***
Around the fire in the great hall, the question of who would rule Ulsgard was on the table. No one had been recognized yet. The night, like the proceeding ones, yielded no successor. This night had descended into drunkenness, like all the others. Diodo explained to the people around the campfire of Bahl scrolls and writing. A Hinn man picked up the scroll and placed it in the fire. This garnered laughter around the room and an indignant expression on Diodo’s face.
“Come friends, listen to the tale of the Queen of the Mountain and her friend.” The hall quieted down as Diodo leaned in. “She was thought to be a foreigner, but after her arrival in Ulsgard, she had found her home. She is none other than the mighty Bjorg. The great mountain god took on the form of a young woman to trick the good people of Ulsgard.” Eleesa narrowed her brow in amazement at Diodo’s story telling ability, and his lies. “The great Queen Serafina, Goddess of the Danfear…” Diodo looked up angrily at Jut who let out a roaring laugh. “Overcome with jealousy at Bjorg’s beautiful female creation, the Queen challenged Eleesa to five trials. The first trial involved befriending a wild mountain bear. This was no trouble for Eleesa, for she was Bjorg, the mighty bear god. The four other trials…” Diodo was cut off as horns sounded from outposts on the edges of the Ulsgard fjord.
“Ships! There are ships on the horizon!” The doors to the great hall burst open. An Ulsgard warrior, dressed in furs and a mail shirt, ran into the hall. He was shouting the same phrase over and over. Jut grabbed the man off his feet and brought the mans face an inch from his own.
“What do you mean?”
“There are ships.” The man struggled to try and free himself from the giant’s iron grip “They bare the black raven of Gutaca the Brown.”
“Gutaca left to invade Bahl.”
“He will not be happy to find his queen dead. Prepare to defend the city!” Jut shouted as he placed his captive back on the ground.
“Has the fjord been barricaded?” Diodo asked the frightened messenger, who still eyed the giant in terror.
“It is too late adventurer; the ships have already crossed through the mouth.” The frightened messenger answered and fled from the hall. Diodo cursed and stumbled, drunkenly, to his feet. The warriors, still sober enough to stand, collected their gear and followed the messenger out of the hall. Eleesa sighed and looked over at Jut. The giant had already placed his bone armor over his shoulders. The other Danfear, save for two unconscious from mead, had already left the hall. Jut smiled at Eleesa and picked up her shield. Jut turned and left with Eleesa’s shield. The young olive-skinned woman walked over to Marco and touched his ear with a finger. The round bear ear flicked and his eye opened. The bear had only been pretending to sleep. With a yawn, the bear got to his feet and waited for Eleesa. She stroked the bears chin and they departed the hall together.
***
The Ulsgard docks, illuminated by hundreds of torches, had been barricaded by carts and wagons. Hasty defenses had been constructed. The defenders, all barely drunk enough to stand, hid behind a row of wooden stakes. They hid behind their shields and waited. The Danfear warriors stood alone on a Jutty. Their bare chests invited any that dared to challenge them. Eleesa sat atop her bear behind the defenses. She had arrived too late to join her Danfear friends. Her path was blocked by the Hinn defenders. Jut stood out in front with his brethren. He raised Eleesa’s shield as the ships landed. The sight streaming out of the boats met the Uslgard defenders in moans of pain and dead bodies. The survivors of the failed invasion of Bahl carried wounded and dying onto the docks. They seemed not to even notice the defenders. The faces of the arrivals were caked in the dried blood of long dead friends. It seemed that these men had already visited the afterlife. Their eyes were frozen in shock and their expressions showed despair. The sight that most accosted the defenders was six men carrying Gutaca the brown. His body was riddled with small spears. His head had been severed. A large Hinn warrior carried the king’s head in his hands. The defenders silently stood and removed the barricades. The battle shocked bearers of the king’s body walked silently into the town. The rest of the warriors followed in a grave procession.
“What happened?” Diodo grabbed one of the survivors by the shoulders. The man looked back at Diodo with a blank stare. After all the survivors had arrived and proceeded into the town, the defenders followed the strange crowd. Walking up to the base of the mountain, the survivors had laid Gutaca’s boy upon a rock. Another six survivors brought a ship up to the site. The great king’s body was laid to rest between three rocks. Silently, the survivors build a mound over the rocks and fell to their knees. The Hinn defenders looked on with many unanswered questions. Finally, fed up with the cowardice of the returning Hinn, Jut strode forward and wrapped his hands around one of the men. He lifted the man’s face to his, as he had done to the messenger earlier.
“What happened to you!” Jut roared in the face of the survivor and shook him. The man seemed to be startled back to his senses. His eyes widened as he stared into the face of the Danfear warrior.
“Ok, ok, just put me down.” Jut laughed and placed the man back on his feet. The survivor turned and address the community in front of him. The other survivors seemed not to notice. “The invasion failed! The foreigners are on their way to invade. They will not be far behind. I suggest we all flee to Furvik!” The man’s words were met with sounds of disgust, curses, and scowls.
“You coward!” A voice from the crowd startled a tumult of angry shouting.
“This is their fault! They failed because of Gutaca was weak!”
“No! The fault lies with the foreigners! We accepted them in and they betrayed us!”
“Burn the foreigners!” The chant was picked up by the rest of the city. This tumult of rage and hatred seemed to snap the other survivors out of their daze. The Danfear warriors circled around Diodo and Eleesa. The giants let out a unified battle cry and prepared for a fight. The whole crowd went silent when Marco reared. Eleesa fought to hold onto him, as the bear unleashed his roar. Slobber flew from his jowls and the bear’s heavy front paws came crashing back to the ground. The earth shook like an earth quake had been unleashed. It appears the whole mountain would collapse upon them. Then the bear, stretching his neck forwards and opening his jaws wide, showed his teeth to the crowd. Everyone stood silent and motionless. They were all petrified with fear. Then, Jut laughed and the other Danfear joined in.
“Block the mouth of the fjord! Get some rest! We shall defend the town from these foreigners!” Jut shouted, and the crowd dispersed. Men and busied themselves with fortifications. The survivors, roused by all the commotion, joined with the defenders to prepare for the arrival of General Hamo.
***
The massive ships of the Bal fleet docked just outside the mouth of Ulsgard’s fjord. The ships arrayed themselves in a line and waited. The Hinn ships, that had returned to Ulsgard, now blocked the fjord mouth. The Bahl navy was busy removing the hindrance. The work would take awhile as most of the ships had been submerged. The Bahl triremes were well fitted to clear the bay. Eleesa, Diodo, Jut, and other commanders of the Hinn forces gathered around a circular wooden table. Their wooden chairs were decorated with carvings of animals. Eleesa sat in the only chair with two bear heads crafted into the head posts. Everyone gave the look of determined but frightened people. The men outside continued to strengthen the fortifications. Under Diodo’s orders, the dock had been neglected. He predicted the Bahl army would give up on clearing the Bay. The assault, when it came, would come from the land. The Bahl forces were experience in breaching much higher fortifications. The wooden walls of Ulsgard would not last long and a siege. The council was convened to determine a strategy for the coming battle. Marco rested on the ground behind Eleesa’s chair. His fury body pushed her chair slightly with each breath. The council and the rest of the town were dressed for battle. All had gotten only a little rest. Eleesa, herself, was plagued by anxiety. This would be her first
battle.
“Why do we allow a child at this table?” The man that had been elected to command the survivors was the first to speak.
“You can try and remove her, Orfik. Good luck with the mountain resting behind her.” Jut laughed and so did the other commanders. The survivor commander looked over at the bear’s wet snout. Marco opened an eye and the commander became stricken with fear.
“Listen, friends. After the royal army has disembarked, it will take them at least a day to march. We must decide now. We must meet them while the attempt to disembark. This is our only hope.” Diodo spoke calmly but his words were deliberate and filled with urgency.
“Diodo, you and Orfik are the only here with knowledge of the invaders. I will defer to each of your council. I only wish to say that I do not, as an Odeigr, wish to hide behind walls of wood. Fear can only be defeated by facing it head on.”
“The Bahl army is not to be feared.” Orfik spoke attempting to mask the terror that he felt. “There is a demon that accompanies them. She is a god of death and has taken on the form of a woman. She appears as a dark Danfear woman on the horizon. He skin is not like ours though. She looks very much like the girl at this table. She wears clothes of fog and spits shadow. We must flee before she devours all of our souls.”
“They have a god with them, but so do we. Tell me, Orfik, does this Queen of Shadows fight with her army?”
“No, she stands at distance while watching the battle.”
“Well, our god fights with us!” Jut loudly proclaimed his words while pounding the table.
“You have not seen her. This girl will be eaten up in her shadow.”
“Tell us of the invasion, Orfik.” Jut ignored the man’s comment about Eleesa and pushed forward with the meeting.
“When we arrived on the rocky coast of Kutaland, a heavy fog greeted us. The tied carried our boats of the dangerous rocks beneath the sea. We thought the fog was a good sign when we charged the beach. Men riding very fast beasts broke through our lines. Gutaca brought one down and split his face open. This man was dressed in black with moons on his clothing. He also wore a mail shirt like the ones we wear. Gutaca believed him to be an important man because the rest of the army only wore leather. The beach defenders fled in fear after our charge and we pushed up the beach. The fog cleared away and we saw the shadow goddess standing on a cliff. In front of her was a huge stone house. The walls were very high but there was breach. Gutaca ordered an assault of the breach. We lost many men pushing through the breach. The defenders on the walls hurled rocks and spears at us. Gutaca led the assault into the house and we faced a group of men clothed in black. Some of these men had black cloth wrapped around their heads showing the teeth of monsters. The others were dressed in the same black clothes with moons as the man on the beach. I fought beside Gutaca as we pushed through them. They fought with such ferocity as I have ever seen. Gutaca found their commander and struck the helmet from his head. The man had a face that looked like it had already been to the afterlife. His skin was scaly like a snake and deformed. He had no ears, no teeth, no nose, and no hair. Gutaca attempted to kill him but the man was too quick. He wounded Gutaca. Then, we lost many men retrieving Gutaca’s body. Our warriors continued to fight, and we were close to victory. Then, a dark cloud covered the sun. A sickness struck us at the coming of this cloud. It came suddenly, and we thought the gods had become angry. Gutaca ordered a retreat even as the sickness claimed him. So many died. We escaped to the boats and left. The foreigners caught up to us when the winds stopped blowing. We thought the entire fleet would be sunk so we rowed with all the strength we had left. Every time we saw the Goddess of Shadows, a sickness would claim more of us. We left here with five thousand men. We returned with one fifth of the number. The families of this land will surely weep as we have very few men left. This island will succumb to the winter and become inhabited by only beasts. Their gods are mightier than ours.”
“You have forsaken the gods!” Diodo shouted and clenched his fist. He was ready to strike the man in the face. Jut placed a hand on Diodo’s shoulder.
“We need all the defenders we can find. This man will be judged by the gods for his cowardice. He will obviously be of no use to us in this Ledir thing. You may go, Orfik.”
“I shall still fight! I am no coward, I say let the sickness claim me, like my king Gutaca. I still love the gods. I just beg you to think about the survival of our people. If we escape over the mountain we may just survive.”
“I doubt the Queen, nor her Commander, will allow us to survive if we run. The gods will not allow us to survive if we run. We have only one choice, Orfik, we must fight. To the last man if need be. The gods will protect us. This is only a test.” Jut slapped his hand on the table and nodded in agreement with his own words.
“Now, the Bahl army is comprised of mostly infantry with long spears and throwers with short spears. If we attack while they are disembarking, we will stand a chance. They have the numbers, but surprise offers the most valuable resource in a fight. I propose a two-sided attack. The first will be a full assault of the beach. This will cause them to panic and form a hasty defense on the beach. The land attack must be ready. The other attack will come from the sea. The best swimmers we have will flank and board the ships.”
“I like this plan! I shall lead the beach assault!” Jut rocked back in his chair and raised a fist in the air. His chair had been hastily carved from oak to support his large frame.
“What of the Queen of Shadows?” Orfik smiled hoping this might dissuade the plan.
“Eleesa will meet her when she arrives. Now, Orfik. This man that wounded Gutaca. I believe him to be General Hamo, Queen Magiya’s right hand and her General. He will be a prime target in this assault.” Diodo leaned forward and glared at Orfik. Orfik glared back and nodded. Eleesa, nervous, wanted to tell the council that she was not a god. This would be futile, however, as none would believe her. Diodo would think of a way to explain her words as humility, or she was still trying to play a trick. Either way, Eleesa thought about escape, but where would she go. If she ran, then she would not survive long. Even with her bear, this land and its people would hunt her down. She supposed it was better to die with friends than among enemies.
The Northern Star and the Crescent Moon
The final battle of the saga of Eleesa the Mountain was about to commence. The two sides, the defenders of Ulsgard and the Bahl royal army, would fight to the last man. The Ulsgard defenders would strike the first blow. As Diodo had predicted, the Bahl fleet gave up on clearing the Ulsgard fjord mouth. Eleesa, riding atop her bear, joined the defenders on the beach. They stood awaiting the arrival of the Bahl triremes. Just over the ridge to the fjord, Diodo and Orfik raised a cloth banner. This gesture signaled the flanking forces were in position. Eleesa stood next to the Danfear, Jut, in preparation to lead the frontal assault. In total, they had almost eight hundred warriors. The Hinn fighters lined up in front of Eleesa and Jut. Archers stood behind the shield wall. The core of the small force consisted of twenty-two Ulsgard raiders. These were veterans that had returned from the failed invasion. On the other hand, the fifteen Danfear warriors arrayed themselves behind the shield wall. Once the charge started, the Danfear would rush out ahead of the group. They were notorious for entering a battle trance. This state, often referred to as blood rage, would blind them to friend or foe. They would become berserk and maul anything around. Marco, the mountain bear, snorted and laid down. Eleesa, sitting atop him, stroked the fur between Marco’s ears. The bear growled in delight, which made the defenders nervous. Finally, the triremes slowly approached from the sea. The ships could not make landfall, for risk of being beached, and sent landing boats instead. Each boat carried anywhere from 10-15 men.
“Archers!” There was no need to blow a horn. The row of archers knocked fire arrows, drew, and fired. The line began to reload as the arrows peppered the boats. They continued to fire, again and again. A few of the boats caugh
t fire, because of flaming arrows. One boat landed and then two. The boats never seemed to end. No matter how many arrows the archers fired, the invaders kept coming. Soon, over a hundred soldiers had landed on the beach. The metal round helmets peaked over oval shields. The had formed a shield line like the defenders. Spears peaked out behind gaps in shields. “Target the boats!” Jut shouted and placed the shaft of his long axe over his shoulder. “Odeigr! Charge! Break their shields! Freigr!” The Hinn defenders misunderstood the command given by Jut. The Danfear warriors charged the Bahl beach landers alone. Jut turned around to see the defender’s shield wall unmoving. Just as his Danfear companions smashed into the invaders, Jut raised his axe. He shouted to rally the Hinn warriors. Just then, a javelin caught Jut in the left thigh. The Danfear warrior dropped to a knee and roared. The fourteen companions of Jut were being engulphed by invaders. Jut turned and charged into the enemy. Terrified by the savage charge of giant men, the Bahl soldiers began to flee down the beach or back in the water. Jut lopped off the head of Bahl soldier and then split another’s body in two. Eleesa, who had been given the bone horn, signaled to the flanking force. As she turned all the air in her lungs into a long horn blast, the force over the rocky hill began to move. A small trickled of men crossed from the bay into the water. There were close to three hundred Hinn warriors conducting the maneuver. Unfortunately, they were spotted. Eleesa, in dismay, watched as the flanking force began to attract javelins and slung stones. Diodo ordered a retreat to the beach. A hundred of the flanking forces were lost. The rest rushed up the beach to join Eleesa’s force. Anxiously, Eleesa waited for them to arrive. Impatiently, she ordered the rest of the Hinn line to charge. The Danfear were starting to be slaughtered. Many more boats had landed. The enemies that had been retreating were finding their courage. The terror inflicted by the Danfear had worn off. Jut fought on, despite being wounded by many javelins. Five of the Danfear had already succumb to wounds. They were still fighting while laying on the ground. The Balh soldiers were stabbing and hacking the felled Danfear.
The First Valkyrie Page 20