Although the Valkyrie Ullar had taken the cure to the Wellspring Poison and restored both his senses and his Wellspring, a fear of the water remained and he could not focus his visions. But after Thormun unleashed the Wellspring Storm, Ullar struck an alliance with Aquilla of Ticalla and his resolve was renewed. He knew that if he did not strengthen his army to stand with the Verdant Pact in this new era, all of Valhalla might be torn asunder.

As he drank again, his fearful and uncontrolled visions brought him not to mighty creatures from Feylund or Marr, but to humans from Earth. Two warriors were engaged in a duel using weapons the likes of which Ullar had never seen: long, whip-like swords. One was gaining an advantage over the other, and the air around him was a blur as his thin blade whirled and slashed, forcing the other swordsman to retreat and defend at a distance. But the defender’s shield could not move quickly enough to block the attacker’s far-reaching strikes, and as a blade whipped towards the defender’s head, Ullar intervened and brought the duelist to Valhalla.

He and the warrior spoke for hours in Ullar’s gardens, and Ullar learned much—that the warriors had not been enemies dueling to the death, but had been sparring together in a martial art called Kalari Payatt, and that the weapon called the Urumi was part of the highest level of that art’s mastery. He was fascinated to learn how the students trained to achieve an optimal state of awareness, allowing them to “see” with their entire bodies.

When he returned to drink from the Wellspring again, Ullar put the student’s teachings into practice, setting his mind and body at ease, trying to see across the universe with senses far beyond his own. And when a great earthquake swallowed up the ancient school in Kerala where those students gathered, Ullar was poised and ready to bring them under his wing.

The Students of Kalari Payatt are available in the Students of Kalari Payatt army expansion. Pre-order now for an October release!