The Valkyrie Chronicles: Titans (9 page)

Arina was calling to me from inside the main gates between the two locked down shields that we were using as a quarantine area for the refugees that had come down from the Elivagar.  “Kat, the antigen has run its course on the Olympians and the software upgrade to the Asgard nanites has been confirmed on the rest.  They are free of the nano-phage influence.”

She lowered her scanner and dropped her bubble shield she was using while out among the refugees.  Kroth!  She's always taking chances. Our people have been under the influence for a day, the Olympians for eons, there was no telling what kind of psychological effect that had or even the possibility of Stockholm Syndrome.  I sent a reprimand across our nano-link.  She shrugged and blushed in apology.

I used my ruling caste override on the shield and allowed one-way access from the citadel side through the secondary shield.  No more than a moment later and healers were pouring through to examine the refugees with food and blankets.  An Einherjer went with each.

Inatra, Artemis, and I stepped through and we each took turns and each laid the back of a hand on Arina's cheek.  She blushed profusely and Inatra hissed at her in frustration then said sternly, “You take too many chances love.”

Arina just smiled cutely as she shrugged. “They are our people.”

I cocked an eyebrow and corrected her. “Some of them are.”

Arina turned and smiled at our Olympian archer. “Artemis is loved as family, and these are her people, so I believe you are wrong Kat.  All of these are our people.”  She swept her arms wide toward the hundreds of men in the area.

I blinked, the Little One has done it again.  Her impulsiveness.  She is Odin's daughter as I am and we speak with Odin's voice.  So what she had just invoked was basically making our people's one.  Father was going to have a conniption fit!  Then I looked around at all the disoriented men with their strong Olympian features then to Artemis.  I loved her like a sister and I knew Arina, with her big heart, was right as always.

I nodded and said, “You are right Little One.  The Olympians are our people, sure as blood.”  Inatra was smirking and shaking her head.  I smirked at her. “I'll smooth things over with father, no need to look so smug Ina.”  She smiled back and Artemis just looked stunned.

My thoughts shot back to Kara.  There was a vice on my heart, my Verr could not reach her or even determine if she yet lived.  I could feel a ghost of a beating she was taking through our nanite link.  I almost broke at feeling the love of my life taking the blows.  But then it stopped and I couldn't feel her anymore.

Father keeps reminding me that Rhea needs Kara and that the Wild One is resourceful and a survivor.  I knew that more than most, my wife had walked through even death itself to defend the innocents of the galaxy and the people she loves.

I turned to look at the Refugees and shook my head.  We still didn't know how Kara had secured their release.  She hadn't been on the enemy vessel for more than ten minutes before men started being deposited at our doorstep by Jotunn transport beams.

I heard Artemis' breath hitch beside me and I looked over and her eyes were wide and a hand was covering her mouth.  Then she took off running through the crowd to embrace a man I recognized from the Titan transmissions, her brother Eros!

I couldn't stop smiling, even with the almost overwhelming shadow of my concern for Kara enveloping me.  I was witnessing a reunion of family that was a long time coming. The brother and sister had not seen each other since before the Asgard race even came to be.  I couldn't imagine that kind of joy.

I took a moment to watch them speaking then I turned my gaze to the sky.  I would bring my wife home or die trying.  I would show Rhea the fury of a human Valkyrie if I had to walk through hell to get to her.

Father was suddenly on coms, his voice clear and measured, I knew he harbored the same thoughts as me though it brought shame to him thinking about bringing violence upon another.  “Kat, Rhea is hailing us.  You are now First Valkyrie so all defensive matters fall to you.”

I acknowledged then I looked to the dome shield as father was projected on half of it and Rhea occupied the other half.  When things were tense, father always did this for transparency sake, so that the citizens knew why certain decisions were made.

Father spoke, “This is Odin.”

Rhea smiled like she was speaking to an old friend and said, “Now that I have the weapon I need, I will be leaving your system once I have broken your pesky little Valkyrie.”  She yanked on a glowing ribbon of energy and my heart stopped when Kara stumbled into the picture.  Her face was covered in blood, the flesh was swollen and almost hamburger around her nose.  One of her eyes didn't focus well and I could see portions of her skull where her scalp was torn away.

Rhea looked down at her and smiled. “We're having such fun aren't we pet?”

The corner of Kara's mouth quirked up in a sneer. She said in a voice that reminded me so much of the Demon, it didn't sound Asgard, “As my friends from Earth would say Rhea... fuck you.”

I couldn't help it, my mouth quirked into a smile, her defiance was a given but I had never heard her use that term more than once or twice in the millennia we have been together.  Mostly I smiled because she was still alive and being Kara.  I'm confident Rhea didn't understand what she said, but knew it was a derision so she backhanded Kara, who flew off-screen.

Then she looked at father. “I would have just left now and sterilized the planet upon our exit from this system, but my new pet is full of delightful games.  She had informed me that she would die before helping me if I harmed a single person on that dreadful little speck of dirt.  So I will break her first, then after that I will make her watch as I destroy you all before we go hunting for Jotunn for her to kill.”

Father started to respond, but Rhea just said, “Now to see just how much pain this little Valkyrie can take.” She cut the transmission.  I stared the blank dome and heat flowed through me.  I shrieked out my rage and struck down at the ground.  The rock below my feet cracked but a moment later the red in my vision faded as I found myself in a firm hug from Arina.  I took a deep cleansing breath then hugged her back.

I centered myself and pushed away gently, my calm returning and gave her a reassuring smile.  We needed to continue planning our rescue attempt, only now things were much simpler, we needed only rescue one person.  Right now, we needed information about what had happened up there and any tactical information any of the former slaves could give us.

I turned to a large Ragnarok that had armor on, being a warrior, he would most likely have seen something useful.  Then I glanced around at the Olympians, they would have the most valuable information.  I would talk with Artemis later to see if they would help us.  I spoke calmly to the Ragnarok, “How did Kara secure your freedom?”

He had a fierce pride when he growled out,  “She would not cow to the Titan witch.  She threatened her with the Hammer of Thor unless she released us from her witchery.  We truly had no control over ourselves, she was so... persuasive.”  He smiled in memory then shook his head and growled like a wolf in rage.

I blinked at the man. “The Hammer of Thor?  But that technology was lost to the ages with the death of Thor.”

He shook his head. “I witnessed it with my own eyes, the Demon stood before the Titan Queen wielding the Hammer in her hands.  The Wild One has no fear!”  It still looked odd to me even after all these years, a Ragnarok showing such pride in a Valkyrie.  Once sworn enemies now the most inseparable allies.

But what was the man talking about, there was no Hammer.  Then my eyes snapped wide, I had thought my mate had a screw loose when she had retrieved Samantha's Jack in the Box.  She wouldn't... she didn't... did she?  I remembered her poker comment and started laughing almost hysterically.  I grasped at the man for support as I laughed.  He was looked at me in confusion, but my laughter got the man smiling.  I started pounding on his chest in mirth, then tried to normalize my breathing.  Giggling a little bit more, then I grasped the man's forearm.

He tilted his head at me. “What is it little Valkyrie?”

I spoke, my voice threatening to break into laughter again, “There is no Hammer of Thor.  It does not exist.  Kara, the Wild One... she just outplayed the leader of the Titans.  She secured your release with a child's toy!”

The man looked down on me as the realization dawned on his face.  He asked, “ A deception?  A lie?”  I nodded and then the man chuckled and shook his head.  I winked up at the man and released his arm and stepped away, looking around.  I brought two fingers to my lips and whistled shrilly, stopping the din of conversation all around.

I spoke loudly and with authority,  “I am Kate, the Raging Storm.  First Valkyrie of Earth and Asgard.  Any men...”  I glanced at a single Asgard woman not far from me, “ ...and ladies that hail from the citadel, please return to your homes.  Healers will follow up with you at your quarters soon.”  I tilted my head expectantly at the closest healer and she nodded in acknowledgment.

Then I continued, “Olympians, our honored guests.  You will need to remain in quarantine for a bit longer until our healers can clear you.  Then quarters will be assigned to you.  I will need to speak with the highest ranking among you.  Thank you for your patience, and welcome to Valhalla, welcome to freedom.”

There was some cheering and I grabbed the Ragnarok man as he started to leave.  “I'll need to speak with you as well...”  I left the question hanging.

“Rosig,” he rumbled.  Oh, from the Ro line, not many of them are left after The Culling.

I nodded. “Rosig.  Well met.”

He smiled back, inclined his head, and said, “Well met, Shadow Fang.”  I grinned at the old title the Ragnarok had given me so very long ago before they knew my true name.  I was amazed anyone was around that actually knew it besides Ina.

I backhanded him in the gut playfully. “Call me Kat.”  He growled deeply but grinned.  Then I released the lock-down on the secondary shield and looked around to see Artemis making her way through the thinning crowd to me with her brother in tow.

They stepped up to me.  A smiling Artemis, who had her arm looped in her bother's said, “Kat, I would like you to meet my brother Eros, the highest ranking among the Olympians here.  Like me, he is of what you would call the ruling caste of Olympus.”  Then she released his arm and turned to him, “Brother, this is Kate the Raging Storm.  Now First Valkyrie of Asgard in Kara's stead.”

He smiled broadly, he, like all the other Olympians surrounding us, was a gorgeous specimen of a man.  He still had a slightly fogged over look in his eyes as he tried to process his freedom. We grasped forearms and he said with amazement, “You must be gods yourself, I am sorry Raging Storm, this is a lot to process.  It is as if we are coming out of a long sleep where we had no control of ourselves.  A nightmare that had no end.”

I grinned at him. “Well met Eros.  Please address me as Kat, and the Asgard are no gods.”

He squinted. “But on the Elivagar, that small warrior woman held a device that could take down the Titan gods.  None has ever wielded the power to bring down a Titan Star Killer until she arrived on the ship.”

I snorted and covered my mouth in embarrassment, then said, “That was naught but a child's toy.  It was a bluff, a deception, to win your freedom.”  I still couldn't believe that Kara had pulled a Corbomite Maneuver on the Titans.  Then I squinted as a hardness entered my voice. “My mate traded herself to free the people enslaved on the Elivagar.  Now we, in turn, must free her.”  My heart ached knowing the woman I loved was still on that accursed vessel.

He blinked, trying to process it, it was clear that eons under Rhea's power had fogged his mind. “A deception?”  Then he paled and said almost in a whisper, “Then you truly do not have the power to bring down a Jotunn vessel?  We still cannot bring the fight to the Titans?”

I didn't know what to say to the man, but Artemis looked up with a predatory smirk on her face. “She did not say that brother.  The women of Valhalla, the Valkyrie, are the most formidable warriors and dangerous living weapons that ever walked the galaxy.  I watched with my own eyes as Kara, the Wild One, who you saw on the Elivagar, slew Ymir of the Frost Giants.  Then the women of Valhalla brought down and destroyed the Ginnungagap itself!  Ten Jotunn were sent to the beyond!”

His eyes couldn't have gotten bigger. He dropped to a knee in front of me and did an old roman salute with an arm across his chest as he lowered his head.  I quickly crouched and grabbed his elbow and had him stand.  I looked around nervously and repeated father's words to another warrior who had done the same with him.  “Get up man, you look silly down there.”

He nodded once then looked as if his thoughts were starting to crystallize and he turned to his hazel eyes to his sister. “You escaped my Queen's...”  He winced then looked angry and with a hard look in his eyes, started again. “You escaped Rhea's wrath?  She told us of how she wiped out the Unclean... the Olympians who did not fall sway to her power.”

Artemis almost growled, her voice was low and bathed in venom, “The witch fled with the men of Olympus and lured the Jotunn to finish us off.  One hundred of us have been on the run through all these millennia.  We now number five hundred.  We have eluded the Titans and Jotunn alike as we sought out the fabled Gods of Asgard to aid us.”