After throwing something – I don’t know what – at Terry, I went back to sleep. There were no dreams, much to my annoyance. So I was grumpy when I woke up and it was time to get ready to infiltrate the ceiling.
I didn’t talk much to anyone as I got ready, donning a set of furred winter clothes more appropriate for a winter wolf than my normal attire. Of course, they were still cut to accentuate my features, but they were certainly more conservative than what I usually wear. After that, I put in my contact lenses, turning my eyes an icy blue.
“I know, right?” I heard Gregor saying. “The woman was very strange, and I never saw anyone shuffle a deck like that. Was very weird dream.”
“Shuffled how?” Terry asked.
“She threw it in the air and it all just gathered into a neat pile.”
“And then she told your fortune?”
“Yes, though I only remember it vaguely. We have had same dream?”
She turned to the dwarf. “How about you? Did you have that dream too?”
Burin smiled. “I don’t rightly know. I slept really well, like someone helped subdue the demon. Then I was in my old house, drinking something. And there might have been cards, but I don’t know for sure.”
“And you?” she asked me almost accusingly.
I shrugged. “I didn’t have my fortune told, if that’s what you want to know,” I non-answered. It wasn’t exactly a lie. My fortune was vague and useless. But I guess Godmother’s advice was a bit more helpful.
“So we all had same dream?” Gregor asked.
“Oh, you’re gonna be Burin too?” Burin asked. I almost laughed out loud. Of course that was his takeaway. Terry gave him a strange look and everyone dropped the matter.
Shortly before we set out, Ringeirr’s friends arrived to escort Nadya back to Ellsprin and it was time to say our goodbyes. Hatch crawled out from Terry’s guitar case. “I’m gonna miss you,” she told the domovoi.
“I’m going to miss… cake,” he replied.
She produced the last piece of cake – at least I hoped it was the last – and gave it to him. It was so old and stale that it had become crunchy. He tore into it gratefully, not even noticing how old it was. Once he was finished, he waddled over to Nadya.
“I’m going to miss that little guy,” I heard Gregor say quietly.
Nadya hugged Burin. “Be careful, and try not to get everyone killed,” she told the dwarf.
“Oh, don’t worry. I’m not the leader.” She gave him a look, but decided not to argue.
She then hugged Terry. “You crazy little child. I hope you find what you’re looking for.”
“I hope you find more cake!” Hatch added.
“Take care of your boys,” Terry said, ignoring the fey.
Then it was my turn. “Don’t try to control them,” Nadya said, her hand on my shoulder. “Instead, aim them.”
I gave her a look that told her I was completely done. “Oh, don’t worry about that. I don’t care what they do.”
Finally, it was Gregor’s turn. She gave him a quick kiss. “For luck. Take care of yourself and the others.”
“You should go, protect your children,” he told her. Wow, did his people have a vow of celibacy or something?
Ringeirr walked her out and returned a few minutes later. “Are we ready? Do we have any other questions?”
“Will it really be okay to wear armor and carry weapons?” Terry asked.
“Your gun will stick out, but if the disguises hold, Burin’s axe won’t be an issue. I’d also prefer to hide Gregor’s hat, but the blade is covered enough by fur that I think it’ll be fine. And since none of you is wearing more than light armor, you should be fine on that point. None will hassle you over a chain shirt, especially if you appear to be winter wolves.”
“Speaking of the disguise,” Burin said to me. “Are you sure that this stuff will hide our scent? Should we not pee on ourselves to further mask our normal scent?”
I sighed. “No, you’ll be fine. As long as you got a thin layer on roughly a third of your body, the scent should overpower your natural odor.” I was very glad we each had our own tin of the stuff.
“If you’re sure. I just worry, is all.”
We headed out, with Gregor pulling and Ringeirr pushing the cart of fish we had agreed to help Ringeirr deliver. Terry kept asking when she should activate the pelt’s magic. Burin also kept asking me if I was sure he didn’t need to pee on himself. It was not unlike traveling with children on a long car trip.
Once we finally reached the point close enough for Terry to transform, she giddily activated the pelt and became a wolf puppy. Then she immediately peed on Burin’s shoe.
The dwarf breathed a sigh of relief. “Thanks. I feel better now.” Terry barked and wagged her tail happily.
“Are you thinking this transformation has any long term mental effects?” Gregor asked me.
“Probably not.” Maybe. I think.
He picked up a stick and threw it. Terry chased it immediately, but then stopped after a few feet, turned to Gregor and glared at him. She then ran ahead of me as we approached the gate and sniffed at the boots of the white haired man standing guard.
“Apologies for my sister,” I told him. “It has been a long road. You know how the young are.”
“No need to worry,” he said to me. “It’s good to see more of our kind coming to town. There are far too many stupid trolls running around, acting as if they run the place.”
“They learn to shut up pretty quickly if you have your slave douse one of them in oil and hold a torch like he means it.”
The wolf in human form laughed. “I like you. Tell me, have you all gotten your papers yet?”
“No, I…” My attention was suddenly caught by the sight of a woman. She was leaning against the guardhouse, maybe twenty feet off. She was eating some kind of steaming bread roll filled with meat. But that’s not why I noticed her.
She was maybe six foot five. She had not an ounce of unnecessary fat on her, but still had enough that her form-fit chain shirt emphasized an ample bosom – perhaps a D cup – and still showed her heaving biceps. I was pretty sure her back end was just as shapely, but I couldn’t see it due to the angle and the furred cape she wore.
Every bit of her skin was covered by clothing or armor, save her face and part of her neck, but if the rest of her body was as smooth and soft as the skin of her face suggested, I wanted to touch every single inch of her.
Next to her was a massive, ornately engraved axe, clearly meant to be swung with both hands. I could just imagine her heaving it, her muscles rippling and my mind went blank for a second. Between her height, her hard yet stunning and voluptuous features and her massive apparent strength, she had managed to hit every single one of my tastes. For both men and women.
I absolutely had to talk to her. “Excuse me a moment,” I said to the winter wolf I was talking to. I didn’t even wait for a reply. I just immediately walked over to her.
I heard the man laugh. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll just talk with your siblings and see about getting you some temporary papers while you talk to my partner.”
I approached her and she gave me a look that told me she was intrigued by my approach. She took a bite of her meat bun, juices dripping from the corner of her mouth. I could smell several spices as I approached.
It was only when I reached her that I realized that I hadn’t thought of what to say. “Hi,” I fumbled.
“My, what brings a beautiful young wolf such as you to speak with me?” she asked.
OHMYGODSHESAIDIWASBEAUTIFUL. Breathe, Lyriana. “I, um, uh…” Okay, I’m usually much better at this than that. But being near her, I couldn’t find the words. What was wrong with me? It’s not like I was a novice at this. “Is there a place here where I could get some tea? Or wine? Yes, ohmygodIneedwine. With you? Maybe somewhere I could buy us some wine? Please say something. I’m trying to stop talking but I can’t.”
She laughed. “I’d love to take you somewhere for some wine,” she said. “If I can talk Agilur into letting me bail a bit early, we could go now, if you want.”
Before I could answer, I felt Terry pulling at my pant leg. “What?” I asked. I swear to God, if she messed this up for me, I was going to drown her in the bathtub, adorable puppy or no.
“It’s almost time to go,” she whined.
“I’m going with my friend here for a drink. You stay with your brother and do what he says.”
“BURIN?!” she said in shock. “Please don’t do that to me.”
“He may have been born a runt, but he’s our elder brother and you will show him respect.”
“But he’s BURIN!”
The dwarf in question walked over and picked up the puppy by the scruff of her neck. “We’ll be fine,” he said. “Go have fun.”
I owed the dwarf, big time. “I’ll meet you later at that shrine Ringeirr said he’d show us,” I whispered to him.
“Ready?” the wolf woman asked me.
“Yes, please,” I said.
She shouted over to the other winter wolf, who was coming out of the guardhouse with some papers. “Agilur! I’m going to go get a drink with my friend here. Can you hold the place while I’m gone?”
“Go on, Greta! Have fun. It’s not like you do anything around here anyway!” She bared her teeth menacingly at him. “Fine! Fine! You win! You do more than I do. Just go!” We started to turn. “Wait!” he shouted. He bounded over and handed me a piece of paper. “This is your temporary entrance document. It’ll be good until midday tomorrow. You need to apply for proper documentation before then.”
“Thanks,” I said.
Greta picked up her massive axe with one hand and hefted it onto her left shoulder. I followed her closely. Had it not been for the axe, I would have glomped onto her. But, in interest of not unbalancing her, I carefully slipped my arm into a loop around her elbow and held it tentatively.
We walked about a block, getting stares from all around – we made a very attractive couple – before she said anything. “We could go get some spiced wine not too far from here if we take a right. Or, if you’d prefer, we could take a left and go to my house, where I’d be happy to brew some tea for you.”
Her house! I wanted to scream it loudly. But I managed to keep my cool, if only barely. “Tea sounds lovely,” I said.
Her home – a townhome in a fairly nice looking neighborhood – wasn’t large by my standards, but it was a fair bit larger than Ringeirr’s place. Heck, it was at least as large as Nadya’s place, if not larger. The inside was well kept a neatly, if sparsely, decorated with carvings and other artwork.
As I took in the sight of her home, I heard her set down her axe and lock the door behind us. Then I suddenly found myself forced against the wall, hungry lips pressed against mine. I returned the passionate kiss and threw my arms around her neck.
I felt her hand underneath my clothing as her soft lips nibbled at my neck. I began panting as I pressed myself into her. “Should I make tea now, or perhaps we could save the tea for later?” she whispered softly into my ear, her breath tickling a little.
“Later,” I moaned as her deft fingers stroked my bare skin. I’ll leave it to imagination precisely what bare skin she was stimulating.
She scooped me up and flung me over her shoulder. “Upstairs it is!” she declared before carrying me off to her bedroom.
Several hours later, I lay with my head on her soft bosom, all energy spent, but feeling better than I had in months. Her strong hand grabbed my bare backside, pulling me against her. “If you’re trying to start again, I’m afraid I’m going to need at least ten more minutes before I’m ready again,” I told her.
She kissed the top of my head. “No, I think I too lack the energy to do much more than this.”
“You won’t get in trouble for leaving your post early, will you,” I asked.
“Well, that depends,” she replied.
“On what?” I asked, kissing the soft skin before me.
“On what exactly you really are, and why you’re sneaking into the city disguised as one of my people?”
A chill ran down my spine. “I-I can explain.”
“No need. It’s pretty simple to understand. You needed into the city for something and decided impersonating one of us was the best way.” She said it in a matter-of-fact manner, no anger in her voice. “In truth, whatever method you’ve used to mask your scent is excellent. You’ll easily fool anyone who doesn’t spend hours with you like this.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. I’m not, though I am curious as to what precisely you are. I’ve never smelled a scent like yours.”
“I’m an Aasimar,” I admitted.
“Are all Aasimar as beautiful as you?” she asked. I felt myself blush. She laughed. “No, surely no race could be as enchanting as a whole.”
“If you really want to know, I’ll tell you why we’re here,” I said. I felt like I could trust her. I hoped that I wasn’t wrong.
“I won’t force you, though I must admit that I am curious.”
“How do you feel about Baba Yaga?”
She gave me an intrigued look. “I’ve never met her, of course, nor do I know anyone who has. But she has always done right by the pack, as I understand it. At least, much better than Elvanna and her damn Winter Guard.” She spat off the side of the bed. “Stupid trolls think they run everything.”
I took a breath. “Okay, so here goes. Elvanna may have done something to Baba Yaga. She’s hunted down her mother’s riders. One is dead for sure, I don’t know about the other one and then there’s the third one, which is us. My companions and myself, I mean. We’re trying to get to Baba Yaga’s hut so we can use it to follow her path and rescue her, thus restoring order and preventing Elvanna from completing a ritual that will cloak the world in ice and snow.” Whew. I said it in one breath.
“WHAT?!” Greta said, sitting up suddenly and causing me to nearly fall out of the bed.
Oh God. Had I made her mad? “Okay, how much trouble am I in?”
She looked at me and blinked. “You? Oh, right. Sorry. I’m not mad at you. It’s that stupid queen of ours. How can she be such an idiot?”
That wasn’t the reaction I was expecting, to be sure. “Well, I guess it is a bit dumb to go against Baba Yaga,” I replied.
“No, well, yes. But that’s not what I mean. If she can go against her mother, then more power to her. But I’m talking about that idiotic idea to cover the entire world in snow and ice.” She stood up and poured herself some water. “We depend on trade from the southern nations. By covering them in ice, there are hundreds of different goods we enjoy that we’ll no longer be able to get. Does that idiot think spices and pepper will grow in the snow?”
She was pissed. And I was surprised. Her beauty and strength were apparent, but I had underestimated her mind. “I hadn’t even considered that,” I said. “And I should have, since my family owns one of the largest trading organizations in the Inner Sea.”
She pulled me up to her. “Trade is the lifeblood of a society. Without it, Irrisen would quickly fall into poverty and squalor. Elvanna wishes to become eternal queen of the world, but the world she would create will offer little to its citizens.” She laughed. “I mean, if she just wanted to expand our borders and control all of the Northlands, that would still leave much of the world to trade with. Or if she simply planned to march an army down and conquer the other lands to make them vassal states who paid annual tribute, that I could understand. But this is idiocy.”
My mind tried to consider the implications. She wasn’t wrong. There were a lot of things I’d seen people using that had to be imports. “You’ve thought about this a lot. You really like pepper, I take it?”
She gave me a wolfish grin. “And the fat coin purses greedy merchants will hand gate guards to let them sneak in goods without having to pay the city’s steep taxes. Come, I’ve worked up an appetite somehow. Let’s go downstairs and I’ll warm up some fish stew while you tell me all about how you’re going to save the world.”
I filled her in as she cooked us something to eat. She was a bit annoyed at my revelation of how Terry had disguised herself, but she got over it as we continued to talk. Overall, she seemed impressed by our goal, if not by my description of our execution of said goal thus far.
She was especially fascinated by my description of home and amazed when I set up Cortana and had the box transcribe a number of books for her. I figured she would enjoy the writings of Adam Smith, so I had a faux-leather bound omnibus of his works printed as well as a few other texts, including a book of photographs from Earth.
She knew of the Heralds of Summer’s Return – apparently they were an excellent source of bribes to a few of the winter wolves who were willing to look the other way for the right price – and promised to help me find someone who could take me to the Shrine of Milani the next day. In hindsight, I’d promised to meet the others there, but I had no idea where it was, so that was a relief.
After hours of discussion about all sorts of things, we went to bed. About two hours later, we went to sleep.
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