The Twilight Lord

by Bertrice Small

  “You can’t enchant Kol into a lengthy sleep,” Lara said. “He rules the Dark Lands. Without him chaos would reign and more than likely spill out into the New Outlands.”

  “Then you must learn to master your fears,” Kaliq told her quietly. “Your magic is stronger than his because it is pure. That is one reason he wanted you for himself. Without your pure magic he cannot accomplish all he wishes to complete.”

  “I can do nothing until I have convinced Kol that I will not return to him,” Lara replied. “He is a difficult creature at best. Almost like a child when he doesn’t get his way, Kaliq. Have you ever tried reasoning with a child who would have his own way?”

  “Surely you are not considering returning to the Dark Lands,” Ilona said, horrified.

  “Nay. I will have to summon him to the Dream Plain and reveal myself. I must control the situation. I cannot allow him to gain the upper hand,” Lara said thoughtfully. “It must all be on my terms. What of Og? Will you tell him?”

  “I must think,” the prince said slowly. “It is possible that these giants may be convinced to ally themselves with us. I will speak with Og.”

  “Does Og know the truth of my destiny?” Lara wanted to know.

  “He knows little of what has happened so far, my love, but as your mother and I have told you, you have not completely fulfilled your destiny,” the prince answered. “Here at Shunnar there was no reason to wipe memories clean of that year. However if Og is to understand how you came by your information then we must tell him of those months. Do you trust him enough to burden him with the truth?”

  “I have always trusted Og,” Lara replied quietly. “Send for him.”

  The prince nodded and called for Og to be brought up from the valley where he spent most of his time working with the horses that belonged to the Shadow Princes. The giant had not been born when the Forest Lords had massacred his people, but his mother, Oona, had managed to escape to the deepest part of the forest where she had given birth to her son. They had lived in the forest until he was four and they were discovered. Oona saved her only child by telling the Forest Lords that he had not been born when they had killed her people. Her captors had slain her, taking the child giant back with them to their hall to be their servant. They did not know he possessed the collective memory of his people. While she had been in the custody of the Forest Lords, Lara had met Og, and together they had escaped the forest and come into the desert kingdom of the Shadow Princes. Lara had moved on eventually, but Og had remained with Prince Kaliq caring for the horses.

  He strode into the garden where they now sat for, while he was a small giant, he was still over ten feet in height. His pale blue eyes lit up with pleasure seeing Lara. Going to her he knelt, taking her hands in his and kissing them reverently. “My faerie princess, I am overjoyed to see you once again!” he said with a wide smile. Then he sat, his legs crossed, before her.

  Ilona raised an eyebrow. Was she invisible to this giant lout?

  “Og, I am glad to see you, too,” Lara said. “You remember my mother, Queen Ilona, I am sure.”

  The giant turned his head. “Greetings, oh Queen. You are as always the fairest.”

  Slightly mollified, Ilona nodded in return. “Greetings, Og.”

  “We have asked you here, Og, because we need your help,” Prince Kaliq began.

  “This is burdensome, Og,” Lara told him. “I have learned something that may or may not please you, but before I can tell you, I need your word that you will keep my secrets, my old friend.”

  “I would die for you, Lara,” the giant told her and they knew it was true.

  Prince Kaliq then began to speak. He explained to Og how Lara’s destiny had brought her to the Dark Lands, and for what purpose. Og listened silently, but his countenance grew more and more sorrowful as Kaliq’s tale unfolded.

  At last, Lara spoke. “As I have previously told you, Og, I met the lord of the giants, who is an ally of the Twilight Lord. His name is Skrymir.”

  “That indeed was my father’s name,” Og said.

  “Then Skrymir must be your father,” Lara told him. “He returned shortly after your people were massacred, and your mother had escaped into the deep forest. He and his party fled the carnage into the Dark Lands. The Twilight Lord gave them sanctuary and they pledged their loyalty to him. They have been there ever since.”

  Og looked devastated. “Why did he not look for us?” he asked aloud.

  “That is a question you must ask him yourself,” Lara said. “Og, I need your help.”

  “Anything!” he exclaimed.

  “Nay, wait until you have heard what I want of you, old friend,” Lara responded.

  “Kaliq has imprisoned the Twilight Lord within his castle for the next hundred years, but alas, Kol seeks to reach out to me through the Dream Plain. Magnus Hauk knows nothing of my adventures, his memory of that year having been taken away. I love my husband, Og, but I also understand his mortal nature well. I doubt he could forgive me that time with Kol or the fact that I gave the Twilight Lord two sons when I have not yet given him the one thing he wants more than anything. His own son. He would see what was meant to happen and did happen as a betrayal of sorts. I cannot allow that to happen for Magnus’s sake and for the sake of my children.”

  “Tell me what you would have me do, my princess,” Og replied.

  “If Kol cannot be dissuaded to leave Lara in peace,” Kaliq said, “and I do not think that he can, then he is apt to send his giants, his Wolfyn or his dwarf allies into Terah to fetch her back to him. That would be disastrous. If you could meet your father upon the Dream Plain, Og, perhaps you would be able to convince him to eschew the Twilight Lord. The Forest Giants were once a gentle race.”

  “They are no longer gentle,” Lara said. “They are hard and fierce men, I fear.”

  “My father, my mother told me, loved her above all others. He would not even keep another woman after they had mated. It was the one thing that broke her heart. That she did not dare to seek him out and he would never know what became of her or the child she carried,” Og said. “If I can find my father upon the Dream Plain I believe I can convince him to throw in his fortunes with us, for the love he surely still bears Oona. Tell me, Lara, do I look like him?”

  “But for your eyes, aye,” she told him.

  “Then I must have my mother’s eyes,” Og mused. “Can he see my eyes upon the Dream Plain? Will he see Oona in them? It would be a great advantage to us if he could,” the giant said thoughtfully.

  “He can see your eyes,” Kaliq replied. “But what he will see in them is another thing. Still, I will give you a charm that may help you to reach out to Skrymir.”

  “I have never attempted to reach the Dream Plain,” Og said.

  “You have but to lie down to sleep and concentrate upon reaching out to your father,” the prince told his horse master. “I will send a message to your wife that you will remain here with me this night and not go home. It is better that you sleep where we may monitor you. That way when you awaken it will all be fresh in your mind.”

  Og nodded solemnly. “I hope my father likes me,” he half whispered.

  Lara slipped one of her hands into his huge hand. “How could he not be pleased with a son who has become such a fine and honorable man?” she asked, knowing better than most the pain that losing his parents had cost her giant friend.

  Kaliq invited the giant to eat with them in the garden as the evening fell. And afterwards he brought Og to a large room with a great long bed that he had conjured up so the giant could be comfortable. He placed a golden charm shaped like a tree in full leaf about Og’s neck. The tree’s leaves were enameled in various shades of green. “This will keep you safe upon the Dream Plain.”

  “What is it like, my lord?” Og asked.

  “It is a misty place, but you will feel a firmness beneath your feet, and the mists will clear allowing you to see your father and he you,” the prince explained. “If at any time you fin
d yourself threatened or even frightened you may simply picture yourself away from the Dream Plain. When you lie down, concentrate upon your father and call him to you,” Kaliq instructed. He handed Og a goblet of frine. “Drink this, my friend. It will aid in your sleep.” When Og had drained the large goblet, Kaliq said, “Now I will leave you. Dream well.”

  Alone, Og looked about the chamber. It was large and simple with a long single window opening onto a garden. The giant sat down upon the bed and pulled off his boots. Then swinging his legs up he lay flat upon his back. The bed was more than comfortable, he was pleased to note. Outside the window he could hear the song of a night bird. Og closed his eyes and thought of the giant who was called Skrymir. Lara said that his father looked like him, but Og had only seen himself a few times in his life. Still, he concentrated and as he did he felt himself relaxing, slipping away into a deep sleep.

  Opening his eyes suddenly, the giant found himself surrounded by a pale mist that swirled about him gently. This, he realized after a brief moment of fright, was obviously the Dream Plain. Could he move? He sat up and stepped forward cautiously. Aye, he could move. But where was his father? Then he realized it might help if he called him. “Skrymir, son of Thrym, son of Eggther, come to me!” his voice boomed out.

  “Who calls me to the Dream Plain?” a voice thundered back. “Who dares to speak the hallowed names of my father and my father’s father?”

  “I am called Og. I am the son of Skrymir and Oona of the Forest Giants,” Og replied. “If you are that same Skrymir, son of Thrym, son of Eggther, then you are my father. Show yourself to me.”

  Og waited in silence wondering if the other giant would reveal himself, but then the mists fell away from the form of a huge man with red hair who did indeed look like him but that his eyes were amber. Skrymir stood at least two feet taller than Og. He was dressed in a green gown with a leather breastplate, but he was unarmed.

  “You are small,” Skrymir said. “Why are you so small?”

  “My growth was stunted by lack of nutrition and the conditions in which I was forced to survive,” Og answered. “Why did you not look for my mother?”

  “You have Oona’s eyes,” Skrymir said sadly. “I see her now looking out at me. When we returned from the hunt four days after we had left we found the killing ground the Forest Lords had turned our home into,” he began. “The bodies had been mutilated. Some had already fallen prey to the beasts of the wood, and the crows and ravens had taken the eyes from many. We could identify no one. I assumed that your mother had died and our child with her. How did you both survive?”

  “My mother was on the hill picking berries when the Forest Lords swept into our village. She could see the slaughter and mayhem from her vantage point and realizing what was happening she fled into the deep wood, where several months later she gave birth to me. When I was four a party of Forest Lords discovered us. She saved my life by telling them that I had been in her belly on that fateful day. She begged for my life knowing her own would soon be taken. The Forest Lords slew her before me, and then thought it would be amusing to have a giant child as a slave. Since I had not been born until after the destruction visited upon our people the Forest Lords believed their secret was safe. They were not aware that our people have a collective memory that is passed to infants in the womb.”

  Skrymir nodded slowly and then he asked, “Are you still in the forest? If you are we will come and rescue you and slay as many of the Foresters as we can!”

  “Nay, Father, I escaped several years ago. I am the horse master of the Shadow Princes. I make my home at Shunnar, in the desert of Hetar. I have a wife and children.”

  “How have you found me?” Skrymir wanted to know. “If you have a happy existence then why do you seek me out?”

  “You serve the Twilight Lord, my father,” Og said. “Why do you and those with you who are of the light serve the darkness?”

  “Because Lord Kol was the only one willing to shelter us after our families were destroyed,” Skrymir said. “We dared not take our complaints and our case to the High Council of Hetar. We dared not even allow the Forest Lords to learn that some of us had survived. Look what they did to your mother. One frail woman with a small child and they still feared exposure enough to murder her because she knew their secret. Do you believe they would have shown you any mercy had they known of our collective memory? We fled from the forest across the desert and, finding a sea at its far edge, we waded across it. But the land upon the other side, even though empty of mortals, was not suited to our way of life so we traveled onward toward the mountains that make up the Dark Lands. It was here we found safety. We owe Lord Kol much for his kindness to us.”

  “Your master wishes to conquer Hetar and Terah, the land below the mountains,” Og said slowly.

  “Hetar is a weak kingdom. It needs a strong master, and the Twilight Lord means to be that master. As for Terah, its people are simple folk who will be easily taken,” Skrymir said.

  “Father, while Hetar is in its decline, Terah is not. And that land you found deserted on the other side of the Obscura when you fled Hetar is now populated with the clan families of the old Outlands of Hetar. They accept the Dominus of Terah as their overlord. He is a strong man and his wife is a powerful faerie woman.”

  “How do you know this?” Skrymir asked.

  “Because the Domina of Terah is my friend, and Prince Kaliq of the Shadows is her mentor. The Twilight Lord is now penned within his castle by Prince Kaliq’s magic. He will remain there for a hundred years. He can lead no armies of unjust conquest against Hetar and Terah, Father. The Dark Lands is leaderless right now.”

  “Lord Kol may be confined, but the rest of us come and go at will,” Skrymir said. “We will follow his orders and go forth to conquer.”

  “To what purpose?” Og countered.

  “Because he has asked us to,” Skrymir said. “Because he is the only one to shelter our people, my son.”

  “You never asked others, Father. Your complaint is not fair. Why would you follow after someone who would do to the peoples of Hetar and Terah what the Forest Lords did to our people?” Og wanted to know. He looked up at this father he had never known. “Many will die.”

  “You are slight of stature,” Skrymir noted, “but you are large of intellect, my son. I have not considered the consequences of a war before now.”

  “At their height the Forest Giants were few in number,” Og pointed out. “The City of Hetar has a large population and then there are the provinces outside of The City which now include the Outlands. There are many who will suffer from your master’s desire for conquest. And why does he seek Hetar and Terah?”

  Now Skrymir looked confused. These were questions to which he had no answer.

  “Is there hunger in the Dark Lands? Has the population grown too large for your borders?” Og persisted. “If these things are so then could you not seek aid from your neighbors in Hetar and Terah? Why must you march forth and slay them? What have these innocents ever done to you?”

  “You are hurting my head with all your questions,” Skrymir complained. “Our people owe the Twilight Lord their allegiance.”

  “The lord Kol sits in his castle directing his minions to go forth to their destruction,” Og said. “Do you believe Hetar and Terah so weak that they will not fight back? They already know of your coming and are preparing to defend themselves,” Og lied. “The surviving Forest Giants are few. How many will be killed in this foolish foray? And are the dwarfs and Wolfyn so numerous that they, too, can allow their ranks to be decimated? While you go to war, Kol will sit back and watch. He has not even the courage to lead his armies himself, Father. And this is who you would follow into death?” Og stood tall before his sire, his big hands upon his hips.

  “I can listen to you no longer,” Skrymir said irritably. “You confuse me, my son. If indeed you are my son and not some fabrication of magic.”

  “I am your son,” Og assured his father. “If you dou
bt me then come down from your mountains. I will meet you on the other side of the sea which you previously crossed in your flight. You will see I am real. Just be careful in your passing that you do not harm any of the Outland clan families or their livestock who now populate the region. I will await your coming.” He could feel himself fading from the Dream Plain. It was an amazing sensation. “Come to me!” Og called to Skrymir, then he awakened in his large bed. He lay quietly for some long moments. He could see the day beginning to overcome the night outside of his chamber and all was quiet about him. Finally he arose and pulled on his boots.

  It had been a wondrous night, although he felt just the tiniest bit tired. He had to have been sleeping for at least six hours. Had it all be real? Or just a dream? The prince would know. Og departed the chamber and went down into the valley, where the horses he tended were grazing placidly in the early light of dawn. He walked among them, for the beautiful beasts soothed him, and he was yet disturbed by his meeting with his father. Skrymir seemed a hard man. But searching his collective memory, he could not find the words hard or cold in relation to his race. Forests giants were known to be gentle creatures. The man he had met in the night did not fit that description. He had looked like a hardened warrior. But that the face that had looked at him had been his own, he would have doubted that Skrymir was his sire. Og sighed, turning back to cross the great meadow back to the prince’s palace. Kaliq would be awake now and he would want to know exactly what had happened when Og traveled upon the Dream Plain. The giant found his master, Lara and Ilona in the garden eating their morning meal.

  The prince waved Og to his side, offering him a cup of fresh-squeezed juice. “You look tired, my friend,” Kaliq said. “Can you tell us of your journey?”

  Og swallowed down the liquid in his cup. It seemed to restore him. “I met Skrymir,” he began and then he told them everything in careful detail. “I did not once mention Lara by name,” he said. “I do not believe that Skrymir knew that the mate Kol chose was the Domina of Terah. And he did not ask me how I found him, which was curious.”