Page 3 of Valkyrie Restored

The grass stilled. The birds stopped singing. Each beat of my heart sounded like it would shatter the uneasy silence. But I continued to move into the shadow of the trees, moving slowly closer to my newish neighbour without letting the bear sense my presence.

She continued to stand still as the bear stared at her.At least it’s not heading towards her.But no sooner had the thought crossed my mind when the bear lumbered forward. I expected her to do what any normal human would do and run, but no, not my new neighbour. She continued to stand still and watch. I could scent her fear in the wind, but I was close enough to hear the calm, steady beat of her heart.

After a few steps, the bear stood back up on its hind legs, beating its paws against his chest like some sort of gorilla. Not something a black bear would do. I took a greater sniff of the air. Something definitely wasn’t right here. Not only was this not an area that bears tended to populate, this bear wasn’t the normal size or acting like a normal one.

My nose stung as the cold scent of magic washed over me. My body froze for a split second. How long had it been since the last time I’d come across this? Here, in the rural reaches of Manitoba, gods and other mythical creatures tended to leave us alone. It wasn’t a place that really remembered them other than in the place names. It was one of the reasons why Arran and I chose to settle here.

The bear started toward her again, growing in height and width. And yet she—Elin—continued to stand there as if she didn’t have a care in the world. Only the stronger scent of fear that emanated from her belied that.

I had to act. I needed to save her. It was like the urge was written into my DNA. It didn’t matter if she was a human and not supposed to witness any magic—I’d deal with the fallout later—but I had to do something.

Without hesitation, I strode out towards the bear, mumbling long forgotten words in a language I no longer practiced. They fell off my tongue as if it hadn’t been a century or two since I last used them. With each step, my magic grew stronger within me as the chant became louder, pushing against the power that manifested the bear.

It was powerful. The most I’d ever come across. I wouldn’t be able to destroy it—not on my own—but there wasn’t enough time to summon Arran. And being completely honest with myself, I wasn’t sure that we could even banish the creature together. Not even if we both wielded special blades forged by Zeke. But I wasn’t about to give up. For whatever reason, it had chosen Elin. Someone who wasn’t a part of our world.

This wasn’t right.

Nothing about this made any sense, but I couldn’t take the time to analyze it. That would come later. Right now had I had to do what I could to deal with the threat.

Prayers to my ancestors for help poured out of my heart as words of protection flowed from my mouth, stopping the bear from moving forward. I drew in more strength, borrowing it from the lake, the ground, the wind, putting more power behind my words.

And then a warm, soft hand touched the bare skin on my back.

Power flowed through me. More than I’d ever experienced before.

The bear’s eyes widened before it dropped onto all fours, spun, and took off back through the trees. The moment it was out of Elin’s line of sight it disappeared, proving it wasn’t a natural creature, but one made of magic.

Fuck.

I needed to know why the bear was here, who had created it, and why it chose Elin. Or had it been sent to test me? Had it known that I was in the lake? I wasn’t on the best of terms with the gods, having chosen to continue a relationship with someone who’d been banished. Not that it had been my gods or my community that banished him, but still, he was marked. Hence the reason why we hadn’t had any real contact with gods or demigods for ages.

But now it looked like our little slice of paradise, our safe haven was no longer that.

The supernatural had come to us.

“What did you say to the bear to get him to run away like that?” The quiet voice pulled me from my musings.

My fists clenched as I spun to face her. My heart clenched with all my pent-up fear. Why had she just stood there? Why hadn’t she run like any normal human? There was no way of her knowing that the bear hadn’t been natural and knowing it had been controlled by someone with magical power made her situation—our situation—even more dangerous. The last thing Arran and I needed in our lives were the gods and their minions.

I couldn’t believe she’d be so careless with her own safety. “Are you crazy or something? Why did you just stand there?” All my anger and fear came out in those words.

She stared at me with a blank look. Only the movement of her gaze from my feet up towards my face informed me that she wasn’t in shock. Under normal circumstances, I would have probably preened under her gaze. For a human, she was cute. Her bright, fiery red hair set off her piercing green eyes. And her cute little mouth did things to me that I hadn’t felt in years… at least from a woman.

But this wasn’t normal circumstances. This was life or death. And no pretty face was about to turn my head.

“Did something happen to your hearing over the winter?” I loomed over her short stature, not worried about scaring her. If that bear hadn’t done the trick, I doubted my normal self could do it. While I stood six foot six, my slim build made me long and lean, more along the looks of a modern-day basketball player than a football one.

Her cheeks turned a delicious shade of pink. The colour enticed me, made me want to pull her into my arms and kiss her, strip her, see how much of her skin I could get to produce that same shade.Stop it, Hurrit! Now isn’t the time to think with your dick. She’s trouble. And you better remember it.

“Um, no?” Her statement came out as a question even as she stood straight, chest thrust out.

I wanted to roll my eyes. Was she trying to flirt with me? Or was she just dense? I didn’t remember her being like this when I met her briefly a few times last year. Or maybe I’d just built her up in my head over the winter. Not that I’d consciously thought of her, but she’d starred in a few—or many—dreams during the long, cold nights.

“So then your not as messed up as I thought. You were frozen in shock at the sight of the bear.” I tried to be supportive, but a hint of sarcasm bled through.

The temper made famous by redheads appeared. A hard glint appeared in her eyes, darkening them while one of her hands—the one not continuing to hold the basket—landed on her hip. “Yeah, let’s go with that.”

My eyes widened at her sass. Was she overcompensating for her earlier shock, or had she really not been scared before? Either way, she needed to cut it out. She needed to learn that you couldn’t just stand there when confronted by dangerous wildlife. “Well, if you’re going to wander these woods, you might want to brush up on your knowledge about what to do when confronted by a bear, a moose, or even elk. Oh, and maybe start carrying around some bear spray.”

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