The problem with opening a mind to the magic all around after months of near numbness is that the constant hum of it through the air and into the body banishes fear, caution and conscience.
Maryn felt the power as energy in her once exhausted body. It surged through her whether she looked for it or not.
Though she slept less and looked worse, her mind was opened to the magic around her and her behaviour reflected the rush it gave her. She would ride her mare recklessly, spar with more soldiers than was wise even for someone with her talent in fighting, use her magic without thought of the consequences or toll it took on her mind and body, and venture unprotected into the forest.
It was on one of these walks in the woods that Thor chose to follow her and make sure she was safe.
Maryn rose early from her bed and dressed in black leather pants, a black, sleeveless tunic that reached her mid-thigh with a longer panel at the front, sturdy black boots, and a hooded cloak. Slipping a curved dagger into her belt, she put another in her boot and made sure the black-metal snake rings she had chosen to wear that day were firmly on her fingers, Loki's pendant around her neck and her wedding ring glinting on her left hand. Foregoing breakfast, the princess made her way to the stables, choosing to walk instead of transport herself as she plaited her thick locks into a braid over one shoulder.
She saddled her mare quickly and swung up, riding out of the gates toward the forest. Once in the dim, cold shadows of the trees she dismounted and closed her eyes.
A few nights prior, she had been half way between sleep and wakefulness, allowing her magic to reach out searching the surrounding area for any kind of power. The thing about the animals, plants, and even the earth of Asgard was that they were imbued with a sort of magic that called to her, much the same way her magic had called out to Loki's, though not as strong. She had decided to seek out that power, storing the different ways it felt in her memory and trying to tame it a piece at a time to channel her own magic and control it.
This time, as she was searching and sifting through the power in the forest surrounding the palace, she had sensed a power bigger than she was used to. It was very large and slippery, and slithered in and out of her range of perception. There was something about it that beckoned her to find it. Perhaps it was the way it moved, or that it was so strong, but she knew she had to find the creature it belonged to.
Sensing the power moving away from her, Maryn started forward and followed it, climbing over small hills and through streams until it stopped. She continued on, coming to a dark, deep cave set into the face of a craggy cliff.
Reaching out a hand, she used her power to call to the creature, enticing it from its cave.
With a rustling, sliding sound, the creature moved toward the entrance of the cave. Maryn caught glimpses of patterned scales as the animal glided through patches of light, and then it emerged. It was a monstrous serpent, its fangs the length of her forearm and thicker than her wrist. Its body so long and bulky it blocked the entrance of the cave, and it didn't leave the cave fully. The black, taupe and burnt umber colours of its scales blended with the rocks around it enough that Maryn knew it was a master of camouflage. Raising its head, it hissed threateningly, its forked tongue flickering out to taste the air.
Tilting her head to the side, Maryn studied the creature. The power she could sense in it was stronger than she had thought. Now that she was so close she could feel the way it used that power to make itself bigger, its venom more deadly, its reflexes faster; it was cunning.
Her magic welling up and sparking at her fingertips, Maryn spoke softly, "You will not hurt me," she stepped closer to the creature, her power entwining around it to hold it in place. "You will not hurt me." She reached out her hand as she took another step closer.
The serpent hissed again in warning, swaying from side to side but giving no indication it would lunge at her.
Maryn took another careful step forward, "You will not hurt me."
Thor froze as he stepped out of the tree line to see his sister moving toward a giant snake, her hand reached out toward it, her palm glowing with an unnatural, crystal blue light starkly different from the soft silver he had seen of her magic before. He had followed her from the palace but never thought this would be what he found when he tracked her down. His chest felt tight at how close she stood to such a dangerous monster. Her lips moved with whispered words and he watched her shift even closer to the serpent, her irises losing their grey colour and shining with the same strange light that came from her fingertips.
The creature began to sway and he knew it was about to attack. Maryn looked to be in a trance and if he called out to her or made a noise in any way, the snake would attack before he could get to her. Twirling his hammer, he aimed at the beast's head and then let go.
Maryn blinked, coming out of her trance as a silver flash slammed into the jaw of the snake and the creature's large body crashed back against the rocky cliff face. Her head whipped round and she saw Thor striding toward her, his hammer flying back into his hand. "What are you doing?" she asked shocked to see him in the forest.
"I followed you from the Palace, Maryn. What are you doing near a monster such as that?" he growled catching her arm gently and trying to lead her from the cave and dazed serpent.
Maryn dragged her arm from his hand, "I am fine, Thor, you do not need to worry-."
He cut her off, "But I do worry, and I always will, Maryn. You are my sister. I have seen how hurt you are, but tempting death is not the answer."
Sighing, Maryn shook her head and laid a gentle hand to Thor's arm, "I am not trying to die. That serpent has power that I need to study and control so that I may do the same with my own magic." At Thor's disbelieving look and a flicker of movement from the massive animal near them, Maryn nodded to the serpent, "If I can channel and tame its energy and the magic that flows through it, I can do the same with the onslaught of magic in my own body."
Their conversation stopped as the serpent lifted itself slowly from the ground, its bottom jaw having been dislocated by the force of Mjölnir was hanging down sickeningly. Thor ignored Maryn's plea to leave her to deal with it and swung his hammer in a wide arc, catching the snake in the side of its head and killing it by caving in its skull.
Maryn closed her eyes and turned away hearing the serpent fall to the ground, its corpse writhing with death throws for a few moments before it stilled. "You should have let me use its magic," she said sensing the power draining away into the ground beneath the beast's body faster than its lifeblood seeped from the wound.
Thor shook his head and caught her hand, leading her back through the forest and toward their mounts. "I will protect you even if it is from yourself, Maryn. This is madness and I will not let you do this again."
They came to a standstill near her mare and his stallion, "You can't stop me, Thor," Maryn spoke quietly, her head bowed. "I will do this as many times as I need to," she tensed when she was suddenly pulled into a tight embrace by the God of Thunder.
"I have lost my brother, Maryn. I will not lose you too."
Tears filled her eyes at his words and her heart clenched painfully at the grief she heard in his voice. She had seen how distraught he was, how much pain he bore because of what had happened, how much guilt. Hugging him, she relaxed into his arms, closing her eyes and letting the pain she had been ignoring wash over her for a moment. With tears sliding down her cheeks, she pulled away and looked up into Thor's equally tear-filled gaze, "I'm sorry but I must do this." She turned away from him, his hurt expression seared into her memory.
Mounting her horse, she rode away from the forest and back to the palace. Once her mare was settled into her stall, Maryn walked silently back toward her chambers. Outside the rooms, she found Tora speaking with Frigga, Ari balanced on her hip. When the little boy saw Maryn, he wiggled around in his mother's arms until she put him down on his feet. He then toddled a little unsteadily toward the princess, his arms held out to her for her to pick him up. With a blank expression, Maryn turned him around and pushed him gently back toward his mother and Frigga, before walking around him and into her chambers without a backward glance.
Tora picked up her son and shared a troubled look with the Allmother, "She is worsening, Your Majesty."
Frigga sighed and turned her eyes on the closed door through which her good-daughter had just disappeared, "She is grieving for both her child and her soul mate."
Tora shook her head, "There is more, the magic that is part of her has changed, I can feel it."
Frigga looked at the handmaiden and then turned back to the door, reaching out with her own power to study Maryn's. She had felt it too, the magic that was so much a part of Maryn was stronger now, more untamed. "She has been through so much," she sighed, "We will keep an eye on her and make sure she does not come to any harm from it."
Tora curtsied, "Of course, my Lady," she agreed and vowed silently to herself that she would do everything in her power to keep her mistress safe.