Haldren valemount
"It will take some good few weeks, my lord", said captain of second regiment.
Haldren sighed. "Is this ship good enough for that?"
"It's your father's ship, My good lord... Aegis of the sea has seen many battles... This will do".
Haldren nodded and looked around.
The ship was enormous, broad-bellied and long, built for both war and distance. Rows of heavy oars stretched from its sides, dipping into the water in perfect rhythm, each one pulled by the strength of disciplined men below deck. The hull groaned softly as it cut through the waves, steady and unstoppable.
Several hundred knights stood upon the deck, packed close together. Their red armor gleamed dully under the open sky, metal plates and helms marked by travel and sweat, yet still imposing. They stood silent and upright, shields stacked near their feet, swords secured at their side in long black scabbards.
Barrels were lashed along the deck and near the mast, filled with supplies for survival. Thick ropes lay coiled in great loops, some as wide as a man's height, others stretched tight to hold the mast and rigging firm. Everything on the ship spoke of preparation and order.
Above them all rose the great sail, vast and pale, swollen with wind. Upon it was painted the capital's sigil, A longsword driven-point first in ground. Everything and everyone was in order, haldren could see many knights standing still as if they were statue.
Haldren eyed a blonde girl, who was staring at him.
"Who is she?"
The captain glanced over his shoulder and smiled. "She runs a whorehouse in capital".
"Why is she here?"
"Here to make a prince happy..."
Haldren raised an eyebrow. "Can she? I doubt it".
"Maybe we should-"
Haldren ignored him and walked towards the blonde girl, who was now smiling.
"How much you cost?"
Her smile faded but her brown eyes were still on him. She wore a blue dress with a necklace and a ring, both of which were tainted green, an indication of old jewellery.
"For you its nothing", she said with a smile.
"A prostitute who doesn't want brokels?", haldren smirked. "A rare sight indeed".
"Does this ship have rooms?"
"Indeed it does", haldren grabbed her by arm.
...
A dim room with only a oil lamp for light and a cot which made too much noise.
Sovena was on top of him. Haldren touched her shoulders and grabbed her dress and tore through it within a second.
She laughed. "Impatient or its just been a long time for you?"
"Both...", haldren said. She was too pretty too look at...
She adjusted a little on top of him, rubbing her legs against his penis.
"Then you should calm yourself... Let me take charge", she said. "Your armour? Why is it still on you?"
"This armour is my skin. It won't come off...", haldren said.
She nodded and smiled. "Alright, a little different from other prince' i have been in. Don't worry, i like challenges".
She shrugged out of her already torn dress and looked at him while at the same time grabbing the hewn of his leather. Slowly she uncovered and within minutes she was naked completely.
They both were now except for the armour on his chest... Haldren played with her breasts, taking both in his palms and groaning...
"Your hands are cold. It seems like they have no life in them".
Haldren ignored her and continued to squeeze her breasts untill they were swollen down to her tips.
She kissed his armour and then went down further using her tongue. Haldren's breath hissed.
She licked on his tip until he groaned and said "just do what you want to do. I cannot take anymore of your-"
She grabbed the rim and continued to stroke up and down in smooth rhythms.
Just as he was about to be pleased, she stopped and gave a sly smile.
"Do you not want me inside you?"
"By the aegis... women! I dont want my bastards running around in capital".
She frowned. "Of course not"
"Go down and finish what you started".
She went down and finished him with broad and slow strokes of her hand.
"What about you?", haldren asked.
"What about me prince?"
"What would you have me do?", haldren asked. "I am not the man who leaves a lady hanging in middle".
"Do whatever you want. Whatever seems fit to you", sovena said.
"Lay down", and she did. "Same trick but different organ".
He went down and played around her thighs, making her breath falter. His mouth teased in between and slowly a playful tongue to keep her breath shaking. Haldren liked that noise. He kept licking and licking until she grabbed his brown long hairs which tickled her stomach as she was giggling and at the same time moaning with pleasure.
...
Peace. Haldren felt peace.
They were both lying on the cot. He gazed to his side, where Sovena slept with her arms wrapped around him.
"Sovena... Can you-", A thunderous shudder tore through the dim room, as if some unseen ship had crashed hard into the Aegis of the Sea.
They both sat up at once. Haldren reached for his Aegis fall and dragged on his greaves, while Sovena stared at him in confusion.
"What happened?", Sovena asked.
"Obviously an attack from a nearby island. Gods drown has many of them. Wonder who dared to attack first sword of capital?"
"I'll see you again", haldren said quickening his pace toward the steps.
...
It was when the birds scattered from his path that haldren found himself standing before a slaughter. broken bones and meat. The air was hot, turgid and cloying. He saw knights, still helmed, their heads crushed by what must have been huge, terribly powerful mace or perhaps a spear. he saw torn mail, crumpled shields, and limbs that had been ripped from bodies. Haldren managed only a few moments of careful examination of the scene around him before he fixed his gaze on the deck ahead, unable to encompass the magnitude of the slaughter.
That is when haldren saw them. Loud and clear.
They stood like an omen against the sky, Valkyras carved from shadow and steel. In their left hand rested a sleek sword, its narrow blade catching what little light dared touch it, sharp and patient as a promise of death. Right hand gripped a thick spear of deep blue, heavy and ancient, its shaft weaved with intricate carvings.
Dark wings rose from their back, vast and feathered, swallowing the light behind them. They did not shimmer or gleam, but drank the air around them, as if forged from night itself. Long white hair spilled forward, veiling most of the face, strands moving like pale smoke across features kept deliberately hidden.
Their armor was little more than tattered brown leather which was cracked, worn, and stained by time, clinging to a body shaped by war rather than vanity. Around their neck hung a massive gold necklace, thick and imposing, its weight unmistakable, marking them not as a servant of battle, but as one who had ruled it.
Wind tore through the rigging as winged bodies slammed against haldre. wings beating like war-drums. Ropes snapped taut under sudden weight. Hooks bit into railings. The deck, once ordered and braced for battle, dissolved into chaos as races of Valkyras swarmed up the sides like a living tide, feathers and leather and steel colliding in a brutal rush.
Haldren grabbed a fallen shield and met them shoulder to shoulder... There was no room to retreat, no space to breathe. Shields locked, spears thrust forward, swords rose and fell in desperate arcs.
The first Valkyra vaulted towards haldren, spear flashing... haldren dodged and swung wings slashed mid-beat. He crashed screaming into the others below, taking two of them with him, slamming hilt into their brains until it was mushed open. Another Valkyra swept blow, sword to haldren's chest, screeching through plate until he fell backwards and drove his ancient sword upward into his chest and pinned him against the mast, blood misting the sail behind him.
"Come you sons of biches!", haldren bellowed.
Another Valkyra lunged at him,too close, too eager. Haldren stepped in and opened him from shoulder to hip. The body slid away before it even understood it was dead. Another came from behind, spear raised.... haldren turned and parried the spear away and drove his sword straight through the creature's face, shoved him off the blade, and let him fall backwards.
Haldren was a mess. His breathing loud and blood, spilled all over his face.
Every single one of his knight was dead...killed brutally by these vile creatures.
Three more Valkyras pushed toward him, wings beating wildly. He met them head-on.
One lost a hand. Another took a pommel to the teeth and went down hard, skull cracking against the deck. The third tried to rise into the air, wings spreading but haldren caught the edge of one and slashed until bone gave way. The creature collapsed screaming, and haldren ended it without slowing.
Around his foot, Blood ran in narrow streams toward the scuppers, carrying feathers with it.
A larger Valkyra landed hard, sword raised, roaring something that haldren couldn't understand. The sword came down and split the deck. Haldren rolled aside, came up close, and drove his blade again and again into the brute's chest until the roar turned into a wet gasp. When it fell, it shook the ship.
Several other Valkyras rounded him, twenty in total. Haldren eyed the rope and smiled.
The rope snapped tight, biting into his gauntlet, and haldren was yanked off the deck.
For a heartbeat he hung between sky and sea, boots kicking at nothing, the wind roaring past his ears. Then the swing took him. wide and violent. carrying him out over the side of the ship where the Valkyras were circling, climbing, clawing for attack.
They didn't expect him to come at them.
He came through them like a thrown blade.
His left hand locked around the rope, knuckles burning. His right arm moved on instinct. The first Valkyra rose toward him, spear leveled...too slow. Haldren's aegis fall cut across the creature's neck as he passed, clean and brutal. The body folded in the air and dropped, wings twitching uselessly as it fell.
The swing carried him higher. Another rushed him from below, wings beating hard. Haldren let go for half a breath, just enough to twist his body, then caught the rope again and drove his blade downward. Steel punched through collarbone and chest. He kicked the corpse away before it dragged him down with it.
Feathers exploded into the wind.
A third came straight at him, screaming, wings outstretched. Haldren braced, pulled himself along the rope, and met the charge head-on. Their bodies collided midair. He rammed the sword through the creature's gut and wrenched it free as the momentum tore them apart. The Valkyra spun away, trailing blood like smoke.
The rope swung back toward the ship. Spears hissed past him from the deck. Below, the sea waited, dark and endless.
Two more closed in, flanking him. One slashed at the rope with a sleek blade. Haldren reacted without thinking...he kicked off the nearer one's chest, snapped the rope around his forearm, and slashed upward in the same motion. The attacker's wing split open, bones snapping, and the creature fell screaming, spinning wildly as it vanished into the mist.
The other reached him, hands raking across his armor. Pain flared. Haldren snarled and drove his sword up under the creature's jaw, holding it there as the rope dragged them both sideways. He shoved the body free at the last second.
The ship rushed toward him.
He slammed into the rail hard enough to knock the breath from his lungs. Hands grabbed him, hauled him back onto the deck. The rope went slack and whipped free into the wind.
Below, broken bodies struck the waves and disappeared.
Haldren scowled and rose, blood running down his blade, chest heaving, eyes already searching for the next one.
Three Valkyras rose together above the ship, wings spread wide, faces hard and focused. In one smooth motion they hurled their spears, arms snapping forward with trained precision. The weapons cut through the wind like a thrown arrow, spinning fast enough to hum.
Haldren barely had time to think.
He twisted sideways, one spear flashing past his shoulder close enough to dent his armor. Another came straight for his chest. He reached out...not cleanly, not gracefully but still caught it midair. The impact slammed through his arm, nearly tearing him off balance. His boots skidded across the blood-slick deck, teeth grinding as the force rattled up his shoulder. He didn't let go.
Using the spear's own momentum, he turned, planting his foot hard into the planks, and hurled it back.
The throw wasn't elegant. It was furious.
The spear struck one of the Valkyras square in the chest. There was a dull, sickening sound as the point punched through armor and bone, the force driving it backward in the air. wings flared in all directions. mouth opened, but no sound came out.
It slammed back-first into the water below, disappearing in a violent splash, the spear still buried deep, body dragged under almost instantly.
The remaining two froze for half a breath...just long enough to understand what they'd seen.
"Only two of you?", haldren laughed. "Give your best".
The air screamed before the spears did.
Three Valkyras rose together above the ship, wings spread wide, faces hard and focused. In one smooth motion they hurled their spears, arms snapping forward with trained precision. The weapons cut through the wind like silver lines, spinning fast enough to hum.
The knight barely had time to think.
He twisted sideways, one spear flashing past his shoulder close enough to kiss his armor. Another came straight for his chest. He reached out—not cleanly, not gracefully—and caught it midair. The impact slammed through his arm, nearly tearing him off balance. His boots skidded across the blood-slick deck, teeth grinding as the force rattled up his shoulder.
He didn't let go.
Using the spear's own momentum, he turned, planting his foot hard into the planks, and hurled it back.
The throw wasn't elegant. It was furious.
The spear struck one of the Valkyras square in the chest. There was a dull, sickening sound as the point punched through armor and bone, the force driving her backward in the air. Her wings flared uselessly. Her mouth opened, but no sound came out.
Then gravity claimed her.
She slammed back-first into the water below, disappearing in a violent splash, the spear still buried deep, her body dragged under almost instantly.
The remaining two froze for half a breath....just long enough to understand what they'd seen.
They shouted something. Haldren's understanding told him that they were swearing, what else would they even say?
He looked up at them, chest heaving, blood dripping from his gauntlet, already reaching for another weapon... A spear of Valkyra, fell from one of their own.
The wind howled between them. Haldren didn't hesitate.
Spear in his left hand...he charged, Aegisfall low in his other hand. One Valkyra dove, Haldren threw first. The spear punched through their chest and haldren threw the spear upwards, body hung in air...
The last came screaming from above.
Haldren stepped in, steel rang once, and Aegisfall cut clean through the guard. The second one fell lifeless at his feet.
The sky went quiet.
By the time sovena came, she saw haldren standing... Spear upwards with a body on its tip and another one down at his foot, sword driven in its chest.
The only indication that the battle was over.
World of sumaka through eyes of Valkyras -
The golden ring around our neck gives us power. Dark magic that negates every other magic in sumaka, we cannot die until a weapon forged by an old god tear us.
Our island is called gravewind isle... South of capital...
We are the creation of new gods. That is why weapons forged from older gods can kill us.
We are immortal only by an exception...that exception is rare but not impossible....