Hellfire

A Moment of Weakness

Notes:

To my dearest fellow Midgardians -It is now the 24th of August and 03.30 here in the Netherlands, which means that I can officially say that it is my birthday! *insert "it's-my-birthday" Grandmaster gif here* And what better way to celebrate than to upload a new chapter :D
You guys are just amazing and I hope you will enjoy this chapter!

*

'Wyvern,' Loki managed to whisper under his breath, his legs turning to lead as he saw the beast's skin flaring with fire that was building up in its chest. 'Run...'

'What?' Steve already took a few steps back, hardly hearing Loki's voice over the rumbling of the creature's growl.

'RUN!' Loki shouted, grabbing the captain's wrist and pulling him off his feet, barely dodging the blast of fire that left the entire cave to heat up. 'Run! Now!'

The two scrambled to their feet, running through the cave as fast as their legs could carry them.

Steve hardly dared to look back as scorching heat followed them, illuminating the tunnels. He looked down, his attention caught by the squelching sound of his boots dragging through the stench.

It was not mud. It was not dirt nor any other kind of sludge.

With his path now lightened by the wyvern's breath, Steve saw the blood that had splashed up against his legs, the rotting and decaying flesh of countless cadavers sticking against his boots. He looked at the walls and the ceiling, finding bloody and desperate hand and animal prints smeared all over.

'Left!' Loki shouted in front of Steve, pulling the blond around the corner just before large jaws snapped behind them with tremendous force.

Rubble and rocks came down as the beast roared in rage, its horned tail moving like a thorny whip in search of blood.

'Isn't there any way we can fight that thing?! It should have a weakness, right?!' Steve suggested, sounding more desperate than certain as the two kept on running for their lives.

'You wish to fight that?!' Loki shouted, wanting to slap the mortal on the back of his head if he could. 'And how were you planning on doing so?!'

'I don't know! You're the sorcerer, you know all these creatures!' The blond held up his arm, barely dodging a falling stalactite that would have easily pierced his skull and split him in half. 'You figure something out!'

'Unless you have conveniently stored Gungnir in a place I do not want to know where, I suggest you just keep your bloody mouth shut and run!' The raven cursed under his breath as he heard the dragon take a deep breath, readying itself to blast another wave of fire. 'Dodge!'

Steve jumped to the side. He grabbed a half-burned and rotting skeleton from one of the crevasses, who seemed to have gotten stuck there when it was still breathing. He yanked it out and hid in its spot. He waited, his heart beating loudly in his chest as he tried to spot the trickster.

He could not see him.

Steve shut his eyes tight and turned his face towards the wall, hoping Loki had found a spot to hide as the searing flames bursts through the tunnel.

Sweat dripped out of every pore of his body, the heat almost too much as he tried to breath the blistering air.

His heart stopped as he heard an agonizing scream.

The fire raged through the tunnels for only a few seconds. Steve immediately jumped from his hiding spot only to find Loki clinging on to the burned skin of his left arm. The trickster had managed to find cover but had not been fast enough. The fabric of his clothing was scorched to his skin, his flesh blackened and blood gushing from the fresh wound.