Over the weeks that followed, I quickly and painfully learned that my aunt was not joking about taking it easy on me that first day. I also came to greatly appreciate my Valkyrie-inherent resistance to sharp and pointy objects and my demonic regeneration. I needed both of those passive abilities just to survive the training that the elder Valkyrie was putting me through every day.

Okay, maybe it wasn’t that bad. I mean, she wasn’t actively trying to kill me or anything, at least, I didn’t think she was. She was just pushing me as hard as she possibly could, especially during the training sessions with Penny, so I would learn, and danger was an excellent motivator. Honestly, I swear that ninety percent of Valkyrie training methods must have at least a small element of danger to them.

Even with the weapons that Aunt Lin was teaching me to use through basic drills and target practice, training would not be a walk in the park, not once I started getting proficient with them anyway. Because to my aunt, the basics were just that, basic. They were only the very beginning of my training.

Once I was comfortable enough using a weapon in the drills, my stance was correct, and I seemed proficient enough for her liking, the training with that weapon would become just like what we were doing with my andivapn, and she would come at me mercilessly in what only vaguely counts as sparring matches. My aunt wanted me to be comfortable using these weapons, not just in practice, but in actual combat conditions as well. She was big on real-world training for things like combat, magic, and the other skills that a Valkyrie might need to know.

So, over the first month of my training, Aunt Lin made sure to push me especially hard. Not just me, either, but Penny too. Whenever we sparred with our andivapn, she was relentless as she attempted to force us to improve our reaction times, teamwork, and combat tactics.

As a result, both Angela and Demona were swiftly perfecting their control over their weapon form. We hadn’t discovered any new tricks or abilities, but their mastery of what they could do was growing every day. We still only had guesses about the purpose of those pale flames Angela could summon, but she could now cover the entire chain and weapon in those flames much quicker, and Demona’s control over the chain length had shown similar improvements.

In regard to my own progress during training, well, the results were mixed, and my best improvement in combat was definitely with Penny. When my aunt said that Valkyries learn to use our andivapn best through instinct and physical experience, she wasn’t kidding. I was making great strides toward using Penny somewhat competently in a fight; it just seemed to come naturally to me. I seemed to be gradually improving with each session, as Penny and I strengthened our bond and Aunt Lin continued to mercilessly attack us during our sparring sessions.

Some of the other weapons were easier to get used to than others, with the guns being the easiest of those. I chalked that up to me being a modern girl, already having some idea of how they worked, and the fact that aim was the most important thing involved in using them. Sure, holding them properly and stance counted for a lot, but hand-eye coordination helps a great deal too, especially when shooting on the move. And I was learning that, like all Valkyries, I had excellent reflexes and hand-eye coordination. Those traits were steadily strengthening the more we trained, too.

I was somewhat less successful with the bow and melee weapons. I wasn’t terrible, and my progress with them was understandably less natural than with Penny, but even my aunt said I was making slow progress on those weapons, and that was something she had anticipated. Unfortunately, it would probably still be a few more months before I was trained and familiar enough with them and had the body memory to use them reliably in combat like a proper warrior.

All the magic-related stuff was going much better, at least from my perspective, but that just might be because learning magic was still cool as fuck. Even if my aunt insisted that magic, especially Divine magic, could be dangerous and that I should always know exactly what I want to do with my magic when I use it. Every lesson, she drilled into my head that spells have to be thoroughly thought out and/or planned; there is no waving a wand, speaking a magic word, and then instantly being done when using real magic. This is especially true with Divine magic since there is always the potential to radically change, or even unmake, the person or thing you’re casting the spell on if the results and the process aren’t firmly envisioned in your mind and you screw up.

As fun as being able to use magic was, I was taking my aunt’s warnings very seriously. Especially after she demonstrated, on what started out as a simple stone, just how badly things could turn out if I didn’t have a clear idea in my mind, wasn’t focused, or let my attention slip while using my magic. Seriously, lesson learned, and I was going to have nightmares about that demonstration for weeks.

Once the need to be extremely careful was firmly cemented in my mind, even Aunt Lin admitted that I had some talent where magic was involved. I might not be a magical powerhouse, and it would likely be a while before Aunt Lin felt safe moving beyond the basics and onto things like healing and creation magic, but she did note that I was making progress and showed some positive qualities. Just like with my experiments with the Mist on the Holy Plane, I was proving that I had a good imagination, the ability to clearly envision what I want in my mind, and what I lacked in concentration, I made up for with sheer stubbornness and determination.

I was even able to find my Elemental aura and was getting to the point where I could reliably spread it to cover what I was wearing and holding. That part of my training was far from over, though. Aunt Lin said I needed to work on my staying power with the technique, and she was pushing me to get to the point where I would do it reflexively if I should need to teleport for some reason. I had a feeling that was going to take a while, and I was warned that we wouldn’t be starting the more advanced lessons until I proved myself capable.

Thankfully, it wasn’t all training. That only lasted from sunrise to sunset, except on the days when we were doing survival training. On those days, it seemed like training was a twenty-four-hour-a-day thing. Usually, though, I was able to end the day with a little bit of rest and relaxation and some time with Angela and Demona.

That was also my usual time to call home to check in, and then get some texting in with Alice as I lay in bed. I missed all of them, and even though the training was necessary, it hurt knowing that I likely wouldn’t see them again for months. I just kept telling myself that if I wanted to see them that badly, I would have to double down and work harder so I could go home soon.

Vancouver
June 27th, 9:37 pm

Reimus determined that he was not having a good day as he glowered at the cooling cup of coffee sitting on the table before him and shifted uncomfortably. He was seated in one of the private booths in the furthest and darkest corner of the Safe Harbour Café, and yet his discomfort didn’t come from the poorly padded bench, the foul-tasting cup of coffee in front of him, the humans frequenting the place, or even waiting what seemed an eternity for the bitch he was waiting for to show. No, it was the human form he was currently wearing that made him uncomfortable.

He felt weak, inferior. As if just wearing the form of one of those useless meat sacks made him something lesser. Ultir was probably having a good laugh at his expense right now. Why did she have to insist that they meet here, of all places?

It was a rhetorical question. In truth, he knew exactly why Ultir chose this place for their meeting. It was all, even the name of the establishment itself, meant to infuriate him, to make him feel weak, to put him in his place and tell him, “I don’t need you, but I’m willing to entertain your request if there’s something in it for me.”

Normally, these sorts of meetings would be held in the Infernal Plane, and a place that would afford more privacy than this. One only resorted to meeting in public places like this on the Material Plane when one was desperate enough to employ its residents. What type of self-respecting Demoness consorts with scum from the Material Plane anyway?

This one, apparently. For some unfathomable reason, Ultir liked the Material Plane and its inhabitants, and she was wallowing here in this city instead of trying to release Lord Baerahn from the Seal that had been placed on him, as she should have been doing. Still, her contacts on this plane would prove useful, even if he couldn’t manipulate her into striking at Baerahn’s mixed-breed grandchild and acquiring her blood.

All his own efforts had proved fruitless so far, and the mere thought of that brat made him seethe. She kept slipping through his fingers or outright eluding him. First, there was that house with those powerful Divine wards to keep Demons from getting to her. Between that, and the PDA and the traitorous Imp constantly watching out for her, he had to wait until she Manifested and was out from under those eyes to attempt to get her blood for the seal-breaking ritual. Her blood would be more potent if she was Manifested anyway.

Only she was sealed all along, and he had been wasting years. His fists clenched in frustration as he thought of all the power he had wasted invading her dreams while she was finally in reach, all to get her alone. All for her damn seal to be broken and her interfering friend to Manifest as well, delaying them long enough for the damn PDA to arrive and interfere once again! He had been so close to freeing his master that day!

Even his attempt to get the local Paranormal scum to do the work for him and take out any other people who might interfere with his plans was mostly a failure. Every name on that hit list, save Raven’s and one other, was confirmed dead. The Woodward kid had fled far enough away before disappearing entirely that he shouldn’t be a concern any longer, but there was still no progress with the girl. How hard was it to track down and get the blood of one girl? Did he have to draw the scum a map to that accursed house?! Even the few who did have the bright idea of using her name to track the girl down were stopped by the PDA before they could even reach her!

And now she had just vanished. None of his contacts in this vile city had seen or heard anything about her for months, even those who were watching her home from a distance. They couldn’t very well follow the little bitch while she was flying, and he had no way of knowing whether she was still behind the wards in that house or had fled somewhere else months ago under the cover of darkness. Oh, he could probably track her if he had some hair or blood, but that was the whole damn problem. He had nothing, and the longer he wallowed in these thoughts, the more infuriated he became.

They had already missed another opportunity to perform the seal-breaking ritual, and now they would have to wait until the next lunar eclipse in September! He was growing weary and impatient. Minor Demon or no, he was Lord Baerahn’s most fervent follower, and once Lord Baerahn returned and subdued this world, he knew that he would be justly rewarded, unlike that bitch, Ultir.

Ultir had abandoned their master almost as soon as the Seal was formed and started slumming in this cursed city. How far she had fallen. She wasn’t a minor Demon like Reimus; she was one of the master’s elite warriors, one of his commanders. She had the potential to become an Archdemon herself one day, but she was playing pretend here on the Material Plane instead.

He wouldn’t be waiting for her here in this abysmal place if he didn’t need her so badly. She had resources that he didn’t; warriors who were still either loyal to or cowed by her, criminal contacts in this city that he didn’t, but most of all, his informants had told her that she had been building up quite a large force of Paranormals lately. Paranormals who wouldn’t be stopped by the wards on that house.

Human form or no, he recognized Ultir even before she approached the booth. He could feel her aura, and she had barely changed since their Master was sealed eighteen years ago, going by this plane’s local measurement of time. Still, even stagnating as she was, she was far more powerful than Reimus. As angry as he was with her and the situation, he knew that he would need to play this carefully.

He waited until she sat across from him and the human serving girl had taken her order and left again before he opened with, “Thank you for taking time out of your schedule, Commander Ultir. I heard that you’ve been busy of late.”

The compliment was slight, but he ensured that his tone was properly respectful. There was a reason that so many of her troops had stuck with her for all this time after all. She was crazy and bloodthirsty, even for a Demon, and had a reputation for gutting those beneath her who didn’t show the proper respect. If he didn’t need her and her resources, he would have gladly just left her to rot away on this plane.

Ultir grinned at that and replied, “Yes, I have. With the recent downfall of the Chimera Syndicate, there are plenty of opportunities for someone with enough ambition and manpower to gather money and power. The black market and Paranormal trafficking opportunities alone are worth investing in. Is that why you pleaded for this meeting, Reimus? Do you want a piece of the pie?”

Somehow, he managed not to outright snort in dismissal. Unlike her, he was still loyal to their master. “Lord Baerahn’s revival is my only goal,” he insisted.

Ultir did snort, apparently in derision. “You and your lackeys still aren’t letting that go? I’m not interested, Reimus. I’m building up a nice little criminal empire for myself in this city, and I’m happy with what I have. You should do the same. The last time we tried to launch an invasion on this plane, Lord Baerahn was sealed, our army was cockblocked at the point of entry, and Nick and that bitch Valkyrie he married damn near killed me as well. It took me fucking days to grow my arm back.”

“Usually, you’d want revenge for that kind of thing,” Reimus suggested, a smile curling the lips of his human visage upward.

There was a brief flash of anger in the eyes that were now trying to bore a hole in him, as if she was unsure whether she should gut him here and now for the taunt or make his death slow later. It gave Reimus a reason to be very glad that they were currently in human guise and a public place. She quietly glowered at him across the table until after the serving girl dropped off her coffee and a sweet-looking pastry of some sort.

Finally, after taking a slow sip of her hot drink, Ultir muttered. “They’re dead, and their souls are out of our reach. You can’t get vengeance upon the dead, little servant.”

There were embers of anger in her eyes, but he couldn’t blame her for that. In fact, he was counting on her being angry, just as long as it was not at him. Those two and their teammates hadn’t just sealed their master; the Valkyrie had bested Ultir in combat, humiliated her in front of her warriors, and that was something that Ultir would never let die until she got vengeance.

The corners of his mouth curled up further as Reimus offered, “And what if I told you that they had a kid? A mixed-breed girl with black hair and wings. And the Imp who betrayed us, Lydaethilia, has been raising her, right here in this very city, and keeping her hidden from us for all this time.”

“Well, that explains the recent rumors of a Demon-contracted hit list in this city. What is it that you want for this information?” Her voice was carefully controlled, but those embers in her eyes had now intensified into a roaring blaze. Ah, there was that insanity and bloodlust he had heard so much about.

Reimus shrugged, trying to play it casual. He had her right where he wanted her; there was no need to overplay his hand. “I just want some of her blood to break Lord Baerahn’s seal. Her name is Raven Demarco, and she has black hair and wings. I can give you the location of her home, but I can’t be certain whether she is still in the city or not. She hasn’t been spotted by any of my people for quite some time. However, the Imp has been spotted coming and going, as have two Paranormal girls.”

“Not very helpful, are you, Reimus? I see that not much has changed in that regard,” the Demoness hissed with a roll of her eyes.

“Without me, you wouldn’t even know about the girl,” he pointed out. “And I’m sure you have some way of tracking her down with your criminal contacts in the city.”

“Perhaps,” she agreed after looking pensive for a moment. “If nothing else works out, I have a man inside the local PDA office, and I can get him to look her up and dig for details.”

“I’ll warn you now, Commander, the house is protected by powerful Divine wards meant to keep our kind out,” Reimus cautioned.

“So? I have plenty of non-Demon muscle to handle the job. Besides, if the girl isn’t there, I don’t see the point of attacking the place, unless… Does she care about the people there?” As the Demoness asked that question, her own lips began to curl up into a smile as well.

Honestly, Reimus had no idea whether the girl cared for the others, but he assumed that she did since they were living with her. Humans and their Paranormal brethren on this plane were funny that way. He wanted to spur the Demoness to do what she was best at, though, so he smiled viciously and said, “Yes, she does, and even if she didn’t, they would have to die. The Imp is a traitor, and the other two interfered when I had a chance to deal with the girl before. Make sure they suffer before you finish them all off, and don’t forget to get me some of the girl’s blood.”

“They will suffer such exquisite agony, and I will destroy everything that girl holds dear before I allow her to join her parents. I will find out where she’s hiding, and once I do, I’ll start planning my attack.” The Demoness was smiling on the outside, but her eyes had now turned cold.

Ultir was a lot of things: bloodthirsty, insane, vicious, selfish, and many other common Demon traits, but she was not in any way lazy. Now that she had a path to vengeance, she would not be stopped until the girl had paid for her humiliation at her mother’s hands. She would do as she had vowed, and when she was finished, Reimus would have her blood, and their master would finally be freed.

It was with a very satisfied smile that Reimus shared all the details that he had managed to gather on the girl, her friends, and her home. This meeting had been successful, enough so that wearing a human form and drinking shitty coffee in a shitty little café, in a shitty city, on a shitty world didn’t bother him quite as much as it had earlier. After all, when he freed Lord Baerahn, this sad little world would fall to his might, and this time, there would be nobody who could stop him. Perhaps it was a good day after all.