He was disappointed. After his grievous wound, Erik was convinced she’d offer up a little more than normal. He’d underestimated her devotion to the job title. Or maybe overestimated her kindness. Both were possible.
“What do you think Vár’s going to bring us to eat?”
“Poison.”
It was so unfair of her. She stone-faced him for two days and then dropped a joke after his stomach had been destroyed. Erik couldn’t hold back the laughter. The salve had only half-numbed his stomach but the pain was enough to stop him.
“Why? Why would you do it to me, Göll?” He sucked in a deep breath. “Oh maaan. Ugh.”
She hadn’t even turned around to look at the damage she’d brought on.
“Tell me you at least smiled at my suffering.”
“I’ll tell you nothing of the sort.”
Erik smiled.
Göll ran to the window before Erik heard a familiar hiss. It was louder than it had been in his apartment. The sound of concrete shattering came next and he could see the room shake as the wave rippled under them. Göll ran to the door and whipped it open, a hissing sound like the others coming from her back as she left the room.
The salve had done its job and, though Erik hardly trusted it, he found his feet underneath him without much in the way of pain. He ran to the door, looking out. Hild and Thrúd stood in a small crater in the parking lot. They wore armor now, matching Göll’s. He heard Göll speak to the blonde. She was taller with sharper features than her brown-haired partner.
“Hild, this is fight without honor. He is meant to have a month. Why is it always this way when I have chosen?”
Hild ignored her. Erik saw her mouth move, but couldn’t hear her from where they were. A pair of blurred lines flew in opposite directions. The line that had been Hild crashed against Göll and flew up into the sky. Thrúd had continued on toward the far side of the lot, chasing Vár who wouldn’t meet her head on as the other two had done.
Hild came back down, readying another charge, but her eyes found Erik standing by the doorway. She flew at him and on pure instinct he flattened himself against the ground. She plunged through the wall behind him, sliding on her feet into the bed in the next room. It barely seemed to slow her, crumpling and flipping away from the force of her body. He remembered how his fist had felt running into Göll. It hadn’t been the armor he realized.
Göll appeared in front of him, throwing him to the side just as Hild flew headlong at him. He saw a glowing short sword in her hand before a wave of heat and pressure forced him to close his eyes. Göll caught Hild at full force and slid back, dragging deep lines through the concrete as she went.
Hild fled, keeping herself outside of a sweep of Göll’s weapon. As her opponent landed a dozen yards away on the open parking lot, Göll’s weapon shifted to a hammer on a medium staff and Hild’s did the same.
Without looking at him, Göll shouted, “Get to the covering. Go!”
There was a small outcrop from the building for cars to park under while they checked in. Erik spun himself over and ran for it as fast as he could. He’d made it just under the edge when Vár landed beside him, sliding on bare feet.
“Fun, isn’t it? Exciting, even! Ha!” She was manic, voice higher and faster. A blur was coming from the far side of the covering. “Die well!”
Vár smiled as she said it and leapt back, forcing Thrúd to give chase up and over the covering. A half second later, the valkyrie came crashing down through the covering, staring at Erik. She’d remembered her quarry was not one of the girl she’d been chasing.
“Look, I get how this is supposed to go, but—”
Vár appeared behind him as Thrúd charged. She spun him to the side, out of harm’s way. Thrúd wasted no time stopping and doubling back, sending chunks of the driveway up into the side of the motel. Vár pushed the back of his knees and leaned him back. She frowned down at him. Thrúd turned but did not charge again. She’d missed twice and there was plain exasperation on her face.
“It seems they want you more than me.” Vár yanked him up to his feet. “I’ll help. Try not to move too much on your own.”
He could hear the sounds of fighting across the parking lot as Thrúd charged at him. Vár pulled him out of the way, but only barely.
“What use is my effort if you won’t even try to strike one?”
Erik was in a panic. “How the hell and I supposed to punch that?”
Vár let out an annoyed sigh and moved herself in front of him. “A different method, then. Clench your fist and raise your elbow.”
Thrúd was wary. She shifted her weapon to a short sword and paced back and forth a few times.
“Ha! Look, Erik. The valkyrie is scared of a few humans.”
Vár’s barb had been enough. Thrúd charged them at speed, screaming in a rage. The sword she’d aimed at his chest did not connect, but he felt a hand push the elbow he had cocked and ready. His fist came around, pulling his shoulder along behind it, and planted squarely into the side of Thrúd’s face. He felt the bones collapse as a pain rolled up his arm. He saw the skin compress behind the force.
Thrúd stomped the ground, stopping herself. She stood upright, letting her sword arm fall as her other hand came up to her lip. Erik saw Göll and Hild stop and stare from their places across the parking lot. A shimmering trickle of red came up and over Thrúd’s lip, silver flakes in a
