〰 Hrudra 〰
"Valrun," I whisper to my best friend, waiting for her to stir awake while Rogan petted her hair from her face. The sedative should be working to relax her muscles, but I knew that whenever she has these flashbacks, she always seemed to forget everything.
I had warned Rogan of anything that she would say, but I knew that I could never warn anyone for what they're about to witness. I just wished that Valrun could let the past go.
"Valrun. Wake up. I need to talk to you." I told her, watching her shift against Rogan and smile when he touched her head.
"Leo. Tell her to leave us..." She yawned and turned her body towards Rogan. I sighed and nodded to him turn her back to me.
"Valrun. Leo is dead." I said in a heartbroken tone causing her to snort and turn towards me with annoyance. Her purple eyes shifting in a deadly silver color making me grow tense.
"What are you even talking about? He was here with me not even an hour ago." She chuckled with the same carefree spirit I've seen her have every time we go through this. "He's right here-" Valrun pointed to Rogan looking at him with confusion. "Who are you? Where is my Leo?" Her words seemed to hit Rogan in the right places because he couldn't bring himself to look at Valrun or I.
"Leo is dead. He died protecting you-"
"Silence you fools! You do not speak the truth! Where is it I am?! Do not touch me, Raggabrash!" She screamed, pushing me away weakly as Rogan restrained her. Her words changing more and more into the old English she was raised to speak at a young age. Even now her words not as funny as I would see them in any other situation.
"You know who I am," I told her with a stern voice, the room shaking with her thunder. "You know who you are. You know who he is. You know what has happened. Do-"
"Let me go you tard!" She yells glaring at him. "I will only ever love Leo! So do not touch his woman! You will never gain anything from me you Yaldson!" She snaps at Rogan when I shook my head with an annoyed expression.
"Vahah." I snapped, her silver eyes looking at me with anger and sadness. "He died over two millenniums ago. It's time to let him go." I said, never getting easy to destroy her hopes of seeing him alive when her eyes teared up and peered down at the ring on her finger.
"He-He's alive though. He gave me this before the war tha- that we died at... Oh no! Leo-"
"It's okay, Valrun. We are here for you." I assure her with pain itching in my voice when Valrun broke down in Rogan's arms, holding him tightly for support.
It was always hard to witness your best friend reliving the same pain over and over again. If I could, I would take all this pain away and sentence myself to years and years of misery just to help her heal.
Every time we think she's getting better, there always seems to be a retract and she gets another attack. It kills me every time I witness this, hating that I am the bad guy every time but perhaps Rogan can become the good guy and help her through this long-lasting pain.
"It will be okay, Valrun," Rogan promises, watching me with almost as much pain as I felt. I took in a shaky breath before placing my hand on his shoulder. "I've got this. Go." He whispers to me, Valrun's crying making it hard for her to even hear him.
"Come find me once she's asleep," I whisper back, squeezing his shoulder before leaving them. I silently closed the cage door and spied Proximo standing in the doorway of the cells.
He was about to say something but I hushed him and gave him a soft push towards the stairway. The tea in his hands steaming and at the perfect temperature for me.
"I saw what happened." He said once we were in the kitchen as I stole the tea from him and sipped on it. "Could you tell me about her condition?" Proximo questions me while I sat down at the table and pulling my hair out of the tight braid.
"From what I know of. It is a form of post-traumatic stress." I inform him and took another sip of the peppermint tea. "She witnessed Leo dying in the hands of another man. Then she was killed by the same man. She laid dying beside the love of her life." I explain to him in a hushed tone, not wanting anyone to hear as he pulled a chair to face mine.
"That's horrible. You couldn't do anything to save him?" He asks me when I set the cup down and pulled my knees against my chest.
"No. That wasn't my mission at the time. My mission was to see whether or not Valrun was Valkyrie material. Then I was to inform the elders about my decision." I said with a hint of despair, wondering what would happen if I truly saved her beloved all those years ago.
"I thought you could turn someone into a Valkyrie? At least at that time." He asks me when I shook my head.
"No. Not at that time. The war was maybe a hundred years before and I was still gaining control over my new powers. A lot came with becoming a goddess as great as Freya and as evil as Odin." I comment with a frown. "If I could, I would have changed Leo into a Valkyrie," I admit to him.
"Why can't men be Valkyries?" He questions making me laugh out loud.
"Valkyries are just female soldiers who pass away. Men are normally called Berserkers but they are only granted immortality after fighting in one hundred battles. However, they need to have the Berserker gene within them." I explain to him and shifted in the seat.
"Was Leo a Berserker?" He says when I shrugged and glanced at him.
"I have no idea. As I said, I was still fairly young at the time and didn't know the scent and how Berserkers acted. But if I had to guess, I would say no only because Berserkers are known to be large and almost beastly. That Leo was a gentle yet vicious man. He was ready to fight for anything or anyone." I confess.
"How long has Leo been dead?" He asks almost hesitantly making me look up at him again.
"He's been dead for almost two and a half millenniums."
〰〰〰
"Hey." Rogan knocked on the door frame waking me up as I pushed off of Proximo's lap and smiled up at him. Proximo sighed, shifting so I could sit properly beside him.
"How is she? Is she doing any better?" I ask him softly, offering a cold mug of peppermint tea while he smiled thankfully at me and took the drink. He sat in the armrest beside me and ran a hand over his face.
"Still rattled up, but she seems to remember everything now. She was too tired to fight me back when I put the blankets over her." He told me when I nodded and felt Proximo's hand on my thigh.
"Good. When you decide to go to bed, I think you should take her with you." I admit shocking the men around me.
"Mate. We spoke about this." Proximo reminds me of our previous talk but I ignored him and continued staring at Rogan.
"We had a theory that you had sparked these flashbacks," I inform him, his face growing horrified while Proximo tightened his hold on my thigh. "I believe this may be fine, but in all my years. I've never seen how she was when you were in there." I admit to Rogan.
"What do you mean? You are saying I inflict this pain on my beloved dove. How could you make this good?" He asks with despair in his voice when I leaned forward and grasped his hands.
"I don't think you understand, Rogan. You've helped her far more than anything. These flashbacks... They normally last days even weeks to snap her out of it. It's restless when she is faced with one of the tragic memories, but when you were with me. She seemed to snap out of it so quickly that it shocked me." I admit to him, his eyes watching mine for the truth.
"She's right Rogan." Sevetha butted in from the stairwell, walking down the stairs with her polka dot pajamas. "Normally each of the Valkyries has to take a shift just to make sure she is well and continues to try and harm herself. But you've remarkably made her sleep and on her first night after the flashback." She says with shock and relief in her voice. "That's amazing," Sevetha adds, walking past up to go into the kitchen.
"I don't think you understand what you've done," I comment, getting his attention again. "She may have had two flashbacks because of you, but she is growing healthier with her healing process after one. That means the world to-"
"I saw Sevetha in her pajamas and you look to be tired. Who's turn is it to watch over Valrun?" Hjala asks over the stair banister with a curious expression, her exercising outfit on for her morning run.
"See? You've helped not only us but Valrun from suffering for endless days." I told him, patting his hands before standing up and yawning. "Rogan cured her. You can head out to your daily run, Hjala." I assure her causing a large grin to rise on her face.
"Nice one dude! Proud of you! Come now, darlin. We've got a fun run to go on." Hjala barks, disappearing around the edge when Rogan relaxed against the chair with what looked to be relief from our words.
"Good luck, Rogan. But my mate is tired and wishes for beauty rest." Proximo teases making me chuckle and nod in agreement.
"He's not wrong about that. See you later, Rogan." I nod, grabbing Proximo's hand and letting him pull me towards our guest room. "Oh! And when she wakes, she is going to want peanut butter." I tell him, knowing I didn't explain her small obsession before Sevetha chuckled and explained to him about it.
Proximo pulled me along like a rag doll, my body deflating at the sight of our room when he practically dragged me to the bed. I flopped down, not bother to undress before passing out.