As we hiked, I kept an eye out for anything out of the ordinary, but I honestly didn’t know what I was looking for. I imagined these valkyries living in the wild with no training whatsoever. Frigg did say they were savage and feral. I think I was expecting a battle cry all of a sudden and for one of them to come crashing down from the sky.
“You’re quiet, Raven,” Fen said as we passed a group of humans that were walking back to the entrance of the trail. They were being herded by a tour guide wearing a windbreaker and hiking boots. She had glistening black hair in a ponytail and crystal blue eyes. She was yelling for them to be careful as they descend. We should have gotten a tour guide.
“I’m just thinking.” I shrugged. “We’re almost to the cliff, and I haven’t seen anything. I’m having a crisis of faith.”
He chuckled. “A crisis of faith? When did you get religious?”
I lightly pushed him. “You know what I mean. If we don’t find them—”
“Enough. You’re stressing yourself out with these what-if’s. Let’s just wait and see.”
For the next six hours, we followed behind Thor on the trail until we emerged out to Trolltunga. Humans were swarmed around waiting to take pictures on the cliff. The sun was setting, and they were ohhing and ahhing at the background of their pictures. I ignored them and stepped away from the crowd to take a look at the rock formation. Maybe there would be some carved drawings that were left over, anything that could point me in the right direction, because this was obviously not it.
“Not to be the bearer of bad news,” a woman said as she came up to me. From her outfit, she looked like the tour guide. “But it’s getting late. You and your party might want to start to descend if you’re not going to take any pictures.” She was dark skinned with brown eyes. Her hair was shaved on the sides, but the top was short and curly. She had a badge that said her name was Mia.
“I just got here,” I said, trying to be polite.
“I know,” she said sarcastically. “Which is why I’m telling you it’s time to go. You don’t want to be here at night.”
That made me perk my ears. An ominous warning? I’d take that as a clue. “Why?” I asked.
She frowned. But it was more of those “you’re pissing me off” kind of looks. “Because I said so. Now grab your friends and go.” She didn’t wait for me to answer before she spun around and went back to the group she was guiding.
Color me intrigued.
I went to Thor and Fen and nudged them back toward the trail. They suspiciously followed me, and we walked for a while until we were far away enough that I didn’t think anyone could hear us.
“Did you see that tour guide with the short hair?” I asked them.
They both nodded.
“She practically kicked me out, telling me we can’t be here at night. My gut is telling me something goes on here at nighttime.”
Fen scratched his head. “All because she wanted you to get back safely?”
I sucked my teeth. “No! It’s the way she said it. It was very suspect. Like they possibly do some pagan rituals out here or something.”
“Pagan rituals?” Fen laughed. “Okay, someone needs their sleep.” He grabbed my arm and turned me back toward the trail. “Let’s get back to the car and try again tomorrow.”
I pulled away. “No, I’m staying the night. Something’s up, I just know it.”
The sun was starting to set, but it was unusually dark All I could see was the outline of Fen’s body. I heard Thor rustling until he produced a flashlight from out backpack and illuminated our area.
“I say go with your gut,” Thor said. He’d been quiet for a while. “I’ll stay with you. We have enough snacks and water to last us the night.”
“I’m obviously not leaving you. So if you want to stay, fine,” Fen said reluctantly.
“Good.” I smirked. “Now all we need to do is hide from Mia, the cranky tour guide.”
Fen rolled his eyes. “Of course we do. Tell me, genius, how are we going to do that in this open space?” He spread his arms out beside him, then jabbed a thumb in Thor’s direction. “And he’s not necessarily inconspicuous, if you catch my drift.”
I looked over at Thor’s enormous frame and grimaced. Yeah, he wasn’t good for playing hide-and-seek. “Good thing the sun is setting” I said. “We’ll hide in the shadows.”
And that’s what we did for the next few hours—which was torturously long. We waited out the rest of the humans that were in Trolltunga until they made the final descend back down the trail toward the carpark. I was hiding behind a boulder when I saw Mia pass. I froze when she paused just after she passed me and scanned the area before continuing the walk down the trail. She sensed something, that much I knew for a fact, but she couldn’t see anything.
I heard the sound of gravel and rocks crumbling until Fen appeared beside me, not so subtly. “I don’t smell or hear anymore humans,” he said.
“All right, let’s go.” I stood and followed him out from behind the boulder. “Thor!” I whisper-yelled.
There was movement coming from behind us on the trail.
“Shit,” Fen murmured. “Someone’s coming, go!” he pushed me up ahead, and we ran up the trail toward Trolltunga.
“We can’t leave Thor behind,” I said over my shoulder as we ran. And we were doing just that, leaving him behind.
“He’ll catch up, promise,” Fen whispered as he grabbed my hand and ran faster. “For now, we need to put as much distance as possible between us and whoever that is.”
We burst out of the trail and onto Trolltunga, the starry night and moon above us giving us enough light to see one another. But this was a dead end for us; there was nowhere else we could go except down, and only one of us could fly.
Fen tilted his head. “They’re getting closer.” He shook his head. “I don’t get it. It’s like they’re following us, but it’s not Thor.”
“Whoever it is, get ready for a fight,” I muttered as we stood side by side staring at the entrance of the trail, waiting for our mystery person to reveal themselves.
“You don’t listen,” a familiar voice said as they came out of the trail—Mia. “Dozens of people get lost up here every year because they’re in over their heads.”
“Is that so?” I tilted my head and stared at her. “Would you mind telling me what’s so dangerous about this place at night?”
“Inexperienced hikers don’t know the terrain and can easily get hurt,” another woman said as she walked out of the trail. I recognized her as the other tour guide, the one with the blue eyes and shiny black hair.
Fen leaned into me and whispered in my ear, “There’s more than just two.”
I nodded slightly and fixed my gaze on our newcomer. “And who said we’re inexperienced?”
The tour guides looked at one another and smiled. “Both your boots are brand new,” Mia said. “Granted, you could have needed new ones, but you overlayered. A few minutes into the hike and you’ll overheat, and you’re wearing cotton. The minute it gets damp, it’ll stay damp. Plus, you separated from your other friend, and that’s a big no-no when hiking. So, yes, you’re inexperienced.”
I hated know-it-alls.
“Okay, so we committed a few faux pas.” Fen waved them away. “But I climbed Mount Everest without a problem. This little trail is cake.”
More of them started to filter out of the rock formation, and they began to push us back.
“Oh, really?” Mia said sardonically.
Fen and I separated, and I cursed as I went away from the cliff and they pushed him toward it. There were about twenty of them, and I raised my hands up in defense. I wasn’t going to fight a bunch of defenseless humans.
“Listen, we don’t want any problems,” I said as they continued to push us back. I stumbled on some rocks and fell on the ground.
“Well, you should have thought of that before you came snooping around,” Mia said as she stood back watching.
“We wer
en’t snooping—” I tried to say, but she cut me off.
“I saw you earlier,” she said. “And you wouldn’t be here now unless you’re looking for trouble.”
Before I could process what she was saying or ask the questions I wanted to ask, I heard Fen nervously laugh. I looked over and spotted him at the edge of the Trolls Tongue.
“What are you doing?” My face hardened as I saw Fen’s predicament and how far away I was.
“Getting rid of loose ends,” Mia said. “And your other friend is next.”
Fen let out a growl as one of them reached out to push him, but he snatched their wrist and swerved out of the way. I jumped to my feet and bulldozed past the group that was blocking my way. They tried to grab my arm, but I twisted around, ducking under their arm, forcing them to release me. I elbowed someone in the face and headbutted another one before I made a mad dash for the cliff.
Before I could take my next breath, I tripped over my feet as I watched Fen stumble and teeter over the edge, his arms flailing beside him as he tried to regain his balance and failing miserably. His eyes were wide as they found mine, and then he was falling.
“Fenrir!” I screamed as I ran. I pushed past the group that practically knocked him off the cliff, and they let me by without a hassle, most likely because they wanted to send me off the cliff as well. Little did they know what I could do.
Without stopping, I ran across the Troll’s Tongue in a sprint and dove over the cliff headfirst. I was just a few feet away from Fen. My arms were outstretched, and I pushed myself forward, screaming as the wind whipped my face and blew my hair back. I almost had him … and just as we were about to reach the ground, I grabbed onto him and my honey-brown wings snapped out of my back, ripping through my clothes, and we were coasting just above the lake.
“Bloody hell,” Fen gasped as he clutched onto me for dear life. “I just saw my whole bloody life flash before my eyes in the span of that fall. And I’ve had a long damn life,” he said breathlessly.
I snorted. “You would have been fine.”
“Where are we going?” he asked as I began to fly us back around.
“We can’t leave Thor with those psychos.” I looked at Fen like he was crazy.
“I’ve never been afraid of humans in my life, but, yes, we can, Raven. Leave him. Let’s go.”
I laughed. “Is the big bad wolf scared of some measly humans? Come on, Fen, they’re hiding something that they’re willing to kill for. I want to find out what it is.”
I flew across the lake and back up to the cliff where I hovered in the air like an avenging angel—while carrying Fen. My wings flapped hard behind me to keep us airborne.
“You’re going to have to try better than that,” I yelled into the night air to get their attention. They spun around, eyes wide and mouths hanging open. I flew to the edge of the cliff and set Fen down. He sighed quietly, probably glad to be on solid ground again but wanting to get the hell away from that edge.
Mia cut through her group with the blue-eyed woman following behind her as she walked toward us—more like stomped toward us.
“Who the hell are you?” Mia shouted, her hands fisted at her sides. She was angry, not shocked.
“I think you know who I am,” I said, taking a stab in the dark. My gaze traveled over the group of women, and that’s when it hit me. “And I think I know who you are too.”
I flew over and landed in front of her, at least five feet away. Fen was behind me. I tucked my wings in and crossed my arms over my chest.
“I came here looking for you,” I said. “My name is Raven.” I extended a hand for her to shake.
Mia looked at my hand and then back at me. “Where have you been?” she asked without taking my hand.
“Excuse me?” I retracted my hand and quirked a brow. “What do you mean?”
“There hasn’t been one of us born in over a century, and we have scouts scouring the world for sightings. Where have you been hiding? You can’t be older than half a century.” Mia’s gaze was hard and not at all welcoming.
Fen chuckled behind me, and I tensed. They thought I was one of them—in the sense that I was abandoned to be raised in the human world.
“You have the wrong impression of me,” I said smoothly as I put my wings away, preparing myself for whatever fallout, my eyes scanning the area and sizing up every person standing in our way. “I’m a thousand-year-old valkyrie,” I said as my eyes landed on Mia.
There were at least twenty to thirty of them before us, and in unison, their wings burst out of their backs in an array of shades. Growls and snarls rumbled through the night, and Mia crouched in a fighting stance before me.
“I didn’t come here to fight.” I held up my hands in surrender. “I came for your help.”
Mia scoffed. “You have the nerve to come to us for help when you’ve been killing us off for centuries?”
I realized then that I probably didn’t think this through properly. I didn’t think they’d know their own history.
“In my defense, I didn’t know about that until recently,” I said in a really lame attempt to excuse myself, but I was guilty by association.
“That’s rich,” blue eyes spoke up. “You think we’d believe that? After we were left here for you to pick us off one by one. Killing our families in such creative ways.”
The missing eye and rune carvings.
“If I was a part of that, do you think I’d be here with only him as backup?” I jerked a thumb at Fen behind me. “Until recently, I didn’t even know you existed. If I did, I wouldn’t have felt so alone for the last eighty years.”
“What happened in the last eighty years?” blue eyes asked. Mia glared at her, but she ignored it.
“I was exiled from Valhalla,” I said without hesitation. To earn their trust, I was going to be forthcoming. Whatever they wanted to know, I’d tell them. “I chose to protect the humans, and my sisters, the valkyries, closed the gates forever.”
“Do you still consider them your sisters?” Mia asked with a bite.
I frowned. “It’s complicated.”
She laughed dryly. “No, it’s not. They betrayed you, and you still consider them family. You’re still one of them. You might not have known about us, but you can’t be trusted.”
“That’s a load of bollocks, and you know it,” Fen said as he came to stand beside me. “You don’t just turn your back on family that easily, and you can’t expect her to for your sake. What she has to say is important and affects you all, so you might want to pull your heads out your arses and listen.”
“We don’t have to listen to a thing,” Mia snarled, and then she charged me.
Her tackle took me off guard, and she connected with my middle, knocking me to the ground. More of them came toward us, and Fen shifted into half man, half wolf, making them skid to a stop. He snapped his canines and growled.
I bucked Mia off me and got to my feet. I dodged her next hit as I swerved behind her. I dug my fingernails into the muscles of her wings, bringing her down to her knees before her sisters as she shrieked.
“Now that I have all of your attention,” I said as I held her still with one hand on her shoulder, the other digging into her wings. “Like I said before, I’m not here to fight. I’m a millennia old. None of you are a match for me, so don’t even bother. What I came for was your help. Midgard—Earth—your home, is in trouble. A very evil goddess is coming to destroy it, and she has the power to do it. We need to stop her, and I want—no, I need your help. I can’t do it alone.”
The group of them were crouched and ready to pounce on me if given the command. They looked at one another in confusion, not knowing entirely what to do.
At that moment, lightning struck and out of the trail came a large figure. I recognized him immediately—it was Thor. Some of them turned to face their new threat.
Thor held up a hand as more thunder boomed in the clear night, and then a whoosh came through the tree lines, and Mjölnir, his hammer
, flew out, landing in his hand as lightning hit it.
“I hope I haven’t missed much,” Thor said as he stepped toward the winged women, stopping just a few feet before them. “I see you found them.”
“No thanks to you,” Fen grunted.
“You’ll thank me in a moment,” Thor said with a snide smile.
“I won’t if I lose the hotel deposit because your stupid hammer rammed through the roof to get here!” Fen yelled.
I rolled my eyes. Men.
“Can we stay on track here?” I cleared my throat. “So, ladies, what do you say? Help us save Midgard. Help us save your home.”
Mia groaned beneath me. “How can we trust you? That this isn’t a trick to wipe us out?”
I loosened my grip on her. “You’ll just have to take a leap of faith.”
She twisted in my hands. “This isn’t a decision I can make under duress.” She turned to look up at me. “Give us time to discuss it as a tribe.”
“A tribe?” I repeated. “How many of you are there?” I let Mia go, and she collapsed on the ground.
Slowly, she picked herself up with the help of two of her sisters.
“There’s at least two hundred of us,” Mia said reluctantly, as if she wasn’t sure she should have told me that bit of information.
Two hundred? That’s more than I thought we’d find.
“We don’t have much time,” I said. “I can give you until tomorrow.”
She nodded, and this time, we shook on it.
12
We went back to the hotel and made it in one piece. Fen was furious though as he dealt with the hotel staff in regard to the, sure enough, hole in their roof from when Mjölnir flew out at Thor’s call. He was going to be paying a hefty fine for the damages. We were lucky we weren’t getting kicked out.
The Last Valkyrie Series Complete Boxed Set Page 44
