Winter of Yggdrasil

Chapter 33

They reached the castle to hear Kat's anguished screams. The door was flung open right after them and in ran Marceline. She stopped beside Loki. "Heimdall sent for me. Come on." They ran for the infirmary, finding the hallway outside crowded. Fighting their way through, they finally went inside. Thor was kneeling beside the bed, looking panicked. His armor lay abandoned and bloody in a corner. Kat fell back against the pillows and gasped for water. Ebony reached for a glass and a towel. Kat drank while Ebony wiped her brow, encouraging her.

Thor looked up. "Loki. You must handle the Elementals, please. I can't..."

Loki clenched his jaw against the rising tension and nodded. "I will."

"Loki!" Thor called as he turned away. "Kara... I didn't listen."

"She'll forgive us."

Thor shook his head. "She's dead." Kat's scream made him jump. He took her hand again.

Loki sprinted for the grounds just off the Bifrost, his heart in his throat. With Kara dead, the treaty might very well fall apart. And if anyone had left the Jotuns with them...

He slid to a stop where a crowd of soldiers stood. Pushing through them, he watched Kara being pulled to her feet by two men.

"Kara!" She grimaced and he put a hand under her arm, holding her up. "Kara, I'm so sorry. Thor didn't-"

"I know. It's alright. I'll live." She groaned and rested more of her weight on him.

"Are we to sit by and wait for it to die?" Byleistr asked from his side. "Messengers said the root was hollow already."

"Have we any other choice?" Kara asked. "Get me to the infirmary. We had hoped to come in time to stop it but..." She gestured towards the forests but gasped at the pain. Loki let her men carry her in.

When Loki returned to the palace, Kenna ran to him with a wide grin.

"Twins! She had twins!"

He blinked at her, his mind slowly catching up. He smiled wearily. "All are well?"

She nodded. "She's named them Blair and Arik. All are well and resting." Her smile faded. "There's something I should tell you."

She sat hesitantly and told him about Merek. Loki sat back and wondered briefly if Merek was also affected by root poisoning. He sighed.

"We'll have to watch him closely to see what is going on. In the meantime, we must prepare for Yggdrasil's death."

"And what do we do if we find something?"

"We'll deal with it when we find it." Loki muttered.

For weeks nothing seemed amiss with Merek. Buildings were reinforced, supplies were stocked and armies trained for both defense and emergency proceedings. Then the cloaked man arrived.

He was allowed into Asgard without trouble, seeming peaceful enough, if not strange. He took the back way to the palace and asked to see Loki and Kenna. They met in Loki's workroom. Loki was leaning against his desk and Kenna was standing by the window when he arrived. He bowed to them but refused to lower his hood, claiming he was scarred and hideous. Loki allowed it on account of not wanting to offend the strange man.

"What can we help you with?"

"Your servant. The strange one. What do you know of him?"

Loki and Kenna shared at worried glance. "Merek?" Loki asked. "What of him? We know little, to be honest."

"Not where he's from? His real name? His past?"

"His real name? What do you mean? Who are you?"

"My name is Braden. My real name, that is. Merek, if you ask him, would also know me by Jolen."

"I see. What are you implying? That we should be afraid of Merek? That he's not what he seems?"

The man nodded. "He's most certainly not what he seems. Do you know what the Other is?"

"No... not really. We know the name, that's all."

"As do most." He began to wander the room as he spoke, never lifting his head high enough for them to see inside his cowl.

The door burst open and Merek stood there, glaring at the cloaked man. "Jolen."

"Hello, Merek."

"Get out. Get away from them!"

The man tilted his head. "Oh so sentimental. What do you care? They'll be dead soon. We all will be."

"Stop it! Get out!"

A smile could be heard in the stranger's voice. "Very well. Until next time." He disappeared without a trace. Merek turned to Loki, knowing what was coming.

Loki glared at him. "He was telling us about you. That you're not what you seem. Care to explain?"

Merek lowered his head, sighing. "I'm sorry. It's rather complicated."

"Then uncomplicate it." Loki demanded.

He sat down, his head in his hands. "Loki, please. What's coming is terrible enough."

"Merek?" He startled as Kenna dropped to her knees in front of him. Her wide eyes bored into his as she took his hands. "Merek, please. Even if we can't help, you have to tell us."

"I can't."

"It scares me when you keep things secret like this." She whispered.

"From the beginning, Merek." Loki's voice was not as understanding.

Kenna came to sit beside Merek, looking at him with frightened eyes. "Merek, just tell us what's going on."

He sighed. "My name is-"

"Lord Loki!" The door opened again and a Jotun stood in the hall, gasping for breath. "Lord Loki. Urda's Well has dried up."

Loki shot to his feet. "What?!"

"Mimir's scholars are saying that Mimir's Well has too." Loki followed the man. He returned a moment later with a guard.

"Take that man and lock him up with the other traitors." The guard nodded and grabbed Merek, dragging him away.

Kenna leapt to her feet. "Dad!"

"Until we know more, I cannot trust him." Merek didn't protest, didn't look up. He simply let the guard take him, his head hanging. Loki grabbed Kenna and followed the Jotun but stopped when they got outside. Loki turned to Kenna, his brows furrowed.

"Do you feel that? A shift in the air?" She nodded solemnly.

"It's time. Asgard is dying."

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Thoughts?