Thor had sent word to the Palace for his Father and Mother to get here as quickly as they could. He was almost thankful that Loki was still unconscious as the atmosphere in the refuge was tense, one of sheer panic.
Thor sat down at his Brother's bedside. "Loki, if you can hear me. I'm sorry. You know they will do everything they can. I give you my word...but that thing that attacked you was not of our realm."
Frigga and Odin burst through the doors, Odin's voice carried through the refuge as he demanded to know where they where at. He headed straight to Loki, Frigga making her way to Y/N's body which was still on the Soul Forge as the ladies huddled around her, monitoring her and trying to heal her. She was deteriorating, fast.
"Somethings not right Mam. She's not responding to the healing." Tyra was frantic with fear.
"What do you mean? What happened?" Frigga was looking over her body. There was no obvious wounds.
"She healed the Prince Mam, he is still unconscious but I believe he was on the brink of death when she found him. She's exhausted her powers. But something...Something else isn't allowing us to heal her..."
"She healed him?" Frigga had no idea she had possessed those capabilities.
"She healed him once before, in the compound. When we were training, I hit him a little harder than expected. It was just his jaw." Thor informed his Mother sheepishly as he approached, "But it did not drain her powers."
Frigga shook her head, "How? How can she heal him? She manipulates the elements. She shouldn't be able to heal. That's not....if she can heal him, it can't be the root of our problems. Ladies, we need to dig deeper for this one."
"I can only guess it is because she is his Soulmate Mother. That...that thing was not of Asgard that attacked Loki. I do not know how it got here. I could sense something strange." He shook his head.
"Thor, tell Odin I need him here. Now!" Her voice wavered as she looked at him with a fear in his eyes he had never seen before. This information scared her. Touching Y/N's body she could feel powerful dark energy coursing through her body.
Quickly Thor made his way to retrieve his Father, "Father, Mother needs you, she....I've never seen this kind of fear in her before."
Odin looked at Thor with concern but Thor's attention fell to his Brother as Loki began to stir from his state of unconsciousness, he was confused to see Odin sitting at his bedside. The last person he would have expected as matter of fact. When he spied the pitiful look on Thor's face, the tears that were welling in his eyes. His heart dropped.
"Where is she?" Loki pleaded.
"Loki..." Thor's voice was laced with pain.
Frigga's voice carried through the halls cutting him off, "THIS IS SOMETHING MUCH MORE POWERFUL THAN US LADIES!"
Loki jumped from his bed in response, his legs giving way underneath him but Odin caught him before he could meet the ground. "Loki, you cannot go to her, you need to let your Mother work. This may be beyond our capabilities my Son. If your Mother believes it to be dark magic..." Odin dropped his head.
"Take me to her NOW!" The terror in Loki's eyes was apparent. He willed his body to work, to allow him to get to her to save her.
Odin and Thor helped Loki towards where her body lay, as they approached, the Soul Forge began to flash and they watched on as everything around them turned to mayhem.
"We are losing her!"
"Her hearts failing!"
"We need to restart it!"
"No Y/N I will not allow you to leave us, not now, you can't!"
They watched on speechless as Frigga and the ladies worked trying to restart Y/N's heart, they were trying to no avail.
Suddenly everything stopped.
Frigga dropped her head to listen for a heartbeat.
"No......." she breathed.
Y/N's thrashing body now lay still.
A grim silence fell upon everyone. As they turned to see Thor and Odin supporting Loki, looking on at the scene that had unravelled before them.
Frigga shakily pulled herself away from her to approach Loki, his face was interweaved with heartbreak and disbelief.
He had lost her.
She had saved him, and lost her own life as a result.
"Son...I am so sorry." Frigga reached to place her hand on his cheek, "Something...something much stronger than us must have got to her before she saved you."
"No.....no....she can't be.....I...I. She can't! I don't believe it!" Loki shook his head refusing to accept the truth.
Denial was setting in.
Pulling himself from Thor and Odin's grip he stumbled to her, grabbing onto the Soul Forge for support. His body still not completely healed but right now he needed it to stop betraying him.
"You can't be gone Darling." Loki wept as he stroked the hair clinging to her face away. "You can't be..."
That's when he remembered.
The potion.
He gathered as much strength as he could begging his body to allow him to summon the vile in his hands, he just hoped he wasn't too late.
Carefully he opened the stopper on it, cradling her head gently, he supported her jaw so he could press it to her lips and pour it into her mouth. Praying it would work.
"Please...." He whispered, dropping his forehead to rest against her temple. "Save her for me."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Odin, Heimdall and Thor returned to the area where the attack happened at dawns first light, the landscape wasn't like the one Thor had experienced the night before.
Last night the ground had been perilous, jagged rocks had been scattered everywhere, sharp branches and thorns had clawed at the leather of his trousers. The tears on them was proof of that.
Now?
Now it was serene, a peaceful picture as the grass swayed in the gentle breeze no rocks or branches in sight.
He look around completely baffled, "This, this is where we were last night, but it was so different. It was merciless as the rocks and branches...it was so perilous and dangerous." He was dumbfounded.
"Dark magic my Son. If it was a Völva that was indeed involved like your Mother expects, they can use their dark magic to change the landscape, mimic lands that would be perilous for us to navigate." Odin spoke as he scanned the area.
Heimdall stepped forwards, "Where did you find them at?"
Thor wandered through the grasslands, until he spotted an area stained with blood, "Here, this is where she found him lying on the ground." He pointed grabbing their attention. As they studied the area Thor began to wander, he had definitely seen the creature at Y/N's feet last night.
Suddenly he came across a body, exactly where the mountain lion type animal had lay.
"Heimdall! Father! You may want to see this!!" His voice was urgent, as they ushered towards him.
"What is it my Son?" Odin looked to Thor, then he spied the body. "The Völva."
Beaten and bruised, the witch lay lifeless amongst the grass. Her distinct markings covering the skin on her arms and face confirmed Frigga's concerns.
Heimdall bent down to have a closer look. "I thought they were an extinct race? Why did I not see this?" He looked to Odin as he spoke.
"They are powerful Heimdall, the seidr magic that they use allowed them to do many things, simple tasks such as a love spell, raise a storm, but also monstrous things such as send nightmares to kill someone in their very sleep. They were known to be able to take the forms of animals, evidently what this witch did last night. Did you kill it Thor"
He hook his head, "No. I cannot take credit for that. Y/N claimed Hades saved her from an attack."
"This concerns me greatly, I will not lie. We will need to burn her body. To make sure anything dark left within her is destroyed. Odin turned, bellowing out, "GUARDS!"
With that the guards that had escorted the three appeared beside Odin, "See to it the witch is burnt, we cannot risk any dark magic being released within Asgard in these trying times."
"Yes your Majesty," they chorused, with that Odin gestured to Thor and Heimdall to follow as he returned to the horses.
As Thor mounted his horse, he glanced back over his shoulder, scanning the area once more. What had his Brother been doing up here on the mountain anyway? With that he squeezed his horse on to catch up with the other two and make their way to the Palace and to check on Loki and Y/N.