Enemies to Lovers

2.

"Don't call me that!" Boudi spat back at Loki as she wrenched her arm from his grasp.

"What? My Pet?" Loki sneered at her as he stepped closer, his breath ghosting across her face as he tried to intimidate her. The firelight from the flaming torch in the alcove illuminated Loki's face as he looked at her. The flames danced across his golden helmet, reflecting into Boudi's mint green eyes, causing her to blink rapidly.

"I'm not your anything Loki!" she shouted back up at him.

Loki placed his hand on the wall next to her hand and leaned in slowly towards her ear. Boudi's breath hitched as he pressed his lips against the edge of her ear and whispered, "ah, but you want to be, don't you... pet".

Boudi hadn't realised she'd placed her hand on his chest as Loki wrapped his other hand around her waist, pulling her closer.

"You're a pig," Boudi managed to say as she squirmed under his gaze, pushing on his chest to get him to move back.

"But you like me like that... don't you, pet," Loki smirked as he leaned closer to her face, breathing her in.

Suddenly, an alarm rang through the palace, signalling that Asgard was under attack.

Boudi gritted her teeth and pushed past Loki, taking off towards the garrison. As she ran, Boudi's body was coated in a light blue haze, changing her casual dress to her full battle armour. She skidded to a halt as she burst into the room. Everyone was rushing around, orders were being shouted everywhere, and it was hard to understand where she needed to go until Prince Thor pointed at her.

"Head out to the palace walls, Boudi. They need you there," he commanded.

Boudi immediately took off running in the direction of the palace battlements. Hordes of blue frost giants were scaling the walls on the ocean side of the castle, grabbing, and slaying any Asgardian in their path as they invaded the palace. Boudi threw a bolt of magic towards one of them, knocking it back over the parapet wall before they could drive their ice spear through another Einherjar. He looked gratefully back at Boudi as she smiled back at him, nodding her head.

Boudi drew her short sword. It was around three feet long with a sharpened, angled edge. The handle was about seven inches, made from a blood-red stained solid hardwood with a brass pummel and guard.

Before she left for Asgard's magic school, her sword was a parting gift from her father. Boudi treasured her sword more than anything. It was her last remaining connection to the life she left behind. If she hadn't been spotted by Frigga, she would have ended up as a poor farmer's wife, pumping out children year after year and struggling to survive. Her natural talent for magic would have been wasted without the guidance she received.

Boudi spun to see another frost giant make it over the wall. She just managed to raise her shield before she was pelted with ice shards. It was relentless. The ice shattered against her shield as she ducked onto one knee, protecting her face from the onslaught. The frost giant took a few steps closer to her, now using both hands to project the ice at her, sliding Boudi back across the floor.

The frost giant was now close enough to Boudi to grab her shield and lift it. As soon as it did, Boudi sliced her sword upwards from underneath it, cutting directly into the giant's abdomen. Boudi tore her shield from its grasp just in time to defend against another attack from behind. But as she turned, the giant behind her struck her shield from her grasp, causing her to slip on the ice that had now formed below her feet. She landed with a heavy thud on her ass, rattling her teeth in her head. Before the giant could drive his spear down into her, Loki had seen what had happened.

Loki had charged forward in a panic, ignoring Thor's orders as he pushed past soldiers to find Boudi. He had seen her fight enough times to know that if she wasn't in the right frame of mind, she could be reckless on the training ground and after what he had just done to her, he was terrified she wasn't going to be concentrating enough and could make a mistake.

Loki spotted her immediately as he rushed onto the wall. Her red hair made her easy to spot quickly. He watched in horror as she hadn't noticed the giant behind her. Loki teleported close enough so that as the giant hit her shield away, he threw a bolt of magic at him, striking the giant with such force that it instantly killed it.

Boudi rolled over on the floor to see Loki looking directly at her. She knew who had just protected her. He was the only one to possess green magic. But Boudi was still shocked to learn what Loki had just done.

As she tried to scramble to her feet, Loki protected her again from another giant rushing towards her, sending it flying over the wall to its death.

Boudi managed to get to her feet. She sliced her sword into another giant's chest as it came at her from over the wall. More and more were managing to get over the wall now, but more soldiers were also arriving to defend the palace.

"ARGH!!! DON'T LET THEM TOUCH YOU!" Volstagg screamed out as his arm was blackened with frostbite when a frost giant managed to grab his bare skin before he could stab it.

Thor flew overhead before swooping down and knocking countless giants back over the wall in the sea with his lightning bolts from Mjölnir, clearing a path.

Boudi spun on her heel to see Loki step back onto a crenel of the parapet wall, his back facing the sea below as he stared forward.

"LOKI!" she screamed out in terror as she watched.

A frost giant charged at him trying to grab him, but it was merely an illusion, and the beast fell straight through Loki's projection into the sea below.

Unexpected relief washed over Boudi as she saw that Loki was unscathed as he appeared from behind another wall. She watched as Loki was rushed again by another frost giant, her breath catching in her throat.

As Loki charged forward at the giant, ready to stab it in the gut, it grabbed his wrist. His armour instantly froze and shattered into pieces onto the floor. His bare arm was now in the giant's grasp. Loki watched in horror, waiting for the pain of frostbite to surge through his body, but the only thing he felt was pain from the giant's tight grip. Loki's eyes widened as his arm began to turn blue. It was the same deep blue colouring of the frost giant's skin. Deep markings spread up his arm as the change spread across his skin. His forearm and hand also started to get larger in its grasp, meaning Loki felt little pain now.

Loki looked at the giant, who had cocked his head, furrowing its brow in confusion, before Loki stabbed it with his free hand in the chest. The giant fell backwards as Loki's gaze fell back to his arm. He raised it, turning it over slowly as the blue colour faded away back to his porcelain skin, and it returned to its usual size. Loki's heart was hammering in his chest. He couldn't understand what had happened. As Loki looked around quickly to make sure no one else had seen. He saw Boudi staring straight back at him.

Boudi knew what should have happened to Loki. She knew from the injury she had just witnessed Volstagg receive that Loki should have been in tremendous pain, but he wasn't. Boudi had seen what Loki had, and she didn't know what to do.