Valkyrie Rising

by GR Griffin

  "I need strength, Hel." Brahms told her, tone level. "I need YOUR strength if we are to do this." She continued to scream, shaking her head wildly. "Just a bite Hel. That's all I ask...all I need..."

  "It will never end with just one bite..." Hel moaned, even as Brahms was pulling her into his arms. "You are a leech...you will continue to take from me....all to serve your own selfish ends..."

  Her words hurt him, but they weren't enough to stop Brahms from biting her. He tried to be gentle, but Hel was starting to thrash about as best she could. It forced him to hold her steady, his bite growing rougher as he began feeding, replenishing all the strength he had lost in the battle with the demons. It was apparent to Silmeria that the days of Hel being a willing, or at least docile blood donor were at an end.

  Hel had been broken at the hands of the demons. The things done to her were something she might never recover completely from. But it had given her back one part of herself. The part that had made her a near mindless blood slave to Brahms. Now she was only too conscious of what he was doing to her, and Hel HATED it. She hated him, alternating between screaming and weeping bitter tears. Brahms would never gain her compliance in this act again, he could only force her to hold still for his bite, Hel glaring and fighting against the compulsion all the while.

  Not even the knowledge that Brahms would build Hel a kingdom of her own, one designed to protect her from Odin, could appease the Goddess. She wanted nothing to do with Brahms, at times retreating into her mind. She was a silent companion, keeping much of her thoughts to herself though she always became most vocal when Brahms' hunger reared.

  Silmeria would sit back and watch, as Brahms, together with the Goddess, set about forming a kingdom for Hel to rule. He'd fight many demons, and use his compulsion on Hel to force her to help him subdue the denizens of the underworld. It would take time, and many beatings before the remaining demons reluctantly kneeled before Hel. By this time the most powerful of the demons had been exterminated, killed by Brahms' own hands.

  Sometimes, during the lull between battles, Brahms would experiment with his bite. There were a few strong looking demons that he didn't kill right away. Instead he drew out their lives, feeding off their foul blood. All in an attempt to repeat the blood bond he had inadvertently forged with Hel so many centuries ago. He was not successful. The demons merely withered from being fed on, slowly but surely dying. Brahms began to wonder if the blood bond needed something more, needed some kind of connection with the person one was feeding off of. Or maybe the demons were unsuitable because they didn't hold a spark of divinity in them. He simply did not know, lacking much when it came to finding out about the parasite that had changed him.

  Hel was also experimenting. Taking demons, and twisting about their very nature. Sometimes Brahms would find her covered in their blood, Hel having thrown a tantrum when the results of her experiments were not to her liking. Other times he'd find her nearly smiling, petting some new type of creature. He didn't understand at first why she bothered, Hel making the first monsters to exist in Creation that weren't purely demons.

  Silmeria watched as through Hel's experiments, the first of the many types of undead monsters were created. All at the Goddess' hands. They retained the demon's cruelty, their lust for torture. But these monsters were a different breed, and though they had desires of their own, Hel's will superseded theirs.

  It wasn't until Hel had created over a hundred different types of undead, that her true intent became known. She wanted revenge. On Odin, even on Brahms. The latter she had no hope of contesting, Brahms firmly keeping her under control through his compulsions. He feared for her. It was that fear that kept him from allowing her to go challenge Odin directly. It was simply too early, too soon, their power too little. HIS power was still not enough, Brahms sure that even with the backing of the demons and Hel's undead creatures, they would be beaten by Odin.

  Hel was frustrated, and lashing out. She wanted action, wanted to take revenge and now. Sometimes she'd try to use her undead creatures against Brahms. That was how they discovered that Brahms could command them too, and all because of the blood bond he had forged with Hel. Through the Goddess, he could take command of her undead legions, steal them away from Hel without the Goddess even being able to voice a single complaint.

  He didn't. Brahms let her have her armies, let her continue to make more undead creatures. He only exerted his power over them to keep them from attacking him. Sometimes he helped train them, preparing them and the demons for the war they would eventually wage.

  Hel wasn't satisfied to wait. She kept on experimenting, and then sending those experiments into other realms. Brahms did not know this at first, and when he found out he was aghast. He thought Hel was risking everything by releasing her creatures into the realms. Hel didn't agree, eager for Odin to take note of what they were doing. She was especially proud of the havoc they were wrecking on Midgard. They were preying on the humans, eating their flesh and blood, sometimes infecting them. The undead were expanding in size, at an alarming rate. It was no wonder that eventually Odin would take notice.

  Hel was unrepentant. She had remembered that the humans had been Odin's special project. It made her hate the humans. Made her want to torture them. She reveled in the pain and misery her undead creatures were causing, the turmoil and strife. It was as though she was making the humans pay for what Odin and the demons had done to her all those centuries ago.

  It couldn't continue. Odin would not allow it. The first true war of Creation was set to occur, Silmeria fascinated by what she was learning. The Valkyrie would be called into play, the women all descendants of the first Valkyrie that Brahms had done battle with. She had been injured during the fight with the vampire. Injured to the point she had been unable to return to the heavens. Denied Asgard, she had accepted the next best thing, making the most of her remaining life on Midgard. There had been a human, a mortal man and somehow the Valkyrie had deigned to birth a few daughters for him.

  Those same daughters had been imbued with the Valkyries' powers and immortality. They had all become lesser deities, and remained on Midgard to safe guard it from any threats. Brahms had been wise not to return to the realm of humans, because the Valkyries would have been waiting. Would have been ready to finish what their mother had started.

  Those Valkyrie maidens had been dealing with the press of Hel's undead. But there was too many, the Valkyrie only a small handful in comparison. Too many humans were dying, Odin being forced to act to prevent his pet race from being wiped out completely. He'd call upon the humans who fought with the Valkyries, those brave few who ultimately died in battle with the undead. Rather than reincarnate them, he gave them a new chance, a new mission. They became einherjar, fighting for the honor of the heavens.

  It took time for a true army of Asgard to be amassed. More humans died, some preyed on, others changing into the very monsters they feared. But there was a few who died a warrior's death, and those were the ones who made up the army the Valkyries used to invade the underworld. Silmeria would watch as a most brutal battle took place, demons and undead fighting against the Valkyrie and the einherjar.

  It would last for over a thousand years. Neither side able to take a deciding victory. It seemed the war would never end, seemed the fighting was destined to last all eternity. Even to this day, the war might have continued, if not for a meeting between Hel and Odin. It was a secret meeting, one Brahms had not been privy to until after it was all over.

  Silmeria felt and echoed his confusion when the combatants began to withdraw from the fighting. A truce had been reached, one that had the Valkyries and their einherjar leaving the underworld. But it was grudging withdrawal, the battle maidens not happy to leave. Brahms wasn't any happier, confused and seeking out Hel. He'd find her in Eljudnir, the castle Brahms had had the demons build for her.

  Seated upon her throne, Hel was playing with a faintly glowing object. It was a pale blue that was nearly white, and was constantly c
hanging shape under the play of Hel's hands. She was looking not at the thing in her hands, but staring absentmindedly off in the distance. She didn't immediately come back to her senses, not even when Brahms growled her name.

  "Hel!" He frowned at her, wondering what that was that she played with. "The Valkyrie are withdrawing from the battle. As is our own forces." When she said nothing, he stepped towards her, wanting to grab her by the arms and shake her back to reality.

  His approach drew her attention to him, Hel blinking rapidly. She didn't look surprised to see him, just continuing to massage new shapes into the object.

  "What's going on?" demanded Brahms. "Why have you called back our armies?" He narrowed his eyes at her. "We should be pushing to chase after the Valkyrie. We should finish them now, while they attempt to flee!"

  "And what purpose would that serve?" Hel asked. "If we pursue the Valkyrie, they will stand and fight. It will only continue this war."

  "So be it. The war cannot end without one side victorious. We must see that our side is the winners."

  "And what if we are not?" Hel demanded sharply. "What if you press us to fight, and then we lose? Do you dare imagine what Odin will do to us then?" Brahms said nothing, watching as Hel shuddered. It was clear she had imagined it all too vividly, the kind of torture and punishment Odin would inflict on the losers. "Brahms...we cannot go on as we have...."

  "We cannot stop either." He argued. "Odin would see us dead..."

  "Odin is as tired of this war as we are." Hel told him. He snorted at that, hardly believing what she said. "He wants peace..."

  "He will never have it." Brahms vowed. "So long as he draws breath, I will continue to hound him. It won't end until he is dead. I won't give up until I have killed him."

  "You'll never get close enough to him to end Odin's existence." Hel retorted. "He's too protected, too safe in the heavens. His Valkyries alone are a formidable power. It is those women who have kept the war going for as long as it has. Those Goddesses who have kept us from seizing victory."

  "They may be Goddesses, but they can still die." Argued Brahms. He had by this time, fed off several of the Valkyries, gaining brief bursts of power from their blood. "If I feed off enough of them..."

  "You will never get strong that way." Snapped Hel. "The power you get from the Valkyries is a temporary thing at best. Unless you have a steady supply of Valkyrie blood, you'll never be able to face Odin and win."

  "I'm not just reliant on the Valkyries' blood for strength." Protested Brahms. "I've gotten stronger...."

  "You've gotten stronger feeding off of my blood." Hel hissed, eyes narrowed. "But it's still not enough, is it?"

  He kept silent to that. Hel's blood had sustained him for centuries at this point, but it seemed the power in her veins was reaching a limit. Brahms' was working on a theory that he needed to expand his food sources, find other veins to tap if he wanted to continue his growth.

  "Don't you tire of this Brahms?" Hel asked. "The endless fighting?"

  "Are you talking about the war, or us?" Brahms demanded.

  "Both." Hel said after a moment's pause. He didn't answer her, which caused Hel to sigh. "Brahms. Odin has offered a deal."

  "As if we could ever trust anything he would give us!" scoffed Brahms.

  "I don't trust anyone...not anymore." Hel reminded him. "But I am no fool. We could turn Nifleheim upside down, destroy Midgard, and still Odin would continue. Safe and protected in the heavens. While we? What would we have left? Nothing."

  "If he destroys our home here, we will simply move on to another realm." Brahms retorted.

  "I am not so quick to pack up and leave." Hel replied. "I have grown fond...of my kingdom."

  "Kingdoms can be rebuilt elsewhere." Brahms insisted.

  "Perhaps. But they can just as easily fall." She did an exaggerated pull with her hands, letting the glowing object stretch out longer. "Neither option appeals to me."

  "But what Odin has offered you does?" Brahms demanded.

  "Yes." She suddenly flung the object at Brahms, the vampire throwing up his arms for protection. The object hit him, and Brahms felt the energy shiver through him. But more than that, Brahms thought he picked up on pain, a soul in agony. He gasped, startled.

  "Was that a...?"

  "A soul." Hel smirked. "A human soul. The first of many."

  "So you are stealing souls now?"

  "Not stealing. I've been given them." Hel corrected with another smirk. "It's busy times Brahms. Creation is changing. And human souls need a place to rest..."

  Brahms stared at her, Silmeria sensing he wasn't sure he wanted to understand. "What have you done?" He asked.

  "Not I." Hel told him. "Odin. Since I so magnanimously agreed to end this war, he has agreed to let me have the remnants of the souls he finds unworthy of his paradise. I'm to see to their punishments, to their rehabilitation."

  "Why would he so such a thing? No..." Brahms shook his head. "Why would you agree to such a thing? Don't tell me it's because you are tired of fighting. You LIVE for revenge."

  "I still do." Hel smirk widened. "But this will give me a chance to increase my armies. A chance improve upon my soldiers. Even a chance to lull Odin into thinking I've given up on revenge..."

  "There has to be more to it then that." Brahms said. He narrowed his eyes at her when Hel tried for a blank look. "What did you really offer him? What did he ask for? Tell me!"

  "Just you." Hel hissed. Brahms lunged towards her, hand grabbing her by the throat. She didn't even gasp, just let out a strangled laugh. "Go ahead...kill me if you can. But it won't save you...nothing will..."

  "You would betray me?!" He demanded, fighting not to crush her throat in his grip. Hel just smiled, a twisted, mocking expression. It was all the answer he needed, Brahms jerking her up off her seat. His fangs had extended to their full length, Brahms shifting his grip enough so he could plunge them into Hel's neck. She let out a shrill scream, the sound alerting her personal guards to the trouble in the throne room.

  Even as he was drinking down Hel's blood, trying to drain her dry for her betrayal, the guards were attacking him. Brahms was forced to let go of the Goddess, Hel staggering away from him. He hadn't come close to draining her, and was now too busy fighting against a press of numerous foes. And more kept coming, demons and monsters rushing into the throne room.

  Silmeria watched as Brahms fought in a frenzied, feral state, raging at Hel's betrayal all the while. He only grew more incensed when the Valkyries arrived, the battle maidens intent on capturing Brahms to deliver him to Odin. He'd fight them all, even as Brahms realized his chance to drain Hel dry had passed. He could do only one thing, and that was retreat, Brahms trying to take out as many of his opponents in the process.

  ---

  ...

  Chapter 36 : Thirty Six

  The throne room was crowded with creatures. Demons, undead, even the Valkyries pressing inside to swarm a single opponent. Brahms let out his most angriest of bellows, his hands already moving. His claws were tearing open into anything he could reach, arcs of blood spurting out, spraying onto him and onto others. Silmeria felt his satisfaction with each kill, but never did Brahms lose his anger. And all because he was betrayed, turned against by the very Goddess he had protected for so long.

  It mattered not to Brahms that had he had done Hel wrong. Even as he had used her for her blood, Brahms had strove to build her a new home, a kingdom she could rule over. He could barely believe she had become so twisted as to pay him back with betrayal. It made him beyond angry, livid and raging but not yet to the point he'd give over to a beserker's rage.

  Silmeria noted with approval that no matter how angry Brahms got, he never once resorted to relying on the parasite to guide his actions. Never did he allow his mind to go blank, to let his fists and fangs be guided by the creature inside him. The creature that only cared about survival and feedings. If the parasite had taken control, Brahms might not have survived. Not with all the oppone
nts around him, all the tempting blood being drawn.

  Most tempting of all was that of the Valkyries. Brahms actually regretted the fact that he couldn't stop to dine on one of the battle maidens. But their blood was dangerous, a sweetly seductive meal that would make him drink without stopping. He'd drain every drop, and never stop until the Valkyrie was dead. Right now, with so many enemies about, he couldn't pause for such a meal. To stop and drink down a Valkyrie was to dance to his own death, his enemies killing him even as he killed a battle maiden.

  It took great restraint on Brahms' part, the parasite rearing inside him. Growling, lusting for all the blood he was spilling. It felt it a waste, that all that blood was not being consumed. Brahms ignored it's orders, still flush on Hel's own blood. He had taken more than enough to last him through this fight, and Brahms would not waste the chance it gave him.

  With a challenging roar, he grabbed hold of a Valkyrie. She struggled against him, eyes flashing with impudent rage. Brahms did not take the time to inhale her scent, did not do anything more than the briefest look at her before the vampire was snapping the Valkyrie's neck. She didn't even make a sound, just went limp in his arms. Another Valkyrie screamed, her anger very real. She swung her battle axe at him, and Brahms used the dead Valkyrie's body to deflect the weapon.

  With a sickening squelch, the axe sunk into the Valkyrie's corpse, shattering open her armor. The axe stuck fast to the body, the other Valkyrie having to abandon her preferred weapon. With her eyes flashing her rage, she drew the sword at her side. Brahms threw the corpse from him, the body slamming into a group of demons. The demons fell over, one being pinned beneath the corpse. But it did not panic, instead sinking it's teeth into the dead Valkyrie's neck, trying to feed off her flesh. Others would make a similar attempt on the body.

  The remaining Valkyries grew incensed when they saw the demons trying to feed off their sister. They saw it as a violation, and they moved to attack. Fighting broke out between both sides. The truce between them had been a tenuous thing, and when the Valkyries began fighting with the demons, that is when things really got out of hand. The demons were not content to be victims of the Valkyries, the memories of the war that had so recently ended bringing out their battle lusts. Brahms was ALMOST forgotten, as a brawl broke out.