Believe in Magic [a Loki fanfic]

Shadows in the Past

The cold awoke her. She shivered and instinctively curled up into a ball to keep the her body warm. Chains around her wrists grazed over her bruised skin and Ella winced, stiffening as soon as the sound escaped her lips. Don't catch their attention, Ella. Petrified she listened into the dark. Nothing happened. Just as she started to relax, she caught a glimpse of two glowing red dots hovering in the blackness that surrounded her. A low raspy laughter escaped the monster's throat, before strong cold fingers grabbed her chin, forcing her to look straight into the crimson eyes. Terrifying deep, red, glowing eyes. The creature's cold breath made the skin on her cheeks burn. It was as icy as a winter breeze. "So you are alive. Good." a deep female voice snarled. "You are a feisty little mortal, are you not? Such a strong will to survive. It is almost a pity that I have no use for you myself." Ella made a futile attempt to turn her face away, but it was held in place with an iron grip. She opened her mouth to say something, but her throat felt dry  like sandpaper and at first nothing more but a small gasp escaped her. She swallowed and closed her eyes briefly to focus, detaching her mind from all emotions. "Where – am I?" she managed to get out. "What does it matter?" the monster hissed, "Your fate is sealed. I sold you for a good price." "W-what?" "Whatever possessed you to cross the border and follow us, it was rather foolhardy, my dear. This is Jotunheim, not Midgard. Since I captured you, you are mine, to do with as I please." The creature let her go and rose to its feet, some seven feet tall it towered over the girl, who kept staring into the crimson eyes. Part of Ella was overwhelmed with fear, yet her mind had become completely calm, detaching further from the painful emotions that her most recent memories held. "Why did you kill them?" she whispered. "They did not keep their end of the bargain." "The bargain?" "My family gave them what they wanted - magic. In turn we asked only for a small favour - the life-breath of every first born child - or they would face the consequences. A small fee to pay, considering the power of the gift they received. For a few hundred of your earthly years the bargain was upheld. Up until you were born. A bargain is a bargain, and they paid for it with their own blood. And, is it not an irony of fate that you survived, my dear? Some might even consider it a streak of fortune, but I doubt you will be thankful for it. You will need more than your strong will to survive what lies ahead of you." The creature considered the girl with what Ella felt was a pitiful glance. "Your new master will not be as gentle and lenient as I am." She turned and disappeared in the darkness. Leaving Ella alone. In the dark and cold. She shivered. Her stomach churned and she was unable to fight the nausea that had settled over her any longer.  She managed to scramble to her knees before she vomited until her stomach was completely empty. Her mind  busy, trying to process what the creature had just told her, and the events of the past hours. Her entire family –grandmother, parents and two younger brothers – had been brutally slaughtered by creatures that were not from this world. Magic. They had struck a bargain for magic? A few hundred years ago? Then flashes of memories came back. Cries. Panic. Blood. Followed by silence. Without a warning, a wave of emotions drowned Ella with a force that made her collapse to the ground. She sobbed uncontrollably, her tears soaking the cold dirty ground until she fell asleep from exhaustion. 

A swaying motion led her back to consciousness and immediately brought on the nausea again. The acrid taste of her vomit still in her mouth, she coughed. How she wished she could rinse her mouth. Have something to drink. She had still clung to the hope that she would wake up in her bed, discovering all this to be a very intense nightmare. But it was not. It was real. And it was dark. A sound like water slapping against the wall of a boat was the only noise in the silent darkness. Was she on a boat? Maybe on a river. The girl dared to squint and let her eyes adjust to her surroundings. It was pitch black apart from a lantern that hung from a pole at the other end of what reminded her of an old fashioned boat that was used to ferry people from one side of a river to the other shore. She found herself lying in the back of this simple boat, amongst other women huddled together to keep warm. They seemed to float over the water. At the front, gazing out into the darkness, stood a tall hooded figure. Her eyes lingered on the shape, when he suddenly turned around, the piercing gaze of one grey eye penetrating the very depths of her soul.