—✹—

Hooray! Maya did not break her leg! *blows party horn*

Instead, she merely sprained it and fell with a loud thud against the grassy and unmaintained ground, expelling the air out of her chest. “Oww, oh, that didn’t hurt at all…” she groaned, rolling onto her back, complaining. 

She looked up to see the Draugr disappointingly examining the rope with sadly no human attached to it. “Better luck next time, Rotty!” Maya laughed. She stopped when the Draugr headed back inside her apartment, probably to resume the chase. 

“OH shoot!” Gathering herself, Maya ran to the nearby lake. She knew there was barely anyone at home ‌this time of day—mostly housewives or househusbands. Maya couldn’t pull them into this madness—or explain why she wore nothing but her nightgown.

It would make for an awkward confrontation.

Maya reached the streets with the forest where she and Val had found the shield close by—and where they were attacked by Draugr. Possibly not the best place to be, but Maya was out of options. 

She looked left and right. There was no one nearby. She brushed back her hair and the sweat developing on her forehead. “That’s the most amount of running I did since I bought that gym membership in January—I’m spent.” 

Resting her hands on her knees, Maya heard a rustling somewhere behind her, accompanied by an undead groan. “Oh, come on, I need a break,” she sobbed and resumed running into the forest. 

Hiding behind a tree, Maya pulled her phone out of the gown, which she kept hidden inside her chest—not to be recommended due to chafing. 

Her first thought was to call Val, but she had no phone. She opted for the next best thing, Austin. 

“Come on, come on, pick up!” 

Ring. Ring. 

“Pick up your DAMN phone!” 

“Ghostbusters, watcha want?”

“This is not the time for jokes, Austin!” 

He laughed snarkily on the other end. “There’s always time for a joke, lol. What do you need? You hate making phone calls.” 

Maya grumbled, “I know, but this is serious. Listen, I need your help. I’m alone in my nightgown and need-” 

Beep. Beep. Beep.

Maya looked confused at her phone. Austin had ended the call. She immediately phoned him again. 

“What the heck!?” she shouted. “Why?” 

“Listen, Maya, I know you want to try out a relationship since you never went on a date-” 

“Ouch, that hurt.” 

“But I ain’t providing this kind of service-” 

“Stop spouting nonsense! I’m in serious need of help—AAAH!” 

“Maya? Maya!?” Austin was now panicking. “Hey, what’s going on? I’m sorry for the joke. Talk to me.” 

Maya couldn’t pick up the phone. She had dropped it when the Draugr felled the tree she was hiding behind with its axe. 

Wide-eyed, she looked at the Draugr and heard Austin’s amplified voice—she must have accidentally hit her phone on loud before she dropped it. 

“Austin! I’m getting attacked by a Draugr. I’m running away in the nearby forest. Val is nowhere to be found. Please help!” 

Crunch. 

The Draugr’s boot crushed her phone. Maya laughed uneasily, hoping the message went through at least. 

“There’s no way you’ll let me go, no?” 

The Draugr roared. 

“I take it as a no.”

Maya ran again. She wasn’t particularly quick on her feet, considering she wasn’t very fit to begin with. She also had a sprained leg and only one house shoe on—the other she lost somewhere on her run. 

Though the Draugr was blissfully slower, trudging after her through the difficult terrain.

Panting and feet aching, Maya occasionally jumped or dodged the Draugr’s assault as it uprooted everything in its path. Soon it would have deforested the entire forest by noon. 

Or not, since the next turn she took ended up in an ambush with two more, but regular-sized, Draugr. They seized her, grabbing her by her arms like last time. 

“Can we please not do this?” Maya begged, trying to wiggle her way out both physically and otherwise. “I have a paper to edit and stuff to read. Can we reschedule? I’m a bit pressed lately.” 

The Draugr returned her pleading with a bored groan, unimpressed by her schedule. 

Maya rolled her eyes and noticed a shadow vault between the shades, forming slits for eyes underneath the shadow of the large Draugr that had chased her. 

“Where is it, woman?” A voice instilled the question inside Maya’s head, singeing her brain with cold needles that compelled her to answer. “The shield is gone, but where are–” 

“Listen, I don’t know what you’re looking for exactly,” said Maya, stunning the shadow who didn’t expect to be interrupted. “We were minding our own business at home. WHICH YOU ATTACKED! Come on, do you know what a hassle that will be to explain to the authorities?”

The shadow remained silent and blinked several times—trying to regain its composure. It narrowed her eyes for intimidation.

“Where-”

Ding. Bing. BONG. 

Made the Draugr heads, knocked out cold by Val’s shield thrown like a frisbee. 

Both of the Draugr holding Maya fell over, partly disintegrating, while the tall one staggered. Val dove right under its feet, caught her shield, kicked a zombie away and snatched Maya away—all the while looking like the heroine Maya imagined her to be. 

“Are. You. Alright?” wheezed Val, sounding winded and drenched in sweat. Maya could hear Val’s heartbeat against her back. “Saw. The.” Val gasped loudly. “Damage. Ran. To find. You-” 

“Woah, watch out.” They stopped. Maya extracted herself from Val’s hold and caught her. The Valkyrie was on her knees, wheezing and coughing audibly. “This is not good, not good.” 

“Chest. Constricted. Hard to. Breath.” 

“I know. Everything will be fine. Let’s get out of here.” Draping Val’s arm over Maya’s shoulder and the other over Val’s hip, the two ran.