The Valkyrie

“Hello, my shining star, come forward now, open your eyes, it is time to do what you were created to do.”

“Father?”

“Yes my love, my sword and shield?”

“What do you desire? How can I serve you?”

“My precious child, you were not created to serve, but to protect this world and all its children. You are the bringer of light, and the sword of righteousness.”

“Yes Father, point me to your enemies, allow me to fulfill my destiny, and strike down those who threaten your children.”

“One day, you will. But before you can, you must do two things.”

“Anything Father.”

“You must go, take up your holy blade and live among them. Make a life for yourself, see with your own eyes who they are, and why they must be protected.”

“Father, who threatens them, tell me now so I can end the threat and return to your side where I belong.”

“My precious child, if I told you now, you would not understand. Go give among them, my shining star, and when the threat comes, you will know who the enemy is, and you will know to act.”

“And the second thing?”

“Promise me, when the time comes that you know what must be done. You do not hesitate.”

“Yes Father.”

She opened her eyes, blinking in the bright morning sun for the first time. Before her, in the center of a battle, stood a horned God, two heads taller than the largest man there. A great expanse of antlers crowning his head, his broad chest, dripping with sweat and the blood of his enemies. The small group rallying around him, dressed in ragged furs, with barely a weapon among them, waded fearlessly into their fight. They were not deterred by their enemies’ superior numbers or their better weapons. They ignored grievous wounds that should have stopped their fight, so great was their ferocity.

Inspired by their bravery and his beauty, she sprang to her feet and joined the battle without hesitation. She had no way of knowing if she was on the side of the righteous, and she remembered nothing before the moment she opened her eyes and saw him. She only knew in her very soul that this magnificent being could never be on the side of the unjust, and that she would follow him into battle wherever he might lead.

Leaping across the small clearing and drawing Kilij Shuurga, the Sword of the Storm. God’s first and most beloved angel, the shining star of the morning, waded into battle.