It didn't matter how hard they beat him, whipped him or whatever else they did to him, he wouldn't betray his father like that. His face twisted in pain as his hair was gripped in a tight grip and his face was brought up to meet the warrior's face.

"I asked you a question little Prince. Don't be rude now,"

Loki mustered up what little strength he had and spit in the face of the warrior. His hair was let go of but he kept his head up and smiled as the warrior wiped the spit from his face. He looked back at Loki with an evil glint in his eye.

"Now that was not very polite. I guess we need to teach you a lesson."

Loki's face was grabbed by another warrior and his mouth was forced open. A tied up piece of cloth was shoved roughly into his mouth. He struggled as it was tied around his head. A punch to his broken ribs stopped his struggles and a hot iron was brought forward.

"Let's see how you enjoy this now that you can't scream anymore."

The hot iron was pressed against his side and Loki's screams were muffled by the gag. By the end of the session there were multiple burns through out his body and the bottoms of his feet had gotten the worst of it. His head was forced back up again.

"Had enough?"

Loki didn't respond. He just met the gaze with as much force as he could.

"Maybe we should give you a permeant reminder of what you are."

The next Loki knew was his left arm was being held in an iron grip next to him and one of the warriors came up with a knife.

"This may hurt just a little."

Loki screamed into the gag again as something was carved into his arms. He tried struggling and reaching for his magic but he was just too weak at the moment to do anything. When the carving was done he looked and saw they had carved the word 'monster' into his skin. They repeated the process with his other arm before he was returned to his regular position with his arms chained above him.

"Just so you know little Prince, this is a cursed knife. Which means no matter what you do, those words will stay forever etched into your skin." The lead warrior explained.

The warrior ripped the gag out of Loki's mouth and held his head up to eye level again.

"Anything to say now?"

Loki remained quiet with his eyes cast down.

"Don't worry, you'll break soon enough."

The gag was shoved back into Loki's mouth and the warriors laughed as they left the room. Loki let the tears fall, silently begging once again for Thor to come soon.

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Odin and Frigga met Thor and his friends at the Observatory.

"We will try to drop you as close to the castle as we can without causing too much of a scene. In order for the spell to work you must not draw any kind of attention to yourself. Do not talk to anybody, touch anybody or do anything out of the ordinary. Here put on these cloaks, they are similar to what Creed warriors wear and they will help you blend in a little more." Odin instructed.

Thor, The Warriors Three and Lady Sif all nodded in agreement and put the cloaks on.

"Thor no matter what you hear or see do not do anything foolish. Retrieve your brother and get back here as fast as possible." Odin warned.

"Yes Father."

Odin stepped back and allowed Frigga to cast the spell. Once she was done, she ran up and hugged Thor tightly.

"Be safe. Please bring him home." She whispered to him.

"I will Mother. I promise." Thor whispered back.

Frigga stepped back and Hemidall activated the Bifrost. Thor and his friends were sucked in and transported to the Creed world.