The leaders of my Corps of monks, knights, paladins, and clerics were the first to deliver someone worthy. They sought her out in the Kasian Empire and saw her fight against a group of slavers until the glorious end. They witnessed those she told to flee escape to safety and exchange words with the local militia to acquire help. They descended, Neasa Urimo, to destroy the vile in the name of our God; Hange Juventas, to bury and take hold of the woman's soul. They delivered.
To Pangaea, she was delivered, wherein the Vulcan Heart saw her take on the energies of the world to make her brown skin richer, her hair burned with fire, and her eyes shone as blue as the ocean. Her dragonfly-like wings developed into dissimilar things of fire, earth, air, and water that shone with a divine radiance; and so it was, she was named the Omni-Elemental Valkyrie, Fauna Amurdad.
My Civil Chief, Helvia Uzun, was the next to Seek, See, and Deliver. In the wilds near the border of Vruria and Nevstan, she saw an old ranger defend the lands behind her from a dangerous magical beast. They witnessed her exchange deadly blows with the creature and fall, staring at it until it drew its last breath, wherein she allowed herself to fall into her eternal slumber. Only, her rest never came.
Helvia delivered her to Naubuuru, wherein her frame of tan-brown skin, green eyes, and brown hair grew wings of obsidian and quartz covered in feathers of paper and carbon fibers; and so it was, she was named the Divine Bestial Valkyrie, Mohoana Claritia.
While many were delivered in the meantime, it was a full tenday and more before my Technical Archmage, Modron Safli, delivered the next Valkyrie.
She sought her out in the Rharian Mountains, wherein she saw a grueling fight take place between some traveling merchants and a group of bandits. She witnessed the conclusion of the battle, wherein the witch was cornered and at her apparent deathbed. The valiant soul in question tackled the assailant off the cliff, pummeling them, even as the mountain pummeled their falling bodies to paste.
After erecting a cairn over the brave soul's remains, she was delivered to Krakatol, wherein her rich, dark skin, gray eyes, and puffy afro took shape and became enhanced by the small wings of sparking feathers that came with her rebirth; and so it was, she was named the Sky Valkyrie, Steinunn Drist.
Dagr Caracalla, my Marshal, delivered the next Valkyrie at the end of the Duotra. She sought her out in the heart of Kasia, wherein the age-old war gave rise to a courageous warrior who, even in old age, refused to remove herself from the battlefield. And so, Dagr saw her reign supreme on the field of war, mowing meadows of her foes until they cowered in the wake of her blows. She showed no mercy, and yielded no ground, even at the cost of her limbs.
There, on the field on which that brave soul died, Dagr descended and lit afire her funeral pyre, then fought valiantly to defend her honor against anyone who dared try to taint the precession until there was naught of her but ashes; and after delivering the ashes to their final resting place, Dagr delivered the warrior's soul to Ruthica Prime.
There, in the tempestuous world of the one I saw most dearly, her form was realized to have caramel-brown skin, black hair, and eyes with the same cobalt-blue vibrancy as her sparking phantasmal wings; and so it was, she was named the Tempest Valkyrie, Pelagia Nagdauf.
The militant leaders of my 3rd Corps sought the worthy in Brybs, wherein they saw a young soul run herself ragged by stealing food and medical supplies from the oppressive powers that controlled them. They witnessed her plans for blackmail fall through and watched her fight even in captivity, wherein she escaped from her cell to strike at the beast that plagued her from the inside.
And so, when she succumbed to her wounds, Ione Tweplom and Bilqis Cheichei descended to those dreary lands to bring to justice the cowardly deeds she tried to expose and memorialize the great deed by mummifying and sealing the valiant corpse within a mausoleum.
She then was delivered to the world of dusk, Nue Dracule, wherein her skin absorbed the perpetual twilight to adopt a heavily tanned hue with black hair and gilded eyes. Her wings, made of black feathers overlaid in gold, formed on the small of her back as opposed to her shoulder blades; and so it was, she was named the Twilight Valkyrie, Mathildis Fidiadi.
Those of my 2nd Corps of healers sought out the worthy in Redagh, wherein they saw the young and old alike defending the ancient island from pirates. While their aim was to poach, the pirates proceeded to take any and everything they could sell. Including lives.
While they watched, they witnessed a young druid-to-be awaken great power that saw the pirate scum sink to the ocean depths. Thus Spes Kotuut and Pia Saulia descended on those flooded shores of Redagh; one to heal those who were fought for and the other to send the temple of that brave soul drifting into the ocean blue.
Delivered, she then was, to Oceania, wherein her pale, almost blue skin, kelp-like hair, and black eyes took form from the essence of the divine world. From her back sprouted large fin-like wings of coral and aluminum-bronze; and so it was, she was named the Sea Valkyrie, Meritides Proncruo.
My final Corps and support army sought the worthy in Bakewia with my Engineer, Theodosios Eupraxia. There, they witnessed a group of lethargic artificers slip when creating enchantment crystals and watched the building erupt in solemn silence.
For days, they worked, delivering souls to the realms above just as the brave soul they sought toiled below, seeking to contain the magical flames, floods, and other plagues to result from the arcane explosion.
She saved far more lives than we delivered, working until mana fatigue forced her unconscious. Only to force herself away from the witches the moment she awoke. Such a tenacious battle saw her with a victory to be proud of as she took her final breath; only to take another when Theodosios palmed her chest. That brave soul then watched Daphne Aghah calm the extreme mana zone while Metis Ipro used her stroke of divinity to repair the damage done. Then, they ascended.
Preem was where she was delivered, wherein her hair thickened into thick, wire-like locks, her eyes grew black and bulbous with red pupils, and her skin grew gray like steel. Her wings developed into skeletal things like mechanical arms that used thrust and heat to lift her off the ground as opposed to beating wings; and so it was, she was named the Industrial Valkyrie, Udalia Bebin.
General Andromeda Kausalya sought out the worthy in Ligin, wherein she saw the courageous defend the weak throughout the dreary night. So great was her success, that those she sought to protect knew not of the battle until the following day, wherein the locals endured the long trek to secure their water. When they arrived, they bore witness to a transformed environment. Terraced and quayed were the banks. Fountains and water troughs had been installed. And somewhere in the distance, Knights of the Tempest could be seen.
Bore all that transpired, but after the dead completed their work, General Andromeda buried the valiant soul in a tomb and memorialized her efforts with a statue, then delivered her.
Nocturne was the place of her deliverance, wherein her skin manifested to boast a shale-gray hue with white hair and all-black eyes. Her wings seemed to grow from scaly arms, yet they boasted feathers of a dark metal as opposed to the leathery texture I imagined; and so it was, she was named the Gloom Valkyrie, Lachesis Thost.
At last, my Doctoral Witch sought out the worthy in Rhar, wherein the elves who thought so highly of themselves were seen as tyrants. They decided where the non-elven refuges would dwell in their forest and determined how much they could hunt, forage, and fell trees. Determined, the amount was, at the time of the settlements founding, taking no heed to population growth. Thus, as the generations passed, the refugees grew deeper into poverty.
Being so deep into the ancient forest left them with little choice. They could either suffer as cowards as so many had done; or rise up like the braze soul witnessed by Echidna Imoo.
While she was no hope against elves, she struck them where it hurt all the same, destroying swathes of their forests by poisoning the rivers downstream.
While she was silenced, executed, and displayed as an example for all to see, her tale had been witnessed, her body was recovered and buried with a blessed acorn in a safer place, and then she was delivered.
In time, the liberation of her people would come. In time, the judgment of Rhar would come. In the meantime, the valiant soul was delivered to Lolea, wherein she realized her pale skin, red eyes, and black hair. Her wings, while still underdeveloped, were large and marked with red eyes like that of a moth's; and so it was, she was named the Bloodmoon Valkyrie, Euphrosyne Shoubang.
While the last of them was delivered merely two weeks ago, they all spent years on their respective worlds, mastering the art of war with spear, shield, bow, and magic. And now, at the end of such a long journey, we were here, on Brunhilde, ready to begin a journey anew.
From high above the realm, we saw the worlds weave themselves into a line before their magic began to rain down. Thus we had little time to act.
I turned to my young Valkyrie, now hardly younger than me, and met their eyes in turn as I gathered my divine mana. I looked upon their helms, tucked tightly into their arms, to visualize crowns, coronets, and diadems for the menagerie of masks. Then I began to state their names in order.
"Pelagia Nagdauf." With the eagle-like half-helm.
"Mohoana Claritia." Boasting a helm like that of a crow.
"Udalia Bebin." Clutching a helm of angular lines.
"Elara Aghagan." Whose helm boasted whiskered fins.
"Shivali Hemera." With a baroque helm like mine.
"Fauna Amurdad." Holding a bug-like helm.
"Euphrosyne Shoubang." Cradling a moth-like helm.
"Mathildis Fidiadi." And her owl-like helm.
"Meritides Proncruo." Whose helm appeared like a sea shell.
"Steinunn Drist." Carrying her beaked helm.
"Lachesis Thost." Grasping onto her draconian helm.
"With these crowns and surnames, I name you Valkyrie Queens. Prime Celestials of the Noctis Legions. Mothers of new Valkyries, dedicated to the Gods of Eotrom. Dawn these crowns with reverence and serve with tenacious courage, my Queens, and go. Seek. See. Deliver." I told them, gripping my spear tightly to raise it high, chanting. "Only the worthy!"
"We Deliver!"
Their echoing chant saw them raise their Valkyrie Crowns high and don them proudly, bringing about a flash of energy that saw them mature as celestial beings. The superior abilities that were once augmented by their armor became one with them, as did their armor itself, growing their wings to their full size and awakening within them their own unique divine abilities. Then came the wake of our world.
Like the others, it poised itself above Crater Lake and let loose its energy, forcing us off of the world and bringing our eyes to our next task in one fell swoop.
Everywhere we looked, we saw suffering. It came from the diamond-dense mana, the thunderous storms, the emergence of magical or divine beasts, and the rise of the machines; from volcanic eruptions, intense mana zones, lands were lifted into the heavens by the silver light and pits that opened from the gilded darkness. The seas themselves howled. The sky itself sang. Gloom thickened on the horizon.
Thus we had work to do.