Valkyria (15 page)

There were a thousand questions
spiraling around her as she stared at the dank stone walls of the
cell.

Einar stirred, his foot sliding closer
to his body as he bent his knee. He moved a hand to his head,
shaking it as he opened his eyes.

“
Einar! You’re
awake!”

Haze leapt up and rushed over to him;
the man who had saved her life twice, the only person in the world
that she had left. She threw her arms around him and kissed him on
the cheek.

“
I thought I might lose you
too. I could not bear to lose someone else today.”

He was blinking fast, as if trying to
get an idea of where he was. He glanced up at Haze and she could
feel a weight lifted as he stared at her. But she could also see
the pain in his eyes.

“
Haze. I’m so
sorry.”

She felt his arms wrap around her as he
pulled her close.

“
I am so sorry,
Haze.”

She had been wrong; she still had tears
to cry, and they began to pour out. They sat there, on the cold
floor, crying into each other’s shoulders for what seemed like an
eternity; a welcome one as far as Haze was concerned.

Unfortunately, the moment was shattered
when the sound of footsteps began to approach. Haze lifted herself
up from Einar, who turned toward the gate of the cell. An
Inquisition prison guard, his black and purple uniform neatly
pressed, walked up to the cell.

“
Good, you are awake,” he
said as he began to unlock the gate. “We have been waiting for you
to open your pitiful eyes.”

The guard stepped in, grabbing Einar by
the collar and forcing him to his feet.

“
Leave him alone,” shouted
Haze, but the prisoner just pushed her to the ground. She watched
as Einar was dragged out of the cell, and the gate was locked
again.

“
Where are you taking
him?”

“
We just have some
questions for him, that’s all.”

The guard laughed, sounding like a
hyena, before dragging Einar down the corridor. Haze could just
hear the squeaking of an old door opening and closing before the
corridor fell silent again, and she was alone in the
cell.

The silence cut through her, forcing
open her loneliness, allowing her pain to consume her. But the
silence did not last, although Haze soon wished it did.

Screams began to echo through the
corridor and prison cells; screams of agony. They were from Einar,
and she instantly knew what they were doing to him. The hatred for
the Inquisition began to build up inside of her again, but concern
for Einar overshadowed it.

*~*~*

24

NATE

Three days had passed since Irving had
shown the letter from the Peak Lords to Charles and Nate, and
Charles still had not left their room. The Seadawn’s modifications
were nearly complete, so Nate decided it was time to confront
Charles.

He walked down the corridors from the
Valkyria’s hangar bay, dodging past the crew. Every now and then
steam would escape from the pipes that ran along the walls near the
ceiling, helping to keep the Valkyria warm inside. He still had not
worked out whether the escaping steam was deliberate or
not.

As he walked along, he noticed there a
quiet barking that echoed through the corridor. Someone has a dog
onboard? The idea of having live animals on an airship seemed so
out of place. Surely the dog just gets in the way.

He reached the room that he and Charles
had been given, and turned the valve handle to open the door.
Inside was as messy at it had been during their argument,
blueprints scattered around the room and various different items of
clothing strewn across the floor. However, Charles was not
there.

“
Now where in Rhythlan did
you go?”

Nate scratched his head before turning
around, very nearly bumping straight into Anastasia, who was
standing in the doorway. At her feet was a small white dog, its fur
thick but well groomed, and its collar holding a piece of
paper.

“
What are you doing,” asked
Nate. “I nearly walked right into you!”

Anastasia simply glared at him, her
eyes appearing not to blink. She knelt down, pulling her white
skirt over her legs as she took the piece of paper from the dog’s
collar. Nate watched, unable to take his eyes away from her, her
leather corset and white shirt enticing his gaze.

“
Ruby brought this from
Irving. It says that I am to tell you to meet with both him and
Charles on the bridge.”

She handed him the paper, and turned to
leave the room. After taking two steps forward, and the dog
following her, she stopped and turned her head back towards
Nate.

“
Are you
coming?”

Nate was about to reply, but his words
seemed to disappear by they reached his mouth. Instead, he stumbled
forward and followed her out of the room.

Ruby constantly yapped, the sound
grating on Nate’s ears as he walked a few steps behind Anastasia.
Every crew member they passed stepped aside and gave her a salute.
Nate had never seen such respect given to anyone but the Peak Lords
before.

“
So why do you have a dog
onboard?”

Anastasia looked at him out of the
corner of her eye, almost squinting.

“
Is it a problem for
you?”

“
No, of course not,” he
said, trying to hide how annoying the dog’s constant barking was
becoming. “I was just wondering why? Doesn’t she get in the
way?”

“
Ruby is a valuable member
of this crew, unlike some other people on this ship!”

Nate jumped a little as Anastasia
raised her voice. Idiot! You are supposed to be warming her heart,
not making her angry. He bowed his head and gave an apologetic
smile.

“
I apologize for my words.
They were misplaced. It is just that I have not seen an animal
onboard an airship before.”

“
Well, now you have,” she
said as they turned and walked up the red carpeted staircase to the
bridge. “In there.”

She opened the door and turned around,
heading back down the stairs again.

“
Anastasia, wait. I did not
mean anything bad, please forgive me.”

She rolled her eyes and continued down
the stairs, turning around the corner and was gone. Well done you
idiot. You have made it even worse now.

Nate shook his head and stepped onto
the bridge, being greeted by Irving and Charles. As he looked to
Charles, his jaw dropped.

“
There you are, my boy,”
said Charles. “Does this uniform suit me?”

He stood in front of Irving, wearing
the same uniform as the Valkyria’s crew. A smile stretched across
his face as he gave Nate a salute.

“
I gave it a lot of thought
after seeing that letter, and I decided that joining the Valkyria
is the best way to protect the Three Peaks.

This way, we can use the Seadawn to
protect our home against both the Empire and
Inquisition.”

*~*~*

25

SERAN

A loud rumbling filled Seran’s ears as
the western gate to Argent rolled open. Steam poured out of the
machine’s exhausts as it pulled the two massive metal plates
apart.

He drove the steam-car through the gate
and into the city, dodging pedestrians who seemed oblivious to the
idea of vehicles driving on a road. The streets were littered with
men in fine suits and women either wearing embroidery and dresses
or short skirts and open vests.

Steam-cars and velocycles trundled
along the cobblestone streets as dogs and cats ran through the
alleyways. Armed men wearing black uniforms and caps strolled
around the city, their heads held high. Seran knew he had truly
entered the realm of the Inquisition now and needed to keep a low
profile.

He slowed the velocycle to a normal
speed, matching that of the other vehicles, and rode through the
streets getting a feel for the city. Market places were busy with
peddlers calling out their wares, whilst the outer walls were
manned by more armed guards.

It was definitely a secure city. It
would have to be in order to hold as many citizens as it did.
Apartment buildings rose into the sky, which would act as a beacon
to both the Inquisition’s enemies and the Creatures. The sheer fact
that a city such as that still stood was testament to how well
protected it was.

Eventually he found his way to the
port, where he saw boats and airships docked. Above him was a
large, ornately decorated black airship that he recognized
instantly. The Tempest. It was the flagship of the Inquisition’s
fleet. Well is that not just brilliant luck? There was an inn
nearby, aptly named The Docks. Seran parked the velocycle outside
of the white stone building and entered.

Inside, the ceiling was low with oak
beams stretching across. Small tables and chairs filled the main
room, with a fireplace one the eastern wall. Men and woman of class
sat at the tables drinking wine and whiskey. The walls were
decorated with hanging flower pots and fine art.

Seran made his way over to the counter
and ring the brass bell. A young woman came out through a curtain
with a smile on her face.

“
Welcome to the Docks. How
many I help you today?”

“
I would like a room, if
you have any available, ma’am,” said Seran.

“
Of course, we have three
available. Would you prefer a single or double room,
sir?”

“
A single would do just
fine,” said Seran. “Do you have one with a view of the docks
themselves?”

“
We do. It’s our finest
single room. It costs thirty coins per night. How long would you
like to stay?”

“
One night will be enough,”
Seran said as he placed thirty coins on the counter. The lady gave
him the key to the room and led him up the stairs on the left to
his quarters for the night.

The room was small. It had its own
fireplace, smaller than the one in the main room, and a single bed
with a white frame. A chair was placed near the window, and there
was a door leading to a bathroom next to the bed.

The bathroom itself held a toilet and
wash basin, but nothing else. However, the room was enough for
Seran, as he did not plan on staying for the entire
night.

After the moon has fully risen into the
sky, and the docks had almost completely emptied, Seran took up his
seat next to the window. In the light of the moon he scanned the
docks for a vessel. He knew he would not be able to commandeer an
airship or an air-taxi without bringing unwanted attention to
himself. He needed something smaller.

He was in luck. A fisherman had left
his rowboat tied to the docks. It was swaying back and forth in the
weak waves.

“
That will do just fine,”
he said to himself and he rose from his seat. He collected his
belongings and walked out of the room, locking the door behind him.
If he left it unlocked it would be far too obvious that he had gone
out that night and not returned.

“
It should not take too
long to row to Midland,” he said to himself as he walked out of the
inn and toward the rowboat. “Soon enough we will see what your
little secret is, we will not?”

*~*~*

26

EINAR

Darkness had infiltrated the prison
cell, a single beam of moonlight reaching through the window like a
silver arrow. Einar lay on a rusted steel shelf that was supposedly
a bed, whilst Haze leaned over him, her eyes still watery as they
constantly scanned his body.

“
Really, I'm ok,” he said
as their eyes met once again. It had been almost half a day since
the torture session had ended, and the bleeding from the whips had
finally stopped.

“
How can you
be?”

Haze's voice faltered as she spoke, her
eyes once again surveying the damage that had been done to Einar's
body.

“
It wasn't that bad,” he
said, although he knew it was a lie. He had to look strong for her;
she needed support more than he did.

Einar lifted his body, turning so that
he was seated on the bed, and wiped a lone tear from her eye. He
smiled at her as he put his hand on her chin, lifting her face so
that their eyes met yet again.

“
Trust me. I'm really
okay.”

He wiped a piece of cloth from his
shirt over his face to clean away the sweat and blood. The whips
has felt like chains when they had hit his face, cutting like rose
thorns. Haze had told him that his back was worse, and had used
other pieces of cloth damped from the dripping walls to clean the
wounds.

“
What did they want to
know?”

“
About me,” Einar replied.
“They asked me where I was from and why I was here in Esterland.
When I told them I had come to find my sister, they asked me about
her.

Then they asked me about Rin’s murder.
They wanted to know what I knew about my sister’s location and what
happened to Rin. I told them I don’t know anything, but they didn’t
believe me.