She made a motion with her eyes and a Ragnarok man stepped up to her, looking up at her adoringly. She smiled down at him and reached out and caressed his cheek and handed him a knife as she said, “My sweet pet, please be a dear and slit your throat for me.”
I was screaming out a “NO!” as the man just instantly, with no hesitation, ended his own life in front of us. I stared at the screen in shock and she beckoned with her hand and an Asgard man stepped up before I could say anything she handed the bloody knife to him with a sweet smile and he did the same.
I fell to my knees and couldn't catch my breath as she said, “I will have one of my little pets do the same every five of your minutes until you agree to obey my orders.” She chuckled and added, “Oh I do so love this little game!” Then she cut the transmission. Artemis and Kate pulled me to my feet as I stared at the blank screen, tears running down my face.
I whispered, “She just... she just made them kill themselves.”
I looked around, everyone's faces looked to be sick and carved from stone. I started to reach into the air to my virtual console and Kate put her hand on mine, stopping me. “You can't.”
Through tears I said, “I'll not have the blood of the innocents on my hands. She's going to kill them all.”
Father shook his head. “Daughter, we will find a way.”
I almost glared at him as I looked at the chronograph Tyr had floated into the display with the countdown. “In four minutes father?” I was angry, frustrated, and terrified, I didn't know how to win this fight when the enemy would not stand in front of me. I shook my head and opened a channel to the Elivagar.
It was the Halfling communications officer again. I said quickly, “Tell Rhea I will come. Just no more deaths. I need fifteen minutes to exit the citadel for transport.”
He had a cruel grin on his face, I was doing his queen's bidding like he thought it should be. He muted the transmission then conversed with someone then got back on with me, his smile doubled as he said with pleasure in his voice, “My Queen gives you ten minutes. And she had two more slaves end their lives for you presuming to dictate the terms.” Then he cut the transmission as my heart stopped and I forced the bile in my throat down. I screamed, “Kroth!” I slammed my fist down on a work table, shattering it's surface and sending shrapnel around the room as it crumbled.
I spun around and looked at everyone wildly. “We have ten minutes to come up with a plan to save the remaining hostages.” I tried to think like Rhea, what did she expect of me, what was her weakness? My eyes snapped wide as I realized she had two, the same two the Ragnarok of old had when fighting us Valkyrie. Lack of information about our technology and most importantly, hubris! Pride would be her downfall.
I started sprinting out of the workshop with Kate and Artemis calling after me as we raced along. What I needed was in Samantha's room in my quarters.
Chapter 7 - Hostage Exchange
Nine minutes later I walked out of the main gates, the assembled Einherjer and Valkyrie made a hole for me on the line and, staring straight ahead, all gave the salute to heroes and a resounding “Raugh!” echoed around the gates. I didn't hesitate as I strode out of the main shield and walked into the clearing, holding my ace in the hole.
A moment later my entire being felt as if it were simultaneously frozen, boiled, and torn apart. Then I was standing in a huge chamber that loosely resembled the throne rooms I remembered from medieval times on Earth. Only this one was all shining alloys and gossamer wall hangings.
There were hundreds of men pointing weapons at me. Most were Halflings, but in the mix were Ragnarok, Asgard, Olympian, and Vanger men, and an Asgard woman.
The communications Halfling stepped up to me, he was indeed much smaller than a Jotunn or Titan, but was still a large man, about the size of an average Ragnarok, at almost seven feet tall. He growled out to me, “I am Demeter, surrender your weapons and that device, your Queen would see you.”
I looked at him and smiled cruelly as I moved the colorfully painted box to my chest with one arm, cradling it as carefully as I could. I shrugged at the man. “No.”
He took a long stride up to me, loomed above me in a menacing fashion, and raised a hand to strike me. He didn't even know he was dead when his body crumpled to the ground and I retracted my Odin Spear from his chest. I spoke down to his corpse calmly, “I cannot surrender my weapons fool, I am the weapon... and you should have worn armor to face me.”
There was squealing laughter and excited clapping from the side. I glanced over and looming over everyone in the room, Rhea was walking toward the throne with an Olympian on one arm and an Asgard woman on the other. “I have never been so entertained in eons. You are a true delight Kara.”
She shooed the Olympian away and sat on a chair that I could only call a throne and had the Asgard woman sit with her. She whispered something and the woman removed the Titan's armor mask. Rhea gave her a smile and said, “Thank you, my pet.”
Then she looked at me with humor in her eyes. “I've never had a female to toy with like this before. Your race is full of interesting quirks.” She leaned down and kissed the Asgard on the lips, the woman looked to be almost in the throes of ecstasy. Then she asked her, “My sweet little pet, if I told you it would please me, would you kill yourself?” The woman nodded eagerly and my blood ran cold.
I tilted my head back and laughed. This seemed to cause Rhea some pause and she looked at me. I chuckled. “You think that securing my obedience by killing these innocents was really going to work?” There was ice-water flowing through my veins as I bluffed.
She nodded. “Yes I do. Your people have been so kind as to explain to me your race's abhorrence of violence, and the purpose of the Valkyrie. You exist only to protect the innocents.”
I held up the box in both hands. “Do you also know the story of what happens when the Asgard are pushed too far? When we have no choice than to sacrifice some innocents so that our race could survive? Did theses Ragnarok you have enslaved not share with you the fate of their old capital and the Hammer of Thor?”
Her eyes snapped wide at the mention of the Hammer of Thor. I motioned at the box with my eyes. I sneered at her. “Yes. You have I see. So this is how this is going to work. You are safe as long as this device is in my hands, the moment I release it, it is the end of your existence. I guess that is hard for you to grasp since you have been around since before recorded history. I would sacrifice these innocents so others would not suffer.”
She hissed out, “You wouldn't!”
I snapped back in anger, “Oh wouldn't I? The Ragnarok know better, they call me the Demon of Vengeance for a reason.” I glared at her then said, “You will release all the innocents you have enslaved, including the Olympians. You will transport them to the planet below. Then I will disarm the device and give it to you. But if you kill one more innocent, I release the device.”
She stared at me in horror for a few moments then a smile bloomed on her lips. “You are truly a prize worth possessing. I didn't believe the stories of you standing against entire armies, of you taking down the Ginnungagap in space. Until I watched the Ragnarok records of you in battle. Now here, you stand in defiance of your own Queen. This is exciting to watch you in action! You truly have no fear.”
She locked eyes with me trying to read me. The corner of her mouth quirked up in a twitching smile as she slowly withdrew another one of her accursed knives from her armor and slowly handed it to the Asgard woman. She started to say, “Sweet love, please...” I took one hand off the box and made a show of almost dropping it. Her mouth snapped shut and she held a hand up to stop me.
She tilted her head in amazement. “Ymir's horn! You would really do it wouldn't you Kara? Such a contradiction to your nature. You act almost like the two humans I had dissected earlier, they held a certain amount of resistance to my charms, they fought it even though they belonged to me.” I fought down the bile in my throat yet again, knowing the humans she took with her were d
ead.
Then she said, “I shall play your game because you are the prize that shall tip the scales in our favor against the Jotunn and end our feud for eternity.”
She hit a stud on her throne and a door opened behind the seat to the left. Another armored Titan walked in, she didn't have the face mask that Rhea used, instead she had the photon shield helmet of the Jotunn.
Rhea spoke to the woman, “Transport all of our pets to Kara's village on the planet, even the Katra, the old Olympians. None of them are to be harmed.” The woman looked confused and Rhea almost yelled, “Do it!” The other Titan bowed and said, “Yes Rhea. Right away.”
The woman turned and pushed a Halfling violently toward the center of the room. “You heard your Queen! Do it now!” The man bowed deeply. “Yes matron!”
They went about rounding up the men in the room while the other Titan used her wrist console and announced the order over the ship's intercom. Then Rhea stood and the Asgard woman looked up at her. Rhea bent down and kissed her deeply and then said, “You too my little pet. Remember, it is Kara that is taking your pleasure from you.” The woman nodded at her then left with the others, giving me a hateful glare.
In moments, only the two Titans, and the Halflings were in the room. Rhea looked around and snapped, “Leave us!” The Halflings bowed and backed out of the chambers. Leaving the Titans and the body of Demeter.
Rhea stalked round me with a genuine smile. “You are truly fascinating. To think the instrument of the Frost Giant's downfall will be a weapon of their own making. And in the form of a tiny woman. You are fierce.”
I just stood there motionless holding the box until I heard Kat's voice in my head over our nanite link. Normal coms wouldn't have worked so deep in the Jotunn vessel. “They are arriving now love. How did you do it?”
I smiled inwardly. “I just took a page from that old Earth card game, poker. Let me know when transport is complete.”
Her voice now sounded strained. “We will find a way to free you Kara. I love you.”
I did smile at that and said, “Don't count me out yet. I love you to Kat. More than you know.”
A minute later Rhea stopped pacing around me, some light flickering in her eyes. “It is done pet.”
I waited for Kate's confirmation then I looked up at Rhea with hate in my eyes and snapped, “I'm not your pet!” As I threw the brightly painted box at her feet.
The squeal of terror that came from her as she tried to catch it was priceless. The box hit the ground by her feet and the clown popped out of the Jack In The Box toy that Samantha had kept from her childhood.
I was laughing almost hysterically when suddenly white hot pain bloomed from my chest and I was flying through the cavernous chamber and smashing into the wall, from Rhea's attack. I was seeing bright motes swimming in my vision and Rhea's voice echoing as she said, “That was for deigning to make demands upon your Queen.”
Before I could shake it off, she kicked me. I heard bones crack as more pain joined the first, and I was again flying through the air and colliding with another wall and landing on the floor gasping. I looked up at her as she said, “And that was for the deception.”
Other Titans were walking into the chambers as she stepped up to me. She wouldn't catch me off guard again, but there looked to be all ten Titans of the ship standing around in a half circle around me. I could take one, possibly two of them but not ten. I would just have to take whatever she threw at me and pick my time to act. She wouldn't kill me, she needed me as she had said, but she was going to make sure I hurt.
She reached down and grabbed my hair and picked me up off the ground by it, my feet dangling a few feet off the ground. She turned my head toward the body of Demeter as she raised her other armor clad fist, and she said with a touch of sorrow in her voice, “And this is for killing my son.” Then she struck me in the face.
Pain like no other swept over me as my nose shattered and the orbital socket of my left eye. Hair tore from my head as well as some of the flesh of my scalp as I hit the floor, my right leg cracked, fracturing but not breaking, after Folkvangr, it would take more than that to break it. Kroth! I could feel my Verr attacking the damage and stemming the flow of blood from the wounds.
I tried to focus. I had to close one eye to look up as Rhea threw the handful of hair on the floor as she just sat down on the floor beside me and pulled me into her lap. Then she leaned down and kissed me almost gently on the lips and said almost warmly, “And that, is for killing Ymir.”
She reached behind her as I blocked the pain out of my mind, and produced some sort of hoop from somewhere. She pulled it apart at a joint I couldn't see and reached over and clipped it around my neck and it crackled with energy and I felt weaker and the pain from my wounds tripled. I bit my tongue to stifle a scream. I wouldn't give her the satisfaction.
She explained as she stood and pulled me to my feet. “That collar is an energy siphon. It will stop you from using your Valkyrie abilities, though there is so much we don't know, it would be a shame to kill you before we knew how that baffling energy you use works. I can't have you wandering around loose until I have properly broken you. Oh, this game will be just as fun as the last!” She seemed happy about that.
She said, “Come along pet, we have so much to talk about.” Then she started walking away and some sort of energy tether sprung to life between her armor's power pack on her hip and the collar she placed on my neck. I was yanked toward her and pain flowed through me at the collar and from my wounds that were just barely healing. My Verr couldn't get enough power to maintain my link with Kate. They started to probe the collar, I thought to them, “Not yet my brave protectors, I will let you know when it is time.”
I stumbled and limped along on one good leg after Rhea. I was seething inside. The Krothing bitch had put me on a leash. I will pick my moment, and she will pay for this, I swear to the Tree of Ages.
Chapter 8 – Refugees
Arina was calling to me from inside the main gates between the two locked down shields that we were using as a quarantine area for the refugees that had come down from the Elivagar. “Kat, the antigen has run its course on the Olympians and the software upgrade to the Asgard nanites has been confirmed on the rest. They are free of the nano-phage influence.”
She lowered her scanner and dropped her bubble shield she was using while out among the refugees. Kroth! She's always taking chances. Our people have been under the influence for a day, the Olympians for eons, there was no telling what kind of psychological effect that had or even the possibility of Stockholm Syndrome. I sent a reprimand across our nano-link. She shrugged and blushed in apology.
I used my ruling caste override on the shield and allowed one-way access from the citadel side through the secondary shield. No more than a moment later and healers were pouring through to examine the refugees with food and blankets. An Einherjer went with each.
Inatra, Artemis, and I stepped through and we each took turns and laid the back of a hand on Arina's cheek. She blushed profusely and Inatra hissed at her in frustration then said sternly, “You take too many chances love.”
Arina just smiled cutely as she shrugged. “They are our people.”
I cocked an eyebrow and corrected her. “Some of them are.”
Arina turned and smiled at our Olympian archer. “Artemis is loved as family, and these are her people, so I believe you are wrong Kat. All of these are our people.” She swept her arms wide toward the hundreds of men in the area.
I blinked, the Little One has done it again. Her impulsiveness. She is Odin's daughter as I am and we speak with Odin's voice. So what she had just invoked was basically making our people's one. Father was going to have a conniption fit! Then I looked around at all the disoriented men with their strong Olympian features then to Artemis. I loved her like a sister and I knew Arina, with her big heart, was right as always.
I nodded and said, “You are right Little One. The Olympians are our people, sure as blood.”
Inatra was smirking and shaking her head. I smirked at her. “I'll smooth things over with father, no need to look so smug Ina.” She smiled back and Artemis just looked stunned.
My thoughts shot back to Kara. There was a vice on my heart, my Verr could not reach her or even determine if she yet lived. I could feel a ghost of a beating she was taking through our nanite link. I almost broke at feeling the love of my life taking the blows. But then it stopped and I couldn't feel her anymore.
Father keeps reminding me that Rhea needs Kara and that the Wild One is resourceful and a survivor. I knew that more than most, my wife had walked through even death itself to defend the innocents of the galaxy and the people she loves.
I turned to look at the Refugees and shook my head. We still didn't know how Kara had secured their release. She hadn't been on the enemy vessel for more than ten minutes before men started being deposited at our doorstep by Jotunn transport beams.
I heard Artemis' breath hitch beside me and I looked over and her eyes were wide and a hand was covering her mouth. Then she took off running through the crowd to embrace a man I recognized from the Titan transmissions, her brother Eros!
I couldn't stop smiling, even with the almost overwhelming shadow of my concern for Kara enveloping me. I was witnessing a reunion of family that was a long time coming. The brother and sister had not seen each other since before the Asgard race even came to be. I couldn't imagine that kind of joy.
I took a moment to watch them speaking then I turned my gaze to the sky. I would bring my wife home or die trying. I would show Rhea the fury of a human Valkyrie if I had to walk through hell to get to her.
Father was suddenly on coms, his voice clear and measured, I knew he harbored the same thoughts as me though it brought shame to him thinking about bringing violence upon another. “Kat, Rhea is hailing us. You are now First Valkyrie so all defensive matters fall to you.”
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