Home | Loki [Book Two]

Chapter Eleven

Thor was caught up on the whole situation by the time we reached the palace.

"We'll meet you after the meeting, Delta," Thor said, not unkindly. 

"I rule Niflheim, so I get a say in its people's fate. I'm going to the meeting," I said, and that was the end of it. 

Odin was expecting us, so we cut right to the chase. 

"Hela knows," Thor said. 

"About what?" Odin asked. 

"She knows that she will soon be free," Loki answered. "She's gathering an army."

"Does she know that you know this?"

"Not to our knowledge."

"Why is she here?" Odin asked, referring to me. 

I felt confident when I remembered Mayhem's--my--success against Odin years ago. "I am the current ruler of Niflheim. I get a say in how my people are treated, however in the wrong they are."

"You are on Hela's side, then?"

"Did you hear me say that?"

"Mayh--Delta is not against Asgard," Loki interjected. "She simply does not want the rest of her people punished for the acts of one who is not even originally from there."

Odin glanced suspiciously at me. "If she is not against us, then she is for us." He turned to the brothers. "Gather the people of Asgard and ready them for the battle."

"The battle?" Thor asked. 

"The battle against the goddess of Death."

"This isn't going to work," I said to Loki. It had been about a week since training had started for the able people of Asgard. 

"Why not?" Loki asked. "They're doing well. I don't see why you think we won't win."

"Hela will have more power the longer she stays on Asgard. She was hard enough to beat when she was far away and not expecting it, but she and her army will be no match for a few thousand Asgardians."

"What do you suggest we do?"

"I don't know." I reopened the history book I'd been reading. I was searching for any historical event that might jog my memories of the Mayhem years. "Look at this."

"The Valkyrie? I thought they all died gruesome deaths."

"Yes, but it says here that they fought Hela. If there were any living Valkyrie--"

A planet filled with color flashed in front of my vision before a battle-worn woman talking to a rich-looking guy became my focus. 

"...can't leave Sakaar," the man was saying cheerfully. "Besides, why would you want to?"

"I can think of countless reasons--" the woman stopped herself. "I was wondering if we could go to contenders instead of them coming to us."

"That's impossible!" He laughed. "Besides, the fights are interesting enough without any of your Asgardian buddies competing."

"May--Delta?" I heard Loki asking as I snapped back to the library. "What happened? Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," I assured him. "One of the Valkyrie is alive."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive."

Loki nodded. "Alright. Let's go get Thor."

We found him talking to Sif at the training ground. 

"Two weeks at most," I commented to Loki. 

"Two weeks until what?"

"Until they're together."

"Thor and Sif?" He laughed. "It will be a matter of days."

"We'll see." I walked over to the future couple. "Thor, stop flirting. We need to go."

Thor's face went red, but he managed to keep his composure. "Can it wait?"

"Not exactly," Loki said. "It may help us win against Hela."

"Really?" Sif asked. "What is it?"

"It's more of a matter of who," I said. "But we need to go now. I'm not sure how long it will take to find them."

Thor nodded, then kissed the top of Sif's hand before following us to the stables. 

"I think Lady Sif fancies you, Thor," Loki said deviously.

"Do you really think so?" Thor asked hopefully.

"Even a blind man could see it," I muttered. "She's been practically flirting with you for at least the past week or two."

"You aren't being serious," Thor said. "This is just another one of your tricks."

"We're serious, brother," Loki said as he swung himself up into the saddle of his sleek black horse.

"Dead serious," I added, doing the same on a borrowed one.

Thor stared at us suspiciously and left the stable (and us) behind. Loki and I high fived each other and laughed quietly before following Thor out. 

We raced to the point of transport, but a clear winner couldn't be decided. The loser, as usual, was Thor, but Loki and I were still arguing good-naturedly over who had won when Thor finally trotted to a stop beside us.

"Loki, Mayhem," Heimdall greeted as Thor, who apparently didn't hear, struggled to dismount the feisty horse. 

"Heimdall," I said, "Can you get us to--"

"I cannot. Although, if you were to break through the Bifrost mid-transport, you would eventually reach the planet. There is, as always, a risk."

"A risk of what?" Loki asked.

"The risk of landing on an uninhabited planet that kills you in an instant."

"What's going to kill us in an instant?" Thor asked, having finally succeeded in letting the poor animal ride back to the palace stables.

"Nothing is going to kill us," I said. "Unless this mission is a failure. Then Hela will most likely kill us all."

"You sounded way too cheerful when you said that," Loki commented. 

"I've learned that there are two options when it comes to death," I said. "You can either laugh about it and see it as an adventure, or you can run from it and inevitably run into it."

"Wise words," Heimdall said. 

"Why are we doing this again?" Thor asked. 

"The Valkyrie know Hela and her war strategies better than any book or person. If we can get one on our side, we can come into this war with an advantage."

Heimdall interrupted any further explanation. "If you take this journey, I will not be able to summon the Bifrost to bring you back; it is too far from here."

"We'll find a different way," Loki assured him.

"Then I wish you the best of luck," Heimdall said, turning the hilt of the sword. We were in the Bifrost tunnel a second later. 

"Ready?" I shouted. Thor nodded and Loki weaved his fingers in mine. 

"Three," Thor said. 

"Two," his brother said. 

"One." We broke through the bright walls of the Bifrost, sending ourselves spinning through the atmosphere of a trash-covered planet. 

Loki and I landed on our feet, side by side. Thor was nowhere to be seen. 

"Where are we?" Loki asked. 

I brushed by jet-black hair out of my face. "Sakaar."