The Rise of Hel {Loki Laufeyson} Book Two

Chapter Thirty-Five

"Shit!" Tony screams as he scrambles to his feet, pulling me along with him. We hurl ourselves down the hill to our right and our bodies roll through grass, trees, twigs, bugs and various other plant-life until we reach the bottom.

Once I gather the strength to sit up, I find Tony standing with arms spread at either side. "What are you doing? This is not the time to play Batman!" I scream at him and he shoots me a murderous look.

"I'm calling my suit." He replies, his head held high.

"What?" I exhale, exasperated. He's going to get us killed with this shit.

"I had special transmitters inserted into my body that - when signalled like this - will attract my new prototype to me during a battle. I brought it with me just in case."

I blink up at him. "Are you serious? Tony! You just said that it's a prototype! It may not work, you moron!"

"Look, prototype or not, it's our best chance of getting out of here alive. Rogers is back at the Smithsonian mourning over his ninety-five year old girlfriend who probably doesn't even know who he is! Natasha and Thor are back in New York, Banner and Barton are who knows where and we are stuck here, about to be killed by Rogers' best friend and my girlfriend!" He shouts, his face turning red.

My stomach drops. Nodding, I stand up and brush myself off, glancing at my hands. Again, my veins seem to have a faint glow to them. I clench my fists, exhaling slowly to calm my heart rate. It won't do either of us any good to fight - especially in my case.

As we wait for the signal to work, I look up through the brush to see if they are pursuing us. Movement rusles the plant life and I gasp, panicking.

I whip around to Tony, who still looks like an idiot trying to sacrifice himself to the gods. "Could you possibly speed this up a bit? I'd like to leave these woods in one pieve as opposed to several."

He eyes spring open, going wide. "How long do you think we have?"

A shot fires and I duck instinctively. "Not long." I conclude and he nods in agreement.

Suddenly, there's a rumbling sound and I look around. Tony was right, there are parts flying toward our location, aiming at Tony.

I hear several twigs snap. "C'mon, c'mon, c'mon!"

"They're going as fast as they can!" Tony snaps at me.

"Well make them go faster! They're gaining on us!"

Another twig snaps and I jump because it's much closer than the last one. "Tony!" I shriek.

"I know!" A twig snaps right behind me and I duck for cover behind Tony. As they emerge from the mess, the parts hit Tony, enveloping him in his Iron Man suit and as his mask closes, he raises a hand to them. "Glad you decided to join the party, how about we start it with a bang?" He shoots at them and they fly back further into the woods. He grabs me, flying upward and laying me down onto the pavement.

"Go home, Beck. You'll be safe there." He assures me and I shake my head.

"Tony, you can't fight them by yourself."

"You're unarmed."

I scoff, opening my jacket and pulling my knife out. "Please, I've learned a lot since my first stay at the compound. Rule number one: Keep a weapon on you at all times."

"You memorized the hero handbook, huh? Good on ya, kid." He ruffles my hair with his metal hand and we brace ourselves.

As Pepper and Bucky emerge from the forest, I feel the anger surge through me, fuelling my body. My focus is on the Winter Soldier - the most dangerous of the two. Staring at his lifeless eyes, his hair slick with sweat and his mouth set in a firm, unamused line, my breathing picks up and I feel the fire pumping through my veins, my hands ablaze. Little spider-web-like lines lacing up from my hands to my wirsts, the glow a bright yellow.