A/N: This is a very short story about a spiritual moment in the life of Thyra the Valkyrie, my favorite of the original heroes of the Gauntlet video games. It takes place after the end of Gauntlet II.
There is a little bit of nudity in this brief story, but no explicit descriptions of the human body, and no sexual content, just to warn potential readers. If you don't like non-sexual nudity, like most people do not, don't say I didn't warn you. However, I don't see anything wrong with non-sexual nudity myself, and that's why this has an easy rating. The nudity is like the nudity of an innocent child. Occasionally, drying blood is mentioned, but no real violence or gore is in this story, nor bad language, and it's a story I intended to be kid-friendly. So please enjoy, but if you still disapprove, then don't read.
Thyra looked around, bloody and wounded, as she, the last remaining champion of Rendar, finally overthrew the mighty, evil Morak and lifted up the Sacred Orb. She and her friends, Thor the Warrior, Merlin the Wizard, and Questor the Elf, had journeyed long and hard to get here and recover this treasure, but they were all dead now, and with the quest achieved, she now had time to mourn their loss.
But even as she mourned, the Orb suddenly teleported her out of the Gauntlet and back to her homeland of Rendar. She found herself back in the royal castle from where they had set off. She gave the proper curtsey to the king and queen and returned the Sacred Orb, but the monarchs, to her surprise, told her to keep it temporarily, saying something about her needing it for an experience on the sacred volcano Andu, just west of the royal capital city of Rendar. Thyra did as she was commanded, and went to the dormant volcanic mountain with the Orb.
Upon reaching the peak of the mountain, Thyra stood there, looking off to the horizon, more specifically, in the direction of the former Gauntlet. She stood there, watching for a sign, while still mourning the deaths of her best friends. Thor. Merlin. Questor.
Then, she heard it.
The voices of her companions, calling her from the netherworld of the dead. They were saying something to her, telling her to do something. Something that would free her from the pain of her grief of losing them to Morak, and something that would complete the peace and serenity that was returning to the kingdom.
She looked down into the open volcano, and seemed to hear a beckoning coming from inside of it. The Sacred Orb was glowing red in her hand. Why would it glow here? Was she supposed to do something with it? Did it have to do with the sacred volcano?
Wait! The volcano and the Orb are both sacred to my people and I! Perhaps they're supposed to go together somehow.
Suddenly moved by an instinctive inspiration, she cast the red Orb into the volcano, and then a blinding flash of light exploded from the core of the mountain. The red light turned white, and it started to envelope the great Valkyrie's body.
Within the light, an unseen force, like invisible hands, examined Thyra's skin all over her body and her bloody injuries.
It began taking off her armor!
Soon, she was as nude as an innocent little child, and her sword and shield had sunk away to… someplace. She heard a strange voice singing a song in a language she didn't understand, and yet, somehow, she understood what its meaning was. It was music of peace and contentment that soothed her body. She could feel the invisible force swiftly healing her wounds, cleaning the half-dried blood off her skin, massaging her muscles and jangled nerves. With each passing moment, as the "hands" and the music continued their work, she felt more and more at bliss with herself, but it still wasn't enough to stop her mourning as she resumed her crying.
Then, another, slightly dimmer light shone in front of her face, and she saw something that almost took her tears away. Thor, Merlin, and Questor's faces were looking back at her, smiling and nodding. It was then that she understood the rest of what was going on. Her friends' souls were safe in the heavens above, where the faithful people of Rendar went for eternal bliss after they died, and the Orb had been urging her to cast it into the volcano to unleash its greatest power, the power of peace and love.
Thyra looked on with an inner joy she had never felt before, and said, "Thank you. Thank you all, for being my friends and my companions. I love you all, and I love Rendar." Then, suddenly, the sensation began to end. The faces of her friends disappeared back into the heavens from whence they came. She could feel the hand-like force applying her armor back on her body exactly as it was before, only without the wear and tear of the titanic battles in the Gauntlet. Her sword and shield were also restored to her. The white light slowly receded, turning red again, and vanished back into the volcanic core. There was no sign of the Sacred Orb.
Thyra realized the last answer to her questions then. The Sacred Orb is supposed to be in a sacred place that can protect it from further conflict and theft, and still be able to bring peace and love to the people of Rendar. And now, she had found her peace, and she loved her homeland, as well as her three fellow heroes, more than ever before.
"I can see it now. We all can get to heaven if we just believe!"
A/N: The scene where Thyra is surrounded by light, undressed, and hears a beautiful song is loosely based off a scene from the anime movie, Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind. The reference to "the sacred volcano Andu" was from an episode of Monty Python's Flying Circus. Don't ask me why I used these references; I just thought they would sound good for this story.