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I awoke to the sound of an alarm clock going off, though it wasn’t the digital kind that I was familiar with. It was an old fashion alarm clock, the kind that you wind up and which my great grandparents probably used before there was such a thing as digital clocks. And as hard as it was to believe, the metal hammer on metal bell ringer was even more annoying than my old clock’s alarm had been.

When I’d returned to my quarters yesterday after the long and brutal training session with the jatta, I’d found exactly what Lindrell had been doing during that time. There had been a new nightstand sitting beside my bed, along with the clock on top of it. However, Lindrell had given me a few more things as well, and left a note saying that it was all to help me get started on my new life.

“I could have done without the alarm clock,” I muttered as I climbed out of bed. Then again, I suspect that the alarm was more for her benefit than for mine since it meant that she wouldn’t have to come pounding on my door to wake me up.

As I sat on the edge of my bed, stretching and waking up the rest of the way, I was thankful for the fact that I’d slept well. Last night was the first time since coming to Val Halla that I hadn’t woken up with dreams about the daemon who’d torn into me. Then again, all the training yesterday from the jatta had certainly helped exhaust me enough so that I’d sleep.

Yesterday, Lei had put me through a few training exercises before throwing me onto the sparring ring. She sparred against me herself, leaving me with some severe bruises. And that was when she’d been holding back. Then she had me spar against a couple other jatta before pairing me off against Nicole, the brunette girl who’d enjoyed showing how much stronger she was than me. It turned out that Nicole was the youngest of the jatta, having joined a little more than a year earlier, and I’d spent two hours sparring with her. She was definitely stronger than me, though not by as much as Lei. Still, she’d given me more than her share of bruises before we were done.

After a minute, I stood up and went to the window, removing the blanket I was using to cover it. In the Twilight Realm, there was no sun to rise or set, just the ever present twilight. The light through the window wasn’t bright enough to wake me, but I found that covering the window did help me go to sleep a little easier.

A few seconds later, I turned my attention to one of the other gifts that Lindrell had left for me, a large wooden wardrobe which was set against the wall. It was about seven feet tall, five feet wide, and covered with intricate carvings that were obviously done by hand. The entire thing was quite impressive, and to make it even more practical, it was filled with clothes. There were training outfits as well as casual clothes that would have fit right in at my old school. And of course, it came with panties and bras…which I’d already confirmed were a perfect fit.

When Julie came to Val Halla, she’d brought a bag with some of her personal items and prized possessions, but I’d come here without warning and without anything…not even the clothes on my back. My quarters had been completely empty of any personal possessions, and the only clothes I had were a couple training outfits that had been provided. Normally, being given a few pieces of furniture and some clothes wouldn’t have seemed that big of a deal, but at the moment, it was. My quarters suddenly felt less like an empty motel room and more like a place where I could actually live. And just as importantly, this was also a strong indication that Lindrell expected me to stay, and that I didn’t have to worry about being kicked out tomorrow. That was a great relief.

I picked out my clothes with care, even though there really wasn’t much point. After all, there was no doubt that I’d only need to wear the training clothes for the time being, but I did hesitate over the bra and panties. Until now, there hadn’t been much choice but to go completely bare, though that had taught me a few valuable lessons in why women needed to wear bras. Then once I had my clothes picked out, I turned my attention to the last present that Lindrell had left for me. The full length, antique, oval mirror which now stood in the corner.

Although I’d been a girl for several days, last night had been the first time I’d actually seen what I looked like, and I’d ended up staring at my reflection for nearly twenty minutes straight. The impact this morning was no less surprising, especially since I had a hard time believing that the young woman who stared back was actually me. She was gorgeous, with golden blonde hair and crystal blue eyes. Her body was impressive, with plenty of sexy curves but also a lot of noticeable muscle tone, making it look as though she could have been a member of the Swedish volleyball team. If it hadn’t been for my having seen Lindrell and some of the taller Val Kyr, I might have called her a blonde amazon.

“Hard to believe that’s really me,” I said, shaking my head and watching the girl in the mirror do the same thing. “I guess I’d better get used to it.”

I stared at myself for another minute before I tore myself away from my reflection and turned my attention to more important things, such as getting ready. I quickly got dressed, not even having any problems with the bra since I’d taken the time to figure out how to put one on last night. Once I was fully dressed, I pulled my hair back into a pony tail so it was out of the way, then I left my quarters.

As I walked down towards the restroom, a naked Val Kyr came out and walked right past me. It took all my willpower to keep from staring at her, at least more than I did, but to my surprise, she gave me a once over with her eyes as well. I was blushing bright red by the time I got to the stall to do my business, and even worse, my cheeks weren’t my only parts that were responding to what I’d seen. My nipples were poking straight out and demanding attention, which suddenly made me more than a little thankful that I now had a bra to help hide those twin peaks.

“At least there’s one good thing about all this,” I told myself with a chuckle, thinking about the public baths and how most of the Val Kyr not only looked hot, but seemed to have very little modesty. Of course, that just reminded me that I was on display when I went there as well, and that still made me pretty uncomfortable.

A short time later, I arrived at the cafeteria where I was going to meet up with Julie and Lindrell, as well as find out what kind of training Lindrell had planned for the day. I shuddered at the thought of all the bruises I was sure to get, but at least as a Val Kyr, I healed up in no time at all. And admittedly, it was all pretty interesting, even if some of the lessons were pretty painful.

When I looked around to see whether or not I was the first to arrive, I immediately saw Lindrell, who was standing near the food and talking to another Val Kyr. From her red hair, my first thought was that it was Bethany, but then I realized that it wasn’t. This was the same woman who’d called out against me during my meeting with Freya. This was the same woman who’d reminded everyone that converts were banned.

Though I was standing a good distance away, as soon as I focused on Lindrell and the other woman, I was easily able to make out what they were saying. “She’s a convert,” the redhead told Lindrell in the kind of tone that indicated that she was trying to be reasonable and convincing. “And she doesn’t even have a pillar. She isn’t suited to being Val Kyr. She’ll only get killed and take others with her.”

“Whether you agree or not,” Lindrell responded in a cold tone, “Michelle IS Val Kyr and I will not hear you say otherwise.”

“No,” the redhead said, her own voice calm but insistent. “Whether you agree or not, she’s Estrid all over again. Surely you remember Estrid, the reason converts were banned? She had no pillar either and you know what happened with her…”

“Michelle is NOT Estrid,” Lindrell snapped, suddenly looking angry. “She’s a bright young woman who faces challenges that most new recruits never dream of. She is working hard to adjust and I will NOT have you sabotaging her.”

I stood back and stared in surprise at the fierce way Lindrell was coming to my defense. Not very long ago, I’d been absolutely certain that Lindrell hated me for some reason, though that was no longer the case. In fact, I was beginning to wonder if that was ever really the case.

Lindrell and the redhead stared at each other for several long seconds before the redhead finally said, “Very well, continue to teach the girl. But remember, when she breaks, that I warned you.”

I was burning with curiosity about who this Estrid was and what the redhead meant when Julie came up and said, “Morning…”

“Morning,” I responded, hoping she didn’t realize that I’d just been eavesdropping on Lindrell and that other woman.

“Are you doing all right?” Julie asked, giving me a concerned look.

I hesitated a moment, not wanting to admit what I was really worried about, at least not at the moment. “Just wishing I had my Kindle,” I told her, which was true since I’d lost my Kindle during the daemon attack. “I was right in the middle of a good book, now I’ll probably never find out how it ends…”

“I know what you mean,” Julie told me with a sympathetic sigh. “I mean, I’m going through internet withdrawal big time. I haven’t checked my e-mail or facebook in days…and there are a couple of my favorite web comics that I’d like to check.”

“The downsides of living in a magic castle,” I pointed out wryly, which made Julie laugh.

“Yeah, they never go into that part of things in books,” Julie agreed. “Fortunately, Lindrell said that once we’re trained, we’ll be able to go back to Earth, though we probably won’t be able to settle down in any one spot, at least not without a lot of preparation.”

I nodded at that, thinking about going back and telling Dad about what happened to me. However, I was pretty sure that if I showed up looking like I did now, there was no way he’d believe I was really me. In fact, as I thought about it, I’d probably end up getting the cops called on me. After all, as far as anyone there knew, Julie and I had probably just disappeared without warning…along with Lindrell. And then there was Mrs. Clarence being killed and two daemon bodies which had been left behind. There would undoubtedly be a LOT of questions that I didn’t want to have to answer.

Julie and I started walking towards the food, where Lindrell and the redhead were still talking. As we approached, the two of them turned to face us. The redhead gave me a disapproving look before she quickly covered it up.

“Michelle…Julie,” Lindrell said with a grim expression. I could see that she was still a bit upset from the conversation I’d overheard, but she was trying not to show it. “I’d like to introduce you to Shannon. She’s going to be joining our triad as our kaern.”

I felt a cold knot form in my stomach at that news, and from the look on Lindrell’s face, I didn’t think she was happy about that either. I just stared at Shannon, taking the opportunity for a closer look. She was quite pretty, with a splash of freckles across her cheeks and nose, and she looked like she was in her mid to late twenties, though I knew that this didn’t mean much when the Val Kyr were concerned. I also felt a faint sense of pleasure to realize that she was about five foot ten…two inches shorter than me, though it did make her about an inch taller than Julie.

Julie grinned cheerfully and said, “Hi, it’s nice to meet you…”

“It’s nice to meet you as well,” Shannon responded with what appeared to be a sincere smile. However, when she turned her attention back to me, the smile faded, and in a tone of forced politeness, she added, “And you too, Michelle.”

“For now,” Lindrell said, looking at Julie and then me, “I’ll continue training you individually, though Shannon will help. Once you’re both a little more up to speed, we’ll start working on how to work as part of a triad.”

“Of course,” Shannon added in an almost offhand manner, “Triad tactics are all based around working with three people, one of each pillar.” Though she didn’t look at me, this was obviously a reminder that I wasn’t necessary and didn’t belong. Lindrell scowled and gave Shannon an annoyed look but didn’t say anything.

After this, we all got food and sat down at a table together to talk and get to know each other a little better. Shannon seemed fairly friendly with Julie, but as far as I was concerned, she was polite and professional, but nothing more. It was obvious that she was on her best behavior because Lindrell was there, but I had no idea how long that would continue once Lindrell was out of earshot.

When we were finished eating, Lindrell announced that we were going to go straight into the sword training. “Since there are four of us, we’ll split into pairs,” she announced.

Julie hesitated a moment, then said, “I was told that I should practice with a spear…”

“Most notru use spears or staves as their primary weapons,” Lindrell agreed. “You’ll need to become familiar with a sword as well, but for now you can focus on your spear.” She looked to me and said, “Michelle, you’re with me for now.”

A minute later, we spread out across the training room with Lindrell and me on one end while Julie sparred with Shannon on the other. I glanced over to Julie, who was holding a dulled training spear while her opponent was just using a sword. However, I didn’t spare them much attention as Lindrell lunged at me with her sword, which required my full attention to deal with.

This sparring session was a little easier than the first one I had with Lindrell, mostly because she wasn’t bothering with the pop quiz. Instead, she came at me a little more aggressively, hitting me with harder blows and forcing me to work even harder to try keeping up. Fortunately, after my sparring with Nicole and the other jatta yesterday, I had learned to use my val a little more. I could feel the hum of the val through my body, and as I exerted myself, it surged through my muscles. This let me take Lindrell’s blows a little more easily and put more force into my own attacks.

Then Lindrell abruptly demanded, “What’s the easiest way to kill a tarthock?”

“What?” I stared, caught by surprise by her pop quiz.

Before I could gather my thoughts, Lindrell snapped me with the flat of her blade, leaving a nasty bruise on my arm. Or at least it would if I wasn’t able to heal from bruises as quickly as I could now. However, I knew that if I didn’t answer the question quickly, I could expect another one.

“The eye,” I blurted out, remembering the picture she’d shown me of the large and ugly looking daemon. It had a large eye in the middle of the forehead, along with several smaller eyes on the side. “Behind the middle eye, there’s an opening in the skull…”

“Good,” Lindrell said, looking pleased.

Lindrell was satisfied enough that after this, she had us switch sparring partners. She began to spar with Julie while I was put up against Shannon. If Shannon had an opinion on sparring with me, I couldn’t read it on her face.

Sparring with Shannon was different from any of the other people I’d gone against before. Of course, until now, everyone else I’d sparred against had been jatta and a lot stronger than me. Instead of coming at me with a lot of force, she moved faster, seeming to focus more on speed and accuracy than raw strength. That meant it was much more difficult to block her attacks, but when I did, she didn’t knock me back. I was just thankful she was holding back.

“Don’t simply block,” Shannon told me in a professional tone. “Angle your blade like this. You’ll divert the attack away from you and take less of an impact.”

Though Shannon had made it clear to Lindrell that she didn’t like me, she kept giving me advice and tips like that as we sparred. It seemed that regardless of her personal feelings, for now at least, she was completely professional. I could live with that.

Eventually, I heard Lindrell give Julie one of her surprise quizzes, which was quickly followed by a yelp of pain when she hadn’t answered fast enough. Fortunately, Shannon didn’t seem to believe in the quizzes or the painful smacks to drive in a lesson. It was a nice change of pace.

When we shifted opponents again, I found myself facing off against Julie while Shannon and Lindrell stood back, watching the two of us. Julie held her spear out, grinning wickedly as that gave her a much longer reach than I had with my sword. She was able to use that to keep me back, out of range so I couldn’t get close enough to use my sword against her.

“This hardly seems fair,” I grumbled. “I mean, she’s got a lot longer reach with that thing…”

“Most daemons you face will have a longer reach than you,” Lindrell pointed out. “You’ll need to use different tactics than against someone with a sword.”

I might have complained that this would have been easier said than done, but the fact was, Lindrell and Shannon had both gone against Julie and they’d both done more than merely hold their own. I tried to remember how they’d dealt with Julie, though I had been a bit too distracted at the time to pay much attention.

“I’m starting to like this thing,” Julie told me, looking rather smug. “Come and get me…”

“Don’t mind if I do,” I responded, coming at her and moving to the side so as to get in too close for her to use the spear very effectively. I’d seen Shannon pull something similar on her a little earlier. I swung my sword and she pulled her spear into a blocking position, then gasped as she was knocked back.

“Wow, you hit hard,” she told me, looking a little annoyed.

“Just think of this as doing a Mortal Kombat LARP,” I told Julie, who burst out laughing at that.

“In that case, can I pick a new character?” she joked. “Maybe one with a better finishing move…”

“Less chatting, more sparring,” Lindrell called out.

A few seconds later, Shannon added, “Use your essence. In a real fight, you have to use everything at your disposal.”

That advice was obviously meant for Julie since she was notru and they specialized in essence. Julie just grinned evilly, then held one of her hands out. I could feel the val flowing out of her body and into the air in front of her, just a moment before a burst if air hit me and caused me to lose my balance and stagger back. While I was distracted by that, Julie lunged at me with her spear.

I was barely able to block her attack, knocking her spear to the side as I lunged forward. My sword slid down the spear’s shaft, then smacked Julie right in the wrist. She let out a howl of pain, dropping the spear and immediately grabbing her wrist.

“I’m sorry,” I blurted out, horrified that I’d hurt her. “I didn’t mean…”

Lindrell rushed to Julie and took one look at her wrist before calmly saying, “It’s broken.” She said that as though it was no big deal at all.

“It’s not your fault,” Julie told me, though her eyes were tearing up.

“Just a minor training incident,” Lindrell commented, holding out her hand which began to glow. I watched as she channeled her jatta charged val into her hand, the same way she had when she’d saved my life. “These things happen all the time.”

Without another word, Lindrell placed her hand on Julie’s shoulder, and the jatta charged val went into Julie. Since I was paying close attention, I could sense the flow of energy, remembering at the same time exactly what this would do. This would briefly supercharge Julie’s jatta…and as a result…her ability to heal herself.

“It isn’t a bad break,” Lindrell said, giving Julie a reassuring smile. “It should be as good as new in just a few minutes.”

“Thank you,” Julie told her.

“I’m sorry,” I said again, knowing that it had been an accident, but I still felt bad.

“Don’t worry,” Julie joked, sticking her tongue out at me. “Next time it will be my turn to kick your butt.”

“I can hardly wait,” I responded wryly.

Lindrell smiled faintly, then said, “I think we’re done for now. After lunch, you can work at your chore assignments then we’ll do some more training.”

“Oh joy,” I responded with a roll of my eyes. “I love washing dishes…”

“And gardening,” Julie added, as if she didn’t like her own assigned job of working in the gardens. It was definitely better than scrubbing pots.

Shannon wandered off, apparently deciding that she was no longer needed. Lindrell gave me and Julie each a reassuring smile and said, “You’re both learning quickly. It won’t be long before you’re able to go into the field.”

I grinned at the compliment, knowing that she wasn’t really exaggerating by too much. Over the last few days, I’d learned far more about how to use a sword than I ever would have imagined possible, at least in such a short amount of time. Of course, I owed my ability to progress so quickly almost entirely due to the val. Thanks to my val, I didn’t have to work at getting in shape or building the right muscles, and it allowed me to practice for hours on end before I began getting tired. And when you added the fact that I could recover from all the aches and bruises in very short time, it meant that I was ready to go again in no time at all.

I held no illusions that I saw some kind of sword or fighting prodigy. My swift progress was simply due to the fact that the val was able to remove most of the necessary build-up as well as many of the distractions from training, making the whole process much more efficient. Instead of having to worry about getting tired or hurt, I could focus almost entirely on gaining skill and experience.

“Oh, while I’m thinking about it,” I started, giving Lindrell a grateful smile. “Thank you for everything you dropped off in my quarters. It’s nice to have some clothes…”

“Definitely,” Julie agreed. “Thank you.”

“It was my pleasure,” Lindrell responded, looking quite pleased. “I know it isn’t easy to give up everything you know and start a whole new life, so I wanted to make it easier on you two.”

“The wardrobe was especially nice,” I mused, thinking about the intricate carving all over the thing. “I wonder how long it takes to make something like that…”

“A couple weeks for the wardrobe itself,” Lindrell responded proudly. “And a couple months for the carving…”

I stared at Lindrell in surprise. “Wait…you made it?”

“There’s more to me than just being able to swing an axe and kill daemons,” Lindrell told me, looking somewhat amused. “My father used to be a furniture maker, back in the days when all furniture was made by hand. Though my brother was the one who inherited the family business, I’ve always stayed in practice. Working with wood and making furniture is how I like to relax in my down time…” She had a sad look on her face at that, probably because of the reminder about her family, who were most likely long since dead.

“Well, the stuff you gave me is really nice,” Julie assured her while I nodded agreement.

“You two go on,” Lindrell told us with a faint smile. “I’m sure you’re both eager to get something to eat.”

Julie and I agreed, and a minute later we were rushing to the cafeteria where we piled up on all the foods that were available. It always amazed me just how much food was always available, especially when there were no electric tools or appliances to help. Of course, I’d seen the work that went into this first hand, and I’d do my part in just a little while by peeling potatoes and scrubbing pots.

Once Julie and I were sitting down, I apologized again. “I’m sorry about your wrist…”

“It’s okay,” Julie assured me, twisting her wrist around to show me that it was healed. “Good as new. I guess next time, I’ll be more careful about how I’m holding the spear so this doesn’t happen again…”

I was about to respond to that when I ‘felt’ someone coming towards us, the same way I was now able to sense when someone was working with val. When I looked up, I was a little surprised to see that it was Nicole, the brunette I’d been sparring with in the jatta training hall.

“Michelle,” Nicole greeted me with a smile. She glanced to Julie, then back to me, asking, “Do you mind if I sit here?”

“Sure, go ahead,” I responded, feeling just a little confused by her request.

“I’m Nicole,” she introduced herself to Julie.

Julie grinned and told her, “I’m Julie. I take it you two have already met.”

“We’ve sparred,” Nicole said with a grin of her own. Then she looked me in the eyes and added, “And I am looking forward to doing it again the next time you come over to jatta town.”

“I’ll be better the next time,” I promised her, startled to realize that I was actually looking forward to a rematch once I’d improved a bit more.

Nicole just nodded at that, looking pleased. “Good. That will make it more fun.” Then she looked over to Julie before announcing, “You know, I haven’t left Val Halla in a few months… Have any good movies come out recently?”