Ragnarok

Chapter 65 - Old and New Friends

The rest of the party arrived not long after the initial introduction. Curiously, the swiftest member of their band was the last to arrive; Vladimir had ran into some old friends of his own, and they had to practically drag him out of the local watering hole by the shoulders. Despite not wanting to look bad in front of their new allies, nobody ragged on him too harshly, even the usually acid-tongued Tempest. After all, their time remaining to see anyone was a rather limited resource, and nobody wanted to cut short the last conversation he might be able to have with them.

Eventually, after much gentle nudging, clearing of throats and significant looks, they managed to get the Russian warrior back to his feet. He shook hands with each of the men, his usually stoic face showing a rare smile. He exchanged a few words with each of them in Russian, then he turned away, slid his helmet down over his face, and nodded at the rest of them. "Apologies for being late, my friends. Time does fly, as they say."

"Quite understandable," Avril reassured him. "Vladimir, I'd like you to meet Ingrid and Tacitus. They're going to be joining us in our run on Yggdrasil. We've been a bit short on healing magic, as I'm sure you noticed."

"Indeed I have," Vladimir said, sketching a shallow bow to the white-clad priestess. "I see you are a priestess of Eir. Optimizing your healing at the cost of offensive magic, a costly trade-off ... yet you're said to be the best healers in Valhalla." He glanced over at the man in black. "And you ... one of the Brothers of Shadow, yes? Specializing in destructive magic and illusion ... the yin to Ingrid's yang."

Ingrid nodded and smiled at him. "You are quite observant, my new friend."

"There's not much Vlad's eyes don't catch ... don't let his expression fool you," Tyrion put in, clapping his heavy gauntlet against Vlad's shoulder. The clang of ringing metal sounded loud enough to be thunder, but Vlad didn't even stumble.

"That is good to hear. You're correct, I have very little in the way of offensive magic. My specialties are in healing spells and augmenting my allies. My partner, Tacitus, is the one who brings the artillery to the field. I've seen him clear out entire rooms full of monsters in moments, both by burning them to ashes and by simply turning them upon one another using illusions."

"I think you'll find we're quite the effective combination," Tacitus said, the first words he had spoken since Thorin had met him. Thorin was a bit taken aback; he had actually began to wonder if the man could speak at all. If he even was a man playing the character; he suspected that Tacitus was Ingrid's VI playing her companion, though it would be impolite to ask. Apparently his surprise showed on his face, because Tacitus gave him another smirk before falling silent once again.

"Of course, being clad in mere robes as we are, we'll be relying on you more well-armored types to keep the monsters off of us," Ingrid said. "Do that for us, and I'll make sure you stay on your feet. Eir blesses those who guard her priesthood, after all."

"It will be our honor," Gosta said, placing his hand over his heart and putting on his most charming smile. Gosta had been trying to flirt with Ingrid since she had joined up with them, but every attempt was gently ignored by the woman in white. She smiled at his pledge, then turned to Thorin and Avril.

"Now that we're all here, shall we set off? I remember the path we took to the Roots, we should be able to run past most of the mobs without fighting. At least until we get to the Roots themselves, then the fights become much less avoidable."

"Speed run to the front door and then start busting heads," Tyrion said, cracking his knuckles and grinning. "I like the sound of that."

"Just make sure you keep up," Kitara said, her hands already fluttering in a spell. She laid her palm upon Tyrion's back, and the huge warrior was surrounded by a pale yellow nimbus of light. "And with Wind's Blessing on your armor, you'll have no excuse."

"I keep telling him he should go full barbarian style sometime," Tempest quipped, as she started stretching her legs and back, warming up like a distance runner. "Just put on a bear pelt and a skullcap. Lot less clanking about, lot more style points too."

"Bah," Tyrion snorted. "You're too fast for the monsters to lay hands on you, unless they're lucky. My job's to be the tank and to soak up all the hits that you guys can't. I'd rather have steel plate between me and them, it hurts a lot less."

"Can't argue with that," Thorin said, taking out his warhammer and slipping the strap around his wrist. "Now then, let's do some running. I'll take the front, Ingrid, you're right behind me so you can tell me which way to go to avoid the monsters. Everyone else, form a circle around her, Tacitus and Kitara. Guard the clothies, but try not to engage unless necessary." He grinned and pointed towards the towering World-tree. "Now let's get our asses in gear!"