Chapter 13
The New Regime
"My fellow gods and goddesses, I welcome you!" Osiris boomed, beaming down on the assembled deities. "As you all by now know, yesterday, that fool of Valkyrie, Lady Lind, was removed from her seat as Almighty One, for her incompetence and failure of duties! Now, after much deliberation, we have selected a new Almighty One, for the temporary task of ruling Heaven; myself! And now listen as I tell you of what we shall do…" Valmeyar turned away in disgust from her box, followed closely by Kayrune and Vayrag, Captains of the third and fifth Valkyrie cohorts respectively.
"It's a fucking disgrace!" Valmeyar hissed as the trio headed along the corridor. "He waits until half the Valkyries are unavailable, due to clean-up operations in Jötunheim and THEN he calls a fucking Parliament! It's fucking insulting!" The eighth cohort commander stamped her foot and grunted.
"So now what's going to happen to us?" Vayrag asked.
"And more importantly, where's Lind?" Kayrune said. "Nobody's seen her since yesterday".
"Lind's fine" Vayrag said. "She went to see Jago".
"But isn't that-" Vayrag was about to say but stopped herself. Lind wasn't the Almighty One anymore but she was still the Captain of the elite first cohort, which allowed her unlimited access to Earth, as and when she needed it. All Valkyries above the rank of Sargent had that same privilege and as both were loyal supporters of Lind, having both served under her in the first cohort and as such, they could hardly fault her for wanting some time alone.
"As to your other question; you know very well what's going to happen to us" Valmeyar said with a sigh. "It seems likely that the Valkyries will be disbanded and we're to be replaced by golems… the Urabi".
"So what do you suggest that we do?" Kayrune asked. "I mean, if we're no longer needed…"
"We do what we can" Valmeyar said. "Osiris has a tenuous hold and from what I remember, his policies towards humans… well, they leave a lot to be desired. It seems likely that he will be forced out soon… all we have to do is hold on until then. And maybe fix anything he breaks".
"So… we do what we can for those we can help, until we're needed again".
"Pretty much".
"Well they're not firing me!" Kayrune said testily. "If I go, I go willingly, as I'm sure most of our comrades would agree".
"I agree" said Valmeyar. "I say we gather the other Captains as soon as possible and we have a talk… and we pray that there are ten-thousand open positions in the Guardian Corp".
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Peorth sighed as carefully slotted a round into her pistol's spare magazine, while casually watching the comings and goings of the admins below her, from her desk. Last night had been fouled up, big style. Lind's unexpected arrival and the announcement of her loss of power had sent everyone scurrying home as fast as they could go. Even Jeiko, who had barely had time to kiss her goodbye, was forced to leave to speak with the new Almighty One. Osiris. She couldn't believe that man… but then again, she could. He had always been a sly one, after all. And now, he was the Almighty One. She hoped that Lind wasn't taking it too hard… Peorth's attention was suddenly grabbed by the sound of the main doors to the Yggdrasil control room sliding open and she turned to see Bast, the cat-masked goddess from Osiris's inner circle, approaching her.
"Good morning Miss Peorth" she said with a voice that could have equally have been either friendly or a sneer.
"Lady Peorth, IF you don't mind" the rose-goddess snapped, picking up the now filled magazine and balancing it in her palm.
"Oh yes, Lady Peorth" the cat-god sneered and this time it was definitely a sneer. "I am so sorry Lady Peorth. I didn't mean to offend you my Lady". Peorth glared but bit back a sharp retort.
"What do you want?" she demanded. "Have you come to gloat over Lind's forced retirement?"
"Actually, I've come to gloat over YOUR forced retirement" Bast said, suddenly appearing bored and pretending to inspect her nails while Peorth simply sat, confused.
"What?" she said dumbly, after a few seconds.
"You are amazingly slow" Bast scoffed scornfully. "I mean, you have been replaced as goddess Aggregate, Principle Representative, on the orders of High Lord Osiris, the Almighty One, to be replaced by myself". She grinned. "Lady Peorth, I hereby relieve you of duty!"
"Like Hell you do!" Peorth leapt from her seat, rapidly drawing one of her ornately decorated pistols and in a single, fluid movement, she snapped the magazine into place, cocked it, flicked off the safety and placed the gun against the other goddess's forehead. "You think I don't see what you are trying to do? You and Osiris both know that as soon as the Valkyries hear of this and how Osiris took a major vote without them included, they will most likely mutiny and turn against you, so you're trying to get rid of anyone who would support Lind, so that she can't be voted back in!"
"Maybe you aren't as dumb as you look" Bast said calmly, despite the heavy pistol being pressed against her forehead. "But as to the Valkyries, they have already been taken care of". With that, the doors swung open once more but this time, it was no goddess who entered. This was a man. A man made of stone; an ornately carved statue of gold, ivory, lapis lazuli that towered above the pair of them. The face of the living statue was set in the snarling face of a hideous jackal, its lips drawn back to reveal its long fangs, while it moved upright on long, powerful legs, a short tail hanging from between them. The statue closed the distance between them with surprising speed and as it approached, it suddenly conjured up a weapon; a mighty, double blade, consisting of two swords, welded together at the hilt. And the statue stopped, aiming its mighty weapon at Peorth's chest, making her gulp in fear. Her pistol was a .50 calibre Desert Eagle but she could instinctively tell that any attempt to shoot this thing would just piss it off even more. "I would like you to meet the future of Heaven's military; the Urabi" Bast said. "The incorruptible golem".
"They won't stand for this!" Peorth said, finally finding her tongue. "The Valkyries I mean! You know that golems are outlawed in every realm in existence and when the Valkyries find out about this, they'll-"
"They'll what?" Bast said. "Stupid girl, haven't you heard? The Valkyries have all been banished!" And the cat-faced goddess grinned once more. "Now, if you would excuse me, that is MY seat!"
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Lind groaned and slowly rolled over, rubbing her forehead with her hand.
"My god! What on Earth did I drink last night? My head feels like there's a Frenchmen living in it!"
"I'm not sure but it was a lot". She rolled over to see Jago emerge from the bathroom, drying his face with a towel. "Enough at least that we had to carry you to and from the car".
"We?" She paused, trying to remember what happened the previous evening. "I'm sorry, my head is still… I remember… I lost my job as the Almighty One and I started drinking. What happened after that?"
"You… turned up outside Jeiko's house in a stupor and announced that you you'd been voted out of office. And then you passed out, so Temmy and I had to bring you home". Home. Now she realised where she was. She was in Jago's house.
"I made a complete arse of myself, didn't I?"
"I think that under the circumstances, you can be forgiven. Now, I suggest that you sleep it off while you have the chance. I've gotta be up and about so try and ignore the noise as much as possible. I've got to get Temmy and her friend up".
"Well whatever" Lind said, rolling over and almost instantly dropping back off to sleep.
"Damn, she had a lot" Lamb said from inside. "She doesn't even care where she is!" It was a fair comment. After Lind had shown up at Jeiko's house, Jago and Temeraire had brought her home and bundled her into bed. The Valkyrie was so out of it that after Temmy and Beregond had been hastened to bed, that Jago hadn't even bothered to try and get her out of her clothes; simply tugged off her boots, before sliding in beside her. Jago was dismayed; he had never seen her in such a state before. He had thought that she hated her time as the Almighty One but the loss of the position had clearly affected her deeply. That however, would be a conversation for a later date. Right now, they had other things to worry about. It was six in the morning; time to get rocking and rolling.
"Do you want me to get the boy?" Damascus asked as the door to the main bedroom was pulled too and the two Archs silently materialised.
"I think that would be best. Lamb and I will get Temmy".
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Beregond grunted softly in his sleep, ignoring the thing that was prodding him in the back.
"Come on you lazy bastard, get up" Damascus said with a sigh of exasperation. "It's time to get going". The boy simply grunted again and the devil snarled, pulling back the sheets. "Get up! Come on!" Still nothing. With a reluctant sigh, Damascus disappeared from the room, only to return with a mug glass of water, which she preceded to pour over him.
"AHH!" Beregond shot up, ramrod straight in surprise but before Damascus could respond, he had tackled her, bearing her to the ground and pinning her there, a knife pressed against her chin. "You?" he demanded. "What did you just do?"
"Get off me you oath!" she hissed, baring her fangs. "I was told to wake you up, so I poured a glass of water over you!" Beregond glared but slowly backed off as Damascus slowly raised herself to her feet, massaging her throat where the knife had been pressed… and with a sudden and violent move, she punched him in the stomach. Normally, this wouldn't have mattered much. Damascus may have been almost as tall as Lamb but she was much weaker physically and even with her claws, she would struggle to hurt anyone in single combat. However, in this case, she sent a Concussive Blast into the man's stomach, sending him flying backward, to impact with the wall, in a shower of plaster dust. "NOW DON'T YOU EVER PULL A KNIFE ON ME AGAIN!" she snarled as he started to recover. "BECAUSE IF YOU DO, I WILL KILL YOU BEFORE YOU CAN BLINK!" She turned away as he started to climb back to his feet, gasping in pain. "Now get dressed; you've got work to do". Just before she left the room however, she paused, glancing back at him over her shoulder at his shorts. "Oh and one more thing; I am an open minded girl in many respects. Heck, my partner of choice is a woman for crying out loud… an angel to be specific. HOWEVER, if I EVER catch you pitching a tent in my direction again, I'll slice it off and serve it to you for breakfast. You got that boy?" Beregond muttered something. "What was that?"
"Yes ma'am!"
"Good". With that, Damascus departed, leaving Beregond alone to get dressed.
"Evil old hobgoblin" he muttered.
"I head that!"
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"Do we really have to be up so early?" Temeraire complained as she and Lamb stepped out into the cold morning sun of Avalon, where the other three were waiting. "I mean come on! The sun's barely up yet!"
"Well you have to begin your training" Jago said. "Now, that's none of my business as it's YOU who has to train HIM" and he jerked a thumb at Beregond. "And I'm not leaving him in the house unsupervised while I'm out for the morning run. So, I thought you could incorporate this into your routine; a morning run before breakfast". Temeraire grimaced but she knew better that to complain as they started to warm up via stretches. "Now there are a few things you should know about running on this island; you should stick to the paths as much as possible, because if you get lost, it's a bugger to find anyone in these woods. Secondly, you go at your own pace. I don't care how long it takes you or how far you go, although we three", he gestured to himself and the Archs, "are going all the way around the island".
"And thirdly" Lamb said, finishing her stretches and snapping her fingers to change into a sports kit of jogging bottoms, tank-top and trainers. "When you see it and it starts to chase you, you don't have to run faster than it does. You just need to faster than the next slowest person".
"It?" Beregond asked. "What's "it"?"
"You'll know it when you see it" Damascus said, also snapping her fingers to also change her cloths. "If you're not back at the house in two hours, you won't get any breakfast. If you're not back in three, we'll assume you've been eaten". With that, they set off, followed by Jago who seemed determined to do the run in his usual cloths, leaving the other two utterly confused.
"So… should we go?" Temeraire asked.
"You're supposed to be in charge" Beregond said. "It's up to you to train me… if you think you can manage it that is". He sneered at her and Temeraire scowled.
"Fine then… I'll set the pace. Try and keep up!"
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"Is that seriously all you have?" Beregond said snidely as Temeraire paused and leaned against a stump. "I thought YOU were supposed to be setting the pace!"
"I'm just catching my breath" she snarled through grated teeth, to which Beregond just smirked.
"Really? Well not much of a runner now, are you? Back in Jötunheim, I used to run fifty miles a day, through snow and up and down mountains! It's how I stayed trim. But look at you; we've hardly gone any distance at all and you're already exhausted!" Temeraire bit back a retort, knowing it was no good. Beregond was just trying to get her goat. But there was ONE thing which she couldn't resist…
"To be honest, I never really needed to be a runner. I always WON my fights, rather than tried to run from them!" Beregond looked as if he were about to retort but it was just then that he felt a tiny tremor through the soles of his boots. He paused and then he felt it again… and again. And they were getting stronger.
"Please tell me you didn't feel that" he said but Temeraire nodded.
"No, I felt them. They were… impact tremors. Something big is coming". And so it was. The tremors continued to increase in strength, becoming more and more frequent, to the point where they were just about audible. "Do you think it's the "it" they mentioned?"
"That is a strong possibility… How big would something have to be to cause a tremor like that?"
"At least five tons" Temmy said as another tremor rocked the ground beneath their feet.
"I didn't know there were any animals on this planet that could weigh that much. Apart from whales and elephants of course".
"Well judging from what I've seen of this island's biology, it could be just about ANYTHIN! I mean, it could even be a- AH!" Something slapped wetly against her scalp and she gingerly put her hand up to touch a warm, sticky substance that was coating her hair. She pull a small sample off and sniffed it cautiously. "EWW! It smells like rancid meat!" Then she glanced at Beregond, whose face was a mask of terror. "What?" Then she twigged. And she looked up.
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Jago and the Archs chuckled as they heard the distant screams but kept on running, unconcerned by the sound.
"I think they met it" Damascus said. "Now, which of them is going to be eaten?"
"Good question" Jago said. "Lamb? Any thoughts?"
"My vote is Beregond. I don't like him. There's something… off about him. He reminds me too much of somebody I used to know".
"You and me both… but you don't know the half of it" Damascus thought privately, not wanting the others to hear her. Out loud though, she said "That's not exactly fair Lamb. Just because you don't like him, doesn't mean he should be eaten".
"Oh, I suppose you'd rather have Temeraire eaten?"
"No… but I think that it's more likely that she will be. That thing is fast and I'm not sure she can outrun it for long".
"Well, I guess we'll just have to wait and see" Jago said as the screams came again. "They must be having the time of their lives!"
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Both Temmy and Beregond were utterly exhausted when they finally made it back to Buggerup. They were tired, hot, breathless and covered in mud from their escape. But they had survived. Needless to say, Jago was indecently cheerful about if all, sitting atop the woodpile behind the house, smoking happily away, in the lee of the house.
"Oh, so you both made it!" he called out, with a huge grin. "Looks like he's gonna have to go without breakfast today".
"What… on Earth… was that thing!?" Temeraire demanded from between gasps, shuddering as she remembered the horrifying beast; forty-five feet of snapping, snarling, roaring death on two legs, which had pursued them all over the island, before they had managed to lose it in an impenetrable swamp, diving into the thick mud to cover their scent and mask it from the predator".
"That would be a carcharodontosaurus" Jago said. "A large, predatory dinosaur from Africa. I could have gone for a t-rex but that thing was bigger so I thought it would be more interesting".
"What on Earth… is a monster like that… doing on this island?" Beregond demanded, his knees shaking from the strain of the morning's exertion.
"Well, I met it while I was on a mission in the Congo, where they called it the Kasai Rex. It was attacking villages and so, I thought it would be best to move it somewhere where I could keep an eye on it".
"SO YOU BROUGHT IT HERE!?"
"Yes. I warned everybody that I was introducing it before I brought it here and as there's only one of them and I'm the only one who ever goes into that part of the island, I thought it would be fairly safe. In fact, I wasn't even sure it would chase you, rather than me, as it always does".
"HOW CAN YOU BE SO CHEERFUL ABOUT ALL THIS!?" Temeraire demanded. "THAT THING ALMOST ATE US!"
"And it's gonna try again tomorrow" Jago said, stubbing out the cigarette. "So get used to it. Once you figure out how it hunts, it's a pretty easy thing to escape from. The trick is not to run in straight lines, especially in open ground. It'll be on you in seconds. No, the only way to outrun that thing is to out-turn it…" He chuckled and flicked away the cigarette. "Now, before breakfast, you two need a wash". He jerked his thumb around the side of the house. "There's a waterbutt around the side of the house and I've left you some cloths and clean towels by it. Get scrubbed up and then we can have breakfast". The pair nodded but then paused, thinking.
"Wait a minute… you want us to have a bath? TOGETHER!?" Both Temmy and Beregond shared a horrified look before turning back to him
"Don't be stupid" Jago said, rolling his eyes. "You'll never both fit in it. You take it in turns".
"But why can't we have a wash INSIDE?" Temmy asked.
"Because you'll tread mud all though the house. And I'm NOT spending all day getting mud out of the rug!" He grinned evilly. "Besides, I don't like one of you and the other one is here as a punishment, so it's my job to make life as unpleasant as possible for the pair of you, so get used to it. Now go one; off you pop! I gotta get breakfast ready!" With that, Jago stood and headed around the far corner of the house, leaving the pair to contemplate their fate.
"Let's just get this over with" Temeraire said reluctantly and lead the way around to the far end of the house. There, as promised, were two piles of cloths, a set of fresh towels… and the dreaded waterbutt.
"So… how are we going to do this?" Beregond asked, blushing.
"We could flip a coin for it" Temeraire suggested and reached into the pocket of her mud stained uniform, pulling out a shiny dollar-pound coin.
"Sounds fa- wait a minute… you're not going to cheat and do that thing where you flick it a certain distance so you can control which side it lands on?"
"You can do that?"
"I knew a guy the Forgotten Army who used to do it all the time; he used it to get out of guard duties".
"Sneaky" Temeraire said. "But no, I'm not planning to do something like that".
"I don't believe you" Beregond said, folding his arms. "Swear on it".
"What?"
"Swear, on your honour as a goddess, that you won't interfere with that coin, when you flip it!"
"Why?"
"Just do it!"
"Alright, alright! I swear on my honour as a goddess, that I won't tamper, rig, interfere with of otherwise create any form of bias when I flip the coin. Happy?!" Beregond nodded and with that, Temeraire flipped the coin. "Call it!"
"Tails". Temeraire nodded and caught the coin, flipped it and slapped it on her wrist. It came up tails.
"Fuck" she swore. "Alright, I'll go first, so turn around" she said, starting to unbutton the front of her tunic. "And if you DARE peek, I'll SLAP you from here to the moon!"
"Alright, geez!" Beregond said, turning away. "Bloody Hell; this must be my day for being threatened with violence!"
"Well what do you expect?" Temeraire asked, pulling off her shirt and tossing it aside. "You're not exactly welcome here".
"I had realised that" he said darkly. "But it's not exactly like I have much choice in the matter, either. So either we both put up with it or we're never going to get anywhere".
"The first sensible thing you've said since I met you!" Temeraire said and then Beregond heard a splash and a squeal. "OHHHH! Good Lord, that's col-DON'T YOU DARE TURN AROUND!" Beregond hurriedly looked away once more, as the sound of splashing continued. "Oh, it's good to get shit out of my hair!" Temeraire said softly to herself, running her fingers through her cropped locks, rinsing the dinosaur spit from it.
"How's the water?"
"Bloody freezing!"
"Well at least it should help to perk you up… but hopefully not too much!" Beregond said with a chuckle. He got a boot in the back of his head for his troubles.
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Five minutes later, the pair emerged from behind the house, scrubbed and cleaned in their new cloths. Temeraire was in a clean set of Valkyrie leathers, while Beregond had been lent an old but serviceable god's robe in grey and bottle green, with gold edging and a thick oil-cloth cloak.
"I'm not sure about this" he said, plucking at it. "I prefer something with more… metal and leather to it".
"Look, until you're reaccepted, you're not allowed to wear armour and my dad isn't exactly a fashion master, ok? You'll just have to live with it for now". Beregond scowled at her but then paused as they rounded the final corner and came upon Jago who was standing, staring at the back door of the house. "Dad?" Temmy asked.
"Hey" the big man said, not turning around. "I've got a question; did I or did I not leave the back door open when we went out?"
"What?"
"Just answer the question".
"No you didn't" Beregond said. "Why?"
"Because, I haven't been inside yet…" Jago said, reaching inside his jacket and pulling his enormous revolver free of its holster, "and the door IS open". Instantly, Temeraire was on the alert; dropping into a fighter's pose.
"Could it be Mum?" she asked.
"Not likely" Jago said, snapping the gun open, checking the chamber and snapping it shut again. "She would have called me". He paused and nodded at Beregond. "Keep an eye on him. I'm going in". With that, he started forward, carefully pushing the back door to the kitchen open and heading stealthily inside.
"This isn't anything to do with you, is it?" she asked critically but Beregond shook his head in derision.
"Don't be a fool! Do you really think I'd be so stupid as to try anything here? Besides" and he tapped his chest, right over his heart, "Bloody Thorn is right here". Temeraire didn't say anything, simply turning her attention back to the house. It was then that they heard a scuffle, followed by a deep thump and a yelp from Jago.
"DAD!" Temmy shouted and shot forward, bursting through the back door and into the kitchen. Jago had a woman pinned to the floor with his boot, his huge revolver pointed at her head.
"I WILL BLOW THAT UGLY RIGHT OFF YOUR-" he bellowed but then stopped. "Valmeyar?" he asked cautiously.
"Well that's one way to greet your mother-in-law" she said, frowning up at him.
"Dude, I could have killed you!" Jago said, lifting his boot off of her and stooping to help her up. "And why'd you bite me?"
"YOU attacked ME!" Valmeyar snapped. "I was trying to defend myself!"
"Well whatever" he said as Valmeyar stood and dusted herself off before spotting Temeraire who was standing in the doorway.
"Hi Temmy" she said, nodding to her granddaughter. "I see you survived your first run in with the second most dangerous animal on this island".
"Second most dangerous?" Temeraire said, staring at her grandmother in shock. She had never seen Valmeyar dressed like this; a pale orange dress and a brown bomber jacket, lined with wool, accompanied with a pair of thick calf-skin boots. It was little wonder Jago hadn't recognised her.
"You haven't met the honey badgers yet" Jago muttered and then turned back to the old goddess, as Beregond slowly made his way into the kitchen. "So, you wanna tell me what you're doing in my kitchen?"
"She's with us". They all turned to see a group of goddesses emerge from the living room, all in human clothing; the Valkyrie Captains. They were all of them there. And through the crowd, came arguably the most important of them all.
"I'm sorry I didn't call you" Lind said, pushing through the press, her white combat leathers standing out amongst the jeans, shirts and skirts. "But you see, they needed to see me before they could speak to you".
"You sober?" Jago asked and Lind snorted.
"Hung-over" she admitted. "But right now, we need to talk".
"This wouldn't happen to be about you being made redundant, would it?" Jago asked.
"Worse" said another voice and two more goddesses pushed through the crowd. One was in her official purple and yellow gown, while the other her latex and leather ensemble, plus the Guns and Roses t-shirt; Urd and Peorth. "It would appear that Osiris is doing all kinds of nasty things so that he can consolidate his position. We need-" Jago held up his hand.
"Is this conversation going to take longer than a few minutes?"
"Yes. It could take all morning" Peorth said.
"Right… Temmy; you take your friend and keep yourself occupied. I'll give you a shout if you're needed".
"But shouldn't I be here to hear this? I mean-"
"NOW Temmy" Jago said with great finality. His daughter sighed and turned away, heading off to find Beregond. "Right; now that's sorted, would anybody mind if I stick the kettle on before we start? I'm parched and running from giant predators isn't much fun without tea".
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"So what was all the fuss about?" Beregond asked as Temeraire reappeared from the house.
"It appears that the Valkyries have come to ask my dad for a favour… but apparently I don't warrant an invitation to their discussion". Beregond snorted and shook his head.
"So now what do we do?"
"Well my dad said to start training. Apparently they'll shout if we're needed".
"Whatever happened to breakfast?"
"I think breakfast has been cancelled for today" Temmy said glumly. "In any case, we can't stand around here all day. I supposed to be training you and that's what I'll do. Now then" and she struck a fighter's pose, "show me what you've got". Beregond snorted.
"You can't be serious".
"I'm dead serious. Why would I joke? I need an honest appraisal of your strength and the best way to do that is to fight you. So come on! Or are you too afraid to fight a girl?" Beregond shrugged.
"Alright. But don't say I didn't warn you". And he leapt.
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"Ok, I'm guessing that this has something to do with the fact that Lind is no longer the Almighty One" Jago said, glancing at Lind who nodded. "However, I'm guessing that the ten most powerful Valkyries plus two wouldn't have come to see me just for this. So, would someone please like to explain what exactly the problem is?" He took a sip of tea. "And please, use small words wherever possible. While I hate to admit it, I'm feeling a little fragile this morning, a feeling which I'm sure Lind shares". The assembled soldiers nodded, while Lind gave him a glance before Vayrag stepped forward.
"I think I'll explain" she said. "As you probably know, approximately eighteen hours ago, Osiris called another emergency sitting of Heaven's Parliament. His timing couldn't have been worse for us, as half the Valkyries were still involved on clean-up duties in Jötunheim. As such, when the Parliament was called and Osiris demanded a vote of no confidence and as you may have guessed, with half of us away, we had no hope of outvoting the Osiruns". The short, red-headed Valkyrie shook her head in dismay. "As you might say; we were royally buggered".
"Wait a minute… on what grounds did Osiris call for this vote?"
"Negligence of duty" Valmeyar said. The old Valkyrie shook her own head in dismay. "He claimed that by leaving Heaven and taking ALL of the Valkyries with her, Lind left Heaven defenceless and completely open to attack".
"But that's-"
"A load of bullshit, yes!" one of the other Captains, a strapping woman of nearly seven feet tall, with huge, bulging muscles, a heavily scarred face and short blond hair, known as Hlin, said. "We all know that the war with the demons has gone cold over the last thirty years. This isn't a complaint by the way; it's an observation. And even the Jötunns have been quiet recently. Besides, Heaven was never truly defenceless; with the Auxiliaries called up and with your brother's human forces in position, even a full attack by the demons would have been hard pressed to breach our defences".
"However, Osiris claimed not to see it this way" said Kayrune, pulling a long clay pipe from the inside of her jacket; something which earned her a few stares. "What? Can't a Valkyrie smoke?" she asked, snapping her fingers to light up and taking a pull at it before continuing. "Somehow, he managed to twist all the facts around and he basically managed to make people think that Heaven was completely defenceless while we were away. With that as ammunition, he managed to bring around enough goddesses to outvote us and… well, the rest is history". She took another long pull on her pipe and after a few seconds, she released a perfect smoke ring, which slowly began to drift up towards the ceiling. "However, that's just the tip of the iceberg" she said after a minute. "In fact, the next bit is why we came here in the first place".
"Next bit?" Jago asked reluctantly. "What next bit?"
"I believe they are referring to their decision to resign" Urd said.
"She's quite correct" Valmeyar admitted. "You see, following that vote and the subsequent return of the rest of the Valkyries, we Captains held a vote… minus Lind who was unavailable at the time. However, it wouldn't have mattered if she had voted, as we all voted yes to my proposal; the entire Valkyrie core resigned from duty. And before you ask, not it's not because we WANTED a Valkyrie in power. It's the fact that she was one of our own and was relieved of duty without being given a fair chance to defend herself".
"However, it would appear that Osiris was expecting this" Kayrune said bitterly.
"I did warn you" Lind said. "Before I left, did I not say that there was a good chance he would respond like he did? But did you listen? No you did not".
"Ok, ok, you don't have to rub it in!" Valmeyar said bitterly and then she glanced at Jago. "I can see where YOUR daughter gets it! She gets it from her damn mother!"
"And where does she get it from?"
"He father, more's the pity".
"Anyway" Kayrune said. "Osiris declared all Valkyries traitors for, as he said, abandoning Heaven and as such, he's banished us all. All ten-thousand Valkyries. We're now homeless and have until this time tomorrow to be gone from Heaven or he'll remove us by force".
"Not only that" interjected Peorth, "but he has begun a campaign to fully secure his position in Heaven, by replacing the higher ranking goddesses, with those who are loyal to him. I myself have been demoted from goddess Aggregate Principle Representative to that of an ordinary system admin and wish-granter".
"Well surely this is causing an uproar" Jago said. "At the rate he's going, won't it lead to some kind of rebellion?"
"There would be" Urd admitted, "if not for the Urabi".
"The Urabi?"
"The latest generation of combat golems" Lind said, pinching the bridge of her nose. "They aren't as tough as Juggernaut or his ilk were but it's claimed that they are completely unhackable. They have completely replaced the Valkyries as the main fighting force of Heaven… and they are likely to turn against any force that seeks to remove him from power; even other Valkyries. As such, I warned your brother to stand down the Auxiliaries for the time being, although he wasn't happy about it".
"I doubt he was" Jago admitted and then paused. "I thought we had banned the use of golems, due to their nature of being hacked and turning against their owners?"
"As Lind said; they're unhackable" Hlin said. "They answer only to the Almighty One, whoever that may be".
"I see" Jago said. "But now, I need to know; why would you come here? I don't see what I can do to help, so you will have to explain to me exactly what you want me to do".
"That… is a tricky question" one of the Captains said. "But to put it simply, we need your help. We need you to use you influence in the High Council to try and have Osiris removed, before he starts a war. Or, if that isn't an option, then we seek your assistance on the behalf of the Valkyries. We need your support, at least until the end of this crisis and we are willing to offer our services to you, it whatever way you may consider. However, I believe most of us were hoping that you might find space for us in your Guardian Corp, so that we can retain our skills until we are required again".
"I see" Jago said again and he sat for a long while, thinking carefully. The minutes ticked by. Tension built and dissipated. Finally Jago spoke again; "I have reached my decision. You have asked for my help and here is my answer: no. I cannot and will not help you".
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Temeraire grunted as Beregond's heavy falchion struck the haft of her halberd, forcing her back about a foot via sheer brute force. She roared and heaved him back, ducking under the heavy blade of his sword and swinging her axe up and around, aiming for his chest. He parried and swung his single-edged sword, one-handed at her head. Temmy raised one hand and used her uniform's brass knuckles to stop the sword dead, while thrusting her halberd forward with her other. The vicious top-spike pierced Beregond's shirt, tearing a long, thin gash across his skin, staining his front with a blossom of bright blood. The young god didn't so much as blink however, gasping the haft of Temeraire's halberd and brought his sword down hard on the haft, intending to cut the weapon in half with a single strike. Instead however, the heavy blade juddered to a halt against the hard wood and Beregond withdrew it in shock.
"What? This is an Ever-sharp blade!" he exclaimed, indicating the faint blue edge of the falchion. "It can cut through anything!"
"Not this!" Temeraire said, raising her halberd and indicating the haft. For the briefest second, strange symbols flashed across its surface; runes, similar but strangely distinct to those of Heaven or Hell. "Dwarf runes" she said by way of explanation. "My first Halberd was destroyed in Copenhagen, so my father remade it so that it could never be broken again. There was a dwarf master-smith he knew called Grimnore and he gave him some information on how to craft an indestructible weapon". Then Temmy grinned. "Then Aunt Skuld got her hands on it and now it can do THIS!" She twisted her wrist and fired off the sonic pulse, blasting Beregond from his feet and sending him spinning across the field. He landed on one hand, flipped himself and slid backward on his feet, his arms in front of his face for protection and balance.
"Now THAT was sneaky!" he snarled, flashing her an evil look.
"You should be ready for anything, at any time" Temeraire retorted. "It was my grandmother who taught me that one".
"Well how about this?" Beregond suddenly blurred and shot forward, almost too fast to see. Temeraire moved to dodge but even so, she felt the sting of a pair of blades cutting through her skin, one on her cheek and one just below her breasts and leaving red trails as they went. She wasn't through though and used her momentum to spin around completely and kicked Beregond in the back, knocking him from his feet, ending his dash and forcing him to roll back to his feet. He turned, falchion in one hand and falx in the other, just in time to see Temeraire swipe a thumb across the tiny gash on her cheek, healing it but leaving a tiny smear of blood across her thumb. She looked at it for a second, licked it and spat.
"Not bad… with some slat, a few herbs and maybe some ketchup, I might be palatable". With that, she drew her other hand across her chest, sealing the other wound before turning to glare at Beregond. "Oi! Eyes are up here!" she snapped, as he hand been watching her hand as she had been healing her chest. "As for that move; THAT was sneaky!"
"Why thank you!" he said with a grin.
"How did you do that? It looked like you boosted but you don't have any boosters on that suit".
"Oh, I don't have any boosters, but my angel does!" With that, Bloody Thorn appeared, grinning wolfishly at Temeraire and shrugged aside one of the mail sleeves of her outer armour, to reveal the suede underlay. There, Temeraire could clearly make out the distinctive black streaks of a full set of boosters; three of them. This would likely mean that this boy was in possession of a full set of six, putting his boosting capabilities on a par with a Valkyrie Captain; astonishing for one who appeared no older than Temeraire herself.
"Now that's quite a trick" the goddess admitted. "But now, it's MY turn!" With that, she swiped a thumb across her own booster, shooting forward in a blur of motion, discarding her halberd as she went. She struck Beregond full in the stomach, bending him over and then kneed him in the nose before spinning and roundhouse-kicking him in the back of the head , stepping aside as he staggered forward and grasping Bloody Thorn by the hair. The angel shrieked in pain as she was pulled away from her Master; not disconnected but simply detached, leaving them both able to function without a problem. Temeraire then slammed the angel into the ground and punched her hard in the face but Bloody Thorn retaliated, reaching up with both legs and grasping Temeraire around the middle, flipping her over the angel's body and body-slamming her into the ground. By this point, Beregond had recovered and he stood, glaring, his blades in hand as both Temeraire and Bloody Thorn scrambled back to their feet. Temmy was now between the pair of them and glanced from one to the other, grinning. "You think you got the drop on me, do you?" she asked.
"Well yeah" Bloody Thorn said. "You're now outnumbered and you've lost your weapon. Temmy sniggered.
"Don't you know anything? I'm so powerful, that my halberd isn't really a weapon; it's a LIMITER". Beregond grunted in disgust.
"Oh, you're one of THOSE, are you?" he said.
"One of what's?"
"One of those goddesses who are so cocky because they're stronger without their weapons! It's damn stupid!"
"Hey! I wasn't always like this! Three years ago, I was stronger WITH the axe. But now, I've gotten to the point that I have to have my power sealed with that big thing. But I still use this…" With that, she drew her khukuri, spinning it around her hand and then lowering herself, gripping the big knife in both hands. "I'm like my dad; I like to get close and personal when I kill things".
"I thought Jago liked guns".
"They're mostly just for show".
"Whatever" Bloody Thorn said.
"And now, it's time to make this fight INTERESTING" Beregond said. And he dropped both his falchion and his falx, leaving him completely unarmed. "You see, I'm stronger without ANY weapons!" And he started his next attack, by hurling a Plasma Bolt.
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There was a LONG silence after Jago made his announcement. It seemed to go for ever… and then the room exploded with angry voices, all demanding to know why he wouldn't help them; how he was their friend, how he owed them a debt of honour, things like that. Jago pretty much gave up trying to answer them within the first thirty seconds and simply sat, letting the wave of noise wash over him. Lind however, was getting annoyed. She alone, amongst the goddesses, had remained silent following Jago's declaration, simply cross her boots and folding her arms across her chest. However, the noise was starting to get to her. A vein bulged in her forehead and an eyelid twitched and just before she exploded, Jago had the sense to put his hands over his ears, to muffle the sound of her shout.
"SHUT IT!" Lind bellowed, so loud that the windows threatened to shatter and nearly deafening all those present. She waited until her shout had finally stopped echoing before speaking in a much quieter voice. "Now, I'm sure there is a reason that Jago won't help us". She paused and gave him a withering look. "For his sake anyway. As such, I think it is only proper that we should hear him out before we start fighting. Now Jago, if you would please explain". Jago nodded and then took a second to finish his tea, setting the mug down heavily and clearing his throat but before he could begin, there was a cry.
"You brought the twins with you?" he said to Peorth, who shrugged.
"Well I couldn't exactly leave them at home alone" she said, disappearing form the room, while Jago began his explanation.
"It's not that I don't want to help you; I really do. I mean, I've known most of you for the better part of thirty years and I count you all as friends. However, as the Paladin, I have to take various things into consideration, when it comes to finding you employment within my Guardian Corp. Firstly, recruitment quotas. It is a little known fact that I use recruitment quotas to determine whether I can recruit any new gods, goddesses or demons into my forces, as I have to try and keep an EXACTLY equal number of Heavenly or demonic forces in the ranks, in order to maintain neutrality. What do you think would happen if the demons found out I had just recruited ten-thousand ex-Valkyries into my ranks? It wasn't so bad when Urd was one of the Daimankaichōs but now, with Hagall in charge? I have NO idea what would happen if my forces were suddenly inundated with goddesses. I could face a mass walk-out of loyal demons… or worse, I could lose the support of Hell. Which, believe it or not, brings me onto my second point". He paused as Peorth re-entered the room, carrying the bawling twins.
"Do you mind?" she asked, pulling up her shirt to expose a breast and Jago simply waved his hand, averting his eyes out of respect.
"Go right ahead. You do what you need to do". It was then that Urd stepped forward and took one of the twins, twitching aside her own dress.
"They may not be my actually babies" she said to the strange look she got form one or two of the Valkyries, "but they are just as much my family as Jarrett is". She narrowed her eyes. "Does that bother you?" The offending Valkyries lowered their gazes and then turned back to Jago.
"Umm… I've lost my thread" he said. "Where was I going with this?"
"You're second point" Valmeyar said. "Something about losing support".
"Ah yes. Well, as you know, the Guardians receive funding from various different sources. Some we get from the various races but the main bulk is provided by the United Nations, Heaven and Hell. Now, with Osiris in power, we're likely to lose all of our support from the; approximately forty per cent of our budget. With that gone, it's going to be a stretch to make ends meet in our forces… and if I lose the support of Hell as well, by hiring ten-thousand Valkyries… well, you can guess how that's going to work out for me. I would have to disband a greater part of the forces, scrap most of the gear, including most of the Isolus Class and withdraw all support operations from nearby worlds. To put it simply, it would be a complete and utter clusterfuck!"
"I think we see the point" Kayrune said, tapping out her pipe. "You CAN'T help us, without risking the collapse of the entire Corp, so you won't do anything… I suppose we can't fault you for trying to protect those already in your care".
"But there must be something you can do!" Vayrag interjected. "I mean, you could speak to the High Council or-"
"The High Council can't do anything either" said Vayrag. "Unless Osiris declares open war on another realm, there is precious little they can do… and by then, it's likely that it will be too late. And war WILL come, if I know that bastard. He despises humans almost as much as he hates demons and he will most likely be ITCHING for a chance to start a fight with them either of them".
"So we're all buggered" Hlin said. "Situation normal, all fucked up".
"Aye, SNAFU indeed" Jago said, tapping his chin. The other goddesses looked dejected, unsure what to do now.
"What about you personally?" Vayrag asked, looking directly at Jago. "Could you take any of us?"
"Not bloody likely" he said. "I may still be a blacksmith but I make barely enough to support myself, never mind anyone else… it's gonna be a struggle with Temeraire and… oh, what's-his-face here, never mind anyone else". The Valkyrie's head sunk down once more. "However, there may be… SOMETHING I can do".
"What's that?" Lind asked cautiously.
"Well… did I ever tell you about the Outrider Division?"
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"Ok" Temeraire, gasping for breath. "EITHER you have NO idea what a friendly sparring match is supposed to be OR you're trying to see me naked!" She looked down at her soot-blackened uniform and at the holes where Beregond and Bloody Thorn's Plasma Bolts had burned away sections of the thick leather, leaving her skin exposed.
"Don't blame me" Beregond said. "I train like I mean to fight; I don't hold back. In fact, I'm amazed that you survived so many direct hits form Plasma Bolts, without so much as a minor burn".
"How in the world did you learn a spell like that anyway?" Temeraire demanded. "My dad invented it, so how the Hell do you know how to do it?"
"I was taught by my farther that I should learn from my enemies and if possible, turn their own attacks against them. As such, I took the liberty of studying my opponents moves… including those used by your father and the other Valkyries. As to seeing you naked, I have to ask; what would that achieve? I doubt that being naked would impede your fighting skills… in fact, it might improve your chances as you would be more free to move, compared to when you have cloths on".
"Do you seriously not know anything? I mean… were you raised in a cave?"
"Yes actually I was". Temeraire paused and straightened herself, lowering her guard.
"Seriously? How old are you?"
"I'm thirty-two". She was shocked.
"Thirty-two? You're barely any older than I am… although that makes sense; you look about as old as I do". She paused again and straightened herself. "Anyways, I think that's enough for now. I've got a measure of your strength, so now I've just got to work out where we go from here". She snapped her fingers, instantly repairing her cloths and then jerked her head towards the house. "Come on, let's get a drink". Grudgingly, Beregond followed her and the pair proceeded towards the house, entering the kitchen through the back door once more. "Now I have to admit" Temeraire said as she flicked the kettle on and started rummaging through the cupboards, "you're pretty tough. I've never met a god who could hold his own against me".
"Why thanks" Beregond said with a faint grin.
"Don't get cocky though. There are few male Valkyries in the service and I've fought most of them… and beaten each of them in turn". She paused, reaching for a biscuit tin but withdrew her hand with a snap and a yelp. "I can't believe he still puts fucking mousetraps in the biscuits!" she swore, yanking the trap off of her fingers, while Beregond grinned at her. "It's not funny!" she snapped.
"It is" he said, chuckling as she wrung her fingers, trying to get some feeling back into them.
"Well, I'll admit, you've got some power yourself… for a Valkyrie that is. There are few who can challenge both myself and Bloody Thorn without summoning their own angel, even amongst the Forgotten Army". Temeraire stopped in mid-motion and turned slowly to face him.
"Without summoning my angel?" she asked carefully and Beregond shrugged.
"Well yeah. There are only a handful of beings who can challenge me without their angel. My father was one but-" He stopped and shook his head. "Anyway, just accept the compliment. It's rare that I give one, especially to someone outside of our ranks. If you're angle is as powerful as you are-"
"Well that's just it" Temeraire said quietly. "I don't have an angel. I never had one and most likely, I never will. Apparently, I simply can't support one". Beregond looked stunned.
"What? But you mother… and your father! They-"
"They both support two, yes. My mother has a set of twins, while my father had his funny quirk that allowed him to support Archs… even my brother has an angel; an Arch of his own. But me? No". She turned away. "I'll be back later" she said and disappeared out of the back door once more.
"I think I upset her" he said mildly as Bloody Thorn appeared behind him.
"So what? She's supposed to be our Mistress, not our friend. Worse; she's an enemy. Remember the plan".
"I know, I know. The first chance we get, we get the Hell out of here. But for now, I can't help but feel sorry for her".
"Don't you dare start talking like that!" Bloody Thorn snapped. "It was crap like that corrupted Weth. I don't want that shit happening to you too!"
"Alright! I get it! Hellfire! What's your problem Bloody Thorn?"
"I need to keep you on track. What would your father say if you went soft?"
"He wouldn't say" Beregond admitted. "He'd just kill me".
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"So we're all in agreement? You wanna try for the Outriders?" All of the Valkyrie Captains nodded bar Lind nodded. "Well it's you funeral. You know exactly what you're letting yourselves in for and I won't try to stop you. I can only say… good luck and don't do anything stupid".
"Thank you" Valmeyar said. "It's not much but you've at least given us something to work with. At least this way, when the shit hits the fan, which it will, we'll be ready for it".
"Are you really sure that war will come?" Jago had to ask. "Can you be certain?"
"Osiris hates Valkyries, he hates demons and he hates humans, in no particular order. Yes, war is coming" Lind said. "And thanks to you, they have a chance to be ready to for it".
"Hang on… they?" Kayrune asked. "You're not coming with us?"
"No" said Lind. "I have other business to attend to. Business pertaining to the Jötunns".
"So, you're finally going through with it?" Jago asked and Lind nodded.
"I've got some spare time now. I might as well". The other Valkyries looked perplexed, even Valmeyar.
"What are you two talking about?" she demanded. "And what's this about the Jötunns?"
"It's something we've been planning for years" Lind said with a shrug. "A… safety net, in the event that something goes wrong. But I need to be in contact with the Jötunns for it to work. For obvious reasons, this was impossible while I was the Almighty One but now…"
"That doesn't make anything any clearer" Valmeyar commented but then let it drop.
"Well in that case, Urd and I had better be returning to Heaven" Peorth said, standing and bowing her head to Jago.
"Wait… you're not banished? Then why are you here?"
"Moral support" Urd said casually and then smiled. "Oh and that reminds me; we're going to need you to sign some release forms, saying we were here on official Paladin business, so that we don't get in trouble with the higher-ups. I hope that isn't a problem?" She gave a sweet little smile and Jago couldn't help but nod his head.
"Alright, alright, I'll sign the forms… provided none of the words has more than three letters".
"I'll see what I can do".
"We had better be going too" Valmeyar said. "If we're to make it into the Outriders, then we had best speak to Weth as soon as possible".
"Well before you go, might you permit me to at least invite you all to breakfast. I mean, this may well be the last decent meal you'll have for a while". All heads snapped around.
"Breakfast?" Hlin asked hopefully.
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"I can't fucking believe this!" Bloody Thorn whined. "Why should we have to go searching for the stupid whore?"
"Careful!" Beregond hissed. "She might hear you!"
"So what if she does?" the angle demanded. "It's her own fault for running off like that!"
"True… but we kinda need to find her, if we're to survive today. You do remember who her parents are, right?" Bloody Thorn paused and then nodded.
"Good point" she said.
"And what point might that be?" The pair whipped around at the sound of the voice and looked up, into the boughs of a tree and there, perched on one of the branches was Temeraire. The young Valkyrie dropped nimbly for to the ground.
"There you are!" Beregond said with relief. "We were-" ,he stopped himself, "-told to find you. Twoarchs says it's time for breakfast".
"Don't call him that" Temeraire said with a frown.
"Call him what?"
"My dad. Don't call him Twoarchs. It's a name that is only used when people are trying to insult him".
"Then what do you suggest we call him?" Bloody Thorn snapped.
"Call him Master… Master Finch or possibly, Master Jago, if he lets you".
"Master? Are you serious?" the angel asked distastefully.
"Yes, I'm serious. Technically speaking, you are my Apprentice and so, you should call me Mistress and as he's my father, he's Master to you".
"Very well" Beregond said grudgingly. "If you say that I must call him Master, then I shall. But like I said, it's time for breakfast".
"Well let's hope dad doesn't decide to cancel it again". Beregond shrugged and his angel retreated inside him. The pair walked on in silence for a while, until Beregond spoke up.
"I have to ask, why'd you run off".
"It was either leave then or hit you" Temeraire said simply. "I've always had trouble with other gods because of my lack of an angel and it makes me angry whenever someone reminds me of my weakness".
"Weakness?"
"Well what else could it be? I have no potential of any kind. As such, I have to compensate for my lack of an angel by increasing my physical strength. Probably not the brightest of ideas, considering what happened to the last guy who did that but…"
"The last guy?"
"Deaderuss".
"Ah". There was silence between them as they continued towards the house, until it was again broken by Beregond once more. "For what it's worth, I'm sorry. If I had known, I wouldn't have mentioned it".
"Forget it" Temmy said dismissively.
"And it adds double credence to what I said earlier; you must be truly formidable to match myself and Bloody Thorn, without an angel of any sort".
"Again, forget it". She paused and cocked her head at him, her long fringe flopping over her eye. "Wait… what do you want?"
"What?"
"You're buttering me up with compliments; aka, you must want something".
"Is that really how it works?" Beregond asked. "And I'm being serious. Compliments are few and far between in the Forgotten Army. Whenever they're given, they're meant". Temeraire gave him a queer look but decided not to press the issue. "And now, I've got a question for you; what were you doing up in that tree?"
"I was scouting" Temeraire said. "I wanted to work out where that carcharodontosaurus lives, so we can avoid it tomorrow". Beregond was silent for a second but then he nodded.
"That's… surprisingly practical".
"Hey, just because I'm pretty, doesn't mean I'm stupid!"
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Thousands of miles away, a city lay in ruins. Once a mighty place, it had been destroyed, not by monsters or by war. This was Pyongyang; the former capital of North Korea. It had been destroyed by its own people, in a final, desperate act by their government, to drive back the Valkyries, who had fallen upon their nation, upon the discovery of the barbarism that they so willingly inflicted on their own people. And so, in a final, futile act, the North Koreans had nuked the city, hoping to wipe out the Valkyries. But they had failed and now, it was a shattered wasteland of broken buildings and carbon shadows of those incinerated by the blast. And below the city, hidden with a bunker, built to withstand just such a blast, Gracious Penitence met with her council.
"It's time" she said, looking at each of her warriors in turn. The three robed figures bowed their cowled heads, their faces hidden deep in the shadows below. "You know what you must do; draw out the Paladin and bring him here. Him and his precious daughter, so that they may see what happens when they dare to challenge our power. Now go my Nazgul. Draw them… like poison from a wound. Draw them into my grasp". The three Nazgul nodded and stood, as the angel turned away and smiled towards the chained form of the Gate, who hung painfully from the wall. "And don't you worry either; your part is coming soon".
Authors Note: It's been a busy week for me. All kinds of crazy shit. Still, nearly the weekend. And as you can see, it looks like I've managed to get back into my step again. No more short chapters for THIS monkey! However, there's something I've been thinking about and I want some opinions on it: whether Lind is actually as powerful as I thought she was. If you're interested, you can check out my deviantart account (jacoblee0463) and you'll see it under the journal entry "A thought on Lind".