The Girl In Battle (Carol x Valkyrie)

fall

Valkyrie saw it coming. The huge fireball. She would recognize it anywhere. Thanos.

  The word shot off the walls of her brain. Protect the Asgardians! her mind screeched. Run! Save yourself! Save your friends!

  Before she could do anything else, a figure seemed to explode from the wall and a huge weight came pressing down on her.

  "Val! Watch out!"

  In a flash and a boom, her whole hut was on fire.

  Valkyrie was blown backward, and her head spinned. She groaned and clutched her stomach. Flames roared all around her, and what was lying in front of her made her scream.

  "Loki! No!" Valkyrie hacked, and pulled Loki's burnt body toward her. She cupped his face in her hands. "Loki! Wake up, you stupid God."

  Loki just lay there in her arms.

  "No, stop playing around with me, trickster." An uncharacteristic sob escaped Valkyrie's lips, and she wept into Loki's chest. She searched for the heartbeat, hoping, praying, but deep down she knew it was too late. "I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry." She stayed curled around him, and even the heat of the flames couldn't warm his cold, dead body.

  Valkyrie leaned back to see him turning blue. "No, Loki. Please don't tell me this is the end." But her pleas didn't stop him from turning back into his Frost Giant form.

  How am I going to tell Thor?

  Outside, the screams of terrified Asgardians filled the ashen, burning sky. Valkyrie swiped at her eyes, pressed a kiss to Loki's forehead, and started to put on her armor. As she stepped outside, calling to her pegasus, Aragorn. As soon as the horse swept by, Valkyrie hopped onto it, casted one last glance at Loki, and steeled her heart for battle.

  Below her, she could already see her friends engaged in battle with Thanos' army. Mantis was helping to gather the remaining Asgardians into the ships together with Wanda's help.

  Valkyrie soared above and her eyes locked onto what she had been looking for. Her heart tugged her forward to the glowing silhouette of the girl, who was easily tossing aside the guards descending upon her. "Carol!" she screamed, catching Carol's attention. Then, she leaped from her horse and right onto Carol's back, her fingers digging into the other girl's mask. She yanked it off, and Carol's long, golden hair came spilling out.

  "Get off me!" Carol screeched, and rammed her elbow backward toward Valkyrie's stomach. Valkyrie threw herself off and landed on Aragorn, who whinnied and pivoted back around in a smooth arch toward Carol again.

  Carol shot a beam of light at her, and she barely ducked in time. She lunged herself off from Aragorn again and grabbed Carol's waist, spinning them both around. Carol's blast of light singed Valkyrie's back, melting through the armor, and she cried out before she was forced to let go of Carol.

  A red bubble formed around her last second and Wanda brought her gently to the ground. The sorceress crouched down beside her, her hand hovering above her smoking back. Valkyrie felt a coolness settled over her, and soon, she was well enough to stand up.

  "I'm sorry," she whispered, meeting Wanda's green eyes.

  "It's okay. We'll win. We have to." Wanda smiled slightly, and she launched herself into the sky.

  "Aragorn!" Valkyrie whistled, and in a few seconds, she was airborne again, on her horse. She saw an enormous, serpentine-like creature barrelling toward her, and she unsheathed her sword and stabbed right into it. She applied more pressure as she sliced right across it, its agonized shrieks resounding in her ears. Blood splashed her face, and when she was finished, the creature fell down, down, down.