Child Of Ice

Chapter 21

Loki was sitting in his room, bouncing his knee as he sucked in a breath. They were about to go and find Ymir, but he was extremely nervous. What would happen if they failed? What would happen if they did find him?

He then heard a knock on the door. "Loki?"

"Come in, Freya." Freya poked her head in and asked, "Are you ready?"

"Yes, but..." Concerned, Freya slipped through the doorway and closed the door behind her. "What is it?"

"I'm just nervous, 'tis all."

"Can I ask why?"

"I just worry that things may go south really fast. I..." He sighed and ran his hand through his hair.

"I'm known as the God of Mischief and Lies for a reason. Every time I try to do something right, I end up messing up, and people believe I do it on purpose."

Freya placed her hand on his shoulder and gave a gentle squeeze. "Even if things go wrong, we'll be beside you. After all, family sticks together, no matter what."

"What if...what if a family member is... horrible to you?"

"Well, the best thing to do is cut them off or set boundaries, but...is someone is Asgard horrible to you?"

Loki swallowed hard. A part of him wanted to tell her about his abuse from Odin, but... would she believe him?

"It's...complicated," he settled for saying. Freya raised an eyebrow. "How so?" Loki looked away as he replied, "It doesn't matter." Freya was worried now. What exactly happened to Loki? She wanted to ask but knew it was better not to. Instead, she said, "Come. Laufey is waiting for us in the throne room."

Loki nodded and stood. The two went to the throne room where Laufey stood with 3 guards and 6 extremely large animals. They were basically horses that were twice as tall as Midgardian horses with thick white fur. One of the horse-like creatures was smaller than the others.

"Good, are you two ready?" Laufey asked. "Yes, though I am curious. What are these creatures?"

"They are svadilfari. They are used for transportation here on Jotunheim, and they can travel for miles without stopping. The smaller one is a baby and is yours, since the adults are large for you."

After Laufey explained, Loki approached the baby, and it looked at him. "Is it a boy or girl?" Loki asked. "A girl, though we haven't named her yet," Laufey explained. "I think I'll call her...Crystal."

The baby let out a small noise as if she agreed to the name. "Crystal it is," Freya asked. "Wait, I don't know how to ride her," Loki realized. "Do you know how to ride a horse?" Freya asked. "Yes."

"Then you know how to ride her," Laufey replied as he hoisted himself up onto his svadilfari. Loki, Freya, and the followed suit, and they rode out of the palace with Laufey leading them.

......................................................................

Inside a dark and hidden realm, a man stood in the cockpit of a large ship, staring out into the darkness. There were no stars, but that was fine. To him, it was gorgeous. Then, another man stood beside him and spoke in Elfish.

"Asgard nha vulnerable, viaren majesty." (Translation: "Asgard is vulnerable, your majesty.")

"Jen kar va millentu?" (Translation: "How do you know?")

"Prince thor nha banished, ent prince loki nha missing. Odin nha recovering from odinsleep e well." (Translation: Prince Thor is banished, and Prince Loki is missing. Odin is recovering from Odinsleep as well.") 

"Desha, Tel' house Ath odin nha aul disarray." (Translation: "So, the House of Odin is in disarray.") He smiled wickedly and added, "Shan lor midgard ent mor prince thor. Kerradun its greatest aegiess, asgard nha nesh Tel' taking." (Translation: "Go to Midgard and kill Prince Thor. Without is greatest protector, Asgard is for the taking.")

The other figure bowed and replied, "Ath course, viaren majesty." (Translation: Of course, your majesty.") With that, he turned and walked away, leaving him alone with a wicked smile.