My Valkyrie

One or two—maybe three—Draugr were no problem. Val could take them.

But dealing with double the amount in her current state? Barely. And pair it with the fact that Maya was not a fighter, and their odds looked more than grim. 

Worst of all, someone was leading the undead. 

"Please tell me that's not a witch," said Maya, hiding with Val behind the bushes. 

A woman stood in the heart of the cemetery, surrounded by dying grey trees and undead. Her presence was as commanding as the eerie green aura that blanketed the area. Her attire struck an unsettling balance between elegance and menace.

She wore a flowing ivy-green dress, its long hem split at the sides for ease of movement, while the sleeves tapered into sharp cuffs that extended beyond her wrists. Over the dress, she wore an embroidered apron with a brown bag fastened at her hip, accompanied by stones and bones that dangled ominously from a belt around her waist. 

A heavy fur mantle rested on her shoulders, adding weight to her imposing figure, while a deep black cloak billowed behind her, fastened at the collar with an intricately carved clasp. 

Around her exposed, colourless neck, a necklace of polished wood and beads hung loosely, some etched with runes that seemed to hum faintly with energy. 

Her chestnut curls framed a face both haunting and mystic, the sharp points of her ears peeking through the thick waves. Her makeup added to her otherworldly presence: dark, shadowed eyes lined with smudged coal-like strokes, accentuating their piercing glow. Her lips were painted a deep, bloodless hue, as if drained of life itself, completing the illusion of a witch caught between life and death.

Atop her head sat a dark tiara of twisted charcoal-black twigs, shaped into delicate, antler-like branches that crowned her like a woodland queen turned tyrant. 

The Draugr carried her aloft, their decayed forms acting as her grotesque carriage. She moved her gnarled, claw-like wooden staff with an air of effortless control. The green glow at its tip pulsed with the crackling of magic that bound her minions to her will. She waved imperiously, directing the undead as though conducting an orchestra of death. 

"Val, please tell me she's not a witch," Maya said carefully, only to meet Val's typical frowning face, which always said: 'Good news—It's not good news!'

"Völva." Was the single word that managed through Val's gritted teeth. Her unease was evident in the way she rasped her knuckles, her fingers fidgeting with restless energy over the situation. "Dangerous. Seidr. Wielding. Women."

Of course it had to be a witch! Maya muttered, discomposed. Why couldn't it have been something less dangerous? Like rabbits? But nooooo, it's always the uncanny kind."

Brushing aside the bushes, Maya squinted to get a better look at the Völva, as Val coined her. 

Scary and stunningly good-looking, Maya shook off her blush. Seeing as how the witch was carried by her assemblage of undead, Maya also found her quite pretentious and haughty as she used the Draugr as her personal transport vehicle.

"Oh, does the little princess need a ride?" Maya snickered snidely. "What else to do if you can summon hordes of undead? At least she's not using them for chest support. Not like she could." 

If Maya's nerves were flared, she hid it well enough. In contrast, Val grunted at the undignified comment, giving Maya a strange look.

"What? I've seen it in an anime. It looked ridiculous!"

"I believe you. Though that's. Not. What I meant." Val inched closer to Maya, their shoulders brushing. "Be. Careful. Words can be. Dangerous."

Maya laughed. "Oh, what's she gonna do? Curse me? Give me a bigger rack as revenge, so my back hurts even more?" Maya quipped, drumming her fingers playfully over her ample chest.

Val tried avoiding looking at Maya's hands. "Yes. And Yes," she replied carefully, her voice lowered and her expression grave. "Don't tempt. Fate. It never. Ends well."

"OK, fair." Both girls winced at the unsettling prospect of a curse and instinctively messaged their shoulders as if to ward off the settling weight. Maya glanced at Val, her fingers still knead nervously as her own. "What should we do then? What's she doing, anyway?" 

Val shifted her focus back to the area. Her knowledge of witches and their objectives were limited, but Val's gut feeling told her it was about her missing equipment. She observed the Draugr prowling like restless predators, their movements erratic and twitching to the witch's command.

They knocked over gravestones only to clumsily prop them back up, tore at patches of grass, and thrust their rotting heads into hollow tree trunks before shambling off to rejoin their mistress. 

Carefully, the girls stalked them at a safe distance to a clearing where more Draugr awaited—doubling their already staggering size. 

This is starting to get bad. How are we supposed to stand a chance against that? Maya worried, watching how the Draugr placed the Völva down on the clearing of freshly cut grass with tombstones lined all around her. 

Maya tugged at Val's sleeve. "Val, let's go back before-"

Maya's words were caught in her throat as a haunting melody filled the air. It came from the witch—a strange, throaty, and deep melody that pricked Maya's skin like needles. 

The graves seemed to bend towards the source of the sound, oozing a milk-white gas that rippled like undulating liquid. 

The vapour coiled around the witch's swinging rod before she jabbed it to the ground, carving a precise circle herself without moving her feet.

"I swear to god, I've never seen someone's back bend so much. Wow," Maya muttered under her breath in awe and disbelief.

She couldn't help but think back to the acrobats she had seen during her two trips to the circus. The first show had left her mesmerised, a spectacle of grace and dexterity that remained in her memory forever—and the elephants. 

The second remained as the last one for a reason.

Once, Maya tried gymnastics herself, but her fluctuating weight issues had made it difficult to stick with it. And her childhood insecurities had chipped away at her confidence. 

Maya's pen pal, Fey, shared her love for acrobatics, taking up at least half of the papers she sent Maya in her letters. They often joked about how they should perform a show together when they met in real life.

But life was busy, and the dream remained as one.

Now, as Maya watched the Völva arch her back with astonishing grace, moving one arm in tune with the swirling vapour while perfectly balancing the other on the rod, Maya found herself transfixed. The fluidity of the witch's movements was almost hypnotic, evoking the same allure Maya remembered from Fey's descriptions and her visits to the circus.

Caught in the moment, she nearly clapped. 

Val, however, pouted at how distracted Maya seemed. Her sharp gaze darted back to the witch, clearly unimpressed by the performance.

"Something wrong?" Maya asked before watching the Völva do her strange thing, bending her arms, sticking out her chest and arching her back in ways Maya thought were impossible. "Oooohhhhhh," she cooed. "She's good!" 

"Focus," Val reminded her sternly. "We're not. Here for fun." 

"Right, sorry, I'm focused." Maya shook herself back to focus, but her wide smile remained. "So, what exactly are we seeing? A ritual? A gateway to one of the Nine Realms? Or is she just dancing there for a change of pace?" 

"No. Idea." Val steepled her fingers and strained her head. 

The problem was, Val had a hunch, but her brain refused to give her access to the information. Seeing the mist swirl around the rod, over the Draugr and the graves, put Val on edge. 

The energy ebbed and flowed, expanded and contracted, grew dense before relaxing and dispersing outward. There was something unsettlingly familiar about it—an echo of something Val had seen before. It sent a sharp pang of alarm through every fibre of her being, as though her very essence recognised the threat before her mind could catch up.

Her Valkyrie senses flared to get Maya out of there.

"Who do we have here? Trespassers? Guests?" The Völva's voice echoed in their minds as a set of undead hands grabbed the girls. Glimpsing their way, her green eyes glowed vibrantly. She laughed at their presence. "Welcome back, girls."

—ˋˏ✦ˎˊ—

Maya squirmed ever so slightly in the holds of the zombies. She wasn't allowed to move even for an inch, which made her even more anxious than ever. This is almost as bad as school detention.

In school, Maya got into her occasional share of trouble. One instance was particularly messy—when a diva in her class called her names during a break. She would try and shrug it off, but the pestering, particularly on her eating habits, didn't secede.

Maya, who was on a diet that day and more than agitated already, smacked the girl with an apple against the head. Her day only spiralled after lunch.

That's how Maya felt today. Manhandled by pairs of undead hands was not the Friday evening she envisioned to have.

Her nausea got worse. She could barely glance worriedly over to Val, who didn't like her predicament any better. 

As strong and unruly as Val was against adversaries, she couldn't break free from the Draugr who gave her a tight headlock and restrained her limbs. Despite the effort, they could barely hold her down.

Mayaa shook her head, smiling slightly. Good luck with that, Maya laughed, remembering how she struggled to hold Val in place while treating her wounds. 

"What are you laughing about?" The Völva asked and stretched her arms out. Two Draugr picked her up like a ballerina and transported her to them. She cupped Maya's jaw and pinched it. "I'd like to say it's nice to see you again, but how did you get past my barrier?" 

Maya gave her a look. "The door was unlocked? Wait— so it was you who brought that Draugr at my home! Do you have an idea what kind of mess he made!?"

The witch smiled widely, showing off her white teeth and canines that stood in contrast to her black lips. "10 points for you, dear." The Völva playfully patted Maya's cheek and released a green mist of breath on her face, smelling of elderberries. 

Val's face contorted in anger. She struggled in her hold as the mist clouded Maya's blue eyes, her expression growing listless.

 "Now," the witch put a manicured finger on Maya's lips, "you'll listen to me and—" 

"Could you not breathe at me?" Maya coughed loudly. "I have a stomach ache and don't feel so good." Maya squirmed uncomfortably under the constraints of undead hands. "Do you mind telling them to let go of me? Not like I am much of a threat, and I'd rather not throw up here."

With her green eyes, the Völva stared blankly at Maya. She narrowed them in confusion. "Is that all? You're not feeling any," She let out another green breath at her, "different?" 

"I'm serious." Maya agitatedly shook her head, using her coils to wave the mist out of her proximity. "I'm literally turning green here. Oh… I need to lie down." Maya's feet gave up. The Völva took a step back with her ride. 

"Fine, just… just take a breath and try not to mess up this place!" The Völva relented and ordered her underlings to go easy on her captive. Still stunned, she turned to Val now. "Valkyrie, answer. How did you enter my ground?" 

Val ignored the Völva and kept her focus on Maya, worried her condition. 

"Hey, focus, please. Don't ignore me." The Völva snapped her fingers before Val's face to get her attention. "Talk, Valkyrie. How did you slip past my barrier?" 

Val sneered. The Draugr reeled at her sudden feat of strength to free herself and snap the witch's neck. The Draugr, however, kept her in place. Val seethed and the witch laughed at the attempt. "Nice try, goldie, but you won't—" 

"Ergh," a groan ruined the witch's moment. Her attention snapped back to Maya. 

"What is it now- oh goddess… you don't look so good." 

The witch's voice dropped when she saw Maya. Her face was turning green and her whole body slumped towards the ground. This did not set the right mood for the witch to be intimidating. Maya's groaning only intensified. She did her best to keep her composure, but it did not work well. 

The Völva assessed Maya's situation from a safe distance and sighed "Be right back… I'll put on a kettle. Just breathe… and, please, try to keep it in." She snapped with her fingers again. "Carry away the Valkyrie. We'll deal with her later." 

"What? No. Wait. Let. Me. Go!" Val gave one last protest against the Draugr as she watched Maya getting carried away by the witch and her undead. "Maya? You alright? I'll rescue. You. Wait. For. Me!"