32 Chapter 32:

〰 Hrudra 〰

"Son of a bitch!" I scream, slamming against a large rock and feeling blood fill my mouth. The vampire above me cackled with laughter, watching as I struggled on the ground.

My ribs were killing me and I could feel the scratches and bruises all over my body. There was nothing I could do about it since I had abandoned everyone behind just to settle this demanding need to kill this son of a bitch.

Though I may be on the ground and in a lot of pain, I could see the vampire struggling to stay upright but he merely lifted a dead wolf off the ground and drank their blood dry. The wounds all over the vampire healing within an instant as I cursed all vampires.

As much as I wanted to finish this, I wanted to be in bed with Proximo even more than anything in the world. But he wouldn't want me after my betrayal, which made killing this man the more satisfying.

"Don't be so rude, dear Valkyrie." The vampire tells me when I spit out the blood filling my mouth and glared up at the bastard. His slick black eyes watched mine carefully making more anger fill my senses. It was as if I could feel his anger through his forced slumber...

"I'm gonna make you pay." I struggle out before he knelt down, grabbing the front of my shirt and forcing me off the ground.

His clammy, cold hands touching my skin as I grabbed at the front of his shirt. Even though I couldn't do anything, I wanted to small amount of control that I could have in my grasps.

"That's not very nice you know. I didn't do anything but defend myself." He admits making me hiss at him and spit some blood in his face. I watched him frown before wiping his face away and throwing me back down on the ground in a weird elegant way.

I shifted upwards, wanting to watch him while I moved away from him with my legs. He stared at me with heed before slowly walking towards me with his hand outstretched to me, a smile playing on his manipulative face.

"You will be min-"

"Batter up!" I watched as the vampire was thrown from my vision before a green haired woman came into view. Her long hair thrown into a high ponytail with a large gun cocked on her hip, the devilishly silver eyes looking like a relief at the moment.

"Mira..." I mumble, slumping against the rock when she rolled her eyes and forced me off the ground with an impatient hand. She held onto my arm and scanned the area for the vampire once again.

"Why are you letting that bloodsucking bastard get the best of you? You could kill him within seconds." She snarled, pushing a handgun in my grasps and pushed me against the rock for balance.

"Stronger than I expected," I admit with a small smile as she nodded and lifted her scope to her eye.

"Better be. I am to be the one who kills you." She snaps at me before taking a shot. I heard the vampire curse out in pain when she threw my arm over her shoulders and started walking quickly to another rock for me to lean on.

"Why are you helping me?" I ask in a tight voice, leaning my head against the rock and trying to remain on my feet.

"You're taking care of someone very dear to me... Think of this as a thank you." She admits to me in a gentle voice before shooting at the vampire once again. "Alright. Come on. Time to go again." I lifted my arm over her shoulders, allowing her to drag me to another rock.

〰 Proximo 〰

"Where the hell is she?" I question Rogan as he fought a nearby vampire, watching Valrun from a distance. He snapped the vampire's neck and tossed the corpse away before turning to me with an irritated look.

"She ran off after the leader. Valrun and I tried running after her but a swarm of vampires attacked us at once. We barely made it out." He admits to me, watching Valrun slice a vampire down with her daggers. I could tell he was having a hard time with her fighting out here, but I didn't really care right at the moment.

Hrudra was out there and about to pass out from her injuries. Nothing mattered more than her.

"Where is the leader?" I ask him as he glared at me over his shoulder.

"I don't know, Prox. If I did, we would be with her." He growls out, running towards Valrun to help her with the two vampires ganging up on her. I let out a frustrating snarl before following my instinct and diving into another horde of vampires.

I heard and saw Valkyries and allies all around me, fighting and killing people with all their strength. Lightning brewed in the air from the Valkyries wrath, no doubt drawing attention to the high class.

The Valkyries were afraid of Hrudra being found by the high class because she was on their hit list. If they got a hold of her, there was a possibility I would never see her again and that was something I'd never let happen.

I'd die before she's taken away.

"Mira!" I heard her scream, flashes of lightning raining the skies and striking the ground. Vampires were flung off the ground at the strength of Hrudra's lightning, flying into nearby vampires or rocks.

In a flash, I was in a wide opening where Hrudra and the green-haired woman were hunched over in the tall grass. I watched several vampires crouched around them, slowly growing closer and closer to women.

I wish I could mindlink Hrudra and tell her I was here, but the drug she injected into me prevented anything from going into her end. It was like a wall that only let me see on her side, not vise versa.

She scanned the area before taking a handgun from the ground and speaking with Mira in a hushed tone. Mira nodded, gripping her arm and taking the gun from Hrudra. Hrudra picked up and large gun, holding it against her on chest.

I crouched down on the ground, sneaking into the tall grass and finding a nearby vampire before taking him down silently. If the other vampires knew I was here, they could overpower me and take me down.

That was something I couldn't risk with Hrudra out here in pain.

After I took the vampire down, I heard a gun shout and a curse in anger. I was quick to find the source with the green-haired woman clutching onto her thigh with a dead vampire beside her. Blood gushed from her wound as her eyes flicked up at me, pointing the gun at me but I was quick to steal the gun from her hand.

"Damn you." She hisses when I sighed in annoyance and picked her off the ground.

"Come on." I grounded out, searching around the area for Hrudra but not seeing her anywhere. Mira looked around as well, her body growing tense in seconds.

"M-Maia..."

〰 Hrudra 〰

"Let her go." I snarl as the vampire held Maia's throat in his hands. Maia's frightened red eyes watched me with hope and the need to escape but I couldn't do anything other than do whatever the vampire wanted.

"We've played this game for a little too long, Hrudra." The vampire said leaning down and running his fang down Maia's neck. I felt myself taking a step closer, but the vampire tightened his grasps on Maia making me back away.

"What do you want? Let her go and I'll do whatever you want." I promise when the vampire grinned at me. He leaned away from her throat but kept his tight grasp on her.

"Drop your gun and kick it to me." He orders as I tossed the gun over to him, raising my hands in innocence. "Unshift." His slimy grin trickled on his face while I forced the shift to unravel my true self. It took more energy than I would have admitted but I couldn't help but drop down to one knee from the exhaustion.

"I've done what you wanted. Now let her go." I snarl angrily before he thought for a second.

"Alright." In a flash, he snapped Maia's neck and let her go. She dropped to the ground, her dead body in front of me as I dropped onto the ground.

"No... Maia..." I heard an ear piercing scream of Valkyrie before lightning flashed brightly in the skies. The ground rumbled beneath me as a large earthquake opened the earth to the fiery hell below.

Mira appeared in a flash, tearing the vampire apart as I scrambled for Maia's body. I held onto her tightly, silently sobbing while holding onto her body and praying to Freya and Odin that she was a fighter.

That she deserved to live...

"Hrudra." Mira spun to me, grasping my shoulders in a frantic way. Her silver eyes shifting purple within seconds. "You need to bless her. It's the only way to save her." Mira pleaded when I shook my head with tears on my face.

"I-I don't have that power anymore... I wish I-"

"You have that power Hrudra! You always have! You just need to harness it for once! Believe that you are a god of good. Not a monster! Please, you have to save her!" Mira cried before I watched her mate rushed behind her. I grew tense at his dark stare but he seemed even more upset than Mira.

"You have to help, Hrudra the awakened god." He says in a begging voice when I sniffed and nodded.

"Okay... I'll try..." I closed my eyes, laying Maia on the ground and pressing my shaking hands over her. I knew everyone was watching me, waiting for me to do something as I focused on everything within me.

It felt as if I was searching for a switch that was long broken and abandoned. I knew that searching long enough may work, but I knew I had little time before Maia was gone for good.

If only I had someone to guide me! I had no idea what I was even looking for damn it!

"I-I can't do it..." I sniff, opening my eyes and staring down at Maia. I felt a soft palm rest on my exposed shoulder making me look up at the goddess. "F-Freya?" I question with tears in my eyes as she smiled down sadly.

"Hello, child." She nods with a serene look while there was a quiet scoff behind her.

"I'm here as well." Odin scoffed in an attitude, crossing her arms across her chest with her blonde hair cascading down her shoulders.

"Wh-What are you doing here? Are you here to save the girl and make her into a Valkyrie?" I ask in a hopeful voice when Freya knelt down to the young girl and peered up at Mira's frozen body.

"Did Mira tell you this was her child?" Freya questioned me making me look at Mira in shock then turned to Freya.

"You knew...?"

"Of course I knew. Mira has been working under us for many years. Her mate had convinced her to come back to the Valkyries." Freya told me as I let out a breath of air.

"I never knew..." I admit causing Freya to chuckle.

"Of course you didn't. You cursed her mate to be bound to the underworld. You think Mira would tell you anything?" She points out.

"Right..." I nod slowly before looking at her with a hopeful look. "Since Maia is part Valkyrie. Does that mean you can save her? That she'll survive?" I ask her with a smile on my face.

"I'm sorry dear... But there's nothing we can do for the child... Unless-"

"Don't even think about it, Freya." Odin snarled when I looked at Freya with all the hope I had.

"What can I do?"