Loki followed her as she wandered through the ruins. He and Thor had spent hours and hours playing here. For the longest time it was the only place outside of the walls that their mother would allow them to go. And she had only allowed it because it was still within the city – there were houses and stables beyond it – but one would never have known that from within the crumbling walls themselves. They crafted a world completely distinct from the rest of the city. A secret place.

"You know," he said, "There's a secret passage here too."

Her grey eyes flashed as she turned, "Show me."

He led her to the corner and brushed back a curtain of vines. Beyond it was a place where a door had been – ages before – and where stairs cut sharply down.

He looked back, expecting her to be pushing past him to peer down the stairs and instead, saw her tracing the stone on either side of the door.

"I wonder what this story was…" she murmured. She glanced up at him, as if only jus realizing she'd spoken out loud, "There were carvings like that on the doorposts of my parent's farm, and those were the first stories I ever knew," she gestured to the stone, "The first two panels have been weathered away, and all I can see of this one is a troll. It's odd…" she peered closer.

"What's odd?"

"All I can see is the troll. The pictures before and behind – even within the panel itself – everything else is weathered away…" her head shot up, "Loki, we were looking for a troll! And look at his hand, he's asking for something. What was the rhyme?"

"Stand by the screaming wall, Hraesvelg's dome. Face Vestri's lonely post, the skirnir's home. The troll that guards the entrance you must pay. And from there, skald or mage, you'll know the way."

"We found the wall, we went west, and we found the troll. The passage must be underground, Loki. It must be here! What do we do now?"

Loki realized his hands were shaking. His head was spinning through spells and runes and the old stories.

"Well?"

"I don't know."

"'And from there, skald or mage, you'll know the way.'" She recited, hand on hip, then pointed out, "You're a mage."

She was worse than Thor, "I'm not yet, Sif," he snapped, stumbling over a phrase in his mind, "I'm still in training."

Her slender brows met, "Well I'm not," she returned, "All I'm saying is that you should have a good bit more of an idea what to do next than I. So stop getting angry with me when I admit that you're smarter and ask for advice."

Loki stopped. Looked at her. "I'm not."

"Not what?" she laughed at him, "Smarter than me? With that look on your face, I believe it."

He scowled, "That's not what I meant."

"I know," she smirked and sat down on what remained of a wall to her right, "but I don't know that I believe you."

That was it. He ground to a halt and looked again at the wall, scanning the side of it for a mark – any kind of marking…

Sif was still talking, "I don't know that many would. Often you seem angry, maybe you should work on it. You'd scare less people off."

"I'll think on that."

Twisting his hand, he pressed two fingers to the wall just above the place where the troll's outstretched hand would have appeared. He whispered the runes.

The space below him, at the base of the stairs, shimmered and changed. Instead of stone, now all was earth, lit by torches that lined both sides.

Sif jumped up, "Loki, you –" her eyes snapped at him, "You weren't listening to a word I said, were you?"

He felt like the smile was a bit too wide, but she deserved it, "Not a word."

She punched his shoulder, then turned back, "How did you figure it out?"

"Skald-craft, actually," he said, "I put all the kennings Kvasir's forced down my throat to good use."

"Kennings?"

"You know, when you say many poetic-sounding words in place of one simple one, like, 'Aegir's field' instead of 'the sea'. Most of the old riddles had two layers, one that gave you the answer, the other to rub it in your face when you had found it."

"Well, what did you do?"

"I paid the troll-guard, just as I was told. Hraesvelg was a giant who thought to gather all the gold in the Nine for himself. And for his greed, he was set to cause the winds for all time. The name 'Skirnir' means 'shining'. The word is found in unending kennings for gold. And we had to pay the troll. Also," he snapped his fingers, "the Old-Tongue words for 'gold' and 'gull' are hardly different. The riddle fairly screams to give the troll gold and ask your way in."

"Will it stay open?"

"Only as long as I'm standing here."

"Then let's go in."

~.~

The floor of the tunnel was dark earth – the walls as well – broken only by the occasional by stone pillar that held up flickering torches. The air was thick and heavy. As they stepped in, the gate shimmered and disappeared behind them, revealing more of the tunnel, stretching on and on into the dark behind them. Sif felt a little prickle of unease, but the passage had to lead somewhere, and it was somewhere within the realm. There would be an end, and it would be before them. Why else would the tunnel have opened this way?

"Wait."

Sif stopped.

Loki grinned back at her, "Look at this." He reached out and touched the place where the gate had been, and the image shimmered and flickered, like a reflection on a pond.

"How did you do that?" She came over and stretched out her arm, in just the way Loki had, but her fingers met with nothing. Her hand went straight through, like nothing was there at all.

"I opened it," he shrugged, "It'll only listen to me," he turned his back to her, tracing some pattern on the air with his finger, "If it makes you feel better, Thor can't do it either."

"There are other passages like this?"

"A few."

"Where?"

He faced her, expression caustic, "Do you want us to find our way back?"

"Fine, I'll be quiet."

Loki chuckled and Sif walked a few paces down the hall. But then she turned back to watch.

He continued the tracing for a moment before the shapes he'd drawn flashed bright green. She gasped as they faded, leaving their imprint burned into her eyes. "What did you just do?"

Laughing at her, he answered, "I made sure it would lead me back. If you're not careful, you can lose the gate."

"Can't you use magic and find it again?"

He grimaced. "Yes, but it would take the better part of a week, assuming you're the lucky kind. This is safer. Come on."

He brushed past her and, blinking at the reddish glowing shapes marring her sight, Sif followed him.

There was no differentiation either before or behind, and as they went further and further down the passage, it began to make Sif uneasy.

"Have you any idea where we'll end up?"

"None. Buri took this path to escape from the Frost Giants that had broken into the palace. I know nothing more."

"The book didn't say what happened after he escaped?"

"It went straight on to the next tale, which begins with Buri happy in his own home, secure with the realms," he looked her over appraisingly, "Are you troubled, Lady?" she laughed at his mockery, but he continued, "As I recall, you were the one to go down first, but I could always lead you back and continue on on my own."

"No," she flushed, "I'm fine. I'd just like to know what it was we were walking into. Who knows where we could end up, or if we'd need to defend ourselves...all I have is my hunting knife," she scanned him up and down, "And you are completely unarmed."

He laughed, and raised a hand, "I'm always armed," green fire flicked across the tips of his fingers, then winked out.

"I didn't mean tricks, Loki. What if we meet something that's actually dangerous?"

"Like I said," his voice was without the playfulness that had marked it before, "If this is not to your taste, I will gladly escort you back."

"I'm fine –" With a twist of his hand, he was suddenly several yards ahead of her. Sif gave an exasperated sigh, "You are every bit as bad as your brother." He didn't slow down and Sif lengthened her stride, then stopped. He wanted space. Fine. Let him have it. They'd come down a straight passage, one he'd marked their entrance to, and one without any branches of any kind. She could find her way back.

And let him have his temper. She could find it on her own.