True Death

Astria awoke with a start, immediately jumping up through the small pile pf snow she was buried under. She shook and gasped as her mind scrambled to assemble memories. However, all she could remember was charging towards the red beast, but things start to get hazy from there until it goes utterly black. And the more Astria tried to peer into the gaping hole in her memory, the more she shivered relentlessly. She held her arms and rubbed them for warmth, not against the cold, for which she was numb to, but against the creeping sensation that wormed its way from the bottom of her chest towards her throat. And even down to the base of her stomach, making her feel as though another hole was forming there. But the worse feeling was the sheer panic that instantly shrouded her at the realization that… she never found Selda.

"Selda!" Astria yelled, forgetting the plunging feeling that made her cradle.

She scanned around hastily as she continued to call out for her dear friend. The voices in her skull also screamed against the futility of the attempt but all Astria could do was shove the voices deep down in hopes that she could prove them wrong. However, that was not to be.

Throat soar, hands shaking, and tears pouring; Astria shrieked a piercing cry into the howling void. This left her head light and so she fell forward on her hands, sobbing relentlessly. The cold that had once gnawed at her, that she once feared upon her ascent with her sisters, was now quiet. Replaced with a feeling of nothingness that threatened to swallow her heart whole. And so, no matter how heavy her spirit weighed, Astria knew that she had to get up and move. No one would want her to die out here, and that doing so would be a spit in the face to everyone that pushed her to this point.

"I will see you all soon… just not now." Astria whispered.

She then forced herself to slowly stand, wiping away the tears that blurred her vision. She took a deep breath, steadying her fractured heart and feeling the frigid air fill her ragged lungs. And once she was ready, Astria took a step forward. She stumbled a bit at first, but soon found her stride. She gazed forward, to the peak of the mountain top, which seemed so far away not too long ago. She reached her hand over the peak and closed then closed it into a fist. She then lowered her arm and after a few more steps, Astria found herself running ahead. Although she was without the items, she needed to complete the trial, Astria could care less. She was alive and the peak was right in front of her. After everything she lost, Astria determined that the rules be damned. Even if it meant challenging Sigrid for her right, or even the queen of the Valkyrie herself, the war mother Sigrun, Astria would become a Valkyrie this day.

*

It was not long before Astria heard the great roar of the ice giant that guarded the peak. And before she could process what to do next, she desperately leapt to the side as a massive tree trunk pierced the snow where she just stood. She stopped hard in the snow then immediately began to sprint forward. Moving on its own, her body dodged the random volley of tree trunks that fell from the sky. She leapt to her left, then sprinted, rolled forward to continue sprinting, and even had dodge three consecutive trees. She dodged left for the first, then had to hit the ground and roll out of the way for the second. However, she was just a split second too slow to completely dodge the third. And although trunk only lightly grazed her, the force of which was still enough to shatter her arm. Leaving it hanging at her side, bloodied and limp. Fortunately, the pain was so severe her body had already begun to numb it. All she had to do now was grit her teeth and press forward.

Astria sprinted for what seemed like thousands of kilometers. Fortunately, the barrage of tree trunks stopped as she neared her another, more enormous, forest ahead. She could still hear the mighty roar of the ice giant, but now it seemed much more frequent and instead of sounding like a warning, this roar was clearly a threat. Astria then guessed that it was either ready to charge her, or some of her sisters were already engaging it. Chillingly, she would find her answer soon. For as she ventured just outside the forest, she noticed something strange in the distance. Against her better judgment, she moved toward the site and upon closer inspection Astria witnessed that what she saw was a grave. A pile of snow with a helmet in the front and a sword pierced on top. To her dismay, Astria easily recognized the helmet as belonging to Ivana. Although she was not close to Ivana, she still felt her loss nonetheless. Especially knowing how devastated Kindra would be to find out, assuming she was not the one that built the grave. A thought which filled Astria with utter dread. However, as sorry and as pained Astria felt for her fallen sister, she needed to leave the lone site. Though not without taking the weapon that was used to commemorate her passing.

"I'm sorry, blessed sister," Astria closed her eyes and whispered. "May your soul know peace in Valhalla and may your sword guide me till the end." Astria then opened her eyes to another roar from the ice giant and did not waste another moment to quickly follow the path forward.

Soon enough she entered the great forest, and without hesitation, sprinted among its towering trees. And almost immediately she was set upon by white, beetle-like vermin. Astria dodge rolled forward, swinging her sword and cleaving open the lapis underbelly of the first parasite that lunged at her. She then quickly spun as she stood, slicing horizontally the face of one and resting her blade in the face of the next. Astria swiftly pulled back the blade out of the parasite's ugly face as she moved forward. She took three steps and then on her fourth; Astria simultaneously shifted her right shoulder back and spun her sword into a reverse grip, dodging the next attacking before cleaving horizontally along its side. The attack left her with a gush of rancid blood spewing all over her right. She quickly closed her eyes to shield them against the spray of blood and then immediately opened them as she continued to press forward. And the more she did, the more the parasites hungrily attacked and the more they fell, soon enough leaving her entire body dripping with a rancid mix of ice giant blood and parasite guts.

Eventually the vermin understood their place as prey, not predators. Whether it was due to the amount of corpses she left in her wake, or the offensive smell of their murdered comrades radiating off her, Astria neither knew nor cared. For all that mattered to her was that the next vermin that she came five meters near, quickly backed away. She dared not show her relief in front of them. So, Astria stood straight and took in powerful breaths as she confidently, but readily, pressed forward towards the now near deafening roars of the ice giant. It was not long before she found the site of the battle. Vinga, Hilde, and Kindra; all entangled in a deadly struggle against the ice giant. Although she found herself again dismayed at all who were left, she did not let the feeling keep her from immediately charging into the fray.

Seeing as how none was to be found, she guessed the goal was to just kill the great behemoth and carve it open for its blood. To do so, they all kept aiming for its heels to bring the beast down, but the giant was much faster and agile than it looked. Jumping and stomping to a halt any offensive Kindra and the others could think of so Astria devised a new plan. She bit down hard on her sword handle and using a broken tree shoved sideways into the ground, Astria ran along its length and jumped with all her might to the nearest untouched tree. She then quickly leapt from one branch to the next, ascending ever higher and closer to the ice giant until finally she was almost eye level with the thing. And with the towering oaf distracted, Astria swiftly jumped forward branch to branch until she finally leapt harder than she ever had. Sword now in hand, Astria curved her body midair and brought the blade right into the side of giant's large eye.

The force and surprise of the attack was enough for the ice giant to make the beast stumble and before it could reach up to its eye, the others quickly took advantage. They all sliced their weapons with everything they had, tearing through the giant's heel and causing it to truly lose its balance and fall. Astria, narrowly escaping being crushed by the giant's hand, took little time to push off the sword she held plunged into its eye, cleaving the blade deeper and allowing her to leap further. She fell hard, but safely onto a pile of snow. And although she left Ivana's sword behind, Astria wasted no to roll off the snow pile and stand up to join the battle once more. However, it was all for not as the giant now laid dead. Not only did the behemoth fall hard, but it fell into a tall tree, knocking its head open and leaving it vulnerable to the others attack. All of whom instantly making short work of the beast.

Which was fortunate for Astria for now that the rush of blood in her veins has settled, she could now start to feel the agony of not only her ankle but now her previously numb arm. She held it with her right hand to keep it from swinging painfully as she limbed towards the others. Vinga and Hilde paid her no mind as they quickly went to work cutting open the giant's veins and collecting its foul liquid. Kindra on the other hand stood on top of the giant's face, gazing expressionlessly at Ivana's sword. Naturally gravitating towards her friend, Astria's heart filled with a warmth and joy that seemed to wash away much of her pain. However, that was to only last a moment.

"Who told you to take this?" Kindra questioned loudly, not even taking her eyes of the sword. Astria face contorted as a wave of bewilderment drowned any good feeling she had left.

"Well?" Kindra questioned again, almost commandingly.

"The fu- what does it matter?" Astria yelled back.

"Everything!" Kindra shouted, snapping her head around to point her watery red eyes at Astria. Although Astria was taken aback by her friend's sudden aggression, she did not back down.

"What the fuck is wrong with you," Astria shouted back. "With all the shit I've been through I still managed to come and help your sorry hide, and this is how you act? How about a fucking thank you, you bitch!"

At that, Kindra jumped down off the giant's head. Sword tightly in hand, she walked viciously towards Astria, who begrudgingly prepared for a fight. Kindra stood in front of her not a moment later, nostrils flaring and piercing red eyes glaring. Astria crouched as low as she could to ready herself for whatever came next. However, it was all futile as Kindra swiftly stomped her in the gut and sent her flying back. Astria coughed and wretched as Kindra just stood where she was.

"Don't get back up." She growled as she quickly turned on her heel and left Astria behind.

She wanted to scream, she wanted to cry, but all that came out of her was more bile. After everything she had endured, everything she had survived, everything that tried to break her, this is what did it. For the wall she built up to keep the rage, pain, despair, and loneliness inside, all came crumbling down. And every last one of those dark emotions tore the resolve she thought she so strongly held. She never truly wanted to become a Valkyrie. It was just a means to an end and as such was a goal, she forced onto herself. Thinking back, she should have just run away. Run away when Vinga's father killed both her parents and taken her chances surviving the wilderness. But no, Astria ran into Sigrid right as she came into town and, like the coward she was, accepted her offer to train to become a Valkyrie without a hint of hesitation. The training made her strong sure, but every day she still hated both it and herself. Every time she saw her own reflection, she was disgusted to see nothing but a venomous traitor.

"How could you ever agree to becoming a guardian for these people?" She often thought to herself. "The very people that kidnapped you, enslaved you, and slaughtered your parents. How could you ever fucking agree to carry them to paradise after raping and slaughtering more people like you?"

But no matter what thoughts came to her, Astria pushed forward. Forcing those thoughts down by coming up with the excuse that once she became a Valkyrie that she could just run away then. Even if she knew that was impossible. And just when she felt as though she would reach a breaking point earlier, she found companions that soon became her most valued friends. First it was Selda, a short stocky woman, the very face of what she considered her enslavers. And whether it was due to an exotic curiosity or a need to stand by someone strong, no matter how much Astria pushed her away… Selda stuck around. And against everything she stood for, eventually Astria allowed it. Allowed herself to laugh, allowed herself to breath, and even… allowed herself to care. And once that bridge was crossed, next came Kindra. Kindra often kept to herself and as such never approached Astria the way Selda did. However, they both ended up gravitating towards Kindra regardless. And for whatever reason, Kindra was very accepting towards them. And so, for the next few years, Astria found and lived with a new family. And soon after that, she began to get along with, and even rely on, the other candidates to the point that she truly became to value them as sisters. All of course except Vinga and her minions, Niel and Hilde. A fiery hatred bloomed ever since Astria was given to Vinga, who truly meant to treat her as the slave she was. And even though there seemed to be faint moments of care and companionship, Vinga never let Astria forget where she came from and how much lower she was than Vinga herself. This treatment followed all the way up to the Valkyrie trial and with it, Astria's utter hatred of her. Now however, with her friends and her hatred smothered, there was nothing to hide the original shame Astria had felt. All she could think of doing now was just to lay where she was and waste away. To leave everything behind and never look back.

However, whether fortunately or unfortunately, that was not to be. Against all reason, Astria stood. Nothing made sense to her anymore except one thing. The fact that behind the charade of anger Kindra displayed, Astria knew that she was hurting. Just as Kindra knew full well of the torment Astria held within herself. And so, in her own kind and merciful way, Kindra thought it best that Astria just die here so that she could join all the people she loved on the other side rather than suffer any more than she already had. It broke Kindra's heart, but she was still ready to abandon the last person she loved and cared for just to take the pain away. Ready to bear all the weight of responsibility, power, and hope onto herself. And for that alone, Astria limped forward to join her friend in hel.