Vallen: The Marking (Vallen series #1)

Chapter 33

Death was beautiful. It wasn't a black void, nor did I had to watch my life flash by my eyes. I was surrounded by stars, the galaxy was all around me. I felt peaceful, the pain had stopped, instead I just felt... Light. Like a heavy burden had finally been lifted off my shoulders.

I started to feel a small pull, like in those space movies my mom loved when someone was being beamed up into a spaceship. I was floating upward, going faster and faster, until I reached my destination.

It felt like I had left my body behind, and that only my soul was left. My soul had decided to return home, not to Woodville castle, but to the last house I had lived in with my parents. They definitely didn't have this beauty of a view though. I couldn't see any planets or something like that, just a whole lot of bright stars dotting a burgundy sky.

I entered the house, it smelled sweet, like when my dad had just finished cooking. I wanted to see what he made, but something in the living room caught my eye.

"Jesus Christ."

She smiled back at me. "I have been called many things, but never that."

My living room was occupied by gods. The five heroes of old were sitting on my old, worn down couch like it was nothing. Like they shouldn't be sitting on some throne somewhere.

"We are not gods Eira." One of them corrected me. Oh fuck they can read minds! Of course they can read minds, that's just my luck. I really should have paid more attention in history or mythology class. I couldn't tell them apart. It was like my mind had clumped together. Obviously I recognized Edda, she was only a child when she died. Kalene was also easy, she was the only other girl here. But the other three was where I often messed up.

"Please sit, you must be exhausted." Kalene said to me. I sat down in what my father had claimed as his chair. It looked so surreal. Five heroes. Five people all Vallens worship, sitting here casually in a house that looked like it hadn't been changed since the eighties.

"Am I dead?" I had to ask. Loads of Vallens die every day, do they greet every one of them as they die? They probably could be seeing as they are all also dead.

"In a way." I think it was Amadeus who answered. "We had to separate your body from your soul to get you here. Once we send you back you will live again."

I am not dead? Did I just fuck being a Vallen up to the point that the heroes want to talk to me?

"You did not mess anything up, Eira." Kalene said. "You have shown bravery, knowledge and love. We chose you."

"Chose me for what?" I asked.

"Horrible things are on the horizon," Kalene answered, glancing towards the rest of the heroes. She had even longer hair than the paintings had depicted, She was sitting on it. It didn't seem to bother her at all "The total extinction of the Vallen race is upon us."

"And I have to stop it?" Oh god, this sounds like those dystopian books Madelena always reads. I can't be a gorgeous hero that looks beautiful even though she was supposed to be sleeping in the dirt all night. This is real life, not just some book.

"Wars are won with men. Not little girls." Alros answered strictly. "You will be our voice. You will play your part, and in the end you will die."

"I will die?" I asked.

"I thought we weren't going to tell her that." Kalene rolled her eyes at Alros.

"If- if" I needed a moment to collect my thoughts, to realize that I was actually floating in space with a bunch of dead people telling me that I will die soon myself. "If you guys can see that I am going to die, then why don't you just tell me what I need to do so everyone lives?"

"We can't see everything," Amadeus said. "Only fragments here and there, everything constantly shifts in the universe, but some things are set. You will pay with your life in the end Eira."

It was quiet for a few moments. I will die. By the sound of it, they expect it to happen soon. Will I even make it to becoming a full-grown Vallen? Will I ever get to see my family again?

"The clock ticks." Edda said. I glanced up at her. She looked even more fragile than the painting had depicted her. If she were to walk down the street in the human world, people would call the cops for child neglect. Her hair was not the pure white the books said, it looked more like it was grey. Like it was once white but she got dirt all over it.

"We only have limited time here, Eira." Kalene explained. "They have discovered your body."

"I've been here for like five minutes?" I asked back.

"Time moves faster in some places." Kalene stood up and walked over to me. I could tell she was going to send me back right away, but I still needed to know so many things.

"What is my gift?" I quickly asked.

"This is it, Eira." Alros said. "You can speak to us. Talk for us." Kalene moved closer.

"Wait! Who am I supposed to be stopping?" I moved back into my seat, trying to buy as much time as possible.

"Kill the king. Break the ring." Edda whispered to me, handing me her silver dagger