Disclaimer: I don't own anything in the Valdemar world, the character's associated with it, or anything else except Lauren.

Chapter 1

Oooff. That hurt. Lauren was staring up at a clear blue sky. Well, that wasn't too abnormal. Nor were the bright lights dancing across her vision, considering that really bright light she saw, prior to landing flat on her back. Now, what she really wanted to know was why she was lying flat on her back. Unless that burly man-chick had actually succeeded in tackling her, though everyone knew that you don't tackle people in soccer. For that matter, no one tackled a goalie anyway. Lauren groaned, then wondered; had that man-chick tackled her, why weren't Lauren's teammates crowded around her? She closed her eyes, hoping they were there and she was just too dense to notice. She opened them. Still no teammates.

Lauren sat up and looked around and then looked around again. She was in the middle of a field. Not surprising (soccer did take place in a field), but not a field roughly size of Lake Eerie. And not lined with groves of trees obviously not transplanted from the mountains to good old suburbia. Soccer fields were also not covered in white horses. Polo fields maybe, but not soccer fields. Where the heck am I? She rubbed her head. Am I stuck in some kind of child's fantasy of rainbows and ponies? Lauren sure hoped not. She half expected to see the Keebler elves or a fairy or a My Little Pony come prancing up to her.

What did come toward her was not an elf, nor was it prancing. It was one of those white horses that populated the field like children in a candy shop. It was a white, blue-eyed, horse. It stopped directly in front of her. It's, no his (that was definitely a stallion) head was canted to one side regarding her with those odd blue eyes. Now, Lauren had always thought that horses were sort of stupid, but this one was staring at her with unsettlingly intelligent eyes. It was starting to give her the willies. The horse seemed to sense this and made an odd chuckling noise, nudging her shoulder with his nose.

"What?" She asked, scooting back. The stallion shook his head and moved closer, nudging her again. Freaky horse.

:No, not a horse. A Companion. I am not 'freaky'. I am merely concerned with your well-being. Are you hurt?: The voice inside her head was gentle and questioning, and a little humorous.

Lauren stared at the Companion, no it was a horse, hang it all! She should really stop hanging out with Eric and his gang, their weird fantasy stuff was starting to mess with her head. A talking horse? Honestly! She was definitely spending too much time with Eric. Her brain probably looked like cottage cheese by now. She rubbed her eyes, hoping this cracked out child's fantasy would just go poof. The horse nudged her harder this time.

:No you are not dreaming. I am real. You, while being oddly dressed, should know of Companions. Whether that knowledge is good or bad, I cannot say. Ah, where are my manners? My name is Arvlen. What is yours?:



"Lauren McCarthy." Lauren was startled into an answer. The minute she said it, looking at the Companion the eyes, she fell into them. Fell into a well of love and affection.

:Oh, well, can't say as I didn't see that coming. You are my Chosen, Lauren. You will now become a Herald. And Chosen, you are loved, please believe in us.: The voice, Arvlen 's voice, reverberated in her mind, aglow with love. The two of them sat there for a moment, each as stunned as the other. After those moments had passed, Lauren (while not entirely comfortable with this new development) accepted the reality of it. It was really quite disconcerting, but with Arvlen there, it didn't seem too bad. However, it was still going to take some serious adjusting for all parties involved.

Lauren looked up at her Companion, studying him. He was shorter in the barrel than most horses she'd seen, and was stocky everywhere else. He reminded her of a muscular rugby player. She chuckled, deciding that if this place she was in didn't have soccer, she'd just have to introduce the sport to them.

:What is amusing to you?:

"Oh, nothing. Now what's with this Chosen business, huh?" She tapped his nose. He snuffled at her.

:When one is chosen, one becomes a Herald. A Herald is a servant of the people, of Valdemar. You serve the Monarch, and all Gifts that you have will aid you in doing so.:

"Ok, so what are my Gifts? Can I see through walls, or have abs of steel?" she asked, thinking of Superman and old Batman comics.

:Neither of those have I ever heard of anyone possessing. There are, however, Mage gifts, Fetching, Firestarting, Mindspeech, FarSight, ForeSight, and Empathy. You have a minimal empathy gift, a quite powerful mage gift and FarSight. Most Heralds have one or two gifts, but I suppose that you have two and a half as your empathy gift is very small.:

"Huh. So, this mage gift thing, what can I do with it? I mean, I've heard Eric ramble on about Gandalf and stuff, but what is it?" She was very much out of her depth; she figured Eric would feel better. Heck, they'd probably be chatting Arvlen up, going off on tangents about the Lord of the Rings and all that fantasy stuff.

:I think that best for Savil to explain, Chosen. I cannot explain it in words you could understand. Come mount up onto my back; HeraldMage Savil is in the stables. You do know how to stay on a horse, do you not?:

Lauren nodded, got up and brushed her legs off of any grass and hopped onto Arvlen's back. He made that chuckling noise, twisted his head back and made a reassuring nudge to her knee. She patted his nose, then grabbed onto his mane for support as he settled into a surprisingly smooth and gentle trot. She was glad he wasn't any faster, as she was wearing shorts, and if she remembered correctly, you weren't supposed to wear shorts. Something about sores or rashes or 

something to that effect. Lauren had taken riding lessons when she was about 12 and after a year had decided that soccer was more interesting, and quit. Now she kinda wished she hadn't.

:Do not worry, Chosen. I will not let you fall. Besides: His mind-voice laughed :that would reflect poorly on my part. It would not do well for me to let my new-found Chosen to fall ingloriously on her first ride. Through Companions field.:

"I suppose not." She looked around the field and ahead, where a bunch of big buildings were."Hey, what're those? They're kinda cool, all super-retro."

:Those are the Collegium, Bardic, Healer, and Heraldic. The Palace is right there. The salle, where we are going, is that way.: Images accompanied the words in her mind.

"What the heck's a salle?"

:It is an indoor weapons work place. You wil see it when we get there, which is soon.: He twisted his head about and nudged her knee again. :You may speak to me mind to mind. It is not hard.:

She felt a presence in her mind, showing her what to do. She nodded and grinned.

:Cool. This is really neat.:

:It is not cool outside. It's actually warm.: Arvlen sounded confused. Lauren laughed. So weird, that her slang, so commonplace in California, wouldn't be understood here.

:It's slang for neat, or interesting. It's used by the teen-agers of my country.:

:Oh. Well, we're here.:

Lauren looked at the stables. Well, they were normal, barring the loose horses around. Wait, Companions. Who were responsible enough to handle themselves properly, she supposed. She got off Arvlin's back and stood by the entrance, a tad nervously. She'd never really liked meeting people she didn't even know. Let alone some one that came from a whole other planet! She chewed her lower lip, and walked inside...