Loki's Arc

Chapter 1 of 3

Loki wanted a seat in Odin's hall that no one could take back. He had wit, blood-oath brotherhood with Odin, and a hundred old debts the Aesir owed him. He had no ally. In a hall of gods who feared his tongue, one voice meant nothing. They would let him speak, then vote him down and laugh. So he walked to the rainbow bridge, where the guardian would surely stop him first. Heimdall stood at the foot of the shimmering span, horn across his chest, sword bare. His gold eyes tracked Loki before Loki's feet touched the first stone. This was the one god born to kill Loki, and be killed by him, when the world ended. He did not blink. "Turn back, shape-shifter," Heimdall said. "I hear your heart. It lies even when your mouth is shut." "I only want passage," Loki said. "To sit and speak in the hall like any of you." "You want a throne," Heimdall said. "I will give you the bridge, and nothing more, and I will watch you cross it." The bridge burned bright behind him, a road of colored light bordered in gold and stone. Loki weighed his choices. Trickery here was useless. Heimdall could shut his eyes and find him by heartbeat alone. He needed the one thing no lie could buy. Thunder answered before Loki spoke. Thor came down the bridge, hammer swinging at his side, red cape dragging light across the stones. Of all the Aesir, only he still called Loki friend. They had quarreled, traveled, and bled together. Thor had also sworn to show no mercy for Loki's next cruelty. Both truths lived in him at once. "Heimdall," Thor said. He did not slow. "Let him pass." "He plots," Heimdall said. "He always plots." Thor stopped between them. "He also carried Mjölnir's return when the giants stole it. He owes Asgard mischief. Asgard owes him too." Heimdall's sword did not lower. "And when he turns on us?" Thor looked at Loki a long moment. Loki said nothing. He had learned that Thor spoke best without help. "Then you watch him," Thor said. "Every hour. Every shape. You hear his heart already. Guard him, and I stand for him in the hall. My word beside his voice." The offer landed hard. Heimdall could refuse a trickster. He could not easily refuse the thunder god and the watchman's own duty in one breath. Heimdall lowered the sword. "He crosses. But he is never out of my sight or my hearing. I will hear the beat of his heart until the day it stops." "Agreed," Thor said. Loki bowed his head to hide his smile. He had a champion in the hall now, the mightiest of the Aesir. His lone voice had a second behind it. He stepped onto the bridge. Behind him, Heimdall closed his eyes and began to listen. Loki had won his ally. He had also gained a warden who would never look away.