Hister’s eyes glowed with red Jotnar’s flame and his skin became a pale blue beneath the hood of his black robe of rune! Hister concentrated, chanting an evil black magic incantation against the Queen and her unborn child, determined to destroy them both!
On the ridge, all men and dwarves could see that a storm had come, seemingly from out of nowhere. However, it was what they could not see that was in truth the power of victory. For Great Shaddai, Creator God of the Universe, did not abandon Midgard this day! Above the Storm, Thor appeared with his brother Angel Wotan!
Loki looked at them and said, “There shall be yet another day and Ragnarok shall descend upon you both and Brigid will not be spared! Gavral will be burned away, Thor! Freya will be vaporized like water to steam!”
Thor carried a shield which he struck with his mighty hammer! Lightning issued forth from the clash and struck the raised sword in the hand of King Sigurd! A fierce wind rose which swept Dragos and his Gargoyles aside as if they were chaff! The King himself was overawed at what was occurring and Lord Gedron, seeing it all, let up a cheer for his old friend the good King and their cause! The Slaughter-Wolves began to waver and to retreat! The rebel Army charged like a sea-wave across the broad plain and down the ridge. Unseen in the sky, Woden and Thor engaged Loki in immortal combat with flaming swords of spirit!
Byock the White knew his prayer had been answered. Through the eyes of his butterfly, he saw Hister’s raven coming at his butterfly. Then he felt another power of good enter into the battle and knew that Dithranti and Boudicca were in this as well. And so it was for Dithranti and Boudicca at that very moment, having been summoned to the Stonehenge by the Angel Brigid sat in deep prayer and meditation. They were chanting and concentrating their power against the dark spiritual principality, Loki, which was behind the evil of Adawulf Hister at Kul-Oba. Dithranti and Boudicca could see in their mind’s third eye the building of the Black Ziggurat in Dakkia, and knew that its construction must not be allowed to come to completion. Hister would place atop it the All Seeing Eye, and through it, the Power of Evil would be concentrated into a powerful weapon which could mesmerise all Midgard: first the Healers and Priestesses, and then all Kings and then all living intelligent beings and so Loki would have his premature Ragnarok! The coming of the Son of Heaven would never take place and all beings would be damned!
Dithranti and Boudicca saw it all and knew it must not be allowed, as did the as-yet-unseen others in the Circle of the Spirit Maidens and the Order of the Sons of Light. Byock and Dithranti and the “others” saw each other in their mind’s third eye and they joined together in prayer.
Back on the battleground, a sudden feeling of urgency came over Lord Gedron when he saw the raven above him, swooping down to consume a beautiful monarch butterfly. “What is it with ravens these days? He asked himself sarcasticly. Not really sure why, Gedron leaped to the top of his horse and stood on the saddle and then, with sword in hand, cleaved the Huggin asunder in one fell sweep! Then, just as fast, he sat back down in time to duck a flying axe which had been hurled at him by an Ogre! At that very moment in Kul-Oba, Hister was thrown backwards and his divination vat was toppled from its foundation! As Hister lay there, trying to catch his breath, his eyes returned to normal, as did his skin colour. Throostra ran to upright it and Heike refilled the basin with water. Hister yelled, “That bloody waug has killed my Huggin!”
The Queen was quite ill and her unborn beloved little prince was in mortal danger. Some evil presence had entered her from the moment this pain started. As she lay in her bed she cried, as her dear mother held her in a hug and cried with her. “Oh, Mommy, don’t let my baby die! Don’t let my baby die, Mommy!” sobbed Gwynnalyn.
At that moment, the Great Queen felt a huge rush of relief run through her and the pain ceased. “The baby is fine, little one,” replied Gerda to her daughter.
Siggy sat Lilia down, but she clung to him and the boy could not bear to send her away. Princess Eileza was now thoroughly impressed by Sigmund’s love for this orphan and emotions she had not felt for any boy ever before in her life continued to awaken within her.
Siggy sat down on the floor at the side of his sister’s bed and held her hand. Lilia sat next to him with her head on his shoulder and a doll and blanket in her arms. Greta sat at the foot of her sister’s bed as Byrnhilda prepared a special blend of medicinal herbs and spices over a hot fire in the Queen’s hearth. Night was falling and an early chill was in the air.
Min Tze said a prayer and then said, “You not worry, My Queen. You are well and your baby, he is well. Master Byock has broken the spell which Hister has cast upon you.”
Indeed it was true, for when Hister had been defeated the spell which he had cast against the unborn child and his mother had been broken.
Min Tze placed her hand upon the tummy of Gwynnalyn and energy surged through her, entering the Queen’s body and wrapping itself around the baby inside. It was then that a black shadow demon, an evil Jotnar, fled her womb and ceased tormenting mother and child! It looked like a man’s body with a crocodile’s head!
Byock arose from his meditation and ran into the bed chamber! “In the name of El Shaddai, be thou cast asunder from whence thou came, Molech!” stated Byock with calm sternness and power.
Everyone could see Molech and Lilia jumped into the arms of Sigmund with a sharp scream of terror! Eileza drew her sword and slashed at the malevolent spirit, but it forced her back, tossing her against the wall! It roared like a dragon and the building was rattled!
“This is Molech, tormentor of children! Away with you forever!” shouted Min Tze.
Gerda shielded the Queen with her body! Byock and Min Tze raised their hands and balls of flaming light issued forth with a clap of thunder, striking the evil spirit, sending it back through the vortex from which it had come!
Molech emerged back within the walls of Kul-Oba, flying backwards out of the water basin, first hitting the ceiling and then crashing headlong into Hister - sending him flying across the room, where they both bounced off the wall and lay on the cold stone floor. For at that moment, the Jotnar had been forced into a physical form.
In her mind, Heike was laughing hard and Throostra ran to help, saying, “Oh, evil Master, dread Lord of Darkness, let me assist you!”
The Sorcerer got up by himself and said in a temper tantrum, “Away from me, Throostra!” Looking at Molech, he shouted, “It’s very hard to get good help these days! Why did Loki have to send you? You idiot! This is entirely your fault!”
Throostra and Heike stepped backwards in one swift move as Hister slowly picked himself up from the stone floor.
The demon rose up with a teethy, sheepish smile and replied in a stuttering and stupid, silly, deep-sounding voice, “Uh, he he he, I mean, this wizardy man came and cast me out of her, Master.”
Hister flew into a rage. “What! A wizardy man! You fool! You stark raving, stupid idiot! You dumbkoph! It was Byock the White from Shangra-La! You should have called for help! Be gone, Molech, you dumb, stupid dunce, before I cast you into the abyss myself and you’ll not be around for Ragnarok!”
Molech smiled a toothy smile and replied, “By your command,” and then quickly vanished. As he departed, they could still hear his voice talking, almost laughing and breathing at the same time. “Uh, he he he tyeee he he he.”
Korgan-Tal saw his entire battle plans in ruin now and he ordered his hornsmen to sound retreat. The Dwarven Axemen, now armed with steel axes captured from the Goblin supply column, charged forward and engaged the Ogres, while Lord Gedron’s elite horsemen contained the Scythian Cavalry charge, beating them back! Many of their brothers had died, though, due to inferior weapons, which were smitten by Slaughter-Wolf steel. Korgan-Tal retreated west with his entire force, but was far from completely defeated. The men rallied around Good King Sigurd, last Tervingian King, and Togrobeg the Noble, King of Dwarves. All began to shout and in unison chant, “Freedom! Freedom! Freedom!”
Chapt
er XVI
Long Live the King
From the Skald’s Tale:
The wicked Ogre-Sarmatian Army of General Gorkan-Mar would soon be in the vicinity of Thorstadt and Lord Randver prepared to meet it head-on! The Skald’s have told how on that day thousands of Monarch Butterflies swarmed over, through and all around the horde from Morag. Now that Hister the Black was temporarily out of the way, the Ogre General could be more readily dealt with. He had no knowledge of the defeat of Korgan-Tal and continued to press eastward to the Great River and the city of Thorstadt. Let us also learn of how Great Sigurd united all our peoples. Long live the King!
W hile all these events were transpiring, Raedwald and the Quest Warriors made their way steadily west towards Gergovia to find Dithranti. The time it was taking for the Knights to journey to Gergovia would allow Dithranti to travel and find the Leprechauns that he and Lady Boudicca needed to bring along. The Quest Warriors were continually harassed by Gargoyles and an Ogre pack mounted on black razor-back, betusked boars had taken up the pursuit. There had been attacks by Luftdrakkons as well as running fire drakes and Raptor Dragons. In spite of all this violence, they managed to make it half-way to Gergovia without anyone else being killed. They travelled well north and around Myrkvidr, on past the lakes of Masuria and across the river of Vandalia, south of the Hagobard Kingdom of Eikengard, thence onward to the River Gaut in the Kingdom of Vandalia, the next great, wide and swift current to cross. Gergovia was still hundreds of miles away and there were many more rivers to cross, as well as much danger.
Back in Thorstadt, the following day was much better, and although the Queen was physically exhausted from the demonic attack, her family was seeing to it that she was well cared for.
“Drink this tea, My Queen,” said Byrnhilda kindly with a smile. Queen Gwynnalyn sat up in her bed and drank a cup of hot herbal tea. Her mother and sister massaged her sore muscles and sore, swollen tummy, after expelling Siggy from the royal bedchamber.
Little Lord Sigmund walked back down to the empty audience hall and took up his father’s seat. He was very sad today, even though he was happy that his big sister would fully recover. The Dwarven Princess was beginning to occupy more of his thoughts these days as well, but he was still young and not really sure what to call the feelings he had; except, she was a darn good friend and he liked having good friends. He wondered what all of their fates would be. He lay his head down on the table and drifted off to sleep. Captain Gauron kept a close watch on him, but allowed Lilia to pass, carrying her blanket and doll. She sat beside him, looking at him with wide eyes, tilting her head first left, and then right. Her big eyes were full of love for her adopted brother and she was soon sound asleep beside him. Eileza watched from the main door beside Captain Gauron and she seemed to be lost in thought.
The Army had marched early before sunrise and so now there was nothing to do but wait for word when Lord Randver had engaged the Army of Gorkan-Mar.
Lady Elena, one of the ladies-in-waiting to Eileza’s mother, approached and said, “The Dowager Queen commands your presence, Princess.”
Eileza nodded her head and in clear and utter frustration replied, “Does she want me to bring a drink for her to chill with her finger?”
Elena replied, “I am not sure, Princess Eileza.”
The two of them walked down the corridor and entered Rutia’s chambers. No sooner had they entered when Rutia barked, “Ladies in Waiting, out at once! I will speak in private with my daughter!”
Ladies Elena and Leah swiftly departed and, as the door opened, the guards, Austri and Vestri snapped back to attention with worried looks on their bearded faces. Rutia slammed the door shut and soon everyone in the corridor could hear them shouting.
“Eileza, I can see the way you look at little Lord Sigmund! More so, I can see that he gives you the same looks!”
Eileza replied, “Oh, mother, don’t be a mother! Siggy and I are friends!”
Rutia replied, “You will cease spending time around that Sigmund and his family! They are not of our race, and you, being a Royal Princess of the Yuralian Dwarves, cannot ever marry that Sigmund or any of these Tervingians! I have found you a suitable Prince from among the Tubalian Dwarves in the south. So I warn you now, Eileza! You are too young to fall into an infatuation with that Sigmund, Prince or not! If you keep this up, young lady, your heart will be broken, because I will decide whom you will grow up and marry! You have no idea what love even is little girl!”
Eileza was downright indignant and shot back an angry reply. “Mother, how dare you! Siggy has a heart of gold! You didn’t care to see how he took in that starving little orphan girl and made her his little sister! You are like the pack ice, Mother! You wouldn’t even cry at the funeral for Togrobeg’s wife and baby and you couldn’t even bring yourself to give him a simple hug! In fact, I can’t remember the last time you even told me that you loved me!”
Rutia, whose face was covered in pale white make-up and with lips glossed red, hair tied up in a bun under a net, and who wore a long maroon dress with a huge fan-like collar coming out in the back like a clam half-shell, replied, “I seek the best for our Kingdom, little Princess! We will not survive as a people in the face of these Slaughter-Wolves unless the Dwarves have strong leadership! If your brother dies out there on the battlefield, you will become Queen and there is no place for Sigmund in the Kingdom of the Dwarves! He will not be King and you will stay away from him, and not love him, Eileza, for only a true blood-pure Dwarf will ever sit on our throne! You must have a hard heart to win a war, Daughter, and your infatuation for that ‘Siggy’, as you call him, is a weakness which you cannot have as the Queen of Dwarves! If Togrobeg dies, it will fall upon us to leave this cursed place and lead our people east to the mountains, and to the treasures in the earth which your late father King Andavar discovered on his quest for our new homeland, for which he gave his life! I will not allow you or Togrobeg to ruin Andavar’s vision of a future for the Dwarves at Mount Ariemel!”
Eileza was crying now and through her tears and red turning face, she replied, “Pappa loved me! He hugged me and taught me how to fight! I was five when the Goblin Storm Troopers killed him and I saw him die! Where were you, except sitting in our Mead Hall with Leah and Elena! It took the Goblins burning our whole city to make you move, and then you didn’t care about me or father, just that your dresses and shoes had to be left behind!” Eileza’s voice slowed and seemed to fade away and she sat down in a chair, laying her face on the table, continuing to cry. “I needed you, mother, and you shut me out.” Then Eileza looked back at the hard-faced Rutia and said in forlorn despair, “You never loved Pappa, and now you want to take away the only friend I have in the whole wide world.”
Rutia looked as if she had been shot with an arrow in her gut and she fell backwards into a chair. Her face was full of pain and tears began to run through and streak her make-up. “I loved your father, Eileza. When he died, my world ended and all I had was you and Togrobeg. But it was then that I knew that only a hard heart could steel me from the pain and make the two of you into people who would avenge Andavar’s death! What does a child like you know of love, Eileza?”
The Princess stood up from the table and, with her sleeve, wiped the tears out of her eyes and replied, “Nothing, Mother, because you never seem to show me any. But I remember Pappa’s love, and he would just hug me like this.” She reached over and hugged her mother. Rutia coldy refused to return the gesture and all was quiet.
The Ogre-Sarmatian forces met Lord Randver in battle on the great steppes east of the River Rha, twenty miles out of Thorstadt. Randver could not hold the line as wave after wave of enemy troops forced their way through and began to outflank the Gomerian forces. The Ogre Cavalry was mounted on huge, black, betusked, razor-back boars!
“Send word to King Sigurd! We are beaten, my King, and must retreat to defend the city,” Randver ordered his dispatch riders. “Also send word to the Queen in Thorstadt to prepare they city
for heavy attack. We shall fall back as slowly as we can and give her time to either escape east across the river in boats or withstand siege! Go quickly my warriors, before it is too late!”
Two figures on roan horses, wearing brown robes with hoods, approached the gates of Thorstadt. The guards at the great log and earthen wall stopped them well short of the gate at a checkpoint. An older fellow, a fierce looking Gepid soldier, Sergeant Hardrada, approached the strange figures and said, “Halt! State your business! How did you make it past the other roadblocks?”
The Gepid warriors could see that these people were very tall and sleek of stature. These riders were equipped lightly with provisions for swift travel. The first rider replied, and it was a woman. “We are for King Sigurd and Queen Gwynnalyn, my good sir.”
The soldiers were highly suspicious lest this be two assassins sent from Scythia to murder the royal family. “What? What proof do you have? Who are you two and what is your nation?”
There were now at least eight heavily armed Gepid fighting men surrounding them. “My good sir, send word to the Queen and say, ‘I am here for thee, oh Eowythane’. She will know what to do then.”
The riders removed their hoods and both were She-Elves. Sergeant Hardrada was not displeased and remarked politely, “She-Elves. Welcome, beautiful ladies, to Thorstadt.”
Messengers arrived from the gate at the Mead Hall and spoke to Thane-Captain Gauron. “They are She-Elves, my Lord, and wish to see the Queen. The message is, ‘I am here for thee, oh Eowythane’. They are She-Elves, sir, and are armed with short swords, daggers and longbows.”
Gauron replied, “Impossible! No-one sees her Royal Majesty until the child is born! Especially after all that has been happening around here! But, alas, I will deliver the word.”
Princess Eileza was right beside him and started to walk in with him, saying, “Elves here in Thorstadt! I gotta wake up Siggy and tell him, Gau-Gau.”
Visigothic_The Barbarians Of Midgard Page 18
