Heart Of Fire

The water was a piercing cold but Nevaeh started laughing and so did Loki. They half-walked, half-floated ahead, glancing in the brink of dawn amidst the twinkling stars, and between it, at each other. Nevaeh's hair was floating behind her in the water and the cold night's breeze was making her teeth chatter. Loki halted abruptly when they were waist-deep in the sea and held Nevaeh's forearm, making her to stop and curiously look at him.

'Restrictions,' whispered Loki, letting go of her hand, 'Especially for beings like us, can be soul crushing. I have suffered my fair share of restrictions back in Asgard, but I live there no longer.'

Nevaeh was about to open her mouth to say something but she held herself back. She had a feeling that Loki had not finished what he wanted to say, in fact, she felt as though he had just begun, so she just stood there and blinked at him. They were standing waist-deep into the water and the cold breeze was freezing Nevaeh's nose. The constant waves of the ocean were hitting them and Loki's unbuttoned emerald shirt was clinging to his body with the Norn stone gleaming on his chest. On any given day Loki would've concealed the little chain dangling with power within his clothes, but tonight he felt like being free.

'Magic is a power that is serpentine. You have that power brimming within you, and it is not your fault that you have no clue about what you are or can be! The true power of magic will be revealed to you when you fight your fears! Restrictions stunt us! Only you can break free from the shackles, under which you are tied,' Loki said staring unblinkingly at her.

On any given day Nevaeh would've responded to such a statement with a sarcastic comment like, 'Are you about to say come to the dark side?' but Loki's words had reality echoing within them, the words that had renewed her need of knowing more that she was told. A chilly gush of wind made Nevaeh shiver with cold. She touched her nose which was feeling as though it were an ice cube. Loki brushed her shoulder gently. She felt sudden warmth spreading throughout her body, even though his hands weren't particularly warm.

'Are you cold?' Loki asked glancing down at her as she placed her hand on his shoulder.

'Not anymore,' Nevaeh said, closing her eyes a moment before opening them again. She watched Loki blinking at her through his sparkling green eyes. She brushed his sleek, wet hair off his forehead, making him close his eyes for half a second.

Loki stared into her dark, almond eyes. He lifted her chin lightly by his finger, her lips spreading into a thin, blushing smile as she looked at him with bated breath. Loki tilted his head beneath. Nevaeh closed her eyes, her hand trembling on Loki's arm. Nevaeh felt Loki's nose touch hers and with that she felt her heart stopping inside her chest.

'No' whispered Loki.

He suddenly let go of her, shaking his head. Nevaeh blinked. She was stunned with this sudden change of Loki's heart, which in turn was crushing hers. She looked at him with a blank expression as he walked a few steps into the water, only to return back to his original spot, running both his hands over his face. Nevaeh wanted to scream at the top of her lungs, till his ears started bleeding, till he went deaf, but she was too confused and heartbroken to act.

Loki took a deep breath. 'Ever since I met you –'he was saying but Nevaeh made an audibly exasperated sound.

'You seriously want to talk more?' Nevaeh asked, waving her hands wildly and making the water splash all around. 'In the past ten hours, you have started fifteen sentences with the words "Ever since I met you" WE TALKED ENOUGH! Damn it, Loki! Come here!'

Loki was pleasantly surprised when she grabbed him by his shirt collar and pulled him towards her. Loki put a finger on her lips and straightened himself, chuckling lightly. 'I feel your frustration! Trust me! I just need to do this the right way. I will make this quick!' Loki said hastily as he set himself free from Nevaeh's death grasp.

'God, fine! But no more sentences beginning with "Since I met you,"' snapped Nevaeh, brushing her hair off her face.

Loki nodded. He held the Norn stone around his neck into his hand and took a deep breath. 'The night I acquired this stone for my mischievous purposes, before I took it, I was wishing of wielding a different Norn stone which was held opposite to this one,' Loki said, letting go of the stone. 'I tried to take it, but it wasn't budging, so I took this one instead. The odd thing was that after I acquired my stone, I felt oddly attracted towards the first one, even though I knew it wouldn't bend to my wishes, which was unlike me.' Loki continued. 'But as soon as I went towards it, it voluntarily soared towards me. I quickly put the spell for maintaining an illusion of it. Weird thing was that it didn't work when I tried wielding it and I constantly wondered why I risked taking it. Carrying Norn stones, two at once, can be unbearable at times, yet I did,' finished Loki.

Nevaeh could not understand why Loki felt the need of this sudden, odd revelation at such a moment, but she patiently gave it a thought nevertheless. 'So, you carried a useless stone for weeks and you are feeling foolish about it?' she asked slowly.

Loki chuckled, shaking his head in disapproval. 'Oh, on the contrary.' He waved his arm in a circular motion and twisted his wrist, holding out his palm in front of Nevaeh. A red, triangular shaped stone was sitting inside his palm and Nevaeh instantly felt guilty for calling it useless. It was a beauty she felt she could never digest. It had sharp cuts all over it which appeared as thin veins inside the twinkling scarlet triangle.

'When you visited my bedchambers, I was pondering over this very thing, but I had no idea what to turn it into,' Loki whispered. Nevaeh had no idea what he was talking about. She was merely fathoming over the magnificent scarlet stone inside Loki's palm. 'To contain a powerful stone, there needs to be a powerful shell for it, as I have for mine. I thought I cannot wield it because I did not bewitch it.'

'Why didn't you repeat the magic when you made one for yours?' asked Nevaeh.

'I was pretty occupied back then. Anyway, I thought about turning it into a pendant like the one I have,' Loki said. The stone within his palm suddenly appeared as though it were encased in a thin glass and had a chain around it. Nevaeh made an impressed face.

'But then, I thought it would be better if it were something different, like –'Loki was saying and the stone turned itself into a ring, which had the hugest rock on it, making it look a tad odd.

'That looks a bit much,' she laughed.

'I know,' said Loki. 'I even wondered of turning it into a bracelet or something.' Nevaeh quickly glanced down at the stone which did not turn itself into a bracelet, but on the contrary, it returned to its original self, to sit still on his palm once again. Nevaeh was looking at the stone with mild suspicion; it was oddly well-behaved for a stone that wasn't budging towards Loki's wishes.

'But then it dawned on me,' Loki said slowly, 'it was so obvious.' Loki held his other hand over the gem and stared at Nevaeh with visible twinkle in his eyes. 'Indeed I carried the stone for a long time, but why? Because the stone was meant to be wielded by a Queen.'

Loki began moving his fingers above the stone without touching it. Nevaeh's eyes reflected green under the emerald light emitting from Loki's fingers, binding around the stone. A thin gold-silver metal began twirling around both its sides, tangling in tight knots, circling and glowing. Nevaeh narrowed her eyes between the light flashing in front of her and her heart was beating fast in her chest as she witnessed some hard-core magic. She tilted her head below as she fathomed over Loki's spell, unable to take her eyes off of it. Loki shifted an inch ahead, brushing his lips on her forehead for a moment. He smiled and withdrew his hand slowly, the light fading from over the stone.

Nevaeh gasped louder than she meant to. Loki was holding a silver-gold tiara, with the red, triangular shaped stone embedded in the middle. Its metal had a unique veil-like surface which looked like thin leaves and petals. Nevaeh wanted to touch it but she couldn't take her eyes off of the heavenly piece of work Loki had turned it into.

'It is beautiful,' whispered Nevaeh as Loki went behind her, with the tiara hovering in front of her. Loki gathered Nevaeh's wet hair and put them behind her back, a few strands lingering on her face as she tilted her head sideways to watch him. The tiara slowly turned towards Loki.

Loki brushed his lips gently on her cheek, compelling Nevaeh to close her eyes. He placed the tiara on her head and slowly brushed his hands down, halting them on her waist. Nevaeh turned around, her hair whipping on Loki's face and sticking on his neck. He brushed Nevaeh's hair off her face with his finger and held the side of her head.

'This is how you kiss a Queen,' whispered Loki. Nevaeh smiled as she held on to him. Loki brushed his lips on the back of her hand before meeting them with hers, and he could feel his body tremble along with her. Nevaeh clutched Loki's hair by her hand. She felt as though her fingers on Loki's neck might penetrate his skin.

Loki's lips were trembling as he kissed Nevaeh after waiting for what seemed like a decade, and he was not prepared to let go of her anytime soon. Loki saw a hint of red glow in front of his shut eyes and he opened his eyes for a moment to realize that the stone atop Nevaeh's head was blinking rapidly. He parted his lips from hers but Nevaeh kept her eyes tightly shut. She leaned against his body and embraced him. Loki felt her heart beat wildly against his chest. They hugged each other for what felt like hours disguised as seconds.

'Why don't you give your stone a test run?' Loki said after a while.

They were in the middle of an ocean, so the options of experimenting were limited. Nevaeh slowly held out her wand and touched the surface of the water. She started revolving her wand in while Loki wondered what she had in mind. The water was spinning beneath her wand, like a mini whirlpool. She circled the water one last time, before sharply reversing her gesture once.

A flat, thin, circular layer of fire slowly erupted on the surface as the water stopped spinning. A wave of water splashed on the little fire ball and it burned brighter as it crackled soothingly, making Loki chuckle with amusement. 'Testing extremities? Good for you.'

Nevaeh laughed, watching the fire burn over the water. Loki watched Nevaeh's face bathed in the warmth of the fire, and he smiled lightly. He waved his arm over the spherical fireball, and moved his fingers as though tugging on strings.

The fire crackled a little as it slowly turned its round shape to a heart one. Nevaeh smiled as she saw the heart of fire float in the water for a moment before Loki made it stand up straight, with its point touching the water.

'Who knew you were such a romanticist,' she said coyly.

The wind was gushing heavily but the heart of fire merely crackled merrily. Loki smiled at a happy Nevaeh who was looking heavenly under the brink of dawn. Nevaeh was lost for words as she stared into his green, gleaming eyes, so she kissed him, and conveyed her feelings without words for a change. She couldn't remember the last time she had felt so alive, so happy and so neck-deep into her emotions.

She flicked her wand in the air. A single scarlet beam soared high in the breaking dawn and crackled on top of them, engulfing the sky into golden fireworks, which dazzled the air as though it were the 4th of July.

Loki kissed Nevaeh's forehead as he watched the fireworks crackle above them, the sparks enveloping them in a canopy over the water and he extended his hand. Nevaeh slid her hand into his and they started strolling towards the shore.

Loki's Norn stone was blinking a bright emerald and Nevaeh's tiara was glowing a fierce scarlet amongst the luminous stone studded at its centre. They walked hand in hand, smiling and blushing, strolling on the sea shore and halting in front of her house. Nevaeh looked into Loki's eyes as the sky above them faded with the sparks of the fireworks. Although it was the end of an extraordinary adventure, Loki had a strong feeling that their real journey had just begun...