The Quest

Chapter Five

Chapter Five

It took three days for Faith to awaken and Loki had seriously wondered if he should feed her more of the fruit. She would probably need another two days to fully heal, even with the fruit; that was how potent the venom was.

She had been restless for the past day, her sleep seeming troubled by bad dreams, she had cried out a few times and Loki had soothed her until she settled down into a peaceful slumber once more.

He was coming to realise that his feelings for this mortal went far deeper than he had anticipated, which was troubling for many reasons. Why couldn’t she just have been boring, like other humans?

Of course if she were like other humans, he would not have needed her to accompany him on this quest. In fact, he would not even have been able to take this quest, since opening a portal to return home was dependant on her power to help him and Frigga.

Saying goodbye to her was going to be a bitch.

“Faith?” Loki called gently leaning over her as he saw her eyebrows flutter. Sleipnir joined him, intent on making sure she was all right.

She looked up into the face of a horse and an insane god.

“It’s Mr Ed and Loco Loki,” she groaned. “And I thought my dreams were weird.”

She felt a puff of air on her cheek from Sleipnr. ‘I’m glad you did not die.’

“Thanks.” She reached a hand up to stroke the side of his face. “Me too.”

“Me three,” Loki chimed in. “You had us worried there.”

“Is there any water?” she asked.

Loki conjured a canteen and helped her to sit up. She tried to grab the bottle but Loki pulled it away.

“You haven’t drunk anything for three days, sip slowly or you’ll likely be sick.”

He brought the canteen back and she allowed him to tip it for her, so she wouldn’t take too much.

She put her hands under herself so she could properly sit up.

“Furs?” she asked, as she felt the silky soft covering she was lying on.

“Well you did almost die, it felt fitting to push the boat out a little,” Loki teased, and she smiled.

“What was that thing?”

“A demon.”

“What is a demon?”

“They are creatures who find their way into this realm by mistake, often during the convergence or similar events. When they die here, they don’t die properly, the land infects them and turns them into what you saw. What sort of creature it was originally though, I cannot tell.”

“What happens if we die here?” she asked.

“We become like them, unless cremated. I wouldn’t have let that happen to you.”

She nodded her thanks, too tired to answer. Every muscle in her body ached, as if she had just done a dozen of Natasha’s training sessions on the trot.

Loki offered her a little more water but she was having a hard time keeping her eyes open.

Loki supported her weight as she drank, then he lowered her back to the ground.

“Sleep,” he instructed.

“We need to move on,” she mumbled.

“You would only be a liability in your present state.”