Chapter 7 #2
Despite the odds stacked against her, Val fought on with unwavering resolve, her focus sharpening as she unleashed a flurry of strikes against Odin's defenses. Each blow landed with resounding impact as the stakes of their confrontation escalated with every passing moment.
Odin groaned and dropped to the floor. Val didn't let up. She rushed him, stomping downward on his chest. He grabbed her ankle and twisted, and she dropped beside him. She needed to get back to her feet. On the ground, his body mass would pin her.
She raised her free leg and brought it down on his face, but he grabbed the leg and shoved her away.
She twisted and got to her knees, but he was up as well and wrapped his arms around her waist, dragging her back to the ground.
They grappled for a minute, each trying to get the upper hand, but when he got behind her and wrapped his arm around her throat, she was in trouble.
Odin squeezed his arm around her throat, cutting off her air supply.
“There is no shame in tapping out, daughter.”
She had to move fast. If she didn't, she'd pass out for sure.
She grappled with his arm, but her upper body strength was nowhere near equal to his.
So, she changed tactics and grabbed the back of his shirt instead.
She bucked her hips into the air and flipped over his back and out of his grip.
As soon as she did, she kicked him in the back and sent him sprawling onto the floor.
Rage overtook her. This was her chance to show him what she could do and make him pay one thousandth of what he'd done to her sisters.
The energy in the arena crackled with tension as Val and Odin pushed each other to their limits in a relentless display of skill and determination. The audience witnessed the fierce exchange between Valkyrie and the Norse God, neither willing to back down.
As the battle raged on, Val's senses heightened, every movement honed with precision and intent as muscle memory kicked in, and she sought to overcome Odin's formidable strength and experience.
The rhythm of their struggle ebbed and flowed like a dance of combat, each participant locked in a deadly embrace that left no room for mercy or hesitation.
Val's muscles screamed with exertion as she poured every ounce of her strength into each strike, pushing herself beyond physical limits in pursuit of victory, but Odin remained on his feet and unfazed, even as her strength and stamina waned. If she didn’t end this soon, she was going to be pulled out just like the human from the last fight.
The taste of sweat mingled with iron on her lips as she gritted her teeth in determination, refusing to yield as exhaustion threatened to overwhelm her.
She raced straight at Odin, and he ran toward her at the same time. He lunged forward, swinging at her, but she ducked, swept his leg out from under him, and sent him down. She kicked out and connected with his knee. He rolled onto his back and grabbed his leg.
She had less than ten seconds to finish him before he got back up.
Val’s shoulders itched, and she did something she hadn't done in more years than she could count.
She released her wings from where they hid within her skin.
Her shirt ripped down the back as the tattered feathers spread wide, lifting her into the air.
With all the momentum she could muster, she pushed herself downward, boots aimed for Odin's head.
"No magic," someone yelled.
"That's not magic; she was born with them," Loki replied.
A second before her boots landed on the back of Odin's neck, he rolled out of the way and hopped to his feet, balancing on his uninjured leg.
Val slammed onto the ground, where Odin punched her in the gut and sent her flying backward into the cage wall.
She hit the chain link with a crash and several of her feathers ripped out as she dropped to the floor, winded.
"Which of my generals taught you to fight?" Odin asked.
Val struggled to her feet, beginning to get her breath back. "You did," she spat. "Everything I learned was from watching you and Thor fight."
Odin's eyes widened, and then he paused. "You hate me, don't you? You blame me for the loss of your sisters."
"In the face of our inevitable doom at Ragnarok, you callously thrust us into battle against Surtr. The prophecy loomed over all, yet your insatiable greed eclipsed all else. You showed no regard for Thor, your own flesh and blood, or anyone else."
Val's fury erupted as she launched a left hook, the impact reverberating with a resounding crack as it connected with his jaw.
Undeterred, she unleashed blow after blow, each strike fueled by a torrent of emotions.
Golden blood trickled from his lip, a stark visual testament to her unyielding rage.
With every punch, she expected resistance, a retaliatory strike, a defense- yet he offered none.
His passivity further stoked her wrath, propelling her relentless assault.
Blow by blow, the intensity mounted. Face.
Stomach. Kidneys. Ribs. Face. Stomach. Stomach.
Ribs. Ribs. Ribs. Her frenzy persisted, her arms throbbing with exertion, her resolve unshakeable.
She relentlessly battered him until his once-proud visage was a grotesque mask of swelling flesh and free-flowing blood, a visceral tableau of her unchecked wrath.
“Fight back! Why won’t you fight back?”
Punch to the nose.
His face swelled and puffed up, but his eyes remained clear and knowing.
“Hit me!”
Punch to the jaw.
He continued to lie on the ground, immovable.
“Coward. Fight me!”
She pulled back to hit him again, but a warm hand caught her fist. She turned to Loki.
"Valkyrie," he said softly, pulling her to her feet.
"No," croaked Odin, raising to his knee. "Let her finish it."
Val didn't need to be told twice. She wrenched her arm from Loki's grip and gave Odin an uppercut to the jaw. Odin flew backward and landed sprawled on his back, eyes finally closed. Val stepped toward him, but a buzzer rang out, and Loki pulled her back.
"It's over. You won."
She turned on him. "I don't want to win, I want revenge."
Loki looked at her, his eyes conscious. "I understand, love, but even if you get the revenge you seek, it won't heal what you've been through."
"I don't need to heal."
"You do," he said. "And injuring him further won't help."
"How do you know?" she demanded.
Loki looked at Odin, who had yet to stir.
"Because when we first got here, he let me take him in the ring.
Odin knows what he did. We all know what we've done in the past, and we all pay for it in different ways.
Just because Odin doesn't show it doesn't mean he doesn't feel all the things he did and all the lives he cost. Believe me, he pays. Every day, he pays."
Val stared down at the old god. His head moved, and he sucked in a deep breath but stopped and groaned as he grabbed his side. The door to the cage creaked, and she looked over at Gadius, who walked to Odin and pulled him to his feet.
Val glanced around at the silent crowd. She folded her wings away stiffly and stepped closer to Loki as her gaze landed on the spot where she'd left Marek.
He wasn't there.
“He left about halfway through.”
That answered the question about Friday night.
She looked at Loki but didn’t respond. It was for the best. She never would be what Marek hoped for anyway. She sucked in a breath but didn’t let the pain show. Too many years as a Valkyrie and then in Surtr’s palace had taught her what others did when they sensed weakness.
Even so, pain began creeping across her body. She would pay for the fight in many ways over the next few days.
"You okay, Boss?" Gadius helped Odin out of the ring.
Odin nodded, one arm wrapped around his ribs, the other wrapped around Gadius' shoulders. Odin stopped at the door and looked at Val and then Loki.
He spat blood on the floor. "Family dinner on Friday. I like her. Bring her."
Odin and Gadius headed between two benches and disappeared behind them. She felt she should say something, but what? Apologize? No. Thank him? That was worse. She realized her anger had begun to morph into something else. Confusion. Regret. Guilt.
"Come on," said Loki. "I'll take you somewhere you can shower and clean up."
Val snorted. "Now you'll let me shower?"
Loki grinned. "Come on, love."
He walked her to the edge of the cage, his warm hand on the small of her back where her wings had sliced through her T-shirt. The connection grounded her and gave her strength, surprising her.
She noticed none of the people who he'd been dealing with previously came up to talk to them, and she wondered what it meant. Probably, whatever they'd wagered, they'd lost.
They headed the same direction Gadius had taken Odin, and after they got behind the benches, Loki directed her to the left.
They walked down a domed tunnel that reminded her of an old set of passageways they'd use on Asgard to get around unseen.
The stone curved overhead in the same charcoal grey she remembered from the servant routes beneath Odin's hall- low torches guttering in iron brackets, the air close and mineral-cold against the back of her throat.
He steered her to the left and showed her to a sturdy, dark wooden door fashioned into the stone.
He opened the door, and inside stood a lush, jewel-toned room.
Deep teal and burgundy covered every surface: thick wool drapes pooled at the base of a narrow window, and an azure rug ran the length of the floor.
The fire in the corner cast an amber glow against the stone walls, and the whole room breathed with a steady, enclosed heat, nothing like the tunnel's chill.