Chapter 7

We joined Lyric by the fire after that, sharing the meal he’d prepared. He didn’t ask us more about what we’d done or who we were but only kept sharing stories from his life as a bard as the evening slowly turned into night, and the first stars appeared behind the shimmering barrier protecting this world. Once we’d eaten, he picked up his lute and began playing gentle melodies I didn’t recognise as we watched the fire. Despite everything, no intrusive thoughts tried to push their way into my mind, and for the first time since I’d left, I felt at peace.

Taimur had lain down between us, rolled into a ball with her head almost touching my leg. She looked so different from the first time I saw her, so relaxed, and her anger was almost gone from her face. Maybe I wasn’t a real Wandering Priestess yet, but even so, I think I’d managed to do something good for her. I hesitantly reached out and laid my hand on her, but she flinched, and I instinctively pulled it away. She stirred but didn’t look at me as she murmured,

“It’s okay, priestess, I won’t bite you…”

I hesitated, remembering her teeth, but I forced myself to rest my hand on her again. Her body tensed, but this time she didn’t shake me off. The last notes rang in the air, and Lyric rested his lute on his lap.

“I don’t want to keep you awake through the night. You must be tired.”

He added a log to the fire, and I pulled my cloak around me.

“I don’t mind…”

“We will leave in the morning,” Blade said. “Would you like to join us?”

He smiled and shook his head.

“I will only slow you down. I'm not young like you anymore. I will wait for a trader and ride the whole way north."

“How come you became a bard?” I asked.

He sighed.

“Oh, it’s a long story. I never planned to be one. My family had a farm in Ravebruck. I was expected to become a farmer like my father and his father before him, but when the war broke out, my father paid a travelling bard to take me with him. It was a custom that bards were exempted from the draft, just like blacksmiths.”

“The war?”

I looked at him, confused. He must have been old already when the demons invaded this world. He smiled at my confusion.

“It was long before the Long Night. Wars used to be a common thing among the kingdoms. Ravebruck fought with Storfort over the control of the copper mines that lay on the border.”

“I'm sorry…” I murmured.

“Not to worry, it’s the past now.”

He sighed, gazing into the fire, and he fell silent for a moment before adding,

“But I sometimes wonder if Amara didn’t let the demons come so we could unite rather than fighting each other in endless wars.”

He stirred the embers.

“After all, the world is somehow a better place now than it used to be.”

I glanced at him. Why would he say that? How could it be a better world after everything I’d done?

“Play us more,” Taimur murmured from the ground.

Lyric picked up his lute and sang.

A quiet place under the starry sky

in a pine forest covered with snow

where the wind rustles the leaves of the old trees

singing in the night

welcoming the full moon

A quiet place where I belong

between cold streams and tall grass

where the air smells of morning dew

and the spring rain dances on my porch

A quiet place that I call home

with the warm fire crackling in the stove

giving warmth and comfort

during winter nights

A quiet place filled with love

that will shelter me from the storm

He put the lute down, and I gazed into the flickering flames. Home… After everything I’d done, would I ever find a place to call home again? Or would I keep travelling for the rest of my life, never belonging anywhere?

“It’s been years since I heard that song,” Blade sighed, interrupting my thoughts.

I looked up to see sadness flash across her face.

“Do you know it?” I asked.

“It was common in the last years of the war. Some said Wandering Star wrote it, but I don’t know if it’s true. The soldiers used to sing it to keep their fears away at night. It reminded them of what we fought for.”

She gazed into the fire when Taimur suddenly stirred next to me, shaking off my hand.

“Are you okay?” I asked.

She growled, moving away from me.

“I'm fine! Let’s go to sleep... It will be a long day ahead of us tomorrow, priestess.”

She moved closer to the fire, and I watched her roll into a ball again, her back towards us. I hesitated. Why had she left? I should offer her my cloak, but I didn’t think she would accept it.

“She is right. Let's rest,” Blade said and got up.

She put a hand on my shoulder, her bright cyan eyes resting on me for a moment, and I thought I saw sadness flash in them again before she turned away.

“Sleep well, White Star.”

Lyric added another log to the fire and took a blanket from his bag. I pulled my cloak closer and lay down, watching the fire crackle in the dark. Home… I wasn’t the only one who didn’t have a place where they belonged. Was that why Tuimar had got up? Because the song reminded her about the home she didn’t have, just like me? Was Blade the same? Is that why she kept travelling the lands even after the war had ended a long time ago, because she didn’t feel she belonged anywhere? I sighed, trying to find a comfortable position on the hard ground. At least I wasn’t alone, and I was happy I could travel with them, but it wasn't fair if people weren’t happy…

The sun was barely over the horizon when Blade woke me up. I must have fallen asleep in the end, and my body ached after lying on the rough ground. Tuimar was up already, warming her hands over the hot embers, and Lyric sat wrapped in his blanket, adding some herbs to his kettle. Blade handed me a flatbread, saying we would leave early so we could keep a slower pace throughout the day and still reach the next rest before nightfall. I was grateful for that idea. My feet were still sore, and I didn't think I could keep up with them if we continued like yesterday.

Once we were done, Blade took her bag and turned to Lyric.

“Are you sure you don’t want to join us?”

He shook his head.

“No, the traders will come and pick me up at any time.”

I got up.

“Thank you for the food and your music.”

“It was a pleasure to have such company. Stay safe.”

I followed the others to the gate when I heard him call,

“May Amara guide you on your way, and who knows, maybe we will meet again.”

I turned to see him waving his hat, and I waved back before stepping out onto the road and hurrying after the others. I hoped he would be alright. He seemed to be content with his life, even if it had been forced upon him. We continued down the road in silence. The morning mist was slowly lifting, and the air was still fresh from the night. I glanced at the others walking ahead. Maybe travelling wasn’t as bad in the end… I hesitated for a moment before quickening my pace to come up to Blade’s side.

“Have… Have you always travelled alone?”

She turned to me, and her bright cyan eyes met mine.

“No, but it was a long time since I had company.”

She fell silent, and I hesitated.

“What happened?”

She sighed.

“I used to guard the caravans travelling from town to town when the war ended, and the monsters still roamed the land. Then I travelled with the soldiers to help purge our borders. But it’s been a long time since anyone has needed my protection.”

“That must be lonely…” I murmured.

She didn’t respond, and for a moment I wondered if I’d spoken too much when she said,

“I chose to become a Valkyrie to fight the monsters, and so that’s what I do.”

Tuimar frowned.

“Why would you choose such a thing?”

The Valkyrie stayed silent for a moment before saying,

“I wanted to fight. I was younger than you when the demons came, and Windharrow fell… The soldiers took those of us who survived to the snowy passes. We built a camp, but when the night fell, the demons came again. They’d almost broken through when the sky erupted in a cyan light, and the Valkyries fell upon them.”

She gazed into the woods.

“I never wanted to feel that helpless again, so I kept asking them to become one of them until they relented and took me to the Witch of Storms.”

Tuimar stared at the ground, her tail tucked between her legs.

“But the war ended a long time ago,” she murmured. “Why would she force you to keep doing it?”

“She hasn’t. She wanted us to settle down. She’s tried to help, and I’ve tried, but... Valkyries were made to fight demons..."

She shook her head.

“I think she regrets making us, but I don’t. I don’t want to regret the reason I became one, even if I'm not needed anymore…”

She fell silent, and I glanced at her.

“I still need you,” I murmured.

She turned to me, and a faint smile appeared on her face.

“You will learn how to travel by yourself soon.”

I hesitated for a moment before reaching out to her.

“Even if I do, I still don’t want to travel alone.”

She glanced at my hand for a moment before taking it.

“Thank you,” she murmured. “It has been a long time since I told that story to anyone…”

I tried to reach out to Tuimar, but she just frowned and quickened her pace, leaving my extended hand hanging in the air.