Chapter 20

Day 26:

The End’s snow-covered tundra flashed into existence once Veronyka made her decision. In a blink, she was a couple inches taller, several pounds of muscle heavier and wearing what John thought of as ‘Valkyrie standard armor’. The only difference in what she wore was the complete lack of wings sprouting from her helmet. A shield and spear appeared in her hands as she flashed him a grin and a wink. John meanwhile was checking out the area. He spun around, so she could access his pack.

“Grab a sword!” He told her.

The snow around the funeral stone was all churned up, with several patches of frozen blood decorating the dirty gray and brown mush. Two frozen corpses were lying on the ground, both not people he recognized. A wide swath from the disc to all the way to the village wall was packed flat from many people’s feet. Even half a mile away, they could hear the din from the large group gathered outside the End’s gates. They’d made camp about halfway between where John stood and the entry door at the tower’s base. The crash of weapons and cries of battle told the pair that John’s newly adopted home was under attack. He estimated there were around fifty individuals attempting to scale the wall in several places.

Their appearance attracted someone’s attention, and a cheer echoed across the field. John debated dropping their packs, but couldn’t bring himself to give their foes access to his stuff.

“Got it!” Veronyka buckled the sword around her waist.

“C’mon!” He yelled, taking off for the battle.

He’d thought he was making pretty good time considering his pack when the doc sprinted past him like he was standing still. That’s when he realized the Valkyrie accouterments had replaced her Canadian clothes and backpack. She slowed after getting ahead, so they would arrive within a few seconds of each other. Their path took them through the besiegers’ camp, so they kicked still-burning logs out of the fire pits and John used the Tooth to light several tents on aflame as they ran through. They couldn’t tarry, but left a small trail of destruction in their wake.

As they neared the walls, John saw Treb fighting to push back a man perched on some kind of scaling ladder. It was just a simple tree trunk, a few inches wide with notches cut out for steps. The tall, burly Nord had his hands wrapped around Treb’s spear, just behind the point. He was keeping the boy from stabbing him, and the youth traversed from side to side to keep leverage and prevent his opponent from getting onto the wall itself. John started angling toward the tower when Treb’s foe toppled from the ladder, pulling the spear with him. Sygraid’s son made the mistake of holding onto his prized possession and tumbled from the wall into the mass of men.

“Veronyka!” John yelled, pointing.

She glanced back, then over in time to see Treb jump to his feet. Somehow the youth kept a hold of his spear, and was trying to clear some space for himself. The boy’s eyes were wild and frightened as he waved the pole in a wide arc. Most of his foes jumped back when the weapon neared them, then pressed forward when it swung away. The newest Valkyrie changed course directly for him, and a few moments before she slammed into the men’s backs, John saw a cone of ice and snow spray from the spear’s tip. This was obviously not their enemies first time dealing with this ability, because the men just ducked down behind their shields and braced.

It did provide a stationary, distracted target though. Veronyka’s shield bash wasn’t the most refined, but it did knock two of the men onto their faces. She managed to stab a third in the back with her spear before they realized the threat was now from their rear. John swung around the doc’s shield and let the Tooth take one of the downed warriors while he thrust Flesh Cleaver into the next man’s back. Unfortunately, Veronyka lost her spear after that, and had to yank out her borrowed sword. She waved it around ineffectually, but stayed between John’s flank and the bulk of the remaining attackers with her shield.

Treb showed that he’d really gotten good with his ability, because he kept up a steady flow of blinding, freezing ice aimed at the few who were John’s obvious targets. The young man spun and sprayed the rest only often enough to keep them from pressing too closely. John made short work of the next three, and somehow Veronyka did manage to gut the other man she’d knocked flat initially. That cleared enough space for them to take Treb’s side. Their boots hit the widening pool of watery slush at the kid’s feet, skidding as they linked up. John and Veronyka cursed, but used each other to keep their balance.

“Keep them back!” John barked, then had to repeat it in Norse when the boy’s quizzical glance said he hadn’t understood.

“I have your side!” The doc said, also in Norse, which shocked the former soldier.

“I’ll clear a path for us, stay close!” John ordered, inching his way along the wall towards the tower door.

He was too busy to look up, but Sygraid’s voice bellowed angrily over their heads. “Valkyrie!”

The cry rippled down the wall, so John had to yell several times to get her attention.

“Sygraid? Sygraid! Yo, Sygraid!” He repeated.

“Yes lord?” She answered finally, her long spear jabbing his current foe in the neck.

“Get the door ready!” He ordered.

“As you command!” She barked, and her spear withdrew.

They were attracting more and more of the besiegers, and their progress around the bend slowed to a crawl, then stopped entirely. It was everything they could do to stay alive. Swords, knives, clubs and even fists all came their way accompanied by a flurry of growls and curses. Veronyka wasn’t very good with her sword, but she at least realized that if she didn’t get her shield in front of any blades coming at the two males, they were finished.

“Dragon lover!” One man snarled, leaping onto the woman. He gripped the shield’s edge and tried to lever it off her arm. Somehow Veronyka got her blade around the rim and sliced open his throat.

Two more took his place, tag-teaming their feints. John could see it happening, out of the corner of his eye, but he too was being ganged up on. Things looked really grim until Brunhyldar and the two Flight Leaders leaped from the wall to land between the trio and their foes.

“You shall not have our sister today!” Brunhyldar shouted. “Step away!”

“You fight for the dragon worshipers?” Someone in the crowd asked.

An ugly growl accompanied that question.

Brunhyldar shook her head, and spear. “I will fight to protect my sister! Withdraw this day, and we shall come to your camp this evening to hear of your cause.”

“Why don’t we just kill all of you?” One man asked, hatred on his face.

Her spear pointed directly at the speaker.

“What did you say?” She growled.

He straightened up haughtily. “I said: why—d, urk!”

The spear blurred forward and pierced his throat while he was talking. Brunhyldar stepped back as the man collapsed.

“I have been warring since before your ancestors were born!” She snarled. “You think you can take a Valkyrie? Come and get it.” She banged her shield with the spear haft.

There was a tension in the air, and some men adjusted their grip. But nobody was willing to take that crucial first step. Their blood was up, but as the pause lengthened, fewer seemed willing to restart the hostilities. Some in the rear of the crowd began backing away. First singly, then whole squads broke free to head back to their camp. Their alarm at discovering the burning, smoking remains quickly pulled the rest with them. Soon there were no enemies anywhere nearby. John and Veronyka sheathed their weapons.

“Thank you, grandmother!” Treb saluted.

Brunhyldar and one Flight Leader spun around. She nodded curtly at the youth, but her angry expression was aimed solely at Veronyka. Something about the doc’s appearance caught John’s eye too, so he pulled his attention from the Valkyrie leader to his companion. Blood drained down her shield, and dried on her face. Her eyes flashed wildly, with what emotion John couldn’t be sure. Or didn’t want to think about.

Red-colored wings now sprouted from her helmet.

“Sister, what have you to say for yourself?” The Squadron Leader demanded.

“Rand? Randgyrd, is that you?” The Flight Leader peered at her in shock.

Brunhyldar’s expression changed to shock as well. She took a step closer, eyes scanning Veronyka’s flushed face.

The doc at least had the presence of mind to shake her head.

“No, I’m not who you think I am.” She coughed, visibly calming herself.

“I’m guessing this Rand woman is dead?” John asked.

Brunhyldar looked from Veronyka to John, then Treb.

“Come.” She commanded. “We shall talk.”

John leaned in to whisper as they followed.

“How are you speaking Norse?”

Veronyka smirked. “What, did you think I wasn’t paying attention the last few weeks?”

He sighed, but let the matter drop.

Brunhyldar led the way to the village entrance, where Sygraid held the door open for them. The town’s Shield-maiden covered their entrance before re-barring the portal and trailing. Most of the defenders were coming down from the walls, and the group could see various Captains mixed in with the Ender Watch. Heegan himself intercepted them before they made it to Rorik’s.

“Shield-maidens, why do you finally join our battle?” The Commander asked.

The Valkyrie didn’t stop, forcing the warrior to fall in step with her.

“We have not joined your forces.” She retorted. “A sister appeared in the fray, and we moved to examine the circumstances. Join us, if you wish. I mean to have answers.”

They hung their weapons on the walls when they entered Rorik’s tavern. John dropped his backpack as well, rotating his shoulders to loosen up. Sygraid gasped in shock when John pulled his helmet off, exposing his head.

“Lord!” She cried, “What happened to you?”

“It’s a long story.” He sighed. “These are the burns from the explosion I told you about, a long time ago.”

“You said you were also crippled, in your world.” Syg remembered. “Why do you bear these scars only, here, now?”

John shrugged. “Like I said, it’s a long story. Let’s sit down and I think you’ll both get a better understanding of what’s going on.”

John, Veronyka, Syg and Heegan all sat down. Brunhyldar took a chair opposite them, with her still-armed escorts standing behind. John felt like he was on trial; and from her expression maybe he was. Treb was sent to see one of the Captains that Syg called a friend.

“Go discuss your actions with him, my son. Discover why you ended up outside the wall, and how you can keep from finding yourself in that spot again.” She told the boy.

He saluted grimly, both his mother and John before departing.

“Now, shield sister, explain yourself.” The Squadron Leader demanded.

“Hold on,” John interjected. “Let me explain what happened, and why. There seems to be some confusion here.”

“Very well.” Brunhyldar agreed. “What happened when you so abruptly departed ten days ago?”

“On my world, while I was here, my body lay like I was asleep.” John summarized. “There were those who aided in uh, sending me, that had a way of getting messages to me. They said that others were coming to capture my body, and do it harm. This is why I returned, because they could not move me until I did so.”

“Ah, the magic made you defenseless.” Brunhyldar realized.

“Something like that, sure.” John continued. “There is a ... healer I guess you could call her. She is very smart, and very resourceful. She creates new things to aid our people, things never seen before. It was her skill that made my coming here possible.”

“A healer, lord?” Syg asked, looking confused. “Not a ... witch or magician? Or adept?”

“Our terms and yours don’t always match up.” John explained. “She’s a healer, yes, but also a scholar like Cacy. Very smart, like I said. Don’t worry, that’s not what’s important. What matters is, she was also a target for those who sought to capture me. We fled our enemies and went ah, let’s say into hiding.”

“Yet you were able to come here?” Heegan asked.

“Hold on.” John cautioned. “First, you need to understand, there are no funeral stones in my world. They don’t exist there at all. Never have. The way my people sent me here before was very, very different than how I appeared when I got here. I was ... connected to a special device which allowed my spirit to come here. I could only maintain that if my body there remained attached to the device. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

Brunhyldar nodded. “Visitors may come here from many places, using varied means. This the Valkyrie know.”

“Okay, so when I got back to my body in my world and we escaped, that healer I was talking about? Her name’s Veronyka, just to keep this simple. She had secret knowledge of a place we could hide from the people looking for us. It was very remote, far into the mountains, in what you might call the North of my world. We don’t have the walled mountains, but it’s mostly the same kind of place as this. Maybe a little warmer. When we got to the secret place, we found there is a funeral stone on my world. The first anyone knew about it.”

“You said they did not exist there, so how can that be?” Sygraid wondered.

“I don’t know. Not a clue. The place was so difficult to get to, especially because there I was crippled, we had to hire a local to show us the way. According to him, its always been there, hidden high up in a cave on the side of this random mountain peak. They don’t call it a funeral stone, and its never done anything other than be a rock circle with a stone arch. They just thought it was some old stone carving.”

The Valkyrie leader leaned forward. “It activated for you, didn’t it? It knew of your Visitor status.”

John nodded. “Yeah, it worked for me. Only my form here, and my body back there aren’t the same. I really was missing an eye, even before we met Wotaanz, and I was scarred, like this. Most importantly, I didn’t have any legs below my knees, or an arm below the elbow. My other hand only had a single finger, and thumb. I was also missing an ear when I first came here, but the reward for my Challenge included better hearing. When my ear grew back, on my world, this made my kidnappers take action.”