Dante stared at the three dark shapes plummeting toward the Blue Mountains, his mind struggling to process what he was seeing. "Those... those are just debris space junk, last week I followed a piece of what I thought was a meteor... when it landed it was a pebble, don't worry about it."
Astrid's face had gone pale beneath her armor. "No, mortal. Those are Einherjar - Hela's elite warriors. They fly in formation, not by chance." She pressed her palm against the window glass, her breath fogging it. "She has sent them to retrieve me... or to silence me forever."
"Hela? You mean the god of death or something?" Dante asked, though something cold was settling in his stomach. The way Astrid had gone rigid, the terror in her voice - this wasn't another delusion. This was real fear.
"My sister," Astrid said quietly. "Goddess of death. She believes I would make a useful ally in her quest for power." Her voice hardened. "She is wrong."
From downstairs, Dante's mother called out, "Dinner's ready! Come down, you two!"
Dante looked between the window and the doorway. His parents were setting the table, probably making extra portions for their unexpected guest. They had no idea that armored warriors from another realm were about to land in their backyard - literally.
"We have to go," Astrid said, already moving toward his closet. "They will track my presence. Your family will be in danger if I remain here."
"Wait, hold up." Dante grabbed her arm. "You can't just leave. My parents will freak out, and besides - if these soldier guys are as dangerous as you say, shouldn't we call the police?"
Astrid let out a bitter laugh. "The police? What will they do against warriors who have fought in the wars of Asgard? Their weapons cannot pierce Uru armor."
"Then what do we do?"
Astrid was quiet for a moment, staring at her reflection in his mirror. When she spoke, her voice was different - less arrogant, more thoughtful. "I retrieve Dainsleif. With my sword, I might stand a chance against three Einherjar. Without it..." She shrugged. "I am merely a banished goddess with failing powers."
The lights in Dante's room flickered once, then again. His phone screen glitched, displaying static before going black entirely.
"What was that?" Dante asked, shaking his phone.
Astrid's expression grew more urgent. "They grow closer. Einherjar presence disrupts mortal technology - it is one of the ways they are tracked across the realms."
"Astrid! Dante! Wha' taking so long up there?" his father's voice boomed from below, now tinged with impatience.
"Soon reach down, Dad!" Dante called back, then turned to Astrid. "Listen, we gotta tell my parents something - we're going to study at the library or something, anything, or they will never let you back in the house again if you disappear. They will view it as a major disrespect if you disappear. Then we head to the Blue Mountains, find your sword, and deal with these warrior guys."
"You cannot come with me, Dante. This is not a game. These are killers."
"Yeah, well, tough luck. I am your bodyguard... wait... knight... uh squire?" Dante surprised himself with how firm his voice sounded. "You said I was your squire, right? Squires don't abandon their... their..." He struggled for the word.
"Their liege," Astrid finished softly. For a moment, something like gratitude flickered across her face. She had spent so long believing that mortals were weak, insignificant. Yet here was this boy - this child by Asgardian standards - willing to face death for her sake. Perhaps her father had been right about the lessons Midgard could teach. "Very well. But you will do exactly as I say. No heroics, no foolish bravery."
From downstairs, they heard the distinct sound of his father's footsteps starting up the stairs.
"Dante! Yu better come down here right now or yu goin' learn today!" his mother's voice joined the chorus of parental impatience.
Astrid looked toward the stairs, then back at the window where the green lights in the mountains had grown brighter. There was no time for proper goodbyes or explanations. Every moment they delayed meant the Einherjar drew closer to innocent civilians.
Without another word, Astrid jumped through the window and began heading toward the direction of the Blue Mountains.
"You don't even know how to get there!" Dante called after her.
"I will find a way!" Astrid shouted back, her armor gleaming in the moonlight as she strode across his backyard with purpose.
Dante thought to himself, "I am definitely going to lose a lot of privileges and get my ass whooped later, but I can't leave a pretty girl like her alone at night."
The sound of his father's footsteps grew louder on the stairs. "Dante! What yu doing up there, boy?"
With no time to think, Dante jumped out the window, clipped his foot on the window sill, and landed hard on his back with a grunt.
"Ow," he groaned, "pretty sure I broke my butt bone there."
Astrid had tracked back to check on him, and despite the urgency of their situation, she couldn't help but be amused by the sight of him sprawled in the grass.
Standing over him with a hip sway and one hand on her hip, glowing in the moonlight, she asked, "Are you alright?"
Dante, awestruck by her beauty in the moonlight, got dumbfounded. "Uh... uh... I, uh..."
Astrid looked at Dante confused. "Did you hit your head or something when you fell?" She started laughing despite herself. Even in the face of mortal danger, this mortal boy managed to make her smile.
"Nah, I'm good," Dante responded, rising to his feet quickly and brushing himself off. "Let's go!"
In his backyard, he spotted his bicycle and immediately saw a solution to their transportation problem. "I have an idea - let's use my bicycle to get to Blue Mountain, well the road at least."
Astrid examined the two-wheeled contraption skeptically. "This conveyance is only designed for one person."
"You sure about that?" Dante challenged.
"You are still delirious from your fall. Stand down," Astrid declared, taking control of the bicycle. She examined it carefully, trying to understand its mechanics. Getting on with the confidence of someone who had mastered Asgardian steeds, she attempted to ride it.
The bicycle immediately wobbled, veered left, then right, before Astrid crashed spectacularly into his mother's flower bed.
"You sure about that?" Dante repeated, trying not to laugh.
Astrid climbed out of the flowers, picking petals from her armor. "It is only for one person," she insisted stubbornly.
Dante took the bicycle and gestured for her to sit on the frame's top tube. "Trust me."
Astrid was reluctant but gingerly positioned herself on the metal bar. The position forced them to sit very close together, and she could feel her cheeks warming.
Dante started to pedal, and Astrid immediately began losing her balance. "Use your legs to balance," he instructed. "You're getting it!"
As they found their rhythm, their faces ended up very close to each other. Both were blushing now, acutely aware of their proximity.
"We're on our way there," Dante said softly, his voice slightly breathless from both the pedaling and her closeness.
As they rode through the darkened streets of Kingston, Astrid found herself studying Dante's profile in the moonlight. She had never been this close to a mortal before - not like this. In Asgard, mortals were distant concepts, weak beings to be protected or conquered. But Dante... he was risking everything for her, a stranger who had brought danger to his family.
The wind whipped through her hair as they picked up speed, and for a moment, she forgot about Hela, about the Einherjar, about her banishment. There was something liberating about racing through the night on this simple mortal contraption, trusting this boy to guide them safely.
"Dante," she said quietly, "your parents... they will be worried."
"Yeah," he admitted, pedaling harder as they approached an uphill section. "But they'll understand eventually. I hope."
Behind them, the lights in his house came on as his parents discovered his empty room. Ahead of them, the Blue Mountains loomed larger, the unnatural green glow casting eerie shadows across the landscape.
Dogs throughout the neighborhood had begun barking, sensing something wrong in the air. Car alarms went off sporadically as they passed, and several streetlights flickered and died.
"The Einherjar's presence grows stronger," Astrid observed, her warrior instincts sharpening. "They are methodical hunters. They will have landed at the highest point to survey the area, then spread out in search patterns."
"How long until they reach the city?" Dante asked, his legs burning from the uphill climb.
Astrid calculated quickly. "Perhaps thirty minutes, maybe less. They move swiftly when on a hunt."
The weight of what they were heading toward settled over both of them. Three legendary warriors against a banished goddess and a twelve-year-old boy with a bicycle.
"Dante," Astrid said, her voice serious now, "when we reach Dainsleif, you must promise me something. If the battle goes badly, if I cannot defeat them, you must run. Do not try to help me. Just run."
"I'm not leaving you," Dante replied firmly, surprising himself with his conviction.
"You may have to," Astrid said quietly. "And if that time comes, I need to know you will choose life over loyalty."
They rode on in silence after that, each lost in their own thoughts, as the green lights in the mountains grew brighter and the city of Kingston fell further behind them.