Reality's Plaything 2: Neath Odin's Eye, page 48
—Arminwen Sarai T’Evagduran
Third Princess of Malan
Chapter 48
Hel’s Mistress Strikes
« ^ »
The five of them froze, listening to the sound of horns wailing in the distance. The eerie droning sound made the skin prickle like fingernails raked across a slate. The rumble of Thor’s hammer crashing against the front gates of Asgard broke over the noise, filling the night with a blaze of red and orange halos of explosive radiance. A chilly gust of air reinforced the already strong smells of ash, charred flesh, and bile. Odin’s Valkyries continued to scream and attack, and Kegari and Idun countered with roars and blasts of dragon-flame. Lightning and shatter-spheres continued to pound the attackers, but it was clear from the waning intensity of the strikes that the mages were tiring—quickly consuming the last of the power imbued upon them by Idun’s fruit. A dozen, two dozen, maybe even five score of the Bloodguard that elite cast might have handled, but they warred with perhaps ten times that number.
On the ground, more than five hundred paces away they paused as Daena’s body stiffened and flames appeared to ignite in her eyes. She grabbed the sword on her side and pulled the blade free with a rasp of metal on metal. Tossing her auburn hair, she looked south with gritted teeth. She appeared unaware of anyone around her, or what they had been doing only instants ago.
Her voice sounded hollow and metallic. The low tones made Bannor’s skin itch. “Cerberus brings those already dead to join in the battle. I left no sanction to side with Odin or to command my minions.” She drew a breath, fingers loosening and tightening on her weapon. “He shall learn the folly of usurping what was not given!” She started toward the sound.
“Daena!” Bannor grabbed her shoulder.
The young savant whirled on him. Sarai and Wren moved to stop her but she moved with dazzling speed. “Want you to die along with Cerberus?”
Sparks crackled around her hand. Her nails hovered only a breath from Bannor’s face. He felt his hair standing on end from the power sparking from her fingertips.
He swallowed, staring into her flaming eyes. “Daena, the gates—remember?”
Her brow furrowed. She winced as Thor’s hammer crashed against Asgard’s defenses again. She rolled her shoulders and her head listed to one side as she gazed up at the aerial fray. “What transpires here? I—” She pulled her hand away from Bannor and felt her head. After a moment, she drew another deeper breath and smiled. “I live. So, Odin failed to kill us.” Daena cringed as another shock reverberated across the field. She glared in the direction of the city. “Why does that simpleton insist on punishing our ears with that futile display?”
“Look around you,” Sarai snapped. “We have to get in or Odin’s Bloodguard will mob us. A moment ago you told us you could open the gates.”
“Did I?” She raised an eyebrow. “I—” She paused. “What’s this I feel?” She touched between her breasts, and her fingers glowed.
Wren gasped, rising up to her toes. “Hey!”
Sarai, then Laramis and Irodee all lurched.
“My but we are a trusting group,” she grinned. Another blast rocked the field and Daena put a hand to her temple. She scowled. “I suppose the only way I shall have the luxury of being able to think is if I open that gate. It is a certainty I shall get no peace while that oaf keeps pounding away. Hie us to it.” She leaned into a jog toward the city before anyone could stop her.
Sarai and Wren quickly helped Laramis and Irodee onto Tymoril’s back, then joined Bannor is pursuit of the young savant.
“What in Hades is going on, Bannor?” Wren wanted to know running along beside him.
“I don’t know,” he said shaking his head. “Hella has manifested before, but never this completely.”
“Bannor,” Wren said, voice dropping. “We don’t want her controlling the full power of a first one. I don’t want to even think…”
“Oh right, and how do you plan to take it away from her?” Sarai said. “Slap her hand and say ‘bad girl’? Maybe you didn’t feel what she just did!”
“I felt it. If she turns on us, those Bloodguard are the least of our worries.”
“Just don’t antagonize her,” Bannor told them. “Hella was never our enemy. She only did what Odin told her to do.”
“That’s her story,” Wren growled. “You weren’t her prisoner. She enjoyed taking me apart a bit too much for me to believe that.”
As they neared the walls, the Valkyries who had been ignoring them gained a renewed interest and several broke off from their attacks on Idun and Thor. Having started moving a long breath ahead of them, a gap of close to three hundred paces had opened between them and Daena. The young savant was isolated as a dozen Bloodguard dove on her.
Bannor yelled a warning, but in a battlefield so overwhelmed by war magic, the sound would have been lucky to be heard thirty paces away much less three hundred.
Daena seemed oblivious to her peril even when the winged warriors were screaming down on her. Bannor winced, certain several flaming swords would find a mark on oblivious woman.
He blinked. Not a single weapon struck her. The Valkyries paused in the air and spun around, obviously surprised as well. They couldn’t have missed.
In the distance, the eerie sound of the horns continued to wail, now growing in volume. Though the Valkyries hadn’t gotten her attention, the wailing caused her pause and look.
The Bloodguard took the pause as an opportunity to make another pass. Daena made no defensive move, but the blades appeared to bend as they passed. The Valkyries screamed in frustration as Daena walked away not even acknowledging their existence.
“What in Hades is she doing?” Wren yelled.
“Whatever it is, I want to learn that trick!” Sarai said.
“We better hurry before they just decide to pile on her!” Despite the pain of his injuries, he pushed himself to run faster. Even the length of a breath was long time in a battle like this. He glanced back and saw Tymoril pounding along in their wake, apparently choosing to stay on the ground. Laramis and Irodee hung on, weapons ready, still able to fight but slowed by their wounds. Like the Valkyries, their injuries would heal quickly—for as long as Idun’s magic held out.
The walls of Asgard loomed huge and golden in front of them. Idun, Kegari, and Thor, flew in a tight pattern, jousting with the Valkyries. The field beneath them was a crater-pocked morass of blood-soaked mud, crumpled bodies, and burning vegetation.
They were less than twenty paces behind Daena when the Valkyries having made their fourth failed attempt to even gain the young Savant’s attention, landed directly in front of her.
With three paces and thirty stone of angry Valkyrie poised and glaring in her path, Daena paused. Eight others slammed down on either side of the first and three more behind her.
“Oh spit,” Wren moaned. She pulled out her daggers. “Didn’t we just do this scenario?”
Though she was surrounded, Daena looked not at all concerned. In his mind, Bannor corrected himself, caught alone Daena probably would have soiled herself when so confronted. Hella could challenge Odin and the entire jury without flinching, she possessed the ultimate confidence of a warrior with millenniums of experience.
“Get out of my way, child,” Daena rasped to the lead Bloodguard. “Don’t make me spank you.”
“Spank?” The Valkyrie raged. She plunged her weapon straight toward the girl’s chest.
The flaming metal struck the unmoving woman right above the heart and bent as though made of reed rather than steel. Daena slapped the weapon out of the surprised attacker’s hands. “Odin made you, Child. I own you. Though I do not look as I did, do not doubt I am the dark mistress and maker of your weapons. Begone!”
“Hella is dead!”
“Must I educate everyone?!” Daena roared. Her auburn hair turned to flame and a black aura surrounded her limbs. “I am the mistress of Hel—and Hel is eternal!”
“Uh oh,” Wren breathed. “I don’t think that Valkyrie should have said that.”
Daena grabbed the Bloodguard and despite the much larger creature’s resistance, hurled her like a spear at the gates. Though the force was only fractions the power that Thor had been laying against the wall, the impact caused the gates to shudder and swing inward.
All the fighting in the sky abruptly halted as the Valkyries realized the seal had been broken.
“Traitor!” The Bloodguards screamed and all lunged at Daena.
Hella’s confidence against a few of Odin’s creatures proved well warranted. The first few never even touched her before she laid them out or drove them spinning into distance with kicks or punches. The Bloodguard simply piled on. In the few heartbeats it took Daena to defeat six, a score more had joined the fray. As Hella, Daena had tremendous magic, but the Bloodguard knew how to keep her from using it. Every time she tried to concentrate to bring her energy to bear they slammed, shoved, hit or smothered her to break the woman’s focus. Apparently word traveled fast, none of them used the flaming swords. They picked up rocks, logs, or any other crude implement and swung away … Daena careened around in their midst like a loose ball in court challenge. She lashed out and scored on her opponents, but for every one she dropped she took a punishing hit in return. In a matter of instants, the young savant was bleeding from a dozen wounds, battered and muddy.
“Now, she needs help,” Wren blew out her cheeks, pulled out her daggers, and rushed forward. “Here we go…”
“Now, she’ll need a healer… Ow.” Sarai shook her head. “Guess we have to help the arrogant fool. She did open the gate.”
Above them, Thor and the others maneuvered to take advantage of the breach in Odin’s defenses. The Bloodguard tried to block them, but a wall of bodies simply wasn’t effective against the Thundergod. He cleared them from his path with a single throw of Mjolnir. Valkyries hanging off them trying to prevent their entry through the gates, the Idun and Kegari dove behind Thor.
The son of Odin smashed the gate the rest of the way open. Through the opening a torrent of howling warriors and white-winged Valkyries spilled onto the field.
In the meantime, the situation around Daena grew dire. Weapons out, Sarai and Wren had engaged the young savant’s opponents. The new odds only brought more of Odin’s minions into the conflict. Seeing at least a score more of the winged enemy closing in, Bannor gritted his teeth and called on the Garmtur. With life threads like traces burning in his mind, he started grabbing and pulling. Each plexus of magic he yanked, brought down an enemy Bloodguard. As each one fell, the backlash hit him in the chest like a fist. There were so damn many, and they just kept coming.
Irodee and Laramis jumped off Tymoril and charged into the fray. After twenty were down, Bannor had to stop and gasp for breath. The creatures were tough and even through the power of the threads they put up a strong resistance.
He hated standing back in a fight like this, but not only was he unable to hold a weapon, these creatures were far too strong for him to engage in a mass mêlée. He simply didn’t have the strength to hurt them, nor the stamina to last long enough to find a critical opening.
His gaze followed Sarai. Much as Wren grated on the princess’ sensibilities, she kept close to the blonde savant. Sarai might not like her, but she obviously had grown to trust the woman and her abilities.
Bannor’s heart jumped as an enemy leaped toward Sarai’s undefended back. Without thinking, he grabbed the creature’s threads and yanked it away. The burst of counter-magic slammed him between the eyes and he staggered back vision going blurry. His heart pounded and it felt like a fist gripped his lungs.
Sarai had spun in time to see her opponent knocked away. Her violet eyes found his, and he raised his fist to salute her. She grinned and mouthed the words ‘love you’ before her attention was drawn back to the battle.
Standing on the side-lines he’d felt fairly safe from attack as there was nothing to indicate he was actually doing much more than watching. The Bloodguard had enough to worry about without being concerned about someone not taking part. His first indication that the Bloodguard had taken notice of his participation was when one of the giant females slammed down in front of him flaming sword raised to strike.
It had been more than a decade since his days as a green soldier barely into his teens, but the monolithic woman with her fiery eyes, bared teeth, and raspy screech scared him so bad he felt his bones turn to jelly. Quick reflexes kept him from being split in half. A faster scramble and a duck kept his head from being trimmed off his shoulder blades. The winged woman kept on his heels. His only weapons were the Garmtur and his feet. She made sure he got no chance to focus and use his savant power.
Presenting his back to an opponent this powerful meant death. He leaped as he heard her blade sizzle through the air. A burning slash cut into his arm and raked across his spine. He yelled, twisting his body in the air so he came down on his back. His shoulders dug into the dirt. The Valkyrie possessed far too much mass to stop quickly and rammed full speed into his heels as he aimed a kick right beneath her ribs. It felt like smashing his foot into a block of wood, but something gave with the impact. She let out a surprised gasp as he rolled back with her momentum, flipping her crashing into the dirt.
Bannor lunged back to his feet. His back felt on fire. Idun’s armor shielded him little from the magic of her blade. The huge creature knelt in the dirt, wheezing for breath and clutching her chest. She smashed her fist on the ground in anger and turned glowing red eyes on him. The creature looked beautiful the way a doll did, its perfect features twisted in a mask of anger and determination. It shook its head and snarled like a feral beast. It wanted nothing less than his death.
His stomach twisted and he winced in pain, looking for anything he might use. He couldn’t hold a weapon, and he simply didn’t have time to focus the Garmtur on her. If he ran, she’d get him next time for sure. Heart pounding he swallowed and dug in his heels. She’d taste his boot leather before she killed him.
Sword clenched in her fist the Bloodguard stalked toward him. She knew he couldn’t run. She rubbed beneath her ribs and spit blood into the dirt at his feet. Gritting brilliant white teeth, fiery eyes narrowed she let out a raspy yell and raised her sword.
Something massive crashed down behind Bannor, making the ground ripple under his feet. A bone-rattling roar caused the Valkyrie’s hair to blow back as though caught in a gale. A cloying ophidian odor filled the air along with the acrid scent of burning. Clawed feet the size of small wagons speared into the ground on either side of him and a giant draconian head snaked forward, arm-sized teeth clicking together.
The dusky-skinned Bloodguard paled as Tymoril’s scales flickered red and sparks flashed around her spines. The winged-female chose to retreat instants too late. Her flight ended in a fireball that smashed into a distant ravine.
Tymoril snorted and nodded as though satisfied with the result. She made a little grunting sound and nudged Bannor.
“I’ll live,” he said, rubbing the scales of her huge cheek. “Thanks, Tymoril.” The corner of the draconian’s mouth quirked up and she shoved him around toward her side. “You’re right, I’ll be safer under your wing.” Even if he disagreed, he wouldn’t argue with a hundred-ton serpent. He didn’t like being protected, but he favored dying even less.
The sky lit up, lightning forking into the sky from the highest minaret in the city. Clouds whirled and multiple peels of thunder shook the entire city.
Though it was far away Bannor could make out a figure silhouetted on that pinnacle. Somehow, that crash was different than the dozen other blasts they’d heard. This time the Bloodguard halted and looked up, after a moment they withdrew from their opponents.
Sarai, Wren, Daena, Irodee, and Laramis all dropped to their knees in the mud, propped up on their weapons with more than a score of wounded Bloodguard collapsed around them. The five of them looked little better than their collapsed foes. Faces pale, the dark women gathered up their injured and started an organized retreat. Bannor wasn’t certain what had happened, but he knew it was fortunate. His friends wouldn’t have lasted any longer.
Heart pounding, he staggered toward Sarai. Tymoril stayed with him, eying the Bloodguard suspiciously as they limped away. Sarai started to stand and slumped back down, and simply waved to him in exhaustion. The elven princess was a blood-streaked mess, her lip was split, and a streak of crimson jagged across her face from a gash in her forehead. The mithril steel battle webbing she wore for protection was sundered and melted, the cloth underneath charred from the heat of flaming swords.
“Well met, friends,” Laramis said in a weak voice. “I will count our survival in this exchange a victory.”
“You call this surviving?” Daena groaned holding her head. “Tongs and nails, what bloody happened? Feel like I’ve been run over by a stampede.”
“You were—a stampede of Bloodguard. That is, after you got them crankin mad at you,” Wren said flipping strands of soaked blonde hair out of her face. She looked as terrible as anybody. Apparently, she hadn’t been able to use her power to protect herself.
“Mad at me?” Daena looked around confused, green eyes wide. She looked down at the sword in her hand, and saw that her arms were soaked to the shoulder in blood. “When did I—? Last thing I remember was hearing the horn. Next thing I know I’m getting my wheat thrashed by a dozen winged witches.”
“Daena really doesn’t remember?” Irodee asked, her dusky face incredulous. The huge Myrmigyne looked to Wren, and the Savant met her gaze.
The girl’s face clouded with concern. “Everything just goes blank.”
“Wonderful,” Sarai grumbled, shaking her head.
Bannor slogged down in the mud next to his mate and put his bandaged arms around her as best he good. “I won’t ask how you are, you must feel terrible.”
“Just like a frelling casualty,” she groaned, putting her arms around his neck. “Overstuffed feathered retches. What happened? Why’d they stop?”
