Valkyrie (Kate O'Hearn) - By Kate O'Hearn Page 0,33

their future children do harm, the judgement will be on you.’

‘I understand,’ Freya said, bowing her head.

The two angels bowed, opened their white wings and took to the sky.

The man turned quickly and looked behind him. When he returned to Freya, his eyes were wide. ‘What just happened? Who were you talking to? It felt like someone was standing right behind us.’

Freya nodded. ‘You are correct. They were Angels of Death, here to take you with them. They have gone now.’

The young woman cried out and the man put his arm around her for comfort. ‘We, we weren’t supposed to be here,’ he started. ‘We were in our car and got lost. We came to Chicago for our honeymoon. But when we ran out of gas, those men attacked us. We didn’t have time to run. If you hadn’t come . . .’

‘They would have killed you,’ Freya said.

His fear was calming. He looked back and saw the attackers, still on the ground and clutching their wounds. In the distance the sound of sirens filled the air. It was getting closer. He offered his hand to Freya. ‘You saved us, and I am eternally grateful.’

Freya took a step back. ‘I am not an Angel of Death but if you touch me you will die.’

‘What are you?’ The man looked Freya up and down and his eyes settled on her wings. ‘Those wings are real, aren’t they?’

Freya nodded.

At that moment, Orus returned to her shoulder.

‘Is that a crow?’ he asked. ‘There is a legend about crows and death.’

‘Orus is a raven, not a crow,’ Freya explained. ‘But what we are doesn’t matter. What does is that I have intervened on your behalf and broken the rules to save you. From this moment forward, you have new lives. You must take this opportunity to do good work in this world. Teach your children the same. Remember, you should not have existed beyond this night. So any harm you or your children do, I will be punished for. Don’t make me regret my actions.’

‘I swear,’ the man promised. ‘From this moment forward, we’ve both been changed. We won’t disappoint you.’

Finally the woman nodded and spoke. ‘You have our word, Angel. Thank you, thank you for our lives.’

The sounds of sirens drew closer. Flashing lights raced towards them.

‘We’ll be all right,’ said the man as he split his attention between Freya and the approaching police cars. ‘But you’d better go. You saved our lives and we can never repay that debt. But we can try to protect you. We won’t tell them what really happened here. Go now, before they see you.’

Freya was reluctant to leave. But the flashing lights and noisy sirens were not inviting.

‘Live well and live long,’ she said as she stepped back. Freya opened her wings and jumped into the air and started to fly. When she reached the rooftop, she peered over the side and saw the couple waving at her. She waved back.

‘We had better go,’ Orus said.

Freya put her sword back in its sheath. She wanted to stay in this city of darkness and find more people in trouble. Helping that couple had made her feel just as good as when she’d saved Archie. These had been the best things she’d ever done in her life.

‘Freya, please,’ Orus begged.

‘You’re right,’ she said reluctantly as she took to the air. Stealing one last glance down to the street where the police were climbing out of their cars, Freya decided it wasn’t over. As she and Orus made their way back to Lincolnwood, she knew she would return to the city to help stand guard over its innocent people.

They arrived back at Archie’s house just before sunrise. Freya was too excited to sit and watch early-morning television with the raven. She had saved lives – and it felt amazing.

Freya longed to tell her sister Maya what had happened. She imagined the good the two of them could do together and what a team they would make. She had been gone for two Earth days. But little time would have elapsed in Asgard. Certainly not long enough for her to be missed. Her only worry was Loki. Would he tell Odin what had happened? He did like to stir things up. Even though he had helped her leave and shared half the blame.

Rolling over to her side, she gazed out the window to the distant dawn. The rain was finally letting up as the sun rose. As its weak rays