Playing With Fire (EDITING)

Dangerous Games

After breakfast, I rounded up Kurt, Doug, Megan, and Kitty and sneaked down to the dungeons with them. At the turn to the last stairwell, Kurt spotted a guard. "Megan," he said.

She smiled and tossed her pink ponytail over her shoulder. Like a well-oiled machine, we took our places; Kurt allowed himself to become Nightcrawler and Kitty phased through a wall. Doug and I ducked behind a stone wall and waited for the others to do their thing.

Megan descended the flight of stairs with a confused expression. "Excuse me!" She called to the guard. "Where's the bathroom?"

I held in a chuckle. Classic bathroom move- the guard would feel obliged to lead her to the bathroom, she pulls some mirage pixie dust, and poof! We're in.

As planned, Kitty unlocked the door from the inside and Megan led the guard away so Kurt, Doug, and I could slip into the dungeons. Rows of cells lined the wide...hallway? It wasn't really a hallway. Neither was it a corridor. More like a tunnel but broader, smoothly cut, strategically designed so that the escapees would be falling over each other to get through the door as it bottlenecked, making for easy killing as they filtered onto the stairs above. It was geniusly designed.

"Alright, follow me," I instructed. I loosened my sword in its sheath and passed the cells on silent footsteps until I found the one I was looking for.

Inside was a tall, lithe man with raven black hair and startling emerald green eyes. He wore heavy leather and gold armor that fitted his lean muscles well. Unlike the other cells, his was furnished with a bed and chairs and several books lay on the floor.

The way he stood clearly told of expectancy. His feet were spread and his hands were held behind his back leisurely but in a professional manner. The aura about him was dark, brooding, and meditative but sharp and dangerous.

"Okay, Loki; we're here. What do you want?" I challenged.

He smirked and paced the length of his cell as we watched. His smooth voice carried through the semi-invisible barrier to us with almost no distortion when he spoke. "So you came," he purred smugly. "And I see you brought your...mutant companions."

"I sure wasn't coming alone after last night."

Kurt shot me a curious look with his slanted yellow eyes and his tail whipped back and forth uncomfortably. I could tell he didn't like this situation but I had no choice. Hopefully, if trouble came, Megan would be able to teleport us to the ballroom. But if all went well, it wouldn't come to that. But knowing our luck....

"Ooh," he mocked. "Does it burn you to know that you are inferior where your stronghold lies? To know that your sanctuary is your weakest place? Is it torture that you can't defend your last resort?"

I narrowed my eyes and glanced at Doug. Even he was having trouble deciphering the cryptic phrases. But I knew what Loki meant. He knew that being a telepath made me vulnerable to his prodding and my last stronghold, my one defense- my mind- was my weakest point. "You underestimate me."

"How so, pray tell?"

"Because a chain is only as weak as its weakest link and if all the chains are equally weak, then they support each other equally and you have a pretty strong chain. Ever heard that there's strength in numbers? Well, it's true," I said, gaining confidence. "And that's what friends do for you. They fill the empty places and strengthen the chain by being strong where you're weak."

He laughed mirthlessly, throwing his head back and baring his teeth in a cruel smile. "Sentiment," he spat.

I cut him off before he could expound, "Non. Strategy."