Flight Through Bastion

Continue the Valkyrie: Ragnarok story with Faya’s flight through Bastion. Can she escape, or will she swing for the trail of blood she has left behind her?

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Author’s Note:

We leave Faya’s memory of the dwarves to return to her flight through the city of Bastion. She has just stabbed a man and lost a business associate, and now, with the authorities after her, she tries to make her escape through the labyrinthine city of Bastion. Faya knows that, as a half-elf, she isn’t likely to receive a fair trial; escape is her only option.

If you’ve missed parts of the story, don’t worry, I’ll be compiling all of these into a complete novel, so enjoy these highlights from Faya’s adventures in the meantime.

Faya slid under the giant’s tabard and through his legs. Leaping up, she caught a slender stone strut that angle up, into the darkness.

Below she could see the lamps and burning torches of the Undercity. Above sparkled the undying magical luminescence of glow globes.

With her hands and feet, she climbed up and up as arrows whizzed past her. She had to somehow slip out of sight of the watch and escape.

More struts, like stony black ribs, appeared out of the darkness above her. She jumped for them, but as she flew through the air an arrow punched through her upper arm. She caught one of the struts with both hands, but the pain was too much and her right hand slipped.

For a moment she hung in space, illuminated by the torches of the watch and dangling in the open.

Faya gritted her teeth against the pain and caught the strut with her injured hand, then hauled herself up. More arrows bit at the stone between her and the shouting men. She hopped from strut to strut, as her pursuers followed her along the parallel walkway below.

The series of struts ended abruptly at a wall, which the walkway cut through via a narrow tunnel. It was too far to jump back to the walkway, which was packed with men brandishing halberds. Where in the Abyss was that giant, Faya though? She could sense the tempo of the archers now and waited for the lull between their firing and reloading. Then she swung out again and caught the edge of the tiled roof above and pulled herself up, screaming against the pain in her arm. In a moment she was running up the sloped roof, then over an adjoining roof that covered the wall. The guards followed her through the tunnel, their arrows ready to catch her if she hesitated for even a moment.

There was nothing on the other side, only a deep dark void and a covered bridge that crossed from left to right above her. It was too far to jump.

Suddenly Faya heard a sharp crack. It took her a moment to feel the pain across her cheek, but by then she’d already turned to face her assailant. A city watchman, dresses in the burgundy and black of their number, stood higher up on the roof, his whip coiling through the air for another strike.

“Oh yes, let’s play!” The man was slender, with angry red skin and a sneer. His whip arched back, then snapped forwards in a flash.

“No games,” Faya said, as she caught the whip. She gave it a hard pull and it came free from the man’s hand. The momentum pulled him forwards and he stumbled towards the edge. In a flash, Faya jumped onto his back and launched herself towards the bridge. As the man fell to his death, she lashed out with the whip and caught one of the stone pillars of the bridge. She swung across. She climbed up as fast as she could, aware that an arrow could catch her at any moment.

Springing through one of the stone arches, she bumped over a baker and her basket of fresh bread. Other people stopped to watch the commotion, and the shout went up for the watch. It was early morning, and if she stayed on the street she’d never escape.

Looking around Faya spotted an ash dwarf chained to a post. The post was affixed to the wall by brackets and ran up into the rafters of the bridge’s roof.

Just then crowd parted, and the giant came into view.

The rest of the story continues later this week, but you’ll have to be a newsletter subscriber to get the rest of the action.