{chapter 1}
Tuuri cast a worried glance up at the captain, who was glaring steadily out the window at something up ahead. The captain, Sigrun, crossed her arms with a small growl and stood upright once again before calling for Emil. He was already there, looking at the huge clouds of smoke and ashes, head tilted.
"What is this?" Sigrun snapped at the cleanser, waving her hands at the blackening sky. He only shrugged in reply.
"I guess it could be a team, but I didn't know they went this far away from settlements..." Emil mumbled, something sparking in his eyes. Delight? Excitement? Fear? No matter, Sigrun wasn't very satisfied with the answer. She would probably be more upbeat about the possibility of an adventure if it wasn't for the awful luck they'd been having with almost anything they encountered... And they hadn't even went on a mission yet!
She started grumbling things to herself and walked out the door of the cat-tank to get a better view and was soon followed by Emil and a half-awake Lalli. Tuuri peered her head out the door once she had found her mask and sighed. There was no way her cousin, the scout, could have planned a backup rout for this.
"Should we find another camp?" The driver asked, cautiously stepping outside to join the group.
"I don't think we have to..." Emil trailed off with a questioning look at the captain. "I mean, if it's cleansers, they won't try to kill us or anything. We could check it out really quick to make sure." He reasoned, turning his head back to the billowing smoke clouds.
"Eh, I guess we could try that..." Sigrun wrinkled her nose and put her hand on her chin. "But if they're all dead and getting attacked by trolls, we're not helping them. Unless it's only a few and not a whole nest or something." Her normal lopsided grin returned as she looked down at Emil with a laugh, "But I don't want to see you joining in and throwing out all our explosives!"
Emil just rolled his eyes in amusement with a small smirk. "You're asking a lot of me, but I will try to the best of my ability!" Just then, he noticed that Mikkel and Reynir had also come outside. Mikkel had his arms crossed as usual, a bored expression on his face, but Reynir looked both exited and terrified at the same time as he gazed up at the smoke.
"So, I'm guessing, you three are going and I'm to be left here?" Mikkel asked Sigrun, who nodded. He sighed and closed his eyes.
Noticing his disappointment, Sigrun tried to explain herself. "Well, we need someone to protect them if a troll attacked, and we don't want to drive in to some fiery mess of death! I mean, it'll probably be fine, we just want to make sure... And if there is something big-"
"Say no more," Mikkel said, cutting her off and turning back to the tank. "Come on, before this smoke poisons our lungs much more..." he muttered in Icelandic, catching Reynir's attention and getting the young mage to follow.
Sigrun sighed before pulling a face behind Mikkel's back. When Tuuri had finished translating the plan to Lalli, she headed inside, too. Sigrun once again grinned and put her hands on her hips.
"Come on, guys! Let's go explore!" The captain said, marching off towards the smoke with her knife held in the air, pointing to their destination like a compass. Emil hurried after with a grin of his own, holding Lalli's hand and dragging the tired scout along with them. Lalli yawned but didn't protest and let the noisy Swede lead him to the burning town.
The area was a bit odd. It was a clearing it seemed, or maybe it had been recently cleansed, perhaps the year before... No matter, there was a good layer of snow on the ground and among a few collapsed house frames, the pale morning sunlight determined to break through the smoke. It was silent for a while, until they neared the urban area from which the smoke came from. It was indeed fire, as they could now hear by the snapping and crashing sounds of burning buildings, which seemed to brighten Emil's mood even more. Then there was a scream for an unknown source, usually something quite reliable to dampen everyone's spirits.
Sigrun stopped and barely noticed when the two boys bumped in to her. She raised her knife at the ready and put a finger to her lips. Emil stifled a whimper as his eyes darted from place to place, searching the ruins of houses for movement. Lalli just let out a small sigh and looked around, quickly checking the area, before rolling his eyes and continuing to the fires. It was clear, probably only a troll getting caught in the fire, right? And so they kept moving, Sigrun disappointed at not getting to smash something's skull and Emil's happiness smothered with fear.
***
Lalli stopped suddenly at the sound of voices. The mage put a hand on the hilt of his dagger and looked around suspiciously. Sigrun let out a small evil laugh and brandished her knife while Emil moaned and moved to stand beside his friend.
"Everything alright?" The cleanser asked in concern, knowing Lalli wouldn't understand him too well, anyway. The only answer was a sigh and a pat or two on the head, and with that they kept moving. It was already quite warm, and as they turned the corner they could see it. The huge fire, spreading from house to house, with figures scrambling around it. Emil grinned and laughed, rubbing his hands together, earning him a suspicious glance from Sigrun. The captain leaned on one of the crumbling walls of a partially blown up building and continued to glare at the group of people around the flames. There did seem to be a few trolls as well, but not too many, she could probably help with at least one...
"So what should we do now?" Emil questioned to no avail. He tilted his head and tapped her on the shoulder, quickly dodging the knife thrown at him.
"Oh, sorry, kid..." Sigrun chuckled, retrieving her weapon from the ground and putting it back in her belt. "Let's go say hi or whatever, maybe we can help them with their troll problem, too." She started to sneak off towards the group of cleansers, the other two following her with their weapons out. Another scream.
