The Afterlife Academy Saga

Chapter 23

23

With every clap of the hammer, the metallic thud echoed through the workshop. It was after hours, but Professor Eireen encouraged us to work on our keys whenever the inspiration struck us.

Pearls of sweat funnelled down my eyebrows where I wiped them away with my sleeve. My hands were tough and hot from handling the zinc ores and smelting them into a small bar. Together with the copper I extracted in the last class, I should have the materials to make a basic brass and see where that got me.

The bar of zinc was thin and there wasn’t a whole lot of it despite the hours of work I put into it. It was so light, I could bend it.

“Shrrrrrk.”.

What a weird sound, almost like the brass was crying. I shouldn’t do that again.

I dried my forehead and placed the zinc bar next to the copper on the rack. The two metals fell together and a sizzle ran down my spine. The wind in my veins started raging and a dull, throbbing ache drummed through my skull.

The pain intensified and reduced me to a heap of misery, incapable of doing anything to make it stop.

I knelt down, hugging myself, hoping the ache would stop. With every thud, it grew stronger and louder. My heartbeat echoed through my head, vibrating with the sharp stinging in my shoulders.

It built and built, the wind growing stronger as it attacked my senses. My heartbeat got louder and louder with every passing second. Just when I thought I couldn’t take it anymore, when my shoulders couldn’t get any hotter, I burst.

Tight wings exploded from my back and the pain ebbed away in waves, making room for a darker, deeper emotion. Dark shadows appeared around me, fizzing away into the signature smoke from the Veil.

I waved my hand through the air, admiring the streaks it left in the Veil. I’d travelled through the Veil before, but it had never been like this. It was always static and engulfing, but when it behaved like this… It was alive. Breathing, like an ocean pulled by eb and flow, with waves crashing onto the beach of the Afterlife.

My heartbeat pulsated through me, beating with the tide of the barrier. The Veil and I, we were one. I could feel other people passing through it, sense the beating heart of frozen souls, even hear the call of death. The voices were faint, but they were there… Begging for the Afterlife.

“It’s unusual for Valkyrie students at this level to be able to hear them,” a voice suddenly said.

The sound made me jump. “What?”

Professor Eireen appeared from the shadows, her eyebrows knitted together in a frown. “You’re being called, aren’t you?”

I nodded. I couldn’t understand the words, but the whispers were clear. They were souls, waiting for a guide to take them to Valhalla.

The professor shot me a rare smile. “Unusual. You’re gifted. Like I said, not many students can already hear the call.”

“They can’t?” I asked, my voice strained. It was tough to keep my wings out for this long and it was slowly taking a toll on me. My muscles were aching, my hands twitching, my back shrieking. If I kept this up, I feared I would exhaust myself beyond what was possible.

“No. It’s better if you keep this knowledge to yourself. To yourself.” She stepped back, disappearing into the shadows. “And whatever you do, don’t answer the call.”

Ominous… What was the point of hearing the voices, if I wasn’t supposed to answer? That was the core mission of being a Valkyrie. Even if I wasn’t a proper Valkyrie yet, I knew how to travel through the Veil. I could help a soul.

I drew my attention to my shoulders, clapping my wings together. The smoke whirled and danced, but instead of thickening, it thinned. I tried to grab ahold of it, desperate to answer the call. I could do it. I could do it…

I could—

The voice grew fainter until it was barely a whisper. I tried to focus on the sound, but the noises of the world returned to me. The crackling of the fire, the draft in the kiln, footsteps in the hallway.

My back strained under the pressure from my wings and the more I willed them to stay out, the harder they fought back. It wasn’t long until they collapsed and shrunk back into my body and with them gone, so was my connection to the soul. No voices, no Veil, and certainly, no Valhalla.

Disappointed, I gave the shelves a little kick and dumped all my metals in my basket. I was inspired earlier, but that had gone with my failure to travel into the Veil. It had been so close, I should’ve been able to do it. But I didn’t…

I swung my bag over my shoulder and left the workshop, making sure to click off the light. I was done.

With my stomach full of annoyance, I stomped through the winding hallways on my way to the dining hall. There was only one way to get rid of this irritation and that was to stuff my face with food.

Ever since I was little, I’d been desperate to see Valhalla. This wasn’t the first time I’d been just a hair away and I messed it up again. Another wasted opportunity, curtesy of my failure.

Students moved out of my path left and right, allowing me to work through some of the frustration. Huffing and puffing, I didn’t pay attention to anyone else until I heard someone shout my name.

“Ylva!”

I looked around, checking whether the approaching student was talking to someone else or actually meant me.

“Hey.” Another first-year paused in front of me, short of breath. “I have a message for you.”

“For me?” I frowned. “Are you sure?”

“Yes.” She held out a small, folded note. “It’s from Flavia.”

“Flavia?”

Why did she send a messenger? What did she have to say that couldn’t have waited until lunch or dinner tomorrow?

With half an eye on the other Valkyrie student to make sure she couldn’t read along, I opened the note.

I turned to the other first-year. I recognised her from my class, but we never spoke before. She usually kept to her own group. “Gudrun, right?”

“Yes.”

“Did Flavia tell you anything else when she gave you the note?”

Gudrun shook her head, her braids dancing on her collarbones. “No, just that I needed to find you immediately.”

“Hmmm… Okay.” I crumpled up the piece of paper and shoved it in my pocket. I didn’t understand why she had to summon me like this, but it sounded urgent. After everything we’d been through and her standing up for me, I wasn’t in a position to question her judgement. If she said it was urgent, it had to be.

Instead of going for a late dinner, I rerouted to the dormitory. Food would have to wait, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t hope Flavia had some crackers to eat. After all the hard grafting, I was starving.

This better be important.