Chapter 2

I let the Grace carry me, not caring where it took me or how I had been able to summon such a powerful spell. It had all been a lie… My childhood in Greymor, my aunt Elise, who’d taken care of me when the war ended. None of it had been true… What had I done to this world…?

The tender arms of the Grace suddenly let go, and I tumbled onto the rough ground and came to a halt against a tangle of shrubs. I curled up on the damp earth, wishing that Amara would strike me with her wrath, but my prayer went unheard, and the forest stayed silent. I knew it was a foolish wish. Even when the demons had rampaged her creation, she hadn’t intervened, preferring to judge us for our actions when we met her after our death.

But I could already tell I would be judged harshly. I didn’t deserve what I had called home my whole life, but my aunt had let me stay rather than tell me the truth and banish me. If she even knew the truth… But she must have… Amara hadn’t wanted to keep me with her, though, even if I had tried to redeem myself and had died casting the Barrier that eventually saved this world. It had been the first thing I saw when I opened myself fully to the Grace.

Had Auntie known I shouldn’t call on the Grace? Ever since I could remember, she had refused to teach me any advanced spells, telling me that I lacked the talent for such things, even if the little she’d shown me felt as natural as breathing. She must have known the truth, but I’d trusted her when she told me it wasn’t my path. Until today, that is, when I called on the Grace in panic to quench the fire that engulfed Grandpa Marion’s home, and I saw what I had done.

Had I known that I would get trapped here when I cast the Barrier? I knew the answers lived deep in my soul, and that if I wanted, I could find them, but I didn’t dare to let in those memories again. I wasn’t her… I wasn’t Wandering Star… I was Zoe…

The dampness of the earth seeped through my ripped tunic where I lay, and I shivered from the cold, but I didn’t move. It was for the best. I no longer had a place in this world, and I only hoped I would never need to look into the eyes of someone whose loved ones I’d hurt.

But my body didn’t want to die, and the pain and chill slowly forced me to my knees. For a moment, I wondered where the Grace had taken me. The ancient trees grew so dense here that I could barely see more than a few metres ahead. It must be late afternoon, but the thick foliage didn’t let much sunshine through, so it was difficult to tell the time. I pushed the thought away. It didn’t matter. Nothing mattered anymore. I struggled to my feet and began to walk. My bruised body hurt with every step, but I did not dare to call on the Grace to heal it. I did not want to see the past or, worse, risk the evil that lived in my soul seizing the opportunity to harm this world again.

I halted. The forest had suddenly grown silent, and a menacing presence filled the air. I knew the forests weren’t safe, even if the war had ended a long time ago. The thicket behind me rustled, and I swirled around. I could hear it trampling through the foliage, as if it no longer cared that it would be heard.

I instinctively called on the Grace but let it go the moment I felt its power filling me. No, I can’t do it… I stumbled backwards when a dry branch snapped under my foot, and I turned and ran. But it was too late. A dark mass of fangs and claws sprang from the trees, its yellow, glowing eyes fixated on its prey. I screamed, and the alien beast leapt towards me.

“Amara, save me!”

I covered my head, even though I knew it wouldn’t protect me, when a bright cyan light suddenly erupted all around me, and the beast roared in pain. A figure clad in light fell on it from above, her long spear piercing the beast’s grotesque body. She stood up and drew a flaming sword, cutting through the fangs and claws before plunging it into the beast. Its convulsing body fell to the ground, spraying the forest with thick black blood that filled the air with the smell of mud.

The light vanished as quickly as it appeared, and the forest felt silent once more. The Valkyrie turned to me, and her vivid cyan eyes looked into mine.

“Are you hurt, Wise One?”

I flinched. Wise One… Did she see who I was? But her voice was as empty as her eyes, and I managed to shake my head. I had never seen a Valkyrie in real life, but the stories told about them were enough to make me take a step back when she knelt next to me. She didn’t seem to notice, and I had to force myself to stand still when she put a cold hand on my chest, and the Grace filled my body. I shut my eyes, bracing myself for the memories of the past to fill me, but none came. When I opened them, she stood next to me, watching the already decomposing cadaver.

“The beast felt your magic and followed its trail," she said without looking at me.

"T-thank you…” I stammered, not knowing what else to say.

She turned to look at me. I wanted to turn my gaze away, but I didn’t dare to and instead watched her bright cyan eyes. I couldn’t read her expression.

“You saved me…" I murmured, finally daring to look away.

What else should I say…? She was a Valkyrie, a weapon created by the Witch of Storms to fight the demons that had invaded our world. No, their world... I wanted to ask if she’d come to slay me, but I didn’t dare to. Maybe she understood because she said,

“I felt your coming, and I felt yr’nag. I came to help you kill it."

I glanced at the decaying carcass.

.

“It’s dead,” she said. “My task here is done. What should I do now, Wise One?”

She held my gaze, and her cyan eyes seemed to shimmer in the murky light.

“What…what do you mean?”

“My task here is done, Wise One," she repeated.

“You can go back home…” I murmured.

“Home?”

She watched me.

“You want me to go back to Embervale?”

Her expression shifted, but I couldn’t tell what it meant.

“If that is your home…" I whispered, turning away from her gaze.

“It is the place of the Witch of Storms," she murmured, looking away.

I glanced at her. Had I said something wrong? She was gazing into the woods, but she turned back to me and said,

“And you, Wise One? Where are you going to?”

I shrugged, not knowing what to tell her. She watched me in silence.

“These woods are still dangerous, especially at night," she said in the end.

I sniffled, trying to force back a sob. The Valkyrie looked at me.

“Wise One?”

She hesitantly put a hand on my shoulder.

“You can go… You don’t need to stay with me…” I murmured.

“Do you still want me to go back to Embervale?”

"N-no…"

“Then I have nowhere special to go…”

I quieted, glancing at her.

“So what are you doing then?” I dared to ask.

“I travel the lands between the mountains and the great river in the South hunting monsters."

“You’re a mercenary?”

I looked at her, surprised. They were still a common sight even in Greymor, as the monsters brought by the invading demons had spread across our land and made their homes in the wild and abandoned places. The Temple had resorted to paying a bounty to anyone willing to hunt them, rather than maintaining an expensive army as it had during the war. But I’d never heard about a Valkyrie being one of them.

She shook her head.

“I am not."

“So…why are you doing it?”

She took her hand from my shoulder and fell silent for a moment before saying,

“I was made to kill demons. I don't know anything else.”

For the first time, some emotions rang in her voice. Sadness…? Resignation? I couldn’t really tell, and she looked away when she noticed my gaze, and I didn’t dare to ask more. Silence fell between us, and I watched the last rays of the setting sun dancing on the tall canopies of ancient trees.

“It’s too late to travel,” she said, noticing my gaze. “I will stay with you tonight. Tomorrow I can take you back to the road. Then you can decide where you want to go…”

“T-thank you…"

She gestured for me, and I cast one last glance at the decaying cadaver before following her.

“What is your name?” I dared to ask as I came up by her side.

"Blade. And yours?”

I hesitated.

“Zoe…”

She didn’t need to know the truth…