The Valkyrie's Hunt - COMPLETE

Chapter 2. The Siren

A pale hand flowed into view, framed against the midnight blue of the watcher's dress, and beckoned to the Valkyrie, before the watcher melted into the shadows, hidden by the watery lights. There was a crackle in the air and her runes were humming, here was the reason for the visit to the club. The dancers parted around her without noticing and Luci felt as though she were coming up for air as she took the steps away from the press of life and into the depths of the club.

Away from the dancefloor were booths containing two, three or four people at a time, cocooned away from the noise and deeply involved in each other. The further from the front she got, the quieter and more still the atmosphere became and, somehow, it became cooler too.

Luci was getting the feeling that she'd wandered into the domain of another Mythic.

Good, she thought, friend or foe, this was the right way to go.

An archway marked the edge of the booths and beyond seemed so dark Luci could not see into it. With a shrug, she stepped through.

The darkness was warm, tangible, and complete. A laugh rippled around her.

"I know you can make light, Valkyrie." A voice said.

"Certainly." Replied Luci, noting that she'd been recognised. "But that would be rude, in someone else's home, would it not, Siren?"

Another laugh and the air brightened with a luminescence which did not rightly belong on land and yet, here it was. The walls reached back, rising high in a cavernous space, glistening. Dozens of eyes shone from the crevasses and ledges surrounding them, intent on the newcomer who realised the floor around her dropped away sharply, she was stood on a small platform over a deep indoor pool. Luci had no doubt that the water in it was salt and that it reached down, underground, into a network of rivers and lakes. The watcher was draped over a rock, feet submerged in the water. At first glance she looked human, but from just the right angle the shadows seen sideways shimmered in the shape of a scaled fish tail, and her eyes held the depths of the ocean. Her long hair mostly behaved itself, but fronds floated around her, drifting as though in unseen currents. The nature of what they each were, despite the density of manifestation in human form, always gave clues as to their true nature. Clues which could be ignored by those not expecting it, but were usually evident enough to other Mythicals.

"Your wings are glorious," the siren said,"especially when you feed the Power with pleasure. I did not think that was the preferred choice of your kind."

The statement was a question, and while hospitality rules meant that Luci had certain protections and was not strictly obliged to give any information at all, she had turned up unannounced and eaten her fill without greeting the hosts first. The siren was also correct, and right to be wary, a bloodthirsty Valkyrie was not an easy guest to host.

"Your club is a marvellous place, and I was delighted to have the opportunity to indulge in my preferred source. Had I realised a magnificent mythical such as yourself was the proprietor I would have sought out your presence first, however. No disrespect was intended,"

"And none taken," the siren replied, reassured if still curious, and with ego somewhat eased by the flattery, "And you are welcome to stay with us as a guest during your visit to Midgard."

"I would be honoured. Though I fear my stay in your gracious presence shall not be as long as I would choose, I am on some pressing business and, as you are aware, have limited resources with which to fulfill my duty. But it would please me very much to get to know your lovely self better."

A smile spread across Luci's face, and she let the warmth intended by the statement shine through her eyes. The siren responded in kind, being a creature of pleasure as much as a succubus is, and the air between them crackled with desire. Luci felt herself grow warm, and wet, again, as though just that very specific part of herself had been dipped in the siren's pool.

The siren dove forward in the pool and came up again at the platform Luci was stood upon. The hush of her court was palpable in the air as they hung on every drop that rolled from her ivory skin.

"You may call me Ella." Ella licked her lips slowly as though she could already taste Luci there. "Now, tell me your business, perhaps I can help."

"I'm known as Luci." Luci replied, sliding down onto the platform as her knees decided that standing was much harder work than usual. "And there has been a thief in Valhalla." Her hand went to her throat, almost without thought.

"My sisters and I were bathing, with our armour safely kept in our hall. And I know this is a tale often told, but when we returned our shields were stolen. Every last one. No clothes had been taken, no other treasures, nothing of value to anyone else, only our shields. We tracked the thief to the world tree and Ratatosk, under the point of our spears, told us he had seen someone with a sack large enough for our shields travel the world tree to Midgard, to here. Now what is a shield maiden with no shield? It is my passport between the worlds, my defence against the enemy in battle, my bond to Woden who saved me when I had fallen the furthest..."

Luci trailed off, lost in the growing sense of despair.

"What are we without our shields? Someone knew what they were taking and they left us defenceless. But we are not without weapons, not without teeth. And, as you have seen, among my sisters-in-arms I can feed the Power and stay longer without stirring up trouble, so I have less need of defences in this task than they would, but sending me here has cost us dearly already... So, this is my business. I am here to retrieve our shields, and to make the one who stole them pay."

Ella studied Luci carefully and then lifted her chin to bare her throat. Down it ran a thin, smooth scar.

"A long time ago a thief stole my voice." She said, simply. "It was one of your kind who helped me get it back, and so I will help you as best I can. You may stay here as long as you need, enjoy the pleasure of my dancefloor, and, I hope, join me in my bed before too long..."

The invitation was genuine, and Luci was glad she was already sitting down, but as tempting as the siren was Luci knew her bed was underwater and any pleasure found there would likely be the valkyrie's last.