Valkyrie Black

Chapter 11: Fort Lorilis

The next evening, Val collected her meager belongings.

As she said goodbye to Emma. Maggie had agreed to keep Emma on and even offered Emma a bed in her home. Emma was growing fast, having just turned 13, and would soon be a tall beauty. Now that she had a stable life and a place to stay with Maggie, Val hoped she would do well.

“I will come back and see you all as soon as I can. I don’t know how long training will take though.”

Maggie didn’t understand what training Val was talking about but Emma seemed to have an idea. She leaned in, pulling Val into a tight hug. She whispered in her ear, “be safe, little reaper.”

Less than an hour later, Val was waiting in the ally where she had met Desmond.

“Glad to see you decided to accompany me.” Came the deep voice of Desmond behind her.

She spun to find the dark warrior only inches behind her.

“You look more and more like your mother. If you have half of her talent, you will make a great addition to Suria, and perhaps even the order.”

Before Val could respond, Desmond was striding out of the ally. “Come along.”

She followed him to the end of the business district where a black coach was waiting. Desmond walked up as a man in very formal and high-end clothes opened the coach door. the man didn’t balk at Desmond’s black attire or comment at all on the fact his face was covered.

 As Val followed him into the carriage, she realize this black coach was extremely high-end. As it set off, there was almost no outside noise and the wheels must have expert designs, for there was almost no jolting or rocking as the carriage rolled over the cobbled streets.

Desmond was quiet as they rode along, but Val kept her face glued to the window. As they passed out of the dock district, more and more high-end businesses appeared. Many two and three-story red brick buildings lined the street with people in fancy garb walking along and looking in windows.

“Has all of this been here the whole time?” she asked aloud.

Desmond chuckled, “I am guessing you never made it past five or six streets then.”

Val shook her head, still watching the buildings pass by. Soon the street left the city and she saw huge tracks of land with large homes set back off the road. Just a little way out of town, the road turned northwest and followed a broad river.

Val shifted to the other window and watched large ships dropping huge sails as they began their trek upstream. As she watched, rows of oars came out and began rhythmically pulling the boats up the river.

“I didn’t get a chance to ask but… how did you end up here, instead of in the capital where your mother had been stationed?” Desmond asked suddenly

“The manservant brought us here. Some man had been talking to dad and then suddenly we were in the carriage and he brought us here. Is this not the capital? I wondered why it took so long.”

“Child, You were in Dockside, the lower levels of Durres. It's almost two hours ride to Caradon.”

Val sighed, “I watched some of the countryside, but I must have fallen asleep. Mom and I were let on the far side, and we walked for a long time.”

Desmond frowned. “You were let out… and you walked for days? Then it wasn’t Durres you were let out, but Surret. It's farther east. Your mother must have meant to walk all the way to the Order’s base in the mountains.”

The carriage hid an odd bump then and the driver hopped down, handing something to a man standing by the shore. Soon Val could see nothing but water.

“Are we crossing?”

Desmond smiled, “It’s a short ferry ride across the river, not more than an hour. Once we are on the far side it's another two days by fast carriage to the base of the mountains.”

Hours passed and Val eventually fell asleep. They never left the carriage except for a few short breaks at inns with bathrooms. Food and drink were served in the carriage and servants changed drivers and horses every few hours.

When they started the final assent up the mountain, Val was amazed at how far she could see. The coach followed a series of switchbacks up the side of the mountain before driving into a narrow valley passage.

The narrow passage suddenly widened, opening into a huge mountain glen, and she could see trees and grass all around her where only moments ago it seemed the world had become made of stone.

The Driver stopped then and opened the door.

Desmond went out first and held a hand out to Val. She took it and hopped down as only the young can. She looked around to find the area was over 100 square meters of open field with what seemed to be a thick forest. She saw at least three roads that led off in different directions.

In the distance, she could see sheer mountain sides, with what appeared to be stone cutouts, many with tiny lights along their lower edges.

“The glen is a meeting place and staging ground for fort Lorilis. Sometimes it is a training field,” Desmond explained.

 “However, the main base is within the barrier mountain walls. Those lights are each a room, house, or meeting chamber. The whole mountainside is riddled with carved homes that have existed for thousands of years. We still excavate and renovate collapsed parts of this ancient base.”

“It was here that your Dark Angel spark was first found. While the sigil is listed in the records, we have not known any to bear that spark before you in the last five hundred years. It has only chosen a vessel that we know of when the world is about to face a dark era. Since it was in the original dark angel, Azrael, It has been known mostly in legend as the reaper of dark souls.”

Desmond then let her down a path to the nearest wall. A huge doorway was carved out of the side of the mountain. Just inside, metal doors over five meters tall blocked the passage. Val had never seen something more impregnable. Desmond walked up to the doors and began a series of knocks.

“They knew I was here the second we started up the switchbacks. Someone just wants to be stubborn,” He said impatiently.

The doors slowly opened but as Desmand moved to walk inside, a reedy little man stepped out and blocked his way.

“Out of the way, Brayden. You have no business stopping the Spark’s business.” Desmond said dismissively as he tried to shove past.

“I do not hinder the Spark, but this one is not known to me, thus she must be tested before she enters.” Brayden said, rolling with Desmond’s shove and only moving enough to let him pass, while still glaring at Val.

“She is with me, and under my guidance, thus your silly rules do not apply. Now let her pass.”

Brayden smirked before turning a glare on Val. Brayden proceeded to touch two fingers to his forehead, then heart, then crossing his arms, two fingers extended to each shoulder before declaring “Laan amlygu sik.”

Desmond’s Sigil burst forth at the words, but to her surprise, Val saw no sigil in front of her. Instead she saw a prompt.

[ Reveal Identity? ]

[ Situation analysis suggests no. ]

Val frowned at the message and dismissed it with a thought. If Desmond did not like this man, she would not trust him, for now. If he could not force her Spark to reveal itself then she might have more to learn about this situation. Even Desmond’s had been forced to respond and he was clearly the superior.

[ Ancient Dialect Script Available ]

[ Unlock?]

Val subconsciously accepted the upgrade, as one of the crystals in her pocket turned from black smokey back to clear.

[ द्वारस्य पुरतः आत्मानं निष्कासयतु। त्वं स्पार्क-पात्रं बाधसे। द्वाराणि, उद्घाटितानि। ]

Val saw the string of runes and began to speak. Her words did not sound like her native tongue but Brayden’s eyes went wide as he replied, “Of course, of course. I bow to the will of the Sparks.”

Val saw something flash across the man’s face but could not understand the meaning behind the sneer as Brayden bowed out of the way.

Desmond watched with satisfaction as he let her into the mountain. Val suddenly felt a prick on the back of her neck as her world went dark.