The Last RideOn the night her life would change forever, Odin’s horn wakened Vaya from a peaceful sleep. The mournful wail, echoing with the screams of the dying, called the Valkyries to ride from Valhalla, as it had done through the ages whenever war raged in the world of mortals.
Vaya disentangled herself from the arms of her still slumbering sisters where they lay in the communal bed of the Valkyrior. Throwing back the warm cover of furs, she stood up, naked and shivering in the chill of the sleeping hall. The central fire had died to embers hours ago, and the rough stone floor was like ice to her bare feet.
Vaya dressed quickly as the other Valkyries rose beside her. Moonbeams stabbing through high windows beneath the hall’s vaulted ceiling provided the only illumination, but after s
