My capture of Utgard-Loki had not gone as effortlessly as I’d made it look. I had to use [Illusion] to cover most of the fighting that had taken place. The Elfshot required to knock the guards out was much higher than I’d anticipated. They had been able to release a few power blasts of ice and hail into their surroundings before the Azi-fey released enough darts to deliver enough of the narcotic to take hold.

The colony of Azi had survived, but not without cost. Thirteen of the demi-fey had died, the ice the guards had released ripping through their bodies. That alone shouldn’t have cost the small Sidhe their lives, but the ice and hail had been tinted with the essence of Divine magics.

The Jotunn were Gods, able to command the powerful divinity that permeated the realm of Asgard. That essence could be weaponized and was as poisonous and deadly to the Sidhe as iron.

It had taken time to ascertain what it was that had killed them.

Balfour showed me the bodies after the battle was over and the bodies had been reclaimed. Utgard-Loki had been stored. Once that was accomplished, I had time to help Balfour perform a rudimentary autopsy.

He had been unable to determine why the Azi-fey had died so quickly, and I discovered why he was having problems when the few diagnostic tools I had failed. Some of the most advanced technology from Talahm, and they had been no help.

The devices kept returning error messages, or the few times they reached a conclusion, they reported poison, ignoring the damage each of Feys’ bodies had taken.

“The essence attacks and damage to their bodies might have been survivable if the Azi-Fey weren’t in an already weakened state,” Balfour began his explanation after we had run every test we could. I had to have Tia return Balfour and the bodies of the dead to the Sidhe to see if they could discover the problem. They had just returned

“Our bodies are in a constant state of battle with the ambient energies in this realm. We act as magnets, with the Tuatha de Danann on one side of the magnet and the ambient powers of Asgard on the other.

“Our bodies are fighting off those energies, trying to erase them and purge them. That fight is happening within our very cells, a constant attack on what our bodies have been programmed to treat as a virus.”

“Will we get to the point that we are immune, then?” I asked, wondering if the Sidhe body could evolve an immunity to the impurities of the Asgardian energies.

“You are probably already immune,” Balfour offered, “Tia, Ag, and I have some immunity already. It is why Ag wasn’t killed when Utgard-Loki laced his attacks with essence.”

“If you have built an immunity already, why haven’t the Azi-Fey?” I wondered.

“The Sidhe I spoke with believes it may be because of their nature and that they are newly born. The Fey and [Fairy] are intricately linked. If the Fey dies, [Fairy] dies. Nimue believes that arriving in this Realm has weakened their connection with [Fairy] and compromised the central tenant of their magic.”

That theory held a certain logic. Historically, when tribes of Man met for the first time, those people that had never developed immunity to the illnesses of Man had been wiped out.

“Should I send them back?” I wondered.

“It is too late for that,” Balfour reminded me, “they have already been compromised. It is better for them to stay, to build up their immunity as their bodies heal and grow used to the ambient divine essence.”

“That and they don’t want to return,” Tia added. “They are angry that their brethren have been killed. Unsurprisingly, any Sidhe would be. They want vengeance, and if they can’t kill those responsible, at least they can help you attain your goals and the item you are after.”

“How is Ag?” I said, changing the subject as I reached through the companion bond to probe for any lingering pain.

Ag had been key to our success. She could move through [Shadow]; that ability had allowed us to spirit Utgard-Loki out of Utgard.

The Jotunn saw the [Illusion] I projected of Thor carrying the captured king across the skies, a false image to give credibility to Thor’s actions and a bit of misdirection to allow Ag to drag Utgard-Loki through shadow to the prison we had prepared.

But that had not come without cost. A few Jotunn that could wield magic had been releasing spells indiscriminately. One of those spells had the misfortune to strike Ag as he crept through [Shadow] to leave the city. That by itself might not have been a problem if Utgard-Loki hadn’t woken with the attack.

“Her wounds have healed,” Tia assured me.

We had erred in the amount of Elfshot it would take to keep Utgard-Loki in [Sleep]. He had woken long enough to attack Ag for a few moments before the Azi-fey acted. A few had been following to safeguard passage to the cave, and those few had peppered him with enough darts to fell hundreds of Sidhe.

Utgard-Loki had infused his attack against Ag with concentrated Asgardian essence. His control over the divine heightened because he was a leader of Gods. The Jotunn were as powerful and capable of wielding the divine energies of Asgard as the Asgardians.

I needed to use focused healing on Ag for the wounds to begin to heal. Even as durable as she was, a few bones had been all but pulverized. The most egregious injury had been a rib that had been splintered, each splinter of bone exploding into the surrounding organs.

I had needed to guide the bone fragments carefully, my magic working overtime to stem the bleeding of a compromised body, working to remove the Asgardian essence that was poisoning it.

Some of the bones, much of the muscle, and a great deal of the organs had been ground into a paste. Ag was in no real danger of death. Even if I hadn’t used advanced healing magic to help her, she would eventually have healed on her own.

But it was hard not to be concerned. I had found the bond between us deepening after I had appointed Draioct as my incarnation of [Illusion].

I felt even more guilt when I realized I was happy that she wasn’t Azi-Fey. Ag had been with me for a long time. We had been bonded for years; her death would have left a gaping wound where her soul connected with mine.

I knew my relief was selfish, but ruling as a [Ranked: King] was a lonely business, and Ag was one of the few beings I could trust completely.