Vow of the Valkyrie

“Astrid!”

Astrid turned at the sound of her name being called and saw her sister, Freyja, walking briskly toward her from the opposite end of the hallway, off which Astrid’s apartment resided. Freyja was flanked by two women, both similar to her in their appearance with long golden hair, blue eyes, pale skin, and tall slim bodies, Kára and Herja; neither of three seemed particularly pleased.

Fizzle Sticks.

“Sisters,” Astrid said politely as the trio arrived in front of her, “what do I owe this pleasure?” They may have been “sisters,” but it was rare for them to actually see and speak to each other, since a majority of their time was spent on Midgard; either on opposite sides of the planet, or a war. The fact that three of Astrid’s sisters had come together and obviously tracked her down through the city; definitely wasn’t a good sign.

Freyja grabbed onto Astrid’s arm and roughly pulled her back into the apartment that Astrid had just stepped out of. She was pushed all the way in until her back hit the wall in the foyer, and Astrid distantly heard the click of the door being shut as she stared up into her eldest sister’s grey eyes. Oh, she was in a lot of trouble.

“Did I see that correctly?” Freyja hissed out, her inhuman sing-song voice turning cold and stern as she glared into Astrid’s eyes. “You agreed to save that bastard?”

Astrid gulped and nervously shifted the strap of her bag up on her shoulder, unknowingly drawing Freya’s attention to it.

“Damn it, Ash.” Freyja hissed and slammed her fist on the wall before spinning away from Astrid, her hand flying up to her forehead in exasperation.. “Why? Just tell us why you decided to do something so stupid!” Freyja didn’t turn back to look at Astrid, which the younger sister appreciated since Kára and Herja were putting enough disappointment into their glares for all of them.

“I-I can’t just let him die, Frey, he’s Loki.”

“Which is exactly why he should rot in Hel; he’s Loki, he’s selfish, cruel-“ Herja began, but Astrid cut her off before she could go into full rant mode.

“I know what he is!” She cried and her sisters’ eyes softened just a tad in what Astrid could only guess was pity. “I know more about Loki than almost anyone else. I know what and how he is, but I can’t just sit back and watch him die.”

Astrid knew her sisters weren’t going to be happy when they found out about her new assignment, but she wanted them to at least understand why she had to do it. Loki was important to her, almost as much as her twelve sisters were, and she didn’t want to lose any of them.

“Ash,” Freyja said softly and gently placed a hand on Astrid’s shoulder, “We know you care for him, but don’t let that cloud your judgment on this. Loki isn’t a good man, and you know as well as I that the universe would be better off without him.”

“Perhaps, but I will be better off with him and no matter what any of you say, I’m going to Earth to save him. I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t.” Astrid shrugged off the hand on her shoulder and slowly moved away from her sisters.

For several moments, no one spoke in the small entry way, but Kára eventually broke the silence with a breathy sigh, “If he were anyone else, you would have no qualms about sending him to Hel, you realize that don’t you?”

Astrid nodded to her older sister and told the three women in the room, “I know, but he’s not just anyone, he’s the prince of Asgard,”when Freyja opened her mouth to dispute that, Astrid quickly cut her off, “I don’t care about his blood; Loki was raised by Odin and Frigga, he’s the prince, even if he wasn’t born to the title.”

“Ash-“ Frey started and Astrid had finally had enough of her sisters and their attempts to persuade her.

“It’s not your decision! None of you can make this choice! Odin brought it to me and only me. I vowed to try to save Loki, and you know as well as I that a Valkyrie never breaks her vow.”
With that said, Astrid felt as though a weight had been lifted off her shoulders and she roughly pushed passed her shocked sisters to get the front door.

“You know where to find me.” Was the last thing she said before leaving the room and slamming the door shut behind her.

-

Astrid worried her lip between her white teeth as she quickly walked down to the stables, the knowledge of how she had just treated her three older sisters, resting heavily on her mind. She honestly didn’t even know what had gotten into her, she had just been tired of hearing that Loki deserved to die and something within her had just snapped.

“Oh well,” she sighed aloud as the wooden stables came into view and the familiar sound of restless horses in their stalls met her ears, “at least you’re immortal.”

The horses in the barn immediately quieted as Astrid walked in, the huge animals, at least twice the size of a horse on Earth, waited anxiously to discover whether or not the Valkyrie would chose them for a companion. Much to their disappointment, Astrid already had one in mind and she passed each stall quickly until she made it to the back of the stables, where a white winged mare stood gracefully; her large head thrown over the door to rub against Astrid’s chest.

“Ladgerda,” Astrid said fondly and gently pushed the snowy head away in order to reach for the metal latch on the door. “Come on now, don’t be a hindrance,” she laughed when Ladgerda began trying to help Astrid with the lock, using her large lips, but only made sliding the latch through the opening, even more difficult.

As though she understood, the mare retreated farther into the stall and let Astrid continue working alone, though her brown eyes never left the Valkyrie that had claimed her all those years ago.

“That’s a good girl.” Astrid slowly opened the creaky door and stepped into the hay filled stall, Ladgerda stepped forward and bent her head just enough for Astrid to grip her halter tightly so that she could lead the horse out of the stall.

The other horses in the stable kicked at the walls and doors of their stalls and whined as they passed and Astrid tried not to feel sorry for the giant animals. They were only in their stalls at night and during the long days on Asgard they were permitted to run through the several acres of fields that had put aside for them. They were far from neglected, no matter what they might have people believe.

“You don’t act like that, do you?” Astrid asked Ladgerda and the mare turned at the sound of her voice, but didn’t answer the question…which was expected. “I sure hope not.”

Once the duo was out of the barn and out in the open, Astrid told Ladgerda to halt and released her lead as the halter transformed into a bronze bridle and a matching saddle appeared on the curve of her back. The Valkyrie took just a moment to run her hand over the recently repaired pieces and mentally praised the craftsman that had worked on it for its seamless appearance. No one would even know that the saddle and bridle had been nearly destroyed in one of Astrid’s…Training Sessions.

“Looks like everything is as good as new.” Astrid told her mare and in one fluid motion, she fisted Ladgerda’s pearly mane, placed her left foot into the stirrup in front of her, and gracefully pulled herself up onto the animal.

Being on a horse just felt right to a Valkyrie, they spent vast amounts of time in a saddle, and Astrid was tempted to say she felt more confident with reins in her hands then she did walking on two legs. “Come on girl.” Astrid whispered as she bent down to ruffle the mane between the mare’s ears, “to Midgard.”

Every muscle in Ladgerda’s body tensed for a fraction of a second before that stored energy exploded as the mare leapt bodily into the air, her giant wings unfurling and beating rapidly to keep both herself and Astrid in the sky. “That’s my girl.” Astrid praised and after only a few moments of hovering above the ground, Ladgerda angled her wings and they were off like a flash of light.