A Valkyrie's Apprentice: Book Two

Star Walker

"Though my soul may set in darkness, it will rise in perfect light; I have loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night."

― Sarah Williams

– K Á R A –

The power woke me.

The unforgettable power of the gods themselves. In the midst of night before the fireplace Tayah lay beside me. But she was far from a peaceful sleep. Sweat ran freely down her face and her fists gripped a power that tasted like it could rip its way through the realms.

I did not need the hint to know what this could do in moments.

I sparked a portal before us both in that dark loft as the mortals roused around us in confusion. But there was no time to explain the nature of immortality. I picked her up in my arms and took us both through it.

I stepped us out onto a beach from a distant memory that had once hosted pirates. The sun was high in this part of the realm. The ocean rolled behind us against the sand.

"Tayah!" I shouted, setting her down in the sand.

My heart raced through my ears and my own power rose to the rage of hers. I gripped the side of her face and tried to draw it out. But it snapped down on my own like an unbreakable wall. A power I did not have control over... Owned by another god.

Gods no... If Ares had found her–

I shook her shoulders desperately trying to reach any part of her mind. "Tayah, please!" I shouted, through my teeth. I wouldn't lose her to this god. I had destroyed his power and hunger once. I could do it again.

She was lifeless. If it wasn't for her breathing and her rapid heart I would lose myself to despair entirely. If this was the smallest part of what she felt when she saw me fall I could not even think of what true death would feel like. If the god had taken her mind there is nothing on this realm that could stop what I would do.

She took a sudden deep gasp and her eyes flashed open.

"Tayah?" I demanded, holding the sides of her face tightly. Those silver eyes burned brighter than I had ever seen. Her power rose into her hands and I had to focus on defusing it, "–You scared the life–"

She scrambled back several feet in the sands between us.

"You're safe. Tayah, calm your mind–" I began.

"I–I just saw..." She dragged in a ragged breath and watched me. Saw me and saw much more. I frowned lowering my hands and dropping to a crouch.

"What did you see? Did Odin return?" I asked carefully.

For some reason that made her flinch. Her mind was lost as was her expression. I had to help her with this before she lost herself inside that fire elemental entirely–

"I need you to do something." She stated, as plain as daybreak.

I froze and watched her. That expression in her eyes. The one that said everything and nothing at the same time. The same expression she wore when we were not alone but she needed to communicate to me.

I knelt before her and took her hand in mine. Her fingers went through my own and I knew it was her I spoke to. Not one that was compromised to her power. That was the Tayah that knew something  was wrong when no other did.

She mirrored my position before me and closed her eyes as I did. As we both had when we were across the realm but just as close. Our breathing calmed. Our minds so close. The sounds of the ocean and the rest of the mortal realm faded away.