Maya did not expect her boring Friday night walk to conclude with finding a Valkyrie battered in the bushes near her apartment. 

How did she know the woman was a Valkyrie? 

Well, different question. 

How often did you find someone falling from the sky like a shooting star? With swan-like wings on their back, Norse armour shimmering in and out of existence, and their body covered with bleeding slash marks? 

The answer? 

Not so often, unless it happened to you regularly—consider questioning your lifestyle choices then. 

Maya was pretty desensitised or rather unfazed seeing a real-life supernatural woman—since she lived in the modern world and read fantasy and all.

Still, the sight took her breath away. 

Though bruised and caked in blood and dirt, Maya couldn’t help but stare. 

The Valkyrie lay in the bed of bushes as if she was sleeping. 

Her pristine white and short dress—though dotted in red and torn—was shimmering and contrasting beautifully with her dark skin and toned body.

The dress was sleeveless, held only together by a brooch on her left shoulder. It only reached as far as her knees, showing off her strong legs. 

Groaning, the Valkyrie stirred in the bushes, her platinum blond hair falling over her face. 

Maya shook herself out of her reverie and trudged through the thick, thorny foliage. 

“Don’t worry; I’ve got you,” said Maya in false confidence, struggling to get the mysterious warrior woman out with a less-than-helpful Rautek grip. “Oof, you’re heavy… or I’m weak. Shouldn’t have skipped my New Year’s resolution to hit the gym.” 

Passing a flock of ducks, Maya was glad that the usually barbeque enthusiastic neighbours of her apartment complex weren’t outside.

She didn’t have the time or energy to explain why she had a bleeding and unconscious woman dragging through the paved streets and up a slope. 

“Cursed stairs… hang in there,” Maya grunted and sent a heartfelt thank you to the heavens that her apartment was only on the highest floor. “God forbid we don’t leave a blood trail behind, huh?”

Maya laughed and glanced at the unconscious yet gorgeous stranger. “Right, sorry.”

Entering her apartment and into her bedroom, Maya laid down the Valkyrie over the soft and freshly cleaned sheets of her bed. 

The Valkyrie hissed but reclined against the duvet, as she couldn’t move. Maya contemplated first calling an ambulance, but in retrospect, it might not end well. Thankfully, she had enough first aid equipment at home—meaning she had enough clean sheets to use as bandages and antiseptics.

Maya struggled to keep the protesting Valkyrie in place, who revolted at getting her wounds treated. So Maya resorted to the only thing she could think of in that situation.

 She sat down on the Valkyrie.

“Stay still, or it will only hurt more!” Warned Maya and clenched her thighs around the Valkyrie’s midsection, keeping her in place. 

She leaned forward, brushing away the wavy hair and cleaning the cut on the forehead. With each dab, Maya found more sun-kissed freckles and couldn’t help but count them. 

She dabbed the woman’s full lips and then washed off the dark makeup on her eyelids—which fluttered lightly open to gaze at Maya. 

Amber eyes that shone like gemstones stared into Maya’s own rich blue eyes. She was lost in them and felt the Valkyrie's arms softly wrap around her waist. 

With one quick motion, the Valkyrie turned in her bed, and Maya found herself hitting the side of the bed and falling off the edge with a thud. 

“Is this what they call being pushed off the bedside? Well, I DON’T LIKE IT!”