Valkyrie (Kate O'Hearn) - By Kate O'Hearn Page 0,82
and tried to see the pilots. But all she saw was white light.
‘Stop!’ announced one of the helicopters. ‘Stop or we’ll open fire!’
Freya pointed back behind her. ‘Shoot them!’
The Dark Searchers had also been caught and blinded by the beams of light. The monstrous creatures were howling in pain and dropped their swords as they shielded their unseen eyes from the light. Their wings faltered and they began to fall from the sky.
But the blinding light was burning the Valkyries’ eyes too.
Freya tilted her wings to try to fly out of the beams but there were too many of them. Trapped and unable to see, both Freya and Maya flew headlong into the side of a building.
Stunned from the impact, they both started to fall.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
Freya crashed to the ground with a deafening impact. She landed on her wings and, without her breastplate for protection, she felt many of the fine bones snap. The pain drove the wind from her lungs and left her unable to move.
‘Freya, are you all right?’ Orus cried as he landed beside her.
Freya shook her head. ‘I’ve broken my wings.’
‘You can’t fly?’
‘I can’t move . . .’
‘Freya . . .’ Maya moaned. She was lying crumpled on the ground not far from her. Her left leg was at an odd angle and bone could be seen sticking out of it. The feathers on her open wings were bent and frayed and she was bleeding.
‘Orus, where are they?’ Freya weakly asked.
‘Several streets away. They landed just as hard as you did. I hope they’re both dead.’
‘Don’t count on it,’ Grul cried. ‘Nothing can kill a Dark Searcher. Maya, Freya, please, you must get up. They will come for you.’
Above them, the helicopters continued to shine their lights down. But with the closeness of the buildings, they couldn’t land. However, the sounds of sirens and heavy vehicles could be heard getting closer.
‘Please get up!’ Orus howled. ‘The Searchers will get you.’
‘Or the soldiers,’ Grul added as he stayed with Maya.
‘Gee!’
‘Archie?’ Orus called.
Freya looked to her left and saw Sylt in the beam of the bright searchlights. Archie, Tamika and Leo Max were jammed on her back and struggling to climb down.
‘What are you doing here?’ Freya cried.
‘We came to give you these.’
Archie held up Freya’s sword and breastplate. Leo Max and Tamika were holding their helmets.
‘How?’
‘It was Sylt,’ Archie explained. ‘She knew how to find you. Now, get up.’
‘I can’t,’ Freya moaned. ‘I’m broken. I can’t move.’
Grim determination rose on Archie’s face. ‘You’re not giving up, Gee. I won’t let you. I said, get up!’ He caught hold of her hand and hauled Freya to her feet. ‘We don’t have much time. Put this on.’
Freya looked at her armour. ‘What happened to JP?’
‘It was a Dark Searcher,’ Freya explained as she struggled to stay upright. ‘Odin sent them here to get us. They crashed on another street. But they will be here soon.’
‘Then you’d better be ready,’ Archie called.
He was still wearing his gloves as he helped Freya put on her breastplate. She howled in agony as he moved her broken wings aside so he could fasten it closed around her.
But once the armour was in place, Freya found the pain faded and with its support she could move again. She stepped over to her sister. Without her armour, Maya was too battered to move.
‘Leave me,’ she moaned. ‘Take Sylt and go home. Maybe Odin will forgive you.’
‘I’m not going to leave you here for them,’ Freya said. ‘Sylt, come.’
Leo Max walked beside the winged Reaping Mare as they approached Freya. He shaded his eyes as he stared at her in disbelief. ‘Greta?’
‘I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you,’ Freya said to him. She looked over to Archie. ‘Can you help me get my sister up on Sylt’s back? Maybe they can out-fly the Searchers.’
Archie and Freya managed to get her wounded sister up on Sylt. Maya was fading in and out of consciousness. Her leg was bleeding, she had a deep cut on her head and both her wings were badly broken.
Archie tore pieces off Maya’s dress to bandage her leg. ‘You’ve both got to go,’ he shouted above the roar of the helicopters. They were trying to manoeuvre closer to the ground.
Suddenly the sound of machine-gun fire spiked the air. They looked up and saw flashes coming from the circling helicopters. Following the line of fire, their hearts sank. The Dark Searchers were moving steadily down their street, and