The warmth of the morning sun streamed through the curtains of the window, its light waking Alva from her much needed slumber. Since her first day of training 6 years had passed in a blur, Her mind was constantly fixated on the constant repetitive pattern of her life, the memory of her mother and father burned like a raging fire within her heart and she was determined to honor them.
Today however was different compared to her usual schedule, Today Alva had to prove herself ready for her final exam to finally attain the title "Valkyrie" and serve her Nordic kingdom with Dignity and strength. As the young woman began unwinding her now lithe and defined body from the warm confines of her furry blankets, letting out a yawn as she does so, her eyes quickly glanced over at the clock on the wall.
"3 hours" she whispered before performing her morning routine.
she brushed her orange tresses releasing any knots that she could find and began donning her usual get up which was a white long sleeved shirt that fitted her form well, her toned legs seemed to choke within the tight brown leather pants she wore made from the skin of a mighty stag. She walked over to her spear and shield equipping it against her back, her viridian pupils emitting a fiery green glow as she prepared her mind and body for her next challenge.
Exercise was very important to Alva, the ambience of the morning was sacred to her during her routinely run. The vapor of water raising in a mist as the suns radiant warmth shines throughout the frost that reveals itself with every breath
"May the blessing of Ljos be upon upon me" Is the mantra Alva would repeat over and over in her head, the pace of her run gradually increasing with each repetition, her prayers held sacred within her heart, focusing the blaze within it.
As the morning progressed, her body now warmed up for whatever challenge her mentor had install, Alva began making her way over to the training yard where Sigrid patiently waited for her arrival, it was always natural for Alva to expect Sigrid to be earlier than her no matter the occasion, she attempted to beat her in some instances but her efforts always ended in failure. When she arrived she could see Sigrid, her icy cold aura surrounded her curvy figure menacingly letting an exaggerated gulp escape from Alva's throat.
"Sigrid! i wonder how long you've been waiting this time?" Alva said before continuing "soooo... what is it that i am supposed to be doing?"
"you will be facing off against me in a full out battle, to test whether or not you are prepared to take the calling of Astrid Stormborn and take your place as a Valkyrie" Sigrid responded, her tone giving way to a flicker of confidence in Alva's ability beneath her icy cold exterior.
Sigrid readied her battle stance, her spear and shield simmering under the morning sun, Alva with flickering speed appeared instantly behind Sigrid, her spear aimed at her mentors seemingly exposed opening. Sigrid being the more experienced Shield maiden quickly spun around, her hand swatting the spear in the opposite direction.
"very good Alva, I see you've adapted well in taking advantage of your opponents" Sigrid said
"well what can i say? taught by the best to be the best!" Alva responded as she let out an arrogant chuckle
The Mentor and student clashed against each other in a graceful dance of spear and shield, Sigrid observing and determining the extents of her students strength with each attack being calculated and precise, her students style was more brash and wild, but no less precise and ferocious. Sigrids violet eyes slightly narrowed as she began realising Alva's might was backed by the passion of honoring her parents memory, before she knew it her student had successfully broken through the defenses of her shield sending her to the ground.
"I win!" The fiery ginger haired girl announced as she firmly pulled Sigrid back to her feet, a low arrogant growl emitting from her throat as she revels in her triumph against her combat mentor.
"well done Alva, it seems your passion knows no limits" Sigrid said as she dusted away the dirt staining her leathery leggings. "We're not done yet"
"huh! but i beat yo-"
Alva's green eyes quickly focused on the sound of movement approaching fast behind her, her legs coiled like springs as she released the energy within them sending her body high into the air only to be met with blunt force knocking her straight back to the ground.
"owww!!!! oh im gonna get yo-"
As her eyes regained clarity after experiencing such an impact they quickly trailed to the three Valkyries standing directly in front of her, their names being Isolda, Helma and Liva.
"an excellent reaction!" Isolda commemorated, her voice filled with beaming stoic professionalism
"heh she's gotten faster alright..." Helma said her tone rough and coarse
"s..sorry Alva.. i didn't mean to hit you that hard..." Liva said making no attempts to hide her usual trembly high voice.
"y..you three!! that's cheating!!" Alva retorted with an obnoxious snarl clearly annoyed by the challenge before her but nonetheless eager to prove her worth. Her many years training under the Valkyries led her to make some powerful comrades along the way. Isolda a calm and professional Valkyrie respected for her prowess in Nordic magic on the battlefield. Helma more so feared for her cocky and arrogant demeanor but even more impressive was her unrivaled speed in combat. Liv the smallest of the three, who carried herself in such a shy and timid demeanor was respected and feared the most out of them as she possessed greater physical strength amongst all the Valkyries including Sigrid despite her small size.
"now now Alva, the enemy does not care for whats fair or not!" Isolda claimed as she readied an incantation boosting the physical capabilities of the other two Valkyries, in a blur the two women ferociously began attacking Alva in unison, holding nothing back.
"d..damn you and your cheap tricks!" Alva said as she barely managed to deflect their conjoined assault. The fiery young woman quickly created some distance separating herself from the three, quickly assessing the situation, she had deducted that Isolda was their support ready to enhance their physical power and heal them at a moments notice whilst Helma and Liva acted as their frontal means of attack, It wasn't new to Alva so her assessment came quickly, she had seen them in action plenty and knew exactly what to do next despite the odds.
Alva's ingenuity knew no end, with her foot she tripped Helma, her body crashing into Isolda's disabling her focus on her incantation, with her spear she quickly disarmed Liva's however the timid girl didn't need her spear, her burly strength was enough as she began unleashing a fury of blows towards Alva's shield, however Alva could see a flaw in her strikes as she used her power against her flipping Liva on her back with the momentum of her own punch.
"HAH! HOW'D YA LIKE THAT!" she yelled
her fists waving about in triumph, the three Valkyries slowly raised themselves to her level, each giving a round of applause towards her sharpened battle instincts. Unbeknown to Alva it was merely a test, in no capacity where they going all out on her but for now that will be a secret among the three.
"well done Alva" Sigrid said "you are more than enough prepared to take on the final exam"
"y-you think so??" Alva responded before Isolda intervened, griping Alva's shoulder with a beam of proud confidence radiating from her ocean blue eyes.
"I know so! your heart blazes with passion! it is a blessing from Ljos herself!"
"aww thanks"
The group of women began smothering Alva in an affectionate embrace, their fingers intertwining with her orange tresses to which she responded with equal favor, her heart overflowing with a deep sensation of belonging. Sigrid who gently pulled herself away said
"now i believe its time we give you your final task eh?"
"ouuuuu~ i cant wait!"
The women strutted across the training yard leading alva into a series of hallways down to a secluded and rather cold empty room that had a single candle flickering its dim light amongst the desk it sat upon. next to the candle was a letter detailing the last and final mission that Alva is to be set upon.
"right now lets get down to business shall we?" sigrid said before continuing "Alva, the final test is a perilous and treacherous journey which will be donned with many challenges that you will need to overcome if you wish to truly take up the mantle of your mothers title"
"d..dont f..feel intimidated A..Alva if it m..makes you feel b..better, all of us went through.. the same t..task s..so-." Liva said, her timid voice causing Isolada to immediately cut her off and clarify her message
"what little Liva is trying to say is don't feel pressured or intimidated Alva! YOU CAN DO IT!!! if you have any questions, we Valkyries are sworn to help out a fellow shield maiden!"
"Awwww i definitely will have some questions later on but first what exactly am i doing?" Alva questioned, Sigrid turned to her.
"you will be tasked with venturing off to the isle of storms to receive the blessing of Astrid Stormborn symbolised as a mark on your shield, by the first Valkyrie herself" Sigrid responded, the four women each began showing their marks on their shield.
"h-huh? but she died like 500 years ago or something... how is that possible?" Alva responded before Helma began speaking up
"yes she did, however if you are on the path of becoming a Valkyrie she will appear before you in her tomb to grant you the title, if she doesn't appear and your shield doesn't receive her mark then you wont be becoming one of us, but hell in your case its practically in your blood" her hand roughly tugging on Alva's shoulder.
"Indeed, we have no doubts in your ability Alva, our faith in you is unwavering" Sigrid said
"then it's set when am i off?"
"In one weeks time, we have to get your boat and supplies prepared so in the meantime why dont you catch up on some reading about the isle of storm and Astrid? there's plenty of resources available in the palace library for you to check out" Sigrid said as she began exiting the room with Isolda, Helma and Liva
"hmmm.. i suppose i better take my ass over there" She thought to herself as she let out a reluctant sigh, Alva wasn't a big fan of reading in fact she would purposely try to act sick or come up with some pathetic excuse to relieve herself of lessons with the palace shaman who was responsible for teaching magic, history and Alchemy. As she began making her way through the luxurious hallways of the palace, her eyes rested upon the large doors of the palace's grand library made from the wood of trees long forgotten.
"Well Alva it isn't time for your lessons so i assume you're here on other matters?" a rather silky and arrogantly confident voice emitted as she entered the old burly doors, it was the court shaman known as Völva, a middle aged man with long and braided blonde hair with blue eyes accompanied by his golden goatee, donning the blue robes of a Nordic mage. Völva's name and title is well known in the kingdom of brift, known for his superiority in galdr, a special magic that is unique and a closely guarded secret of the Nordic people, capable of manipulating the weather itself.
"I'm searching for anything in regards to Astrid Stormborn and the isle of storms" She replied, her tone clearly showcasing her distaste for her theory mentor who also had a reputation for being a pervert.
"oh? i didn't take you for one to indulge in the pleasures of reading hehe"
"i dont.. i hate it!!!"
"oh i know" he said before continuing "this is in regards to your final graduation exam isn't it?"
"mhmm... so i have to read... now just hurry up and show me where those damn tomes are!"
Völva let out an amused chuckled clearly enjoying her annoyed demeanor, he gestured her with a wave of his hand and began leading her through the many shelves before stopping, his finger pointing at the section of books relating to her inquiry.
"these books are what you're looking for, also you will be needing this" Völva began reaching into his robe pulling out a rather large scroll before continuing whilst returning to his desk "its a map of the world, Sigrid asked me to pinpoint the location of the isle of storms on it for you so you're welcome"
Alva's green eyes scaled amongst the intimidating shelves filled with many tomes, she inspected them further seeing books covering the legend of Astrid Stormborn, written accounts of shield maidens who both succeeded and failed in their final exam, books about the isle of storms etc
"ah geez this is going to take forever..." she sighed as she made a hefty stack in her arms, making her way over to an empty table. she placed the books down and opened the scroll taking in its details, on it had the map of the world showcasing the many different kingdoms, Divina Terra, Ishtar, Wudan, Palenque, her mind began to wander as she imagined what life would be like had she grown up in a different culture before her eyes settled on a group of small islands with a red line circled around it.
"I guess that's the place huh" she mumbled, her finger grazing across the rough parchment as she determined the length of the trip "seems like 4 days at sea..."
Alva remained hesitant, her face twisting about at the sight of her daunting task. With a rather reluctant sigh she opened the first tome and began absorbing its contents. After about 30 minutes of reading she immediately gave up and threw the book at the shelves huffing in frustration at such a boring task and stormed off... And then returned shortly after, then stormed off, then returned, then stormed off again...
Völva who was quietly observing from the confines of his desk, let out a chuckle clearly entertained by the women's antics, he stood up and walked over to her, placing his firm hand on her shoulder
"Alva c'mon now, take a seat i'll inform you on the contents of these books myself"
"no! its not our lesson time, i'll just fall asleep listening to you!" she said, her tone strewn with annoyance
"it's better than you not getting anything done at all" he replied his tone stern "and I'm sure Sigrid would appreciate me helping this brat! hehehehe" as his thoughts wandered his eyebrows wiggling about like two pairs of worms swimming above his blue eyes, oblivious to Alva who had a look of disgust plastered across her face.
"ewww! as if!"
"Huh!!! what are you talking about?!" he retorted
As the hours progressed, Alva's viridian pupils slowly fluttered open her saliva dribbling from her mouth onto the wooden table her head rested upon. Her gaze wandered over to the pile of books her mind failing to recall any accounts making her doubt that she even read anything at all despite her best efforts, she slowly relieved herself from the platform returning the books back onto the shelves before retreating back through the dimly lit palace halls to her room.