Dragonscales

Chapter 12|A Mission

My hands hovered over the dirt around a cherry tree. It had been weeks since I first came to Avengers Tower. I would spend the days with Loki and the Avengers, and the nights I spent working on my garden with Tourmaline. She hung from a branch of the tree using her powerful tail. Tourmaline swung off the branch, causing a few cherry blossoms to flutter down. She landed on the dirt by my hands. I finished singing to the tree and wiped the dirt off my hands. The sun would rise soon, and Loki would come up for our morning picnic. We usually ate breakfast together unless the team insisted that we eat with them. The Avengers was always busy and didn't have set meal times, unlike Loki, Tourmaline, and I. 

My ears pricked up and a smile spread across my face as I heard the familiar footsteps. Loki sauntered onto the rooftop with a picnic basket and blanket in his arms. "What's on the menu today, Lokes?" I took the blanket and spread it out under the cherry tree. "Breakfast sandwiches, but on a croissant." Loki opened the basket. The aroma of fresh food made my mouth water. I plucked a sandwich from the basket and sat down. Loki grabbed a sandwich and bit into it. 

Steve threw open the door to the roof. "Thistle, we need you and Tourmaline on a mission. Suit up and we'll brief you on the way." Tourmaline fell out of the tree she was hanging from in surprise. "What about Loki?" I asked. Steve glanced at Loki, then back at me. "He hasn't been given clearance to leave the tower." I picked Tourmaline up and looked at Loki. "Goodbye." I bid him. "Don't get hurt," Loki responded. There was a glimmer of worry in his emerald eyes. I promised him I wouldn't get hurt and followed Steve down the stairs. 

Tourmaline and I sprinted to my room where I changed into my elven clothes. I strapped on my belt and quiver and put on my cloak. I slung my bow over my shoulder and sheathed my blades. 

I ran out to where Natasha, Clint, Steve, and Bruce were boarding the quinjet. Tourmaline enlarged to her natural size. Tony tossed a small device over to me. I caught it and looked at him quizzically. "It's a com. You put it in your ear and you can hear us from long distances and we can hear from you." He explained quickly before putting on his helmet and blasting off. I put the com in my ear and immediately heard the voice of Clint. "Testing, 1 2 3." I glared at him jokingly before climbing onto Tourmaline's back.

She leaped off the ledge and followed Tony. "A pack of those wolves has been running through the city. Any tips on how to kill them?" I loaded an arrow onto my bow in preparation. "They can only be injured by magical weapons, like my blades or Thor's hammer. Shadow wolves have advanced senses and amazing stamina." 

Tourmaline caught sight of the shadow wolves and dove with claws outstretched. I aimed and fired an arrow. The arrow buried itself in the eye of one wolf. Tourmaline tackled one wolf and pierced its flesh with her claws. Both of the wolves dissolved with haunting shrieks. There were ten wolves in total, minus the two we just killed. Thor appeared and threw his hammer at one of the wolves about to tackle Tourmaline. I scowled, drew my blades, and slid off of her back. I landed in front of a wolf running towards Thor. Flashes of blue light ripped through the space between the wolf and me, distracting it. It bared its fangs and lept toward me. I tossed one of my blades at the wolf. It buried itself between its eyes, causing the wolf to fade out of existence with a screech.

An arrow whizzed by my face and hit the wolf Tourmaline was fighting. The wolf flinched, and Tourmaline took the chance to bite its neck. The wolf threw back its head and poofed. That was surprisingly silent,  I told Tourmaline while stabbing the wolf nearest me. While I was stabbing that wolf another tackled me from behind, pinning me to the ground. I felt hot breath on the back of my neck as it snarled in triumph. Its claws dug into my arms from where it pinned me. All I could see was the concrete road and wisps of smoky tendrils coming from the wolf's form. 

The wolf was thrown off of me and I quickly got up. Tony had blasted it back. "Thank you!" I yelled as I grabbed my blades that were knocked out of my hands. I turned back to the wolf that was trying to jump high enough to scratch Tony's suit. I dragged my blades across the wolf's ribcage in a criss-cross pattern.  It poofed with an ear-splitting howl. 

I looked across the battlefield. We had defeated all the shadow wolves. Natasha was helping Clint board the quinjet. He had a jagged gash running down his leg. Steve and Tony were dealing with a clump of humans carrying microphones and asking questions. Reporters. I suddenly felt a deep pain in my stomach and looked down. There was no wound. My eyes flicked over to Tourmaline and widened in horror. A large gash ran from her upper ribcage to her lower abdomen. Blood oozed out of the wound and pooled on the concrete ground.  I sprinted over to her and put my hands on the cut, desperately trying to lessen the bleeding. Tears fell from my eyes as my hands were being covered in blood. I was vaguely aware of large arms pulling me away from her. Tourmaline shrunk down to the size of a large housecat. 

Tony and Steve finished talking to the reporters and ran over to where Thor was holding a crying elf and a dragon was bleeding to death. Steve picked up Tourmaline and she immediately fainted in his arms. They boarded the quinjet and it took off. Thor raised his hammer and we took off towards the tower. 

Once the quinjet landed Tourmaline and Clint were rushed to the infirmary. I was forced to wait outside the room as they were treating her. Thor dragged over two chairs and made me sit in one. I hugged myself while the tears still cascaded down my face. Thor hugged me and whispered reassuring things in my pointed ear. Through the tears, I saw a blurry Loki enter the hallway with a cup of steaming tea in his hands. He frowned as he saw Thor's arms wrapped around me. Thor let go and stood up. "I'm getting a snack. See you later brother." Thor clapped Loki on the shoulder and left. 

Loki sat down and handed me a cup of tea. "Thank you." I choked out. "Of course, darling." Where did that nickname come from? He wiped the tears from my eyes and smiled softly. "I saw them take her to the infirmary. She'll be ok, Thistle." I laced my fingers between his. "I hope so." He squeezed my hand reassuringly. "Tourmaline's a dragon, she's tough," Loki said. 

My head snapped in the direction of the infirmary door opening. Bruce poked his head out. "You can come in now, she's in stable condition." The teacup slid off of my lap as I popped out of my seat. It smashed against the floor. Green magic swirled around the mess and was instantly cleaned up. My eyes slid to Loki, who smiled softly. I went inside the infirmary to find Tourmaline full-size sprawled on blankets. Her side was wrapped in red-stained bandages.

 Bruce was checking her heartbeat. "She lost a lot of blood but she'll survive. Let her get lots of rest and no magic." He said. Bruce made a small 'oomf' sound as I crashed into hugging him. "Thank you," I whispered. "I'm just glad she'll be okay." He responded. I became aware that Loki and I were still holding hands. My face burned and I looked away. 

After I visited Tourmaline Loki and I went back to the living room. The rest of the team decided to watch a movie, a form of human entertainment, so I sat next to Loki. It was called Brave. Halfway through the movie, I fell asleep cuddled next to Loki.