Midgar and the Temple of Tyr 2.282

Finally, after years of work searching for the Valkyries, Rosewisse had returned to the Rocstoll aff valkyrs. The hall of the Valkyries where they discussed their affairs away from the AllFather.

This place was next to a waterfall that went to the Lake of the Nine Realms. It was a huge empty space with solid rock floor and eight stone thrones forming a circle.

Rosewisse had already made preparations and put the helmet of each Valkyrie on his seat. Thanks to that a fraction of the spirit of the Valkyries manifested and a crack of the kingdom appeared in the center of the hall. From the experience in Niflheim, Viggo and Rosewisse knew it was coming. At best, Queen Sigrun would be imprisoned inside. Which meant that she was just as mad as the rest of the Valkyries who were in their physical form and imprisoned in Odin's chambers. At worst, such a rift of the kingdom would be riddled with monsters. However, Rosewisse's biggest problem would not be that, but would be to find another way to find the Valkyrie queen and an answer to the current situation.

This was Rosewissse's combat, so Viggo and Brunnhilde had drifted away more than fifty meters away. They looked from the edge of the ledge of a stone path that led to the great gate that protected the Rocstoll Aff Valkyrs. From there they watched as Rosewisse put on his Valkyrie helmet like that of his grandmother Gondul. The rest of his golden armor was ornamental, except for the bulky protection of her wings. In her left hand she summoned her silver wand and in her right hand the katana with the blade of blue glitter. She looked at Viggo and Brunnhilde, raised the katana as a sign of being ready and they nodded.

—That sword, where do she get it?— asked Brunnhilde from the ledge, on Viggo's right side.

—That sword was made by my father, are you interested?— replied Viggo.

—Yes, it looks beautiful— Brunnhilde replied, but quickly fell silent. Rosewisse had reached the dark fifist-sized crack of the realm and nailed the katana to the ground. She stretched out her right hand to touch the realm crack and upon simple contact with her fingers, the crack expanded, and something came out without warning.

She was the queen of the Valkyries, Sigrun, the dragon, and the ancestor of Brunnhilde. This Valkyrie dressed just like Rosewisse, with ornamental armor and bulky wing protection. As the name implies, her helmet had on her forehead the shape of a dragon. Sigrun flew out of the crack of the realms, took Rosewisse by the helmet and smashed her to the ground dragging her several meters. Then she fell to the ground, flapping and retreating generating distance between the two.

Rosewisse barely got up, that simple attack had dislocated her right wing and now she was down looking pitiful. In addition, Rosewisse had left the katana stuck in the center of the room, so she pointed the silver wand in her left hand, drew an arc around it and multiple magic circles were created. The next instant numerous elemental balls flew that hit Sigrun head-on.

From a distance, Brunnhilde watched the fight between Rosewisse and Sigrun and was moved by the strength of both. She squeezed her hand in a sign of helplessness and then brought it to the stump of her shoulder. She shed tears of grief thinking that she would never be able to be the same as before.

—Concentrate on the fight— said Viggo —you can learn a lot from this—

—My path as a Valkyrie is over— Brunnhilde said, her head down.

—Rosewisse won't let it and I'll help her, so have faith. Now focus on combat, when Rosewisse challenged you to a duel will help you—

Brunnhilde looked at Viggo as tears streamed down her cheeks and as she prepared to look back at Rosewisse and Sigrun, she heard a dragon roar in the distance. She looked south, where the temple of Tyr should be, but could not see anything because of the mountains surrounding the Rocstoll aff valkyrs. Brunnhilde looked at Viggo and saw that he smiled slyly, as if he knew what was happening without seeing what it was. That made her feel a terrible chill down her back and she looked down.

—Concentrate on combat— Viggo ordered.

Brunnhilde didn't dare to look at him but looked forward. Rosewisse in the center of the hall of the vakiries kept throwing one magic after another hoping that the Valkyrie queen Sigrun wanted to attack her melee, but the latter kept her distance, took the water from the waterfall, transformed it into ice and threw it at her in response.

Sigrun stopped the barrage of ice flying dodging the magics as she gathered seidr magic in her hands. She stopped for a moment, created chakram with seidr magic and threw ten at her in a single instant. Rosewisse ran with all her strength and tried to dodge most, those she could not, she repelled them with the katana.

Sigrun took advantage of the fact that Rosewisse was busy and gathered a lot of seidr energy to create a powerful chakram. She threw it with all her might, but Rosewisse was already prepared for such a move. That type of chakram was one of the most dangerous attacks a Valkyrie could perform because if it hit her on the wing, she could be cut off. So, Rosewisse jumped to the side, fell to the ground on her fractured wing, endured the pain, but quickly rejoined. She then pointed her silver wand in her left hand and began to create magic circles to launch elemental projectiles.

The bombing of Rosewisse destroyed the hall of the Valkyries, the eight thrones and the walls that kept the Rocstoll aff valkyrs hidden from the world. That generated a great dust that covered everything in several tens of meters around. Sigrun took advantage of swooping against Rosewisse, both were lost in the dust and the metal collision happened by the impact of someone against a rock or something similar was heard.

From a distance, Viggo used his clairvoyance to see everything more closely and when he realized what had happened, he smiled. Brunnhilde next to him looked at him and then looked at the dust that gradually dissipated.

Viggo jumped off the ledge, fell four meters, and landed on a stone road. On the left the river that produced the waterfall. On the right the wall that separated the Rocstoll Aff Valkyrs from the world. Brunnhilde followed closely and they quickly saw Rosewisse barely walking towards the Valkyrie queen Sigrun. She had a twisted and drooping wing while leaning on the katana to walk. Viggo and Brunnhilde quickly caught up with her but said nothing and let her continue.

Rosewisse stopped in front of the body of Queen Sigrun who had lost an arm and both legs. Rosewisse would not let the bleeding take away the glory of the battle, so she took the katana and in one move cut off both wings.

Viggo reached in his leather bag, walked to Rosewisse and held out the bottle with estus, but Rosewisse released her wand and katana falling sideways so that Viggo could catch her. Viggo held her with his right hand and with his left he took off her helmet and threw it to the ground. Rosewisse's hair fell like two silver cascades on the sides of her face covered with a sweat. Viggo stretched out his left hand to the right, took the estus and brought it to Rosewisse's mouth. The latter opened her lips and Viggo steeped the bottle. She drank the estus slowly until little by little her face was taking on a better complexion.

—Better?— asked Viggo in a soft voice.

—Yes, better— said Rosewisse, trying to stand on her feet and resting her right hand on Viggo's breastplate. She took the bottle of estus from Viggo's hand and took a long sip before returning the bottle to Viggo.

A few seconds later Sigrun's soul separated from her corpse and showed itself with a winged shape made of a greenish mist.

—Who are you, young Valkyrie? Thank you for freeing me from my corrupt form— Sigrun said.

—You're welcome, Valkyrie queen, Sigrun— said Rosewisse, knelt before her and spoke with the head down —for several years I have been looking for the sisters of the Valkyrie council for answers. From one moment to the next you all disappeared, Midgar and the other Realms were filled with undead—

—It must have happened— replied Sigrun —the AllFather used an arcane magic on my sisters to drive them crazy. I tried to lock them up in a place where they wouldn't pose a danger to themselves or others, but over time, I also lost my sanity—

—What will you do now, my lady?—

—I must return to my sisters and join forces to restore balance between the kingdoms. You have served well, your place is next to us, come with me—

Rosewisse opened her wide eyes from the impression, but then closed them and shook her head —I can't, that's not my mission—

—What's your mission?—

—My mission was to share with you my mother's message, the message for which she was killed in Vanaheim. Something has altered the balance in the world and ragnarok has moved forward—

—That's not possible!— shouted Sigrun.

—Right now, there should be a hundred winters, but that's the reality. As proof of that the cold has begun to go down in Midgar and there is no one left alive. Every corner, every place, is full of draugrs and walkers—

—All the more so it is imperative that you help us, you have shown strength—

—No— Rosewisse replied in a calm voice, stood up, looked back, and saw Brunnhilde with her helmet. Brunnhilde held it out and Rosewisse received it, then looked at Sigrun, bent down and placed her helmet in front of her and then stood up again —my work as a Valkyrie and as an inhabitant of Vanaheim was finished. My mother and father died because of this message— Rosewisse said, her voice cracking as tears streamed down her face —I came to Midgar looking for an answer, fought to free them, and so I did. I had help, wonderful help, but they were hard years. If it hadn't been for Viggo, I would have broken. I, I've already fulfilled my mission, that's all. Now it's up to you to see what you can do—

Viggo walked over and hugged Rosewisse from the side, looked at Sigrun in his spirit form, and nodded.

—Little girl, I'm sorry for your loss— Sigrun said quietly —I accept it. You can consider your mission finished, but, even so, if at any time forgiveness fits in your heart, come to Vanaheim, come with us, we need Valkyries with hearts as strong as yours—

—I'll think about it— said Rosewisse, looking at Sigrun.

Sigrun looked at the other Valkyrie, but seeing that she was missing an arm, she said nothing to her. She was not served by a diminished warrior within her ranks. So, she just rose into heaven in her spiritual form and left.

Rosewisse embraced Viggo and wept bitterly, whether for the loss of her parents, that of her home, that of her kingdom, the happiness of having completed her task. It was all the emotions swirling in her chest so hard that she felt like her chest was going to explode.