The Valkyrie Queen Pt. 01

Kára leaned her head back and closed her eyes for a moment.

When she opened them, she did not know how much time had passed. She straightened and found herself sitting in her original place. The steam cleared and the others were there too, eyes closed and resting in the pool where they had been when they arrived. Kára blinked hard, feeling a dryness in her mouth. She must have fallen asleep with her mouth open, she thought. Gods, that was a vivid dream though.

She reached down and touched herself, finding herself hard. A very vivid dream, she thought, shaking her head. She looked around again, there was no sign that anything had happened here. Ragnheidr opened her eyes and blinked, as if she too had woken from a nap. She stretched and her chest came out of the water and Kára glanced down. She wasn't sure what she would have seen but when she met Ragnheidr's eyes, the Elf looked down too and rested a hand against her belly. As if...she knew too.

Liv opened her eyes and touched her face with her fingers, but found nothing there. She looked at her fingertips as if she had expected something. Ylva woke with a yawn and looked around too.

Kára's eyes finally landed on Astrid, who sat in her place and stared at Kára. She was unreadable.

Kára stood, water sluicing off her body. She stepped out and found fresh clothes stacked against a wall, along with her own leather armor. The others had their own piles too, and one by one they left the steaming pools of water and dressed. No one spoke, not one of them was sure if they had dreamed it or if it was real. Kára pulled her trousers up, lacing them up. She caught Ragnheidr out of the corner of her eye, the Elf bent over to pick up her clothes and her breasts on full display. Kára stared and felt herself stirring and turned away, shaking her head. She blew air out between her lips and decided to blame it on the tension of the past weeks, the heat of the cavern, and not enough sleep.

"Come visit again!" Astrid called out after them, stepping out of the pool and blowing a kiss after the group.

Outside the cavern the air was much cooler now, almost frigid, after all that time in the hot cavern. Tatton was sitting there patiently, perched on a rock with a small knife in his hands working at a piece of wood. He did not look up as they came out. Kára looked at the figure in his hands, it was a passable replica of their ship.

"How long have you been working on that?" She asked. "It's beautiful."

"Thanks." Tatton said, turning the ship over and blowing a shaving of wood off. "Started it waiting for you."

Kára blinked. The others stared. The carving in his hands was not a simple block of wood, it was shaped enough to be recognizable as their ship with the Valkyrie figurehead and even lines of the wooden boards beginning to appear. Tatton smiled and pressed the figure into Kára's hands. She held it.

"Hell of a bath." Tatton said, looking at each of them. "Look...relaxed."

Then he disappeared into the mouth of the cavern, whistling as he strode into the depths of the steaming grotto.

"Well, thank the gods it was real. I was starting to think I was crazy." Liv said, walking off. Ragnheidr grinned, ear to ear. Ylva snorted through her nose, shaking her head and walking off after Liv. Kára felt her own grin spreading.

"Valkyrie!" Tatton called out, jogging back up the path. "Had an idea. Heard of a place. Town sprouted up north on the coast couple years back. Bandits went at it, fifty or so. Ended up dead. Raiders too. Dead."

"Why do you think we'd find help there?" Kára asked. Tatton shrugged before answering.

"Heard it was all women. Real tough bitch running it. Called...Sýrhaven." He said. Having finished what he intended to say, and done answering questions, he turned around and disappeared into the tunnel again.

"Sýrhaven...you don't think?" Ragnheidr said.

"It's worth the trip, even if it isn't her, we might find something else. We might find some other tough bitch." Kára said, the two following in the footsteps of Ylva and Liv. They had stopped ahead to wait.

"More tough bitches? Sold." Ylva said, leaning against a tree. "When do we leave?"

"In the morning." Kára said. "We'll sail in the morning."

"I wonder if Odin would have thrown you in prison if you knew what your tongue could do." Liv said. She had been staring off into the distance and ignoring the conversation, before suddenly settling her attention squarely on Ylva. The wolf shrugged in a very human way, then stuck her tongue out. It reached down past her chin and Kára raised her eyebrows. Then Ylva laughed, spinning on her heel and walking off toward the gate.

"He definitely threw me in there because of my tongue." She threw over her shoulder. "Mostly that I couldn't hold it."

"I'll hold it any day, fuck Odin." Liv muttered, shaking her head. "What?"

"You're a pervert." Ragnheidr said.

"Excuse me, it wasn't just me! What?! Don't look at me like that, Kára. Fuck your judgement!"

"I'm not judging!" Kára held her hands up in surrender to Liv. "I was there. I think."

"I know, right? Like it was all a dream. A really, really good dream. Like the old days!" Liv dropped her scowl and grinned. "Better than the old days, except for a few missing sisters."

"We'll find new sisters." Kára looked at the wolf, walking and joking with Ragnheidr. The Light Elf laughed and the sound drifted back to the other pair. "We already have."

Módi stepped out from the Bifröst and into Midgard. He stood on a green hill under a clearing sky. Thor's storms had begun to fade and give way to better weather on Midgard, there were the distant sounds of barking dogs and bleating sheep, the sounds of a world coming back to life after weeks sheltering from the wrath of the gods. Módi wore a heavy black cloak over plain armor, two simple daggers his only weapons. He was not here to kill, as badly as he wanted to. He was here to scout.

They had been too late to realize that the same filthy skogsrå had remained near the Valkyrie fortress island. Módi would have gladly burned the tree whore and her whole forest down if he had known, but he hadn't and now it was too late. There were only so many friends that remained to the traitor Kára and Módi had to track down those that he could. He had decided to begin with the most powerful, and nearest to the Valkyrie. Against the coastline, there was a small town. A cluster of buildings made up the center of the town and houses clustered around those buildings. Smoke curled up from the fires there and Módi walked toward the town. Eyes watched him approach and he could feel them, until he was close enough that two women stepped out. They were armored in chain mail shirts and they rested their hands on short swords. Heavy wooden shields were slung over their backs. Módi's eyes glanced upward to see three women on rooftops with bows in hand, arrows ready and aimed at his chest.

Módi held up his hands. One of the women slid forward and tugged his knives from his belt. She tossed them aside and stepped back. Módi waited.

"What have I done to earn this visit?" The speaker walked toward Módi, gliding over the dirt. She was wearing a white dress trimmed with fine gold chains. Her fire red hair flowed behind her, held up by a golden circlet around her forhead. a black furred cloak hung from her shoulders and seemed to float behind her when she walked with her intense purpose. She was beautiful and fierce and she did not look pleased.

"Freyja." Módi bent his head to the beautiful woman. "Apologies, should I call you Sýr? I believe that is what you are going by here."

"Módi, or should I call you Shithead. Now, answer my question." She said, crossing her arms. "Or kindly fuck off back home, and tell the others I'm not interested. I'm happy here, I don't want it to change."

"How much do you know?" Módi asked.

"Enough." She answered, plainly.

"You want to be happy here?" Módi looked at the women that eyed him with great suspicion. "You don't want things to change? When the bitch comes to you, you turn her away. You send her off and things stay the same. You stay happy. Your people stay...happy."

When Módi smiled it did not touch his eyes. It was a dark smile. The women snarled and swords were drawn. Módi did not move, even as the tip of a sword pressed against his throat. He simply glanced down, disinterested with the affair.

"Simple fact, Freyja. That's all. Think on it. And know, if she comes and you helped us, well, you would be very happy here. But your inaction would be enough for you to left alone."

"Thank you Módi." Freyja said, staring hard at the young god. "Now, again, kindly fuck off."

"As you wish." Módi stepped away, kneeling to fetch his blades before slowly backing away. Then he turned on his heels and walked away to where he had arrived in Midgard. There he found the Captain of a squadron of Aesir warriors in their golden armor. Fifty formidable warriors at his command.

"Set a guard, Captain. We are staying here." Módi said.

"The traitor is coming?" His Captain asked. Módi turned and looked at the town. Quaint, he thought. Freyja had not return to Asgard after the culling of the Valkyrie fortress, choosing to remain on Midgard among these mortals. She had gathered quite the collection, it would seem.

A collection that bitch Kára would seek out.

"Yes, she is." Módi said. "And we will be waiting."

Chapter Five: Sýrhaven

"Svartrvaengr." Kára whispered into the wind, the night fallen about them as their ship cut through the waves. Muninn stirred on her shoulder and she stroked his chest. She had decided on a name for this ship, it was to be the first in her fleet. Or so she hoped.

She would forge her own path in Midgard, and all she needed to do was survive the fury of a pantheon of gods and gather allies. This was the first step.

"Muninn, off you go." She said. The large raven took flight, disappearing into the darkness. They were close now, following the coastline to the place that Tatton had called Sýrhaven. With any luck they would find her there and with a little more, she would be willing to help.

Several hours passed, the ship gliding across the water under a fortuitous wind. Then Muninn appeared, fluttering down to the gunwale and hopping his way to Kára. She held a leather bound wrist up and the raven hopped onto it, raising a leg. There was parchment strapped to his leg, held in place by a thin piece of leather. Kára untied it and rolled out the note.

"Ambush." She said. "Shit."

Kára looked back at her crew. If it could be called a crew. Geir and Brokkr remained behind, as well as Astrid. Kára felt a pang of regret at not bringing Geir, she was a capable fighter. She had Ragnheidr, Liv, Ylva. And she had Tatton, who was peering out into the darkness. It was not enough. She couldn't know what was waiting but knowing something was waiting was an advantage.

"What do we do?" Ragnheidr asked quietly. Kára thought and wondered what she could do. Then she stared at the ocean waves. She stood and began stripping her leather armor off. Kára shed everything down to a thin undershirt and trousers and set her spear down in the belly of the boat.

"I will be back. We need to know what's out there and I am going to find out. Stay well away until night, then return but quietly and cautiously. I will come myself or send Muninn. If I am not back by the next night, you sail back to the island, you gather the others, and you run."

No one spoke.

Kára stepped up on the gunwale and launched herself into the waves, slipping beneath them with a slight ripple. She began the lengthy swim, Munnin riding the air currents overhead. She spared a silent curse for the raven and his gifts and then set herself to the task, leaving the boat behind as she cut a new path.

It took hours. Exhausting hours of hard churning through the rising and falling waves of the ocean. It was approaching dawn when Kára slipped beneath the end of a wooden dock, holding herself in place between two wooden pilings and catching her breath while she waited. There were fishing boats here, knocking against the wood. Then footsteps thudded slowly against the wood above her, growing closer. Kára froze, holding her breath. The footsteps came closer, closer, then stopped. Whoever it was, they stood above Kára now.

Then there was a scuffling noise and legs swung off the end of the dock, dangling there. The woman above was wearing a white dress and simple shoes, her feet kicked idly as she sat there.

"Gods." The woman said, to no one in particular. "Kára, what have you done?"

Kára thought for a moment that the woman was talking to her, then she realized just who it was. Freyja had strolled down to the docks to watch a rising sun and mourn the actions of an old friend. If not for fear of the ambush, Kára would have laughed at her luck.

"Valkyrie, fire in your blood." Freyja said. "Always too quick to brash actions and now, look at the consequences! Fool. I love you dearly, but a fool you remain."

"Gee, don't make me feel too welcome." Kára whispered. Freyja stiffened but somehow managed to keep from screaming in surprise. Instead, she took a moment to compose herself, then calmly spoke.

"Why the fuck would you do that, give me a godsbedamned heart attack, you rancid cunt!"

"I've missed you, mom." Kára said, grinning despite herself.

"I've missed you too but you test me girl, how you test me. What are you doing down there? Did Muninn not get my message to you?" Freyja did not look down when she spoke, instead staring off at the ocean waves.

"He did." Kára said. Muninn had found his own hiding spot, the large raven could not be spotted by whoever was watching the town either. "But I had to know what was waiting. What is the ambush? Who did they send?"

"Módi, the psychopathic prick." Freyja said. Kára's heart beat a little faster. "And fifty of Odin's personal guard. You remember them, I'm sure."

"Of course, it's only been a few weeks. I used to train the Valkyrie against them."

"Yes, well, this isn't training anymore." Freyja said. "And you've killed my town. Módi said as long as I sent you off they would leave me be. He was lying. They want to send a message now. I wanted to be away from Asgard, that place is exhausting. Politics, power, violence. I liked living here. I like the people that live in this town. Módi is a prime example of someone that wants to tear it all down."

"Are you going to turn me in?" Kára asked. Freyja snorted.

"No, you idiot. I heard that forest near Lindisfarne started dying. Either Astrid was killed or she found somewhere better. Since I've met Astrid and I think it would take a small army of gods to dislodge her, I'm guessing you're back on the island. So I will make you a deal."

"I'm listening." Kára said, floating in the water beneath the dock.

"I want my people. You help me buy time for them to get out and we will come with you."

"Done." Kára said.

"Good. My people will come down and prepare the fishing boats, just like they have every morning. But they're going to make a mistake and drop a barrel overboard. You get inside it and we will talk inside, because this is ridiculous."

"Thanks mom." Kára said, as Freyja stood up and smoothed her dress. Kára could almost hear the sound of Freyja rolling her eyes as she strode back up the dock toward her home in the center of the village. She waited and everything happened just as Freyja had said. They came to the docks and loaded the ships, but while handing a barrel across it slipped and crashed into the water. The crew shouted curses and insults and jokes at each other while Kára slipped inside the barrel. Then it was fished out of the water and placed on the dock where the crew argued some more. Kára remained awkwardly shoved in the barrel before she was jostled and bounced and rolled back up to a storage shed. Then the roller knocked on the top and Kára freed herself, sheltered from view by the shed.

"Door's there." The barrel roller said, a woman with a wild mane of red hair. She reminded Kára of a Dwarf, especially when she trundled off toward the dock again and whistled a jaunty tune while she did. Kára slipped through the door and into a large, stone house. Inside she found a warm, crackling fire and a half dozen warrior women. They carried bows and axes and swords and they stared at her with something between suspicion and awe.

Freyja was there too, leaning over a table.

"Come, come." She said, waving a hand. "We are making a plan."

Módi watched as darkness fell around the town again. Heavy clouds obscured the moon and the night was darker than many others. He felt an anxiety that was shared by the Captain of the squadron of guards. The Asgardian was tapping his fingers while they looked down at the flickering lights of the town below.

"Nothing seems out of the ordinary." Módi said.

"I feel it." The Captain said and Módi shared his feeling. Something was wrong but he had no idea what it was. He stared across the distance and watched, waiting. There was no movement, dogs continued barking, lights illuminated the homes and a few sentries that moved about.

Then he saw something else.

"Did you see that?" Módi asked. The Captain squinted, looking harder at the darkness. Then again, something moved. A shadow moved from house to house. Followed by another shadow. Then another.

"They're here!" Módi hissed. "Gather the men. I want ten on horseback, the rest with me, go!"

The Captain moved off, crying out commands and Odin's guard quickly donned their armor, hefted up their weapons and towering shields, and readied themselves into a square formation. Two units of five on horseback raced ahead on the flanks, spreading out into a wide pincer movement. Módi wore his own armor, a chest piece carved with gleaming runes and decorated with the thick white fur of bears he had slain with his bare hands. He gripped two short axes, one for each hand, and began a steady jog at the head of the formation of Odin's guard.

They covered ground quickly, gods moving across the hills toward the village. The smaller units of cavalry raced into the town from the far ends, long golden spears held tall as they galloped out of sight. They would harass the townsfolk and set fire to buildings, lighting the way for Módi and the others. Módi and the remaining forty jogged after the cavalry on the southern end, coming to a street between two rows of buildings and stopping. They arrayed there and found the cavalry had not harassed the townsfolk nor set a single building ablaze. They lay strewn about the street, arrows piercing their bodies, their horses disappeared. Further down the street there was a wall of circular, wooden shields. The shield wall bristled with spear tips, including ten freshly claimed golden spears crafted for godly warriors.

In front of the bristling spear wall there were four women, dressed in their own finely crafted armor.

"Wow. How unexpected!" Kára called out, her own shield resting on the ground and leaning against her leg. She held a familiar spear in the opposite hand and Muninn cawed from her shoulder at the guard.

"Kára." The Captain of the guard said. "There does not need to be more death, you have done enough. Surrender and let this be done."

Módi felt differently. He simply roared, a furious sound. Spittle flecked his lips and flew from his mouth and Módi clashed his axe heads together before launching into a full sprint at the Valkyrie. Kára came forward, shield up and spear tip unwaveringly straight ahead of her. Odin's guard followed a moment later, moving as one in a slower charge toward the line of shields held in the street. Módi and Kára met in a clash. She brought her shield up and his axes skated off, sparking on the iron rim and the shield boss. Kára thrust Gugnir at Módi but he was dancing away, slapping the spear away with the haft of an axe and coming back for another assault.