Guardian

Chapter 59

(Liv's POV):
"Very good, Borghild," I praised, watching her spar with another one of my students, Signe. "But watch Signe's body movements, she's constantly telling you what her next move will be. Take advantage of that, anticipate her movements so that you can land a counterattack. And Signe, don't let your body reveal your next moves, let it come as a surprise."

The two of them sparred for a minute longer before Signe had Borghild beneath her sword. I congratulated the two as their spar had been a masterclass in techniques, they were two of my star students.

We were interrupted by the sounds of armor clanging, soldiers were off somewhere in a hurry. A few golden-clad Einherjar came running passed, their swords drawn. All of my Valkyrie in training turned to me, hoping desperately to join the fight, wherever it was.

"Everyone get into the palace, this is not our fight," I ordered, refusing to lose any of my soldiers by sending them into war before they were ready. Especially without first assessing the situation.

"But, Liv, this is what we've been training to do, we have to help," one of my students begged and I shook my head.

"I will check to see what is going on first, if it is just a skirmish, I will allow you to watch. If not, I may ask a select few to ride into battle with me, but the majority of you still have years of training ahead of you."

Without waiting for them to argue, I took off into the air, following the path of the Einherjar before finding every Asgardian soldier taking arms against one woman. From my spot, I could not hear what she was saying, but it was clear that the soldiers thought her threat.

I wondered how she had managed to get this far into Asgard, after Thor discovered Loki, he had replaced Skurge with Volstagg and Fandral, she should not have been able to get past them. And based on the fact that they were not in the crowd of soldiers lined up to fight, I knew immediately that they were dead. This woman, whoever she was, was clearly very skilled, then. To defeat two of the Warriors Three required a vast knowledge of the blade.

Hogun took a step forward to address her and, even from my distance, I could see the spikes emerge on his mace. So it was to be battle then.

The woman reached up and turned her long, flowing black hair into a horned black crown, making her appearance so much more menacing. How I wished Thor and Loki had returned from Earth, they would be formidable opponents to this woman, I was sure of it. Yet I had faith in the legions of Einherjar, surely together they would be able to defeat this threat.

But she was unlike anything I had seen before. Blades came out of no where, hurling into Asgard's soldiers and destroying the Asgardian ships. She performed incredible acrobatics to dodge incoming arrows and blades, managing only to get struck by one despite how outnumbered she was. And yet even as the sword pierced her, she seemed to have no reaction and I vaguely wondered if she could even feel pain.

Regardless of what she was, I could see immediately that she was a threat like no other and no matter how much pride I had in my girls, this was not a fight that they were going to win. For now, I was going to usher them into the woods, find somewhere safe for them to take refuge. We would continue training and then perhaps when Loki and Thor returned from Midgard, I would join them in their fight against this mysterious woman. I hesitated at that thought, but knew that Thor would jump right into a fight with her as soon as he heard what happened and no doubt Loki would follow him. And at least I could provide some backup for them although we were all going to get killed.

With a plan in mind, I flew back down to the training area to inform my students what we were up against, but found not a single one of them waiting for me. Cursing under my breath, I raced back over to the battle, of course finding my students taking arms against the monstrous woman. Knowing that this would be my suicide, I dove into the fight with the only thought in my head being that I needed to save my students.

I cried out as the woman's blades pierced three of them, causing them all to crumple to the ground immediately. This did not stop her from continuing to slaughter those that I had been training. As soon as I reached the surviving handful of students that were left, I wrapped my wings around them to protect them from the incoming blades.

Then, slowly, I lowered my wings, pushing the four students behind me and addressing the woman before me, "who are you and what do you want? Perhaps we can come to a solution that would include less bloodshed."

She cocked her head and smiled maniacally, "oh, look, a Valkyrie. I thought you were all dead, but apparently Odin must not have sent them all to kill me."

"Odin sent the Valkyrie to kill you?" I repeated, the words slowly starting to sink in. She was the reason the Valkyrie no longer existed, why Loki needed to take the throne just to make sure that I would be safe.

She took a step closer to me and my sword immediately materialized in my hand as I rose it to defend myself. Upon seeing this she paused, pieces seeming to fit together inside her head.

"Oh, so you're her daughter - Hildr. I never thought her to be the one to break the code, but I suppose she never was much for rules."

"You knew my mother? What happened to her?"

"Well, I killed her, of course." The woman spoke as though we were discussing the weather, only increasing that anger that was boiling inside of me. "It wasn't my fault, really. It was Odin who sent them after me, even knowing that I was more powerful than them."

I shook my head, "who are you?"

She frowned slightly at that and replied, "I am Hela, Goddess of Death."

Borghild moved before I had a chance to stop her, hoping to use Hela's momentary distraction speaking to me to her advantage. But Hela noticed her, too, picking her up by the throat and strangling the life out of her.

"I suppose these are your students?" Hela inquired, Borghild desperately struggling for air beneath her grasp.

"Let her go, we have no quarrel with you," I lied, desperate to save at least the remaining students I had left.

Hela snarled as she tightened her grip and the deafening sound of a neck cracking filled the still battlefield. That was where I snapped, refusing to play nice any longer in order to ensure our safety. I charged at Hela with my sword, managing to lightly scratch her before a pain erupted in my chest.

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(A/N): It's nearly the weekend, we're almost there! This week has been utterly exhausting both physically and emotionally and if I don't get a few hours this weekend to just relax and do absolutely nothing I may lose my sanity. But hey, at least I get to share this chapter with you as we come to a close on this book. I hope you enjoyed it!