Page 10 of Loki

"Three. Found a third one this morning. Three arrows in two weeks is a new record, Karl said." The words were out of her mouth before Jorunn could stop them. Shit.

Another sigh. "If the borders weren't closed, I'd give up and go home to Australia. I'm not cut out for this."

Time to make amends. "Don't talk like that." Jorunn slung an arm around Sibyl's shoulder and gave her a supporting squeeze. "We're the first ever dual Harald Medal winners. The only two in a decade. Hundreds of candidates entered, and they picked us. We're the best there is. Saint Nik never won a medal. He's just jealous, not to mention bitter that it's our prize money that's funding this entire expedition. He wouldn't even be here if it weren't for us. We've only been out here two weeks. I bet your Buggerup dig didn't find anything in the first two weeks, either. We've got three arrows, and a bunch of other stuff."

Sibyl managed a watery smile. "Burrup, not Buggerup. And yeah, it took them three years of underwater survey work to find a site as rich as the one they finally did locate."

"Maybe we should push Saint Nik in the lake, and see if he finds anything interesting there." Even better, hold him under for a while and hope he drank some prehistoric bug in the lake water that gave him some agonising illness.

"He'd probably make us do his laundry while he sulks in his tent until his gear is dry. Or insist on borrowing our gear instead," Sibyl said.

Ugh, doing Nik's laundry while he had some ghastly gastro bug? Jorunn wanted to gag. "And he wouldn't wash it before he gave it back, either. Imagine having to wear your gear after he'd sweated in it for days, unwashed. Just kill me now."

"Only if you'd do the same for me," Sibyl said.

Things had gotten really bad if they were making death pacts. Jorunn would have to try harder to cheer up her roommate.

"Or...I could help you wish the dishes tonight, after dinner, and when everyone's gone to bed, you could help me liberate a bottle of Lara's aquavit and we could share it in the tent later. What do you say?" Jorunn asked. She'd forgotten to grab the bottle yesterday, or they'd be able to head straight to the tent.

Sibyl bit her lip. "You found an arrow today. That means you've won a night off doing the dishes. Plus...aren't those bottles all we have for the whole trip? What if Lara notices one missing?"

Jorunn opened her mouth to tell Sibyl she already had Lara's permission, but Andreas walked past, and she didn't want anyone else thinking they could just help themselves to the alcohol stash. They'd be out in three days – she'd seen how much those guys could drink. "They're for medicinal purposes. If she asks, I'll tell her Saint Nik was sapping our will to live, and nothing would restore it except some water of life. She'll understand. Besides, with the expedition budget higher than usual, we have a regular supply run. Jakop and his horses will be back in no time, and she can always order more for the next trip."

"All right, then," Sibyl said, like she was still agreeing to a death pact.

Jorunn tried harder. "Ah, the day's not even half over. Who knows? This afternoon, we might find one of Hemsworth's ancestors, complete with a hammer as big as he is, and he'll take one look at Saint Nik and pound him so deep into a glacier, no one will find him for a hundred years." Or Loki could turn up and turn him into...a lemming or something. She could probably handle Nik as a lemming. Especially if a bird swooped out of nowhere and tried to eat him...

"I think you're thinking of Captain America. He's the one who vanished beneath the Arctic ice and woke up much later."

Wait, what? It took Jorunn a moment to remember what they'd been talking about. Oh yeah, superheroes. Definitely not hot villains. "But he was a hot blonde dude, right?"

Sibyl laughed. "Yeah, he was that, too."

Maybe Sibyl hadn't noticed her daydreaming and getting all distracted. This was about cheering Sibyl up, and maybe herself as well. "Well, that's what they do with superhero movies, isn't it? They mash up all the stories into one movie-length one? So who says we won't find Thor holding his hammer, ready to jump to defend your reputation as an archaeologist? Maybe if we drink enough aquavit, he will!"

Sibyl sighed. "All right, all right. Dishes and drinks tonight, whether we find something amazing or nothing at all. Deal?"

"Only if you promise not to talk about leaving again. You're the only one keeping me sane out here," Jorunn said. Or from killing Nik. Maybe she should tell Sibyl about her suspicions. Just in case...

"It's a deal," Sibyl said.

"Right." Jorunn looked around, realising the others were lining up for transects again. She should probably join then, instead of working with Nik. Even after a whole morning of watching him like one of the eagles that occasionally flew overhead, she still had no evidence he'd been stealing stuff. Maybe the arsehole was actually innocent. "Back to work."

NINE

Green and purple streaked the sky, just like arctic foxes running through snow. That's what Thor's mother, Jord, had said those lights were, while his father, Hymir, had feared them. Loki's own mother had told him they were no more dangerous than the moon and stars in the sky, and that no one had ever been harmed by them.

Yet Loki could hear a man screaming...

Thor, his befuddled mind told him. The last time he'd heard Thor scream like that was when he'd turned Thor's belt into a sea serpent, the one thing the warrior feared.

Loki sat up, desperate to see if it was true, whether Thor still lived.

Just in time to see Astrid lift Thor's dripping heart from his chest, as his screams vanished into silence.

Loki could not believe he'd been so blind. He'd poisoned Erik's sons, but in allowing this girl to live, presumably carried off by Fenrir, he'd made a grave error. He should have bitten her when she'd first seized him in the longhouse. Then Thor might still be alive...

"The sacrifice is now complete. He is now a protector who awaits my call," the girl said. "Protector Thor, what will you do when you hear my call?"

---