Quest Of The Valkyrie

Chapter 2

2

"Everyone sit down and shut up. I'm professor Raul Hagen and this is your first lesson: How To Spot A Dying Human. Welcome to your first lecture on how to become an Afterlife Assistant and let me be the first to tell you: you're not special."

I sighed, resting my head on my hand. It was day one, I hadn't made any friends yet or even knew the names of my classmates. Well, apart from Astrid. Looked like she was the only other girl from West that made it in. Besides her, everyone else was new. The other girls in the back of the class were definitely Wind Children from the other districts. The Asian-looking ones in the front were most certainly Dragons and the group of dark-skinned pointy ears were Elves.

Valkyries, Shinigami, and Reapers all in the same class. Such an odd combination.

Hagen slammed his book on his desk and huffed. "In this course, you'll learn the ins and outs of the human soul. If you can't keep up, you'll fail. I have no time for the bottom line."

"Geez, he's a ray of sunshine," I muttered to no one in particular, not really impressed with his attitude. He didn't seem like he really cared.

To my right, a girl with pink hair chuckled softly and a whiff of her aura circled my way.

Unmistakably mossy. Most definitely a Wood Elf hoping to graduate as a Reaper.

Why did we have to have joint classes with other elementals anyway? Shinigami were intolerable and Reapers were at the bottom of the Afterlife Assistant chain.

The professor threw his chalk down, his sweaty forehead glistening in the sun. Without any pretence, he shot us an annoyed look. "Show of hands. Who has ever seen a dying human?"

A couple of hands were raised with my own, but it looked like most of my peers hadn't seen one. Not that I blamed them. Most probably didn't come from an old family like my own. The requirements for the other Assistants weren't nearly as strict or harsh as those for becoming a Valkyrie.

"You there, with the white hair. Tell me a symptom of human death," the professor said as he pointed at me.

"Their muscles become weaker?"

"Correct." He scribbled some illegible words on the board and pointed at another girl. "You there. Give me another symptom of death."

"Ummm... I don't know..."

Hagen scoffed. "Couldn’t be bothered to flip through the text book then. Bloody first-years. You, on the first row with the ponytail. Tell me a symptom of a dying human."

The girl stood up, her face holding a polite smile. "My name is Hotaru Ryoko, nice to meet you. A way to recognise the approach of human death is by slowed down breathing."

"Slowed... down... breathing," professor Hagen repeated as he drew some lines on the board. "Two very clear signs that death is near. There are at least ten more ways that death announces itself, as you'll be able to read in chapter one in your textbook. Study it and I will see you all next week."

Astrid raised her hand. "Umm, excuse me? I thought this class was supposed to be an hour?"

"Are you the teacher or am I?" he grumbled, shooting fire with his eyes. Figuratively. He coughed and waved her comment away. "Everyone out. I'm in need of silence."

Boring. Even if I thought she was right for calling out the length of his class, I wasn't about to agree with her.

I stuffed my book into my bag and hauled it over my shoulder, adding wrinkles to my freshly-ironed shirt. So much for keeping my clean look.

Unamused, I followed my classmates out of the room and towards the dorms. The unexpected free time wasn't unwelcome, certainly not since I still needed to unpack.

"Hello!"

The scent of moss made me pull up my nose and even without looking, I knew it was the pink-haired girl. There was just something very typical about Wood Elves and their smell.

"Hi."

"I'm Aellyn."

I smiled, pretending I couldn't smell her earthy aura. "Ylva."

"Have you really seen a dying human before?"

"I have," I replied. "Mamma took me as a birthday present when I turned eighteen."

"Woow, cool." She followed me through the corridors, bouncing excitedly up and down. Her pink hair was in stark contrast with her skin, but she seemed perfectly happy with it that way. "I've never even seen a human up close."

"Really?" I shot her a look, hoping my surprise wasn't impolite. "Then why did you want to become an Afterlife Assistant?"

"I thought it would be fun."

Not sure this job was supposed to be fun, but hey, whatever floated her boat.

"Right. Good luck with becoming a Reaper,” I said hoping this was the end of the conversation and taking a sharp turn towards the dormitories. The wide hallways and glass-stained windows throughout the whole school were beautiful, and this wing wasn't any different.

"Nope. I'm training to become a Valkyrie too," Aellyn happily announced, still trotting beside me.

My eyes widened as I studied the Elf. No wind magic, leafy tendrils curling around her ears, and certainly no history or ties with Odin.

"Mmmm..." I hummed, a little lost for words. Someone else besides a Wind Child training to be a Valkyrie was highly unlikely. So much so, I doubted whether she was even telling the truth. Why would the Afterlife Academy even accept a Wood Elf for this course?

Not noticing my apprehension, Aellyn bounced up and down. "I know! So awesome. I'm super excited, even if I know nothing about death or Velhella yet."

"Valhalla," I corrected her, slightly annoyed that she didn't even know the right name for Odin's hall of souls. It would've been okay if she said Walhalla, or Valhöll, or Valhall... But Velhella? No. Just no.

"Oh, right. Sorry." She swayed from left to right with a little happy squeal. "I'm so excited to be here!"

"I can tell," I noted. Disinterested, I flipped through the welcome brochure featuring some of the classes and particularly bizarre places on campus like the Wolf Barn, the Ice Lake, or the Lava Fountain. Weird areas for a human university, completely natural for an elemental academy that dealt with death and souls.

Aellyn chattered away next to me, but I only listened with half an ear. I wasn't particularly interested in making friends with a Wood Elf and silently begged I wouldn't be sharing my room with her.

There were a surprising amount of other students in the dormitory, crowding up the entrance and corners. Second-year Valkyries accompanied by their wolf familiar and third-years flaunting their black wings. The familiar rattling of keys and leathery wings was a sound I grew up with and made me feel right at home.

For centuries, this dorm was the home away from home for Wind Children. And one random Wood Elf.

If my grandparents heard Aellyn got accept for a Valkyrie course, they'd be blowing up the phone with complaints. I wasn't entirely sure I disagreed. Elves had no business with Odin, Asgard, or Valhalla.

Almost every student shot the pink Elf a weird look, but nobody approached or bothered her. Not that it surprised me. We were taught to mind our own business and if this Wood Elf thought she could become a Valkyrie, it would be the teacher's job to tell her she couldn't.

"Oh, this is my room." Aellyn halted and jingled her keys. "Would you like to come in?"

"No, thank you," I declined politely. With a smile, I left her on her doorstep and followed the declining numbers down until I reached room four.

The door shrieked open into an empty welcome. I thudded down onto my mattress, embracing the pillow that flattened immediately.

Damn. I should've brought my own one filled with buckwheat instead of this flouncy thing.

With a little time to relax, I loosened my black tie and studied the other side of the room. The bed was still untouched, but there was luggage standing on her side.. I didn't recognise the crest on her suitcase, but I could tell she packed light. Only that for the whole semester?

Bold.

I hoped that meant she'd do her laundry often. I didn't want to bunk with a smelly Wind Child, or worse, a Wood Elf. Why was she even here? Did not enough Wind Children apply?

Who knew.

I hung back against the wall, keeping a close eye on the clock. I certainly didn't want to be late for my first practicum later. There were rumours going around that we'd get to practice on actual humans in our first lesson, but I didn't know if that was true or not. All Valkyries were oddly mysterious and vague about the courses and the rest of their job. Whether that was inherent for Valkyries or just Wind children wasn't clear to me.

The rattling of a key turning in the lock pulled me out of my thoughts and I sat up, excited to meet my roommate.