He was completely annoyed by her and said, “Yes, Your Royal Dwarven Highness, you should do that and go bug him for a while.” Gauron left the guard detail and entered the Mead Hall with Eileza close on his heels.
“Yep, that’s the spirit, Gau-Gau! You know you’re a darn good bodyguard! I should ask my brother King Togrobeg to retain your services.”
“No, Princess, no thanks! I am quite happy serving this royal family!” He stormed off and Eileza plopped down beside Sigmund, who had been sleeping with his head down on the table.
Siggy woke up, bolting right up, with Lilia waking up and yawning. “Hear that, Siggy? Old Gau-Gau doesn’t want to work for anyone but your family.”
Siggy didn’t have a clue as to what she was talking about and he gave her a blank stare. She held her nose and said, “Darn, Siggy, that breath of yours is enough to kill a dragon. In fact, it is just like a Sail Dragon’s breath! Here, eat a few of my mint leaves before you burn down the Mead Hall.” She handed him a few mint leaves as well as Lilia and then tossed her head to the side, flipping back her long, wavy and thick, blue-black hair and fixing her dark eyes right on Sigmund’s forehead. “Hey, Siggy, your head is all red! Better get a pillow next time or you’ll be a knot-head.” Siggy continued to give her a blank stare as he put the mint leaves into his mouth and began to slowly chew. “Oh, my mistake, but you already are a knot-head, Siggy.” She thumped him softly on the nose before he could even blink and said, “Tag, Siggy, you’re it!”
She had a huge smile on her face as she jumped up and Lilia hollered, “Quit thumping Big Brother! I’ll get you for this, Eeeeleeeza!”
Soon the kids were all running outside and into the courtyard and Eileza completely forgot to tell him about the Elves. The Dwarven Princess wanted to take his mind off of all the bad things that were going on and this was a good way to do it. The other kids soon joined them, their friends Gustav and Lars, Birgitta, Rexor and Raugust, and they ran down to the bear-pits to watch the swordsmen training.
There were Thanes guarding the Queens’s door and continuous patrols throughout the Mead Hall. Gauron, captain of the Guard, was determined that she be safe from attempted assassination. He approached the door and knocked, saying, “My Queen, I have a report for you.”
The Queen Mother opened the door and allowed him in. The Queen lay relaxed under the covers and Gauron bowed and said, “My Queen, we have intercepted strange She-Elves at the city ramparts. They wish to see you and the message sent is, ‘I am here for thee, oh Eowythane’. My Queen, we have no clue as to who they are or who this Eowythane is. They could be assassins sent from Scythia or Kul-Oba. We must interrogate them, your Highness.”
The Queen sat up and replied, “Captain Gauron, you will do no such thing! Do ye this and I will take out my dagger and make of you a eunuch, or anyone who does them harm or even speaks ill to them! Bid them enter the city and bring them here, Captain Gauron! Elves do not spy for Hister! They are holy beings of starlight!”
“Yes, My Queen, at once,” replied Captain Gauron. He took a bow and departed.
“Just who are these Elves, Gwynnalyn?” asked her mother. She could see the look of sheer happiness on the face of her daughter.
“Mother, you remember when, as a child, I told you of Galorfilinde?”
“Oh yes, that imaginary friend you had. You insisted she was real, but your father and I knew it was just a little girl’s dream. It was the same for Gedron and this Shlomael he was always talking about.”
“No, Mother, she and Shlomael were in no way dreams; and even though you would not believe us, we knew they were real. Now you will see. Everyone will see that they are real. They were our Norns. She is at the gate of the city, Mother. Galorfilinde is here, and I know because she is the only person here who knows me by the name given to me as a girl by the Elves: Eowythane.”
Greta replied, “Sister, what about the second Elf? Can you be sure of her loyalties?”
“Oh yes, little sister, I can. I don’t know for sure who she is, but the Elves are for us and Galorfilinde would only undertake such a physical journey with her mother, Zakarah.”
Out at the city gate, word came to allow the Elves to pass, but they were surrounded by an armed escort. Most of these Gomerians had never seen an Elf before, hearing only the legends about them. These legends spoke of their grand and shining kingdom, somewhere far to the north beyond the Land of Forever Ice in a mystical valley called Karelia, surrounded by glaciers, yet warm and sheltered. It was a place untouchable by the Slaughter-Wolves or even the evil wizard, for they lived far away, and up there none could harm them. Even the name of their Kingdom of Fennoskandja and its pure crystal cities, the Crystal Star Palace as well, seemed to be but pure legend; for how could such a place exist? A land surrounded, yea even defended, by ice from the Slaughter-Wolves, yet to be warm enough in its centre and so inviting to those of the Elf race. King Yoshael was simply not believed to exist and his Crystal Star Palace the stuff of someone’s dreams. And yet the Queen always knew that the legends were true, for Galorfilinde had come to her in both vision and dream.
Galorfilinde Elf and her mother, Zakarah, the Lady of Urðarbrunnr, saw fear, yet hope in the eyes of the people who had crowded into Thorstadt for safety. There were signs already of a possible food shortage and that would bode extremely ill for the coming winter. A light rain had fallen and the smell of it was in the air and the dust of the busy streets was somewhat abated. The She-Elves were escorted to the front of the Mead Hall and, once they had dismounted, their horses were taken to the royal stables for fresh water and fodder.
Captain Gauron approached them and said, “The Queen will see you, but you will disarm! Much has happened here and I will not chance that you be assassins come from Scythia.”
“We are no enemies, but I respect that you are only for the welfare of my friend the Queen,” replied Galorfilinde.
Her mother nodded in agreement and the women handed their weapons over to the Royal Thanes. Captain Gauron led them inside through the great vaulted doors and across the royal audience chamber, where so much history had been made in so short a time. Down the long hallway the She-Elves, so beautiful, tall and sleek, with hair of whitish-blonde, could see the guards and many servants on duty.
The door of the Queen’s bedchamber opened and the Queen herself stepped out into the hallway. “Oh, Galorfilinde, you are my dearest friend!” cried the Queen, and the two of them embraced as sisters of spirit.
Galorfilinde’s mother Zakarah, the Lady of Urðarbrunnr, and Spirit Maiden of the North, smiled. She joined in the group hug and the three of them disappeared into the chamber, closing the door behind them. Gauron smiled and returned to his duties. Tanman walked by and handed him a large drinking horn of his famous Pumpkin Ale.
“Eowythane, the child grows strong now. I can see from your tummy,” stated Galorfilinde.
“Yes, and I know it is a boy. He is Crown Prince Ronan.”
Over in a chair sat Byock and next to him Min Tze. Zakarah looked at him and bowed, “Greetings, Master Wizard. We are so glad you both are here.”
Byock nodded and replied, “The Lady of Urðarbrunnr and Mother of all Elves, what joy it gives me to at last see you in the physical. It has been such a long time since we have seen you in person.”
“Sister Min Tze,” said Zakarah, “it is so good to see you in person. The gathering has begun.”
Min Tze rose and bowed politely and said, “The circle is almost complete then. Now we await the coming of the others and as well the birth of the anointed child.”
The Queen looked surprised, as did her mother and sister. Galorfilinde looked at Queen Gwynnalyn and said, “Min Tze is right. Remember what I told you when you were a child. We were all appointed by destiny to come together around the birth of your child; some before and some afterwards. Sit down everyone, we must talk. It is so important, Eowythane, that my Mother, Queen Zakarah has come as well, sent by my father King Yoshael, White Wizard o
f the North”
“Your mother is so beautiful. You two could be sisters,” replied the Queen.
Zakarah Elf, also called the Lady of Urðarbrunnr or the Lady of Lake Urd, was almost 600 years old and quite beautiful. She suddenly changed the colour of her hair to nut brown, which flowed down over her shoulders. She was very unique in that she could change her hair colour by thought. Its natural colour was white-blonde, like other Elves. This was her special and unique gift that the Creator God had given to her and her alone when he created Lady Zakarah.
The Queen was sure impressed and remarked, “Amazing trick. I wish I could do that.”
Under Zakarah’s robe she wore a plain brown dress with leather boots, laced with rawhide straps, coming up to her knees. She smoothed her hair back behind her long, pointed Elvish ears and said, “Queen Gwynnalyn, the time for the gathering is near, just a few short months away. We are here to assure the birth of your child. There are very bad times ahead of us, My Queen. It is true that King Sigurd is the last of all the Tervingian Kings. In spite of his great victory at the battle of Prairie’s Flame just days ago, Lord Randver’s Army has been driven back.” This was the first word that anyone had had of the fate of King Sigurd and the allied Army or of Randver.
Just at that moment, another knock came on the door. It was Captain Gauron once more. “Enter, Captain,” replied the Queen Mother.
He entered the room and said, “I am sorry to interrupt the reunion, My Queen, but the dispatch riders bring news. King Sigurd and King Togrobeg have defeated and driven back the Slaughter-Wolves in a battle they are calling Prairie’s Flame. But Kings Osrik and Agnar have been slain and walk the Halls of Valhalla. Lord Randver has been smitten and his army is falling back in the face of heavy attack by Gorkan-Mar. His word is that we prepare for heavy attack, My Queen. He has sent dispatches to the King.”
The Queen was very distressed upon hearing the news about Lord Randver. “Very good, Captain, make ready then. See that our defences are secure.”
“My Queen, in case we cannot hold them, it is advisable that we make plans for you to flee the city and go east,” replied Gauron. “There is a secret way out which leads to the river.”
The suggestion enraged her and she said, “Run away and hide is what you mean, Gauron! No, I will not! You know I was given this sword by Thor himself and I will defend the innocent children like my baby and Lilia and my brother Siggy to the last drop of Gorkan-Mar’s blood! Be gone, before I take out my dagger and make of you a eunuch!”
Gauron departed in haste and both Elves broke into laughter at what the Queen had said and soon the Queen herself was laughing along with everyone else in the room.
“Eowythane, my sister,” said Galorfilinde, “we need laughter in times of peril such as we are in. But listen to us. We have come, all of us, to the gathering to assure the protection of the anointed prince, which you and King Sigurd have conceived in great love. He is the child conceived in true love and that sorcerer and his mother and sister both know that this child of promise will be their undoing.”
Byock continued the narrative. “My Queen, the Scythian King will some day lose his power and Adawulf Hister will be made Emperor. But even now the tyrant seeks out you and the child in order to destroy you both. He knows that the Prince will be born and is the ‘Man-Child’ of Prophecy and has realised that if he can turn the boy to the dark side, he will have won. He seeks to bring about Ragnarok well before its ordained time. Loki has promised Hister that he will rule all Midgard forever. It is now up to our Quest Warriors to reach Gergovia and those of the Dwarves to reach Gobekli Tepe.”
He looked to Min Tze and she continued to speak to the Queen. “Only by their reaching Gergovia and remaining pure along the way, can Master Dithranti and Lady Boudicca come to the gathering and unite fully with us against this evil. The others in our order will come as well, along with others who are most important. But before then, if it becomes necessary, then you, my Queen, must flee. If Hister captures you, you will be forced to give birth at Kul-Oba and he will raise the child as an evil wizard. My Queen, Gauron is right.”
There was even more, as if all this were not enough. Matrona Zakarah said, “All of you know that it grows warmer with each passing year. The ice which once protected Karelia and its pure crystal cities, Suomi and Saimaa, melts farther and farther away with each passing year. This is a natural cycle of the world which our Heavenly Father created, but it bodes ill for us. We Elves will be threatened by Hister’s Empire. We must stop him now, before it is too late, and the child within you is the chosen one, Queen Gwynnalyn. No matter what your personal feelings about flight are, you must do so if it comes to that, or the world is doomed to a dark age of evil.” The Queen was speechless.
Byrnhilda handed her a cup of medicinal root tea. “There is yet more, Eowythane,” said Galorfilinde.
“Surely not now,” pleaded Lady Gerda, “Can’t you see that all this is too much to bear for young Gwynnalyn?”
“There is but one more thing that we must speak of. Master Byock, tell us,” said Galorfilinde.
The White Wizard of Shangra-La replied, “Hister is building an evil tower, like that which his ancestor King Nimrud built in the Land of Shinar, and which Great Shaddai destroyed when he scattered the languages of Midgard. Hister has been searching for the pieces of the All Seeing Eye that adorned the temple on top of the Tower of Babel that was taken apart and hidden by the Elf King. He has Quest Warriors searching all Midgard for the pieces and he is building a Black Ziggurat in the mountains of Dakkia. If this is not stopped, Midgard is doomed.”
“Then we must win this war now!” replied the Queen. “My husband has beaten Korgan-Tal and we have the chance of trapping Gorkan-Mar and annihilating him and his forces. Greta, send for Gauron and assemble my council in the War Room. I remember what the late King Osrik said concerning the Sarmatian weapons and those of the Ogres. This city will not fall and no Ogre will leave its foul odour in this Long House!” She sat back down on her bed and Byrnhilda rinsed the Queen’s forehead with a damp cloth and refilled her tea cup.
“That’s the spirit, Eowythane,” said Galorfilinde with a smile and a kiss on her friend’s cheek, which was returned with an added hug.
The Queen and her Witan met in the War Room and it was decided that they should try to co-ordinate with King Sigurd and trap Gorkan-Mar’s forces here at the city, which sat along the banks of the great River Rha. Contingency plans were made to get the Queen and her entourage out of the city through Osrik’s secret tunnel, then by boat across the river, in case the battle went bad for the rebellion.
The very next day, sounds of battle began to be heard west of Thorstadt and smoke was seen bellowing into the sky at dawn. The grass had been set aflame by Lord Randver in his attempt to slow the advance of the enemy forces. As well, the lack of grass would deny Gorkan-Mar’s boars and livestock much-needed fodder. The cruel Ogre Gorkan-Mar was like a sabre-tooth tiger on the hunt and sensed that his prey would soon succumb. He sat tall in the saddle on his boar that morning and said to his officers, human as well as Ogre and Gargoyle, “The rebel stronghold is within our grasp today! I want the Getic Queen taken alive for delivery to Master Hister in Kul-Oba!”
A dispatch rider approached the Army of King Sigurd. He reported to Lord Gedron, “My Lord, I have urgent dispatches from the Queen!”
“Anton! It is you! You were with Horsa on the Quest for the White Wizard of Shangra-La. You have returned with success?” said an elated Lord Gedron.
“Ya, we have returned with Master Byock much sooner than we hoped, my Lord. I will relate it all to you soon. But now the Queen has sent me with urgent news and a plan. I must see the King and the Earldormen.”
Lord Gedron went with him on through the lines and straight to King Sigurd and Lord Volsung, who were at the centre of a long column of Tervingian infantry and cavalry. The King himself was assisting with the repair of a wheel on one of the wagons hauling a ballista.
/> “Come up from there, My Lord King. There are plenty of men for that work, sire,” Volsung was complaining.
At that moment, King Sigurd stood straight up and saw Gedron approaching with Scout Anton. The King wiped his brow with a cloth in his left hand and with a sweeping right hand swept his long blond hair behind his ears. “Scout Anton!” declared the King with a big wide grin. “You have returned so soon from the Quest seeking the White Wizard?”
“Yes, Your Majesty, and with complete success! I have urgent news from the Queen, sire, on the military situation at Thorstadt and as well her condition,” replied Anton.
The King’s eyes widened and he walked forward as Anton and Gedron dismounted and bowed. The King was worried and replied, “Condition! Is the Queen safe and is the baby unharmed?”
“Yes, sire, but bad things have happened and I must relate them to you in council.”
Lord Volsung sent word to the commanders and within a few moments the Earldormen was assembled and a staff meeting was convened, there in the open field. Just then, King Togrobeg and the Dwarf Lords arrived with General Kroki.
“Speak, Scout Anton,” said the King.
“Sire, the White Wizard came to us at the Oasis of Trolls, and brought us back to Thorstadt on flying unicorns. Once there, the Queen fell gravely ill and it was soon discovered by the Wizard that she and the child had been attacked by a Jotnar. The Wizard cast it out and she is recovering fine. We have new allies as well. The King of the Elves has sent two She-Elves.”
The King interrupted, “She-Elves? Is one of them called Galorfilinde?”
“Yes, sire, this is her name and her mother Zakarah has come down from Fennoskandja as well.”
The King smiled as, in his mind, he remembered when he and his beloved were twelve, and she had first told him of her visions of Elves. How Gwynnalyn had spoken of it, saying, “Sigurd, she will come back when the hour has come when she is needed to help us save our people from the Slaughter-Wolves! We won’t serve them always, but we will be a free people, Sigurd. Mark my word.”
Visigothic_The Barbarians Of Midgard Page 19
