Queen of Hel

Chapter 7: The Queen

"Do it again," Victor tells me.

I breath in and concentrate. All my senses amplify before settling. I feel shapes growing on my back, expanding. I open my eyes and see the shadow of two large wings spread out behind me. I pull the wings in, and let them close behind me.

I close my eyes again and let my senses go crazy again and feel the weight disappear from my back. When I open my eyes, I don't see the shadows of the wings anymore and I was able to stand up a bit straighter. With every time I do this, I feel like I get a bit stronger.

"When can I actually learn to fly?" I ask my father.

"Soon," He responds. "Day after tomorrow."

"Why then and not now?" I complain.

Vidor looks at me and says, "Because you changed too early. Your body isn't fully ready and flying could kill you if you do it now."

My brow wrinkles in confusion. "Really? Why?"

He sighs. "Because right now you are more human than you are Valkyrie or goddess. After tomorrow you will be one quarter human, which is what you were born as. If you try to fly while you are too much human, the lack of oxygen could kill you. That or the strain. Your wings are designed to fly at speeds that would rip apart the human body."

I shake my head and walk over to the door. It was almost sunset, and getting a bit colder. With each day that I am out here, the yard becomes more and more of a constraint than an area to practise.

I had asked my mom at one point why the neighbors weren't asking questions about seeing black wings every day. It's not like we were exactly hidden from view. The answer I got was 'I have my ways.' When I had asked what those were, Brenna just shook her head and told me I'll learn soon.

Upon opening the door, the smell of cleaning supplies hits my nose. I see that the entirety of the house has been cleaned. Most likely because of my grandmother coming. Whenever she was mentioned, Brenna flinched. Not fear, but something else.

I walk up the stairs and into my room, where I shut and lock the door. Most of it is clean, except for my desk. There is a stack of homework which I have been too distracted to do. On top of that are books. Books about norse mythology. Some I had taken from the library and some I had found in my parents room.

I sit at the desk and open my computer, trying to focus again on my homework. It is all fairly easy, but I still have to do it. I put on some music and focus on the math in front of me. Within 10 minutes, I am bored. I sigh and put down my pencil, drumming my fingers on the desk.

I decide to open up one of the books. This one is written in a strange language, but I can translate some of it. Whenever I get stuck on a word I look it up on my computer. I can't tell what language it is in though, because it has elements from a couple.The one I am reading is about Helheim. It talks about the different sections, where the souls go, and on and on. I think that it is on that Brenna wrote for either me or Vidor.

When I close the book about an hour later, I feel all the information spinning around my head. There was so much. And I had the sinking feeling that that wasn't all of it.

I move around my room, picking up random objects. One of the things I pick up is one of the pyramids that had been stuck in the wall a week ago. Whenever I touch it, something feels different. It doesn't feel solid, or at least, not completely solid. Even stranger, it seems to move when it is around me.

Sighing, I lay on my bed. I run my hands through my hair, getting any tangles out. As I did, I see the smoke creeping out around me. I run my hands through that, and feel it move closer. I look down and see some of it curling around my fingers. It moves up my hands and to my wrists, circling there.