Chapter Fifteen:

Kira and Brandon shot off toward the cells immediately, leaving Nate to catch up.

"Hold on," he panted, placing a hand on each of their shoulders to keep them from running off. "Odin wants to see us first. You need to know what's happening before you go after the dragon."

"Of course," Brandon nodded, already setting off again-this time in the opposite direction. Kira hurried to catch up with him.

Brandon slowed to a brisk walk when they reached the palace throne room. Odin was seated on the throne, Thor pacing before him. As always, the Warriors Three and Sif flanked him.

"Good, you're here," Thor said, pausing in his steps. "Now we may begin."

"I will make this quick." Odin stood from the throne. "The dragon has broken out of its prison in the treasury. I believe it is making its way to the prison cells in an attempt to free the prisoners and rain more havoc upon us. We, as well as whatever other guards we can find, must kill the dragon once and for all."

"Is Mother safe?" Thor inquired.

"I ordered guards to escort her to her chambers. She ought to be safe there."

A hollow laugh sounded from the shadows. "You ought to get better guards then."

"Loki!" Kira ran towards him as the throne room rang with the sound of six swords unsheathing. Loki held up blood-stained hands in surrender.

"The Queen is dead. The dragon killed her."

Kira stared at him in shock. Surely he was lying. The Queen couldn't die; the idea was preposterous. Yet, something off about Loki told her he was telling the truth.

Odin sat down heavily, his head in his hands.

"And how do we know it wasn't you that killed her?" Fandral accused him. "Blaming her death on the dragon would make a perfect alibi."

"Would you like to see the body?" Loki's eyes flashed. "Would you like to see the claw marks? The blood stains?" For the first time in a long time Kira saw a hint of the maniacal-almost hysterical-tone in his voice. He stalked towards Fandral. Kira grabbed his arm before he could take more than two steps.

"Let go of me," he snarled at her, and what she saw in his blue eyes almost scared her enough to make her let go.

"He's not lying," she told Fandral. "He...he can't be." Every eye in the throne room was on her: a small, brown-haired, freckled library assistant. A library assistant who was defending a criminal before the Ruler of the Nine Realms.

And Loki shoved her away.

"I don't need you to defend me!" He glared up at Odin. "The dragon is making its way out of the palace with an army of the criminals you put in cells. The throne room is its way out. We can either wait here for it, or go find it. It's your choice."

"How...how did Mother die?" Thor had been silent ever since Loki had made his presence known, but now he looked at his brother almost pleadingly.

"She died blinding the dragon and de-" Loki's jaw clenched. "It's blind in its left eye. Use it to your advantage."

"You make it sound as though you are not joining us," Sif challenged him.

He bared his teeth at her. "Would you like me to?"

"I think we will need all the help we can get," Brandon said carefully.

Everyone looked to Odin. He didn't move and he didn't speak. Kira wondered what was going through his mind.

"Captain Bromsson has a point," Thor said.

The room was silent. Loki's face was unreadable. Sif was glaring at him. Kira broke the tension. "So, when do we start?"

Sif laughed. "Surely, you don't plan on coming?"

Kira rounded on Brandon who looked quite uncomfortable. "You said we'll need all the help we can get." She rounded on Thor. "And you said he had a point. I can do magic. I can help."

"Well, yes, but-"

"Oh, let her come if she wants to. It's her life not ours." Kira bristled at Sif's tone.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Brandon asked her.

Kira swallowed, but nodded nevertheless.

"Alright," Brandon said. "but I want you to stay on the side. I don't want any unnecessary casualties. In fact, I'd rather we didn't have any casualties at all."

"I can get behind that," Nate cracked his knuckles.

"The only casualty will be that of the dragon," Thor declared.

"Oh, don't be so naïve. Especially you, Thor, when you haven't even seen the dragon yourself." He cocked his head. "Where were you exactly...oh, yes. I believe you were visiting Midgard. How is Jane, by the way?"

"Loki," Thor growled.

He smiled. "My only point is that you are running into this fight blind. Perhaps you should step back and let the other, more experienced, warriors-like Captain Bromsson who trapped the dragon the last time-step up."

Thor's eyes had begun to spark dangerously. "You want an experienced warrior? I'll show you an experienced warrior!" He lunged at Loki, swinging Mjolnir in a wide arc. But it went right through him.

"You're going to have to try harder than that, dear brother." Loki stepped out from behind a pillar.

Kira ducked out of Thor's way and walked, unseen, towards Loki, using the pillars as cover.

"What are you doing, Loki?" Kira hissed at him. He barely spared her a glance, just grinned at Thor with empty eyes.

"Stay out of this, Kira," Thor warned. He pressed Mjolnir against Loki's throat. "I don't know what games you're playing, Loki, but you must stop them now. Else you may cost us our lives."

"Thor. Don't you see? I'm saving our lives by keeping your sorry self out of the line of command."

Thor lowered his voice. "Brandon is a fine warrior and an even finer man, but he is not a god like you and I. He cannot take the dragon head-on."

Loki merely flashed his teeth and shrugged. "Have it your way, then. But last time you led us to battle, Heimdall and your father had to come save us."

"Somebody call?" Heimdall's voice echoed through the room, his golden armor shimmering. He stopped before the two brothers.

"I am sorry to hear about the Queen, she will be missed."

Loki ignored him while Thor nodded gratefully before turning back to his conversation.

"That was in Jotunheim. A lot has happened to me since then. A lot has happened to you as well, and if you claim neither of us have changed since, it is not I who is the naïve one."

Again, Loki shrugged.

"However, for once since then, I would like to fight side-by-side. As brothers. The way mother would have wanted. We can go back to hating each other after we kill the dragon if you are more comfortable with that."

"You make a tempting offer." He grinned, and Kira shivered. "Very well."

Thor searched Loki's gaze, and Kira thought she saw a deep pool of loss in Thor's eyes.

Mjolnir lifted from Loki's chest and Thor walked away. Kira gave Loki one last searching look, conscious of the way he refused to look back at her. She sighed and left him as well, making her way back over to Brandon and Nate.

Brandon had managed to get ahold of some armor, and was busy sliding the chest-plate on. He glanced at her and tried to smile. "Some date we had. Would you care to reschedule?"

"I would, actually."

"I imagine I'll be fairly busy once this dragon business is over with, but I'm sure I can find time. So long as you're not too busy shelving books."

"I can probably find some time." Kira mirrored his smile. They were avoiding the bilge snipe in the room, and Kira was grateful for it.

"I'm sure I could find time as well." Nate smirked and pushed himself between them. "Mistress Beluthra's anyone?"

Brandon rolled his eyes, but Kira laughed.

"It's a date."

"In case you've forgotten, there's still a dragon to kill. You may not want to make plans for something you won't be able to attend." Loki's gaze swept coldly over the trio. "Kira, you're with me. We're going to distract the dragon and its minions while the others try to kill it." He glared at Brandon. "Don't miss."

Brandon stared steadily back. "I don't plan to. But you could have made it easier for us by doing something about the dragon instead of sitting back and letting the Queen do your dirty work."

Loki lunged at Brandon, who calmly drew his sword and pointed the tip at his throat.

"Not another step."

Thor growled from across the room. "Loki, you promised we-"

"Yes, I promised we would fight together. You failed to include Bromsson in that agreement."

Thor sighed. "Just...take Kira. Captain, lower your sword. You're with me."

Brandon nodded and followed Thor's order. He looked at Kira for a second, then swept in and kissed her. She didn't have time to react, she just let him kiss her. His lips were light, and when he broke it her head spun as she crashed back to reality. She barely registered the unconcerned grin he flashed her as he walked away. He was faking it, she knew, but it was the thought that counted.

"Come on," Loki said shortly, gripping Kira by the arm and dragging her away.

"I can walk by myself, thank you." She yanked her arm out of his grasp.

"Loki..."

Kira whirled around. The Allfather looked pained as he stood.

Loki stopped, but refused to face him. "Yes."

"Your mother...she loved you."

"I'm aware."

"I know it may not seem like it...but, Loki, I love-"

"No."

Kira watched Odin's sorrow-filled blue eyes spark.

"What did you say to me, son?"

"Don't call me your son."

"I raised you!" Odin's voice thundered. "You were abandoned; left for dead! I gave you a home!"

"No." This time Loki did face him. "You didn't raise me. You raised him. You never gave me a second glance. She did. Do not take credit for what she did."

Kira pressed her lips together as he stalked up to the throne. She knew she should hold him back, tell him to keep moving, but she feared he would turn on her if she did.

"You say you love me, yet where were you? I never saw you, you were always too busy with Thor. The golden child. Born to be King. But he wasn't the one who spent hours reading and studying diplomacy. He didn't have to study every move you made from the shadows, in the place of guidance from you. I wanted to know exactly what it was that made a good king...because I wanted to be just like you. And well..." Loki's voice faded to a hoarse whisper. "Now. I am."

Odin had begun to back away, slowly sinking to the ground. Loki followed him, standing over him and staring him down.

"Loki..."

"I'm your worst enemy. And yet..." Loki began to shimmer, his skin turning a frosty blue. "I'm just like you."

"Loki, please..." Odin was on the ground. Loki did nothing but snarl.

"Go on, fall into your Odinsleep. Right when your kingdom needs you. Thor and I will pick up your slack."

Odin was motionless at the foot of his throne, yet no one moved a muscle. Kira found she was shaking.

"Come, Kira." Loki swept past her, his skin back to normal, though she swore she saw a flash of red in his eyes. "Since you insist on coming with us, I suppose I'll have to actually teach you how to stay alive."

He brought her just outside the throne room. "Right, try to pay attention since you have limited time to learn these spells and it could be a matter of life and death."

She just nodded and tried to steady her hands and thoughts.

"I'll show you the shield spell first since its the most similar to the other spells you've done. It's essentially an illusion."

He demonstrated, and a thin film of magic shimmered in front of him. It looked like the golden mesh that used to hold him prisoner, except his was green. Loki waved his hand and the shield disappeared. "Your turn."

Kira put her hands up and focused. Her fingers sparked magenta briefly, but faded before they could become anything of substance.

"Again," Loki commanded.

She tried again, but nothing happened.

"You're doing it wrong."

"Well, then you're teaching me wrong," Kira snapped.

"I don't have to teach you anything. If you prefer, you can go and try to kill a dragon with nothing but a fire spell and die. You won't stand a chance."

"And how do you know?" she challenged. Her head knew she wasn't ready to face a dragon, but her pride was done.

He got close enough to her that she could see every shade of blue in his eyes and every strand of hair on his head. "Because my mother is the best magic user in the nine realms, and she didn't stand a chance. So forgive me for trying to save you." He began to walk back into the throne room. Kira stood frozen in place, she had completely forgotten about his mother. She'd been so caught up everything else that had happened that day.

"Loki, wait!" He paused mid-step.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I'm so, so sorry. I can't imagine what you must be going through right now."

He looked at her darkly. "You might by the end of today."

What had she gotten herself into?

Please follow, favorite, and review!

More angst coming, I promise :)