Never Back Down

by Susan Harris

  “Come, Valkyrie, I have need of you.”

  Felix’s voice held a sharp edge to it, and Erika slowly made her way down the battered staircase to stride down the long ramp toward the cage. The door had been flung open, and when Felix lifted his gaze to meet hers, she saw her death in his eyes.

  “What’s with the summons, Felix?” she said and walked into the octagon, swivelling her blades in her wrists, her voice not wavering once.

  Felix tilted his head and assessed her, before a grin replaced the scowl on his lips. “You are just as beautiful as your mother was. Those eyes, those lips, even down to the sun-kissed skin of yours. It is like seeing a ghost.”

  Erika’s heart plummeted at the spoken words. Was?

  A comfortable distance away from him, she rested the tip of her blades on the mat and leaned against them as if she had not sensed what lurked behind the guise of Felix. Had he forgotten in the hundred years that he had slept, that Erika was alive and honing her skills?

  “I wasn’t aware you knew my mother, Felix. Perhaps you can tell me about her, since I have little or no memories of the woman who gave birth to me.”

  Felix tapped the goatee on his chin and made to stroke down a beard that was not there before he frowned and began to speak. “Your mother was a disciple of Eir, a goddess famed for her medical skill. A tremendous beauty, Livana was courted by many a god, yet she only wanted to be of us to the warriors in battle. Had she lived beyond her return to Vanaheim, having deposited her bastard child in Valhalla, then Livana could have become one of the Vanir. Had her life not be snuffed out by an assassin.”

  Her mother was dead, and that was why she did not come back for Erika. All the years of wondering summed up in one collection of words. Oh, Erika would mourn the mother she now had a name for once the beast was slain, but for now, she held firm. He would not see her waver.

  The mirage of Felix tapped his chin again. “Did you know, dear Valkyrie, that even the great Odin courted your mother, but another god had already tempted her? Freya had already given birth to Ever, yet Odin, he wanted to recreate the Valkyrie race with a horde of daughters. Alas, his beloved Frigg birthed only sons.”

  “Perhaps the cosmos was trying to tell Odin that you cannot fight nature. We are born Valkyrie or we are not. That has been how it has been since the first star twinkled in the sky. Why should it be any different?”

  Fake Felix curved his lips into a sadistic smile. “Even on Midgard, the humans are obsessed about creating the perfect soldier. Ones that will be the last men standing on the battlefield. But they discount the women. Women who are as blood thirsty as the men, but who fight for many different reasons. The closest I came to seeing the perfect soldier was when I laid eyes on you, Valkyrie.”

  Erika balanced the weight evenly, giving the man her biggest smile. “I assume there is an insult in that complement somewhere. I am a Valkyrie. I was born to wield a sword. I was born to carry the souls of the worthy to Valhalla for the final battle the world will face. I am not perfect. A perfect soldier does not love, does not care, does not think of things other than war, and blood, and glory.”

  “I blame that on your mother. For your father never once strayed from his path until he laid eyes on Livana.”

  Erika’s heart raced. Her father…she needed a name.

  “Come now, Allfather. Drop the guise and we shall continue this as Asgardians.”

  Waving his hands over his face, the face of Felix disappeared only to be replaced by Odin, Ever’s father. Odin smoothed his hair and clasped his hands together in his lap. An eye patch still covered the appendage Ever had sunk a knife into upon her first death. Erika knew that Odin had the power to fix the wound, if he chose to, but for some reason, the mighty god decided not to. Dressed in golden robes and bare feet, he was the Odin Erika remembered from his visits to Valhalla, the dark aura of grief like a noose around his neck.

  “Is that better, my dear?”

  Erika snorted, the ghost of a smile on her lips. “I’m not sure if it’s better. I prefer my men less old man-ish. I’m sure you were a handsome devil in your day, like Sean Connery, but, no offense, you just ain’t my type.”

  To her surprise, Odin chuckled. Cracking the muscles in his neck, he studied her for a moment before he said, “No offense taken. From what I have heard from my spies, you lust after my daughter like a puppy, and my son has finally lured you to become another notch on his bedpost.”

  “Yadda, yadda, yadda. Erika’s made some poor choices. Nothing new there, Odin. Now why have you brought me all the way here? If you want me to summon Ever, then you came to the wrong Valkyrie.”

  “I want to cripple my daughter with your death and send her your head in a box. I want to smell her fear in the air and watch as I take away those around her until she has nothing but me left in the world.”

  Erika laughed, incensing the god before her. He growled in anger. “I will tear you limb from limb, and when your soul flees your corpse, on its journey to Folkvangr, I will snatch it in my grasp. Your soul will scream for mercy, and you will have none.”

  Erika lifted a hand to stifle a mock yawn. “Dude, you’re boring me now.”

  “Do you not understand, little girl,” Odin snarled, rising from his chair, which instantly vanished, and his staff appeared in his grasp. “That it was I who created the first Valkyrie. And it is I who can destroy every last one until none of you exist.”

  “As I said, old man. We are born Valkyrie because it is our destiny, it is in our blood, written in the stars so that not even you, the mighty Odin, can stop a Valkyrie from being born. You may be the first of all Asgardians, but you were also created by beings more powerful than you are. I do not bow down to a man who has killed his own flesh and blood many times over. My blood and my loyalty stands with the queen who has earned it, not demanded it. If I am to go to my death on this day, then I go knowing my queen knows of my love and loyalty toward her. So let us stop with all the chatter, Odin, and see if death awaits me or you.”

  Erika did not hesitate a moment more before she lunged for Odin, the god vanishing before her eyes. She felt the hair on her neck stand to attention, whirled around, and managed to strike the god as he reformed at her back. He lifted his staff and plunged it into the mat, sending a shockwave rippling across the foundations, and Erika flying across the ring. Her back smacked against the wire, but she ignored the burst of fire along her spine as she sprang to her feet again, her blades crisscrossed and ready to strike. Erika disappeared in the blur of movement, every move instinctive and practiced until perfect on the moonlight beaches of Valhalla.

  Odin lifted his staff to unsettle the earth once more, yet Erika slid across the mat, crossed her blades and halted the action, gritting her teeth at the sheer power in Odin’s strike. She heard the clash of lightening outside, and she kicked out her legs in a scissor movement, sending Odin down to the mat, the god trembling with anger at being bested by her.

  He cautiously got back on his feet, leaving her puzzled by the look of pride in his eyes. “When I created the Valkyrie, you are exactly what I envisioned. Pledge your loyalty to me, Erika. Stand by my side, become my new queen. I will only offer this to you once, and once only. Become my equal and we shall rebuild the world anew.”

  Erika rolled into a crouch and blew a stray strand of hair from her face. “I have no desire to be a queen. I am the general of Queen Ever’s army. I am content with my lot. Why can you not be?”

  Odin smiled wider, his eyes shifting as lightning struck the octagon. Ever appeared smack in the middle of Odin and Erika. Ever’s eyes widened at the sight of her father, and Odin twisted his staff, ready to strike. Time seemed to stand still as Erika cast her blades aside and dove for Ever, knowing that when Odin drove the staff into Erika, she would die. But, if it came down to a choice between her and Ever, then Erika was happy to die for the cause.

  I wish I had more time with her, with Loki, even the team.

  Just as Ever screamed, and Eri
ka wrapped her arms around her best friend’s waist, the mirage evaporated. Erika sank to the ground, cursing herself for falling for Odin’s trick. She lifted her head, peering through her lashes to hold Odin’s gaze, the tip of Odin’s staff morphing into a sharp edge that she had no doubt would pierce her flesh easily.

  “Do you have any last words, Valkyrie?”

  “I’ll see you in Hel, Odin. I’m sure Hela will have a throne of ash and bone awaiting you.”

  Without so much as blinking, Erika waited as Odin recoiled his arm, gave her a smug, satisfied smile that said, I have won, and went to strike. She waited for the blow that would end her life.

  But it never came. A burst of frost to Odin’s chest sent him backwards, his staff sliding off in the opposite direction. Erika clambered to her feet to see Loki marching down the ramp. He looked like an avenging angel, his long cloak fluttering in the wind, his face full of anger, his skin flickering a shade of blue as ice shards crystalized on his fingertips.

  Odin clapped, mocking Loki who held out a hand to help her rise. “I should have drowned you, boy, when you were a baby.”

  “Perhaps, Odin. But you did not. And I will not stand by while you kill another person I care for.”

  Odin’s laugh thundered around the empty arena. “Care for? You, Loki, care for no one but yourself. Has it come to be that the god of trickery, whose own children despise him, whose lovers have been left heartbroken, miserable, and sometimes tethering on the edge of death, has finally weakened like the Midgardians he used to scoff at?”

  Loki’s skin returned to its natural pale shading. “Maybe, Odin, I have finally found the person my mother had always wanted for me to love. Do you forget what it is like to love and be loved?”

  “I do this because I know what it is to love, boy.”

  “If that was true, then you would not have made a deal to kill the only daughter you have in an attempt to regain the love you lost. Do you think mother could love you, knowing she was reborn, and Ever’s life was forfeit in the process?”

  Odin said nothing, so Loki patted Erika on her cheek and said. “Are you alright?”

  “I am.”

  With a nod, he turned back to Odin. “Do you know why I suggested that blasted curse? I wanted to give you time to get over your grief and remember that you had people who cared for you. But do you know what happened? Because of your actions, because you forgot who you once were, the people who cared for you stopped doing so. You can only do so much evil before the world forgets that you may have once been good and just.”

  Odin held out his hand, his staff floating across the room until it once more was grasped in his hand. “And your little plan backfired, as most of them do. I will kill the daughter who only lives because I chose to lay with her mother. Then I will usher in the new world, rid the world of those Midgard ants and create the world as it should have been.”

  Loki shook his head. “Do you forget in your old age that it was you and your brother who created the humans? You are the architect of your own misfortune. Come now, lay down your staff, and we can try and broker peace.”

  “Peace? Peace!” Odin scoffed, running a hand down his white beard. “There will be no peace. The time for peace has long since passed. I will not sleep, I will not bend until my task is complete. Stand not in my way, Loki, and you can spend the rest of your life carrying on in a similar fashion as you have done for centuries. The Valkyrie matters little.”

  “The Valkyrie matters much.”

  “Then there is nothing more to say.”

  Odin shot a bolt of lightning at Loki, and Erika reacted, shoving him out of the way, taking the bolt right in the shoulder. Letting loose a scream of agony, she went to the ground, clamping a hand over the gushing wound. Mere inches south, and the bolt would have gone to the heart, killing her in an instant. She may be a Valkyrie, made to ride the storms, but Odin was still a god. Her ears rang, and her head spun as Loki sank down to his knees, gently cradling her in his arms.

  “Silly general. That bolt could not have killed me.”

  Erika winced as Loki lifted her hand to assess the damage. “Something you could have said before I got struck by lightning.”

  “Hush now. Argue with me later. You will need time for this to heal.”

  Odin chuckled behind them. “She might not need that much time to heal. Has she told you who her mother is, Loki? Or did Erika speak the truth when she said she could not remember her own mother’s name.”

  Loki peered down at Erika, who tried to shrug, puzzled at why that was important to Odin. “My mother’s name was Livana.”

  Loki’s eyes widened, and for a moment Erika thought she was going to be sick. “Please don’t tell me you slept with my mother… please don’t say it.”

  Leaning in to brush his lips over her forehead, Loki whispered, “No, I did not sleep with Livana, but I know who did.”

  Thunder rumbled, the entire building shaking as the ceiling came down around them, an angry god and his hammer coming to stand between them and Odin. Thor, god of Thunder, protector of Midgard and all its inhabitants, lifted his head and glared at his father, Mjölnir planted on the ground. Thor rose to his full height, almost seven feet tall, his mane of reddish blonde hair whipping in the wind, thunder in his eyes.

  “Father, stop this foolish errand. Ragnarok is not what the world needs. It is not your place to try and recreate the world. Let it be and return to Asgard.”

  Odin stepped forward, but Thor did not even flinch. Growing up, Erika had been terrified of Ever’s brother. And now she understood why. The power that coiled in Thor’s body, the unbridled strength, might be the only thing to save them this day.

  “My son, it is good to see you after all this time.” Odin held out his arms. “Have you no embrace for your father?”

  Thor made no attempt to step into Odin’s open arms, and Erika watched amazed, her senses overworked dealing with the power in the room, her shoulder screaming in agony.

  “If the father I loved was in front of me, then I would welcome his embrace.”

  Odin dismissed his son with the wave of his hand. “Never mind. When the world is created anew, I will bring you back, my son, with no memories of this unfortunate stage of our lives.”

  “And Ever, my sister, do you plan to bring her back?”

  Odin shook his head. “Ever should never have been born. I must right that wrong.”

  Lifting his staff in the air, he brought it down to rip the ground apart. It trembled as Odin grinned, dodging a blast of ice from Loki before he said, “I will take my leave. Sons, make sure to tell the general why she was chosen to be a Valkyrie. If you survive my berserkers, that is.”

  Loki let loose a yell of anger, sending a cool blast of ice toward Odin, who was unable to move in time to prevent the icicle from catching him on the arm. As he vanished, the god roared in pain.

  “Did you get him?” Thor asked, his voice booming.

  “I think I did.”

  Erika glanced upward, spotting five berserkers watching them from the balcony above. “Um guys…we got company.” She got to her feet as Loki handed her one of her blades. He said nothing more, but cast a grin in Thor’s direction.

  “It has been an age, brother, since we have caused any mischief together.”

  “Then let us right that wrong. Valkyrie, are you ready for this?”

  “I was born ready.” Erika snorted as the berserkers clambered over the railings.

  I was born for this.

  Erika

  Erika had been at many a battleground. She had walked across scorched earth, watched as brave men and women fought until their deaths, and then ferried their souls onward. Blood and gore had stained her skin and hands, yet she always considered the battlefield something of great beauty. But she had never seen a more beautiful sight than watching the man who captured her heart fight.

  Loki moved with a grace that was simply him, just Loki. The smile never left his face as he slashed and slice
d, letting his frost giant powers free to take down the berserkers Odin had sicced on them. Erika couldn’t help but grin as Loki winked over his shoulder at her.

  She had one arm against her stomach and used her uninjured arm to keep the berserkers at bay. Thor worked his way through the two that came at him, using his trusty hammer to smash in their skulls with one monstrous thud. Erika managed to gut her own berserker from navel to neck before Thor and Loki dispatched their opponents.

  Then and only then, when all the berserkers were dead, did she drop her blade, sink down to the ground, and let out an array of swear words at the pain in her shoulder. The gash, ripped open more by the fighting, had her collapsing to her knees.

  Loki rushed to her side. She looked up and demanded. “Tell me who my father is.”

  Loki glanced over his shoulder at Thor, who was cleaning his hammer of the berserker’s clothing. “It seems we solved the mystery that kept us awake for many a century. She was under our nose the entire time. Thor, let me introduce you to Erika, the long-lost daughter of Livana.”

  Thor’s eyes widened, his bushy eyebrows rising to meet his hairline. Loki waved his hand over Erika’s wound, and it was cleaned and bandaged. She sat up straighter, as Thor began to speak.

  “You, dearest Erika, we have searched for, having promised our dear friend that we would not rest until you were found. He will be pleased that we have found you, even if it has taken us some time. And it appears Odin knew who you were all this time.”

  Erika almost couldn’t breathe as tears filled her eyes. “My father is alive? And he knows of me?”

  Loki caressed her cheek with his knuckles. “He does. When he learned that Livana, with whom he had fallen deeply in love with, had given birth to a Valkyrie, he was filled with immense pride. Upon returning from a battle with his army, he sought out Livana, only to find that she had died, and the little girl seemingly vanished from Asgard.”