A Valkyrie's Apprentice: Book Two

How Bad

– T A Y A H –

The sun had started to set by the time I tracked down the men. Although there was not much tracking necessary... I could likely hear their shouts from the other side of whatever continent we were on.

They were stood before the skeleton wreck of a ship and debating the likely hood of booze nearby.

John soon caught my figure walking towards them on the beach and cast a hand out.

"Tayah! Finally!"

Kaden turned and threw me a grin before trying to push John out the way. He dodged it and jogged up to meet me.

"How is your mood?" He asked innocently, waving around a piece of the ship like a sword.

I shrugged at him and eyed Kaden who was crouched over a mast.

"Just perfect." I muttered, "What's the matter?"

He twirled the wood in his hand before leaning on it like a cane. "Well, it depends on how much bad news your mood can take..." He ventured.

"Out with it." I sighed. "Nothing on this realm can bother me as much as what has already happened–"

"We're on an island." He deadpanned.

"What."

He raised his weapon. "Now don't get angry–you just said–"

"I don't fucking believe it." I growled. "As if it's not enough to have to deal with the proximity of you two again but it's on an enclosed space?"

"I found coconuts!" Kaden said happily in my direction.

I stared at him until his smile faded.

"Do remember this was not our idea." John grumbled, "–now if you'll stop hissing, I have a plan."

"Of course you do." I muttered, dropping to the sand and laying my arms over my knees.

He smirked at me and took his piece of wood to annotate.

"We only need a vessel to reach the nearest southern continent shore line–" He began, sketching out a rough map. "–As far as I know there are a cluster of islands like our own here–" He poked at a number of blots near the large section of Zanos. I sighed and nodded, glad for some distraction at least. "If we head West using the sun to orient, we should reach the mainland in a number of days."

"Days." I repeated calmly.

"More or less." He shrugged.

"And you can build us such a vessel?"

"More or less." He shrugged again.

I pinched the bridge of my nose. Then raised my eyes and met his rich brown that was eager for a new project. I was long used to the same look of a prototype that would involve smoke or fire or waking someone up at the wrong time–

"To hell with it." I said simply. "Tell me what you need and I'll fell any tree you want. I have enough anger for a whole damn island." I muttered.

"That's my woman!" John clapped his hands together and called over Kaden. "Come man! We have a ship to build and only one of us with the brain to do it–"

Kaden clapped him over the head making me smirk for the first time in... I didn't know. It faded quickly and I found myself looking out to the horizon. I wondered what she was doing now. Hunting down Anselle already? I couldn't imagine it being a problem without us as distractions. In fact I couldn't imagine much in her life being a problem without us. The thought stabbed my heart through.