CLIFFHANGER AMERICAN GIRL DOLL SERIES PART 4~ THE STORM OF THE MIGHTY

The battle leader Hilda, looked down at the trembling valkyrie with disgust.

“By the powers and grand stature of Odin, I declare Odessa, a disgrace,”

I tried not to let the tears roll. I tried to compose myself, stand tall as a valkyrie must and watch my… former comrade get the punishment she deserves.  But that was just it.  Odessa did not deserve it.  I did.

Her shining skin was covered in soil from being forced to lie on the ground for an entire night. She could not look at Hilda, only stare straight ahead.

“Repeat after me, Odessa,” Odessa’s lips trembled as she repeated the words, “I, Odessa, with the might rank of Valkyrie granted from Odin the mighty, declare myself as a disgrace to my honor and the honor of my clan,”

Odessa nearly jumped as she heard the galloping of the horse from ahead.  Everyone stifled gasps, and bent to kneel down, but Hilda bid us not to.  We stood straight, in her presence especially.

She came in her golden chariot.  Adorned in the finest jewelry and furs, she came.  The solemn look on her face as well as the red paint meant… war. Punishment.

We all knew we were in war.  But punishment was the most important today.

Our clan chanted in unison, “Welcome, grand leader of battle.  Welcome, Othalia,”

Without a word, but a quick nod in notice of us, she looked to Odessa wth fire in her eyes.  But that fire should have been directed at me.  Our clan was the smallest of all the hundreds of Valkyrie clans.  Our camp was by the pool of troubled waters, but we were considered the fiercest fighters in all the clans.  And Odessa, was on of the best.  Not anymore.

She dismounted her chariot, and ran her perfect fingers through her horse’s mane.  We all held our breath, but Hilda broke the silence,  “Your grace, Odessa has broken the code of The Valkyrie,”

She turned, and walked slowly to the disgraced Valkyrie.  I shook, trying to contain my cry for the torment Odessa was about to face.

“I hear that she sabotaged our battle.  Se put the ntirety of the Valkyries in danger. The war could have been lost in a matter of seconds if we hadn’t caught her,”  Othalia’s voice was charming and soothing, like she pun it out of silk.  But the words coming out were surrounded by fury and flames.

I could tell Odessa was breathing heavily.  Hilda turned to the rest of the clan, “Who dares to speak out against Odessa’s punishment?”  I gulped, and looked away.  I could tell that Odessa’s gaze was on me.  I was ashamed.  “It was me!”  I wanted to cry out, but I didn’t dare face Othalia’s torture.

“Come closer, Child,”  Odessa stumbled forward at the grand master’s command.

She knelt down, knowing full well what was about to become of her. Her breathing came out in short gasps for air.  They would be some of her last.

She flinched as Othalia ripped her sacred Golden Valkyrie chain that she had been awarded for the battles and the courage she had, from her auburn hair.

Odessa whimpered, but Othalia didn’t seem to notice.

And with some strands still entangled in the chain…

She threw it into the pool of troubled waters.  There was no going back now.  Odessa was literally ripped of her grace and honors and bravery. She was no longer a Valkyrie, she was a handmaiden to Odin.

No, she was not even that.  She was nothing now.  She was dead now.  I kept imagining myself where she stood, having the locket I kept beneath my armor ripped from me.

Othalia seemed unshaken by her actions.

“I declare you as officially banished from your clan, and the entire armory of the Valkyrie.  You broke the code. Their is no going back.  You have no honor,”

I could tell it was too much to handle for Odessa,

“You have two choices, nameless one,”  she was stripped of her name as well, “You may either go to the depths of underground, and live for the rest of eternity, suffering through Ragnarok with endless torture, living with the evil goddess, Hel, or you may drown in the pool of troubled waters.”

Without a word, Odessa strided to the pool, and took a deep breath.  A whirl pool was beginning to form.  She would jump into the icy waters to her death, as the liquid pierced her liveliness.

“This is your last chance.  Does anyone object to this punishment? Do any of you think it to be unjust?”

Silence.  Silence for the life of Odessa, silence for what she had supposedly done.

But I…

I broke the silence.

…

The end… for now

Yes, for now.  Hello again, reader.  It is your anonymous narrator here.

This was the fourth installment of our new series, Cliff Hanger.  Quite a dark and mysterious one, wasn’t it?  We hope it did not satisfy you with that cliffhanger.

Here is how the series works:

• Every part we post is a whole new and different story
• each part is like a pilot of different series
• after we post all the parts, you will be able to vote on which one you want to see the ending to
• the winning story will be put into it’s own season one
• But the rest… will be a mystery forever

Stay tuned for the next part, coming soon.

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