The Last Valkyrie

The Ugly Truth

Cassian is flying us somewhere. Warm and peaceful he said. With my recent experience, I am not too fond of the height so I cling to him, maybe a tiny bit tighter than I should. I am not falling again today. Another fall is a certain death since I doubt the fates would bother saving me twice in a day.

We arrive at the peak of a mountain. I shiver with cold and general discomfort. Parts of the city look destroyed and my heart tightens from the sight. It is so quiet. Too quiet. I stare as if I were hypnotized, my eyes hazy, not managing to focus on anything, but at the same time unable to stop staring.

"Hey," Cassian interrupts my thoughts. "Let's get inside. Others are here already."

I am a bit scared of who I have to meet. My close encounters with fae are mostly bad. More terrible than bad. But last year has shown me Fae are willing to fight for humans, willing to fight for freedom. With a lump in my throat, I follow Cassian inside. I notice several Fae. Two males are Illyrian like Cassian and three females High Fae. To say I was uncomfortable is putting it mildly. 

"Hello," said one of the Illyrians. "My name is Rhysand, the High Lord of the Night Court. I'm in great debt to you for helping us defend Velaris. Thank you so much."
"I've seen the Hight Lord of the Night Court. You're not him." I say with a frown.
"He really is," Cassian reassures me.
"Since when is the High Lord Illyrian?" I burst out the question.
"Half-Illyrian," the supposed High Lord replies.

I try to still my mind and think first. Last I saw, the High Lord he certainly didn't look Illyrian. It was from afar but a pair of huge wings really can distinguish males. I am asking all the wrong questions. My defensive behaviour won't do me any favours. I breathe and still myself as Meg thought me.

"Do you have a map?" I ask, wanting to at least orient myself a bit. I can't read, but I roughly know where I was stationed last.
The third Illyrian leaves the room and shortly returns with a map which he spreads on the table. It looks a bit different than what I'm used to but it'll do.
"Can you show me where Velaris is?", I ask.
The Illyrian shows me a city marked with a star. We are far from my last known location.

"I am sorry, but I am very confused. Last I remember, I was here," I say as I gesture the approximate location on the map. "I was in the Valkyrie camp. We were preparing for another battle when we were ambushed and had to defend ourselves. That's the last memory I have."

They all stare at me quietly, the Illyrians exchanging glances between themselves. 

"Do you know where they are now? How did I get here?" I ask, wanting to finally get an answer to at least one important question. I must have gotten hurt during that last fight and now I have holes in my memory.

"When you asked about your friend, Meg... You were referring to the Valkyrie commander?", asked Cassian slowly.
"Yes! So you do know her!", I reply with a glint of hope.
"I did."

He goes quiet for the moment and then adds with a frown, "She is dead. All of the Valkyries are dead"

No... They can't be. They were a fearless, brilliant, unstoppable force. They were everything I had, took me in when I had no one and nowhere to go. They gave me freedom, friendship and hope. For the first time, I felt like my life isn't worthless.
Cassian crouches next to me, although I don't even remember when I fell. He quietly tells me in short how they died. How they sacrificed themselves. I am barely registering his words. I remember that I was there, preparing for that battle. We were ambushed and...

My memories start coming back, bit by bit.

I remember an arrow going for one of the Valkyrie. I jumped in front of it and it hit me right in the middle of my body. There is no surviving this. Valkyrie continued to fight and managed to end the ambush mostly unscathed. Meg kneels next to me, holds me, with tears in her eyes and a smile on her face. I smile back at her.

"You're not dying today", she says. "You deserved better than this life has given you. You will be granted another chance. In the new life, be everything you wanted to be. Learn what you love. Continue being your brilliant self-sacrificing self, because you have such a remarkable soul."
"Sorry to burst your bubble, Meg, but humans can't heal from these wounds. Thank you for showing me what a friend is. Thank you for saving me. I don't mind dying among the Valkyrie," I say, still with a smile, but tears trailing down my face. I'm dying, but I'm happy.
"No bubbles to burst. Be brave." Meg smiles at me and then I see a bright light glowing on her palm. In all of Valkyrie palms. She hovers her hand above me and I feel blissful as I pass into the other world.

I died. I truly died. I mean... I must have died? The arrow they shot me must have pierced my lungs, probably damaged a lot of other parts of me. These arrows are made to hurt Fae, they will surely mess up a human. The light I felt from the Valkyrie reminds me of what happened today.

"I am supposed to be dead," I say rather dramatically.

I search their faces for some sort of truth or anything but they seem rather confused by me. Maybe even more confused than me.

"If I died, how am I here?"
"That's the biggest riddle," says a dark-haired female.
"That's not all," Rhysand adds. "You're talking about Valkyrie and being with them. They died in the War. 500 years ago."

Staying on the floor seems like a good option as I feel my mind spin. Too many puzzles to put together. If Valkyre died 500 years ago... The War must be done? How am I still alive? How did I get here?

"Did we win, at least?" I ask, scared of the answer.
"Yes. People were freed. No more slavery of any kind."

That makes me smile. Grin even. No more slaves. I whisper it like a prayer. At the same time, I feel horrible loss and grief for my Valkyrie friends. I am torn from all the high-intensity feelings going through me. I feel as if that light will blast through me again.

"I need a few minutes to process all of this," I also need to blow my nose, but I don't see myself voicing that pathetic need in front of the High Fae. Royal Fae even.
"Let me show you to the bathing room," one of the females says.

She leads me through a corridor, smiles at me reassuringly and gives me some privacy. As I look myself in the mirror I'm shocked at what I see. My face is dirty and bloody. The blood is not mine. I don't have a scratch on me. I check the wound from the arrow that was supposed to kill me. Nothing there, not even a scar. All the other scars from before are there. They bruise my skin and remind me what I've been through. Everything feels strange as if something is different about me. My eyes are a bit lighter. They were hazel, now they are more light, like honey. My lips have a bit of a different curve and they are plumper. My cheekbones are higher. All of these changes are minor and subtle. I look the same and somehow completely different. Also, I have a weird feeling inside of me. Like a turmoil. A storm to be unleashed.

I shake my head. None of this matters at the moment. What the fuck is happening? I wash my hands and face while making a quick recap in my head. So I died. 500 years ago. Super normal. Valkyrie died too. And then I am awoken in a ball of light. In the middle of another war. In the middle of the city, I know nothing about. I ponder a bit more. The lights shining in Valkyrie palms. That must be something that saved me. But why save me 5 centuries later? None of this makes sense. Where was I all this time? What. The. Fuck.

I return to the room. They quiet down their discussion as I enter.

"Sorry to interrupt. But I have an idea. Cassian, you were the one who found me. Please, tell me more about it?" I plead.
"Yes, this is our current topic as well. I don't know when exactly you appeared in the sky but it was hard not to notice the blazing light that was shining from you. Or through you? You were bright like a star and then you... released that light. That release wasn't random, you directed it at the aggressor and shattered them."
"You're saying the light killed them?", I ask baffled.
"Yes. It was aimed directly at them. Nobody else got hurt, just them. And then as you started falling I hurried to catch you."
"Oh... Thanks. Good catch." I pause for a moment and then gather some courage to ask. "Can you take me there? Where you caught me?"
"I was about to propose the same", said Rhysand. "Let's go there."