Vala looked at Tommy, wondering if it would be wise to tell him. He seemed harmless enough, but the lad was a storyteller. It would be foolish to trust him with secrets and in any case, the less he knew the better. There was no telling what might happen in their journey.

"Best you not ask," Vala said as she ate a spoonful of stew. "Some stories are better left untold, some heroes best left unsung. Mine's is a tale that can only have an unhappy ending and if you are wise, you'll leave before then. Whatever happens, let it not be said that you weren't warned."

What little good it might do, Vala thought as she took a sip of water. She could see that the lad was undeterred.

"In any case, you've already finished your meal so I'll have to save the rest of mine for the others."

Vala slurped the soup from her stew and tipped the rest onto a square of linen, filling it with chunks of meat and vegetables before tying up the corners into a bag.

"Let's go," she said when she was done and stood up to leave, wondering how Nimbus and Brun were faring outside the town. If the gods were good, they wouldn't be bickering over philosophical matters again... but the gods were seldom good, as Vala learned for herself when she found the bird and beastman conversing by a stream.

~~~

"Hm, it's as I said before," Ashnak replied, rubbing his heavy jaw thoughtfully. "What kind of assassin is fool enough to wear the mark of his employer? Perhaps it's Ericsson's idea of sending a message, but if that is so then surely he is aware of the fate that awaits him, if he is responsible for everything."

The blood eagle, he left unsaid. The cruelest of punishments reserved for traitors and the most hated enemies. A gruesome way to die, but the most spectacular of sights as Ashnak had seen once or twice before in his life.

"He's not weak I'll grant, but he's not untouchable neither. Only an utter fool would risk the enmity of the realm... and me. Hm, Uldric's wife too for that matter. A shieldmaiden that one and of the north before settling down with that southron jarl. You can be sure she's not going to take news of her husband's death very well."

As Ashnak reached the end of the alley, the city wall came into view with Arnolf and a handful of men at the gates, but no sign of Yunawen.

"Fare enough, that strange things happen in the world." Nimbus was heard speaking. Her feet rested on the body of, what seemed to be, a rabbit. You could make out the paws and the long ears, but the face was pecked away. Blood seeped from the sockets. "But that doesn't mean we can't discover why, by just putting it up to some kind of random invisible being in the sky. Saying "Mysterious" all the time, coupled with "gods" isn't a convincing argument with me. You can't use 'god of the gaps' Brun. If anything, it should be called "We don't know, science will tell us later."


Of course they would be arguing, what else can sustain these warriors? Beer, beef, cheese, and bread? Sure, but a little raw rabbit and a bicker or two, and they would be revitalized!


Tommy's disappointment for the lack of info from Vala made him wonder what kind of stories the others might have. He tramped through snow and plopped beside them.


"Hello fellas!" Tommy beamed, pulling out his material. "Want me to immortalize you two?"


=


"So then a set up for sure?" Naris feet shuffled against the ground, wondering about a few things. "We should keep it to ourselves, do you think? How much good will come if we don't? Who do you THINK it is actually?" Naris asked.


Before he might ask another question, the darkness seemed to creep onto Ashnak and Naris. The elf's clothes seemed to fill out, and his shoulders squared taller than they were before as if he straightened up. A voice answered in reply for the boy, in a tone that was firm and cool.


"Of course it's ridiculous to think that Ericcson would point the finger at himself. What do we know about our target? Would he, with his gifts and evasion, be as foolish as to discard such evidence in our presence? I think not." Cirian stood, silver eyes onto Ashnak. "Not only do I think Ericcson is innocent, I think that Seer is leading us on a goose chase. I think he wants us to expose our knowledge as well. We should keep it quiet and not disclose this. Or, perhaps, even tell them that it was someone other than Ericcson. If we can, let it be the true transgressor."

"Pfeh, of course we don't know everything," Brun replied. "We are not gods, we can't live long enough to learn everything. But you are not wrong, we can try to understand mysterious things. The gods already know, having made all things, but it is up to us to learn all that we can. Like, are you having the rest of that rabbit? Serious question, I am hungry."

Brun let the question go unanswered as Vala and Tom arrived, with Vala bearing a sizable pouch of food scraps. Before anyone could say anything however, Tom seemed possessed by the bardic spirit and looked fit to create an entire saga, or something of that nature.

In the spontaneity of the moment Brun was happy to indulge him. "Ha ha ha ha, yes!" he roared with approval. "Are you drawing or writing? Ah, doesn't matter, just do it!"

Vala's lips became a straight line as she looked on and said after a moment's pause, "So I brought food for you two, though I can see you've already taken care of yourself, Nim. Here you go, shape changer."

Brun accepted the food with a ridiculous show of courtesy, taking the pouch in one hand and placing the other over his chest as he replied, "My thanks, dear heart."

Ignoring it, Vala continued, "So I guess this is where we'll make camp. Everyone stay here while I collect firewood and be ready to return my armour, Tom. I want to inspect it for damage later."

As she set off towards the woods that were surrounded by tree stumps, she wondered what her son was up to at this very moment.

~~~

Some men yelled out in alarm as they saw the elf's transformation, but Ashnak only cocked an eyebrow as he said, "Perhaps there are some other things we should keep quiet too, but in any case, it seems we are of one mind on the matter. Now then, what have you to report, Arnolf?"

The one eyed warrior came at a trot and pointed his axe towards the gate as he replied, "It's bad over there, you don't want to go outside. We were following the she-elf when a strange orc joined our party then started attacking everyone as soon as we got beyond the wall. Looked like a foreigner, but whatever he was, he killed four of us, wounded a few more and then fled. The elf's gone after him."

"And you didn't help?"

Arnolf shook his head with regret. "The elf didn't want us to. Said we were outmatched, so she told us to stay put until her return... oh, there she is now."

Yunawen had a black expression on her face as she came through the gate with a broken sword in hand. Her hair was disheveled, her quiver was empty and her bow was missing. Overall, she looked a thorough mess with all the signs of a battle hard fought.

"I lost him," she said as she stopped in front of Ashnak and Cirian. "I lost the assassin, I lost the orc, by the gods, I lost my weapons too. What is up with our enemies today? Fighting like demons."

"You will not regret my prose! I will do you all fine justice." Tommy sat down with a fierce purpose. He pulled out his various tools of the scholarly kind and began jotting down ideas for his poem.

Just to tease, Nimbus gave Vala a wink just as she faced out to walk for wood. "Maybe you can sing it and show it off on Brun and Vala's wedding."

That was sure to give the old girl a nice twitch of her eyes. Nimbus comfortable ruffled her feathers, preening them. Between slips of her beak she would pop her head back up with another quip about Vala and Brun. "The love-birds will have to let us know when their first bear-cub comes along, don't you think Tommy?"

An ink-marked nose poked from behind his papers. "I will have to know a name as well, for the childs song."

=

Cirians frown defined his disappointment. These men and women seemed to lose their battle-skills by the hour. It was probably due to Naris, but it seems by association his friend Yunawen was suffering the same plight of lacking proper competence.

But not everyone can be a Cirian, so maybe he had to forgive that. However, it still frustrated him that so many things were slipping through their fingers.

"Why did you come back?" Cirian asked, as if it would have been better that they find she had been lost too, maybe for the reason of still looking and tracking. Placing his sarcasm aside, Cirian went on with another question. "Where is the Orc? What did he look like- any defining marks?" He asked curiously.