Valkyrie: 2: The Runaway by Kate O'Hearn
‘That’s him!’ Archie cried.
‘Kai!’ Freya shouted. ‘Kai, please land!’
Putting on more speed, Freya gained on her brother. They were now flying over snow-covered mountaintops. Freya stole a glance backwards. There were no other Searchers flying after them.
‘Please, Kai!’
Ahead of them, Kai pulled his two swords from their sheaths. The black blades glinted in the grey light. ‘Stay back or I’ll kill you!’
‘Gee, put me down,’ Archie called. ‘You can’t carry me and fight your brother. You can come back for me.’
‘It’s too dangerous. I won’t leave you behind!’
‘Do it!’ Orus cawed from her cloak. ‘You will be safer with both of us off you. We can look after ourselves.’
Reluctantly, Freya swooped down to a mountain peak. She released Archie and freed Orus from her cloak and then, without missing a wing beat, she took off again. ‘Stay right here, I’ll be back!’
Freya focused fully on her brother. He had changed direction. She tilted her wings and swerved to find him until she had him in her sights. In no time she was flying directly behind him.
‘Stay back!’ Kai warned. ‘I don’t want to fight you, but I will.’
‘Land and we can talk about it.’
He was deeply conflicted. Freya was hit with fear, confusion, anger and desperation as his swords flashed and he swooped closer to her. ‘Leave or I’ll kill you.’
‘Then you’re going to have to kill me, because I’m not going anywhere!’ Freya drew her sword and prepared to defend herself.
Sparks flew as the swords clashed high in the sky. It was two swords against one. But as Kai manoeuvred for another pass, Freya could sense his heart wasn’t completely in it.
‘You don’t have to do this!’ She flew closer. ‘You don’t have to swear the oath and ruin your voice. You can come with me and be free.’
‘I’m a Dark Searcher,’ Kai cried as his swords flashed again. ‘It is my honour and my duty!’
‘And I’m a Valkyrie with my own duties!’ Freya cried. ‘But we are family. That comes first!’
‘Your words mean nothing to me!’
‘That’s not true. I can feel your doubt.’
Kai suddenly changed direction again. He glided low and landed on a cliff top. Folding his white wings tightly, he raised his weapons and slashed at her in the air. ‘Go back to Asgard, Valkyrie. My duty is here!’
‘War is coming; you’re not safe here!’ Freya flapped her wings hard and dived at her brother, full speed. She struck him hard and knocked him backwards into the snow. He made a grab for her and took her down with him. They landed in the snow, wrestling each other.
Freya tried to pin him down. She had to make him understand. But their strength was equal; neither one was able to gain the upper hand . . .
‘Listen to me, Kai—’
Suddenly the ice beneath them let out a loud, cracking boom. It gave way and they fell into a deep crevasse. They screamed as one as they tumbled down the deep hole.
Together, they crashed to the bottom . . .
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Freya was the first to gain consciousness. She coughed and choked as she tried to sit up. Weak light filtered down from high above, though they were so deep she couldn’t see the sky. They must have fallen at least half the depth of the mountain. They were lying on a hard ice shelf in a cavern, no more than a couple of metres wide, lined with thick ice.
A soft moan shattered the stillness as Kai stirred.
‘Kai.’ Freya leaned closer and checked to see if he was still breathing and had a pulse.
He moaned again.
Freya pulled her brother on to his side, removing his weight from his wings. ‘Kai, wake up!’
Looking around at the tight confines of the pit, Freya knew that getting out would not be easy, especially if her brother didn’t wake up.
‘Kai, please,’ she urged gently.
Her brother moaned again and opened his eyes slowly. Seeing her leaning over him, he sat up quickly. As he reached for his swords he cried out in pain.
‘Is it your wings?’ Freya asked in alarm.
He looked at her. ‘No, it’s my arm. I landed on my arm.’
‘Then it looks like the fight is over,’ Freya said. ‘Now will you listen to me?’
‘Listen to more lies?’ he said bitterly.
‘Why won’t you believe me? Surely your senses are telling you the truth. I am your sister.’
He was fighting himself as much as her. ‘Searchers have no family other than the Brotherhood.’
Kai climbed painfully to his feet and gazed around. He touched the wall. Then he opened his wings to discover that they were wider than the hole they were in. He reached for one of his swords.
Freya also reached for her sword and climbed stiffly to her feet. ‘So is this it? We’re going to fight in this pit until one of us is dead?’
Kai shook his head. ‘No, I was going to use my blades to climb out of here. The tunnel is too small for either of us to fly through.’
Freya looked up and realized he was right. The only way out was to climb. ‘Oh.’ She watched him reach for his other blade. ‘So, do you believe me?’
He paused and looked at her. ‘I don’t know what to believe any more. My life was so simple. I had my duty and my Searcher Ceremony tonight. After all the years of being treated as an outcast because I was different, I was finally going to be accepted into the Brotherhood. Now you come and ruin everything.’
‘I don’t want to ruin anything. But I couldn’t leave here without you knowing you have a choice.’
‘A Searcher has no choice.’
‘But you do,’ Freya insisted.
She extended her wings. ‘Look at me. Can’t you see how alike we are? My wings are black, yours are white. I’m different to all the other Valkyries, just like you are to the Searchers. I’ve always felt like an outsider and have never really been trusted because I’m different. Now you tell me it’s the same for you.’
Kai looked down, and Freya felt a quiver of recognition at her words. Encouraged, she moved towards him.
‘Kai, you don’t have to stay here. You have a choice. You can come with me and be free. We have an uncle. He was born a Searcher but was raised in Midgard. He’s as powerful as all the others, but has a family who loves him. You can stay with him.’
‘Utgard is my home . . .’ He paused. ‘Was my home.’
‘What do you mean – was?’
‘The Dark Searchers are going to abandon the Keep.’
‘What?’
Kai nodded. ‘Thor and Balder are here. They came under the guise of attending my Searcher Ceremony, but the truth is they are calling us all to Asgard.’
Freya walked to the icy wall and gazed up. ‘The war.’
Kai caught her arm. ‘What do you know of the war?’
‘Only that it’s coming. That’s why I came here. I want to take you to a safe place before it starts.’
‘Odin has ordered the Searchers to Asgard to fight for him. I must leave with my brothers.’
‘Will you fight?’
Kai nodded. ‘So will you. You are Valkyrie – one of Odin’s Battle Maidens. You will be called to defend Asgard, as will we. Will you do it?’
Freya felt her heart skip a beat. She hadn’t thought about that. She’d been so concerned about finding him and protecting Vonni and the family she hadn’t realized that she too would have a part to play in the war.
‘I’m not so different to you, Kai,’ Freya finally said. ‘If Odin commands me to fight, I will fight.’
‘You will fight, but you expect me to hide from the war in Midgard?’
‘I don’t know what I expected,’ Freya said desperately. ‘All I know is that you are my brother. I needed to find you. I never thought beyond that.’
‘Or that I might choose to stay with my brothers?’
‘Yes,’ Freya admitted.
‘Say something,’ she said, feeling uncomfortable under his intense gaze.
‘You came all this way, risking your life, just to see me?’
‘Yes.’
‘I don’t understand why,’ Kai said. ‘You are a Valkyrie; I am a Dark Searcher – we are natural enemies. Why would you do this?’
‘You know why,’ Freya challenged.
‘Because you claim I am your brother.’
After all she’d been through, he still didn’t believe her. ‘You are my brother! And whether you want to admit it or not, you know it’s true!’
Kai sighed. ‘I told you, I’m not sure what I believe any more.’
‘So, will you hand me over to Dirian?’
Kai paused and Freya was certain he would say yes. But he shook his head.
‘I’m not saying I believe you, but I would never turn anyone over to him. When we get out of this pit, I’ll help you get out of Utgard. But no more than that. I am a Dark Searcher and always will be. I will stay with my brothers and fight. Whatever happens, this will be the last time we ever speak.’
Freya nodded. ‘I understand. Just know this, Kai. Whatever path you choose, I will always be your sister.’
For the first time, Kai smiled, and it lit up his whole face. ‘You just don’t give up, do you?’
Freya smiled back at him. ‘Nope!’
Kai turned and drove the tip of his sword into the rocky wall. He stepped up onto the blade. Then he drove his second blade higher up and climbed onto it. He reached down and, retrieving his first blade, drove it in the wall even higher.
Before he climbed out of her sight, Kai reached his hand down to her.
‘Well, sister, are you coming?’
The climb was long and hard. Freya had to give Kai her flaming sword to help get them out of the crevasse. With each step came more mixed emotions. She had found her brother and he had acknowledged her as his sister. But now she was about to lose him again as he joined the Searchers heading to Asgard to fight in the war.
As she gazed up to the entrance, she could see the light fading. Night was rising. Knowing everything he now knew, how could Kai still surrender his voice in the service of his duties as a Dark Searcher? As her mind played out all the different scenarios, Kai crested the top of the crevasse and climbed out, disappearing from view.
Freya heard a muffled cry. ‘Kai?’ she called.
When he didn’t reply, Freya’s heart pounded. Climbing faster, she reached the top. And what she saw there made her blood run cold.
The entrance was surrounded by Dark Searchers. One of them held Kai, his hand pressed firmly over her brother’s mouth. The others were waiting for her.
Swords lifted, they moved forward.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Maya woke. She was lying on her side in a soft bed. Her wings ached and her legs stung. She felt a hand stroking her cheek and lifted her head to see her mother by her side. Her three sisters were standing back, looking concerned, and Vonni and Sarah were at the end of her bed. ‘You’re safe. Just stay still, George is changing the bandages on your wings.’
Maya winced. She looked back to see George lifting her wing as he wrapped gauze around it. He was wearing heavy leather gloves and wore extra protective clothes and a mask on his face. To her shock, her wings were in tatters – only a few broken feathers still clung to them.
‘What happened?’
‘We heard your calls,’ her mother said. ‘By the time we reached the lake, you were on the ground and surrounded. We fought the hunters and brought you back to the house.’
George spoke. ‘Those men sure shot you to pieces. It looks like your wings took the worst of it.’
‘Mia?’ her mother asked, drawing her attention back. ‘We can’t find Greta or Archie. Were they with you? Did other men capture her and take them away? I can’t feel them anywhere.’
‘Greta?’ Maya repeated. ‘No, it was just Grul and me . . .’ She suddenly remembered. Freya and Archie had gone to Utgard. She had promised Freya not to tell her mother. ‘No, Greta was patrolling the mountains.’
She looked back to George again as he finished securing the bandage. ‘All done,’ he said.
‘Just how bad is it?’ Maya asked.
‘Well, it ain’t good. Your right wing is broken clean through. Your left ain’t much better. They’ve been cut to pieces. I’m afraid you’re gonna be grounded for some time while those bones knit together again. Sorry about the feathers. There was nothing I could do to save them.’
Maya smiled gently at him. ‘I understand. Thank you for your kind care.’
George’s face turned bright red under her radiant smile. ‘It weren’t nothing at all. I’m just glad I could help.’
‘Yes, thank you, George,’ Eir said. ‘We are grateful to you.’
Grul was lying on the table beside the bed, snoring softly. He was covered in so many bandages, Maya could barely see any of his black feathers.
‘How is he?’ she fearfully asked.
‘Recovering,’ her mother said. ‘George did a fine job removing the bullets. Now, Maya, are you sure you don’t know where Greta is?’
‘Loki is gone too,’ Vonni added. ‘Were they together?’
Maya avoided the question. ‘How long have they been gone?’
‘Four days,’ Vonni answered.
‘Four days!’ Freya had promised to come right back. Even with the time difference between Utgard and Earth, this was taking too long. Should she tell her family the truth?
‘The last time we saw her was the night you were attacked,’ her mother continued. ‘We fear the hunters may have taken her. But they claimed not to have seen her.’
‘You captured the hunters?’
‘A few,’ Vonni said. ‘We’re keeping them in the barn for now. But we can’t hold them much longer. Others will notice them missing.’
‘We should have killed them all, after what they did to Mia,’ Gwyn muttered.
Vonni shook his head. ‘I don’t know what it’s like in Asgard, but here on Earth we don’t do things like that.’
Eir stroked Maya’s head. ‘Rest now. Your sisters are returning to the mine. I’m going out to search for Greta. I’ll be back soon.’
Maya felt guilty for not telling her family what she knew of her younger sister. As she lay back she closed her eyes, realizing that if Freya didn’t come back soon she would have to tell them the truth.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Freya was put in chains and carried back to the Keep by a large Dark Searcher. She looked for her brother among the Searchers escorting her, but he was being kept well away from her.
They landed at the front of the Keep and, without saying a word to announce their arrival, the massive doors swung open to receive them. Freya looked up into the darkening skies and wondered if this would be the last daylight she would ever see.
She was carried through the main floor of the Keep and then down into the lower levels. The sounds of the Dark Searchers’ footfalls on the rough stone stairs were the only things to disturb the overwhelming silence.
At the very bottom of the steps, she was dragged down a darkened corridor. Torches spit and burned along the wall, offering little light, and the sound of dripping water matched the breathing and heavy tread of her escort.
Freya wanted to ask about her brother. She wanted to ask if Odin would be informed of her presence in the Keep. But she was too frightened to speak. Was Kai being punished with her? He had committed no crime, but would they recognize this? What about Archie? Were he and Orus still at the top of that mountain, waiting in the deepening cold for her to return?
At the end of the corridor the group of Searchers stopped. A large metal key was pulled down from a hook on the wall and inserted in the lock of a thick iron door. The lower half of the door was solid. The upper half contained a large windo
Freya was shoved inside. Without ever speaking a single word to her, the Dark Searchers locked the door and drifted away.
Freya looked around her small cell. No outer windows – she was deep underground in the lowest level of the Keep. There was no bed, no straw, nothing for her to sit on. It seemed the cell had been designed to terrify the occupant.
It worked.
After the Searchers left, Freya heard a sound in the corridor. She ran to the barred window in the door and tried to peer out. Had they found Archie? Was he being brought down to her? A lone Dark Searcher appeared out of the darkness, moving steadily towards her door.
With her senses working overtime, she didn’t need to see who it was, to know.
Dirian.
The Dark Searcher paused before her door. The only sound he made was his heavy breathing.
Freya took a step back and her heart leaped when he reached for the key. Her eyes darted around her tiny cell. They had taken her sword from her and there was nothing she could use as a weapon against him. She was at the mercy of this Dark Searcher, but Dirian had none.
The key entered the lock.
Freya panicked as the door was slowly pushed open. ‘Get out!’ she shouted, hoping desperately other Searchers would hear. ‘Stop!’
Dirian continued into her cell.
It was only now that Freya realized just how large he truly was. Standing in his full armour, cloak and visored helmet, he took up most of the free space in the cell.
‘Stay back!’ Freya warned. ‘There’s a war coming, Odin needs all his warriors. You can’t kill me – not without his consent.’
Her words bounced off him like rain. He made no attempt to mask his emotions. She could feel his burning rage. Dirian hated her and held her personally responsible for his disgrace – and he wanted her to know it.
Freya tried the only weapon she had left to her – her reasoning. ‘I know you hate me.’ She backed into the corner of her cell. ‘But what happened to you is not my fault. You killed me during the Challenge. Even after everyone told you to stop. Your disgrace is your own fault, not mine!’