Lourdes of Loki part 31 - The Abraxas

It began on what I had thought was to be my second last day in France, before returning to the States and Los Angeles. A day which started out as just any other day in Mansion Laufeyson six miles outside of Paris, France. I was hanging with Igor in the kitchen, he was making pasties after all, filled with weal and venison and all kind of goodies. I couldn't help myself sampling a taste and he didn't really seem to mind, at least not beyond the friendly bantering he was giving me over my gluttony.  

"It's a compliment, bro!" I responded to his try at scolding me. "If you any day should get tired of what you're doing, you could always open a restaurant."
"Lourdes, cooking is a pastime," Igor replied. "Nothing I want to do full time. Besides, working with residential security pays better. Not to mention that with the huge amounts of awesome cooks in this land, I wouldn't stand a chance. This is France after all, the home of cooking!"
"Fair enough," I replied, as I watched him pushing another batch into the oven. This one with a filling of cheese and chopped ham. "Why are you making so many of them by the way? There's no chance in hell we can eat all those, not even with your and Fenrir's appetite."

"It's for a fundraising meeting dad is holding for Médecins sans Frontières," Igor explained. "In Saint Mélia on tomorrow night. I'll be driving them up to the conference centre this afternoon."
"Médecins sans Frontières, I see," I said and braced myself to not nick another one of those little goodies. Most people know Loki Laufeyson as a ruthless business man, often operating beyond legal boundaries to get what he wanted, and always getting away with it because of an army of skilled lawyers, and not seldom some well-placed and generous bribery.

Essentially our father was considered a bad guy, a callous mover, once described as a French Gordon Gecko. But he had this seldom seen vein for charity as well, and the international medical aid organization Médecins sans Frontières was one of his favoured associations. He had given them large donations over the years, and they were often allowed to use one or another of his estates for free for their annual meetings or other get-togethers. And so was the case tomorrow, Loki was paying for everything, from rent to catering. And making it a bit easier for himself, he had asked Igor to make some 200 pastries, which were to be served with wine from his own estate.

Maison L (L as in Loki or Laufeyson, it could vary) was an excellent Chardonnay, grown from grapes, which our father had once got as a gift from his good old friend, the Greek Dionysos. These grapes had been selected to go perfectly with the soil and climate of this very area. Thus the lush red wine had something special, which had made it famous all over the world, and the simplistic logo with an L casting a shadow was almost as well-known as other French luxury brands, like Chanel or Hermés these days.

Igor and I were busy discussing those bottle of wines, which were to be transported as well, when Fenrir came dashing into the kitchen as if his ass was on fire.
"Igor, Lourdes, drop everything you have and come!"
"Say what?" Igor made a face. "I can't leave these pastries; they are to be in the oven for at least 12 more minutes. Can't Fiona..."
"Now, this is nothing for her, not if she can bitch the beast down."

"Beast, what beast?" Now, Igor's attention was definitely directed at Fenrir.
"I don't know, but it has attacked dad for some reason. And I think he might need our help."
"Let's go give him a hand then," Igor said and switched the oven off. Those pastries would clearly have to wait.

Seconds later we dashed out the kitchen back door, around the house and over to the front side. There, the only thing seen was dad's Ferrari ad-hoc parked in front of the main door with the driver seat door open, and a terrified and crying Fiona trying to hide behind a pedestal with a flower pot.
"Lou," she almost screamed as she held out her arms to me, and I leaped over and cradled the scared girl, wondering with half my brain where her mother was. Then I craned my neck in the direction my brothers were looking, and true enough, there, some ten metres down on the grass plane, our father was fighting a huge, greenish daemon-like being.

"An Abraxas," Fenrir said next to me, his voice a large and feral snarl, and in the corner of my eye I could see his outline wavering, as if he was unsure if shifting to his wolf form or not.
"Wait!" Igor hissed. "Don't change!"
"But?"
"If we get usselves involved, dad will be furious at us. This is his fight!"
"But it's.."
"Dad has fought these things earlier and won." Igor huffed, apparently he didn't hold much esteem in the power of that beast.

"It has my mother," Fatima was wining, and now I saw it too. In his left hand, the Abraxas was clasping the left leg of a clearly unconscious Fiona Monserrat, she was hanging upside down like some broken rag doll. And no matter that I detest her, I couldn't help pitying her in that position, which showed her plum-coloured underwear. Now what?
"Yes, and he has to save his lady," Igor went on. "Then it wouldn't do having two werewolves crashing in and making a mess of it all. Perhaps causing her to be killed in the process."

As I glanced over at Fenrir, I saw in his dark eyes that he didn't give a damn about Fiona, however that was nothing he could say, not when Fatima was around to hear. So we hang back, watching the fight play out in front of us at the grass plane, me doing my best to comfort Fatima meanwhile.
 
Armed with a long and sleek katana, Loki was speedily maneuvering across the lawn, with the grace of a dancer rather than the force of a warrior. Narrowly avoiding one of the huge, clawed paws as it swept past his chest, our father leaped back, then avoiding the other paw. Then he swung him sword, only to watch as The Abraxas sidestepped out of the way, avoiding it.

The next thing Loki brought up his blade in a backhand swing, however he missed his target when The Abraxas sidestepped again, in an almost casual manner. Relentlessly Loki swung him sword back, but the monster leaped backwards with lightning speed.

Instead the beast was launching its balled right fist forward, slamming it into Loki's stomach causing him to cry out in pain. I could see our father stumbling back and the pain in his face, before he gathered himself and heaved his weapon forward. Then he roared, as he turned on his heel swinging his sword upwards, causing the Abraxas to sidestep once more. In that instance one of those huge, clawed hands sliced across Loki's exposed thigh, ripping the fabric of his black chinos. When Loki turned, the frustration was obvious on his face since he realized that The Abraxas was now already behind him. Loki cried out as another fist slammed into his shoulder. He turned fully to face his opponent, how in the name of Nifelheim could that thing move so fast?

As I regarded the duel, I remembered that the Abraxases were old enemies of the Norse gods, which both Odin and Thor had tried to banish them from our realm, but without much success. I remembered how Thor had almost got killed by an Abraxas named Eleleth and that another duo, Japlael and Ananoel had destroyed the dome of Odin's palace back in 1965. But all these things were what I had either read about or heard others telling me, I had never seen an Abraxas in real life. And these beasts were more horrid than I would've thought, I found it hard to believe that dad could defeat one of those AND keeping Fiona safe at the same time. Not that I wouldn't care the slightest if anything happened to my stepmother, mind you, but dad was obviously of another opinion. Besides, Fiona was the mother to the terrified seven year old who was now trembling with anxiety in my arms.

The Abraxas was fast, much faster than I would have thought from such a huge creature. Loki twirled his katana and swung it sideways, watching as it sliced across The Abraxas's arm, letting out blood. Then he smiled, when he heard the beast cry out in pain.

That was it, that was dad's opening! Every fighter had a weakness, and now Loki could stab this thing in the gut next time it tried a similar step. The Abraxas faced the blood on its arm, seeing it flood down its grayish skin, staining it red, clearly this human Loki did have some talent, I could tell it was thinking. Finally a challenge! Now it swung his right fist in a wide forehand arc, watching as Loki ducked under it.

The Abraxas swung another time, a backhand swing this time, the force in it was obvious when it hit Loki's right arm, in which he was holding his katana. The pain was now obvious in our father's face, still he would not relent, he clasped on to his sword as he took one fast step back and then another to the side, almost like a football player ready to perform a free-kick. Then he lashed out, however the Abraxas brought down its fist again, blocking the assault, stopping it violently.

Forcefully Loki pushed back against the waving fist as he tried to force it down. The next moment, Loki saw in surprise how The Abraxas' foot came up, that one being clawed as well. It slammed right into his waist throwing him backwards.

When Loki felt to the ground, he was quickly rolling out of the way, and managed to scarcely avoid that huge fist which came down just within inches of his head, slamming into the ground, grass and lumps of earth flying about. With a profanity Loki pulled himself up quickly, but I could tell that he was in pain, since one of those claws had stuck his upper shoulder, causing blood to flow which was staining his jacket sleeve.

Making a face against the immense pain, Loki raised his weapon and stepped back while The Abraxas appeared to study him, clearly fascinated by something.
"You think you can beat me?" Loki scorned. "You're just a stupid animal!"

The Abraxas growled while it shifted on its heels, I wasn't sure if it had no apparent interest in replying its opponent's outburst, or if it was the case that it simply wasn't able to. I had no idea if Abraxases talked or not. However it was possible to grasp its intent while watching from a far. The beast was just waiting for that one perfect moment which would change everything in this battle.

There was always this one moment of serenity, a turning point when the battle could be either changed or forever settled. A Rubicon or a Waterloo. It was that pure moment, when so much pain could be inflicted in a minute and when an opponent would fall to their knees in defeat. Beside me, I could hear Igor muttering something under his breath, but I had no idea what he really was saying.

Planting his feet firmly to the ground, Loki raised his blade, he had enough of this stinking creature now. With a raging roar he swung the sword, but once more the Abraxas avoided it, spun around and swept down, readying itself for an uppercut. This was it, this was the moment of the beast. Loki swung the katana sideways aiming for the beast's gut! But the Abraxas lowered its fist and turned in a different direction, away from its opponent, opening the hand, then lashing it across the abdomen of Loki, who was forced back, now bleeding from several gashes in his abdomen.

"Those claws," I heard Igor again. "They're poisonous."
"I say we attack," Fenrir replied.
"Wait!" Igor insisted. "The beast hasn't noticed us yet, if you attack now it'll be very obvious that it's being cornered."
"Yeah so?"
"Then it'll kill Fiona!"

"Nooo!" The outcry from Fatima became cut off abruptly when I placed my hand upon her mouth. "No one's gonna harm your mother! I promise you that," did I whisper in the ears of the young girl. And I knew at the same time, that if not Fatima had been around, neither Igor nor Fenrir would've hesitated a second before changing into wolf form and attacking the Abraxas. They wouldn't care what happened to Fiona, however with her daughter around, that plan was off. And I cursed under my breath, should I take the girl inside and let my brothers do what they wanted and to hell with Fiona. No, I could not do that, there was no chance in hell that we would be able to explain away the death of her mother to the seven year old. Especially since the last of her Fatima then might've seen would have been her mother in such an ungraceful situation.

Meanwhile our father's face contorted with the intense pain as the enormous hand came up grabbing his own, he screamed in agony as the arm was twisted and forced behind his back. The Abraxas appeared completely focused, as it forced Loki's arm up higher up on his back. It knew there was a point where an arm couldn't take the pressure anymore. It ignored Loki's screaming, as it  pushed harder, then suddenly the violent crack of bone was heard, as Loki's arm broke.

At that moment the Abraxas let go and the katana fell from Loki's hand, as he became swung around. His arm flopped down, becoming a dead weight, as he turned towards the Abraxas, but he refused to give in. Instead he lashed out and kicked the monster between its legs, forcing it to take a step back while growling out in pain. Then it grabbed our father by his blue shirt, pulling him towards it.

Then the beast let go of Fiona, who fell to the ground in an unmoving heap, before its left fist slammed into dad's now exposed chest full force. The Abraxas brought it up again, and repeated its stroke, and I was hearing the dull crack as one of Loki's ribs broke. Loki carried on screaming, he was powerless now and completely at the mercy of the beast. Now was that perfect moment.

The Abraxas brought up his fist again, then smashing it into two other areas of father's chest, causing two more of his ribs to break. Finally he dropped him to the ground, and turned to lift up Fiona instead.
"No!" our father was crying out loud. "Don't hurt her, don't hurt her anymore! Take me instead, do whatever you want with me, just don't hurt my wife again!"

"Dad!" That was my voice calling out loud. "Dad no!"

But the beast didn't pay attention, it didn't even flicker its inhuman eyes into our direction. Instead it was just regarding Loki for a few moments, before it dropped Fiona on the ground once more. In her place, it reached down and grabbed our father. Then it spread its horrible bat wings, and before any of us were able to do anything about it, the beast took in the air and flew off with its pray.

And beside me, I heard Fenrir curse.
"It was dad it wanted all the time. Not Fiona. But why?"