“That doesn’t seem right.” Trav frowned.
“Well, you and I both started off mortal, so we’re going to see a lot of this stuff differently than the original Restless. Religion is very, very complex. What’s more, there are higher existences than the Restless. There is also scary stuff out there. Really scary stuff. Even the Restless don’t really understand everything in the Universe—remember that, Trav.”
“You don’t have to tell me twice. But still...afterlife? Like, some of us can seriously make a heaven? That seems...heretical.”
“Why? You’re a god. But I know what you mean. There are some Restless that serve a higher power, but they’re usually looked down on by other Restless.”
Trav nibbled on his bottom lip and asked, “How is it all even possible?”
“Instinct I guess. Could you explain how you make valkyries?” After Trav shook his head, Tiffany said, “Magic is sort of like gravity. The more of it there is, the more...weight it has and the more it can affect the universe around it. It’s kind of like talent, too. Have you ever asked yourself why incredibly talented people don’t usually find out about their talent in their twilight years? Nature hates a vacuum, and it hates a wasted talent, to the point mortals have to often actively suppress their talents in some way in order to never discover them. Well, nature also seems to hate magic just sitting around and not being used.”
Trav turned over a hand and looked at his palm. “It’s crazy for me to think about this stuff sometimes, you know? Like how strong I could be one day. Odin was one of the most powerful beings in the entire universe, right? I can look at how much I’ve grown in the last few months and it feels unreal.”
Tiffany didn’t respond right away. Finally, she said, “We are both a lot stronger now than we were when we first met, but the reality is we are both very weak. You still aren’t even a match for a mid-range Rakshasa.”
“Thanks.”
“Better than me. I am not much of a fighter.” Tiffany grinned. “But I am not a pushover either. Anyway, we both need to build our power. That means faith, and in your case, you probably need to find another valkyrie or two.”
Trav scratched his cheek. “Does my valkyrie situation...bother you?”
“We’ve already been over this. It is what it is.” She shrugged. “And right now, we need to survive. Your valkyries are part of you now, and the ability to create them is part of your mantle. You have inherited one of the most powerful Restless mantles in the entire universe, Trav.”
“Yeah, but you’re my wife now!” Trav playfully squeezed her thigh and gave her a smile.
Tiffany smiled back, but her expression fell and she played with a lock of her hair. “Yes, and that will make my own star rise...if we survive. But by crossing pantheon lines, we’ve made future enemies.” She saw his expression and elaborated. “We’ve created a new pantheon just by marrying.”
“Say what now?”
Tiffany sighed. “There are some Restless, even some mortals and powerful beings out there that don’t think it’s moral or ethical for Restless in different pantheons to marry. This was one reason Zorya stayed single for thousands of years. Sure, part of it was the mantle, but part was because new Restless in any pantheon are rare.”
This was all new to Trav. “Pantheons are like god families, right? Like the Greek gods, the Aztec gods, stuff like that.”
“I don’t recognize those names, but I’d likely recognize the Restless involved. Restless get around and we can hop Veils pretty easily once we’re powerful enough. I’m guessing you are right about your understanding of pantheons, though.”
“So Restless in different pantheons don’t get along?”
Tiffany wound some hair around her finger as she stared up at the stars. “It depends. Some do, some don’t. The newer generation seems to be a lot more tolerant, but most of us started off mortal. Honestly, the entire universe is like a bomb that is ready to blow up at any time. There are too many individuals running around with too much power and too many grudges to believe otherwise.”
“Lovely. So why didn’t you tell me all of this back before we got married?”
Tiffany blushed and for a rare moment looked embarrassed. “I kind of figured you might have already figured it out, and it was a lot to throw at you at the time.”
“And it would make me less likely to agree.”
“That too.” Tiffany shrugged. “I’m not going to lie, Trav, I’m on a mission and that hasn’t changed. The fact I like your company is just an added bonus. We are a team now, and I don’t intend to lie or mislead you ever again, but I don’t regret withholding information before. The entire universe runs on struggle, and I can’t lose. People are depending on me.”
“It is true that the world sucks.” Trav thought about all the slaves he left behind. “And small people continue to get fucked, eh?”
Tiffany smiled but it didn’t meet her eyes. “Oh, always. That’s always the nature of things, though. Even if there were unlimited resources for everyone and everything, some would still take advantage of others just to watch the world burn. Even animals can be evil for the sake of being evil, Trav.”
“This is a cheery subject.”
“Sorry. Want to do something that requires less talking?” She propped herself up on an elbow and gave him a hooded look.
Trav growled, “I thought you’d never ask!” He mock-tackled her back onto the bed and Tiffany squealed. Before he lost himself in the moment, Trav carefully filed away everything he’d just heard to think about later.
***
A week came and went too soon in Tiffany’s pocket universe. She’d confided that she’d named it Tiffyton, and knew it was a stupid name, but didn’t care. When Trav had asked her why she was only telling him if she didn’t care, she’d punched him in the shoulder.
“Are you ready to go back?” asked Trav. The two of them were properly dressed, refreshed, and both feeling a little sad, but also eager. Vacations had a way of making a person want to get back to work.
“I don’t think we can put it off any longer.” Tiffany put her hand in his and quietly said, “Thank you for this.”
“What do you mean? I was just doing my husbandly duty,” Trav joked.
“No, I’m serious. This was one of the first times in my life I’ve sort of felt like a normal girl.”
“You mean as you hung out in your personal palace in a pocket dimension in space while you spied on multiple worlds whenever you thought I was sleeping.”
“You saw me!?”
Trav smirked.
Tiffany pursed her lips like she was upset but it dissolved and she gave a helpless shrug. She chuckled. “I’m a curious person, and it’s part of my mantle. What can I say? But I meant what I said. You are a good guy, Trav. You’re a little rough around the edges, and I don’t blame you after all you’ve been through. I don’t regret marrying you in the slightest. Thank you for... helping me make this happen.”
Trav was taken aback for a moment. “Sure. And thank you for taking care of my valkyries.”
“Of course! I’m compelled to now, but I like them. Even without the vows I swore, I would have helped.”
Trav gave her hand a squeeze. “Maybe we could do this again sometime.”
“I’d love to, but staying here for this long, with the time turned up this way really takes a lot out of me.” Tiffany shook her head regretfully. “I’ll definitely keep you informed for when it’s possible, but maybe this can also be another incentive for us to get stronger. The more power I have, the easier it will be to find a private moment.”
There wasn’t much to say after that, so they just smiled at each other and stepped into the portal back to Asgard.
***
“I told you,” said Yaakova. “She’s glowing. They’ve been mating like crazy.”
“You really think so?” said Ysintrill.
“Definitely. It’s what I’d do, and I’m a harpy. For sappy types like you and Tiffany, there i
s no doubt.”
“This is really not fair. I only get him for a night at a time anymore.” Narnaste’s tail swished.
“How long have we been gone?” asked Trav. All three valkyries were still wearing the same clothes and standing in the same places, so after his first second of flashback terror, remembering Faith, he’d calmed himself.
“Only a few minutes,” said Yaakova. “Lady Tiffany, did you mate?”
The blonde Restless smirked and cocked an eyebrow. “For days.”
“I win.” Yaakova held out a palm, and Ysintrill rolled her eyes before putting a gold piece into the harpy’s taloned hand.
“You bet on this? Seriously?” Trav knew he shouldn’t feel embarrassed, especially since he’d been intimate with every woman in the room. He still felt a little hot around the collar, though.
All three valkyries looked away. Narnaste’s nose twitched.
Trav sighed and said, “Okay, well moving right along, we haven’t all been reunited yet. I would like to find Jang-mi to make sure she’s okay, and get her help with what comes next.”
“What comes next?” asked Narnaste.
“Since it sounds like our plan worked earlier...uh, today, we’re going to be training Bravoosa’s Pinions.”
Yaakova folded her arms. “You know there is no guarantee that the trial for the royal tree will be with squad-sized forces. You might not get the Pinions either.”
“Yes I will. I can be very persuasive. Besides, you are going to help me right?” He winked at her.
She sighed. “Of course. But some of us have not just had a vacation and are still in the middle of a very, very long day. May I eat first, New One?”
“Of course,” said Trav sheepishly. He caught Tiffany’s eyes and the goddess smiled. The group dynamic had changed for sure. Old rage that used to drive him was more of a memory now, but his drive hadn’t decreased at all. In fact, Trav was still angry, but he was more angry for other people than for himself. Kyvendi needed to fall, for justice if nothing else. But that was a concern for tomorrow. Today, he needed to solidify his shaky position in the East Tribe and train some harpy soldiers.
“Let’s get to it,” he said.
Chapter 18
Trav’s work with training his harpy soldiers was going well so far. A lot had changed over the last week, so much that he was secretly glad he’d stayed too busy to really stew on anything.
He’d actually gotten access to more of Odin’s memories. Helping to train troops was something he could have managed by himself, mainly because they were mostly using weapons and armor that he’d created himself. Traveling with Bravoosa’s soldiers and training with them earlier had already helped him refine the gear he’d given them. After confirming he’d be leading them, he’d just made more.
Harpy soldiers were highly mobile, and used lightning-fast flanking attacks to demolish an enemy. The drawback for this style of fighting was their weakness against large masses of enemy soldiers. Another was harpy physiology. The Bernacians were capable of great bursts of power and speed for short amounts of time, but they couldn’t maintain it. As a result, to move long distances quickly, harpies still used horses.
Bravoosa’s soldiers hadn’t taken horses to fetch Trav because the mission hadn’t been considered very important, and horses were precious to harpies. They had a habit of eating them when food got scarce, so only the best and strongest survived the purges.
Trav had armed the Pinions harpies with weapons and gear that would complement their slashing attack style, and not take up too much space. Since it was likely the East tribe’s company would be riding horses, the harpy soldiers needed weapons and armor that they could easily stow and have available at all times. They wouldn’t have time to remove items from holsters, sheaths, or saddle bags.
Bravoosa said, “They’ve come a long way haven’t they?” Trav and the captain stood on a hill, watching the soldiers drill. Yaakova’s younger half sister had come by to watch earlier that day, and had nodded in pleasure. Trav still thought she shouldn’t have come out personally—there’d been two more assassination attempts over the last week.
“Yes, you have.” Trav nodded and pointed at Bravoosa’s new spear. “Do you like your weapon?”
“Absolutely. A spear that creates a jet of flame a few times a day is amazing. We’ve been drilling to use the fire as a distraction, or create terrible wounds.”
“I know.” Trav pointed at the drilling soldiers. “They are doing well with their enhanced crossbows too.”
“Yes. We only have a few, but those crossbows shoot so fast, windage is really not an issue with them. I made sure my best shots in the company got them.”
Trav nodded. “It looks like you have this handled. I need to go meet with Yaakova now.”
“Yes, Commander.” Bravoosa ran her claws through her hair. “Will you think about what I asked earlier?”
He nodded. “I need to talk to my family about it first.”
“Yes, Commander.”
As Trav walked away from the training area, he felt bone tired. On top of all the other problems he’d had lately, it seemed like half the harpies in the East tribe were trying to have sex with him now, and even Bravoosa had just politely asked a couple hours ago! She’d been harder to shake off because he worked so closely with her, and he definitely needed some advice.
Luckily, his harpy valkyrie had just sent him a mental message about a half hour earlier, and he knew exactly where to find her.
Trav headed to the East tribe Guide barracks, where Bravoosa’s Pinions were living now when they weren’t training, and where Yaakova and Tiffany were waiting for him.
***
As Trav walked through the door to a loading area, Yaakova said, “He’s here.”
“Good.” Tiffany was sitting at a table, working on a spreadsheet she’d made from scratch.
“Do you have more hopefuls today?” asked Trav. Over the last few days, his wife and his valkyries had been trying to introduce him to Kin women they thought might make good valkyries. They all seemed to be in agreement that Trav needed to get stronger. He actually felt like he might get another bar of power soon through faith, but he agreed that he needed more valkyries.
The problem was he wasn’t sure what he was looking for, and he knew he hadn’t found her yet.
Tiffany had been helping. The first place he’d gone with her a week ago had been the slave pens. Bernacians didn’t keep many Kin slaves, but they’d had a few. Walking among them had been a little odd, and Trav still wasn’t sure how he felt about seeing Kin being treated as slaves. In fact, among the harpies, human slaves seemed to actually be treated better than the Kin slaves. For Trav, it was all a bit of a mind fuck.
The trip had been educational. For one, Trav was fairly sure at this point that he couldn’t bond a male as a valkyrie, which didn’t bother him. His life was already weird enough without some random male Kin following around him and his valkyries. Of course, Rahim didn’t count—the little guy was family now.
He’d also learned a lot more about Bernacia. Each of the three tribes was predominantly Bernacian but also had a community or two of different species of harpy. The East tribe had a few families of jungle harpies, and a few hundred shore harpies, complete with fins and webbed hands.
The slaves had all been mostly harpies who were sold into slavery for bad debts, or other random Kin that had been taken in skirmishes or raids. Trav hadn’t felt much of anything, no pull, not a magical feeling, and he was beginning to wonder if creating a valkyrie might just be a product of necessity.
Tiffany looked up from her paperwork and said, “Actually yes. We toured the slave pens, and you’ve met a lot of people, but we haven’t been to the prison yet.”
“Prison?”
“Yes. They keep prisoners there as well as slaves that are too dangerous to keep in the pens.”
“If they’re too dangerous to keep in the pens, when are they brought out of the prison?”
&nbs
p; “Usually never.”
“Oh.”
Movement made Trav turn, and he watched Jang-mi come through the door. His friend was eating some sort of baked treat and after giving Trav a quick bow, she said, “Are we going? I’ve been curious about this prison ever since you told me about it.”
Trav asked, “Jang-mi’s going?”
“Oh goodie, the more the merrier,” growled Yaakova, and Trav was reminded of how little the harpy and the cultivator liked each other. Usually they just stayed away from each other and didn’t interact. Jang-mi ignored Yaakova’s sarcasm.
Tiffany ignored Yaakova too and made a face at Trav. “She’s obviously going. Jang-mi’s been bored and in a harpy city. Even though she is your friend, she has to be careful.”
“Things would be different if I still had power of my own, but I’m helpless.” Jang-mi shrugged apologetically. Trav was just glad she was healthy and hadn’t had any problems living among the harpies so far. He hadn’t had the time to check up on her as much as he would have liked, and he felt a little guilty for it.
“Okay, let’s go.” Tiffany led the way to the door and took Trav’s hand. As they all left the barracks, she asked, “So Trav, how many harpies have tried to steal my husband today?”
“At least a dozen,” he answered honestly. “Even Bravoosa propositioned me today.”
Yaakova made an, “Mmmm,” noise, and thoughtfully said, “Maybe you should take her up on that, actually.”
“What?”
Tiffany tapped her fan into her open palm and said, “Yaakova’s right. This might be a good move.”
“Really?” muttered Trav.
Jang-mi shrugged. “This is Asgard. They are not human.”
“Tell me about it.”
***
The prison ended up being a squat, ugly building made of stone. All the important harpy buildings were made of stone, so this was not surprising. What was weird was the color. The entire building seemed to be made of black stone with simple glyphs carved every ten feet or so. Trav could easily read them, and realized that someone had enchanted the structure for strength at some point.
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