Dead Chaos (A Valkyrie Novel - Book 3) (The Valkyrie Series)

by Ayer, T. G.

  We lay there until the fire sank low. I must have meant to tell Joshua but I fell asleep instead. When I woke, the moving shadows on the wall confirmed someone had built up the fire again. I stretched and froze in mid-motion as my elbow smacked into a broad chest.

  Joshua.

  He’d stayed with me.

  I turned over, careful not to disturb him. The dark lines around his eyes made my heart ache. He’d been so strong and supportive and yet it was so clear he was hurting too. Sigrun had touched many hearts. I turned to face the warmth of the fire and snuggled down among the covers and strolled through my memories of Sigrun.

  When Joshua’s arm snaked around my waist to pull me close, I smiled through a sheen of tears.

  ***

  I woke the next morning with Joshua’s hand on my waist. I smiled. He couldn’t get any closer unless he wanted to smash up against my wings. Turi bustled around the room and didn’t even raise an eyebrow that my bed contained two bodies instead of the usual one. She had brought plenty of breakfast, which both Joshua and I ignored, neither feeling very hungry at all.

  What I did want was a soak in the bathing pools, so I grabbed all my gear and set off to bathe. Turi looked affronted that I planned to dress at the pools, then insisted on coming with me.

  "You can come, but if you offer to bathe me, scrub my back, or wash my hair, I will send you away."

  "Very well, have it your way." Turi scowled as she grabbed my armor and my Valkyrie helmet and followed close on my heels.

  The soak in the heated water was wonderful and I adjusted the pipes until the heat was almost unbearable. Mindful of the time, I finished washing and lathering and scrubbing as quickly as I could while avoiding all my injuries.

  At last, dressed by a silent Turi, I was ready. When I set off for the Valkyrie Hall and Turi followed me, I bit my tongue. I didn’t ask her why she was coming with me. Asgard was her home as much as mine.

  ***

  I arrived at the Valkyrie Hall and found a certain formality greeting me. The einherjar were nowhere in sight and my heart twisted with disappointment. But I understood. They were no doubt in Valhalla, waiting for the procession to pass.

  The room overflowed with Valkyries, all standing perfectly straight in perfectly straight lines. No feathers dared to move. As soon as I entered the room, the Valkyries before me stepped aside to the left and to the right, opening a path that led directly to the boat which held Sigrun.

  I followed the path, moving briskly. I didn’t want to delay anything in case they’d been waiting on me. When I reached the boat, I blinked in surprise. Frigga and Tyra stood beside the boat, accompanied by Freya, dressed head-to-toe in her beautiful golden dress. The garment seemed fashioned from thousands of tiny golden feathers, so despite being gold, the finish was soft instead of smooth.

  My eyes instinctively wanted to search for the vicious Astrid, who was no doubt enjoying our loss very much. But perhaps she’d lost favor with her goddess, as another Valkyrie stood beside her, at attention, her gypsy coloring underlined by her black and silver wings. She gave me a small, kind smile before returning her gaze to attention.

  Today, silver and gray ribbons weaved in and out of the edge of the boat, almost the way a rope would. Eight Valkyrie stood at attention at regular intervals around the vessel, each bearing a long, think rod.

  Freya stepped to the head of the boat, and the Valkyrie general addressed her army.

  I barely listened. She extolled Sigrun’s strengths and virtues, talked about how well she knew her, and the time when Sigrun had first become a Valkyrie. It wasn’t a long speech and soon I had to force my attention to Freya in her blindingly gold dress as she raised her hand.

  When she dropped it, the soft, mournful cries of horns played across the room. The eight Valkyries turned to face the boat at stiff attention. They bowed in one smooth move, then drew their wooden staffs forward, pushing them into the loops created by the silver ribbons. Rods jutted out from all over the boat, providing enough support for the Valkyrie pallbearers to carry it out.

  In one surge, the boat slid from its resting place in the little stepped depression onto the shoulders of the Valkyrie. They moved together as one and stepped toward the doorway where they stopped and waited.

  Freya moved ahead and my gut clenched. I had no idea what to do, where to stand, who to walk with. For a moment, I panicked and then I felt the touch of a hand on my arm. Frigga urged me forward to where Freya stood, watching me; waiting for me.

  I schooled my features, confused but trying not to do anything that would reveal my novice status. I walked to Freya, who turned to the boat and instructed the pallbearers to go. She began to walk off and I followed, falling into step behind Freya. I thought I was meant to walk beside her assistant, but when the dark-haired Valkyrie slowed her steps to fall in behind me, I began to wonder what was going on. It seemed I’d gained a higher status while I’d been gone. One nobody had informed me of.

  The army of Valkyrie moved as one, each step left and right could be heard as a loud swoosh, broken by the soft footed stamp of leather soles on the ground. We filed into the passage standing two abreast, the pallbearers fitting without so much as an inch to spare on each side.

  They moved ahead slowly, and we reached the exit sooner than I’d expected. Outside, the morning light glinted on the silver-ribboned boat, glancing off the bronzed headpieces of the Valkyries and off Freya’s now-blindingly golden dress.

  The procession slowed to a halt and I glanced about, curious. The neighing of horses drew my attention to my right. Three Sleipnir stood waiting, draped in silver chainmail. They stood very still, almost as if they understood the solemnity of the occasion. One of the horses looked familiar and I blinked.

  Ara?

  What was she doing here?

  In front of me, Freya approached the horses. A Valkyrie hurried forward with what looked like a large stool which the goddess used to mount the first horse, so pitch-black it looked almost like a hulking shadow.

  A rustling behind me drew my attention as Frigga draped herself so elegantly on the back of a grey, so luminous it gleamed almost silver.

  Ara looked at me, almost expectantly, her liquid black eyes never leaving my face.

  "Come, Bryn." Frigga’s voice was so soft I almost didn't hear her as she beckoned me.

  I hurried to Ara, using the stool the Valkyrie brought to me and arranging myself atop my mount’s back. I laid a hand on Ara’s warm back and held the reins as the Sleipnir moved forward to walk behind the two goddesses.

  My ears rang with the shock of the honor I’d been given. But I couldn’t enjoy it much. The procession moved in somber silence away from the palace toward Valhalla, the Valkyrie Army behind us now walking eight-abreast as the path widened. My thoughts went to Odin, whose heart would ache with the knowledge he couldn’t be here for Sigrun’s farewell.

  In the distance, the aurora borealis shimmered and twisted in the pale sky. It almost felt like we were walking to the lights as it hovered just above, as if waiting for us.

  Soon the procession reached the path that led up the small mountain on which Valhalla was built where it came to a halt. The Glasir tree glowed as if blessing Sigrun with her golden light and I bit back tears. I would not cry. I refused to show weakness. Staring at the tree, I felt the strangest sensation in my gut. An odd pull as if the tree were calling to me.

  I shifted in my seat, then hesitated only for a moment, throwing my leg over Ara’s back and sliding slowly to the ground. A quick glance at Freya confirmed she didn’t mind my breaking away from the procession. I hurried up the hill and stopped beneath the spreading branches of the gigantic rowan tree. The silence beneath its branches seemed almost palpable and I stood there, remembering the time Sigrun had first introduced me to the Glasir. I smiled and laid a palm on the rough bark, letting my thoughts fly to the past.

  But a small sound disturbed my thoughts. A slight clicking. I listened and heard it again. The sound
s of a leaf freeing itself from Glasir’s branches. I looked up but couldn’t see anything. So I just remained still. If the tree was gifting me with a leaf a second time, the golden leaf would come to me of its own accord.

  And it did.

  And there were two.

  They came floating down before me, slowly as if they swayed on a soft and invisible breeze. I held out my hands and each leaf landed within a palm. My heart thudded as I stared at the twin leaves glistening in the center of each of my hands. I smiled as I felt a lilt to my heartbeat. The Glasir had given me a leaf for Sigrun. This time, tears did fill my eyes as I looked up at the branches and whispered my thanks.

  I scraped the moisture away from my eyes with the backs of my hands and headed down the hill. I climbed onto Ara’s back and rejoined the procession just in time.

  A thundering emanated from up the hill and my heart clenched, not sure what to expect. The Valkyries continued to walk ahead, not missing a step as the army of einherjar flowed over the hill and merged with the procession, flanking the lines of Valkyries four aside as they passed. Soon, a column of Valkyries and einherjar marched sixteen abreast toward the roiling green-and-purple sky.

  We didn’t have much farther to go. The path began to descend to the lake that sat at the farthest end of Asgard's inner city grounds. The lake was so wide we couldn’t see the other side. A shiver ran down my spine as I realized what they were intending to do with Sigrun’s body.

  A traditional Warrior’s funeral.

  ***

  We dismounted, leaving the Sleipnir up on the hill and gathered at the shoreline as the pallbearers laid the boat down on the sandy beach. Above us it seemed the aurora borealis hung lower than ever. The horns had ceased blowing and silence and the slap of waves mixed in a strained partnership.

  Movement around me announced my team’s arrival. I glanced at Joshua and Aimee as they flanked me. I’d hoped they’d be remembered as Sigrun’s friends and when I looked up I knew they would never have been forgotten.

  Fenrir had arrived.

  The General of the Ulfr Army had arrived in full regalia, including his helmet that hid most of his face. I looked up the hill behind me to find lines of Ulfr coming up between the lines of einherjar and Valkyries.

  My throat spasmed on a sob. What a beautiful tribute. I didn't know if it was standard procedure for funerals, but it was a beautiful sight to behold. All three armies standing side by side, merged in their honoring of a fellow Warrior’s passing.

  At last, silence fell upon the great gathering as Freya took her place beside the boat.

  "We are here today to honor a Warrior. One who will be sorely missed. One who was a treasure to both Asgard’s and Hel’s Valkyrie contingents. Valkyrie Sigrun." A line of Valkyries walked into the clearing beside the boat, each bearing bundles of wood and rushes. They set about placing their bundles in the boat while the armies watched in silence. Another step closer to the end.

  When the Valkyries had completed their task, they filed back up the hill and Freya turned to the boat. The pallbearers seemed to take her movement as their cue. They drew the vessel up off the ground in one smooth movement and walked straight into the water.

  I clenched my fists, hating the finality of it. And then I remembered the leaf as its edges cut into the skin of my palm.

  I moved without thinking. Leaving Aimee and Joshua, I hurried to the boat and stepped into the waves, uncaring that water would soon soak into my leather sandals. I paused beside the boat and my eyes took in Sigrun’s face. Her hands were folded onto her chest, and within her fingers, she held the hilt of her sword.

  At a loss as to where to place the leaf, I hesitated, then placed it at the base of her throat. Had she worn it as a necklace, that’s where it would sit right now. Perfect.

  I took one last look at my dearest friend and waded out of the water back to my team. The pallbearers followed me and took positions at the edge of the waterline. A rush of boot steps interrupted us as a small group of black-garbed einherjar arrived, pulling a cart bearing bows and arrows.

  They drew closer to us and handed a bow and arrow each to Fen and me. The arrows were tipped with thickly wound rushes similar to a torch.

  "Follow my lead," Fen said as he came up beside me. I watched him, grasped the arrow as he did, and followed him to the cart, which held a barrel filled with black liquid, oil. Fen dipped the rushes into the oil and waited for me to do the same. Done, I stood beside him as a Warrior lit a torch. Behind me, I heard the rush of air as many more torches were lit.

  A glance behind us confirmed the hillside was filled with brightly lit torches. Another beautiful tribute.

  I turned my attention to the Warrior who approached and touched his torch to the rushes on our arrows. Both flamed in an angry burst. Fen held the burning arrow and walked to the edge of the water. While we’d been busy with the arrows, the boat containing Sigrun had ridden the waves farther into the lake.

  I drew up beside him and placed the arrow in the bow, ready to shoot it with Fen.

  Fen’s face remained hidden, his emotions safely tucked away behind his helmet. I supposed the same applied to me, but I wanted to comfort him in some way.

  When he lifted his bow, he brought me back to the present. I raised my bow in time with Fen.

  "Ready?" He glanced over at me and I met his gaze, giving him the tiniest nod.

  He turned back to the lake and settled into a concentrated state. He breathed, drew back and let go. And I let him be the one to light the fire first.

  I only shot my arrow after the first flames began to burn on the boat in the middle of the lake.

  I shot the arrow and whispered good-bye to the best friend I’d ever had.

  ***

  Chapter 44

  Aimee, Joshua and I walked away from the lake, and I couldn't think of anything I wanted to do rather than go back to my room and curl up on my bed. But my need to mope was curtailed by a Huldra who hurried toward our silent group as we approached the palace doors. She smiled, although her grin didn't display the usual Huldra cheer.

  "Valkyrie Brynhildr, you are requested in Odin's hall. It is a matter of utmost urgency." I nodded my thanks.

  We hurried to Odin's hall in silence, my thoughts focused more on everything that had happened the last few weeks. We’d identified Loki as a threat, one who now seemed very threatened by me, very angered by my choices. I didn't really care though. But we couldn't deny that Loki was still a danger.

  At least Heimdall and Gjallerhorn were both home and the gods could be summoned as soon as Ragnarok threatened our peace.

  As we drew closer, Joshua's fingers squeezed mine and I realized we'd been holding hands the entire time. Joshua had been giving me silent strength all along. He’d been relentless in his friendship with me. Always honest, always open. He’d been my protector and my savior so many times. And to know he would be there for me in the future made my heart swell to almost painful. "Do you want us with you? The summons had been only for you."

  "Yes, you guys come with me. I'm alone enough as it is."

  "You'll never be alone, Bryn." Aimee's voice was firm as she squeezed my arm. She let go as we entered the open doors to the hall of the All-Father.

  I hadn't expected so many people.

  Heimdall and Tyra, Frigga and Eir. Even Thor and his brother Vidarr all gathered at the dais before one of the thrones. My heart lurched when I thought perhaps Odin had returned. But he was still stuck in the in-between place which made him neither alive nor dead.

  As we approached, the group drew apart to welcome us. None seemed annoyed that I'd brought reinforcements.

  Frigga reached a hand out to me. "Brynhildr, there is someone here to see you." She took my hand and guided me to the dais and I gasped in surprise and joy to see Odin seated on his throne. I climbed the dais to stand beside him, uncaring if it seemed rude to pounce upon the god now that he had finally returned to us.

  "My lord, you are really here." My eyes
ran over him, taking the slight fuzziness to his body. "But what's wrong? You're not solid."

  "I am here, Bryn, but I still remain intangible, non-corporeal. I haven't yet found a way to return fully from my mercurial prison."

  My gaze flitted to Hugin and Munin sitting on the armrests on either side of Odin. And Geri and Freki, who lay at Odin's feet. I smirked. His pets knew where they belonged. When I realized Odin held Gungnir in his shadowy fist, I frowned. I'd lost track of the spear, having been unconscious for a while. The last I recalled seeing it was on the Bifrost with Tyra returning from Jotunnheim.

  I said nothing though. The spear hadn't been mine to begin with. Neither were the wolves or the birds.

  "My lord, what can I do for you? Tell me what I need to do to save you." I almost begged him. I’d just lost my dearest friend. I didn’t think I could bear to lose Odin.

  Odin shook his head. "Breaking Loki’s magic is not for you to concern yourself with, my dear. Quite honestly, this is between Loki and myself. But, I am able to return home now, if only for a short amount of time."

  I smiled. A short time is so much better than none at all.

  Odin leaned forward and tilted the spear to me. "Take it, it is yours henceforth."

  "But —"

  "Brynhildr it is time you knew who you really are." Odin rose and stood before me, placing one hand on my shoulder. It felt strange to have his almost-solid hand on my body. Sort of warm, sort of weightless. "You have the genes of Brunhilde in your veins. To us in the nine realms, this means you are one and the same. And because of this, the truth must be revealed." Odin paused, turning to the gods and Warriors gathered. "Behold, people of Asgard, Brynhildr, Valkyrie and daughter of Odin."

  Someone gasped. It could have been me but I had no idea.

  Daughter of Odin. It made no sense.

  And yet it made perfect sense.

  Everything made sense: the way Odin had acted from the beginning, personally sending Sigrun to bring me to Asgard, watching over me, even taking me to Hel to deliver the elixir to save Aidan. How he’d entrusted me with Hugin, and then his wolves and spear.