Chapter 45
Loki had to admit that he was still nervous about this situation. Furthered simply by the fact that he had no idea why it was that they were going to Rohan in the first place, when their goal had been to rescue Merry and Pippin, those brash hobbit creatures. He was not going to to say that he cared too much about the sudden switch in their position, but it was concerning. He was not overly sure that he was willing to blindly believe Aragorn. For all that Legolas seemed to trust the other, Loki did not, and he had seen his fair share of people who kept secrets. This one, it could be a dangerous one. They could be falling for a trap, for one. Loki had his fair share of people who claimed that they were trying to help, claimed that they wanted to aid him, only to find out that it had been a great lie to further lure him into their grand schemes. It was dangerous, those types of people, and it made him even more wary that Aragorn refused to admit who it was that had informed him of the issues in Rohan.
Not that Loki doubted that they were true. To every great lure there is a truth, after all. It was harder to lie than it was to tell the truth. Lying took effort, it took smarts, it took time and planning, a good one did at least. Loki had given enough lies that he knew how to spot those who were able to manage them. He did not much care for lies, though, preferring to hurt with the truth that he had spoken not a word wrong. It was more hurtful to everyone else that way, and his anger and hatred merely increased with how much that they had dared to hurt him. He exacted his vengence, even if many would not understand the reasons behind them. Not many would try, though, and that cleared any issue that he worried about when it came to being scolded.
"We are here," Aragorn said gently. Loki hummed, pulling forwards as he kicked a few stray pebbles from the path. Aragorn was watching him curiously, and he knew Gimli and the Elves were likely doing the same. He ignored their pitiful stares, merely glancing down through the streets. There was a sort of...dark layer of magic that lay thick in this place. It was not obvious, no. No this was more like a mist that gently rolled through every area of this place, laying thick in the air, flooding every single portion of the city. It was cloying, and it was difficult for Loki to muddle through, but he had seen sorcerers do worse than this with less, and so it did not necessarily bother him too much.
"It would seem whoever it was that decided to warn you of Rohan was correct, in some way at least. There is a dark sense here. Magic. Though not normal kind, at least, the normal kind for this place. Dark in nature, that much is sure, but what it is supposed to do...I am uncertain. I doubt that it does anything good, that much is more than clear." Loki hummed as he continued forwards. "We are bound to find the cause there," He said quietly, pointing towards the castle. "I can see the mist is strongest there." They did not question the odd wording, to which Loki was grateful, but he knew that it would merely be added to the list of questions that Haldir had for him later. He would deal with that when the problem came, however, and for now he was stuck navigating through a near absent city.
It was as though it were abandoned, though Loki knew that the opposite was true. He could sense the humans that cowered in their houses, the crackling of an odd fire ever so often as they walked through the place. He did not really know what was going on, but he would not hold it against him that these humans knew something was off outside, and tried to hide from it inside. Of course, that would work perhaps temporarily, but he doubted that it would work forever. Soon enough, if nothing was done, this mist would filter through whatever pitiful defenses these humans had come up with.
Picking their way through the city they managed to reach the castle in rather record time. Loki felt a sort of sliver of unease. After all, they had not warned anyone that they were coming to speak with the King, or even entering Rohan to begin with. To be honest, Loki had no idea if they were even going to be speaking to this Rohan King or if they were going to be doing something else entirely. he had not bothered to ask. It was an oversight on his part, but one that he could just as easily work with nonetheless.
"Hello," Aragorn spoke, Loki having dropped towards the back as they walked up the stairs that led to the entrance of the castle. He did this for a reason, partially because he did not want to be noticed quite yet, but also because he wanted to see how this would be handled. Aragorn was supposedly some great man, and Loki was tired of doing all the diplomacy. His lack of understanding regarding the maps would become obvious the more that he was noticed. He would rather avoid that...particular...disaster. "We wish to speak to King Theoden."
"Weapons and armor, please,"
Loki was the last to release his weapons, which were a mere two daggers, having not grabbed anything else barring what he had on him in the first place. Legolas had glanced back rather surprised he would presume. Loki was, after all, not the most combat type person. Oh he could hold his own, make no mistake, but he preferred to use his cunning and intellect to get himself out of situations. It worked well in his favor before, and had never been an issue. His daggers, along with his magic and intelligence, had always been more than enough for him.
"Thank you," He muttered to the guard softly.