Nimona fell.

She hadn't had much of a plan as she'd flown towards the laser cannon. The Director was hell-bent on ending her, and she would've leveled half the kingdom in that pursuit. So Nimona flew towards death, exhausted.

But she hadn't died in the explosion; she was tougher than whatever they'd thrown at her. Still, it hurt terribly to even stay conscious. Viscous green fire was coursing through her veins, scalding and freezing. Is it poison? Did they make this for me?

She was hurtling towards the ground. The phoenix had withered away, feathers decaying at the first touch of green. Her form had reverted into a little girl now, and—

She couldn't shift.

Nimona tried again. And again. And again. Pouring her heart into it, balling up her fists, screaming. She looked around for answers, for help. Nothing, and no one. Just inky blackness, and debris falling all around her. Falling.

Nimona managed to turn herself around with what felt like a Herculean effort. Despite everything she thought of herself, she was scared: she did not want to see her death approaching. The fire was slowly dying out, leaving numbness behind. All her wounds were turning from angry red to glowing green to lifeless gray. She did kill me, then. Even if I survive the fall, living like this… it's nothing.

Nimona tried to think of happier times. She didn't want the Director to take away everything. But even as she did, all she could think was how little time she'd gotten.

The sky began to glow green, pulling Nimona out of her thoughts. Her heart leaped into overdrive. There's no way the Director's alive!

She wiped the tears out of her eyes, wanting to take a proper look. The glow intensified until there was a deafening groan, and a humongous tree branch appeared in the sky. Even at a distance, the young branch looked larger than skyscrapers, the leaves as wide as entire parks. Before Nimona could question what was happening, the glow faded, and the branch started to age. Within seconds, it seemed as if it'd been there for eons, its base shrouded in an angry storm.

The wall quaked, the falling debris below her finally landing with terrible tremors that shook the world. It was her turn next. Amidst the roaring wind, it was difficult to keep her eyes open. So she shut them, and tried to focus on anything other than fear.

She found one happy memory: playing catch with Gloreth. Sunshine. Laughter. She held on to it, hoping to go back.

Then she died.

Alex was running away from an oversized boar when the worlds shifted.

The boar was a hulking creature with tusks the size of spears and eyes burning with a fierce red glow. Its enraged snorts echoed like distant thunder. Alex was absently swinging her sword in its general direction as she ran, but it had no hope of dissuading the creature.

"How much further, Sam?" she yelled, glancing at the healer-patient pair sprinting ahead of her.

Samirah, Alex's sister and the resident expert on all things mythical, was bleeding from countless wounds. Magnus, Alex's boyfriend and the resident medic, was keeping her alive while she looked for a portal to Valhalla.

"We're close," Sam shouted. "I can sense a portal at the next split!"

"Anything closer? This meinfretr boar is gonna break this whole branch before we get there!" They were running along a humongous branch of Yggdrasil, the World Tree. The branch was as wide as a tennis court, and probably as old as the universe, but the cursed boar's uncontrolled, furious gallop was taking its toll on the branch, the ancient wood creaking and groaning with each step.

BOOM!

Alex turned around, worried that the boar was unleashing some new Hel. But the explosion had been somewhere above them. Their pursuer looked very disturbed by this, slowing to a trot, bloodshot eyes turning upwards.

A moment later, Alex realized why. She felt like her body was pulled inside out, rotated 180 degrees, and then stuffed back in haphazardly. It felt like her perspective was being altered, forcibly and irreversibly.

It took everything to stay on her feet. Alex turned to her friends, and saw that they weren't doing much better. The boar had come to a complete stop, and fallen on its side, eyes rolled back and foaming at the mouth. Alex trudged toward her friends, whispering: "Get up! We have to get out of here before it recovers."

Samirah had dropped to one knee, looking about as bad as Alex felt. Magnus was knelt beside her, looking exhausted but maintaining concentration on healing Sam.

Sam's phone was buzzing. Even as Alex pulled the two of them to their feet, Samirah hurriedly pulled out her phone and gazed at it in concern.

Sam sounded tired but determined. "We can't leave yet. Alex, can you fly us up there? It's a code three-eight-one."

Magnus's eyes widened. "A heroic death? Here?"

Valkyries like Samirah were entrusted with bringing the souls of heroes to Hotel Valhalla, the Norse afterlife for warriors. Anywhere else, another Valkyrie could've handled the job for Sam, but if someone died amongst the physics-defying branches of Yggdrasil, it could be decades before their body was found.

"I can carry the two of you for a while, but where do we go? How will we find them?"

"I'll guide you," Sam said. "For around ten minutes or so after a heroic death, nearby Valkyries can sense the location of the deceased."

Alex nodded, sheathing her sword. "I'll change into something that's fast."

Magnus frowned. "I don't think we have ten minutes. You're losing too much blood, and my healing can't keep up if you're actively making it worse and exerting yourself."

Alex felt a sharp tug in her gut as she summoned her powers. "I'll change into something that's faster."

She closed her eyes and visualized the form she wanted to take. In a blink, fingers grew into claws. In another, wings sprouted from her back. She grew in height and mass and scaliness until—

"Alex, I thought I'd banned you from turning into a dragon." Magnus sighed long-sufferingly.

"Rules are meant to be broken!" Alex roared.

"Arbitrary and regressive rules that society imposes, yes! Not rules that your doctor and boyfriend creates to keep you from dying! Those are meant to be followed!"

Alex rolled her eyes. "Whatever! You know you love me for it. Now climb on so we can make the most of this!"

Samirah and Magnus got on to Alex's back with some difficulty; even as she knelt down, she was as large as the boar they'd barely survived. They settled between some ridges along her spine.

"Everyone ready? Okay. Samirah, you're the pilot."

Sam reached out and tugged at a spike in front of her. "Can you feel this? I'll use it as a flight stick."

"Aye-aye!"

"Remember, left and right are for banking, not turning on the spot!"

"Sure thing."

"And pulling back means raising the nose, not—"

"Dude, I've got 300-plus hours on that Flight Simulator game. I know this stuff; I'm almost a pilot myself."

Sam didn't dignify that with a response, and instead turned to Magnus. "Brace yourself."

Samirah landed the Alex-dragon-plane on a perfectly ordinary and perfectly empty branch of the World Tree. Alex looked around for dead bodies. "Where's our cargo?"

Samirah pointed at a knothole in front of them. "They're in there. But only in there. There's supposed to be thousands of portals to each of the Nine Worlds, but only this one is correct."

Magnus reminded them of the urgency. "We're wasting time… and blood! If it's a trap, let Jack handle it while we skedaddle. Now let's go!"

"Alright. Just fly in, Alex. The portal will expand to accommodate us."

Alex flapped her wings and launched them into the air. A few powerful strokes carried them towards and into the knothole, which shimmered with an ethereal glow as they crossed over into a new world.

The air around them thickened with dust and smoke. The crackling of storm clouds and groaning of settling debris were cut through by distant cries. Shimmering pink motes of light floated in the air, slowly drifting downwards, the only indication that they were thousands of feet in the air.

"What happened here?" Magnus wondered. "Is this Muspellheim?"

It certainly felt like a realm of destruction and fire. "All the more reason to keep moving," Sam said. "The sooner we get back, the better. They're somewhere below us. Can you set us down? Alex?"

Alex the dragon wasn't paying attention, because Alex the dragon was trying to catch a pink shimmer on her tongue. She wasn't even breathing, afraid she'd accidentally blow one away. When one finally landed, she turned to the others. "It tastes like an electric strawberry!"

Samirah wasn't amused. "We're on a schedule."

Alex rolled her eyes and folded her wings in, going into a sharp dive. Samirah started shouting directions, but it soon became clear that the falling lights were converging upon the same location, so she had Alex land them near the eye of the storm.

Magnus and Sam got off and headed to the corpse, with Alex close behind. They followed Samirah through the maze of destruction, the pink motes growing denser as they neared their destination. Finally, they reached a spot where the motes seemed to converge, swirling around a fallen figure.

It was as if the storm was bringing cherry blossoms to lay at their feet. They were covered in cuts and bruises, but their skin was a lifeless gray. With their eyes closed and serene expression, they looked at peace.

Samirah knelt beside the body, her hand glowing with a soft, golden light as she reached out and grabbed a forearm. The light enveloped the body, and slowly, a spirit began to separate from the corpse. Sam pulled the spirit to their feet, and they opened their eyes.

Nimona blinked, her vision adjusting to the ethereal glow around her. The first thing she saw was a warrior wearing chainmail and a grim expression, with golden light emanating from their hand. She took a step back instinctively, and looked around. The warrior had two companions who kept their distance. There was debris and dust all around them, and at her feet was… her own dead body.

So it wasn't just a nightmare. Nimona turned to the warrior to get some answers, confused yet defiant. "Who are you?"

"I'm Samirah, these are my friends Alex and Magnus. We're not here to hurt you." She'd apparently sensed Nimona's distrust, so she quickly added: "You're a hero, and I'm going to lead you to the afterlife."

"The afterlife?"

One of Samirah's companions, the one named Alex, moved closer. "Yes. Sam is a Valkyrie. She recruits brave warriors to fight for the gods in the battle at the end of the worlds."

"So a hero is a brave warrior to you?" Nimona smiled thinly. "Many of the knights trying to put a sword through my chest were brave. The woman who would destroy half the city just to kill me had a weapon in her hand. Her corpse must be somewhere around here."

Samirah looked into her eyes. "A person like that… even if they'd been flagged, I wouldn't have picked them up. I can hear the truth in your words: you fought for a good cause. You saved many lives."

That only made Nimona more distrustful of them. "So you're the only judge of character, unchecked by anyone else?" She turned away from them, looking toward the faint white glow of the city through the fog. "My boss saved my life when he dropped his sword. Just one life, but it was the bravest thing anyone could do."

Nimona turned back to face three inscrutable expressions. It was Alex who finally spoke up. "I've been where you're standing. And because I've been there, I also know that there's nothing we can say that'll convince you that we're the good guys. We cannot convince you that we're on the ontologically Good side. That's why I'm not going to even try."

"If you didn't trust them, why did you join them?" Nimona asked.

Alex chuckled. "I was dragged there, kicking and screaming. But looking around us, I don't think we'll be able to do the same for you. So here's my suggestion: why don't you come with us and see for yourself? You've clearly endured a lot and come out on top. Anytime you feel threatened, just walk away."

Nimona considered it. "You're either very brave or very dumb."

"Or just confident that you're on our side?"

Before Nimona could reply, a pained grunt escaped Magnus's lips, the first noise he'd made since they'd arrived. He looked like someone had knocked the wind out of him. "Sam, can you feel it? Up ahead… many dead and injured."

Samirah turned to Nimona. "What's happening here?"

"I think they declared a state of emergency." Nimona tried to think back; her memories were hazy with the poison of hatred and shame when she was in that form. "They did a lot of damage to the city… and so did I."

"Let me check something," Alex said. She knelt, putting her palms to the ground and reaching out. Nimona observed in silence, trying to figure out the three teens in front of her. They clearly had some supernatural powers, and they wanted her on their side. What do they really want?

"The dust is settling," Alex declared after a few seconds. "What Magnus felt was the final tremor… as the critically injured died."

Nimona was surprised. "How can you know any of that?"

"The changes have stopped. Fires have been put out and buildings have fallen. There is no one between life and death right now."

Sam nodded gravely. "But there are a lot of dead. And I cannot help their souls as I am. We need to get to Valhalla and bring other Valkyries here. Alex, can you—?"

"On it."

Nimona watched with wide eyes as Alex began to morph, steadily becoming larger and larger. Nimona grinned as she beheld Alex's dragon form, stretching contentedly like an overgrown cat and letting out a deafening roar.

Her celebration was cut short, however, as her form began to shrink. Alex cried out and grit her teeth together, clearly exerting massive amounts of effort. "Something's fighting against me. It's hard to maintain it!"

Nimona could feel it too. Even the thought of shapeshifting was more distant than usual. On Magnus's orders, Alex stopped straining herself and turned back to her human form. As the three visitors started looking for a backup plan, Nimona idly chased her ability, unruly as it was.

"Hey, where's this place we need to go?" Nimona asked.

Magnus paused in the middle of the point he was trying to make, and the three turned to Nimona. "It's very far away, but there's a portal above us that that's our first stop," he said, pointing.

"I can get you there." In her mind, Nimona gently brushed up against the glowing center of her power and began to transform. "You're right that it's strangely difficult to shapeshift right now, Alex. But I've seen worse."

Nimona let out her own thunderous roar as the transformation was completed.

Samirah was the first to find her voice, the three looking various amounts of surprised and intrigued. "How can you do that? Are you a demigod? A natural spirit? A rune caster?"

Baring her teeth at them, the great pink dragon said, "I'm Nimona."

AN: The fic was beta-read by the amazing Si1verBadger! She really helped out with so much and was so patient with me. If you go to my AO3, you can also view the fic art made by the wonderful Little Cereal.

I wrote this fic as a part of the Nimona Big Bang 2024 event. You can view other stories from the event in an AO3 Collection by the same name.