The Last Shifter (a Loki romance)

Chapter 5

Arista's POV

I could sense him. He was nearby. How had he found me? It didn't matter, I had to get out of here and neither my ring nor my stomach were up for another transportation. He hadn't found me yet but he was in the records room so I wouldn't be able to get out without being spotted. I would just have to wait until he went away.

Loki's POV

The records room. This is awkward. I prided myself on knowing the library better than any other in Asgard and yet I forgot this was here. Oh well. This was the last place I had to search. This was it, the magical signature was strongest here than anywhere else in the library. I began to pull scrolls from their places and search for some sort of evidence on the walls. I didn't quite know what I was looking for. Anything really, a carving, a painted symbol or icon, a hidden door perhaps, I wouldn't put anything past her. When I finished pulling scrolls out of the fourth shelf, I noticed something out of place. A few scrolls were placed differently up against the back wall. They had to be important. I grabbed one of them and was surprised to find that they were not made of the same material as the others, the texture was slightly different. I untied the strings to one of them and unravelled it carefully, I had no idea how old this thing was. It was a letter, written in an old Asgardian tongue. To Bor, my grandfather. I had never been more thankful for spending hours with my mother learning a dead language.

Bor,

Thank you for what you have done for me. Without your help, I know I would not have survived the wounds I received on Svartalfheim. Forgive me for going against your orders, it did not appear that you were going to help me. As a gift of both apology and gratitude, I will write down all I can remember about my kind. I know that you are worthy of my trust however, few others in Asgard are. All I ask is that you keep it a secret. I hope you do not mind that I have installed a chamber in the Room of Records that only you will be able to access. (As well as my Soulmate, however I doubt that I will ever find him at this point. Wizards may also be able to get into it after some time if I do not update and refresh the cloaking charms). I wish I could stay longer but I believe the enemy of my people is still alive and cannot assume otherwise.

I will say no more in an unguarded letter such as this.

Your Faithful Warrior and Friend,

The signature was in another language but below it, there was another name. Ishmarta. Similar to Istara but even though the time frame was about right so I could assume nothing. She said there was a secret chamber in here somewhere. I was determined to find it and I wouldn't leave until I did.

Arista's POV

My ring cooled down and my energy began to return slowly. That had taken longer than anticipated but at least it was done now. I had replaced my contacts and replaced the spell around my eyes long ago. Loki was still in the area, I would have to wait for him to leave but I also didn't feel like sitting here doing nothing. I couldn't leave, I wouldn't be able to use magic without him detecting it, what could I do? Patience was not one of my virtues right now. I had been forced to spend three hours lying on my desk doing nothing while my ring drew on my energy so it could recharge. I was now officially bored out of my mind. At this point, I would do anything. That's when my eyes drifted over my scroll shelf. Aha! I could make sure all of them were still in here and re-organize them if Bor had actually gotten around to reading them. Since I had done all of this writing in secret during my recovery while I was confined to the Healing Room, I had had very little to no resources at my disposal, I had been forced to use scraps and the backs of medical documents. Only once had I been able to sneak all the way to the library and actually retrieve scrolls to write on. I should have twenty of all different sizes. Twenty-one if I included my letter to Bor. I counted eighteen. Three were missing. I began to unravel them, trying to figure out which ones were gone. My letter to Bor was missing, along with scrolls eight, ten, fifteen and nineteen. He hadn't read them in order, it figures. One of the scrolls turned out to be a letter to me from Bor.