Freya (Rat)

Freya left the command tent with a sweet smile toward one of the men inside and quickly made her way away from it into the dark.

Her expression fell the moment she had left their eyesight. As she walked, she began scribbling on a small piece of paper and nearly missed a man in a long robe stepping in front of her.

She put on a friendly smile and greeted the man, “Oh, Elder Ill’irian. How nice to meet you. What brings you out here this early?”

It was early, very early. The sun would probably show its first tendrils in an hour or two, and the camp was still very much asleep. The command tent was a little bit of a different matter as most chiefs were oathbound, so they slept less and also had to take care of patrol routes and similar.

Freya had befriended one of the chiefs, an old man named Thooben. She was glad that the man looked at her more like a daughter than something more troublesome.

That didn’t matter now though, she first had to focus on the druid in front of her.

“Ah, what a coincidence to find you here, Freya. I, too, am quite the early bird, but normally, I tend to go out to pick some herbs around now,” the man explained with a genuine smile. How about you? You are a little bit too early to join any patrols.”

He looked past her toward the command tent. It was clear to Freya that he knew exactly where she came from.

“I have been thinking about scouting out the border in the next few days and talked with Chief Thooben about it,” Freya lied. She had indeed talked with the old chief about it but only to get a look at the patrol plans. It was harder than she liked because the clans were not much on documents and more verbal in their planning, but she made it work. She always had a talent for guiding conversations.

“That would be very helpful, especially with your knowledge about the kingdom and their language. You could even cross the border and visit a village to see if they are even remotely expecting us,” Ill’irian said thoughtfully.

“Hm, I don’t know. I would rather not return to the kingdom without an army,” Freya replied playing hesitant.

“Understandable. Will young Eydis join you on your scouting mission? I heard that she was integrating well. You both, to be honest.”

“I don’t know. Eydis wants to catch up on the time she lost with her friends. I get that, I wish I could do the same. But that means I don’t know if I can convince her to leave,” Freya shrugged.

Ill’irian stepped forward and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. “Give her time. I know it must feel bad to seemingly be left out, but you will find your place soon enough.”

Freya smiled at the druid. He had no idea what this was really about.

“Well, you go on then. The camp is about to rise, and I want to be gone before all of them fill the pathways,” Ill’irian said with a wink and then turned away.

Freya didn’t pay him much mind after that and made her way back to the Rescar part of the camp. It was closest to the ruined village and a little way away from the center.

The camp had grown significantly in the last weeks. Around two thousand warriors were present, and the rest were expected in the next week.

She had continually sent updates back to her superiors but she herself knew nothing of what was happening on the other side of the border. It made sense for security reasons, but it still grated on her nerves to see their enemies gather and prepare without knowing if the Radiant Soul and his allies would be up to the task.

It took her a couple of minutes, but she finally reached the camp. As expected, it was mostly barren with only a few sunrays starting to creep over the horizon.

I could nearly call it peaceful, if this wasn’t a camp of savages intent on burning down half the kingdom, Freya thought as she sat down next to the central campfire and began to stoke it. Might as well make some breakfast.

Another half an hour later the first members of the clan began to rise from their tents.

Eydis was among them coming out of the tent they were sharing with Samira and another woman. Freya could see Samira still lying on the furs grasping at the newly emptied space next to her.

“Slept well?” Freya asked Eydis with a judgmental gaze.

“Better than you apparently,” she signed back while looking into the pot.

“You are getting a little bit too familiar with the natives, don’t you think,” Freya now also signing.

“Just blending in. Besides we enjoy each other’s company is that a problem?” Eydis replied and gave Freya a hard look.

If I die then it will be because of her, I am sure about that, Freya thought but dropped the subject. They had had this discussion too often already for Freya to still bother.

One after another the remaining residents of their part of the camp woke up and joined them. Samira was pointedly sitting down close next to Eydis and gave Freya a friendly smile, which Freya returned.

Getting emotionally attached in the middle of a mission. I don’t know what the higher-ups were thinking, allowing her to come out here.

The meal went over without anything notable happening. They were a happy bunch, a lot of laughter and teasing.

Sev especially was always in the middle of any banter. He seemed like a nice and happy man, but Freya didn’t trust him one bit. She had seen men like him before, burying all the anger and pain under a facade of humor.

Freya wondered what would happen if this man survived and achieved his revenge. Would he just cease to exist with his only goal in life achieved? Or would he start living for something better than revenge?

Those musings had kept Freya occupied lately. There wasn’t much happening, and the clans had been too welcoming sometimes for her taste. There was no challenge here. Well, except for Eydis. With every passing day, Freya became surer that this woman would be a problem but no matter what she reported she always got the same answer.

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‘Keep an eye on her and continue as is.’

“I’m gonna go pay my respects, anyone wanna come with?” Sev asked, which caught Freya’s attention.

They did that regularly. Visit the graves in the village to say some prayers and ‘talk’ to the deceased. In the end, it was Samira, Eydis, Freya, and Sev who went this time.

“Eydis, this is a good chance to talk to them about abandoning their quest,” Freya signed. She was being careful with the signs she used, due to Eydis teaching Sev and Samira a little bit of the language.

“Now is not the time,” Eydis blocked her off, but Freya didn’t stop.

“You are running out of time. Once the rest gets here then it will be too late. You need to do it now if you intend to convince them at all.”

“I will. I just need the right time.”

Freya sighed. “Many of them will die if you don’t”

Eydis ignored her and caught up to the other two without saying another word.

At the cemetery, they did the typical. Talking to the graves, praying, and generally being miserable. Freya didn’t really understand this practice, but she knew it was important to act accordingly.

“It feels like they are still here after all these years,” Samira noted quietly.

“Their spirits call for revenge. They will not rest until they have been avenged,” Sev replied and a hint of the anger he was hiding showed itself in his clenched fists.

“They will rest, they just need time,” Eydis signed but Freya hesitated to translate her words. After a short moment, she decided to give the woman a push.

“She said: What if our desire for revenge is what is keeping them here,” Freya said and kept eye contact with Eydis while doing so. She could see her eyes twitch and her lip quiver.

Freya knew that she hated it when Freya didn’t translate properly but the spy didn’t care. She had to get this going or they would just live a happy life until reality hit, and any action would be too late.

“What do you mean by that?” Sev asked tensely.

Freya continued to fixate on Eydis’s eyes. There was no doubt that the spy would push it if Eydis didn’t, and she knew it.

“Is seeking revenge really in the best interest of the clan? We might lose the few people we still have,” Eydis replied reluctantly, and Freya translated faithfully.

“What else are we supposed to do? Forgive and forget?” Sev chuckled as if Eydis’s reply had been a joke. “We will pay them back a thousandfold for what they have done to us.”

Freya could see on Eydis’s face that she didn’t like being dismissed like that. She had to force down a smile as she could see the fire start in her compatriot’s eyes.

Thanks for the assist, Sev, Freya thought.

“You won’t find those that killed our people, Sev. They won’t meet us in the open until their whole kingdom responds and then we will be outnumbered badly.”

“There are more ways to take revenge than to kill them directly. If they won’t come out to fight us then we will take our wrath to their lands until they do,” Sev shrugged.

“And what is that gonna solve? We are gonna go there, they will hide in their castles. We slaughter the innocent people that had nothing to do with what happened to us and then leave once the rest of the angry kingdom gets there?” Eydis asked with a deep frown.

“There are no innocents. They didn’t care when they razed our village about innocents so why should we? We will get our revenge for the fallen, one way or another,” Sev still didn’t seem to notice that his dismissive attitude only fanned the flames of Eydis’s temper.

“And then what? They will seek vengeance and burn down even more villages. How many will survive after that? Don’t you see this is an endless circle?”

“It will end when every one of them is dead,” Sev's voice became harder, and he began to visibly get annoyed.

“And you think that is gonna be the outcome? Are you completely out of your mind? They have more people; more soldiers and they have one leader! We attack them and kill some, then they will come and kill some of us and on repeat until no one from our side is left,” Eydis signed back.

Maybe I should mellow it down a little bit, Freya thought but Eydis caught the hesitancy instantly and Freya could feel her aura push in on her.

“You started this, so you will translate every word, or I swear I will rip your throat out, and then you can see how it feels to be purposely mistranslated.”

Freya raised her hands in surrender and wondered if she might have pushed her too far.

“What is your great plan then? Let our fallen wallow in agony because we are too scared to fight!” Sev was starting to get red in the face.

“Better than seeing our clan end in a senseless search for vengeance,” Eydis shot back.

“We will be long gone before they can match our strength and they wouldn’t even dare to follow us that deep into clan lands,” Sev argued.

“Oh, I have heard that one before!” Freya knew that Eydis would regret that one, but she wasn’t about to be pummeled to death for stopping her.

Sev took a step back as if he had been hit straight in the face. Eydis instantly lost all of her anger as she realized what she had just thrown at him.

“Stop it, both of you,” Samira finally stepped into the discussion after silently watching until now. “Don’t say anything more that you will regret.”

“I’m sorry, Sev. I didn’t mean to,” Eydis tried but Sev shook his head.

“No, you are right. Those words were what I used to convince the clan of the raid which ultimately caused our downfall. I was arrogant but things are different now. I am no longer a young fool, and we are no longer just one clan.”

“Then you should at least listen to what I am trying to tell you,” Eydis tried again.

Sev simply shook his head. “Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t. I made an oath and the Rescar don’t break their oaths.”

I am ready to break mine for you, was basically written on Eydis’s face but Freya doubted that the other two barbarians would be able to discern the expression’s meaning.

“It is late already, I have to get to the command tent,” Sev said and began to walk away.

“I don’t want to lose you again,” Eydis made Freya call after him, but he didn’t react.

“You are not gonna convince him to change his mind, you know? He only has his revenge left,” Samira said as she stepped next to Eydis.

“What about you?” Eydis asked.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, what do you think about what I said?”

“This is everything we have been working toward for years. You can’t expect us to just give it up,” Samira replied but then sighed. “To be honest, I don’t really have anyone left. My parents were dead long before the attack, I only had my grandmother, and she died shortly after the attack. I just went with it for most of the time because what else was there?

“I am not saying that you are now my reason to live or something romantic like that. I do see where you are coming from though. Sev does not care if we make it out of his revenge plan.”

Eydis looked at the other woman with expectant eyes until she finally groaned.

“Fine, I will see how the others feel about this but only because you have such adorable eyes,” Samira caved.

Freya would have been impressed by Eydis’s manipulatory abilities if she wasn’t sure that the woman had meant every sign she had made.

“Come on, let’s go hunting, we need to bring something nice back, over which I can get a conversation started,” Samira said and began walking away.

Freya smiled at Eydis and waved. She only returned a hard gaze that clearly got across what she thought of Freya’s stunt.

The spy didn’t care though, she was quite happy with the situation. Either she had managed to start putting a rod between Eydis and her clan mates or she had helped her get them to stand down, either way was fine.

She watched them disappear and then made her own way back to the camp. She had to prepare a note to pass to one of her contacts with the patrol routes she had been tasked to get.

Freya passed through a group of warriors on her way and suddenly stopped. She had felt a small tug on her pants. It took only a moment to find the little piece of paper someone had placed in her pocket.

She frowned as she read it, took a look around, and then made her way straight to the edge of the camp.

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Ill’irian

The druid sat in a small gathering of trees breathing slowly while feeling the life mana all around him. Life affinity was probably the second most common atmospheric type as traces of it existed in everything living even if only very few not blessed with the affinity could detect it.

This meditation was a daily ritual for him. Life magic revolved mainly around living things, so being able to feel and understand them was vital to him.

A chirp alerted him to his companion just a moment before it landed on his folded hands. Ill’irian slowly opened his eyes and looked at the little thrush.

“What is it, my friend?”

A few more chirps caused the druid to frown.

“Freya got a message and then hurried out of the camp? Curious,” Ill’irian mumbled to himself. He had kept an eye on the two new additions to the Rescar clan and though he couldn’t find any evidence of wrongdoing, this Freya seemed too interested in integrating with the chieftains.

“Show me the way. Let’s see what she is up to,” Ill’irian decided and pushed himself to his feet.