The Lost Valkyrie Ch. 06

Author's note: This fantasy story contains very little sex, and the sex it does have is more romance than erotica. There is no sex in this chapter.

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"What a dreary, Gods-forsaken place," the girl mumbled to herself as she made her way through the forest of Bollurgard.

It was dark. And foggy. And quiet - quieter than was natural. Well, it was good she'd come. Something was amiss in this land, and Rune was just the Valkyrie to fix it! The young warrioress thought about how she'd found herself here.

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It had been the very next day after the Asger incident when Rune was called before the throne of the Allfather again. And the senior Valkyries were present, too.

If the young Valkyrie was nervous - and she was, of course - she needn't have been. The audience was short and to the point.

"Valkyrie," Odin declared, addressing her, "you have demonstrated your skill in using your gifts, and you are ready for more important assignments."

One of the senior Valkyries spoke up. "There have been several demon attacks in the small human kingdom of Bollurgard. From what we can tell, it seems a single demon has settled in the area and is plaguing the people. Your assignment is to travel to Bollurgard, find the demon, and destroy it."

"Yes, my Lady," Rune replied. Her first assignment! Solo, even! WOW! 'Mightiest Warrior in Valhalla,' indeed! Maybe the title WASN'T all bad, after all!

"In the past, our demon foes have not demonstrated any reason. Now, with their having planned and executed an ambush, we need a better feel of how much planning they can do. Be sure to question the demon before you destroy it, and use whatever other skills you can to discern its purpose," the Valkyrie leader continued.

"Yes, My Lady, it will be done." Rune figured she could chop off an arm or two, then question the foul beast as much as she liked.

The senior Valkyrie nodded at the Allfather.

"Very good," Odin responded. "You will leave on the morrow, Valkyrie. And take care: I suspect this mission is more important than we know."

That gave her pause, but the young Valkyrie bowed in respect to the Allfather and left, in a hurry to prepare, anyway!

Rune had no idea why the mission would be that important: it sounded like an ordinary seek and destroy assignment to her. The kind the Valkyries did regularly.

If it was something crucial, Rune thought to herself, maybe that was why they were sending HER! This idea made her simultaneously proud, and happy, but also fired a note of caution in her mind. She shouldn't let her recent successes go to her head! Wasn't that how the Asgers of the world were made?

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On the way to her barracks, Rune detoured for a "quick visit" to the apartment that Helga and Hildi shared. She knew they were recovering there, and she didn't want to leave on her mission without checking on them and letting them know she'd be gone.

Once there, she found her friends both awake and looking like they would be fine.

"Helga! Hildi," she cried, running to hug first one, then the other. "You're OK! I was so worried about you! When I saw the girls taking you out of the feast hall, oh my Gods, I didn't know if you were even alive! It's so great to see you..."

The girl babbled on to the two older Valkyries, who listened patiently as Rune re-told the whole story.

"You two were AMAZING," she said as she imitated their kicks and feints and teamwork.

"Oh, my GODS you'd have been SO PROUD of how the other girls protected us!"

"...And then Odin declared I was 'the mightiest warrior in Valhalla!' Can you believe that?"

"...And did you HEAR? You two both got promotions! And I'm the squadron leader!"

"The whole thing was NUTS," she finally declared. "And now I have my first solo mission!"

"We're so glad you enjoyed the feast, and that it all turned out well. Asger certainly got what HE deserved. And so did you, sweety," Hildi said.

"But," Helga interjected, "make sure your 'fame' doesn't go to your head. That's what happened to Asger, after all. Leading the squadron is a big responsibility. And so are solo missions."

The young Valkyrie nodded solemnly. "You're right. I'll be good, I promise!"

Rune stayed visiting her two friends the rest of the evening, bringing them food so they'd not have to get up and work. And chatting, laughing, and playing games together. So much for her "quick visit!"

If Rune didn't already live in a form of heaven, she'd have felt she'd arrived there, now.

As it got late, Rune finally said good night after extracting a promise from both older women that they would take it easy the next day until they were healed.

Arriving back at her barracks to prepare for her journey, the girl warrior reviewed all she'd heard today, especially Helga's caution about letting her fame go to her head. Helga and Hildi were wise, and the young Valkyrie felt blessed to have them. As she packed her gear, Rune promised to herself to always resist the temptations they had mentioned.

But it was still delightful. Her first mission!

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And now, Rune walked through the forest, keeping an eye out for any dangers that might be lurking. More things than demons might try to attack her if she seemed unwary! Especially if they mistook her for a human girl!

If they did, they'd be in for quite the surprise. No Midgardian could stand in battle against a Valkyrie! Still, it paid to be cautious.

To blend in while also not appearing to be an easy target, Rune was dressed to resemble a human shieldmaiden. While not exactly common, female warriors wouldn't stand out too much. At the same time, shieldmaidens made difficult targets for ruffians and bandits.

The Valkyrie had landed at the edge of the Kingdom of Bollurgard, and now she was making her way to the King's village near the center of the land.

"Don't fly to the village," the Valkyrie commander instructed. "You don't want to be seen flying by the people of the Kingdom. If they see you, you want to appear as normal as possible to them. If they know you are a Valkyrie, they will fear you are there to kill their men and take them to Valhalla."

Rune had harrumphed indignantly at that. She'd never killed any man! But still, the precaution made good sense to her. And so, she walked, wishing she at least had a horse. And she stretched out her inner sense, looking for danger and sampling the land as she went. Looking for clues to what was happening here.

She didn't have to look for long. It was quiet, and it felt unnaturally dark. A spirit of fear laid over this land like a heavy, wet blanket, stifling one's breath and making every noise sound magnified and dangerous; Rune could feel it and almost touch it. The animals of the forest were quiet, too.

No one was traveling, and when she entered the first village she found, all the people outside stared at her suspiciously as she appeared.

"Greetings," the young Valkyrie ventured to them, doing her best "normal person" impersonation. "What is the news from Bollurgard? Is there anything a weary traveler might eat and drink?"

After a few moments, every person went inside wordlessly and closed the doors to their homes. Men glared at her out of their windows before closing their shutters (if they had any), while mothers fearfully dragged their little ones inside, leaving Rune alone in the middle of the small market, the village seemingly empty.

There was food on a table, and more cooking on a fire, clearly meant to be sold to whoever wanted any, and the lone girl walked over, making a show of taking some of her coins from her pack and leaving them on the table before taking some food and eating.

"Thank you," she called out as she ate. "It's delicious!" Then she got some water from the village well. Once refreshed, she left some more coins as payment for the water. Her coins were quite valuable - Valhalla was rich, of course - and she hoped the villagers would feel a little better about her presence.

But maybe not. As Rune moved on - she wanted to get to the King's village before the day ended, in case the demon attacked the center of the kingdom that night - she could sense two men come out of the village stealthily to follow her. The young woman could feel their unsavory intent: a mask of darkness covered them!

"This is good practice for using my danger sense," Rune thought to herself, but she also sighed. "I hope I don't have to hurt these two."

She tracked the men as they moved through the woods to her side in parallel to the road she was walking up, the one that led to the King's village. They waited until she was well away from the village she'd left, in a part of the road covered with trees and heavy shadow. A lonely spot - the sort of spot where bad things happened to innocent people.

As she approached where the two men were hiding behind trees, Rune called out to them.

"You don't have to hide. You can come out." Nothing happened.

"Come on, show yourselves. Don't be afraid." This last part Rune said with a hint of amusement.

The young woman could feel their surprise and fear at being discovered. What did it mean? How had the girl done it? Well, it was too late to back out, now...

She couldn't exactly hear these words in her mind. To Rune, they came across as a series of quick pictures and impressions.

And as she felt they would, the two men came out from hiding, weapons ready. Rune saw one was armed with a sword, the other with a war hammer. They appeared at least reasonably well trained, but one was rather old, and the other was rather young.

"We don't want to hurt you, girl, and we won't if you don't make us. Just give us all your coins, and we'll let you go," said one of the men, the older one.

"We're not AFRAID," said the other one, sounding annoyed. He was the younger man, and he looked Rune up and down appraisingly. His eyes looked hungry for her in a way that was becoming familiar to the pretty girl. He wanted her, she could tell.

But, first things first. Rune confronted the demand for her coins.

"Don't be silly. You can't have my coins, and if you try to take them, you'll be surprised," Rune spoke confidently.

This response put the older man off his pace. He'd probably expected her to plead with them, Rune could sense. He frowned, reevaluating his quarry.

But the younger man - barely more than a boy, Rune could now see - had another idea.

"Father, we can't let this girl wander around the countryside unprotected. It's not safe. Let's escort her on her way. Then she can pay us for our help, and everybody wins."

The younger man was trying to sound reasonable and reassuring, but the Valkyrie wasn't fooled. She suspected part of her "payment" would almost certainly be when he took her, willingly or not. And the other part would still be all her coins.

Not that the coins mattered much, at least not to Rune. But the lack of nobility of these men was troubling to her. She knew the people were afraid, unnaturally so, but this didn't seem to be about fear. This seemed more like taking advantage. Was this how they treated every traveler they met?

The older man looked like he was considering the idea, and Rune had had enough.

"My Lords," she said to them, addressing them with respect and formality. "You won't be escorting me anywhere. You will instead be going back to your village and to your families and friends, who need you with them in dark times."

The Mightiest Warrior in Valhalla gave them both stern looks as she said this. The men looked at each other, the older man's brow arched in surprise at this rebuke. There was an authority in the girl's voice!

Then Rune continued in a more normal voice. "I will, however, give you two silver coins each if you will answer a few questions for me."

Two silver coins? That was a LOT of money. The men looked interested.

"Very well, my Lady. Ask your questions," the older one replied.

Rune nodded. "First, why is everyone here so afraid? What has happened?"

The men looked at each other, and when the older man spoke to her, his voice was lowered to almost a whisper. "Have ye not heard of the demon attacks? Twice now, the demon has come, destroying our village and killing our men. Raping our women. No man can stand against the beast. It blinds us, chokes us, and makes us sick."

The younger male chimed in. "Not since the plague have this many of us died. Our people are terrified, and we are at our wit's end."

The older man nodded, continuing. "We prayed to Odin after the first attack, but the demon returned last night. We are filled with dread: the demon will return again!"

"That sounds terrible," the young Valkyrie replied, feeling great sympathy for the humans. At the same time, she couldn't help but notice how the younger man was trying to seem casual as he maneuvered around behind her.

The man continued. "All my life, the demon attacks were only a rumor. Something from the North. We'd never seen any. But now, the demons have arrived at our doorsteps. They seem to be spreading over all the land!"

Rune nodded. This all tracked with what she knew. The demons had been driven back as a result of the demon wars many years ago. Odin, Thor, and the Valkyries had defeated the infernal beasts. But now, they were spreading again and getting stronger!

The older man moved closer, seeming to want to whisper even more softly as he told her, "That's not even the worst part, my Lady," he told her. "When the infernal thing returns, it expects to be paid."

Paid? That was new and important. She'd never heard of demons demanding payment of any kind. This was good intel!

"What sort of payment does the demon require," Rune asked, her voice also quiet.

"The beast demands..." he started, and then paused, looking around fearfully before looking her way again. "A GIRL." And he nodded to the young man behind her.

Rune had JUST enough time to wonder why the man had nodded to the other man before a large sack came down, over her head! In a flash, the sack was then pulled down her body by the younger man behind her. At the same time, it felt to her like the man in front of her gave her a firm shove, toppling her backward.

"Hey!" the girl cried in shocked surprise as she fell, landing heavily on the ground.

In just a couple of moments, the two men had the bag tied off at her feet as she struggled uselessly.

"Let me out," the Valkyrie demanded with rather plaintive outrage. She couldn't BELIEVE she'd let them draw her in, to the point she'd forgotten their dangerous intent. A simple ruse! How embarrassing!

Rune could feel her face burning red with shame. She'd underestimated these two men, and overestimated her own abilities!

"We're sorry, my Lady," one of them replied regretfully. It sounded like the older man. "The demon won't hurt us if we offer a sacrifice. We don't like it, but better you than one of our wives, sisters, or daughters."

The young woman fought panic as she argued with them, her voice muffled by the cloth of the sack, making her feel claustrophobic as she tried to reach her knife.

"You can't trust a demon, you silly fools. It will not honor whatever promise it's made to you!"

The sack was tight enough to limit how much she could move her arms, but Rune felt she could just... reach... her dagger... almost...there...

"We'll have to take that chance, my Lady," the man replied to her.

And something hit Rune in the head, hard. Possibly the hilt of the man's sword. Darkness descended, and the Valkyrie knew no more.