Chapter 29
The next morning he jumped out of bed, full of energy, as soon as it was light outside. He asked JARVIS to show him certain coordinates in a map and how long it would take him to travel to that point.
"The location you requested is in a valley in the Himalayas, farfrom any tourist route or popular destination. It's not listed in any database under any name, as a monastery or otherwise, yet satellite imagery shows what would be identified as a religious building. There are no direct roads leading to the site, although the closest settlement is 18 miles to the south-east. If you were to take a direct flight to the nearest airport, it would take you approximately three days by road, and the last 18 miles by horse. That is, of course, if you were to visit during the summer months. In winter, roads are bound to be blocked by snowstorms."
Loki considered JARVIS' explanation. "As fast as you can" turned into a week's journey, if not more. That wouldn't be too much of a nuisance, but the Sorcerer's reaction to his memories told him all he needed to know about the seriousness of his situation.
After JARVIS finished, Loki was about to ask him about commercial flights for that very day, but a noise from downstairs distracted him.
"That is the garage door, sir. Mr. Stark must be back."
A few minutes later, he saw Tony slowly climbing the stairs.
"Don't tell me you've been up all night!" he human exclaimed when he noticed Loki sitting at the counter.
"I just woke up," Loki said, sipping his coffee and taking a brief look at him: his tie was completely undone, his shirt partially unbuttoned and he carried his jacket slung over his shoulder. "Can I infer you are the one who has been up all night?"
"Yeah," Tony smirked. "I owed Pepper a Friday night, well, several, and I just paid her with interest, if you know what I mean. Anyway, I'm off to bed."
"I need to travel to Kathmandu, you know of a direct flight?"
Tony shook his head as if he tried to wake up.
"What?" he then served himself a cup of coffee. "It's either too early in the morning or too late in the night for these kind of questions."
"I thank you for your hospitality, but I have businesses that require my attention."
"So formal... And you need to go to Nepal?"
"The Himalayan Mountains," he thought about it and decided to sum it up. "Magic has always existed in your planet, only not many have been privy to that knowledge. There's a problem I need to solve, and there's a place where they can help me."
"O... kay," Tony said slowly. "JARVIS, where is that?"
He gave the map a quick look.
"It's January, so they now have tons of snow and probably wind too," Stark said as he looked at the hologram. "Why take a commercial flight then the bus then a yak when you can borrow one of my suits? Don't make that face, you tried them already and they are more than safe. You can go whenever you want, it will be a few hours, not days. And you will land with style at their doorstep."
Those points were hard to argue against, especially when he was in such haste.
"You travel light, right?" Tony continued. "I don't remember any suitcase."
"I have my own means of carrying my possessions," he said, extending his hand and conjuring the coat he had been wearing the previous night, to then making it disappear.
"Yeah," the human nodded. "Because I don't remember those sweatpants or that t-shirt. Do you carry your entire wardrobe in your hocus-pocus space?"
"No," he sighed in frustration, remembering how Odin, after the battle with Malekith stripped him of all the artefacts he carried: The Casket of Ancient Winters, his daggers... It was a good thing he had left his Midgardian gizmos behind, in a safe place. "Just the bare necessities."
"All right," Tony said, as he finished his coffee. "I'm exhausted and want to go to bed. What time is it in Khatmandu, JARVIS?"
"It's a quarter to eight in the afternoon, sir."
"The other side of the world, after all," he said to himself. "The maximum speed I can give you would get you there in about five hours. Faster than that would raise some questions and I don't want my phone blowing up, not today. So either you go now and arrive in the middle of the night, scaring the crap out of everyone, or you arrive with the first light of day. Personally I prefer the second, it's much more dramatic."
The millionaire had a point, but Loki was in a hurry and preferred to leave as soon as possible. Tony didn't argue, instead asking JARVIS to bring the suit Loki had used three months before. After thanking the human and shaking his hand, Loki changed his clothes, got into the armored suit and set off towards the Himalayan Range.
xxxxXX-0-XXxxxx
Five hours was a long time to spend in a metal suit; Loki was more than grateful when JARVIS finally announced that the Sanctuary was in sight and that he would begin the descent.
Luckily he arrived on a clear night, which allowed him to admire his destination from the air. Kamar-Taj resembled more a citadel than a place of study and prayer. Built on the natural terrace of a mountain, facing south, high walls and towers guarded its buildings and courtyards, though the many windows carved into the rocky mountain suggested that the Sanctuary had been partially built inside the mountain. A narrow path meandered through the side of the mountain to the valley below, where a small village sat on the edge of a frozen lake.
The suit landed at the door of the fortress. Even with the air recycling system, it was good to breathe the cold, free air again. Without a word, the suit took off and disappeared in the distance like a shooting start.
He stood there for a moment, noticing the lack of visible guards; however, his eyes were instinctively drawn to the arrow slits and the seemingly empty windows. Knowing full well that he was being watched, he stepped up to the massive doors, where two other man-sized doors stood, each sporting each a dragon-shaped, brass knocker in its center. Loki grabbed one and knocked three times; he had heard Midgardians liked the number three, especially when knocking on a door. Personally, he preferred to knock four times, but he had also learned that it was best to follow the customs of each place one visited.
Finally, the bolts moved and the door opened. A tall, dark-skinned man stood at the entrance, looking at him from head to toe.
"Mr. Norwood?" the guard asked, his brow furrowed in puzzlement.
"The very same," Loki said, offering the kind of smile he saved for financial businesses. "I understand the Ancient One was waiting for my arrival."
Suddenly remembering his instructions, the man stepped aside and let him pass, informing him that the Ancient One was resting and was not to be disturbed, though she had left instructions on how to treat her new guest should he arrive during the night.
"Surely we didn't expect you so soon," the man, who introduced himself as Karl, told him as he guided him inside the Sanctuary and into the mountain. "We were a bit confused by the flying armor. I suppose having ties with Tony Stark has its perks."
They crossed the main courtyard into what appeared to be the main building without seeing anyone. Not surprising, since it was the early hours of the night. Loki guessed that the more sensitive facilities would be deeper into the mountain, so when they walked through a wide corridor and Karl opened a set of ornate doors for him, he stood there for a few seconds, trying to make sense of what he was seeing.
"There should be a mountain above us," Karl commented as he waited for him, with the air of someone who has seen the same reaction many times before. "So the world thinks. This is the real Kamar-Taj."
Many buildings spread out before them, climbing up the rock face of the mountain, the farthest ones seemingly carved into the mountain itself.
"These are our homes," Karl explained as they walked through the streets into a large square. "The world sees a temple carved into the mountain, but we are a village. To the right is the house for the novices and the senior students, to the left are the kitchens and the mess halls, in front of us we have the Library, the classrooms and the practice halls, behind that are the Masters' and the Guests' Houses, and at the top there's the Ancient One's private residence."
There was something, however, that made Loki look twice to make sure he wasn't seeing things: On one of the buildings below the Ancient One's residence was a large parabolic reflector.
"That's how we get our internet," Karl informed him.
"But... that's..."
"This is not a cloister, though we devote our time to study and meditation. In this time and age not many people would be willing to leave their loved ones for months or years at a time to come here. Despite what others might say, seeing their families and friends helps them keep their focus. Mobile devices are strictly banned outside leisure hours, though."
As they approached the Guests' House, Karl took a key ring from his belt.
"We prepared a room for you as soon as the Ancient One told us," he explained, opening the door for him; then he offered Loki to fetch him something to eat from the kitchens.
The room he had was assigned to was furnished with the bare necessities. At least its own bathroom. It wasn't much different from his Asgardian cell, except this time he had windows to the outside world. Karl told him that he was free to walk around Kamar-Taj, although it wasn't advisable to disturb the students during class.
The next morning he was given appropriate clothing for his staying. He objected to wearing what he thought was a uniform, but the guard explained that he was free to accept them or not, though if he did, he would find them more comfortable and appropriate for a magic user than civilian clothes.
"The Sorcerer Supreme chose them for you, sir," the guard said. "Since she is the only one to have met you before your arrival. She was sure she got your size right."
He finally accepted, and found that the guard was right, and that the Ancient One had a good eye, because the greenish robes he had been given fit him like a glove.
Another guard led him into the Ancient One's study. Loki couldn't help but smile as he saw the room, exactly as he had seen it during his dreams. The Sorcerer Supreme welcomed him with the warmth of the best hosts. She was shorter than he remembered, though her gait and posture suggested a lithe and powerful physique. After the introductions, she took him on a tour of the Sanctuary, showing him all the facilities he had access to. Loki had many questions about how long Kamar-Taj had been active, what they taught, how they selected their students... all questions were answered without missing a beat, which made Loki feel a little suspicious.
"You seem uncomfortable," she said after he abruptly stopped his questioning. "Is something wrong?"
"Why are you so trusting of me?"
"This is a place of knowledge," she explained. "There are few things forbidden here, apartfrom certain practices. If you wish to stay here, you must learn all there is to know about us."
"How do you fund all this?"
"We have several patrons around the world. Some are former students, some others simply understand the importance of our labor. We also charge an annual fee to our students, adequate to their own financial situation."
"I had to ask, after seeing that you enjoy modern commodities."
"It's provided for free by one of our patrons."
They were now in a small courtyard inside the classrooms building, which had been cleared of snow so that the students could move easily. They were practicing moves which seemed more akin to a martial arts style than to spellcasting. To Loki's surprise, despite what he thought the Ancient One's words had conveyed, students at Kamar-Taj were taught physical combat as well as mystical arts, for the dangers they would face were many and they needed to be prepared.
In another courtyard, however, students were practising something that piqued his curiosity. When they moved their hands in a circular pattern, golden sparks would form before them, widening until the spell created a portal. The man who had greeted him was in charge of that group of students. To his surprise, he was no mere servant, but one of the Masters.
"Everyone serves a purpose here," the Ancient One explained. "Karl is one of the most skilled Masters, and the one I trust with recruitment. He has a keen eye for those with enough potential. Of course, they must first give in and accept the existence of the mystic forces. Once that happens, the path lays open for them."
One notable fact he noticed was that the Sanctuary functioned like a clockwork machine, but there was none of the suffocating atmosphere that usually pervaded an academic institution.
"No stay here is ever forced," the Sorcerer Supreme told him. "Those who come searching for answers are free to go away as soon as they are satisfied, or should they feel the need to seek knowledge somewhere else."
"Aren't you afraid you might unleash something into the world? That someone might use those powers against you?"
"No," she chuckled. "I've come across some brilliant students, full of potential, but once they learned what they needed, they went back to their previous lives. In many cases I wish they would have stayed and served a greater cause, but no good can be drawn from a forced hand. If any of my former students ever strayed from the path, we have means to deal with it."
Loki was silent for a moment.
"Then why inviting me? You said you couldn't teach me anything new."
They had stopped to watch another class who were practising how to cast shield spells. She was silent for a while, as if lost in thought.
"That was what I said, indeed, but that Malekith is a menace, not only to Asgard or the other Realms, but to the entire universe, for he won't stop at Yggdrasil, and his actions can usher something even worse than him. You and your brother might as well be our only protection against that."
"I only need more power to face Malekith."
"Wrong. You need to master it better. Asgard is a society which favors brute force and physical strength, something you tried to emulate, if only to fit in, but neglecting your growth as a sorcerer as a consequence. Why use a metal blade when you can conjure your own weapon that fits your needs at any given moment? Why rely on dangerous shortcuts between worlds when you can invoke a portal directly to your destination?"
Slowly, they made their way back to the Ancient One's study.
"As you master more facets of your power," she told him. "So your strength will grow too, and you won't need any seal or protection against any entity from any dimension."
"But what is what pursues me?"
"Not what I thought it was," she confessed, as she bid him to sit on the carpet while she went to brew some tea. "But still you are out of danger, for now."
"How can you be so sure?" he asked, hiding the mounting alarm growing inside him.
"You are here, aren't you?" she smiled, taking the tray with the kettle and cups to the carpet. "If that creature had taken control of you we wouldn't be talking about it over some tea, but fighting to the death, probably with half my world razed to the ground. I'm grateful that it hasn't come to that yet."
He took the cup she offered and stared at it, feeling a knot on his stomach.
Yet.
"There is a ritual," she offered. "It's completely harmless. I'll trace back where that entity comes from and its identity. I would advise to perform it as soon as we can."
"If it involves restraining me or putting me to sleep beforehand..."
"Nothing of the sort," she waved her hand. "Just a droplet of your blood or a strand of hair. You will be able to watch the whole process."
Loki took a sip of his tea, his mind racing as he tried to remember any spell that required blood from the victim, but he came up with nothing. His own innate magic had never relied on ingredients, and he had never been interested in studying those practices that involved biological samples of any kind, considering them barbaric.
She stood up suddenly, walked to one of the libraries that lined the walls, took a book and opened it, searching for something. Then she returned to her seat and placed the book in his hands, already open.
He saw the diagram for a basic spell, though he didn't understand the language it was written in. There was nothing subtle or complicated in it: it used the DNA from the subject's biological sample to lure the entity to the material plane. As this sample was only a small fraction of the whole body and lacked any spirit, the entity had nothing to hold on to and had to return to its dimension. However, it would always leave a spiritual imprint, and that was what the Sorcerer Supreme was after.
"Odin banned these practices in the Nine Realms," he said. "It starts with a droplet of blood for a bit of divination, and the next generation is performing vivisections on newborns."
"I am more than aware," she replied, taking the book from him. Her voice sounded suddenly terse, but it quickly softened. "So used are you to be tricked that you suspect of every shadow?"
He chuckled, shaking his head.
"I am a man on the run: from Asgard, from some Midgardian authorities and from who knows what creature form another dimension. You would expect some caution from someone in my predicament. Besides," he added, waving his hand around. "All this seems so convenient! The fact that you agreed so readily to me coming to your Sanctuary and that you are offering me all but complete deliverance from all my troubles."
She raised her hand and, for the first time, Loki saw a hint of annoyance in her face.
"The sacred duty of a Sorcerer Supreme is to protect Earth from mystical threats," she said, her green eyes suddenly hard and cold. "Such was the pact my predecessors made with the Allfather: While Odin and his bloodline protected the Nine Realms from physical threaats, we would protect them from other dimensions, and our world would remain untouched and under our sole authority. It is my duty to observe the many possibilities that are before us. Throughout my long life I have averted terrible disasters that could have wiped out all life from my world, so that not even bacteria would have survived, but as soon as I prevent one terrible fate another appears on the horizon, no less serious than the last. I will do whatever it takes to protect Earth, even if it means angering the Allfather."
Loki was taken aback by those last words. She seemed to notice, for her gesture mellowed.
"Hasn't it occurred to you that I might be breaking our deal with him by fostering a fugitive?"
He took some seconds to compose himself. Her words made all the more sense when he remembered the strict prohibition to visit Midgard or interfere with its inhabitants' lives.
"If my words have been harsh-"
"It's understandable," she said with a soft smile. "You have been under pressure for too long. Now you are on the run without any known ally. I can assure you that I can be one of them if you let me. Will you let me help you?"
He nodded, biting his lips.
"Good," she beamed, suddenly reaching her hand and taking a lose strand of hair from his shoulders. "This will do."
"What? Here?"
"Not exactly," the Ancient One moved her hands. Loki saw as if a million glasses grew around them, distorting the light, breaking and joining in a chaotic pattern.
"A pocket dimension?"
"Indeed," she took the hair and tensed it between her thin fingers. Soon it glowed with the golden hue of her magic. She made another motion, and the hair disappeared in a sphere of light which floated above them. "Now we wait."
She reached for him and took him by the wrist, he was about to recoil, but she showed him her other hand, which wore a ring on two fingers.
"Without this you wouldn't be able to get out," she said. "It's either wearing a ring like this or grabbing onto someone who is wearing one."
Loki was about to speak when a change in the light made them look up.
Darkness seeped around them, like black ink on a glass of water. The Ancient One's grip tightened, and he found himself grasping her forearm. Black tendrils, as thin as hairs, crept from the confines of the pocket dimension, reaching out, searching for the small orb of light.
"It's this normal?"
"Aye," she whispered. "Just a small portion reaches out, but their anchor is too small to find purchase and doesn't have a soul, so it will retire as quickly as it appeared."
Loki felt horror well up inside him, the same primeval feeling he remembered from that nightmare he had experienced during his magic inrush. The urge to scream grew stronger, yet he resisted. The entity wasn't fully inside their dimensional pocket, but the mere proximity of its aura hit him like a stench, pungent and invasive. It spoke of greed, of hunger and of hatred, not as the concepts all races in the known universe came to distill with time as words, but as if those words were entities with a life of their own, older than the Universe, all together, all intertwined, always searching, always wanting, always hungry but never sated.
The tendrils touched the sphere, stopping for an instant as if they had found what they were looking for. Time seemed to stand still for a heartbeat before the tendrils pierced the sphere, consuming the golden light.
He felt the Ancient One tug on his arm, but his body wouldn't move. He tried to think, but even his mind was paralysed. Loki watched helplessly as the tendrils moved towards him. The panicked thoughts of running away suddenly faded as a thought grew in his mind: "You will be safe and at peace, give yourself away". But those weren't his thoughts anymore. It wasn't telepathy, it wasn't even a language he could understand or identify. The thought simply appeared in his mind, and the only indication he had that it wasn't his was that he knew for certain without the help of magic, no such peace would follow the terror he had felt a moment before. He clung desperately to that knowledge as the new thought repeated itself, as if trying to smother the negative feeling with soothing promises.
The pressure increased until it was almost unbearable. Then the pain began.
Loki felt someone tugging at his arm with enough force to pull him away. Hadn't he been alone all this time? Who was that person with him?
His body hit a firm, padded surface. A carpet. He felt two hands on his chest and a voice intoning a healing incantation. His vision cleared and the first thing he saw was the Ancient One's face looking down at him, her green eyes wide with fear and worry. Her voice came to him as if through a padded wall at first, then became clearer. Loki reached for her sleeve with one hand and clung to her, like a drowning man would to his rescuers.
Then everything went black.