Valkyrie (Complete)

2: Training

After she earned her warrior name, her training increased. She could not become a full-fledged warrior until she was sixteen, and she was not yet fifteen. Her father aided in her training as much as he could, but he was not a Maulik, or controller of the elements. He was also aging, and she did not want to hurt him in physical training, so she relied on him for intellectual training.

The physical part of her training was left to The Academy. She awoke each morning before the sun rose and went on a run through the forest. Her run was long, taking her nearly an hour a half, but she did not mind the hard exercise. It gave her a chance to clear her mind and to focus solely on how her body worked.

She felt the tendons and muscles working together in her knees and ankles, felt the fluid motion in which the joints contracted and released, felt the blood flowing through her veins at an increasing faster pace as she worked harder. Her breaths became heavier but still were not hard and she marveled at how toned her body was.

She was also taller than Eira now, who stood at five feet and eight inches. Phoenix had stopped growing and was six feet and seven inches, and Kaj was six feet and three inches. The four of them were stronger and bigger than any of the other kids their age. The other kids were frightened by them and thus stayed away unless to make snide comments. It was mainly Eira and Valkyrie who were victim to their sneers, and though they tried not to let it affect them, words have a way of getting into one's head and messing with their brain. The two girls grew closer in friendship and could now be found training together, eating in the dining hall together, and hanging out together when day at The Academy was finished. Phoenix was especially close with Valkyrie, which she ascribed to the fact that they had trained with each other first. Kaj was quiet and kept to himself much of the time, though he did let Eira get close with him.

A year later, Eira and Kaj were together. They seemed happy constantly and it was rare to find one without the other. It was odd at first, seeing as how the four of them were a team and had been told numerous times by their professors that they should be teammates only and nothing more, but they adjusted quickly to this new dynamic.

The cut on her face healed, but the scar left behind was raised and darker than the rest of her skin. Luckily, it had skipped right over her eye, leaving her with a diagonal line from the middle of her forehead, down into her eyebrow, and across the cheekbone and into the hollow of her cheek. It had required several stitches, though the tight sew had dramatically decreased the width of it.

After her early morning runs, she went to The Academy for a protein-filled breakfast, and then she went off to her intellectual class. It was a strategy class, where she learned formations for battle and tricks that were known only to her people. This class lasted until lunch, and half the time, it was all she could do not to run out the doors to the training grounds. They say that those with powers are naturally restless, and she was no exception. If anything, her inability to stay still only worsened as her power increased.

It became so bad that, one day during her class, she decided to get up and walk around the classroom to see if it could ease her high-strung nerves. She had walked around twice before she felt the tingling in her fingertips, and she was shocked by what she saw. One hand was aflame and the other was encased in ice, and when she looked behind her to see where she had been walking, there were parallel trails of ice and fire.

Her father had walked into the room, took a look around, and walked back out. There was no expression on his face other than the slightest upturn at the corners of his mouth, and she followed him out silently. She returned her hands to normal and as she followed her father to the office of The Academy's director. She was left in the hallway, waiting like a child who knew they had done something wrong, and she fidgeted in her seat.

Following that day, her class was broken into three shorter segments and each took place right after the meal. The first segment was the longest, and then she went to work on fitness. The next came after lunch, and after that she went outside to work on hand-to-hand combat. The evening meal was served early at The Academy and the third segment, which was the shortest, followed that. The last thing she did was work on weaponry, and then she went home. Often it was after sunset when she returned home, not that her father minded. He supported her in this, as well as working at The Academy himself, so he was usually home late at night as well.

She turned sixteen a short while later. It was a big celebration, as it always is with warriors who finally come of fighting age. A feast was held in the center of town and another mock-battle took place. She fought Phoenix, who seemed equally pleased at the opportunity to show off his skills. The girls in town loved him and Kaj, but they were more interested in the fire-wielder because Kaj was taken and Phoenix was not.

The girls hurled meaningless insults at Valkyrie, but she remained stone-faced, as if she could not hear them at all. Phoenix stood by her side and glared at the girls, who promptly stopped talking.

"Ready?" He asked her. She nodded once and stepped into the arena where she had earned her first scar just over a year ago.

She pulled the dual blades from her back and stared at Phoenix. He offered her a smile before launching himself into the fight. He had a single sword, but his was double-sided so it was almost as if he fought with two. The sound of metal on metal rang through the air and each impact shook their arms.

It took all of his concentration to block all of Valkyrie's blows, and he found himself smiling at the thought. If she were already so fierce, he couldn't wait to see how much more she could get before she went into battle. Their lord already knew she was ready, and she alone was a force to be reckoned with. It didn't surprise him when she won. Similar to the fight a year ago, she won by a massive surge of energy. He didn't know where she kept these stores of energy, because she was much smaller than him and he was tired, despite having much more mass and muscle.

The shockwave she emitted shook the ground and it cracked beneath his feet. He flew backwards and landed on his back, the air gone from his lungs. He laid there until he could breathe again and then sat up, resting his sword on the ground beside him.

He heard the sound of metal scraping and saw her putting her swords away before walking to him. She held her hand out and pulled him up effortlessly before offering him a small smile.

She walked away from the arena feeling slightly shaky. She knew she had pushed her limits during her fight with Phoenix, but she couldn't help it. The adrenaline in her veins was addicting and she used every bit of it. Her energy seemed limitless, but it was not. She made it to her room at The Academy before crashing face-first onto her bed. She rolled onto her back and simply stared at the ceiling, waiting for her body to replenish itself.

A knock at the door pulled her from her daze, and she opened it to find Phoenix. He looked exhausted himself and walked inside as soon as she opened the door enough. He laid down on one side of her bed and she went beside him, both of them staring at the beams of her ceiling.

"Good job," he finally said.

"Thanks," she replied, her eyelids drooping closed.

"Are you alright?" He asked, looking her over for any injuries caused by their duel.

"Fine, just tired," she murmured, her exhaustion leaking into her voice. "Are you?"

"Yep." She closed her eyes completely after his response and before either of them knew it, she was asleep.