Home | Loki [Book Two]

Chapter Twelve

"What's the plan?" Loki asked. 

"There's a man called the Grandmaster," I said. "We gain his favor, use his resources and connections to find Valkyrie and Thor, and get the heck out of here."

We hiked up a hill of discarded ships and stared up at an enormously large palace. 

"This almost puts Asgard to shame," Loki said. 

"Exactly what I was thinking."

Two guards escorted us to what was probably the throne room, although it had no throne, just a floating chair with an odd man sitting in it. 

"I thought I said no interruptions!" the guy in the chair said. "Where is my melt stick? Where--" He paused as he caught sight of us. "Mayhem! Why didn't you say something? It's been a while, hasn't it?"

Loki looked at me questioningly, but I just shrugged my shoulders in response. 

"Do you know him?" The Grandmaster asked, referring to Loki.

"Yes. This is--"

"Loki," he said as he nodded respectfully, "of Jotunheim."

"Ooh, fancy." He waved his angry assistant over. "Show Mayhem and this Loki to the West Tower. He turned to me. "We've done a few renovations since you were last here."

"My thanks," I said as the lady walked us quickly through one of the doors. 

"Scrapper 142!" We heard the Grandmaster say to the next arrival behind us. 

"I do not think he is sane," Loki whispered to me. 

"Nor do I, but he's probably our best chance of finding Valkyrie and Thor."

After a stomach-dropping elevator ride, a walk through a hallway filled with dead bodies, and about a dozen wrong turns, we finally reached our destination. 

"The West Tower," Topaz said blandly, then left. 

The door opened to a winding staircase that sparkled in the sunlight slanting through the floor-to-ceiling windows. We climbed the eighty-four steps to an open doorway, which led to probably the fanciest living space I had ever seen. A mix of artifacts and new technology covered the walls and expensive looking furniture was scattered around the room.

"How big is this place?" Loki asked in amazement.

"This room, a library, a bedroom, a walk-in closet, and an extremely spacious balcony," I said, surprising myself. 

"How did you know that?"

"Mayhem, if I had to guess."

"Did you live here?"

"For a time." I propped one of the big windows open. "Sakaar is a lawless place where fighting is glorified and stealing is the lifestyle. It's perfect for someone like me."

"It doesn't seem like a bad place to be," Loki agreed. "Do you know if Thor is here yet?"

"He may not be for some time. The way time is measured is weird here, so it could be weeks before he arrives, or he could have already been here for many months."

"Then we should probably start looking for the Valkyrie now."

"From what I saw, she interacts with the Grandmaster."

"So becoming associates with him would prove to be useful."

"Exactly."

I was interrupted by an almost-human voice from a speaker on the wall. "The Grandmaster has invited you to a pre-gladiatorial fight celebration in honor of a new contender."