Loki

by Vasich, Mike

  The enormous bird seemed to realize the danger just as it soared into the flames, and it swiftly changed its flight path upward. Balder realized its fatal mistake. If it had instead continued through the flames, it could have perhaps survived, its feathers severely singed, but it may have otherwise remained intact. When it flew instinctively upwards, it caught itself in the wall of flame longer, and the heat was greater the higher up it rose. The eagle’s feathers burst into flames at the crest of its upward path, and then it fell like a star shooting down to earth.

  The Asgardian response was swift. Einherjar rushed upon the creature that was already in the midst of a transformation into his true, giant self. Screams of agony accompanied his change, and then swiftly turned to screams of rage when spears and swords pierced him. With a massive hand he batted away a dozen warriors, killing at least half of them outright and sending their crushed bodies into the flames. He stood to his full height, dwarfing the warriors around him, and beckoned them on with a sneer of defiance. It was obvious that he was hurt, but it was just as obvious that the damage he had sustained was not enough to bring him down.

  As the Asgardians rushed forward to renew their attack on him, they paused when long, sinuous and ghost-like appendages erupted from him. They were reminded of the multiple limbs of the mason, and while they still charged forward to attack, the dread on their faces was apparent. It grew into fear when they saw the giant's size increase as well.

  Loki had been in the midst of his transformation when he witnessed the assault on Thiazi. After exiting the flames severely burned, the giant had withstood a wave of Asgardians. But while they damaged him to some degree, he was still strong enough to cause much death and destruction.

  He finished shifting back into his own form as he watched the giant swat away Einherjar by the dozens. Thiazi was calling forth his chaos energy to help him destroy the Aesir. Loki had seen him use it in many ways during the months he stayed with the giant while learning to control his own chaos. He had suspected that Thiazi did not show him all he knew, but what he had shown him would still be enough to deal with the Aesir in their feeble state.

  His own power was nowhere as strong as Thiazi's, but he did not have to counter him strength for strength. He had fooled him for months, made him think that he was a son of Jotunheim, when in reality he had been learning all he could so that he could end the giant's threat to Asgard. Each time Thiazi had used his power, Loki had sent a small portion of his own to intertwine with the giant's, reinforcing the submission and cooperation he thought he received.

  He called upon that chaos energy now, willing it to arise from its dormancy within the giant. Thiazi used his own to begin shifting his form into a creature like the mason. In their state the Aesir would not have been able to withstand another such creature, and Thiazi no doubt intended to crush them all as the mason very nearly had.

  All Thiazi's energy was focused on increasing his size and threat, leaving none for any kind of defense. His arrogance left him vulnerable to an attack from within. As Loki's energy arose within the giant, the multiple arms that had sprouted withered and slumped to the ground, while his increasing size halted.

  Loki enjoyed the look on his face when he realized how he had been tricked once more, but he knew he would not be able to prevent Thiazi’s power from reasserting itself. He only hoped the Asgardians would seize upon the opportunity.

  Balder cursed his frail body as he moved forward as fast as his weak legs could carry him. The giant weakened somehow, and he knew that it was time to press the attack.

  The giant was already being weighed down by a score of warriors, and a few dozen others stabbed at him with spears and swords. Balder reached the giant and managed to just duck his head before a massive fist sailed above him, threatening to take his head from his shoulders. He slashed at the giant’s leg, cutting through skin and muscle, and the giant’s scream of pain fueled Balder on, sending his sword slashing again and again, as fast as his trembling old arm could manage.

  The giant was too damaged from the fire and too overwhelmed by Asgardian attackers to focus on any one assailant, so Balder was able to continuously plunge his sword into the giant’s hide without much fear of retaliation. Blood poured from his wounds, and Balder wondered how the creature could even continue to stand while covered in attackers.

  A sound like cracking thunder shook the ground, and Balder could see Thor launching himself onto the giant. The giant was nowhere near the size of the mason, so the Thunderer was able to leap up and strike his head with his hammer. While Mjolnir would surely have shattered the skull in one blow, the diminished power of his current weapon seemed to cause an increase in the savage ferocity of Thor’s attack. He relentlessly smashed the hammer into the giant’s face and head, drawing blood and cracking bone with every blow. The giant grabbed him with one hand that was still weighed down by attackers, but could not pull the crazed old god from him.

  Thiazi’s limbs slowed, and he fell to his knees. The remainder of those Asgardians still standing redoubled their attacks. Balder hacked at the blackened and bloody body that still towered over him without any need to avoid an attack. The giant was swiftly dying, only its pure stamina keeping it from completely succumbing.

  Thiazi finally collapsed under the weight of his attackers after Thor’s hammer caved in part of his skull. He crashed to the ground and lay there unmoving, while Asgardian and Aesir ceased their attack and stood up from the corpse.

  Balder gasped for breath and let his sword drop to the ground, strength failing quickly now that the battle rage had passed. He bent over and put his hands on his knees for support, desperately trying to regain his breath. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see that Thor had fared only slightly better; the Thunderer was leaning with one hand over the shoulder of a retainer, the other hand clutching his chest tightly.

  Balder was slow to recover, but eventually was able to stand upright again. He turned to see someone standing there. As the face registered, the victory against the giant suddenly turned sour. Of all the faces he least wanted to see, the one before him was the most hateful in his sight.

  The seed was cradled in Loki's hand. He had risked much to bring Idun back to Asgard. His life might have been forfeited, but what was one life compared to all those in Asgard? If Thiazi had been successful, Asgard would have fallen to the giants, destroying all he knew. The mere fact of his true heritage would not cause him to betray those he still thought of as his own kind.

  But the cost had been high.

  The Aesir were decrepit, barely clinging to life in some cases. Idun’s absence had debilitated them far more than any battle injuries ever could. Worse than any bloody death was their pathetic lingering, a cruel insult to battle gods who expected to meet their end with steel in hand and fire in their eyes.

  His reputation was also likely to be far more sullied than it already was. The Aesir would not care that he was forced to steal Idun. They would only see that his actions had put them at risk and caused them insult. Nor could Odin be counted on to explain his role. The High One was not given to explanations.

  Idun's return, he hoped, would go some way towards showing them his loyalties. And he would take one further precaution to ensure that she could not be stolen again.

  Loki approached the gathering of gods around the dead giant, gripping the seed firmly in his hand.

  Balder turned, and recognition spread across the once young, once handsome face. He sneered, the loathing that he felt not even partially hidden. Loki brought up his hand, the seed perched comfortably in the middle of his palm.

  “I have brought Idun back to Asgard.”

  Balder’s curiosity overpowered his disgust for the moment as he stared down at the seed in Loki’s hand.

  “This is Idun?”

  Loki nodded.

  “And you have done this to her?”

  He nodded again. “Yes, it was the only way to bring her from Thrymheim.”

  Balder could not
take his eyes from the seed. He took a step closer.

  “And what is it that you have done to her?” The disgust was creeping back into his voice, spurred by the appearance of Idun changed by some power that was distinctly unlike anything the Aesir possessed.

  Loki considered how to explain it. He did not want to reveal the chaos thriving inside of him, the energy that made him kin with their enemy.

  “I have made her into the very essence of what she was.”

  Balder was dissatisfied with the explanation, but still curious.

  “Does she live?”

  “In a way. But she is not as she once was.”

  “Can you restore her?”

  Loki paused. He did not know if it was possible for her to return to the form she held before. She lived, of a sort, but this transformation was different than his own. While he retained conscious thought in any form he took, Idun had become the seed. There was only the barest hint that she had once been a goddess. He was certain, however, that her presence, in whatever form, would return the Aesir’s youth and vitality to them.

  “I will use the runes to restore her.” He would chant them, but it would be the chaos that flowed from him to transform her, not Asgardian magic. But Balder, he knew, would look no deeper than the surface, as usual.

  Before he turned from Balder, he noted the sour look that crossed his face. He ignored it. When the gods had regained what they had lost, they would view him differently.

  He walked to an open patch of ground, untouched by the battle and marked only with scattered wildflowers. He knelt down and dug his hand into the moist dirt, feeling the life within it. He buried the seed and closed his eyes. He chanted the runes, but it was only a ruse. Instead, the chaos flowed from him, unseen tendrils enveloping the seed. He could feel the essence of what she had been trapped inside, the link to the immortality of the Aesir. She would live again, but not in quite the same way.

  The chaos withdrew and he opened his eyes. Standing up, he turned back to see that Balder and Thor had drawn closer. Balder still bore an expression of disgust, but it was colored by an accompanying bewilderment, like that of an old man who did not fully comprehend what he was witnessing. Thor’s expression was blank. He stood by, still gripping his hammer, hunched over and trembling with the effort of remaining on his feet.

  After long moments, Balder spoke, his voice dripping with venom. “What have you done?”

  Loki looked back at him. “I have returned Idun to Asgard. I have brought you back your lives.”

  “And why is it that you were not affected as we were? What bargain have you struck with the giant that has kept you young?”

  Loki ignored him and focused instead on the spot where he had buried the seed.

  The small mound of dirt trembled slightly before one thin, green shoot fought its way out and continued its upward creep. As it grew, it thickened and turned brown, and offshoots eventually split and traversed their own path, upward and outward, creating a quickly spreading lattice of green and brown branches. Balder gaped open-mouthed, and even Thor registered awe as the young tree’s bark grew thicker and the branches sprouted small leaves.

  Loki craned his head upwards to watch the progression of the tree. The trunk expanded, moving earth around it, and smaller branches shot off from larger ones, the leaves creating a canopy that blocked the sun. White petals formed and swiftly grew into blossoms, and then just as quickly fell to the ground, creating a snowstorm around him. Where blossoms had been, small orbs grew, green at first, then tinting more and more yellow till they were a gold that rivaled Sif’s hair.

  He reached up and pulled one down. He handed it to Balder.

  “Idun is here, even more a part of Asgard than before.”

  Balder hesitantly took the offered fruit and held it up to his face, inspecting it closely with his tired eyes. He looked back at Loki with suspicion.

  “This does not erase your misdeeds,” he said, before slowly bringing the apple to his mouth and sinking his remaining teeth into its flesh.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Loki walked through the doors of Gladsheim. He had been summoned by Odin, and he made his way there quickly. It had been only days since Thiazi had been defeated. After having eaten of Idun’s fruit, the Aesir were regaining their vitality and vigor.

  He had seen Tyr rise from his chair to stand on his own feet, the fog on his brain disappearing. For the first time in weeks, Tyr appeared to know where he was and what was going on around him. Thor stood up straight once more, regaining his stature, and the flab that encircled his arms and legs had returned to iron sinew. Balder, the youngest and once most handsome of them all, began regaining that clearness of complexion that marked him as eternally young and vital. Freyja, previously bald save the long, white wisps that pathetically clung to her wrinkled orb, saw her features smooth, her figure fill out, her silver hair return. No longer was she merely a bone case for her brittle and papery skin. And although she was not yet as radiant as she had been, it was undeniable that she would be so again.

  Loki witnessed these transformations with anticipation. It was true that they blamed him for their decrepit state, but it was also true that such suffering had been necessary to end Thiazi's threat. Now that their youth was returned, would they not see that his actions formed part of a larger plan? And even if they did not, Odin would acknowledge his role. The others, spiteful as they may be, would have no choice but to accept him.

  The Aesir were assembled in their customary seats. Odin sat on his throne, his wife, Frigg, to his right. On either side the rest of the Aesir were gathered: Thor and his wife, Sif of the golden hair; Balder and Nana, his consort; Bragi the master of poesy; Njord of the Vanir; and Odin’s sons, Vali, Vidar, and Hermod all sat on one side of the hall. Tyr, the twins Freyja and Frey, Ull the master archer, Forseti the just, Thor’s son Magni, said to possibly rival his father in strength, Aegir of the oceans, Heimdall on a rare excursion from Bifrost, and Loki’s faithful wife, Sigyn sat on the other. All faces were somber, all eyes on Loki as he approached.

  “You summoned me to council, Allfather?”

  Odin stared at him. Loki wondered if the Allfather were seeing him or something entirely different, even while they locked eyes.

  “Tyr, speak the charge.”

  In response to Odin’s command, Tyr stood from his chair slowly, his strength not fully returned.

  “Loki, you stand accused of betraying Asgard, of consorting with our mortal enemies in Jotunheim. You stole Idun from her sacred orchards and brought a plague upon the Aesir. You brought the giant Thiazi to our very doorstep. If not for the all-knowing wisdom of the High One, all would have been lost. You failed to . . .”

  Loki’s attention trailed off as he looked around at the assembled faces. Only two did not appear overtly hostile; his wife, Sigyn, who looked sympathetic, and Thor, who looked bored. He could bear the anger of the others. It was Odin’s proclamation that counted here.

  When Tyr finished his litany, the others mumbled in angry tones. Balder was engaged in fierce complaint with Nana and angrily gesturing towards him. Heimdall glared silently. Sigyn held her head down, looking guilty and uncomfortable.

  A gesture from Odin silenced them. “What say you in your defense?”

  Loki paused, taking one last look at the gods glaring at him. He felt strangely at ease despite the discomforting stares. The Allfather would soon forgive his trespasses, would explain how he himself had given Loki the task of luring Thiazi to Asgard, and he would derive great satisfaction in seeing the surprised looks on their faces.

  “All here have judged me as lacking,” he began. “Yet my efforts have preserved Asgard, have protected us against our enemies. I have suffered indignities that none here could know, and I have persevered, for the sake of Asgard.” The angry glares continued.

  “It is true that my ways are unusual. I do not have Tyr’s skill with a blade, nor Thor’s strength. But my gifts, though different, are used only to defend
Asgard.

  “We have opened our doors to two who are different, and accepted them as our own, despite the fact that at one time they were our sworn enemies. Now that Vanir and Aesir no longer fight, we welcome Frey and Freyja. If welcome is offered to strangers and their ways, why should it be refused to one who has been here since the Nine Worlds were young?”

  Some of the gods looked at each other briefly, but Loki could not tell if he had persuaded any of them. Odin sat stone-faced and silent, no indication on his face of where his opinion would fall. But he had sent Loki to Thiazi, and of all of them, the Allfather would appreciate his service to Asgard.

  “You call me ‘Sly One’ and worse, but it is my very ability to craft plans that has allowed me to contribute in the greatest manner to Asgard. Would the strength of my steel have lured away the mason's horse and won the bargain? And now our wall is rebuilt, better than before, so that when Ragnarok comes we will be better prepared to face it.

  “It is true that I took Idun, but had I not done so the giant Thiazi may have found her and done it himself, and the cost would have been severe. I was able to convince her to go with me and still keep her orchards unharmed, and it was I who rescued her from Thrymheim, luring the giant here to his death, ending his threat and securing the safety of Asgard once more.

  “Every sacrifice, every plan, every action I undertake is in service to Asgard. Before you pass judgment on me, consider what you have gained, and what you might have lost if not for my actions.”

  The hall was silent. As he looked from face to face, he saw some softening of expression, although not much. Still, any change in their view of him was unexpected.

  Loki stood still, anticipating the response. He had no delusion that one plea could change their perception of him. It would be a slow process, and only a fool would think that all would accept him. Heimdall would never see him as anything but an enemy. Balder would probably always have enmity for him. Many, however, might be able to let go of past grievances and allow old wounds to heal. He could envision Tyr doing so, and even Thor, who he had aided many times. For his part, he would let old grudges fade. There was nothing to be gained by nursing them, and much to be lost.