Chapter 2
A/N: Two chapters in one day? Hot diggity damn. Please leave a comment or a like to let me know how I'm doing! Please excuse any errors as I just pounded this out.
The beating of Yng's hooves against barren land was the only thing you heard for miles. If Loki was dead, he sure was making himself hard to find. Shadowy figures lurked in the distance and you had been lucky enough to avoid them thus far. They were monsters. Souls that had never made it to Valhalla, lost and twisted into something unrecognizable.
It was eerie, the quiet. Dust rose in your wake, mingling with the thick fog. You kept your eyes on the horizon, scanning for life. It took a minute, but you thought that you saw someone walking to you in the distance. Kicking your heels, Yng took off in their direction. The closer you got to the person, the more your heart sank. You didn't think that this was Loki.
Wait, could it be...?
"Heimdall?" You cried out, saddling up beside the tall figure.
"Lady Y/N!" Heimdall looked more than thrilled to see you. "I thought it was you that I saw, but this land is interfering with my vision." He smiled more widely than you had ever seen.
Suddenly, Heimdall became more somber. "Does... Is this the end of King Thor's reign?" He asked quietly, pain clear in his voice.
You shook your head and offered him a hand up onto Yng, who took the extra weight in stride. "The All-father sent me to retrieve and protect Prince Loki." Heimdall sat behind you, soaking in your words.
"We must keep looking for him then. Do not allow me to slow you down. I fought off a few of the creatures, but now they are agitated. They will be formidable opponents." Heimdall advised, not really knowing what else to say.
"Onwards, Yngvild." You gently nudged the beast, and he set off at a fast pace. You circled the lands, and it wasn't long before you came across a cluster of twisted monstrosities, sounds of battle coming from the center of the mass. You unsheathed your sword and offered it to Heimdall, hilt first.
"Yng will keep you safe, but please use this to protect yourself. As soon as I have Prince Loki in my custody, start riding that way as swiftly as possible." Heimdall took the sword and nodded as you pointed to Valhalla.
"May the All-father protect you, Valkyrie." With that blessing, you jumped off of Yng and unfurled your wings furiously. You took to the sky and headed straight to the center of the battle. There must have been at least two hundred twisted creatures swarming, the most you have ever seen in one place.
As soon as you saw a glimpse of Loki you tucked your wings into your side and dived to him feet first, your h/c braid trailing behind you wildly. You felt the sickening crunch of bones of monsters with your landing, immediately fighting towards Loki. With your crash landing, you had taken out three.
As you fought you could see flashes of Heimdall picking off the ones he could from the outside. Yng held nothing back and was biting and kicking everywhere. You felt searing pain as claws dug into your wings, arms- anything that they could get a hold on. You took your daggers out and swung them wildly, killing what you could and wounding what you couldn't.
The battle was getting too messy, but you were close to Loki. He hadn't noticed you yet, overwhelmed by rotting creatures. In his haste to get away, he was moving away from where you were.
"Prince Loki, try to come to me!" You screamed out, fighting tooth and nail to get closer. His head whipped around and he used one last explosive bit of magic to clear the area around the two of you, at least thirty creatures going up in smoke. You bounded over to him as he fell to the ground, clutching his head.
"I have used up too much of my- ...I cannot sustain-" Loki began to speak, face pale with blood running down his forehead. There was too much blood on Loki, much of it his.
"I apologize, my Prince, we must be leaving." You didn't give him much of a choice as you scooped the lanky man up over your shoulder, not that he had the strength to refuse at the moment.
With a few powerful strokes of your wings, you and the prince were in the air. You felt him go limp over your shoulder and thought a few colorful words.
"Heimdall, we must lose them! Lead them on a chase, Yng will take you to Valhalla when you have lost them. If you're not back within the hour I will come find you. The Prince is in a bad way!" You screamed out from above, Heimdall raising his fist to signal he understood. You rose higher and higher, and only left for Valhalla when you knew you weren't being followed.
Not bothering to go through the main entrance, you landed on Frigga's balcony. At this time of day, she was usually meeting with ladies who wanted to increase their magical knowledge. Taking Loki off of your shoulder, you realized that his skin was turning a deep blue. So the stories were true- he was a frost giant. You hadn't been burned by his skin yet, and you did not intend to be.
After setting him down as gently as possible given the circumstances on the tiled balcony you called for Frigga. Leaning over Loki, you checked all of the injuries you could see. It appeared that he had a nasty gash on his head, various cuts and bruises on his body, a stab wound on his left thigh, and at least one broken rib.
"All-mother!" You cried out impatiently.
Upon hearing you call out to his mother again, Loki awoke and groaned. He propped himself up on one elbow and looked up at you. Frigga rushed out onto the balcony and kneeled beside Loki. She turned to a girl who was hesitating in the doorway.
"Go, tell the All-father that Loki has arrived and of his condition." Next, she turned to you. "What happened? I thought you were supposed to protect him!" Her voice was sharp, as she was worried about her son.
"There were upwards of two hundred creatures swarming around him. I've never heard of anything like it... On my way to find Prince Loki, I ran across Sir Heimdall. He aided in defeating the creatures, and has led the remaining ones away so that I could get the Prince to safety." You spoke quickly and quietly, watching as Frigga's golden magic enveloped Loki. You noticed that when she touched Loki even in his true form she was not burned, as his personal Valkyrie, you thought it may be a good idea to figure out that spell.
It was now that Loki decided to speak up. He was staring at his mother. "I was dead for less than a moment when they converged on me. It started with a few of the disgusting beasts and quickly became much more." As the gold swirled around him you watched wounds close and the blue fade from his skin.
Now that Frigga saw her son would ultimately be fine, she calmed. "I apologize for my harsh tone, Valkyrie. It has been made clear that this mission has been more trying than any of us had thought. I do not believe Odin saw that there would be so many adversaries." Vaguely you could hear the commotion as Heimdall rode back on your horse. Frigga sighed; sadness and worry evident on her face.
"Please Valkyrie, go tend to your wounds. After that find Heimdall and go to my husband, he will want to talk to you." Frigga dismissed you gently. Loki sat up and had to be helped to his feet by his mother.
Once you were sure that the pair would be able to handle themselves on their own you sought out the medical bay. It was nearly always empty, only really used for when someone came from the land of the dead or when training became too rough. Upon entering the gilded doors, you saw a familiar face already receiving treatment.
"Heimdall, how odd, it feels as though I was just talking to you!" You teased with a laugh. A healer took one glance at you and led you to the cot beside Heimdall's. As her gentle hands began to poke and prod various injuries you grimaced.
"That was quite the show y/n. I put Yngvild with a stable hand, he didn't take any devastating blows, but he did receive a few injuries. Your sword is with him as well." Heimdall groaned out, obviously tired.
"Valkyrie, I need you to stretch out your wings so that I may see the damage done." The healer calmly interjected. You nodded and obliged with a small whimper, your wings had been clawed quite a bit by those... things. She frowned and held her hand out, another healer brought her a jar with salve. As it was applied it burned, which effectively kept you quiet for a moment.
"Heimdall," You hesitated, voice barely a whisper as you got used to the burn of the salve. "I've never seen anything like what we saw today. I think the largest group of them I've ever heard of was fifteen. This was easily more than tenfold." You didn't want to admit it, but you hadn't been this scared since Hela. "Something is wrong, Heimdall. I can feel it." Heimdall just stared back at you with wide eyes.
—————————— Two Hours Later
"Now, Valkyrie, your injuries are extensive. Please refrain from using your wings for at least one week. Put the salve on them every night for two weeks. You will still be able to do your duties, but take care to not strain your injuries." The healer spoke firmly, another healer giving Heimdall similar directions.
After the two of you were dismissed you led Heimdall straight to the All-father. He looked down upon the two of you in your pitiful state. First, he welcomed Heimdall to Valhalla and thanked him for his assistance in rescuing his son.
"Valkyrie, I have gotten reports from both my wife and my son. Your bravery has not escaped my notice. I will not keep you for too long tonight as I know the two of you were injured. Go, and rest. Heimdall, I will have Gyndrye show you to your room. You are dismissed." Odin kept his speech short and simple, no doubt saving the bulk of it for tomorrow. You were thankful for that though.
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You slept like a rock throughout the night, not waking until late morning. Once you did, you immediately stretched out across the bed, wincing when your wings complained about the movement.
If stretching out hurt, getting up was downright painful. Your limbs ached, and injuries you didn't even realize you had made themselves known. You grabbed the large jar of salve off of your nightstand and began rubbing it into your wings, stopping every once in a while because of the pain. The day after a battle was always the worst, especially if you didn't win. Even when you did it came with a price. Running your hand through your feathers one last time before you bathed and got dressed for the day you plucked out a few feathers that were broken or twisted, tossing them into the waste bin.
You went into the adjacent room and started the faucet for the small pool that served as a bathtub. Once you made sure that the water was warm, you added Epsom salts and herbs to help ease your aches. Getting undressed and into the water was a struggle, but as soon as you were in you never wanted to come out. You let your head slip underwater for a moment and washed your hair out, the dirt and grime of the past days disappearing. Remembering that you still needed to seek audience with the All-father, you finished washing up and dried off with a long, fluffy towel.
After wrapping yourself in the towel you wandered over to your closet and chose a thin dress that was loose enough so that your wings wouldn't get caught on it. Light blue, down to your knees, flowing, a sash for the waist, and a low back for your wings. It had plenty of places to hide weapons. Your leather sandals slid on easily and tied halfway up your shins. You grabbed a comb and fought your hair into a braid again.
With one final look in the mirror, you left for the grand hall.