Ragnarok Unwound: The Awakening

Chapter 16

"Do you honestly believe I wanted you here? Do you honestly believe that you are that special?"

Val's words echoed in Stephan's head, making him deaf to the world. His eyes fell blindly over the blurring motion of the men in the tent and their words were nothing more than distant muffles. These men were supposed to be teammates

Val, what happened to you? Why are you doing this?

Stephan found himself hating his situation. He hated that he had been ripped away from his normal life. He hated that his life was now in danger every moment. But what he hated most of all was that he was losing his best friend. Val was not the same person she was before they arrived at the Academy. Even after they had been attacked by the dragon in the gym, she seemed normal. But as soon as they passed the threshold of the school, as soon as they met Freya, she changed.

You used to be different. You were incredibly narcissistic, but you were human.

Stephan noticed the change almost immediately. She had withdrawn herself from him and become rather violent, all in the first day. When Keir instructed her to assist with training she became rather proud and carried an air of superiority about her. She started sneaking away from the school, which made him rather uncomfortable due to rumors of her being a spy for Loki. And the most painful change was the fact that she had started lying to him and keeping secrets.

No, I guess that wasn't a change. She's always lied to me, she's always hidden things from me. Maybe she's always been like this. Maybe she only pretended to care about me to seem human.

The thought was a cruel punch in the stomach for Stephan.

"Hey man, are you okay?" Stephan jumped at the voice.

Standing in front of him were two young men dressed in tunics similar to the ones that the Academy gave. The one on the left was rather bulky with mischevious blue eyes and odd rainbow hair, which at this point Stephan wouldn't be surprised if it was real. Stephan noticed the odd hammer necklace he wore and the strange symbol on his tunic. It was the same as the one that was stitched onto all of Val's clothing. The Valknut?

The one on the left was rather scrawny but the taller of the two. His unkempt brown hair fell just above his green eyes, which shifted between his companion and Stephan nervously. Stephan noticed how awkward and out of place the boy seemed. He twitched slightly and Stephan immediately noted that he really didn't seem like the rest of the men there. Val would rip him apart.

"Um, why are you staring at us like that?" The scrawny boy questioned, fidgeting slightly. His companion laughed haughtly and slapped him on the back, causing the scrawny boy to stumble forward.

"How can he not stare, when someone who looks as good as me is standing in front of him?" His powerful voice boomed. The scrawny boy rolled his eyes and Stephan cocked a brow at the two.

"Who are you?" Stephan finally spoke up, acknowledging the two who had been shuffling about the tent for what seemed no more than twenty minutes.

"The name's Rollo Verr, Nikolas Rollo Verr." The bulky one spoke up, extending out his hand with a cocky smirk. Stephan took it as the scrawny boy scowled, obviously not amused by his companion's attitude. After watching Stephan's arm almost get ripped from the socket in an aggressive handshake, he introduced himself.

"My name's Connor Nordis, please don't touch me." He worked out quickly, placing his arms behind his back. Stephan half expected Connor to say that he was just joking. A moment of stiff silence passed and he quickly realized that it was best just to move on.