The Seventh Stone

Chapter Twenty

Quick Note: That's my very own doodle in the title! Same with the last chapter. Now, onward with the story... 

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Unbelievable—this is unbelievable. It takes a moment for me to full absorb what's in front of me: the fleet, the army, and the vast array of creatures snaking through the skies overhead. I shake my head lightly as my eyes drop down to my white knuckles, gripping the pale, blue reigns in my hands—trying to gain some sense of immediate realness, in this otherwise surreal environment.

"Lara?" I hear Loki's voice beside me, and I look over to him with lips slightly parted—tasting the cold, evening air as it adds to the chill creeping throughout my body. "Are you alright?"

I nod slightly—pausing—and then shake my head. Loki's lips thin into a straight line as he glances back at the King for a moment, before riding a bit closer to me. "The tesseract—I have it," he says in a low voice, peering at me intently. "We can still turn back."

My eyes trail down to his chest for a moment, and then back up at the sky—at the creatures. "It wouldn't make a difference," I murmur quietly to him, shaking my head. "None of this will end if we run... And then more people are going to-"

With a sudden flash, a beam of energy barrels across the crevice and strikes my horse in the face. It bucks its front legs up—throwing me off its back. I land on the ground with a heavy thump, but the padded plates stretching around my ribcage take most of the impact. A roar erupts from over the cliff as Loki turns abruptly toward me—lowering a hand down for me to take, while our forces ride out along the edge of the cliff with a low, steady rumble through the earth.

His grip is hard around my hand, and he pulls me effortlessly up into the air, while I grab ahold of his shoulders—scratching the leather slightly with my fingernails—and let him haul me onto the back of his horse. With the wind blowing against my face, I look out to the army as he rides out along the curved edge of the crevice, with the rest of our soldiers.

Black strings slowly come into focus around the invaders. I loosen my grip over Loki's shoulders, feeling the usual pressure glide over my palm—with the exception of the creatures overhead, which produce a small vibration each time one of them gets close. All the while, the stone continues to hum with energy from deep inside my boot. Not the most comfortable location to have tucked it away, but this armor allowed me little else.

I look over to the other side, seeing how our armies have collided—a cataclysm of black and white strings twisting, turning, and fading away from bodies strewing across the grounds. Beams of light and bodies of smoke fly about through the air, and as Loki gets close, I lift my hand slowly. The black strings shudder as power from the god stone flows against my skin, invigorating my grip over the more elusive threads.

With a jerk of my hand, a group of invaders fly backward, away from us. I smile, but hardly have a moment to breathe before another beam blows past us from behind—striking Loki's horse in the legs. It collapses underneath us with a pained cry, while Loki and I are thrown across the ground—rolling slightly against the dirt.

Metal clangs and shots of light go on around us, and dirt gathers under my fingernails as I ball my hands into fists—lifting myself up slowly by my forearms. A cloud of dust erupts under me as I exhale sharply, trying to re-gain my focus, and see if anything in my body hurts more than it should.

Legs are working... Arms are intact... I have a headache, but that's a problem to be dealt with later. I bite my lip slightly as I push off from the ground, forcing my legs to lift me up. I turn, seeing Loki rise up to his knees behind me, and pivot sharply with a dagger in hand—stopping a sword from impaling him from behind.