My mind goes blank as I watch the dark prince study the small dragon I have clutched in my arms. His eyes filled with curiosity.

The Terrible Terror stops squirming and hissing, looking back at Loki with its big yellow eyes. After a moment or two I can feel the dragon shrink into my arms, intimidated by the prince, watching him warily. The food it was after long forgotten.

Loki then looks up at me, the fire light making his green eyes dance with mischief and curiosity. This man was radiating power, and much like the Terrible Terror I too wanted to shrink away from him. Back into the shadows of the woods to get away from his piercing gaze.

"What would a young woman, like yourself, possibly want with a dragon?" Loki asks me, his voice calm and light, but the look in his eyes made me feel like I was looking at a predator waiting to strike.

My mind was completely blank, but I knew I had to say something. So I said the first excuse that came to my mind.  "This isn't a dragon." I lie pathetically, clutching the dragon in my arms.

Loki's nose slightly twitches at my lie, he chuckles softly. "Not a dragon?" He asks knowingly.

"That is correct." I tell him, running with my lie. Maybe if I just stuck to it I could fool him? "This is not a dragon."

"What is it?"

"A dog."

"A dog?" Loki asks, clearly not believing my lie.

"Its a rare breed." I tell him, not giving in.

Loki laughs softly shaking his head in disbelief. "Do you really believe you can lie to the god of lies?" He asks me, clearly amused.

"Maybe?" I answered.

Loki's eyes darkened slightly. Probably upset that I, a mere mortal, had the audacity to think I could possibly lie to him, a god. But he forced himself to smile, trying to look unthreatening. Which wasn't working. The magic power coming off of this guy was so thick you could cut it with a knife.

Loki then looked me over, taking in my unusual clothing choices.  My black cloak was over my black armor. Around my neck was a black face mask that, if warn correctly, covered my mouth and nose. Loki's eyes lingered on my side, where my sword hung in its sheath.

"You're a warrior." Loki concluded, but his expression still held a bit of confusion. Like he was trying to decide if I was dangerous or not. "I have not seen your kind dress in this fashion for quite some time. That is rather... interesting." Loki said the word interesting like one might say the word concerning.

"I'm weird?" I tell him, sounding uncertain with my answer.

I couldn't tell him I wasn't human. That would just lead to more questions that I would have to lie through, and I didn't want that. I was having a hard enough time trying to sell my one lie to this god.

Loki snorts in a half hearted laugh. "You certainly are. However, I don't have time to talk to strange little mortals. So if you could just hand over your 'rare dog' I will let you leave here with your life."

The Terrible Terror squawked in my arms, ruffling his wings nervously. Even with all my years of dragon riding training I doubted I could take on a god. If I got into a fight with the dark prince of Asgard I would most likely end up dead,  and the dragon taken. If the books were right Loki was hundreds of years old.

I was only 23.

The odds were not in my favor.

So I did the only thing I could think of. I gasped loudly and pointed past Loki into the dark woods. "Dragon!" I exclaimed with all the surprise I could muster.

Loki whipped around fast, daggers drawn. While I took off, bounding out of the camp sight and back into the safety of the woods impressed with myself for being able to fool the god of lies.

*

It was at times like these I was beyond grateful for my bond with Eclipse. When a dragon chooses you, you become bonded with that dragon not only emotionally, but physically as well. All your senses get enhanced, you become stronger, faster, more agile. Back before Eclipse I could have never ran through the woods at a full sprint in the middle of the night. I would have run into trees, slipped in mud, and just generally would have found ways to split my head open on hard surfaces.

But thanks to Eclipse I could see in the darkness just as well as if I could see in the day time. Which was helpful when one was sprinting past trees as big as apartment buildings.

The Terrible Terror climbed up onto my shoulder, digging his claws into my cloak in order to hang on as I sprinted through the woods. I was feeling pretty good about myself for giving Loki the slip. That was until the dark prince appeared right in my path in a flash of green light.

I yelped in surprise, slamming on my breaks, slipping in the mud. I fell on my butt with a thud. The Terrible Terror squawking in surprise as we both hit the ground.

"Aren't you a slippery one?" Loki asks, standing over the both of us with a mischievous smile.

I mentally added teleportation to one of the prince's many tricks he had up his sleeve. But I couldn't be too concerned about his magical capabilities at the moment. I needed to lose him.

I scramble to my feet, wet and covered in mud. The Terrible Terror climbing up my side, perching himself back on my shoulder. Hissing at Loki, barring its teeth in warning. Waiting for my signal to fight the dark prince. Even wild dragons would sometimes listen to dragon riders and fallow their cues.

I, however, did not share the small dragon's desire to fight the prince. So instead of drawing my weapon I turned to run but stopped dead in my tracks. Loki had surrounded us.

Everywhere I looked the dark prince was there, daggers drawn. There had to be at least 26 Loki's encircling us. Smirking at us. Dozens of green sparking eyes watching my every move.

   Ok so there was another power I mentally put away. Making clones of one's self. (Not super creepy at all.)

"Did you really think that would have worked on me?" One of the Loki's asked me. "Did you really think you could fool me?" Another Loki sounded, making me whip around to try and figure out where his voice was coming from. But every time the prince spoke it was from a different Loki's mouth. Making me feel dizzy and confused. "The All Father sent us here to find a dragon. But I have a sneaking suspicion that you are of more value to me than that little reptile." The Lokis told me.

"Me? More valuable than a dragon?" I asked, trying to make the idea sound absurd. "That's ridiculous."

All the Lokis noses twitched, just like the original one did when I told him the Terrible Terror was a dog, not a dragon. Then they all smiled in the most chilling way possible. "I knew father would reward me nicely if I managed to find a dragon. But I also knew it was an impossible task. After all, everyone knows the dragons no longer live. Or at least that is what the All Father tells his people."

   I was having trouble keeping an eye on all the Lokis around me.

One of the Lokis from the crowd rushed forward at almost impossible speeds. His hand wrapping around my throat.

I stumbled backwards, scared I was going to fall over, but instead my back slammed into a tree painfully. I could feel and hear my back pop from the impact.

"What are you?" Loki asked me, his green eyes holding more than just curiosity behind them. There was something I couldn't quite place. Anger? Fear? Frustration? Mischief? I couldn't tell, all I knew was it made my skin crawl.

The Terrible Terror on my shoulder hissed loudly, pouncing trying to attack the god. Deciding, on its own, to fight the prince. But Loki simply waved his other hand and the dragon got thrown back into a tree. It must have hit its head on impact because it slid down the tree, and crumbled to the floor.

I looked over the dragon, concerned Loki had killed it. But with a sigh of relief I saw it was still breathing.

"More concerned over the dragon than your own life?" Loki asks, drawing my attention back to him. "You are a peculiar one."

"Please." I begged the god, choking and struggling for breath under his iron grip. "You don't understand. Asgard can't know about me. You can't know."

The prince laughed maliciously, leaning in closer. "I am not the type to give mercy so freely."

Panic began to well up in my throat. Either I was going to get killed, or I was going to be taken to Asgard as a prisoner. I couldn't let that happen. I couldn't go to Asgard. I couldn't let there be a war just because I was too chicken to fight.

"Please." I try again. "Please you don't understand." But the look in Loki's eyes told me I had better luck trying to stop winter from coming than I would changing his mind.

"You will be coming back to the palace with me." Loki told me in a clam, yet chilling voice. "I have grown tired of the All Father's secrets." Then he pressed him free hand to my forehead and I began to feel fog seep into my mind, numbing my thoughts and making me extremely tired. The last thing I remembered was Loki taking his hand from my throat and throwing me over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes before darkness over took me.