Valkyrie (21 page)

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

F
reya crashed to the ground with a deafening impact. She landed on her wings and, without her breastplate for protection, she felt many of the fine bones snap. The pain drove the wind from her lungs and left her unable to move.

‘Freya, are you all right?’
Orus cried as he landed beside her.

Freya shook her head. ‘I’ve broken my wings.’

‘You can’t fly?’

‘I can’t move . . .’

‘Freya . . .’ Maya moaned. She was lying crumpled on the ground not far from her. Her left leg was at an odd angle and bone could be seen sticking out of it. The feathers on her open wings were bent and frayed and she was bleeding.

‘Orus, where are they?’ Freya weakly asked.

‘Several streets away. They landed just as hard as you did. I hope they’re both dead.’

‘Don’t count on it,’
Grul cried
.
‘Nothing can kill a Dark Searcher. Maya, Freya, please, you must get up. They will come for you.’

Above them, the helicopters continued to shine their lights down. But with the closeness of the buildings, they couldn’t land. However, the sounds of sirens and heavy vehicles could be heard getting closer.

‘Please get up!’
Orus howled.
‘The Searchers will get you.’

‘Or the soldiers,’
Grul
added as he stayed with Maya.

‘Gee!’

‘Archie?’
Orus called.

Freya looked to her left and saw Sylt in the beam of the bright searchlights. Archie, Tamika and Leo Max were jammed on her back and struggling to climb down.

‘What are you doing here?’ Freya cried.

‘We came to give you these.’

Archie held up Freya’s sword and breastplate. Leo Max and Tamika were holding their helmets.

‘How?’

‘It was Sylt,’ Archie explained. ‘She knew how to find you. Now, get up.’

‘I can’t,’ Freya moaned. ‘I’m broken. I can’t move.’

Grim determination rose on Archie’s face. ‘You’re not giving up, Gee. I won’t let you. I said, get up!’ He caught hold of her hand and hauled Freya to her feet. ‘We don’t have much time. Put this on.’

Freya looked at her armour. ‘What happened to JP?’

‘He’s dead,’ Archie said. ‘That thing killed him.’

‘It was a Dark Searcher,’ Freya explained as she struggled to stay upright. ‘Odin sent them here to get us. They crashed on another street. But they will be here soon.’

‘Then you’d better be ready,’ Archie called.

He was still wearing his gloves as he helped Freya put on her breastplate. She howled in agony as he moved her broken wings aside so he could fasten it closed around her.

But once the armour was in place, Freya found the pain faded and with its support she could move again. She stepped over to her sister. Without her armour, Maya was too battered to move.

‘Leave me,’ she moaned. ‘Take Sylt and go home. Maybe Odin will forgive you.’

‘I’m not going to leave you here for them,’ Freya said. ‘Sylt, come.’

Leo Max walked beside the winged Reaping Mare as they approached Freya. He shaded his eyes as he stared at her in disbelief. ‘Greta?’

‘I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you,’ Freya said to him. She looked over to Archie. ‘Can you help me get my sister up on Sylt’s back? Maybe they can out-fly the Searchers.’

Archie and Freya managed to get her wounded sister up on Sylt. Maya was fading in and out of consciousness. Her leg was bleeding, she had a deep cut on her head and both her wings were badly broken.

Archie tore pieces off Maya’s dress to bandage her leg. ‘You’ve both got to go,’ he shouted above the roar of the helicopters. They were trying to manoeuvre closer to the ground.

Suddenly the sound of machine-gun fire spiked the air. They looked up and saw flashes coming from the circling helicopters. Following the line of fire, their hearts sank. The Dark Searchers were moving steadily down their street, and the bullets from the helicopters did nothing to slow their advance.

‘They’re coming!’
Orus cried.

Freya looked back at her friends. ‘They are here for us. Stay back. They won’t hurt you if you aren’t a threat to them.’

‘But they’ll kill you!’ Archie cried.

Freya reached for her sword. ‘Not without a fight.’ She inhaled deeply. ‘Thank you, Archie, for everything. You’ve shown me what it is to be human, if only for a little while, and I will treasure those memories forever.’

‘Freya, don’t do this!’
Orus cawed.

Freya handed the raven to Archie. ‘Stay with Archie, my sweet Orus. I can’t watch you die.’

‘No!’
the raven cawed.

‘Don’t go, Gee,’ Archie begged, clinging to the raven. Tears were rimming his eyes. ‘Stay with me, please. I’m nothing without you.’

‘You’re wrong, Archie,’ Freya said, controlling her wild emotions. ‘You are everything. I won’t let those things hurt any of you.’ Unable to say more, Freya turned from him and started towards the two Dark Searchers. She heard Orus calling after her, but she ignored his pleas.

The pain of leaving them was tearing at her heart. But she turned that pain into rage as she faced the Dark Searchers.

‘You want me?’ she cried furiously. ‘You’re going to have to fight!’

Raising her sword, Freya charged at the two creatures. All her fury rose to the surface as she used the skills she’d been taught since birth to fight them. Swords flashed and sparks flew as Freya’s one sword fought against their combined four.

But even as her fury carried her forward, she was wounded and badly outmatched. The tip of a Dark Searcher’s sword grazed down her leg. Freya cried out in pain as the blade sliced through her beautiful long dress and into her flesh. A second blade cut deeply into her arm.

Her breastplate offered her protection from human weapons, but little against the Dark Searchers. Moment by moment, Freya was losing ground. As she focused on one advancing creature, she could not defend herself against the other.

With each cut and swipe of their blades, Freya cried out in pain. She realized they weren’t going to kill her quickly. These Dark Searchers wanted to draw it out slowly, to hurt her as much as possible.

As she stumbled backwards, a powerful blow knocked the weapon out of Freya’s hand and hurled her through the plate-glass window of a large department store.

Without pausing, the creature stormed forward and followed her through the broken glass. The second Searcher returned his attention to Maya.

As Freya struggled to untangle herself from a rack of expensive clothing, the sounds of her sister’s weak cries tormented her.

‘Fly, Sylt!’ Archie was shouting. ‘Get out of here!’

Gaining her feet, Freya’s heart pounded as she looked for the Dark Searcher. She could hear his furious movements knocking sales displays over as he searched for her.

With her leg badly damaged, Freya kept low as she limped back to the window. Being as quiet as possible, she carefully climbed out.

Just before she jumped down from the window ledge, a fearsome hand flashed out and caught hold of the edge of her broken wing.

The Dark Searcher screeched in triumph as he drew her back to him.

Freya screamed in agony. Her wing exploded in pain as the creature pulled the broken bones in his vice-like grip. She was powerless to stop him as he came forward – a terrifying, black monster looming above her.

Moments before his other hand went round her neck for the final snap, Archie screamed, ‘Let her go!’

He was holding Freya’s sword and brought it down on the hand clinging to Freya’s wing. The blade sliced through the creature’s black gauntlet and down to the bone of its ghostly-white wrist.

The Dark Searcher howled and released her.

Freya fell forward and hit the ground hard.

‘Run!’ Archie cried as he caught hold of her bleeding arm and pulled her forward. ‘C’mon, Gee, get up and run!’

Freya was dragged alongside Archie for a few steps, but the wound in her leg slowed them both down. ‘I can’t – my leg is hurt. Archie, go. He’ll kill you if he catches you. Just go and leave me.’

‘Stop complaining and run!’ Archie screamed. He half dragged and half carried her into the street. ‘What kind of Valkyrie are you? You’re stronger than this. Now, run with me!’

She looked up, searching for her sister. ‘Where’s Mia?’ She was careful, even now, not to use Maya’s real name so as to protect Archie.

‘She’s gone,’ Archie answered. ‘Sylt took her away, but the Dark Searcher followed right behind. We tried to slow him down but he got away from us.’

Leo Max and Tamika ran forward to help Freya, but Freya warned them back. ‘No, you’re not wearing gloves. You’ll die if you touch me!’

As they ran further down the street, police vehicles came to a screeching halt before them. ‘Stop!’ an officer shouted as he opened his door and drew his weapon.

From all around, more police and military trucks arrived, pulling right up on to the pavement. They were surrounded.

‘Run!’ Freya warned them. ‘The Dark Searcher will kill you all. Your weapons are useless against him!’

‘Look!’ Tamika howled.

Behind them, the Dark Searcher was moving again. He focused his attention on Freya and charged forward.

‘Keep moving,’ Archie called as he released Freya and lifted her sword. ‘I’ll slow him down.’

‘Archie, no!’ Freya screamed. ‘Stop!’

Orus cawed.
‘Come back!’

Their cries could not stop him. Archie held up her weapon and charged forward.

The Dark Searcher only held one sword as his right hand was all but useless due to Archie’s cut. But the creature raised his weapon and took him on.

The fight was brief.

Beneath the bright helicopter lights and surrounded by police and military, Freya saw Archie try to block a cut from the skilled Dark Searcher. But at the last moment, the creature changed tack. He brought his weapon up and stabbed it deep into Archie’s stomach.

‘No!’ Freya howled.

‘Archie!’
Orus cawed.

Archie stood motionless as the Dark Searcher’s sword struck through to his back. When the wretched creature pulled the weapon out, Archie collapsed to the ground.

‘Archie!’ Tamika screamed.

The police and soldiers opened fire on the Dark Searcher but their bullets could not stop him. Instead, Orus, Tamika and Leo Max ran at the creature as he kicked Archie away and focused on Freya. Orus dived at his head, while the others ran to his rear. Both Leo Max and Tamika jumped on to his massive black wings.

‘Get away!’ Freya howled at them. ‘He’ll kill you. Get down and run!’

‘Save Archie!’
Orus cawed.

Holding on for their lives, Tamika and Leo Max were madly spun around as the Dark Searcher fought to bat Orus away while trying to shake them off. Black feathers filled the air as Tamika did all she could to pluck them out of the monstrous creature’s wings.

While the Dark Searcher was occupied, Freya limped as fast as she could over to Archie. He was still alive but bleeding heavily from the wound in his stomach.

From somewhere behind them, a distant clock chimed the hour. It was midnight. The start of a new day – the day after the dance. Freya collapsed beside Archie and pulled him into her arms, knowing what was about to happen. There was nothing she could do to save him. She had made the bargain. Soon the angel would come to collect.

‘I’m so sorry, Archie.’ Freya stroked his young face with her gloved hand. Tears filled her eyes. ‘I can’t save you.’

‘It is over, child.’

Freya looked up into the face of Archie’s Angel of Death as she cradled her best friend.

‘Gee?’ Archie whispered.

‘I’m here.’

‘I wanted to stay with you,’ he said softly. ‘I wanted you to show me Asgard.’

‘You’re going somewhere much better,’ she struggled to say. ‘I wish I could go with you . . .’ Finally the loud sobs she fought to contain escaped her.

‘Please don’t cry, Gee, not for me. I’m not worth it.’

‘Yes, you are,’ Freya whispered.

Archie shuddered as pain tore through him. He shivered as he clutched her arms. ‘I’m so cold. Please make me warm.’

Freya looked up pleadingly into the angel’s eyes. ‘Please,’ she wept, ‘I’m begging you, end his pain. Take him now.’

The Angel of Death shook his head and smiled gently. ‘He has fought valiantly to save you, Valkyrie. Archie is a brave warrior who has earned his rightful place at Valhalla. Take him, he is yours.’

Freya inhaled sharply, disbelieving.

‘But you’d better hurry. Archie’s time grows short, if you want to give him your name.’

Freya was shaking as she looked down into Archie’s fading eyes. ‘Archie, listen to me. You can stay with me. Just say my name. I’m Freya. I give you my true name. Please, accept it. Say it now.’

‘Gee?’ Archie whispered.

‘Not Gee,’ she pleaded. ‘I am Freya. Fre-ya, please say it!’

With his final, gasping breath, Archie uttered, ‘Freya . . .’ and closed his eyes.

Freya leaned forward and kissed him tenderly. The moment her lips touched his, Archie died. She pulled him closer and rocked her friend in her arms.

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

A
rchie was hers. But for how long? Freya put his still body gently aside and rose to face the Dark Searcher. Archie’s spirit stood at her side, looking just the same. He had a huge grin on his face. ‘Thanks, Gee,’ he whispered. ‘Thank you so much.’

‘It’s Freya,’ she corrected.

Archie grinned. ‘Nah, you will always be my Gee.’

Freya lifted her sword. She had to get Orus, Tamika and Leo Max away from the Dark Searcher before he hurt them. ‘Stay here, I must surrender to him.’

‘Child, wait,’ the angel said. He pointed up. ‘Look.’

The Dark Searcher was shrieking in fury as Angels of Death descended from the sky. Holding hands, they formed a tight circle around him, imprisoning him.

Shocked by their sudden appearance, Orus fled as both Leo Max and Tamika fell from the Dark Searcher’s wings. They landed on the ground in stunned silence.

‘This way, children,’ urged an angel as she opened the circle a fraction to allow them out.

The searchlights shining from the helicopters above illuminated the brilliant white of the angels’ open wings as they surrounded the midnight-black Dark Searcher. Around them, police were ordering everyone to remain where they were. Soldiers piled out of their trucks and, with their weapons held high, they surrounded the circle of angels. Others raised their weapons on Freya, but stayed back a safe distance, as if they already knew who or what she was.

Trapped within the angels’ ring, the Dark Searcher shrieked and charged furiously forward, but could not break through them.

Freya looked back at the angel in confusion. ‘I don’t understand.’

‘Just wait a bit and you will.’

‘Greta!’ Leo Max called as he and Tamika ran towards her. Soldiers tried to catch hold of them but they tore free of their grip. They approached Archie’s body.

‘Archie!’ Tamika shrieked as she knelt down beside their fallen friend.

‘He’s not there,’ Freya called. ‘He’s right here, beside me.’

‘Where?’ Leo Max said.

Freya offered her arm. ‘Touch me, but only where I’m covered.’

Both Leo Max and Tamika touched her arm. They gasped in shock when they saw Archie’s smiling face.

‘It is really you?’ Tamika sniffed.

Archie nodded. ‘Gee reaped me. That means I can stay with her. Please don’t be sad for me; I couldn’t be happier. We’re going to Asgard together.’

‘If we survive this!’
Orus cawed as he landed on Freya’s shoulder.

‘I don’t think we will,’ Freya said darkly. ‘Once he breaks free he’ll come after me. There is no escape from a Dark Searcher.’

‘Perhaps not,’ the angel said. ‘But he can be called off.’

As more soldiers surrounded them, they stood together and watched the circle of angels holding the trapped Dark Searcher. The creature’s enraged howls could be heard throughout the city.

Suddenly a sound Freya knew all too well filled the air around them. She looked back at the soldiers. ‘Please go! The Valkyries are coming. You can’t fight them – go now and save yourselves!’

The soldiers heard the sounds too and started to back away. ‘There!’ one cried fearfully. ‘What is that?’

Freya looked up. ‘
Odin
 . . .

Odin, in full battle armour, was tearing through the night sky, riding Sylt. Thor was beside him on another Reaping Mare, wielding his hammer in his hand. On the other side of Odin flew the second Dark Searcher. In his arms he clutched Maya and Grul.

Behind them flew the Valkyries of Asgard, led by Freya’s mother.

Freya looked over to Archie in regret. ‘I’m so sorry it’s going to end like this. I shouldn’t have reaped you. It’s not fair.’

‘Whatever happens,’ Archie said, ‘we’ll face it together.’

Above them, Thor waved Mjölnir in the air. All the helicopters were driven away as though blown by a thousand winds. And when he touched down on the ground he slammed his hammer down so hard that all the windows in the buildings around them exploded and rained glass on to the street. The police cars and military vehicles were blown backwards and the men sent flying away.

Beneath the pressure of the hammer, the ground cracked and a large pit opened. Ferocious, deafening roars could be heard coming from the newly opened hole.

Freya put her hands to her mouth. ‘Oh no!’

‘What is it?’ Leo Max asked.

‘Thor has freed the Midgard Serpent!’ Freya cried. ‘Odin is going to destroy Chicago because of me!’