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Valhalla - The Legend's Path
Chapter 22: Winter Is Coming

Chapter 22: Winter Is Coming

Edward was walking through a large empty field. Small snowflakes were falling around him, sometimes landing on his face, pricking his skin slightly. Grass creaked under his boots, and a warm turtleneck protected his body from the frigid wind. Of course he wouldn’t get sick, even when walking naked in this weather, but there was no harm in staying warm and comfortable.

Other than some empty shells, and guns left without their owners, he didn’t find anything of interest.

“All good on my end.” He reported the situation to his earpiece, before turning around, going on his way back.

Suddenly a voice called out from afar. “Hey Ed!”

The young warrior turned to the left, seeing a female figure standing on a small incline in the distance. He started walking towards the woman slowly, smiling lightly seeing his comrade again.

“Hey Layla! Anything on your end?!”

The duo was already almost face to face with each other when the woman answered.

“No, nothing. They just keep sending small squads to slow us down. But it’s weird, we’re already that far into their territory and they’re not resisting as hard as we thought. Not even close to be honest…”

“Yeah… I wonder what’s their game, we should stay alert, but let’s not worry about something we won’t be able to guess…” Edward stopped in front of his friend, and combed through his hair with his fingers, getting rid of some stray snowflakes.

“Alright, anyways I’m done with my side, want to go back together?”

“Sure, and how about we spar later?”

“Hell no. I’m going to take a nice nap now. A girl needs her beauty sleep, and you sir are getting addicted to all the fighting. Ask Marcus if you’re so impatient.”

“Hey! I’m not addicted…”

Layla raised her eyebrow silently.

“It’s just fun, ok..?” Edward turned his head avoiding eye contact.

“Mhm… It’s fun when you heal in a couple of minutes, and don’t have to sleep on a back covered in bruises later. You need to find a girlfriend Mr. Limitless Stamina, get some of this energy out of your system you know?”

“... fuck off.”

Layla just laughed lightly in response.

The walk back took quite a while. Each day they pushed a bit further into enemy territory, and away from their base. Six weeks have passed already since they arrived at these plains. It might be time to move the base forward soon… In general, the campaign seemed to be going very well. Too well if you had to ask Edward. They were barely met with any resistance, and everyone felt as if a storm was brewing on the horizon. Hopefully whatever was supposed to happen, would happen before they reached the next settlement. There was no need to get the civilians involved…

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Finally, after passing over another small hill, the duo saw some complicated structures, surrounded by groups of soldiers and imposing turrets towering above the surroundings.

The structures seemed to be a collection of smaller modules, similar to the shipping containers builders used as lodging during larger construction projects. But in comparison to what civilian workers used, the containers present here looked much more advanced and durable. The walls were made up of hardened steel and covered in different clamps, doors, and openings. All of which no doubt helped in attaching the smaller pods together to create the bigger buildings.

When they neared the eastern entrance, they were approached by a pair of guards, but as they got closer, the soldiers suddenly stopped. Noticing the swords at the man’s waist and the woman’s back, they saluted politely, letting Edward and Layla pass without any issues.

Once inside, the duo split up. Layla, as promised, went straight to her cabin, and Edward, having nothing better to do, decided on a short respite as well. Walking between the buildings he was constantly met with soldiers saluting to him or nodding respectfully. Enough time has passed, that most people here recognized his face. And those that didn’t, at least knew what the sword at the young man’s waist signified.

Finally Ed reached a small white living pod. Grabbing the handle, he waited for a second for the system to recognize his handprint, before pulling the door open.

Despite its modest size, the room was rather luxurious. The bed was covered in clean white sheets, and modern wooden furniture was also to a standard of a five-star hotel. You could live comfortably, even in war it seemed. Provided you were important enough to deserve such treatment of course.

The young warrior approached a nearby table, setting up the kettle. He waited for the water to boil, scratching his cheek, covered in some patches of a short beard.

Pouring the hot water over the bag of black tea, he grabbed the cup and sat down on a comfortable chair.

After the beverage cooled down a bit, he took a sip and grabbed his phone lying on the desk. Seeing his reflection in the black screen, made him stop for a moment. The man looking back had longer hair than he remembered. The signs of a growing beard were also clearly visible now. And something about the eyes… Something was different about the eyes, but Edward couldn’t put a finger on what exactly. Overall the young warrior started to resemble his father a bit more.

Unsure of how to feel about that, he turned on the screen, and put some classical music on.

‘I wonder how Kat would feel about this new look. I bet she’d have a fun reaction…’

“Ehh…” Edward exhaled loudly, falling deeper into the comfy seat. He used to enjoy fighting… He still did to be honest, but playing the hero wasn’t exactly what he imagined. More than once, he passed unmoving bodies of soldiers while patrolling the fields. Not any that he knew personally, for now… but they were still people fighting by his side. The reason he wasn’t spending much time with other people wasn’t only due to the difference in rank. He was also simply afraid of getting too attached, and seeing a friendly face lying on the ground one of these days.

Ed calmly finished his drink, letting his thoughts wander a bit. After putting the empty cup on the table, he messaged Marcus. An evening training became pretty much a routine for them at this point. Layla usually joined as well, but when Edward started winning some of the duels, she seemingly became less enthusiastic about their fights…

He sat calmly, enjoying the music, until his phone finally buzzed. Edward tilted the phone looking at the notification.

[30 minutes? The usual spot?]

The young man quickly confirmed the meeting, and stood up with an excited expression.

After a moment his smile faded, and he sat back down. There was still thirty minutes left after all, and their training grounds were barely five away.

***

Half an hour later, Edward stood in the middle of a small empty field. He held a blunt carbon fiber sword in his right hand, and wore a medium shield on the left. His brass hair waved slightly in the wind, now that it was long enough to reach his ears, it rarely stayed calm.

The warrior was about to bring out his phone, when finally a familiar figure walked over the hill.

“Hey man! I see you’re all set and ready to go?”