Serenity

I'm going to shun you for looking at this again. Shame.

 

Hex ran up to Shay and made a metallic squawk and trotted around her a couple times, trying to be playful. Unfortunately, his master had too much on her mind, and blew him off without thinking. He let his head drop and went to their room to sulk. You see, he was one of those sulky-types.

“So tell me, what did she say?” Celeste asked curiously, most likely meaning How long did it take for our good ol' boss to blow up in your face?

“She gave me a new mission... I'm not sure how to go about doing it, though. It seems next to impossible.” Shay sighed and slumped down into one of the airport benches, letting her legs drape over the arm rest.

Celeste placed her slender body beside her friend, and sighed. “Yeah, Freya has a habit of demanding a little too much. On the bright side...” She thought about it for a little bit, and then snorted, “It builds character!”

Shay punched her in the arm gently. “You think you're so funny.” She rolled her eyes.

“What is this monstrous task anyway?” Celeste cocked her head to the side while doing air-quotes around the word 'monstrous'.

After telling her best friend what the goddess had instructed her to do, Shay gave her a I-told-you-I-wasn't-complaining-just-because-I-don't-like-her-look.

There was a long pause as Celeste contemplated this. Then, she stood up and said, “Alright, lets go then.”

Shay raised a brow. “You're awfully eager to help me out. What's the catch?”

“Why does there have to be a catch?” When Shay gave her a meaningful look, Celeste rolled her eyes. “Fine. I kind of sort of stole one of her love potions and accidentally lost it...”

“Celeste, which love potion did you lose, exactly?”

“Well... I'll give you a hint... It starts with 'She' and ends in 'Is Going To Eat Me Alive When She Finds Out'.”

“Undying love?”

Celeste nodded.

“So you're dodging a bullet by helping me out and then having her praise you for your good will and helpfulness, I presume?”

Again, Celeste nodded, this time her cheeks turned pink.

“Alright, go get your griff. We have a long way to fly tonight.

Celeste grinned and then pulled out her own whistle. She put her lips to it and just like Hex, her icy-blue gryphon named Talon was standing next to her within seconds.

“Saddle up. I'm going to go get some supplies from the stock.” Shay said over her shoulder, walking towards the kitchen.

The sanctuary kitchen was rarely ever used for actual food preparation. Mostly the Valkyries just kept their weapons and miscellaneous travel supplies in it, and some of the Escorts even slept there during the hotter summer days because the tile was cool. Now it was deserted, and almost empty except for Celeste and Shay's battle axes, along with some bridles and saddles. In the farthest pantry she found their backpacks, neatly hung on separate hooks labeled with name tags. When it came to organization, the Valkyries were very anal.

Hex had returned to the main lobby, and was waiting by Celeste and Talon, all tacked up and ready to fly. His saddle was a dark maroon with a matching bridle. He hated wearing anything, but had gotten used to this particular gear, for the most part. He shifted anxiously from one foot to another, snorting every now and then and pawing at the carpet.

“Did you get everything?” Celeste asked, grabbing her axe and clipping it to the holster on her saddle. Then she threw her backpack on and clipped the front strap across her chest.

“I think so. Well, everything but a plan. But I guess this time we could just... wing it, get it?” Shay nudged Hex with her elbow and grinned dumbly, her Escort rolling his bright eyes at the lame pun. He bowed and the girls mounted, walking out to the runway and running all the way to the end before actually taking off, as if racing to see who was faster. As usual they tied, but the adrenaline rush was worth it.

They flew straight up until they broke through the clouds, and then remained level for a while. Shay pulled out her compass to see which way they were facing: east. They had to go north if they wanted to get to Asgard, the kingdom of the Aesir (Odin and the other warrior gods), which was almost a full three or four days from where they were currently located.

“I think we should spend the night on land. I know that I wont be able to stay awake this entire trip, despite my amazing nocturnal habits.” Celeste said, yawning.

Shay was already snoring next to Hex's ear, and so the gryphons flew back down below the clouds, continuing for another five hours before finding a good resting place. It happened to be a secluded bed and breakfast named 'Happy Sun' near Beartooth Pass, Montana. They booked a room with two beds hid the unwilling Escorts in the dusty shed behind the little building. Everything was decorated with antlers and various taxidermy animals that stared blankly at new guests, as if saying, “We're probably the most interesting thing you'll be seeing up here during your visit”.

The view from their upstairs window was breathtaking. Snow covered mountains stood proudly off in the distance, a lush evergreen valley cut the land in two, and even an icy blue lake shimmered serenely from between the trees. The stars seemed to shine brighter than anywhere else Shay had ever been, except for of course Scandinavia, and the velvet sky created a comfortable blanket above the landscape. It was like looking at one of those cheap post cards that your rich cousins send you every Christmas from one of their exotic vacation spots, except this vision was real, and it was right in front of them.

Both girls took hot showers and put on their warmest pair of jammies before sliding under the covers and drifting off into the soft darkness of sleep, not even having enough energy to think about the trek ahead of them the following morning.

Author's Note

Tell me what you think, thank you.

Reviews

[boyinblue]

Still not disappointed, although this was mainly just a journey and a descriptive one at that. There was little plot action here, but still, it had me appreciate the characters more. However, with that said, I would really enjoy some background to the main characters. For instance, I still don`t really know what a Valkyrie is. I think you kind of intended that the reader have a basic understanding of mythology. The most familiar word throughout was 'Odin' though. I know about him enough to soak up the type of atmosphere these characters are supposed to portray. Still, I really do want to know more about these guys.
Gd read too, keep it up.