morning. I’d called Eric last night to let him know.
“Alexis, it’s your turn.”
The last class of the day was called Weapons. The title was self-explanatory. Today Brynna was assisting the instructor because the weapons of choice were the short swords that I’d seen at Brynna’s house once. Here they called the sword the anelace. The instructor explained that the ancient sword’s blade had been much larger but the Lycernians had adapted it over time to the double-edged blade we would use today. With their smaller size and weight, the swords were easier to use in each hand. The historic name remained, despite the changes. Brynna was good with anelace, very good. She and the instructor gave a quick demonstration at the beginning of the class and then paired us up to practice the moves. After forty-five minutes of practicing, we lined up to take a turn against Brynna while the instructor critiqued us. Now it was my turn. I went forward, prepared for Brynna to do her best to cut me to bits.
The moves came easily to me, and though Brynna was adept, I was faster and stronger. Sweat dripped down her face. I lunged forward, and she twisted away before coming behind me and pinning my arms to my body. I bent, trying to flip her over my head, but she squatted low, and I couldn’t find the leverage I needed. When I straightened, she followed, and I could hear her breath coming hard behind me.
“We’ve collected an audience. Keep it up, you’re doing great.”
I had no idea why she said this, and I had no time to see anybody because she shoved me away and, in the process, knocked loose one of my knives. It landed several feet away. I slashed at Brynna with my one remaining blade, but she dodged it. I leapt to one side of her, relaxed my knees, and hit the ground, rolling toward the fallen anelace. Grabbing it, I turned to face Brynna again, but she was on top of me and had me down with a sword near my throat. She grinned, winked, and then her upturned lips rounded to an O of surprise as I used a skill learned earlier in the week to toss her to the side. The instructor clapped his hands for the session to stop and called up the next person.
I went back to the sidelines, sweaty and covered in sand. That’s when I saw the people Brynna had mentioned. Five girls. Two looked about my age, and the others appeared to be a couple of years older. They were all fit and muscular and wore their hair long with matching headbands of swirled silver that resembled the design on the handles of the swords I held. They continued to watch until the instructor called everyone together to review the class and discuss what we should work on until we met again next week. I watched as the women disappeared down the path. When the class ended, I caught up with Brynna.
“Who were those people watching the class?”
She smiled and raised her eyebrow. “Valkyries.”
“What? You know I hate it when you do that.” I wiped my palm on the leg of my khaki shorts, trying to get rid of the sand still stuck there.
“Do what?”
“Use some crazy word when you know I don’t have a clue what you’re talking about.”
She paused on the path, letting two other girls go past us. When they disappeared around the curve, she spoke again. “You’ve never heard the word ‘Valkyrie’ before?”
I thought for a moment. “Okay, it is kind of familiar, so I guess I’ve heard it somewhere. But what has that got to do with the people here?”
“In ancient history, the Valkyries were the women who would decide which soldiers died in battle and which lived. The Valkyries brought the ones they selected to die to the great hall of Valhalla for their afterlife.”
“Va-who?”
She frowned. “Valhalla. It was the place the soldiers spent their time waiting for their next battle.”
“What battle?”
Brynna started walking then turned onto a side path that led away from the dorm. “Sometimes I forget you really have no reason to have studied any
“Alexis, it’s your turn.”
The last class of the day was called Weapons. The title was self-explanatory. Today Brynna was assisting the instructor because the weapons of choice were the short swords that I’d seen at Brynna’s house once. Here they called the sword the anelace. The instructor explained that the ancient sword’s blade had been much larger but the Lycernians had adapted it over time to the double-edged blade we would use today. With their smaller size and weight, the swords were easier to use in each hand. The historic name remained, despite the changes. Brynna was good with anelace, very good. She and the instructor gave a quick demonstration at the beginning of the class and then paired us up to practice the moves. After forty-five minutes of practicing, we lined up to take a turn against Brynna while the instructor critiqued us. Now it was my turn. I went forward, prepared for Brynna to do her best to cut me to bits.
The moves came easily to me, and though Brynna was adept, I was faster and stronger. Sweat dripped down her face. I lunged forward, and she twisted away before coming behind me and pinning my arms to my body. I bent, trying to flip her over my head, but she squatted low, and I couldn’t find the leverage I needed. When I straightened, she followed, and I could hear her breath coming hard behind me.
“We’ve collected an audience. Keep it up, you’re doing great.”
I had no idea why she said this, and I had no time to see anybody because she shoved me away and, in the process, knocked loose one of my knives. It landed several feet away. I slashed at Brynna with my one remaining blade, but she dodged it. I leapt to one side of her, relaxed my knees, and hit the ground, rolling toward the fallen anelace. Grabbing it, I turned to face Brynna again, but she was on top of me and had me down with a sword near my throat. She grinned, winked, and then her upturned lips rounded to an O of surprise as I used a skill learned earlier in the week to toss her to the side. The instructor clapped his hands for the session to stop and called up the next person.
I went back to the sidelines, sweaty and covered in sand. That’s when I saw the people Brynna had mentioned. Five girls. Two looked about my age, and the others appeared to be a couple of years older. They were all fit and muscular and wore their hair long with matching headbands of swirled silver that resembled the design on the handles of the swords I held. They continued to watch until the instructor called everyone together to review the class and discuss what we should work on until we met again next week. I watched as the women disappeared down the path. When the class ended, I caught up with Brynna.
“Who were those people watching the class?”
She smiled and raised her eyebrow. “Valkyries.”
“What? You know I hate it when you do that.” I wiped my palm on the leg of my khaki shorts, trying to get rid of the sand still stuck there.
“Do what?”
“Use some crazy word when you know I don’t have a clue what you’re talking about.”
She paused on the path, letting two other girls go past us. When they disappeared around the curve, she spoke again. “You’ve never heard the word ‘Valkyrie’ before?”
I thought for a moment. “Okay, it is kind of familiar, so I guess I’ve heard it somewhere. But what has that got to do with the people here?”
“In ancient history, the Valkyries were the women who would decide which soldiers died in battle and which lived. The Valkyries brought the ones they selected to die to the great hall of Valhalla for their afterlife.”
“Va-who?”
She frowned. “Valhalla. It was the place the soldiers spent their time waiting for their next battle.”
“What battle?”
Brynna started walking then turned onto a side path that led away from the dorm. “Sometimes I forget you really have no reason to have studied any
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