Down below

Chapter 8.

   Loki spotted Elianah walking towards the library and he teleported beside her with a 'Good morning!' and the next moment he was pushed against the wall with his own dagger against his neck.

'Hey!' he grunted, raising his hands up as a sign of surrender.

'Loki!' she said, stepping back. 'You shouldn't sneak up on people like that.'

'Great reflexes. It looks good on you.' he said, gesturing towards his dagger.

'Was about to give it back.'

'You can keep it. I have dozens. I was thinking perhaps you could train with the guards to keep you in shape. Not that you need it.'

Elianah smiled at him.

'I swear I had the same idea a minute ago.'

'I'll talk to Thor to arrange it for you. I took the liberty and instructed our blacksmith to prepare a full set of body armor for you. He's expecting you at your earliest convenience.'

   They arrived at the library, he opened the door for her and checked her shoulders and arms for any bruises and cuts as she walked past him. They were almost all healed. Impressive. She suddenly turned around, causing him to almost bump into her.

'Ah, sorry!' she said shyly and pulled away in a flash.

'Don't be.'

'Could we practice illusion casting today? I know you said I need more time, but I would really like to try it.'

   He saw how excited she was about it and he didn't want to say no after what happened to them yesterday. He couldn't help, but feel protective of her.

'Have you ever done it before?'

'I taught myself to do it.'

'Really? Impressive. What spell do you use?'

She took a pen and paper, writing down the words.

'I'm not familiar with this one. I use something else.' he said.

'How long can you hold an illusion for?'

'As long as I want.'

'Don't you get tired?' she stared at him enviously.

'Not anymore, but it took a lot of practice to get there.'

Elianah looked away, deep in thought. She was pondering all morning whether or not to share her secret with Loki, but decided she had to be honest with him in order to gain his trust.

'I can hold mine all day, but it drains my energy. I think that's why it takes a bit longer to master other spells.'

She saw the surprise on Loki's face and really wanted to skip his next question.

'Can you show it to me?'

'It's nothing major.' she smiled and wished he would be satisfied with that answer, but that was as likely as hell freezing over.

'Elianah, if you want my help then you need to show it to me.'

'I use it to hide a scar from an accident.' she lied smoothly.

Loki slightly tilted his head to the side. He knew she was lying, but he thought maybe she was ashamed of the scar.

'Alright. Where is it?'

'Here.' she said, pointing at her lower back.

'I know this is uncomfortable, but I need to see the spell in action.'

Elianah glanced at him and sighed.

'I haven't shown this to anyone, because it's private and I would appreciate if you could keep it that way.'