Siblings & Spellwork [for Hrtofdrkns]

[Brat Prince]

A spell for protection from dragons; it sounded like a great thing right? Loki had certainly thought so when he had looked it up in one of his more ancient tomes. True it was a terribly tricky spell, one that required certain ingredients in order for it to function properly, but it could be placed around the entire capitol city of Alfheimr. Not even the royal elf mages could have boasted such a wide ranging protective barrier, and while protecting the city was noble the recognition he would receive for his spell work was even more of a lure for the young elf. His elder brother and his friends were all earning honor and attention through adventuring and fighting mighty beasts (like dragons), but Loki simply wasn’t like them. He was not the sort for full frontal confrontation, and no matter how hard he tried he wasn’t all that great with a sword or bow… but what he did have was his magical prowess.

So, a spell of protection it was. Going after the great scaly creatures one by one was all well and good, but making certain that the city and her people would be permanently safe should any more decide to come nearby was obviously far better. Currently Loki had all of the necessary ingredients and was sprinting through the dark forest with all the speed he could muster, clutching at the last one. He was a thin youth of nearly 14 years, graceful as a deer and with shaggy ink black curls that fell to his narrow shoulders. His green eyes flashed brightly as he bounded and cleared a fallen tree that would have caused a human to have to change course, hearing a thunderous crack and smash as the mighty felled trunk was shattered behind him moments later, followed by an enraged roar.

Those ingredients that the protection spell required had caused young Loki something of a sticky situation. You see in order to protect from something you were often in need of a piece of the thing you were guarding against… in this case, a dragon. Unfortunately, old shed scales (tricky enough to get as they were) would simply not cut the mustard. If he were trying to protect say, the family home or a single stretch of farmland, then that would have been sufficient. But seeing as he was trying to protect an entire metropolis the young sorcerer needed something fresher. Well, actually, several somethings. So he was now triumphantly in possession of a handful of glimmering ruby red dragon scales, just plucked and ready to be added to the simmering concoction waiting in his tower bedroom. All he had to do was reach his home and add them in before the furious dragon he had taken them from caught up with him… or decided to take out its rage on the city itself.

Loki snatched up a bright smooth stone he had placed on his return path for just such an emergency, barely breaking his stride as another roar ripped through the forest. Surely the city was going to be on alert by now. At least he sort of hoped so. It would be unfortunate if his spell didn’t take effect quickly enough and there wound up being some damage done after all. The moment that he placed the smooth stone to his lips he felt a sharp tug in his chest and found himself passing the tree line of the forest near his family’s home, roughly ten miles ahead of where he had been. It wasn’t a massive head start on such a large brute, but it was much better than nothing at all and he wasn’t as close to be barbecued as he had been seconds ago.

He hit the large home’s carved oak door just as yet another enraged snarl ripped out of the woods, sending clouds of birds up into the air in distress, bowling through it and aiming for the tower where his room was located. “Dragon coming but I can fix it!!” he called breathlessly as he passed the door to the feast hall where he fleetingly saw the table set for the noonday meal, still flying and pelting up the stairs like his life depended on it… which it probably did.

[Hrtofdrkns]

Seth had only just removed his armor when the alarm bells sounded. Two short rings, one long.

A dragon? But why? Most of the beasts knew better than to approach an elven settlement.

Which a grunt he ran a hand through he close-cropped dark hair and put his chair shirt back on, grabbing his twin swords and his bow. At least one of his friends hadn't had time to leave yet and could help out.

****

Stepping into the great hall he saw that Renton had already assembled with the city watch and spellguard. He was a longtime friend of Seth, they had gotten into their share of trouble as boys, but with dwarves living on average about half as long as elves appeared much older. The wizard struck the stone floor with the bottom of his staff as he addressed the gathered elves in the way only a true elf-friend would be tolerated.

"I don't want any off you screaming and running off like yellow-bellied cowards or that dragon will be the least of your problems!" Renton shouted, his greying beard shaking as he did so. He gave a nod to Seth, then went back to badgering/pumping up the assembled elves.

Seth was about to ask a servant if he had seen his brother when the boy ran right past him, clutching something red.

Something shiny red...

"Loki!"

****

Seth grabbed the boy by the back of his shirt collar, lifting him a few inches off the ground and looking into his eyes. The scales fell to the boy's feet before scattering all over the stairs.

[Brat Prince]

One moment you're racing like the wind itself with victory in hand and failure chomping at your heels and the next, your being hoisted into the air like a kitten by your elder brother. Loki barely caught that his name had been called out by Seth, but he could not ignore when his feet left the ground or the choke hold on the back of his dark green tunic. Dropping the scales with a clinking noise both of his hands flew back to try and pry his brother's fingers off him. He looked more than a little desperate as his bright green eyes looked pleadingly into Seth's.

"I've set up a spell to protect us all, the whole city!" he said pinwheeling his legs and trying to reach the floor again while his hands worked. "But it needs those scales to be complete Seth, please you've got to let me go so I can add them before it gets here! Please let me help!"

Being held captive like this the thirteen year old looked even more scrawny and helpless than usual, his raven curls falling into his fine featured face. His eyes kept darting down to the scales even as another alarm cut through the air, and a not so distant rumble signaled how very close the threat was. "Seth put me down please! I can fix it!" Loki said desperately.

[Hrtofdrkns]

The larger elf glared at the boy, then set him down. "Alright, you can try while I hold it off. But you won't sit for a week after I get back."

It was an open secret how Loki was punished. Yelps and cries coming from the boy's room were common, and more than once a servant had walked in on him being spanked bare bottom over his older brother's lap. Or with his nose in a corner and his flaming red behind on display.

As his brother's guardian Seth was strict, believing firm discipline was the only way to keep the spirited boy out of more trouble than he was usually in. He used a big, heavy wooden hairbrush to spank the boy. It make short work of Loki's soft little bottom and always had him wailing like a toddler before the spanking ended.

[Brat Prince]

Too frantic at the moment to quail under his brother's stern glare, or to absorb fully that he had just been promised a serious spanking, he was moving as soon as his booted feet touched the flagstone floor. "No try about it Seth, you'll see." Was his only comment as he scooped up all the scales and took the spiraling stairs to his room two and three at a time. If his calculations were correct (as they usually were) then the enraged beast was likely to pop up at the border a few miles south of their family home, near one of the main roads into Alfheim. The key he knew, as he ran through his door in a green flash after muttering a spell of intangibility as he went, was going to be completing this concoction before he got there. Loki was sure that even if it got within the boundaries before the spell was enacted that it would be thrown out by the force of the spell. But it was sort of the point to stop it before hand.

With another wailing alarm sounding and a roar cutting through the air the boy knew it was going to be a race to the finish.

Loki dropped hard to his knees before his simmering cauldron, the mixtures steam rising in the steady spiral shaped swirls that his book indicated it should have. Taking a heavy breath as his heart tried beating its way out of his chest he raven haired youth tapped the scales in his trembling hands until they were stacked like a deck of cards. His instructions said they needed to be added one after another as the final spell was chanted. After shutting his eyes and a steadying breath or two in which he forced himself to ignore the chaos around him, Loki began slipping one scale after the next into the steaming cauldron as he began the incantation.

The brew, which had been a sluggishly bubbling purple mixture, now began to fizz and pop and changed to the same brilliant red of the scales being added to it. As Loki's light voice cut the air strange gleaming green runes that pulsed brightly and seemed to smoke (a hallmark of his magics) surrounded him and the cauldron in a ring, hanging in the air before suddenly starting to expand. The rune-ring was soon beyond the confines of the tower room, stretching and spreading with each scale and muttered word. As the dragon faced off against the hastily rallied troops of Seth and Renton at the southern road border the rune-ring had grown to encompass nearly all of Alfheim that lay just behind them.

Loki, his eyes still shut and brow knotted in concentration, felt the last few scales slip from his fingers into the fizzing mixture as he spoke the last words of protection. As they slipped beneath the surface the dragon's fiery breath cut a singe mark into the ground at the warriors feet, it was sure of it's victory... at least it was; until the potion simultaneously turned a pure a radiant white in Loki's tower room and the rune-ring suddenly and fully expanded to enclose the cities full borders, sweeping over the elves who stood to fight like nothing more than a bright mist but colliding with the fierce beast. There was an almighty crash and green magical energy rose from the rune-ring as it shoved and bowled the dragon back into the woods, creating a dome of greenish liquid light over all.

[Hrtofdrkns]

"That was reckless and stupid!" Seth scolded the boy in his room once he was back. "You could have been killed! Everyone could have been killed because of you!" He was furious, and wasn't shy about letting Loki know it.

"Even if that spell holds up, and no guarantee it will, we now have a dragon with a grudge! No one can leave the city without the risk of an attack!"