Valhala
Chapter 3
Observations and Kevin
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They walked on in silence for a bit and Jakara had the opportunity to study these strangers. Nick was extremely tall, quite blond and had sparkling blue eyes. He was of a large build but looked to be strong as well. AJ, 'what a name', she thought quietly, was shorter than Nick considerably and his hair was shaved completely off his head. He had tattoos over most of his arms and shoulders. His facial hair he kept shaved at odd angles. His eyes were large and dark brown and told her his life story. Pain, suffering and loss, followed by joy and then loss again, she felt for him. Brian was shorter than AJ slightly and had sandy blonde hair and his eyes were not as blue as Nick's and had more of a sky quality to them. She could tell by his demeanor that he was kind and gentle by nature, but would fight to death for his friends and family. Loyalty like that is hard to find, she thought to herself and looked to Howie. He was the shortest of the bunch, with black hair that curled at the ends on the bottom of his nick. He was brown skinned like those in Carlota across the Sea of Plenty. His eyes were brown like AJ's but hid more of his soul than his friends. She could see loss in them, but loss that was buffered by a knowing of some sort. She then looked to Kevin and sighed, Kevin was barely shorter than Nick, his eyes an amazing shad of green she'd only seen once before, when she was quite young. His dark black hair came down to his neck and looked silky and smooth. She took notice of his haw and facial structure 'He looks like King Rolanth' she thought unsheilded smiling.
Kevin looked back "Thank you, but who is King Rolanth?" he asked stopping so he could fall in step next to the horse.
"You heard me?" she asked shocked a bit.
"You said it didn't you?" he asked.
'No I thought it'
Kevin got wide eyed "I heard you thinking?"
'Well you have the thought sensing gift young man. You also have mindspeech, but it's slight like Howie's. What's this...' she trailed off suddenly.'Jakara, he's a firestarter!' she said privately.
"What?" Kevin asked quickly.
"She said you are a firestarter, whatever that is" Nick called back to him.
"Stop it! I know you can hear mindspeech, but when something is private, keep it that way" Jakara told him with a hint of anger.
"Sorry" Nick said quietly and went to catch up with AJ.
"What's a firestarter?" Kevin asked.
Jakara sighed "A firestarter is someone who can control fire. They can call it out of nothing and can set fire to practically anything they choose to if they are in control of their gift. It is a very dangerous gift and currently we only have one firestarter in all of Valhala."
"Who?"
"Me" she said with a smile.
"So I'm assuming you will be teaching me then?" he asked.
"You assume correct" she laughed.
"Ok but who is King Rolanth?" Is he the current King?"
"Oh no, King Rolanth was Queen Savril's father. We have no king, our Queen has a husband Prince Stephan, but he is an outerlander and his is not gifted and did not bond with a companion so he is just a husband" she replied.
"Oh, I see" Kevin nodded.
They made it to the rest haven just before sundown and Jakara showed them the path down to the river so they could clean up. "Soap root is planted all along the river, it is just like regular soap" she said taking Aketa's saddle and bridle off.
Down at the river Nick and Brian were splashing around in the water, goofing off like kids. AJ was washing up trying to work the kinks out of his legs and Howie and Kevin were sitting on the edge of the river bank, drying off and watching the others.
"This is weird Kevin. I mean we aren't even in our own dimension anymore" Howie said looking at the forest around them. "We are in a world of talking horses, cats, wolves, and who knows what...and magic as well. I'm freaked" he said looking down at the reeds poking out of the water and grabbing one to play with.
"I know I'm a little freaked out myself. But maybe we're here for a purpose. Maybe we can help them" Kevin mused.
"How so?" AJ asked coming up to sit next to them. "Do you mean like fight in the war they are in?"
Kevin shrugged "I don't know, but I know we are here for a purpose."
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