Invisible

A Chapter by One But Other

When Skoll chased the sun back around to illuminate the morning, both Shay and Celeste awoke simultaneously. Drowsy with sleep, they cleaned up their appearances and crawled (metaphorically, of course) downstairs, and were pleasantly surprised by the smell of bacon wafting from the B&B's breakfast room. For some reason, that smell always intoxicated the Valkyries, as if they had never experienced anything quite so delicious. Then again, being Freya's little servants really didn't give them much of a choice in cuisine. What Freya made, they ate, and being a not-so-motherly type of goddess, she wasn't exactly an Iron Chef. So naturally, they found themselves seated in front of a small round table covered by a linen flower-printed cloth, in a room decorated with all sorts of vintage decor.

They had barely time to blink before they were introduced to the perky Happy Sun waitress Bonnie. She wore her hair in a neat black ponytail and her clothes were a simple blue dress and a white apron. Her smile was almost too bright to look at, and her demeanor was suspiciously enthusiastic for such a cold environment.

Bonnie pulled out a notepad and pen, holding the cap to her rosy-red lips. “So gals, what would you two want this morning?” She leaned in between them and shifted her gaze back and forth excitedly, her voice dripping with her northern accent.

“Well, a cup of coffee would be nice... and I suppose I'll have a plate of bacon and eggs, thank you.” Shay smiled tiredly as Bonnie wrote down her order.

“I'll have the same, except make the coffee a cup of orange juice.” Celeste yawned loudly and handed their menus to the eager employee.

“Thank you both!” The woman chirped and literally ran into the kitchen through a pair of saloon style swinging doors.

Another yawn escaped Celeste's mouth and she almost fell out of her seat while stretching. “You know, I'd kill for that much energy. I mean gee, I can barely get up in the morning as it is.”

“I know, I had to roll you onto the floor today, and even then you barely twitched. Speaking of sleep, I wonder how the gryphons managed in that barn all night, they were alone after all.” Shay looked over her shoulder, glancing out the window behind her. It faced the barn, and to her relief the doors didn't seem to have been opened since she'd closed them.

“Even if something had happened, you know they'd just hide or fly away. Hex is black enough to disguise himself as a shadow, and Frost fits in well with all this snow, so stop worrying and eat your breakfast. Whoa. Wait. Shay. Look down at the table.”

Shay did as she was told and gasped. Both of their plates sat steaming on the cloth, and their beverages were placed neatly in the center of the table. Bonnie was nowhere to be seen, but somehow she had managed to sneak past two Valkyries without being noticed. This made both girls feel nervous. Their race had a special 'knack' for sensing other beings in their premises, mostly because they needed it to do their 'soul-searching' when they used to take deceased warriors to Valhalla, but neither of them had felt anything since their encounter with the mysterious woman.

“I don't like this place Celeste... I think we should leave...” Shay said, looking around the blue-walled room.

Celeste took a sip of her drink and quickly replaced it on the table. She began to slide our of her seat but she was stopped by a pair of long nailed hands. “Leaving already? You haven't even looked at the dessert menu...” Bonnie pouted. Then she grinned, revealing two long rows of decaying teeth, and shoved the seat back against Celeste's legs.

“What are you doing?” Celeste spat, pushing Bonnie out of her way.

To their dismay, Bonnie was no longer the happy-go-lucky waitress she had been not many minutes ago. She had now transformed into a hideous, gray skinned, crazy eyed demon-girl. Though, in reality, she wasn't really a demon. She was one of the escaped souls, and the two Valkyries were intruding on her territory.

“S**t...” Celeste spat under her breath.

“Crap, my axe is upstairs!” Shay yelled, dodging the soul's claw as it flew by her head, barley missing her. She grabbed Bonnie's arm and threw her over her shoulder, slamming her into one of the nearby tables.

“Mine too, and I don't have my whistle!” Celeste looked back at the barn, where Frost and Hex slept in total ignorance to what was going on inside the main building. “This is just perfect.”

After picking huge chunks of table out of her back, Bonnie lunged at Celeste, knocking her off balance. They rolled around on the floor, neither having the upper hand for very long, until finally Celeste managed to pry herself out of the creature's violent embrace.

This soul was not one of the stronger ones. Each soul had to either fight or feed (on human flesh) to sustain their mortal form, but out here in the middle of nowhere, Montana, this little piggy was going to have to go home to survive. Coincidentally that was exactly where Shay and Celeste planned to take her: Valhalla.

“Go outside and get the Escorts, we can't do this without them.” Celeste yelled, punching Bonnie square in the jaw, temporarily knocking her down.

Shay looked nervously outside and then back at the two enraged beings rolling around on the floor. She figured that the more she stood there the more time she was wasting, so she took off running. In less than five minutes she had made it around the B&B and across the lawn to the barn. She tore off the rope she had tied around the doorhandles and stepped inside the dusty structure. Surely enough, both Hex and Frost were curled up on their own hay stacks, sleeping like babies. She grabbed two rocks and threw them onto each gryphon before yelling, “Wake up, we need help!”

At first the beasts just lay there blinking at her, and then once they realized what she was saying, they shot out the door with immeasurable speed. A loud crash came from the main building and Shay looked around for the source. One of the windows, the one to the breakfast room, had been shattered and now the soul they were fighting was squirming on the ground beneath four large paws. Frost began ripping at Bonnie's neck while Hex tore off the lower half of her body.

Shay winced and then ran inside to check on Celeste, who lay unconscious on the floor. She had a severe looking bruise on the left side of her head, and a huge gash that stretched from her shoulder diagonally down to her right hip bone. Her shirt was literally hanging by a threat and threatened to come off any minute. With whatever strength she could muster, Shay hoisted her wounded best friend over her shoulder hand carried her upstairs. She took out bandages and alcohol from her backpack, treating her wounds, and then put a bag of ice from the kitchen against her head.

When Frost and Hex finally appeared at their doorway, they lowered their heads in shame. “It's not your fault you weren't there to help her. There's no way you could of heard any of this. The good news is that Celeste will recover, and soon from the looks of it. The bad news is that I can't stick around and wait, so Frost, I'm going to have to ask you to take her back to the Sanctuary. When she's ready she can come find me, but I can't have her be in any more danger while she's in that condition. As for you, Hex, we're leaving, pronto.”

Frost went over to his master and slid her onto his back, grabbing her supplies with his beak and her axe with one of his paws. Then, with two beats of his wings, he was flying out the window towards their home.

In a way Shay envied them, they weren't being dragged halfway across the country on some insane wild goose chance that she was sure to lose in the long run. Still, it was better than rounding up ancient warrior souls with serious anger management issues like the rest of her Valkyrie sisters were doing at this very moment.

Hex nudged Shay's arm with his beak and nipped her shoulder, trying to make her smile. She stroked his neck and then hopped onto the saddle he was still wearing. She took her gear and they too left behind this now-deserted little building, knowing that the task ahead of them would require much more blood than they had already shed.

prev chapter