In The Shadows | L. Laufeyson [1]

3 // Light At The End Of The Tunnel

I've been in here a few hours and Loki still hasn't spoken again. I take it upon myself to begin conversation.

"You aren't as special as you think," I tell him. "Between your history and your appearance, you aren't really that unique."

He turns to look at me, both confused and slightly offended, "Whatever do you mean?"

"I know why you're trying to take over Midgard," I tell him, "You want a throne, right? A leadership over somewhere?"

He nods almost timidly, and I continue, "And it's all because you'll never be crowned king."

With that his eyes darken, his face morphs into one of anger and I speak again, "You aren't the only one angered at the denial of the throne."

He then looks confused and gestures for me to continue.

"Do you know how someone becomes a Child of Death?" I ask and he nods.

"A woman with a corrupted heart dies, she then is resurrected by Lady Death and chooses a division of her army to join," he states, looking to me in question of where I'm going with this.

"Precisely," I praise, "I died for the same reason you are here. I wanted the throne. Metaphorically of course. You see my father was the chieftain of our village and as the firstborn I assumed that I would take over when I came of age. But I didn't."

I roll my eyes as I continue, "My brother, Haldor, was to take over the mantle, not I, even though he's younger than me."

Loki's eyes scan me as I talk of my past, though my situation slightly differs I can tell that he's relating. The look on his face encourages me to continue.

"I was furious, many people in the village also thought I would be the one to take over, but my father was sure. He wasn't going to change his mind and so it was official, I was never to rule the village. Despite that you might've heard of me.

In my fury I decided to do something I now realize is childish. I decided that if I could not rule the village then no one could and so I burned the village to the ground, I torched every house, every piece of farmland, everything. I killed over half of the village in the blaze... including myself.

I'm sure you've heard the Tale of the Daughter of Ragnar. I am her, I am the woman scorned that sparked the warning tale for other maidens throughout the North."

A look of recognition shone through the blank face Loki had tried to compose, then a curious look, "You don't have the appearance of the Daughter of Ragnar," he disputes, "She had hair of gold and eyes like the ocean."

"You mean like this?" I ask, getting rid of the illusion I cast to give me an appearance similar to Lady Death. Then he saw it, my unruly hair dark as the shadows changed to golden hair in double braids. My piercing eyes green as an emerald changed to soft eyes the color of the ocean.

"You hide your true appearance?" he questions, and I look to him with a sad smile.

"Just as you do," I say, walking closer to the flint, "For similar reasons as you do."

The closer I get to the rock the more my illusion seems to melt away, showing my true appearance, the appearance of a Child of Death.

My hair, no longer golden, my eyes no longer blue, my skin loses even more of its color. I show the true appearance of a Draugr, an undead soldier. My skin only able to be described as a deathly grey-blue, looking like it's decaying in certain places, dark runes that adorning my face, my hair being full of split ends and looking an unnatural shade of white, my eyes become a necrotic black.