The Dancing Droog was a proper tavern which meant it was built on the edge of the city in a district that looked like a small war had been fought in it built on the edge of the trollheim, the cities slums that looked like wars were fought there, and it stank of beer, meat and sweat. Physically it was designed to look like an upturned longship despite the watery beer being the nearest it had ever come to the sea and the line of pasty farmers stood outside the closest thing it had to a crew.

Erika ignored them of course, queues were for other people, walking right up to the taverns open door without giving the line a second glance. A few of the queuers looked like they wanted to say something as she walked past them but the taverns bright runelamps shone off the partitioned blue and red of her cape and they wisely closed their mouths and got back to waiting. Nobody dared draw the ire of a Vitki, not if they wanted to wake up tomorrow the same shape they were today.

Trying not to gag on the fumes that billowed from the doorway Erika shoved her way into the Dancing Droog, ignored a few more people who were stood in a sort of waiting square inside, and marched up to a woman who was stood behind a low basalt slab that looked like it served as a sort of reception desk.

“Welcome to the Dancing Scorith Vitki, do you wish to be shown to one of our private rooms or do you have a reservation?” The woman had looked relaxed before, with the calm countenance of a lifelong customer service agent, but Erika saw how her eyes had widened and heard how her voice rose, nobody dared be rude to a Vitki which was nice but Erika dint enjoy the fear.

Erika dropped the flyer on the counter top and tried a smile, the woman flinched, Erika stopped smiling. “I'm here for this… where are they?”

The woman looked like she would rather be anywhere else but managed a shaky customer service smile and pointed towards crude dip in the floor with a set of rough stairs stretching downwards. “Uh… the second basement level ma’am… uh they… uh…”

Erika sighed ignoring the stammering girl and headed down the stairs, the first level wasn't interesting, a few locked storage rooms and a half wall of beer kegs but the next was far more interesting, a nearly cavernous hall twice the length of the surface building, runelamps filled the room with their golden glow and from where Erika stood, she could see a half dozen small tables surrounded by cushioned stools and privacy partitions and a handful of thralls were scurrying back and forth ferry food and drink to the two people sat in the centre of the room, two people who Erika had heard of, two people who shouldn’t be here.

“Oh, we have a guest? And a Vitki at that!”

“The Aesir smile on us, do sit down young lady.”

Erika did so in a daze staring with her mouth open, the pair who sat before her didn’t look very impressive apart from how mismatched they were. On the left was a young blonde man with a fussy little goatee dressed nondescriptly in layered robes of rust red and earthy brown hues but it was the kind of blandness that takes hours of effort to achieve.

The other was a middle-aged sagaborn, the descendent of someone whose personal story actually changed their children’s forms. She looked like a humanoid bear woman, powerfully built and covered in muscle with fur along her arms and short black claws on her fingertips. She was beaming at Erika with the kind of smile that seemed like a permeant fixture of her face.

Of course, none of that wasn't the reason for her staring, instead it was because she heard them describe before, by bards retelling the Saga’s of the greatest Delvers of the empire.

“Silverblossom and Sunblade?”

The pair turned to each other smiled with mutual embarrassment.

“… I told you we should have put our names on the posters to avoid just this!”

“Fewer people would have come! We tend to be… intimidating to the people around here.”

“Maybe but at least, they wouldn’t be so shocked, I can practically see her Sal leaving her body!”

As the living legends began to bicker Erika suddenly realised her own lack of tact, closing her mouth and blushing violently Erika sputtered out an appropriate greeting. “I am Erika, daughter of Aila…. Journeywoman Vitki of the third circle.”

The hero’s stooped their back and forth and gave her their full attention again, Erika had to resist running. “Excellent, it’s nice to meet you. You know us already but I’ll do the polite thing, I am Sigrun Stelasdottir known by the title Silverblossom and this is Alvis Andar titled Sunblade because of his fancy fancy knife.”

“An honour to meet you,” said Alvis completely ignoring Sigrun and instead favouring Erika with a charming smile. “I assume you are here for about the expedition? We didn’t expect to get a Vitki interested.”

Erika, already overwhelmed by meeting two folk heroes, slump forwards in her seat. “Do you even need me here? You were both silver ranks last I checked, can’t you two fight a whole army alone and win?”

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Sigrun laughed uproariously. “We might be good but we can’t be everywhere, even we get tired you know!? But that’s for later, relax and eat with us do you want anything specific?”

As Erika went to decline, she felt her stomach rumble and after a second’s thought realised that she’d skipped breakfast in her panic that morning, she was famished.

“Yes actually… they got any beef?”

“The best beef, ant just like a haunch?” Exclaimed Sigrun still smiling broadly, for all her laughter and bluster Erika had noticed that her eyes were gimlet sharp.

“Yes please….”

Alvis waved one of the thralls over, a few moments later there was much scurrying as tankards and bowls were brought forwards, Erika quickly tucked into the roasted beef and watched as Alvis toyed with a single sliced apple and Sigurn devoured what looked like half a pig on her own.

Sigrun gave Erika a thumbs up then leant back away with a sated sigh. “Ah that’s good… would you like a glass of something before we get down business?”

Erika shook her head demurely and Alvis lifted something up from below the table, it looked like a clock had somehow mated with a crystal geode and then the subsequent abomination had been inverted through three dimensions and shoved into a mirror, it hurt the eye just to look at it as Alvis dropped it on the table.

“It’s a security device,” Said Sigurn said answers Erika’s unasked question. “It prevents eavesdropping and snooping… just don’t look at it to hard or your eyes pop.”

Before Erika could react Alvis cuffed Sigurn around the ear. “Please ignore my companion… now before we go any further, I must have your oath that you will not pass any of the information we will give you to anyone without our direct permission.”

Erika looked at Alvis for a moment, oaths were serious business after all, the gods got really intense if someone broke an oath spoken in their name but it wasn't like Erika really had many options, she did need the money.

“I give you my oath in the name of Fulla, Vor, Var and Syn, your secrets stay with me, so I swear.” Erika listed the four goddesses she respected the most and waited for the buzz, it crackled across her skin and filled the room with the smell of lightning as a tiny fraction of a fraction of a god cast its eyes upon her.

Alvis nodded and smiled a small thin smile behind his goatee. “Excellent… now the full details aren’t necessary but some background is. Silvermane employs a handful of Vitki full time at extreme expense as you can no doubt imagine, two of them are master of the Hamingja and its magic…”

“The guardian? So, fate changers then… I guess a high circle?”

Alvis nodded. “Last I heard they were capable of casting 7th circle spells, anyway they do general fate reading for Silvermane and recently one of those came back with a series of prophecies and visions which lead us to locate a small temple on the edge of the Fimbulwinter, an Iron ranked team happened to be nearby and Silvermane hired them… they’ve failed to report back. As a result, a full expedition was planned lead by two silver ranks guiding a heavy caravan of supplies and reinforcements.”

“Usually you don’t get all that,” interrupted Sigurn. “But Silvermane’s the ring-giver for this job so she’s just throwing money at the problem.”

“For which I am eternally thankful.” Said Alvis dryly. “Silvermane has reason to believe a very valuable item is housed in that temple, we will march to the storm, penetrate the Fimbulwinter outer layer and breach the temple, relocate the Iron team and reclaim the item. All around the expedition should take a month and a half at most.”

Sigrun nodded. “That’s basically it perils, powers and payoffs are all guaranteed so… what can you do?”

Erika felt herself nearly spinning with the sudden barrage of information but she leapt gamely back into the conversation, she needed to persuade them to take her. “Uh I… I know a number of ancient languages and as you can see, I am a Vitki of the journeywoman rank able to cast up to the 3rd circle of spells I specialise in Hamr spells.”

That was her trump card and she saw that she’d judged correctly, both of her interrogators were now looking at her in an entirely new light. Alvis had a glint of avarice in his eyes and Sigrun was shamelessly ogling her.

“You’re a flesh warper?” Said Alvis slowly, writing something on a slate he’d produced from inside his robe.

Erika narrowed her eyes very slightly. “That is the colloquial name,” she said slowly. “The correct one is Life Shaper.”

“Is that your full skill set?” Asked Alvis seemingly impervious to Erika annoyance.

Before Erika could speak Sigrun tapped her claws on the tabletop and nodded. “He means do do you have a rank with the delver’s guild? Do you have any training in arms or anything?”

Erika shook her head. “No, I'm a Vitki so I never saw a reason to get ranked with the guild and same with the weapons, what would be the point when I have magick at my command?”

Sigrun seemed to frown for a fraction of a second but Alvis seemed entirely unfazed, he simply wrote a few more lines on the slate, nodded to himself, and slipped it back into his robe.

After Erika shook her head, Alvis deftly slipped a few more tablets from his cape and began fiddling with them. “Thank you for your application, the Silvermane consortium will consider your services…”

Sigrun cut of Alvis with a raised hand. “He means you’re in kid, you’re a Vitki after all and you haven’t been scared off, we’ll all meet up tomorrow morning near the temple of Magni, expedition leaves at noon, be there early.”

“Uh yeah.” Erika found her mind racing entirely out of her control, she’d done it she’d done it.

“You will be provided with all necessary provisions tomorrow morning, you’ll be given either a Droog to ride or space on one of the wagons, bring any personal items you will need with you and please do remember your oath Vitki, a number of other parties are interested in our expedition and will doubtless try to buy the information from you.”

Sigrun nodded and put a companiable hand on Erika’s shoulder. “Usually, we’d warn against blackmail or kidnapping but again… Vitki… so they’d need to be polite with you, but your oath still stands so… don’t listen to them, ok?”

Erika nodded, not trusting her voice anymore, she was already in danger before she left the city? Why did her saliva taste like metal? What was going on!

“Ah it looks like we got another bite?”

Erika vaguely saw a sagaborn lurking in the doorway up, he shuffled forwards on hoofed feet when Alvis gestured. A moment later he was deep in conversation with the man as Sigurn steered Erika expertly back towards the door.

“Make sure you get here early!” She said cheerfully as Erika found herself cast out of the door, stood on the side of the road cold and flustered and anxious beyond belief Erika snarled a handful of curses and, head throbbing and heart racing, headed for home.

She was going to drink all the mead.