Valkyrie Profile:
Lenneth Novelization AU:
Disclaimer: I do not own Valkyrie Profile or any other tri-Ace properties. Please support the official release. Little Wolf belongs to Karliene.
Chapter Twenty-Nine:
The Turgen Mines III
"Platina?"
Lenneth looked down at Lucien with an impartial air.
"Are you really in that much of a hurry to die, human?" she asked.
Lucien tried to speak as his mind went through several loops trying to comprehend what he was seeing. She looked exactly like Platina, and… that woman she met in Headmistress Dolce's office at the orphanage.
"Stay back and protect those innocents you were leading out of Gerebellum," Lenneth ordered him. "We will handle this."
Then she walked past him towards the Wasp Queen, leaving the still fuddled Lucien sitting there.
"We?" he managed to ask.
Lenneth did not answer, leaving him watching her perfectly poised and centered strides as she approached the Wasp Queen. The giantess had already noticed the Valkyrie. She'd seen the goddess the instant she appeared next to Lucien. The Wasp Queen watched her uncertainly, very unhappy, and uneasy about this new development. She was more than willing to torment and devour some measly humans, but this was a member of the Aesir. One of Odin's battle maidens, no less.
Lenneth drew her sword and pointed it at the giantess.
"How unbecoming," the Valkyrie said to her. "Throwing such a fit just because some visitors in your domain were rowdier than you would have liked. You make for a terrible host."
From the irritated flutter of queen's wings and how she slightly lowered herself to the ground while tensing up angrily, Lenneth knew the wasp giantess understood her.
"H-hey, wait…!" Lucien cried.
He'd sat forward to trying to get up when he heard Claire scream. Lucien looked back and let out of a startled gasp, himself. Six more warriors who had not been there before were walking up to join their Valkyrie. Claire and the rest of the exodus stood stiffly in shock as they tried to grasp what was happening. First that pillar instantaneously grew blocking Lucien and the queen from battling each other. Then that woman stepped out from where, and now these six other persons had appeared from thin air right in front of them.
Lucien looked back and forth in confusion as the einherjar walked past. Arngrim glanced down at him as he walked by and stopped for just a second, finding Lucien's face familiar. Then he smirked when he recognized the man that Lenneth had been so enamored with on their first visit to Gerebellum, almost laughing at the strange twist of fate that he was there.
"Look sharp, lover-boy," Arngrim told him. "We got this. You and the little lady can just get back and mind them."
Arngrim pointed towards the refugee group with his thumb.
Lucien remained silent, uncertain of how to take the man's flippant behavior in the face of such danger. He finally climbed to his feet again, very shakily, as he watched them walk past the crystal pillar and then take up positions at their Valkyrie's side.
The Wasp Queen's wings gave another agitated twitch as she sized the three warriors, archer, and two magi up. They looked like ordinary humans, but even she knew these were the Valkyrie's chosen slain. Freed from the limitations of the flesh and with access to the power residing deep in their souls. They would not be so easy to defeat as a living human. She was torn between anger and fear. On one hand, she was angry that gods had decided it was worthwhile to interrupt the lesson she was teaching the humans. On the other, she was terrified the gods had seen fit to deal with her personally.
Lucien had just gotten over his shock and almost took a step back to flee from the battle. He stopped himself then, damning himself for daring to back down from the beast responsible for all their misery that night. He narrowed his eyes and took a step forward, but was stopped again when a pair of hands grabbed his arm from behind. Instinctively, Lucien flinched, then raised his sword as he turned sharply towards them. He stopped when he saw it was just Claire. She had come to pull him back. The redhead stared into his eyes pleadingly as she gave his arm a tug, desperate to keep him away from the battle between the Divine and the Profane about to happen. He hesitated, looking to the Valkyrie and her companions again.
Lenneth gave her einherjar sideways glances as she raised her sword straight up.
"You have your orders," she said. Then she sliced down in a straight arc toward the queen, and shouted, "Attack!"
Then she, Arngrim, Lawfer, Belenus, and Llewelyn all cut loose with battlecries as they took off. Arngrim and Lenneth attacked the queen head on while the others broke off, flanking the queen from the sides. Lawfer banked left while Belenus and Llewelyn banked right. Jelanda and Nanami stayed back, preparing their own attacks.
Lucien gasped, immediately seeing this formation mirrored what Barren and the other men had just tried and failed.
"No, wait…!" he started.
"Oh, no, you don't!" The Wasp Queen thought in response to their pathetic pincer attack.
She now wondered what she had worried about if they were honestly stupid enough to try the same thing those humans just had. She first swung her body at Lawfer as she had Rusty and those other two men. The knight threw himself feet-first into a slide across the ground on his back as her underside passed over him. Lawfer thrust the spearhead of his halberd straight up into the softer exoskeleton of her belly. A shrill, almost metallic shriek burst from the queen. She raised her body higher, dislodging the cause of the offending pain as she reflexively backed up a step. Lawfer panted as he rolled out from beneath her.
"She almost got me," was his half-confounded thought.
Llewelyn saw his chance aimed for one of her leg-joints. His energy arrow shot right into the fleshy tissue of the middle leg of her left side. The giantess again cried out from the pain and as the loss of balance holding her up. Llewelyn and Belenus first stopped, prepared to jump back if she fell over in their direction. Instead, the queen stumbled and dropped straight down against the ground.
Now she was vulnerable. Lenneth, Arngrim, Llewelyn, and Belenus seized their own chance to get attacks off. Belenus and Lawfer nimbly dodged around her thrashing legs as they tried to get close enough to stab her in the sides. Lenneth charged in first from the front with Arngrim close behind. The Valkyrie's sword gleamed with power she flowed into it. She prepared to thrust the blade into the queen's face. The wasp giantess lashed out with her antennae, discharging another blast of energy from them meant to pulverize the battle-maiden.
Lenneth responded by sliding to a stop in front of queen, slashing her sword across in the air and unleashing all its energy. Their energy blasts clashed and canceled each other out. Now, with the queen's defense down, Arngrim charged past Lenneth to attack. The queen instinctively braced her legs against the ground to reel back from Arngrim's attack, but he was fast. He couldn't quite reach her feelers or eyes, so when she jerked her head back, the mercenary thrust Dáinsleif into the underside of her head, just below her jaws. The blessed sword broke through her armor and into the flesh beneath.
As another shriek erupted from the queen, Belenus leapt past her thrashing legs and plunged his sword into her side between exoskeleton plates. Both rage and fear welled up in the queen as her mind spun from the humiliating loss she was suffering. Lenneth saw white energy building up in the giantess's feelers, moving in a current from the base to the ends. The Valkyrie took an instinctive step back.
"Withdrew, now!" she commanded.
Arngrim sneered, but obeyed. He pulled Dáinsleif free and backed away while the others ran past to rejoin Lenneth. Only when they were ahead of him did Arngrim turn and follow, acting as their cover. He had only just fallen in at Lenneth's side when the queen discharged a psychic attack at them. It seemed reality wobbled and warped where the mental energies surged towards the goddess and her einherjar. Lenneth however had also already prepared her own measure in the form of a gleaming sphere or frost hovering between her hands.
The Valkyrie thrust her icy orb forward, forming a shimmering energy shield that almost resembled ice. The queen's psychic blast smashed against it with such force. The shield was instantaneously shattered, but it had stopped mental energy. The force of the blow however violently slammed Lenneth into Belenus and Arngrim as surely as if she had been struck in the center with a Warhammer. Both men nearly stumbled, but somehow stayed on their feet and caught the goddess under her arms to prevent her from falling.
"Steady! We have you!" Belenus said.
The scattered psychic energy flew through the chamber, breaking off stalactites and stalagmites and shattering weak columns. The refugee slaves all trembled and clustered tighter together as they felt the chamber shake and watched the destruction of the environment around them. Lucien and Claire were just stunned. They had always thought they ran a tight ship with the Silver Savior volunteers, but these einherjar were on a whole different level, and the sheer power of the Wasp Queen and the goddess were overwhelming.
The Queen Wasp stood, almost falling again due to the injured leg. Her rear now hung over the pit, and she almost backed over the side. Lenneth grinned at the sight of the giantess teetering on the edge. The Valkyrie looked back at Jelanda and Nanami behind them.
"Ladies, 'tis your turn," she said.
"Yes, Lady Valkyrie," they both answered.
The frontline fighters backed off to the sides, giving the magi a clear shot. Jelanda and Nanami's bodies glowed as magic circles appeared beneath them. Jelanda went first aiming her scepter the Wasp Queen.
"Fire Lance!" upon verbal command, the spell channeled through the scepter and fired six fireballs straight at the queen.
The queen's antennae twitched and glowed again, generating a shield. Jelanda had anticipated that. With a mental command, the blonde mage made the fireballs split off in a wide birth around the Wasp Queen's front and instead fly around the invisible barrier, blasting the Wasp Queen in the sides. She was slammed against the ground and began to fall over the pit's edge. With a desperate grab, she clung on by her front legs, but was too stunned at being outwitted again to think of curling her body in to grab hold with her hind legs, too. That mistake cost her, because it was Nanami's turn.
"Lighting Bolt!" the shrine maiden shouted.
Thor's wrath shot from the end of her wand, igniting the room with violent, flickering light as it blasted the insect giantess off the cliff and into the pit. The queen fell into its depths as she struggling to get control of her body after being electrocuted. Nanami had a look of relief while Jelanda looked smug. Lenneth took a quick step forward with an intent stare.
"Now, to take this fight topside," she said.
The goddess lifted her eyes to the moon visible through the large crack in the ceiling. Lawfer took an apprehensive breath as the six of them were shifted into phantasmal form and were pulled behind her. He didn't like this part of the plan, because it gave a winged opponent like the Wasp Queen the entire sky to fly around in, but the alternative was to keep the fight in the cave with the civilians. He glanced back at the shocked and amazed looks of those who had just seen the six einherjar vanish again and audibly gasped as Lenneth took to the air.
As the walls of the pit began to close in, the queen's wings unfurled and flapped, pushing her with frantic action towards one of the walls. She practically flew headlong into it grabbing hold. She slid down several more yards before coming to a stop. She is just clung there, motionless as she got her bearings.
"Your Majesty," the battle maiden called form above.
The giantess looked up and saw Lenneth and her einherjar hovering in the air far above. The goddess held a small rock, which she tossed into the air once and then caught.
"Follow if you have the nerve," Lenneth said.
Then she threw the small rock straight at the Wasp Queen. Lenneth performed a quick spin and fired an icy blast, which hit the rock, forming an ice crystal spear big enough to impale insect giantess. The Wasp Queen leapt to the side and the crystal spear stabbed deeply into the wall beside her. The giantess knew that was a near miss, so close she'd felt the air displaced by the impact of the spear's landing.
The Wasp Queen angrily looked up again, but it wasn't until Lenneth clicked her heels together and took a bow a hand on her chest that the fury began to boil over. Lenneth looked down at the agitated queen insect, content that she had been sufficiently baited. So, the Valkyrie zipped upwards through the hole in the ceiling and then out into the open air. Down below, still clinging to the side of the pit, the Wasp Queen was not only furious, but she also felt insulted.
"Oh, tears it," the Wasp Queen thought.
From the deepest depth of her being, indignant outrage burned outward, spurring her into action. Her antennae gleamed with blue light this time, as healing energy washed over, undoing all the damage inflicted upon her in the battle so far. Then, with her armor repaired and her leg healed, she practically ran up that wall. As soon as there was enough room, she opened her wings and let go of the cliff, flying up in headlong pursuit of the disrespectful Aesir and her pet human souls.
As she rocketed out of the pit, she left a powerful blast of wind and dust in her wake. Lucien and Claire covered their faces with their arms while their clothes fluttered violently. Lucien dared a quick peak over the tops of his forearms as he watched the Wasp Queen completely bypass them this time to chase after the Valkyrie.
"And just like that, she's gone," Lucien thought of the battle maiden. "She looked like Platina, and that woman I met in town that day. But how? How did she even know we were… Ah!"
That thought made him look towards the narrow pass along the east side of the chamber where they set the climbing pitons and the rope for crossing. They had all had been completely undamaged by the battle, against all odds.
"This was her plan all along," he realized. "Valkyrie just gave us a chance to escape."
He turned towards the cowering refugee slaves and noticed Rusty and the other men were beginning to come to. Rusty groaned painfully as he rolled over onto his side. He blinked dumbly as he looked around.
"Rusty!" Lucien ran over to him and knelt beside him. "Bless you, you're alive."
"Ugh…" the stocky, big-boned man moaned. "Alive? I must be, somehow. I hurt too much not to. Lucien? What's goin' on? How've I not been eaten?"
"No time to explain," Lucien said. "Here, I'm going to help you up, but first."
He stood, addressing the party of fleeing civilians before him.
"Quick, Odin's Valkyrie has given us a chance to escape," Lucien said. He gestured at the rope. "I want everyone across, now. Claire, you're going first. Get those fresh torches."
"Right!" the redhead answered.
She ran towards the narrow pass and began sidling across with the help of the rope. Several of the unarmed civilians ran up and waited for her to get partially across before the next person went. One scared young man among them followed more slowly and uncertainly before stopping next to Lucien.
"You still want us to cross that void, even with that thing up there?" the young man asked. He pointed up. "Her spawn could be here at any moment."
"Here's a better question," Lucien replied. "Do you dare linger with them so near?"
The man hesitated only a moment longer, and then joined the others in lining up to go across the gap.
"Ahhh… Rusty painfully winced as he eased himself up. "For real, dou, Luce… How we not dead?"
"I'll explain later," Lucien repeated. He looped one of Rusty's arms around his shoulders as he prepared to help the other man to stand. "Now, we have to go."
Rusty got his feet under him, and stood with Lucien's help.
"Sorry," Lucien whispered as his friend grunted and groaned.
Then the blonde swordsman looked up through the large gash in the ceiling. Only the moon and the night sky were visible through it. He could faintly hear something above the mountainside, but he couldn't see it. Moreover, he couldn't see her.
"With all the evil out there… how did she even notice our plight?" he asked himself. "And again, how is she so exactly like Platina?"
"Lucien?" Rusty's strained voice brought his attention.
"Right, sorry," Lucien uttered absently. "Let's just go."
From the air, Lenneth took her mocking bow to the Wasp Queen below. She watched as the giantess bristled as she clung to the side of the pit far below. Arngrim and Llewelyn both grinned, highly entertained at Lenneth's gesture and the queen's reaction. Lawfer, Jelanda, and Nanami were all more uneasy.
"I think that got her attention," Belenus dryly muttered.
"Indeed, that should about do it," the Valkyrie replied.
"That was too easy," Nanami said. "She won't underestimate us like that again."
"No, she shan't," Lenneth agreed.
Then, as she turned to fly up through the ceiling hole, she looked down on the human party just long enough to get a good look at Lucien. The edges of her mind itched as though something clawed from the other side of a wall and a well of emotions made her heart thumb violently when she saw him. She betrayed none of this and quickly turned away. The look towards the swordsman in red went unnoticed. Unnoticed by all except Arngrim, who'd seen where her gaze stopped briefly and then noticed who sharply she turned away before she began taking them upwards. The scarred mercenary allowed himself to briefly wonder why their Valkyrie was drawn to that man in particular.
"Eh, whatever. There's fightin' to be done," he shrugged the thoughts off.
Jelanda noticed Arngrim talking to himself, and raised a dubious brow at him, but kept her remarks to herself.
Then, in a breath's time, they passed out into the night sky. Lenneth paused briefly to look around.
"Need to find cover," Lenneth thought as she scanned the surrounding area.
"She's coming," Llewelyn warned.
Lenneth made her decision and zipped away.
From below, the Wasp Queen was like a missile fired upwards in her pursuit. As she neared the threshold of the ceiling crack, she charged energy into her antennae again. Then just as she passed through, she whipped them together, unleashing a powerful psychic wave that expanded in a circle with intention of preemptively attacking anyone who might be lying in wait for her as they tried to exit the mountain. The energy wave, alas, only kicked up dust and rocks from the mountain slope, sending them high into the air and even causing a small avalanche which filled an exterior pass.
The queen paid no heed to any structural damage she might have done as she careened high over the mountain. She only cared about getting above her enemy's attack range before descending again at an advantageous angle. As she slowed down high above the Turgen mountainside, the queen looked down and noted with annoyance that her enemy was hiding.
"Pity. They had sense enough to be crafty," she thought.
She hovered down lower, keeping her distance as she inspected the slope of the eastern mountain peak. Wherever the Valkyrie and her pet souls lied in wait for her, they were concealed well. It looked to be a trap to the giantess, and she wasn't looking to be ambushed and caught between multiple opponents again. So, she opened her jaws and let out a call for her children still in the mountain. It was about time to call them to go down to the city at the base of the mountains, anyway. Her screech pierced through the night air, and she had called out a second time when she saw something glow down on the mountain slope.
"There! A spell?" the Wasp Queen questioned.
Just what did they have in mind with her so far away? The giantess backed up a bit more not knowing what to expect. The source of the glow was none other than Nanami, who stepped out from behind a tall rock, Holy Wand in hand like the composer's baton.
"WIND'S BREATH!" Nanami's voice sounded out all the way up to where the queen hovered.
With a downward flick of her wrist, the shrine maiden summoned a powerful downdraft which snared the queen and dragged her down. The giantess let out a screeching yelp as the wind itself hit her like a blunt object from above and pushed her down towards the mountainside. The giantess was sent spiraling and spinning as she tumbled towards the peak. Then from nowhere the queen detected the Valkyrie incoming. Lenneth flew to intercept the tumbling insect matriarch with her sword drawn back and pointed forward for a single, powerful forward thrust.
"I think not!" the Wasp Queen defiantly decided.
Instead of trying to fight the wind, she turned downward, flying with it. Then she pulled out, soaring down along the mountain slope towards the forest below just east of the city. Lenneth firmly set her mouth in a determined frown and gave chase. As she flew, she recalled Nanami into herself and mentally projected instructions to all her einherjar while they were nestled in the core of her being.
The wasp queen felt the air around her become natural again. Her arched her body backwards, pulling out of a head-on collision with the forest, nicking the tops of several trees and scattering their leaves everywhere. For a moment, the queen tore through the air with the ends of her legs hitting the top branches of the forest as she passed over it with Lenneth right on her.
The giantess turned her head slightly, and spotted the Valkyrie slowly gaining on her. The goddess had veered around to the side to overtake and attack her.
"Don't count on it," the Wasp Queen internally said spitefully.
The Queen Wasp then sharply turned to the right while pulling up. Lenneth followed without missing a pace, chasing the queen almost straight upwards. The Valkyrie's eyes narrowed in suspicion, wondering what the queen's play was. She knew the giantess was intelligent enough to be aware she'd begin losing momentum shortly. The only thing that made sense was…
Lenneth's eyes widened when realization hit and she broke off her pursuit, briskly swinging to the side only an instant before the queen swung her body around in a single, twisting motion to face downward and kicked off a dive right at the goddess. She adjusted her trajectory to chase the retreating the Valkyrie, opening her jaws grab the battle maiden by the legs. As Lenneth pulled to the side, she was close enough to hear the jaws of the queen clamp shut in a near-miss and was then nearly pulled in by the rush of air around the giant insect. An almost metallic angry growl escaped the Wasp Queen's crushing jaws as she pulled out of this dive. She looked towards the Turgen Mountains.
"Let us see if she can dodge a whole hive," she decided.
The giantess sharply turned to retreat towards the mountains. Lenneth gave chase again, remaining off to the side. She paid attention to the queen's movements and spotted the matriarch giving her a glance.
"She knows I still follow. Be ready, my einherjar," she mentally commanded.
"We're ready to come back out any time you are ready to call," Belenus's voice answered in her mind.
"Very good," Lenneth mentally answered back. "I apologize, but… none of you are going to enjoy this."
She could sense their confusion flood the back of her mind.
"Wait, you're not going to have us battle her up here, are you?" Nanami asked.
"Arngrim, Lawfer," Lenneth mentally spoke. "Prepare to grab hold of her. Cut off her wings."
"Yes, Lady… wait, what?" Lawfer stammered.
Lenneth heard Arngrim's chuckle of anticipation.
"Nanami, Jelanda, I want you both working on casting a barrier. I have an idea."
"A barrier? All the way up where, Lady Valkyrie?" Nanami asked.
"Just do as I say. I have a feeling she may try to reenter the mountain to summon her children. I saw a rather large cave entrance high up the far east slope earlier. 'Tis angled and shaped to give her easier passage than the one we came out of," Lenneth answered. "Just be ready to cast the barrier when and where I tell you."
"Yes, Lady Valkyrie," both answered.
Then the Valkyrie swung further away, not wanting to be too close. The giantess noticed. She did not know what the goddess had planned, but she was going to put an end to it before it began. She waited, though, allowing the Valkyrie to inch forward even at a distance until they were practically parallel. Then the Wasp Queen veered hard towards the goddess, curling her wings in as she flew like a shot to her target.
Then, instead of trying to flee, Lenneth surprised her by turning to meet her, head-on. The surprised giantess almost didn't remember to try biting her. Her jaws clamped shut again just a bit too late as the Valkyrie zipped past her. Then she felt a surge of power, and something dropped onto her back. The Wasp Queen looked and saw Arngrim and Lawfer on the back of her third body segment. As soon as both men had a good grip on her body, they looked at their target and began crawling up toward the base of her wings. The giantess realized immediately what they intended to do and dove, throwing herself into a spin as she began turning and twisting in the air to shake them off.
"Oh, shit!" Arngrim shouted as it became much harder to hold on.
Both men struggled against the wind and gravity which threatened to tear them from the queen's back. Meanwhile, Lenneth looped back around, chasing the queen at a lower altitude.
"That will distract her at least somewhat," Lenneth thought.
Now, she was almost in position, flying parallel with the queen beneath her.
"Llewelyn, your bow," she called.
"Yes, Lady Valkyrie," Llewelyn answered from within.
He relinquished it, and Lenneth was able to materialize it into her hands. She flew in pace with the wasp giantess, drawing the bowstring back while she waited for her enemy to give her a clear shot. As the Wasp Queen took another downward dive, Lenneth adjusted her aim and fired. The arrow slipped right between her body segments, piercing soft tissue in her side. The queen's entire body jerked painfully, breaking her concentration.
On the queen's back, Arngrim and Lawfer felt the wind's pull calm slightly. The scarred mercenary took full advantage and dug his feet in, pushing himself forward across her back. Then he drew Dáinsleif out and plunged it into a fault in her armor. The queen cried out again as she arched her body back, but even on his knees, Arngrim held on tight with his sword anchoring him in place.
Then he heard Lawfer grunt from a lot of effort right behind him and turned to check on him. The young knight had grabbed hold of the end of her abdomen segment and pulled himself up to the thorax. The Wasp Queen glanced back and saw they were getting too close to her wings. This called for desperate action. Her attempts to shake them off had taken them close to the forest roof. If they were too stubborn to be shaken off by her maneuvers, they'd be crushed when she backed herself into a trunk of a tree. She slowed herself and dipped down towards a break in the canopy of leaves. Lenneth also paused and then shot off after her.
"What is she…?" Arngrim cut himself off when he realized they were dropping into the trees.
The queen's intentions came sharply into focus in the minds of both men, but they waited until the giantess what dropped below the tree line to act. Then, Arngrim yanked his sword free, prompting another shriek from her. Both men leapt into the branches of a tree right before she landed. The Wasp Queen set down and began to search for them. They were just outside Gerebellum's east wall, and the queen had likely been seen from the air. The shouting which had erupted from atop the wall seemed to indicate she had been.
The giantess felt the Valkyrie incoming and looked up to see Lenneth bearing down on her with another energy arrow ready. When the shot flew, the giantess lowered her head, making her exoskeleton skull take the brunt of the shot. The arrow shattered against it, only minorly chipping away at her natural armor.
"My turn," The Wasp Queen thought.
She reached out, grabbing the trunk of a small tree with her jaws, and pulling with all her strength, yanked it out of the ground. From the air, Lenneth saw the queen step back with a tree in her mouth. The giantess then hurled it up at the Valkyrie. Lenneth dropped from the sky, straight down as though she were suddenly made of lead, vanishing into the leaf forest roof as the tree sailed through the air and over the city wall, landing somewhere inside.
Not wanting to wait for any other surprises, the Wasp Queen leapt up and took to hovering low over the forest. She swung away from where the two warriors had torn into the brush and from where the Lenneth had entered the trees. She hovered backwards, always scanning from side and side and behind her. She glanced towards the mountain again. They were near its base. Was it worth it to make another break for it? She knew didn't have long to contemplate it.
"The Aesir witch will just keep harassing me no matter where I go, but it will be so cramped down among these trees," she thought. "And I'm so near the mountains."
The giantess turned and flew for the mountains. She knew where to go, remembering an entrance she commonly used before her long hibernation, a large gash in the eastern slope of the Turgen Mountains. She heard the Valkyrie emerge from the trees below, and began charging up energy into her antennae in anticipation. Behind her, Lenneth picked up speed far faster than the fleeing insect giantess and readied her sword, eyeing one of the queen's wings.
She was almost in striking distance when the Wasp Queen rolled over facing her, belly up, and thrust her stinger up towards Lenneth. The Valkyrie rolled to the side through the air, but was instead hit with the full blast of the queen's psychic energy was sent hurling back down towards the forest floor. Then Wasp Queen rolled back over, and with a smug flick of her wings took off at faster speed up the side of the eastern peak.
"That'll show her. Now I'll… what?"
The Wasp Queen felt an energy surge coming her way and turned over again to defend herself. However, she saw nothing and the power she felt seemed to dissipate. She became paranoid and turned back over, speeding up towards the entrance into the mountains. She passed low across the sheer slope. Within a moment, she saw a large cave entrance too high up and remote to ever be reached by human means. The queen pulled up from the mountainside and angled herself to reenter the familiar dark of the Turgen Mountains. She'd return in force with her children, lay low the Valkyrie and her pet souls, and then punish Gerebellum.
There was a pair of smaller, lower peaks on either side of the cave entrance and as the queen passed between them, she saw the Valkyrie's magi perched on either one casting spells. Thinking herself about to be caught in a crossfire, the Wasp Giant sped up towards the cave.
BAM! She collided and bounced off something that felt as solid as the mountain, itself. Her exoskeleton cracked in several places, causing pieces to break off, exposing soft tissue beneath. She flapped her wings frantically as she began to fall, trying to stop herself, but momentum was already pulling her down in a tumble. With red-stained vision, the giantess spitefully looked up at Nanami and Jelanda as she fell, towards a lower part of the mountain slope.
"Not like this!" the Wasp Queen determinedly thought.
With a desperate twisting of her body, the queen righted herself in the air, and tried to angle herself to glide down the side of the mountain again. Then Llewelyn leapt from the mountainside into the air as she passed him. She had only just noticed when he fired. The arrow cut through the air and pierced the base of the queen's right wing.
A pricking pain and a spasming, uncontrollable movement in her wing sent the wasp giantess into a downward spin. Llewelyn tensed as he continued to fall, but he still trusted his Valkyrie to catch him before he smeared against the rocks. It was a relief to feel himself dissolve and be pulled back to her.
The queen fell panicking, twisting, turning, and grabbing for anything with her legs. With a desperate action, she grabbed the side of the cliff and began slowing her descent back down the peak. She had slowed enough near a relatively flat that she jumped for it and landed. Then she looked up. There were several outcroppings of rock above her. Jelanda and Nanami materialized on a ledge higher up. Nanami gulped when it seemed the Wasp Queen had stared right into her very soul.
"Those insect eyes are so gross," the shrine girl thought.
"Alright, we have her!" Jelanda excitedly exclaimed beside her.
Then Llewelyn appeared and ran up, joining them at the edge. The former princess lopsidedly smiled with confidence while Llewelyn focused his target.
"Time for the next phase," Llewelyn muttered. "Lady Valkyrie and the others are in position. We just have to drive her over there."
Then he pulled back the bowstring, aiming upwards at an angle. His body began glowing as his inner energy flowed out, activating his finisher. Jelanda and Nanami had also closed their eyes, focusing on their spells.
"In the name of all the gods… LAYER STORM!" Llewelyn intoned.
He unleashed the volley of energy arrows, which rained down towards the Wasp Queen. Purple energy coursed up her feelers and burst from their ends, forming a shield over the queen, which absorbed the brunt of the barrage. A few of the arrows impacted with the overhanging rock above her, sending down some dust and pebbles, but otherwise, Llewelyn's attack had not reached her.
Jelanda opened her eyes, and aimed her scepter down, not at the queen, but at the rock formations above her.
"FIRE STORM!" she chanted.
A fiery explosion burst out from the center of the overhanging rocks below, blasting them to pieces and turning them into a landslide which fell towards the Wasp Queen as she protective barrier dissipated. The giantess didn't hesitate to take to the air again. Even with one of her wings injured, she was not about to let herself be buried in an avalanche. The queen bobbed around awkwardly in the air, flying just high enough to avoid the rockslide. She saw a rocky platform to her left with some cover in the form of a thick overhang between herself and those three miserable little nightmares. As soon as she landed on the plateau, Llewelyn and Jelanda exchanged grins at successfully corralling her into position.
The giantess landed facing the tall, thick overhang which served as cover. She hadn't had time to take in her surroundings before Lenneth, Arngrim, Lawfer, and Belenus all jumped out from the uneven terrain which hid them and closed in from the sides. The Wasp immediately backed up, refusing to be caught in another pincer attack. The four pursued keeping close to her, which wasn't hard. The queen reached the end of the platform, stopping just short of over the edge. She reared up with her two front legs drawn in close almost like a praying mantis's, prepared to lash out at them.
Arngrim and Lenneth were the first to dart in, swords pulled back to the sides for the attack. The Wasp Queen's upper body jerked down as she lashed out at them with both front legs, forcing both fighters to jump to the sides to avoid getting hit with several tons of hardened exoskeleton. Lawfer and Belenus then jumped in right behind the first two, aiming not at the queen's body, but at the joints in her front legs. While Belenus's strike glanced off her natural armor, Lawfer's strike sunk in deep into the soft tissue of the joint between the claw and the middle segment of giantess's front left leg.
The queen shrieked as her left claw clattered against the stone ground, but instead of withdrawing or panicking, she swiped across the front with her other front leg. Belenus threw himself facedown while Arngrim and Lenneth leaned into their backsteps to avoid it. Lawfer was not so lucky. The side of her hook-like claw pounded against his front, sending him flying backwards and into the wall behind him. He slumped to the ground, unconscious and beginning to fade as his spiritual body fell apart without his conscious mind alert.
With him down, the queen opened her jaws and lunged at the fallen knight.
"By Freya!" Belenus shouted as realization set in.
Arngrim raced past him quicker than he could stand, roaring almost maniacally at the queen. She flicked her good front leg toward him in a backhanded manner, and Arngrim swung as though to block. Upon impact, a fiery aura burst out from him, and he managed to stop her, standing his ground.
"What?" the wasp's mind was fuddled by his impossibility.
"Back you Devil!" Arngrim shouted.
He parried her claw out of the way. Then the queen's head jerked towards him to take a bite out of him, Arngrim sliced right through the middle of her mouth, forcing her to pull back with a screech. She stared down at the scarred mercenary with a mix of desperation and hate, and her feelers began to glow again. Lenneth narrowed her eyes determinedly.
"Not this time," The Valkyrie thought.
She flew through the air at the queen's face. The giantess reared up again, but the Valkyrie nimbly zipped right past the giantess's right antenna, cutting halfway through it. The volt of pain caused her to prematurely discharge the blast, breaking her right feeler in half entirely. The queen herself took the full brunt of the psychic backlash, and with a foggy mind, fell back down onto wobbly legs.
Arngrim, with the last of his Soul Crush energy, tore across the ground, leaping onto her head and cutting a red-hot groove up her skull-plate. The blow had enough force to send both himself and her over the edge. The queen fell back, landing on her side before rolling uncontrollably down the sheer incline, kicking up chunks of dirt and many rocks imbedded into the soil of the grassy incline. Arngrim fell alongside her, impacting hard with one of the large, sharp rocks on the slope, shattering his spiritual body into wisps while Dáinsleif came to rest on the slope.
As Lenneth watched the Wasp Queen tumble down the side of the mountain, she felt apprehensive as Arngrim's essence reentered her. She just hadn't quite been able to stop his fall in time, and now they were temporarily down a fighter. The Valkyrie quickly turned to attend Lawfer who could still be kept in the fight, as he was only half faded. She heard Belenus gasp beside her at the sight of Arngrim just breaking apart into wisps of light.
"Lady Valkyrie!" the noble pointed in confusion.
"Yes, I know," she answered.
Unwilling to have it happen twice, Lenneth focused on Lawfer, cupping his transparent cheeks in her hands. She flowed fresh energy into him, causing his body to fully resolidify. He opened his eyes with a start upon full resuscitation. The young knight looked around almost panicked, breathing heavily.
"Wha… Where's the queen?"
"Down there," Lenneth pointed below them.
Lawfer leaned over the side of the plateau and looked.
"Lady Valkyrie… Arngrim…" Belenus haltingly managed to stammer out.
"Fear not," the Valkyrie turned to him. She placed a hand over her heart. "He is here, where you all pass through when I first convert you into einherjar. Arngrim is recovering from that blow. I will be able to reawaken and reform him later."
"What happened?" Lawfer asked.
"Arngrim fell protecting you from the queen," Lenneth answered him. "I assure you he is well, but until he has fully recovered, we must carry on without him. First order of business, though…"
Lenneth looked down where Dáinsleif rested.
"Cannot afford to lose you, Dáinsleif. You have served Arngrim too well," she told the blade as though it could hear her.
She snapped her fingers, summoning three balls of light to appear, reforming as Jelanda, Llewelyn, and Nanami, who looked around in surprise.
"I will never get used to that," Nanami breathlessly said.
"Hey, where's Arngrim?" Jelanda asked.
"Recuperating within me," Lenneth almost casually replied. "He will be fine. Jelanda, would you kindly use Levitation to retrieve the obscenely large slab of enchanted iron we call Dáinsleif from the cliff while Lawfer, Belenus, and Nanami assist me in finishing off the queen?"
Jelanda was visibly put on the back of her feet as she answered, "Er, yes, Lady Valkyrie."
Lenneth turned to Llewelyn with a command, "Cover us."
"Yes, Milady," Llewelyn had already generated an arrow.
As Lenneth hopped over the side with the three designated einherjar, Dáinsleif had just started to float up towards the plateau. Nanami knew just the spell and began quietly chanting in preparation while Lawfer and Belenus gripped their weapons tightly. As they descended, Lenneth kept a close watch on the queen, who lay bleeding and prone on her side upon a pile of large rocks. Both her wings were destroyed beyond the capacity of any healing spell from the fall.
"Arngrim's recklessness wasn't in vain," the goddess thought.
Then a short distance above her, Lenneth phased the two human warriors back into physical form and they dropped onto the queen's body just below her neck. The queen shot up to a standing position, throwing both men off. First, the giantess reached up, jaws open to bite Lenneth, forcing her to back off. Then, the queen turned so her side was facing the two men trying to pick themselves up and pointed her massive stinger at them.
"Belenus!" Lawfer shouted his warning.
"Whoa!" the noble cried as the giant venom-secreting needle snapped towards them.
Both men hunkered down, and acting together, they thrust their weapons upward, successfully parrying the stinger. A short distance away, Lenneth set herself and Nanami down. While the Valkyrie rushed to help the two male warriors, the shrine girl trained the Holy Wand on the wasp giantess.
"SAP POWER!" she intoned.
The spell hit the already injured queen and she felt it at once. Her body became even heavier and clumsier as she stumbled about. Lenneth entered the center of her view, standing right in front of her. The giantess jabbed at her with one of her legs, which the Valkyrie easily dodged and leapt up, striking the wasp giantess in the face, just under one of her compound eyes. The Wasp Queen backed up, almost falling down.
Seeing her state of momentary distraction, Lawfer turned to Belenus.
"Boast me! We'll take out a leg!" he said.
"Right!" Belenus moved into position near the queen's rear limb on her right side.
Lawfer ran up and stepped on Belenus's cupped hands, raising his halberd high over his head as he was lifted up to where the leg was attached to the body. He swung down with everything he had and lobbed it clean off. Th giantess turned her head as she shrieked and fell over on her side. As she did, Lenneth dashed up, throwing herself feet first into her trademark slide, skimming across the rocky ground on her back and then stabbing up into the queen's neck just as it dropped within range.
The gurgling sound escaped from the giantess' jutting jaws which turned into a rattling groan when Lawfer and Belenus stabbed deep into the soft tissue of her neck from above. All three fighters pushed against their weapons, causing them to cut through the queen's neck. The giantess's head flopped down lifelessly, only barely still attached to her body by strips of flesh as her massive body curled up lifelessly, forcing both the men to pull their weapons free and back away from her. Lenneth quickly flew upwards, avoiding getting kicked or grabbed by the twitching limbs and looked down on their fallen foe. The deed was done. She could feel the presence of darkness lifting from the mountain.
"Now her children will have no commanding voice to organize them," Lenneth muttered.
She floated down to rejoin her einherjar.
"Well, I am certainly ready to turn in after all that," Belenus remarked.
Then he arched his body backwards, loosening up his back, muttering about how he should not still have body pains. While Lawfer and Nanami politely turned away, hiding their amused grins, Lenneth checked on Arngrim.
"Oh, he's ready," the Valkyrie commented.
"Who… Oh, Arngrim," Lawfer said.
Lenneth held out her open palms, from which glowing white mist emanated, forming into the shape of a person. Then it flashed white, generating a discombobulated Arngrim who shuffled and fell onto his knees. He blinked in confusion and grabbed his forehead as he looked around.
"Whoa, what did I miss? How'd I get all the way down here without a scratch?" he asked.
"Oh. Not much," Lenneth shrugged. "Just that."
She gestured to the dead giantess, bringing her to Arngrim's attention. He bowed his head as he sighed in frustration.
"Aw, man, don't tell me I missed the best part?" his voice was full of disappointment.
Lawfer could already feel the sigh escaping his body.
"Arngrim will be Arngrim," he told himself.
"The best part?" a high-pitched voice from high above them cried.
Everyone looked up, seeing Jelanda standing at the edge of the ledge above, struggling to hold Dáinsleif up at even knee-height. Llewelyn made no move to assist her, busying himself with hiding his amusement watching the girl.
"Rrg!" Jelanda grunted. Her knees shook as she gripped the massive sword's hilt. "Oh, for Odin's sake! How do you even lift this blasted thing? You should be glad Lady Valkyrie wanted me to retrieve this obscene lump of metal you call a blade!"
"Hey, be careful with that! That's an antique!" Arngrim hollered up.
"Oh, like that matters one tiny bit to you!" Jelanda screamed back down.
Nanami turned to address Lenneth.
"We should probably check up on those people, Lady Valkyrie," she said. "After that, I think I would much like to turn in, too."
"I concur. 'Tis been a long night," the goddess agreed. "Alright, that is enough, both of you. You can take your frustrations out on each other tomorrow during morning drills. We have some final business to attend, and then we are off to Valhalla for the evening."
"Anyone else hear that?" Ingrid asked.
"Hear what?" Bev asked. "Is the queen flying around again?"
"No, but I hear the little ones," Ingrid replied.
She turned to look back at the human company following behind her and her grandmother, Bedelia. Buzzing began filling the air, but it sounded distant. Almost everyone in the party hunkered down, flattening themselves against the side of the mountain in attempt to hide from view.
"The queen musta gone back into the mountain and brought her children," Bev said.
"Gonna take that as a 'yes', then," Ingrid muttered.
Then they saw them outlined as black spots against the night sky and moon. A swarm of wasps headed out from caves above them, descending into the city below.
"Shit," Betty cursed.
"Language," Maximillian scolded his daughter.
Betty just gave him an annoyed look, but kept quiet with the rest of the small company. Gloria sat motionless, watching the wasps with her night vision, hand upon her cutlass. Her gaze turned down to Gerebellum. She could already hear the alarm being sounded and sounds of struggle as the swarm attacked.
"It never ends," Gloria thought.
"But where's the queen?" Maximillian asked. "She was all over the skies just a bit ago."
Gloria had no answer. She could only think back. After the wasps attacked and the group had been split into two. Her grandmother Bedelia, cousin Ingrid, Maximillian, and Betty had been trying to catch up with the rear half of the refugee group. When they did, they were being led by one of the guards, a woman named Bev. They were about to head out the secret door to go back down the mountain to try slipping back into Gerebellum. Someone had rolled the massive boulder out of the way for them, allowing them to escape. The refugees, Bev, and her men had claimed the Valkyrie herself and her einherjar had protected them and opened the way. Bedelia's group had no reason to disbelieve them. One, they were fairly certain nothing short of divine intervention could have kept the small group alive with just six Silver Savior bodyguards in wasp-infested caves. Second, someone had rolled the rock hiding the entrance out of the way without Ingrid or Gloria's help.
Then, Bedelia had taken charge and started leading the group back down the mountainside. Ingrid was at the front of the line with their grandmother, followed by Bev and two of her men, then the refugees, and finally Gloria had rear guard duty again with Betty and a wounded Maximillian.
At the moment, they all sat quiet and still, watching the Wasp Giants swarm Gerebellum. As Gloria watched the last Wasp Giant descend upon the city, her brow furrowed.
"That's it?" she asked.
"Eh?" both Maximillian and Betty asked.
At the front of the line, Bedelia had also noticed even without dwarven sight. She tilted her head to the side curiously, noting how the swarm had seemed sparse for the sheer numbers of them they had encountered in the caves. She elbowed Ingrid beside her.
"Hey, girl, there anywhere?" the elderly ex-assassin asked.
Ingrid just shook her head.
"Nope. Just those so far," she answered.
"There ain't so many as I expected," Bedelia said quietly. "And I don't see the queen anymore, either."
She stroked her chin as she sat in thought.
"Curious," she muttered.
"They must have really seen the Valkyrie," Ingrid whispered. "Else I can't imagine how this wasn't a bigger disaster."
"Might they have slain the queen?" Bev asked.
"They coulda," Bedelia answered. "Anyway, this is perfect."
"Perfect?" Ingrid blurted out incredulously. "Those wasps are going to wreak chaos 'til they're killed."
When she looked at her grandmother's face, Ingrid saw a wry smile. The old woman just chuckled and reached up poking the side of her own nose twice.
"The city guard and the Sheriff's deputies'll be busy wit' 'em all night," Bedelia explained. "We can get ev'ryone slipped inside somewhere safe 'til its sorted."
"Wait, Elder Bedelia," one of the refugees said. "We're going back? Even with the big bugs down there?"
"No better time," Bedelia answered. "Now quit yer bellyachin', yer far too old for that. Ev'ryone up. We got mountain still b'neath us. Else ye wanna stay out in Undead-infested wood!"
That mention of Undead got them all to their feet and sidling along the narrow peak again.
"Thought so," Bedelia said with a chuckle.
Unseen by them, Lenneth and her einherjar left, having checked on them from the shadows somewhere blow.
"Seventeen… eighteen… And counting us, Claire, nineteen, and twenty. That's everyone," Lucien said.
As he and Claire finished counting heads, Lucien was relieved there were no further problems.
"Everyone," Lucien softly repeated. His heart grew heavy as he remembered the price Barren and Erik had paid. "Everyone that's left."
Claire caught his somber addendum and looked at him. She gently grabbed his cheek, turning his face towards hers'. Under the light of the torch he bore, shadows danced on her face as she gave him an empathetic look.
"There was nothing you could have done for any of them," she assured her softly. "It wasn't your fault."
Lucien's gaze lowered in sorrowfully.
"Everyone is only here because I thought we get through one more time. Besides, Barren and Erik were right in front of me, and I couldn't save them," he mumbled.
"Lucien…" Claire was almost pleading with him.
He didn't seem to hear.
"I know Erik's gone. Down the pit, but what about Barren? He was sent sliding down into the mines. It's not a straight fall like the pit," Lucien said desperately. "Maybe he survived."
"Lucien, stop it," Claire told him firmly. "I grieve for Barren, too, but even if he survived that horrible tumble into the mines, he went to a place that is now swarming with Wasp Giants. I think he'd prefer to die in the fall."
Lucien seemed to space out, but Claire wasn't having it.
"Lucien. Lucien?" she called to him but got no response.
After a few more tries of trying to shake him from his stupor, she slapped him on the cheek, forcing him from his thoughts. He looked at her in surprise.
"Listen to me, Lucien," Claire spoke kindly but firmly. "You can't save the whole world. You just can't. Even the All-Father and Queen Freya could not save their firstborn from the mistletoe arrow which felled him, and they're THE gods among even the other gods. You're just one guy, Lucien. Remember that. But you know what?"
Lucien looked at her, listening intently.
"You can honor their deaths by making sure these people who are still here get through," Claire said, nodding towards the remainder of the refugee party.
Lucien looked at the meager remainder of the Northward exodus and took a deep breath, feeling the weight of his responsibility for them.
"You're right, of course," he said.
"Course I am," Claire answered. She started to smile with a Smart Alecky edge. "Someone's gotta get through that thick skull of yours'. Come on. They can use the reassurance after what we've been through tonight."
Lucien nodded. "Right, but first…"
Lucien stepped back into the passage and looked back down it out of impulse. He held the torch out as far back as he could, but saw nothing. He watched for any hint of movement and listened for even the slightest buzz.
Claire stepped into the chamber ahead of him, looking around. It was a fairly large cavern with a high ceiling and innumerable other passages, many of which they had plugged tightly with stones. In the middle of the cavern were dusty old crates left by some unknown persons. The crates were empty when the Silver Saviors found them, and since they were too small to be particularly useful for storage, they had just left them in the cave and used them as seats at this designated check-point. The refugees had already allowed their elderly and the children to sit on them while the younger adults sat on the floor. Rusty and the other three guards stood watch.
After hearing and seeing nothing, Lucien entered the chamber.
"Alright," he announced. "This is where we will be bedding down for the night."
"Bed down?" someone objected. "Here?"
"Yes," Lucien answered firmly. "We will be taking turns standing watch while you rest, and we've packed lightly enough we can get moving in a moment's notice if something happens."
"But what about the big wasps?" a woman asked.
Well," Lucien answered. "It's been an hour since we've heard any nearby buzzing. They didn't even come after us after the queen found us. We might be in the clear."
"What about them passages you left unblocked?" another man asked, gesturing around.
"All dead ends except one," Claire answered. "The rest only go back six or seven paces. That northern tunnel behind you takes us to the exit at the end of this route. At our current pace, we might even get there ahead of time considering how many check-points we didn't stop to rest at tonight."
"So, you see, you're as safe as you can get down here right now," Lucien assured. "So please try to rest. You'll need your strength for the final stretch of the journey. In two more days, we'll exit out the other side and our contact will hide you in the Camille Highlands for a while."
Roughly half the small crowd still seemed unhappy with it, but no one said anything else. Lucien didn't blame them. No one was happy with how this turned out. They had put their faith in him and that had gotten half their party devoured by wasps.
"Rusty and I will take the first watch," Lucien announced. "Claire and Taran have the second. Then Joe and, er, you sir. Yes, you, will take the third."
"Yay, sir," the other Silver necklace wearers said.
"Er, yes, sir," the random man he'd picked out added.
While the others took out their blankets and bedrolls, Lucien and Rusty sat down on the now unoccupied wooden crates. They sat beside each other facing opposite directions. Rusty watched the north tunnel entrance and Lucien sat looking at the southward one. They exchanged glum looks but said nothing that might frighten the others. Lucien unhooked his sword from his belt and leaned against it like a cane with both hands folded on it. He took his eyes off the south passage to hide a yawn and when he looked up, he saw that Silver Valkyrie standing there, staring right at him.
"Huh?" Lucien gaped at her.
He said and did nothing, sitting frozen as if under a spell. Now that he had another look at her, it only confirmed what he'd thought earlier.
"She IS that woman from before," he was stunned at the realization. "I encountered one of Odin's battle maidens that day?"
As he studied her face, her expression was as indifferent as before at first, but the mask suddenly dropped. The Valkyrie turned away almost bashfully under his scrutiny. Then her eyes softened, and she looked at him again with those striking blue eyes. Lucien almost swore she looked relieved to see him unharmed. Her lips spread up into a small smile.
Lucien opened his mouth to speak, but Lenneth raised a finger to her lips, gently shaking her head. He obediently remained silent, but looked at her longingly, with so many questions on his mind. Then she was gone like a phantom. Lucien looked around, but no one else had seen her.
"Does this mean… we have the blessing of the Valkyrie?" he asked himself.
In the darkness, a conversation was spoken unheard by all.
"Nanami, would you erect a ward which will keep creatures of the dark away?"
"Of course, Lady Valkyrie."
"Mayor, we really must insist. This is an active war zone."
Mayor Harold Boyd stared down his nose at the anxious Deputies as he stood in the doorway of his ornate buggy. He was parked just outside the fortifications of the city's north gate.
The portly head of establishment was less sharply dressed than the norm, having been roused from his sleep by the screams of the butler and maids as they attempted to shut out a Wasp Giant that had decided his mansion was prime hunting grounds. The groundskeeper had slain the beast with a crossbow before the city patrols arrived to help. As such, the mayor already had an inkling something had gone wrong.
Presently, the mayor was dressed in slippers, and an almost pinkish red nightrobe. Yet somehow, he had remembered his wide-brimmed green hat with the long peacock feather which he always wore to hide his receding hairline of graying red hair.
The two Deputies looked among themselves, unsure of what to make of the mayor's silence. He just scowled at them again and waved her away dismissively.
"Away with you both," Mayor Boyd sullenly commanded. "I was rudely dragged from the most delightful slumber by the fruits of your superior's labors. Now, someone must be made to pay for what is happening to MY CITY. If you have time to pester me about safety, you have time enough to fetch the soon-to-be former Sheriff to inform her she will searching for new employment imminently!"
"You needn't wait any longer, dear Mayor."
Boyd turned to face the Sheriff as she emerged through a door off to the side, escorted by six guards who marched behind her in lines of two. The first row behind her dragged an injured man along, who struggled and protested in their grip. Boyd paid no attention to their prisoner, instead glaring angrily at Agatha. She met his fiery gaze with a cool, controlled one.
"Let me go, you bastards! You have no right!" the prisoner shouted.
"We found ye trespassin' in the ol' mines without a permit. Ye'd be headin' for the iron pen even if ye weren't wearin' that fancy silver about yer neck," one of the deputies restraining him answered.
That got Mayor Boyd's attention.
"Silver necklace?" he asked.
He looked past the Sheriff at the prisoner, noticing the silver necklace the captured, injured man wore.
"By Ull's bow, they've actually captured one," Boyd thought.
Agatha stopped before the mayor, calmly stating, "You wished to see me."
The anger returned to Boyd's face as he looked at her again.
"That boy I sent to fetch you will have conveyed my message," he said.
"Indeed, he did," Agatha answered.
"Well, out with it," Boyd harshly demanded. "I'll be having that reason to let you keep the badge and uniform you wear, or my men will be relieving you of both right now. If you think I threaten idly, you are mistaken. I will send you to walk home through my streets as bare as the day you were born."
Sheriff Agatha merely bowed without a quiver or even a flinch and then stepped aside to present their prisoner.
"Lord Mayor, may I present to you, Barren von Buren, of the Cheap Side guard, Silver Savior, loyal righthand man of that no account Lucien. Young Mr. Barren is also the saboteur responsible for this mess," she announced. "This proves my theory once and for all that Lucien's Cheap Side Guard and the Silver Saviors were one and the same all along."
"She's lying!" Barren bellowed. "'Twas her men's digging that roused the Wasp Queen and her children! She's the one responsible for all this! Ask her men! Ask the miners who dug for her!"
"Such nonsense," Agatha turned up her nose as she responded. "All my men will collaborate my story, and those poor men had barely begun to probe the walls for weaknesses when something loud rang out from within the cave, sending the swarm down upon us."
"Those poor men?" Barren and Boyd found themselves asking at once.
"Indeed," Agatha said. "I apologize, Mayor, but we lost your miners in the attack. They were beginning their work when the wasps swarmed and they were lost in the chaos. My men and I had no choice, but to retreat when it become clear that bridging the mines with the natural cave tunnels was a lost cause."
"Hmm…" Mayor Boyd stroked his mustache as he considered her testimony.
After a moment, he pointed his cane at Barren.
"How did you find him, then?" he asked.
"I did not," Agatha answered honestly. "I sent a group of my men back in with Flame Gems to seal the mines, preventing the wasps from entering the city directly through that avenue. While they were setting up, they came upon a group of the Wasp Giants overwhelming Mr. Barren and his associates as they also attempted to flee."
Barren trembled with anger and bared his teeth as he scowled at her murderously.
"And the mines are sealed, correct?" Boyd asked.
"Yes, my men were succeeded in their task," the Sheriff answered.
"Good, good, now then…" the mayor began to say.
"Oh, come on!" Barren shouted.
Agatha gave him a backfisted punch across the face.
"You dare interrupt the Lord Mayor?" she sternly asked.
Barren just looked at her defiantly, and answered, "I dare!"
Then he looked at Boyd resolutely.
"Lord Mayor, the Cheap Side Guard and the Silver Saviors have long looked out for the commoners of this city," he said. "You know that. You've admitted as much, however reluctantly, in your public speeches. Do you really believe we would unleash this swarm upon the very folk we've tried to protect these last two years?"
As Mayor Boyd listened, he went from looking skeptical and dismissive to listening intently. Then his green eyes moved over to Agatha critically.
"He makes a good point, Sheriff," he answered. "Whether I want to admit it or not, this is uncharacteristic of Lucien's men. Care to explain?"
"Lord Mayor, 'tis obvious their intent was not to unleash the wasps upon the whole city," Agatha asserted.
She looked down at Barren with eyes which promised much pain and suffering later.
"We were getting close to a key route in their operations," the Sheriff said. "So, they took drastic measures to keep us out. Ironic, they ended up spelling their own doom with that little stunt."
She met the mayor's gaze and asked, "After all, why else would the silver necklaces even have been in the mines?"
Barren nearly opened his mouth to protest, to tell the mayor he hadn't even been in the mines to begin with, but the words died before they even formed.
"If I tell the mayor I was up in the natural caves, but fell down a connecting shaft into the mines, The Iron Bitch will have his permission to begin searching the through mountains right now," he realized.
It occurred to him that if he went along with Agatha's self-serving lie, he'd delay her search of the caves for another week.
"Hmm…" Boyd contemplated this information. "Seems a might reckless for a group that has always been so careful."
"Desperate people make mistakes they would otherwise not," Agatha answered.
Boyd reached out with his cane, hooking it under Barren's chin. He lifted the young man's face up towards.
"What have you to say about these accusations, boy?" the mayor asked.
"I admit it," Barren said. "They caught us with blood on our knives. We couldn't let The Iron Lady find our cache of goods on the lower levels of the mines, so we unleashed the wasps. But-but we never wanted… this."
Barren looked up as another wasp passed overhead. The mayor's lips turned up in a sneer at the confession while Agatha gave Barren a subdued look of surprise. She had not expected him to play along. That meant…
"He's covering for them. They really were transporting the slaves through the natural caves in the mountains. I knew it!" she thought.
However, it frustrated her that she could do nothing to act on it until they could wring answers out of Barren. She had been hoping he'd keep protesting and accidentally give his comrades away in front of the mayor, but oh well. This gave her more time to enact a better plan to snare them all.
"Sheriff Agatha," Boyd addressed her sternly.
"Yes, Lord Mayor," she answered.
"You have just secured for yourself another extension of your time in my services," he told her. Then he pointed his cane at Barren again. "I want this man executed at dawn. Following that demonstration of what happens to those who defy me, you will raze the slums until you have captured every member of the Cheap Side Guard for more hangings."
"No!" Barren cried.
"That will be all," Boyd began to turn away.
"Wait, Lord Mayor," Agatha called. She reached a hand out to halt him. "That would be a mistake."
"I said that will be all," the mayor gruffly answered.
"But we stand to lose everything!" Agatha protested.
That got Boyd to stop and turn again, looking both tired and confused.
"Lose? How?" he demanded. "We now know Lucien's band of ruffians are the criminals we've been hunting. They can't hide anymore."
"But they can," Agatha stated. "We do not know the location of their hideaways, storehouses, or even their other secret routes."
"The slums, that is where," Boyd answered.
"The slums are a large area, Lord Mayor," Agatha replied. "They can be gone before we even find them. Besides, people will already be scared and attempting to leave the city after tonight."
Boyd shrugged, "So?"
"So, Lord Mayor," Agatha said. "If we send out a town crier with the announcement that one of the Silver Saviors is being executed, Lucien's band of miscreants will just creep out into the wilderness using one of those secret roads we have yet to discover. Or worse, we make young Mr. Barren here a martyr."
Mayor Boyd considered what he'd just been told.
"What do you propose?" he asked.
"We tell no one, and let Ferny have him," Agatha said.
The color drained from Barren's face at the mention of that man. He looked up at Agatha slowly with a look of upmost fear. The corner of Boyd's lips pulled up into a lopsided smile with an evil glint in his eyes. The prospects of leaving one of those meddlesome Silver Saviors at the tender mercies of their chief interrogator was pleasing to the lord mayor. He again pointed the cane at Barren, who was cowering now.
"Make him sing," Boyd ordered.
Agatha turned to look down on Barren with a cruel smile.
"It will be done, Lord Mayor."
"No, he'll break me for sure," Barren thought. "Oh, Lucien. Hurry, get them all out before I break."
"Little Wolf,
Little Wolf,
You're not nameless,
You're a princess…"
Lenneth hummed a song she learned on Midgard as she exited the bath chamber. She wore a long bathrobe and slippers. She had just finished tying the white ribbon a secure her braid in place before flipping it behind her back as she walked down the hall. As she leisurely wandered the corridor, she tried not to think of Llewelyn's examination tomorrow, and to just enjoy the moment of peace.
She passed by a window and looked up at the stars as she passed. When she looked forward again, there was a person standing in the middle of the moderately lit hall, as though waiting for her. The figure was outlined by a floor chandelier behind them.
"Oh, good evening," Lenneth politely called as she approached. "I did not expect to see anyone else up this late. So, who goes there at this lovely evening?"
"Good evening, Lenneth," a female voice answered.
Then the figure stepped closer, and Lenneth immediately recognized the cherry blonde curls of Lofn, the goddess of marriages and forbidden loves.
"Oh, Lofn, hello," Lenneth said a smile.
"Lenneth, may we have a word?" the other goddess asked.
"Certainly," the Valkyrie answered.
She stopped a few feet from Lofn under the light of a ceiling chandelier.
"How may I help you?" Lenneth asked.
Lofn chuckled uncertainly, looking as though she were not ready for the conversation they were about to have. Lenneth gave a perplexed look, not at all certain what this was about.
"'Tis the other way around, actually," Lofn answered. "I wanted to speak with you at Lady Nanna's tea party, but I knew this… line of discussion would just embarrass you in front of the other goddesses."
"Hmm?" Lenneth uttered.
Lofn then stepped in so close she was almost in Lenneth's personal space. The Valkyrie almost backed away as the other woman leaned in even closer.
"I tell you this for your own good, Lenneth-dear. Forget about him," Lofn told her.
Lenneth stared back blankly, knowing immediately whom she spoke of but was too shocked to even have a reaction.
Then Lofn spoke the word which sent vibrations through the Valkyrie's body:
"Lucien."
Lenneth hid it well, and answered, "Now wait a moment, Lofn. I am not some lovestruck child. How did you even know about him?"
"I know these things, dearie," Lofn answered.
"Know what exactly?" Lenneth asked, "I have met the man but twice, briefly on both occasions. He is but a human and a destined soul. I check on him because he is awfully troubled for one fated for Valhalla. It would be easy for someone like him to fall and become Undead."
"That is correct," Lofn gently gripped her by the upper arms. "He is only a human. There can never be anything between the two of you. For your own wellbeing, Lenneth, forget about him. There are some loves too forbidden even for me to help blossom."
"Love? What do you take me for?" Lenneth pulled away with offense. "Some silly princess to be taken with just any man?"
"I take you for a woman with a fancy," Lofn stated firmly. "A fancy for something you can never have."
Somehow, those words hurt more than any others to have ever been spoken to Lenneth.
"…I see," Lenneth muttered with a perfect mask of indifference. "I understand. You needn't worry about me."
"But I do," Lofn said. "I worry about you, Lenneth. Your human incarnations always fall in love. We sometimes worry that those mortal inclinations might impede your judgment."
Lenneth's eyes turned fierce.
"That will be quite enough," the Valkyrie firmly raised her voice, taking the other goddess by surprise. "I can appreciate your intentions, but I will not tolerate being spoken down to as though I was some hysterical, guileless demoiselle who dreams of being rescued from a dragon by her Prince Charming!"
"Forgive me," Lofn daintily curtsied before her. "'Twas not my intent to undermine your intelligence or good sense."
She straightened, she gently put a hand on Lenneth's shoulder. The battle maiden did nothing to shake her off.
"The fact remains, though," Lofn said. "Some Prince Charmings and some Lady Loves are set apart by gaps so vast, 'tis beyond even my power to help them circumvent it."
Lenneth just nodded, and managed to mutter, "I understand."
"I hope you do," Lofn said.
Then she curtsied to Lenneth again.
"I bid you good night. Forgive me this, but it had to be said. Sleep well, Lenneth," she said.
"Sleep well," Lenneth answered.
As Lofn turned away to go to her own room, Lenneth stood alone under the gleam of many candles.
"I take you for a woman with a fancy. A fancy for something you can never have," Lofn's words repeated in her head, stabbing deeper than even Lenneth knew.