All Your Fates (Currently editing/updating)

Chapter 13: The Valkyrie ~ Randy Astle

Chapter 13 –The Valkyrie

MUSIC TRACK LIST:

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – Requiem, Sequentia #1: Dies Irae

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqaARDsiJv4)

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DAVID’S POV

Man, was I glad to get out of that place. I kept having images of getting turned into a newt as I groped along for the door—some perverted Monty Python joke or something. I don’t know how long I was in there, but when I finally got outside I saw the sun was fading, the first stars showing overhead. I didn’t know which way it was back to Pepper’s hut, but damned if I was going there. I was a little worried about the baby, I admit, especially since he was a dude, but I figured this was his universe too and he’d probably be just fine—better than if I tried to go kidnap him or something.

So, find Emma. Or even just shelter. Of course the witch hadn’t answered any questions about her; she just wanted to talk about her boy toy. I was getting more and more steamed about it as I walked deeper into the woods—away from that house and safe from her stupid magic. I mean, how did she know my last name, some stupid mind-meld Voodoo trick? And what, I mean what about all that warning stuff? Beware people who say you can’t travel between parts of the multiverse? That’s, like, everyone I ever met. I mean, it’s the most dickish in people like Gabriel, stupid Gabriel, who should definitely know better, who should understand how commonality works in the multiverse, and who it seemed was hell-bent on destroying happiness for both Emma and me. But it’s not just him—nobody even thinks this stuff is possible. And beware someone without a fate? She’s just baiting me because she knows Emma was hidden from the—

Wait. How would she know that? Jeez. This lady was screwing with my mind. “Get out of my head!” I yelled out loud. There was no echo, nothing. I looked around, and for the first time really saw where I was.

Nowhere. Just trees, trees, trees, and the light was fading fast. I turned around, surveying the view . . . but there was nothing. No light from the village. Nothing. Just trees, shrubs, and, and… That’s when I noticed the silence. There was no sound at all. No crickets, no breeze even, nothing. I kinda gulped, took a deep breath, but I could do this. A little dark and quiet couldn’t faze me, not after everything I’d seen and done since I met Emma. I decided to keep going the same way I was already headed. My footsteps crunched on the pine needles and twigs. Crunch, crunch, cru—

Fwaap-fwaap-fwaap! “Shit!” Something was banging up against my head, beating it! Crap! “Get off!” It moved away, into a tree a few yards away. It didn’t hurt, but it scared the living crappola outta me. “Shit!” I yelled. What the, what was that?!

I looked over into the tree. There was some kind of black shape moving in the branches, making them wave around, rustling. What was that? I took a step closer.

Caw! Caw! The bird beat its wings and took off, flying just over my shoulder. I breathed a sigh of relief. A raven. I found I was breathing hard. Just a bird, I started telling myself. It was just a bird. I almost laughed—but, you know what, I think this little corner of the multiverse had just about worn out its welcome with me. Okay, David, I told myself, you can do this. Just find a stupid lean-to or a cave or something.

Whhish. I felt another breeze move just over my head. Stupid bird, I’m not giving you any peanuts, or whatever the hell ravens want. Another tree was waving back and forth, and I could make out the dark form of the bird in the last of the sunlight. But the tree looked pretty bent, and I thought I saw something moving in two or three places. Must be a flock now. Great, it’s going to turn into Hitchcock. I started to laugh again, but I heard something I couldn’t quite place. SSSSHHhhhhhiiiing. It was the slow, distinct sound of metal sliding against metal, like the sound of a sword coming out of a scabbard in the movies. Birds don’t have scabbards, right?