Queen of Swords and Silence

by Carrow Brown

  A shadow flew overhead and I looked up in time to see ten Valkyries donned in armor land in front of me with spears drawn.

  And aimed at me.

  I looked David in the eyes and muttered, “Say nothing. Do nothing. Got it?” I hoped my message was clear as I lifted both my hands in what I hoped to be a placating gesture, looking at each warrior in turn. Each female wore chest, forearm, thigh, and leg armor. Deep blue cloth flowed from the chest armor to cover all the needful areas below but cut along the sides to allow for movement. Along their shoulders, bristly fur accented the look and somehow made their collective scowls even more intense. It felt like overkill to me.

  I gave my most professional smile. “Hi, friends! How’s it going?”

  “Where is she?” one of the blondes demanded in Old Norse, jabbing her spear at the air between us.

  I swallowed, shifting to Old Norse as well. “She?” My eyes scanned the females before me. “Well, I see ten shes in front of me and then there’s me. So, I suppose ‘she’ is here?” I breathed through my nose and tensed at the combined adrenaline of all the Valkyries. My eyes flickered over their postures, toes pointed outward, front legs forward and back legs bent. “Unless you mean someone else?”

  The spear-jabber snarled. “Sasha! Where is she, freak?”

  I scrubbed through every memory for a female I knew by the name of Sasha. Several faces surfaced, but it had been years, if not centuries. “I don’t know a Sasha presently, but if I did, I would be more than happy to tell you.”

  “You lie! She was sent to you to pass on the will of the Allfather. What have you done with her?”

  “Wait, you mean the pretty blonde I met in Seattle? I have no idea where she is. She came, insulted me, delivered the message, and left.”

  Another Valkyrie, this one with brown hair hissed, “Then why has she not returned?”

  “How should I know? Look, can we just put the spears down and talk like normal people for a moment?”

  The first Valkyrie snapped, “You are not normal. You are an abomination.”

  I twitched a finger at her. “See? That’s a hurtful thing to say. There are far more effective ways to communicate without resorting to name-calling or insults. A lot of them would encourage me to be helpful.”

  Another shadow passed over and I cringed as another Valkyrie landed in front of the group. Her helmet hid her face, but the emblem on the breastplate, if not her armor itself, gave away her identity. Rather than the silver armor and blue cloth, hers was gold armor with red cloth. The woman radiated authority and power. Fury—general of the Valkyries, glared as she walked toward me.

  We’re in trouble, Silence whispered. If she’s here, we did something bad.

  I whispered, “We didn’t do anything.”

  Fury removed her helmet, letting waves of auburn hair fall about her back. Her tanned face held a spattering of freckles along her nose and cheeks, giving her a cuteness I could never achieve. The woman didn’t even have helmet hair.

  Her eyes narrowed as they settled on me. “Draugrrökkr.”

  Keeping my head lowered respectfully and my hands up where she could see them, I muttered, “Fury.”

  I could feel her gaze along with the weight of her disapproval heavy on my shoulders. “Where is Sasha?”

  I peeked at her through my lashes. “I don’t know.”

  The angry blonde one said, “She lies, Fury!”

  Fury looked me over, her fingers drumming along the length of her spear. “She does not. If Draugrrökkr had done something to Sasha, she would have belched and said she tasted like chicken.”

  I’m glad she knows you so well, Silence said.

  From my lowered, respectful viewpoint, Fury’s armored feet came into view just before her hand gripped my hair and yanked it up. “When did you last see Sasha?”

  “Seattle,” I grunted, “this morning, West Coast time. She came to give me a task from the Allfather and then left.”

  She shoved my head away and walked away from me. “You did not see or hear anything afterward?”

  “No. I left shortly after myself.”

  Fury faced me and opened her mouth to say something but stopped as she noticed David. Her stern expression became stormy in a heartbeat. “You brought a mortal into the Under?”

  “It’s not like that, Fury.”

  Her hand shoved me away, but I regained my footing enough to move between the Valkyrie and David. “I know this looks bad, but I can explain.”

  Her eyes narrowed. “I assume it is a good reason for breaking such a cardinal law? Or did you mean to take him home to devour?”

  Inwardly, I winced. Sure, I brought my meals back to the Manor all the time, but they were usually unconscious. Just made it easier than them kicking and screaming the whole way.

  “He’s an avatar select for Badb, who is currently—” I stopped myself from confessing to Badb’s present state of weakness. If word got out, then the sisters would have all sorts knocking at their door. God flesh was a delicacy for some creatures. But I couldn’t lie to Fury either.

  “She currently what?”

  “Doing something with her sisters,” I said, feeling my stomach drop.

  Fury raised a brow at me. “You don’t know the reason that caused them to leave and saddle you with their avatar?”

  “Actually, no. I don’t know what they are doing. I offered to keep him safe as a show of good faith between the Norse and Celtic gods. The Well is the safest place to be, after all.”

  Every eye shifted to David. He smiled and waved a hand. “Nice to meet you, ladies.”

  Fury snorted and spoke, switching to English. “I shall add this to the growing list of grievances against you, Draugrrökkr. The Allfather will not be pleased when I present him with this report.”

  Silence asked, Is he ever pleased with us?

  The answer: never. It would be a cold day in the seven hells before he’d ever be anything close to pleased with me, but I managed to have enough self-control to avoid saying so. Instead, I lowered my head and murmured, “My deepest apologies.”

  Something cold and hard slammed into the side of my face and I fell to the ground.

  Looking up, Fury returned the butt of her spear to the ground. “An apology will not save you if you do not find and return Sasha. If you are not able to do so, I shall personally ensure you are returned to Fenrir’s cave.”

  With a rush of memories, my blood went cold at the mention of the cave. I shoved them, along with the rising nausea and climbed to my feet to face Fury. “Why does it have to be me? I already told you I have no idea what happened to her. And besides”—I waved a hand to David—“I have other responsibilities to see to.”

  Fury moved close, her breath tickling my face as she spoke. “Because she went to see you and then she disappeared. You are the one responsible for her absence and,” she jabbed a finger into my chest, “you need to find our precious sister and escort her home.”

  I could feel my face twitch as a range of rage and terror rushed through me. “I’m already doing a task for the Allfather and Badb. Why add this? Which one are you wanting me to prioritize?”

  Fury leaned closer to me, our noses practically touching. “You reside at the Well of Knowledge. Are you not wise enough to determine which task you should see to first?”

  “I’m wise enough to know you are using this as an opportunity to mortify me.”

  The moment the words left my lips, I regretted them.

  Fury pulled away, her expression of mild annoyance shifting to a blank mask. Not even her eyes gave a hint to the rage I knew she had within her. “I do not like your attitude, Draugrrökkr. Perhaps you need to be reminded of your place.”

  I took a step back and held my hands between us. “No need for that. I’m just tired and a little cranky and I let my tongue get away from me.”

  “Nonsense.” She gestured a hand toward the formation of women behind her. “There are new sisters in our ranks who have not seen
what you really are. We cannot have them leaving with misconceptions about you.”

  My eyes darted between the Valkyries and David. “Do we really need to do that, Fury?”

  Her eyes flashed, a burning emotion simmered in her green eyes. “You’re refusing my order?”

  “It’s not that, Fury—”

  “Upon my command, Draugrrökkr”—her lips pulled back into a sneer—“change.”

  The runes along my arms changed and my body throbbed. I barely had enough time to kick off my shoes and remove my jacket before my body changed. The sole positive thing about my transformation was it never hurt as it did with the werebeasts. It was more like flexing a muscle.

  “You may at first think this thing is one of the sisters, but she is not,” Fury’s words said.

  The strands of my hair merged together until tentacles formed and slithered over my neck and back. I pushed them away from my face before they could be pinched between the six horns growing on each side of my forehead along my hairline. The charcoal colors shifted to inky glistening rubber along with the rest of my skin. My two other smaller sets of golden eyes puckered open above my dominant ones. It widened my vision and sharpened its definition until I could count the pores on Fury’s face with ease. A puff of steam erupted from my fanged mouth as I breathed through the change. Transforming took energy and thermal responses were natural. Scents filtered through my nose until I could sort the Valkyries’ fear, David’s aftershave, and the sap on a tree on at the far end of the clearing.

  Fury continued to speak, her words both a distraction and a barb against my soul. “In the beginning, it was a monster we kept locked away from the world because it was dangerous. It is a devourer of souls as well flesh. Loki thought it would be fun to make it do… tricks.”

  My hungered thoughts were distracted by my cracking and popping vertebrae as they shifted, extending and thickening. My hand pushed down the back of my pants to make room for my prehensile tail, a thick and heavy thing, which landed on the ground with a meaty thud. It slid around, and naturally shifting to a steadier position, I used it to keep my balance while I grew. The single beat of my heart stopped and returned, but now there were two, pumping needed blood through my growing body. The loose athletic shirt tightened as my height and girth increased.

  “It may look like you, sometimes, but it is not one of you.”

  There was a ripping sound, and I looked down to see my thighs had ripped my pants, but not by much. With the physical transformation complete, I knew I didn’t have the sleek brutality of a werewolf or the alluring charm of a siren. A romance novelist couldn’t spin my appearance as some breathtaking predator on the prowl or some powerful creature of the night. I knew what I was.

  Pure monster horror.

  And then the hunger came. The gnawing, painful twisting of my stomach dominated my senses and pushed me to finding something of substance. To hunt and consume worthy prey. My eyes shifted to David, the only mortal within reach.

  Easy there, Silence said, his typical snark absent from his voice. His presence flowed over me, easing my emotions and my hunger.

  “This is the monster,” Fury said to the sisters, waving a hand to me. “Never forget this sight. Never forget what it really is under its guise.” She turned, her beautiful face marred by a scowl. “A freak.”

  CHAPTER NINE

  McStabby

  My Valkyrie sisters took to the sky shortly after my transformation. I watched their forms become small dots in the sky before releasing a breath.

  I really want to kill that bitch, Silence said after they disappeared. Slice and slow kind of way. How important is it for there to be a Fury?

  Feelings of loathing and betrayal tumbled through me like circus clowns. Why I expected anything different from the encounter, I didn’t know.

  They are fucking stupid for not liking you. I think you’re great and that’s the only opinion that matters.

  I spied David from the corners of my eyes and found him still standing there—ready for fight or flight. Breathing in his fear, I found I didn’t care much for that smell coming from him. It tasted foul along the roof of my mouth. Though, being honest with myself, I didn’t care for it since I caused it. The scent of fear from humans always excited me, but from David it left me feeling dirty.

  Swallowing, he held a shaking hand up as he said, “You got a little something in your hair.”

  I snorted, the sound deep in my throat. “Funny,” I said, my voice a gravelly purr. Shifting my attention, I inspected what once resembled my clothes, not much better than rags at that point, and grumbled. Rips from the thighs down ruined my tactical pants. I felt cool air along my back from the various tears in my shirt. “Great. And I left my bag with my spare change of clothes at home.”

  “Here,” David said, pulling his backpack around and unzipped the top flap. “You can borrow mine.”

  I turned away from him. “You don’t have to.”

  “I don’t, but I want to.”

  Facing him, I saw he held out a pair of shorts and a t-shirt. I grabbed the offered garments from his trembling hand. “Thanks.”

  David waited while I sulked behind a tree. My transformation back to humanoid form didn’t sound any better than when I did the reverse. The sounds of bones dislocating and realigning filled the air, and my pale flesh steamed afterward. The sensation of my hearts stopping and then one beating again left me light-headed until my body grew used to the new oxygen level.

  My hunger redoubled, taking my physical hunger back to just after I’d eaten poor Kathy. I mulled over my issue and let out a long sigh. Badb hadn’t guessed I’d be forced to change and burn a good part of my last meal in the process. A lot of it I’d used to mend broken bones and replace lost blood. There’d been some left over, but it took energy to shift between forms. Not to mention I always burned a tiny amount to remain human. I could’ve remained in my monster form and not worried about it at all, but it was difficult to get assistance at Walmart when employees ran from you.

  Or, Silence said, intruding on my thoughts, you could eat more often and not worry about your constant low energy levels. You could have a reserve of hundreds. You should try to break your last record! We still never found the ceiling!

  I didn’t feel like engaging in an argument with Silence and focused on making myself decent. Stepping back onto the path, dressed in David’s clothes, I shoved my ruined garments into his bag and picked up my jacket. The Manor could do something with the scraps of fabric if nothing else.

  David’s blatant staring caught my attention. “What? You’re acting like you’ve never seen a monster before.”

  “It’s not that.” He gestured toward my head. “Your hair....”

  I didn’t need to touch it to know my hair remained in its tentacle form, shifting over my shoulders and some reaching out to the air. “Yeah, that happens. It’ll take a while for it to look like hair again.” Keeping my eyes averted from his face, I added, “I’m sorry you had to see that.”

  “Sorry to see a bitch act like a bitch?” He shrugged, some of the tension leaving his face. “Eh, I’ve seen it before. Every group always has some alpha asshole running things.”

  His words didn’t register at first and when they did, I gawked. “Wait, what did you say?”

  David held up a hand in a passive gesture. “Sorry if you’re the protective sort, but it was clear she made you do something you didn’t want to do for no reason other than to humiliate you. That’s an asshole in my book.”

  My heart pounded in my ears and I almost forgot to breathe. “That’s normally not the reaction I see or hear from anyone who sees me like that for the first time.”

  He shrugged. “You turn into a big monster-thing. I figured as much when Badb kept referring to you as her favorite man-eating monster.” David gave me a weak smile. “But she says you do cartoon karaoke, so you can’t be all bad.”

  I have a response for that, but it’s inappropriate, and I don’t want to
be shoved into the box.

  I stared at David for a long moment. “Are you mental? Most people have run away screaming by now.”

  He shrugged. “Not going to lie, wish I’d worn my brown pants. I was diagnosed with PTSD and some other acronyms when I separated from the Marines. Originally, they wanted to put me in a padded room, but I promised to take the drugs if they didn’t.”

  Figures anyone accepting of you is mentally unstable. Badb, Loki, Sebastian, and now this guy. A clue, Sherlock.

  That I didn’t believe. Or didn’t want to believe. “Why did they want to put you in a padded room?”

  David frowned to the point where his thick eyebrows almost connected. “Because I told them a monster killed my team while we were on patrol. They thought the trauma made my brain snap.” He reached down and hoisted up a pant leg to expose the bar of his prosthetic leg. “Fucker took my leg.” He released the fabric, hiding the metallic appendage.

  I shifted to view him magically. It wasn’t that I didn’t believe him, but when someone fought a being of magic, it left more than a physical scar, and it could really ruin a person’s psyche. If I brought someone like that to the Well, Vainya would bury me alive.

  David’s silhouette remained, but a faint glow accented his aura—vibrant blues with swirls of white. My eyes tracked lower to his leg, where the aura’s color tattered away, tinged with black. Whatever the monster had been, it’d really torn into him, but the taint in his aura did spread past his leg. It would heal over time, so long as he didn’t give into it. I sensed the creature hadn’t survive the encounter. Flicking my eyes back to David’s face, I felt confident he wouldn’t crumble. If he hadn’t since the attack, it wouldn’t happen at all.

  David asked, “What are you doing?”

  “Making sure you’re stable enough to bring home.”

  Right, because we’re ones to judge someone’s mental stability.

  His arms spread out on either side of him. “Do I pass?”

  “Yeah, you—”

  My eyes, no longer focused on his aura, saw his threads of fate and immediately caught sight of a single teal thread. The width of it, as thick as my arm, gave me pause. I rarely saw bonds so strong in humans, but it was common among mythics who lived long enough. The thread curled over the ground, apparently heavy from its own weight, leading away from David and looping up to connect to me. Not trusting it, I took a step to the side and watched the thread follow me.