The Beast of the North

by Alaric Longward

  She frowned, very human-like, but she got the message. ‘I see. I hoped we could sneak there, just you and I. But now you want to make a war out of it. Fine! I will do as you said. But I won’t show my face.’

  ‘Coward.’ I laughed.

  ‘I have plans,’ she hissed. ‘Perhaps even with you.’

  ‘You want the under lands. I want the mountain,’ I hissed. ‘And now I can have it as well.’

  I turned to Sand. ‘I am still your friend. Remember it.’

  He nodded and spoke. ‘Find a way to free me from Lith. And we can be friends again.’ Lith raised her eyebrows at that, but seemed unimpressed otherwise.

  I hesitated and opened my arms for him. He hesitated as well, and I leaned on him and crushed him with a brief hug. His eyes glowed wickedly, and we laughed together. It would be strange if we would indeed be friends again. Then I whispered a request in Sand’s ear and pushed him away. He did not say no. Nor yes. He just stared. That would have to do. I grabbed a sheath for Red’s sword. Then I noticed the whip. I groped for it, grasped it, and took it as well.

  ‘Come wench,’ I said and dragged Shaduril out and pushed past the undead. We walked out of the halls and into the woods and traveled through the night to the Green Hall. I turned to look down at Shaduril. ‘I wasn’t going to give you to her.’

  ‘I’d like to think so,’ she said morosely. ‘But I am dead anyway. You cannot guard me forever, and she won’t give me mercy when you fight.’

  I looked at her. She looked hideous and maimed, especially her hand. She nodded at my scrutiny. ‘The bones will knit. Only massive damage will kill an elder draugr. The hand might grow back as well. I have been told it is so. Though there will be no flesh.’

  I looked away from her. ‘I am sorry I did not know you when you were alive.’

  ‘Had you done so, you would have married a giantess eventually,’ she chortled. ‘And I have not forgiven you for Lith. I cannot. It’s in our nature.’

  ‘Here,’ I said and gave her something. It was triangular and had a silver hoop. ‘I’m still a thief.’

  She looked at Lith’s earring. ‘You are sparing me?’

  ‘You will come with me, Shaduril, and here is what you shall do,’ I told her, and she listened.

  ‘I will,’ she whispered and held on to the jewel and then put it in her ear.

  ‘Stay near me this day,’ I told her. ‘And be ready to act.’

  ‘Done,’ she said as I walked on. Gods, but I still loved her. In some strange way, I did. I would worry about it later. I stroked the gauntlet and found what I was looking for. I hesitated a bit, but then I cast the spell and what I found, was hopeful. I sent out a call. It was answered.

  ‘Lith?’ I yelled.

  ‘Love?’ she said, avoiding her sister.

  ‘I will need to look like the Black Brother,’ I told her. ‘The horsehair has to be black when they see me.’

  ‘You look like one,’ she said, confused. ‘But I am sure pain will do the trick.’

  ‘Tenginell stables,’ I said. ‘I need Black Brother’s horse. It will look authentic. It will have to be … perfect.’

  Her face brightened. ‘Perfect? Yes! I will have it brought to you before we get up there. I’m happy,’ she said with admiration, ‘that you have grown so devious. You have reached far from the mint, Maskan. Perfection. We love perfection.’

  I nodded. She did not know the half of it.

  CHAPTER 19

  There was a great throng of people around the Sun Court. The barracks were lined with Mad Watch soldiers, near two thousand of them, it seemed. Their conical helmets gleamed and red cloaks fluttered in the wind. Nobles and even braver commoners stood around the place, lounging under cover, for snow was falling. The Tower of the Temple was a square, red tower structure on the cliff’s end, tall, thick, and imposing. The wall before it was tall though not like the Ring walls around the hill. This one bristled with ballista and other siege weaponry. Gods help us if we don't manage a surprise, I thought. People wore dark clothing, leather, and heavy wool, and the somber mood was strangely expectant. I glanced up at the Temple’s walls. There stood a flag of the Helstrom’s and that of the Blacktowers, Balan in front of them, their thousand disguised undead men staring down at the multitudes. Lith’s rogue Blacktower militia was standing around us, holding their swords, spears, and halberds, their tunics dusty with travel. It was risky to have them there, but for now, they obeyed Lith. Taram was by the gate, frowning at the helmeted last Brother. I had taken a face under it just in case, that of a beggar, my hair white with a broad brow. Shaduril was near, so was Sand, all disguised under hoods. Sand held my weapons. And Illastria, she was somewhere with Lith, who dared not show her face.

  Crec had led the army out as Mir had instructed him, but not the Navy. But where was Mir? Had she truly left as he had hinted? I wondered.

  Gal Talin was there, though. He was seated on a horse, sitting before his house guards, all eyeing us expectantly. His guards were broad and strong men, all undead, draugr, slain in the butchery where he died. Gal was there for my belongings and amusement. Valkai stood forth and bowed to the lords, Taram and Balan, and even Gal. There was a rustling sound as Lord Commander of the City mounted a horse and soldiers squeezed their weapons nervously, whispering to each other.

  ‘Valkai?’ Balan finally said, his one good arm making an elaborate greeting that managed to seem superior.

  ‘This one was caught fleeing the city,’ Valkai told the lord proudly. ‘He was hurt, severely injured.’ I slouched in the saddle, and the blood glistening on the horse’s flank was obvious to everyone.

  Balan chuckled. ‘Lith? You served her, no? You were assigned to her? And she is not here. Is she far?’

  ‘Yes,’ Valkai lied with cool familiarity. ‘She is hurt, my lord. We chased after this one during the battle for the Tower. It is the Black Brother, one of the murderers.’ People muttered unkindly around us.

  Balan nodded, his eyes gauging Valkai, wondering if Lith had been loyal or was just trying to cover for her own agendas and perhaps cowardice. Finally, the lord bowed back and pointed a finger my way. ‘I am grateful. In the name of Crec Helstrom, The Beast of the North, I, Balan of the Blacktowers charge you with the murder of our king.’ He turned to Valkai. ‘I am disappointed you did not kill him immediately. They are dangerous.’ He looked nervous as he said the words, wondering how to hang me. I had access to magic, and he was nervous to see one of the Jotuns in the very heart of the kingdom. I saw he was cursing the stupidity of Valkai under his breath.

  ‘He is weak. Too weak for any surprises,’ Valkai said heavily. ‘And yet, we do apologize for failing you, my lord.’ I made a great show of weakness by nearly falling from my horse.

  Balan ignored Valkai and pointed his finger at me. ‘Have the archers stand ready. Hang him. And justice shall be served.’

  ‘Hang him,’ Taram said with a grin. ‘For justice. See to his gear, Gal Talin?’ he called out, and thousands of people around us looked at the regal lord ride forth. He came forward to stare at us.

  He nodded. ‘His belongings, and then hang him.’

  The Mad Watch shuffled forward, their tall spears aimed at us. Their conical helmets glittered in the light, and I prayed things would go well. People were whispering, and there were some calls for justice to be had. Their earlier ferociousness had lost some of its edge.

  A Talien guard of Gal’s rode to me through the wary ring of the Watch, a tall wide man wearing a wide brimmed helmet. I stared at him, sullen, morose.

  ‘Your riches then, my lord,’ the Talien man said, ‘for the state,’ he added. His eyes were blinking greedily. In my fist, there was my pouch. I dropped it in the guard’s outstretched hand, and Gal nodded and beckoned for the man; the wall of spears around him parted for just a moment. The Mad Watchmen shuffled in indecision, their thousands of men murmuring at Gal’s blatant greed. Gal seemed impervious to their disgruntlement, grasped the pouch, and poured the co
ntents in his fist. He eyed a golden chain, and nodded to himself, congratulating himself for the valuable thing. I grinned softly. Should I die, I doubted Gal would keep any of that, as it came from Balan’s own treasury.

  Taram ignored Gal. ‘You want to hang from your horse, Brother?’ Balan called out. ‘Your friends hung there, just now,’ he said and nodded at the massive, ancient tree where I had just hung as well. ‘Alas, they were mostly dead when we began. You get to choose the limb.’

  ‘Do not stretch this, Taram,’ Balan called out. ‘Take him.’

  My eyes stayed on Gal as I shrugged.

  The lord was rifling through the rest of the items in his lap, no longer interested in the execution. His fingers were going over gold, silver, and finer things of an intricate make. Then his eyes grew large as eggs, and he licked his dry lips.

  Gods, let him not resist the temptation, I thought.

  The Mad Watch pushed through the Blacktower Guards around me, and Valkai, the leader of the guard of dead men, was cursing. It was taking too long.

  Gal pulled out the Sorrowspinner.

  He was mumbling to himself as he admired it, a pitiful greed driven beast that did not for a moment stop to think why I had had it. Instead, he coveted it, his brother’s long lost ring, and the mark of the lord of his house.

  And then he put it on his finger.

  Many things happened.

  Balan’s face distorted with panic, for he had seen the ring; the yellow-stoned, black thing with inlaid gold carvings. The people around us stopped and opened their mouths in shock and terror, and the Mad Watch faltered in confusion, men getting turned around by their mates, who were pointing at the thing seated on the horse. Gal was clearly dead. His face was half missing and his chest showed a ragged wound. Gal was rotting and drying, the skin tight around his skull, and there was no doubt he was gone and yet living at the same time. His eye glowed with unholy light. In moments, thousands of people all stared at Lord Gal, who did not fully fathom he was under such scrutiny. Instead, he was admiring a bracelet, giggling softly.

  I rose up in the saddle and yelled, my finger pointed at Balan. ‘That, my lords, people of Red Midgard, is Lord Balan’s ally! That is Balan’s creation. He is as Balan is, a traitor in the guise of a man, a murderer, and a thief, and they are here to betray you, as they killed the king and Danegell brothers. My brothers! We were framed. All Blacktowers are like him. Kill them and see what they turn into! Take back your city,’ I yelled. Gal still did not fully comprehend why everyone was staring at him until I felt he tried to weave a spell and noticed he could not. His dead eyes looked utterly astonished, and he groped at his face, only to notice the white, shrunken fingers. Some people were screaming. Others were exhorting the troops to hack the thing to pieces.

  People turned to look at Balan in the wall. ‘Wait—’ he called out, but I interrupted him.

  ‘For the king,’ I yelled, ‘kill the undead lords Balan, Taram, their men and that bastard there!’ I nodded at Gal. ‘All his men. They are all like it.’ Valkai’s men had discreetly dropped the lily on red symbols from their armors.

  People hesitated. It was only natural. Sand rode to me, and I grabbed Bjornag’s sword from him. He offered me the whip, but I shook my head. ‘I told you. Help her.’ He frowned and shrugged, and I thanked him with a nod. I turned to Gal and guided my horse forward.

  Balan squeaked. Gal shuddered in surprise. And then, after an excruciating moment of indecisive silence, a woman screamed. ‘Down with Blacktowers! With the Talien’s!’ It was Lith’s voice. The Mad Watch turned in unison, their spears high in the air. I whipped my horse. I pushed my horse past the Watch, and the battle began. I rode by Gal and his confused house guards, all of whom were looking at their hands in shock, fearing they too, were exposed. I raised Red’s sword and struck a man’s head off. There were screams as the man fell from his saddle, and the truth of his nature became evident in the ghastly, real condition of his face as he lost his spell of disguise. Gal raised his face to look up at me, stammering and chattering strangely in fear. I gave him no quarter. He shrieked as he raised his thin arms to fend me off, and the blade went up and came down with a giant’s strength. I slashed him so brutally, he fell in two pieces and even the horse bled and died. The remains fell and were forgotten. I gazed up at Balan. ‘He is like Lord Gal! Kill the Taliens! Kill the Blacktowers! I shrieked again at the fighting Mad Watch and the on looking, hesitant nobles.

  A mad melee ensued.

  The Mad Watch pulled down all the Talien guards, hacking and slaying the surprised men, all of whom confirmed my words after they died by their haggard, dead looks. Taram, meanwhile, was whipping his horse for the gate. ‘Lord!’ a young noble yelled at me. ‘The gate!’

  ‘Take it!’ I screamed. The Mad Watch reacted quickly, surprisingly soon as we charged forward with a slap of feet. The Blacktower men were slow to act, and only after Taram’s repeated yells, they were pulling at the massive gates, their white lily and red tabards flashing in the shadows of the massive doors. ‘Heyaah!’ I screamed, the horse slammed into the doorway, trampled a man, and pushed inside. There, the pandemonium of the Sun Court was not apparent. Blacktower guards, some eight hundred were lining the walls and the yard, not fully comprehending what was taking place. Outside, I heard Valkai and Sand exhorting the troops to form up and enter.

  ‘Inside! Save the Kingdom! Kill Balan and Lord Captain Taram! All the Blacktowers. Hack them to pieces!’ Valkai yelled, and a ragged scattered scream rose high into the air, and a deep thump of feet and jingle of weapons and armor filled the air. Two ballistae shrieked as their missiles tore through the crowd, changing ten men into heaps of dead meat, but that was all they could do.

  Before us was the Temple courtyard, and then the massive tower, the Tower of the Temple, which reached up in its intricately carved detail. It was red, and now, closer up, I saw each stone was carved with pictures and symbols, and the brilliant white Pearl Terrace was far up on its side. Above that, birds were shrieking. The gate bells were tolling across the city.

  The Blacktower Guards turned to look at us. Some four hundred of them were formed before the tower’s gate. They formed a wall across the entrance as a dozen or more were filtering in through the heavy gate, the magical gate that could not be opened by anyone else than a Brother. My gauntlet, the Black Grip was whispering to me of a spell, designed for such an opening. On the walls, a great number of men were running about, and I spied Balan and Taram running for a doorway connecting the wall to the higher level of the tower.

  I spat at the enemy at the gate. It looked like a terrible fight.

  Archers were pointing at me; men were jostling to a thick shield wall, many rows deep, their white on red tabards and armor flashing. Mad Watch members began to push in with high numbers. I turned to look at them. ‘Form a wall. A shield wall, men,’ I told them with supreme confidence. ‘Then we shall kill the murderous dead.’ Some officers nodded and began barking orders. I was looking around, for the one man who might stop this happening was missing. But Crec was not there, and they needed a leader.

  And they obeyed.

  They had just hung my brothers, and now they obeyed one quickly enough.

  The gates banged as red-cloaked soldiers rushed in. There were hesitant ones with them, some shook their heads and gestured at the barracks, preferring to stay out of the war that was possibly a mistake, but most had seen Gal and Balan endorsing him, and so we had nearly a thousand men coming into the Tower’s courtyard. I dismounted and pulled out my sword. I pointed it at the shield wall of four hundred enemies, and the Mad Watch shuffled forward to settle in a thick wall of spears and shields around me. ‘They are not of us. Do not hesitate. They do not belong here. So send them to Hel.’

  ‘What are they, Lord?’ asked a captain with a dark horsehair helmet.

  ‘They are abominations. Inhuman. Evil. They tricked you into killing the Danegells,’ I hissed, and soon, some five hundred men had settled with
me, in three ranks of bristling spears. I saw Valkai was leading more men, now even armed nobles citizens to the walls and there, the killing began on the stairs without any real ceremony. Blacktower militia smashed their axes and swords down at the first of our men; they retaliated, and a ferocious mood took over the men around me. ‘Sing!’ yelled a captain and lifted his sword.

  ‘Sing, boys!’ yelled the sergeants, and they did.

  The song was savage, old as Red Midgard, and a ferocious drive to slay and maim filled our hearts. I was not sure how many of the enemy were draugr, probably most, for they did not look at each other, did not hesitate, but stayed put, doggedly. An excellent tenor voice led the men in their song.

  ‘Hearts of old, hills so cold,

  here we stand, our merry, bloody band.

  Ready the spear, cast away your fear,

  And the enemy, the dogs, shall fall like logs!

  Call out: kill them!

  Twist their stems!

  Eat their hearts!

  Rip their parts!

  The night will soon fall,

  Away the dead shall we quickly haul.

  For the taverns await,

  And the victors shall not be late!’

  ‘Kill!’ a high officer screamed.

  ‘Kill them!’ I echoed him, and so we charged. It takes courage to charge a bristling wall of sharp steel and blunt edges, to throw away all that you hold dear, and few did so willingly. They fought for the dead king, for each other and for all living men; for they had seen Gal, the slain Talien guards whose spells no longer masked their nature, and no human can ignore such a thing, knowing in their hearts there is no love or mercy in such a foe’s heart. We tromped towards the enemy, who banged their shields together savagely, the sound echoing above the clanging of the bells and the battle sounds on the walls. Bells were clanging wildly down in the city as well, and I thought I heard distant screams.