Revenge| Book 6| A novel in the Blue Moon series| An Avengers fan fiction series |

9- The Changing Wind

I GOT ANOTHER ONE DONE, CAN I GET A HALLELUJAH???? 

Warning: This chapter contains some mature elements. Read the ending cautiously (although there isn't any explicit description).

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Chapter 9:

Through the cavernous hallway, around the men with the crimson face paint, her bare feet touching the smooth stones from the residue of the River Tlan, Neidra walks.

She is wearing a silver gown, appropriately matching the luminous glow of her eyes. The silk hangs low on her torso so the reflections from the cavern water mirrors her full breasts. Her tall figure draws the attention of every man she passes, but she pays them no mind. She knows she is protected, not by the law and the will of men, but by the fear she sees in their eyes.

The caverns make up a cascade of rocks that build to become Uruktuk, Lookout Mountain. It is situated between the large land holdings of Agnai Betterson and Olwu Lamare, but geographically, it is closer to Agnai's estate.

Neidra reaches the casams, long stretches of steep rock that slope into cliffs and vanish into darkness. She passes more soldiers, men dressed in armor and slouching against the stone. They are impatient, but she doesn't blame them. She too is feeling cooped-up for too long in Uruktuk.

But ... the wind is changing.

She finds Fjodr, Agnai, and Olwu in the pocket of one of the caves. They're huddled over a map, upon which small black figures have been set up to represent their soldiery and the numbers Loki can claim for himself.

It doesn't take much for the three men to go silent. All that Neidra does is stand at the entryway of the rocky room, leaning against the cool stone and peering at them through her deadly silver eyes.

"Are my armies ready?" she demands, her low voice clipped. "Too long we have been underneath the ground, buried as though we are resting in our own coffins."

"Our armies are has been ready since the dawn of last moon," says Agnai, crossing his arms. He is a handsome man, with olive skin and deep black eyes. His thick dark hair hangs to his shoulders. His voice is a husky drawl, his self-superiority made more evident by his tilted chin and hooded eyes. "It is you who we have been waiting for, Lady Neidra."

"You are ready, then?" asks Fjodr. The last year has taken a toll on him. There are gray streaks evident in his brown hair and beard.

"Are you certain?" asks Agnai, glancing at Olwu. Olwu says nothing, just crosses his arms like him, but then again, Olwu has never been one for many words. "If we attack and fail, then we will be more lost than we are now."

"We have been silent for more than a year," says Neidra, looking at the three puppets in front of her with scarcely concealed amusement. How stupid men are. "If we do nothing, Loki is going to think us dead, or at least fit for a quick and easy destruction."

Fjodr's lips purse. "The palace is steady and well protected. Loki will see us coming a mile away, if not several miles. Their soldiers could potentially overpower our armies, no matter the strength."

"That is cowardice and false thought speaking, nothing more," says Neidra dismissively, seating herself on one of the large smooth stones. "Loki's armies have been diminished as of late. He has sought to spread them over his lands, to best have a look out for someone sneaking up on him."
"We are sneaking up," points out Agnai.

"Yes," concedes Nedira, "but we are sneaking up sneakier than he will think."

"Loki is clever," says Agnai.