Time in Flames (Book 1)

Chapter 9: Who Am I?

"Who are you? And why are you here?" She commanded the stranger on the other side of her spear.

The young man stared at her in surprise, and what Estrid guessed to be some awe. She watched as he slowly raised his hands in surrender, keeping eye contact with her as he did so.

"I should ask you the same." He replied, making her growl as her spear prodded closer to his neck.

Finally getting a better look at his attire, she noticed the TVA jacket upon the formal clothing he wore. He was working for the Time Variance Authority. But this man wasn't an agent. He didn't have much experience with different variants and it showed. The stranger had to be a variant like her.

"I see Mobius is using another lapdog to aid the beast. How pathetic must he be to use another variant to fit his needs." She monotoned.

The man frowned at her, finding offense in her words.

"Well didn't he use you as well?"

Estrid laughed bitterly hearing the words coming from his mouth.

"The thing is, he thinks I am betraying him. I am only playing the long game. There is something more to this Multiversal battle than what he leads onto. What did he tell you?" She asked.

The variant only remained silent, confirming the young Vanir princess' suspicions.

"That's what I thought. They use people like us. I am doing their dirty work, but I refuse to become their weapon. You should start doing the same before it is too late." She said, slowly removing her obsidian blade from its place by his jugular.

Spinning the weapon around, she retracted the blades with a purple flash, making the spear into a staff. Banging it into the ground, purple cracks formed where the bold black and purple cracked weapon fell into the earth. The stranger looked at the cracks, a sense of dread lighting up within his eyes.

"Do not get in my way. I've been through more than you'd care to question. If Mobius wants me to follow him like a puppy upon his heels, tell him, I am not interested."

She pulled her staff from the ground, causing the purple cracks to fade, leaving the earth scorched and wilted where her seid had touched it. Turning around, she walked back through the brush and out of sight of the variant. She knew he would run back to Mobius and tell him the entire tale. At this point Estrid did not care. If Mobius wished to follow her trail then fine, follow away. For now, she would play the part and follow the variant he had wanted her to bring to them in the first place.

Coming into a clearing, she saw Loki leaning up against an oak tree, shaving a tree branch with a knife from his sheath. His bluish-green eyes followed her as she walked into his peripheral.

"What did you find?" He asked as she made her staff disappear in a flash of purple light.

"Just a traveler walking down the path. We should be safe to move towards Asgard."

"Good." The trickster said, throwing the stick upon the ground and sheathing his dagger, "I do not desire to be found by those troll women again."

Estrid turned towards him, raising a brow.

"What exactly did you do to anger them like that?"

Loki rose from his spot against the oak and made his way to her.

"Well love, I had decided to have some fun today since Asgard was nothing but councils and business. The goddess Freya let me borrow her falcon cloak so I could disguise myself during my little adventure to Jotunheim as you can see," Estrid looked closely at the trickster's clothing, noticing the cloak of feathers upon his back for the first time since they had met. "Flying my way into Jotunheim I saw a giant from afar and thought I could play with him. So I flew down, hopping upon his window sill. It didn't take long for him to notice my presence and try to catch me. But I was always a step ahead, hopping away to safety before he could snatch me within his big meaty hands. Truthfully I had lots of fun watching him get frustrated at his failure until I didn't notice another grab me from out of my peripheral vision. He stuffed me into a chest, figuring out I was not a bird. It wasn't until then did I realize my mistake. The brute left me inside the chest, interrogating me on the gods and trying to figure out who I was. I of course kept my lips sealed. Well, soon the weeks turned to months, and I knew I needed food and water soon before death should claim me. So I took a feather from the falcon cloak and began to pick the lock from the inside,"