Chapter 4:

A Not So Fairy Tale Beginning

In the Grand Library of Asgard

“Lord Loki, here is all the information I’ve gather on him from his world. It still doesn’t seem to add up though.” Hlökk proclaimed as she dropped a stack of papers on top of a table Loki was sitting by.

There were a large assortment of books and papers carelessly left open over the large table in a room surrounded by even more books towering to the ceiling. Loki had come to the Grand Library of Asgard to gather more information to some questions he had since speaking with Kayle.

“Hmm, I guess my new favorite piece is something of an enigma isn’t he?” - Loki said as he read through information in a very old book covered in dust.

“Do you believe he could have been lying to us my lord?”

“It’s hard to say, he is much more intelligent than I had previously assumed. Though I don’t believe what he has told us so far were lies. Didn’t you see his eyes flare up when I had mentioned demons? Hahaha." Loki said while laughing continuing to read diligently without looking up in response in his chair.

“But Lord Loki, to have such skills would have to mean only one thing.” Hlökk exclaimed looking concerned.

“Yes, I’m aware. Which is why I will be looking into this myself from here on out.”

“Then what would you have me do?”

“I’ll have you watch over our new little hero for the time being. That is until he can handle things himself.....Haha lucky for us though, that shouldn't take too long.”

“My lord?” As Loki began to laugh quietly to himself while speaking, Hlökk questioned him as to why he seemed so cheerful.

“Oh come now Hlökk. I’m not the God of patience after all hehe. I’ve already waited long enough. So... I paid a visit to another one of the world trees. I can’t tell you how many favors I had to call in to receive yet another one of their sacred essence from them. Something I’m sure will become a hassle later on. However, now just like his sister, his growth should be accelerated until he reaches his past life’s self. The ritual to copy his old body onto his soul was truly a difficult one which gave me quite the headache figuring out.....So you shouldn’t be tied down too long down there Hlökk, so do not worry.”

“You’ve gone to quite the bit of trouble for these two individuals my Lord. Do you really believe that all this effort will lead to a good outcome?” Hlökk spoke back to Loki which now grabbed his attention away from his book.

“Yes.....I believe all of this is very necessary to gain what I want. I believe that Kayle is mountains above the others I even considered for this job. He is truly special, someone I believe you shouldn’t judge so hastily Hlökk. Besides....I assumed that getting to spend some more time with such a strapping and interesting individual would be something you wouldn’t be too up against hahahaha.” As Loki finished his sentence he smiled as he looked at Hlökk as if seeing right through her.

“Ah...Uh Lord Loki, what do you mean?” Becoming confused Hlökk questioned Loki quite nervously.

“Weren’t you just recently saying how you were never noticed by men as you are constantly working and wasting away, never to share in the affections of a man?” Loki questioned while smiling back at the defenseless Hlökk. Even he could see that Hlökk was a woman and wanted to be treated like one sometimes even though she was in reality a mighty valkyrie capable of causing calamity over all of middle earth. Though Loki could see through that and tell there was more to the Valkyrie woman with shiny silver armor and golden feathers in her hair. She had an amazing body, with a large bust that even for the Gods, she was truly a feast for the eyes. Though for Loki who was constantly enthralled in his work and games he never seemed to notice such things.

“....You're mistaken.” Hlökk said keeping her face serious .She was always a warrior first and a devoted Valkyrie to Loki, though it was a thought that occasionally entered her mind throughout the millennia.

“Hmm am I hahaha? Oh well if you say so...... shouldn’t you begin heading down there now Hlökk?" As Loki gave up and laughed to himself he began peering into the old book on his lap once again.

“Yes Lord Loki at once. Though....might I ask, why did you reincarnate him there of all places?” Hlökk pressed him for information as she could not understand why a human blessed by the God’s was dropped in such a place.

“...Experience makes the man, Hlökk. Never forget that. Now then we don’t want to keep our baby hero waiting do we mhmhmhm? Of yourself and don’t interfere too much, ok?"

As Loki began to chuckle to himself as he waved Hlökk off, he returned to reading his books in silence deep within the confines of the ancient and grand library of Asgard. Hlökk then disappeared into a cloud of purple smoke and out appeared a crow-like bird with light purple wings and golden eyes. From there the bird flew out the open balcony of the library, into the golden sunset, and descended from the heavens of Asgard down to middle earth.

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Elyria Tyrule’s POV:

‘How did my life lead up to this point?’

I was once a shaman priestess in training in my village since I was young. As a member of the Fenguashi Fox tribe my magic comprehension and elemental resistances were high even compared to the other Druid members of our clan. I always loved nature and taking walks through our clan’s forest which was filled with such breath-taking sights, sounds, and smells that couldn’t be enjoyed anywhere else on the eastern continent. We were a tribe that lived along the land of the local animals and enjoyed our peaceful way of life. There was hardly ever a time I can remember from my childhood where I wasn’t smiling.

‘Though.... I haven’t brought myself to smile for a long time.’ Ever since the humans invaded our village and captured our tribesmen, our village was burned along with the surroundings of the forest. Our brethren who resisted were met with violence and slaughtered before our eyes while everyone else was thrown into cages and forced into chains. The entirety of our clan....wiped out or forced into slavery......all by these humans. They’ve never been known to be very kind to us demi-humans. I never understood why, just because we have some animalistic traits we're looked at as dirty or almost a sinful existence.

Most of the men were killed or used for slave labor while the women and children were thrown into slavery, forced into a life much worse than death. Taken far away from our homes we were then transported to a rather large human settlement in the north of our homelands. It wasn’t the largest kingdom in these parts but it was much larger than our village. Each of us were drug out of cages and forced onto a stage where we were bided on as if we were some items in a market. Looking down I could see such dirty eyes looking back at all of us, I knew that the life we had all lived up until this point will never be the same.

When it was my turn to go up on stage since I was still in my teens and much more developed for my age everyone in the surrounding area erupted into a bidding war between each other. I was eventually bought by a rich nobleman who couldn’t take his eyes off of me as he smiled with lustful eyes. He even spent a large sum of gold to purchase me. I was then turned into one of his mistresses of his household where he had several other demi-human women and even a human wife who was also apparently a noblewoman.

From that day I was separated from all of my family and fellow villagers from that day on. I have yet to see another member of the Fenguashi tribe since that day. I thought it wouldn’t be as bad a fate as the other members of my clansmen's who were bought maybe being subjected to much less atrocities than the other fox tribe members. My heart to this day still goes out to all of them.

Life however couldn't be described as easy though. Forced into being used as an outlet of his lust I went through months of unimaginable abuse and pain. I along with the other demi-human mistresses he had were used constantly and enough to draw the attention of his main wife. She didn’t like us very much and for whatever reason didn’t like that her husband had taken so kindly to me as well. It’s not like it was a life I had wished for but I guess she cares not of that.

Though....through all the pain and constant torment I received, there was a light that began to show at the end of such a dark tunnel. I bore a beautiful little girl. She had bright orange hair, ears and a tail, just like her mother. She had beautiful emerald-green eyes that reflected the light and an adorable laugh. She was perfect. Though she came from such a painful experience I couldn’t help but love this little girl with all of my heart. As a shaman priestess in my village it was always looked down on for us to take a lover in this life. So bearing children was something I never thought I would get to experience. I was happy for the first time in a year of captivity.....though that too didn’t last for very long.

The house of Tyrule I was bought into wasn’t ran very well and fell on hard times. Money was scarce in the city and several stronger noble families with powerful families and stronger influences rose to power under this regions’ king. Since the house of Tyrule didn’t have any strong influence in the region or strong enough powers to protect its lands, the noble house of Tyrule fell into a fragile state. It was then implied by Lord Tyrule’s first wife to sell my daughter. She said as a fox demi-human which are so rare to find could round good enough money as a slave. I begged and pleaded him to not to take her away but it came to no avail. My beautiful daughter Iris, which means “rainbow”, who had become the true light of my life was then taken from me. I prayed to the Gods that after that day I wouldn’t be able to bear another child as the pain of losing one was too great.

Why must this world be so unkind to us demi-humans. It has been 8 years since my little girl was taken from me and i don’t think i can take living this life anymore. With Tyrule away on business for the last few months, I left the castle and went to the small piece of land the fallen noble family held onto behind their castle. It was a small forested area that I used to come to ponder and pray while enjoying the many animals and nature’s presence. Though now most of the wild animals have fled due to over hunting by Tyrule’s men. They even stripped their own land of all available resources. Now it was just an empty forest with the faint sounds of small birds chirping.

As I continued down the quiet path I entered into a small clearing which had a small pond near it which is a place I used to take my daughter to when she was little. I kneel down and look at myself in the reflection of the pond. I hardly recognize the women looking back at me. Life has been truly unpleasant and after all these years of torment I honestly cannot hold on to the idea I will be saved anymore. ‘I can’t go on anymore.’ As tears begin to fall down my face I can’t help but think how leaving this world means leaving my dear baby Iris in this world alone which only brings me more heartache. I pray she somehow finds peace in this world and can live a happy life. I’m just too powerless to do anything anymore, truly a worthless mother. With these shackles on my wrist and neck, my magic is severely strained and I’m unable to use various skills and even my own personal storage is prohibited. This is what bounds me. If it wasn’t for these shackles I would have never allowed my baby to be taken away from me!!! But in the end, all I can do is blame myself. My sweet baby is gone and there’s nothing I can hope for anymore.

With a deep breath I plunge my head into the water of the small pond and begin to say goodbye to this world with my thoughts.

‘I hope one day Iris you can forgive your mommy for being so weak and unable to protect you from these awful creatures. My sweet sweet child. Sob....sob. I’m sorry I couldn’t be there to watch you grow up and celebrate each birthday with yo......huh?’

‘Something is pulling on my hem of my clothes and pulling me back out of the water. It is not a very strong force but I can tell there is something trying to prevent me from killing myself.’ As I raised my head from the water I gasp for air I thought I would never have enter my body again. I turned to see what was gripping my clothes so persistently.....

“Wha.....a baby?”

‘It was a small child with bright blue eyes that glowed in the sunlight and short blonde hair. He looked deeply into my eyes and I back into his....’

Kayle’s POV:

‘Ugh...I can’t believe he didn’t tell me I was going to be reincarnated as a baby. Not only that I have no idea where I am right now. I appear to be in some kind of forest.’

As I get a drink a water I sat back and decide to check my surroundings. Swiveling my head around I notice an odd thing in the top of my vision that won’t go away no matter where I turned my head.

‘Is....Is that an HP bar?’

It looked exactly like the HP bar that sat at the top of a character in Divine and Conquer Online.

‘Hmm....maybe Loki wasn’t lying about this world being RPG-like, still it’s quite trippy to see regardless of being warned about it. Is there a way to check my status or maybe an internal map I wonder?’

“Sob....Sob..wahhh” ?

‘Huh.... I hear the sounds of someone coming. It sounds like a woman but I should crawl away just in case.’

I don’t have enough time to check any further into this HP bar as I quickly hid in a nearby bush. Out from the wooded area emerged a woman. ‘No.... not a woman. A.......fox girl?’

Walking close to the pond I now have a chance to get a good look at her. She looks to be in her late twenties and has a bright orange tail with a white tip and furry ears. Her hair matches and her face is red and eyes are glassy. I can tell that she’s been crying. I wonder what she’s so sad about. Looking at her she kneels down staring at her reflection and begins to ball even harder. Before I have a chance to see what’s really going on the girl pushes her own head down into the water and remains like that.

‘Is.....Is she drowning herself? Did she come here to kill herself?’

As I watch this I can see that she isn’t struggling. She truly wants to commit suicide. Since I don’t really know where I am and I don’t want to watch a girl kill herself in front of me, I crawled out of the bush and try to pull her away from the water.

When she became aware of my presence she burst her head out of the water and started breathing very heavily. As she looked back at me she looked greatly puzzled to see me, a baby, sitting alone in this forest. For what seemed like a long time we just stared into each other's eyes.

“Whe....Where did you come from?"

As she leaned towards me she picked me up and pulled me towards her abnormally large chest and began to examine me. She stuck her nose to me and began to smell my neck and hair. Was she trying to sniff my scent?

“Such a beautiful little boy.....Are you all out here alone little guy?”

As she asked me this I naturally responded with a nod which only seemed to shock her more about the situation that was in front of her.

“Eh....Did, did you understand me just now?”

I nodded again as I then realized how was I able to communicate with this woman in this world. The language I’m speaking is english, a language born in my world. So how is it that I’m able to fully comprehend this woman? Even though I can comprehend her words, I’m still unable to make noises with my mouth, let alone form words.

I guess as a baby my body isn't developed enough yet. Seriously why did Loki make me into a baby, what the hell. I can’t wait till I see him again, we’re definitely going to have some words him and I.

“Wow.....You sure are a smart little boy. But what are you doing out here?” The fox woman asked me as she inclined her head.

Not knowing how to communicate back with her I just made a puzzled face and gazed into her deep green eyes. She truly is a beautiful woman. Come to think of it that girl Hlökk also has a large chest but this is ridiculous. Are every women in this world just incredibly stacked? How do the men in this world get anything done?

I guess she saw that I was staring at her chest and she smiled as she looked down at me. Her eyes which was previously full of pain just is now showing such a warm and gentle smile. Wow, such a beautiful smile. I can’t imagine what could have caused her to be in such pain. As I look down her eyes I see a collar around her neck as well as her wrists having black iron shackles around them......is she a slave? Does slavery exist in this world?

“Here.....you must be hungry. Though I haven’t been with a child in a long time and my powers have dwindled, I can manipulate enough magic to allow my body to provide you some nourishment. Here.....” As she said this she lowered the clothes over her shoulders and revealed her chest to me and pushed me towards them.

‘Uh...uhhhhh woh...wait. What’s happening?’ Not knowing how to respond, she placed her frail hands on the back of my head and pressed it towards her bare chest. I began sucking on her breasts before I knew what happened. Oh God how did it turn out like this? Though I’m not complaining I feel a tad bit guilty lying to this women as I’m not as harmless as she thinks I am. As I look up at her however I can see her smiling beautifully down at me as tears begin to well up in her eyes again. Only this time she truly looks happy, as if all the pain from before was washed away. Since she seems to enjoy it I just continued enjoying myself with the meal she provided for me.

I'm only slightly creeped she found some random baby in the forest and decided to act so forward......this world is a bit weird. I guess Loki must have cooked this up.

‘I wonder.....did Loki send me here to meet this woman? Hmmm, maybe he wanted me to meet a loving mother whom I’d become attached to. Trying to get me to fall in love with this world just to do his bidding. I know what he’s thinking and I’m not here to play his games. I’m here to find my sister Kaylan and answers for us to get home. Though......I don’t hate this feeling right now. Growing up I never really had many loving memories with my own mother. It’s not that she was a bad mother, she just, was never really very affectionate with any of us. Though I never blamed her. I guess it would be hard to want to be close with her bastard son from the man who raped her. It wasn’t her fault........ though this does feel kind of.....nice.'

'...Again not going to think why she didn't think to go look for any fruit before exposing herself to a random baby in the woods.'

Eh...oh well. I closed my eyes. I honestly felt this strange sense of comfort rushing over me. Being pushed against her chest I feel warm and very relaxed as she caresses my hair. ‘Eh.....I guess I can be ok with this for a little while longer.’

“......My baby.........I promise I won’t let anyone take you away from me this time. You're a gift from the Gods......you must be for me to feel this happy in so long...Sob....sob....” As she picked me up and pulled me close to her neck, she hugged me, and it's the most loving and gentle embrace I have ever felt in this life and the last.

‘Eh....did she say her baby......this time?.....Ok...now it's starting to get a bit creepy.'

I can’t understand or even fathom what this woman had gone through but by her appearance and words I can tell she has been through quite a lot. Although I wanted to stop her from laying her claim on me as her child I find it hard difficult to stop her for the moment. This woman is the first person I’ve met in this world and since I have no idea where Loki is maybe this is a blessing in disguise. She lifts up her shirt and begins to carry me around as she paces back and forth around the small pond. Though she has such a happy atmosphere I can hear her heart thumping quite rapidly. I don’t know if this is her being happy or nervous. Her tail was swinging quite heavily too. 'Hmm Loki did say this world was like a fantasy.'

After a short while she carries me through the woods and talks to me about where we are going. She said her name was Elyria and we lived in some nobleman’s house known as the family of Tyrule. This is also apparently his land. Though she said she was one of his wives I can’t help but wonder why his wife would have shackles on her arms.... I don’t think this is a very good man we're going to meet.

Through our walk I found out that this land is within the Kingdom of Aldain and ruled by humans like me. Lord Tyrule who is the apparent owner of Elyria is away right now on business as times are apparently hard in this small kingdom. Currently in a feud with another kingdom right now along with other circumstances, times have fallen quite hard on this particular household. I also learned that this Lord Tyrule has multiple women in his household and even a noble wife who apparently didn’t get along with Elyria. This fox woman had her only daughter sold into slavery several years ago and it was something that had pushed her into wanting to kill herself today as it was the anniversary of the day her little girl was taken away. That is until she met me and that somehow gave her some since of hope. Some since of reasoning to not kill herself she saw as some divine message from the Gods themselves. Even though she was once a shaman and trained to pray and become close to the Gods she had never actually met one. She thought of them as omnipotent existences that looked after the world. 'Honestly I think if she ever met Loki she would actually kill herself.'

Listening to her story I began to truly sympathize with her as she, like me, had lived a pretty cruel life so far. I guess I can’t blame her for wanting to kill herself either as I myself am someone who committed suicide just a bit ago.

When we made it through the forest we come to a clearing and a view of a large black castle sits on top of a hill. Though this is the home of a fallen noble it still is quite large in size. Seeing the castle, Elyria made a troubled face as she walked up to the side entrance. Walking through the castle she holds me close to her chest and tries to sneak through the corridors of the quiet building.

Upon walking through the dark candlelit hallway, a woman in a bright yellow dress accompanied by a guard appeared from around the corner.

“Oh...if it isn’t the castle whore! What’s that you have there.......wha....a baby?!” The woman dropped the fan she was holding and looking at the two of us in disgust.

“Yes.....This is Tyrule’s son........Vali. I was with a child until recently while you and he have been away. I wanted to leave it as a surprise for Tyrule so I didn’t tell any of the castle’s guards yet.” As Elyria said this she gripped my back much tighter into her chest. Who is this disgusting sounding woman? I’m assuming the first wife Elyria had briefly spoke of.......So this is the woman who asked to take Elyria’s child away.

“Wha!....Impossible! We haven’t even been gone long enough for you to have a child!”

“I’m a demi-human, our birth rates are not the same as those of humans and are usually much earlier.”

As Elyria said this I could hear her heart beating faster and faster. I can tell she’s nervous and does not want me to be taken away like her last child. Really this woman has had it rough it seems.

“As you can see Ms. Mira, he has Lord Tyrule’s blonde hair and and blue eyes. Though they shine a little more than his it must be because he has a lot of magic potential.”

“.......“ The woman shot daggers at Elyria, becoming angrier with each second. She stood there in silence thinking of something to say as the guard next to her also expressed his astonishment.

“Even if that is Tyrule’s son....... he will just be sold like that last one as his mother is garbage. Making the child itself a part of garbage.”

“You think Tyrule would give away his son, his human son? With war and the state of our household he could be a great asset to this family's future strength.”

“Tyrule has a son......my son. He doesn’t need some worthless child like this one, I’ll let Tyrule know of this at once.”

“You do that....”

As Elyria said this she walked past the two and around the corner of the corridor. Looking up at her I can see she seems very distressed and is trying to hold back her tears. Upon noticing me looking at her she smiles back and me and says

“Don’t worry......I promise I will protect you with my life. I won’t let anyone take you away and I’ll talk to Lord Tyrule about keeping you. It’ll be ok sweety.” She kissed my forehead and opened the door to a room. It was quite small with a tiny bed in the corner and a dresser on the other side. It had a small window to it but other than that, this was the extent of this room. Is this where she sleeps? Though she lives in a castle this is not very glamorous at all.

As she sat on her bed she pulled me away and looked into my eyes.

“My beautiful baby boy Vali. I promise to the Gods themselves that I will protect you from anything that comes. I swear it."

Elyria brought me closer to her again and hugged me through the long hours of the night. She continued to hold me until the two of us fell asleep in each other’s arms.

“Step.....step.....step...........”

I heard loud footsteps coming closer and closer to our room. Since this was one of the first nights I can remember that I fell asleep so easily I was angry that something had abruptly ruined that. I peer my head above Elyria’s shoulders and see the door opening up. It appears to be a guard of some kind. He had shaggy unkept blonde hair and facial hair. He had a disgusting look in his eyes as he looked towards us. Coming closer to us I glared at him trying to figure out what he’s up to.

He reaches.....for me. Upon picking me up he just turns around and puts me on the floor and begins to lean towards the bed where Elyria was sleeping......‘Don’t you fucking dare!’

“Mmmm.... Vali? Where’d you mmmgmgmmm?!!!” Elyria seemingly noticed I was no longer beside her wakes up to being gagged by this man’s hands.

“Quiet....”

SMACK!

The man backhands Elyria in the face and leans in closer to her while still covering her mouth.

“I’m not gonna say it twice, don’t make a fucking sound or I’ll kill you and the child! I paid fifty silver for this bitch!”

As her breaths become heavy she looks around the room and shakes her head back and forth frantically. Her eyes seem to be full of fear.

‘What is this guy thinking, isn’t he a guard in this castle and he’s going after the Lord’s mistress? What the hell is going on? Get off that woman this fucking second you pig!’

I can feel the rage setting in, it is an emotion I’m rather familiar with. As I try to crawl towards the bed it is too big for me to grip the boards and covers to pull myself up.....GOD why did I have to be reincarnated as a baby?

I hear the whimpers of my mom as the shadows of this man began to take off his clothes while wriggling his body and binding Elyria’s two hands over her head with his own. She’s frightened and turns her head over to me on the side of the bed and our eyes meet. As she looks into my eyes her face becomes calm as if she’s trying to tell me not to worry and that she’ll be ok....No... No this isn’t ok. Why are you so calm....How can you look so unafraid right now?! As my mind is gradually overwhelmed with anger, I can hear the sounds of chains rattling down the deep precipice of my mind. I began to shake with anger, and I can’t control it.

I’m so livid that I was brought into this world as a fucking baby. Why did Loki do this to me? Why am I being forced to watch this an not able to change it? Not being able to accept it any longer I struggle to get up the bed but to no avail. I can still hear Elyria struggling as the man is trying to rip off all her clothes. Wishing to be on top of this bed to be able to do something within the next instant my vision changes and my body is actually sitting on the corner of the bed behind the man on top of Elyria........What just happened?

Not giving a chance to think of it I crawled towards the side of where the man's clothes were. There was a dagger on his belt if I remember when he walked in. Trying to grab it without him noticing my presence I know I don’t have long to take this guy out before he harms Elyria further.

Her clothes have now been ripped out and the man is trying to position himself correctly to enter her. As I hear him laughing to himself that this is easy, I watched as the look of shock and horror enter his eyes as his whole body froze.

“Ughh,...GauhhhhhhAHHAHH!!”

I stabbed the dagger right into the man's right thigh. After studying some anatomy books I found that there is a major femoral artery in every human's thigh muscles and if punctured will cause a person to bleed out within minutes. Sometimes it’s even impossible to treat even with medical help on standby as severing the blood flow down someone's leg will cause a person to lose roughly 30% of his blood and die before he knew it.

As he arches his back backwards and screams loudly in pain, I’m not finished with this scum and won’t allow him to die so easily. I start to crawl up the side of his body. Doing so I can see my hands and notice my nails are now pointy and sharp and can feel my teeth now have sharp fangs. My mind is still racing and hasn’t even registered what’s happening to me as I’m too preoccupied with wanting to tear this person apart. Never before have I witnessed a rape but after the damage I saw my mom put through, I will not ever show remorse to a rapist in my last life or this one.

As I crawled up to his shoulder he now seeing my presence as the one who stabbed him, the look in his eyes go from shock to anger. He’s still confused and reaches to grab me but I don’t give him a chance as I bit into the man's bare neck as if it was as natural as breathing. I had no way of hurting this person as a baby but this, but I almost felt drawn to wanting to watch this man die in agony. I could still hear the chains in the dark corners of my mind rattling as I watched him grip his neck and fall back off the bed and covered in blood.

Wriggling around not being able to make any more sounds his breathing became erratic and slowly stopped moving. He is dead........This is the first person I’ve ever killed. Even in my last life I have never murdered a person yet.......I’m calm. Why am I so calm.........maybe I really am a monster. Turning back towards Elyria I see the dazed look in her eyes as she still cannot comprehend what happened. She looks back into my eyes with fear. It was a look I had received once before. It was the same look all the men back at the boxing gym gave me after I had lost it on one of the trainers. It was the look of disgust.....of horror. She probably couldn’t bear to...

“Vali........thank you so much for protecting mommy.” Elyria crawled towards me with her now tattered clothes leaned toward me and picked me up. She pulled me close to her bare chest and embraced me just as she did before.

‘Eh.....she......she’s not afraid of me?’

Though just moments before she had a look of pure fear looking at me as if she was looking at a devil. Now she was holding me tighter than she had before and and kissing the top of my head. I know just earlier I had ripped a man’s throat out with my teeth. I can’t imagine how she could see a child like that and want to embrace it. I know my form must have changed somehow as I could remember seeing my nails longer and fangs in my teeth. But as my state of mind returned to normal and my vision cleared, I could see that my hands were fine. No long creepy nails or fangs in my mouth. So what was that then?

“Shhhh.....it’s ok baby. Mommy’s right here, and she’s safe now. Thanks for taking care of me sweetheart........I don’t know what we’re going to do about this but I promise, everything’s going to be ok.” Pulling me away from her large and soft chest she looked me in the eyes and gave me that same warm, loving smile a mom would give her child and kissed my cheek.

“I’m telling you Dear she has been sleeping around with everyone in this whole castle see...........Oh my GOD!”

The door swung open and I heard the voice of that same disturbing woman from before. As she enters in the room she sees the blood all over the floor and the now fresh corpse with blood all over his neck and a knife in his leg. She is stunned and doesn’t understand what she’s seeing and then looks towards Elyria and I.

‘Interesting how this woman showed up casually after this man attempted to attack Elyria. No way that’s a coincidence. This bitch here must have set her up! This must not even be a guard, just some guy she just payed and tricked into coming in and raping her, until they arrived.'

“Now dear that’s imposs.......eh!”

Entering into the room was a blonde hair blue-eyed man with a fancy red robe. He looked to be in his forties and I’m assuming this is the Lord of the castle I have been hearing about up until this point. I’m guessing he has returned and this bitchy woman has been trying to set this up.

“What...What did you do? You killed one of the guards you were sleeping with as you heard us coming in to witness your treachery against my husband. How dare you, you harlot!’

“No.....Lord Tyrule this man came in to have his way with me and then.......” Elyria tried to explain herself but did not know how to explain how the man was killed. She looked down at me and noticed the blood that was around my face and tried to think of a logical excuse on the spot.

“Don’t even listen to this woman's lies Edwin! Look the guard has blonde hair just like that child’s, I just know it can’t be your own. It must have been one of the many men she’s laid with in your home!” The nasty wench in the yellow dress and brown hair looked at us with eyes filled with contempt. ‘Seriously what is with this woman and why does she hate Elyria so much?'

“I.....I see.....It is hard to imagine my Elyria would betray me but this is hard to refute with the evidence like this."

The older man looks at the corpse, then at me Elyria then at me. He seems to be surprised that there is blood on my face and must think of me as nothing more than an animal. The same as he apparently sees other demi-humans. Though I know I look like a human he apparently must be quite whipped by this woman to accept her words so willingly. This is also the woman that somehow talked him into giving up his own daughter apparently.

“But Lord Tyrule this is your SOugh....”

“Don’t let this whore speak another word in my husband's castle! Gag her immediately and take her out into the castle square!”

As the guards poured into the room and walked past the man and woman standing there they reached and bound Elyria with a clothe in her mouth and rope around her wrists. I can see the look of such pain in her eyes as she looks at the Lord of the castle with pleading eyes. Though he doesn’t seem to be willing to listen to her cries.

Another guard picks me up and I try to wiggle away as I reach towards Elyria and she reaches back towards me. Having just met Elyria I don’t want to part from her just yet. I feel this amazing warm feeling when I was next to her I have never had in my past life and I can’t let them take her away from me.

As were both brought outside in the square of the castle gates, Elyria was thrown to the ground and she rolls to her side unable to get up as her limbs are tied.

“Come dear, show what happens to those who betray my husband's trust.....my husband's love!” The bitch leaned onto her husband and caressed his cheek and this causes him to bow up as if trying to prove himself to his wife and all the guards surrounding her. A large stick of iron is given to him by one of the guards next to him and is glowing orange from being heated under a fire. It is a large metal block with some design on it but it is hard to make out.

Before I know what happens the man Edwin takes the iron rod and presses it into the side of Elyria’s face. As smoke begins to rise from her cheeks I hear her screams through the gag in her mouth. She rolled trying to get away from what is happening to her but the guards stepped on her and held her down.

‘MMMMMMmmmmmHmmmm!” The cries of Elyria break my heart. I try to break free but the guard holding me wont let me go. I struggle as much as my body will let me but nothing happens.

‘I swear to God I’m going to kill every last one of you!’

“Now let that whore’s bastard child be with his mother. It is a fitting end for them both. I always knew she was garbage dear. “

“Yes....I agree. Guards release the lying wench's child and grab a stone. We will end this treachery in my household TONIGHT!”

Letting me go I crawl as fast as I could to the fox woman Elyria. Still tied up and unable to move I crawl up close to her face and put my hand on her cheek and letting her know I’m here with her. I can feel tears forming in my eyes as I look at the pain these horrible excuses for humans have done to her. It’s enough to make me hate my own race. The entire right side of her face is ruined. The upper part of her face around her eye has been melted off and the right eye that once had a beautiful shade of emerald green was now chalk white and oozing with white puss. She looked at me with tears coming out of her one eye as if trying to tell me she was sorry. No..... I’m sorry. I couldn’t even help you and you’ve done so much for me in this short time. You didn’t even know me a few hours ago.

A guard comes over and cuts the ropes binding her and she immediately wraps her arms around me and embraces me. She’s trembling and telling me everything is going to be ok and that she wont let me go. I can feel her body pulsating as rocks are now being thrown at the two of us and she is covering my whole body with hers. I can feel the force of some of these rocks colliding with her back through her chest as I can tell it is causing her great pain.

‘Why.....WHY.....WHY am I being forced to go through this?! Why did Loki leave me here....’

Thinking to myself I quickly gather that Loki did not drop me off here to find love and attachment like I had previously thought. He had brought me here to see this world’s treachery with my own eyes. I thought he wanted me to form some loving bond and live a happy childhood but I was wrong. He wanted me to see the true horrors of this world and how cruel it can be.

Elyria just keeps gripping me tighter as the sounds of the guards laughing and yelling out profanities towards us. Why...why is this woman holding me so tight and protecting me. Why me? Why go through such troubles to protect someone like me? This women.......no.......my mom is truly a special person. Though I had a mother in my last life I never got to see what it was like to be truly loved by a parent. Though she was around, not like my father, I could tell being around me was painful for her. She may have loved us in her own way but she overdosed on drugs and left us. But this woman Elyria......My new mom, loved me so much she’d rather die right here than part with me. It was enough to break my heart right there.

Looking at the guards hurling rocks at us while being completely protected by my mom I can see a small glowing purple bird. It’s a familiar shade of purple I’ve seen before. It looks a lot like that one girl Hlökk’s hair that I have seen before. At that moment I begin to think this crow like bird must be something related to Loki and beam daggers at it as if wondering if he’s going to do anything. He hasn’t even came to greet me since I got here what did he expect me to do being born in this fuckers land!

The light purple crow, which sat on top of the castle wall stared back at me with its golden eyes. It began to flutter its wings casually and then dropped down the large wall and onto the ground as if it were falling. Immediatley following this however a large roar coming from behind the gate erupted and large black dragon like creature crashed through the top of the gate destroying it crashing into the castle square.

“ROARRRRR!!!!!!!”

This wyverian type creature which now landed in the middle of the square only several meters away from where we were looked around confused as if looking for prey it had lost track of. Seeing the guards that were now in its full view widened its eyes as if decided the meal in front of it was much better.

“Wha.....A black wyverian species.....he-here?!! Gu-Guards!!!! Attack it now at once! Don’t let it spew its toxic gas around or it’ll melt your skin off!”

Edwin Tyrule yelled this to his men as he cannot believe what he had seen. He looked into the red eyes of the 15 meter black wyverian as if it was an impossible sight. If I remember correctly wyverians weren’t that difficult to deal with in Divine and Conquer and I have even dealt with many rare variants of the species but seeing one up close is truly monsterous.

The bitch woman and Lord Tyrule ran back towards the castle as the guards drew their swords and shields against the monster.

“ROAARRRRRRRRRRRRR!" The black wyverian spewed out of his mouth a large black mist that shot out like a laser towards the four men to its right engulfing them entirely.

“WAHHHHHHH!!!”

“AAHHHhhhhhhh!!!"

“My......My armmmmmmm!”

Looking over towards the guards who had touched by the black mist were now nothing like they had appeared two seconds ago. Their limbs were oozing and smoky as their arms turned to a gooey like substance and melted with no resistance at all. While one collapsed holding his arm where his hand and sword used to be the others are already lying on the ground as their legs were completely gone.

‘Wow.......Such firepower in one breath...’

Thinking of what is in front of me is truly terrifying. I have never seen a creature like this in my life. It is something that looks even more intimidating than the two demons I had met before. While growling and moving its body it started to jump and attack the other group of guards that had filled the castle square. There had to be roughly 50 soldiers collected in this square and the black wyverian that hopped around like a dog playing with it’s toy were being mercifully eating and torn to shreds in front of me and my mother.

While my mother and I are both frozen staring at the beast, a slender figure wrapped in a hood and cloak was walking very quickly towards our direction. Paying no mind to the outside chaos from before she casually grabs my mothers arm and pulls her off with her. My mom not knowing how to respond at first struggles but due to this cloaked figure’s persistence she easily didn't refuse. It was much better than the alternative.

Being pulled away out of the wreckage of the castle gate we could still hear the screams and cries of the men behind us fighting to their deaths. As the figure who was holding my mother's hand continues forward I can see light purple hair fluttering in the wind from the side of her cloak.

‘I’m sure now......this cloaked figure is Hlökk. But why did she wait this long to do something. Why did she allow this to happen! I swear I better get some damn answers fast or Loki is gonna be added to a list of individuals I have been wanting to kill for a very long time’

The women after walking past the gate with us and around the castle wall flicks her wrist and a familiar ripple appears tearing through space itself. She motions for us to go into the gate of light. My mother seemingly confused at what powerful magic she’s seeing for the first time. she holds me tightly and bites her lip. After entering through the gate a bright blinding light occurs and within a second we are in a secluded forest clearly far away from where we had been. This bizarre teleportation magic I’ve seen before. The sounds of screams can no longer be heard and the forest we're in has a natural fluorescent glow to it. Fireflies are floating in the distance and the leaves and trees are a beautiful shade of glowing green. They look similar to my mothers eye’s actually.

While I and my mother are amazed at the sight in front of us were speechless at looking at such a beautiful sight. There only a few dozen meters away was a small secluded house hidden away from the world.

The cloaked figure then walks in front of us and takes off her hood revealing herself to be the woman I knew as Hlökk.

“Before you say anything...... I know that you're furious with me. But I had no idea that was going to happen and which is why I lured in that smog wyverian.”

“Ugh....Um well that's alright. I’m not furious however, just very confused.”

“.....I am sorry miss. But I was not speaking to you. I was speaking to that small child there.”

“You mean Vali?’

“Vali?........Well, yes I suppose it’s natural you would name him. Well......rather, I am Hlökk. I am a Valkyrie in service of God Loki. This boy here holds the blessing of Loki and is henceforth protected here while he is growing.”

“Whaaaa? He.....He was blessed by a God.....and the God of Mischief? How amazing!” As my mom looked at her shocked, she couldn’t believe the small boy she was holding was one of the rare beings in this world truly protected by the Gods.

“But....you spoke as if you.....knew Vali?”

“.......Yes.......we have met before. I’m sure you can see that this boy can comprehend the things you are saying, clearly showing intelligence much more than his age should allow? Well though it's due to a number of reasons.”

Stopping as if deciding on how to explain herself she looks at me while pondering to herself. I glared at her as I don’t want her to reveal too much to her just yet. Though I don’t really have a problem with people learning I’m from another world. In fact I imagine myself wanting to tell her this one day soon when I can talk. However, for now......I rather enjoy this woman thinking of me as her child. It’s a strange feeling completely new to me. It is something I want to enjoy if not for just a little while longer.

“Well.....as one of his blessings from God Loki he has the ability to use a universal language and understand any sentient race in this world. I assume that is why he is able to understand you when you talk......amongst other reasons.”

Hlökk mumbled the last part softly to herself..........ha...I guess this woman has a problem with lying to people.

“Wow....amazing! Your saying he really could understand me all this time! Vali you truly are amazing....I love you so much!”

As she put my had over her left shoulder she hugged me as if trying not to show me her appearance. I could tell she was insecure about her face and didn’t want me to see.

Thinking about this fact I looked back at Hlökk and glared at her. Trying to tell her my feelings with my thoughts. If Loki won't help this woman who cared for me I’m going to punch his teeth out the next time I see him.

“I know what your thinking...... I am a Valkyrie, I was made for battle and do not have healing abilities. And I cannot interfere more than I already have. It is known to those from our realm that interfere too often or too much in this world could descend from Godhood if what we do is too severe. And then forced to live out our days here.....I am sorry.......And Loki did not know this was going to happen to you. He cannot tell the future....as far as I know. I just know that he chose this woman to be your mother that is all. He must have......had an idea of her treatment, Ka.....Vali.......I’m truly sorry! Please believe that.”

Thinking over the thoughts she said to me it is something I can't accept. She said that they could descend....COULD! To me that just means it’s possible. ‘Ugh....Loki did say the truce between the Gods was a tricky and confusing one. But he somehow managed to wiggle around it so there must be room to find a way to heal this woman. Don’t give me that crap that you Gods can’t do a thing for her!’

“It’s ok!.......I’m ok. Though....my face is ruined, for the first time since I can remember I’m truly happy. Sob.....Sob.....”

My mother cried and held me in her arms with tears rushing down her face. Though she has no sadness in sadness in her eyes. She had a look of relief.......a look of comfort. She said she had been in the castle for years, and after being treated so poorly she finally found herself a child she could call her own, and a home away from all the grief and sadness. Kneeling on the ground and finally realizing she had been saved.

She held onto me and cried into the starry night while not letting go. Being fully enveloped into her chest as she embraced me I could smell such a sweet scent going through my nose and a warm feeling I was still not use to surrounding my body. This was a love I had never experienced in my past life and was something I swore to myself I wouldn’t lose in this one.

‘I swear....By the Gods of this world and my own, I swear I will find a way to heal you. And protect you.....you my mother...sob....sob.... I swear that I will become strong in this world to where no one will ever be able to harm you again! While those who did this to you will receive a pain much worse then death.............I swear it!’

With tears coming out of my eyes that flowed for the woman I now accept as my mother, we sat there holding each other through the long hours into the night.

End of Chapter