Chapter 3: Barter

Valkyrie awoke with the early morning light streaming between two buildings. The salt air tickled her nose but the smell of rotting fish made her nearly gag. A hint of metallic tang filled the air around her and she looked down to find her hands still covered in red and the hem of her dress was also stained red. She lifted her tiny head and looked up at her mom. Celeana’s face was pale, and she looked to be deep asleep with her eyes closed. Small dried channels of red were caked onto her lips and nose.

Val shook her mom and called to her, but there was no response. “Mama!!!”

Runes scrolled across her vision and she did her best to puzzle out the meaning. Slowly the runes shifted from odd squiggles to something she recognized from the books her mom read her. “In suf fic ient Pow er” she sounded out slowly.

Val had no idea what that was supposed to mean or why she was seeing it. Her stomach grumbled then and she looked down to see her mother’s blade still in her hand. Blue glow outlined the blade in her vision and she pried it from her mother’s cold hand.

“Mama, I am scared,” Celeana’s lifeless body lay unmoving but something caught Val’s eye poking out of her pocket. She leaned down and fished a leather pouch from her pocket. Inside she found the remainder of the coins. Her mother had taught her to count and as she looked at the coins a number appeared before her.

[ 73 Drets. ]

Her mother had told her Drets were the lowest denomination coins were made from. There was definitely not 73 coins in the pouch. Only maybe five coins were left. As she fished a few out, she found two silver ghealach and a single tiny gold Zon no bigger than her thumb nail. The Zon was worth 50 Drets, and each silver Ghealach was worth 10. Three small copper Drets were all that was left.

Val couldn’t understand how such a small coin was supposed to be worth more than her three larger copper drets. The silver ghealach at least had some weight to it for its size.

Val wondered if she would be able to find food nearby to satisfy her tummy’s grumbles. She leaned down and kissed her mother’s forehead. “I will be back mama.”

Val set the blade back under her mother’s skirt and headed to figure out where she was. She peeked around the corner of the building and saw a long street nearly devoid of life except the few lone workers striding between buildings. She saw the dark red spots in the dirt where the fight had happened but the bodies had been removed. Apparently, it wasn’t worth anyone’s time to search for a culprit.  She quickly ran back down the alleyway and peeked out the other side.

This street was much busier. The smell of freshly roasting meat caught her attention. She looked down the road to see a stall with a large pit fire beside it, a huge hunk of meat slowly turning over a fire. Across from the meat merchant, a baker was setting fresh loaves into his window display. Val was about to brave stepping into the crowded street, she spotted a dark shadow on the far side of the street.

At first, she figured it was just the shadow of the building but then it moved! The shadow slid across the street, through the crowd toward her location. The people walking seemed oblivious to its presence or motion through their world and continued on their journeys as if nothing was happening.

When the Shadow turned toward her, Val froze in fear. The shadow stopped, seeming to perceive her gaze. It wavered, almost as if a breeze had pushed through its dark cloud-like appearance. When it solidified again, it flowed toward Val. She ignored her growing hunger and raced back to her mother. As she huddled against her mother’s body, her hand found the hilt of the black blade.

The shadow followed her and stood looking down at her, peering into her very soul. It reached out a vaporous hand toward her and she saw a red glow suddenly outline the figure. The red pulsed as if in warning, and she snarled and slashed her hidden dagger at the being. The blade passed through the shadow’s wrist but met nothing solid. The Shadow however reacted violently, the hand vanishing in a puff of smoke. The creature tossed its head back in a silent scream to the heavens.

A small arrow started to glow in Val’s vision, pointing at the center of the creature’s chest and also a line across where she guessed a neck should be.  She pulled back her blade and shoved it forward, aiming at the indicated spot. still meeting no resistance she slashed up through its body and across the neck line.

Everywhere the blade touched, black smoky substance seemed to absorb into the blade, its glow growing steadily brighter with each attack. As Valkyrie watched, the entity lost form, its hazy body being pulled into her blade. The hilt vibrated violently as the last of the smoke disappeared from her vision before the whole area went still as death.

Valkyrie’s stomach let out a loud growl breaking the silence. Food. I need food.

Val tried to forget the scary shadow and hurried back toward the street with the meat vendor. She followed her nose through the crowd of people until she stood before a large rotund man with a bald head and a large bush of red hair around his mouth. He wore a grease-covered leather apron as he tended the meat rotating on a spit over the fire.

“No charity here, girl. If I catch you stealing, it will be your hand!” he called in a gruff voice, not bothering to look up from his work. Val’s mouth began to water as she watched him drizzle a glaze across the steaming meat. “At your age, you should be in the orphanage, or back in your family home, not out on the streets.

“I can pay, sir.”

The large man grunted. “Doubt that. You are as pale and thin as the rest of them street rats. The lot of you are all the same. Beggars all. If you want food, a plate is five dret. If you can beg that much from someone, what do I care where it came from.”

Five drets. Her young mind considered how much she had and what it would cost to eat in this grimy place. At such a price she would be lucky to afford 12 meals. If she limited herself to just one meal a day… she might make it two weeks. She had to figure out how to get more coin. A small light flashed in the upper right of her vision. When she glanced at it, runes scrolled across her vision. As the runes shifted to letters she knew she puzzled out their meaning.

“Which one is the dret, mister?

“If you actually have some coin in that purse of yours, it’s the little ones made of copper.”

[ Increase barter? ]

[ Available Plasma: 1 unit ]

“Yes?” She said unsure what she was seeing.

“Yes, what?  You got the coin or not?” the man asked, confusion crossing his face.

The glow vanished from her vision and a new idea came to her.

“Sir, how big is the plate?”

The meat merchant grunted and found a large plate, “All of this, lass. As much as the plate will hold.”

“Please sir, I am just a little thing. I don’t need that much. How about one dret and you give me a me-size portion. Anything more and I wouldn’t be able to eat it before it went bad.”

He eyed her blood-stained dress and dirt-caked pale skin, “My meats dont go bad before someone can eat them… but I suppose you have a point. You are a wee thing. Ok. I suppose if you want a fifth the meat, I can cut you off a piece. But not before I’m seeing that dret!”

Val fished out a single copper dret and passed it over. The man seemed surprised she actually had real money and smiled as he slipped it into his money box. “You’ve been a good girl and not argued over paying me what's due.”

He glanced at the meat that was now ready to come off the spit and began slicing a piece.  “How much you think you can be eating?”

Val’s stomach made itself known then and the man laughed. “Guessing you haven’t eaten enough lately. Here, take this.” he sliced off a generous portion that looked huge to Val, but was about half what the man normally served to customers.

“Get yourself fed and if you still have coin, feel free to visit again.” The merchant said as he turned to greet a new customer.

Val took her score and run back to her alley alcove and sat beside her mother, digging into her bounty. Sweet juices ran down her chin as she devoured the savory meat. Before she knew it, the plate was empty but thankfully her belly was now overly full. She laid herself down, resting her head on her mother’s lap and slept through the afternoon heat.

That evening, tears filled her eyes as Val cuddled against her now cold mother’s body. This night, there would be no bedtime story. There would be no gentle brushing of her hair, or the sweet smile from her mother as she leaned down to kiss her forehead. Tonight, Val cried herself to sleep, curled against the stiff form of her mother.