The great Warlord replied, “I have spoken before the march from Thorstadt with Lord Snaevar and Masters Azgar and Kroki, the General of the Dwarven Army, which all stand here with us now, my Kings. We feel that we can move first against the Goblins coming up from the south. Their weapons are not formed with the secret of steel and our troops that do not have the new blades are more than a match for those filth. The Slaughter-Wolves, though strong, have not yet united, as we are here today. The Dwarves have much revenge to wreak upon the Goblins for the slaughter of their innocents. We feel that the Dwarves should ride with all due haste and smite this Goblin host before it can join ranks with the rest of the Slaughter-Wolves.” The King turned to Lord Gedron and asked, “And what is your thoughts Chief of Staff?” He answered, “I must concur with my father.”
Master Azgar, High Dwarf Lord, Chief Adviser to the King, was a man with a sense of humour and loved life. He stood five feet tall and his hair and beard were brown, streaked with locks of silver and grey. He was much older than King Togrobeg and had been serving since the days of King Andavar. On peaceful days his tiny grandchildren would have been playing around his feet. But not today, for he was, as were his fellow Dwarves, clad in armour of metal scales, sporting large helmets, slightly sloped on top, which had full-face guards. His sword was at his side and battle-axe in his hand. His nose was fat and large and his eyes a piercing blue and, speaking in reply to Lord Volsung, he looked at King Togrobeg and said, “Aye. And if His Majesty is in agreement, we can do this. But we will require one unit of footmen and one of Cavalry from the Gomerian ranks as a reserve so that no-one can slip up behind us and kick us in the jacksies.”
King Osrik spoke up and said, “I shall provide such force as needed, Master Azgar.”
King Togrobeg replied and said, “We have much to bring to the Goblin Slaughter-Wolves, my kings and Nobles. So let it be done, even as the Lords have so spoken.”
King Agnar said, “May Thor and Wotan guide your warriors to victory, King Togrobeg.”
An evil horde was bearing down on the noble people to crush the rebellion. Yet this was not the entire force which Idanthrsus could have thrown against the rebels. For some strange paranoid reason, Hister demanded he send troops to guard the southern Dakkian area, perhaps fearing a Dorian incursion.
Refugees were still making their way into Thorstadt and Queen Gwynnalyn was thoroughly in charge of the situation. As well, Little Lord Sigmund had been ordered to stay behind, even though he wanted to go so very badly.
The day of the march he had been amongst the Thanes of King Sigurd, sitting on his horse. It was then that his father, Lord Volsung, had approached on foot and said kindly, “What are you doing, my son? Were you not told that you must stay here in Thorstadt?”
“Yes, Pappa, but am I not the Mammoth Rider? Am I not a warrior of the King, even as you have said? I want to go. I want to help you and Gedry.”
Volsung smiled and reached up and with powerful arms took his beloved son off the horse and draped the boy over his shoulder saying, “Yes, my son, and a good help you are, especially since you’re off of those crutches.”
He put the boy back down on his feet in front of him and again spoke. “Siggy, I trust you to be with your sister’s Thanes and guard her well. This is what I need you to do, Mammoth Rider. You must be the Thane of thy mother as well and Greta. If we are kaput before the Slaughter-Wolves, then you must make sure your sister the Queen escapes and bears the baby within her, so that the royal house dies not that fearful day. You must take her far east unto Byock, White Wizard of the East.” Volsung placed a gentle hand on his son’s left shoulder, and looked at Sigmund with pride glowing brightly in his eyes.
The young Lord looked back and with one hand smoothed away the long strands of red-raven hair from out of his eyes and off his sun-tanned forehead. He then replied, “Yes, Pappa, I will do as you say.” He hugged his father for what seemed forever and always.
The two parted as Lord Volsung mounted his stallion and prepared to go to the side of his King and son-in-law, Sigurd the Good. As the Tervingian and Dwarven warriors rode and marched past him, Prince Sigmund made his way sadly back to the Mead Hall.
He walked past many women and children, and upon seeing a group of tattered refugees with ragged young children, some with wounds, little Lord Sigmund understood why his father had ordered him to stay here.
Chapter X
Sigmund and Lilia
From the Skald’s Tale:
Once upon a time, there was a tiny little girl who was of the Massagetae tribe which had escaped north with King Agnar. She was clothed in a torn dress and barefoot came up to little Lord Sigmund. Her locks of golden hair flowed gently but in uncombed thrashing about a tiny face set with the most beautiful blue eyes that one could have ever imagined. Let us here show how merciful little Lord Sigmund truly was, oh my Visigoths. Can there be any doubt that the goodness and mercy of our Great King Roderick, sitting before us all now, comes from the blood of the noble Sigmund, which courses through his veins?
T he very poor and ragged-looking young girl smartly introduced herself, saying with a smile, “Hello young Getic Lord, I’m Lilia.”
She was only age four or five and was tiny and short, and even though Sigmund was not by any means tall or large himself, he towered over this tiny child.
“I am Sigmund, Lilia, Lord Sigmund the Mammoth Rider.”
She replied, neither in a sarcastic voice nor in a mocking tone, “But why doesn’t the Mammoth Rider go to fight the Slaughter-Wolves? They need a Mammoth Rider.” She tilted her head sideways and looked Sigmund right in the eyes.
Sigmund was at first taken aback, and wanted to run the bothersome Kinder away. But he instead replied, “My father says I am to guard the Royal House, in case they lose the battle and the Slaughter-Wolves march here.”
He began to walk away and Lilia followed, speaking to him as if she had known him forever. “But they won’t come here, will they, my good Prince Sigmund?”
He walked a little faster and her tiny legs had to jog to keep pace with him. But stay with him she did, and in a chattery voice marked by deep breaths of air she said, “But what if they do come, Sigmund? Where will I go? The Ogres killed Momma and Pappa! Now my big brother is gone to Valhalla with them and I just am so lost with no-one any more! Not even a big brother.” Lilia stopped and sat down on the street, sobbing, and crossed her legs, then burying her tiny head in her lap.
Prince Sigmund stopped and now he was sure that his father had not “left him behind”, but had indeed entrusted him with a duty of sacred honour. This poor baby girl made it all too clear. He turned around and went back to her. He touched Lilia on the head and noticed that a beautiful monarch butterfly had been sitting on her back as she was leaning forward, sobbing and cupping her face in tiny dirt-covered hands. As soon as the young Lord touched Lilia, the butterfly fluttered away into the air and vanished from sight.
“It’s OK, Lilia; my Father said that I am to guard you from the Slaughter-Wolves too.” The boy reached down and picked her up off the ground and was struck by how tiny her arms were and how light she was and how thin she was from hunger. He had prepared a small leather satchel of dried meat in case he had been allowed to march with the Army. Siggy opened it up and handed her several pieces of the meat and some bread.
Lilia took them gently and said, “Thank you, my good Lord. I was so hungry.”
“Not any more, Lilia. You can stay with us.” The Mammoth Rider took her by the hand and walked down the street to the Mead Hall, while his father and the great army exited Thorstadt, marching west for the dawn of destiny.
Just across the way, Eileza had been watching the entire scene. She couldn’t hear their voices, but the picture in her small dark eyes spoke for itself. Eileza was very impressed by Sigmund’s act of kindness to a small orphan girl, lost and alone in this city because of the evils of war! Emotions began to stir in the Dwarf girl, for now she could see that there wa
s something deep inside the young Getic Lord that was mature and compassionate. She could see that he was in no way arrogant, as some with his title and position are prone to be. Eileza smiled and just nodded her head, thinking, “Yes, this is a good boy.”
Meanwhile, Byock had been watching through the eyes of his butterfly. Looking up from his water basin, he smiled and said to himself, “This boy is very good and selfless in devotion, this youngest son of Volsung. All things are proceeding along as I have forseen. Sigmund has found the Wish Maiden.”
Min-Tze replied, “Husband, is it now not time to be direct about it and enter this war? The fate of all mankind from Cathay to Brythonia hangs by a thread of silk because of this Hister.”
Byock replied, “Indeed the time is near, even at the door. The Angel Wotan has come with instructions from the everlasting sky. Because Loki now begins direct interference in the affairs of Midgard, we go now to meet Horsa and the Quest Warriors. Make ready, beloved, for today we take the wind and ride the white unicorns. But, alas, Wotan says that the war will not be won so soon and long will it be.”
She replied, “Freedom must be fought for in every generation, due to the darkness in the hearts of men. If not for the sign of the rainbow, this generation would perish in water, as did Lemuria and Atlantis.”
“Yes, my wife. It is written in the scroll of Enoch, that the next Ragnarok will be a judgment of fire. For now, let us take supper and tea with Vong and give him charge of our household affairs.”
That very next morning, after breakfast with their son Vong, whose hair-style was just like his father’s and who was twenty-four years old, Byock and Min-Tze made final preparations to leave Yerpa of Shangra-La. Byock sent a winged messenger to the Oaks of the White Unicorn. This place was a mystery to all, yet known about by many. The Wizard gently took in his hand a white dove from a large cage. He spoke to the bird and it was as if his breath was golden stardust. He smiled and raised the she-bird into the air outside the monastery, as Vong stood beside him dressed in white with a black belt around his waist. Away she flew on the winds, taking his thoughts with her unto the Oaks of the White Unicorn. Away and away she flew on the winds of the Far East; away to a secret pasture in a mystical forest. A mystical forest where dwell the most mysterious of all the creatures which God in His wisdom had created, the White Winged Unicorn Chi-i-Lin.
The White Wizard of the East and his beloved Min Tze and their son Vong waited in meditation into the night. Then a great winged unicorn, spreading majestic wings, made a landing upon the roof. The animal was kind and gentle and had the appearance of the most noble and beautiful of all horses. Its horn came out from its forehead several feet, and its wings were as those of an angel in its glory. The eyes of the steed were as of a beautiful emerald. Its mate was there with him, a white mare landing so light and calm upon the roof of the monastery. She was the radiant white mare Qi-Lin. Byock and Min Tze and Vong met the steeds as they landed and Chi-i-Lin went immediately to his old friend Byock.
The kind Wizard spoke and said, “You have come to me, my brother. And she whom you love comes with you, oh honourable one. We must fly to the west now, for a great evil has arisen on the land. Midgard and all its pastures lay bare before Adawulf Hister of Dakkia and his evil god Loki. We must save mankind from himself.”
A cool night breeze was blowing. Byock and Min Tze once more embraced Vong, and then mounted the backs of the two Unicorns, and away they flew into the night. They flew on the winds and moon-shone clouds, the wind catching in their robes, hoods flying from their heads as ever westward they flew, leaving the Far East and Shangra-La behind them. Vong heard his father’s voice in his head saying, “In time I will call you and the Unicorn will come for you.”
Dithranti and Boudicca found themselves in a mysterious realm. It was as if they were still within Stonehenge, yet not so. It seemed like some sort of alternate universe and there before them was a beautiful female angel. So graceful was she in robes of shimmering white, with a golden sash about her breasts and pure, stainless white wings. She had long golden hair and her eyes shone with light and neither Dithranti nor Boudicca could say what the colour was. They could hear her voice in their minds and so they answered in the same manner.
“Holy Prophets, I am sent to bring word. The great evil has incarnated itself into the body of Adawulf Hister, and through him, Loki directly intervenes in the affairs of Midgard. The Scythian King is merely a puppet and servant and disciple of Hister who will ultimately betray him. Coming to you are eight noble Knights. These are Lord Raedwald’s Gepid horsemen. You two must make your way to Gergovia, and meet them there. Know that, also, your fellow Prophet Byock flies from Shangra-La to meet the Getic Quest warriors who have come for to ask his help. Byock and Min Tze fly upon the backs of Unicorns back in the world of Midgard. The Dwarves have sent out a quest to bring Yonas and Gleadra. Kalevalin has flown with his Norn on the winds of the Spirit to the Land of Forever Ice, and has requested the Melchizideck and the Lady of Urðarbrunnr. On his way to find you, Raedwald will pass through Agara and discover Aesop and Vulcrus, and will be given the chance to request them. Then the circles will be completed, and there will only remain those others meant by destiny to join the Gathering.
“The forces of evil fought me and I was delayed in coming, dear beloved ones of Shaddai. But know this, the Midgard war has only just begun and will not soon be won. It shall come in two phases and will finally be won in the second phase by the infant who now grows within the Getic Queen. He will be a prince, and she shall call him Ronan. The Sons of Light and the Circle of the Spirit Maidens must gather around, along with others chosen, to attend the birth of the man-child. This shall be called the gathering You will guard the infant, so that Ronan will live to wear the crown of all Tervingia and become the Goth. Should he die, or worse be turned to the dark side, Loki, who is also called Lucifer, will reign in the body of Hister of Dakkia! With Ronan at his side, a great blackness of the Dark Side will rule, until Ragnarok.”
Dithranti replied, “Ragnarok? You speak of the final battle between the Sons of Light and the Sons of Darkness; between the Spirits in the sky, wizards on earth, and all created beings on the battlefield of swords.”
The Angel replied, “Yes, Dithranti. We must save the soul of Ronan. Only in this way can we give Earthlings of all races and species a chance to live as Great Shaddai wishes. Hister could not stop his conception and cannot stop his birth. Loki will send Lilith the Huldra to kill both mother and child. But if he lives and Ronan turns to the worship of Loki, then Ragnarok will come before the time in which it is given to come as spoken by the Prophet Enoch. Darkness will reign supreme and Midgard will fall.”
Boudicca replied, “So, my Lady Brigid, then we shall answer the call. Only give me greater wisdom, that I might make peace among Earthlings, even among individuals. I perceive that, when even two people make peace, chaos is reduced, and with it, the power of the Dark Side is lessened. May the hand of he who writes our destiny in the heavens empower us for this task, oh Brigid. This I pray to him.”
“Oh, beloved Boudicca, he has heard your request and therefore I am sent. Teach His laws to all Earthlings. Teach it whether they be Centaurs, Goblins or Ogres, Mermaid or Faun, Leprechaun or Gargoyle or Fairies; for even of those races not of men, who now act evil, they too can turn away from darkness and into the light. Make ready now for your journey, holy Prophets. You will take ship from Brythonia with your children and five Leprechauns of Cluricawne. You must first go unto Nemed, King of Cluricawne on the Isle of Erin. Then, when you have gathered the Leprechauns, set sail once more and during the sea voyage you will encounter the Merwif. See to it that you do not miss them, for the fate of Midgard hangs in the balance. From these sea people, sail on to the land of Gallia on the Brythanny Coast and make due haste to Gergovia, where Raedwald and his Gepids will find you, for they must first ask for your help. Only then does your quest begin and going thence ye shall join with Lord High Elder Aesop and Vul
crus of the Fauns, White Wizard and Spirit Maiden of the Centre Midgard, as you well know.”
Dithranti and Boudicca looked at each other and then back at the Angel. “Leprechauns?” asked Dithranti in total shock and amazement.
“Yes indeed, Holy Prophet, it must be so. As I said, go in haste to the village of King Nemed in the centre of the Green Isle of Erin. Once there, you must take with you the five misfits and, from them, learn the joy of life once more, old friend. Then and only then, to Gergovia you will go.”
Dithranti was incredulous and replied, “But, M’Lady, you know of the mischief these people cause! Their raucous drinking of beer! All Nemed has cared for in the past was hoarding gold and making shoes. Must we?”
“You will see clearly, all in due time, Holy Prophets. For the girl among them is a chosen vessel of Shaddai. Also be aware that Hister seeks to reassemble the All Seeing Eye. Even now a dark tower is under construction to house the device. He must not succeed,” replied Brigid, as her voice faded away and the vision ended.
Suddenly, Dithranti and Lady Boudicca found themselves back in the earthy Stonehenge, with the Druids looking very perplexed; for the two of them suddenly appeared back in the midst of the Temple with not even one noise. The Druids were shocked by their sudden reappearance and remained speechless.
“Hurry, all of us. Hurry to our cottage to prepare. The battle to save Midgard is upon us,” declared Dithranti.
Hand in hand, he and his beloved Boudicca ran from the shrine as fast as they could go, with eight perplexed Druid Monks running close on their heels.
In the meanwhile easterward in Thorstadt, Sigmund and Lilia would become the closest of brother and sister. In fact, the whole family would come to love her. Gwynnalyn thought of training her as a Shield Maiden in the future and Greta thought of Lilia as her living doll. Greta was always washing the child’s hair and brushing it out, and dressing her up in colourful clothing and having tea parties with her. But in the eyes of the Wish Maiden, the sun rose and set with her Siggy and it was him that she most adored and looked up to. Volsung and Gerda began to contemplate the idea that Lilia should become their own daughter, their Oskmaer. An Oskmaer, or Wish Maiden, was a special adopted daughter. All of this would happen in the future when the time set for it had come.
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