50 Metres (164 feet). Val braced herself.
30 Metres (~100 feet). Cold sweat rolled down Val’s face.
10 Metres. (32 feet). Tamara glided gracefully under the moon’s light with her swan wings spread wide. Her white dress flowed in the wind alongside the coils of her afro. With her arms crossed, she scrutinised Val from above.
5 Metres (16 feet). The boulder was still hurtling towards her.
Dressed in just her evening dress, Val involuntarily waited with a braced posture as the boulder came dangerously close. Tamara forbade her to move.
Val had to learn to take the hit when life came at her—even if life was a boulder that was about to squash her.
But Val cracked under the pressure. Her mind screamed for her to leap out of the way, yet her body refused to comply. When she finally attempted to jump, it was too late. The boulder smashed into her, dislocating her shoulder and sending her crashing to the gravelled ground with a loud thud.
“You hesitated.” Tamara pointed out. Descending slowly, she signalled for the giants to stop their throws. Disgruntled, they sat down. “What happened?”
Val’s entire body quivered as she pushed herself up. Her shoulder throbbed, her skin was scraped and bruised, and her palms stung from absorbing too many hits. She hadn’t been reborn as a Valkyrie for long, and Tamara’s training was unforgiving. Playing with giants, however, was almost gentle compared to sparring with her.
“It. Hurt,” Val muttered.
“What hurt?” Tamara crouched before Val to meet her eyes while resting her chin on her hands. “Do you prefer to be struck by boulders than putting your mind into action?”
“The. Former,” admitted Val, sinking back down on her knees. “It’s. Much. Easier. Than anything. Else.”
“Explain why,” said Tamara, but Val could only look back helplessly at her. Her blond braid had come undone. Loose strands veiled her face, urging Tamara to brush it behind Val's ear. “Then I’ll do the talking. Is that fine with you?”
Val nodded. Both Valkyries sat next to each other and watched the snowflakes falling from the sky.
“You can’t stop hesitating,” stated Tamara, rubbing her hands. “Whenever you commit to something, you suddenly pause. You overthink, and eventually, you second-guess yourself. Why do you think that is?”
Val stared at her, awestruck. Tamara, her senior, was a Valkyrie who died in the Haitian Revolution and was reborn as one of the most formidable Valkyries of her generation. Now, she trained her own group of young Valkyries, with Val as her first.
However, as Val sat there, she felt like Tamara’s time was wasted on her.
“Do you remember why you’re here?” Tamara asked, catching a boulder with her bare hand. The giants were getting restless, grumbling in the background. Yet, Tamara focused solely on Val. “You already made the bravest decision in your entire life. You fought and died in battle. This is something they cannot take away from you. As a Valkyrie, why do you still hesitate—even in your own personal wars?”
The wind whipped around as Tamara crushed the boulder in her grasp. She raised her fist at Val. “You are a warrior, chosen for your valour and courage—a chooser of the slain. No one can deny your merits except you. Rise, Valkyrie. Spread your wings. And never hesitate in your heart.”
Tamara's dress and hair rippled in the wind. White feathers fluttered around them when she spread her wings. Val felt drawn to her, inspired and enamoured.
Taking a deep breath, Val stood up and faced the giants, signalling them to resume. But something changed. The giants changed. Their forms became less tangible and covered in dark, muted colours that filled Val with doubt.
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The giants bellowed furiously and scattered dust around them that obscured Val's vision.
“Don't hesitate!” Tamara called from above. “Hold your ground. Face them head-on.”
Sweat trickled down Val’s face, and her muscles tensed. Anxiety gnawed at her as she waited, and waited, and waited. Her body trembled when the giants roared.
“Anxiety,” warned Tamara’s voice, “if you let it in your heart, it will either drive or poison you.”
Then, two house-sized boulders rocketed through the dust. Val froze up.
“Remember your death,” Tamara urged. “And remember your freedom. Your wars can either liberate you or bind you. You freed yourself from the fear once. Don't let uncertainty shackle you again.”
*THUD*
‧. .✦ʚ♡ɞ✦. .‧
Val’s head throbbed badly. She felt like a truck ran her over.
“Oww—” she hissed when she touched her cheek. A cold compress was pressed against her bruised lip.
Propping herself up in the bed was a battle Val quickly lost; her muscles ached terribly. They hadn’t hurt this badly since she and her sisters had to play dodgeball with three giant sisters and their father.
As always, Tamara carried the entire team.
Val’s senses were so dulled that she barely noticed someone gently guiding her back to lie down. The same someone fluffed up the pillows behind her, easing her sore back. The bed felt oddly familiar, as though she lay in there before.
“Try not to move too much,” said Maya, taking Val’s arm and pressing an ice pack wrapped in cloth against it. The Valkyrie stifled another hiss. “Your muscles are stiff—solid as a rock. You’ve overstrained yourself… again.”
Maya panted, leaning her head against the wall of the bed. She waved at her overheated face before sitting down.
Val rolled onto her side, wrapping her arm around Maya’s waist and pulling her closer. “What. Happened?” It was dark outside, and Val couldn’t recall anything after the morning.
Maya leaned into the embrace, her back resting against Val’s chest. Val nestled her face into Maya’s neck, catching the faint scent of sweat. The way to the gym took at least 30 minutes by walking—or 10 minutes for Val. Evening buses drove irregularly, and from Maya’s exhausted state, Val confirmed her suspicion. “You carried me. Back?”
“Hmm,” Maya nodded wearily. “Not the first time.” She pursed her lips. “An elevator would be nice.” Smiling, Maya tapped Val’s nose. “Boop. Next time, I’m getting an apartment on the ground floor. Carrying groceries is a pain.”
Maya’s cheerfulness drew out a small laugh from Val. The Valkyrie rested her head against Maya’s back and listened to her heartbeat.
Somehow, it calmed Val down. It gave her a sense of clarity that gripped her relentlessly over the days.
A cold breeze swept over Val’s back, and she hugged Maya’s back tightly. She could feel her warmth thawing her up. Memories of home returned to her.
Snowflakes gently fell from the sky, blooming maple trees painted the frozen landscape orange, and the cold winds guided her back to a warm cottage where her family gathered.
Val remembered it all, and she missed everything about it.
The comfort of the small but cosy cottage, her parents returning from a hunt, her older brothers and younger sisters gathering in the centre. Everyone was there. A bittersweet reminder of the peace she once knew but also of the cage life had been.
Everything Val heard or saw felt grey and dull, like the snowstorm that raged outside one fateful day.
As the middle child, Val often felt overlooked and passed through. She watched over her sisters, making sure they learned what Val did. Her mother often chastised Val’s older brothers whenever they ventured too deep into the forest or refused to listen.
Her father, always his laconic self, watched the dynamic unfold in silence. He never talked—Val couldn’t even tell if he ever uttered a single word in her life.
He was always just there, watching.
Watching Val with a rifle on his lap. His golden beard covered his mouth, shrouding any emotion he could otherwise show his children. His burly, imposing frame radiated around the cottage like the household protector he was.
Holding his gaze on Val, her heartbeat slowed. Deathly silence formed between the two, and Val felt her hug on Maya tighten as it did with the bear of her sisters she held in her arms.
Val couldn’t hear her sisters play anymore, nor the chastising words of her mother berating the sons. Only the strong heartbeat of her father was all she heard.
“War is here,” he said. “Protect them well, daughter. If you hesitate, they slip away.”
Those were the first and last words Val remembered of her father before he went out into the storm. And all that followed were gunshots and men shouting.
As her sisters cried and her brothers argued with their mother, Val remembered how she covered her ears, focusing solely on her heartbeat.
The heartbeat she now heard from Maya calmed her down in whatever she just felt at this moment.
But Maya soon extricated herself from Val’s hold. She placed a comforting hand on Val’s chest and urged her back down on the pillows. “Flop around,” said Maya. “I want to give you a surprise.”