Valkyrie (Complete)

17: This Means War

She's awoken by light shaking to her shoulder. Her eyes snap open and she shoots upright, pushing the person backwards. Her chest rises and falls quickly and she puts a hand against her temple as she sucks in a deep breath.

"You okay?" Comes a familiar voice.

She looks up into Kaj's face. "Yeah, I'm fine. I just have a bit of a headache."

Concern etches his features as he gently pulls her to her feet. "I was coming to get you because one of the kids in the medical room wants to talk to you, but let's see if we can get rid of that headache first."

"Honestly, Kaj, it's fine. It isn't bad, it just scared me when you woke me up."

He leads her into the room and hands her a cup of water. She drinks it and as she eats a package of dried fruit that he gives her, she begins feeling much better. "Who wanted to see me?"

He points to a group of children who are looking at her with awestruck expressions. A smile breaks out on her face and she walks over to them. "Hey guys."

A couple of them squeal and a little girl runs over and latches onto her legs. She laughs and looks down at the girl. "What's your name?"

"Bailey," she replies shyly.

Valkyrie crouches down in front of her and smiles. "It's nice to meet you, Bailey."

"You're really cool," one of the boys blurts. She looks over at him and he blushes.

"Thanks," she replies. The kids are still staring and she gets an idea. "Want to see something cool?"

They all nod and instantly, lightning crackles in her palm. The small flashes of light are electric and purple-white, but that isn't her whole point. She closes her eyes for a second to concentrate, and when she opens them, a bolt of lightning is encased in light blue ice. It's preserved perfectly.

She crouches down and hands it to Bailey. The little girl takes it and stares at it in amazement. Valkyrie chuckles as she stands, smoothing the little girl's hair from her face. She turns around to find Kaj and Phoenix watching them with smiles on their faces.

Phoenix walks up beside her and wraps an arm around her waist as he kisses the side of her head. "Good morning," he murmurs to her.

She smiles up at him. "Morning, Nix." He leans down and kisses her. They break apart a few seconds later after a chorus of 'eeewwww's  comes from the group of children. The two Mauliks laugh.

"Do you want to spar?" Phoenix asks.

"Where? All the caverns are full now."

He shakes his head. "I found one more this morning. There's even training mats and equipment in there. Your dad really knew what he was doing when he built this place."

She nods. "Sure, I'll spar. Just weapons though, okay? I don't want to accidentally collapse any of the caves."

"Just a little bit of power?" He holds his thumb and forefinger a little bit apart.

She sighs, a smile tugging her lips. "Fine, but only a little, okay? Just enough to keep up with the strength training."

He nods and pulls her down the hallway. It's a narrow tunnel that must have branched off from another one, but there aren't any torches so it was difficult to see. Phoenix gathers a small fireball in his hand to light the way.

The narrow walkway continues for another mile or so before it open up into the largest room yet. The ceiling is so high up that there's a walkway that loops around the upstairs of the room. "You were right," she remarks. "My dad definitely meant for this to be a training room."