Chapter twenty-nine: Wings on the horizon

"Jack," Brigul said. "Wake up."

Jack jolted awake, then sighed. "What?"

"Quiet," she hissed. She nodded towards the cave entrance, where daylight shone inside. "Valkyries."

Jack's drowsiness was all but gone in an instant. Valkyries, here? How had they found them so soon? Herskagul must've sent at least half her soldiers to cover ground everywhere between the Labyrinth and the portal.

"We just wait for them to leave, right?" he whispered.

She shook her head. "They'll search here, too. Get the artefact."

Moving as carefully as possible, Jack rose to his feet. He grabbed his last lightning dagger and attached it to his belt, then picked up his axe and the artefact.

"Once they come here," Brigul hissed, "we ambush them and run."

"I can't outrun them. Flying is faster if you don't need Aerclouds, you know…"

"We have to try."

Jack felt his hands trembling just a little bit. He glanced at the artefact. "Why don't we just drop this fucking thing over the edge?"

"It'll end up in the Overworld, and Herskagul will recover it before we do," she said, inching towards the entrance to peek outside. "I have to guard it and hide it personally."

Jack looked at her. She wasn't facing him, instead looking outside. He felt the artefact's weight in his arm.

"They're coming here," Brigul said. "Get ready."

He heard soft footsteps on grass approaching. Soon, they were going to be here.

He didn't move.

Then two silhouettes emerged at the cave entrance.

Brigul leaped towards them and tackled one to the ground. She tried to strike the other with her sword, but the newcomer ducked under her swing and leveled a longsword at her. Brigul moved to step back, but the Valkyrie she'd knocked down grabbed her foot, and she stumbled.

The other one raised her sword.

Then Jack jumped their way. They only noticed him at the last second and tried to swing at him, but Jack blocked as well as he could with his poleaxe in one hand. His armor did the rest. With his other hand, he pressed the artefact against his opponent's armor. They screamed, their armor heating up and beginning to melt.

They collapsed, and Jack threw the artefact onto the other Valkyrie. More animalistic screams followed, and he quickly took it back. Those screams definitely alerted the others.

That thought was confirmed when he heard a low humming from outside.

"A horn," Brigul said. "We have to go! Now!"

No kidding.

Side by side, they sprinted out of the cave. Outside, Jack quickly spotted the other Valkyries—four in total. They were spread thinly over the island, but their collective attention was fixed on him and Brigul.

Brigul turned and ran towards the edge of the island, with Jack following closely behind, clutching the artefact to his chest. He vaguely heard cries and the flapping of wings behind him.

"Stop!" Jack told Brigul. "The Aerclouds—it's too risky! They'll catch up!"

Brigul glanced at him and cursed. She stopped abruptly, turned and swung her sword, deterring one Valkyrie that had gotten too close. Brigul flew up with a flap of her own wings and went for a stab at her opponent's gambeson-covered chest, but they masterfully deflected the attack with the shaft of their spear.

Jack jumped towards them with his own, Gravitite-powered jump.

Right as the Valkyrie kicked Brigul down, Jack swung his poleaxe against their hand, knocking the spear out of her grip. Jack dropped to the ground on his feet and hand, then turned and immediately pressed the attack before his opponent could retrieve their spear. He caught them by surprise.

Then Brigul rammed her sword through the Valkyrie's chest from behind. She yanked out her blade, and the Valkyrie collapsed.

Two more Valkyries landed nearby, and Jack just about ducked under a third as it flew over him. He abruptly tossed the artefact into the hands of one Valkyrie, then lunged for the other with a Gravitite-powered leap, blocking their sword strike and tackling them to the ground. Ignoring the animalistic screams of pain in the background, he tried to raise his poleaxe to stab them with its spike, but soon found himself in a wrestling match.

He tried to get away. The Valkyrie jumped on him and tackled him to the ground. They tried to grab him, but Jack managed to place his foot against her plate-covered chest and shoved her back. With the Gravitite-powered 'jump', she was sent back several meters.

Jack got up. The Valkyrie recovered too and turned to him, drawing their arming sword. They'd dropped their two-handed longsword during the scuffle.

Something passed over him. The third Valkyrie, wrestling with Brigul in mid-air, their trajectory heading downwards. Jack's opponent moved in closer to him, sword raised. With only an arming sword for a weapon, they were technically at a disadvantage, but Jack stepped back nonetheless.

When they lunged, he was ready for it. As they flew towards him, he stepped forward and ducked into a roll to pass under them. He then immediately jumped in the vague direction of where he'd left the artefact.

He found the sphere and darted towards it. He noticed something in his peripheral vision and dropped flat on the ground, narrowly dodging the Valkyrie. A glance told him they were turning around again and flew towards him at high speed.

Jack grabbed the artefact from a Valkyrie's dead hands.

The other one was rapidly approaching, flying barely a meter above the ground. He saw them from the corner of his eye. He didn't move. He couldn't let them know that he had seen what they were doing.

Then he abruptly dropped flat on his back and raised the artefact above him.

The Valkyrie flew over at the perfect height, grazing the sphere.

It was enough. They gasped loudly and their flight trajectory stumbled. They crashed to the ground in a mess of wings and metal.

Jack got up and jumped over, artefact in one hand, axe in the other. The Valkyrie lay on the ground. Their breathing was shaky, their sword lay on the ground nearby.

Jack paused at seeing the damage. Their metal chestplate had been all but ripped open where it had grazed the artefact, the gap lined with melting metal. That hadn't happened before. Must've been the friction.

Speaking of friction… He searched the sky until he found what he was looking for: Brigul and the one remaining Valkyrie, dueling in mid-air. It looked so different from a normal fight that Jack had a hard time telling who had the advantage. Both used a greatsword, but flying was faster than stepping, making them both a lot more mobile. Brigul retreated at one point, sending herself several meters back.

Jack raised his poleaxe so that the spike pointed at the opposing Valkyrie's back. He prepared to jump, but hesitated. If it just so happened that Brigul attacked when he did, and the opposing Valkyrie dodged, things might get messy.

Brigul gave him a glance. Or did she? Had she actually seen him standing ready, or…?

Jack squatted down, holding his axe with both hands, focusing on the Valkyrie above. They still had their back turned to him, their own focus on Brigul. They raised their sword, but before they could go on the offensive, Brigul raised her own weapon suddenly. The opposing Valkyrie froze for a moment.

Then Jack jumped.

With spike held up, he ran the Valkyrie through from behind. He grabbed onto them as they fell and the duo crashed to the ground. As he got up, Brigul landed next to him.

"Let's go," she said. "We've no time to lose. More are inbound."

Everyone stared in silence as Skotur finished her story. The Valkyrie had sat down at the remains of the fire with them, still in full white-and-gold armor that reflected the sunlight from outside. Only her helmet had been taken off.

"You're lying," Mystia finally said.

Skotur shook her head. "No. That is the truth."

"So you're saying he's either dead or a traitor."

Skotur said nothing.

"Both are possible," Raulyn cut in. "He has betrayed before."

Blazette glared at him. "Yeah, for good reason."

"Either way," Skotur said, "we're looking for him now. Herskagul wants him alive."

"What about the one who was with him?" Raulyn said. "The Valkyrie Brigul, was it?"

"Dead or alive."

"How likely is it that she killed him?"

Skotur remained silent for a moment. "Hard to say. I didn't think it likely she would betray us until now, but she did. And she's not fond of humans."

"That makes two of us," Blazette muttered.

"Does that mean you are in favor of us joining forces with the Valkyries?" Raulyn asked her.

Blazette scoffed. "No!"

All eyes turned to her. Before the room could break out in an argument, Raulyn swiftly stood up, drawing all attention to him. He immediately saw hesitation rise in their eyes, as he had many times before. How often had he used his powers in the past without realizing it?

"Lady Skotur," he said, "if you could please leave us to discuss this matter?"

The Valkyrie—who also seemed mildly unsettled by him—nodded and left, taking her helmet and weapons with her.

Blazette—who was sitting cross-legged a feet or so above the ground—descended and stood. "I don't trust her," she proclaimed, pointing at where Skotur had gone. "She's too…"

"Virtuous?" Rayallv finished. "How cynical of you."

"Shut up."

"Regardless," Raulyn cut in, "she is our only lead."

"Sir, I do not like this," Galen suddenly spoke up. "I agree with the Blaze. It is too convenient that this Valkyrie found us."

"Her story is too good to be true," Ilyoin added darkly. "She speaks highly of her people, yet admits that her friend and sister-in-arms betrayed them."

"And?" Mystia said. "It's not unreasonable to be wary of humans. There's a lot of mobs who hate us, and you can't blame them." She looked at the Hunters sharply. Galen looked like he was about to give a retort, but Ilyoin stopped him with a shake of his head.

Raulyn glanced at them all silently. Then he turned to Andr, who leaned against the wall, her arms crossed. She had reigned in the darklight somewhat when Skotur visited, but now it had returned to moderate strength, as if relaxing a muscle she had kept tensed the whole time. She returned his gaze with a knowing, albeit reluctant one.

"The only alternative is to keep using the same searching strategy we used yesterday," Raulyn said.

The room fell silent. They all knew that that was not going to work. They were completely in the dark.

"We would be fools to trust her, and so we must be on guard the whole time." Raulyn looked at Andr. "You, especially. If she and her kin do turn against us, you are the only one who can get us out of there."

She shook her head. "Six people, plus myself? That's risky. I can't guarantee I'll be able to get you all out safely."

"Maybe some of us should stay here?" suggested Mystia. "Or go back."

No one said anything. Raulyn looked at his men questioningly and was met with firm gazes. Clearly they all wanted to see this through. Or maybe they still had some loyalty towards him despite what they had learned. Raulyn turned to Mystia. "I think you should go back," he said. "You have less experience in fights than anyone else here."

"He's right," Andr said. "Anyone can use a potion."

Mystia scowled. "I'm sorry, what about that time when we fought you Hunters on our way to the Re— our hideout?"

"You threatened to use a poison that would kill you as well as your attackers," Raulyn said flatly, "then you got saved by one of the mobs."

She glared at him but said, "Fine. I'll give you some of my potions to use in case you need them." She brusquely set down her bag and started rummaging through it.

"We should stay close together," Andr announced. "That way, I might still be able to get everyone out of trouble if things go south."

"No," Raulyn said. "We split up."

All eyes turned to him. "What, are you crazy?" demanded Blazette. "That's the worst thing we can do!"

Raulyn raised a hand, silencing further protests. "Let me explain."