Chapter 44

Note: Thanks to Alex for beta reading this!

Garnet reached the tree line at the end of the meadow. The dwarves were almost on her. They were tearing across the field, so desperate to reach her. She waited as they thundered closer and closer. Her wings spread wide.

“Kweh, heh, heh!” she chortled as they closed the last dozen feet. “You fell into my trap, boys!”

She launched into the air as the first horny dwarf leaped at her. He tried to grab her feet but missed. He landed on his belly and slid into the trunk of a tree. The other dwarves groaned as she flapped her wings and soared over them. She flew fast for the hole. Faster than they could run on flat ground, and they would have to run up the steep slope.

They had descended it fast, but climbing it...

Garnet laughed as she soared to return to the fight and help her family out. She would help them kick that Led’s ass. She wanted to whip him and make him kneel and beg for forgiveness. She flapped her wings and then tucked them in low as she hurtled into the tunnel.

She landed and ran.

Pain burned in my side. If the Granite Flesh spell hadn’t been active, I would have died. That ax would have cut way, way deeper into me. As it was, I was bleeding out fast. Shock shivered through me. My body didn’t want to do anything but shiver.

Through chattering teeth, I forced out, “Graven wounds pulse in pain, let the healing of Lord Dumazid flow!”

I burned through more of my magical reserves. It pulled on the Void Crystal. I had expended a lot of it rebuilding my dungeon and summoning monster girls that were too far away to be of any help in this fight.

It was so frustrating.

My side knit together and the afterimage burned into my gaze vanished. I pushed to my feet to finish this fight as the magic mended the worst of the damage. Even Mend Flesh couldn’t fully heal a wound that bad, but I wasn’t bleeding to death. I could fight.

“Hard and enduring, let—” I started casting Granite Flesh when the ground beneath my feet became slick with ice.

My feet slipped out from beneath me. I slammed on my tailbone with a grunt of pain. My back and head hit the frozen ground a moment later. Fuzzy pain washed over my skull. I blinked against it when a block of ice appeared over my head.

And fell at me.

“Shit!”

Hagane just died.

Maya had a moment of hope when she saw the metallic girl rushing at the valkyrie’s back only for Led to kill the nerdy and amazing girl.

Now the undine groaned. Maya was dying. It grew harder and harder to hold her arms up and drown the valkyrie. The bitch wasn’t getting woozy, either. She had unnatural stamina. Maya didn’t know all the abilities of the valkyrie.

The ice formed in Maya’s fingers that had flowed into the valkyrie’s nose and mouth. Pain tore through them. The frost spread over the valkyrie’s deadly and beautiful face. Maya screamed out as the agony ripped at her watery flesh.

The valkyrie bit down hard with her teeth, shattering the icy fingers. Screaming, Maya recoiled, her hands coming free. The valkyrie sucked in a breath. She laughed in cold triumph. She had one. She could breathe again.

“You were good,” the valkyrie said. “I respect a woman who fights. You do not give up. I never gave up, either.”

The valkyrie thrust out her arm holding the sword. It pushed Maya away from the valkyrie, half of the undine’s body now frozen. Torment twisted through her. She shuddered, her feet, still flowing water, stepping back.

She stepped on something wooden.

“When I was in the ring, I always fought to my best,” the valkyrie said, such exultation on her face.

“Ring?” Maya asked, her watery foot flowing over the wood. It was a handle.

“The wrestling ring,” the valkyrie said. “I was Smerta the White Valkyrie. The star of Russian wrestling. I dominated the female division.”

“Led’s a fan, huh?” groaned Maya as she lifted the pickax with her foot.

“Oh, yes,” said Smerta the White Valkyrie. “He would send me so much fan mail. They were such creepy things. But now I understand his greatness. Now I am his woman. The first he brought when he and his brother appeared.”

“Wow, lucky you,” Maya said. “Get to be your stalker’s fuck toy.”

“You can serve him, too,” said Smerta. “You are fierce. I will ask that he takes you as his concubine.”

“Pass!” Maya shouted and kicked her left leg out, her foot holding the pickax, at the side of the valkyrie.

Her left arm lashed out and slammed into the weapon, knocking it to the side. Maya gasped as her surprise attack had failed. The ice surged through her body even colder as the valkyrie laughed. Maya struggled, death moments away.

“Yes, yes, very fierce,” Smerta said, her blue eyes almost glowing.

“N-ever ... be ... his!” Maya screamed, the ice reaching up to her throat.

Instinct and training with Usiku saved my life.

I rolled to the side, the slick floor sliding me further out of the way. The ice smashed to the ground and burst into a dozen sharts. My heart hammered with adrenaline. My side ached from the half-mended wound.

“Fuck,” I growled. “Graven wounds pulse in pain, let the healing of Lord Dumazid flow!”

I healed the rest of the wound, the pain fading. As I did, I slid across the floor. Maya’s screams of pain echoed through it. I had to help her and kill Led. No, by killing Led, I would be helping her. Helping us all.

I got clear of the patch of slick ice and growled “Hard and enduring, let the rocks of Lady Ki defend!”

“From above it falls, let the ice of Lord Anshar crush!” Led chanted.

I ducked my head down out of instinct. The ice slammed into my newly armored flesh. It burst off of me, stone cracking from the impact. I grunted and stumbled forward two steps, grabbing the post of the bed, my shoulders aching from the chunk of ice that struck me.

“The sharp gleam of ice, let the icy ax of Lord Anshar fall!”

My head snapped to the right. An ax hurtled from that direction, flashing as it cut through the air. It slammed through the bedpost and struck me in the chest. Ice shattered around me. I grunted, nearly collapsing from the impact. More stone cracks burst over my chest, spilling over my hardened skin. But it held.

For now.

I peered in that corner. I needed to find a way to reveal the invisible asshole and kill him, Maya’s screams tearing at my heart.

This is it, thought Maya. I’m dead.

“Do not be afraid,” Smerta said. “It’s your choice if you want to serve Led. He is a good master.”

“Good!” burst from Maya’s lips, the ice reaching up to her throat. “He ... enslaved ... those...”

Her freezing water choked off her speech. The ice crystals reached up for her head. Her thoughts would solidify and she would be dead. Leo would have one last ally to help him.

Where were the others? Maya thought. How long did it take to get here? The battle had felt like it had been raging an hour, but was it really just ten or so minutes? That elevator really does take too long.

A shadowy whip cracked about the valkyrie’s neck. A hard jerk yanked her back. The sword slid out of Maya’s body as Smerta landed on her back. Releasing her sword, her hands shot to her throat, pulling at the shadowy whip.

“Kweh, heh, heh!” chortled Garnet. The succubus stood at the hole dug in by the dwarves. She reeled in the valkyrie, dragging her kicking across the floor.

The valkyrie’s sword lay by Maya.

She groaned, her entire body half-frozen. Every movement cut pain through her. She groaned through it and picked up the sword in her left hand, the fingers half-frozen. With a roar, she flung herself down on Smerta, thrusting the point of the sword at the valkyrie’s heart.

Maya let the force of her fall slam the sword through the valkyrie’s breast, impaling through the expanse of cleavage Smerta’s armor left exposed. Her eyes widened, golden eyes fierce. A smile flitted across her lips. They opened to speak but...

The Valkyrie vanished.

“Fuck!” Maya howled. She sagged to the ground, the sword melting out of her grip. It was a part of Smerta. The half-frozen undine crashed on the floor. Ice burst in her. she whimpered as she lay on her side. She stared to her right through the pain.

An ax of ice appeared in that direction and hurtled towards Leo.

I dodged the next ice. It came from the other side of the room.

I needed help. Garnet had returned. The valkyrie was down. Maya lived, but for how long. Led was near the vault door. Hewas moving towards it. The dwarves had badly damaged it. If he got through it, all he had to do was get to the Void Crystal to beat me.