Noelle's spear came down from the sky once more, Thomas prepared to use his shield, but Mikaela caught him by the shoulder and pulled him aside.

"Let it hit the floor!" she said, and then she turned to Daniel. " Follow the trajectory of the spear and give her all the fire you have!"

Daniel did exactly as instructed; the rocker screamed and unleashed his power like he was a human flamethrower. The spear hit the ground, and, as she expected, it bounced back into the sky. Only this time, Mikaela grabbed the gun shaft and hitched a ride.

If it weren't for Daniel's magic protection, Mikaela was sure that the wind and the height would have been enough to finish her off because even with the aura of fire, she felt like freezing. She pushed the fear of freezing to the back of her mind, and with the hand that held her father's baseball bat, she prepared to strike.

"What are you...?" Noelle was actually surprised to see her, like an unwanted passenger attached to her spear.

The Valkyrie had her right hand outstretched, waiting to retrieve her weapon as she guided her flying horse away from Daniel's flames, but she couldn't react in time. The trick had been precisely the rocker's attack; she was counting on that to be enough to distract the warrior. If Noelle had been paying attention to the return of her weapon, she would have predicted what Mikaela planned.This will hurt you more than me!

Releasing the shaft of the magic spear, she gripped her staff with both hands and landed a series of quick blows on Noelle, using the maximum of her speed and the strength provided by the momentum. Her last blow hit Noelle in the face, and the valkyrie fell off her horse, literally.

"Strike, you're out!" Mikaela shouted, satisfied to see her opponent fall.

The black horse raced to its owner's aid, but not before Mikaela holded its mane. She hugged the animal's neck and hoped he didn't mind her presence. Noelle almost hit the ground, but her mount managed to fly out from under her, and the valkyrie slammed into his back. Mikaela leapt away before that, and when Thomas used his superhuman strength to jump up and catch her in midair, she was so grateful that he was attentive and always ready to help her.

"Thanks for the rescue." She whispered in his ear, wrapping her arms around his neck to hug him. Then, in a quick gesture that she hadn't really thought about, she kissed him with just a seal on his lips. Thomas stumbled as he landed, and the two of them nearly rolled through the snow.

"Anytime" he said, after regaining his balance. His face turned very red, but he was smiling.

When the horse landed on the ground with its rider, Daniel took to the air and used his flames to draw a circle of fire around them. Then he pointed his hands at Noelle.

"Don't even think about flying out of there, or I will fry you and your horse."

Mikaela walked over with Thomas right beside her, the two of them ready to continue the fight. Noelle got to her feet and waved her hand at the horse to be quiet.

"Not bad, kids." She smiled. "Not bad at all!"

Daniel landed but didn't put out his flames.

"Wait a minute, was this all part of the training? Are you crazy? You could have killed us!" The boy was burning with rage.

Mikaela was also furious, but when her eyes met Noelle's, she knew exactly what the warrior was going to say.

"Do you think the sorceress of winter will treat you better than me?"

The rocker fell silent.

Thomas clenched his fists and gritted his teeth, but said nothing. Mikaela couldn't judge him; what could they say? The valkyrie had said that she would train them for battle, and that was exactly what she was doing.

Noelle looked at each of them, and when anger gave way to understanding, she continued:

"You have more power than you realize, and this was a very good start. It was tough, I know that, but you worked together and tested the limits of your magic until you found a way to win."

Mikaela couldn't hold back her emotions any longer. She stomped to the floor and glared at Noelle without taking her eyes off her for a second.

"We are not warriors like you." She said, and, after making her baseball bat disappear, she crossed her arms. "Don't give me that war crappie motivational speech because we are not soldiers!"

Noelle paid no attention to her outburst and responded with the same coolness as before.

"And yet, you're going to war. I need you to understand that because things at the South Pole will be much worse than here."

Mikaela wanted to hit the valkyrie again, but she kept quiet. Thomas and Daniel fell silent as well, and so training resumed.

For hours and hours, Noelle attacked them and forced them to find new ways to use their powers to fight back. As she already suspected, Mikaela saw her war axe transform back into a spear and several other weapons that served the valkyrie's needs. I wish I had a weapon like that.

Then, on second thought, she decided she was just fine with her father's baseball bat. The weight was familiar, and she felt very comfortable with it. She wondered if Thomas had some sort of similar connection with his shield or if Daniel was secretly a pyromaniac.

Mikaela had no idea how long they trained, but when she felt that her muscles couldn't take it anymore, she dropped to her knees and prayed that Noelle would decide to give them a break.

Daniel and Thomas sat down next to her, as exhausted as she was. Sweat trickled down her entire body, and she imagined that maybe they were the only humans on the face of the earth to manage to sweat at the North Pole. Can I mark this as Guinness? The award for the girl who sweats the most at the North Pole sounds like something worthy of going into the world record books.

Despite the physical fatigue, one thing caught Mikaela's attention. At no point did she or the boys ever see their powers fail. In Cleston, it hadn't taken long for Thomas and Daniel to feel the magic wearing them down, and even though she'd said otherwise, by the time the giant wolf cornered them, she was already starting to feel a little tired.

"Your magic is now linked to the elves." Noelle said, approaching them with her black horse. "That's why your powers don't drain you like before. As long as that bond exists, it will take hours before your body feels the negative effects of using magic."

"Can you read my thoughts?" She asked, breathing hard.

Noelle laughed and reached out a hand to help her to her feet, then did the same for Thomas and Daniel.

"I don't read minds, but I'm very good at feeling what's going on in the minds of others." The warrior replied and then laughed. "It's a valkyrie thing, I suppose."

"Of course it is." Daniel grumbled. "Why wouldn't you be good at something?"

If she had noticed the mocking tone, Noelle chose to ignore it. Declaring the end of training, she led them back to the interior of the North Star's palace, and when the elves informed her that breakfast was served, Mikaela was shocked. Did we train all night?

She looked up at the sky, realizing too late how pointless it was. Thomas was right; the nights at the North Pole were much longer than elsewhere in the world. As far as she could remember from geography class, it would be months before the sun showed up here.

The boys must have been much more hungry than she was because when she realized the two of them had disappeared along with the elf who had come to announce the meal, Mikaela laughed and then noticed that Noelle was talking to another elf. The expression on the warrior's face made it clear that she wasn't getting good news.

Mikaela approached the two cautiously and managed to hear the end of the conversation. Unfortunately, the valkyrie spoke in the same strange language as the goblins, and she didn't understand anything. Noelle noticed her and turned toward her with a raised eyebrow.

"May I help?" That was what the warrior's expression seemed to say. Determined not to make excuses, Mikaela got straight to the point.

"I have no idea what you guys were talking about, but I know it's not a good thing. What happened?"

She didn't expect to get an answer; in fact, she had no idea what she was expecting at all. For a second, Mikaela thought the valkyrie would just ignore her petulant question and walk away, but instead Noelle gave her an answer that she didn't like one bit.

"Ylerio and his patrol are in trouble at the South Pole."

Did you expect what Mikaela did in this battle?

How would you beat a valkyrie?Thanks for reading! In the next chapter, things will get worse; our heroes are about to find really BIG problems !