Merciful [A Loki Fanfiction]

Fights to Dreams (Taking title suggestions?)

Merciful

Chapter Six: Fights to Dreams (Taking title suggestions?)

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Last Chapter

"If we find Loki, we find Jaida, so let's get to work."

Now

Jaida

Loki and I stood cautiously in a clearing out in the middle of nowhere, carefully analyzing each other.

"Would you like for us to use any unnatural abilities?" Loki asked, an amused smile twitching his lips upwards.

I weighed the pros and cons. Truthfully, letting Loki use his powers against me would narrow my chances of winning, even if I could use my bird form, but at the same time, as he had said earlier, it would be useful to know how he fought. "Powers are fine, as long as we set boundaries; we have to stay in this clearing and not go above the canopy."

"Deal. I'll mark the boundaries out; you'll know if you hit them."

Alright, note to self; don't fly too high or leave the clearing.

"Ready when you are."

No sooner had I done that than Loki's scepter appeared in his hand. He looked slightly surprised at that, allowing me to whip out my bow and shoot an arrow at the god. It flew right through him and struck the edge of the clearing, sparking.

Yeah, I really didn't want to run into that.

Then something else struck me; Loki's replicas were intangible. Immediately, I leapt high into the air, avoiding what would have been an extremely painful blow to my back.

Loki hissed slightly in disappointment, and I bulleted downwards, a torpedo of destruction. Loki was smart enough to step away as I landed, two knives quickly drawn. The Loki in front of me crouched into an obvious position, but coupled with a slight rustle I heard behind me, his conspicuousness caused me to whirl around, meeting Loki's scepter with crossed knives. He smirked and pushed me backwards, and I slammed into the ground, rolling upwards and resting on my toes, analyzing Loki. By now, I was dangerously close to the edge of the clearing, so close that I could feel my hair beginning to stand on end. One wrong move, and I'd be toast.

Not willing to choose between the advancing go and the electric fence, I adopted the form of my eagle owl, flying up a foot or so above Loki's head. He followed my example, taking the form of a black vulture. I winced; with a wingspan one and a half times larger than mine and a weight two and a half heavier, the vulture could easily overpower me. Then again, in the limited space, I could maneuver with more ease. Maybe I could use this and the electrifying arena to my advantage....

As I pondered the possibilities, Loki built up a ball of what looked like green fire in his talons. I cursed mentally and dodged out of the way, feeling the edges of the feathers on my tail singe, leaving behind an unpleasant scent.

I turned my orange gaze on the god, smirking as well as an owl can when I saw him trying to stay in flight in the small, thermal-free clearing. I took the opportunity and flew over. I was having some trouble as well, but not nearly as much, especially as I took advantage of the disturbances in the air from Loki's wings.

Just before Loki could gain control of his flight or use magic or something, my talons latched onto his back, one pulling feathers from his wing. He screeched in pain and somehow flipped over so that we both were upside down. Choosing not to struggle in the unfamiliar form, Loki took his normal shape and placed his hands around my neck as we plummeted to the ground. I slammed into the hard dirt, all of the air being forced out of my lungs as my human form was forced to the surface. I closed my eyes against the raging headache, and nodded to Loki, admitting defeat. Loki immediately stood, allowing me to slowly sit up.