Valkarie

Gold feather daggers

dart past my head.

"I will grant you one

final chance to retreat,"

she says.

I ponder this. Sure,

it would spare me from

taking the Bifröst outta Hel.

"Listen, Witch, I've been a

stranger to pain since

childhood!”

"You are a stranger

to more than you will

admit." She replies,

raising her crossbow.

The tip of the bolt is green.

“You’re gonna shoot me

with an emerald?" I raise

my arms in mock surrender.

"Do you think I would waste

jewels on you?" She asks,

arching an eyebrow. Forefinger

hovering over the trigger.

“Aren’t we all slaves to our

secrets?” I ask, shrugging

my shoulders. Her finger

slackens slightly. “Isn’t that

why you hide beneath a

helmet with a beak?”

She casts her weapon

in the sand. I let it sit

between us. She raises

both hands to her helmet

and slowly lifts it off. Scar

tissue has overtaken her

face. “I do not want this

for you, but you come

into our chambers and

expect us not to defend

ourselves?”

I noticed the seven thrones

when I walked in, but thought

nothing of it. All unoccupied

but hers. I take a step closer

to the bow, and straighten up

when I see her scowling at

me. “Now I see who the real

coward is!” she gloats.

We start circling. I trace a

rune on my forearm. It

starts glowing red. My

dragon shrieks in the

distance. Six armoured

bodies pop up from behind

their thrones, an arrow in

each bow. “See, I knew you

were hiding, I just had to draw

you out!”

“You need to be careful

of what is asked of us,

boy.” She replies. They

all draw back their bowstrings

and let go. Two miss, four end

up in my stomach. I double

over. Pain ignites in me.

“Mistletoe.” I say with a

smile.

She says nothing. Just

a hint of a toothless smile

crosses her face. As the

world starts turning to the

familiar blueish white I know

I won’t be coming back from,

a blaze of dragon fire scorches

the queen.