As they got going the next day, Saga went over in their head what had happened. More and more, there appeared to be at least facsimiles to myths and legends of their own reality. But if Gods could wander into their old world chasing misplaced magical creatures that made a kind of sense. But Lindeorm had been huge, how had something like that not leave more of a mark on history, even as a legend. There was a lot of questions they would have the Goddess of Death once they were in the hall of Gods. Provided they could actually ask any. They had no idea what to expect in that regar

Their thoughts trailed off as they left the forest at long last, having travelled trough for nearly four days. As much as Saga was a fan of the thick, dark forests back home. Knowing shadowy men and giant Lindorms lurked among the trees here, they were glad for the open fields and clear sightlines. The snow here was not as thick as it had been a few days up north and the winds carried milder weather. Their eyes swept over a landscape of rolling hills and dormant fields, with the occasional group of trees making little islands of forestry on top the occasional larger hill. When looking the right they could spy a massive mountain range in the distance.

“That's the Teeth of Valdur” Hallvar spoke as he noticed where Saga was looking. “Got any mountains in your part of the world that you left behind, Berserker?”

“We do. But our mountain range belonged to one of the punier ones. This one looks a lot larger.” Saga confessed. They had hiked up one of the taller ones back home, a trip their mother had been most nervous about. It had gone without a hitch however and it really helped Saga become more enamored with the large sweeping forests and hills of her old home.

“I imagine so. The Teeth of Valdur is the largest mountain chain in the world from what I hear. I never travelled away from the North, so I would not know. But it is what I have been told” Hallvar said as the Caravan moved down a large road. Here and there, smaller farms dotted the landscape, quite a few more then had been on the other end of the large forest.

“Who is Valdur?” Saga asked, curius to learn more of this .

“The first Giant.” Hallvar said with a tone of reverence. “First of his kind. As big and as strong as they get. He was gifted a seat the table of the Gods, for so fearsome was he.” He continued and Saga tried to imagine this titan of a being.

“Then why is his teeth down here.” Saga asked which made Hallvar laugh. It was the first genuine laugh they had heard from the half-giant, who mostly chuckled sardonically or kept a rather noncommittal attitude towards even the lightest of banter.

“Because you see Berserker. The bastard got into a drunken brawl with War himself. And so some of his teeth fell from the sky and embedded into the crust of the very world itself.” Hallvar answered. From his grin and his uncharastiristic enthusiasm it was clear he was a fan of the story. Saga listened respectfully, figuring this story likely connected with the half-giant in a way they themselves did not fully grasp yet.

“Did he lose his seat?” Saga asked, curios. They had a feeling the answer was no from what they knew about these semi-Norse people and their gods.

“Lose it? War was so impressed by the brawl he asked Valdur to marry his daughter, Elsfrey”

“Did he now?” Saga said stroking their chin while feigning surprise.

“Where do you think the first half-giants came from?”

“Ohhhh.” Sagas eyes went wide. “And they say violence isn’t the way.”

“Haha. I like you Berserker.” Hallvar laughed only for Jasper to look out the window of his carriage to tell the half-giant off.

“I didn’t pay you to befriend the person I told you to protect me from Hallvar.” He spat, annoyed that his hired muscle seemed friendly with the person he loathed the most.

“Sorry Boss” Hallvar said as Jasper nodded contently to himself and rolled up his window again. Saga raised an eyebrow but Hallvar just shrugged. Saga found the half-giant to be a alright sort. He might still be hired to kill them still and Jaspers little display just drove that home.

“He is paying my wages. Sorry Berserker.” With that Hallvar turned his gaze back on the road, the mood of unexpected camaraderie ruined as Saga sighed before and picked out some of the dried meat Karn had left them with.

Later that day they spotted the first village on their way to the capital. It had a palisade around it, but it was nothing compared to the wooden walls of Hemgard. As the caravan rolled in two guards approached. One of them wore a patchy, poorly maintained set of armor while the other wore very simple leather armor and a iron helmet that didn’t quite fit right.

“You lot here to sleep the night?”

“Aye. You have a tavern or a Inn?”

“Aye, we do. But only two rooms. We are a humble lot.” Said the other guard. He was looking at Olaf like he was trying to figure out if he could take the big man in a fight. The kind of belligerent authority that never been truly challenged before. Olaf seemed to pay him no mind as he hopped off the wagon and pointed to a youth hanging around in the background.

“You there. Kid, go fetch me the stablemaster and the tavern keep and It’ll be a few silver in it for you”

The young teenage boy was immediately scrambling away to get ahold of the aforementioned people as the first guard looked annoyed. “What you gone and done that for. We could have taken you.”

“And ask for more pay, I imagine” Olaf said as the two guards shared an unhappy look at losing money. It was clear these two had put it in some sort of system to meet each group of travelers to try and use their position to make a little extra silver. Olaf had apparently seen it coming and had now upset their little plan. He simply waited until the two he asked for arrived and then proceeded to entirely ignore the two guards who eventually moved on to go sulk somewhere out of sight. Saga noticed how all the while, Hallvar was eyeing the two with clear suspicion, far more then Olaf had.

The tavern did in fact only have two rooms and one of those rooms was already taken by another visitor. When offered to split the one room both Saga and Sasha agreed to sleep out with the wagons and the others instead. Sasha even suggested Jasper should get to take the bed, much to the elf's surprise. Of course, she offered it in order to get the rest away from him, but Jasper didn’t seem to pick up on that fact.

As the others hunkered down in the wagons or in the stable where they could sleep on hay and under a proper roof, Saga found themselves walking the streets. The village was much smaller then the outpost town, with only single store houses, many of them small and made out of a combination of dried clay, thatch and wood. Some had little plots where a goatlike animal would chew on a small bale of hale. The night are was cold, and crisp and the stars were once again out and shining like bright fireflies across the night sky. Saga wrapped the pelt they burrowed from one of the wagons closer around their body as a chill wind swept down the main street.

“Cold night.” Came a voice. Saga turned around, spotting a young man tending to one of the goat like creatures. He was tall, lanky and about their age. His skin sunburned and freckled, hinting on a paler complexion that been tanned by the winter sun. He had very simple wool and linen clothes underneath a thick leather coat with fur lining to keep him warm.

“It is.” Saga said, approaching and leaning against the mans fence. “I’m Saga.”

“You had some ambitious parents, naming you that.”

“How so.” Saga asked, a bit amused by this stranger. “Oh, wait. Because my name is that of the Sagas.”

“A name says a lot.” The man said. “Mine is Syv. I was named after a local deity.” He didn’t look up as Saga leaned in to study the goat. It was a goat, just not one they had ever seen before. It had a thick, raggedy fur suited for the climat, with two horns that each slit at the top into two curls. It was about the size of the goats Saga had seen back home, near where she went to school.

“Syv huh. And you said my parents were ambitious. Yours named you after a literal god.” Saga said as the man looked up to meet their gaze. Syvs eyes had a coppern hue to them, and his face was pockmarked on one side as if burned.

“Take care, Saga.” Syv said and Saga felt something change in the air.

“You weren’t here just to tend to your goat in the middle of the night, huh” Saga said slowly.

“The guards that let you inside the village took of by horse two hours ago, riding hard to the south”

“Why are you telling me this?”

“I wasn’t going to. I figured it wasn’t my buisness at first. But you happened to walk by. And I figured It be better I told someone without eyes on me.” He spoke in a low tone, returning to tend to his goat. Saga tried to look as if nothing was amiss as they looked back to the goat.

“Eyes on you. By whom?”

“Someone watched your caravan all day. Never seen them before. But I didnt like the look of him.”

“I see. Well, thanks. Syv was it. If you are ever in Alebridge, look me up.” Saga said before they slowly and as casually as possibly stepped away and headed to the caravan. As soon as they came to the little square by the in where the caravan rested, they slipped into the wagon where Ingrid and Olaf slept. Olaf was awake, having had a guard shift.

“We got eyes on us.” Saga said quiet.

“I am aware.” Olaf said, voice low.

“Then did you know the guards left for the south just two hours ago. Riding hard.”

“That I did not know. Not surpised if they been paid to spot caravans like ours. Thank you Saga. I will let everyone know discretely, and we will leave first thing tommorow. YOu did good.” Olaf said and Saga nodded, slipping out of the wagon and heading towards the stable. Knowing there was somebody watch, they stopped and glanced towards the one spot they figured someone would be. Sure enough, they saw a black clad figure crouching while in the shadows of the wooden timber cross. Knowing there was little they could do, they slipped into the stable and found themselves a dark nook to get some shuteye.

Jasper glanced out the window down onto the caravan, seeing Saga skulking about. He had half a mind to have Hallvar go see what the bothersome newcomer was doing, but chose not to. He already had a new angle of attack, he just needed to figure out exactly how to leverage it. He needed to be smart about it. If he were to set the Berserker off the wrong way then they might just take him down with them, even kill him. They were a Berserker after all, they could not be reasoned with. But they could be pushed into do rash things, and if you had the right leverage, the right piece to put in their path, then the Berserker would destroy themselves.

Jasper glanced at his companion, the silent Half-Giant had been awfully chummy with Saga. Maybe he could give Jasper some further insight.

“What do you think of Saga.”

“The Berserker? They have a warriors soul.”

“You are not having second thoughts are you.”

“No.” Hallvar assured him, his cold, flat tone made Jasper smile. A true professional indeed, in the end what matters was gold. And that was something Jasper understood and respected.

“Good”