The First Valkyrie

by S. C. Coleman

  “These roads are even more bandit infested now. In your time nothing was this bad. What is it about war that creates so many traitors to their neighbors? Why do they take without a second thought from people they once called friends? It’s as if they have become wild animals.”

  “They are no different, commander.”

  “You were one of them once.”

  “I may have fought on the side against the Queen Magiya once, but I was never one of them.”

  “General, what happened at the capital?”

  “I have often asked General Hasdrubol, but he departed for the afterlife. Any secrets he held followed him. He talked of many things, but never the capital.”

  “That was many, many years ago my old friend.”

  “Yes, as you know I had never seen a real battle before that day. What a horrid day it was. I remember being terrified of you and your men. They called you barbarians and you looked like it when your army arrived. The vultures had already arrived even before the battle started.”

  “They are smart beasts my friend. They depend upon us killing each other for survival.

  “The Queen was on that field as well. The whole battlefield was covered in fog. When it dispersed, you were in chains and both armies were ruined. All I remember was them saying you awaited execution. Then, you became the Commanding General of the Queen’s army.”

  “You have asked me this before, commander. I will say what I did then. I have no answers for you.” Commander Gelaus turned up his nose as if he had smelt something foul. He rode up ahead of General Hamo and left the tired General in peace.

  The party rode for awhile before making camp. Below the stars, the roaring fire died down as the party nestled on the hard ground. One by one each party member drifted into sleep. Two sentries kept watch and even General Hamo would stand watch for an hour. No one abandoned their armor or weapons for comfort. General Hamo rested against a tree. Despite his drooping eyes, he could find no rest. The General rested somewhere between sleep and waking. In this state he dreamed as if the dream were real. The forest around him became loud with running water. He could hear the ocean and wondered why it was so close. They were at least a month’s ride from the coast. Surely, this wasn’t real. He heard loud cries of men in the distance. Huge beasts made from a horrid love match between bears and men came charging towards him. He picked up his sword and weapons to defend himself. He would be no match for so many monsters, however. His savior manifested itself in the form of a massive wave. He became puzzled. This all seemed real, but it was impossible. Had he not witnessed such strange sights created by his dark queen? Where had his men gone. He had no more time to think. The wave had engulphed the charging monsters, but it still came crashing towards him. General Hamo hid behind a tree. It was oak, so it must be strong enough to hold against the wave. He had no idea what to do against such a powerful force of nature. He dug his long sword into the Earth and held himself against it. He didn’t even notice that his wounds had seemed to heal on their own. The wave crashed on his tree and he felt the powerful forces beating on him. The strong current was breaking his back and ripped him off his feet. He held onto his sword until that too was carried by the current. He was carried in the fast-flowing water like a heavy metal covered log. His body bounced off trees and roots as he was carried along. Strange sights began to appear before his eyes. A young girl swam against the current. Her violet eyes looked at him as he past by. The dead faces of his commanders drifted by along with many of his own men. Among them, he saw the faces of strangers dressed in even stranger garb. He looked ahead to a see a man walking towards him. The man had fire dripping from his chin. He rode a chariot unlike any he had seen before. The chariot was made of a bear skin and was being pulled by steeds made of wood and cloth. He attempted to swim against the current, hoping to escape the man’s fiery beard. He swam to no avail, but a greater threat arose before his eyes. From the earth, rock began to rise in a blur. Soon a mountain blocked General Hamo’s path. He hit a tree, knocking him into a spinning motion. Just before he hit the mountain, a voice echoed in his ear. We have been betrayed. General Hamo was woken inches from colliding with the mountain face.

  “General, general, general!” One of the sentries was shaking him.

  “I’m awake! I’m awake!” General Hamo struggled to get his bearings as the sentry ceased the violent shaking.

  “You were screaming. I assumed you had been taken by a nightmare.” General Hamo nodded and stood. The fire had been refed with fuel by one of the sentries. He looked around and noticed three people were missing.

  “General, Commander Braco has vanished. The men that had been standing watch are gone as well. This is not my hour to stand guard, but I could not sleep. I went to relieve myself and noticed they were missing.”

  “Saddle the horses.”

  “Yes, general.” The sentry hurried off and General Hamo kicked the boots of his adjuvat.

  “Get up, Mago!” General Hamo ignored the confused mumblings of his adjuvat, struggling to open his eyes. General Hamo approached the tree next his. Commander Gelaus held up a hand in reply.

  “I’m already up, General. So, it seems Commander Braco has betrayed us.” Commander Gelaus smiled and pulled himself up with his cane. He hobbled forward and strike General Hamo’s cane lightly. “We need to get you a much nicer one of those. I think not even the Dark Queen can save you from this fate. We shall be brothers in decaying bodies.” Commander Gelaus laughed. The uproar had woken the rest of the men. They were all struggling to their feet and hurrying about tasks.

  “It seems you are right, Commander. Such old men we are.”

  “Time has been kinder to you my old friend. You still look the same as when you departed this forest.”

  “Flattering is unbecoming, Commander.” General Hamo laughed as the two hobbled to their horses. Within minutes the camp had been broken apart. The fire had been doused. The men had mounted their horses. Together, the small party rode off down the road; into the quiet night.

  ***

  Eleesa and her three companions left behind Hetrico. They had no choice, otherwise they would have become food for the mighty beast. They did not stop running even after their lungs began to burn. Their pace slowed once they came up on rising smoke. The smoke seemed to belong to an army, but they soon realized the smoke belonged to a town. The beast had long since given up the chase. Now, they discovered why. Men roamed the country side. A hubbub of a busy town rose to meet their ears. Ships unlike any they had seen were departing and arriving. High atop the cliff face, they could see the beach and the long wooden docks. The town was not constructed from stone. It was entirely made from wood. High oak walls with points at the top surrounded the town. A huge banner arose from the back of the town. It looked to be fashioned from many pieces of cloth attached together. On the banner four black ravens were visible, even from this distance. Eleesa looked around at the countryside. The town was set on a fjord with its back to the mountains. Mighty, mighty, mountains that stretched high into the clouds. The fjord had a narrow mouth with high rock walls on either side. No wonder the town had few defenses, it was almost impregnable from the sea. A land force would be hard pressed to even reach the town. She wondered why the town had such high walls. What were they afraid of from crossing the mountains. Probably beasts like the one they had encountered.

  “What is this place?” Hicar wondered in complete bewilderment.

  “This is Ulsgard, one of the two towns of Yilia. When last I was here a banner with a bear flew over the great hall.” Diodo sounded perplexed as he answered. “It seems there is only one Seyking on the western coast now.

  “How do you know so much of this place, scribe?” Hicar hissed his foul breath in Diodo’s nose, as he grabbed the fur collar of Diodo’s tattered tunic.

  “I was not always a scribe, Hicar, and if you do not let me go, I will show you.” Hicar let go of Diodo after spitting on the ground. He heaved a heavy breath and turn
ed to face the town.

  “We shall need a ship to sail back to the continent.”

  “Those are merely boats, Diodo. How could we sail a boat across the sea?”

  “They are mightier than you might think, Hicar.”

  “Why did you not let the Lord of Trynuma know of this place? We could have sent a fleet to subjugate these people.”

  “Hah and be strung up as a man possessed. I think not.” Diodo shook his head and pulled down Hicar into a crouch. “We must stay low or risk being spotted by the foot travelers. These people are not weak, Hicar.”

  “What shall we do Diodo?” Eleesa, finally coming back to reality, spoke up.

  “First of all, we must wait until nightfall. These are people strange to our ways, and us theirs. Once I was capture by them, we will be foreigners immediately upon notice. If what I fear to be true, this town will have been taken over by a Seyking as mighty as he is cruel. His Queen is far worse, however. If it is she that rules in his stead, we will surely die if captured. We must find one of their ships and get out of the fjord. If we are detected all is lost. Numbers do not help us here. If they spot us, everyone must scatter and flee any way you know how.”

  “I care not for this plan. I will return to the wreck and build a raft from the wood there.”

  “So be it. I hope not to meet you in the afterlife, for that giant will certainly take you there. Give greetings to our friend, Hetrico.” Hicar grumbled and sat down on the short grass. He shivered in the cold sea breeze and sulked.

  “We wait then.” Diodo sat down next Eleesa and scooted close to her. Their bodies warmed each other and Hicar glance over at them. He laughed and moved away from them. He lay his head on the hard rock and curled up into a shivering Bahll.

  “Why did you help me?” Eleesa was grateful for Diodo’s warmth but she hated being touched. She knew not every was as cruel as the House of Hamago Hamicali. However, her body squirmed under the touch of anyone. She was torn between getting away from Diodo and surviving the cold.

  “That matters not now, my lady. Listen closely. I was born to the Lord of Numa. I know who you are, and I will protect you with my life. I was shipwrecked here once before and captured. I escaped and returned to the continent. My house was destroyed when I arrived, and I knew no one would believe my story. I used the guise of a traveling story telling under the name Diodo. I said that I had traveled from the Makai wildlands. I told stories of my shipwreck and capture, but I never mentioned the sea. All the lords thought the story was a fabrication, but they were entertained. I was employed as a chronicler and chronicled the resistance of Trynuma. I met the Dark Queen who employed me to write her exploits. She would not allow me to see her often, so I only wrote about her absences. The Great General Hamo, I heard, was the leader of the army that opposed her. When I met him, he had been her General for ten years. He led the most successful campaign against the rebels, those he had once led himself.”

  “Why are you telling me this?” Eleesa was cold and irritated. Would she ever be free from this miserable life?”

  “These people believe travelers to be one of their gods, or at least travelers might be.”

  “That makes no sense.”

  “You shall see, my lady. You must back up my story. Together we might survive capture.”

  “You don’t believe we can escape.”

  “In all my years, I have never seen a single soul escape this place.”

  “You did.”

  “That was a simple stroke of luck, my lady.”

  “Perhaps the Dark Queen Magiya watched over you.”

  “Never speak her name again.” Diodo grabbed Eleesa’s arm roughly. She whimpered and pulled away. “We are both children of the One. The all father that created the earth, the wind, and the sky. She abhors all things created by the all father. She would see us swallowed up in shadow and darkness.”

  “How do you know these things, my lord?” Diodo laughed and Hicar looked over at them curiously

  “I am no lord. Juno was the last priest of the One and your guardian.”

  “I wish not to speak of him. He abandoned me to this cruel world.”

  “You blame him for leaving to the afterlife?” Somehow, Diodo had gleaned information that had not been given.

  “Yes, he has left us, and yes, I blame him for many things.”

  “You should not do this. He loved you like a daughter. We both know that you were born of the Earth and the all father’s hands. He knew this too and protected you until he could no longer.” Eleesa scowled and moved away from Diodo. She rested her head on the chest of her companion Marco. She still shivered but she did not want to hear Diodo’s words anymore.

  The Barbarian’s Prison

  General Hamo and his companions were lost in the woods. Commander Gelaus had suggested they leave the path. The bandits had certainly been warned of their coming by the deserting Commander Braco. All roads would be watched. Their only option was to find their way through the dark forest. The situation only got worse when the men began to grumble. The party halted for another moment. General Hamo was losing count of all the delays.

  “I don’t seem to remember this forest very well.” General Hamo scrunched his face in thought. “It has been many years since I have been here.”

  “All we need to do is get to the tree line.” Commander Gelaus looked every where for a sign of the tree line.

  “We could be miles away! Or right next to it! There is no way of knowing!” A man in the party spoke up in complaint. They were all tired and hungry. The party had been roaming the woods for hours with little progress.

  “What if Commander Braco was captured and killed.”

  “That is unlikely, Commander. I know these men. They know how to spot a deserter. Remember commander, most of these bandits are deserters themselves.”

  “You must know them as well as you know these woods. I am thinking of joining them. At least I’ll get to eat.” The same soldier raised his voice in complaint. Commander Gelaus rode over to the man. In one swift stroke, Commander Gelaus’s sword left its sheath and severed the man’s head. The complaining horseman toppled from his horse. His head rolled away into the darkness. Commander Gelaus gave the horse a pat on the rump and it galloped away.

  “Well? What are we waiting for?” The Commander lashed his reins and dug his heels into his horse’s ribs. Commander Gelaus led the head long charge and the party followed. It was all they could do to stay on there saddles and dodge trees. Following a frightened galloping horse seemed like an impossible challenge. Miraculously, the tree line came insight. A long row of bushes always signaled the edge of the forest. Beyond would probably be fields of wheat. The party never reached the tree line. Arrows came pouring down from the canopy.

  “Shields!” General Hamo’s adjuvat, Mago, was the first to sight the arrows. Everyone raised their shields above the heads and continued to spur on their horses. Commander Gelaus took and arrow in the calf. His horse faired worse and fell dead. An arrow had pieced the horse’s eye. General Hamo was untouched but his horse collapsed on top of him. The horses entire body was filled with arrows. General Hamo watched as only one of his men managed to gallop through the thorn bushes to safety. It was still a day’s ride from the nearest village. The lone rider would likely not survive. If his or his horse’s wounds didn’t bring him down, then the bandits probably would. The rest of his men lay around him. The wails of wounded men and horses drowned out the decent of bandits from the trees.

  “It looks like Braco was right.” A voice came from behind where General Hamo lay. He thought he recognized the voice, but he could not turn his head to look. In fact, General Hamo could not even move his body. The crushing weight of his dead horse kept him still. He was certain something had been broken. Already, he could barely walk from his wounds suffered on campaign. “This has been a long time coming. It seems one of the traitor’s traitors has delivered him to us.” The man laughed and stepped up directly behind Gener
al Hamo’s head. General Hamo sighed and let his head fall to the ground. He knew why he recognized the voice. It belonged to a man that served in his old rebel army. The man was typically called Stag. His name came from the many years of running from the royal army. At other times, Stag would end up on the run from the rebel army itself. He was an untrustworthy thief that seemed to incur hatred from anyone he met. It seemed he had come far from when he was a young brigand. General Hamo wondered how anyone could trust him, even the woodland bandits. General Hamo wondered as men surrounded him. They grunted under the weight of General Hamo’s dead horse. Soon, the General was being hoisted through the air. He stared up at the canopy passing overhead. He had gotten so close to escape. Now he was being forced back into the dark depths of the old forest. Apart from the bandits, man dangers lurked in the woods. He faced many of them while starving and hiding in the woods. Those were many years ago and the forest had probably changed since then.

  It seemed Stag had changed as well. He strolled along beside the broken General Hamo. Stag barked out orders to his men as they walked. General Hamo looked over to see Commander Gelaus being dragged by two burly bandits. They wore tattered rags, covered in leaves and dirt, and each wore a mask of charcoal and mud. The two bandits unceremoniously dragged Commander Gelaus by his arms. The supported him under the arm pits and grunted. Commander Gelaus was old and proudly bore a robust belly, no doubt from years of drinking wine and mead. The added diet of heavy meats and foot stew, common among the infantry, increased Commander Gelaus’s considerable weight.