The Sword of Souls

by Karina Espinosa

  “I beg to differ. I’d say there is loads.” I felt his grin on my skin. It made goose bumps on my flesh. “It’s normal to be nervous, Raven. But I’ll be with you—”

  “How exactly will you be with me? Odin cannot know you’re there or this falls apart.”

  “I have my ways, Hrefna,” he murmured.

  “D-don’t call me that,” I stammered.

  “My apologies, my beautiful Raven. Everything will go as planned. You have nothing to fear.” He kissed me again and walked away.

  I felt cold at his departure and hated the feeling. I’d gotten used to his warmth these past few days and needed to remember this was all temporary. He was temporary.

  I gulped my drink and hurried to get dressed. I was meeting Odin at the last place we’d talked and didn’t want to be late. Verdandi would already be in Limbo waiting for us, and gods knew where Fen would be. He said he’d be in Limbo too, but I didn’t know how he’d get there without the Norn or me, or a traveler.

  I drove alone to the meeting location and waited by the bench for Odin. I sat for hours and thought my father had played me for a fool, but then I saw him coming down the trail with his birds perched on either shoulder. I adjusted the fake sword slung across my back and stood to greet him.

  “Ready?” He extended an arm for me to take. I looked at it but didn’t move. “We don’t have all night and I’m in a hurry.”

  Not wanting to seem suspicious, I placed my hand and arm over his and let him take us through a portal to Limbo. It was like being sucked into a tube and pushed out of the other end—disarming and rattling if you hadn’t done it in a while.

  In the millennia I’d been alive, I’d traveled through here many times, left souls here to roam for eternity if they weren’t suited for Valhalla, but not once did I feel the chill that went down my spine once we stepped foot into Limbo.

  “Something feels off,” I muttered to no one in particular.

  “It’s colder. It seems the dead are awakening everywhere,” Odin replied.

  I turned to him. “And that doesn’t concern you?”

  He lifted a shoulder. “Once that sword is in my possession, no one can hurt me.”

  I chuckled dryly. “That’s all you care about, but damn everyone else.”

  He stopped walking and halted me with him. “Hrefna,” he whispered, “people come and go. That is the circle of life. We do not concern ourselves with the minor details.”

  “No,” I shook my head, “that is how nations are lost, realms are wiped, and kings fall. If we do not worry about the minor details, we cease to be.”

  Odin’s eyes darkened and narrowed as they zeroed in on me and the sword. “I hope you’re not reneging on our deal, Hrefna.”

  “Did you even listen to what I said? I’m not standing by to let whatever is coming destroy a whole realm. So no, Father, I’m not backing out.”

  He smirked. “I never would have pegged you as the sentimental type, Hrefna. You were always so cold and calculated. A true valkyrie. What happened to you?”

  “You left me with humans,” I said. “Now I’m stronger than ever.”

  His smile faltered, and I could see beneath the façade. Once upon a time, he might have looked at me like I was a broken valkyrie needing to be fixed, but now he saw something else, something he possibly feared.

  “The sword?” He extended a hand to me.

  I wagged a finger at him. “I was very clear, Odin. You only get this sword after I have spoken to my sisters. Once my dealings in Valhalla are complete, you will have your sword. Not a minute sooner, understand?”

  His eyes flared but he nodded. “Very well.” He continued his walk down the cloudy path of Limbo.

  We passed many doors, including Asgard, until we got to the golden double doors of Valhalla. A gold chain was wrapped around the handles, keeping it locked from any intruders. The intricate carvings of winged women warriors on the door flying above the sky nearly brought me to tears. I remember coming to this door almost every day when they closed, banging on it for my sisters to open it but they never did. I stopped after a while, once I realized they never would. The door illuminated before us, and I trembled before it, wishing I’d had just one more drink.

  Odin pulled apart the chains, ripping the links as if they were nothing but paper. The doors whooshed opened, and I raised an arm to cover my face from the bright light that greeted me.

  19

  Flashback

  I stormed out of the common room and marched up the stairs to the dormitories. I couldn’t believe what had just happened. Kara had called a vote, and my sisters agreed to close the gates to Valhalla forever. I’d been the only one to speak out of turn and it had cost me. Kara gave me until sundown to choose whether I was with my sisters or to stay in Midgard. It wasn’t much of a choice. She was practically making me choose between my sisters and my father. I wished for him to be here, to stop the mess that was bound to happen at the hands of Kara.

  “Hrefna, stop!” Hildr called out behind me once I reached our room.

  I whirled on her. “How could you, Hildr? You know this is wrong!”

  “I know this is right,” she said. “What we saw today was the true face of humans, what they’re capable of. They do not deserve what we have to offer.”

  “Who are we to deem—”

  “We are valkyries!” she said as if I’d struck her. “We are gods in our own right. We choose who is worthy and who is not. That is who we are. You’d be mindful to remember that, Hrefna.”

  She was right. We were the keepers of the gates—of Valhalla—but it didn’t make what we were doing right. We judged souls and nothing else. The rest was out of our hands.

  “Our job is not to think beyond what we’re trained to do, and that is what you’re planning to do. You understand?” I countered. “I’m not the only one breaking the rules of the valkyries.” I didn’t wait for a response and hurried to my closet to pull out my trunk begin packing.

  “What are you doing, Hrefna? Have you decided to leave?”

  “I don’t know what I’m going to do, but I’m going to be prepared when the time comes,” I whispered.

  Kara was smart, but I’d have to be smarter. At sundown, I’d have to be prepared for the chance I might not be given a choice. That Kara might send me to Midgard out of spite for disobeying. And she’d ransack my room the moment it’d happen. I had to be ready. I filled my trunk with my valuables. No one would be able to open it but me, at least not without my blood. I filled it with gear, weapons, provisions, and the pebble of obsidian and gold I’d gotten from the Underworld and never used. I had a feeling it was going to become useful to me soon.

  Sundown came, and I stood in the center of the common room, fearless, waiting for my sisters to come in. The only one who stood with me was Hildr. I could tell she was nervous, but I wasn’t. Nerves were for the weak and I knew what I had to do.

  “Have you made a decision?” Kara asked as she entered the room with my sisters trailing behind her like disciples. The sight of them made me want to spit at her feet. She wasn’t Odin, but she wanted to be loved like him. That would be her true downfall one day.

  “I have some questions for you first.” I stood firmly, my eyes never leaving hers as my sisters swarmed around us.

  She smirked. “Of course.”

  “Do you swear to have zero communication with our father? Including Hugin and Munin?” I tilted my head and watched her. I’d done a lot of thinking today and realized that for her to make this decision, it must have come from a higher power. Kara would have never disobeyed Odin.

  “I swear to have no communication,” she said. “I don’t make this decision lightly, Hrefna. Odin would have wanted this—”

  “That is where you’re wrong,” I interrupted. “Our father would not have wanted this.”

  “You’re young and naïve.” She shrugged and waved me off.

  “I’m his favorite,” I finally said what no one have ever acknowled
ged. “I know.”

  Kara’s face turned beet-red and her fists tightened at her sides, one hand going to the hilt of her sword at her hip. Her knuckles went bone-white as she squeezed.

  “I was once his favorite too, but look at us now. Both abandoned by the same man.”

  “Maybe you were, but I wasn’t,” I said. “There will be no sealing the gates of Valhalla. Not until Odin returns,” I declared into the common room, and the murmurs of our sisters bounced against the walls.

  Kara laughed and the room quieted. “You do not make those decisions. I do. You may feel like you have sway with our father, but fortunately for me, he is not here. You’ve made your choice, Hrefna. You’re no longer welcome in Valhalla.”

  Our sisters gasped, and Hildr was quickly by my side. “Kara, please!” my friend begged. “Hrefna is just dedicated to Odin’s cause. You cannot blame her—”

  “Would you like to join her, Hildr?” Kara snapped.

  Hildr quieted. The whole room was silent after that. No one stepped up to Kara. They only broke apart, giving me room to leave through the golden gates and out to Limbo. I expected this to play out exactly the way it did. I would have been fooling myself if it hadn’t.

  Two of my sisters opened the golden double doors that led to Limbo.

  “Your sword.” Kara extended a greedy hand for it.

  I unstrapped the sheath across my back and threw it at her feet. She neither flinched nor picked it up. I had my trunk waiting for me by the doors and pulled it toward me.

  “You cannot take that!” she said.

  “Watch me,” I growled and raised a perfect eyebrow and smirked. “Unless you want to fight me for it.”

  A century ago, Kara could have wiped the floor with me, but now, not so much. She wouldn’t dare challenge me to a fight. And she got what she wanted—the sword.

  I picked up my trunk and walked through the golden doors. A single tear rolled down Hildr’s face. It was the first time I’d seen her cry. Kara picked up my sword and realized it was a fake, but it was too late. They’d sealed the gates to Valhalla and no one could get in or out.

  20

  The smell of steel and citrus hit me as I open my eyes against the glare of the bright sun and adjusted to its intensity. The tall and long hall of Valhalla stood before me as valkyries sparred in the front fields. The grass was so green and fresh, I could see each blade and taste the rain from the night before. It was just as I remembered yet I was in awe as I stood in its doorway with my mouth wide open and arms outstretched. It took my sisters a while to notice the gates had been breached, and when they did, someone sounded the alarm.

  Up in the sky, valkyries flew from across Valhalla, diving in to see who had done the impossible. One set of white wings I’d recognize anywhere dove for the ground before me and landed with precision and ease. A loud thud of boots and flow of long, gorgeous fire-red hair swayed as Kara landed. It’d been almost eighty years since I’d last seen her. She was a sight to behold in her battle gear. Always ready. Whereas I was probably a mockery to them as I stood there in human attire with my hair cut so short.

  “How dare you?” Kara growled, her hand going to the hilt of her sword and unsheathing it. “You dare soil sacred ground!”

  “I’ve come home.” I stared her down. I wasn’t the same person I was almost eighty years ago. I was stronger then and needed to channel that Raven.

  Someone pushed their way through the crowd that had formed and out came the one face I had silently prayed to the gods I’d be able to see: Hildr. Her long blond hair was braided down her back, and her big eyes grew twice their size once she took me in.

  “Hrefna,” she muttered and tried to come to me, but Kara stopped her.

  “How did you open the gates?” Kara looked behind me.

  I hadn’t spoken to Odin about what I could and couldn’t say, so I spoke the truth. He’d make himself known if he wanted to.

  “Our father let me in. He has been very … instrumental in my quest to come home,” I said, and I hoped he heard it, the bastard.

  The gasps and murmurs could be heard across the realm. If it wasn’t such an impossible task, I was sure my sisters wouldn’t have believed me.

  “Where is he?” Kara asked, impatient as always.

  “He will reveal himself when he’s ready, I’m sure. I’ve been lucky to spend some time with him. He hasn’t changed,” I said with a tight smile. Kara could chew on that one and continue assuming I was still his favorite.

  “Lucky you,” she gritted through her teeth. “But it doesn’t mean you’ll be welcomed home. You made your decision long ago.”

  Before the doors could be slammed in my face, I passed the threshold into Valhalla and took a few steps toward Kara, observing her carefully. While I’d been pissing my life away, she’d been training, getting stronger. I could see it in the lean cuts of her muscular arms and abdomen, and the tightness in her thighs. Her form was perfection. I’d once been able to defeat her, but not anymore. Her hair might be fire, but her eyes were like ice as she glared at me. I could freeze under the intensity.

  “Would you disobey our father?” I raised an eyebrow. “That doesn’t sound like you, Kara.”

  “And you don’t look like a valkyrie,” she countered. “What happened to your hair.”

  “I cut it out of survival. I did many things to survive, some that I am not proud of, but I don’t regret anything. Sacrifices had to be made and my hair was one of them.”

  “Did you keep it?” Hildr leaned forward in anticipation.

  I saw the hope in her eyes and hated to disappoint her.

  I shook my head. “I burned it. Valkyrie hair is too valuable to keep around.” With one strand, anyone could control a valkyrie to do their will. I wouldn’t risk someone having that power over me.

  “Part of your strength comes from your hair,” Kara said. “You’re weak. Even if you return, you can never be one of us again.”

  “And what are you exactly?” I said. “You’re not collecting souls anymore, so are any of you valkyries?” I looked around the open field. “No one is watching over the souls in Midgard but me, so, let’s not play the ‘who’s a real valkyrie’ game. You might not win.”

  I’d pushed Kara too far. She charged for me, her sword in hand. The sword across my back was a prop, so I reached for the daggers in my boots. Hildr jumped in front of me, her whip uncoiling from her wrist as she slashed toward Kara, disarming her within seconds.

  “Enough, Kara!” Hildr yelled. “Father let her in. We will hear what she has to say.”

  I’d been too busy sizing Kara up, that I hadn’t noticed the subtle changes in Hildr. She’d grown since I last saw her. She wasn’t the meek and mild girl she’d once been—she was a leader. And one who could stand against Kara.

  Kara fumed as one of our sisters picked up her sword and handed it to her. She snatched it from her and sheathed it. “Someone close the gate!” she screamed and spun on her heels. “Follow me,” she called over her shoulder. It was the only indication I would get that she was willing to listen.

  Hildr took my hand, patting it and giving me a warm smile before letting it go and following Kara. I followed tentatively behind them, looking back once before they shut the golden doors behind me, sealing me inside Valhalla.

  The Hall of Valhalla was massive and housed and trained every single valkyrie who walked through its doors. It was a labyrinth in which one could easily get lost in if they didn’t know better. It’d been so long, but I still remembered every nook and cranny of the place. Hence why I was surprised when we weren’t going in the direction of the arena or common room. It seemed like those would be neutral grounds for Kara. Instead, we headed north toward the tunnels, and my stomach sank.

  The gray concrete walls were narrow and lined with lit torches and there was still a chill in the air that could freeze one’s bones if they stayed down there long enough. This place plagued my nightmares long ago, and Kara knew it. Hildr didn’t know
because she’d received proper training at an appropriate age, unlike me. These were the tunnels and rooms where I’d learned to fuck every day after my combat training. I dreaded this part until I grew to like it—until it became second nature.

  Although it was empty and every valkyrie was up top, I felt like I could still hear echoes of moans and grunts filling the chilled air. It took everything in me to hold myself together and not show the emotion on my face. The tight space was meant to rattle me and give me a case of claustrophobia. I had to remember this was a past life and I wouldn’t let Kara break me. If she was doing this, it was because she saw the cracks in my shields and she thought she had an advantage. I couldn’t let her win.

  “I thought this would be a suitable place to talk,” Kara mused. “Its private, quiet, and if I recall, it was one of your favorite places, Hrefna.”

  There was the bait.

  I smiled. “Yes, I remember. I was but a young thing when I had my first threesome in that room right over there. You remember, Kara? You pulled me out of training to bring me here for the first time.”

  “Your first time was a threesome?” Hildr blanched and looked at Kara.

  I shrugged. “I thought every valkyrie’s first time was like that.”

  Kara’s nostrils flared. “Well, we didn’t come here to reminisce, did we?”

  I smirked. “No, we didn’t. But since I have your attention, there is something we need to discuss.”

  Hildr’s eyes narrowed. “You didn’t just come home, did you?”

  I shook my head. “Midgard is in trouble, and they need your help. I can’t do it alone. There is an evil coming, and it plans to wipe out the whole realm. It’s already started with fires and raising the dead. I don’t know what’s next, but—”

  “Hrefna, we do not fight human battles. We never did,” Kara said. “We only collect their souls and bring them back to Valhalla.”