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Chapter Twenty-One
Pain and Pleasure
The knocking on the door reverberated through my room and my throbbing head. I opened my eyes to see the sunlight wasn’t even peeking through the sole window of my room yet. I was covered in all of the furs on the bed. Little hammers sent nails into my skull with each insistent knock on the door.
The amount I drank last night probably would’ve killed a normal human. My healing seemed to be slowed by nervous system depressants like alcohol or the drugs from the hunters.
Note to self: If I live past today, I will not drink self into oblivion again. Healing powers have some limits. Damn.
The door swung open before I could make it out of bed, opening with so much force it hit the back of the stucco wall and shook the entire house.
I gripped the furs closer to my naked body as Ales appeared in the threshold. He threw something. I quickly dodged, and it landed on the end of the bed.
“We leave once you’re dressed,” he commanded before he shut the door on my wilting body.
I needed something to sleep in if this was going to become a regular morning ritual.
I unlaced the leather satchel. Inside were two pairs of leather pants and light leather-armored shirts. At the bottom of the bag were two matching brown boots made of the same material. The soles were padded with a thick hide, each laced up the front, high on my shin.
They were expertly crafted. Each piece of clothing molded to my skin, snug but stretching with my movements. The skin of this animal was different from back home. The material appeared resistant to water but far more flexible than leather.
I selected the dark gray pants and top. The top, thankfully, covered my abdomen and laced up the back. The straps of the shirt covered half of my shoulders. The pants rose high under the top, adding more protection for my torso, and flowed down my long legs, fitting nicely into the sturdy boots.
Lana helped lace the back of my top before she handed me a large fruit that looked like an overgrown cherry the size of a baseball. She hugged me and waved as I ran out the door looking for a surly Ales, who stood outside the village, waiting for me. He turned and headed into the mountains on a different path than I had taken last night without saying a word.
Last night I decided I would give myself one week. Charlie would summon the Valkyrie and fade into nothingness after that, Raiders or not. Every day was living on borrowed time anyways. Cri seemed to know or at least suspect the Valkyrie was broken.
“Where are we going?” I asked.
He didn’t take the time to turn around before he started talking. “To the eastern mountain. We will train there today.”
“Train? Like to fight?”
“Yes. You are a Valkyrie. It is your nature. We will hone your skills.”
Uh oh. The Valkyrie might know how to fight, but Charlie doesn’t.
We continued through the mountain pass and then ascended up the forested incline. The trail was a series of switchbacks covered with rocks and sticks. The air became cooler as we climbed into the cloud bank, and a mist from the morning winds covered the mountainside in fog and wet dew.
I started panting from the light jog Ales had begun and tossed the satchel with the fruit over my back.
He didn’t stop to turn and see if I was keeping up.
My head ached worse than earlier. My stomach sloshed at the thought of how much wine I had drunk last night. This was not the way to treat a hangover.
The mountainside became slightly steeper every half mile. We started rising in elevation quickly, using our hands to help dig into the earth. Grabbing at tree branches and rocks, I leaned into the ground, trying not to look over the edge. I was hoping the mist and the fog would shield my sight from the drop below.
After about two hours of running and climbing, Ales began to slow down. We had gone at least seven miles of back and forth to get to this spot high on the mountainside. I bent over, sucking in air as Ales took out a long machete and cut away branches. The long knife looked terrifyingly sharp, slicing through trees like butter.
After another thirty minutes, a black stone wall appeared behind a mass of tangled vines. We followed along the wall until a small alcove appeared, and Ales bent down to enter the cave. The hole was only four feet tall, not even three feet wide.
Panic pricked at the back of my neck. Not another small cell.
I bent down to my hands and knees to start crawling.
I only crawled down a few feet before the opening expanded and a mammoth black stone cave opened up. The black stone shimmered, moist and slick from the humid air. Water trickled down a wall at the far end of the cave.
Ales lit torches along the wall.
