A Fallen God and An Angel

11. Trials of the Winged Warrior

Summary:
Loki follows Sera through her heavily guarded cave to retrieve her legendary armour.

Notes:
Author's note: Again I thank everyone for the amazing feedback and support!
Also I'm sorry for taking a while to post. Just got a new job and my time has not been my own at all. So I'm adjusting the posting schedule to be every two weeks instead of weekly to work around this.
This chapter begins mu favourite arc of the story. I hope you enjoy reading as much as I enjoyed writing it!

Sera led Loki through the enchanted cave and into the lush miniature forest inside. The first look would deceive a person into thinking they're out of the cave, but not the God of Mischief. As they trekked through the out-of-place overgrown garden, he sensed the powerful magic instilled in the area.

He, indeed, expected the princess's precious armour to be heavily guarded by numerous booby traps, possibly a giant animal or two. After all, the Winged Warrior's armour is known to be the strongest in existence, forged by the King of Dwarves himself.

Just as the small forest cleared away, Loki's senses peaked again. They had entered a vast clearing seemingly surrounded by the forest, yet Loki knew they were being watched. No, they were ambushed. Whatever was hiding in those woods was not friendly. Loki's hands instinctively reached for his daggers, bracing himself.

As if reading his mind, Sera raked one hand through her long hair, braiding it into a long, thick single braid with her magic, curled it into a thick bun above her head, unsheathed her own daggers and looked back at him over her shoulder with a smirk.

"Our goal is to get out of this clearing to the safe space ahead." She explained using one of her daggers to point forward. Even though she couldn't see him, Loki nodded.

"All we have to do is steer clear of–"

A loud rustling behind the trees far from them interrupted her. The noise moved through several bushes before stopping in ones barely a few miles away from where she and Loki stood.

"Go for the heads."

Before Loki could answer, though, she had rushed forward and was attacked by several tiny loud creatures. He couldn't make out exactly what animal it was from this distance, so he pulled his daggers from their holsters and followed her.

The tiny creatures were barely the size of Loki's boots, yet they growled louder than most large animals he knew. Their skin was a distinct dirty green, and their eyes were bright yellow. They were ugly, angry, and ferocious. The bloodthirsty little things chewed on his leatherwear at every spot they could reach, instantly latching themselves on his arms, thighs and back.

"What the actual fuck?" He growled out, slicing through the little devils' heads with ease.

"Goblins," Sera called back. "Nasty cold-blooded creatures. Very protective of their territory." She sliced through several goblin heads at once.

"I take it we're trespassing, then." Loki rolled forward on the ground with his outstretched daggers, slicking through every goblin around him. Just as he straightened himself, flipping his hair out of his face and preparing for the next attack, he froze. The number of goblins around them had quadrupled, and tens—no, hundreds more were approaching rapidly.

A few steps ahead, Sera cut through almost a dozen of the minute creatures before plunging herself forward and gracefully dodging several others that attempted to prance onto her. Loki heaved himself forward, willing his limbs to tear apart from the grasps of the goblins chewing onto his leatherwear. He violently slashed his way through the small army surrounding him, hopping close to the red-headed princess.