Ragnarok Rising: Desolation: Book Five of the Ragnarok Rising Saga

by D. A. Roberts

  As soon as the yelling began, Spec-4 stepped around the press and opened up on him with the M-4. I could hear the coughing of the suppressed weapon and the grunts as at least some of the rounds found their mark. She emptied the magazine and jumped back behind the press.

  "We've got to go, NOW!" she snapped. "That won't slow him down for long."

  Above us, the roof began to creak and groan. The force of the flash-bang had destabilized the entire structure and we were a long way from an exit.

  "MOVE!" yelled Spec-4.

  I looped my arm around Bridgett, as Spec-4 slipped beneath the other one. Then, we started moving towards the nearest exit as fast as we could go.

  "Grant!" bellowed a deep voice behind us. "Do not die like a coward! Face me!"

  I wanted to do nothing more than make him eat those words, but I knew that I was in no shape to fight him. Before I could ponder it for much longer, I heard the familiar whoosh of an arrow and felt one slam into the middle of my back. I felt the pressure, but the pain wasn't there. Either it had clipped my spine and I couldn't feel it, or something had stopped it. Then I remembered my pack. It had been stopped by a stack of MRE's. The irony of having my life saved by a damned pack of MRE's was almost painful.

  "Go!" shouted Bridgett, letting go of my arm.

  "NO!" I tried to yell, but went into a fit of coughing that nearly made me pass out.

  "Keep going!" she screamed at Spec-4. "Get him out of here! I'll deal with the archer."

  I could see Bridgett un-sling her bow and reach for an arrow, as she slipped behind a forklift. I lost sight of her as Spec-4 dragged me around another heavy press and continued to head for the exit. I knew that she wanted to go back and help Bridgett, but she kept moving. I also wanted to go back, but in the shape I was in, I would have been more of a liability than an asset.

  Most of my weight was firmly on Spec-4, but I was using my legs as much as I could to propel us along. My legs were only partially responsive and it looked like she was walking a drunk out of a bar. To make matters worse, I was beginning to fade in and out of consciousness. I could hear Spec-4 shouting for me to stay with her, but I could no more stop it than I could stop the world from turning.

  My mind was screaming against what was happening. We were leaving Bridgett to fight a monster that I would have trouble fighting in my prime. I was exerting all of my energy to try to force myself to stand so I could turn around and fight, but my consciousness was fading fast. No matter how hard I fought, I couldn't stop it.

  Just as I was about to fade to black, I heard the soothing voice of the Old Man reverberate in my head. The All-Father was speaking to me.

  "She's Einherjar for a reason, son," he said. "This is her destiny. The skein of her life was woven long ago, as is yours. You will not fall here."

  Then the darkness took me, only to be replaced with something worse.

  Chapter Twenty Five

  Archer's Gambit

  "Now flames, the blazing fire, must devour the lord of warriors who often endured

  the iron tipped arrow shower, when the dark cloud loosed by bow strings broke

  above the shield wall, quivering; when the eager shaft, with its feather garb,

  discharged its duty to the barb."

  - excerpt from Beowulf

  Somehow, I was still seeing the fight behind us in the darkness. It had to be the work of the All-Father. He wanted me to bear witness to the deeds of the Einherjar. It was going to fall to me to tell the tales of their valor in the Halls of Valhalla, should I make it there. They were my family, not just my fellow warriors. Bridgett was equal to any of us and she deserved no less than the chance to prove her courage and skill. This was her time, not mine.

  I could see her move from behind the fork-lift and slip into the shadows of a large mixing machine. She nocked an arrow and placed her fingers on the bowstring. She didn't pull it back, but remained ready as she searched for her quarry. The problem was, her quarry was also searching for her. Their deadly dance was about to begin inside a factory building that could easily fall down around them.

  She was about to creep around the corner when she heard the whispering death of an approaching arrow. Instinctively, she dove to the side. The arrow buried itself in the wall where she had been, pinning her cloak to the wall. Without hesitation, she spun away and yanked the clasp free. Before the cloak had settled to the ground, she was already sending her own arrow back the direction of the shot.

  I could hear the strike hit the far wall, but no grunt of pain. Although she had forced him to get down, she hadn't hit him. The more important part was that he hadn't managed to hit her, either. Lucky for her, because one of those massive black arrows would pierce her like a spear. I knew from experience that the shafts were as big around as my thumb. I had the hole in my leg to prove it, too.

  Bridgett rolled past a pallet jack, with a stack of boxes still on it, coming to her feet and nocking another arrow. Keenly she studied the darkness, looking for any sign of the Eldjötnar archer. She had the advantage in this tangled mass of wreckage that had once been a major manufacturing center of the city. The behemoth warrior would have a hard time moving through the tight confines of the factory, while tiny Bridgett could move through the obstacles with ease. She had the grace of a ballet dancer. I could clearly remember the night in St. Louis when I had seen her dancing in the moonlight. She was going to need every ounce of that dexterity to best the beast.

  Peering into the darkness, she strained to quiet even the sounds of her breathing. Despite the fact that the other archer was doing the exact same thing, his massive size alone would make his breathing all that much louder. It was only a few moments before she had his location narrowed down. She began scrutinizing the area carefully, waiting for any sign of movement or a visual of her target.

  Her hawk-like eyes captured a glimpse of the barest of movements. A shadow inside the darkness shifted position slightly. It was enough for her to try a shot. Slowly, she raised her bow and aimed for the spot where she had seen the movement. Steadying her breathing, she released all of the tension in her small body and let her focus become supreme. Time seemed to slow to a crawl as her target became her entire universe.

  Once she was as sure of her shot as humanly possible, she released her arrow and let it fly into the darkness. This time, there was no thunk as the arrow found a solid wall. Instead, there was the clink of the arrow striking armor and the grunt of shock as the arrow found its mark. More swearing in that unknown language hissed out through the darkness, followed by the snapping sound of the warrior breaking off the shaft of the arrow. It might not have been an instant kill, but the arrow had flown true. First blood went to Bridgett.

  Before the arrow had clattered to the ground, Bridgett was already moving. Her instincts proved true. A black shafted arrow sent sparks flying as it careened off of the mixer where she had been hiding. She might have wounded the Eldjötnar, but he was far from out of the fight. This was quickly turning into a cat and mouse game, where the predators were both the prey.

  "Do not fool yourself, child," barked the big warrior. "You cannot defeat me. Walk away and I shall let you live. You are not my quarry, this day."

  Bridgett was tempted to answer him, but she knew that it would only give away her position. Instead, she sent another arrow at the source of the voice. This time the big warrior was prepared, and the shaft only struck against a steel plate on the side of a machine.

  "You will not find me so easily taken," he chided, chuckling darkly. "Give up this foolishness, girl. I am beginning to lose my patience with you."

  Moving carefully away, she began to lead him towards a part of the plant where the roof had collapsed. There was more debris there, but more light as well. It would be easier to hit him if she could see him. Unfortunately, the same thing applied to him. She would have to be careful to stay out of the lighted areas.

  Glancing down to avoid a tangle of beams, she almost missed the snap of the bowstring t
hat sent a black arrow speeding at her. Throwing herself to the side, the arrow dug a deep gouge down the side of her left cheek. Blood poured freely down her face and ran down her neck into her armor.

  Hissing with pain, she ducked behind another machine and pressed her hand to her face to staunch the flow of blood. Her fingers came away covered in crimson and she knew that the cut would probably need stitches.

  "I guess you're just gonna have to bleed," she whispered, wiping her hand on her leg.

  Glancing behind her, she saw a staircase heading up. Not seeing any better options, she headed up and walked as quietly as she could. The stairs were mostly clear of debris and made a ninety degree turn to the right about half way up. That would make a great ambush point. Crouching around the corner, she waited for her prey to come looking for her.

  "I see that my arrow has pierced your flesh," called the massive Eldjötnar. "Was it a graze or something more severe, I wonder? Does it hurt, girl?"

  Of course it hurt, but she could handle it. It wasn't going to kill her. Even now, the blood was beginning to slow down. Soon it would only be a trickle. It was going to be an ugly scar, but she would wear it with pride if she could defeat this behemoth. Surviving this battle would be an epic tale, for certain.

  She reached back and pulled another arrow from her quiver, nocking it in place. Then she waited. She didn't have to wait long. Something moved between the bottom of the stairs and the light source from within the factory. He was getting closer. His overconfidence was going to be her best asset. This gargantuan warrior was convinced that a human girl less than half his size didn't stand a chance against him. Desperately, I wanted Bridgett to prove him wrong.

  Slowly drawing back the arrow, she waited for the shadow to get closer. When she saw his feet emerge, she knew he was simply coming after her. He was making no attempt to hide, now. A smile spread across her lips as she prepared to make him pay for his overconfidence.

  As his torso came into view, she could see where he had broken off her first shot. Part of the shaft was still lodged in his left shoulder. It had pierced the armor, but not deeply from the look of it. No wonder he was convinced that she couldn't hurt him. It hadn't penetrated deep enough to cause more than a minor wound, at best. This time she was going to do better.

  As his head began to come into view, she could see that he had thrown back his hood to help improve his vision in the factory. For an enemy, he wasn't unattractive. In fact, if he hadn't been trying to kill her, she might have thought him handsome. His features were angular and chiseled, with only a thin beard on his chin. His hair was ebony black and pulled back into a long braid. She paused only long enough to see the burning fire in his dark eyes. Then she released the shaft.

  He saw her, but too late to avoid the shot completely. The red arrow streaked through the darkness and stuck deeply into the flesh of his face, piercing his left cheek and emerging from his left ear. It wasn't a kill shot, but it did inflict considerable damage. He undoubtedly lost hearing in that ear and it was bleeding heavily. It hadn't hit the brain or any major arteries. What it did do was get his undivided attention. He was not going to underestimate her again.

  Diving back around the corner, she could hear him roaring in pain, followed by the snapping of the shaft of her arrow. She could hear the sound of tearing cloth as he ripped a strip off of his cloak to bind the bleeding wound. She didn't wait for him to finish. Turning around, she went as quickly and quietly up the rest of the stairs as she could go.

  At the top of the stairs, there was an open bay that led to two large mixer machines. It was clear that the fire hadn't hardly touched this floor and it smelled more of rubber than of soot. To her left was a door that led into a darkened room. To her right was a door that led out onto a section of the roof. Considering the state of most of the roof of the factory, she knew better than to go out there. Next to the stairs was a large steel barrel with "Solvent" painted on the side. The gears began to turn in her head. Leaning all of her weight into the barrel, she began shoving it towards the stairs.

  Below her, she could hear the other archer begin to come up the stairs. He was making no attempt to be stealthy, now. He was fueled by his rage and she knew he was coming up here to kill her. Slowly, if possible. She knew that if he caught her, death would be a release.

  With supreme effort, she slid the barrel to the edge of the stairs. Pushing it with all her might, she sent it bouncing down towards her attacker. At first, it only bounced and made a tremendous amount of noise as it hit the landing below her. Then the smell of the solvent hit her nostrils as the barrel broke open against the wall.

  "You missed, child," he boomed. "You will have to do better than that."

  "How's this?" she called down at him.

  She could see he was almost to the landing. Pulling a flare from her cargo pocket, she ignited it and threw it into the solvent. With a sudden whoosh, the solvent ignited in a massive fireball that shot up the stairs towards her. She narrowly avoided the flames by diving to the side and rolling to a stop near the door to the darkened room.

  The bellowing of the Eldjötnar warrior told her that he hadn't fared as well. He was nearly on top of the barrel when she had ignited it. Silently, she prayed that the fire would finish the job for her. That hope vanished when she heard him cursing, but still coming up the stairs after her.

  "Stupid child!" he boomed. "I am Eldjötnar! I am borne of fire."

  "Damn," she hissed and slipped into the darkened room.

  Risking a small bit of light from her tactical light on her pistol, she quickly checked out the room. It was some sort of lab. Testing equipment lined all sides of the room and she could see two exits. One at the back of the room that led into darkness and another that went to the right into what she see were offices.

  Turning off the light, she crouched low and headed for the dark room at the back. Once she was at the doorway, she turned and nocked another arrow. If he was coming after her, she wasn't planning on making it easy on him. Quite the contrary, in fact. If anything, she was planning on using his blind desire to kill her as a way to lead him into the arrow that would finish the job and kill the bastard.

  "Stupid, stupid," she whispered to herself. "The Eldjötnar are fire giants. Why didn't you think of that?"

  Then realization dawned on her. She had just lit the factory on fire again. Whatever hadn't been burned up the first time was going to go now. She was trapped on the second floor with no way to know where the exits were. The smoke was already starting to come under the door to the lab, leaving her to decide if she would wait for her shot or start looking for a way out.

  "What would Wylie do?" I heard her whisper. "He'd do what it takes to take this jerk out."

  Raising the arrow back into firing position, she waited for movement in the doorway. Instead of him appearing in the window, he threw a packing crate through the door and into the lab. She had to duck to avoid flying shards of wood and glass as the door literally exploded into the room.

  When she looked up, the big warrior was ducking through the door. She could see him highlighted by the light from the open door to the roof. His cloak was badly singed and smoking and tendrils of smoke were wafting into the air around him. Other than that, he didn't appear harmed from the fire.

  Releasing her arrow, she let it fly before he could stand up inside the room. Although the ceiling was too low for him to stand completely up, it was enough for him to bring his bow to bear and take aim. Her arrow streaked across the distance and struck its mark. It sunk almost to the feathers in his shoulder, just where the armor gapped beside his neck.

  Screaming in pain, she heard the arrow that he had clutched in his hand clatter to the floor. Before he could touch the wounded shoulder, her second arrow was streaking through the darkness. This one stuck through the back of his right hand as he was reaching for his wounded shoulder. Swearing softly, she reached for another arrow. She had been aiming for his throat, but his hand had gotten in the way.


  "You filthy human!" he bellowed. "You will pay dearly for this!"

  "You first," she snapped as she released her third arrow.

  The big warrior turned to his left and felt the arrow clatter against his armored back, sticking in the plates but not penetrating the thick steel. When he turned back around, he had his broad bladed sword in his left hand.

  "I shall cut out your heart for this!" he roared, stalking after her.

  Ducking into the dark room, she lit her tactical light and found the exit. It emerged in a store room with a door to her right that led back out onto the factory floor. She was running now, heading away from the spreading fire, but also away from the direction that she knew Spec-4 had been going when she had last seen her.

  Racing across the room as fast as she could run, she could hear the armored behemoth smashing through the storeroom in pursuit of her. She ran past two massive machines fed by conveyor belts with signs that read Banberry One and Two. She wasn't sure what a Banberry was, but didn't have time to think about it.

  Turning as she ran, she nocked and released an arrow all in one smooth motion. The arrow streaked out across the distance and buried itself in the warrior's left thigh. He didn’t seem to register the hit, but kept coming with fire blazing in his eyes. He was totally focused on killing her and didn't notice the minor wound to the leg.

  As she ran past pallets of raw rubber, she saw a sign that indicated a stairway. Darting that way, she hit the stairs at a run and only paused at the landing as the stairs turned to the left and continued down. Behind her, she could hear the thunderous steps of the enraged giant as he came after her with murderous intent. If he caught her, he would crush her neck with his bare hands.

  Emerging from the stairs, she found herself back on the factory floor. To her left was what looked like a loading dock, but most of the roof had collapsed and it looked impassable. To her right, it led farther into the factory and farther away from Spec-4. Behind her was a narrow passage that led between machines, but back towards the fire. It would also lead her back towards Spec-4. Without hesitation, she ran towards the growing fire.