Darkness Vanquished (A Loki Love Story) Book 3 in Darkness Series

Heart on Fire

(His point of view)

I plummet my sword through yet another handful of giants, moving with all the energy that I have left. My flooding adrenaline numbs the stabbing pain in my shoulder, as I keep moving forward. I know that I must stay strong for my men. For my brother that was so viciously slain.

I feel someone press against my back. I turn to swing but halt immediately once I see Heimdall's huge stance. He offers me a slight grin before bowing his head.

"My Prince." I nod my thanks to him as my likeness had only moments ago across the field. He turns and swings his weapon at a towering monster, easily severing its head from its shoulders before running to aid Volstagg who is being swarmed. My eyes fall to Helblindi once again. He has returned to his feet, still clutching at his chest as he glares in my direction. I sneer at him. I want to charge him head on, but he is still heavily guarded. I have to come up with a way to get around them without being harmed.

Suddenly, Thor appears at my side. He is panting as he raises his hammer high into the air above our heads.

"Loki! Once I strike at them, you must charge him!" Was he reading my mind?

I nod, watching as dark clouds billow overhead. Lightning rips through the air and down to the ground. It strikes just inches away from the guards surrounding my demon brother. Over half of them are blown away by its heated flash.

"GO!" Thor shouts, shoving at my arm. I do not hesitate as I take off in a sprint, roaring in anger as I lunge at his throat. He notices me just in time to barely dodge my swing, growling in pain as blood pours from his wounded chest. I immediately swing again, bringing my sword to clash with his spear. I hear its ice crackle just a fraction upon the impact.

"YOU FOOL! YOU CANNOT DEFEAT US!" he shouts, shoving against me so as to create a small space between us.

"PERHAPS NOT! BUT I WILL NOT STOP UNTIL YOU ARE DEAD AT MY FEET!" I shout. I close the space in between us, swinging hard. I graze his cheek with my blade, causing him to almost shriek. I cackle at his pain as I turn and swing once again. He tries to dodge, but luckily I pierce him in the bicep of his already injured arm. He cries out as I yank it out of his body.

"I WILL TAKE YOU A PIECE AT A TIME IF I MUST! I WILL NOT STOP!" He swings at me, fuming in his injured fury.

A sudden cry distracts me, as I turn to see Link pinned up against a sheet of icy rock by two giants. I almost gasp as I see a third giant swinging his frozen axe at my brother's abdomen.

"LINK!" I immediately take off in his direction, summoning several likenesses to fight them off. There is a blur of color and commotion as we collide. Link is knocked free from their hold, falling to the ground on his knees. I go to help him stand, but as I do, I feel his hesitation.

"Link! Stand up!" I hear him grunting, as I continue to tug at his arm. I look down. My eyes widen in horror. The axe has sunken itself deep into his right side.

"LINK!" I fall to my knees, helping him lie back. He is gasping in choked breaths.

"Link..."

He fixates his eyes upon mine, staring at me. I almost have to look away, for all I can see when I look into them is her. He clutches his hands around the handle of the embedded weapon.

"Don't," I say. "If you remove it, you will only bleed to death faster." He obeys my stern command, barely nodding.

"Loki, we..." he coughs, but thankfully I see no blood come up from his mouth.

"We cannot win this. They are far too strong." I shake my head at him.

"No, we can. We can do this, Link." He scoffs at my reply before closing his eyes.

"Look around you, Brother. The enemy continues to flow like a river around us. We may fight well, but....." he coughs again. "We are no match for them." I feel my eyes beginning to burn with my drowning rage.

"NO! DO NOT SAY THAT!" I grab his face, forcing him to open his eyes.

"YOU ARE MY ONLY MEDINIAN BROTHER, LINK! IF YOU DO NOT BELIEVE IN ME, THEN NO ONE WILL!" His gaze softens at my words. I see a single tear fall from his left eye.

"I will always believe in you, Loki. Even in death." He takes in another struggling breath.

"You are worthy to be my King." He coughs again. This time, blood coats his lips. No......no.....no......

"LINK! NO!" His eyes begin to glaze over as he struggles in staying focused on my face.

"YOU CANNOT GIVE IN!"I am shouting in his face, shaking him.

"YOU CANNOT DIE!"

He brings a hand up and grabs my arm. I can feel the frostbitten chill from his touch even through my armor.

"Take care of my wife, Loki. And watch over Christiana." I shake my head as tears begin falling down my face, dripping from my cheeks down onto his armored chest. I lift my eyes to the battle field. As I scan the scene before me, I see that he is right. Even with our new reinforcements, we are being plowed. Completely overrun as more and more giants seem to be appearing out of thin air. They are too many....

I see Daegan fighting alongside Sif, attempting to aid her in holding off four monsters. Thor is close by, taking on two of his own. Heimdall is just on his other side, lunging his towering figure at an oncoming wave of the enemy. As I take in their facial expressions, I can see it there. In each of their eyes. As valiantly as they fight, they can sense it too. We are losing. We are going to be slaughtered.

I close my eyes, as the breath of defeat wafts in my face. Is this truly the end?

I feel his fingers tightening on my forearm. I return my tear filled eyes to his face, finding that he is staring at me with a serious expression.

"We may not be able to win this, Brother...." he gasps rapidly. "But you.....must....kill him." He raises his head up from off of the ground, wincing in pain.

"You MUST kill him for what he did......to her...." His head falls back to the ground with a loud thud, but his eyes stay open.

"LINK!" I shake him. "LINK, STAY WITH ME! PLEASE!" I am sobbing through my desperate cries.

"PLEASE!"

He turns his head in my direction. A sudden smile surfaces upon his lips as he stares into the air above me. I watch as he seems to be focusing in on some unseen presence.

"Link?" I sob.

"I can see her, Loki," he whispers. What?!

"I can see her in the clouds. She is waiting for me." I turn and look up into the air. I see nothing.

"Who?" I ask, looking back to him. His smile widens as he chuckles.

"Beautiful...." he whispers. He coughs again, summoning more blood. But he does not allow this to hinder his tranquil aura.

"She is beautiful." I shake him again, forcing him to look at me.

"Link...please..." I choke. "You cannot die. You must stay strong. Please....do not leave me.....You are I have left of her." His smile fades just a bit as the green in his eyes begins to lose their light. No......

"You are wrong, Brother," he breathes. I lean in closer to his face, straining to hear his muted words.

"Christine....." he whispers. A knife stabs my heart at the sound of her name.

"She never left you, Loki....she is alive....in here...." He weakly points at my chest in the direction of my heart.
Then, his green turns gray as their flames are extinguished. His body goes limp within my hands as his last breath exits his mouth. I am left alone, completely numb. Empty.

My insides thrash as my pain swallows them whole. I cry out in agony from the relentless turmoil, as my numbness dissolves into one of flaming fury. My heart is no longer frozen, nor is it thawed. It is blazing. Blazing with fire as I allow it to consume my entire being.

How can she live in my heart, if it has been turned to ash?