#and asking me to imagine watching my family suffer through pain and agony bc of illness is making it harder to manage

[voulezloux]

z

[imagine-loki]

A Warrior’s Life

TITLE: A Warrior’s Life

CHAPTER NO./ONE SHOT: Chapter Eighty-Eight

AUTHOR: wolfpawn ORIGINAL IMAGINE: Imagine Viking Loki coming to your village, raiding, and pillaging, before deciding there is something about you that intrigues him and deciding to take you back to Asgard with him. There, you are forced to learn a new life and language, and though you hate what has happened to you, you learn that Loki is not as bad as you think.

RATING: Mature

NOTES :  Eochaid mac Eirc - an old High King of Ireland who brought a justice system to Ireland about 1200 BC.

It was Maebh, his Maebh, the warrior, the loving mother, the feral beast that seemed to lie dormant, waiting to be unleashed, willing to kill anything that moved for her family, looking back at him, an evil sneer on her face. He knew, those alive would plead for death before she would grant them such sweet mercy. A moment later, three more men were brought out from his outhouses, one of who was bleeding heavily as though he had been banged hard into something, Loki frowned as he looked at Volstagg and Heimdall, who could not meet his eye, behind them, in her uncle’s arms, holding onto him for dear life, was Danu, her dress torn. Loki’s face blanched in shock. ‘Did they…?’ He could not bring himself to say the words.

Thor shook his head. ‘They were about to, but the ruckus…’ He handed his niece to his mother, who wept as she held her against her, stroking her hair, not wanting to let go of her.

The men looked at their dead colleagues on the ground, silently awaiting their fate.

Loki looked at his children, at only five and six years old, they had fought, their wounds were obvious, but not one of them whimpered, even the previously childish Kushtrim, who seemed to stand as tall as he could, his face showing his anger and yearning for justice. Danu, who was about to be hurt in a way Loki could not comprehend, stood, taking herself from her grandmother’s arms. Her face determined and angry, the mark on it telling him she had fought her assailants valiantly, even though she was a five-year-old child and they were three grown men. Vali had the bloodied dagger in his hand still. ‘Did he…?’

‘He slit a man’s throat.’ Maebh stated.

‘You seem proud of that.’

‘He protected his mother, grandmother, sister and brother without hesitation, of course I am.’ She smiled proudly at her sons. ‘They both did.’

‘The rest?’ Frigga asked.

‘We have parties sent out to get the ones we did not get, but as it stands, there are a few dead men and a horse between here and the village.’ Thor stated.

‘How many do we not know of though?’ Heimdall asked worriedly.

‘There is only one way to find out.’ Maebh turned to the men in front of her. ‘Stand them up.’ Immediately, the men did as she asked. She then turned to Gertrude and Leah, frowning slightly at the younger maid, having not recalled her joining their home. ‘Brodr, removed the dead man from our kitchen, you.’ she pointed to Leah, ‘clean up the mess.’

‘Her name is Leah.’ Loki informed her, noting his wife had no idea who she was.

‘Will she be okay with the blood?’ Fandral asked.

Maebh scoffed. ‘Because of course, women do not see blood on regular occasion, do they?’ All the females, even Frigga laughed at that. ‘Leah, please.’

‘Yes, Ma’am.’ She nodded, having never interacted with the terrifying warrior before. On her arrival to the homestead, she was expecting the Maebh that was now in front of her, terrifying and vicious to her enemies, loving and caring to those who were innocent.

‘Line them up.’ Again her order was followed.

One of the men spoke in Midgardian. ‘These filthy heathens cannot stop us, we are better than them.’

Maebh chuckled maliciously. ‘You are no better than my cat’s shit.’

The men froze, not expecting her to speak to them in Midgardian. ‘How…?’

‘You idiots, you have no idea what den you have walked into.’ She snarled.

‘Maebh of Ulaidh.’ One man realised.

‘You are famous,’ Loki grinned. The men turned to him as he too spoke their language. 

‘Good, we do not need any further introduction.’ she sneered. She pointed to the man that was injured from the stables. ‘I assume you are the one that was attempting to hurt my daughter?’ the man said nothing, he did not look at her. ‘Frigga, take the children and go to the stables.’ she took a dagger in her hand and handed her sword to Loki. ‘Now.’

‘No, mother. I want to stay.’ Vali stood beside his parents.

‘Which harmed you?’ Loki demanded. Vali pointed to the dead man now dragged from their home, his pants undone, ‘Maebh?’

‘Do you think he would have been given such a swift death if he had?’ She walked over to the almost decapitated head of the second man to confront her in the yard, taking it and hacking it the rest of the way through and pulling the head up. ‘It is simple, these men will be buried in the soil, their heads and manhoods removed and their locations switched, you shall be joining them, though you will have your manhoods removed before your heads if I do not like what I hear. I want numbers, reasons and I want them yesterday!’ She bellowed loudly.

‘I would do what she says,’ Thor commented. ‘She is not the nicest woman if you irk her, much less while pregnant.’

The men, on realising that, looked at Maebh again, who moved the pelt she had put on herself caressing her swollen midriff. ‘Start speaking.’

‘Never.’ the most senior of those left alive spat.

Maebh simply shrugged and gave a nod to Volstagg and Heimdall, who lay him flat, the man kicking violently as they did so. ‘Get the hammer.’ She ordered, Thor did as she requested, a moment later returning with it. She extended her hand and he looked at her worriedly. ‘I can handle a hammer.’ She scoffed, taking it from him and lifted it into the air before bringing it down on the man’s leg on the knee, the man bellowing in agony. ‘Now the other.’ she sneered in Midgardian.

‘Please.’

‘Do you not get it, this is not even the punishment. You came to my home, you let your filthy subordinates put hand on my children, you think you can plead, you think I will listen!’

‘I think she’s mad.’ Fandral commented. ‘I have no idea what she is saying, but I think she is eating them alive.’

‘She is.’ Loki confirmed.

‘Now, the other.’ she did not raise the hammer over her head again, instead she had is so she was holding it upside down, the handle in the air, her hand was just above the hammerhead and dropped it, allowing gravity work for her. It landed on the side of the knee, but the pain was still enough to get the man to gasp in agony. ‘I am going to skin your pathetic little manhood, and then I will cut it off and feed it to you.’ She hissed. She cut his pant legs and pulled them off, the man unable to move his broken legs any bit to stop her. ‘Talk.’

‘UíNeill, he wants the land back.’

‘He will not get it, it was mine, I gave it as a dowry. Why are you here?’

‘He knew of the illness, he wanted to strike while you were ill.’

‘So that was the plan, wipe us out?’ Maebh shook her head. ‘It will never work, we are stronger than you.’

‘You are one of us.’

‘I was born of Midgard, but I am of Asgard, it is my home, my land, my children are born of it, I have carried the warrior’s of this realm in my belly, they will grow and go forth for this realm, and slaughter any you breed that get in their way.’ She looked at him pensively for a moment. ‘How many of you?’ he said nothing. ‘Very well.’ She knelt down, causing the man to look fearfully as she knelt down between his broken legs and tore a hole to his manhood before taking it out and scoffing at it. ‘Is it me or does every Midgardian I cut the manhood off leave a lot to be desired.’ she shook her head.

‘Another reason to be happy to be wed to me.’ Loki grinned. Maebh turned and smiled at him lovingly. It felt as though Loki had seen his wife for the first time in months when he saw her like that once more.

She continued to smile at him as she took the knife and slid it up the man’s manhood, slicing it open, the man screaming in pain. ‘How many?’ She repeated. He clenched his teeth and spat at her, but she avoided it easily. ‘Very well, Kushtrim, get some bull dung on a stick, rub it on his wound. He will die, not on this day, he will die, slowly, painfully, disease will rip through him and he will rue the day he left Midgard, the day he thought himself good enough to come to my home and try and hurt MY children.’ her words were cold and vicious, she spoke in Aesir but the message translated effectively enough.

‘She is more vicious, how did she get more vicious, did she act like a caterpillar, go into some form of stasis only to become something more terrifying?’ Fandral asked worriedly.

‘She has suffered a mother’s loss, she will be all the more defensive of her children now.’ Thor commented.

Kushtrim came back as his mother had requested and held the stick out, making sure the man could smell it. ‘Wait, wait, three boats, three.’ The man stated frantically. ‘Two here, one to Svartalfheim.’

‘Was that so hard?’ Maebh scoffed. ‘Oh, I should warn you, they are our allies now, my oldest son is to wed their future queen, you will find no ally there.’ She grinned viciously before getting her dagger and bringing it down between his eyes and into his skull. She then looked to the side, ‘Have him readied, I will be making good on my promise to severe both and realign them accordingly.’ she snarled.

They watched as a now angered Danu shrieked and tried to hit the man who had been about to hurt her. Her father went over and pulled her away. ‘No, my little princess…’ she looked at him, angry tears in her eyes. ‘You cannot…’

‘Why not?’ She demanded.

‘Because you do not possess enough strength in your limbs.’ they turned to look at Maebh, ‘You are giving the equivalent to small slaps. You need him to suffer for what he tried to do to you.’

‘Why was he ripping my dress?’ Danu looked to her father for an explanation, Loki, in his anguish at what almost happened he daughter, could not answer, he simply looked at her sadly.

‘To do unspeakable things, things only evil beings do.’ Her mother stated. She looked at the man. ‘Tie him to the post.’ She ordered. ‘Danu.’ She ordered for her daughter to come over to her, she whispered in the girl’s ear. As soon as she heard what her mother said, she gave a grin that was so devious, it scared all around them. Kushtrim was close enough to hear what was being said, he looked at the man tied to the post with a smirk that reminded Thor of his brother so much. Danu darted to the house, coming back a moment later with her archery equipment.

‘Oh, Norns.’ Fandral seemed to be the first to realise what was occurring as Danu got an arrow and drew it back, aiming to a particular area on the man.

‘Concentrate.’

‘Yes, Mother.’ she looked at the man. ‘You made Mother mad, no one makes my mother mad and does not suffer the consequences.’ she shrugged before aiming again and loosing the arrow. The men, both of Asgard and Midgard winced as Danu’s arrow hit her target and he screamed in agony.

‘Another.’ Her mother stood behind her, her face and demeanour cold. Danu, the image of her father, still managed to give the same air as her mother as she pulled out another arrow, drew it back and loosed it, her aim, though cruel, was impeccable, Loki was forced to admit. The man screamed again. ‘One more.’ Danu repeated the action one last time. ‘You have your justice.’ Maebh placed her hand on her daughter’s shoulder. Danu watched the man that would have hurt her whimper in agony. ‘Kushtrim.’ He walked forward to his mother’s side. ‘That man would have broken your sister, she would have been in agony, her body torn, she would never have been able to choose to have her own children, he would have robbed that choice from her in the most painful manner possible.’ Kushtrim shook with anger at her words. ‘If you place that.’ she indicated to the stick in his hand, ‘against where he has been struck, it will fester and disease.’

‘Will he die?’ the boy asked.

‘Yes, eventually.’

‘Will it hurt?’

‘Worse than your illness.’

Kushtrim did not waste a moment, he walked forward and glared hatefully at the man before smearing the animal faeces on his now destroyed crotch. ‘Mother, you speak their language.’

‘Yes, I was born there.’

‘So we are part like them.’

‘No darling, you are nothing like them, you will never hurt an innocent, you will not tear a child from her family to hurt her.’ she stated.

‘How do you say you want them to suffer?’ his mother gave the translation which all three children recited.

‘He is to be brought to the village.’ Maebh ordered. ‘Leave his legs being dragged along the ground, I want him to live through his suffering. Get a boat to Svartalfheim, today, we need to know they are safe.’

As though the past few weeks of Maebh’s life had not been in some form of catatonic state, the men immediately did as she instructed. ‘What of the rest of them?’ Fandral looked to the other three surviving men.

Maebh looked at them for a moment before taking a dagger and going to the first and slitting his throat, he fell to the ground dead. She walked over to the other two who had been in the barns with the man now suffering in agony.

‘You think yourself just?’ one scoffed.

‘I do not see myself to be Eochaid mac Eirc, I do not care for trial on this matter, same as you did not care for it when you decided to come here.’ She scoffed. ‘None will argue me, I am a princess, a warrior, a mother and the most feared being on this land. I survived more than one attempt on my life and you are not going to be the last, but you will be the most message giving, and that says a great deal, after all, I did behead my uncle outside my birthplace.’ she scoffed. ‘You will tell the realms why even now, as we recover from illness, we are more deadly than you could ever imagine.’ she chose that moment to pierce his temple with her dagger before then going to the last man. ‘You will live, for now. The people will want their pound of flesh, you shall be what gives it to them.’ she explained before walking away from him. ‘Someone tidy this mess. Danu, get your poor grandmother, she needs a strong broth after that.’

Loki smiled in utter relief at the change in Maebh. ‘Go brother.’ He turned to see Thor looking at him. ‘Rejoice with your family.’