The Valkyrie's Hunt - COMPLETE

Chapter 11. An Audience With the Ironwood

Luci's head swam as reality jackhammered its way back in. There was yelling, a little too close for comfort, and rough, rubbery ropes stretched her arms out behind her, forcing her shoulders up and pushing her into a kneeling position, bent forward at the waist.

Luci winced at the ache in her back and the pounding in her skull. Not the kind of pounding she preferred, to be fair.

Well, she thought, I've still got a sense of humour so it can't be that bad.

At least the sex before the attack had provided extra magic for healing. Though not being caught unawares would probably have gone better. Luci took a quiet breath in and tried a gentle wriggle to test the ropes, trying to remain unnoticed, but if her captors were werewolves there was a good chance...

"Ah, good. You're awake."

... They'd hear anyway. Yep. Ah well. Luci opened her eyes and looked up at the giant figure looming over her. It was hard to tell any details as they were silhouetted against the gloom of the forest but a hand gripped the cords behind her and a flash of reflected light showed the path of a long blade moving faster than she could flinch.

The jotun had cut the cord from its anchor and pulled Luci to her feet with the ties round her wrists. Her feet were slightly numb from the position and she stumbled.

"Don't you try anything now." the jotun grumbled, lifting her easily and keeping her upright and moving forward. Towards a tunnel formed of the great trees up ahead. Once inside her guard pressed her to the floor and Luci's eyes adjusted. She found herself on a hard dirt floor, with figures lurking in the deep shadows just out of the light that came through the entrance.

A flame burst into brightness in a torch and illuminated a gigantic woman on a carved throne. The silence stretched out, a tense waiting.

"Queen Angrboda, I assume?" Luci wasn't certain, but the potential identity of the woman was one of a very short list of possibilities. Since the Queen of the Ironwood was who they'd come to find, if she was right, this was either about to go very well, or very badly.

"Of course." The Mother of Monsters replied, her voice vibrating through Luci's bones. "Why has a soldier of Asgard invaded my lands?"

Fuck. Luci hadn't considered the political implications of her affiliations. She thought quickly, reaching for a truth that might help.

"My apologies for any unfortunate impressions, your highness, but as you can see, I came without an army, without weapons. I am the last of the chosen of Freya. Mine is a mission of love."

"Really?" Angrboda leant forwards, "Explain."

The adrenaline mixed with the magic was clearing Luci's head and she took a gamble.

"My companion? I was escorting them home, to you, as I've been tasked with finding a lady, lost in your lands, by a fallen god of the harvest."

A small, sharp, in breath, muffled, whispered from the shadows as the Queen leant back in her throne, impassive and ancient as the Ironwood itself.

Luci could only wait. There was no rushing a Power as old as Angrboda, who was said to have birthed monsters that even the gods of Asgard feared.

An eternity passed.

Luci tried to ignore her discomforts.

And then Angrboda gestured, beckoning the guard forward, who cut the cords around her wrists.

"You smell of truth," she declared, "and your magic is clearly of Freya's preference, given the show that announced your invasion."

At that the shadows relaxed. A second gesture released Lou from where they were hidden, running into the circle of torchlight to enfold Luci in a tight hug.

"I told them you were here to help," Lou spoke rapidly into Luci's shoulder, "but they wouldn't listen. They never listen to me."

Luci pulled back slightly, looking up at the violet haired beauty, who would always be stuck between worlds, and sympathised.

"If they listen or not, it doesn't matter. Learn about this part of you from them. Embrace it. And remember you always have a place back in Midgard." Luci gave Lou a final squeeze and looked back at the Queen. Finding herself under intense scrutiny she did the only thing she could think of, and bowed.

Lou approached Angrboda and knelt at her feet, with one hand held up in supplication. Angrbodatook the offered hand, and drew Lou up to stand before her, their eyes locked for yet another eternity as Luci regretted not choosing an easier pose to hold.

"You may stay." Angrboda finally told the wayward werewolf, and turned to Luci as Lou slipped from view, with one last glance at the Valkyrie who knew, perhaps better than most, what it felt like to be of two different worlds.

"You've returned our lost child to us, who are you seeking?"

Luci hesitated a moment, but thought it worth asking anyway.

"My primary mission is actually to retrieve a stolen item, I don't suppose you've caught any thieves recently?"

Angrboda shook her head slowly, her face beginning to cloud over as Luci rushed to make clear that there had been no lie.

"But, I am here for love, as I said. I've been sent to find a woman named Ana, by one of the fallen gods of the harvest."

A soft voice broke from the shadows as a figure moved closer, almost to the light.

"Tam? Is..." it cracked and stalled. Luci looked at Angrboda, unwilling to make any further political mis-steps. When the Queen inclined her head in assent, Luci turned toward the woman.

"Yes, Mr Tam sent me... Ana?"

A young woman stepped almost into the light, her long hair hiding her face, dressed like the other Jotun but only average size for a human woman. Luci began to piece things together.

"Tam... he misses me? He wouldn't want me if he knew." A tear fell to the earth and Ana's eyes flashed at Luci in the torchlight. "No. Go back. Tell him I... she's dead."

Luci was out of her depth. A rescue, or a grab-and-run was a simple affair, but this required something else. One thing she was sure of, Ana needed to return to Midgard with her. She held Ana's glare with the unflinching certainty of one who had faced down armies and flown above the stars.

"No." She said, moving slowly forward as Ana backed away, resolve crumbling with each of Luci's words. "You clearly do not know his past if you think a little thing like becoming one of the Ironwood's children would deter Tammuz. If strangers could accept Lou, then how dare you deny your loved one, who has himself died and become new again more times than you could even count, the chance to hold you in his heart? How dare you let your brother think someone has stolen you away, when you have rejected him and all that you share with him. What kind of Wolf are you to turn away in fear without even taking the risk that they might love you still?"

Ana's back hit the tree-wall and slid to the floor, tears of heartbreak and hope dripping from her face as she gazed up and past the Valkyrie. Luci looked up and saw Lou, smiling a soft, sad, smile as they spoke.

"As long as I am here, you will have a place to return to the Ironwood if you need to. And Angrboda never turns a monster away. But what Luci says is true, don't reject half of who you are for fear you'll be misunderstood."

Luci knew, as well as the impassive Giantess upon the Ironwood throne knew, Lou was staying, and so Ana must return, in turn, to Midgard.

This was often the way of the Wyrd.