Fyrisvellir stared at the application in front of her. She looked at the questions before her , and bristled at how low she had fallen. A mere six months ago she was a Captain of the Royal Rangers. She was a feared slayer of gnolls , and a hero of the war. Now she had to apply for a job like a common mercenary. The strange man and his wife, gave her a sizable sum a few months ago, but she needed more. Wizards were expensive to hire. She would have preferred to work in a more legitimate vocation, but she knew the life of an adventurer was the quickest way to the riches she required. She had never "adventurered" before, but she was involved in many operations against the gnoll and demon hordes. Fyris thought , how much different can adventuring and the military be?

The tavern at Heldann was quite busy. It was almost spring, and the warmer weather had brought trappers, farmers, and hunters from miles around into town. There was a long line up for applicants to this adventuring group. The posters were all around town and they seemed to have done their work. Fyris saw a few skinny elves, some out of shape soldier types, some large farm hands, even some gypsies. She sighed, to think a person of her skill and position had to compete with these assorted vagabonds for a job.

When she got to the front of the line, she studied her interviewers as carefully as they studied her. One was approximately in his 30s. He had short blonde hair and a square jaw. He was dressed in a simple battle worn breastplate and had a sword and shield at his side. From his tabard, Fyris guessed he was a member of the Order of the Crab, one of the minor knightly orders of the north. The other was a thin half elf. He wore a simple chain shirt, and had a large bastard sword sheathed on his back. He had dark hair, and Fyris thought he looked oddly handsome. Both looked battle hardened but for some reason the half elf looked the more dangerous of the two.

"Well...hello...good looking...", said the blonde warrior. Fyris was accustomed to the attentions she got from men . At an early age she was praised for her good looks and found it could open many doors. Her mentor frowned at her behavior, she thought Fyris should study the way of the pure warrior. Fyris tried ...briefly.

Fyris could have flirted with the blonde warrior to increase her chances, but she thought against it. Flirting was second nature to her , but she loathed to do it with commoners. She wanted to present a professional image , a woman of respect and power. She put her hands on her hips and stared defiantly at the two.

The noble looking half elf seemed unimpressed, and took Fyrisvellir's application and read it. "Name : Fyris... Alias : Bloodshadow..."

"The hair right? ", asked the blonde warrior as he pointed to her bright red mane. He seemed quite impressed with himself with his astute observation.

The half elf ignored his companion and continued down the list. " Occupation : Paladin of Mirrodin, Knight of the Lion, Captain of the Royal Rangers . ", he stopped and studied the knight. She was slightly shorter then the average northern woman , but more distinctive was her golden skin and amber eyes. Unheard of in the northern realms. "..you don't look like you're from the north."

"...She can be from anywhere she wants...", said the blonde warrior. Fyris gave a mock giggle to encourage him.

The half elf frowned and continued down the list " Gear : Have own, Skills : Stealth , ranged combat, front line melee , Experience : The battle of McDunnalds, the siege of Karlston, the battle of Darkriver, the plain of gnolls... "

The blonde warrior stopped his flirting suddenly , it seemed his behavior was a ruse, " The battle of McDunnalds, the siege of Karlston, the battle of Darkriver, the plain of gnolls ? Ok.. Everyone's heard of the battle of McDunnalds, there was no siege of Karlston, Governor Nils successor negotiated a neutrality pact, the third army never made it to Darkriver...and I have no idea what this plain of gnolls thing is. No one has seen a gnoll for a decade. They all went north and my brother and the Warmaster Fetch kicked their furry asses."

Fyris fumbled for words, " Some of those battles must have been given different names. I can assure you I participated in those battles...Its hard to explain but things are different from where I come from. If my mentor Brita was here, she could vouch for me."

The half elf stopped, his ears perked with curiosity, " Brita? Brita of the Lion? Half elven? Daughter of Sir Hildraxel? "

Fyris breathed a sigh of relief, " YES! You know of her! I am her favorite student ! She raised me when I lost my parents in battle. She is like a mother to me."

The two interviewers fell silent. The blonde warrior looked at his normally calm friend and could tell he was angry.

"Do you know who this is?", asked the cocky blonde warrior while pointing at his friend, " This is Agnar, son of Brita of the Lion, grandson of Sir Hildraxel, I'm pretty sure if you are who you say you are , then the two of you know each other. ", drawled the warrior.

"BUSTED! ", he shouted for dramatic effect.

Fyris was at a lost for words and blurted ," Brita the Pure has no children!,...", she immediately knew she made a mistake as soon as she said it. She grew red , turned away and left the tavern to the jeers of the other applicants.

The blonde warrior shrugged and turned to the half elf. "You know Agni ...if she didn't make up that ridiculous story at the end, we probably would have hired her. If only for the fact she's a smoking hot babe and brought her own gear. "

Agni nodded and looked at the rest of the bumpkins and hayseeds in line ," Well Tank, lets hope we find a replacement or two. "

Fyris cursed herself . In retrospect she could have made up some simple answers on her application, instead she took the opportunity to boast about her victories and past. This place was similar to where she came from, but there were differences.

She stalked back and forth in her inn room. She was too angry at herself to take off her armor. The simple meal the innkeeper left her was untouched.

She shook her head again, blaming her pride. She would have to continue south. The last winter she traveled from McDunnalds to Baltar's Port to seek a wizard. She found none that could aide her. Undeterred, she started to head south towards Grom City. She was pretty certain she could find a wizard to cast the spell she required , but her funds were running low. She needed this job.

Fyris knew there would be other opportunities, but she was impatient. She heard the group she was applying for had a treasure map. She only briefly glimpsed it , but it looked genuine. It had runes and hieroglyphs on it. She thanked her mentor for making her study ancient lore. She doubted that a fake would contain such detail.

She paused and smiled while thinking of her mentor. The beautiful and pure Princess of the Ice Elves wasn't so pure after all. If she ever met Brita again, she would be sure to tell her about her son.

*CRASH*

Fyris knew that sound, it was the sound of a wooden palisade collapsing. Heldann was situated near several tribes of goblins and giants, but they were small and disorganized. Also it was spring, the town's supplies would be low. Now would be a poor time to raid it.

The knight reached instinctively for her scimitar but stopped. She preferred the speed and the lightness of the scimitar, but she kept forgetting she gave it away awhile ago. She instead drew her heavy broadsword. She drew the blinds up in her room, and saw the town was indeed under attack. The lax guardsmen were only now beginning to blow the warning horns, but Fyris could see goblins and wolf riders streaming in. She considered sniping them with her bow, but she was still mad. She needed to work out her aggression , close and personal.

Tank slammed his shield into the worg's nose. The large shadow wolf yelped and was dazed from the impact, but was soon silenced as the northern warrior thrusted his blade through the creatures neck. The worg's goblin rider screeched at Tank and jumped at him with his crude blade in hand.

The warrior took a simple step back, and the goblin fell flat on his face. A simple thrust to the back ended the comical creature's life.

Not to be outdone by his comrade, Agni charged a tall but lanky bugbear. Agni's form shifted and blurred as he rushed the large goblin. The creature swung his great club at the half elf and was surprised as the warrior wasn't where he was suppose to be. The creature was briefly puzzled but before it could figure out what happened his throat was severed by the half elfs gleaming twohanded blade.

Ishmael had already fallen from the first wave of goblin attackers. He fought bravely but was out of his element. He was chosen because he was the largest applicant that had brought his own armor and weapon. He was a farmhand from Xaber, who was also a member of the local militia. Agni was unsure about their choice, but Tank assured him he would grow into the job. His lifeless corpse said otherwise.

"You know...we could have waited in the inn. This is the worst planned raid I've ever seen. And believe me, I use to raid with the Caribou and Walrus...those guys plan poor raids. ", said Tank ,disappointed at the lack of challenge before him. He ignored the corpse of his companion , he told Ishmael the dangers and felt no responsibility in his failure.

"These attackers...they seem more desperate then ruthless. That bugbear I killed, I've killed a few in my time, but that was the skinniest one I've ever seen.", noted Agni.

Despite the duo's success, the raiders sheer numbers seemed to be succeeding where skill and strategy had failed.

A mob of goblins , hobgoblins and bugbears stopped and stared at the two. They looked at the comrades the pair had slew and then roared. They then charged the two adventurers .

"This is going to be either a glorious start to our adventuring company or a disastrous end. ", smiled Tank.

Agni grimly nodded, and said a few mystic words. His words grew louder until a cone of flame erupted from his mouth. Several goblins and bugbears fell to the ground from the half elf's inferno, but their comrades ignored them and trampled them as they charged their foes.

The two warriors fought valiantly against the horde. Tank began a complex pattern of striking, parrying,and counter attacking . Many goblins fell to his blade. Agni swung his two handed blade in wide arcs, as he intoned a few spells to disrupt his foes. The goblins soon determined he was the more dangerous of the two and concentrated on him.

Several goblins harassed the fighter mage with spears, Agni saw through the feint and struck at the charging bugbear instead. The battle had lasted quite a while, and most of the enchantments he put on himself had ran their course. Despite this, his sword still landed heavily on the creature's shoulder. It howled in pain as it felled thrashing . Before Agni could savor his foe's defeat, a sharp pain struck his side. One of the goblin harassers had penetrated his defense , and stabbed his armpit with his spear. All power vanished from his right arm, as the half elf, dropped his sword. The goblin appeared just as surprised as his foe from this predicament. His fellow spearman leaped up to finish the mage, but instead fell to the ground with a deep gash to his neck.

"Got to be more careful, mage boy. ", said Tank as he guarded his friend. Agni took the opportunity to drink a potion . Some of his strength returned as he picked up his fallen sword.

Tank knew they should have retreated back into a building when the horde showed up, but it was too great of an opportunity to pass up. All his life he lived in the shadow of his brothers, Frank, Hank ,and Frank. Now was his chance to shine. He was sick and tired of being overshadowed by them, and jumped at the chance to go adventuring for himself. He had been in many fights before, but they were minor battles. This was the real deal, he just hoped he could survive to tell about it.

Tank swung in a wide arc to keep his foes at bay. He knew Agni had to recover if they were to have any chance. Two of them had a slight chance to survive, one of them had no chance. A large bugbear chieftain pushed his way through the ranks and barked something in goblin at the two. The other goblins parted , as the monster waved for Tank to fight him.

The chieftain was a good foot taller then the other bugbears, and seemed undamaged from battle. Tank on the other hand, had already been stabbed, clubbed, and shot at. He was covered in wounds . Even the crappy sword that his brother gave him was dented and nicked. He looked at his damaged blade, and at the imposing goblin. Then laughed as he charged. This is what he wanted, and he would make the best of it.

The big goblin swung his morning star at the charging warrior. Despite his size, Tank was quick on his feet, and narrowly sidestepped the blow. He gave a quick slash at the goblin as he narrowed the range between them. His sword met metal and leather, but he knew he had the advantage now. He was within the creature's range , it wouldn't be able to fight effectively so close . The goblin seemed to realize this and took a few step backs. Tank was waiting for this , and jabbed at the creature's leg. He was rewarded with a spray of blood, as the creature stumbled from his blow. Tank feinted with his sword at the creature's side, and the goblin instinctively blocked his blow with his shield. Tank pressed his advantage, while the goblin was focused on his blade he slammed his shield wildly upwards at the creature's face. The edge of his shield crushed the creature's jaw, and it fell onto his back. Tank couldn't resist, but he spun his sword in a wide arc on his palm , before slamming it into the creatures belly.

The cocky warrior smiled, it was a play straight from his brother's playbook, but he didn't care. He just made this move his.

The goblins stood stunned as their leader fell to the blonde warrior. A moment of indecision struck the horde. Suddenly goblin cries from their rear ranks threw them into confusion. Facing a dangerous foe head on was one thing, being flanked was another. The goblins scattered. Some charged the two warriors, but most ran down the streets and alleys.

Agni fired a scorching ray at a pair of charging bugbears. Both bursted into flames as they tumbled flailing on the ground. Tank fell back into his methodical but deadly strike, parry , counter strike pattern.

The pair had expected a platoon of grommish guards to be their rescuers but were shocked at what they saw. A dark blurry shadow seemed to be randomly pouncing on goblins. Wherever the shadow landed a goblin fell. The shadow seemed to dance through the creatures, striking in a beautiful and mesmerizing pattern. It was hard to follow, only a silvery glint of steel and a flash of red were recognizable by the two. Agni recalled only seeing something similar to this once. It was a battle in dwarven hills versus snakemen.

After the last goblin had been slain or fled, the shadowy blur, stopped its movement. Agni's eyes focused properly and he understood what had happened. The woman warrior from earlier stood before them with broadsword in hand, she had a billowing grey black cloak behind her. Agni had seen those cloaks before, they were only given to Elven nobles and heroes. They enabled the wearer to hide almost flawlessly, but he never heard of it being used in combat before.

"So...is that job still open?", asked Fyris as she glanced at the corpse of Ishmael.