Visigothic_The Barbarians Of Midgard

by Jay P Newcomb

  “We will make it in due course, my son,” replied Volsung. “We will be there in the morning. The fires only look bigger because of the night, that is all.”

  Hister saw it as well through the eyes of his Huggin, and, laughing with sadistic glee, he said, “Burn Thorstadt, burn! You’re finished, Gwynnalyn! You will roast in flames before you are born Man-Child, for my Dragon is on his way!”

  Up in the tower, the Queen drew the Gwynnian Scythe and held it out where all down below could see it. The sword began to glow with a bright blue halo. People in the courtyard below stopped and took notice. A sudden cloud rose out of nowhere over the tower and the wind began to blow in a whirlwind around the Mead Hall. Even though her arm grew weary, she held on. Suddenly, Sigmund and Eileza came in. Sigmund saw that his beloved sister’s arm was so tired, and so he ran to her, placing both his hands under her arm, giving her the support she needed just in time.

  They looked at each other and Siggy said, “I love you, sis.”

  She had a tear in her eye and said, “I love you too, Siggy.”

  After what seemed to be a good half an hour, Byock and Min Tze rose and stood beside the Queen, with Galorfilinde and Zakarah on either side of them. Zakarah climbed out onto the roof of the tower through one of the large windows, standing up on top of the tower as the wind blew through her hair, which was once more white-blonde! Her clothing had miraculously changed into a dazzling white dress which flowed in waves of shimmering light from her shoulders down to her feet, which were now bare, as Zakarah held her hands out towards the storm! She spoke to Thor, saying, “Ukkonen, you must stop this wind! It is fanning the flames in the city!”

  Thor appeared above the clouds, but remained unseen to all but Zakarah. A bolt of lightning flashed downward, first through the Elf Spirit Maiden and then downward, where it struck the outstretched sword in the hands of Queen Gwynnalyn! The Queen felt only a mild shock and it seemed to energise her even more. Siggy felt it as well and now he was so glad that he had not run off to fight at the main gate, at least not yet anyhow, for he knew that he was needed here and that the hand of destiny was upon him. He felt the power of Thor surge through his small and slender body. The lightning seemed to pass through Sigmund and a halo formed around Gwynnalyn and him. It was then that another small charge jumped from Siggy’s heart and entered into the Queen through her navel, connecting with the little infant prince within her. Thus, Sigmund and his Nephew were forever connected as brothers of the Spirit!

  At that moment, Gerda entered the room holding a frightened Lilia and Rutia was at her side and her two Thanes Austri and Vestri, and Greta behind them all. They were dumbstruck at the scene which greeted their eyes.

  A woman below in the courtyard shouted, “Behold our Queen! She stands in the watch tower like a stone wall and Thor is with us!”

  At that moment the wind ceased to blow and the people worked to get containment on the flames before they had a firestorm on their hands.

  Priestess Byrnhilda joined the group in the tower and started singing and chanting an ancient tune of healing with her hand on the Queen’s tummy. The baby within jumped and kicked and as the Queen felt the child moving she let out a war cry; a roar, as it were. Sigmund was almost overwhelmed with awe as he beheld what was happening to himself and his sister and the wind blew into the room through the open windows and through his long smooth red-raven hair, pushing it around past his ears.

  Princess Eileza’s thick blue-black hair was blowing in the spirit wind as she came over, stood beside Sigmund in the halo and, with a look of glory on her face, she nudged him with her left elbow in his rib-cage and said, “This is glory, Siggy! This is glory and we are truly part of it all!”

  Lilia was no longer frightened and she said to Gerda and Rutia, “See, it’s going to be all right, Grandmas.”

  Greta and the two Queen Mothers were just too overwhelmed to answer her. Austri and Vestri, took it all in and remained silent and loyal, but smiled as wide as they could, seeing their proud little Princess Eileza with Siggy and the Queen in the midst of the glorious halo of blue light!

  “What is this strange storm?” remarked Gorkan-Mar to his officers.

  General Argan-Mar, brother of Gorkan-Mar, replied, “I believe it is a foul omen, brother. I fear that Thor has come and taken the side of the rebel alliance.”

  “May all of your guesses be wrong!” replied Gorkan-Mar. “But they are usually not.”

  The black razor-back, betusked boars upon which they sat grunted and oinked.

  The city gates continued to burn through the long night and Lord Randver made sure that there were plenty of troops stationed at each gate in order to meet the expected attacks when the dawn came forth. As well, he had organised a reserve force of mobile shock troops that could easily be deployed to any place in the fortifications where a breach might occur, especially in the weaker walls around the Dwarf Quarter.

  When the dawn came, the Ogre infantry, with their Sarmatian allies, made a full frontal assault and their roaring battle cry was as ugly as it intense! Gorkan-Mar wanted to get as many troops as he could against the walls and then move them into the burning gates and breach them! Ogres and Sarmatians died in the hundreds and by the bushel from a hail of arrows and sling-stones as they attempted to cross the trenches, the flames of which had nearly ceased! A unit of Gargoyle Wing Trooper flew in above the main western gate, which was still burning but not fully down, yet the Ogres had continued to lob Hellene fire into them throughout the night. The searing heat was too much for the creatures and the longbow men drove them back.

  Seeing this, Argan-Mar remarked, “These Teufels Dragos sends are not good flying infantry, brother. We should only use them to scout enemy lines and not in attacks such as this.”

  The storm above the city once more began to gather force and the Imperial Army continued to worry and to contemplate what manner of storm this might be. There were as yet no drops of rain. The wind began to blow hard and it swept the Gargoyles away. Thor stopped it once more so that the city would not be incinerated, but the fight raged on.

  By noon the next day the Imperial Army made another huge attack! They made it past the first and second trenches and moved huge battering rams forward to all six city gates! The storm had not seemed to do anything more in these last few hours and so Gorkan-Mar began to discount it as nothing more than a weather pattern.

  “Victory is within our grasp now, big brother Gorkan!” declared Argan-Mar.

  “It is indeed, little brother! Show these rebels the black flag! Let not one live to tell except the Queen! She is to be captured alive and sent west to Kul-Oba on the first available transport. That witch is with child and the infant within her must not be harmed. This is by the order of King Idanthrsus, our noble leader himself!” replied Gorkan-Mar.

  His brother laughed back and replied, “Who do you think is the real leader, Gorkan? It is not the Scythian King, I dare say.”

  “And you would dare say right, little brother. Hister rules! Heil Hister!”

  The battering rams were positioned and the Ogres used them to crash through the blackened, charred remains of the log crib gate houses! Orges swarmed into the city and the fighting was a brutal melee! The clash of swords, spears, tridents and pole-axes could be heard and the air was full of darts and sling-stones! But, once again, swarms of monarch butterflies appeared all throughout the ranks of the Imperial Army!

  Gauron rushed into the dining hall, where the Queen and her family were nervously eating skause. The smell of burning wood and smoke permeated the air inside the Mead Hall. “My Queen, the Ogres have breached the city gates on two sides and the other four are not far behind! The Dwarf Quarter is in flames! You must evacuate, My Lady, at once!”

  Everyone’s eyes were wide with fear. “Lord Gauron, I will not until the last possible moment.”

  Just then, Lord Randver and his staff officers entered and gave a full report to Her Majesty. “My Queen, the Sarmatians have just bre
eched the north gate and are advancing yard by yard towards the Mead Hall. Sarmatians are in the city via the south gate and are fighting house by house in the Dwarf Quarter, and Ogres have crashed the western gate! We are easily holding the Sarmatians, but the Ogres are slowly pushing us back.”

  “Where is that dear husband of mine, My Lords? He’s late!”

  “Fear not, Eowythane, he shall come soon before the city falls,” said Galorfilinde reassuringly.

  Gorkan-Mar and his brother and entire staff rode forward on their nasty, armour-covered boars towards the south gate in order to enter the city and spur the advance, which the Tervingians had checked.

  “These horrid butterflies; what sorcery is this?” exclaimed Argan-Mar.

  Just then, an Ogre scout rode up on an oinking, armour-covered boar, saying, “General, the rearguard has been attacked! Swarms of rebel troops are pouring through and have destroyed our baggage train!”

  “What is this?” shouted the General of the Ogres. He looked and there on the hill was the great King Sigurd himself, sword in hand, leading the charge down the slope!

  At just that moment, Byock looked on from the Wizard’s Tower. He lifted the palm of his hand to his chin, and there on the tip of his fingers was a great and wondrous monarch butterfly, the size of a small bird. The White Wizard of Shangra-La blew gently on its wings and the creature took flight. It flew from the tower, south over the main thoroughfare and, as it began to pass over the Ogres, the millions of butterflies within their ranks suddenly began to explode! They caused the Ogres to catch fire and the creatures ran wildly back and forth from side to side, every which way they could in order to escape. Many rolled on the ground trying to extinguish the blue flame which engulfed them. The Wizard could see through the eyes of his great butterfly and he directed it over all the advancing columns of enemy troops which were in the city. Then it passed over all of the Ogres which, on the outside of the fortifications, had been trapped between the walls of the city and the advance of King Sigurd! All at once all the millions of fluttering butterflies exploded and the blue flames began to roast the imperial Army!

  “What sinister magic is this? Where is our Wizard Hister when we need him?” shouted Gorkan-Mar.

  Argan-Mar replied, as he spun his boar around, “Brother, we are undone! We must retreat before we are either roasted to death or cut off and slaughtered by King Sigurd!”

  A cheer went up from the Gomerian warriors on the walls as the Ogres began to be devoured and those that could attempted to retreat. Those that made it across the trench and were not devoured by the flame were intercepted by King Sigurd and his noble freedom fighters! Lord Gedron led his horsemen forward and his father, Lord Volsung, with sword high in the air, stayed beside his son-in-law the King as onward rode the valiant host!

  In spite of all that Zakarah Elf had said to him yesterday, something was gnawing inside Siggy. He was desperate to do something and he could not hold himself back. He went to the armoury and drew a sword and armour. Then, before anyone could stop him, he ran through the corridor.

  Eileza saw him and shouted, “Hold on, Siggy! You’re not going without me!” She already had her weapons on as she ran after Siggy as fast as she could go.

  The Dwarf Thane Austri shouted, “No, Princess! Don’t go! Stop, it’s an inferno out there!”

  She ignored him as they ran through the throne room and burst past Gauron and the Thanes, who had opened the door to bring in more troops to defend the Mead Hall. Once into the street, they could see the horror of the battle and smell the burning flesh and hair of the Ogres.

  Now that he was outside, Sigmund wasn’t sure what to do, and Eileza, in a pant from the run, said, “Now what, Siggy? We darn sure cannot stay out in the open like this!”

  He replied, “I know, Leeza! Let’s help drive them out of the western gate!”

  She replied angrily, “OK, Siggy, but next time you darn well better have a better plan than to just simply get past Gau-Gau and the Thanes!”

  The two of them ran for the western gate, down a street lined with wooden log and plank houses! Suddenly, an Ogre burst at them from out of an outhouse! He bashed Eileza in the head with a glancing blow from his mace and she fell violently sideways, bleeding from her head and left collarbone! Sigmund heard her scream and spun around, coming face-to-face for the first time in his entire life with an Ogre Warrior! He went into the fighting stance that his father had taught him during their training in the Bear Pit and his heart was racing!

  “So, what do we have here; a little warrior? Has Sigurd no men to send that he has to send a child!” growled the Ogre.

  Ogres are generally ugly and filthy, with prominent fangs and facial features tending towards the grotesque. They resemble a mixture of an ape and a man with pig-like facial features. This one had tusks like a wild boar! Ogre skin is typically a shade of green, grey, black, brown, or sometimes red, and this nasty one facing Sigmund was green, wearing chain-mail and leather armour.

  The two of them engaged in battle! The Ogre came after Sigmund with cunning and skill using his mace! Sigmund leaped out of the way and deflected the blow of the mace with his sword! Sigmund moved between the crumpled form of Eileza on the street and the Ogre!

  Seeing this, the creature laughed and said, “Well, well, little human! It seems you have a little Dwarf girl in your heart!” The Ogre laughed and continued, “You’ll not live to grow up and marry that one, little man! And why is that, you ask, little man? Because today you left your mother’s skirt and ran into me!” He lunged at Sigmund, who stepped to the side and once more deflected the mace!

  The two of them went round and round in circles and Sigmund managed to get in a few good blows with his sword, which were absorbed by the Ogre’s armour, and others the veteran mercenary easily blocked with his red dragon shield. But it was working and Sigmund was managing to draw the Ogre away from Eileza, who lay knocked out and bleeding on the ground!

  Fires were raging all around them as butterflies were exploding in blue gas flames and incinerating thousands of Ogres!

  “I may not live to get out of this, little man! But neither will you!” declared the Ogre.

  Sigmund caught the Ogre with a blow and cut his face open along his pig-snout nose! The Ogre swung back with his mace as he fell backwards and rolled onto the ground! The mace caught Sigmund in the hip just below his chain-mail and sent the boy spinning to the ground! He lost grip of his sword as well and his blood was spilling into the street! The Ogre was quickly on his feet and leaped over to kill Sigmund! He raised his mace, but then he lowered it. He leaned over Sigmund to gloat and then he grabbed the boy by the neck and pulled him off the ground! He stuck his face into Sigmund’s and the boy could smell the foul, rotten scent of his swine’s breath! Sigmund was choking and the Ogre said, “I could not let you die without you knowing by whose hand it was! I am Gigan-Mar, cousin of Gorkan-Mar, General of the Ogres of Morag!”

  The Ogre suddenly grunted in pain and he dropped Sigmund to the ground! He stumbled around to see who had stabbed him in the back. The sword had penetrated between seams in Gigan-Mar’s armour and had sliced deep under his left arm in the pit socket! Blood was gushing out and covered Sigmund, some of it going onto his face as he gasped for air! The attacker pulled the sword out and then, as the Ogre fell forward, the attacker plunged the sword straight down into the Ogre between his neck and collar one and then pulled the weapon free! It was Princess Eileza who had saved Sigmund’s life, just as he had saved her’s by drawing Gigan-Mar away! She stood there a moment with her sword outstretched in case the Ogre was not fully incapacitated! Her hair was dishevelled and there were conjealed and matted masses of blood in it. Her eyes were wide open and on her face was a look that showed she was stunned and had been acting out of pure instinct. Then she hacked off the Ogre’s head and threw it into the burning building next to them! “No one hurts Siggy!” she cried out at the top of her lungs!

  Coming to her senses, she ran to the s
ide of Sigmund, and, taking out a cloth from her belt bag, she wiped his face. Sigmund’s eyes were wide and he just kept stuttering over and over, “But there’s Ogres out here, Leeza!”

  She smiled and softly replied, “Oh, Siggy. Ogres schmoegers.”

  After that day, Sigmund was never the same again and in his nightmares he was tormented by Ogres!

  At that moment, Austri and Vestri ran up and Austri said, “This fight of yours today will be sung about by the Skalds, Princess. But come now. We have to get Sigmund back to the Mead Hall before he bleeds out! Vestri, put Sigmund over your shoulders and we’ll cover you.”

  In no time they had the wounded Sigmund in hand and dodged a hail of darts, sling-stones, arrows and exploding butterflies in a mad dash back to the Mead Hall, while other Tervingian Archers, including a gallant Shiled Maiden covered their flight to safety.

  During all of this time, the storm clouds had remained and the lightning once more began to flash. Then, at the top of the storm appeared Thor and Wotan! Lightning flashed and peels of thunder cracked as Jormungandr appeared! This time he appeared as a giant red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns! This fallen angel, a Jotnar, was a servant of Loki and so once more did the battle of the Mighty Ones of the Heavens commence! They flew around Jormungandr and lightning from Thor’s hammer, known as Mjolnir, and shield struck the serpent in the rear! Jormungandr roared in defiance of his foes that had come to prevent his direct intervention on behalf of the Imperial Army. From all seven of his heads, he unleashed streams of fire against Thor and Wotan! The Angels held up their shields and the flames passed around them, for it was as though they were enclosed in a magic bubble! The Dragon laughed and changed shapes, back to his normal appearance of only one head. He laughed and said, “I am fire, Wotan! Thor, your shielding cannot last forever! My, oh my, how puny and pathetic the two of you are, while your little friends below you burn in flames which you cannot stop!” He laughed with a growling deep voice.

  Jormungandr now assumed the shape of a great Gargoyle over the city and all people could see him. But Mighty Thor and his brother Wotan, who were in form not unlike the Gomerians themselves, attacked him with spiritual swords of flame and light.