Ghost Writer

Authors note:

Firstly, I would like to let you know that there is very little sex in the story. I did try to squeeze more in but it detracted from the chapter, which is basically the back story for Jan and Kasper. I know that it won't be to everyone's liking, but I like my stories to have plot with a touch of sex, and not sex with a touch of a plot. If that is the kind of thing that interests you, this may not be to your liking.

Secondly, this is a fairly big step away from my normal chapters, and a little more to my 'normal' writing style, which borders on Fantasy Fiction. This story is loosely based on Nordic Mythology, but not accurate to the common writings (just in case there any experts out there). The featured folk song is one of my own creation, and not written anywhere else.

ATM

*****

Ragnarök

Where the known worlds meet, there stands an immense tree known as Yggdrasil, the Tree of Life. Amongst the roots of this tree reside the Norns, the three witches who spin the fates of all living creatures.

At the base of the tree sits a well, but not any well. It is the Well of Knowledge. It was to drink from this well that the Allfather, Odin sacrificed an eye to gain foresight of the fate of the worlds.

With His gained foresight, Odin knew that at the time of Ragnarök, many will perish, so He formed a plan, He selected two humans, a woman, Lif, and a man Lifprasir to be taken to Yggdrasil, so they may survive the end of days and repopulate the new world. To ensure that his chosen will reach the tree of life safely, Odin chose two warriors to escort them to where they would be safe. Janneke, a dark haired Valkyrie, and Kachina, a fair, pale skinned, student of Freyr, the Mistress of the Mystic Arts.

To keep his plans hidden, Odin arranged for the two humans and their Æsir protectors to be settled at a small farm, beyond the hills that ringed Valhalla.

This is where the true beginning of our story lies.

Wooden staves clashed, separated, then clashed again. Janneke blinked sweat from her eyes. Her opponent was a worthy match, not as strong as she was, but far faster. It was as if every attack Janneke made, her opponent knew what it would be, before she herself did. She paused, releasing a slow breath and blinked once more. Lazily she spun the stave about one hand, changing grip slightly to grasp the wooden weapon off center. Another spin, this one unbalance due to the altered grip, then altered her stance a tiny fraction and snapped the longest end through, sweeping it upwards toward the forward knee of her adversary.

There was another resounding crack, as wood met wood. Janneke's stave halted a fraction of an inch from its target. She knew, using her superior strength, she could force the block and still score a hit, but it would leave her off balance, and for a minor strike it wasn't worth the sacrifice.

The two warriors stepped back, each acknowledging each other's abilities.

Janneke's opponent attacked now. Stave twirling rapidly about her body, spinning so fast it became a blur. The blows rained down, too fast for Janneke to count, and she had to dig very deeply to parry each attack. She realised too late that the series of blows had been cleverly orchestrated to force her defense wider with each attempted strike. Now her stave was circling wider and wider leaving her chest an open target.

As she predicted, her opponent's stave abruptly changed course, its end jabbing directly towards Janneke's defenseless abdomen, there was nothing she could do to stop the killing blow.

Her shoulders tensed. Then beat the wings that unfurled behind her, lifting her feet off the floor and moving her backwards by a foot.

Her attacker now, having nothing to strike against, over extended and staggered forwards, now completely at Janneke's mercy. Another beat of her wings allowed her an opening, the tip of her stave descended in a smooth arc, and spanked Kachina on her behind.

Kachina yelped. "You cheated." She accused. "You're not supposed to be using your wings."

With her feet resting on the ground once more, Janneke grinned and mopped the sweat off her brow. "Like you weren't supposed to use spells to increase your speed."

A wide grin eased its way across Kachina's lips. "That's different." She protested half-heartedly.

They both knew Janneke was the better fighter. Like all Valkyries, she had been created to wield a blade, and numbered amongst the best of Odin's elite female warriors. Which was the reason why He had chosen her for this particular task. Kachina however, held many other talents, some of which even awed the dark haired Valkyrie.

The muscles in Janneke's arms swelled as she hauled a bucket of water from the river that ran close to the small farm. Cupping her hands, she took a long drink, relishing in the coolness of the fluid on her parched throat. Once her thirst had been sated, Janneke unbuckled the straps that held her cuirass, a peace of hardened leather molded to her body, in place. With the straps undone she removed the hard covering from her sweat soaked undershirt and laid it down on a nearby rock to dry in the sun.

Glancing to the cool river longingly, Janneke impulsively removed the greaves from her legs then the tasset from around her waist, and the boots from her feet. As she relished the cool breeze on her skin Janneke folded her wings in so she could remove her undershirt.

Standing by a river in just her skin wasn't unusual for Janneke, she was a warrioress and quiet used to bathing in rivers and lakes, but here away from the reassurance of her fellow Valkyrie, she felt a little vulnerable, and momentarily wished she had asked Kachina to accompany her. Sighing, she shrugged off the feeling and gave her wings a couple of beats to carry her over a decent spot, then lowered herself in to the cold water.

The sudden chill to her skin made Janneke gasp, as her breath was snatched from her lungs, then slowly, as she began to breath normally Janneke relaxed in to the waters embrace. The chill of the water caressing her skin was a blessing after the hard work out. Kachina's ability had improved greatly since she had been schooling the mystic. Not that it had been a chore. There was something about the slight pale girl that made Janneke feel special. And when Kachina looked at her with those deep azure eyes... Janneke quivered at the thought, it was like the mystic could see in to her very soul.

A movement by the riverbank snatched Janneke's attention away from her daydreams, and she moved a little further towards the cover provided by an overhanging tree.

"I wonder who could have discarded all this clothing?" A voice called out from the riverbank.

Janneke peered through the branches to see the pale, Fae, Kachina stood on the stony shore, smiling mischievously as she idly picked up Janneke's undershirt. A small twinge of excitement tugged at the rigid muscle of her abdomen, as she suddenly felt very naked hiding in the water.

"What to do with these?" Kachina mused. "I suppose I could take them back to the camp, I'm sure the owner will come looking for them."

Slightly torn between her embarrassment and the need to retrieve her clothing, Janneke edged out from her hiding place.

"Oh they belong to you!" Kachina exclaimed with fake surprise. "I didn't realize you were a nudist."

Janneke felt her cheeks flush. "I'm not a nudist, I was just bathing after our training."

A light childish laugh fluttered out of Kachina's mouth. "If you say so, but if I ran away with these," She indicated the various items laying on the rocks. "Then you would be a nudist."

A loud thumping in Janneke's chest foretold of the rising of her ire at the comment, even though she knew that Kachina was just teasing. Or maybe it was something else that was making her heart beat so.

With a whirl of pale skin and form fitting leather breaches, Kachina twirled and snatched up as many items as she could then began to run away from the river laughing hysterically.

Janneke was faced with the option of hoping the Fae creature would return or give chase.

She didn't get to be one of Odin's chosen by giving in easily.

Wings unfurled, shaking water as they did so, and the Valkyrie launched skywards, a trail of water shedding away from her bare, muscled skin as she did so.

Kachina had only made it a dozen yards, when Janneke swooped down like a falcon in full attack mode. One minute she was running, her soft boots, kicking aside long grass, the next she was dropping the garments she had gathered to her breast, as Janneke bore her skywards.

To Kachina being carried yards above the meadow, was only slightly less invigorating, than being very aware of the hard naked body of the warrioress pressed against her back. Her stomach flipped several times, and she didn't think it was because of the sudden turn Janneke performed.

"I think it should have been you bathing and not I." Janneke informed her prey, as she made a show of breathing in her scent.

Glancing down, Kachina realised the winged Janneke had carried her out over the river, and shrieked in protest. "Don't you dare."

Sadly, the words were lost on Janneke as she folded her wings in and the pair dropped like a boulder to land with a large splash.

As the pair surfaced, water streaming off blonde and black hair alike, and Kachina coughing water.

"Beast." The pale mystic scalded playfully, when she regained her ability to speak. "You could have let me get undressed first."

"I'm not stopping you now." Janneke told her playfully, her shyness dissolved in the heat of the chase.

Kachina kicked for the shore, the tan leather of her shirt, now dark and clinging to her lithe upper body. Jenneke hauled herself on to a flat rock and spread her wings to let the breeze dry the closely knit feathers. Silently she marveled how the supply leather of Kachina's breaches cohered to the firm roundness of the girl's behind, then stifled a laugh as the mystic drew her boots off to a small waterfall that leaked from the items of footwear.

"Turn you back." Kachina instructed as she unlaced her garments.

"Why should I?" Janneke asked a wide grin in her face. "You didn't offer me the same curtesy."

"Yes I suppose I deserve that." She replied with a coy smile.

As much as she wanted to watch Kachina undress, Janneke felt a little guilty about gawping at the slim girl, and took the opportunity to retrieve her belongings from where they had fallen in the meadow. When she returned to the river, Kachina had laid her clothing out to dry and was swimming out to the flat rock Janneke had been sat on earlier. For a moment she just stood and ignored her feelings of guilt to watch the slight girl climb out of the water, loving how her pale skin glistened with its covering of water.

It wasn't unusual for a Valkyrie to be fascinated with another woman, it was common practice for members of the elite force to lie with each other, as it created deeper bonds between them and therefor fought better together. Now Janneke considered the lithe mystic as her shield sister, and silently hoped Kachina felt a similar level of attraction.

Clear of the water, Kachina stretched out in the warm afternoon sun, her blonde hair shimmering like diamond encrusted platinum and her body carved from ivory. Janneke felt a yearning deep inside her, even though her own body was as hard as oak and tanned to the shade of honeyed pine, she longed to touch the soft skin of the Fae like Kachina.

If Janneke had been anything but a warrioress, she would have considered wooing the girl with subtle prose, but a warrioress she was, and a more direct approach was the only one she knew.

Wings spread out behind her, feathers a vibrant mixture of brown, tan and gold, and lept to the sky. She climbed higher, looking down upon the river with eyes as sharp as a hunting eagle. She turned a lazy circle in midair, then tucked her wings in and plummeted back down, picking up speed as she swooped towards the recumbent Kachina.

The feeling of the air passing over her naked skin sent shivers of pleasure trembling through Janneke's body as the figure below her grew steadily larger. As she cast a shodow over the dozing mystic, Kachina's eyes opened slightly, then snapped wide as the hurtling shape filled her vision.

At the very last moment, Janneke's wings unfurled and flared, halting her downward speed in a heartbeat, her rigid muscled form hovering inches above the arbalester body of her prey, then gently landing next to her.

"Show off." Kachina said softly, the breath stolen from her lungs.

"We should bond." Janneke told her. "It will strengthen our abilities."

A handful of delicate pale fingers hovered Kachina's mouth as she held back a laugh. "We should bond?" She replied. "Well that's an original line."

Fearing the girl was making fun of her, Janneke frowned, her embarrassment fueling irritation at the casual comment.

Sensing she had offended the Valkyrie, Kachina reached out a finger and placed it on Janneke's lips. "Do you really want to bond with me?"

"I have feelings for you." Janneke admitted. "When two Valkyrie have feeling they lie together. It removes tension and forms a union between the two, they can then fight as one."

Kachina sat up, ignoring how Janneke's eyes fixated on the pale pink nipples the sat proudly on her pert breasts. "In the Mystic circles, we create a similar bond, forged between blood and magic. It binds two souls together so that not even death can part them." The mystic told her. "Although it doesn't sound as interesting as your method." She added with a shy smile.

With her face enlightened with a joyful smile, Janneke sat up to face Kachina. "Tell me what we should do."

Taking a breath, Kachina concentrated for a moment, recalling the exact sigils needed to cast the correct spell. "I will perform a blood bond. This will tie our thoughts for eternity and our destinies will be interwoven as if the Norns themselves had woven it."

Janneke's smile faded a little at the statement, but nodded in acceptance.

"Then, if you want to, we can perform your bonding ritual." Kachina added with a playful smirk.

The joyful grin returned to Janneke's lips at Kachina's comment.

"Hold your arm out, palm upwards." The mystic instructed, then guided the Valkyrie's arm in to the exact position she needed it to be in, before placing her own arm next to it.

Closing her eyes, Kachina whispered a soft incantation and drew a tiny sigil in the air between them.

Janneke held her breath as the air surrounding the couple stilled, and all the sounds faded away.

The sigil Kachina had drawn in the space between them glowed momentarily, taking on a life of its own as it flared in to being. Janneke felt a slight stinging sensation on her arm, as Kachina repeated the sigil on the skin of both their arms. Blood oozed slightly from the shallow cuts formed by Kachina's delicate touch, and Janneke's eyes widened when the sigil in the air flowed like the water to the repeated markings on their skin.

Speaking another word of power, Kachina turned her arm over so that the sigils were pressed together, and Janneke felt a slight burning sensation.

Her vision blurred and the sight of the pale Kachina distorted the wavered in to an image of herself. For a handful of seconds, the picture held, then everything returned to normal and she was staring in to the deep blue eyes of Kachina.

"Did you see yourself?" Kachina asked as the world around them returned to normal, and Janneke nodded in reply too awestruck to speak.

"Then the bond is formed. Souls are entwined, in life and death." Kachina intoned to seal the bond, then lent in close to Janneke and pressed her pale lips firmly against the full mouth of the Valkyrie.

The sensation of the kiss was overwhelming. Janneke, could feel her own pleasure mixing with the sensations of pleasure Kachina was feeling, causing a heady mix of emotions.

Janneke gasped for breath as they parted. "That was better than battle."

"I must admit." Kachina panted. "I've never been bonded to someone before, so I don't know if that is normal."

"We should try it again then." Janneke whispered as she closed in.

Kachina let Janneke's strength ease her on to her back as they shared a prolonged kiss. Marveling at the collective mental experience, and breathing deeply as Janneke's strong hand brushed over her breast and down her flank to rest on her hip.

The first touch awakened the arousal that had been lurking within Janneke ever since Kachina had teased her earlier. The warrioress breathed in the scent of the girl's blonde hair, a heady perfume of jasmine and patchouli, and her head swam with the overwhelming mix of emotions. She let her hand slide from Kachina's hip to between the mystic's legs.

"Is this how Valkyrie's make love?" Kachina asked, slightly breathless, but edged with disappointment. "No wonder you're all so bad tempered."

"Why?" Janneke asked, worried she was not pleasing the pale skinned girl.

"Take things a little slower." Kachina instructed. "Mirror my actions, and learn the language of my body."

With a nod, Janneke shuddered as Kachina's fingers trickled down from her ear and across her shoulder. While the touch wasn't as intensely sexual as she would have liked, it did add a little something to the emotions she was feeling. As gently as she could Janneke repeated the action on Kachina, and was rewarded with a mute sigh.

Pale fingers brushed over the top of Janneke's ear then down through the tangled black hair of her head, to the nape of her neck, and the Valkyrie trembled at the magic of the feeling, not understanding how something so non sexual could excite her so much. As before Janneke repeated the caress, then continued her action to run her fingers down Kachina's spine to briefly touch the soft flesh at the base it, and welcomed how the girl's back arched under the gentle teasing.

The connection between their minds opened up doors for Janneke, she could feel Kachina's needs within her own body and sought to ease those needs. Gently touching exposed skin that trembled under her fingers. Relishing how the echoed feelings excited her own flesh.

As Kachina softened under the sensitive attention, she began to explore the body of the Valkyrie, hands cupping breasts that were firm and smooth, fingers tracing the lines of scar tissue that told of previous battles. Lips and tongue discovering the wonders of the woman's neck and shoulders, while her thigh slipped between Janneke's legs and felt the wetness of her arousal.

Janneke's need for Kachina was growing, becoming more than a need, but she could sense the pleasure Kachina was deriving from the gentle teasing touches, so Janneke shelved her desires for a moment and concentrated on listening to what Kachina's body was asking of her.

"Much better." Kachina breathed, closing her eyes as Janneke's wandering hands touched every inch of skin, learning what caresses warmed and what caresses melted.

As Janneke continued to touch the pale skin of the girl beneath her, Kachina began to writhe in pleasure, and as her arousal grew, the bond between the grew stronger, until their actions and responses merged.

Fingers pinched at a nipple, it could have been slender fingers teasing a dark brown one, or strong fingers tantalizing a pink one, neither women were sure any more as their thoughts and feeling became one.

Kachina was vaguely aware of being lifted in to Janneke's lap, one strong arm encircling her waist, while the other guided a hand across her skin ceaselessly. A rolling wave of pleasure ran along the length of her spine, as the Valkyrie's wings folded around them both, feathers gently brushing against sensitive flesh and bringing added waves of pleasure.