A/n; bamm second ruff for this weekend!

Howling Thunder Ch25: Berserker

-------------------------------------------------

Holding the lovely, cream tailed girl’s arms, “Make yourself at home here, you can do as you like and not bother with anyone. With a shop like this your work will be famous in no time! I’ll rarely be around the castle anyway so having you protected by the Anubi here will be much easier on my mind.”

Lupa mutters quietly enough so only I can hear, “I’m all yours…”

Next she slaps her own cheeks and straightens her back. Turning to Copper she yells and points to the workshop, “Hey you little nameless shit, didn’t Patra tell you to unpack those crates an hour ago?!”

I can’t help but admire the way her dress so perfectly hugs her hips as she walks away.

“Aghrm,” Ulfa is waiting by the door, “Come on Nox, you can make pups later, we still need to make one more stop today.”

As I exit the door I immediately poke my head back in to catch Lupa gently smiling while looking at a flowering palm plant. Spotting me, she pokes out her tongue then heads to the workshop to yell at Copper more.

Outside I mention to the driver, “I want this shop under guard at all times. No one is allowed to cause trouble here, especially the Nico and Turul tribes for the time being. Until the army returns I want it double so.”

She bows, “Of Course Lord Nox, we won’t shirk protecting our tribe’s future.”

The only stop we make on our way out of the craft district is at a small carpenter shop. The owl tribesmen inside takes an order of a full set of furniture from The Darkwood for my tower.

Back in the wagon, I ask Ulfa, “So where are we headed now?”

She stretches out on the bench across from me and uses her long, bare legs to point out the window, “The Bastion, home of the young Valkyries in training.”

Out the window I can see the statue of a woman with massive wings, her body in an armor that barely covers her at all. Her hands hold a massive spear which extends over the road. After a moment we pass a similar statute, still winged, but a different style of armor. Out the other window, another winged woman in armor, each one holding their own unique spear.

I poke my head out the roof to look down the road. The statues line the road, each one unique, at the end a massive, barred gate. The walls beside the gate curve up, eventually joining the grand perimeter wall of Yoden.

On the other side of the wall I can see a massive tower, built into the very walls of Yoden. It reaches high in the sky, I can almost make out figures flying around it. Within Yoden’s walls, several castle like floors of buildings are built between the tower and wall. Archways line the open sided hallways connecting the buildings. Everything built with the pristine white stone to match Yoden’s castle up on the plateau.

Women can be seen milling about in the arches, along the street, up on the walls, and even more sailing through the air on various wings from several races.

Upon reaching the gate, two guard women stop us, their armor different from the city or royal guard. They appear to be personal sets with no similarities between them.

One calls out, “No men allowed past this point.”

Clearly she means me, Ulfa gets out, “I’m here to allow Champion Nox to meet Miss Zmaj and have her begin active training.”

Both guards seem surprised, one looks to the other, “So that rumor is true, she was really chosen!”

The other turns back to me, “Very well, please dismount and follow me.”

I hop down and glance at this guard, she seems to be of some ram tribe, her feet are actual hooves, two curled horns poke out from her shaggy white hair. Obviously she has no wings.

Ulfa guesses my question, “Valkyries don’t just have wings, those not born with them must earn them. And should an Avian tribe girl earn the same privilege, their arms separate from their wings becoming similar to the harpy race.”

The guard adds on, “We come here when we are young, orphans every last one of us...such is the noble girls of Yoden’s dismay. They think this is some kind of play school or something.”

As she mentions this a loud bang sounds from near by, two women are sparing. A massive club just collided with the opponent's tower shield. Not far away, many pairs can be seen giving everything they have to defeat their partners.

Scratching the scruff of my chin, “I was expecting more spear users based on the statues.”

Even now the grand sculptures line the main path, each one seems to be larger than the last. Up ahead, a single massive statue sits in the center of the square.

Ulfa notices my gaze, “That, is Gunnr, the wolf valkyrie, Matron Goddess of the bastion. She’s quite nice although...she’d get along great with your sister.”

The woman in stone has plated metal armor that, once again, barely covers anything past her privates. Each piece is lined with fur and a wolf’s tail falls from under her armored skirt. Once more this statue features great feathered wings and a spear.

The guard ,”As for the spear, it is presented once a trainee begins service to a god. The spear crafted in accordance with the god’s will.”

Ulfa nods, “Miss Zmaj will receive hers today, I had the specifications and materials delivered a year ago. It was crafted by Madam Klea herself.”

A look of pure envy flashes through the guard’s eyes as she clenches her fists, I catch her mutter, “I wish I would be chosen already.”

Reaching the base of the statue, which is a bit larger than I first thought, a woman in a dress walks around to meet us. Her hair is silver, at her back a pair of silver feathered wings.

She smiles, “I am Eir, one of the eternal elders here in this bastion. We have been eager for your arrival Young Alpha Nox. It’s always a fine day when another young woman can truly begin her service to the gods.”

A moment later, a pair of women bring out a long wooden case and lean it against the statue of Gunnr. While I think this seems a bit disrespectful, other girls begin to gather from around the courtyard. Finally a single girl walks from around the statue, flanked by two others in dresses. The way her eyes seem to dart gives the impression that she’s nervous.

The first thing that stands out to me is that this girl already has wings, and they’re covered with delicate, bluish grey scales. The scales match the color of her skin. Her hair is deeper ash grey, also with hints of blue, and loosely weaved into a braid that reaches her hips. A pair of white horns curve back tightly against her head and arc up with a slight inward curl.

Her armor is light like the others, blue, plated metal covers her breasts and waist. Delicate looking chainmail hangs from each, from her breasts it forms a top which loosely rests on her shoulders and reveals her mid section. From the waist it appears like a skirt, at a distance it could be mistaken for silver silk. After glancing at the reptilian wings I look at her legs. It isn’t the sharply heeled, armored long boots that catch my eye so much as the whip like, grey scaled tail.

Vertical pupiled eyes catch my wandering gaze, they glimmer in a deep, gemstone blue. A touch of red blush shows on her cheeks.

Eir stands beside the wooden box, “Moranna Zmaj, you know what this means. Claim your spear and begin your final training.”

The girl...this dragon of a girl steps forward and opens the box. Inside is a spear that seems to be wholly crafted from bone, the shaft a single piece, the head seems made from a spine which comes to a needle like tip. I’ve no idea what huge beast would have a bone that long. The weapon seems to suck all the warmth from the air.

She doesn’t look away from the spear but neither does she reach for it.

Her soft voice almost seems to quiver in fear, “From what creature do these bones come from?”

Ulfa says only two words, “Your father.”

Audible gasps can be heard from the crowd. Eir looks to the spear with a bit of shock.

Moranna steels her expression and firmly grabs the spear. In the moment her hand clasps the hilt, icy wisps coil up towards the head. First it simply frosts over, then the frost becomes solid and continually builds until a massive icicle coats spinal bone tip. Snow seems to fall from the spear head onto her arm.

The eternal elder seems about to speak but Moranna spins around, different look in her eyes, not a single trace of the nervousness or shyness from before.

Her entire body seems to give off a cold pressure, “Lord Nox, I’ll have to ask you to duel me. I will know the power of this spear here and now.”

I laugh, a swirl of black mist spikes up at my side revealing my trident, “As you wish Miss Moranna.”

She gives a wide smile revealing several fangs, “Call me Mora!”

With that, the dragon girl strikes forward in a vicious lunge aimed for my throat!

-------------

A/n: woooot, Mora!!! I'll tweet the super obvious visual inspiration for her.

lol anyway as always stoked for the comments. did anyone catch the last chapter title "Babes" in toy land...get it?...ok i'll go crawl in a hole.

lol anyway stoked I got two chaps out this weekend as well as a chap of the side story! go find that other animus title if you'd like to know how Nox would act in another world one with monsters that come out of balls and fight each other...

fun thought, if reviewers updated their reviews from time to time