The Witch's Familiar

Chapter 41

You and Loki walked back into the tower hand-in-hand. You squeezed his hand, grateful that he was with you. You'd face this together, though you both knew the most likely outcome. You didn't want to admit it. Not yet. Not until you absolutely had to. Sera didn't deserve to die. Not unless she did something irredemable. Threatening the human race wasn't enough.

You hoped she wouldn't get to that point.

You didn't have a lot of time to stop her.

You and Loki made your way to the common room and sat down on your usual couch. The news was playing in the background, but you still had to ask. "What happened? What's going on out there?"

Loki sighed and looked heartbroken. "Sera has broken. She believes that all of the humans need to be destroyed to keep you safe. The magic students are all locked in the school. She seems to be leaving them alone. Right now, she's focused on finding the team and bringing them here. That's what she told me when she was carrying me here," he explaiend. He looked sad and you understood why. He knew and accepted better than you were that you were likely going to have to kill Sera. She was too far gone.

"That gives us time if she's hunting the team first," you replied with relief in your voice.

"Magelet..." Loki started, then stopped when he saw your expression. He'd let you have your delusions awhile longer. He saw that you knew what you were likely going to have to do. You just didn't want to admit it yet. It was in the back of your mind and he saw the tears threatening. If you didn't have to think too hard, you could make the preparations.

"We need to come up with a plan. I owe her one last chance to talk her down before I take drastic measures," your eyes lit up and you reached up to the comm in your ear. "Guys, Sera is after you. Go to ground and hide. She won't hurt you, but she won't attack the rest of the humans until she's found you and brought you safely back to the tower," you told the team. That would buy you more time.

"You're sure?" Cap asked.

"Yes, Cap. She already brought Loki here and told him her plan on the way,"

"Let us know when you need us. We'll go to ground until then," he reassured you and disconnected.

You sighed. "I really need to come up with a real plan, not just buying time..."

"We. You do not have to face this alone, magelet," Loki reminded you gently.

You nodded, but there were tears in your eyes. "She's my familiar, my responsibility. It was my duty to raise and train her and if I failed, then it's my duty to save everyone else from her," you told him softly, needing him to understand. He did. You saw in his eyes that he did.

"I know, my darling, but that does not mean that you must face this task entirely alone," he told you and pulled you into a hug. You wrapped your arms around him.

"Thanks, Lokitty. I appreciate it," you replied and kissed him softly. When you broke the kiss, you saw that his cat ears and tail were back and you couldn't help smiling brightly at him and reaching up to scratch behind his cat ears to make him purr. His eyes closed and he leaned into your touch, purring softly. It was so easy to make your attention and touch-starved Loki happy. A little bit of affection and he was in heaven. You pet him for a little while before you admitted: "Lokitty, I desperately need some rest to recharge my magic. Can you keep watch and keep an eye on the news?" you asked. You hated relying on him, or admitting your weakness, but you needed his help now.

He nodded and kissed your forehead, urging you to lie down on the couch, to lay your head on his lap. His fingers stroked your hair. "Rest, darling. I'll keep watch," he bid you, his voice a soft purr. You closed your eyes and drifted off, safe in his arms, and free from worry for the moment.

Sera wouldn't attack the humans while she was keeping her promise to protect your friends. She wasn't that far gone yet. You needed rest, all the preparations you could make, and all your wits about you to make sure she stayed that way.

The other option was too grim to consider.

*

You woke a few hours later to find that Loki wasn't under your head anymore. You jolted up and looked around for him. "In here, darling," he called from the kitchen. He was at the over pulling out frozen pizzas from it. You joined him to help. Loki sucked at cooking, but even he could manage heating up frozen pizza. You were both starving. Asgardians were always hungry and you had recharged your powers while you slept. You needed to eat to replenish your energy.

In short, those pizzas were doomed.

"Any news?" you asked Loki when you'd finished and taken care of the dishes.

He shook his head. "Our friends are doing well at hiding. Even my oaf of a brother. Sera has been hunting for them, so she hasn't harmed any innocents," he told you and you relaxed with a sigh of relief. You had time. You still had time.

"What supplies do you have for taking down a dragon if it comes to that?" you asked Loki. Your time for stalling and rest was over. You had to get to work now. The pair of you went back to your collection of potions and weapons on the coffee table. Loki added way too many daggers, a pair of impressive looking swords, a variety of other weapons with the promise that he could summon anything you thought would help, and his own collection of potions. You both summoned all the books on dragons you had to mull over their weaknesses.

Slowly, you gathered a plan. One neither of you liked, but you had a plan.

The next problem was getting out of the tower.

You split up your potions between you and Loki in your dimensional pockets, strapped on your weapons and grabbed your broomstick. That was the part of the plan that Loki didn't approve of. He didn't want to fly, but it was necessary when fighting a dragon. He even consented to taking your spare broom so he could fly on his own if necessary. You hoped it wouldn't be necessary. He was only planning on using the broom if he was falling. He couldn't teleport while falling. You had also bound the ring you'd give him with the necklace he'd given you. You could already find each other through the protections spells you'd laid on the gifts when you'd exchanged them, but by binding them together for this confrontation you could instantly teleport to the other's side. You were leaving nothing to chance.

You made your way up to the roof of the tower, your hand in Loki's. Sera's shield was just ouside of the door to the roof, so you could step outside to break through her shielding. "Ready?" you asked Loki. He inclined his head as he gathered power around him. You tapped into the power stored in the black gem on the back of your hand. You and Loki both reached your free hands out to the shield, attacking it with your combined power. You'd worked together with Loki magically often enough that it was simple to combine your power, to work together. It took work, Sera was strong. You and Loki were stronger. You punched a hole through her shield and stepped through.

The hole sealed itself again the second you were through.

A deep breath, another, and you steeled yourself for what you had to do. You unwrapped your broom from around your wrist and mounted. "Are you ready for this, magelet?" Loki asked, his voice concerned. He knew how difficult it would be for you if you had to take down Sera. He didn't want that for you.

You nodded. "As ready as I can be. This is my duty. She's my responsibility," you reminded him. He nodded and kissed you softly.

"I am in this with you, my love," he reminded you.

"Thank you, Lokitty. I don't think I could do this alone. Not again," you admitted. You were strong, but your heart could only take so much.

"You do not have to do this alone. You don't have to do be alone anymore, my darling," he reminded you and kissed your forehead.

You sighed in relief. "Thank you, Lokitty. I don't know what I'd do without you,"

He gave you a warm smile. "You would do what needed to be done with or without me. My presence will simply make it easier," he replied and shifted to cat form to hop on your broom with you.

You kicked off into the air, using your bond with Sera to track her and fly towards her location.

Like it or not, it was time to face the dragon.