Chapter 9

- Present -

Pulling the unconscious Valkyrie to her chest, Bo desperately searched for a place where she could take Tamsin to and figure out a way to wake her up. She had thought about calling for help, but she couldn't find their phones. She figured that they had lost them when falling off the horse.

Bo looked around, and realized that they were on a remote dirt road and surrounded by darkness. She saw no lights around, except from the buildings in the cult farm.

Bo swallowed hard and held the blonde's hand in hers unconsciously. She refused to face the fact that Tamsin's hand felt so weak. She refused to think about the lethal poison that was now in Tamsin's system. She refused to believe that Tamsin was dying.

"Come on," Bo murmured, scanning the area while rubbing the back of the Valkyrie's hand with her thumb in reflex. It took her a while to notice a house not too far away from them. She could vaguely make the contour of its gable roof top, which was silhouetted by the moonlight.

Bo took a deep breath and put the blonde's right arm around her shoulder. She tried to carry her bridal style, but gave up after staggering for a few steps.

She gasped and lowered herself, putting Tamsin's arms on her shoulders before turning around. She let the Valkyrie loll on her back, so she could reach her arms under her but and lift her onto her back.

"Someone should have told me that Valkyries are made of lead," she murmured as she moved both of them forward by half carrying half dragging the blonde with her.

Chuckling at her own joke, she almost expected a sassy reply and a cold scoff from Tamsin, but she immediately realized that Tamsin wasn't even able to hear her right now.

Her chuckle died in the cold night wind, and it was just deadly quiet. The Valkyrie's weight burdened her, just like her possible death burdened her heart. Tamsin's face pressed against the back of her neck, giving her two things to make her believe that there was still hope: her weak, almost gone breath, and her warmth.

Bo jolted the woman on her back and moved forward. She inhaled deeply, so deeply that her lungs were about to give out. She forced the air into her lungs, one, two, three...till the cold air stung her throat. It hurt. It hurt so badly, like she'd lose the ability to breathe soon.

"Come on," Bo murmured to herself. She had to clench her teeth to stop her tears from falling.

- 15 Years Ago -

"Hey!" Bo yelled at the Frost Giant, distracting him while picking up a stone tablet among the pile of ancient items in the corner of the room. She darted towards him and smashed it against the back of his waist, hoping that it would be strong enough to hurt him.

It wasn't, though it had successfully gotten his attention. He growled and turned around, seeking for the person who had just hit him.

Bo threw away the tablet because it had broken into half. She picked up a goblet and swung it at him again.

He quickly responded, jabbing the icicle in his hand towards the goblet. A sudden, strong blow sent Bo to the wall again.

The giant mumbled something vicious, before he let out a loud battle cry at Bo, his breath a fog of frost and hail.

He took a step forward, about to go after Bo, but then he realized that he had a captive in his hand right now, the Valkyrie who was using every bit of strength she had trying to break herself free.

The Frost Giant laughed, and raised his left hand. A new icicle appeared in it, even sharper than the last one. He stabbed it at Tamsin, and the Valkyrie jerked her head to the side while raising her arm to ward herself. Then she used both of her hands to hold the icicle, forcing it back.

Bo looked around, searching for something that she could use to defeat the giant. The Valkyrie turned to her and gave her a look.

"Run," Tamsin forced the words through her clenched teeth, stopping breathing in the precious air for a second. "Run, you dumbass!"

"No!" Bo yelled in shock. She almost fired back harshly at the blonde for making such an unbelievably stupid request. "I am not leaving you!"

"Then do something! Don't just stand there and-" Tamsin hissed while battling the giant's iron grip and the approaching icicle,

Yeah, like I want stand here and watch you die! Bo thought to herself as she watched the icicle slowly moving back and forth between Tamsin and the giant.

Okay, to kill a Frost Giant. Bo thought, trying to calm herself down so she could come up with a plan. She forced herself to breathe in and breathed out evenly. A Fire Giant's flames, yes, a Fire Giant's flames would definitely do the job.

Bo rolled her eyes at herself, almost punching her own face for that. Right, like I can summon a Fire Giant right here right now. Think, think, what else. Thor's

Mjolnir, or any of my father's weapon should be able to-I so should have taken one of his shit with me when we-

Bo let out a frustrated cry, and pinched herself hard. She knew there was no way to defeat the Frost Giant like they were told in training classes right this minute, because she had none of those things. She had to make use of something right here, inside this room.

Quick, quick, what can I use? It has to be something heavy. The desk? No it's too heavy, I can't lift it, not to mention throw it at him. Those rusty swords and shields? Yeah right...I seriously need something that could just-

It was then Bo had noticed the huge, heavy chandelier hanging in the center of the high, cathedral-like ceiling. It was old, rusty, and tilting to one side, because a few rings of its chain that connected it to the ceiling were too rusty and they were about to break loose from the chain.

Bo's heart pounded as she figured if she could break the chain that was holding the chandelier, the whole thing would just fall into the Frost Giant's head. Maybe not enough to kill him, but more than enough to knock him unconscious.

Her instinct made her throw her dagger at it, then she immediately growled, since it was stupid to expect her dagger to be able cut through the metal chain.

She growled again when she realized that her dagger went through a link on the chain and stuck there in that ring. Now she had lost her only weapon.

Knowing that she didn't have much time left, Bo had no choice but started to throw rocks at the chain, hoping that if she hit those weak links hard enough, one of them would break.

She almost lost her hope as the time went by. Then, when she was about to give up, she heard a click. A rock hit the hilt of her dagger. The dagger jolted. Serving as a lever, it pried the rust, half broken link open.

The chandelier shook, and fell. Bo barely managed to yell at Tamsin, telling her cover herself.

With a deafening sound, the chandelier crashed into the Frost Giant, knocking him down to the floor.

- Present -

It turned out the "house" was actually an abandoned barn, but Bo couldn't care less. She pushed the gate open with one of her shoulders, then she leaned against the wall inside and gasped.

She lowered herself slowly, trying not to crash her knees to the floor or to let the blonde who was on her back crash down. She carefully pu Tamsin down on the floor and shoved the moldy hay away from them to make some space.

Taking a deep breath, Bo sat down. She put Tamisn's head on her lap and tapped her face. "Tamsin, Tamsin…."

She heard her own voice, trembling in the air. It was burdened with too much fear, and the echo ringed in her own head, over and over. The scariest question loomed out from the deepest corner of her mind, but she couldn't bring herself to seek for the answer.

She couldn't bring herself to check the Valkyrie's pulse, or her breath, because she was afraid that she'd feel none. She felt Tamsin's warmth seeping through her clothes, and she saw her chest heaving vulnerably, but how long till those were gone?

Bo reached her hands out, and it was then she realized that she was crying. She saw her own tears falling into her palms and being absorbed into the dirt and the blood stains

She had never thought she'd have so much fear in her heart. She had never thought she'd be so afraid of someone dying. She had never thought she'd care this much about someone, particularly the bitchy Valkyrie on her lap.

She had never thought she would, until now.

- 15 Years Ago -

Bo approached the giant cautiously. She almost jumped on him when she saw him squirming under the chandelier. However, after a vague mumble or two, he stopped moving.

Bo frowned, and kicked him with the tip of her shoe, but he didn't react at all. She bent down and checked on him, and it was then she noticed the pool of blood under him.

She examined him, and found out that a broken metal bar from the chandelier had stabbed into the back of his head, and he was no longer breathing.

Letting out a deep breath, Bo rushed to the unconscious blonde. She used another bar that had broken off from to pry the chandelier away to the side.

Pulling Tamsin out, Bo flipped her on her back and check on her. Before she had said anything, the Valkyrie coughed chokingly and jerked away her.

"Hey! Hey, it's me. It's alright," Bo told her as she gently grabbed her shoulder to stop her from moving. She let the blonde rest her head on her lap before she said, "I think he's dead."

"You think he's dead?" Tamsin asked her breathlessly, her left brow raised.

"He had a bar..." Bo described the length and the thickness of the bar with her hands. Then she lowered her head and pointed at the back of her head. "...there. Probably when the chandelier fell, it broke off and pierced into his head or something. I checked his pulse. I'm pretty sure he's dead."

Tamsin let out a deep breath and nodded. She relaxed on Bo's lap and stared at the ceiling for a while. Then she moved her eyes to the dead giant and the chandelier. "You could have killed me too, and I don't even want to know how you knocked that thing off the ceiling."

"Hey, be grateful, okay? If it wasn't for me, you'd be his delicious barbecue, probably with an icicle sticking in your head or something."

Tamsin frowned. "What the hell is...bar...bee..."

"Cooking meat over the fire," Bo explained.

"Whatever," Tamsin replied and raised her body. She tried to stand up, but immediately groaned and pressed her hand on her right arm.

Bo held her still and rolled the blonde's sleeves up. She checked her arm by pressing her fingers gently on her flesh. When she reached the middle of her forearm, Tamsin inhaled sharply and jerked away.

"You might have a broken arm," Bo warned her.

"You don't think I know that?" Tamsin grunted. She searched in the room and found two pieces of wood. She tore a piece of fabric from her shirt, and tightly tied the wood pieces along her arm to keep it from being bent.

"Alright, let's get outta here and find your stupid human. Then I'm gonna kick her sorry ass."

"Her name is Kenzi," Bo reminded her.

"Her name is blah," Tamsin mimicked her tone while checking herself for other injuries. Other than a few bruises and several cuts, she found no major injuries.

"Would it kill you to be nice?" Bo murmured and picked up her bent dagger.

Tamsin scoffed. She was about to say something, before she groaned in pain again.

Bo rolled her eyes. "I thought Valkyries were supposed to be tough," she teased as she held the other woman's hand. Taking a deep breath, she gently pushed some charm through to ease her pain.

"Tougher than you for sure," Tamsin retorted, her voice shaking a little when Bo's warm charms flooded through her veins.

"Ugh huh," Bo hummed, pushing through more charms, temporarily blocking Tamsin from feeling her pain.

Tamsin cleared her throat and turned away. She wanted to say something, but felt withdrawing her hand should be a more urgent thing to do.

Before she did anything though, they both heard something running towards them.

Both girls cursed and picked up the nearest thing that could be used as a weapon.

However, when the thing actually showed up at the entrance that wasn't blocked by ice, they both let out a deep breath.

It was a young stag, whose horn hadn't fully grown out yet. He seemed to be surprised to see them. And then, when he saw the dead giant, he backed off a little, looking scared. He turned around and grunted something through the passage, as though he was seeking for someone's help.

"Eikþyrnir! I swear to-" Kenzi's angry voice came, "-whatever deity your furry butt worships, if you run away from me that fast again, I'll-"

She stopped abruptly when she saw Tamsin and Bo. Her eyes lingered on their dirt streaked faces, their oozing wounds, and their connected hands. She raised her eyebrows, wanting to make a comment but her attention got drawn to the dead guy.

"That musta huuuuuuurt," she said as she grimaced at the bar that had pierced through that giant's head.

"Kenzi! Where have you been?!" Bo asked as she let go of Tamsin's hand and run towards the human. "We were looking for you everywhere!"

"Emm...I followed Eiky into the forest behind Valhalla because he wanted to take a walk…?" Kenzi answered.

"And you two just magically appeared here?!" Tamsin hissed.

"Well...he ran after...something, and I ran after him and then...the next thing I knew was seeing you guys, and this...this dead man."

Tamsin rolled her eyes and grabbed the back of Kenzi's collar. "You are coming with us," she growled as she dragged her towards the exit.

Bo sighed. Then she let out a subtle smile and guided the stag to leave with her.

- Present -

Holding her breath, Bo put her trembling fingers on the blonde's neck. The moment she touched her skin, she withdrew her hand immediately like moving away from the burning fire.

Before she tried again, she heard a low, vague sound humming inside the Valkyrie's throat, like Tamsin was trying to hiss at her but couldn't get her voice out.

Bo froze there, staring at the blonde. She waited for her to do that again, but the blonde went quiet.

Bo waited. She waited and waited, and then, after maybe eternity, Tamsin's head moved a little.

Then she coughed, and groaned, and hissed. Cusses of Old Norse left her mouth, one after another. She shook her head, her eyeballs moving under lids, and she gasped and gasped.

Bo had finally realized that it wasn't her hallucination, and that the Valkyrie was very much alive. She wanted to laugh, but her laughter got stuck in her throat when her tears poured out. She choked.

Tamsin pried one of her eyes open, and her brows furrowed. "How many times do I have to tell you that I hate tears, Bo?" Her voice weak, but still sassy.

"Oh shut up!" Bo commanded her while wiping her tears off with her dirty hands.

"Succubi, so sentimental," Tamsin said, rolling her eyes.

"I thought you were fucking dead!" Bo exclaimed. "How did you...why didn't you...I thought the poison would have killed you!"

Tamsin smirked at her. "Please," she said. "A Valkyrie can take 5 times as much a poison as a stupid Succubus, okay? It is probably not strong enough to kill me, I guess."

Bo nodded, more tears falling. She now wiped them off with her sleeves. "So you are okay? Can you move?"

Tamsin managed a shrug, before she jabbed Bo's stomach with her finger. Then she jabbed her again. "Yes, I think I can."

Bo shot her a cold stare. And the Valkyrie frowned again.

"You are bleeding," she told Bo as she stared at the fresh bloody stain on the tip of her finger.
"What?" Bo murmured, and looked down. It took her a second or two to noticed that blood was seeping through her dark tank top on her lower right stomach. She lifted her clothes, and saw a huge bruise there with a few bleeding spots. She figured that it was from falling off the horse and tumbling on the rough ground, and she was surprised that she didn't really feel much pain until now.

Tamsin sighed. "Take some Chi from me, now."

"Right, like you can handle Chi drawing right now."

Tamsin rolled her eyes. "Yes, I certainly can." She cleared her throat and added, "you think I like it? I just need you to be at your best, okay? What if the cult finds us before I recover, hmmm? How are you gonna defeat them like this?"

"Crotch lasers?" Bo teased.

"Shut up, and hurry," Tamsin commanded with absolutely no patience as she grabbed Bo's collar and pulled her down.

"Fine," Bo murmured before their lips touched, her heart suddenly fluttering nervously. "If I suck you dry, it's not my fault."

"Ugh huh, like you really could," Tamsin whispered into Bo's lips. She had to forced those words out, since her throat had gone very dry.

Bo didn't say anything. She inhaled the blonde's scent and pressed their lips together. When she tasted her softness and her sweetness, her head almost exploded and so did her chest. She forced herself not to drown in it, and to focus on the Chi drawing. She gently pulled her Chi out, and the moment she tasted it on her tongue, she pulled back in shock.

"It was you!" She exclaimed. Something exploded inside her, something that could make her heart stop, but at the same time, make it pound as fast as it ever could. "Oh, my, Gods! Tamsin, it was you! You were the one who healed me after I got poisoned! You were the one who had sex with-"

Bo stopped talking right before the word me came out. The bits and pieces of the only memories she had from that day came to her vividly, and she was shocked that she hadn't found this out any sooner.

Tamsin cleared her throat uncomfortably. She tried to come up with something to persuade the brunette that it wasn't her that day, but she seemed to have lost her ability to lie. Bewitched by the flickering in Bo's eyes, she sighed.

"Took you this long to figure out?" She huffed. "Wow, you are definitely dumber than I thought."

"Would it kill you to say something nice?" Bo complained, gently poking the Valkyrie's shoulder.

"Yes, yes it would" was Tamsin's reply. Then she reached for Bo's hand. She wrapped her fingers around it with great hesitation. For one moment Bo almost thought she'd withdraw her hand and pretend that she had done nothing.

However, Tamsin eventually pulled her hand towards her, and put it against her chest. She nervously locked their fingers together, and said, "now shut up and be a good Succubus. I'm gonna take a nap so I can heal properly, and you, watch out for the enemies."

Bo opened her mouth, desperately trying to say something, but the burning heat coming from Tamsin's hand stopped her from doing so. An exploding joy ran through her heart, making it flutter like a butterfly that had just escaped from its cocoon and into the warm Spring air. She eventually murmured a "whatever" back to Tamsin, her voice a little shaky.

Tamsin huffed, and slowly fell asleep, and Bo watched her the whole time.

She revelled in the Valkyrie's beautiful contour rendered by the bright moonlight. She revelled in her warmth, her hold and her nervously fluctuating aura.

She had never thought that her heart could have gone so wild, until now.