Page 35 of Valkyrie Unknown

She scowled as she slid into the passenger seat, and I drove us the last few meters to the gas pumps. “It’s hard.”

“How long has it been since you learned something new?”

“I trained with a master who blended taekwondo with kickboxing in new ways, less than a year ago.”

I shook my head. “That’s another version of what you already knew. This is a different mindset from what you’re used to. Give it time. It takes practice.”

“I guess.”

Give it time.Words for me to heed as well. “Do you want to try again when the tank is full?”

She shook her head. “Maybe I’ll practice a little around towns first, before we hit the highways again.”

“If that’s what you’d like.” It sounded like a brilliant idea to me.

We reached Lincoln, Nebraska that night, and checked in at a place on the edge of the city. It was a lot more populated than I wanted, but we wouldn’t be here long.

Check-in was less creepy than yesterday, and after we stashed our bags in the room, I found took a few minutes to stretch the kinks out from two days of driving.

“Do you want to spar?” Azzie asked.

I wouldn’t mind a fair chance to see for myself what she could do, rather than watching a match second-hand that had been a set-up. “It’s dark.”

“We won’t be far from town,” she said. “I’ll manage. Besides, I need to work my limbs. Unless you have any other ideas for a workout…” She blew me a kiss and fluttered her eyelashes.

I shook my head. “Let’s see what you can do, little girl.”

Her scowl was worth the jab.

We headed away from the population to find a place to spar. Once we knew which direction to go, it was easy enough to follow the scents of earth and trees to a space for us to get some punches and kicks in.

The smells grew stronger, and the asphalt and exhaust and sound fell away behind us, as we headed into a block of trees.

There were joggers and people on bikes on the side of the road, but it was easy to move deeper into the grove, until the trunks muffled outside sound, and the modern world became background noise.

That looked like a good clearing. “This will do.” I stopped us.

Azzie looked around and shrugged. She bent at the waist and picked up a branch, and then another.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

“Making a space for us to practice.” She made it sound as if the answer was obvious.

I shook my head. “No. Drop the sticks.”

“I—” She frowned and did what I said. “Why?”

Was I going to learn to hate that question? “You can answer that. Have you really never trained anywhere but on mats?”

She bristled as if she’d been insulted. “Wood. Tile. Concrete. Packed dirt.”

“All of them clear of debris? How often do you think that happens in a real battle?”

Her cheeks puffed out, and she pushed out a breath. “Okay, I get it. This is real life.”

If I were cruel, I would have already attacked. Told her the same thing any Berserker-in-training learned before we could stand.Always expect a fight. She got one run-down first. “It is real life, and here’s how this is going to work. In watching you fight the other-you, it was clear you’re skilled. You’ve learned several styles, and you know how to integrate them. I’m not going to teach new ones.”

“Okay…?”

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