Tournament of Thieves

20

The ice dwelling inside him hissed, sounding angry, as the fire burned brighter in Loki's palm. The heat gave Loki the energy and the willpower to finally move. To stiffly roll over onto his stomach and slowly push himself up off the ground.

But the flames also caught Farbauti's attention.

The frost giant whirled towards his son as Loki slowly and stiffly stood, wobbling a bit on his feet. The ice still spread throughout his body, but the fire in his hand was giving him the ability to move, albeit painfully and rigidly.

"What are you doing?" Farbauti asked quietly, his eyes flashing.

Loki didn't answer. He still couldn't speak. With the fire burning brightly on the tips of his fingers, Loki exerted all of his effort and raised his hand to his chest.

Farbauti lunged forward. "No!"

Loki plunged his fingers into the five open wounds.

Pain ricocheted through him so hard it sent him sprawling onto his side. He heard a screech from the ice inside him as the fire gnawed at its source. He felt the ice relaxing its hold over his body as the fire warmed him, intermingling with the pain. Slowly, he felt the rigidity fade out from his body.

Farbauti dropped to his knees at Loki's side and rolled him over onto his back, grasping at his son's fiery hand. "It is your fate, boy," he insisted angrily. "Leading Ragnarok is your fate."

Loki met Farbauti's intense gaze, anger rushing through him as he was freed from the icy chains inside him. "It may be my fate," he said, his voice having returned with the melting of the ice. "But not today."

Farbauti fell forward as Loki suddenly vanished. The trickster reappeared in snake form, coiling up ready to strike.

"I won't lead your armiesss," Loki hissed, his forked tongue darting out between his curved fangs. "I won't play thisss game any longer."

With a move too quick to see, Loki lunged. In the middle of the strike, when the momentum was greatest, he morphed back into human form, fire blazing in his hands, and struck Farbauti in the chest. The force sent the frost giant crashing back against the ice.

The courtyard around them flickered.

Loki leaped on Farbauti and hit him again, harder. The illusion around them started to fall apart; Loki could see the chamber where he had first met Farbauti peeping through the slashes in the courtyard deception.

Thud!

Why weren't you ever there?

Thud!

Why did you have to ruin Mama's life?

Thud!

The first time I met you, you tricked me!

Thud!

You engineered me to cause Ragnarok!

Thud!

Why? Why? Why?

Thud!

All of Loki's rage came out in those punches. Everything he had felt over the years pertaining to his father poured out of him into his strikes. At first, Farbauti had resisted, trying to fling him off, but now, he just allowed Loki to punch him.

When Loki finally slowed, the courtyard illusion was gone and they were back in the chamber. Loki was sitting on Farbauti's chest, fist held up over his father's face, primed for another strike.

"Son," the jotun coughed. "Stop."

"Why should I stop?" Loki asked, yet he held back his clenched fist. "You were never there. You left my mother to raise me, all alone! You're the reason she's dead!"

As fast as a snake, Loki caught Farbauti's throat with his other hand and pressed him against the stone floor, applying as much force as he could without causing him to lose consciousness.

"Where's Brisingamen?" Loki demanded.

"Loki..." Farbauti gasped.

"WHERE'S BRISINGAMEN!"

Farbauti moved his head, as much as Loki's hand would allow him to. "Over there, son."

Loki stood up, gave the jotun a kick in the ribs to keep him on the ground, and darted over to where Farbauti's nod had indicated. There was a locked trunk there, but with Loki's expertise, he was able to break the lock open rather swiftly. He quickly pushed the top of the trunk up.

There it lay, Freya's treasured necklace. Brisingamen. The golden chain gleamed in the low light and the white gems seemed to contain the hottest flames within them. Gently, he lifted the shifting links up out of the trunk and stashed them in the pouch on his belt without bothering to examine it further.

As Loki stumbled for the exit, which was behind where he had first appeared, he noticed Farbauti slowly pushing himself up. Despite the beating the jotun had just suffered, he was grinning manically.

"That, my boy," he panted, "is how you will tear down the gods."

Then Farbauti flickered and vanished, and Loki moved as fast as he could to the exit, feeling like he hadn't actually defeated the jotun at all.