by Peter Hall
“Well?” Durandal said.
“Well what?” replied the guard, confused.
“May I enter?”
“Oh! Yes of course go on in, speak with one of the king's advisors they will get you an audience with him… if you're lucky.” the guard said.
“Thank you.” Durandal said and headed inside the castle with Eir in tow. He put her down and she walked alongside him as they made their way through the huge annex room. The room was painted white with red velvet robes hanging from the ceiling. There were white pillars in two rows along the sides of the room and there were many beautiful paintings and artifacts around the room. There were oriental vases and statues of gods and heroes. There were weapons and armor from ancient battles on display. They followed the red carpet all the way to the end of the room and they were greeted by an old man in a brown robe. He was standing in front of a large wooden door with guards posted on either side. The old man shuffled towards them as they approached.
“How may I help you?” the man said and smiled.
“I seek an audience with the king. I have information regarding the war.”
The man looked at Durandal and tilted his head slightly. “And what is this information?” he said, still smiling.
Durandal gritted his teeth. “These evil beings that have befouled Siera. They have a master in Asgard they answer to. We need to send an army to Asgard and destroy this... “
The old man leaned closer. “This what?” he said, intrigued.
“This thing... controlling them.” Durandal replied.
The old man stood up straight and put his hands on his hips. “And what is this… thing... that you say is commanding these night terrors?” he said and raised an eyebrow.
Durandal could feel his blood boiling and he gripped the hilt of his sword. “I don't know!” he snapped. “Look I need to speak to the king now! This is a matter of urgency!”
The old man crossed his arms. “So… you say that there is some thing lurking in Asgard but you don't know what it is... and this thing is somehow commanding these foul, mindless creatures?” he started laughing. “Do you know how preposterous that sounds boy! I'm sorry, the king is a very busy man. He doesn't have time to indulge in your… fantasies.” he said and laughed.
Durandal punched the old man square in the face and he dropped like a sack of potatoes. He leapt over the old man’s limp body and slammed one of the guard’s heads into the wall with his forearm, knocking him out cold. Eir pulled out her sword and charged at the other guard. His eyes widened and she stabbed his shin. Just as he was about to scream Durandal punched him across the jaw and he dropped to the ground. Eir sheathed her sword and took her flute from her belt as Durandal pushed open the large wooden doors to the throne room.
Bryn made it to the northern gate and as she approached, she could hear the groans and growls of the undead, along with shouting and screaming from the living, coming from beyond the wall. There was a group of guards at the gate and one of them walked toward Bryn as she approached, gesturing with his hand to stop.
“Gate’s closed, the king's orders.” He said and gripped the hilt of his sword.
Bryn stopped and caught her breath. Sweat was beading on her forehead. She looked along the northern wall. It stretched for quite a distance along the perimeter. She could see about a hundred archers along the ramparts, firing their arrows into the undead below.
“What is happening beyond the wall?” She said to the guard.
He looked around. “Undead. They breached the outer wall. We got about.. Well, we had about four or five hundred men out there fightin’ em off. We can’t open the gates now it’s too dangerous.”
Bryn looked at the gate, its doors sealed shut with a huge wooden beam and five more large beams bracing it shut.
“So the men, they are trapped out there with the undead?”
“They’re holding the line.” he said, over the sound of screaming coming from beyond the wall.
Bryn looked over the guards shoulder and saw a staircase leading up to the ramparts. She pushed past the guard and jogged up the stairs. When she got to the top she could see the line of archers firing down on the undead below. The only way to attack Iliad from the north was from the river and up the hill, which gave the city a superior tactical position against any aggressors. There was an outer and inner wall and in the hundred yards or so between the walls there was a fierce battle going on, all the way into the distance. There were hundreds of soldiers down there fighting thousands of draugr. Draugr were falling from the outer wall onto the ground, pouring over the edge. There were about a hundred archers on the outer wall firing arrows down on both sides and there were soldiers hacking the draugr apart with their swords. Bryn squinted and saw a huge man in the centre of the outer wall wielding a battle axe. He was wearing heavy steel armor and a helmet. He looked about twice as big as the other soldiers. With each swing of his axe, dozens of draugr went flying in the air, sailing back down over the other side in pieces.
Bryn’s heart was racing as she watched the scene unfolding in front of her. She looked closer at the draugr and noticed that they were all dead Northerners. She got a chill and realised that this was the people of Asgard. Are my people all dead? She thought as she looked on in horror. She headed down the staircase and ran back up the main road towards the castle.
She ran through the annex room, past the three limp bodies outside the throne room and opened the large wooden doors. Durandal and Eir were talking to the king. He sat on a golden throne at the rear of the large room. Durandal had his arms folded and Eir was sitting on the king's lap, telling him something. He was an old man with an orange beard. He wore a red robe and a red and gold crown. The king started laughing and as Bryn approached he looked up.
“Oh! This must be the brave and heroic Northerner woman I have heard so much about!” he said looking at Bryn wide eyed with a huge smile. “Wonderful!” he said and clapped his hands together.
Eir laughed and clapped “Yes!”
Bryn looked over at Durandal and he shook his head.
“My lord…” Bryn said before the king interrupted.
“Yes yes yes I know everything! Eir Honeydew here has filled me in on the details! What a wondrous little creature she is!” he said and then leaned forward.
“You must face this evil creature in Asgard! But alas, I cannot spare my men for we are under siege from the undead. There are hundreds of thousands of them pouring down from the mountains! We must defend the city!” he said, then lifted his bony finger. “However! I will give you my finest warrior and my finest archer to join you on your quest! Huzzah!” he said and smiled.
Bryn wasn’t impressed. “Two soldiers? You're giving us two soldiers?”
“No! A soldier and an archer! I told you! The finest in Siera nonetheless!”
Bryn pointed her sword at his face. Durandal jumped forward and grabbed her hand.
“Woah!” he whispered.
The king's eyes widened. Eir jumped down off his lap and walked up to Bryn. “Let’s just take the king’s two soldiers and go.” she said.
Bryn looked at Durandal and he nodded. “It’s a generous offer Brynhildr. The king is giving us his finest soldiers amidst a fierce battle that’s going on out there. We don’t have time to stick around here, they will be fighting off the dead for weeks.” He grabbed her arm and Bryn saw a fierce determination in his eyes. “Let’s go and get this evil bastard.” he said.
Bryn lowered her sword and looked at the king.
“Thank you.” she said, coldly. “Where can we find the soldier and the archer?”
“The soldier is a man named Cerberus. You can’t miss him. Huge fellow. Gold armor. Wields a mighty battle-axe. And my champion archer, Starcaller. She wears a blue velvet cape. If she’s firing her arrows, she won't be hard to spot.”
“I saw this Cerberus at the outer wall. He was surrounded by the dead. What about the archer? Where is she?” Bryn said.
“They
were both beyond the northern wall. Good luck!” the king said and waved to Eir. “So long Eir Honeydew! May Esra shine her light on you!”
The three companions turned and headed for the throne room doors. Bryn looked down at Eir. “He certainly took a shine to you.” she said, raising her eyebrow.
Eir giggled “I have a way with people.”
Bryn shook her head and looked over to Durandal and he shook his head. They opened the doors and continued through the annex room to the entrance. As they approached the doors Bryn slowed down and they all stopped.
“How are we going to get to this soldier and archer?” Bryn said “They are surrounded by draugr out there. Either we forget about them and ride our horses east until we can find a safe route down to the river, or… we go over the north wall into the horde of draugr and somehow find and convince these two to follow us and then get back in the city somehow.” she said, looking to Durandal for answers.
He scratched his chin. “We should be able to get over easily enough. The problem is getting back in. They wont open the gates.” he said.
“What if we drop a rope over the edge, get our new companions and we all climb back up.” Bryn said, hands on her hips.
Durandal stroked his moustache. “Surrounded by the dead?” he said and raised his eyebrow.
“Yes, surrounded by the dead.” Bryn replied.
Durandal put his hands on his hips and pouted. “Maybe we should just go. Forget about finding these two jesters.” he said.
Bryn thought for a moment. Eir shrugged her shoulders and Durandal started pacing up and down. She remembered seeing Cerberus obliterating the horde of draugr by the dozens at the outer wall. “We need all the help we can get. Let’s go for it.” She said finally.
Durandal nodded “Alright Brynhildr, i'm with you.” he said and held her hand. They headed outside and made their way down the path to the main road. It appeared that the archers had dispensed with the remaining bats. As they walked down the road, Bryn looked over at Durandal.
“Why are you doing this, Durandal? Why are you risking your life on this quest?” she said as they walked.
“I am a knight of Greymoore,” he said “I am sworn to protect Siera from evil.”
“Yes but why? And besides, the Knights of Greymoore are gone now Durandal.” she said.
Durandal stopped and looked down. “I was not always the noble man you see before you.” He said with a half smile and looked at Bryn. She saw a sadness in his eyes.
“I have done wrong in the past. I swore my oath to… make things right. Perhaps this is my chance. Also I couldn’t let a beautiful woman like you out of my sight now could I?” He smiled at Bryn and then he looked down and put his hand on his chest and ran his fingers along the embroidered wolf's head on his tunic.
“I am still here.” he said and looked up at Bryn.
“What about you Brynhildr? Why are you risking your life on this quest? Is it revenge? Or do you want to save the people of this land?
Bryn looked into Durandal’s eyes and tears started running down her face. He could see the anger coursing through her veins. “That monster took everything from me!” She closed her eyes and started crying.
Durandal walked over to Bryn and embraced her, he held her shoulders and wiped the tears from her cheeks.
“I knew this day would come.” she said, “I knew the darkness would spread across these lands... there was a time when I thought I was destined to stop it. I trained to be a great warrior… to be a Valkyrie. But my life turned out to be one of suffering and pain. Somewhere along the way… I stopped believing. But now that the darkness has come and I have seen it with my own eyes… Durandal, I don’t know if I can save these lands, I don’t know if I am a Valkyrie… and I don’t care. All I care about is killing that monster.” She said and headed towards the gate.
Durandal picked up Eir and followed after Bryn.
“Bryn!” Eir shouted out.
Bryn stopped and turned around.
“The monster in Asgard,” Eir said, ”he’s the king of the monsters that murdered everyone in my village. I don’t even know if there is any more of my kind left in the world...” she started crying, “and he murdered all of Durandal’s knights. That monster did something bad to us all. So let's make him pay for what he did.” She said and wiped her nose on her sleeve.
Bryn kneeled down and wiped the tears from her cheeks. “Oh Eir, I'm sorry. Once we have defeated the monster, we will find your people. I'm sure there are more of your kind out there sweetheart.”
Eir nodded and Bryn looked at Durandal, his eyes were red and he smiled at Bryn. “Let’s go.” He said, and they headed for the north gate.
Bryn realised now that this wasn’t just about her, about getting even with the demon for what it did to her. Whether she wanted it to be or not. Eir was counting on her. Everyone was counting on her. Failure was not an option anymore.
As they approached the gate, Eir pulled on Durandal’s hair and he set her down on the ground. She ran off into the nearby street and Bryn looked at Durandal. He shrugged his shoulders.
“No idea.” he said
Moments later Eir came running back with a length of rope coiled around her body. “Come on let’s go!” she said and headed for the staircase that led up to the rampart on the inner wall. Bryn and Durandal chased after her.
When they got to the top and looked out over the wall, the battle against the undead was raging on. Eir looked down and saw a soldier get his neck bitten by a draugr, then she gasped as moments later the soldier stood up and bit another soldier in the neck. They saw Cerberus still standing his ground on the outer wall, smashing dozens of draugr into the air with his mighty battle-axe. A draugr jumped onto his back and it’s head exploded as it was hit by a glowing blue bolt from the sky. Another two draugr grabbed onto Cerberus as he swung his battle-axe and their heads exploded one after another as two more blue bolts hit them from above.
“Look!” Eir said and pointed at the top of one of two tall towers on the outer wall. There was a shadowy figure sitting on the edge of the tower holding a bow. The archer raised the bow and shot again and a bright blue glowing arrow shot down and hit another draugr that was grabbing Cerberus’s leg.
“Starcaller!” Eir said and looked up at Bryn.
Bryn watched as the archer fired five glowing green arrows simultaneously down into the crowd of draugr, each arrow hitting its target. The archer fired a glowing yellow arrow to the east and there was an explosion. The archer fired a glowing red arrow that curved around the opposite tower and decapitated a large draugr on the rampart. Bryn’s jaw dropped as she watched the incredible light show.
“How is she doing that?” Bryn said and looked at Durandal.
“I have no idea what i'm looking at.” Durandal replied as he watched on with wonder.
“Oh yeah,” Eir said and reached into her pocket, “The king gave me these.” She pulled out two large pink gems and gave them to Bryn. “He said show them to Cerberus and Starcaller and they will follow us.”
“Thank you Eir.” Bryn said and put the gems in a pouch at her waist. She looked over at Durandal. “There are stairs leading up to the ramparts on the outer wall straight across from us. We just need to head straight for the outer wall and climb those stairs to get to Cerberus. Then we make a run for the tower and get to Starcaller.”
“Alright Brynhildr, I’m ready when you are.” Durandal said and unsheathed the mighty silver Nightclaw.
Bryn took the length of rope, tied it to a wooden post on the staircase and dropped it down over the edge of the wall. It ended about six feet from the ground. The rope swung back and forth over the heads of the rampaging draugr below. She crouched next to Eir and grabbed her shoulder.
“Stay here, don’t move.” she said and Eir nodded and gave her a hug.
Durandal looked at Bryn and grabbed the rope. “Me first.” he said and began to climb down. Bryn followed close behind. When he reached the end of the ro
pe the draugr were reaching up and grabbing at his legs. He dived off the rope into the horde of screeching undead and fell to the ground as they swarmed on top of him. As he disappeared underneath the horde of draugr, Bryn dived off the rope and twisted in mid air, bringing down a group of undead as she crashed down and rolled backwards, She stood up and was completely surrounded. She swung her sword and a string of draugr heads went soaring into the air in a spray of blood. She was getting clawed and bitten but she kept swinging and kicking the draugr away. She kept swinging her sword back and forth, the dismembered body parts falling to the muddy ground as they swamped her. She looked over and saw Durandal was on his feet, slicing the draugr in half and decapitating them en masse. She saw them clutching at him and biting his neck and arms as he swung the mighty Nightclaw back and forth in the dark pit of relentless undead. Clouds of blood mist were spraying into the air as the draugr kept piling over the outer wall.
“Let’s go!” Bryn shouted and gestured to Durandal to follow.
He spun around twice, swinging his sword around his body at the same time and obliterated about ten draugr at once, then charged towards Bryn. She got behind her sword and they sprinted through the horde towards the outer wall. They hacked a path through the draugr and as they moved they saw other soldiers here and there fighting the horde. They didn’t slow down. Bryn charged the length of the courtyard and made it to the other side with Durandal following close behind. When they got to the outer wall there were draugr dropping from the ramparts down to the ground all around them. They kept going for the stairs and Bryn turned to make sure Durandal was still behind her. He looked up and covered his head as a draugr came slamming down to the ground beside them.
“Sweet Baby Esra!” he shouted and stabbed it in the face.
They ran up the staircase and as they got to the rampart it was swarming with the undead. Bryn looked out north over the wall and she got chills. There was an endless horde of draugr as far as she could see into the night. It must have been tens of thousands of undead, clambering their way towards the wall in the mud and rain. They were swarming up a hill from a shallow river to the north of the city. They were coming from the other side, from Asgard. There was a pile of dead bodies outside so high it reached the top of the wall and they were climbing up the hill of the dead and straight over the top onto the ramparts.