Raven Demarco grew up living a sheltered life. When she starts University to get away from that she is caught up in the world of the paranormal. Secret organizations, magic, creatures from myth and legend, and worst of all her own legacy and the demons who want her blood.

Thanks to my readers for reading my work and patiently waiting for new chapters and to the Big Closet team who give so much of themselves to keep this site going

I awoke to a distant ringing sound that I eventually figured out was the doorbell. As much as I would have liked to stay in that soft bed, the strangeness of the room when I opened my eyes brought me back to reality and I climbed out of bed, wrapping the comforter around my naked body, to make my way toward the foyer. Once I arrived I looked through the peep hole to see my aunt standing outside and looking very cheerful. I opened the door and mumbled, “G’morning. What time is it anyway?”

Lin came inside answering chipperly, “Its six o’clock and we have a lot to do today.”

“Oh dear God, you’re a morning person,” I grumbled.

She began to push me back toward the bedroom. “And so are you now that I’ve agreed to train you. If you want to be a warrior, then you keep a warrior’s hours. So get showered and dressed, while I order us up some breakfast.”

“What have I ever done to you to deserve this?” I groaned as I let her push me along.

“Well you did climb in my car and refuse to get out until I trained you, so I’m just giving you what you asked for,” she pointed out. “You’ll get used to getting up this early; my trainer did the same thing to me on my first day. Except we didn’t have hot running water for showers back then, and when I didn’t want to get up she picked me up and tossed me in the lake. Remember that I told you that we lived in the mountains. Damn that water was cold.”

I shivered at the thought, “It sounds like your trainer was a real bitch.”

“She was only doing what was needed to toughen me up. I think she was a bit harder on me than she would have been on anyone else because I was her first student, and her sister,” she said as she took the comforter off me and tossed it on the bed. At my stunned look she grinned, “Yes your mom trained me.”

“Why was she so hard on you?” I asked as she pushed me toward the en suite bathroom.

“Before she agreed to teach me I was really jealous of her,” she responded with a sigh. “She was one of our best warriors and she was amazing with Divine magic. She taught me both and her being so hard on me not only made me a stronger warrior with a will to survive, but it also let me see how hard she trained to get as good as she was. Training with her helped us to become as close as we were. “

I stopped outside the shower and said, “Thanks for agreeing to train me. You didn’t have to say yes and I know it probably brings up bad memories.”

She placed a hand on my shoulder and looked me straight in the eyes. “You’re family, I couldn’t say no, and training you will bring up good memories. A Valkyrie does not mourn for what is lost, we relish in what was gained and remember the fallen for the good times we shared with them. To do any less than to celebrate the life they gave, is to dishonor their memory. Siv deserves to be honored. I will train you as she trained me, and should I enter Valhalla before you then I will tell her I trained you to be a warrior worthy of our people.” With that she shoved me in the shower and giggled as she turned on the cold water.

I shrieked as the water hit my skin and she ran out of the room. I left the water cold to help me wake up and tried to make the shower as quick as possible. Once I was cleaned, I shook out my wings to get rid of any water as best I could and wrapped a towel around my damp hair. Then I patted myself dry before heading back into the bedroom to change into my jeans and red halter top from the night before.

When I left the bedroom I found my aunt in the dining room with breakfast laid out on the table. There was a lot of just about everything one could want for breakfast and it looked more like a buffet than a breakfast for two. I raised a questioning eyebrow as I sat down. “Isn’t this a little much for the two of us?”

My aunt shook her head. “A big breakfast is the best way to start a day, and once we’re out in the woods we won’t have this luxury. You’ll have to start eating more now because you’ll be burning calories fast once you start training. And flying is going to cause your metabolism to speed up, so you’ll need to eat a lot more to keep up with the demand. A fully grown Valkyrie who’s started flying will usually eat at least this much for breakfast.”

“How long will it be before I start flying?” I asked, a bit eager to get started on that.

“Flying will be one of your first lessons and since you don’t have Divine magic to prevent the normal folks from seeing you while flying, I had to do some thinking. Once you’ve finished eating I’ll show you what I came up with and begin teaching you what you’ll need to know to fly. Trust your teacher and eat as much as you can, you’re going to need the energy.” Then she started eating, packing away not only a lot of food but also two glasses of juice and two glasses of milk. She encouraged me to drink a lot too. “You need to keep hydrated, and the natural sugars in the juice will give you a more immediate energy boost for working those wings.”

Once we had both eaten as much as we could, she escorted me out to the terrace. In the daylight I could see it in much better detail. She walked me to the three foot high stonework wall that ran along the edge of both the terrace and balcony to the corner which afforded a panoramic view of the city, the bay, and the distant mountains. “Have you attempted flying on your own yet?” she asked.

I nodded as I took in the scenery. “Tried and failed. I can barely get them to move when I want them to. It’s like they aren’t properly connected with my brain, neither can properly read the signals the other is sending.”

“You’re over-thinking it. All Valkyries do when they first get their wings,” she replied. “You think you’re not used to having wings and you expect them to feel wrong to you, so they do. Flying is all about instinct. What you need to do is relax and to let your wings do their thing.” She handed me a simple silver ring, urging me to put it on. “Whenever you fly where there might be people around you should use this. I’ve enchanted it with Divine magic so that it bends light around the wearer. It’s a similar spell to what I use when flying, and it will make it so that normal humans won’t see you. It’s not that powerful an invisibility spell, so many of those those attuned to the paranormal and specifically magic will see right through it, but it’s really the normal people and their cameras that we need to worry about.”

I put the ring on and asked, “How long do you think it will be before I start flying?”

“Probably a lot sooner than you think,” was her cryptic response. “First I want you to close your eyes and steady your breathing. Contemplate the air around you and how it feels around you, how it feels on your wings. Relax and let all the rest of the world fade away, there is only you and the sky.”

I nodded, and tried to relax and set my mind on the air around me and how it felt. I could feel the cold northern wind caressing me and let out a soft sigh. “That wind feels nice.”

Lin’s voice lulled me to relax even further as she massaged my shoulders. “I now begin your lesson Raven. Now in the time honored tradition of our people I will offer you to the winds. Repeat after me the first thing spoken by all Valkyries when they first learn to fly.” Her hands tightened on my shoulders as she let out a scream. “Eeeeeeeeeee!!!!” I nearly jumped at the sound, and I thought that an odd thing to say, until she picked me up and threw me over the edge of the building and I too screamed.

I opened my eyes to see the ground rushing toward me and as I began to panic suddenly my wings spread wide and I began to glide. I could feel the wind rushing around my wings, through my feathers, and something in my mind clicked. It was like I was finally feeling my wings for the first time, and if I could feel them I could control them. At first I let instinct guide me as I got the feel for gliding, sensing the winds, and making the most of them. Then I purposely began to flap my wings, gaining both speed and altitude and thrilling in the experience.

Soon I was far above the hotel and other buildings, the cars in the streets beneath me moving about like tiny ants. I lost track of time as I wandered up there, making my way through clouds and occasionally joining a flock of birds. Flying was simply put, the most incredible experience I had ever had. This was where I belonged; could I really give this up for a normal life? Could I go back to dull classes and then a boring nine to five job knowing that up in the sky there was true freedom? The only other time I had ever felt this confident, this comfortable with myself, was when I had taken down that Ogre.

I was stirred from my contemplation of the future by my aunt’s voice to my left. “It’s almost lunchtime; you should come back down and eat.” I was about to argue that I wasn’t hungry when I realized that I was indeed famished. If it was nearly lunchtime then I had been flying for almost five hours. I turned and stared at my white winged escort and she laughed. “I did the same thing when I first flew. I felt like I couldn’t get enough. Now try to follow me and when you land, touch down feet first, lean back into your wings, and use slow and firm wing beats to ease yourself down.”

Lin pulled ahead of me and I followed in her wake as she led the way back to the hotel. My landing was a little less graceful than hers, okay it was a lot less graceful, but I didn’t fall on my ass and I thought that was pretty good for a first timer. Once I had both feet safely on the terrace I remembered just how I had left it in the first place and crossed my arms belligerently as I glowered at my aunt. “Time honored tradition of our people my ass,” I grumbled.

She just grinned at me, “I didn’t make the tradition I was just following it.”

“You threw me off the top of a building!” I shouted back.

“True,” she replied, “we usually throw them off a cliff, but we’re in a city so I improvised. Instinct is the best teacher and you were flying just fine up there when I last looked. You weren’t in any danger. If instinct hadn’t kicked in and you were in danger I would have saved you, but you were fine.”

“You threw me off the top of a fucking building!” I repeated. “How is falling from the top of a skyscraper not in danger?!”

She rolled her eyes and let out a sigh as her wings retracted back into her body. “You’re overreacting, this is the way we’ve always done it and no Valkyries ever died from it. Some suffered broken bones or the occasional concussion, but none died, and every single one flew as a result.”

“Are all Valkyrie teaching methods this insane?” I grumbled as we walked back inside the apartment.

She looked pensive for a moment before shaking her head. “No, not all of them, just the ones that have to do with flying and combat training.” She laughed at my sour expression as she pushed me toward the table. “Cheer up and eat some lunch and then we can get you home and I can start shopping for the supplies we’ll need for our trip. I know what we’ll need, so you only need to pack clothes suitable for exercise in the outdoors and find us a suitable location.”

I ate much more for lunch than I had for breakfast. I hadn’t even realized how hungry I was until I started eating. As we both worked at clearing the table of anything edible Lin told me stories about when my mom was training her, and some of the more interesting people they had met in their travels. She told me so many things about my mother that I could never have learned from Lydia or the PDA and I asked questions whenever possible to learn even more.

It was almost one thirty by the time we stood up from the table and I grabbed my purse so that we could both get started on the things we needed to do that afternoon. “Would you prefer to fly home or have me drive you?” my aunt asked once I had gathered my things.

I was eager to take to the skies again and grinned as the opportunity presented itself. “Of course I want to fly. You’re not going to throw me off the building again are you?” I asked suspiciously.

She laughed and shook her head. “No, you can jump off on your own if you want to do it that way. You should have enough strength to use your wings to take off from a standing position though, if you’re as physically strong as you’ve said you are. Just remember to put on the ring first, and take it off when you have some privacy.”

I quickly nodded, “I’ll try the standing take-off some other time, I’ll just call home to let them know I‘m on my way.”

She handed me a business card as we walked back out to the terrace. “That’s got my home number and my cell number on it. Give me a call tonight so we can work out the trip details. Or you can come by for a visit if you prefer.”

On impulse I leaned forward and gave her a hug. “Thanks for everything Aunt Lin; I’ll talk to you later.”

She hugged me back. “You’re welcome kid, but don’t thank me yet, we have a lot of work ahead of us. I’ll see you later.” Once I let go of her she headed back into the apartment, leaving me alone on the terrace.

I made sure to put the business card with my new key in my purse, and then took out my cell to dial the number for my house. “Hello?” Lydia’s childlike voice answered.

“Hi Lydia it’s me,” I replied.

“It’s so good to hear from you, I was beginning to worry,” she said letting out a sigh. “Is everything alright?”

“Everything is fine,” I assured her. “Aunt Lin just got kind of caught up telling me stories about my mom while we were eating lunch. I’ll be home really soon, can you all wait for me outside?”

“Sure, I was planning on tidying the front lawn anyway. I’ll keep my cell with me, so call if you run into heavy traffic or any other delays.”

I resisted the urge to giggle. “I don’t think traffic will be too much of a problem. I’ll see you all soon.” I stuffed my phone back in my purse and took out the ring Aunt Lin had given me. I grinned as I put it on my finger with a giggle, “Time to go flying again my precious.” Then after making sure that my purse was closed tight and firmly in my grasp, I took a running start and leaped over the stone railing and into the air beyond. As soon as I was clear of the building I began to work my wings into a steady rhythm that would allow me more speed and altitude and headed in the direction of home.

It was a relatively short flight, once I got used to navigating in the air, and all too soon I was circling above my house to slow down and lower my altitude before landing. As I closed in at two hundred feet or so and settled into a circling glide I could see Lydia, Erin and Alice sitting by the garden and watching the driveway for my arrival. I smiled to myself and thought to Alice, ~Look up.~

She did, and then she was pointing and the others looked up as well to watch me until I made a slightly more graceful landing than I had earlier. Once I had both feet on the ground I casually closed the distance between us, smiled and said, “Nice day for flying don’t you think?”

“Holy shit! You were flying!” Erin said with an excited squeal as she hugged me. “That is so awesome!”

Lydia shook her head, trying to hide a smile. “I knew you’d be able to do it. But what the fuck do you think you were doing?! I can sense that there’s a spell shielding you from human sight, but it’s not humans that are after your damn blood! Why don’t you shoot off some flares while you’re up there so the Demons have an even better chance of noticing you?!” As much as she was bitching I could tell she was happy for me, and she did have a point. I really should have thought about it, but flying was just so exciting.

Alice placed a hand on the upset Imp’s shoulder. ~Calm down Lydia, the Gryphons will warn us I anyone comes here other than the Demons and the Demons are blocked from coming onto the grounds by the wards or they would have been here already. Besides, most Demons can’t fly. ~ She turned to me and smiled, though she looked a bit confused. ~You really seemed to have enjoyed that. I’m glad you finally managed to do it. I thought you were having problems with getting your wings to work properly though. How did you learn so fast?~

I shrugged and tried very hard not to laugh as I replied, “Aunt Lin taught me, but I’m not sure I should reveal to you all the time honored method our people use to teach flying.”

“Awwww, come on!” Erin begged. “You have to tell us. We’re your best friends, and it’s not like any of us are going to tell anyone. Please?!” She pouted and began giving me the puppy dog eyes and I giggled.

“Fine, I’ll tell you, but this falls under ‘don’t try this at home’, and Lydia has to promise not to freak out.” I gave my former caretaker a stern look as I said the last.

“I’ll try not to ‘freak out’. But I won’t promise any more than that,” she offered.

Knowing that was probably the best I was going to get, I shrugged. “She had me close my eyes and contemplate the air around me and how it felt and then…” I trailed off, as if uncertain whether I should share the big secret.

Alice and Lydia seemed to know that I was trying to get to them with the suspense, but Erin was hooked, eagerly waiting for me to reveal the secret. “And?! Come on Raven, don’t leave me hanging here.”

Then as calmly as if I were talking about the weather I said, “…and then she threw me off the top of the Nordic Hotel.”

Erin and Alice stared at me in disbelief and as I expected Lydia reacted in much the same way that I had before I had the chance to think about it over lunch. “She threw you off a building?! Is she fucking insane?! The point is to train you to so you can stay alive! She’s going to kill you before the fucking Demons do!”

I wrapped the little girl in a hug. “Calm down Lydia, I was upset at first too, but it’s always been done that way. Valkyries learn to fly through instinct, and nothing kicks in those instincts and makes you want to learn to fly like falling from some great height. Think about it, most birds learn to fly the same way. Aunt Lin assured me that she would have saved me if I were in any danger. I told you this because I knew you'd want to know, but I won't be able to share anything else from my training with you since Aunt Lin made me promise to keep all combat techniques and other things she will be teaching me when she starts my training secret from even other Paranormals or friends.”

Alice quickly added, ~Teaching like that isn't even that unusual with Paranormals. Even before we Manifest Merfolk are taught to swim as children through instinct. Our parents throw us in the deepest water they can find, and only come to our rescue when it’s apparent that we really aren’t getting it. Usually we don’t need the help. And I think all types of Paranormals have our own secrets.~

“Okay, okay, I get it,” Lydia grumped, “just try not to do anything else life threatening today please. I’m going to go start the pot roast I was planning on making for dinner. You girls try not to be stuck at the Werehouse too long. Dinner should be ready by six.”

I raised my right hand and gave her a grin. “I’ll try not to ‘endanger my life’ any more today, but I won’t promise any more than that.” At her frown I giggled and took off the ring before running into the house to fetch the chest from Erin’s room so we could be on our way.

When I returned outside Lydia had already fled to the kitchen to start dinner preparations and Alice was nowhere to be seen. Erin leaned against the passenger side door of my car and noticing me looking around she quickly explained, “Alice wanted to tag along. But since your car only seats two, and she doesn’t fancy sharing trunk space with that chest you’re carrying, she decided to swim and meet us there.”

“I could have flown and let you two take my car,” I said as I placed the chest in the trunk. I reluctantly pulled my wings and claws inside of me I walked around to the driver’s side door.

“Haven’t gotten your fill of flying yet huh?” she asked. “I don’t blame you, if it were me I’d be up there every chance I got.” We both climbed into my car and put on our seat belts and as I started the engine Erin looked at me longingly and asked, “What’s it like?”

“Flying?” I asked as I started down the driveway. At her nod I thought about how to describe it. It was a few moments before I sighed, smiled, and said, “It’s amazing. It’s like nothing I’ve ever experienced before. It’s like I’m at home up there, and free to go wherever the wind will take me.”

My friend sighed and I looked over to see her staring longingly out at the sky. “I’d love to try it someday.”

I chewed my lower lip as I thought about how she could experience it for herself. “Maybe I can take you up with me some day, I’d really worry about dropping you though. Or we could get you a hang glider or something. It’s not the same as flying under your own power, but it’s probably pretty damn close.”

“That could be fun; hang gliding might be a fun hobby to take up once all this Demon crap is dealt with.” She leaned back in her seat as she came back to reality. “For now though, we’ve got a lot of work ahead of us, I’m actually pretty excited to be meeting this Faith Healer. Grandfather’s journals are helpful, but I can’t ask those questions and get the answers I need. This may be just what I need to move ahead and actually communicate with spirits.”

I nodded and turned my head to smile at her before returning my attention to the road. “It looks like we’ll both be getting the training we need now, and once we’re trained we won’t be running anymore. We’re going to take the fight to them.” I had to be careful not to grip the steering wheel too tightly as I grimly watched the road ahead.

Despite traffic being light, I still would have preferred to be flying. We made good time, but Alice was still waiting for us when we arrived at the warehouse. We had discovered on previous trips that Alice was an incredible swimmer. So while we had been taking the roundabout route through the streets of the city, and the traffic and traffic lights that went with it, she had taken the direct route through English Bay. ~About time you two got here,~ the mermaid teased from where she waited by the elevator in the office.

“I could have beaten you if I’d flown,” I complained.

~We’ll have to race some time and find out for sure,~ she said with a smile. Alice wasn’t waiting alone, as standing beside her and holding the elevator door for us was a handsome man in a suit with horns sticking out of his brown hair. Furry legs ending in cloven hooves peaked out from his pant legs instead of shoes and I realized that he must be a Satyr. Alice was quick to introduce him. ~This is Janus Woods, he’s the Vice-chief of the policing division.~

He extended his hand and Erin shook it. I just smiled and nodded. “I would shake your hand, but mine are a bit full at the moment. It’s nice to meet you all the same though.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you both,” he replied with a smile. “We’ve been hearing a lot about you two, and Alice has been keeping us apprised of your situation. Shall we head downstairs so that Miss Ross can meet her instructors?” At the Satyr’s urging we all piled into the elevator and he used his key card to take us down to the lowest level. Once downstairs I set my wings and claws free and we headed immediately to the training room, where two women waited. The first was a Japanese woman dressed in white robes, while the second was a tall and slender woman with ginger hair, green eyes with slit pupils, and pointed ears.

Janus was quick to make the introductions, beginning with the Japanese woman. “This is Mirai Sato, a Faith Healer from Hokkaido. She will be helping Erin to learn to use her spirit related abilities.” He turned to the redheaded woman next. “And this is Lissia Francis, she teaches martial arts to our new recruits and keeps our other agents from getting too rusty.” Then he turned to present us as well. “This is Alice MacArthur, I believe that you and Lissia have met already. This is Erin Ross, the young woman that you both will be teaching, and Raven Demarco, one of our more unique cases.” I chuckled and shook my wings out a little at that comment.

“I am pleased to meet you all,” the Faith Healer said in what I thought was very good English, smiling as she shook each of our hands. She turned back to Erin. “I look forward to seeing how I can help you, and I cannot wait to look at these journals you mentioned when we spoke this morning.”

“I’ve heard good things about you both,” Lissia said as she shook mine and Erin’s hands. “I’m looking forward to teaching you Erin; I’m told that you are quite agile. My mother’s people use agility to fight rather than brute strength, and I’m eager to teach a student that might be able to keep up with me.” At the look of confusion on Erin’s face she quickly clarified. “I grew up in the human world, but while my father is human my mother is one of the Fey, you would call us Elves I believe.”
Erin’s eyes widened at that and she grinned. “I’ll do my best to keep up then, it should be interesting, but don’t elves usually live in the forest?”

There was a twinkle in the half-elf’s eyes as she nodded. “Yes, usually we do. We prefer to keep out of human affairs and stay in our forests where we can commune with other creatures of nature and the elements.” Her gaze seemed to focus on me for the briefest instant before she continued speaking to Erin. “For your training I will use a mixture of the martial arts that I usually teach, and some of my people’s fighting style as well. Most humans wouldn’t be able to pull it off, but judging from the results of your testing I think you can. I will be teaching Alice some basic martial arts as well while I’m teaching you.” Then she turned that smile on me, “I have heard that you are having trouble finding a teacher for your unique skill set. If you are not able to find one I would offer my services to help you as best I can.”

I returned the smile, but shook my head. “Thank you for your kind offer, but last night I found a teacher from my mother’s people.”

“I wish you the best of luck in your lessons then,” she replied with a smile before turning back to Alice and Erin. “As for the two of you, please get changed into some workout clothes and let’s see what I have to work with.”

Both of my friends dashed off for the changing room and I asked, “Is there somewhere I should put Erin’s chest of Shaman goodies?”

“You can just leave it here with me if you like Demarco-san,” Mirai offered. “I wish to look over the journals while Erin is occupied with her other lesson, so that I can better guide her lessons with me.”

I nodded and placed the chest where she directed. “It was very nice meeting you both, but while you’re both pushing my friends to their limits I need to find out who I need to go see to ask for a place to train. My teacher seems to think that we need something out in the forest or mountains, fairly remote with no humans around.”

“I believe I can help you with that,” Janus offered with a smile. “Why don’t we go talk to the Chief and see if we can work something out?”

“That sounds great, thank you very much,” I responded somewhat relieved. I had been half afraid I’d have to go all over the place and talk to dozens of people before I found the right person.

“We will see you lovely ladies later then,” the Satyr said with a smile before leading me back out of the training area.