Chapter 5 - Antares
"What…what do you mean that…that you-I mean, that I'm not human?" Bo stuttered in shock.
The blonde woman pulled her lips into a cocky smile. "Dizziness and ringing in your ears that comes and goes, hmmm?"
Bo swallowed slightly and nodded.
"Constantly fixated on something while everything else turns into background noise?"
"Well I wouldn't say constantly but…."
The blonde woman turned sideways, casually fumbling with a small bird statuette on the TV console, while still having her eyes on Bo. "Seeing things that other people, sorry, other huuuuuuumans can not see?"
Bo licked her lips nervously as she watched the blonde woman's hand moving from the bird statuette to above her shoulder. With her index finger and her middle fingers stretched out, she gently stroked something invisible there as she raised her eyebrows at Bo playfully.
"I mean…yes but that only started happening recently and-"
Bo stopped abruptly because out of nowhere, her trance hit and a large, black raven appeared on the other woman's shoulder - first, its contour emerged; then, details of colors and shapes filled in.
The black bird smacked his beak a few times as he enjoyed the petting.
"How-how did you do that?!" Bo exclaimed.
"I didn't do anything," the other woman corrected her. "He's here the whole time. You just couldn't see him all the time, could you?"
Bo shook her head absentmindedly, still staring at the black raven. The other woman's voice seemed a bit far away.
"And you've never been able to call your Fylgja out, amma right?"
"What's a…Fylgja?" Bo frowned a little.
"This is a Fylgja, a spirit companion," the other woman replied as she turned slightly to look at her raven. "This is mine."
"Do I have one too…?"
"Everyone, even the humans, has one, not everyone can see them though."
"Oh…I…I don't think I have - I mean, I don't think I can see mine…" Bo shook her head absentmindedly as she pondered the idea of a spirit companion. It seemed…unbelievable, however she could tell that the raven was not like any other ordinary birds. She sensed a connection between the other woman and the bird, a strong connection.
The raven stared at her intently - he was trying to figure her out. The look in his eyes…he had thoughts, emotions and ideas. That look reminded Bo of something else she had encountered not long ago….
"Wait…was that giant spider a..a Fylgja too?" She blurted.
"That giant spider?" The blonde woman narrowed her eyes at Bo.
"A really big one, and a bunch of small ones. I mean, not small small, just smaller than the big one. I saw them at Laura Davis' lab, and then the giant one attacked me and Kenzi at our house."
The blonde woman seemed surprised. "And the two of you are still alive?"
"Well...I stabbed it and then it just…ran away," Bo explained. "Why do you look so surprised?"
"Just surprised that the spider didn't gobble you up."
Bo gave her an eyeroll. "Right…and earlier today, a huge scorpion attacked me. Is it a Fylgja as well?"
The other woman took a step forward. "Antares is here?"
"That scorpion has a name?"
"No, you moron! Antares is the code name of the-"
"Code name? What the hell?" Bo exclaimed. "First you told me that I wasn't human. Then you flashed me with your…raven that's invisible to humans. Now there are code names? Who exactly is Antares? Who are…they? What happened to Kenzi? What…am I?"
"Gee…more questions, please, because apparently I have no problem answering all of them at once!" The blonde woman drawled.
Bo threw her hands into the air in defeat. "Fine, tell me what I am first."
"You are an Einheri," the other woman told her.
"A…what?"
"An Einheri," the other woman pushed each syllable through her lips slowly. "You are one of those who have the ability to make connections between this dimension, the human dimension, and the spiritual dimension. Or, if you will, the ability to make connections between Midgard and Vanaheimr."
"Midgard…Vanaheimr…wait! I know those words! I've heard them before!" Bo blurted. "Those are…all from Norse mythology, right? Midgard is like the mortal world and Vanaheimr is like…the world of the old Gods or something?"
She paused briefly as she tried to remember all the things she had read about Norse mythology. "And…and Einheri…or Einherjar are fallen heroes that would ascend to Valhalla…."
"You are talking about made up stories, broken and misinterpreted fragments of the real deal," the other woman explained. "Midgard is the dimension that humans could perceive and understand. Vanaheimr is where all the spiritual beings dwell and prosper. These two dimensions overlap."
"I don't think I follow. I mean I kinda get it but…."
The other woman sighed and walked into the kitchen. She picked up a dish sponge and drenched it in water. "Midgard is like this sponge, and Vanaheimr is like the water. They co-exist, but humans can only perceive the sponge. An Einheri, on the other hand, is able to perceive both and traverse both at will."
Bo nodded along. That's why those creatures are invisible…they are…beings from another dimension….
"Are you…are you an Einheri too?" Bo asked as she glanced at the raven again. She was no longer able to keep herself in her "trance" and the image of the raven disappeared.
The other woman huffed out a laugh. "No."
"But…but you-"
"Einherjar are not the only ones that could connect both dimensions. Valkyries can, too."
"Valkyries…like…with wings and things?"
"I'm sorry, but are you talking about those made up stories again, or Zaxby's? No, we don't have wings. We also don't harvest souls from the battle grounds. We do, however, fight alongside Einherjar."
"Fight like…? Against what exactly?"
"Ragnarok, of course," the blonde woman replied in a big smile.
Bo shook her head and decided not to pursue the real answer. "So…to sum up, there are two dimensions, and I'm an Einheri, who's capable of making the connections between them?"
"Yes, but…not being able to summon your Fylgja at this age, you are most likely a mute."
"At this age?" Bo repeated, feeling slightly offended.
The blonde woman gave her a big eye roll. "Let's focus on the more important shit, shall we?"
"Which is…?"
"Usually, an Einheri would have awakened during puberty and summoned their Fylgja, whether intentional or not, for the first time. The power she has would increase as she ages and eventually stabilize when she reaches adulthood."
"But…I don't think I have ever summoned my Fylgja…. How do you even do that?"
The other woman shrugged. "Honestly, it's like asking someone how they are able to breathe air or swallow food. If you have to ask, you are probably not capable."
"So…?"
"So, if you've just recently started to see Fylgja and you have not been able to summon yours yet, you are a mute. The power of mutes is much weaker. It usually comes and goes for a few years, before it just…tapers off and disappears on its own."
"So…I wouldn't be able to see…these creatures after a few years?"
"Right."
Bo nodded along. She was somehow both relieved and a little disappointed that she wouldn't be able to see those creatures in a few years.
"Alright, my turn now," the blonde woman said as she stared into Bo's eyes. "How did you and this…Kenzi know that the dead chick in the bathtub was in danger?"
"We just happened to…figured out that several women who had died were all patients of the same doctor."
"Why are the two of you even investigating these deaths, hmmm?"
"Because more women might be dying and no one seems to care or is even aware of it!" Bo bit out.
"So y'all are just….good samaritans?"
"Well Laura Davis actually hired us because she thought she was being followed. Then, she died and her death just…bothered me. Anyway…you said they wouldn't bother taking Kenzi. Who are they?"
The blonde woman invited herself to Heidi Vaughn's wine collections and opened a half empty bottle of liquor. She took a sip and replied, "evil agents from an evil organization that do evil things?"
"By evil things you mean…killing innocent women? Why are they killing these women?"
"I don't know," the blonde woman put the bottle back and grabbed another one. She took a whiff and grimaced. "Their motive is unclear."
"Maybe…to kill off any Enheri? I mean…those women had the same symptoms as I have…."
"Please, don't flatter yourself. Symptoms or not, at this age without a Fylgja, they ain't gonna become Einherjar."
"Who is this Antares then?"
"She's the one who summons that giant ass scorpion. The scorpion is her Fylgja. Those spiders you've encountered belonged to Agent Spinner."
"Spinner! I knew it! I knew she must have had everything to do with those damn spiders!" Bo shouted.
"You knew Spinner?"
"No, but I saw it on the news. Someone was found dead under some collapsed power tower. That dead body had a spider tattoo and the word Spinner. I knew she had something to do with those spiders…."
The blonde woman put a third bottle of liquor back and gave Bo a gentle pat on her shoulder. "Whatever, sweetheart. My job's done here. I'm leavin'."
"Wait!" Bo rushed to follow her and forced her way into the other woman's car. "What about Kenzi? Are you sure that those…those agents won't take her?"
"No, they won't! They won't bother taking a human with them. They'd either kill her or let their Fylgja eat her. So, unless you've found bits and pieces of her somewhere, she's probably fine."
Bo let out a few vague grunts for the other woman's attitude. "Do you at least have a name?"
She paused briefly as she watched the other woman rolling her eyes. "I'm Bo," she introduced herself.
The blonde woman let out a defeated sigh. "It's Tamsin. Look, now we know each other's name. Before we invite each other to dinner, I'd like to ask you to get your cute little ass out of my car. I've got places to go to."
"Not yet! You haven't told me that…I mean, yes I get that there are Einherjar and then there are Valkyries. I get that there are evil agents who are trying to kill…potential Einherjar, but…what exactly do they…I mean, what exactly do we do?"
Tamsin shook her head slightly and let out a light scoff. "We stop Ragnarok."
"If that was a joke, I didn't get it."
"No joke. We fight to stop the end of the world."
"Like…how is it ending and how do we even stop it?"
"No idea…" Tamsin murmured as she fidgeted with her pendent, which was some sort of animal fang mounted into a silver cap.
She went quiet briefly, and when she noticed Bo's stare, she rolled her eyes again and replied, "what I can tell you is that…Valkyries are supposed to guide Einherjar."
"Guide?"
"Einherjar are…well, those who are able to summon their Fylgja, are very powerful, with heightened senses. They have stronger connections with their spirit companions, too. But, with great power comes-"
"-great responsibility?"
Tamsin snorted. "More like…dire side effects."
"Like what?"
"Einherjar can easily get overfocused, or zoned out. It's like…their focus is completely drawn to something, and they are trapped in their own minds. Once zoned out, they can't get out on their own, which can be extremely dangerous. Valkyries, however, can guide them out."
Bo nodded. She still had a million questions but at the same time, she couldn't figure out what to ask first.
"So, you said that those dead chicks were all patients of the same doctor. Are you absolutely sure about that?" Tamsin asked her.
"Yes I am sure! Wait, if you didn't know that already, how were you able to figure out who the next victim might be?" Bo frowned. "I mean, you were at all the places where they died. You even went to the clinic."
"I was there because that was one of the places one of the dead chicks had visited days before her death. I was at other places because…well let's just say that we have a tracking system that tracks sightings of those agents and maybe...those with Einherjar powers as well"
"We?"
Tamsin leaned in and scrunched her nose at Bo. "You don't think I'm in this alone, do you?"
"So you are one of the good guys?"
"I'm rarely good," Tamsin replied. "And I wonder how we have missed the fact that they all went to the same doctor."
"Well…maybe you aren't as smart as you think you are," Bo taunted.
Tamsin huffed out a scoff. At the same time, Bo's phone, which was tucked inside her bra, started ringing.
"I didn't know your boobs could sing," the Valkyrie teased as she boldly leered Bo's cleavage.
Bo rolled her eyes and pulled her phone out. It was Hale and she immediately answered it.
"Bo, why did you spam Hale's voicemail telling him that I was missing?" Kenzi's voice came, confused and full of sleep.
"Kenzi!" Bo exclaimed. "You are okay!"
She shot the blonde a cold glare when Tamsin leaned in and whispered "I told you so" into her ear.
"Why wouldn't I be okay?"
"Well you didn't come home and you weren't answering your phone. I came to Heidi Vaughn's place looking for you and found her dead in her bathtub."
"She's dead?!"
"Yeah…unfortunately, she is."
"Damn…I did try to warn her but she brushed me off. Then, I left and went to Hale's. I texted you!"
"No you did not."
"Yes, I did," Kenzi insisted. Then, she went quiet for a few seconds, before she yelled. "Message unsent? Damn you T-Mobile!"
Bo let out a deep sigh. "I'm glad that you are okay, Kenz."
"Tell me about her death."
"I would, but now is not a good time," Bo glanced at Tamsin, who was visually impatient. "I'll…talk to you when I get home later, okay?"
She hung up and then turned to Tamsin. The Valkyrie unlocked the car door for her. "If you stay in my car any longer, I'm gonna start charging rent."
"I-"
Bo was interrupted by a sudden, loud crashing sound on the top of the SUV.
"The hell?!" Tamsin cursed as she looked up. The top of the SUV was visibly dented.
All of a sudden, the hair on the back of Bo's neck stood. Cold sweat covered her palms.
Her trance hit her, and she let out a loud gasp when she noticed a shadow crawling down from the top of the car.
She saw its sectioned belly gliding over the windshield. Then, that creature stood up in front of the car and whipped its tail at the windshield.
Through the cracked windshield, Bo recognized it as that scorpion that had attacked her earlier.
"Fuck! It's Antares. She's here!" Tamsin announced as she reached into her jacket and pulled out a dagger.
"You sound like you are scared or something," Bo commented.
"She and her scorpion are two of the most spiteful and vicious assholes among all of them," Tamsin told her. "Get your ass outta here when you still can."
"What about you?"
"I'll live."
Fine. Bo thought as she pushed the passenger side door with her elbow. She managed to get out of the car, only to be stopped immediately by the scorpion's tail that slashed at her face.
She ducked behind the door, and the tail hit the window instead, shattering it into pieces.
Bo scrambled to get away while shedding broken glass pieces off her hair and her jacket. The scorpion chased after her with angry hisses.
"What have you done to piss that thing off so much?" Tamsin asked as she pulled Bo forcefully to her side, just in time to get Bo away from another tail whip.
"How the hell would I know?" Bo exclaimed, hiding behind the car while trying to calm her pounding heart.
Another bang on the top of the car. This time, it was that teenage girl Bo had encountered at Dr. Smith's clinic landing on the car.
She stared at Bo, her narrow eyes full of seething anger.
"You've got some nerves just standing there acting like you are all innocent after his broken stinger," she hissed.
"What? How could it possibly be blamed on me?" Bo argued as she took a glance at the angry scorpion. It was indeed missing its stinger.
It reminded her of the last thing she remembered before she had passed out under the scorpion's venom: a shadow launching itself at the scorpion's stinger. Could that be who broke the stinger off? But, what was that?
Antares had absolutely no patience for Bo. She swung her legs over the edge of the top of the car and jumped off.
She pulled out her weapon - something that looked like a hybrid of a flail and a whip. It had a short handle and a long chain. At the end of the chain, there was a hooked spike which looked a lot like a scorpion's stinger.
She twisted her wrist slightly, and the whip came directly at Bo from an impossible angle.
Tamsin swung her dagger at the whip and caught it. It coiled around the blade. Both her and Antares pulled hard, and eventually yanked the dagger out of Tamsin's hand.
"Fucking-" Tamsin cursed as she quickly grabbed a short sword from under the back seat.
Bo dodged another whip at her, as she managed to pull something from under the back seat as well. It was short like a dagger and shaped like a spike.
In order to avoid being hit, she ran around the car as the scorpion chased her. Every time the scorpion whipped its tail at Bo, she'd hid behind the car.
The scorpion was livid. It reached under the car, trying to grab Bo. Realizing that it wouldn't be able to, it hissed before it lifted the car with its pincers and flung it to the side.
The car flew over Bo's head and crashed into a tree a few feet away.
"Holy crap…" Bo murmured and darted away. This time she wasn't so lucky. The tail hit her like a tire iron and knocked her down.
She struggled to run away despite the sharp pain on her back. She hid behind trees, trash cans, and everything else that might block the scorpion.
It was then that she noticed Tamsin's raven hovering low in circles. Distracted, she got hit again and fell, hitting her forehead on the ground.
With spots in her vision and blood running down her nose, she got herself up on her knees.
The scorpion came at her, and she jabbed its tail with her weapon.
It was as if she was stabbing a piece of steel. The scorpion shook its tail violently, knocking the weapon off Bo's hand.
Bo threw herself to the side, avoiding being grabbed by the pincers.
There, she saw the raven again, a few feet away, standing on a tree branch watching her. When he noticed that Bo was looking at him, he opened his beak and let out several short clicking sounds.
For some reason, Bo just knew that the raven was telling her to go to him.
So, she did. The raven waited for her to get close, and then it suddenly took off flying towards the opposite direction.
What the hell? Bo thought as she ran behind the tree on which the raven had been standing as she tried to take a brief break.
The scorpion came at her, but the raven stopped him by shooting himself at the scorpion's eye like an arrow.
The scorpion waved its pincer furiously at the bird, shooing it away, but the bird kept attacking. The scorpion chased him briefly, but when he realized that he couldn't get the raven, he turned around and decided to pursue Bo.
Great! Bo thought as she started to move again.
At one point she took a glance at Tamsin, who was trading blows with Antares. The blonde woman had several cuts on her arms, while the teenage girl got a limp.
Bo hid behind a small sedan. Two seconds later, the scorpion smashed it into a pancake.
She then ran to another car, and the scorpion destroyed it before she even got there.
Bo turned around and sprinted, but tripped over something and fell. She struggled to stand up yet her legs simply gave out.
The scorpion circled around her proudly, like it just knew that she wouldn't be able to run away.
Bo crawled on her hands and knees, desperately trying to get herself away from the scorpion. The scorpion huffed and came at her.
However, before it touched her, it suddenly stopped and struggled violently against something.
Huh? Bo frowned as she turned to look at the furious scorpion.
It was then that she noticed threads of vague reflections in the air. She had no idea what those might be, but she could see them wrapping around the scorpion's body and pulling tight into a net.
At the end of the net stood the raven. When the scorpion tried to force its way out, the raven pulled a shimmering thread with his beak and tied it to a tree, forcing the scorpion to arch its back.
"Kill it!" Tamsin yelled as she launched herself at Antares and pinned her to the ground.
Bo picked up her weapon and dashed towards the scorpion. Then, she paused. "How?" She yelled as she looked at the 8 foot monster, then at her 7 inch weapon.
She heard the raven clicking again. She could swear that the raven gave her an eyeroll, before he dropped a small rock on the scorpion's belly.
Bo frowned at him, confused.
"Do it, Bo!" Tamsin shouted as she fought Antares, yet the young girl freed herself and went after Bo.
The scorpion continued its struggle, and finally managed to break one of the threads. Before it broke a second one, the raven dived down and pecked its belly, at the exact same spot where it had dropped the rock.
At that very moment, Bo suddenly understood him. She jumped at the scorpion and shoved her weapon into the spot. It was, surprisingly, soft and penetrable, and she made sure the blade went all the way in.
"No!" Antares let out a deep wail as she furiously swung her weapon at Bo from behind. It looped around Bo's neck, strangling her.
Bo grabbed the chain with both of her hands and pulled. The chain dug into her flesh, so deep that it ground against her bones.
Just as she thought she was about to pass out, the chain suddenly loosened. She pulled it away from her neck and rolled to the side.
There, she saw Antares stumbling back and forth. The teenage girl was gagging and she could no longer hold her weapon. She tried to attack Bo, but instead she collapsed. After having spasmed for a few seconds, she stopped moving.
Bo watched her eyes, which were burning with rage just seconds ago, turn lifeless. Then, as she turned to look at the scorpion, she was shocked to see its corpse turning transparent. It eventually became faint blue dust that quickly disappeared, like it had never existed.
Tamsin came over while wiping her bloodied nose. She let out a whistle and her raven came to rest on her shoulder immediately.
Bo pulled herself up while panting hard. "What the hell happened to the scorpion?"
"Ummm…you killed it?"
"I mean…why did it just…disappear?"
"That's what happens when a Fylgja dies."
"What happened to her?" Bo asked as she pointed at Antares with her chin.
"That's what happens when your Fylgja dies," Tamsin replied. "One simply can't exist without the other."
Bo nodded, still catching her breath. She eventually went to check those threads of reflections that she had seen. They turned out to be thin, transparent wires.
"Fishing lines?"
"Special fishing lines, for Fylgja hunting," Tamsin corrected her as she reeled the lines with the help of her raven and put it back into a box that had fallen out from the back of her SUV.
So, the raven actually managed to trap the scorpion with this…no wonder he was flying in circles… Bo thought as she approached the bird. She tried to pet him with the back of her fingers, but the bird lowered its body to avoid the skin contact. He instead pecked the back of her hand as a protest.
Bo snorted. The bird snorted too, and flew away.
"He thinks you are dumb," Tamsin commented, her voice full of teasing.
Bo shot her a cold glare and checked Antares' body. Just as she suspected, the girl had a scorpion and the word "Antares" tattooed on her right shoulder blade.
"How many of these agents are out there?"
"More than you can handle," Tamsin replied as she checked the SUV. When she confirmed that it had been completely destroyed, she let out some loud cusses both in English and a language that Bo didn't understand. "Any chance your car isn't one of those smashed by the giant arthropod?"
"Why?"
"Because…we are going places."
"By that you mean you need a ride?" Bo teased.
"By that I mean I'm taking you to a place where all your questions can be answered. Well maybe not all your questions but…."
"Oh? Where might that be?"
Tamsin leaned in. Even though her face was streaked in blood and dirt, her light blue eyes seemed to be glowing. "Where do you think a Valkyrie would take an Einheri, hmm?"
"V-Valhalla?" Bo blurted, immediately laughing at herself. Like Valhalla is real….
"Exactly, Valhalla," Tamsin smirked. "I'm taking you to Valhalla."