Tales of the Pearly Kingdom (Pearly Tales Vol. 2)

71. New Players

[Days to Ragnarok]

[18 days]

Vera Tabi'ca wasn't a special person in the Pearly City. Life wasn't just hard for the teenaged girl, it was death defying. Her clothes were as ragged as they looked. She always dreamed of wearing the fabulous clothes and armor of the upper-class elves, but none so much as Princess Shayley. Half of her was wrapped up in bandages even her face was covered so that one eye was covered. Her orange hair was dirty with splotches and lines of grey and black grime. It was part of her disguise since the Pearly city had several dark underbellies. One was the catacombs under the city, and the other were the evil people in the city hunting for her kind. The half-breeds.

Vera had been fighting for her life since the moment she had been born. She and the others she called friends spent their days begging, looking for work, and avoiding the unseen foes out to kill them. They spent their nights in the relative safety of the catacombs praying the slimes didn't get hungry enough to feed on them.

There weren't a lot of them left though. There was only Vera and four others, Grit, Ulan, Olca, and Frence. Each one was a half-breed, and each one was much younger than her. In their room in the catacomb it was almost as large as a spare tavern bedroom. A corner was packed with hay and covered in a few blankets. The room was heated and lit by a single bowl containing a magic fox fire that would never go out. It glowed blue Illuminating the room in a soft light.

Along the wall were three crates filled with all of their worldly wealth. A few broken toys, tools, and a few bundles of ropes and strings. It wasn't a lot, they were poor for a reason. But all of that was about to change.

Today they were in for a new adventure. She'd heard rumors that the Guildmaster of the new adventurer's guild took in the cursed child who was a half-breed. They might even take them on as adventurers. The other four probably weren't old enough, but maybe she could manage to make enough money to feed them all.

Vera pushed the crates over to reveal a small hole. Inside the whole was a large bundle wrapped in oiled leather. The four children watched as she pulled out the bundle. It was her most prized possession and the only thing of value that she owned. It warmed her heart to think about what it meant to her.

She gently unwrapped the bundle to reveal a silver Valkyrie's shield with light green wings emblazoned on it. It was her father's, he protected her and their kind for a long time. He taught her everything she knew about surviving in the city until the day he gifted that shield and gave his life defending her. He never talked about her mother and always looked incredibly sad when she asked so she stopped eventually.

She always looked up to her father, and despite their poverty he had a dream. A dream of a better life, one where the citizens looked up to him. One where he could fight beside the Valkyries alongside his own mother.

It was an unspoken rule in the city that until you were strong enough, the half-breeds couldn't survive alongside Brother Calloway's Elemental Chosen. They were sacred warriors, the ultimate servants. Their devotion to their master and the city was something every Half-breed strived for but couldn't wrap their mind around. Vera knew she was different, her dream wasn't like the other half-breeds. It wasn't to stand beside the Valkyries, it was to be like her father, a protector. She wanted to be strong enough to defend not only the other half-breeds, but even strong enough to defend the Valkyries.

It was blasphemy. For a half-breed like her to be more powerful than the mighty Valkyrie. But she couldn't help it. She smiled as she caressed the emblem on the shield and having the powerful Valkyrie rely on her. Maybe she would even get so strong that when Brother Calloway returned he would recognize her. But that wasn't all that made her smile. She had gotten some of her Grandma's blood. She craved battle, she craved... Adventure. She didn't want to be just another warrior though, no she wanted to be a HERO! To lead the Valkyries into battle was her dream of dreams, the impossible one she was afraid to admit out loud until now.