Loki stalked along for what might have been a minute in complete silence before he began to feel that maybe he had reacted with a bit too much haste. But Sif had fallen silent, and he didn't really know how to start conversation again. Usually, this only happened with Thor and Thor never stayed angry – or quiet – long enough to lace a boot, much less pause an adventure. He glanced back, then stopped and whirled about.

Sif was nowhere to be seen.

The tunnel stretched out straight both before and behind him, with no differentiation whatever, as it had seemed to this whole time. There was no sign that she had ever been there at all.

The IDIOT.

"Sif!" he knew that calling her was useless. Until the tunnel spat her back out, there was no possible way for her to hear him. He began to run back the way they had come. Didn't she know better? All passages created by the Visendakonar were created for the one who controlled them, and none other. That was why Bor had ordered that none more be crafted. Loki had opened it, Loki controlled it. The tunnels were treacherous if not used exactly as intended by one who didn't know the way. If one didn't follow them straight through, they could branch into many tunnels and dark rooms, twisting and turning and hiding Norns knew what horrors. All she had was her knife, knowledge of a few fairy-tales, and mayhap a moon's training. And she wasn't expecting to be trapped by the tunnel itself.

That was why he'd had to mark the entrance. If he had been alone, or if she had waited for him, and they had turned about together, the way would have been straight and all would have been well.

Damn him and his confounded temper – Loki hit a barrier and stumbled backward.

Regaining his balance, he appraised the path before him. The thing he'd crashed against was invisible. Even knowing it was there, there was no way to see it. He reached and traced out its edges with his hand. His heart pounded giddily in his ears, making it hard to think, but he had to slow down, or this wouldn't work. The passage had to be treated with respect when it made an offer. One couldn't just blast through it.

Sif may have gone astray here, that was why the barrier had come.

May… It would be comforting to have anything like certainty.

But the odds were dramatically better for that, especially since it was his first time in this tunnel and he'd shown it nothing but respect yet – save for the fact that he'd smashed into this gate…

Regardless. He could go straight through, on to the door that would lead him back to the ruins, or he could open the path it offered, in the hopes of finding his missing friend.

His friend. He shook his head. Loki didn't have friends.

He spoke the runes, then pushed aside the barrier. Hopefully, this wasn't a trick, and Sif would not be far on the other side.

Three tunnels branched off before him, all of them dimmer than the one he'd come from, all of them exactly the same as the others. He reached behind him, and found the barrier back in place. That was how Sif would have found it. He'd forgotten to mark the entranceway once, years before, and he remembered it well. You turn about and begin walking, and by the time the trap appears, the way out of it is blocked, and you may only go forward. No amount of magic can override the barriers, once closed. The creator herself would be hard-pressed to out-work her passage, once established.

All three tunnels were the same. Sif would have realized that the passage had changed, she would have tried to go back and found the way blocked. She would have gone forward. She would have thought that the middle passage, being straight before her, would be the right one, and – not knowing the treachery of the tunnels – she would have taken it.

He started down the middle passage, feeling for the call of the doorway. It wasn't in front of him, but he could feel it, and that had to count for something. They had some time. The mark he'd placed would hold…for a while, at any rate.

The path before him was straight, and absolutely empty, which meant that she had to have passed through another barrier…or taken another path entirely. He wasn't allowed to back-track until he'd reached a dead-end or chosen to follow the path back to the entranceway. There was nothing for it, so he went on.

He couldn't blame her. She didn't know what she was doing and would think for a time that she was merely headed back home. The barriers wouldn't show up to her. They stopped him to warn him, but, not knowing her touch, they would do her no such courtesy. 'Skald or mage' had been more than a clue, it was a warning, but it was one he knew so well he'd take it for granted and hadn't bothered to mention it to her. He cursed himself for his witless temper. If he hadn't gone on so far ahead of her, she wouldn't have been able to slip away from him and none of this would have come to pass. Until she was free of the tunnel, her life was on his head and he knew it.

He came to two more barriers exactly the same as the first, each offering three branching tunnels. Each time he took the center. The second was exactly the same as the first, but the third was less smooth than the other two, a few torches had blown out along the way, and the floor was uneven and rocky.

"Blast it, Sif, how far did you go?"

But he couldn't blame her.

His anxiety grew with each barrier he came through without a sight of her. He'd only gone on for about a minute, how had she managed to get this far ahead?

But he knew that the tunnel, once awake, would play with time. Not enough to cause lasting damage – there was no way to go forward or back – but enough that one couldn't trust one's perceptions, no matter how accurate they had ever been.

The next barrier he came through lead to darkness. The previous tunnels had gotten dimmer and dimmer, so he wasn't really surprised by it. He was glad for his eyes. He had always managed to see well in the dark. It was one of the few things in which he truly excelled. To him, it was dim, but nothing was hazy, and he could see nearly as far as in broad daylight. Even when all the others were blind.

This, was a blessed piece of luck. Sif would be going slowly now, groping her way along. Loki would be hindered in no such way.

Again three tunnels. He could only hope she'd taken the center. He went on.

He saw no one, but here, that bothered him little. This tunnel was not straight. Where the one before had wavered from side to side, this one blatantly curved and turned. The walls still held torches whose fire had long died out. Rooms came off the sides at irregular intervals. Even his eyes could barely pierce the darkness within those rooms. But he wasn't afraid for himself. The tunnel would leave him to strike first.

He reached for the doorway. His mark was still there.

As he went, he began to hear noises. At first, it was barely anything, and he could almost convince himself he'd imagined it.

Almost.

He lengthened his stride.

He came around another corner and ran into her. She was crouched near the wall and he nearly fell over top of her. She spun around, knife up. He remembered that there was no way for her to see him clearly and he used the darkness to his advantage, disarming her before she could bleed him.

"Sif, it's me."

He flicked a quick flame to life in his hand, then winked it out. In its light she recognized him and relaxed, collapsing against the wall. She was breathing hard.

"Are you hurt?"

"No," she whispered, "Do that again."

"I can't," he knelt down, searching the shadows of the ground for her knife, "It was risky enough the first time. Why in Hel's name did you have to run off?"

"I thought I could find my way back,"

"Still so sure?"

She gave a weak laugh.

"In the future, when lost, stop and wait there for rescue."

She laughed again, "I'll remember that," then, voice stronger, pushing herself off of the wall, "You lost my knife,"

His fingers met with the cold metal and he pressed it into her hand.

"How did you - ?"

"I can see, Sif. Sheath it until you have eyes."

She did. He reached out and took her hand, pulling her to her feet. "How?" she asked.

"It's one of my special gifts."

He let go of her hand and started walking back the way they'd come, searching for the doorway. It took him an alarming moment, but he found it.

"Loki,"

"What?" she hadn't moved from where she stood by the wall.

"Keep talking," she murmured, "I can't see,"

He went back and offered her his hand, a hand he realized she couldn't see. "Do you trust me?"

There was a pause, then wryly, "Not really."

"Thank you for your honesty."

She laughed, then, "How am I supposed to know I won't say something and make you leave me here?"

"My word won't count for much, will it?"

"No, but it'll have to."

He took her hand and her fingers tightened around his. She left the wall and began to move down the tunnel.

"And how am I supposed to know you won't sneak away?"

"Beyond the fact that I can't see?" she felt her way to another smooth place on the floor, "I only went back because you ran off."

"Me? Ran off?" He reached again for the doorway, and – thank the Norns – this time it answered immediately.

"Yes you. I was worried that something like this would happen, so I asked you about it, and you had a little temper tantrum and decided to run off."

"Leaving aside the entire indignity of the idea –"

"Yours," she interrupted, "not mine."

"Whoever's idea it was! And I do not have 'temper tantrums', that's Thor's job –" Sif laughed and he continued, "You became worried that you would leave in a temper of your own and get lost?"

"I didn't realize it would swallow me."

"That's why I told you I could take you back."

"I thought that was you rubbing in my face that I was a girl and would need an escort."

"I would never," he answered, "The fact that you're a lady has nothing to do with it." She stumbled, gripping his hand fiercely and he helped her along the rough ground, "Though I must say, you do play the part rather well."

She laughed in spite of herself, "I'm going to just –"

"What?" he asked, "Leave me here in the dark? Where I can't see? I have you neatly trapped, Lady."

"Just you wait until I can see what I'm doing."

"Oh yes? What will you do then?"

"I'll give you the hiding your mother should have to curb your fresh tongue."

She tripped again.

He laughed, "Too bad you'll have to wait."

"When I asked you to keep talking I didn't –" she looked sharply up, "Loki."