Val’s stomach growled. It had been nearly two weeks since Reginald had dropped them off. Her mother Celeana had tried to buy passage on one of the passenger ships leaving port but the attendant just laughed at her when she presented her meager coins.
“That wouldn’t even buy you a stay in a broom closet, let alone a room. go beg somewhere else.”
“I am trying to get somewhere else to start a new life,” Celeana muttered under her breath.
Her mother was a proud woman who hated to take charity. Val remembered helping her mother hand out soup and hot drinks to the poor during the winter and they gave the worst of their old coats. Now, they were the ones in need, but so long as there was coin in the purse, her mother insisted they were better off than most.
Each day they had walked as far as Val’s little legs would allow. “Come Val. If we can reach the mountains, my friends will guard us.”
Val looked ahead to see the snow-capped peaks that never seemed any closer. “Do they come all the way to the water?”
“Yes, dear. The Cian mountains separate our land from most of the other eight realms of Calogan.” Her mother said, as they walked onto a market street that skirted the far side of Caradon, the capital city.
“How much farther?”
“If we are lucky and can find a ride?” Her mother paused to consider before answering, “Three days. On foot? I am not sure.”
“I am sure you can find a warm bed over here.” A gruff voice called from an ally.
Celeana pushed Val behind her as three men stepped out of the shadows.
“We don’t want any trouble, we are just passing through.”
“Passin through our turf comes with a cost,” One said, sliding his hands into the pockets of his long coat.
“You look young enough. Maybe twenty four… Still got a few years in ya.” One sneered.
Val could barely understand these dirty men. They wore fine suits but clearly had not taken care of them. Her father would never have been seen in something that was covered in grime.
“The little one might make for a slip easy enough. Bet the boss wouldn’t mind another little for the beggin corners. Those always bring in the best coin. Its pity you know. Them richy rich’s are all bleeding hearts for the littles but they see us comin and they start squacking about getting jobs and all.”
“They fail to realize this is the job.” The tall skinny one said, eying Val.
Celeana grabbed Val’s hand and tried to hurry off when the broad-shouldered brute grabbed her. she spun and slapped him. Val screamed as her mother fought three men, keeping Val at her back. Celeana kicked one in the balls, dropping him to his knees.
“You will pay for that, Bitch!” his friend hollered, flipping open a previously hidden knife.
Celeana produced a dark blade from her cloak and held it before her, “Don’t test me,” She said, her voice shifting to a deeper more commanding tone than Valkyrie had ever heard.
Val’s eyes roved the length of her mother’s blade, it was almost as long as her forearm, with silver swirls mixing in the dark material that made up the dark double-edged blade. Small runes were etched along the center line, emanating a slight silver glow.
“What the? Fracking witch!” hollered one thug as he lunched at Celeana with a wide slash.
Celeana caught the blade with her own, deflecting the blow. Val watched her mother’s fluid and graceful movement. It was as if she danced around these brutish men, her black dagger flashing as she opened cuts and gashes along their legs and arms.
The men began to stagger from blood loss, but Celeana was also tiring fast from the exertion of fending off three untrained brawlers. As two fell to the ground, blood pooling around them, Celeana let out a grunt of pain. She whipped her blade behind her, catching the last gangster in the neck. He fell back, clutching at his throat.
Celeana stumbled over to Val, taking her hand and leading her away from the carnage.
That night, Celeana pulled Val close and kissed her forehead. “I am sorry, Val. I failed you.”
Val cuddled into her mother’s embrace and wrapped her tiny arms around her. Celeana winced as she did, and Val pulled back, finding her hands covered in red.
“Mama?” Val asked in a panic.
“I was not fast enough, child. If you can, you have to try to make it to the mountains. Find the Order. They will watch after you.”
“Mama!”
Celeana tapped Val’s temple with a finger and Val slumped, knowing no more.
*** Celeana***
Celeana looked down at her daughter as tears streamed down her face. “I am so sorry, my love. You will have a hard life ahead of you but perhaps, just maybe I can leave you one last ray of hope.”
Celeana pulled a long chain from around her neck and held up a locket with a rune etched across it. She lifted her unconscious daughter's hand and using her black blade, she pricked her finger. A small drop of red blood rose to the surface.
Celeana sighed, “I had hoped your father’s experiments had offered you an edge.”
Celeana gasped suddenly as her locket glowed and opened. “What? But the Spark shouldn’t react to any but a silverblood!”
A long hair thin tendril snaked out of the locket and tagged her daughter’s bloody finger. Where the tendril and blood met, the red blood shifted to silver!
“Maybe my child, you will indeed be a blessing from the ancients! May the order forgive me for burdening you with keeping the Spark alive.” Celeana rolled Val onto her stomach and pulled her hair away from her neck. Carefully she used the black blade to slice along the spine right at the base of her skull.
Carefully she removed the Spark from her locket and held it over the cut. Hundreds of tendrils came to life in the presence of her daughter’s blood and reached for the wound. Suddenly, the Spark pulled itself from her grip, sliding into the cut, the skin sealing behind it. Where the slice had been, a black tattoo began to form as two black wings unfurrow across the skin clutching a downward-facing blade.
Celeana coughed suddenly, red staining her hand as she looked wide-eyed at her daughter’s neck. “The Reaper is born, the Ancient’s return. My daughter, Be the light.”
Valkyrie awoke with the early morning light streaming between two buildings. The salt air tickled her nose but the smell of rotting fish made her nearly gag. A hint of metallic tang filled the air around her and she looked down to find her hands still covered in red and the hem of her dress was also stained red. She lifted her tiny head and looked up at her mom. Celeana’s face was pale, and she looked to be deep asleep with her eyes closed. Small dried channels of red were caked onto her lips and nose. Val shook her mom and called to her, but there was no response. “Mama!!!” Runes scrolled across her vision and she did her best to puzzle out the meaning. Slowly the runes shifted from odd squiggles to something she recognized from the books her mom read her. “In suf fic ient Pow er” she sounded out slowly. Val had no idea what that was supposed to mean or why she was seeing it. Her stomach grumbled then and she looked down to see her mother’s blade still in her hand. Blue glow outli
Valkyrie stretched her coins as long as she could but it wasn’t long before she had to start begging on the street corner. Her first day she managed to collect a full twelve drets. Val scampered back to her growing nest and added the coins to her leather pouch which she hid under a board pressed against one of the metal walls. She had fortified her little home after she had to move away from her mother’s body due to the smell. Now her nest was in the deepest shadows of the ally, still within sight of her mother. She had dragged over more pallets and made a full wall out of them laid on top of each other. Even if a strong wind came, she didn’t think it would be able to defeat her fortress. Valkyrie had managed to find a large canvas a painter had tossed in the garbage and happily brought it home, dropping it over her fort and then stacking more pallets on top. Every day, the local factories would toss out several pallets and she would gladly collect one at a time and drag it to her
Valkyrie slipped down the street in search of a merchant selling lemons. She passed several spice shops, a textile selling thick carpets, and even several bakeries with fresh bread on display. As she neared the docks, the smell of fish began to overpower the other smells. Long stalls were set up and strong men tossed huge fish down the lines of iced containers, hollered prices, and haggled with men in aprons. Across the street, Val found her target. There were several stands set up with various fruits and vegetables. One had a heaping stack of bright yellow lemons. She strode up to the man and bluntly asked, “How much for fifteen lemons?” The thin man was meticulously stacking his wares and made sure every lemon had its place. He had short brown hair that brushed to the side, and wore a perfectly clean white apron around his neck. When he heard her voice he looked around without noticing her. “Down here!” Val said, tugging on his apron. “Hu? Oh, my dear. Did you ask for fifteen?
When Valkyrie awoke, she was stiff and sore. Her ribs hurt immensely as a small yellow light blinked in her vision. [ Power Low. Shadow Plasma required. ] Val blinked and the message vanished, leaving just the small yellow warning in her mind. Val felt numb. She knew she had ended that boy’s life. But he had almost ended hers. Grown versions of that boy had been the ones who had killed her mother, perhaps even part of the same gang if this was their turf. She had not seen much in the way of gang members but she reasoned that as a small girl, she likely went under the notice of such criminals, thus they didn’t reveal themselves or trouble her. Only the kids who tried to use the same street corners to swindle people where an issue for her. Val looked out of her fort to her mother’s resting place and shed a small tear, seeing that her mother was no longer there. Someone had cleared the body and there was just a red stain remaining. Val was now truly alone. As she pulled herself out o
(Several months later) Val ran across the rooftops of dockside, watching the crowds below for likely targets. Today there was a good crowd to pickpocket from because a street performance group was passing through. It wasn’t often that the troupes performed here but when they did, they drew huge crowds. Today they were set up along the intersection of the two major roads through this part of town. It was really the only space large enough for their carts to park and still allow for the carriages to pass by without trampling anyone. Val stopped above their carts and was about to climb down and try her luck in the audience when an old man dressed in gray robes stepped out onto their makeshift stage. He had a flowing white beard that gave him the bearing of a wise sage. “Ladies and Gentlemen, Today I have a special treat for you. I am Story Master Alaster Montag, and I bring you the tale of the Valkyrie from far-off lands.” The crowd grew still and silent with anticipation. Val froze,
~ 4 years later. Age 10 ~ * * [ System Analysis update ] Coin: 5840 Dret (Denominations 116 Gold Zon’s, 3 silver, 10 copper Dret) Strength +4 Perception +5 Endurance +6 Charisma +6 Intelligence +7 Agility (Parkour +2, Rapid Stab +2, Speed +3, Reflexs+2) Luck +4 Sneak: Stealth +2, Light Foot +2, Backstab +1 Val had grown a lot since Emma first brought her in to see the den leader. The name he gave was Vex. Vex had been hesitant to admit a tiny six-year-old but once it was discovered that Val had basically single-handedly taken out two runners and two enforcers, he had reluctantly given her a shot. Val avoided the Dockside merchants when she learned about pickpocketing. They had been good to her when she had nothing, and in the last few years, she had developed working business relationships with many of them. Val didn’t want to fathom the disappointment on their faces if she was caught stealing from them. The Dock Jackals guild wanted 50 dret per day from each street kid
Val wondered if she dared to use the tiny palm-sized blade now and test its ability. She gripped the hilt and was heartened to see the small tendril snake out of her wrist, causing the runes to glow in her sight. Just then the warrior let out a scream as the Shadow raked claws along his side opening deep red gashes in his black armor. Val had never seen a Lurker cause physical damage!She hesitated for only a second before she took aim and launched her dagger at the largest Lurker, or Thrasher as the runes had indicated, but her throw lacked the power needed to connect solidly. Instead, it passed hilt first through the Shadow’s left side. It still lifted its head to the sky in a silent cry of agony, which the dark warrior took advantage of, slicing his blade through the Shadow’s throat.The other two Lurkers retreated quickly. Val wanted to go down and retrieve her blade, but was afraid of this dark warrior. However, to her horror, the warrior reached
[ Log ] Shadows identified: [ Race: Scath ] [ Lurker Hatchling AKA Watchers *Role: Watcher, influencer. Nearly totally translucent. Hard to detect. minimal threat] [ Lurker Wrath – Called “Tempters” by members of the Order. *Thread: Minimal direct threat, Significant threat from secondary attacks by influenced beings. Small, minimal threat ] [ Thrasher – Powerful Scáth with claws that can do physical damage. Thrasher’s have onyx claws and almost physical scales. Much harder to engage and can deflect rune blade attacks ] * Val watched Desmond disappear as he lept from one wall to another and vanished over the rooftop. Val was full of roiling emotions. She had missed the Shadow she had been hunting and now had an empty crystal, but Desmond had given her a glimpse of a life that she could only dream about. She wondered if it would improve her world, or lead her in unexpected directions. The thought that her mother had been a part of the order and that she might find mem