Miracles Do Happen

Chapter 4

Thor threw a powerful lightning blast at Xhosa, which surprisingly didn't send him far.

The large man chuckled slightly, before once again charging at Thor with his huge hammer. Thor, on instinct, placed his lightning hand in front of him and grabbed the hammer's main piece, and created a blast of lightning that flung the hammer out of its possessor's hands.

Loki watched on, unsure of what he could do to assist. His brother has yet to tell him of how he knew this fellow.

Thor continues to merely dodge Xhosa's attacks. Since he was so large, his movements were much slower than a normal sized man, though they were proven much stronger.

Except, the God of Thunder remained weaker than usual due to the traumatic events that happened hours before.

The younger God of Mischief dodged stray attacks that seemed threatening with ease.

"You can not avoid me forever, o' god of Thunder," Xhosa seemed to taunt, grinning from ear to ear.

"If I do not prevail, I will die trying," Thor said, his eyes showing clear determination.

Loki heard what his brother had said, and felt a tint of pain inside. He wasn't going to let his brother die.

"Heh, perseverance, small one," Xhosa replied, bringing his hammer, which he had gotten back, down on the grass, which created cracks that quickly slithered toward Thor.

As if by some hint of strength, Thor slammed his fist into the ground, and the cracks had flown back toward Xhosa, forming a crevice underneath him.

Thor watched as Xhosa looked up at him in surprise, before letting out a loud yelp and disappearing into the dark depths of the earth.

"Let me assist with this," Loki stepped in as he used his sorcery to seal up the ground, ensuring that Xhosa could not escape, thus if he did, it would take quite a while.

Thor sighed in exhaustion and a tad hint of exasperation lingered in his tone as well.

"Are you alright, Brother?" Loki asked as he walked to stand beside Thor.

Thor seemed to shift uncomfortably on his feet, before finally replying. "Yes, I am unharmed."

Loki nodded, "Let us continue, shall we? You have much explaining to do."

Thor understood, and obeyed as both brothers continued the 4 hour walk to the city.

Thor coughed, before he began his story.

"Many years ago, on Asgard, I was wandering the many expanse of our realm. Of course, Father wouldn't have been supportive of me doing such alone, though I had snuck out anyway," He began, earning a mischievous smirk from his younger brother.

"You seemed to be mischievous at times as well. How shocking," Loki commented.

Thor just shook his head, his features showing a fraction of amusement.

"I had become lost after just minutes of wandering. I had walked into a dark area unfamiliar to the kingdom and thus one I did not know existed. A dark voice had echoed from behind me, and I saw Xhosa, though at the time, I was unfamiliar of who he was. He attempted to get me to join him, to flee Asgard, to go where no one could find us, but I refused."

Thor lifted his arm, showing a large bruise and a scar dragging from his palm, all the way to his shoulder. It was still a bit bloodied, even after many years.

"As punishment, he swung his hammer at me, and hit me in my abdomen and then swung it again and skimmed my arm, though the damage to my abdomen is much more severe than that of my arm."

Thor lifted part of his armor, revealing an ugly and gruesome wound on his abdomen, one which still stung. The memories were painful, as were the wounds and the moment of impact. That day still flickered in his head like a broken lamp.

Loki cringed slightly at the sight, though his features showed anger and rage. "He did that to you?"

The oldest brother nodded slightly, his face seeming to scrunch up in pain at the reveal of his wounds again.

"Why wasn't it tended to?" Loki asked.

Thor sighed heavily, his eyes seeming to droop in tiredness. "I felt ashamed of what I had done. I showed and told no one, in fear I would be badly punished for my actions."

He winced shortly after, his wound throbbing badly. The extent of the damage to his body was severe, and one of his organs was badly scarred, limiting him weak until it was tended to.

It was a surprise that he had survived the attack.

Loki looked at his brother, his expression unreadable as he scanned over his brother's rather thin form.

"Well, now that I know about it, perhaps I can assist in healing you," Loki finally said after some awkward silence.

Thor wanted to protest, to say he was fine, but he knew he would succumb to the pain eventually, along with his brother's pleading and worry, so he nodded.

Loki made his way over to Thor, gently placing his hands on the wound, careful not to disturb it too greatly, as not to cause his brother pain.

A light green aura appeared around his hand, and spread to the wound. He felt his brother wince slightly at the light pressure caused by his sorcery.

"Sorry," the young god murmured.

Thor remained silent as he allowed his adopted brother to work.

Loki watched as the wound seemed to seal itself up, but the skin itself was still tender to the touch.

He moved and did the same thing to his brother's arms.

"Thank you, Loki.." Thor said with a small smile.

The god of mischief slapped his brother on the back. "Thank me later, now let's get going."