Curse of the Valkyries Read online

  CURSE OF THE VALKYRIES

  Valkyrie Secrets #2

  RACHEL TSOUMBAKOS

  VALKYRIE SECRETS: CURSE OF THE VALKYRIES

  Rachel Tsoumbakos

  COPYRIGHT © 2019 by Rachel Tsoumbakos

  MYRDDIN PUBLISHING GROUP

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

  All rights reserved. No part of this manuscript may be used or reproduced in any matter whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or review. For information contact the author at [email protected]

  Cover art credit: © FREE0NE and piolka | Depositphotos.com

  Cover design: © Rachel Tsoumbakos

  Time breaks designed using the Angerthas free font

  CONTENTS

  Title Page

  GLOSSARY

  A MAP OF SIGRUN’S WORLD

  PROLOGUE

  Chapter 1: HELGI

  Chapter 2: SIGRUN

  Chapter 3: HELGI

  Chapter 4: SIGRUN

  Chapter 5: FREYA

  Chapter 6: SIGRUN

  Chapter 7: HELGI

  Chapter 8: SIGRUN

  Chapter 9: DAG

  Chapter 10: SIGRUN

  Chapter 11: HELGI

  Chapter 12: DAG

  Chapter 13: FREYA

  Chapter 14: DAG

  Chapter 15: SIGRUN

  Chapter 16: FREYA

  Chapter 17: SIGRUN

  Chapter 18: HELGI

  Chapter 19: SIGRUN

  Chapter 20: SIGRUN

  SNEAK PEEK AT BOOK #3 – The Breaker of Curses

  PROLOGUE

  Chapter 1: KARA

  REFERENCES

  OTHER BOOKS BY RACHEL TSOUMBAKOS

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Is this a dream | that methinks I see,

  Or the doom of the gods, | that dead men ride

  And hither spurring | urge your steeds,

  Or is home-coming now | to the heroes granted?

  ~ Stanza 39 from The Poetic Edda. Translated by Henry Adams Bellows.

  GLOSSARY

  When you first start out in Norse mythology and the Viking sagas, there are a few words you may come across that are unclear in definition. Included below are all the terms from this novel that may need an explanation.

  Andvaranaut: A magical ring that belongs to the Volsung clan that is believed to be able to make gold.

  All-Father: Another name for Odin.

  Asgard: This is where the Norse gods dwell. It is divided up into nine worlds. Asgard is said to exist in the sky (although this may be a spiritual reference rather than a literal one) and is joined to earth (or Midgard) by a rainbow bridge called Bitfrost.

  Freya: (Also known as Freyja, Freyia, and Freja) A goddess who is most often associated with love, sex, beauty, fertility, gold, war, and death.

  Folkvangr: (Also known as Fólkvangr) A mythical field ruled by Freya. She takes half of those slain in battle here while the other half go to Odin in Valhalla.

  Holmgang: A duel between individuals designed to settle disputes.

  Loki: A god known to be a great trickster. He also had the ability to shapeshift.

  Midgard: The name for the earth, where humans live, as opposed to Asgard, the realm where the gods live.

  Odin: (Also known as the All-Father, Allfather, Óðinn, Woden) Odin is the head of all the gods in Norse Mythology. He is akin to Zeus from Greek mythology and Jupiter in Roman mythology as all are considered the top of their pantheons.

  Ostergotland: A traditional province located in the south of Sweden.

  Ragnarok: This event is supposed to occur at some time in the future. The gods will be drawn into a massive war using those humans slain on earth and selected to be sent, after death, to Valhalla. Ragnarok will result in the death of most of the Norse gods.

  Shield maidens: (Also known as shieldmaidens) Viking women who chose to fight in battles alongside men. They are also mentioned in some old Germanic stories. It is possible that shield maidens are a human representation of the Valkyries.

  Sodermanland: A historical province on the south eastern coast of Sweden. In Swedish, the title is quite often shortened to Sörmland.

  Thor: This god is the mighty hammer-wielding god of thunder and lightning. He is also tasked with protecting mankind. Thor is the son of Odin and Fyorgyn.

  Valhalla: A hall located within Asgard that is said to house all of the warriors who have died during battle or as the result of other heroic deeds.

  Valkyries: Mythical women who were sent during battle to select who lived and died. Those chosen by the Valkyries would go to either Valhalla or Folkvangr after they died.

  Volsung Clan: (Also known as Völsung, Völsunga, Vǫlsungr, and Vǫlsungar) Volsung was the head of the ill-fated Volsung clan, a famous Nordic family, which included Sigurd, Aslaug’s father.

  Yggdrasil: A tree in Norse mythology that connects the nine worlds.

  A MAP OF SIGRUN’S WORLD

  The world that Sigrun lived in can been seen in the map below, using the common names for each area in the Viking Age as well as the places we now know them. Names in all capital letters, (i.e. SWEDEN) are the current titles. However, during the Viking Age, these areas were less defined or only known by the other name places indicated (i.e. Gotaland).

  This map was originally developed from a public domain satellite image that was kindly provided by Koyos.

  Some of the common alternative names for these areas can also be found below:

  Gaular: Gaulardale, Gaular Valley, Fosselandet (the land of the waterfalls).

  Götaland: Gotaland, Gautland, Gothia, Gothenland, Gothland.

  Gotland: Gottland.

  Skania: Skane, Skåne.

  Jutland: Jütland, Cimbric or Cimbrian Peninsula, Den Kimbriske Halvø, Kimbrische Halbinsel, Cimbricus Chersonesus, Denmark.

  Zealand: Sjælland, Denmark. It should be noted that Zealand should not be confused with Zeeland, which is located in Holland.

  PROLOGUE

  “It is time,” Freya said as she gazed down upon her kingdom.

  “If you say so,” Odin replied. He sat beside Freya and reached out to clasp her hand. He rubbed his thumb back and forth over the top of Freya’s hand as he gazed at her.

  “I miss having our nine sisters. The Valkyries have been short one of their own for too long now.”

  The goddess had been mulling over the return of Svafa since the Valkyrie had died many years earlier. Her sisters were capable of their tasks, that of bringing the war-ready home to Valhalla. However, it felt wrong to have only eight of them when the number had always tallied nine.

  “Are you sure this is the right thing to do?” Odin asked.

  Freya looked at the god, his craggy face as familiar to her as the cry of war. Since Svafa’s death, she knew that Odin had struggled with their decision, that he thought they were dabbling more fiercely in the war to end all wars than they really should. While Freya saw the possibility of a way to cease the predicted slaughter, Odin believed that everything happened for a reason and that Ragnarok was no different.

  “We have no choice. The runes have revealed it and the magic has set it firm.”

  The god looked out across Asgard, his jaw clenching as he did so. Freya waited patiently, hoping he would be in agreeance with her.

  “How should we do this?” Odin asked and Freya released a breath she hadn’t even known she’d been holding. “I mean, Helgi will come back as a new person. But, what of Svafa?”

  Freya’s brow furrowed as she thought on the problem. “I think it will be too hard to bring Svafa back as herself. Not only will it be hard for her, knowing she must wait for her lover to be born and grow, but for her
sisters as well. Knowing Svafa previously, they will expect her to remember everything and I’m just not sure that’s how all of this works.”

  Freya sighed. She wished they could bring Helgi back before they did so with Svafa. Maybe it would be easier for Svafa to maintain her own name and be the same person. But they couldn’t bring back one without the other. Their lives were intertwined and could no longer be pulled apart.

  She felt the shuddering cold of premonition. Would Svafa and Helgi be ever destined to be reborn? To return to the realm of Midgard over and over again forever more? Was the magic held over them about to create a horrible eternity for the pair? Freya shook her head. There were too many unknows when it came to this situation and she wished at times that she hadn’t dabbled, that she ignored Loki when he originally sidled up to her.

  Even before this whole mess, there was a reason Freya had always frowned upon the love between Valkyries and mortal men. It wasn’t that there was anything inherently wrong with this sort of affection. However, the Valkyries tended to become too enamoured in their humans. Considering the Valkyries would outlive a human every time, it made their love more passionate, more frantic. Then, when the human died, there always seemed to be some sort of trouble.

  She wished she had never agreed to allow Svafa and Helgi to be reborn. It seemed so unfair at the time. They had only been married a short time and Helgi’s death had been the result of a stupid curse, not or fate, or battle. Plus, she was still convinced that Svafa was somehow wound up in Loki’s belief in the special hybrid race that could help them win when Ragnarok arrived.

  So, Freya had decided to give them another chance. Invoking magic, she had allowed the pair one more chance.

  But she hadn’t understood the implications. Freya had never been involved in this sort of spellwork before so she had no idea what to expect out of the situation.

  She should never have listened to Loki, who told her it would be a simple task. That there would be no ramifications.

  No, she should never have listened to the trickster god.

  Chapter 1: HELGI

  Helgi wiped his brow. Sweat poured into his eyes along with the blood that was clouding his vision.

  The noise of the battleground assaulted his senses, rolling over him like a giant wave trying to drag him under. He was so exhausted that he was almost ready to have the undercurrent drag him out, to let him feel oblivion.

  Looking across the field, now muddy and slick with so much blood, he saw a woman. She stood tall in the midst of the conflict and not a spot of dirt or crimson red touched her pale grey gown. Her ash blonde hair was pulled back tightly and the bulk of the ponytail hung down over one shoulder. She reached out to him and Helgi had never seen such an astonishing vision.

  Helgi wiped his eyes once more and the woman disappeared. He laughed. It was short, bitter. He had heard of men going crazy during the rigours of war and didn’t want to be counted among them.

  Raising his battle axe high above his head, he roared into the fray, immediately releasing the glorious vision of the woman form his mind.

  “Hunding, show yourself! How dare you hide from one of the Volsung!”

  The Saxon king, Hunding, was the reason Helgi was here. He needed to avenge his father’s death at the hands of this king. Nothing would matter until Hunding was dead and gone.

  Helgi knew his foe would end up in Valhalla if he was slain today. It was not what he really wanted, that king residing alongside his own father in their afterlife. However, he had faith his father would make Hunding’s life a misery. That would certainly count for something.

  In fact, he welcomed the time he would also make his way to Valhalla. It meant he would also be able to further accost the man who took his father’s life.

  He cut through the crowd in front of him. Helgi could see a vicious brawl occurring not far ahead and he suspected that was the centre of today’s activity. He knew he would find Hunding there.

  “Hunding! You’re a coward, respond to me!”

  A head whipped around at the sound of his voice and Helgi finally saw his enemy. His eyes widened with recognition of Helgi. Rushing forward, Helgi bellowed an incomprehensible sound.

  Hunding stood tall, raising his own battle axe and waited for Helgi to bridge the distance between them.

  In a matter of moments, Helgi stood in front of the foul king. “I will kill you today,” he said before lunging forward.

  Hunding laughed and spat before raising his shield in defence of Helgi’s blow.

  The action infuriated Helgi but he curbed his ire. He knew Hunding was taunting him, trying to make him rush in and leave himself open to attack.

  Helgi knew this because it was what got his father killed at the hands of this man.

  Instead, Helgi raised his own shield. He pulled his battle axe back, behind the shield and danced from foot to foot.

  Reaching forward, Helgi thrust his battle axe at the man. He was not actually trying to inflict real damage but to gauge how Hunding fought.

  In response, Hunding did the same. Helgi tried to use techniques he wouldn’t normally utilise in an effort to feed the man misleading information. He hoped Hunding wasn’t doing the same thing.

  As Helgi got a feel for Hunding’s fighting skills, he reacted more aggressively in what he believed was the man’s weakest defence.

  His prediction had been correct and Hunding buckled under the attack. Helgi didn’t allow Hunding a chance to regroup or to retaliate. Instead, he unleashed a double attack that saw his battle axe bearing down on him, showering him with wicked blows.

  Finally, one made contact with human flesh. Still, Helgi did not relent. He was only fifteen years of age and was filled with the sort of stamina that Hunding was now lacking with his advanced age.

  Helgi unleashed his fury onto the man, striking over and over again. Hunding initially tried to retaliate, yelling in anger and swinging his axe.

  However, at some point, the man became silent. He struggled against the onslaught, using his strength to protect his body from Helgi’s blows rather than to bellow his anger at the young man.

  And then, Hunding was silent because he was dead.

  It took Helgi a while to realise this fact as he was busy bashing the man’s skull in.

  Finally, though, the knowledge filtered through and Helgi stopped the attack. He hefted his bloody weapon high into the air and shouted as loud as his weary body could manage. Dark blood and scraps of flesh rained down on his head but it didn’t bother him at all.

  Off, in the distance, the pale woman appeared once more and Helgi smiled at her as he whooped in glee.

  Chapter 2: SIGRUN

  Sigrun knew as soon as she saw the man in the midst of the battle that he was the reason for her very existence. Over the years her sisters had explained that she was the reincarnation of a previous sister, Svafa. However, they all refused to elaborate on Svafa’s death and why she had returned as herself, Sigrun.

  But now as she laid her gaze on this man, she felt her heart bloom. A glow of awareness warmed her body as she closed her eyes and allowed memories to return. Memories she had no idea existed within her until now.

  There were the moments when she, as Svafa, and Helgi had first met, of how she had given Helgi his name. Then, of their wedding, and of their wedding night. She blushed at the memory. Yet, she also felt the warmth spread lower, awakening her inner core. Her lips parted and she panted with the thrill of potentially meeting Helgi once more.

  Opening her eyes, she saw Helgi watching her, paused in the middle the battle, staring at her like he also knew that they were destined to be together.

  This wouldn’t do, she worried, her brow furrowing. When he closed his eyes, Sigrun moved off so quickly it would appear that she had disappeared when Helgi opened his eyes once more.

  She needed him to win this battle, to survive the war so that they could be together once more.

  And so, she set about making sure that would happen.
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br />   Breezing around the battlefield, her bare feet thundering on the hard-packed earth, she picked heavily from Hunding’s army. Approaching one man, she stood still, allowing herself to appear visible to the man in front of her. She locked eyes with him and smiled. Rushing forward, she whispered in his ear.

  “Odin is calling.”

  The man’s eyes closed and a small smile graced his lips. It only lasted a moment, though, as another man stepped forward and stabbed him through with a sword. The slick sound of rushing blood and the final grunt married into the background noise of others dying around him. The man crumpled to the ground and Sigrun moved on to the next victim.

  Sigrun didn’t get to meet Helgi after his victory against Hunding. Instead, she was summoned home to Valhalla. There were men to welcome and the nightly feast to prepare for.

  Leaving Helgi that day felt like a spear through her heart. It was an actual agony to mount her steed and ascend into the clouds with her sisters.

  “You will meet him soon enough,” Freya said when they arrived in Asgard and their horses were taken from them, ready to receive a rubdown and some food and water for their troubles.

  Sigrun followed Freya through the gates leading to the great hall of Valhalla. It was beautiful here, the day always appearing like it was about to head into twilight. The golden glow warm and welcoming, almost intoxicating as it relaxed those who entered.

  While the halls were a mellow place where feasting was had and merriment was enjoyed, on the morrow everyone present would leave here and go to the great field. There they would battle each other until the evening arrived again.

  Every day it was the same. Battle. Perish. Feast.