Wings of the Valkyrie

by Charley Case

  Mila gave Danica a helpless look and slowly shrugged. “Uh…no?”

  Danica laughed and rolled her eyes. “I’ll go pick something out for you. Did you pack bathing suits?”

  “Not yet.” Mila gave Rebecca an apologetic look. Rebecca smiled while stifling a laugh.

  “Where’s Victoria?” Danica headed around the corner into the dojo on her way to Mila’s and Finn’s room.

  “She’s showering,” Mila called and hiked a thumb at her old bedroom they had converted to the guest room, although Danica couldn’t see the gesture.

  “About time. That girl has been moping on the couch for three days. I’ll get her something to wear from my closet.”

  The sound of the bedroom door opening let them know that Danica was out of earshot.

  “Does she always pick out your clothes?” Rebecca quickly hid her amused smirk with her coffee mug.

  “Only when she wants me to look like an adult. I’m pretty useless when it comes to fashion.” Mila was a little self-conscious in the face of yet another woman who understood how to pick out and wear clothes.

  “It can’t be that bad.” Rebecca chuckled. “Your leggings are nice. They sculpt you perfectly, and if I’m not mistaken, they’re designer.”

  Mila looked down at the black leggings and had to admit that they were rather fetching, with their intricate stitching and gauzy semi-see-through panels at the side of the thigh and calf. “Yeah, they are pretty badass…” she slowly looked up with an exaggerated sad smile, “but Danica bought them for me. I didn’t know they were designer until now.”

  Rebecca threw her head back and laughed, making Mila laugh along with her.

  “You were right, Penny,” Mila acknowledged with a dip of her head, “I like her a lot.”

  Penny gave her a smug smile.

  “Holy shit,” Finn said in slack-jawed amazement as he slowly spun in a circle taking in Rebecca’s house from where they had appeared on the deck, “you live in a treehouse! Fu…” he suddenly stopped, seeing Grimm sitting at the kitchen table, well within earshot of where they stood on the deck, “uun… Fun me.”

  Everyone stared at the tall dwarf as he slowly turned a little red before hiking up both hands holding the combined twenty or so plastic grocery bags filled with meat, beer, and various sundries for side dishes. “Where should I put these?”

  “Bring them inside,” a short man with curly blonde hair said as he stepped around the kitchen island. “I’m Lance. You must be Finn.”

  Mila watched as a big smile spread across Finn’s face. “Hey, Lance. Nice to meet you. You must be Grimm,” Finn added as he walked past the table and gave the curly-haired boy a big smile.

  “Yup!” Grimm announced and waved a jelly-stained hand after carefully setting his PB&J on a plastic plate with a cartoon character smiling up at him.

  Mila turned back to the others as Lance and Finn made their introductions. She took a moment to admire the amazing house. It was made of glass and steel with a single large wooden deck running around the perimeter and suspended between two of the largest cypress trees Mila had ever seen. Suspended wasn’t quite the right word since the trees were growing through two sections of the house and the structure was built around them. Every outward-facing wall was floor-to-ceiling glass. Some rooms had gauzy curtains to block the view inside, but most of the house showed the seemingly endless sweep below it. Teak and stainless-steel outdoor furniture dotted the deck, which surrounded a large swimming pool with an attached hot tub.

  “This house is amazing.” Mila’s eyes caught more fine details the longer she looked. “How on Earth did you get a builder out to the middle of a swamp?”

  “You’re still thinking like a Peabrain.” Rebecca laughed. “We didn’t have a builder. We created this house. We wanted something that could grow along with the trees and our family. The house itself is almost alive in its ability to shift and change as needed. This morning, the pool grew a hot tub.” She pointed to the round bubbling tub situated in the deck and creating a mini waterfall of steaming water into the main pool. “I guess the house thinks we need a soak.”

  “That’s incredible,” Danica exclaimed before shouldering Mila lightly. “Maybe we should do something like this with the condo.”

  Mila chuckled. “I don’t think this is a retrofit kind of deal. Pretty sure we would have to start from scratch.”

  They went inside and introduced themselves to Lance and Grimm. Mila, Danica, and Victoria all sat at the large dining table along with Rebecca, and Grimm sat at the head of the table, still finishing his sandwich.

  Mila leaned in to inspect the gooey sandwich and smiled at the little boy. “It’s nice to meet you, Grimm. How old are you?”

  He held up a sticky hand, his fingers extended and thumb tucked. “Four! How old are you?”

  Mila smiled. “I’m thirty.”

  His eyes went wide. “That’s so old!”

  Everyone laughed, and Rebecca turned a little red with embarrassment. “Sorry, he’s still learning about social graces.”

  “It’s fine.” Mila pulled the large shoulder bag over her head and placed it on the table. “Hey Grimm, if you want to know about old, ask Danica. She’s older than my grandma.”

  Danica playfully slapped Mila’s shoulder. “Jerk!”

  Penny landed on the table and sat in the empty fruit bowl Rebecca had obviously left out for her since there was a second bowl full of oranges and bananas. Her movements seemed a little sluggish, which concerned Mila, but before she could ask what the matter was, Lance asked in a loud voice if they all wanted a drink. Penny perked up and squeaked out her order for a Lance special.

  “Sounds good to me,” Mila added. She had already heard tales of Lance’s drink-slinging skills from Penny’s last visit.

  Danica and Victoria agreed, along with Rebecca, making it a full round.

  “Easy enough.” Lance filled a stainless-steel tumbler with ice. “Batch drinks let us get to the drinking faster.”

  Mila adjusted the short sky-blue sundress Danica had picked out for her. She wasn’t used to sitting in short skirts, and the sizeable amount of skin contact with the chair made her feel like she was showing way more than she was. She also felt a little naked without her corset harness on, but she felt better knowing that it was in her shoulder bag along with Finn’s harness. They had both learned the hard way that you never leave home without your weapons.

  Along with the harnesses were the bathing suits Danica had stuffed into the bottom of the bag. But the thing that took up the most room was the black leather-covered hard case that looked a little like a miniature guitar case if you squinted. Victoria and Finn had created it to store the Reaper and the spherical device. The scythe’s thin handle looked like the neck, and the curved blade resembled the body of a foot-and-a-half-long guitar. There was a half-sphere impression in the dead space of the blade’s curve where the device nestled perfectly and was held in place when the case was closed.

  Seeing the black case peeking out of the bag reminded Mila about a few questions she’d meant to ask. Penny had told them that Rebecca came from a long line of historians and had more info on the Drude than even Victoria knew. From what Mila could gather, Rebecca’s ancestors had taken passage on Earth to document the new races they expected to encounter at the mysterious destination of the planet-sized ship. Evidently, her ancestors already had an extensive library of notes on everything out there, but the battle between the Drude and the Valkyries that had taken place in Earth’s early days was something that few had witnessed. She had an entire book written on the subject from her many-times-great-grandfather named Gregory.

  Mila pulled the case out of the bag and flipped the two latches before cracking it open and pulling out the device that Rebecca, Lance, and Penny had created. She still felt trepidation at holding that much concentrated power, but the device showed no reaction whatsoever. It might as well be an inert ball of brass.

  “I have some questions about
this.” Mila set the device on top of the closed case.

  The mood in the room changed a little. The only one who didn’t notice was Grimm, who was licking the last of the jelly from his plate.

  “Hey, honey, why don’t you take your plate to the sink then go watch some cartoons,” Rebecca sweetly directed Grimm, helping him out of his seat and playfully swatting his bottom as he ran to the kitchen.

  “I think I’ll see how the drinks are doing.” Danica patted Mila on the arm and smiled at her. “I have a feeling this will take a minute. Hey, Penny. You want some of those snacks Finn brought?”

  Penny considered, then nodded and launched herself from the bowl and onto Danica’s shoulder as she headed for the kitchen. She had to dodge out of the way of a sprinting Grimm as he blew past her and leaped down the two steps into the large white-carpeted living room.

  Rebecca put her elbows on the table and rested her chin on her folded hands. “I can tell you what I know, but the problem is that thing was only a theory until we built it.”

  Mila bit her lip, thinking of all the things they needed to know and feeling a little overwhelmed, but Victoria jumped in and asked the obvious first question.

  “How do we know when it’s full?”

  Rebecca’s eyes widened a little as she considered the question. “I…I have no idea. Gregory wrote that it should hold roughly ten to twenty times the magic a Valkyrie could contain at one time. I would assume you’ve been charging it. Is it becoming hard to fill?”

  Victoria and Mila looked at each other with slight alarm. “No, we don’t have any issue putting power in, but I think that estimate is off by a little.” Mila rolled the ball around on the case with a finger.

  “Why? How much have you put into it?”

  Mila pursed her lips in thought. “Roughly three hundred full charges. Victoria and I have been dumping everything we have into it about fifteen to twenty times a day.”

  “Plus, the other sisters added twenty-ish charges in San Francisco,” Victoria added.

  Rebecca blinked in shock while looking at the unassuming brass-colored ball. “That’s a lot of magic.”

  “No shit,” Victoria agreed.

  Chapter Three

  “I’m not as concerned by how much power is in there as I am by how it’s supposed to work.” Victoria crossed her arms and leaned back in her chair. “I’m pretty old, and I don’t know how a Drude can steal the power from a Valkyrie. Granted, I was fairly young when I was assigned to watch over the Reaper and had only been in a couple of battles before then. My point is that I was in a war with these things, and I still don’t know how they can do half the things they can. How do you know this gadget will do what it’s supposed to? I didn’t know Drudes came back to life until Azoth showed up again. There’s a mechanic that I don’t see about the Drude, and we better make damn sure it will work before we try it.”

  Rebecca nodded as Victoria voiced her concerns. “I have to admit that unfortunately, there’s no way to test the device before facing Azoth. Unless you think he would be kind enough to show up for a test run?”

  Victoria rolled her eyes. “That’s not what I meant.”

  “I’m on Victoria’s side with this one.” Mila leaned her elbows on the table. “I understand that we can’t test the device, but it would be helpful to understand why your ancestor thought it would work in the first place. I don’t know about you guys, but information makes me feel better, especially when my life is on the line.”

  Rebecca nodded in understanding and walked over to a bookshelf that separated the dining area from the living room, where Grimm was bouncing along to a musical on the large flatscreen TV. She grabbed a large leather-bound book with several dozen bookmarks sticking out of the pages.

  As she sat back down at the table, Lance walked over with a tray of drinks. “Okay, three Lance specials.”

  “Thank you, Lance. This looks delightful.” Mila beamed as she took the frosty copper mug he handed across the table.

  “Thank you, babe.” Rebecca reached over and casually patted his butt. It was obviously something they often did because neither one of them seemed to notice it happening until Finn laughed.

  “Mila and I do the same thing all the time.” He chuckled and pointed at Rebecca’s hand on Lance’s behind. “I told you we were more alike than you thought.”

  Lance laughed as Rebecca turned a little red when she realized what she was doing. “I suppose you’re right, Finn.” Lance looked at the three women in the midst of their intense conversation and took the hint with admirable grace. He looked up through the bookcase at Grimm dancing away.

  “Hey, buddy. Why don’t you put your suit on so we can swim? Mom and her friends could use a little quiet time.” He leaned down and kissed Rebecca on the top of her head. “We’ll get out of your hair. You guys come out when you’re done. It’s too beautiful a day not to spend it outside.”

  “Thanks, babe.” Rebecca kissed him as Grimm sprinted past them, heading farther into the house, presumably to put on his trunks.

  Danica came over to where Mila was sitting and grabbed the shoulder bag from the table. “We’ll head out, too. Maybe I can get a little sun for once.”

  Mila snorted. “Don’t you use magic to keep your complexion that pale? What is sitting in the sun going to do if you’re going to magic it away?”

  Danica shrugged. “Maybe I’ll give a tan a try. Phil recently got a pretty dark base tan for a guy who spends all his time in a basement, probably because we spend so much time doing outdoorsy stuff. He looks good with a tan. Maybe it’s time I catch up.”

  “Are you going to stop dying your hair, too?” Mila’s question caused Danica to blush slightly.

  “You dye your hair?” Rebecca and Victoria asked at the same time.

  “I assumed you were a high elf with the pale skin and blonde hair.” Rebecca looked Danica over with a critical eye. “Are you a wood elf?”

  Danica nodded, an embarrassed smile on her face. “Yeah. My parents were pretty upset when I started dying my hair.”

  “Were you ashamed of being a wood elf? I don’t understand. Wood elves are some of the best fighters in the universe. They have everyone’s respect.”

  Mila and Danica laughed together at the thought of Danica being ashamed of who she was. “Danica wouldn’t dream of pretending to be anything other than who she is. Usually to a fault.”

  “Hey!”

  “If you’re not hiding your heritage, then what happened?” Victoria raised an eyebrow.

  “The nineties happened.” Danica laughed. “I don’t know if you remember, but frosted tips and pale skin was all the rage. I guess I never stopped, and now this is what I look like to most of the people I know.”

  Victoria nodded in understanding. “Oh, I remember the nineties. It wasn’t nearly as cool as people seem to think.”

  “I’m pretty sure no one thinks the nineties were cool.” Mila furrowed her brow.

  Grimm sprinted down the hall wearing a pair of swim trunks with SpongeBob characters all over them. He let out a long, high-pitched battle cry as he flashed past the table and out onto the deck before jumping belly-first into the pool.

  “I should get out there,” Lance said before looking down at himself and frowning at the polo and cargo shorts he still wore.

  Rebecca patted his bottom and smiled. “Go change. I can watch him for a minute.”

  “Thanks, babe. I was trying to give you guys some space, and now you’re doing my job.”

  “It’s fine.” She patted the book lying on the table in front of her. “I need to find a particular entry anyway. It’ll be a couple of minutes before we can continue.”

  “Do you need to go out there?” Danica watched Grimm splashing around like he’d been born to swim.

  “No. If he’s in trouble, I can get him from here.” Rebecca pulled her wand out of nowhere and laid it on the table before opening the ancient book and scanning the pages.

  “Come on, Finn.” Da
nica grabbed his hand and pulled him deeper into the house. “Let’s change and leave these nice ladies alone.”

  “Oh, the house put a pair of guest rooms down the hall to the right. Feel free to use them to change,” Rebecca called after them, not taking her eyes from the book.

  Mila watched as her best friend and lover turned the corner. Finn smiled at her and waved before he disappeared.

  Rebecca seemed to be deep in her reading, hopefully looking for answers to their questions. Victoria was watching Grimm like a hawk, although Mila was sure Rebecca had some sort of spell on the little guy to let her know if there was a problem. She seemed far too put-together to let her only child be in any real danger.

  Mila lifted the device, feeling the weight of it in her small hand. She hadn’t filled it before leaving the condo and felt a little guilty. If this thing was the only way to take Azoth out, then she should do everything she could to ensure it was charged enough.

  Seeing that the other two were busy, she decided she might as well do it while waiting for Rebecca to find what she was looking for.

  Mila closed her eyes and cradled the device in both hands, resting them in her lap. She cleared her mind the way she did before meditation. It wasn’t necessary, but she felt like the process went a lot smoother when she could block out the outside world while she channeled her power into the endless well within the device.

  Grimm’s splashing became like white noise, drowning out the sound of Rebecca turning pages and Victoria’s occasional slurp of her mixed drink. When Mila felt her center calm to a mellow hum instead of its normally erratic behavior, she turned her focus to the device in her hands. She felt the nearly flush joints where the individual pieces interconnected. Pushing past the brassy exterior, Mila found the spot she liked to think of as the pipe.

  The spot was tiny, but it could accept huge amounts of power and funnel it into some dark unseen core at the device’s center. With a flick of her will, she channeled her raw celestial magic into the pipe, marveling at how eagerly it swallowed the power.