Snap. Destiny Arrives

Hold on

It was instant chaos. Carol lost sight of Valkyrie the moment more Daeleknux attackers appeared. Carol easily took down half a dozen fighters in a few seconds but she was worried about Valkyrie. She didn't have her sword, Dragonfang. Or her twin knives.

Carol knew Valkyrie was capable of handling the attackers but she was used to fighting with her sword.

From what Valkyrie could make out, only half of the fighters had guns, a few carried swords whilst the rest carried no weapon.

After fighting so many people in her life, Valkyrie could quickly piece together the pattern and strategy in someone's fighting. The pattern with her latest opponents seemed almost obvious to her.

The ones who fought without weapons were the strongest but the least agile, and they were painfully slow. Whereas those with swords were agile, clever. Every movement was planed. Finally the gun holders. They were fast. Really fast. They reloaded their guns before you even noticed they stopped firing. There was little to no chance of taking their guns. Valkyrie concluded they were the most dangerous.

Fighting without her sword or knives was proving difficult for Valkyrie. A few minutes in, she had taken down a lot of the attackers and had to use some as shields against the gun holders whose shots kept getting closer and closer to her armor. Valkyrie prayed they would soon retreat or run out of fighters to send, but they just kept coming.

Photon blasts could be seen above the fighters' head every few moments. Valkyrie smiled to herself. She didn't have to worry about Carol, but she did.

Carol felt a flood of relief when she saw Valkyrie's familiar blue cape come into view.

"I really wish I had Dragonfang." Valkyrie called as she broke the nearest fighters leg with the swift movement of her foot.

"Hold on!" Carol called as the energy started to dance around her body. She took two steps and leapt into the air, letting the energy lift her higher into the sky before disappearing towards the forest in the blink of an eye.

The attackers froze and stared at Carol's disappearing figure. All eyes turned to her and suddenly Valkyrie was aware of how many fighters were surrounding her with barely a foot space between them.

"Shit" Valkyrie sighed as they charged towards her at once. There were forty, maybe fifty, fighters trapping any way out. Firm hands grabbed at her shoulders and waist. She kicked out and was able to knock several fighters out before she tumbled to the ground. That was it. There were too many.

Carol arrived a millisecond too late, with Dragonfang clutched in her hand. Exhaustion turned to horror when she saw Valkyrie being held on her knees and twenty guns pointed at her head.

"Wait! Don't hurt her! Just don't-" Carol begged before Zayum cut her off, pressing a glimmering sword into Valkyrie's back.

"Silence!" He ordered, studying Carol's face. Sneering, he said: "If I let her go, you both must be gone from this planet before we return in twenty-four hours and you will not place any further damage on our ships or warriors. Understand?"

"Let her go first." Carol said with a slight shake in her voice. Valkyrie met Carol's eyes with a look of fear and shock.

"Carol... don't." It was almost a whisper but Carol heard both words clearly.

"Let. Her. Go." Carol practically spat out each word, glaring at Zayum with unmistakable fury burning in her eyes.

"I don't think you're in any position to make demands, Ms Marvel." Zayum smirked.

"Fine. Let Valkyrie walk, I'll let you leave in one piece, and we'll be on our way." Carol said slowly.

Zayum watched Carol's cold expression and nodded to the four men holding Valkyrie. If she hadn't been so petrified for her friend's life, Carol would have laughed at Valkyrie having multiple, muscular fighters keeping her from fighting back.

She staggered over to Carol who caught and held her tightly.

"You shouldn't of-"

"I am not leaving you." Carol said stubbornly as she leaned back to spot any injuries on Valkyrie.

"I keep my word, Ms Marvel. I hope you do." Zayum said with a threatening tone as he turned and led his fighters towards the lowering ships. Carol glared once again at Zayum and the ships. Valkyrie read her expression with ease.

"Don't." She said, exhaustion laced in her voice that she clearly couldn't hide. Carol turned to her with worry plastered on her face.

"Are you alright?" She asked, concern overwhelming her tone.

"Yeah." She smiled tiredly.

No.