“…we’r officially out’a water.”

Erika looked up from her table and groaned loudly. “Now!? You said we had three days!”

“I didn’t count on no warg corpse getting in one o’ the water wagons, besides most of it didn’t come with us, went with the rest of them o’course.” Ranald said as if it was obvious.

Erika considered turning him into a frog for a moment, she’d read a romance novel that had a vitki that could do that once, of course something like that is well above the sixth circle but maybe she could turn his skin green?

Ranald shifted uncomfortably under the vitki’s eyes, something about her gaze making his hairs stand on end, with a wan smile he tried to offer some good news. “Still got three big barrels o’mead yer ladyship, but the men won’t be good for none if they’re drinking mead like water, certainly not fightin or exploring you know?”

Erika groaned again, even louder, slamming her head against the pile of books that had built up on her bed. The comfy wool sack she slept on had transformed into her pseudo-office since everyone spontaneously made her the leader, she didn’t like it one bit.

Ok the ordering people around was pretty fun but just that.

“Got anything to help with that?” Erika asked Solvor, the woman stood next to Ranald and, as the highest ranking Silvermane agent, had control over all the Silvermane reserved stuff in the wagons, Erika had had a look but it was mostly mundane with just a few runes here and there so she’d gotten bored and left.

“I am aphids not noble lady; the extrusion did possess a blessed distillery but it was instantiated in Alvis’ wagon.”

Bjorn spoke up before Erika could even turn to him. “Not gonna be much help Erika sorry.”

“Your lot hasn’t managed to find any water?” Erika asked, it was a rhetorical question of course but it made her feel better.

“No… we found the walls though!” Bjorn grinned and Erika snorted involuntarily, they had found the walls, it had taken a good few days before the scouts felt safe enough to wander widely and a few more until thy were sure it was safe to bring torches with them, holding a torch at each corner of the room had shown its vast size fully for the first time, Erika wasn't even sure what to call it, it wasn't a hall or a room or a cave or cavern or anything, it was the size of a town!

Luckily some scout or another had taken to called it the rimed-room and the name had stuck, it took a good hour to walk from the camp to the walls and the expedition had apparently appeared dead centre in the rimed-room.

Erika had been trying to figure that out, when she wasn't forced into doing leader stuff, but she hadn't even gotten started properly she couldn’t find any runes in the floor or ceiling and their certainty weren’t any vitki around, all Erika could guess was that maybe the runes had been outside, buried by the Fimbulwinter, when the expedition rode over them and activated the teleportation effect.

“And the door, remember?”

Erika was broken from her musing at that reminder, the rimed-room was utterly smooth and unembellished, except for a single off-centre steel doorway.

That had been found yesterday, Erika hadn't been planning to open it, she’d read horror novels she knew what happened when you opened strange doors in spooky temples. Of course, she was also a life smith so she knew what happened when a human body dried out… monsters or dehydration?

“Damn it all to Niflhel,” Erika swore as she grabbed her cloak. “You three get the best of the best we have left, we’re heading for the door… and bring all the thunderarms.”