“Altera.“ Ragna shouted

“Relax. That goody-two-shoes can fly, but I doubt she’ll catch up before you croak.” Skyfrost chuckled. “If you were so concerned, you should’ve attacked alongside her.” Skyfrost chuckled.

Ragna ran forward.

Skyfrost was right. Altera could find a way back. She shouldn’t worry about her and concentrate on defeating Skyfrost. As long as she controlled gravity, she could win.

“But I guess you could call it poetry. A circle of flames surrounded Skyfrost and erupted into the sky, creating another pillar. “Your life started with a mistake, and a mistake shall take it away.”

Ragna smirked.

Now she had him.

The gravitational field that surrounded Ragna drew closer to the circle. The flames’ red changed into blue, and the lack of gravity contorted them to a sphere.

“What?”

In a reflex, Skyfrost jumped out of the circle. The flames extinguished. Ragna increased the gravitational pull, and Skyfrost’s jump came to a halt midair.

“Gotcha.” Ragna decked him with her fist, and Skyfrost flew across the train. Jet-black liquid covered his arms. They transformed into scythes, and he rammed them into the roof. Sparks flew as Skyfrost’s flight decelerated. His arms tore into the metal. At the train’s edge, Skyfrost came to a halt. His heels rested over the air.

“Don’t think your parlor trick will work a second time.” Skyfrost ground his teeth. “Let’s see what you will do now. Burn to ashes.”

The train’s roof heated up, and Ragna looked around.

What was his intention? He saw that she could extinguish his fire.

But then, her eyes widened. Flames burst from all directions, blazing through the metal like whiplashes. The winds blowing at the train’s top fed the fire with oxygen. Within seconds, their size increased, and the fire had spread over the roof.

Ragna could only stare at the conflagration Skyfrost had kindled. “Are you insane?”

Skyfrost straightened his body. Out of the inferno, he emerged laughing like a madman.

“Try to escape now,” he said and spurted towards her. “This roof will be your tomb.”

Ragna gulped.

There was no way she could extinguish all of this. Not without floating away like an air balloon.

Skyfrost closed the distance and raised his scythe arm. Ragna dodged. She blocked the second arm’s strike with her saber, and Skyfrost swung his first arm. Ragna jumped, and the other scythe attacked, not allowing her to coordinate.

Fuck.

Ragna backflipped and landed within the center of the inferno. Her eyes widened as she realized her mistake.

The flames turned under the changed pressure of her boots into a sphere and combusted. As fast as possible, Ragna jumped from the train. She increased the gravity under her feet and landed on the train’s façade, standing sideways.

“Why doesn’t the fire not harm him?” Ragna looked at the flames. “Is it his Fylgja?”

Skyfrost followed her. His arms transformed into two scythes attached to metal chains. He burrowed one of them inside the roof’s coating and swung on his chain arm like a monkey on a liana. He rotated his second arm and threw the scythe at her. Ragna leaped to her left and escaped the blade.

Skyfrost knew that she would jump sideways. As long as the timer didn’t run out, she could move on the side as on the ground. But manipulating anything besides the gravity under her feet could throw her off into her death.

“Just as I thought. High tech, low life.” Skyfrost smirked.

As Ragna stood up, Skyfrost retracted the scythe chain and transformed his arm into a sickle. He extended the remaining chain and ran sideways as well. Skyfrost swung his arm, and Ragna blocked with her saber. The two blades clashed. Ragna let go of the resistance and ducked, ramming her head into the Vice-captain’s stomach. Skyfrost lost his footing and dangled from the chain. Aiming for his defenseless head, Ragna swung her saber. He extended it, descended further, and her swing vibrated against the chain links. As quickly as she could, Ragna changed the course of her blade and thrust it into Skyfrost’s direction, trying to impale his scalp.

Again, he evaded the attack. Ragna ran downwards. The chain contracted. It pulled the Vice-captain up, and he swung his blade arm.

Fuck. Ragna tried to evade the attack, but the blade bit into her shoulder. She cried in pain, and Skyfrost smirked.

“That’s it. Move, and I will turn my arm into a Morgenstern and rip you apart. I must admit your little toy gave you a bit of an advantage. But you still were no match for me. I’ve won. Do you have anything to say before I end you?”

“Just one thing.” A smile escaped Ragna’s face.

“Huh?” Skyfrost tilted his head.

Focusing as much of the gravitational force as possible on her fist, Ragna punched him in the stomach. Skyfrost crashed into the train’s window. The glass shattered it, and his arms transformed back into their original form.

“I hope this hurts.” Immediately, she focused the gravity on her boots. Breathing heavily, Ragna looked up. The fire was gone.

So, it was bait to remove her from the roof, after all.

She had to hurry. The manipulator should have hit its limit already.

Ragna ran upwards, and once she had reached the top, light shattered, and the countdown sprang from the glove. She rammed her saber into the metal ground, tightened her grip, and pressed her free hand against the open wound.

There was nothing she could do anymore. Not that it mattered. She had defeated Skyfrost.

A loud noise emerged; a drill’s head poked out of the metal. The head disappeared, and out of the hole flew an insect.

“No,“ Ragna shouted.

The insect transformed, and Skyfrost appeared before her.

֎

As Altera bounced off the roof, she beat her wings as hard as she could and slammed her partisan into the train’s facade. Sparks flew. The winds blew their heat into her face as the force of the impact pushed the weapon further back. Ripping a hole into the metal coating, Altera held onto her partisan. The winds whipped into her face, trying their best to throw her from the train.

She had to get to the top before Skyfrost would kill Ragna. Together their chances were already slim, but her alone?

Altera ground her teeth and tightened her grip as she was dangling on the train’s read like a flag in the wind.

Squinting her left eye, Altera looked up. Her actions had disfigured the Bifrost’s rainbow painting with an ugly black line.

If she rushed to get back to the train’s center, she risked falling further. And thanks to the winds and the train’s speed, she couldn’t fly. Not without solid ground to build momentum.

Ragna had to hold out until then.

A lead black stake-like thorn sprouted above her head. She grabbed it with her left hand. With her other hand, Altera shook and pulled her weapon.

It loosened. Altera drew it out of the train and slammed it next to the thorn. Another one appeared above her. She let go, held onto her weapon, and grabbed the second thorn. Step by step, Altera progressed further and reached the train’s top.

֎

Altera grabbed the thorn and rammed her partisan into the roof. Holding onto her weapon, she jumped. Just as Skyfrost had kicked Ragna away, Altera’s body glowed. Spreading her wings, she dashed towards her comrade and grabbed her before she could fall off the train as well. Ice grew over her and Ragna’s feet, connected them to the ground.

“Are you okay?” Altera asked. “You are bleeding.”

“I’m fine. It’s just a scratch.”

“Don’t joke about this.” Altera swiped over Ragna’s wound, and ice covered it, stopping the bleeding. “I will give it a proper treatment once we are in the clear.”

Ragna nodded, wincing at the cold sensation.

“What a beautiful picture. You are a match made in Hel. So why don’t you go there?” Skyfrost smirked and pointed the dagger at Ragna. “I always was curious. Who did you want to bang? Your father or that simp of a brother? Or was it your uncle? No wonder Drake didn’t bother taking you with him. You’re just a girl whose head’s filled with filth.“

Ragna glared at him.

“But fear not, in the underworld, Wert has no value. So, do not lament your worthlessness.“ The dagger in his hand glowed, and Skyfrost threw it at Ragna. In a reflex, Altera held her arm before Ragna, and it ate into her flesh.

She grimaced.

“I’ll admit, despite everything, what sickens me the most is that you’re weak.” The smile on Skyfrost’s face disappeared. Crouching, the Vice-captain took another step forward, and with no joy in his voice, bitterness and hatred willed their words. “You want to be Valkyries? How pathetic. You would bring nothing but shame to its sacred name. We Valkyries are the idols of this new world.”

“I don’t want to hear that from you.”

How could Skyfrost dare to speak of Valkyries when this bastard had betrayed Midgard? Did he get some sick joy out of pretending he was one until the end?

Skyfrost narrowed his eyes. His fingers began to stroke Ragna’s chin. “Defiant to the end.” He burrowed them into her skin, pressing against the bone of Ragna’s skull. “I think I’ve to puke.” Skyfrost groaned. “Seeing the weak struggle against their fate so much, it just hurts. Why can’t you accept reality and get it into your brain that you’ll never amount to anything? All the pain and misery you’ll suffer, know that you’ll deserve every bit of it. If you’ve anyone to hate, hate your own weakness that ended your pitiful journey here and now.”

Skyfrost let go. Ragna’s eyes gleamed at him. The Vice-captain straightened and took a step backwards. “Once the train stops, the IBM will take you into custody, and you’ll forever remain criminals. But I’m not a monster, you know? I have a heart.” Skyfrost pressed his fingers against his chest, forming a heart shape with them. “If you truly care about the pride and honor of a Valkyrie, then I’ll grant you redemption. Put an end to this miserable charade you call life.”

“What?“ Ragna looked at Skyfrost perplexed.

Skyfrost had to be insane. Did he believe that? He raised his arms. “Yes. Put an end to your life, so that the name of Valkyrie can never be dirtied by your exist- “

The train took a sharp turn. Skyfrost tried to grab anything that could secure his hold. But it slung Skyfrost away, catapulted him into the sky until he was a glimmer in the horizon, and the echoes of his screams had subsided.

“That…” Ragna failed to form a sentence.

“Still. Skyfrost’s right”, said Altera. “We have to find another way. Buckle up.”

“What do you…?”

The ice that held them to the ground disappeared. Altera widened her wings and pulled the partisan out. With Ragna in her arms, she jumped off.

“Are you crazy?”

Altera flew away from the train. Then, she stopped. Her breath increased, and her wingbeats grew more frequent.

“What’s wrong?”

“It can’t be. The dagger…” Altera’s words became heavy.

Skyfrost had poisoned her. She looked for a place to roost. Her flight grew steeper, and her wings disappeared.