Under the Spell

Under the Spell Part 1

Summary:

During a disastrous mission, Thor and Loki are bested by their foe. Sif and the Warriors Three are turned into statues. So Evil Dude blackmails the sons of Odin... Guess how...

Notes:

I am a bit ashamed... But I hope you'll have more fun reading it that I had writing it !

Thor could have gladly smacked himself on the head with Mjöllnir, even if it meant self-mutilation or even death.
He deserved it. How could he have been so stupid ?
He didn't need to answer. He knew enough. Arrogance, pride, self-satisfaction and total disregard for the opinion of others.

As usual.
And now, that.
Stupid, stupid oaf...

The situation seemed desperate. Thor, his brother Loki, and their friends, were on a mission against a warlock. An unknown powerful one, half elf, half orc, seemingly, rather ugly and equally dangerous. The fact that he hadn't sworn any form of allegiance to Odin All-Father, who had the control and supervision of all magical communities and covens (though he didn't practice any spell on his own), already made him suspicious. But there had been precise complaints about abuses in some southern villages. So, Odin mandated his sons to fix all of this.
But then mistakes were made, or rather many warning signs were overlooked.

Loki, first. He had a bad feeling about this. He had no data about that warlock, only vague rumors. Though Loki was powerful, he knew the rules of magic. You can not confront another warlock if you are unsure of his abilities. An unbalanced duel can only lead to the weaker one's death. And this one looked like a bad one.
Furthermore, Loki had the impression the culprit was using similar curses and tricks as he did. If by any chance, they had the same masters or studied the same books of spells, this was going to be even more difficult because chances were, in that particular situation, that they might kill each other with identical magic.
And then, there was Thor, the biggest mistake of all.
Boasting that it would be alright. So sure that all of them against one little trickster (this particular remark made Loki grit his teeth, but Thor didn't see that, as usual...) would be easy.
He had never been so wrong in his whole life.

Thor was looking around him as if Yggdrasil had fell on his head, which was more or less the case.

Sif and the Warriors Three were staring into nothingness. Their faces, once lively, were now greyish and expressionless, their mouth paralyzed and mute, their arms frozen, their very life taken away from them. Their friends had been turned into stone, stiff in their last fighting movements. They looked like the horrible marble statues in the main hall of the royal palace.
Curiously (...or not), only Thor and Loki were spared by that curse. They were having each other's back, ready to face an invisible opponent. One minute they were fighting armed skeletons (magically animated apparently) and the next, they are both on their own, their friends transformed and powerless, in a seemingly empty and wrecked hall.
A perfect mess.

"And now, Mr. Muscles-for-Brains ?" growled Loki.

"Shut up." snarled Thor.

They were turning around, scanning the place, their nerves as tense as musical cords. The sudden silence was making it even worse.

"For your information, petrification is heavy-duty spell that I don't master yet. To save our friends, we'll have to kill the Warlock." said Loki, his voice falsely calm, his eyes everywhere blows could come out.

"Fine. He is dead." Thor retorted, his hand gripping Mjöllnir.

They kept turning around. It looked like a very stupid dance, a reversed duo were partners didn't know where to go or when to stop . Loki could have smirked if it wasn't so serious.