Birds are chirping.
…
Why can't I bring myself to rise?
Trisha’s eyes flutter open, and the world is a distinct blur. She can't make out much, and her body is slow to respond. There's a window, with sunlight coming in from an angle, but not directly at her. There's a drop tile ceiling above her, blurry white. The room smells sterile, the faint scents of antiseptic in the air, and a floral scent.
Her last memory is the hospital. Seeing Drenar and Evan. Only a flash of it. She knows she saw them. And there’s something else familiar, nearby.
Lavender. She can smell it, there’s a fresh bouquet next to hear nearby, and not some cheap imitation. Only four people know her favorite scent, and–
“Welcome back from Valhalla, Trish.” She dares to open her eyes and risks the light, and sees a blurry outline of someone sitting in a chair next to her. They slowly rise to come over to the bedside–they’re tall, almost as tall as her, and she’d recognize that raven black hair and those dazzling glacial eyes anywhere. “Don’t try to speak. You’ve been out a while.”
She does her best not to say anything, but a throaty gasp still escapes her lips. She can’t speak–it feels like there’s sand in her vocal cords. She feebly points, and Kiera DeVerdra–the friend of her entire life–grabs a cup of water from a pitcher and gently tips it to her. She’s slow to drink, and it feels like she’s weak all over. Kiera pulls away slowly when Trisha nods, and she sets the cup back. “Please, don’t speak for just a minute. I want to ask a few questions. Do you remember the battle in Gilford Ravine?”
She nods after a moment. The memory is still vivid and undisturbed in her memory. That battle on the road, the dragons that she slew, one at a time. The men she picked off mercilessly as they pursued her.
That demon with the axe. Chasing her and Eddard–
“Eddard,” she mumbled through thick lips, and a voice straining from disuse. Kiera pulls up the chair next to her, eyes locked on her. “Did he–'' she can’t form the words, because she remembers.
He’d cooked himself saving her. He’d put up a spell barrier that deflected the axe blow that would have cut her in half. It had taken–
She glances down at her left arm, and feels fingers that aren’t there. The end of her arm, just above the elbow, has healed cleanly, but her muscles are atrophied. She lays back, tears in her eyes as Kiera grips her remaining hand, trying to hold in that unimaginable loss herself, and it’s only her immense steadfast nature that keeps her from breaking out in tears.
“Eddard saved your life, Trish. There wasn’t anything we could do, he mana burned himself to death. He held that monster at bay, long enough for you to land the last blow.”
Blood dripping down her severed arm. The agonizing pain. The rainfall mixed with the red below her feet.
She remembered it all.
She remembered winding back and stabbing that demonic bastard through the chest with all the might of the Valkyries, and that man still hadn’t died from it. Something about his armor kept him alive, some abhorrent magic allowed that man to endure, as she watched him stagger to a one-time-use teleportal pad. Blood loss had left her too weakened, and she’d collapsed.
When she woke up a moment later, Drenar and Evan had been hugging her, tear-struck, telling her to hold on. She’d hold on for them, no matter what it took. Then everything turned blurry, after that. She gripped Kiera’s hand firmly and wiped the tears with the sleeve of her truncated arm.
“Drenar, Evan, are they–”
“They’re okay, Trish. I have them set up with Diane and Dave. They don’t know you’re alive." The moment gives her pause, and she looks at Kiera, looking somber. “Eddard’s obscurement spells failed. Someone who was an expert must have cracked them. I couldn’t rule out one of our own. So, please, listen to what I have to say, first. Okay, Trish? I’ll answer your questions, but you need to realize–”
“How long?” she slightly slurs the words, and she’s still trembling from the loss. All she can think of now is how Eddard is gone–and every bit of training, magical power, and prowess, and draconic fury had not been enough to keep him alive.
Kiera bites her lip gently before continuing. “One year, eleven months, twenty days. It’s Halloween."
“Angela and James’s birthday,” she says while leaning back, unable to take this sitting up. “Why…so long…”
“That unsavory bastard coated his axe in a poison that works even on Maridian silvers. We almost lost you at the hospital. You’ve been in a coma since then. Your body is atrophied, but I think you’ll walk–”
“Start now. I have monsters to hunt.” Her voice is a rasp and she tries to pry herself out of bed, but Kiera gently guides her back down when the effort takes all of her strength. “Kiera, don’t stop me. They took Eddard. They’re not taking my kids.”
“Trish, they’re safe. They’re not Awakened, yet.” Trish lays back, forcing in a measured breath to avoid straining like that again. “The world’s not gotten any better since you went to rest. It’s gotten worse.”
“Who hired–”
“Davos is evading us. His clients pay good money to keep him hidden. Those we do manage to corner, have an uncanny habit of their heads being bullet magnets,” Kiera adds grimly. “The trail’s cold. The only heads-up we usually have is his next atrocity at the hands of his rosters of dictators and clandestine handlers. We have not stopped pursuing him or leads that’ll take us to him. Now, no more questions, Trish. I’m just happy to have my best friend back, among the land of the living.”
She wraps her arms around her protectively, and Trish tries to return the gesture with her one good arm. She still feels the streaks of tears in her eyes, unable to comprehend losing two years. Drenar and Evan have probably grown so much in that short period. High school now, and they’ve been alone for two years.
“I have to go back to them–”
“Trish, the world believes you’re dead. Few outside the senior knights know of your demise, and that was by design. I had to act fast to make sure the leak wasn’t on our end. I’m sorry that I’ve put you in this spot.” Now the tears come, and Kiera sobs. “I lost Takoshi, Trish. I couldn’t lose you, too.”
“You made…the right call.” She grips gently at the creases of her shirt with her hand, and takes this moment to appreciate that Kiera likely has had to shoulder the burden of command as had been discussed as her contingency from years past. A task that for most, would be impossible. “You’ve given me the one chance I need to make this right.”
“Trish, focus on your recovery. We need to bring you up to speed on a lot of things, and there will be more tears ahead.”
“I know. Theirs.”
She holds on for dear life, tempered by determination as her voice firms up, and she digs deep into her soul for the resolve she will need for the task ahead. “I will be the wrath of the Valkyries, and Davos–and everyone who enabled him–will know what it is to face the prodigy of Gaia. We’ve sat neutral for too long. It’s time to pick a side.”
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Getting up to speed was, indeed, more tears. Learning that Drenar had cut himself–badly–had almost brought her to the edge of marching out of whatever recovery location she was in, but Kiera had dissuaded her.
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“I know you’re upset–”
“You lied to all of them. Kiera.”
“I had to, Trish! We still don’t know how Eddard was unmasked. I’ve had the best arcanists in our organization scouring for information on who could pull off the level of effort involved to crack the enchantments that should have made him effectively a ghost to anyone who might ever present a threat to him.” Trish is in the middle of traction training, and forcing her success with every effort. Her draconic body would be better suited to healing, but that toxin had also, apparently, done a number on her body. She needed to be stronger before she could attempt to transform.
The missing arm isn’t helping either, as she shuffles along, sweating. The staff at this location–which Kiera still won’t tell her–are all unaware of who she is, and she’s worked very hard to keep it that way. Her legs feel stiff, but she is moving. Slowly.
It’s progress. Because when she does get enough strength to get back to her draconic form, she’s going to be doing some power healing. On that note, the toxin had also apparently dampened her natural healing–a particular deadly chemical that she hopes she never encounters again. Davos had been exceedingly lucky to expect dragons–or he just enjoyed using deadly toxins that were more hazardous to him, than to anything that he could possibly use them against.
“Just tell me how Drenar’s doing,” she snapped. Kiera sighed.
“Therapy still. He took it hard, Trish. Do you think I’ve forgiven myself for what happened? I won’t. I still think it was just…an accident.”
“Pretty bad accident to have with Remari. That blade could have taken his wrist clean off.” She’s panting now and refusing to give up, and is slowly walking. “I’m just happy he’s alive and at least getting what he needs, he’s rarely that emotional…unless it’s me.”
“You were his hero, Trish.”
“Still am. I’m not dead yet.” she pauses and wipes the sweat away from her eyes. This muscle atrophy is going to take ages to fix. “I would go home right now to hug them both, but you and I both know that the people who tried to do me in need to be brought to justice, or removed off the face of the earth.”
“Easier said than done. Now, as for Evan, he’s been doing okay. Julia is…starting to talk to Drenar again. James and Angela are nudging them along. I think they’ll be on the mend…in time.”
“Any word on the Conclave’s hands on that merc team?” Trisha presses, and takes a moment to stop and catch her breath. Kiera shakes her head.
“Money trails went dead. And the man who warned you…I think it was King.”
“Figures. I’d heard rumors of that man. But why’s he saving me?” she grunts and guides herself with the bars so she prevents falling. She is not giving up yet, she’s got a body to retrain to her peak power. And it’s going to take a long time.
Kiera shakes her head. “No idea. We’ve had no contact with him since. The latest rumor is that he’s working with someone in Magitech industries. A new client. We can’t get a bead on whom. They’re obscuring their movements heavily.”
“Davos? Is he working with him?”
“Not to my knowledge. He’s operating mostly out of Africa and Southeast Asia. He keeps moving around, so tracking him is difficult. By the time we get there, he’s already left a trail of horrors and war crimes. We need to establish a forward base out there,” Kiera grouses. “It's been on the ‘to-do’ list for forever. But there are not a lot of friendly governments to set up shop.”
“Set up shop in Johannesburg. I have a few friends there, maybe.” She can’t continue and lends down, her good hand on her knees and panting. But she can at least stand on her own. “We need to find that man, and before I kill him, I’m going to get the names of what clients he’s hiding behind.”
“You and me both,” she replies with an icy tone as frigid as the color of her eyes, and eyes a wristwatch with irritation. “Damn. Julia’s going to be home in an hour. Guess I better get back. If I dropped dead, that girl would have free reign over my armory, and that thought utterly terrifies me.”
“How’s she doing?”
“Trying to be her dad. She’s back to being a little ray of sunshine, but there’s still some dimming on the edges,” she says with a soft smile. “I try, Trish.”
“She could be a Valkyrie someday. She has the motivation and the strength.”
“Maybe. But, I don’t know if that’s what I want. I don’t know if that is what Takoshi would have wanted for her, either.” she presses her fingernails into her arm gently at that mention, and shakes her head as if warding off a noxious fume. “I’ll be back, as soon as I can.”
The door closes, and Trisha continues to rebuild her body. Nothing is going to stop her from tearing apart the whole mage criminal underworld to find who did this to her family, and those who threaten the lives of so many others.
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It was nearly a year before Trisha was back up to fighting form and she felt like she was even close to her original strength, and testing out her dragon form. Davo’s toxic weapon however, had left the transformation process as something of a painful effort–a lingering side effect. Every time she transformed, it was an agonizing pain, not the gentle shift of bones, organs and muscles. But she powered through it every time, to get back to fighting form and sparring against Kiera, Gale, and Malena.
How they managed to keep this secret of her survival was beyond her–especially with Kiera in such close contact with Drenar and Evan regularly. Maybe she has been asking too much of her. She’s been testing out the prosthetic–a golem arm that is made of flexible silver plating that sort of resembles the banding patterns of her own silver and azure-colored scales. And most importantly, it would ‘scale’ with her.
She chuckled at the unintentional pun, and Kiera glanced at her with curiosity. “Trish, was that a smile?”
“Briefly,” she said with a contented sigh. “It has been frustrating to not be able to go onto social media of any kind. Or any digital device for this long. But I think I’m back up to fighting form. Luminari is still stashed away?”
“In my armory. Why?”
“Because I think I need to find someone else to carry it.” Kiera lets out a sound of surprise. “Kiera, King said things that I don’t know if I fully understand them, but he knows things that no one else should, or can. We have two objectives.”
“What’s that?”
“Find out who is supposed to carry it next. Because I don’t know if my sword arm will be anywhere near as good with the golem arm.” she flexes the limb uneasily, and the fingers press gently against her good arm. She gets some force feedback, but…it’s not the same as the original. It might be possible to regenerate the arm, but it does come with some risks, and she doesn’t want to be in another vulnerable state anytime soon. “I need to think about that one for a bit. I don’t know if I can be the Champion, in my current state.”
“Trish.” Kiera walks up to her, and puts a gentle hand on her shoulder. She’s smiling faintly, like she always does. “You are our Champion. You always will be. I will always be honored to know that my lifelong friend has taken on an impossible task with such grace, calm, and dignity. I’ve done my best to act in your stead, but I’ve just been keeping the seat warm for you. When this is all over, and the men who did this to you face justice, I think you’ll find no one will object to you taking over the helm again.”
“Or I might retire and start a bakery.” Kiera laughs at this, and claps her shoulder gently to steady herself.
“Hah. Don’t let Malena ever hear that one.” Kiera stops with her laughter, and firms up once more. “So, what’s our next move?”
“We turn over every stone we can to find an in–to the Talons, to the Conclave, or both of them, if they’re the same. Then I follow the leads until I find Davos, or whoever his clients are.” She grips the prosthetic fingers firmly, and makes a resolute vow.
“Then, I kill every single one of them, so they never threaten those we care about again.” She tightens her grip on the small crystalline shard that had been in the evidence locker. From the same place that the hard drive had come from, still not fully decrypted. Eddard had died for it. But this shard…it still glows after almost three years. It’s unheard of. It has to mean something. But for now, she’s going to double it as a message with the small emitter system that Kiera slowly sets up by the table.
Kiera nods solemnly at her before stepping back, arms folded across her chest. “Are you sure about this, Trish? What if we can’t fix this world? What if it’s already too late to stop what is in motion with the Conclave? Or whoever is pulling the strings?”
“Then we fight the monsters, like we always do.” She takes a calm breath, before glancing down at the recording device, now primed to etch this message in this crystal. “Promise me that if they find out…you won’t get in their way to find me. I know Drenar always has had a good heart, same as Julia.”
“Laresten is training Drenar and Angela. They’re…talented, Trish.” She doesn’t say anything more on the matter. “I thought we promised we wouldn’t let our kids have to fight our battles.”
“A promise I still hope to fulfill. Are you sure this man you know can get us an introduction to the Talons? Will they recognize me?”
“No. I had Gale run the best tech to ensure you’re a ghost in every system. ID scanner systems and even magical detection systems won’t pick you up, not with your golem arm. This, I presume, is going to have to be played carefully. So, make this count Trish. I don’t want this message to be a final farewell. To them…or to me.” Kiera closes the door of the small home office in the safe house where she’s been spending the past few weeks getting ready.
She rubs at her temples gently, before pressing the activation button, and the crystal hums with life. She’s made one small adjustment. She has a theory on the crystal. On why it behaves differently. She changes it so only one person will be able to access this memory.
I hope I’m wrong. I hope that it isn’t her.
She speaks slowly as the recording captures her likeness, and prepares for what may be her last recorded message to her sons. “Drenar, Evan, if you’re hearing this, then you’ve found someone capable of retrieving the message from this shard of mana that you’re holding…”
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