by Jacey Sturch
We rush for the legs of the Ice Behemoth and start slashing at its legs. The skin of the Ice Behemoth is tough like leather. We are doing little damage to the creature. The Ice Behemoth is slow moving in the way it fights, but it makes up for that in brute strength.
The Ice Behemoth swings its club in a wide arc, bringing it down hard. We dodge the club narrowly, and a crater forms where the club hits the earth. Raina recovers first and lunges, driving her sword into the beast’s foot.
It roars in pain and swings its club at Raina. She tries to jump out of the way, but the club still clips her shoulder. She flies back from the force of the hit and lands in a pile of snow. I rush to her, help her out of the snow. “Are you ok, Raina?” She winces, but nods and quickly stands. “I’m all right enough for now. We need to focus.” We charge back into the fray where the Telun Warriors are holding their own against the Ice Behemoth.
But there is still very little damage being done to the Ice Behemoth. For all our effort, there are only a few minor cuts on its legs and the stab wound in its foot from Raina. The wounds haven’t even fazed it either. It didn’t seem to tire, swinging its club in wide arcs. It is getting harder to dodge the club each time. One of the Telun Warriors cannot get out of the way in time and takes the club in the chest. She flies back and hits a rock outcropping with a sickening crack. She falls to the snow, unmoving.
The Ice Behemoth pauses its wild swinging for a moment, before resuming, swinging at a new target. It swings and hits the snow-capped mountain top. The snow and ice fall off the rock and start racing towards us. I call out to everyone, “It is causing an avalanche! Brace yourselves!” No sooner than I have said that, the snow hits us.
When the snow settles, I push through to the surface. I see that most of our group is buried in the snow. One of the Telun Warriors has made his way to the surface of the snow. The rest of our group is visible, poking out of the snow but unable to free themselves. The remaining Telun Warrior charges the Ice Behemoth once more, still trying to weaken it by attacking the legs.
I realize quickly that this strategy will not work, even if we had our full group. I start looking around for a different way, and then I see it. When it knocked the snow off the mountain top and caused the avalanche, it revealed a way to climb up the mountain. There is a small ledge on the mountain that I could stand on, previously hidden by the snow. If I stand on that ledge, I can possibly attack the Ice Behemoth at chest level.
With this new plan in mind I yell, “Keep it off me, I have an idea.” The warrior still fighting calls back, “As you say, do what you must.” While he is distracting it, I begin climbing further up the mountain to the small ledge. One of the swings of the behemoth’s club goes wide and hits the mountain. I nearly lose my grip on the mountain, as the whole rock shakes with the force of the hit.
When it stops shaking, I continue my climb up the mountain and reach the ledge. From this ledge, I am just above the Ice Behemoth’s chest. It still hasn’t noticed me and continues to swing at the warrior below. I ready my sword and leap from the ledge. I drive my sword into the Ice Behemoth’s chest with as much force as I can muster.
The sword sinks into its chest, and the Ice Behemoth stills almost immediately. I land in a snow pile, cushioned from the fall. I sit up and watch as the Ice Behemoth slowly sways and then topples over, dead. By now, the rest of our group has managed to dig themselves out of the snow.
As they all celebrate the victory, I retrieve my sword. We climb back down the mountain, and I am ecstatic. We helped the Haelind people and now we will have their support in our fight against Queen Aetheria.
We arrive at Selvgr by nightfall. Raina and one of the other warriors go to the healers to have their wounds treated. The rest of us go to speak with Ural Gunnald. Ural Gunnald awaits us in his longhouse. He stands to greet us, “You are back. How did you fare in your quest?” I walk towards him, “The Ice Behemoth has been defeated. Your people are safe again.”
He rushes towards me, closing the distance between us quickly. “That is joyous news. I thank you, for you have helped me protect my people. I only have one more thing to ask of you before we support your cause.”
I hesitate, wondering if there will be more difficult battles he will ask me to fight before he will help me. “All I ask is that when you defeat the queen and take the throne, that you restore diplomatic relations with us. My wish is for our two kingdoms to once again be friends. Will you swear that to me? That you will allow for trade and travel between our kingdoms?”
I respond quickly “Of course I will. I also hope that we can become friends.” Ural Gunnald smiles and leads me out of the longhouse to announce the news to his people. When we emerge from the house, I see hundreds of people gathered outside. When they see us, they stand at attention waiting to hear what the Ural has to say.
“My people! Leora of Asinia has come to us seeking our aid in her quest to take the throne! She has done us a great service, ridding the mountains of the Ice Behemoth. On this day, I pledge the full support of the Telun Warriors to her cause! Let us fight and be victorious or die honorably!” The assembled crowd roars in response, growing louder and louder, in anticipation of what is to come.
The next few days are spent preparing to depart. The Telun spend every day since the announcement training for battle. Soon, Raina is recovered from her injuries from the battle and we go to the longhouse to meet with Ural Gunnald. He greets us and has us sit at his table while we discuss the plan. “So, your plan is to try and infiltrate the palace to poison the queen. The backup plan is an all-out battle with my warriors providing support?” “Yes, that is the plan. Hopefully, that will cause the least loss of life.”
He nods sagely. “So, my warriors will prepare and then proceed to the capital city rebel headquarters. What will you be doing?” “We will travel back through Asinia to Maudan. We will gather information that we need to make the poison and then we will return to the capital as well.”
With the basics of the plan described, we spend the rest of the morning going over the details of what is needed from the Telun Warriors. Once that is finished, Raina and I prepare to leave for the next part of our journey. By the time the sun is high in the sky, Raina and I are on the road to Maudan.
Chapter 7
Raina and I have been traveling for almost a day and are nearing the border into Asinia once again. Strangely, this time the border is unguarded. Fearing an ambush, we proceed across the border into Asinia carefully.
The only sound for miles is the sound of ice and snow crunching under foot. I keep waiting to hear the sound of pounding feet racing towards us or the sound of someone calling out an alarm to other guards, but there is nothing except the sound of howling winds. After several minutes of no movement, we rush away from the eerily abandoned border.
Once we reach a little cave, we pause for a moment. Raina looks behind us, towards the border. “I wonder why there aren’t any guards at the border this time? It doesn’t make any sense.” I was wondering the exact same thing. Why would the guards suddenly withdraw from the border? Surely, they would be concerned we would come back across the border.
While I am happy we didn’t have to fight our way back across the border, a feeling of dread forms in my stomach. It feels like a storm is brewing on the horizon. We wait in that cave for what feels like hours, still expecting to hear movement from outside.
Despite our trepidation, we continue on our journey. The darkness of the night starts to envelop us, and makes it difficult to see the path forward. We decide to stop at Idina’s once more for the night, and then continue to Maudan in the morning.
As we near the village, we see a bright orange glow coming from beyond the horizon, the only light in the inky night. Sensing something is wrong, we pick up the pace, rushing towards Dawnfalls. When we can see the village, we stop in horror. Dawnfalls is in flames.
We race towards the village and get a closer look. Upon our approach, we see the royal guard leaving the village, and the e
ntrance to the village blocked by debris. We can hear screams coming from the village as smoke rises into the night sky. We rush to village gates and try to help clear the debris and free the villagers.
We pull the pieces of debris away from the village entrance piece by piece. The heat of the flames fans our faces as we work. Our hands become covered in soot as we pull more debris from the entrance.
When we have cleared enough that people can leave the village, Raina calls out, “Over here, the entrance is clear. You can escape! Hurry!” Hearing Raina’s call, several people rush to leave the village. We help to pull people through the opening, trying to get as many people out of the fiery village.
Soon, though, the entrance to the village collapses because of flames. The screaming of the remaining villagers is quickly silenced after the collapse. We all stand in horror as we realize how many people were just lost. I turn around to face the villagers that were pulled from the flames. “What happened here? Why did they burn the village?”
An older man, covered in soot, coughs and replies, “They came just as the sun was setting. They said that the queen knew members of the resistance had stayed here. They said if the traitor that housed the resistance came forward, the rest of the village would be spared. Idina came forward, she tried to sacrifice herself to save us. They locked her in her house and set it ablaze!” Raina and I stand in shock.
The man continues, losing his composure, “Even after they set it on fire, even after she sacrificed herself for us, they still said that we were all traitors and had to die a traitor’s death. They blocked the way out of the village and lit it on fire as well! If you two hadn’t come, we would all be dead.”
Several people also offer their thanks, but one person’s voice cuts through the noise. “Stop thanking them! They’re the reason this happened in the first place. I saw them, they were the ones that Idina housed. They are the resistance members the royal guards were looking for!”
A few of the villagers hesitate after hearing this. Some of the villagers start to glare at us, realizing the implications of what had been said. The tension in the air is palpable. Just as things look like it might get violent, the older, soot covered man whips around to face the man that spoke. “It is not their fault. The only one at fault for this is the queen. She is the one who ordered this.” This seems to calm several of the villagers, with only a few left grumbling.
By now, the fire has burnt itself out, leaving only a charred husk of the village that once stood there. The surviving villagers venture into the smoldering village to collect their belongings that survived the fire.
I rush into the village as well, despite Raina’s calls. I had to see Idina myself, still hoping that she was somehow alive, despite knowing there was little chance of that. I find her house in ruins, nothing but charred rubble remaining. I race inside and find Idina lying near the hearth where we once sat together and spoke late into the night. She is badly burned, and near death. I know, looking at her now, that there is nothing that can be done to save her.
She opens her eyes, hazy with pain. She recognizes me though and gives a pain filled smile. I rush to her side, fighting the urge to cry. “I am so sorry, Idina. If we had never stopped here, none of this would have happened!” She wheezes, trying to speak. “This is not your fault Leora, do not even entertain that idea.” I start to cry still feeling the familiar guilt in my chest. “I truly wish I could have lived to see you on the throne. But I know you will succeed and be an amazing queen. Live well Leora.”
With the smile still on her face, her eyes slip closed for the final time. I collapse next to her body, and weep for all the souls lost today. I emerge from the village and see Raina standing there with a look of despair as the loss of the day hits her as well.
Raina starts to plan what to do next and how to help these people that just lost everything, trying to keep her mind from focusing on the feeling of loss in the air. Meanwhile, I am still in shock. Of course, I had heard tales of the queen’s cruelty. I had even heard first-hand accounts from people in the resistance and from my own family. But this is the first time I have actually seen it. How could a woman be so cruel? How could she order the burning of a whole village because one person let me and Raina sleep in their house.
I am brought back to reality by Raina placing her hand on my shoulder. “Are you alright? You are quite pale.” I face Raina with a strained smile, “Yes, I am fine. Just a bit shocked. This is the first time I have seen something like this.”
Raina gets a serious look on her face as she looks out on the smoldering ruins of the city. “Now you have really seen why we have to defeat Queen Aetheria.” I nod numbly, as I watch the villagers sift through the rubble of their burned village. “What will happen to them now?” Raina takes a deep breath and sighs. “They will most likely head to the closest village and try to start over.”
Before we leave, I decide to help with Idina’s burial. I leave an offering of flowers at her grave and pray that she is at peace. I am surrounded by the sounds of people weeping as they care for their fallen family members. The feeling of grief looms over the village like a never-ending shadow.
Raina and I speak with the village elder, to ask if he and the rest of the village wanted to accompany us to the next village. But he declines the offer. “Thank you, but you have more important things to do. And we have to give the rest of the dead a proper burial which will take time. You should continue on your journey with all haste.” Raina and I do as he says and continue our journey, leaving the ruined village behind us.
We arrived at the village of Thronwick, which has a resistance base with whom we can stay. We are careful to make sure no one sees us, so as not to invite calamity to this village as well. When we are let into the base, we are brought to the leader of the Thronwick resistance.
We inform him of what has happened at Dawnfalls. He is horrified but appears resigned to the news. Raina and I eat dinner in silence that night, as those surrounding us talk happily, unknowing of what had occurred that day.
We are awake again by early light and on the road before breakfast. Before we continue to Maudan, we send a message to the resistance headquarters in the capital city to inform them of all that has transpired. As much as we want to update them in person, time is of the essence and we must keep moving on our journey. If we delay, the queen could find out about our plan, which would mean trouble for all of Asinia. Soon after the messenger has left, we gather our belongings and leave, continuing to Maudan.
We move at a lightning pace, trying to cover as much ground as we can before nightfall. As the cold darkness of the night envelops us, we find a small cave to camp in for the night. As the fire light fills the cave, we discuss what Maudan will be like.
Maudan is known for their scholarship. They contain a vast wealth of knowledge on almost every subject. They value the voice of the people and are led by a council of five elected officials. They typically stay out of international affairs, preferring to maintain the peace in their own land. It will be difficult convincing them to help us.
Raina’s face is framed by the shadows of the cave. “We cannot let what happened at Dawnfalls keep us from moving forward. It is important that we keep going. Idina and the rest of those who were lost would want that. We owe it to them to succeed. We cannot accept failure. When we get Maudan, we need to go immediately before the council and plead for their assistance.”
“Will they even help us? You said it yourself, they try to stay out of the affairs of other lands. Even if we are only asking for knowledge and not for them to directly fight, they still may not help.”
Raina looks as troubled as I am and remains silent for several minutes. “We just have to hope we can convince them. If they really won’t help us, then we will just have to try and get a look at their archives on our own. Now let’s get some rest. We have a long day tomorrow.”
Raina rises from her spot beside the fire and readies for bed. Soon, both of us are lying in silence in the
bed rolls. Raina’s breath evens out quickly, leaving me alone with my thoughts. I spend the night haunted by the screams of the dead villagers and the sights of the burned village.
Chapter 8
The queen sat in silence, her stomach turning as she gave the order to burn Dawnfalls to the ground. She never liked this, but it was necessary for the kingdom. She kept repeating that thought to herself as her captain of the guard saluted her and left to carry out the horrific orders. He was used to orders such as these; they didn’t faze him anymore.
As the queen sat in the now deathly silent throne room, she tried to ignore the familiar feeling of guilt gnawing at her mind. While she may not like these kinds of orders, she knew that she had to do this. She knew that the subjects of Asinia would rise against her if given the chance. She had to make them fear her, or all would be lost.
She rose from the throne and went to retire to her chambers. As she walked through the eerie and gloomy castle, she watched her servants cower from her. They wouldn’t even look in her eye, for fear of how Aetheria would react.
She wasn’t necessarily pleased by her subjects fearing her. But there was no other way. Without King Reynaud, they would never respect her as queen. Her mother had taught her from a young age that the only way a woman is respected is when she is feared. Aetheria had seen what happened to women after their husbands died.
When her father was still alive, Aetheria’s life was full of glamour and luxury. She had the finest clothes and the best jewelry. She lived in a luxurious estate and was invited to all the best parties. Her family was very close to the royal family of Riswen and enjoyed all the perks that came with that status.
Then Aetheria’s father died. Everything changed. The respect that her family had enjoyed for years was gone. The entire Riswen royal court turned their backs on her family. Aetheria watched as her mother struggled to maintain their status, only to be rejected time and again. They lost everything, all their fine clothes and jewels. Their estate fell into disrepair and the halls that used to be filled with music and laughter grew silent.
