As the first rays of sunshine peaked over the horizon, Lìfa woke up from her sleep and lazily tried to stretch her body out. She had to realise that something heavy over her inhibited her from doing so, and when she turned her head to the side, she saw Finn sleeping next to her with his arms wrapped around her and their legs tangled together. The memories of last night came back to her and with a small smile she snuggled up closer to Finn, burying her face into his neck and hair. Her movements roused Finn from his sleep too, who greeted her with a small, sleepy smile and pulled her closer under the warm wolfskin coat.

They spent the morning hours in a sweet silence, only cuddling, not feeling the need to say anything. They wanted to enjoy each other’s company as long as they could before they finally sail out to fight their own wars. Both of them knew that probably this was the last time they saw each other, and they just wanted this little magic between them to last a little bit longer.

Unfortunately, this idyll didn’t last long as heavy footsteps approached them, followed by a harsh voice shouting, breaking the peaceful morning silence:

”Lìfa! Lìfa Einardottir, where the hell are you?”

Lìfa quickly crawled out under the fur and jumped up. As she scanned her surroundings, her eyes got caught up on Magni. The huge form of the berserker was marching right toward her and Finn with a slightly annoyed look on his face.

”Ah, there you are! I spent hours searching for you. But now I understand where have you gone so suddenly yesterday.” he shot a playful look toward Finn, making Lìfa blush a bit ”Okay kids, say your goodbyes because we have to go. Now.”

Magni folded his all tattoed arms, and turned away, giving the youth a moment of privacy. For a second they just stood in front of each other, not knowing what to say. Finally, Lìfa gave Finn a quick hug:

”Hey, don’t you dare to die unworthy! You owe me a mead in Valhalla!” with this she turned to Magni, signaling him that she’s ready to go.

”See you there, I promise!” she heard Finn’s words, as they were already hurrying away through the field, leaving the boy behind. On the way back to the Silver Fox, Magni told Lìfa everything she needed to know.

In the morning Ivar noticed Ingolf’s ship harboring by the docks of Heilaholm. Since then the crew had been keeping an eye on the ship, waiting for something to happen. Probably Ingolf was here to gear up before the rush to the treasure, but they didn’t know for how long the ship had been there and Egil wanted to know more about his plans. Also, they had to be ready to set sail at any minute, just in case.

When Lìfa and Magni reached the small hill from where they were watching over Ingolf’s ship, the crew was all excited and nervous, because in the very same moment another ship harbored next to Ingolf’s. Lìfa and Sveinn immediately recognised it. The one that came to burn down Thornvik, their home.

As Ivar’s sharp eyes could make it from such a long distance, Ingolf was waiting for that ship and its captain. They greeted each other warm-heartedly and made their way to the city centre. If they wanted to know more, now was the chance. Egil chose Vidar, the scout to spy on the two men and he also ordered Lìfa and Sveinn to go with him, which idea Vidar clearly disliked. He didn’t understand why the two newbies would be useful for him, but Egil took no questions. It was his final word and Vidar had to obey his jarl.

As the three of them headed out to follow Ingolf and his man, Vidar tried to teach Lìfa and Sveinn some things about sneaking and spying. He showed them how to blend in the crowd without drawing any attention, how to pretend to admire the merchants’ work while still keeping an eye on the target, or like what was the ideal distance to follow someone without being seen. No matter how much Vidar disliked Lìfa and the way she got into the group, he had to admit that she and Sveinn learned fast and that they were quite acceptable mates during their mission.

As they were following the two men through the crowded and packed streets, they realised that their targets were heading toward Heilaholm’s darker and less friendlier districts, like they wanted to hide and avoid being recognised. Finally, their route guided them to a small, dark alley, where Ingolf and his companion sat into a shady tavern.

”All right. Sadly, we can’t just walk in there, sit next to them and eavesdrop. Or at least I can’t.” Vidar turned to Lìfa and Sveinn with a huge, nasty smile and a strange shine in his eyes.

”What do you mean?” Sveinn asked, rubbing the back of his neck a bit confused.

”I mean that Ingolf has seen me a few times on feasts, and he would easily recognise me. But you.. he has never seen the two of you, so you can walk in and eavesdrop their conversation.”

”What? Why would we do that? We should walk in, and smash his skull right now, while we still can! What are we waiting for?” angry fire lit up in Lìfa’s eyes. She saw no point in following the enemy around all day without doing anything. She wanted to do something and kill those men. She wanted to take revenge for her father and home.

”You are more stupid than I thought.” Vidar hissed at her with pure disgust in his voice ”We can’t kill them for two simple reasons. First, Egil told us not to, and you vowed to follow his orders under every circumstances. Second, Ingolf is a very well-known and famous man in Heilaholm with many connections. In other words, he has half of the island in his pocket, and if you tried to kill him, you would probably spend the rest of your pathetic life in jail, or better, you’d be executed on the main square. Understood?”

When Lìfa didn’t answer, he grabbed her face, forcing the girl to look right into his eyes.

”I asked you something. Did you understand?”

”Yes.” when Vidar let her go, she folded her arms, and simply spat to the ground to show her disrespect. The man just pinned his cold eyes one more time to hers took a step closer and whispered to her:

”You can act like this all you want, but remember, accidents always happen. And Egil would never know.”

Sveinn felt the growing tension between his companions, and saw that both of them were about to lose their temper, so he finally stepped in:

”So.. once we are in, what do we do?”

”You see? At least he has some brain, and tries to be useful!” Vidar turned to Lìfa one last time, before stepping back.

”You two go inside, order a drink or something, then try to sit somewhere around them. Not too close, but still close enough to hear them. Try not to draw attention, don’t get caught nosing around. Understood?”

He didn’t even care to look at their confused faces, just nodded to himself and continued:

”If anything happens, leave as fast as you can. I’ll be waiting for you outside. Now go, don’t waste more of our precious time!”

As Lìfa and Sveinn nervously stepped into the small tavern, the thick smoke filling the room blinded them for a second. When their eyes accommodated to the stiff air and the dim light, they made their way to the bar. They settled there for ordering a beer and to scan the room. They quickly found Ingolf and his man sitting at the very back of the place, away from everyone else. There weren’t many guests in the tavern, a lot of tables were empty, so they had to choose wisely. Too close to them would be suspicious. They had to find a table where they still could hear what they needed to hear, yet where they were far enough to keep a safe distance.

After downing their first round of beers and ordering a second one, they finally built up the courage to settle down to one of the dirty tables. They tried to look confident and acted like they did not care about the others at all, but both of their hands holding the drinking horns were slippery of sweat and shaking. When they sat down without problem, they both relieved a bit, but the hardest part was just about to come. They had to maintain a conversation, while still listening to Ingolf. Just as Vidar taught them on the way there.

”... I’ve been waiting for you for days. Did you get it?” they heard Ingolf’s impatient voice.

”We looked in every house, in every goddamn corner, but nothing. That bastard keeps it close to him, I think he wouldn’t let it go for a minute and...”

”What do you mean you couldn’t find it?!”

Ingolf hit the table a bit harder with his fist than he should have. A few faces turned into their direction, but soon everyone returned to minding their own businesses. Everyone, except for Lìfa and Sveinn. They kept their ears open since they felt like this must be something very important to them.

”All right, it doesn’t matter. I copied some of the runes from the map, we can make it to the first location, and I’m sure we’ll meet Egil during the way. There we can finally force that thief to his knee, and take back what is ours.”

Even though she couldn’t see in the dim light, Lìfa was sure the man’s lips curved into a nasty, evil smile as he said these words. Egil was right about this man, they had to be very careful about him and they definitely had to act fast to reach the treasure and that weapon before him.

”Don’t worry about Egil, my jarl.” the other man continued ”We left him a little surprise, so he may not be able to follow us immediately. We set his little town on fire, raped his women and killed everyone we could.”

Lìfa felt anger boiling in her veins and it got harder and harder to contain as she listened to the other man. Her hand slowly trailed down to the knife hidden in her belt, and her muscles tensed as memories of that day came back to her. The man responsible for all that destruction was sitting only a few meters away from her. She just had to stand up, and bury her knife into his chest to end this for once and for all.

”Hey, Lìfa, calm down!” Sveinn put a comforting hand on her shoulder, whispering to her.

”But how could I keep calm? This man was the one who destroyed our home! I can’t just sit here and watch them getting away!” she shook her friend’s hand off of herself and took a big gulp from her drink.

”Look, I feel the same way, but you heard Vidar. We can’t just stab him and walk away like everything’s all right. Also, Egil must have a reason for not attacking. Just do our job and let’s show that asshole outside that we are worthy for being here.”

Deep down Lìfa knew he was right, but it was hard to admit defeat. It just felt wrong to her letting those people walk away.

”Fine.” she huffed back, downing the rest of her drink in one go. She somehow managed to suppress the rage inside her and sit in one place, but if she could kill with only a glare, Ingolf would have been dead by that time.

”... so while waiting for you, I recruited a lot of mercenaries for the road. We can fill up both ships with them. Egil won’t have a chance. We have an army, and what does he have? Like fifteen clowns in a rowboat?” the two men both burst out laughing at their own jokes, while Lìfa tensed again. She had to take really big and slow breaths to keep herself from lunging at them immediately.

”Anyway, when do we set sail?”

”I haven’t seen that fool yet, so I think we have time, my friend. Maybe in a day or two.”

When both of them ran out of beer, Sveinn walked up to the bar, to order a new round. As he passed by the two men, they both stood up, following the boy to the counter, taking place on each of his sides, surrounding him. As Lìfa saw the scene, panic washed all over her. Were they this easy to detect? Did they do something wrong? She instinctively wrapped her fingers around her knife, though she stayed still on her seat and watched carefully.

”I’ve been watching you, young man.” Ingolf turned to Sveinn ”What does a strong, young boy like you do in this dirty hole?”

Sveinn’s face stayed still and showed no emotions, but his eyes told Lìfa everything. He was just as panicked as she. Fortunately, Ingolf didn’t notice it, and he didn’t care to wait for Sveinn’s answer, he continued on:

”I could make a fine warrior out of you, y’ know. Tell me, how much do you want? You could join me on my ship, and become famous. What do you say?” he flashed at him his widest, kindest smile.

”Your offer sounds like a one in a lifetime opportunity, but for my bad luck, I already made my vow to another jarl. I can’t go with you, but thank you for your kindness.” Sveinn straightened himself, trying to act confident and to hide the slight shaking in his voice.

”Oh, what a shame... A well-grown boy like you is always welcomed among my men. If you ever change your mind, you can find me here. Now tell me, who is that little beauty sitting with you? How much did she cost you?” he turned his head to Lìfa, eyeing her up and down, almost eating her with his eyes. Lìfa tried to act naturally, and forced a smile on her face, trying to hide the hate coming from her heart.

”Oh, she’s not for rent, I’m sorry to disappoint you. She’s my bride actually, and we got away from the crew to spend my last night together before we sail out. If you know, what I mean.” Sveinn gave Ingolf a playful push on his shoulder, letting out a laugh. His daring move did its magic because the two men joined his laughter.

”Ha! Then have fun kid, enjoy your last night here! And my offer is still available, think about it!” with this Ingolf and his companion left the tavern.

When the door shut close behind them, Lìfa finally let out a long, relieved breath which she didn’t realise she was holding in for all this time. With her legs still shaking a little from the stress, she hurried up to Sveinn by the bar and ordered a big horn of beer.

”I thought this was the end for us.” she leaned against the counter next to Sveinn.

”Yeah, so did I. But I managed it pretty well, don’t you think, wifey?” as Lìfa looked up at her friend, she saw that the panic faded away from his baby blue eyes, and now his face was radiating with happiness and pride. She couldn’t hold back her smile either, and she gave her friend a big hug.

”You were amazing! You totally fooled them, it’s a shame that Vidar couldn’t see your act! We have to tell this to everyone in the camp!”

”Right... I think after we finished this drink, we should find Vidar and get back to the others. We have to tell them what we just heard.”