Part 8:Ride of the Valkyries

Ch.20

Slaigh

The Valkyries were once thought to be a myth. Or at least extinct. But that all ended one summer day. The day the norse angels of death began their crusade across the land. They started as rumors. Nothing more than gossip or conspiracy. 39 godlike women warriors tearing their way through villages and towns. "A child's bedtime story couldn't burn nations to the ground" everyone said. But when armies went and fell before them, it all became so very real. The angels crusade had begun in the east, where the legendary vikings once lived. From there, they pushed inland and back west toward the british empire. Some said they were out for revenge against the old English empire for the fall of the vikings. The local magicians worked long and hard to find a way to keep the valkyries at bay, but nothing worked. They pushed on as they set fire to everything they conquered. Their force was unrivaled until they suddenly stopped.

The Valkyries then crossed the English Channel and began tearing across the British mainland. But what baffled the scholars was the Valkyries now ignored all the major cities and only attacked what laid directly in their way. They continued into Scotland where they suddenly vanished. They appeared in random villages, killing many but letting most live, mostly asking questions as if they were looking for someone. It wasn't until then that we found out what they were searching for. The Valkyries were after me.

Eir

I don't know where we came from. Neither me nor my sisters do. I awoke in a cold room with no light and a hard stone floor. A door opened and like a child I walked curiously through it. There was a large circular room with a large table in the middle covered in swords and bows. Out stepped many others from doors similar to my own. I counted 38 others including me. All of us lynx's and all of us women. We wore the same black T-shirt and pants. We began to talk, trying to piece together what was going on but with no avail. No-one had the slightest memory of who or where we were. Then a voice boomed throughout the room.

"My warriors!" the large face of a frog appeared above the table of weapons, "I hath summoned thee!"

We all stood at attention to the floating head. Did it call us warriors?

"I am Odin, thy father and you are my Valkyries!" he boomed, "you have many questions, I know. You have been asleep for a long time. I wish I could answer them all but now you must prepare for battle."

The dark rooms suddenly lit up and in the back of each one there was a set of armor. I went to mine and there was a glorious set of armor with shined metal that felt both sturdy yet light weight at the same time. I put it on and found it to be perfectly fitted to my body. There was a scroll attached to it with some basic information written in fancy gold handwriting. I was Eir and my mission was to find someone named Slaigh MacCooper in Scotland.

I stepped back out to find the others at the table taking weapons.

"There is great evil in the world. They have forgotten you," said Odin, "Bring me the staff of Slaigh MacCooper and cleanse the world of evil!"

Not knowing any better, I picked up a sword and a bow and quiver. I mounted them all on my armor and joined the rest of the Valkyries on one side of the room. We stood at attention as Odin kept talking.

"Now go forth my daughters and do my will."

The head vanished and the entire room went dark. Then, a massive door slowly creaked open. Streams of blinding sunlight streaked in and filled the room. We walked towards it together and entered the outside world for the first time. Did any of it sound right? No, but we knew nothing. So we did as we were told.

Sir Raleigh

I closed the broadcast to the Valkyrie room and began to chuckle evilly to myself. They bought it. Every one of them. Those genetic experiments of mine will get that cane with ease. I should be thankful to that La Paradox fellow for breaking me out of jail. After this little job, I'll be a king back in modern day. Or maybe not. In the present I'm just a criminal. A rich one yes, but a criminal nonetheless. But here, I'm a god. And no-one knows better.

Eir

The 39 of us proved to be an effective group of warriors. We tirelessly fought off entire armies single handedly without losing a single Valkyrie. We were stronger, faster, and smarter than anyone else on the battlefield. We were, after all, the angels of death. So we played the part. Whenever there was a village or kingdom in our way, we took what we wanted. When they resisted, we killed them all and burned everything down. We trudged over the hills and and through the plains but as our quest drew on, the concept of what we were doing started to wear down on me and when I consulted my sisters I could tell they all felt the same.

Odin warned us of great evil in the land. Sure there were bad people but there were mostly just folks trying to live their lives day by day. When we all stopped to talk about it at the strait between the mainland and the land known as Britain, we came to an agreement. No more unnecessary deaths until we knew what exactly was going on. Maybe this Slaigh MacCooper could give us some answers. If Odin wanted him dead so badly, we may as well know why.

We stole a fleet of ships and sailed across the strait. When we landed, we made a straight line through the British countryside. Whenever we came across a kingdom, we stayed away from it. Whenever we came across a smaller village, we infiltrated with disguises and asked the locals questions. Sometimes they gave us answers. Usually they would recognize us instantly and we killed the population in self defense, leaving another village to burn. But by the time we reached Scotland, we knew where Slaigh was.

We found Slaigh MacCooper in a village overlooking the north edge of the island. Instead of charging in however, we opted to say at a distance and watch for a while. We stayed and we watched for 2 days but we never saw him. It was strange, being that every village we got information from said he would be here. So we devised a plan. It was ruthless and heartless but if luck was in our favor, no-one would need to die today.

Slaigh

We heard them before we saw them. A loud horn echoing over the hills. The horn described by the survivors of the burned villages. Sharp and loud unlike anything else I had ever seen before. The other villagers were my friends and in an effort to save me, they kept me hidden in our village elder-house. But when I heard the horn, I knew the Valkyries had found us. It didn't matter how well I was hidden if they were just going to burn the place to the ground. So I picked up my stone cane and stepped into the late morning sun.

They stood in an archery line aimed at the village. All of them with a flaming arrow ready to fire. The whole village was present, men, women and children standing at the edge of the village to see the angels of death. As I pushed my way to the front, they made a single statement.

"We are the Valkyries. If you resist, we will kill you all. If you give us Slaigh MacCooper, we will let you live." It was never repeated.

I was hesitant at first but I could never live with myself if I let them take my village, my home. I stepped forward, shuffling through the crowd of terrified bystanders with my cane over my shoulder and walked across the field toward the line of Valkyries. Out stepped the Valkyrie that made the announcement and we met just before the firing line, the wind sweeping her blond locks over her face. She was about to speak but I spoke first without a hint of fear in my voice. I was indeed afraid, but I was more afraid for the lives of my people. .

"If I went with you in peace, will you let my people live?" she stood before me, a full head shorter than me. She had a look of surprise from the bold statement, but quickly regained her composure. Multiple archers were aimed at me now.

"Yes," she responded.

"Then I surrender," I let my cane fall to the grassy earth with a heavy thud, ready to accept my fate, "I refuse to stand by while my people are slaughtered by monsters. So do with me as you will."

The statement left the warrior in shock. Maybe monster was too strong of a word. Because now I didn't see an angel of Death, or even a warrior. I saw a woman who I had hurt dearly. The archers slowly lowered their bows and slung them over their shoulders, extinguishing their arrows. They looked just as taken back as the lynx that stood before me. Suddenly the air changed and the Valkyries gathered behind her.

"I'm sorry. We had to be sure of who you were," she began, "my name is Eir and we are in dire need of your help."