𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐢𝐤𝐚𝐞𝐥𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐟. 𝐈𝐧 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐭, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐨𝐰𝐧.
Humans reveled in the idea of immortality, but those who possessed it were...
TW: Mental health discussions, reference to self-harm
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982 - Vinland (present-day America)
The air was crisp as Elijah instructed Astra to raise the large stick in her hand and bring it down sharply. He had agreed to train her weeks ago, but only if she agreed to meet in secret. She tried not to show how much that request had hurt. She understood after all. No one wanted to be seen speaking with her or her mother. Her mother would tell her they were just jealous of her powers. Astra knew better. The looks they would give her were not ones of envy, but ones of fear.
Which is precisely why she wished to train. Her mother refused to teach her offensive magic as she did not want to give anyone reason to fear their family. Astra knew her mother was right, but as she lay on the ground, defenseless, as the village boys threw rocks at her, Astra promised herself that she would never let that happen again. It was not the first time, but it would be the last.
So she showed up every day as the sun began to peak over the horizon for her training sessions with Elijah. He was still keeping his distance from her, not sure if he could trust her. Astra could feel the distrust radiating off of him, yet she did not allow her magic to reach out to him. She would not betray him like that. And every day they met, the distrust lessened a little bit more. She even began to hope that one day he would consider her his friend.
But for now, they mainly trained in silence. Elijah seemed to fear making any unnecessary noise that could draw his father's attention to his secret. Any noise in the woods would pull his focus from his training. The sharp sound of a branch snapping, the rustling of leaves, and he would spend minutes scanning the forest line as if Mikael could appear out of thin air.
And yet, he always walked her home. Astra smiled the first time he did it. He didn't ask or even announce his intentions, rather when they had finished their training and she set off for her home, he trailed after her, staff in hand. They both knew he wouldn't stand a chance if the group of village boys decided to attack again, and still, it made her feel safer having him there.
On one particularly cold day, they were almost to her home when they heard footsteps on the forest ground. Astra's family lived as far on the outskirts of the village as one could while still being considered living in the village so it was not typical to encounter anyone on their trek home. Elijah listened carefully but he couldn't make sense of the steps. It didn't sound as if they were coming toward them but they were moving quickly.
He watched as Astra's eyebrows furrowed, a look of concern passing over her face before she took off towards the noise. Elijah allowed himself a second to groan before taking off after her, hoping he would not need to use the staff in his hand.
Astra stopped so abruptly in front of him that Elijah collided with her back, almost knocking her over in the process. He reached out his hands to steady her but she paid him no mind, her focus was on the woman frantically moving around the forest.
