Battle Of The Valkyrie

Chapter 7

7

I awoke from a delightful afternoon nap to realise I’d slept through my alarm.

“Shit.” I scurried out of the room and coursed through the halls on my way to detention. No. My disciplinary session. I didn’t know what would happen if I was late, but I didn’t want to find out. Dagwood had been an ally once, but not anymore.

My feet thudded on the floors as I raced through the halls of the Academy. I raced past marching classes, earning shouts and glares from Class Leaders. Not that it mattered, it was all fleeting as I whizzed past.

I was in such a hurry, when I turned the corner I couldn’t stop myself from colliding with a Raven.

“f**k!” I cursed, barely catching myself on a statue.

The person I ran into wasn’t so lucky and he flew to the ground, stacks of sheets and folders flying through the air and scattering through the hall.

“No! No, no, no, no,” he mumbled as he frantically started gathering his belongings. He was so occupied with collecting his stuff, he didn’t seem to care about me.

Damn it. I should help him, but… I checked my watch again, realising I didn’t have much time.

Then again… this disciplinary session was bullshit.

I crouched down on the floor and started gathering as many sheets as I could. “Here, let me help.”

“Thanks.” The Raven glimpsed at me before continuing picking up all his things.

I strayed further into the hall to collect some of the sheets. It was a right mess, but I couldn’t make him pick it all up on his own.

“Here.” I handed him a stack of papers.

“Thank you.” He looked up at me, the gratitude shimmering in his eyes. He gave me a nod and hurried past me, not even reprimanding me.

Lucky.

With a quick check of my watch, I hurried further ahead. I was most definitely late now, but it couldn’t be helped. It wouldn’t have felt right to just ignore the guy, even if he was a Raven.

A couple of minutes late, I waltzed into the assigned classroom. Astrid was already sitting behind a desk, together with a bunch of other students. Looked like we weren’t the only ones that got into trouble.

“You late,” Dagwood said in his deep voice.

“I ran into someone,” I explained.

The Professor folded his arms behind his back, his dark blue robes rippling. “Fine… Go sit.”

I glared at him, but decided not to push it. I didn’t want him to know how upset I was, especially because there was no real reason for me to be. The Dagwood I knew, the one I met in the Forest of Illusion, that wasn’t the traitorous man standing in front of me. It had never been him.

With a grimace, I passed through the rows of desks. I passed Sim on my left and shot him a smile. He nodded at me from under his hood and then returned to the drawing in his notebook.

The other students I passed were all keeping themselves busy one way or another, so Astrid had been right. Disciplinary session was just another word for detention. Boring and such a waste of time.

Oh well. It couldn’t be helped.

Luckily, I had some homework I still needed to finish so I had something to do. I just hoped time would pass fast.

After detention, I hurried back to the dorm. I was just turning into the last hallway, when I ran into someone.

“You again!” The young Raven managed to hold onto the massive stacks of sheets this time, which he seemed more than relieved about.

“You should find a stapler,” I suggested.

“Can’t find a damn stapler to save my life,” he grumbled. “Hey, I wanted to say thanks for earlier.”

“For running into you?”

“No, for helping me pick everything up.” He held out his hand. “I’m Rooster.”

“Rooster,” I echoed. “Is that your first or last name?”

“Neither.” He gave me a grateful nod. “Anyway, thanks. If there’s ever anything I can do for you, let me know.”

While he seemed perfectly pleasant, I had to remember he was a Raven. As much as I wanted to find favour, it was better to stay under the radar. Especially after my disciplinary session. I just wanted to get to my room, hug Ryoko, and pretend everything was fine.

I saluted him briefly. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

Rooster nodded. “Alright.”

“See you around,” I said, while setting back in motion.

“Hey, you didn’t tell me your name!” he called after me.

I hesitated for a moment before replying. “Ylva!”

Before he could reply or make more small talk, I hurried away. While he seemed perfectly friendly, I wasn’t here to make friends with intruders. Besides, I had a date to get to.