The Love Of a Trickster

4

    As we approach another split off of the tunnel, Loki raises a finger to quiet me. I obey and instantly hear a strange sound. It sounds like something being scraped against cement. I peek my head around the corner, and immediately pull back. "It's him," I whisper.

    Loki nods and casually strolls out of hiding. I smack my head with my palm and follow him. The Hel soldier stares at us with glowing yellow eyes. He is holding a bone in his hand, with scratch marks in the cement beneath it. That must be what I heard. The soldier jumps up to run, but Loki has already whipped up an invisible barrier around it. He's trapped.

    Loki taps on the transparent shield, each point of contact changing to green. "So it seems Hela is struggling to keep her wards where they belong. How ever did you escape?" The skeleton makes some guttural noises and screeches. I cover my ears from the piercing sound. Loki just blinks, unfazed. "Now, is that any way to talk to your rescuer? You have no clue where you are or what you are doing and you want to go back to your rest? You'll have to come with us, then."

    Loki snaps his fingers and the skeleton instantly begins to float within his barrier. I look over the creature, then at Loki. "What do we do now?"

    "Now we take this creature back to Hel." He holds his hand out to me. I take it and touch the barrier. Loki taps his staff and we are pulled back in the Bifrost.

    "I can never figure out where you keep that thing," I say as we teleport.

    "Pocket dimensions. I can create them anywhere and can access them anywhere. I can make them small enough for objects or large enough for myself. How do you think I disappear so easily?" He replies.

    "Where are we dropping out?"

    "The edge of Hel. It will be easier than going through Svartalfheim."

    I close my mouth as the rainbow around us disappears. The instant I hit the ground, the reek of death and decay reaches my nose. I gag on the stench. "Can we just leave it here and go?"

    "No. We have to leave it deep within Hel or it might follow us out." He begins to walk quickly away from the entrance of Hel. "Hurry," he orders.

    "Why? What's the rush?" I stiffen as I hear a low growl rumble behind me.

    Loki stops and faces me. I see his face pale. "Don't turn around, Feyre."

    A splash of thick smelly liquid lands beside me. "Garm," I whisper, eyes wide with fear. I sneak a glance over my shoulder and see the enormous dog like creature directly behind me. I wrap my hand around the hilt of my sword.

    Loki shakes his head at me. "Don't. You won't be able to beat it. Garm will not be beaten until Ragnarok."

    "What do I do?"

    "Well, if I were standing where you are now, I'd say the obvious action would be run!"

    I bolt just as Garm's massive paw lands right where I was. Loki takes off in front of me and I streak after him, with the Hel Hound directly behind me. I make sure the soldier is still with us once I catch up to Loki. Garm is still bounding after us, his every paw step shaking the ground beneath my feet. I catch sight of some old ruins and motion towards them. Loki nods and changes directions. We duck behind the ruins, hoping Garm didn't see us. I try to silence my panicked breathing. I hear low growls just beside me. Loki claps a hand over my mouth before I can scream.

    I clench my fists tighter and tighter until I can feel my nails digging into my skin. I hear shuffling and sniffing, then the noises recede. Loki drops his hand and I let out a sigh of relief. We stand and Loki walks back onto the main path. I pause, staring at a large imprint on the ground. There are even indentions the size of my foot where Garm's claw's rested. From the corner of my eye, I see something shift. Suddenly, Loki is waving his hands at me, yelling.

    "Feyre! Get out of there!"

    I look up into Garm's beady red eyes. He knew we would come out. He hid from us. I stand, my feet locked in place, my body shaking in terror. I can't move or I would be running as fast as I could. Garm brings his massive tail swinging around. It lands with a thud on the crumbling building. Debris begins to rain down on me. I still can't move. Somehow, a scream works its way out of my mouth and I force myself to turn. Loki is gone. He abandoned me! My thoughts shriek at me.

    I scream again as rocks and dirt pelt against me. Suddenly, I feel something grabbing my arm and yanking me down! I cower beneath its shadow. I can't see with all the dust flying around, but I can see flashes of green as rocks bounce off the barrier. Someone's arm is wrapped around me, the other covering my head. The dust finally settles, but it's dark. We're buried beneath the rocks. I feel the ground quaking and hearing shifting above me. The rocks suddenly roll away and light breaks out around us. I finally get a glimpse of my protector. Loki is dusting himself off. He pulls me to my feet and checks me over for injuries.

    Satisfied that I've only sustained minor ones, he shakes me hard. "Why didn't you listen to me?"

    "I was frozen...I couldn't move or talk or..."

    I break off as Loki pulls me against him in a hug. "Don't you ever do that again! The next time you do, you're on your own." Something tells me otherwise. He lets go and retrieves our encaged skeleton.

    He walks ahead of me. I keep an eye on the back of the barrier, he on the front. I spot an occasional limp slowing him down. My eyes scan his legs, trying to determine which is injured. Why doesn't he just heal himself? The answer hits me. He's too proud to show any weakness in front of me! I clear my throat.

    Loki glances back at me. "What?"

    "You should probably fix that," I say, pointing at his leg. Loki rolls his eyes and continues walking. "Fine. Then I will."

    "What..." before he finishes, I've knocked him on the ground and pushed him against a boulder. He lets out a grunt of pain. "Maybe I trained you too well."

    I shake my head and pull a cloth and water canteen out in front of me. "You won't heal yourself and I can't heal so we'll do this the old fashioned way." I douse the rag with water, pull his pant leg above his calf, and wrap the cloth around it, pining it in place. I pull his pant leg back down and stand.     Loki just stares at me, disbelief in his eyes. "What?" I say, finally.    

    "You are the only person I know who would be bold enough to do that," he answers.

    "Well, I'm also the only person who's spent every day of her life since she was 16 serving you, so I guess that must count for something."

    "No, not even the servants would have done that."

    "Well, they're terrified of you. You are the God of Mischief after all."

    "Why did you?"

    "I prefer to think of you as the God of Misdemeanors instead." I pull him to his feet.

    He laughs. I think it's the first time I've ever heard him truly laugh. This one sounds different than the cruel mocking laughs I usually get. This time, it's pealing like bells, strong and sweet. "You are a strange one, Feyre. Come on. We're nearly there."