Loki: Why I Began the End by Maia Jacomus

disappeared, leaving nothing but a splash of water in a puddle on the ground.
         I futilely shouted, “No! She’s not Freya!” but of course he couldn’t hear me; he was already gone—and so were you. I then began shouting at Odin, “Just give them their stupid gold back!”
          “It’s all been melted down,” Odin said. “It will be no use to them now.”
          “It’s as useful as it was before, lying stagnant at the bottom of the river. It can do that in any form!”             
         He just pat me on the shoulder and said, “This is a challenge I am certain you can subdue, brother.”
          “ Challenge ? This isn’t a challenge, this is the Rhine Father abducting my wife because you want a big, shiny tavern for dead people!”
         Odin remained completely sober as he said, “And what of Iduna’s abduction? She’s someone’s wife, stolen for some shiny apples. Was that more than a challenge to you?”
         I just tried to shrug off his little lesson by saying, “Not really even a challenge.” But the look in his eye was finite: It was obvious that Odin wasn’t going to do anything. As usual, it was up to me. But I didn’t have a plan of any kind. I couldn’t conceive any level of deception that I could employ against the Rhine Father. The only plan I could think of was to restore the gold taken from his daughters—if not from Vallahalla, then from wherever I could get it.
         Upon reviewing the fiasco, when Freya’s name crossed my mind, the answer became inescapably clear. But I knew I would have to wait two nights in order for it to work, and I couldn’t in all conscience…I’m sorry. I’ve never been able to use that word with a straight face, regardless of context. Anyway, I couldn’t—in good judgment—just leave you unguarded with the Rhine Father for two nights. So I formed into a night owl and found where he kept you hidden near the source of the river. I suspect he knew it was me, but since all I was doing was watching, he didn’t mind. I had contemplated swooping down to peck at his eyes a few times, but I thought I would have an easier time saving you if I were alive and unmaimed.
         The third night after, I went into Freya’s home unannounced. She ranted and raved. I told her to shut up and listen. She threatened to dismember me. I took a step back and tried to explain my plan to her: “I need that ring the dwarfs made for you.”
          “Draupnir?” she asked, clutching the thing to her like it was her baby.
          “I need it to clear Odin’s debt with the Rhine Father and save my wife.”
          “I’m not giving you anything, you—”
          “That damned ring is just further proof of your whoring around!”             
         Her face turned three shades of purple, and her eyes exploded into flame, but she had no better argument than to shriek and throw the ring at my head. That’s that scar above my left eyebrow, the one I usually hide with my bangs. Anyway, I didn’t care about the damage; I got what I came for. And traveling as fast I could in the form of a stag, I ran down Bifrost and to the source of the Rhine. I only just set hoof in the water when it rose in a wave and took the form of the Rhine Father, so I formed into myself.
          “Are you here to return my daughters’ gold?” he asked.
          “I’m here to replenish their gold,” I replied. “Odin’s builders have already melted down what was stolen. But I have here repayment better than what your daughters had before.” I presented the gold ring.
          “One gold ring is not just payment for an entire keep.”
          “Watch.” It took a minute longer than anticipated, but the gold ring quivered, then became two. It quaked, then became three. It didn’t stop until there were nine rings total, all pure gold. “This happens on every ninth night,” I