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callsignbaphomet · 1 year ago

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[[Kay, so the whole thing seems to fit so no need to link it but I'll still drop the link to the Doc in case it's easier to read there than here.

Link

No TWs needed for this one, at least I don't think so but as always lemma know if there needs to be for something in here.]]

Norway November 17, 880 C.E. 06:07

Jelani burst through the door while clutching a small bag containing the last of the potions and salves Sanaa ad Loke had made to deliver. While standing at the door he looked around the snow-covered village, at that time the village would be buzzing with the sounds of people greeting each other as they made their way to whatever chores or jobs they had but the village was quiet and mostly empty. It was usually at that time that Jelani would be making his way over to his grandfather to help herding and tending to the sheep but today was a little different. Most of the people in the village had gone to help a village that had been attacked by knights, word of the attack reached them in the north and to help Ingvarr had sent a few of his people to offer aid and protection from further aggression. Most of the houses were empty and there was a silence in the atmosphere that felt almost uneasy. Jelani was used to seeing many people around the village at that time, some going to check on the cattle, others to relieve guards of their post so they could rest, the blacksmiths were on their way to make weapons and armor though most of their time was spent fixing broken or old pieces that held up buildings and houses.

The ten-year-old boy ran towards the stables to see if Loke's horse, Helga, was prepared. To his surprise Helga was ready but neither his brother nor his parents were anywhere near the stables. Jelani looked around but before leaving he reached out to pet the old mare's snout. Helga was the oldest of the mares but the gentlest one. She was used to being patted and scratched by everyone in the village, young and old, her age had granted her a patience that at times felt almost supernatural. Helga stretched her neck and sniffed Jelani's open palm as he stood on his toes to pet her.

“Hello, Helga.” Jelani said in a playful tone as he gently patted Helga's nose.

“There you are, little one!”

A voice boomed excitedly behind Jelani as he was lifted into the air. As he was turned around, he smiled when he saw his grandfather smiling back at him. Haakon gave Jelani a tight hug but before walking away he petted Helga.

“Your parents are looking for you. Why didn't you wait?”

“I'm sorry, papa. I just wanted to see what was taking so long.”

“Oh, you're that excited about the journey?”

“Yes!”

“You're not even a little scared?” Haakon laughed as he walked back to his son's home with his grandson in his arms.

“Uh-uh.” Jelani answered enthusiastically.

Haakon let out a hearty laugh as he hugged his grandson tightly. Truth was he was nervous about letting Jelani go to the village that had been attacked. Knights tended to hang around an area they’ve attacked to wait for allies to show up to provide aid and attack the allies. To make matters worse there was a recent spike in raider activity and these were brazened. There was also the matter of the distance. If it’d been up to Haakon neither of his grandsons would be making the journey to deliver supplies and medicine but Loke insisted, he wanted to help and where one sibling went the other was right next to the other. Ingvarr and Sanaa were sure it was perfectly safe. Loke was a mature, capable and fiercely protective man so neither saw anything wrong with letting their thirty-two-year-old son look after his ten-year-old brother. Haakon trusted Loke to take care of and protect his younger brother but there was an uneasiness stirring within him. As they reached Ingvarr's house Haakon put Jelani down but before he could run off to find his parents Haakon held him back and knelt to look him straight in the eyes.

“Jelani, I need you to listen to me closely, all right?”

Jelani turned and paid attention. Haakon’s tone had turned serious, and he wanted to see why.

“What's wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong, little one. However, this is the first time you’ll be away, so I need you to promise me that you’ll be good, and you’ll listen to your brother, all right? You do everything he tells you to when he tells you to.”

“I will, papa, don't worry.”

Haakon forced a smile on his face, he was worried, and he grew even more so as the uneasiness in his stomach grew. He looked at Jelani up and down as he rested his hands on his small shoulders and afterwards hugged him. He desperately wanted to tell him and Loke not to leave but he had no real excuse to tell them. Telling them not to go off the strength of a bad feeling didn't seem like a good idea. He was probably nervous to see his youngest grandson away for that much time.

“Oh, my sweet, there you are.” Sanaa called out and Jelani ran to his mother and gave her a tight hug. Ingvarr joined his wife and son and Haakon smiled as he looked at them as Loke emerged from the house and picked up and carried Jelani as he hugged his mother.

“Is everything ready?” Haakon asked as he stood straight, the uneasiness in his voice was almost noticeable.

“Yes,” Loke confirmed, “We should start heading out soon. We have a lot of area to cover.”

“Maybe I should go instead of you boys.”

“Father, don't be ridiculous.” Ingvarr interjected as he chuckled. “Your shoulder isn't fully healed yet. You should rest.”

“My shoulder feels fine.”

“Ingvarr's right.” Sanaa said as she walked over to Haakon and placed her hand on his injured shoulder and gave her father-in-law a warm smile. “You should rest. Besides,” she turned to Loke with a wide smile and pride in her face, “Loke is more than capable of handling this and looking after his brother. I wouldn't trust anyone else.”

“Thanks, mother.” Loke sheepishly said as he tried to hide his face by lowering his gaze as well as the enormous smile that quickly formed upon hearing his mother give such high praise.

Haakon, having given up on trying to stop his grandsons from making the journey to the village, hugged Loke and whispered something in his ear. Loke seemed confused by the words his grandfather uttered but nevertheless he nodded and returned the hug. The old berserker then turned to Jelani who was still in Loke's arms and reminded him of what he’d asked of him earlier. Jelani nodded enthusiastically.

Loke and Jelani said their goodbyes and made their way to Loke’s horse who was ready with their supplies and the supplies Sanaa had prepared for the village. Loke mounted the old mare first and got settled comfortably and then reached down so Jelani could grab hold of Loke’s arm and once he had a good grip Loke lifted his little brother and sat him in front of him as he knew Jelani liked holding onto the reins.

Both set off and headed south. Loke figured it would take them an hour and a half to reach the southernmost part of the island where they’d have to cross into the mainland, the stretch of water was less than a mile wide but usually there were boats in the area that frequently offered passage to others into the mainland so crossing with Helga and the supplies wouldn't be much of a problem. From there it would take them roughly eighteen to twenty hours to reach the village.

The journey to the shore was pleasant. Both siblings got along wonderfully and neither ceased to amuse the other. Despite their twenty-two-year gap both often found plenty of common ground and often spent hours talking. The hour and a half it took to reach the point to cross into the mainland was spent talking about Loke, Ingvarr, Sanaa and Jørgen’s latest brush with slayers that had made their way onto the island and had threatened a small village of werewolves. The four of them managed to repel the slayers before they could do any real harm. Dealing with slayers was like dealing with raiders and bandits, they had no real organization, lacked any real discipline, were mostly opportunistic cowards that heavily relied on the element of surprise and most of the time they were very unprepared. The only thing that drove them was their hate for anything that wasn't human or humans who mingled with non-humans. Aside from that they weren't a real threat. However, something within their ranks was happening. Stronger, bolder, skilled and organized numbers were appearing amongst the slayers. Survivors of their attacks heard slayers refer to these individuals as knights. They were better equipped, knew how to fight and were organized, every move they made was deliberate and calculated. The same hate that invigorated slayers drove knights but unlike slayers knights were observed using magic and other tools slayers deemed corrupt or sinful yet they banded together. Rumors of a group led by knights and backed by slayers had been circulating for about a year, but it looked like the rumors were true. Loke would be lying to himself if he didn't say he felt some level of worry over these knights. They seemed like a threat and the fact that they managed to snake their way into the mainland meant it was only a matter of time before they would find their way onto the island and set their sights on their village. He kept his worries to himself though, there was no need to worry his brother about potential future attacks. He wanted this small journey to be about both of them, he wanted his little brother to have some fun on his first excursion away from their family.

As they reached the shoreline Loke stopped the old mare and dismounted when he saw a group of armed men trying to push back a small boat with elderly people, children, what looked like injured men and women, and a middle-aged woman in it. The woman seemed angry while the elders looked to be a mix of worried, frightened and slightly ashamed.

“Stay here.” Loke said as he looked at the crowd.

“What are they doing?” Jelani asked as he observed the crowd with a bit of caution.

“I’ll find out.”

Loke made his way to the men and the boat. He could hear both parties arguing about trying to gain entry to the island and the other denying them passage. Loke looked to the oldest of the armed men and immediately recognized him, he was a disheveled, scarred old man in his seventies, with hair as white as snow and gray strands between, he had a long unkempt beard and a dead right eye. His body language was as foul as the words he spat at the people in the boat.

“Alvíss? What's going on?” Loke asked as he approached the crowd.

“They're trying to get into the island, and we keep telling them they have to go find shelter elsewhere.”

“Why?”

“Are you blind and deaf, boy?” Alvíss asked with a bitterness in his tone that Loke did not appreciate. “Knights attacked the mainland. Three villages are gone, and five others are barely standing as it is. Now mainlanders want to come to the island supposedly seeking refuge.”

“We are!” The middle-aged woman screeched as her frustration boiled over. “This? This is all that survived an attack by those knights! We're just trying to find a safe place to rest and catch our breath.”

“And how do we know you're not knights trying to attack us?” Alvíss retorted.

“Because you all would have been dead by now.” Loke responded. “If they were knights, they would’ve come prepared and armed. They would’ve easily run you all through and tossed your carcasses aside and kept walking. Now tell your men to stand down! This is absurd! These are scared and injured people, there's children and elderly in that boat, not knights!”

Alvíss’s men lessened their grips on their weapons and looked back and forth between Alvíss and the boat as if waiting for Alvíss to give word on what to do. Loke was right, knights were ruthless and didn't resort to undercover tactics to gain entry into places. Once they had a target in their sights, they usually walked up to it and set it on fire regardless of who was in it. Alvíss was terrified, he wasn't going to admit it, but he was terrified of these knights. He was a human living alongside non-humans and that alone was grounds for knights to execute him as if he were a werewolf or a vampire or any other non-human. He looked back at his men and saw their demeanor lessen, their weapons were mostly down so he sighed heavily and ordered them to keep them down.

“So be it…but these mainlanders are not welcome in our village.”

Loke shook his head in disappointment as he walked past Alvíss and helped the woman pull the boat to shore. He helped the people onboard get off the boat safely as most were either old, injured or small children. Once they were all safely off the boat Loke walked over to Jelani and grabbed his own supplies he had in a bag, patted Jelani on the head while smiling at him and walked back to the group. He handed his supplies to the woman and pointed towards his and Jelani's village.

“Follow the shoreline north and once you reach several ships and boats docked on the shore turn inland to the east. My village is there. On foot it should take you about two hours to reach it. For the sick and injured among you, find my mother, Sanaa, she can help. For everything else ask for my father, Ingvarr, he’s the chieftain. There's some food and water in the bag as well as a bit of salve in case you need any along the way. I promise, you won't be turned away.”

“Have you gone mad, boy?” Alvíss interjected as he pulled on Loke's shoulder to turn him around to make him face him. “What if the knights that attacked them are following them? You’d lead straight to your people. To your family!”

“They're more than welcome to try. We're well over three hundred berserkers, over eighty werewolves of all breeds, over twenty vampires of almost all ranks, realm jumpers, daefiernos of all kinds, dozens of some of the hardiest humans you’d never want to come across, and the most powerful arcanist berserker the world ever saw. I like our chances.” Loke finished his sentence with a mischievous smile that formed as he boasted about the people of his village Alvíss so quickly deemed in danger. However, as he continued to look at Alvíss his smile and expression turned bitter as his next words were coated with venom. “Unlike some people we never turn away those who need help.”

Loke watched as Alvíss, and his men retreated from the area. He was sure they’d return to harass other mainlanders trying to find refuge from the attacks but there was nothing he could do at the moment. His main priorities were to take care of his brother and deliver the supplies to the village. After watching the men leave Loke turned to the woman and the rest of the refugees with a softer stance and expression.

“I’m sorry about Alvíss, he shouldn't have been doing this. My brother and I can escort you back if you need. We only have one horse but–”

“Believe me, you’ve done more than enough, and we can manage. We’ve made it this far; we’ll make it to your village. Thank you.”

Loke and Jelani watched the small group march on. He felt horrible about not escorting them himself to make sure they made it to the village safely, but he also had the supplies his mother put together for the survivors of the village he and Jelani were traveling to. With a little prayer to the stars for the group's safety he turned to Jelani and helped him off the old mare. Both got Helga into one of the boats and Loke rowed them across the water. Jelani offered to help but Loke entrusted him to keep an eye on Helga even though the mare was unnaturally calm. It would take a serious cataclysmic event to rattle that old mare and even then, some believed nothing could. Once on the other side the boys made sure to tie off the boat once they got Helga out of it. They mounted up and continued on their way south to the village.

“Why did Alvíss try to stop the mainlanders from coming to the island?”

“He's just afraid, little one.”

“Of what? They didn't look like a threat.”

“They're not but…sometimes people get scared and act irrationally. Some even turn hostile like Alvíss did. It's alright to be scared but just make sure your fears never cloud your judgment. Do you remember that werewolf that lost control of himself during a full moon?”

“Aye.” Jelani recalled the incident. The werewolf in question had lost his charm after a fight with a bear he fought off his land. When he couldn't find the charm, he resorted to locking himself in his home that night but he somehow broke free and found his way into the village looking for prey.

“Father, Uncle, Grandfather, and I were afraid when we confronted him. It could've been so much easier to drive a silver blade through him and then bury him in the morning, but we knew better so we restrained him ourselves until dawn. Just because we were scared it didn't mean we were going to turn our backs on someone that needed help. It wasn't his fault.”

Jelani remembered how scared Sanaa was that night. Her husband and her eldest son were pinning and holding down an out-of-control werewolf during a full moon. Few living beings could go hand to hand with a werewolf yet the four of them dared to in order to save the lives of the people in the village and the werewolf's life. They’d spent a few hours wrestling the beast to the ground and once they did, they piled up on him to keep him from attacking anyone else. It hadn't been easy but over one thousand five hundred pounds of near unbreakable armor and muscle kept the werewolf in place until the rising sun ended his thrashing. The man was remorseful and ashamed for having caused so much trouble, but he was grateful none of them resorted to hurting or killing him. Loke walked away with a lot of bruises and a few open wounds that bled profusely but Sanaa quickly took care of them. Loke held no grudge against the man, he was just glad no one was hurt.

“You didn't look scared that night.”

“I was terrified. All I kept thinking was that I needed to keep him from reaching Mother and you. Yes, I was injured a little, but no one was hurt, not exactly. Sometimes doing the right will frighten you but you just have to push through it. All right?”

“Yes.” Jelani giggled as Loke tickled him.

The boys kept riding south and did not stop or slow down. With Loke's supplies in the hands of the refugees there was less food for them, but Loke figured he'd hunt down a rabbit or some other small game to make dinner after setting up a camp for the night.

They rode for hours until Loke figured they had an hour before the sun would set. He looked for a comfortable spot and once he found one, he tasked Jelani with starting a fire while Loke hunted down a rabbit for both. Before leaving Loke told Jelani not to leave the camp as neither of them were very familiar with the area and he could easily get lost. Once Loke headed into the woods Jelani got to work on building the fire, he’d done it several times. He knew how to arrange the wood and how to start the fire as well as how to keep it roaring. When he finished, he walked over to Helga and retrieved his bag and removed two apples, he gave one to Helga who happily ate the apple and the other he cut in half. One half for him and the other for Loke.

Jelani sat by the fire and patiently waited for his brother to return. Out of boredom he pulled at some of the grass counting each blade of grass he pulled out when suddenly he heard a noise in the distance. Both he and Helga looked up to where the sound came from but there was nothing between the trees. The forest fell silent again, no animals could be heard, much less insects and it worried Jelani. He turned to Helga and saw the old mare’s ear swishing back and forth as if trying to pinpoint the location of something that was unnerving her. As soon as he stood up to comfort her the sound erupted from deep in the forest. This time Helga’s ears were pointed back, and Jelani could see the whites of her eyes as she stared in the direction of the sound. He had no idea what it could be. He turned to Helga and calmed her down, it must’ve been something serious as Helga wasn't known for being easily startled. As he soothed the horse, they both heard the sound again, only this time it sounded louder and this time it really scared him.

“Loki?” Jelani called out of instinct. Whenever he felt frightened or was in pain the person he always called out to was his brother.

“Loki!”

No answer. The forest fell quiet again and fear began to stir in the pit of his stomach. A thought then crossed his mind that chilled his bones. What if the sound was his brother screaming? What if his brother was in danger or was hurt? Jelani rushed to his bag and retrieved a small blade and then made sure Helga’s reins were secure, once he did, he ran in the direction of the sound.

As he ran through the forest, he called out to his brother but there was no answer. As he ran around, he listened carefully in case he heard the sound again but after a few minutes he’d gotten turned around and was now lost. He couldn't tell which direction the sound had come from or where their camp was.

“Looookiiiiiiii!”

Fear and desperation were clawing at him as he quickly looked around for any signs of familiarity. He was so far from the camp he couldn't even see the fire he’d started. As he inhaled to yell out for his brother again, he heard the sound coming from behind him but this time it sounded clearer and louder. It sounded like a strange scream, it felt almost inhuman to some degree. Jelani had no choice but to follow the sound and hope that whatever was making that sound wasn't hostile or in danger.

Jelani kept walking in the direction of the sound and soon came across a large clearing and what was once a camp in the middle of it. The grass and shrubs were black, and the smell of smoke was still in the air though faint. Items, clothes, weapons, vegetables, firewood and other items were thrown about either completely burned or half burned, what hadn't caught fire was broken and some other items were thrown about. He looked around carefully as he debated whether he should explore the area or go back to camp. Curiosity won out in the end, so he slowly made his way into the rundown camp to see what was making that unsettling sound. As he got closer to the middle of the camp he noticed several sheep carcasses along with what appeared to be two cats and five dogs. All the animals had been burned but one of the dogs had been decapitated. Jelani stared at the corpses of the animals and felt sick. He wondered what these animals could have possibly done to incur such violence, especially that one particular dog. With a heavy sigh Jelani continued on his way to see if there were any people in the camp.

As he made his way through the rubble, he found a pile of clothes on top of a haystack. The clothes were vibrant in color and looked clean and unaffected by the fire. He grabbed a tunic from the pile, it was much too small for him meaning that at one point there had been small children in the camp. When he set the tunic back down, he noticed a toy next to the pile. It was a wooden toy carved in the shape of a dog sitting on its hind legs with the front paws up to its chest as if begging. The curly tail was pinned to the back and in its mouth were several flowers. The toy was around three inches tall, the finish was smooth, especially with the paint, it was colored black with gray details. The toy resembled Haakon’s dog. Jelani knew taking it without knowing who the owner was would be wrong, but the state of the camp seemed to indicate that something terrible had happened, so he grabbed the toy and moved on.

He kept walking forward and a horrible stench hit him hard enough to cause him to cover his nose. There was the smell of smoke but something else he’d never smelled before; it was rancid and had a strange undertone he couldn't identify. As he walked forward the smell got stronger which caused him to gag but he tried his best not to throw up. It’d been a few minutes since he heard the strange sound and part of him was glad, but another part was worried.

A few feet from the camp Jelani came across a pile of horribly burned items, the smell seemed to be emanating from that pile. As he walked towards it a trio of wolves stuck their heads up and stared at Jelani. In turn Jelani froze out of fear and as he stared at them, they stared back. Each of their faces was covered in blood and gore and while two of them backed away and proceeded to run away the third one bared its teeth and snarled at Jelani for a few seconds before running away. Once the wolves had run off Jelani exhaled but as soon as he focused on the pile he began to shudder. The pile was composed of badly burnt bodies and at the top where the wolves were was a person looking right at him. Due to the extent of the injuries it was hard to tell if it was a woman, a man or other. He swallowed hard as the person weakly stretched their arm towards him and uttered in a gravelly voice, “Help…”

It was the sound he’d been hearing the entire time. Jelani clutched the toy close to his chest as he whimpered and backed away from the pile of bodies though he couldn't stop staring at them. As he backed up he was grabbed and picked up while his eyes were covered. He cried and thrashed due to the fright of being surprised as well as seeing such a horrific sight.

“I told you to stay at camp! Why did you leave?!” It was Loke who picked him up. He hugged him tightly while keeping his face close to his chest so he wouldn't look at the pile of bodies. Loke stared in horror at the sight before him. Body after body crudely thrown on top of the other, some had been mutilated, others were missing limbs, the state they were in was so gruesome he couldn’t tell what he was staring at. As he continued to look at the horrible spectacle he noticed several of the bodies belonged to children in the same state as the adults and he shuddered as he tightened his grip on his little brother.

“I’m sorry, Loki, I’m sorry!” Jelani cried.

“Are you hurt? Are you alright?” Loke frantically asked as he put him down making sure his back was to the bodies and checked him for any injuries.

“I’m–I’m alright.” He stuttered as he cried.

“You cannot just run off without me, Jelani. It's dangerous out here.” Loke wiped away Jelani's tears and picked him back up. He quickly turned and headed back to the camp, he wasn’t sure if the people responsible for that massacre were still in the area and he didn’t want to risk his brother especially after seeing that the people responsible for such a horrific act didn’t seem to care if children were involved.

As Loke rushed back to the camp Jelani wrapped both arms around his brother's neck and buried his face between his neck and shoulder to avoid looking at anything. The image of that badly burnt person stretching their arm out towards him asking for help kept replaying in his mind over and over again. He wasn’t sure how long it would haunt him, but he wanted to avoid seeing anything else that was just as gruesome or worse. Back at camp Loke sat him down close to the fire and wrapped a blanket around him to keep him warm. As day turned to night the temperature dropped significantly and Loke wanted to make sure Jelani was both safe and warm. As they ate Loke noticed Jelani picked at the food and barely said a word, after Jelani ate the little bit that he did Loke noticed the toy Jelani was keeping close to him. He sat next to his little brother and brushed his hair back to get a better look at his face. Jelani looked up at him with a concerned look on his face that made Loke upset.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“Are we in danger?”

“No, we're not.”

“That camp back there, there were children in it, and I saw them in the pile and there was this one person yelling for help while wolves ate them alive. They were all burned and…” Jelani paused as he tried to find the words to describe what he saw and what he currently felt. He was afraid not only for himself, his family and his village but for others as well. These knights everyone was talking about frightened him in a way no other things did. It scared him as much as seeing his older brother try to keep an out-of-control werewolf pinned to the ground while he bit him. The one thing he remembers vividly from that night was Sanaa's worried face and the blood pouring from Loke's wounds. “What if we run into them? Those people that did that to them?”

“We won't. We’ll head out at daybreak and before you know it we’ll be at the village. We're only three hours away from this point.”

“What if they find us while we sleep?”

“I’ll keep watch, little one.”

“All night? That's not fair, I’ll stay up with you.”

“No. You need to sleep.”

“But–”

“I’ll sleep when we get to the village. It’ll be alright, I promise.”

Jelani snuggled up to Loke's side, rested his head on his lap and sighed contently as he pulled the blanket over his shoulders and grasped the toy he took from the camp. He pretended to be asleep at first as he still believed it was unfair that he would get to sleep but Loke couldn't so he could keep watch over both but after a few minutes he fell asleep on Loke.

After Jelani fell asleep Loke relaxed a little and wrapped a blanket around himself. He smiled as he looked at Jelani and gently placed his right hand around him as his blanket covered the upper part of his body. Loke then looked to Helga to make sure the old mare was alright and after looking at her for a few minutes and seeing the old girl relaxed Loke felt as Jelani hugged his right arm in his sleep. A smile formed on Loke’s face as he looked at his sleeping younger brother and he suddenly found himself fighting off the urge to grab him and hug him. He gently caressed him with his thumb and then looked up at the night sky. Thousands of shimmering stars were spread across the sky and his mind drifted to the stories his mother would tell of her people, the Nyota. Stories of warriors whose blood had starlight embedded into it, whose lustrous skin and eyes were adorned with stardust, who wielded power beyond anything anyone could ever imagine. Stories of their culture, of their practices, divine secrets, festivals and celebrations all centered around the very cosmos. To him it sounded exquisitely beautiful. As he continued to look up at the night sky and focused on the space between the stars, that space that seemed to swallow all light, he saw a faint glimmer sliding across the sky and let out a quiet gasp as he continued to stare in awe. According to his mother, her people looked to four goddesses made from the very cosmos itself for guidance, three of them: Aberash, Nuru, and Berhane were said to live among the Nyota. However, there was a fourth goddess that lent her wisdom and guidance though she did so from far away. Nomathemba is said to live in space circling the planet. It is said that if she were to stop circling the planet for even one second a horrific terror beyond the scope of understanding would find something hidden on Earth and would come after it. Nomathemba herself chose to act as a guardian in the hopes of staving off a disaster from which nothing could possibly survive so she continuously circles the Earth until she is sure the threat has been neutralized or until existence is somehow halted. It’s said that her size is so massive that if she were to ever come down from space in her true form she would envelop the Earth five times over. Whenever she was seen among the Nyota it was only ever a projection of herself. However, she could constantly be seen in the spaces between the stars. Once you knew what to look for, beautiful faint colors reflecting off her impossible hues, the subtle glimmers across the sky signified her protective presence.

Of all the stories his mother told them, Nomathemba stuck out the most to Loke. A being of immense power chose to spend eternity protecting an entire planet full of people and creatures who most likely don’t even know she exists and even if her presence was to ever be revealed to the world he was sure there would be several people who would disrespect her as people tend to do to things they can’t seem to understand. That selflessness alone earned her his admiration and appreciation as well as a type of devotion. Ever since he first heard of her when he was a boy she inspired him to protect those he loved and those he didn’t that needed help, not for glory or reverence but because it’s the right thing to do even if it’s a difficult task.

The night passed by with an odd tranquility that Loke was grateful for and once the sun began to rise over the horizon he sighed happily and looked down to see Jelani still asleep next to him. He was aware he said they’d get a move on at daybreak but as he watched his little brother sleep he felt a bit guilty about waking him up so early though between the two of them Jelani was the one that was always awake before him, in fact, he was almost always awake before most of the village.

“Is it morning yet?”

Loke was caught off guard and looked down to see Jelani sitting up and rubbing his eyes as he yawned. He couldn’t help but chuckle and give him a pat on the head that ended in a gentle scratch.

“Aye.” Loke answered. “Did you sleep well?”

“I did.” Jelani smiled but just as quickly as his smile appeared it turned into a concerned frown as he remembered that Loke had volunteered to stay awake all night long just in case. “What about you? Were you awake all night?”

“Yes, but it’s alright, little one, I’ll get some sleep tonight in the village.” Loke smiled at Jelani to reassure him that he was indeed alright despite having spent the entire night awake. Jelani stared back with doubt and a concerned look on his face, but Loke gave him a kiss on the forehead and said, “I promise, now go wash up while I gather our things, then we’ll eat breakfast and head to the village. If the weather is favorable, we should be there in three to four hours.”

Jelani nodded happily and went to grab a few items from his bag. As they rode through the area yesterday they noticed a small creek which is mainly why Loke chose the spot to make camp and spend the night. Once he had the items he needed he grabbed a bright red apple and fed it to Helga.

“Jelani?” Loke spoke up so Jelani turned to look at his older brother who was folding the blankets, “Wash up and come right back. Please, don’t wander off.”

“I won’t.” Jelani responded as ran off to find the creek.

“Is he your son?” Loke was startled enough to drop the blanket. He turned around to look at the source of the voice. A pale woman a few years older than Loke idly stood behind him. Her curly dark brown hair was loosely tied, and she wore furs adequate for the current temperature, her faintly red lips housed a smile though her dark gray eyes seemed off to him. Her posture and stance seemed friendly and Loke didn’t see a weapon of any kind on her but a strange feeling overcame him, so he looked at her cautiously.

“No, he’s my little brother.”

“Oh,” The woman’s smile widened, “he’s beautiful.”

“Yes, he is. Can I help you?”

“Mmm, no, I’m just passing through.”

Loke noticed the woman avoided looking at him directly and instead kept looking in the direction that Jelani had taken off to and every hair on his body stood on end. He moved himself to stand directly in front of the woman though he put enough space between them in order to gain a start in case he had to run to his brother or to maneuver in case she drew a concealed weapon.

“Are you traveling by yourself?”

“Yes, I am.”

Every single one of Loke’s senses were on high alert. The woman’s behavior seemed odd. She kept her answers to his questions brief and vague and while there was nothing wrong with that this entire scenario felt dangerous to him. Natives to the area were aware that the area they currently found themselves in had no nearby villages, the nearest one was three to four hours to the southeast and the closest one to that one was two hours away to the northeast. No matter where she was going she had a lot of ground to cover and Loke noticed a lack of supplies on her, no bags, no equipment, and no horse either. There was also the matter of her accent, it felt forced, like she wasn’t a native speaker of the language. Loke was well aware that depending on where in the country you found yourself in your accent would differ. His and Jelani’s accents were from those that lived in the north of the country, specifically the northern islands dotting the mainland. Those that lived in the middle parts of the mainland had a different accent and those that lived in the southernmost regions had another type of accent. Loke had heard all and was familiar with them all yet he couldn’t place hers. While a person’s accent seemed like a silly and trivial thing to worry about everything about the situation he currently found himself in didn’t seem trivial much less silly. As she averted her eyes to look to where Jelani was once again he moved to block her view.

“Where are you headed to?”

“Visiting old friends.”

“Really? Where are these friends?”

The woman didn’t answer this time, she just stared at Loke and widened her smile, yet her eyes were demonstrating an entirely different emotion, as her body tensed up her eyes intensified with what Loke could tell was annoyance. Loke had a particular talent for reading body language, facial expressions and being able to tell when someone was lying, and he was damn good at it too. The only person he told about this talent was his mother.

“Loki?”

At the sound of Jelani’s voice the tension in the air dissipated. Jelani hurried over to Loke when he saw the woman and stood close enough to grab onto his leg. This was something he often did to silently let his brother know he was either scared, uncomfortable, in some type of pain, or to let him know he needed him. Jelani had walked back to camp silently and stood still when he saw his brother and the woman talking. Even Jelani could sense that something was wrong by Loke’s serious tone so he quickly made his way to safety, his brother. Loke in turn placed his hand on Jelani’s right shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze to let him know he was acknowledging him while keeping his eyes on the woman. In turn the woman eased her tension, looked down at Jelani and smiled as she crouched down to get a better look at him.

“Hello.” she said in a loud and friendly voice. “So, what is your name?”

“It’s probably best if you continue passing through. We wouldn’t want to delay you any further.” Loke intervened, before the woman could continue to ask Jelani questions he pulled him behind him to shield him from the woman and forced her to focus on him instead of his brother. Now that Jelani had returned from the creek he dismissed the woman. He hadn’t done so before because he wanted to make sure Jelani was with him instead of at the creek where the woman would be able to do anything without Loke knowing.

“I’m in no hurry to get to where I’m headed.”

“Good-bye.” Loke’s tone was beginning to turn harsh, and the woman picked up on that and so did Jelani who tightened his grip on Loke’s leg out of fear. The woman stood back up and without saying a word she left making her way north. Loke kept an eye on her until the forest obscured his view of her and he was sure she was gone, then Loke grabbed Jelani’s hand and walked him over to Helga and sat him on the mare, he quickly put the supplies Sanaa had made on Helga and walked to the front and handed Jelani the reins.

“Who was she?”

“I don’t know. Stay on Helga, if I tell you to run you ride to the village.”

“What about you?!” Jelani yelled out in concern.

“I’ll catch up. You keep riding southeast and you do not stop for any reason. Understood?”

“Yes…” Jelani quietly agreed as he lowered his gaze to hide the tears forming on the corner of his eyes. Loke slowed down when he realized Jelani was frightened and hugged him. “I’m scared.”

“Don’t be. I wouldn’t let anything bad happen to you, you know that right?”

“What if something bad happens to you?”

“Nothing bad will happen to either of us.”

Loke wiped away Jelani’s tears and smiled at him. What he really wanted to say was that he preferred something bad to happen to him rather than it to happen to Jelani. From the very night he was born Loke was determined to take care of his brother and shield him from everything that would mean him any harm even if it meant using himself as the shield. He would gladly forfeit his own life if it meant sparing Jelani’s. Of course, a scared ten-year-old boy wouldn’t want to hear that, so he comforted him. After Jelani stopped crying Loke grabbed their belongings and hurriedly put them away and put them on the mare. This took a total of ten minutes and then he made sure the fire they had was safely snuffed out to avoid creating a fire in the forest. Once Loke was sure everything was packed and ready he hopped up on the mare and the three of them left the area and rode southeast to get to the village.

After a while Jelani calmed down enough to start laughing and talking. With the strange woman appearing out of nowhere and interrupting their morning neither sibling was able to eat breakfast so along the way Loke grabbed one of the bags and took out some fruits, mostly berries and such, for them to eat. After about an hour and twenty-four minutes of riding through the thick snow-covered forest Helga suddenly stopped in her tracks, Loke urged her to continue but the old mare’s ears twitched in all directions and subtly moved her body from side to side. She heard or smelled something that was making her very nervous. Both siblings looked around for whatever was causing Helga so much distress but neither of them saw or heard anything. As a precaution Loke tried to conjure his axe though he found he couldn’t, something was preventing him from conjuring the axe and as he kept trying he kept looking around.

“What’s happening?” Jelani asked nervously.

“I’m not sure, little one.” Loke said as he kept his left hand extended to try and conjure the axe and wrapped his right arm around Jelani.

All of a sudden Helga let out a loud scream and took off startling both siblings. As she ran Jelani, who had the reins, tried to regain control of the old mare and pulled on the reins as hard as he could to make Helga stop but she wouldn’t. Meanwhile Loke tried his best to hold on to Jelani so he wouldn’t fall off Helga as she ran through the forest as fast as her legs could carry her. As Loke held on to Jelani he looked up in time to see a tight rope being pulled and as a last-minute reaction he pushed Jelani down and tried to lower himself, but he hadn’t been quick enough. The rope missed Helga and Jelani, but Loke wasn’t as fortunate, he slammed into the rope around the chest area and was forcefully knocked off the horse and hit the ground hard on his back. The hit and the slam were hard enough to knock the air out of his lungs so as soon as he was able to breathe in he began to cough uncontrollably while trying to sit up. When Loke regained a little bit of control over his coughing a large and older man walked up to him and slammed his foot on Loke’s chest forcing him back to the ground.

“Do not move!” Another man yelled as he aimed a bow and arrow directly at Loke’s face. Next to that man was another one aiming a short bastard sword at his chest while the man pinning him down gave Loke a sinister smile.

“We’ll deal with this one and then we’ll find the boy.”

As the three men looked at each other Loke had reached for a blade he always kept with him as a backup. Once he had a good grip on it, he stabbed the man aiming an arrow at his face in the foot and as he yelled he slashed at the man holding the sword and cut him just above the knee. As the two men recoiled the third one lifted his foot off Loke, so he quickly stood up and squared off. The man looked on in confusion until he looked at Loke’s hand and saw a knife in his hands and smiled again.

“Clever. Not many of your kind carry man-made weapons. Why bother when you can conjure them with your trickery?”

Loke starred the man down, he knew what he was without needing to announce himself to him. His furs were soaked in what Loke could only guess was werewolf blood, the necklace of fangs around his neck were fangs that once belonged to vampires and the claws decorating his gauntlets were that of various other non-human creatures. They particularly hated berserkers because they couldn’t take any prizes off them. Once a berserker was dead their armor and weapons vanished back to wherever it was that they resided in until they were conjured. There was also the fact that berserkers were well over eight feet tall with massive pieces of armor and colossal weapons. No matter how strong slayers were they’d never be able to carry or wear berserker armor and weapons. Slayers loved to adorn themselves with the body parts of their victims, but these slayers were smart. Loke noticed several small dampening stones among their adornments, which is why he wasn’t able to conjure his weapons or his armor.

The man with the sword had recovered and let out a furious roar as he ran towards Loke with his sword held high to most likely swing sideways to cut him across the body. As the man swung his sword Loke dodged it as the sword clumsily missed him though it was still a little too close for comfort. As the sword slammed into the ground Loke turned his upper body and as the man, who had bent over slightly as his full weight had been used on the swing of his sword, was starting to raise himself back up Loke plunged his knife into the back of the man’s head instantly killing him. Without wasting time Loke removed the knife and turned to face the archer who had taken aim at him. As Loke threw the knife the man fired his arrow. Both projectiles quickly flew towards their intended targets. Loke’s knife dug into the archer’s left cheek while the archer’s arrow hit Loke on his right arm. The arrow cut him deeply but at least it hadn’t gone through his arm, however, the cut in his arm was bleeding profusely and he began to panic. Loke was what several people in the village called a “bleeder”, any significant injuries led to him bleeding in an almost out of control manner. When he was eight years old, he nearly died from a horrible gash he acquired from an accident while he practiced some sword fighting techniques with some of the other boys. Had it not been for his mother’s quick actions and knowledge Loke would’ve died that day.

Loke inhaled and shook his head. He didn’t have time to worry about a cut in his arm, he needed to get to Jelani in case there were more slayers in the area, there usually were. They were known to kill non-humans of any age without prejudice, so he needed to stop them from harming his brother. As he took a step forward the third man turned him around and ran his bastard sword made of silver through Loke. The cold blade had passed through him from underneath his sternum and exited out the back missing his spine by a few inches. Loke took painful and shuddering breaths as he looked at the slayer with a pained and almost angry look on his face, in turn the slayer couldn’t help but smile as he slowly pulled the blade out. The pain was so intense that Loke had lost his balance and was collapsing to the ground, but the slayer held him up as he continued to watch him struggle. Loke gathered his strength and in one swift move he head butted the slayer in the face breaking his nose in the process, as the slayer recoiled, and the wound caused his eyes to tear up Loke used the opportunity to fall on him and punched him as hard as he could for as long as he could. After he was losing his strength due to blood loss Loke stood up and walked in the direction where he’d seen Helga run off to. The more he walked the weaker he got but he willed himself to keep going at least until he could find Jelani.

After a few minutes Loke fell on his knees and hunched over as he coughed. He pressed his right hand against the stab wound and looked at his hand to see it covered in blood, he then looked down to see an alarming amount of it all over himself. He pressed his hand on the wound again, the pain caused him to shudder loudly and hang his head. He tried hard to stand back up but found it difficult.

“Loki!”

At the sound of his name being called Loke looked up and saw Jelani riding over to him and panic began to swell within him. He tried to stand but the pain was unbearable and to make it worse he felt weak and dizzy.

“Run…” Was all he could say as he hunched over and tried to hold himself up with his left arm as he clutched his chest with his right arm.

“Loki?!” Jelani cried out with concern in his voice as he stopped Helga and dismounted. Due to the mare’s size and his stature Jelani fell to the ground but quickly stood back up and ran to his brother. He fell on his knees as he held onto Loke and looked with absolute horror and fear at the amount of blood on him.

“Why did you come back?” Loke asked.

“To find you.” Jelani said as he grabbed Loke’s left arm and began to pull on it. “We have to go before they find us!”

“Listen–listen to me. Listen to me.” Loke stuttered between breaths. He forced himself to sit up and placed his left hand on Jelani’s cheek. “Get on the horse and run, you run, and you don’t stop or look back no matter what you hear.”

“All right, I’ll help you get to Helga, and we’ll go.”

“No! Je–no, Jelani, you have to leave me here. I’ll hold them back and you run and get to the village.”

“What?! No, I’m not leaving you here!” Jelani began to cry as he tightly hugged Loke who in turn hugged him back.

“You have to, little one. Either way I won’t make it to sundown, but I can at least hold them back so that you can.”

“No, don’t say that!”

“I promised that nothing would ever harm you and I intend to keep that promise until my last dying breath.”

“Please don’t leave me…” Jelani whimpered as he buried his face on his brother’s neck and cried.

“And I never will, little one.” Loke whispered as he hugged his brother. He gathered his strength and picked Jelani up and made his way to Helga. He sat Jelani on the saddle, but he wouldn’t let go of Loke as he continued to cry and beg him not to leave him.

Eventually Loke pulled Jelani off him and handed him the reins; among the supplies was a dagger which Loke removed and held onto to at least have a way to fight the slayers back.

“Loki, please?”

Loke looked up. He hated seeing Jelani cry and if there was anything he could do to ease his pain he would, but he knew it was only a matter of time before he bled to death, by staying behind he could at least spare his brother from seeing him die next to him and at least keep his promise to protect him even if it meant dying at the hands of slayers. Loke gave Jelani one last hug as he said, “I love you.”

“I love you too.” Jelani replied as he hugged him back.

Loke gently pressed his forehead on Jelani’s for a few seconds and then kissed his forehead and with the dagger in one hand he smacked Helga with the other and watched the old mare and his little brother run east towards the safety of the village. After a few minutes he looked up at the sky and begged the stars and the cosmos to keep Jelani safe once he was gone. With some renewed strength and determination Loke held on to the dagger and walked back in the direction he’d come from to hold back the slayers.

As he made his way through the forest he stopped dead in his tracks when he saw a row of ten horses and their riders all staring down at him. Their faces housed gleefully wicked smiles as they looked at him. Loke took a deep breath as he scowled at them.

“Well,” A familiar voice said and from between the riders came the slayer that had run Loke through, his sword still had Loke’s blood on it, “It seems like this one may still have some fight left in him.”

The rest of the slayers laughed but Loke continued to scowl at them. The more time they wasted mocking him the further away Jelani got.

“Where’s the boy?”

“Why worry about a child when…you haven’t even killed the adult?”

The rest of the slayers chuckled in amusement though their leader hadn’t found Loke’s remark funny. He inhaled deeply as he sucked in air through his teeth and exhaled quickly. He dismounted his horse and stood in front of it as he looked left and then right and four of the slayers drew their bows and aimed their arrows right at Loke.

“You look half dead to me.” The slayer replied. He looked and pointed at one of the slayers and said, “Find the boy and bring him back, he couldn’t have gotten far yet.”

The other slayer nodded and took off. As he rode past Loke he grabbed the dagger tightly, aimed and tossed the dagger at the slayer. The blade sank deep into the man’s back who yelled out and tried to grab it but as he did, he lost balance and fell off his horse. As Loke turned to face down the lead slayer the four archers had fired their arrows. One hit Loke on his right lung, another hit him on his right thigh, one hit his left shoulder and the last one hit him on his lower abdomen. Somehow Loke was still standing despite the pain, the dizziness, and the blood loss. He stood still as he tried to breathe though he found it difficult.

The slayer made his way towards Loke and kicked him in the chest causing him to fall back and land on his back. The landing exacerbated the pain and caused him to cough which made it all the worse as his right lung collapsed and filled with blood. The more he coughed the more blood flowed up his esophagus until it was coming out of his mouth in a red foam. The slayer stood over Loke and smiled as he took in the sight. He took the arrow that was stuck to Loke’s thigh and pulled it out as hard as he could, he did the same with the arrow in his lower abdomen and sat on him while staring at him and smiling. After a few seconds he turned to face the rest of his men and ordered them to find Jelani.

Loke swallowed hard as he watched the slayers take off to the east and tried to take a deep breath but found he couldn’t because of the pain. The slayer sitting on him leaned forward and creepily caressed his throat with his hand as he whispered, “You want to know what’s the best part of hunting down abominations like you? Getting to watch you slowly die. Looking you in the eyes as your life is slowly drained.”

In defiance to the slayer’s eerie claim and obnoxious laughter Loke spat blood on his face. He wanted to say something, but the pain was too much for him at that point. The slayer laughed and was about to say something as well when all of a sudden, a tremendously loud and booming, droning sound exploded from within the forest. Both men looked to where the sound was coming from and stood still and quiet. Loke noticed a faint fog slowly carpeting the snowy ground but was just as confused by it as he was by the sound. As the slayer frantically looked around the sound erupted once more, only this time it sounded louder. It was loud enough to cause the branches of the trees to rattle so hard that the snow covering them fell to the ground.

“What is that?” The slayer asked out loud as panic began to set in. He got off Loke and tightly gripped his sword in both hands as he looked around the forest for the source of the sound. He circled around Loke who was calm. The sound was intimidating but for some reason he didn’t feel the panic that the slayer was so obviously consumed by.

With every minute that passed Loke could feel himself fading, it was getting to the point where it was difficult to keep his eyes open. The only thing in his mind was Jelani and he hoped against hope that he had gained enough distance to safely make it to the village where he’d be safe from the slayers chasing him. With the last of his remaining strength Loke managed to sit up and leaned on a nearby tree and tried to keep his eyes open. He watched as the slayer paced back and forth as he took a defensive stance just in case whatever was making that sound made its way towards him. Perhaps it was due to the loss of blood, but Loke noticed it was getting increasingly cold and the fog was getting higher, he had no explanation for it nor did he care, he knew he wasn’t long for this world so he sat quietly and waited never once regretting his decision to put his brother’s well-being before himself.

As the slayer stared into the forest a low rumble could be heard in the distance and he quickly turned to it as he pointed his sword forward but the more he looked between the trees the more his face turned from angry to frightened. The rumbling grew louder and from the forest nine of the ten horses his men were riding ran past him. The stampede of frightened horses kept running past him though he noticed not one of his men were riding the frightened beasts. Not far behind the stampede the tenth horse emerged from the forest; only this one had a rider on its back, or at least half a rider. The lower part of a man’s body had somehow remained on the saddle but as it rode past Loke the remains fell and hit the snow-covered ground and the slayer ran to investigate.

The remains had been frozen solid, the skin along the pelvic area showed signs of tearing not cutting, whatever had done it hadn’t used a blade to cut the man’s body in half, it had torn him in half. The slayer examined the body further and found the bones, the blood and whatever organs remained were also frozen solid. In his panic he rushed over to Loke who was so weak that he closed his eyes.

“You, monster!” He yelled out as he crouched next to Loke and pulled his head up by his hair. When Loke didn’t open his eyes the slayer shook him and once he saw Loke’s eyes slowly opening he pointed to the frozen remains of one of his men and yelled, “What in the holy father’s name can do that?”

Loke looked to where the slayer was pointing to and saw the frozen remains he was yelling about, but he had no idea what could have done that. The action of tearing a body apart seemed almost bestial and the only thing Loke could think of were werewolves but the fact that the parts were completely frozen seemed impossible for a werewolf. Not to mention he knew of no werewolf that would leave that much flesh on the bone like that. The best Loke could do was groan which angered the slayer.

“You godless, useless wretch!” He exclaimed as he lifted his sword into the air but before he could strike Loke he froze as the sound that had managed to strike fear into his very core erupted once more, only this time it was so close he felt the rumbling deep within his chest cavity. With the deafening sound so close both men realized that it was two sounds emanating from one source. The first sound was a droning boom and after a few seconds a guttural roar unlike any either of them had ever heard came forth and ended in a prolonged snarl.

Loke looked past the slayer and in between the tops of the trees he saw something moving slowly like a predator stalking its prey. He didn’t know what it was, he wouldn’t be able to guess even if he tried. He’d never heard that sound before. As he watched the colossal being move through the trees it faded away.

The slayer raised his sword up and looked behind him when he saw Loke looking up. He figured he’d seen something but wasn’t able to react to it much less say anything. The forest had gone silent, only the wind could be heard eerily blowing from the north. The only other sound that could be heard was the slayer’s own deep and panicked breathing as he looked around. Suddenly right before their eyes something manifested itself before them and in one swift move it grabbed the slayer by the throat and lifted him into the air as it stared and snarled at him.

Loke managed to open his eyes at the sound of the slayer whimpering and struggling to breathe and saw what was causing him so much distress. It was massive, it looked like it stood at the very least eight to nine feet tall. Its legs were long, muscular and digitigrade, each of its two feet had three toes that ended with long, sharp black claws while the fourth toe, the largest one, appeared to be upright with a sickle-shaped enormous claw at the end of it. Further up was a slim yet powerful pelvis and torso that looked completely humanoid, loosely draped around the lower waist was a black cloth that dragged behind it as it walked. The silky material was adorned with bright golden details along the split of the side. On its back were six massive dark gray feathered wings with black details, four of them pointing upwards and the two lower ones pointing down; the middle wings were the biggest and longest ones. Golden metal dotted the spine and split into sections where the ribs were located. At the end of the spine was a long tail that started out thick and ended thin, the gold also covered the top of the tail. Its strong arms ended in humanoid looking hands with five fingers each ending in long black claws, the forearms were covered by elegant black gauntlets with golden details. Each bicep was adorned with two golden rings. The neck was covered by bright white fur, it was puffy enough to cover a bit of the shoulders, it almost resembled a mane except it only covered the neck. The head was hard to come to terms with, to Loke it looked like an off-white skull, he couldn’t exactly identify what type of skull as it looked like an elk’s, or it could be a goat’s or a sheep’s or a reindeer’s. He wasn’t sure, it looked like all of those but none at the same time. The skull-like head housed some very sharp looking dark gray teeth as well as some very long and very sharp and thick canines. Its eyes, all six of them, didn't seem to have any irises, just blood red sclera that had oval-shaped pupils that ran laterally. The top of the skull-like head had four massive black horns. Two horns shot upwards with a slight curvature to the back while the other two curled backwards and ended pointing to the front. Aside from the horns on the head the creature had an intricately woven crown floating over its head. It shone beautifully like a solar halo but dressed in golden light. However, the right side of this crown seemed broken with parts of it impossibly floating near the crown and head of the creature. The right sockets had cracks that went down to the jawline and pieces of the crown were embedded into the cracks.

It was unlike anything he’d ever seen before and yet he felt no fear as he looked at this terrible being. He felt a sense of tranquility that he attributed to being so close to death, at first. Looking over the being again, Loke focused on certain details like the skin of the being. It was a rich dark brown identical to his mother’s skin tone and for a fleeting moment Loke thought this was a manifestation created by his mother and with the little energy he had he slightly smiled. At least he’d get to see his mother, the woman he idolized since she came into his life, before he died. However, he kept looking at the being and focused on the gauntlets, the colors were different but that they had the exact design as the ones his father’s armor had. The cloth around the waist was a different color but it wore it like the cape his mother’s armor had and then a different thought crossed his mind.

As the slayer struggled to free himself the being holding him by his neck intently stared into his eyes while emitting a chilling rumbling hissing sound. As all six eyes locked onto his the man slowly stopped struggling and in a matter of seconds his entire body went limp, except for the look of sheer terror he sported. He looked as if he had just learned of a terrible and inescapable fate and all he could do was weep. The tall being simply opened its clawed hand and let the slayer drop clumsily onto the fog and snow-covered dirt but he quickly scrambled to stand back up. Once he stood back up, he lifted his right hand up to his right cheek and dug his nails into his own flesh while staring at the being. Loke watched as the man frantically scratched into his own skin until he drew blood and little by little he began to tear into the flesh. Once he began ripping off small patches of his own skin the slayer began to cry out in agonizing pain. His face contorted into one of agony and horror as tears formed in his eyes, yet he wouldn’t stop ripping his skin off. At one point he managed to get a good grip of the pieces of loose skin on his cheek and pulled on it with such force that he tore a chunk down to his neck exposing both muscle and bone and it made Loke recoil.

“Help meeeeeee!” The slayer cried out as he gargled his own blood while he looked at Loke.

Even if Loke hadn’t been mortally wounded and so low on energy due to blood loss and pain he still wouldn’t lend aid to the man, never to a slayer or a knight or anyone that harmed others, especially someone who threatened to do harm to his own flesh and blood. Loke remained still as he watched the slayer cry in agony while he tore off his own flesh. When he yelled for help again the being let out a groaning hiss and the slayer turned around and began to walk away all the while he was still screaming in agony and tearing off his flesh.

Both Loke and the being watched him walking into the forest until he could only be faintly heard in the distance. Loke then turned to look at the being, despite everything there was still no fear within him. The being slowly walked towards Loke and once he was next to him it crouched down and sat next to him, a gentle and soft purring replaced its horrible roar and guttural hissing. It stretched one of its hands out and gently placed it on Loke’s face. It was surprisingly soft but somehow cold yet warm against his skin. With its thumb it wiped away some of the blood that fell out of Loke’s mouth and Loke leaned into the hand and closed his eyes for a moment. The being then leaned forward and gently pressed its forehead against Loke’s who then opened his eyes halfway and with the last of his strength he lifted his bloody right hand and gently placed it on the side of its face.

“At least…I got to see you…one last time, little one.” Loke closed his eyes, inhaled and for the last time exhaled. As his body went limp his hand dropped beside him, and Jelani remained perfectly still as he closed his eyes and stopped purring. He remained still for a few minutes as Loke’s body leaned on him. After a while he opened his eyes again and gently laid the lifeless body on the ground, he looked up at the sky and sighed. While still looking at the sky he reached up to his crown and grabbed one of the floating pieces of the broken side and lifted his other hand. Using the small shard, he made a cut along the middle of his palm; his blood was as black as the night sky with platinum swirled in it. He took the bloody golden shard and carefully opened Loke’s mouth and gently placed the blood-covered shard on his tongue and closed his mouth. Jelani then laid down beside his brother’s body and watched and waited.

The light of the rising morning sun broke through the horizon and as its warmth washed over his face he let out a soft groan. He sighed deeply but then suddenly he opened his eyes in a panic and stood up quickly. As he looked around in a panic, not entirely sure what he was looking for, he walked forward and bumped into a small pile of wood. He tried to slow his breathing and looked up to see Helga staring at him as she chewed on some grass, the old mare snorted and went back to eating grass, she seemed calm, almost as if nothing had happened. He looked around and saw a fire still burning, his blanket on the ground, a second blanket near his and a bag of supplies between the blankets. Suddenly Loke remembered the events that had happened though he wasn’t sure how long it’d been since it happened. He gasped loudly and checked himself for injuries, but he found he didn’t have any, he didn’t have any blood, cuts or even any scars from the injuries he received. He kept searching for any signs of injuries, injuries he was absolutely sure he had received when he faced the slayers.

“Loki, what are you doing?”

Loke turned around and he let out a shuddering gasp as he covered his mouth with one of his hands when he saw Jelani standing a few feet behind him. He looked like his usual self, not the hulking strange being he’d seen. He ran over to him and hugged him tightly, a little too tightly, as he tried to hold himself together.

“Are you alright?!”

“Yes!” Jelani answered as he pulled himself away from Loke so he could breathe as Loke was holding him too tightly. “Are you? You’re acting strange.”

“I am.” Instinctively Loke pressed his hand to his chest as if to make sure he wasn’t injured and when he noticed he felt no pain he smiled and hugged Jelani again, a little gentler this time. “Thanks to you, I am.”

“What do you mean?”

“You–you don’t remember? You…the–” Loke looked at his brother and saw the confusion and uncertainty on his face which confused him in the process. He looked over at the tree where he had leaned on when he saw Jelani. There was no blood and the snow at the foot of the tree wasn’t disturbed at all. In fact, the more Loke looked around the more normal everything seemed, which made his confusion all the worse.

“You really don’t remember? What is the last thing you remember?”

“We were on our way to the village and along the way something scared Helga and she ran off. You fell off and when I managed to regain control of her, I came back to get you, but you said you didn’t feel well. You made camp and you went to sleep at midday and didn’t wake up until now.”

“Well…I remember falling off the horse but that’s…not what happened…” He trailed off as he realized that maybe the entire experience had been so exhausting to Jelani that maybe he forgot the events. Maybe he was still too young to retain his memories after shifting into that other form Loke saw. Whatever the reason for his lapse in memory Loke decided it was best to drop it and let it be. For now. He knew he had died; he was well aware of that fact. He may not have been in pain at the moment, but he vividly remembered what it felt like when that slayer drove that sword through his abdomen, he remembered being shot with several arrows and the burning pain of his collapsing lung and how much pain it caused him to breathe. He could still recall how much it scared and hurt him to slowly bleed to death, but the worst fear was knowing the slayers had gone after Jelani and Loke was far too injured to do anything about it. No amount of pain would make him regret dying to save his brother’s life.

As he looked at Jelani the image of that other version of him remained clearly in his mind. No matter how tall or intimidating he looked he was still his little brother. Loke didn’t know how he had come back to life, but he was absolutely sure it was thanks to Jelani, the only regret he felt was the fact that Jelani didn’t remember what he’d done for him.

“Are you really alright, Loki?”

“I really am, I promise, little one.” Loke answered with a smile and hugged Jelani again who in turn returned the hug as tightly as he could, which made Loke laugh. “Now, go untie Helga while I pick up the blankets.”

Jelani rushed over to the old mare and greeted her cheerfully as he untied her reins. Loke walked over to the blankets and rolled up Jelani’s and neatly placed it in the bag. As he reached down to grab his blanket he noticed that there was a feather on it, he picked it up and noticed it was cold to the touch but the more he looked at it the more familiar it looked. The feather was dark gray with some black details on it. All of a sudden, he remembered what his grandfather had whispered to him before he and Jelani left the village, and a wave of shock overtook him.

“Look for the frozen feathers. They’ll keep you boys safe.”

As Haakon’s words echoed in his mind Loke gasped and then stared at the feather in his hand. Technically the feather wasn’t frozen, but it was very cold. When Jelani appeared in that other form Loke had noticed a sudden drop in the temperature that made even him feel chilly. How could Haakon have known about the feather? Loke wasn’t sure but he thought it would be best if he kept it between him and his grandfather for Jelani’s safety. He looked down at the feather one more time and smiled. He neatly tied and secured it to the end of a small braid he had on the left side of his head and continued to roll up the blanket and put it in the bag. When he put out the fire, he made his way to Helga and Jelani and secured the bag on the mare and then hoisted Jelani up on the mare reserving his spot on the front so Jelani could hold on to the reins as he usually liked to do.

“Oh!” Jelani exclaimed as he looked at his brother and touched the feather he tied to his hair. “Where did that come from?”

Loke remained silent for a minute and hoped that seeing and touching the feather would jog his memory of the events but going by the look on Jelani’s face Loke was sure it didn’t work. He simply smiled and said, “I found it on my blanket.”

“It’s cold, I wonder what it belongs to.”

“Maybe we’ll get to see it someday.” Loke replied as he climbed up on the horse. Once he was sitting comfortably on it, he patted Jelani on the head and said, “Are you ready to head out?”

“Yes!”

“Then let’s go.”

#001222 #Oracle Corp #Oracle Corp tag #Haakon tag #Sanaa tag #Ingvarr tag #Loke tag #Jelani tag

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