The Last Shifter (a Loki romance)

Chapter 84

When I landed at the door to the prison, I shifted into the form of a jaguar and raced underground. There was a full-scale battle going on, somehow all but one of the prisoners had gotten out of their cells. All but Loki, who I could see sitting on the ledge reading a book.

"Return to your cells and no further harm will come to you, you have my word!" One of the prisoners attacked him, "Very well, you do not have my word." It was five against several dozen, the prisoners obviously thought they had a chance. What concerned me more than that was the dead guards. They had been turned to ash. The same kind of effect weapons of the Dark Elves I had to know what had happened here, so I tackled the nearest escapee, shifting back into Arista.

"Show me what you have seen." I invaded the humanoid's mind and replayed what he saw. There was a commotion, followed by an explosion in the neighboring cell. The creature moved to try and see what was going on, but was unable to see anything. Someone was screaming, no wailing, in pain. But then, the screaming stopped, the glow the cell shield had cast on the floor was gone, and the guards who had responded to the commotion attacked. Something emerged from the cell, a guard's sword already embedded in its shoulder. It grabbed the two men by the throats and held them two feet off the ground, but they did not struggle for long. Their skin did not burn, it merely turned gray and crumbled. The creature was a hulking figure, seven feet tall with horns and wearing layers of armor. In my heart, I already knew what it was, but I needed proof. And I got that proof. Once the guards were dead, the creature dropped their bodies and turned a bit. While it turned, it glanced at the occupants of the cell the creature was in, allowing me a glimpse of its eyes. Black, red, and hollow.

I pulled my mind back to my body and look around. I didn't see Kurse anywhere and he hadn't come out the normal entrance, there would've been dead bodies. My eyes moved over to the staircase on the left. It led downward, to a secret passage into the palace. And there was a certain scent leading me in that direction.

"Arista!" Loki shouted, drawing my gaze to him.

"Which way?" He pointed to the stairwell.

"Is it what I think it is?" I nodded, "Please, be careful."

"I will, I promise." Then I shifted into a cheetah and ran down the corridor. This things had a huge head start on me and I knew nothing about its plans. Planting it in a batch of prisoners had to have meant that they had a concrete plan to get into Asgard, and if Asgard was invaded, Heimdall would put up the palace shield, and then–the shield! If the Dark Elves were going to penetrate the palace where Jane was, they'd have to take out the shield generator! I changed direction slightly, and found a trail of ashen bodies to follow not long after. Once I got above ground, I started hearing shots and explosions. They were pretty far off, but they were close enough to be concerning, so I ran to the closest balcony and look out over the city. The mothership of the Dark Elves hovered just beyond the Bifrost and countless other ships were flying over the city, battling with the Asgardian speeders and watchtowers. The palace shield was already two-thirds up and when I saw that, hope filled me. Kurse hadn't reached the generator yet. I whipped around and began following the trail of bodies again. Soon, I came up to the room housing the generator, and I could see Kurse inside. I roared to get it's attention, but I failed. Typical. It was single-minded, set to its task. But I knew it knew I was here. And it would turn its attention to me soon. But not soon enough. I shifted back to Arista once more, grabbed a pair of swords from fallen guards, and leapt at Kurse with a battle cry that hadn't left my lips in hundreds of years. But it was too late. Using his bare hands, Kurse tore apart the shield generator, beyond any hope of repair. Then, without even turning his head, he turned, spun, his armored arm bristling with sharp edges and spikes. It hit me directly across the ribcage, sending me flying backwards. My body crashed against the door jamb at an angle, bending my spine in a way it was not meant to be bent. Searing pain spread through my entire nervous system an instant before my skull cracked against the stone, stealing consciousness away from me.