Far too soon, the bowl of stew was emptied and cleaned, using a piece of bread, and I sat back, content with the world.

“Finally finished with stuffing your face and able to listen?” Lenore asked, her voice snarky.

“What do you mean?” I questioned, unsure what was going on.

“Do you even remember how our host has thrown everyone in a mental loop and thrown a few guys out?” she asked and I realised that I had indeed ignored my own thoughts in favour of the food placed in front of me. It was an incredibly scary experience when Lenore added her own, mental perspective, giving me a bit of perspective on my own thoughts. We both had been fascinated with her apparent magic, calming and, indeed mesmerizing, the entire room without most of them even realising it and in the next moment, I had started ignoring Lenore and started stuffing my face.

“Should we leave? Do you think we are in danger?” I asked, my mind whirling with very scary ideas. If the inn had been far out there, deep in the wilds, I would have wondered if the meat we had been served was what was left of the previous patrons but in the city, such activities would have quickly aroused attentions.

“No, I don’t think so. Remember, she introduced herself as a Priestess of Frigg, so hospitality and the hearthfire are holy to her. She would never harm patrons in her inn.” Lenore calmed me and I felt that her anger had been more with me, ignoring her instead of the events. “But you should ask her, after all, she wanted to talk to you.” Lenore continued and just as she did, Drega came from the kitchen and plopped herself down next to Sigmir, a look of expectant glee on her face.

“Now, tell me your story. I would love to know how a Traveller managed to touch onto the elements and not perish.” she said, only her cheerfulness making it a friendly question instead of a barked order.

“Would you answer me a question before I do?” I asked in turn, causing a short frown but she nodded.

“Before, when those idiots started to fight, what did you do? It was honestly rather scary to feel my mind sink into an altered state.” I posed my question and observed her very closely, trying to gauge her emotions at the question.

What I saw, was mostly embarrassment, something that became even more obvious when she answered.

“You noticed that? Impressive. I apologize, what I did was invoke a word of power, laced with the power of Frigg, making them remember the rules of hospitality. It only quells struggles and fights, similar to a mother, stopping her children from fighting. I did not mean to scare you, most beings wouldn’t even notice.” she explained, her cheeks changing colour in what I assumed was a blush.

“Interesting. I was honestly scared for a second, not only because of your actions but afterwards, when the food was served, I forgot about everything and focused only on the food.”

“The food is just that, food prepared by a very good cook and blessed by the Mother of the Hearth. It seems you are a bit a glutton, aren’t you?” she asked, now brightly smiling again and it was my turn to blush.

“Maybe. But you wanted our story, right? I guess I will start with my part of the story, ever since I came to Mundus and the others can later add their own stories. I guess that will take most of the night.” I changed the topic and, after setting up a floating viewpoint and taking another gulp from my mug, started my tale.

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

As I narrated, a few people gathered around to listen and conversation mostly ceased around us. I told my story without embellishment, not that there was much of a need, telling about my arrival on the trail of a shooting star, about my troubles with the Snowbolds, leaving out my genocide of them and the soul prison I had found, before I got to the meeting with Sigmir. At that point, I felt her arms pull me closer in a possessive manner, something I welcomed. I told of being chased by the Jonari and our escape, about meeting Lenore and Ylva, who both came out at that point, and about our journey to Neyto.

When I mentioned the Grandmother, everyone looked quite impressed, especially when I spoke of the tasks we had done for her. One slightly drunken listener challenged me, saying that I was just spinning a tale, a challenge I answered in the only possible manner. By pulling out the Zevarra Agha and telling him to identify it, apologise and shut up. He did just that and it was as if I had cast a spell of instant sobriety on him, his previously heated cheeks instantly turning pale. In addition to profusely apologising to me, he pressed some coin into Drega’s hand and left the room as if a pack of hungry wolves was nipping at his heels.

I just smiled at the interplay, drank some more from my mug, which somehow had refilled itself as I was talking, and continued to speak. What came next were great parts, telling of the Barrow Den and Samodiva, before speaking about the dryads of Tegi and the elder dryad, Tegi herself. About their vile actions and explaining how I had found Adra, shackled in a cage, ready to be sacrificed to their ambition of endless spring. And about their righteous comeuppance, how their vile deeds were turned back against them and it ended up destroying their home due to their foul magic. At that point, Rai visibly straightened but I was too deep into my story to think about that.

I continued my recollection, speaking about the journey back to Neyto with Adra, about healing Sigmir with the Grandmother’s help and about learning some fundamental truths from her, not that I even tried to explain what she had taught me, that was something I kept close to my heart.

The continued journey, after leaving Neyto, I explained as a desire to see what was hiding behind the horizon, to see was was hidden behind the next bend in the road, again, leaving out that I wanted to head to the Nexus opposite of the one in Neyto, to use it to break the seal on the soul-prison. At least that was what I currently thought about, I might change my plans with more knowledge about the soul-prison and the world itself. But it was a journey worth undertaking anyway.

I skipped most of the explanation for the conflict around Adernas, especially the way we instigated the Jonari to attack the dryads of Tegi, just in case word travelled back north, I did not want the people of Adernas to experience retribution from enraged Jonari, if they decided to use them as a convenient target to vent a possible rage. The travel further west and our conflict with the wolves was mentioned but, once again, I skipped the part where I ripped the part that was a remnant of the wolves divine heritage out of it, vaguely remembering that Frigg, the Goddess that gave Drega her powers had some relationship with Odin, who was the keeper of Freki and Geri. I didn’t quite remember how they related, if they were married, siblings or both, but it seemed to be an unnecessary risk.

Finally, as my mug was somehow full again, I got to the recent events, telling of Yaksha and our hunt in the mountains south of it, speaking about the wind raptors and their attempt to destroy us with their wind magic and how I made it so nobody could control the ensuing storm, just surviving thanks to Sigmir, pulling me to safety. That the area where we had battled was now a field of wild magic, where the flow of Ice Astral Power native to the nearby glacier was bubbling forth caused Drega to look me over measuringly once again. The tale of the dungeon and my almost suicidal attack that allowed me to touch the reality of Astral Ice and strike down the Agnatha rounded the story out, just as my mug was once again, miraculously full. Speaking about Eternal Ice and me, using it as I had, caused Drega to simply shake her head in smiling disbelief.

It was a good point to end the telling of my tale, so I did just that, glossing over our way back to Yaksha and following that, the way to Kolyug, not wanting to reveal that I was carrying even more Eternal Ice with me, more than I had used in my attack on the Agnatha.

Sadly, the world around me had turned a little blurry during my story, causing me to wonder if I would be able to discuss magic with Drega, especially the difference between my magic and the divine spellcasting clerics used. But I was happy and warm, with Sigmir’s arms holding me close to her, causing me to cuddle in some more and drift away, into a content and deep sleep.