“Yes,” she said after she breathed in through her teeth. “You will not live to battle me, but if you do, then I will allow you to use your own weapons.”
“What about our armor,” I said. “Will we use our aegis?”
“No,” Skuld said, and the other women nodded. “We fight without the aid of Odin’s magic.”
“Excellent,” I said, and then I turned to the exit of the room and gestured for Madalena, Sivaha, Lux, and Calisto to follow me.
The guards met us in the hallway, but the door to the meeting hall had been open, so they knew that they were taking me to the colosseum. We followed them as they began to walk down the long corridor.
“I might not have time to talk between the matches,” I whispered to my entourage. “What do I need to know about each of these women I am fighting?”
“Hildr will choose a pulse rifle,” Madalena said as we slowed our steps so that our escorts were a bit farther ahead. “Only one magazine of ammunition. She can hit a centimeter wide target at two hundred meters.”
“Well, that’s bad news,” I said.
“She was my mentor,” Lux said. “She will try to keep you at a distance. The colosseum might be set up with zones for cover. Since you both will only have limited shots, you should work on pressing your attack quickly so that she does not have a chance to dig in and set your position.”
“So charge ahead?” I asked as I smirked at Lux.
“It is not very good advice,” the dark-haired woman said with a shrug, “but it is the best advice I have.”
“Next is Gondul,” I said. “She seems pretty fucking pissed at me.”
“Yes, she is angry,” Madalena agreed. “She picked the revolvers since you already wear a pair. She means to humble you with your own weapon. She is prideful, but cunning.”
“Is she a good shot?” I asked.
“Yes,” the three Valkyries said in unison.
“So how do I beat her?” I asked.
“She will not pick revolvers like yours,” Madalena said. “You should take the opposite strategy from Hildr, try to move away from her, gain cover, and then use the stronger bullets to punch through the area where she is behind cover.”
“It will be hard not to kill her if I’m putting these big ass bullets through the wall where she is hiding,” I said.
“Do not pull your punches,” Madalena said. “They did not have to fight you.”
“Yeah, you said that before,” I replied.
“Show them no mercy,” Lux said. “They will show you none.”
“Got it,” I said as I wondered why I wasn’t feeling a bit more nervous. My heart should have been slamming six ways to Sunday in my chest. It wasn’t like I was going to a dance club. These six women were part of the most powerful order of the most elite warriors in the human systems, and I had to fight six of them in a row.
All so I could save the lives of countless people.
“Skuld?” I asked. “I don’t really know how to shoot a bow, so she might be the hardest.”
“You might need to shift,” Sivaha said, and the other women nodded.
“Bows have an optimal range of fewer than twenty meters,” Madalena said. “Skuld picked the weapon because she guessed that you were unskilled with it. She will stand behind partial cover, and then calmly shoot at you. Stay as mobile as you can until she uses most of her arrows. Then she will attempt to get in closer.”
“Got it,” I replied. “Geirskogul?”
“She was born with a spear in her hand,” Calisto sighed.
“If you somehow make it through the first three without shifting, you will need to shift with her,” Lux said. “Out of tens of thousands of Valkyries, only three have ever matched her with the spear.”
“Who?” I asked.
“Skuld, Nikki, and the Prime Valkyrie,” Lux said.
“I thought Nikki quit--”
“After she became Valkyrie, she decided to marry,” Madalena interrupted me.
“You can heal quickly when you are in your other form?” Calisto whispered.
“Yes,” I replied.
“Let her get the best of you early in the fight,” the strawberry-blonde woman said with a surprising amount of anger tugging at her voice. “Then you can use your healing to recover and beat her when her confidence changes to overconfidence.”
“Hmmm,” Lux said. “I suppose that is a sound strategy if Adam can heal before the next match.”
“I’ll be fine,” I said. “I don’t like the idea of taking a beating intentionally, but I need to win. What about Gunnr?”
“She was Skyad,” Sivaha said. “I guess that she will charge at you with her axe and scream loudly until one of you is dead.”
The other three women turned to my wife, and Sivaha smirked.
“I know you were making a jest, but that is actually quite accurate,” Madalena said.
“Of course it is accurate!” Sivaha laughed. “I know my own. We charge ahead to kill all that stand in our way.”
“So, how do I beat her?” I asked.
“Keep your distance,” Madalena said. “You are quick in your shifted form. Stay out of range. Her instincts will put her at odds with her aging body, and she will tire.”
“She looked in pretty good shape,” I said. “They all did.”
“She will be strong at the start of the match,” Lux said. “Be defensive and wait for an opportunity to counterattack.”
“Yes,” Sivaha said. “However, don’t take the first opportunity. Everyone thinks my people are berserkers, and we are, but we realize that is what the other clans think of us, and we often make feints to trap our opponents. Husband, ensure she is really tired before you press your attack.”
“Got it,” I said. “Last is Skogul.”
“The longsword is an effective weapon at all distances,” Madalena said. “It is weakest up close in grappling range.”
“Try to lock up her guard with your sword,” Calisto said, “then get in close and wrestle her to the ground.”
“How many hours have you spent with the longsword?” Lux asked me. “I have never seen you in the training room with one.”
“I’ve spent about two minutes with one,” I said as I recalled the dream where I killed the SAVO with the two-handed blade.
Lux frowned, and the four women were silent for a dozen footsteps.
“It will be fine,” I said, and the tiger in my soul growled with agreement. It couldn’t wait to unleash its anger on the women that stood between me and the unification of the Nordar people.
The guards reached the end of the hallway and then opened a pair of wooden double doors. The sunlight cut into the hallway, and I had to blink a few times as I stepped out into a grassy field. We were standing at what looked like the side entrance to a grand colosseum, and the stone spectator stands rose a good twenty meters high on all sides of the field. There was easily room for ten thousand people to sit, and I felt my heart leap into my chest when I saw that every seat looked to be filled with a woman wearing Valkyrie armor.
They all looked down at me with curious eyes, yet despite the thousands of observers, I couldn’t hear a single murmur from the crowd.
There wasn’t even a breeze blowing.
“This means that they will not go easy on you,” Calisto whispered.
“That’s okay,” I replied. “I don’t plan on them cutting me any slack.”
The center stage of the colosseum was about two hundred square meters. The center area of the grass was open, but two-meter tall stone columns, waist-high barriers, and shorter shooting shelves were sporadically placed fiftyish meters from the center, and then increased in placement density closer to the edges of the grass.
I’d been in countless battles, shootouts, and combat training simulations in my life, and it only took me a few moments to identify the various choke points, flanking positions, and superior spots for cover. My confidence increased as I studied the layout of the arena, but there was also
a bit of nagging fear starting to develop in the back of my mind. I was experienced with this, but this was the home turf of the six women I would be fighting, and I doubted that a few minutes of study would give me any sort of advantage over them.
The only advantage I would really have was that they would underestimate me.
A chime sounded throughout the colosseum, and the six head Valkyries walked into the grassy field from the other side of the arena. Except for Gondul, they all carried a spare weapon for me, and they moved toward us in a solemn procession. The crowd of observers remained silent as the bells chimed, but then everyone in the audience stood when The Six halted two meters from me.
“A challenge has been issued against the Six!” Skuld shouted after the chimes stopped ringing. “A Valkyrie submits to no man besides the All Father, so the request must be met with blood and battle.”
The gathered women let out a sound that sounded like “Hoh,” which resonated through the air like rolling thunder.
“This is no mere man, though,” Skuld continued. “This is King of the Vaish and husband of our beloved Prime Valkyrie. This is a dark day for our order, and those of you in the stands are about to watch the end of a clan.”
“Over dramatic cunt,” Sivaha hissed under her breath, and despite the slight bit of apprehension I was starting to feel, my lips curled into a smile.
“Hildr, the war and the death will be first to accept Vaish’s challenge,” Skuld said, and the woman with pigtails stepped forward.
The crowd let out another thunderous grunt, but then the colosseum was silent again.
I unbuckled my gun belt, handed my rig to Lux, and then I stepped forward to face the black-haired Valkyrie.
Hildr had two pulse rifles slung over her shoulder and she gestured for me to choose one of them. They both looked identical, but I picked the one in her left hand and then gave it a quick inspection after she handed it to me.
“King Vaish, please take your position at the circle closest to us.” Skuld pointed toward the center of the arena field, and I saw two small clusters of rocks spaced about ten meters from each other.
“Wait,” Madalena said, and I turned toward her as she wrapped her hands around my neck. Her lips devoured mine urgently, and I returned her passion eagerly. I was lost in her for a few wonderful moments, but then her lips pulled away from mine so that she could whisper in my ear. “I love you, and I believe in you.”
“Thanks,” I whispered back as a shiver of pleasure descended my spine. We stared into each other’s eyes for a few moments, and then the Prime Valkyrie let me go so that Sivaha could press herself into my arms.
The silver-haired woman kissed me with the same amount of passion as Madalena had, but her nails dug into my back with an urgency. She bit my lip when we finished kissing and then she ran her tongue across my cheek before nipping my earlobe. “Gut these bitches, husband. All who stand in your way must pay the price.”
I nodded at her as she pushed away from me and then I gave Lux and Calisto a smile and nod when they saluted.
Then I turned and walked beside Hildr to the circles of stone.
“Face each other!” Skuld’s voice boomed across the colosseum, and I turned to face the woman that I would soon fight. The rifle felt light in my hands, and my thumb flicked the safety off.
Hildr bowed, and I returned her movement as the audience grunted.
“Face away from each other!” Skuld shouted, and I turned away from my opponent so that I faced the wall of the arena.
All I could hear was the sound of my heart slamming blood into my ears. All I could feel was the weight of the rifle in my hand. All I could see was the distant wall that surrounded the killing ground.
All I could remember was the feeling of Sivaha’s nails digging into my back, Madalena’s lips pressed against mine, Eve’s fingers as she traced my face and Zea’s laughter in my ear.
“Begin at the chime!” Skuld shouted.
I waited.
Then the chime sang.
Chapter 9
A split-second after the chime rang out I dove hard to my left as I swung my pulse rifle around under me. Hildr was sprinting toward me from my nine o’clock direction, but she also had her rifle raised, and a stream of blue fire left the nozzle of her weapon as I squeezed my trigger.
Her shots missed my shoulder by what I guessed was a few centimeters, but I got luckier, and one of my energy bullets nicked her leg as she ran away from me. She stumbled a bit, but she never stopped firing her weapon, and I had to roll on the ground to my right to avoid getting cut in half by another firehose spray from her weapon.
I only had one magazine of ammo, so I released the trigger as I rolled to keep from wasting ammo. The valkyrie didn’t seem to care about her own ammo, and her stream of plasma almost clipped me an instant before I managed to roll behind a waist high stone barrier.
I’d scored the first hit, but I was in a bit of trouble since I had taken cover first and I didn’t know her exact position. She could keep me pinned down while she moved if I didn’t act fast, so I held my rifle up over the edge and squeezed a few bursts out in the direction where she last shot at me from.
Then I threw myself to my feet and sprinted toward the next closest pillar of cover.
I knew I was going to miss her with my shots, but that wasn’t the point. I just needed to buy myself half a moment’s time, and my plan worked. She had leaned back behind her own pillar when I fired and I was able to get another burst off right at the edge of where she stood as I ran.
Hildr took another shot at me before I could make it to my cover, but I was moving faster than she expected, and I slid to safety before she could make another shot with the correct lead.
Then I slid behind my new hiding spot, set my back against the wall, and took a deep breath.
Silence descended on the colosseum.
Hildr knew where I was. I knew where she was. I also knew she was injured, but it was a leg wound that I didn’t think had done much to stop her.
I looked down at the top of my rifle below the sight and saw the number “33” displayed in digital lights. I’ve shot seventeen times and guessed that she had shot about twice as much. I doubted that she had more than twenty shots left in her magazine, so I guessed that she would be a little more frugal moving forward.
I leaned out the left side of my cover, then leaned back and twisted around the other side quickly. I hadn’t switched the grip on my rifle, so I couldn’t really get a shot, but I just wanted to double check her location and see how fast her reactions were.
Hildr took the bait for my first feint, but she also shot at my second position much faster than I would have ever imagined, and I had to throw myself back behind the column as her bullet burnt the hair on the side of my temple.
If I had been half an instant slower, she would have melted a hole through my skull.
A second pulse round hit the stone of the column where I hid, and I punched my hand out the other side before yanking it back behind cover. She took the bait, but I could feel the heat of the pulse bullet as is darted past my retreating fist.
Fucking shit, she was a crazy good shot.
But she was also running out of ammo.
I counted to three and then darted the corner of my head out from behind the right corner again as I fired at her location. She was actually leaning out from the side of her column pointing at my location, but it seemed like she was sighting on the other side of my column. It gave me a tenth of a second head start to aim on her, and my shot left my rifle just as she was twisting her barrel over a few centimeters to aim at me.
I’d always been a good shot, and my skill held true with the unfamiliar weapon. The blue energy bullet scraped the side of her left hip, and I heard her hiss from across the clearing the same time as her bullet smacked into the rock next to my face and bounced past my nose.
I almost ducked back behind the column for cover, but that would have been a mistake since my opponent had
twisted away for cover. I took the opportunity to sprint right toward another cluster of columns that was a bit closer to her position.
I kept my rifle aimed at her position as I ran to my new destination, and she tried to poke her shoulder out so that she could shoot at me. I opened up with my weapon and peppered her column with a spray of blue rain. Hildr fell back away from me, and the tiger screamed for blood in my mind.
Then I got a crazy idea and decided to go with it.
I pivoted on the grass like a professional ballplayer and sprinted toward Hildr instead of toward the columns where I had wanted to go a few moments before.
Blood rushed through my body, and my breath flooded through my lungs like a turbine. The tactic to beat Hildr was to close the distance, but this was incredibly risky. She’d either think I was still heading toward the columns behind me and aim in that direction, or she’d realize I was bull rushing her column like an idiot, and blow a hole through my chest without much hassle.
It would all depend on how quickly I could get to her, so I pushed my legs to hammer into the soft grass harder.
I almost screamed with relief when I made it to Hildr’s column without her shooting me, but then I realized that I had another problem: I didn’t know which side of the column she was facing, and I might round the corner only to get a face full of pulse bullets.
I coiled my legs beneath me and sprang toward the two meter tall cap of the stone pillar. I wasn’t as strong as I was in my shifted tiger-man form, but I still possessed superhuman strength, and my running jump carried my hips up to the top edge of the column. My momentum was impressive, so all I needed to do was put my left hand on the top of the stone, push, swing my legs up, and I’d flip over the thing like a gymnast vault.
As I did that, I chucked the rifle I held in my right hand down into Hildr’s surprised face.
I didn’t get to see my weapon hit her in the face since I was flipping over the column, but I did hear it connect with a painful sounding thud. I spun through the air once, somehow landed on my feet, rolled, and then kicked off one of the waist high stone blocks so that I could fall on her.
But then I saw Hildr unconscious on the ground with blood flowing out of her skull, and I realized that I’d won.
Teeth & Claws_A Paranormal Space Opera Adventure Page 13
