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Like Leo had done, he twirled me in a few circles while I tried to keep my shirt from riding up and displaying my bare ass cheeks to everyone.
Logan and Danny laughed at my expense, no one stepping forward to help. I saw Cri and Leo grin before they started to walk in the opposite direction the men had come from.
The fairer-skinned man set me down on the soft sand and started to follow behind Cri and Leo.
Beyond the pink sand beach, there was a path lined with flat black stones. The trees become denser. We continued on the path toward the valley between the mountains, away from the beach. The stones ended on a trail lined with soft, vibrant foliage. The trees and plants become so thick that I could not see beyond the path. We wound our way further into the heart of the island.
This island would be my new home, until I was gone. If I could never see earth again, then this was the best compromise. It lessened the sting of losing my home, my father, and eventually myself.
The moist air stuck to my skin. I inhaled deeply, the air sweetly clean, tilting my head to the sky to see that the trees were so tall, they almost blocked out the two suns. I smelled the meat smoking before I saw the village appear behind the tree line.
Danny, Logan, and I stopped to take in the tumbling ruins of what looked like an ancient temple. Parts of the structure still stood, almost melting into the forest. A series of small steps gave way to a large atrium made of the same black rock of the stepping stones.
Only three walls of the structure now stood, each with vines and trees growing around them. The stones were covered in moss and a thick climbing plant. The temple must have been in ruins for years to have the forest now growing through it, almost covering its existence altogether, buried by time. Did these ancient people worship the Valkyries like the Norsemen had, or perhaps another deity? These temples didn’t appear to have runestones or markings anywhere.
Cri and Leo had gone ahead and disappeared along the trail further up. Ales stayed back while we took everything in.
“What happened here? Who built this?” I asked Ales.
“I do not know who built it. It has been in ruins since I found it five centuries ago. I believe the Keres destroyed this world over a millennia ago. There are ruins like this on different mountains of this island. I searched each island when I first found this world, but I never found another soul.” Ales picked up a small black stone and ran his fingers over it.
“How soon will the Keres return when they sense a Valkyrie here?” I asked Ales.
He seemed reluctant to answer my question. He continued to run his hands over the black stones. “It took so long for the Raiders to find you, for me to locate you, we might have time to prepare fully before they arrive, if you can hone the aether quickly.”
About that…The longer Charlie lived, the more danger this world was in. I weakened the Valkyrie, Her aether.
“Why did you bring me here if it puts your home in danger?” I asked.
“It is the best place to fight. I know these lands, so do the others. We can train here safely,” he said.
I assumed the other worlds were already at war, and that was why it wasn’t safe to train. But I sensed Ales was holding something back. It was the Valkyrie who honed in on the tension radiating from him. What are you hiding, Ales?
This place was home to an entire advanced civilization who built incredibly intricate and towering structures. Then they were completely decimated.
We started moving slowly toward the smell of the smoke without speaking. I wanted to take in as much of the land as possible. The melody of flutes playing in the trees forced my eyes up to the hummingbird like creatures. One called to another of its kind, and they soared through the trees.
I was living an anthropologist’s dream—exploring civilizations across the universe.
I frowned down at the forest beneath me.
But I wasn’t here to study and learn about these people. Any world I found, I wouldn’t be visiting to explore their culture. I would come to fight, as a Valkyrie. I would be there to protect them from extinction. Charlie, the anthropologist, wouldn’t be there. I’d be gone.
I exhaled so loudly that I scared a few birds off.
I looked at Ales, towering over me like a giant gladiator. I wish Charlie was good enough for him, for all of them.
Where the trail curved, small tents and mud huts covered in foliage appeared. A small woman with creamy skin and hair red like fire waited at the trail’s end. She had icy blue eyes. Her beauty was breathtaking. She could have been my age, but her height made her look younger. The woman was truly flawless, wearing brown leather breeches laced down the sides with a soft white flowing top. She reached up her eager arms to Ales.
A lover. A girlfriend. That makes sense. They kinda go together—both impeccably blessed with striking features.
He hugged her as he had the other men but then turned to introduce her to me. Ales spoke in a language I didn’t understand. Then he motioned me closer to them.
The red-haired woman smiled and nodded before springing forward to hug me. Since she was so small, only coming up to my ribcage, it was like hugging a child. Unlike the hug the other man had given me, this one was gentle.
I wrapped my arm around her slight shoulders and laid my chin on the crown of her head. I looked at Ales.
He grinned. “This is Lana. She and her brother are the last of their race. I asked if she could help find you some clothes. She isn’t an Einherjar. Her language will be foreign to you, but I think you will enjoy her company more than mine.”
