Usually I don't dream, but this time, I dreamed. It didn't feel like a dream though; it felt real.
I'm standing in a plain cave. Stalagmites hang from the ceiling. A small pedestal catches my eye in the middle of the room. A thin man in nothing but a loincloth around his waist. His eyes gleamed mischievously, and his hair was thinning and stark white. He smiles up at me from the pedestal. His feet were bound together to a rock at his feet, and his arms were bound to either side like the first one.
"Hello, Dakota." His voice was smooth as silk. "It's about time we meet. Got a proposition for you." He nods his head towards the corner behind him.
My eyes moved to the corner. My whole body tensed. I wanted to rip the mans head off. In the corner, a large cage sat there holding five figures. The figures were my three younger brothers and my mom and step-father. I glare at the bound man wanting to shout insults and worse at him, but my voice wouldn't work. The man smirks at me.
"So you can either let your family die. Or…" He grins at me. "Or you can find your way here and free me. Your choice. And don't listen to Magnus Chase and his friends." He glowers at me.
I feel a warming sensation in my gut. The guy smirks.
"Tell Magnus and my daughter that I say hi. And tell them that I will be free again; and that they will pay for last time…" My surroundings shimmer and drop around me.
I sit up with a shout. Sweat drips down the nape of my neck as I glance at my surroundings. I was sitting on a patch of grass under a tree buy a limestone wall. In front of me, a set of steps lead up to what looked like library doors, but it didn't feel like a library entrance. It felt like something more ancient and older. The building was about eight stories high.
I slowly stand up on weak legs. My hands run up to the back of my neck where the wolf had bit down. There were no marks from the attack…. And my death. After a moments hesitation, I step towards the doors. I nearly jump out of my skin when the doors swing open, and a large man in a bellhop outfit steps out towards me.
He didn't look like a normal bellhop. An unkempt beard covered the lower part of his face. I couldn't tell what his facial expression was toward seeing me here, but I had a feeling he was expecting me. A battle axe swung at his side. I see a small name tag that had HV intertwined and the name Hunding inscribed under them.
"Um… Wrong house?" I mutter quietly.
"You're dead, aren't you?" He asks in a rough tone. I take a step back before nodding. "Then you're the new einherjar. Follow me. Lets get you checked in." I follow him like a small lost puppy into the atrium of what looked like a hotel.
Spears crisscrossed the ceiling. In one corner, there are a bunch of kids lounging in chairs around a fireplace playing what I supposed was Monopoly. The bellhop, Hunding, lead me to the front desk where another bearded man sat sharpening a large broadsword. I eyed the sword warily as we approached. His nametag said Helgi. He put the sword down when he saw us walking up.
"Welcome to Hotel Valhalla. Home to Odin's chosen!" The man, Helgi, smiles at me. Checking in?"
"Uh… I think you might have the wrong person. Valhalla is for the warriors that die in battle. I feel very much alive though." I state as Helgi looks over the registration book.
"This is Valhalla, and you aren't the wrong person. Your name is Dakota Martin, is it not?" Helgi asks, opening a drawer of the desk, pulling out a small runestone.
I nod. "Well, yeah, but…"
"Then here's your room key. One should be enough right? And would you like the minibar key?" Helgi asks, dangling another key.
"Everyone wants the minibar key, Helgi. You should know that." A voice cuts in as Helgi hands me the runestone and the key. I turn around to see a small stocky kid walking towards us. His thick rimmed glasses look a lot like the pair I had on my face. His blue eyes were calculating but glinted with humor and kindness. He had short cropped dirty blonde hair and wore a simple Dragonball Z t-shirt, blue jeans, and simple brown combat boots. A small Dragonball keychain swung at his waist.
Helgi and Hunding greet the kid with a nod.
"Cody. This is our newest Einherjar." Helgi introduced.
"Nice to meet you. The name's Cody." The kid smiled, shaking my hand. Despite being stocking and looking like he could crush my hand easily, his grip was firm but gentle.
"Dakota." I nod. I glance around. "So this is Valhalla…" I wander off, still having a hard time believing it all.
He nods. "Yep. You'll get used to it. It'll just take some time…"
"Cody! I challenge you to a spear throwing contest!" A dark skinned girl in black cargo pants and a grey t-shirt shouts from a doorway on the other side of the room. She had a spear in her right hand as if she was getting ready to throw it our way.
"I ACCEPT!" Cody shouts, he glares at before turning back to me. "Just a moment." He jumps out of the way as the spear whistles past him and impales itself right between my feet. I jump back away from it. Cody calmly picks the spear up and hurls it back at her. The spear slams into her shoulder pinning her to the wall. She slumps against the wall; he head lolled to the side as he eyes roll back.
Some nearby plucks the spear out of her shoulder; two wolves sulk into the room and drag the girl's body away. Cody turns back to me.
"Sorry about that. I've got to go take care of some things real quick. I'll see you at dinner." He waves as he runs through the door the girl had come out of. I heard him shouting right before a thump echoed from the room.
"No more spear throwing in the lobby!" Helgi shouted towards them. He turned back to me. "Hunding will show you to your room. I can't wait to hear of your heroic death."
Hunding placed a strong hand on my shoulder and steered me towards an elevator. The elevator opened when we step up to it. Hunding pressed the Floor nineteen button after we step into the elevator.
I look up at Hunding. "What was that about? Why'd she challenge him knowing that she might die?"
Hunding glanced at me. "Cody is a child of Tyr. If he is challenged to anything, he has to accept it whether he wants to or not."
"Oh." Old Viking music played all the way up to the 19th floor when the doors open to a long hallway. Doors run down both sides of the hallway. I could see a few names on the doors right around me. Mallory Keen, Halfborn Gunderson, Magnus Chase, Alex Fierro, and Thomas Jefferson Jr. were the names I could see. Hunding led me to a door between Alex and Malloy. My name was etched across the door with a rune where the doorknob usually was.
"This is your room." Hunding states, pointing towards the rune mark. "I'll see you at dinner. I have… more important tasks to do." His shoulders slump as he stalks away.
I turn back to the door and curiously touched the runestone key to the etched rune on the door. The door slowly swings open into a center atrium of the bedroom. My mouth drops at the room.
There are three separate wings surrounding a central atrium that reminded me of a small forest my mom and dad took me to when my brothers and I were younger. One wing was a neat bathroom with a sink in one corner and a toilet and tub in the other. The wing next to it was a small kitchenette with an oven, microwave, and a fridge. The last wing was a small library with a fireplace and mantle with one picture; a picture that I remembered very well.
The picture was one from the last time my mom took my younger brothers and me camping. A large green tent towered over my mother who had her arms wrapped around my brothers and me. My toothy grin showed how happy I was back then. But that was before my dad started treating me badly.
Tears well up in my eyes as the door to my room opens with a creak. I whirl around to see a small female figure standing in the doorway. She had a hijab wrapped around her head. Golden armor covered the rest of her body and a golden glowing spear peaked over her shoulder. Her gaze looked me over as if I was some kind of problem to figure out.
"I'm Samiraah Al'Abbas. I'm your Valkryie." She states in a confident voice.
"I'm Dakota Martin." I quickly wipe the tears out of my eyes. "You're the one that chose me to become an einher… whatever it's called?"
She nodded. "Yeah. You died protecting your family. That's the noblest way to die."
I look down at my boots which looked cleaner than ever. "I don't feel like a hero…"
She quickly moved forward and slammed me against the tree in the middle of the atrium. She growled at me. "Don't ever say that. It was bad enough I had Magnus say that when he first came here too." Her gaze softened. "Just know that you saved lives." A loud horn sounded in the distance.
"What's that supposed to mean?" I ask softly.
Samiraah glances at the ceiling before looking back at me. "That means its dinner time. Lets go and meet everyone."