Hello everyone, it is me again! I hope life has been awesome!
This writing inspiration is carrying back into writing on here, and so, of course, here I am. Instead of trying to pick back on something I left off right away, I decided to start a fresh story, exploring something I wanted to explore a while back.
My original story, Valka's apprentice, was my first real fanfiction story I was able to write and complete, and the alternate universe I created with it has left plenty of things in the gaps I always wanted to explore. nd so, getting back into my writing phase, I will go back to writing about my favorite character, Astrid, and diving to a spot we never got to explore fully in Valka's Apprentice.
This story is going to take place in the time gap between Act 1 and 2 in Valka's apprentice, exploring the emergence of her alternate ego, the Valkirye, her relationship to Valka as more of a mother figure, and a bit more of a peek at what Astrid's life in the Dragon Sanctuary was like in the time she grew from a child to a young woman.
As you've probably guessed by this rant, this story is meant to be a part of "Valka's Apprentice," and so this story will make more sense if you read that story first, or at least the first ten chapters of that story.
Well, I've kept you long enough, so without further ado, let us begin

"It is the nature of greedy men to desire more, no matter how much they have. And when they have taken all they can from the land, they begin to take from each other."

-Unknown

Astrid moved her hand along the soft grooves of the wood, fingers sweeping back and over as she searched for her next handhold. She worked slowly, making sure to miss no detail, for hanging fifty feet above the ground while trying to find a handhold in the dark was not an experience she wished to prolong.

Especially since this was not one of the few times, there would be no dragon there to catch her if she fell.

Astrid banished that unsettling thought from her mind as the fingers of her left hand slid into a small grove, several inches deep, and latched her hand onto that seem. Locking her fingers in place, she tested her weight a few times on that new handhold, then wiggled her right foot out of its previous hold to move it up to a new one.

She found herself wishing for the hundredth time that night that she had Stormfly with her. Her nadder could have been up and down from this stupid guard tower twenty times already, and Astrid had yet to reach the top. Hel, if Astrid had just flown on Stormfly to the top of this damn tower, they could have finished this stupid part of the mission and been home free by now. Or she could have just flown in launching fire and spines at anything and everything that looked remotely important, a strategy that worked surprisingly well in most situations. Or she could-

Astrid firmly told the complaining half of her brain to shut up. She could ill afford distraction, and she needed to focus on the task at hand. She was nearing the top of the watchtower.

The single beacon of torchlight that shone from the top of that tower that gloomy night, which draped the top of that building in a soft orange glow, a glow that flickered and spun like the surface of a pond that had just been disturbed by a pebble. Through that dancing and the faint sound of crackling and popping that broke the night air, Astrid also heard the soft thumping of booted feet as guards strolled back and forth along their appointed patrol paths.

Astrid froze as she nearly reached the top of the tower, pausing to listen. She counted out the rhythmic sets of footsteps, listened for the breathing and yawns of tired men, and watched the light of the torches that became lighter and darker as those guard's paths took them closer and further to the edge where Astrid hung.

Four guards Astrid counted mentally. No dragging of feet or yawning either, meaning they were on alert, a rare thing to find this late at night. This was going to be tough.

Astrid slowed her movements down even more as she got even closer to the top, though at least the torchlight allowed her to actually make out where she was putting her hands and feet, if only a little bit. She forced herself not to become too eager, consciously slowing her movements till she felt she was moving at a snail's pace. Inch by inch, she inched upward, until at last she found a handhold just hairsbreadths below the top.

Astrid stopped then, allowing herself to go over the plan again in her mind, visualizing herself going through all the movements, anticipating where each man would be when she hoisted herself up over the edge and took out as many as she could with that element of surprise.

Whoever was the closest to the bell at the center of the tower she would have to get first, then she would have to cut the cord connecting the alarm to the bottom of the tower. With that, done, the men stationed inside at the bottom would not be able to pull that rope and so sound the alarm throughout the fort. If Astrid was lucky, she could take out the men on the top of the tower without any of those below being alerted, and therefore getting the drop on those men as well. With all the watchmen on this side incapacitated, they would have a relatively safe route to get in and out through, at least until the next guard shift came through.

And if Astrid was right, that shift was still a few hours off.

Astrid tensed as a bearded, ugly bear of a man suddenly appear at the edge of the tower and peered out into the night, small eyes sweeping the darkness. Astrid made herself as still as a rock, hardly daring to breathe as that piercing gaze swept back and forth. Fortunately, the guard seemed more concerned with looking out to see for approaching ships than people clinging to the side of the tower. His gaze moved only left and right.

Please don't look down, please don't look down, Astrid prayed silently. She considered it a blessing that her fingers were starting to go numb, given that it meant she didn't have to feel them start crapping form holding that position so long. Wouldn't that guy just leave!? It seemed as if he meant to pass the damn night away in that spot!

Seconds slipped by.

Astrid firmly told her aching body to go to the same place she sent her complaining mind.

Another minute, two.

Gods damn it, MOVE! Astrid silently screamed at the guard. What are you even looking for at this point?!

Finally, the guard moved off, and Astrid checked her instinctive sigh of relief. She did, however, allow her muscles to relax and flex, if only just a little bit.

Well, she knew at least one guard was moving away from where she was which meant he was facing away from her. It was now or never.

Abandoning stealth for speed, Astrid hoisted herself up over the edge of the tower.

Astrid only had a split second to take in the situation before her before throwing herself into action. Three men before her (that she could see) two of which were close to the bell. Only one was facing her direction. She had counted four earlier, which mean meant either she had miscounted or she there was one she couldn't see. Either way, not good.

That was everything Astrid had the chance to register before she had to move. Start with the one who will see you first, and the others will be delayed.

Astrid struck.

Grabbing her spear off of her back, she hurtled forwards, making sure not to slam directly into the man she was charging head-on, lest she knock him into the bell to ring it. Instead, she moved a bit to his right side, hitting him at an angle so he stumbled into the man beside him. Though that man had seen her before she struck, it had only been for a split-second before the tough spear slammed into his gut, and he hadn't prepared himself to stop from tumbling over, crashing head over heels into his comrade. The two went down in a heap.

Astrid paused only long enough to whip out her stone-bladed dagger and slash it across the connection rope hanging off the side of the bell tower, parting the rope with a clean, precise swing. She then threw herself at the second man, who had managed to get his sword out of his sheath but couldn't get it in line with the charging women enough to skewer her. Still, Astrid was forced to throw her dragon scale bracer in line with the coming sword, and even then, it deflected off at just the right angle to graze her upper arm, drawing blood.

And then Astrid crashed into the man, smashing her left fist into his gut and driving the air from his lungs.

Knowing she only had seconds to act before the other two men on the tower recovered, she grabbed her spear in both hands and swept it around and down low, cracking the wooden shaft across her opponent's knee. Had he had breath in his lungs, he would have cried out in agony, but he was still trying to get breath back into his lungs, and so all that came out was a wheezing gasp.

Astrid laid him low with a smash across the nose.

Even as one opponent fell, unconscious to the ground, Astrid spun back towards the two men she had downed earlier, who were even now getting to their feet. Another few moments and one would ring the bell. The other, if allowed to recover, would hold her off until reinforcements arrived, and she couldn't let that happen.

Grabbing a dozen small darts from a pouch on hip, she hurled them at the two men, hoping that she could get them on the skin.

She was lucky. These two were not wearing helmets, and their sleeveless tunics left their arms exposed.

Both got hit by two darts each, and almost immediately their struggles ceased, stopped by the Speed Stinger venom that had been coating all the darts.

Astrid pulled up her next charge short, though she did stumble a bit and had to do a bit of a hope to stop herself from tripping over the now prone forms of the two paralyzed men. She had charged preemptively, wanting to make sure she was able to fight, in case her trick with the darts didn't work.

Sloppy, Astrid told herself, somewhat disgusted at her handiwork. True, she had taken out three men, all visibly brawnier and probably stronger than her. True, she had done so without raising the alarm, and therefore succeeded on that portion of the mission.

But she had let her impatience get the best of her, had forced herself into a situation that made her have to beat down three of them at once before any could sound an alarm. Moreover, she'd used up her Speed Stinger Darts, and with a bit of searching, she'd only been able to recover two. The rest had either hit their targets of skittered off into the darkness.

Sloppy.

Grabbing a length of thin but sturdy rope from a small bag she was carrying on her back, Astrid bound the unconscious guard with the two paralyzed ones, then shoving rags into each of their mouths to gag them. Not as good as she might have liked, given that she was rushing, but it would have to do. She didn't plan to remain long anyways.

Astrid continued to thank good luck when she found the bottom of the guard tower empty, the pull rope to ring the bell and so sound the alarm cut and fallen in a coil at the base. She made sure the door was bolted from the inside before squeezing herself out again through one of the windows, making sure to make as little sound as possible as she left the tower behind.

She had gotten into Nar Garbor the Wicked's fort, one of the most notorious places in the Northern Ocean for dragon or Viking alike.

Now all Astrid had to do was find was find out where the maniac was housing his dragon breeding program, get all the dragons, including pregnant females, hatchlings, and eggs of the island through the escape route she created, and make enough distance between them and their pursuers to force them to stop following.

It took Astrid a little over an hour of sneaking and searching to find what she was looking for, the dens where the captured dragons were kept. She met little resistance on her path through the fort proper, ducking into the shadows whenever one of the few patrol groups or the occasional drunk passed by. It was somewhat ironic, Astrid considered, that there were so many goods and tools just left lying around in stalls or small shacks that dotted the larger fort, and it would be trivially easy to rob almost anything she wanted of these people. Weapons, food, tools, even a boat.

Just not the dragons. That was going to take a bit more effort.

The fort proper connected to a cave system that spanned the length and breadth of the island, a winding maze that could take days of wandering to map out successfully. Astrid didn't have days, and so she needed a guide to get her to the dragons, and fast.

Fortunately, she had a plan.

Pressing herself against the wall just outside the cave entrance, she slowly crept around to the mouth and moved inside, feeling her way across the wall as she listened intently for any sound of movement coming from within.

She heard none, save for the continuing crackle and pops of torches.

Perfect. Time to get to work.

And so begins our story. I am not sure exatly how long this story will go on, but I have a good amount of it planned out already. Can't wait to watch it unfold.
Hope you enjoy, and, as always, have a good one!
See you all soon!