Dead Chaos (A Valkyrie Novel - Book 3)(44)

"Well, my dear, it’s very simple. Choose. You get your wings back and thus shall Ragnarok begin. Or you can stay the beginning of the end of the world by forfeiting your wings." Green and purple swirled triumphantly in Loki’s eyes.

My heart thudded so loud in my ears it drowned out the thoughts in my head. Loki was definitely insane. "Why would I ever make such a choice?"

"Because you are the only one who can stop it. Choose." Loki smiled, then came to stand beside me. He circled me, then with a flourish drew a feather from the air, one of my feathers. With it he traced a line along my collar bone to my shoulders, along my back where my wings no longer hung and back again to touch my cheek with the soft edge of the feather. I shuddered, placing my hand inside my pocket and hoping Loki thought nothing of it. I hoped that Tyra would hear me and hurry back because, right now, I really needed saving. "The longer you take, the harder this will be for me, and for you, dear girl. The poison from that wound — don't think I didn't notice — will soon take over your entire body and then it will be too late for anyone to save you. Even Eir, with all her talents, will stand by and watch you die. And as for your little Valkyrie friend over there…" Loki fluttered his fingers at Sigrun where she lay so frighteningly still. "Not much longer for her. So what will it be, Valkyrie? Your wings, or prevent the end of the world?"

I wanted to click my tongue. More than that, I wanted to wrap my fingers around Loki's neck and squeeze the life out of him. He deserved his death. But I knew I wouldn't be the one to carry out that sentence.

"I will not choose."

"Then you will have both punishments. You will lose your wings and so shall Ragnarok begin."

The horror of his words washed over me. There was no way I’d let him start the end of the world because of me. I blinked as Loki shimmered in my vision, became two Loki’s for an instant. I shook my head and there was one of him again. The poison. "Fine. You can have my wings. I will take the nine realms." My heart thudded as I rubbed desperate fingers over the dragon's eye. Why had she left? Had she seen the danger?

Please, Lady Tyra. Come back as fast as you can.

Loki was so unpredictable. Who knew what he'd do now that I made my choice.

"What?" The god scowled. He hadn’t expected that. And now he looked at a loss. But knowing him, he wouldn’t be for too long. "You will really give up a part of you to save the worlds?"

"Yes. Is it so hard for you to understand?" I lifted my chin as a gust of air hit us from above. Snow began to fall and thankfully hid the approach of the dragon queen.

Loki laughed, the sound almost a hysterical cackle. "Valkyrie, you are one of a kind. But you will not win." He extended his palms and began to close both fists, intending to crush both little balls into nothing.

Another great gust of wind blasted into us, and Loki stumbled a few feet backward, the balls both teetering on the edge of his palms. A gigantic dragon flew straight at us, knocking Loki over with its foreleg before making a wide sweep around us.

Both balls fell from Loki's hands and I dropped Gungnir and dove for the ball nearest me, uncaring which one it was. The world teetered and I shuddered, praying I didn’t faint. As soon as I felt my fingers close over it, I rolled over and threw my free hand out to grab the second one.

Loki screeched, his anger mimicking the cry of his raven form.

The dragon swooped down again and I dropped the balls into my satchel, wrenched the bottle of water free and bent to grab Gungnir from the ground. I glanced behind me. Joshua rushed to my back, and Aimee ran to Sigrun, throwing an arm around her waist. In one smooth pass, the dragon reached out and encircled Joshua and I with a clawed foot, giving Aimee and Sigrun’s still form the same treatment. I was glad for my friend’s quick thinking; there would have been no time for them to climb Tyra’s back and find a good perch. Then Tyra flew up and away from the trickster god. Within seconds, his body was a tiny figure amongst dozens of stones strewn in the castle yard.

"We have to go back," I shouted as loudly as I could, blinking at the pull of unconsciousness, at the drunken feeling of the venom in my bloodstream. "There’s something I have to do." As I spoke, I opened the bottle and poured water onto the tip of Gungnir. The dragon tilted her head back and stared at me as if assessing whether to comply. I hefted the spear upward, holding it out away from both my body and the dragon’s scales. "Please. Take me back. I need to give Loki a little message from the Norns."

She seemed to understand, banking left and making a wide turn to head back to the screeching god.

"What are you doing?" Joshua yelled over his shoulder.

"The Norn’s gave me the water from the well." I hollered back, wind surging into my mouth with such force I gasped. "They said Loki must be injured with a weapon dipped in that water. I think it’s meant to slow him down or poison him in some way."

I kept an eye on Loki. I watched him as he stopped hopping around like a lunatic fowl. Watched as he took his opportunity and transformed into the largest, blackest raven I’d ever seen.

He launched off the ground, making a beeline for us as we flew toward him. "When he gets close, make a sharp left so I can reach him with the spear," I yelled to Tyra again and noted the slight tilt of the dragon’s head.

Loki flew straight at us, great ebony wings beating louder and louder as he got closer. It seemed very much as if we were playing chicken, destined for a head-on, mid-air collision.

I sucked in a breath and waited, trusting Tyra to know the right moment to turn. I kept my eyes on Loki, refusing to let him out of my sight. And the next moment, he was there, inches away from me. Around me, I felt Tyra’s back muscles tighten slightly, announcing her intention to turn.

She swept left.

I swiped hard at the trickster god, feeling the edge of the spear slice through feathers and penetrate the flesh of his neck, listening to his screech of pain, of anger, of surprise. I didn't care. All I knew was I’d delivered the water as the Norns requested.

I gripped hard on the spear and tugged it back out of Loki's flesh as fast as I could before he sped by, screeching in fury and pain.

"Let’s go," I shouted against the gusting wind and snow. Tyra made a wide turn and surged upward, her wings working harder to get us moving with speed.

My heart thudded as I looked back, expecting to see Loki hot on our tail, but he wasn’t. The trickster god was falling from the sky, twisting and turning in the wind. He struggled to flap his wings to gain some upward momentum so he didn't hit the ground hard.

He smashed into the yard, barely avoiding impalement on splinter stone. On impact, the Loki-raven shattered into a million black feathers, which swirled and gusted in the wind that seemed to have picked up since Tyra had saved me.

Moments later the feathers cleared, all blown away, to reveal Loki lying sprawled on the ground, a hand to his bleeding neck. He was too far away for me to feel his rage, though. I shuddered, happy I was on my way home.

I wanted to sigh with relief, but wasn't sure if I should move at all. So I remained still until the dragon landed at the Bifrost entrance miles away from the castle. The place was deserted. Tyra circled a clear space, hovering as she deposited the four of us on the ground. She took extra care with Sigrun before landing gracefully on golden clawed feet. Overwhelmed and more than a little affected by the Jotunn poison, I hesitated, unsure how to get down.

For a moment I was so tired I just rested my head on the cold ground. I lay there for a few seconds, fighting the pull of venom-induced unconsciousness, then tried to get back to my feet. I didn't do a very elegant job and luckily Joshua came to my aid, grabbing my arm and helping me to stand. Tyra was too busy to notice me making a fool of myself.

In a shimmering of light, the gigantic bronze dragon transformed into the beautiful Lady Tyra, mother of the equally beautiful Steinn. I couldn’t hold back my cry of relief and gratitude.

"You came." I swayed as I spoke the words.

"Of course, I came." Tyra opened her arms and I could find no reason to rebuff her hug. She squeezed me tight then said, "And what more of a reason to come to your aid, Brynhildr, than to find you have retrieved my Heimdall from captivity. I owe you much, Valkyrie." Tyra held me away for a second, giving me a happy smile. What a difference that smile made to the usual stern dragon matriarch. A smile she also bestowed on Aimee and Joshua, who had both risen to their feet. Then it was gone and she was back to business. "Let us get going before Loki arrives. Despite his injuries, he will no doubt be desperate to get his balls back. And we need to hurry for Sigrun’s sake too." I let go, noting she didn't miss a thing. But I guess she’d had a dragon’s eye view of Loki’s and my entire interaction. A surge of mirth ripped through me at Tyra reference to Loki’s balls, but it was quickly dampened by her mention of Sigrun. I was terrified of losing her.

We waited only a moment for the Bifrost to open and stepped through the shimmering entrance. My head swam as we rode the bridge and I didn't dare close my eyes in case I lost consciousness. I wasn’t entirely sure what happened to a person who fainted on the Bifrost.

And I wasn’t about to find out.