Chapter 14

I raised my throbbing head, trying to focus my eyes again, still shocked 
by the abrupt thrusting of my senses back into my own body, feeling the 
freezing wind blow cold against me. Iczer-2 slid her right arm about me, 
drawing me gently to my still-shaking legs, as I looked about, trying to 
reorient myself.

"We.. we beat him?!"

She nodded, smiling tiredly.
"I didn't think you could produce power like that. I was right to claim 
you."

I almost grinned, then realised with concern that her left arm was 
hanging limp, blood running down from her shoulder.

"You're hurt! How..?"

"Sigma is part of me. When she was damaged..."

I blinked, trying to take that in; how could a beautiful girl be part of 
a 500-foot tall battlemech? That fascinating avenue of thought was 
broken by a scream of rage that nearly pierced my eardrums. It startled 
me completely upright.

I stood panting, my sides heaving as if I'd just run a marathon,Iczer-
2's arm supporting me as I shivered with reaction. Across the courtyard, 
Loki was almost frothing at the mouth as he snarled incoherently at us, 
his face mottled red and white. For a second I nurtured a hope that 
maybe even a God could have a stroke...

Then he managed to regain his control, or at least what passed for 
control in him, as he reached out a hand, snapping his fingers.

"Tyrfang. Come!"

I blinked, distracted, as something started to slither across the ground 
towards him. It looked just like a mobile pool of inky-black shadow, 
slithering across the debris-covered ground. Then it stopped, and the 
blackness rose up, slowly forming into a vaguely humanoid shape in front 
of Loki, its head turned to us.

It was horrible, a misshapen demon out of a Bloch nightmare, its twisted 
limbs and body a dead black that soaked up the light without reflection, 
the only colour the hell-red glow of its eyes and the bloody glistening 
fangs which layered its mouth.

Loki smiled at it, in an almost fatherly manner.
"Meet Tyrfang. One of my favorite pets, a demon of such _varied_ uses!"

Behind us, I heard Belldandy gasp softly.
"Oh, now I realise how he invaded the Yggdrasil systems...!"

Iczer-2 gently took her arm from about me, stepping forward to stand in 
front of me, tensed and ready as she watched the demon carefully, as her 
energy sword flickered into glowing life in her right hand, ignoring her 
injured left arm.

Loki smiled again.

"Oh, don't worry, he's not going to hurt you. Well, not yet...
Tyrfang! Here!"

The demon laughed, a snarling noise like metal tearing, looking at us as 
though we were lunch, then turned and leapt at Loki's outstretched hand. 
I didn't understand, why would he attack Loki...? Then the demon's form 
twisted in midair, its form shifting, until the hilt of a black, evil 
looking sword impacted into Loki's hand. Yes, I know swords can't look 
evil, but this one did! 

Loki sowly advanced, the sword gripped in one hand, his eyes locked on 
Iczer-2.

"I'm going to make you pay for hurting my son. Tyrfang will tear the 
flesh from your living body, strip by strip, until I let him feed on 
your still-beating heart"

Iczer-2 looked back at me for a second, an odd expression on her face, 
almost one of sorrow, then she turned, moving clear of me as her sword 
slipped into guard position in front of her.

I didn't know what I could do; I knew I couldn't help her in a fight, 
but she was already injured, surely she was no match for Loki? But I 
could only watch with a hopeless helplessness as the two closed. She 
looked so fragile against Loki's bulking form, blood trickling slowly 
down her left arm from her injured shoulder.

************************************************************************

The two circled each other, slowly, eyes locked on their opponents.
Iczer-2 glided gracefully across the shattered surface, avoiding the 
obstacles with panther-like grace, her slitted eyes seeming to burn with 
a soft crimson glow as she kept an unblinking gaze locked on Loki, 
energy sword humming and crackling softly before her.

Loki simply scattered any obstacles with a foot, showing contempt for 
the mundane obstructions, circling slowly, Tyrfang held poised, the tip 
slowly moving as he searched for openings. The sword seemed almost to 
move by itself; each time Iczer-2 made a movement as if to attack, the 
sword moved up as though anticipating her. I could have sworn I heard a 
low, grating metal-on-metal chuckle from it.

I could hardly bear to watch. While I was sure Iczer-2's speed and skill 
could take Loki in a fair fight, despite his power and strength, I was 
equally certain that the concept of a fair fight wasn't in Loki's 
lexicon. I bit my lip, wanting to yell to her to warn her, but terrified 
that so doing would distract her.

Time seemed to stretch out as the two of them made tentative feints and
blows at each other. It became obvious very soon that while Iczer-2's
grace and skill would normally have given her an easy target, Tyrfang
was not going to make that possible. The sword twisted and turned in
Loki's hand, always interposing itself against her probes, even when it
looked like an impossible parry to make, the two blades clashing with an
angry snarling hiss of plasma against magic.

Iczer-2 finally stopped, a little way out of Loki's sword-range.It seemed
she'd reached the conclusion that something had to be done. I didn't 
know how much of the worry I was feeling she could sense now that 
we were no longer inside Sigma, especially with the concentration she 
was giving to the fight, but slowly the two of them stopped circling.
Then, as if by mutual agreement, they rushed at each other. Iczer-2's 
sword flared, its plasma glowing fiercely as she shrieked and struck at 
Loki with her full power and speed, to be answered by Loki's riposte 
with Tyrfang.

The two weapons impacted against each other with a horrible tearing 
screech, like a chainsaw at full power connecting with a steel girder. 
There was a terrible flash, that blinded me for a second, leaving 
glowing afterimages before my tearing eyes. When they cleared, both 
combatants had lost their weapons. Iczer-2's sword seemed to have gone 
through at least two walls, judging by the glowing holes in them, to 
embed itself hilt deep in a third. Tyrfang had skittered across the 
ground, lying there glowing with a fierce yellow heat. Both parties were 
rubbing their hands, glaring at each other.

I groaned. Loki was more powerful than Iczer-2, and while he was now 
deprived of his pet demon, she'd also lost her weapon, and I didn't know 
if she could produce another, or stand any chance with him in hand-to-
hand combat.

The growing grin on Loki's face answered my unspoken thought. It looked 
like he thought he's come out of that a winner as well, as he raised his 
hands, slowly starting to chant a spell. I mentally urged Iczer-2 on, 
trying to make her aware of what he could do to her if she let him.

She stood for a second, watching him... then either she realised what I 
was trying to pass on to her, or more likely made her own conclusions, 
as she rushed him, her speed allowing her to close and hit him fast, 
gliding away before he could react. He growled, not seeming to take much 
notice of her blow, as his response missed her.

She grinned at him, trying to annoy him into a mistake again, and 
repeated herself, rushing in to plant a quick blow before escaping 
before he could touch her, her motion a graceful dance of applied skill 
and speed.

It was a good plan, but I still worried. She couldn't keep this up for 
ever, eventually he'd get lucky and hit her, or she'd wear out before 
wearing him down. And I still had no idea of what we could do to him, 
even if we did take him down in combat! How do you stop a god, anyway??

It didn't come to that, however. At last, her movements left a gap in 
her attacks, and Loki took advantage. Although he was starting to look a 
bit harried by her constant blows, they didn't seem to have done him any 
real damage. His hand dived into his clothing, emerging with that same 
amulet he'd gloatingly displayed earlier, holding it high, chanting as 
it started to glow with a ruddy brightness.

Iczer-2 didn't give him time to complete what he was up to, she leapt 
straight at him, attempting a high flying kick at his hand. But too 
late, even as she did so the glow brightened, and she was hurled 
helplessly away from it, crashing to the ground to the sound of Loki's 
triumphant laughter.

I snarled, moving forward in a foolish attempt to distract him, but 
suddenly stopped as a wave of weakness crashed over me, blurring my 
vision, the only thing registering the blurred brightening glow of the 
amulet, pulsing in synch with my heartbeat. At last I understood where 
Loki had got the power for it, and how he had kept it unnoticed.

************************************************************************

Iczer-2 slowly regained her footing, her eyes not leaving Loki for a 
moment. Standing crouched, she snarled at him, a runnel of blood 
trickling down her face, startlingly crimson against the ivory skin. 
Then she started to walk forward, slowly, deliberately.

Her eyes flickered to mine for an instant.
* He's using your power, isn't he?*

I nodded, gasping or breath as my strength seemed to drain away as Loki 
used it, feeling a burning pain grow along my limbs.

She stopped just out of range, crouching slightly.

He looked down at her, that manic grin of his plastered across his face 
again, the amulet dangling from his hand glowing and pulsing with a hard 
blood-red radiance.

Then she startled us both as she suddenly leapt, almost faster than my 
eyes could follow her, her injured left arm sweeping up, the hand 
clasping about the amulet. I hadn't realised she could still use that 
arm; it looked like she'd fooled Loki too. For a second I hoped that the 
cord would break, that she would succeed in tearing it away from him, 
but no such luck. Instead, she dangled from it, body arched up, feet 
barely touching the ground, as Loki's features darkened with rage as he 
glared at her presumption.

Growling, he struck at her with his free hand. It must have hurt, her 
body shook as he made contact, but she made no sound, keeping her hold 
on the amulet as a sapphire radiance glowed about her hand, mingling 
with that of the amulet.

"You stubborn bitch!! How dare you...!!!"
This time, he didn't strike her, but narrowed his eyes, the ruby glow 
brightening as he concentrated, watching as curls of smoke slowly 
started to rise from the girls clenched fingers.

I moaned, unsure which was worse, the pain of the power drain being 
inflicted by Loki, or watching my own power being used to hurt her.
Then I heard her 'voice' again in my head.

* There's only one way to stop him. This time you must synchronise 
properly with me. Its the only way... pass your power to me instead of 
letting him steal it*

I shivered. I knew she must be right, but I was scared. That previous 
feeling of merging with her had terrified me, as I felt my personality 
slip away as it joined with her. I couldn't... but what choice did I 
have? If I didn't do something, Loki would kill her, then me, then 
everyone else on this planet. So... I didn't have anything to lose, did 
I?

I half-growled, hating the situation I was in, and Loki for putting me 
in it. Then I stopped trying to resist any more, letting myself open to 
Iczer-2. At least now it was up to someone else.

Iczer-2 looked up at Loki and smiled. He looked almost startled, no 
doubt this wasn't what he expected as a normal sort of reaction. Then 
her hand tightened about the amulet, gripping it with a desparate, 
unbreakable grip as she poured all her power into her hand, the blue 
glow brightening, flickering as azure streams of light shimmered from 
between her fingers.

Loki looked even more surprised, then snarled, as the bloody glow of his 
magic grew also, the two colours mingling and warring as both strove for 
dominance, snakes of glowing scarlet and sapphire energy wriggling 
across her body, shaking her like someone gripping a high-tension cable 
as they sparked and exploded each time two of them made contact, leaving 
bleeding burms against her skin.

I felt a humming in my ears, my vision blurring and fading as it 
tunneled down to just the two combatants, as I sank to my knees, trying 
to block Loki's drain as I willed as much power as I could towards 
Iczer-2. I didn't know what I was doing, or how to do it, I just hoped 
she did. I hardly noticed as my clothing started to smoke and smoulder, 
hot blood running down from my nose and ears, mere side effects to all 
this. I could feel my mind run and merge with hers, like two pools of 
paint running together, feeling her and her emotions as she felt mine, 
but none of that mattered any more, all I could feel was a burning 
desire to stop Loki, to make him pay for what he'd done. 

Iczer-2 looked straight into Loki's face, glowing cobalt eyes matching 
his gaze as she clenched her teeth, ignoring the pain in her burning 
hand as she poured all her power into it, the sapphire glow getting 
brighter and brighter. Then she screamed, not in pain but in triumph as 
her hand abruptly closed, and with an absurdly delicate sound, like a 
delicate crystalline sculpture shattering, the amulet imploded, 
releasing an explosion of light and heat that blinded me, making me 
cower and fall forward stunned, the link between Iczer-2 and myself 
snapping apart like an overstretched rubber band

************************************************************************

I gulped air frantically, feeling it burn its way down my throat, my 
eyes having trouble focusing as I gazed stupidly at the red droplets 
dripping down in front of me, the blood still slowly trickling from my 
nose and ears, the smell of my scorched, burned clothing in my nostrils. 
With an effort completely out of proportion to the effect it resulted in 
I raised my head again, to look at Iczer-2 and Loki.

Iczer-2 was crouched, her right hand supporting her left wrist, her left 
hand curled and blackened, blood slowly dripping down from the charred 
skin to pool on the ground. She faced Loki, her cheekbones standing out 
harsh against the stark whiteness of her face, lips clamped against the 
pain of her shattered hand. My own hand felt like it had been dipped in 
acid, even though I could feel that she was blocking most of the pain 
from reaching me and the link between us was weakened; I didn't want to 
think about how it must feel like to her.

Loki wasn't in much better shape. His clothing was burned and tattered, 
a charred circle of skin on his chest showing where the amulet had been, 
but he recovered much faster, his face contorted and completely inhuman 
in his rage and madness as he lashed out at her.

Iczer-2 tried to evade, but after all that had happened her speed wasn't 
what it was. Although she half-dodged, his cobra-quick blow smashed into 
her, sending her crashing down onto the unyielding ground. Despite her 
pride, she couldn't conceal a ragged gasp of pain as her ruined hand 
smashed against the stones.

Loki snarled, a sound that belonged to a rabies-maddened dog, not to 
anything resembling a human, as he lashed out with his foot, kicking her 
prone body. I heard a crunching snap as ribs broke, and she half-curled 
up, trying to protect herself from his kicks and get up to face him.

I couldn't help myself; despite my exhaustion I tried to stagger up, to 
help her. I KNEW it was stupid, Loki could snap my neck with a flick of 
his fingers, but I couldn't leave her there. It was futile anyway; I 
managed to stagger half upright, but even that effort sent pretty 
coloured lights and black shadows across my vision as I barely managed 
to remain conscious.

The only thing I really accomplished was to gain Loki's attention. His 
mad visage turned to me, momentarily forgetting the injured girl trying 
to stagger to he feet in front of him, as he glared at me, saliva 
running unnoticed down his chin as an unholy smile stretched across his 
contorted face. 

"So...you are still alive too! Good, I don't want you in the tender care 
of my daughter yet... Not before I've had the chance to teach you what 
it means to interfere with my plans, then I'll send you both down to Hel 
with the blood-eagle carved on you..."

I whimpered, unable to stop myself. The way I felt right now, I don't 
think I'd have minded if he'd just killed us, but I couldn't endure the 
thought of being tortured by him before being sent into the tender 
'mercies' of his no-doubt annoyed daughter.

My attention was distracted my a harsh, bubbling cough. I wouldn't 
normally have noticed it, with Loki glaring at me, but my mind was so 
desperate to escape even thinking about him and what he had planned for 
me that it drew me instantly.

Iczer-2 had managed, barely, to get to her feet. She coughed again, 
small droplets of blood splattering against the remains of her costume 
as she stood hunched to one side, favoring her broken ribs as she glared 
at Loki with a fury that almost matched his, though with considerably 
greater sanity. She snarled, raising her good hand...

"Bastard... you haven't finished with me yet!!"

She growled, and a faint, flickering shadow of her energy sword pulsed 
for a second in her fist, before fading and dying. She looked at me in 
despair...

"No energy left..."

I shook my head, numb. I didn't have the strength for anything else. 
We'd done all we could to stop him, as much, I think, as anyone could - 
and it hadn't been enough. Well, at least we made him realise he'd been 
in a fight before he killed us...

Loki threw back his head and laughed, a pealing insane sound that echoed 
from the ruined temple surrounding us. Then he looked at her, and 
suddenly, with casual brutality, swept a kick into her already broken 
ribs, followed by a smash to the temple. With a low moan, she slowly 
fell, to lie unmoving on the ground, a pool of blood slowly growing 
under her head.

************************************************************************

He stepped forward, obviously intending to do more before finishing with 
her, when a hard, brittle voice interrupted him.

"Loki!!"

We both turned to face the sound. Despite my wiped-out state, I could no 
more ignore the imperative attention that voice demanded than fly 
unaided.

Standing facing Loki with the glow of their power flaming in the air
about them were Urd, Belldandy and Skuld. But not the almost-human 
'goddesses' I had met and liked earlier. These were the three 
Norns, in full aspect of their godhood, and thoroughly mad as all hell 
at Loki.

Skuld and Belldandy's faces weren't too bad. Skuld's was filled with 
rage and loathing as she stared at Loki, the fingers of one hand 
absently caressing the forgotten bomb she clutched there. Belldandy 
gazed at him with disgust and promised vengeance; I didn't expect for a 
moment she'd forgotten what he'd been responsible for doing to Keiichi.

But at least those emotions were understandable and human, even though 
their intensity beat against Loki with such force that I was sure I'd 
have seen them even with my eyes shut. What terrified me almost beyond 
reason was Urd's face.

This wasn't the Urd I'd come so quickly to like, or even the incensed 
goddess form Belldandy and Skuld had assumed. This was Urd, the first, 
original Norn, whose name means Destiny. Her face was almost blank, 
showing no human emotion, reflecting the cold, impersonal force of a 
glacier about to crush a town helpless before it, as beautiful, 
impersonal and terrifying as a star.

Slowly, she raised her hand, pointing it at Loki. Her words were cold, 
without emotion, inflection or any shred of mercy as she pronounced his 
doom.

"You have broken your assigned fate, Loki. That will not be tolerated. 
And you no longer have Baldur's power to protect you from us."

Even through his madness, this penetrated to Loki. His hand scrabbled 
against his chest, brushing the scarred charred area as if in a frantic 
search for the now-destroyed amulet that had been protecting him. For 
the first time, he seemed to regain a measure of sanity, as he cowered, 
falling to one knee as he started to plead, a rushing torrent of half-
coherent, begging words.

Urd took no notice of him whatsoever.

"Your doom is not rescinded. You will be returned to it. There will be 
no escape, and no appeal."

He shrieked, a high, terrified squeal like a rabbit caught in a trap. 
Then he - dwindled. I can't describe it any better way, he faded, 
growing less substantial, hazy as if becoming distant, yet I KNEW he was 
there, not moving. 

Urd turned and faced Belldandy, nodding slowly.

"Recover the power he stole."

Belldandy smiled, the happy, terribly innocent smile of someone taking 
long desired, awaited and deserved vengeance, crooking her fingers at 
Loki, as streamers of energy were torn from his eyes, twisting as they 
curled through the air and shimmered into a softly-glowing ball of fire 
atop her outstretched palm. His body twisted and shook as though in the 
grip of a high-tension current, incoherent animal noises torn from his 
throat.

"For Keiichi"

Urd nodded again at her sisters words, then pointed one finger at Loki.
With a terrible noise, and a twisting effect that despite my absorption 
with the horrible scene I had to turn away from, or lose what remained 
of my sanity, space ripped aside, as Loki vanished through it with a 
final, despairing howl of anguish.

Turning, the three looked at Hel, the only one of Loki's followers 
remaining alive.

"You have no place here, Mistress of the Dead. Leave now"

Hel looked at Urd slowly, her face impassive as she furled her tattered 
cloak about herself.

"These two will soon be mine. Time enough then to make them pay for 
their effrontery."

Urd half-raised one hand, in an obvious gesture of dismissal, and Hel 
bowed, formally, before her body shimmered and faded, vanishing from my 
sight. 

Urd looked slowly at her sisters, then she sighed, her aspect slowly 
leaving her as her features changed without changing, back into the more 
familiar Urd, as the glow of power surrounding the three slowly faded.

I looked up blankly at the three of them standing there, then down at 
the prone body of iczer-2 lying broken in a pool of her own blood.
Well, at least the cavalry came over the hill in the last reel... pity 
they left it so late.
Then I finally lost consciousness myself, the ground rushing up to meet 
me in a sort of slow-motion, as everything faded to black.


To be continued in Chapter 15, Truths and Consequences.