Ambushed: Book 6 (Valkyrie Academy Dragon Alliance)

by Katrina Cope

  “That’s atrocious!” Eir hisses. “Oh, Vanir! That's horrible!” She fans her flushed face then slides closer to me and watches the red dragon being attacked again by the Valkyries. “This has to stop. That dragon is still young. Perhaps you have a chance of training her to like us instead of hating us.”

  “I don’t know, Eir.” Hildr shakes her head. “I know I wouldn't be too forgiving if I got treated like that.”

  “Me neither.” I agree with Hildr.

  It breaks my heart as we watch the Valkyries attack again and again with a mix of weapons, including spears and swords. Mistress Sigrun works in the middle of them, barking out instructions and never holding back when she has a moment to strike the dragon. I remember Sobek's conversation about how spears can go under the scales and pierce the skin into the soft area. Swords dragged over the surface are less likely to cut through, but spears and arrows aimed in the opposite direction of the scales can slide their little tips underneath them. I wince when a spear is thrown at the dragon and torpedoes into her side. A loud bellow from the dragon bursts across the air, turning my stomach into a churning mess.

  “I know this is tradition, and the Valkyries use this to train them to fight against dragons, but this is barbaric.” Eir’s face screws up as if she’s in pain. “They must be stopped.”

  “What I want to know is why Mistress Sigrun says that we are here to practice our fighting skills.” A suspicious thought sickens me. “We are the only wingless Valkyries here. All of these others are winged, and we don't fight against dragons. Are you sure you got your information correct?” I turn to Hildr.

  Her face, too, appears screwed up with pain as she tugs at her earring-clad ear. “Unfortunately, I'm sure she sent us out here. I have never seen them do this before, and I had no idea where the spot would be. Now I wish I didn't know where the spot was where they ganged up on a single dragon. This is going to give me nightmares every time I pass through this area to go visit Drogon.”

  I can't help wondering about Elan. Is she flying around the area in her invisible form? If she does know what is going on, is she staying back because it is part of the agreement? It must tear her up inside. Or maybe she doesn’t know, and if she found out, she would step in. At least that’s what I think she would do.

  “I don’t know why Mistress Sigrun called us to this area,” Hildr says. “I know this is tradition and all, but I can't watch this. The winged Valkyries should learn how to fight without using the live dragon.”

  We close the distance between the winged Valkyries and the dragon, our feet crunching on the rocks as we step forward. My foot knocks a rock, and it clatters across the ground and lands right in the middle of the fight between the Valkyries and the dragon. Mistress Sigrun pauses and turns around, her eyes an icy-blue color.

  “Finally, you have turned up. You're late!” Her eyes narrow as they land on me.

  “Are we, Mistress? Why are we here?” I ask.

  “Because you need to learn what a dragon should be used for.” Her words are spiteful. “Grab a spear and join us,” she demands.

  Chapter Five

  I stare at Mistress Sigrun in disbelief. “Is she serious?” I say loudly enough for Hildr and Eir to hear me.

  “Ah, I believe so.” Eir’s voice is high-pitched.

  “Ludicrous!” Hildr spits, her voice slightly louder than ours but, judging by the mistress's face, still not carrying to Mistress Sigrun.

  I huff out a laugh. “Eir and I think so.”

  “I don’t think so,” Mistress Sigrun says. I cringe. She did hear us. “You want to be part of the winged Valkyries, then this is part of the initiation. You want to fight with us, then you have to learn to fight a dragon.” Her voice turns passionate as she says, “You have to learn to fight the dragon, cause it pain, and make it roar.” She throws her fist in the air. Then she opens her hand and flips it, flicking it topside first toward the ground. “You have to learn how to bring it down, slicing open its sides and getting through the scales.”

  My blood boils, and I square my shoulders when I hear five thuds behind us. I peer over my shoulder, and several winged Valkyries are blocking our way back to the academy. They must think we're going to run, but I have a different plan in mind. “Come on, guys,” I say as I move forward.

  “What? No.” Eir sounds panicked.

  I grit my teeth and peer over my shoulder. “Trust me. And get ready to fight!”

  Hildr scoots up by my side, and Eir takes a few hurried steps to catch up, her face pale and worried-looking. We march up to the line of winged Valkyries and stop in the same circle. Except at the last second, I spin around to face the winged Valkyries, imitated by my friends.

  The red dragon growls as we approach with spears and swords in our hands. She looks as though she's going to have a go at me, and I look deep into her eyes and shake my head. I take the chance, and I call up to her. “I'm here because of Ness.”

  A strange look crosses the dragon's face. Her lips seem to relax, but her teeth remain bared, and she has a look of uncertainty in her eyes.

  It takes all my courage to peel my eyes from her, not knowing how she is going to react, and I stare at the winged Valkyries in front of us. The flying winged Valkyries lower and fall into line next to the standing winged Valkyries, their piercing blue eyes squinting with disdain.

  With them all lined up against one another in their tan leather jackets and their medium-blue tight pants and their white shirts, it is a mission to tell the differences among them, except for the few stylish haircuts. Each winged Valkyrie has pure blond hair and a perfect complexion, and each one is almost the mirror image of the next. Even the mistress looks nearly as young as the Valkyries my age. Something hangs around Mistress Sigrun’s neck, and I realize it is a dragon's-tooth necklace. She notices the direction of my gaze and clasps the chain with her spare hand, the one not holding the spear. Her eyes are wary, and annoyance flickers over her face. She pulls slightly at the dragon-tooth necklace and glances up at the red dragon then back at us.

  “What is the meaning of this?” Mistress Sigrun’s voice has the usual sneer reserved for wingless Valkyries. “You are supposed to be over here, fighting on our side against the dragon.”

  I stand tall. “I can't let you do it, Mistress. This dragon is already wounded and has already been fought against enough. And besides, this is barbaric. Dragons should not be treated like this.”

  She lifts her chin, still tugging at her necklace, and paces in front of us, using her spear like a staff, its end clicking against the hard surface of the ground. She glares at me from out of the corner of her eye. “You are young, wingless. You would not know what the past has held. It is hard for you to know exactly how old I am because my Valkyrie blessing removes all the lines that indicate my age, making me seem young. However, I am a much older Valkyrie, and I have been around for centuries. During that time, I have partaken in wars against the dragons. I have seen the devastation they cause and what they have done to the Valkyries in the past. They are cruel, malicious creatures. They deserve nothing more than to be fought against like this. In fact, they deserve a punishment much worse.” She paces more, continuing to tug at her necklace. “Much blood was lost on both sides, and I was witness to this. I even partook in these battles, slaying a dragon of my own.” She flicks the tooth toward me. “This is my trophy from that dragon.”

  I stare at the tooth in horror. That used to belong to a living thing, that piece that she wears around her neck, and she slaughtered it.

  The mistress continues, “The horror and devastation was something I will not forget, and the dragons must be reminded of this. They must be reminded to keep to this alliance, and we must learn how to continue to fight against them in case they break our alliance and fight against us, causing us much death. Odin was also a witness to this. He supports this alliance one hundred percent. And you coming along and making friends with dragons—that is atrocious. You are wrecking all of our work from the p
ast, rubbing our faces in the dirt of the memory. You show no respect for us as winged Valkyries. You were only given access to Midgard because you won that battle somehow. Well, by cheating, to be honest.” She flicks her hand aside. “And today, I am giving you three the chance to prove to us that you are worth something on Asgard, as your worth is nothing on Midgard because you cannot reap souls.” She raises her chin, and I want to wipe that smirk off her face.

  “So this is your last chance. Turn around and fight with us, or you can go back to the academy.” Mistress Sigrun returns to her original spot in the line of Valkyries, and several Valkyries take to the sky and flutter above the head of the dragon.

  I peer over my shoulder at the dragon behind me, and her curious eyes are focused on me. I'm pretty sure by this gaze that she is the red dragon that I ran into when I was cleaning the stalls. This dragon hasn't been here long, and from her reaction to Ness’s name, I believe that I have struck it right and she is Ness’s daughter. I peer down at her chain and notice it has plenty of slack. The dragon could easily have charged forward and jumped on us from behind at any time, but she didn't. I fiddle with the spear in my hand, and I slam the end on the ground.

  “Okay. You want us to fight with you, then that's what we will do.” I notice in my peripheral vision that Hildr and Eir glance sideways at me, their faces full of confusion. I grin awkwardly, showing my teeth in a position that is almost a snarl, and I glance at each of them. Through my teeth, I say quietly, “Get ready.” I look at Mistress Sigrun. I draw back my right leg before standing in the ready position with my sword aimed directly at them. I watch Mistress Sigrun’s face turn into disdain and hate tainted with annoyance. The rocks clatter next to me as Hildr and Eir take up the same positions. The dragon snorts behind us, and a layer of smoke briefly covers us. I take that to mean she is with us.

  I tilt my head to the side. “Bring it on!”

  Chapter Six

  My heart pounds profusely, and my blood thumps in the veins of my throat. I almost hear the mistress scream at me over my defiance. I let the magic surge through my body. My strength is not at full capacity, but I’m not going to let that stop me. I’m healing by the minute, and I’ll be restored to full strength soon. The winged Valkyries position themselves with their arrows, swords, and spears facing us and the dragon. I don’t even know what the dragon’s name is, but I’m ready to fight for her, and I can tell Hildr and Eir feel the same.

  “What are you doing?” Eir whispers through her teeth. “I couldn’t defeat three on top of the mountain. How do you propose I defeat at least thirty?”

  “You forget it was the thirty that we were against on the mountain.” I don’t try to hide my spite.

  She shakes her head. “Not initially, no. It was only three of them. The rest joined in after I fell off the side of the cliff.”

  “That’s the way I remember it,” Hildr says on the other side of me. “But even though I failed that fight, I’m not giving up on this one.”

  “You guys are good fighters. Stop stressing over it and just do it,” I hiss through my teeth.

  Eir squats lower and readies herself, resolve passing over her face.

  I focus my attention on the winged Valkyries and call out, “You need to stop hurting the dragons.”

  Mistress Sigrun chuckles. “As if that's going to happen. They're one of our natural enemies. We have to learn how to fight against them.”

  “You could just be kind to them and use them as one of our allies instead,” I say.

  Her chuckle rises an octave, piercing the air. “Oh, you’re such a dreamer.” Her amusement is pushed aside by a scowl. “Fight them!” Immediately, the winged Valkyries swoop down, swiping swords and aiming spears at us or the dragon behind us. Once again, their unfairness is manifested, but I'm not going to focus on that. I beckon my magic to gather as I strike back, dodge spears, and block swinging swords with mine. I hold my palm out to them, and I can feel the magic ready and loaded.

  Mistress Sigrun’s eyes drop to the swirl in the middle of my palm, and her face streaks with terror before it’s quickly pushed aside.

  “If you don't stop fighting us, I’m going to let this fly.” I stretch my palm out farther to indicate what I mean, although I'm pretty sure by the looks on their faces, they already know. The magic burns some more in my palm, beckoning to be released, especially when I aim it straight at Mistress Sigrun.

  “I would stop if I were you. I’ve been practicing this.” I let a little magic shoot at a pile of rocks, and they scatter everywhere. The winged Valkyries jump. Their wings flitter, and a couple of them lose feathers. They pause their fighting to survey the scene.

  Mistress Sigrun’s face indicates that she is pushing aside her fear once again. Determination sets in her eyes, and she lifts her chin. “If you use your magic, then you are just proving that you're weaker than us. And that you cannot fight.”

  Hildr cackles. “I don't know how you think she can be weaker if she holds powerful magic. That's something only a dumb person would say.”

  Mistress Sigrun narrows her eyes at her. “Very well, then. Let's do this!”

  The winged Valkyries fly at us again from all directions, and I release my power at them, amazed at how quickly they can dodge a flying bullet and manage to flick themselves out of the way by a hair’s width, allowing the magic to bypass them.

  “You know, we have also been training against magic users in case we come up against someone like you,” the mistress sneers.

  My curiosity is piqued, but I’ll have to leave my questions for later.

  “Perhaps it is because I am hesitant to hurt you that you are actually being missed. I don't like hurting people or other beings,” I say. “Did you ever think of that?”

  I shoot some more magic, and it barely misses the Valkyries. I have to learn to aim in the direction that they are going, not directly at them, but there is some truth in what I told the mistress. A thump sounds in front of me, and a roar resounds as golden scales start to appear, forming into the shape of Elan. She has landed directly between the Valkyries and us. My heart fills with pride, and I'm so happy to see her. Either Elan was watching, or somehow she's heard the commotion. Something thuds on the left of me, and I look over to see Drogon has landed next to Hildr. Another lighter thud rattles the ground on my other side, and Naga has landed next to Eir. The dragons' shoulders are pulled back, and their wings are spread wide, making them look more intimidating. All three of them roar, and the roar of the red dragon behind me joins them. Elan spins around and sets her tail free, wiping out a few of the Valkyries on the ground.

  Mistress Sigrun manages to flap a few times and barely manages to get out of the road in time. When she recovers, she says, “I see you brought your dragon. Good. We can practice against her too.”

  The blood drains from my skin. “No. I don't want Elan to get hurt.” The red dragon barges past us, narrowly missing us with her large feet. Her clasp clatters on a rock as it remains secured around her back ankle, but her chain is broken. I frown in confusion. I could have sworn that the chain was secured not long ago. I don’t have time to work out what happened, but I’m glad that she has decided to take our side. The red dragon stands next to Elan. She pushes her head forward and bellows. It's almost as though she received a second wind from seeing Elan in this group.

  A strange sensation captures my attention, and I search for it. It feels like magic, but it can't be my magic because it doesn’t feel like that to me. It makes me think that perhaps the dark elf is watching us from somewhere in the background. I briefly search the horizon, confident enough to do this now that I have four dragons standing in front of us. Something charges across the top of the mountain in the distance. I wonder if it is the dark elf. I don't know why he would be spying on us. Then, out of the corner of my eye, I think I see another shadow or something darting by, and I search the top of a different mountain. That doesn't seem right. Unless the dark elf can teleport, there are at least
two of them running around up there. This is cause for alarm.

  Something winces in front of me, pulling my attention back to the group. Naga has been injured by one of the spears. The Valkyrie steps forward to retrieve it. I shoot her with magic, and she collapses to the ground, unconscious, her feet thrusting a few times before they fall still. I run up to Naga, and Eir is already there.

  “Naga, are you okay?” I place a hand on his side.

  He nods.

  Yes, Naga okay. Thank you. Naga will heal. Forget Naga. Now time to fight. The pain disappears from his eyes, and he puts on a brave face.

  “I couldn't forget you, Naga. But I will fight by your side, and hopefully, you will heal soon.”

  Elan scoops down and picks up the Valkyrie in her mouth and flicks her aside. The Valkyrie’s wings awkwardly flitter as they blow against the wind, and she flops on the ground. Elan was tossing her aside to get away from the circle.

  I shoot some magic and hit some more Valkyries. They fall to the ground, unconscious. Elan does the same thing by picking them up and throwing them to the side, their comatose bodies looking almost humorous as they are cast off like stuffed dolls.

  With four dragons lined up against the thirty winged trainee Valkyries, Mistress Sigrun’s face lacks confidence, her insecurity evidently growing with each winged Valkyrie who flies unconscious in the other direction. There is nothing she can do. Their weapons against the four dragons and the three wingless Valkyries, one wielding magic, are no competition.