Beneath the Dragoneye Moons

Nina clutched Iona’s waist, utterly terrified.

Valkyries were supposed to ride, like, horses and shit, or maybe even a triceratops.

Nobody had said anything about fuck-off huge wyverns!

Sure, she was strapped in, but the inches-thick leather looked practically flimsy next to the wyvern’s sheer size.

Her belly, full for the first time in years, completely overrode any thoughts of this possibly being a bad idea. No idea that resulted in Nina getting a full meal was a bad idea - even if the swaying and jostling of the wyvern was threatening to divest her of lunch.

Never. Nina swore to herself, locking her muscles down.

She’d never let this meal go, and the warm feeling that was more than just hot food.

Fenrir flapped again, and the sun hit Nina square in the face again. She squinted and turned her head.

The fucking sun.

Nina had never seen the sun before, Sanguino constantly shaded by Ashes. She’d heard story after story about it, which always detailed how beautiful and warm it was.

Not that it was as miserable as a copper’s boot to the face.

“Almost there!” Her Valkyrie called out, and Nina’s lunch lurched as the mighty beast - Fenrir! That was his name! - dove down.

Nina screwed her eyes shut as the ground came rushing up towards them, trusting that Iona and Fenrir knew what they were doing, but not wanting to see it happen.

The landing was as soft as a feather. Nina cracked her eyes open, eager to see the famed castle of the Valkyries.

She saw… nothing. A mountain, with a third of its trees bowled over, the circle of life already hard at work. A few larger clearings, a campfire, a steely-grey pile, a woman, and a bird on fire.

Must’ve been some skill or another. Nobody seemed distressed or alarmed at the little flitting fireball.

Nina killed the crushing disappointment building up in her.

If she couldn’t see the castle, maybe it was invisible! That made a lot of sense to her!

She cast [Examine] on the two, surprised at the result.

[Mage - 520] from the… bird?

Nina checked again, getting the same result.

[*ding!* [Examine] leveled up! 30 -> 31]

Huh.

She checked the person.

[Healer - 256]

[*ding!* [Examine] leveled up! 31 -> 35]

Whoa! Nina had no idea why that happened, but levels! [Examine] was famously hard to level up, and four from one person!

Iona stood up on Fenrir’s back, and turned to Nina.

“Hey, do you need any help getting down?” She asked.

Even if this somehow wasn’t a test, Nina didn’t want to be a burden. She didn’t want to show weakness.

On the streets, people who showed weakness were relentlessly mobbed, beaten, then left for dead. Vulnerabilities existed to be exploited, and Nina had done more than her fair share of it. An illusion of a crying kid to get people to drop their guard, followed by a swift blow to the back of the head.

That life was hopefully behind her, but years of survival instincts were only muffled by a single good meal and hope. They were nowhere close to dead and buried.

She wanted to show Iona that she could do it herself, that she’d be able to at least unbuckle herself.

Nina shook her head, the illusion overlaying her mimicking her every move.

“No, I think I’ve got it.” She said.

“Alright, shout if you need anything.” Iona bent her knees and jumped off the wyvern. Nina watched in awe as hundreds of pounds of coordinated muscle flew through the sky.

One day, that’d be her.

First, the buckles.

Nina did her best to split her attention between watching Iona, her Valkyrie, interact with this new person, and figuring out how all these thrice-damned buckles were put together!

Nina liked to think of herself as a people person. Seeing the tangled web of relationships, seeing how people interacted with each other, was a vital skill. Nothing worse than misjudging who was part of a group when getting into a fight.

It would take the blindest idiot not to realize the two women’s relationship. They were lovers, made clear by how enthusiastically they greeted each other. So maybe they were just here to pick her up, then keep going on to wherever the Valkyrie’s castle was?

That made sense to the kitsune.

The flaming bird flew over to Nina as she was cursing the buckle.

“Donkey-fucking stupid corn nuts!” The kitsune swore as the buckle just tightened, instead of loosened.

“Brrrpt?” Up close, the little bird was clearly a hummingbird, and had a bunch of different colored flames. Nina leaned back from the bird, and started to struggle against the straps.

Level 500 on a bird? That was a walking calamity. The [Mage] tag combined with the level implied that it had killed a lot of things, and birds weren’t famous for their intelligence or restraint. The moment it saw Nina as food, prey, or easy experience, her time as a squire would be over.

And Iona didn’t seem to notice what was going on!

Nina struggled against the restraints, trying to break out, rapidly flickering through her mental category of illusions.

What would scare the bird off? What would bore the bird into leaving?

Nina threw a bad illusion of a door over her. The door itself was a work of art, a fine one Nina had sneaked close to a modest business to copy in detail, but it was how it was presented that was a disaster. It wouldn’t fool anyone with a brain - four doors connected to each other, a blank void above, on top of a wyvern’s saddle? - but it should be enough to trick the bird into leaving her alone.

She stared at the hummingbird through the illusion.

“Brrrpt…” The bird… shook its head at her!?

Then a dozen flaming hands appeared around Nina, and closed in on her.

She didn’t scream. Screaming was how you got people to know there was a problem, and they’d join in on the beating. Instead she lashed out at the hands, determined to go down fighting.

Not that her punches did anything to the flaming fists. They swarmed around her, and-

Nina had been braced and ready for the punches, the grabs, an initiation beating. She was not ready for the hands to expertly undo all of the buckles, instantly freeing her.

“Brrrpt!” The little bird flew over to Fenrir’s head, and the two started chattering together.

The kitsune started, and shrugged.

Maybe that wasn’t a homicidal bird.

Nina didn’t even think to look the gift bird in the mouth. Things fell off carts all the time in Sanguino, and people who asked questions got a mouth filled with broken teeth at best.

She nimbly climbed down the ropes on Fenrir’s harness, marveling at how easy it was. No slick tiles, no broken bricks, no questionable handholds.

Was this what it was like, being rich? Not having to worry about things falling out from under her?

Nina was still half-convinced she was in a dream. Ying Long, [Crime Lord] of the Three Dragons Triad, must’ve noticed her lurking outside the casino. He’d thrown a powerful illusion over her, giving her one last moment of hope before ripping it all away, a cruel form of torture.

The kitsune reassured herself that it was too weird. Anyone trying to trick her would’ve had the illusion go to Castle Stormwatch or something, not… a clearing in the middle of a mountain.

Nina walked over to Iona, noting how short the other woman was.

Their relationship was probably also a working one. Stories of Valkyries escorting healers around from village to village were some of the least popular stories of the famed order, but they did exist.

There were worse fates than boring escort work. Nina bounded up, determined to make a good impression on the Valkyrie’s lover - and on Iona herself, by extension.

Her thought process was simple. A healer, with a Valkyrie? Protection was clearly the name of the game, and that was the role Nina believed she’d be taking. She’d still be hitting people over the head for money, but it was a socially acceptable way of hitting people over the head for money. That made all the difference.

As Nina approached, the healer started, and turned her side to the kitsune, pointing out a single finger at her.

“Hey love, you know there’s a girl under the illusion, yeah?” She asked.

Iona nodded.

“Yup. Nina, no need to be disguised here.”

Nina instantly obeyed, not wanting to find out what happened if she disobeyed the Valkyrie. Best case would be a light beating, which really wasn’t so bad, but she didn’t want to disappoint.

The healer’s reaction turned on a dime.

“Oooh, you poor thing. Here, this should feel better.”

Nina shuddered as tingles went through her body; her fingers shifted slightly, her broken and poorly fixed nose wrenched itself back into position, and so much pain just left.

The poor teenager had no idea how much low level pain she’d been living with until it all left. It was like gauze had been removed from her eyes, and she could see again. Her mind, no longer overburdened by a thousand screaming signals, could think.

Nina wasn’t particularly religious, but she sent a prayer of thanks to Argyra the Silver-Tongued, patron Goddess of thieves and crooks, thanking her for sending a healer her way.

She mentally frowned.

Iona might not like her praying to the goddess of thieves and crooks. Maybe it was time to find a new deity to worship? Was there a goddess of Valkyries?

Wasn’t the time for it. She needed to thank the healer, make a good first impression.

Nina drew herself up, thumping her chest. She didn’t know how Valkyries saluted, and had no helmet to tilt.

Good first impression, good first impression.

“Hi! I’m Nina! When Iona’s not around, you can rely on me to protect you!” She boldly proclaimed.

Iona and the woman traded amused looks, and burst into laughter together. Nina wilted, hot embarrassment flushing over her cheeks.

Why?

What had she done wrong?

It was so unfair. Just as things were starting to go well.

She fought back hot tears that threatened to spill over.

Show no weakness, show no weakness.

Iona figured out what was wrong sooner, and stopped. The giantess clapped a massive hand on Nina’s shoulder, giving a look to her lover.

“Do you want to do the introductions, or should I?” The healer asked.

Iona shook her head.

“It's your accomplishment, you should do it.”

The healer grinned at Nina, and stuck out a hand.

“Hi! War Sentinel Dawn, pleased to meet you!”

Nina swayed slightly at that, her ears understanding the words but her brain not comprehending. Iona’s steadying grip on her shoulder was all that kept her up.

War Sentinel? Her?

But… but…

Nina wanted to die of embarrassment. There was no reason to think the two of them were lying, and of course a Valkyrie would be shacking up with someone incredible.

She’d just suggested she could protect a War Sentinel. What would Iona think? Probably that she was stupid.

Wait. Hand still out.

Nina mechanically shook Dawn’s hand. The healer grinned at her.

“You can also call me healer.”

Nina scrunched up her eyebrows, confused. Wasn’t…?

The War Sentinel pulled her hand back and sighed. Nina trembled, worried she’d done something wrong, waiting for the blow.

Iona opened her mouth, and Nina flinched.

“Healer’s name is literally Elaine.” She explained. “It’s a really long story.”

The healer - no, Elaine - grimaced.

“Believe me, no fun. Call me Dawn or Elaine, they both work. This here’s Auri.”

“Brrrpt!” The little hummingbird flew over to Elaine, perching on her shoulder. She waved a jaunty wing at the little kitsune.

“She’s a phoenix.” Elaine confided, and Nina felt like her world had been rocked again.

Not a hummingbird with a fire skill.

A phoenix.

What was next, a dragon?

Nina involuntarily thought of her ride over.

Nope.

Nevermind.

Dragon was basically covered.

Iona was giving her a look, but Nina had no idea how to interpret it.

“Elaine, as I was saying, this is Nina. She’s asked to become my squire, and I’ve said yes. Going to have to train her up a bit.”

War Sentinel Dawn gave Nina a different, appraising look, then grinned.

“Hey! I think I solved our water issue!”

Nina did not like the sound of that, not at all.

But if that’s what it took to stay here, if that’s what it took to be a [Squire], then Nina would haul water all day, every day.

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