“There is not one curiosity you have, Vhalla Yarl?” She stopped short at Vi’s use of her name. Daniel stepped forward, holding out an arm, as if to guard her. Vi smiled thinly at the unnecessary protection. “I know your winds will not tell you what the flames will tell me.”
“How do you know my name?” Vhalla whispered.
“I can know many things, and tell more, if you wish it. The fire burns away all lies.” She spoke on instinct, giving herself to the sensation that had roused her from sleep and had guided her all day.
“You’re a sorcerer.”
“I am a Firebearer.” Vi nodded.
“What’s your name?” Vhalla found some bravery, pushing away Daniel’s arm and stepping forward.
“I’ve had many names. I could give you one, or I could let you choose a name for yourself. Then it will be something we alone can share.”
“Tell me the name you would like me to call you. Invented or otherwise.”
“Vi,” she said simply, after little debate. If anyone in this world was to know her true name, it would be Vhalla Yarl. “Would you like me to read your curiosities?”
“Read our curiosities?” Daniel chimed in.
“I am a Firebearer. I am one with the flames, and with my eyes I can see into the future. You come to me with curiosities,questions, in your heart, and I will give you the answers.”
“I’ll do it,” Vhalla said suddenly. It brought a smile to Vi’s lips though the smile didn’t feel quite like hers. This wasn’t her joy. This was the contentedness of the goddess within her.
“You must pick four things: three to burn, one to hold.” She motioned around the room.
“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Daniel whispered into Vhalla’s ear.
“It’ll be fine. Why not live a little? I am here, and somehow she knew my name,” Vhalla replied as she scanned the items available to her.
The first thing Vhalla chose was a silver plume from a jar of quills.
The next item Vhalla chose was a bunch of wheat, followed by a handful of rose petals.
But the most important thing was the last thing—something to hold.
Vhalla lifted a chain from a box and Vi let out her breath slowly as not to be an audible sigh of relief. The woman had selected the silver watch Vi had worn through time, and the one that would ensure the birth of a new Champion.
Time for time.
“This… this is what I will hold.” Vhalla crossed back to her.
“An interesting spread. Come.” Vi took the goods to burn and led Vhalla to the back room where a fire burned in a pit on the floor. “Are you certain you wish an observer?” Vi looked pointedly at Daniel who had followed them. “I will read the futures as I see them.”
“I suppose… if you don’t mind?” Vhalla said to Daniel.
“I’ll wait right out here.” Daniel got the hint, and slipped back out the heavy curtain and into the main shop.
With that settled, Vi knelt before the flames. She raked her hands through the coals and Vi began by making a few soot marks on Vhalla’s cheeks and brow. She hesitated for just a moment, staring into the brown eyes of her mother.
No, this wasn’t her mother.Focus. Don’t get lost in old memories. She didn’t want to feel anything toward this woman.
In that moment, Vi didn’t want to feel anything at all. She gave herself fully over to the guiding hand of Yargen.
“Vhalla Yarl, blessed bird of the East. The one who can soar without wings. The first chick to fly the cage. The first to return to our land.” She leaned back and began to throw the items into the flames. With each one, she poured her magic into the fire to make it roar.
The flames danced from white to orange, to a crimson so deep it was nearly black. The color changing was new, and Vi had no idea what it meant. She leaned forward on instinct, dipping her face into the flames.
“The present burns away, leaving the future to rise from its ashes.” Vi reached down, grabbed a fistful of ash, and threw it into the air. “You will march to victory, and it will be won upon your silver wings.”Go to war, Vhalla, and win. “But the winds of change you will set free will also shatter the tender hope on which you fly.”Victor will rise to power, and nearly everything you thought you loved will be threatened. “You will lose your dark sentry.”Only to see him rise again as an Emperor.
