Valkyrie (Kate O'Hearn) - By Kate O'Hearn Page 0,23
that name.’
‘How about I call you Gee? It’s the first letter of the name, but not actually Greta.’
‘Gee,’ Freya repeated. ‘All right, you can call me Gee.’
Archie tilted his head to the side. ‘OK, Gee, if you are a Valkyrie, let’s see what the Internet says about you.’
Archie started to type on his keyboard. Freya leaned forward to see what the laptop would do.
‘OK, here we go,’ Archie said as he started to read aloud. ‘In Norse mythology, a Valkyrie – from Old Norse valkyrja, “chooser of the slain” – is one of a host of winged female figures who decide who dies and wins in battle . . .’ His voice tapered off as he continued to read in stunned silence.
Freya could feel a mix of doubt and confusion coming from him. ‘We aren’t myths and we don’t always choose who lives or dies. We just collect the souls of the valiant dead and take them to Valhalla.’
‘But you do go to battlefields and reap the dying soldiers?’
‘That is why I am here.’ Freya explained about her life in Asgard and her First Day Ceremony. She told Archie how she had reaped the soldier, Tyrone Johnson, and how he’d begged her to help his family.
‘Can Valkyries do that?’ Archie asked. ‘Can they come here to help people?’
Orus was still on the table and cawed loudly. ‘Go on, Freya, tell him how you are breaking the rules to be here and what will happen if Odin finds out.’
‘What did he say?’ Archie asked, watching the cawing raven.
Freya sighed. ‘He told me to tell you how I’m breaking the rules by being here. Valkyries are not allowed in Midgard unless it’s to reap warriors’ souls. We aren’t supposed to get involved in human lives. We deal with the dead, not the living.’
‘What’s Midgard?’ Archie asked.
‘This is,’ Freya explained. ‘I come from Asgard. Here – Earth – is Midgard and then there is Utgard, the land of the demons and frost giants.’
‘Midgard,’ Archie repeated. ‘What will happen if you are caught out of Asgard?’
Freya hesitated. ‘Odin will be very angry. It won’t be good.’
Archie reached out a rubber-gloved hand and touched Freya’s hand. He leaned closer to her. ‘Then you must go back. I don’t want you to get into trouble because of me.’
‘He is intelligent!’ Orus cried in shock. ‘Listen to the boy, Freya. We must return to Asgard right now.’
Freya shook her head. ‘Not yet. Not until I have seen Tyrone’s family and found out how I can help them.’ Her deep-blue eyes settled on Archie. ‘And made sure those boys leave you alone.’
‘Don’t worry about me,’ Archie said. ‘I’ve always been picked on and beaten up. It will always be that way, even after you go. But if helping your soldier’s family will get you home sooner, let’s go.’
‘You wish to help me?’ Freya asked in wonder. ‘Why would you do that?’
Archie grinned in excitement. ‘Because that’s what friends do.’
CHAPTER SEVEN
‘Because that’s what friends do . . .’ Archie’s few words affected Freya more deeply than she imagined possible. After spending most of her life looking for a friend, she had found one by complete accident. Archie knew who she was, what she did and where she came from and yet, after all that, he still wanted to be her friend.
Archie had searched for Tyrone Johnson’s address.
‘It’s really not too far from here,’ he said, looking at the map on screen. ‘We could walk there in ten minutes. I bet Tamika goes to my school. I’ve probably walked past her in the hall a hundred times.’ He looked up at Freya. ‘What do you want to do first?’
‘I’m not sure. I guess just take a look and see if we can discover what the trouble is.’ Freya pulled on her armour and weapons.
‘Are you going to let them see you?’
Freya shook her head. ‘Not yet. I don’t want to scare them. The moment people see me they think I’m either an angel or the Angel of Death.’
Archie scrunched up his face. ‘Well, technically speaking, Gee, you are kind of an angel of death. Just one meant for the battlefields.’
‘I guess so,’ Freya surrendered.
The air was fresh and crisp as they walked through the darkened neighbourhood streets. Most of the homes they passed had their lights on and held a warm, welcoming glow. From each home, Freya could feel the emotions of the people inside. She was wearing her helmet, so no one saw her.