Visigothic_The Barbarians Of Midgard

by Jay P Newcomb

  Rutia replied, “Will you upon seeing my tears win the war for us, Togrobeg? Now go and fight and be a King like your father once was before he left us in death!”

  The dark-haired little lady, the Dwarf Princess, hated her mother at this point.

  The grieving King realised at that moment that he would need help far greater than swords or even a mother’s embrace would give him. Turning to his officers, he said, “Pick ten good men and the finest horses. Send them south to Gobekli Tepe to our brothers, the Dwarves of Tubal, and request the help of Yonas the Wizard Dwarf and Lady Gleadra. We need the aid of the White Wizard and Spirit Maiden of the South. That raven we saw was a Huggin called Argob, son of King Svart and a servant of Hister, the Black Wizard of Dakkia!”

  “But, Sire, there are many ravens around. How can you be sure that that wicked Sorcerer sent it? What interest would that spooky magician have in the Goblins?” asked General Kroki.

  “Trust me, General, I know of Hister’s ability to see through the eyes of his magical ravens. There is black magic afoot in this and we need our own Wizard. Ask the help of Yonas and request he join us in Thorstadt.”

  “Yes, my king, it shall be done,” replied the General.

  The vision faded from the eyes of the Raven. It had been as if Hister had seen Togrobeg face to face. “Throostra, send word to King Dragos and his Gargoyles! Have them find the Cimmerians who launched this unordered attack! Tell Dragos to have them crucified! Now the rent is made worse and the Dwarves will join the rebellion!”

  Within the half hour the sky over Kul-Oba filled with a menacing cloud of flying reptilian Gargoyles led by Dragos himself! The Gutthiuda Thralls working the crops looked up and saw the terrifying sight and thus did flee for cover under the trees – mothers holding terrified younglings in their arms! Soon the Gnome taskmasters drove them back into the fields with whips and vile language!

  Chapter VII

  The Dwarf Lords

  From The Skald’s Tale:

  Many, many years in the past, there were the races of Dwarves. Of those counted among the most noble of men, were the Yuralian Dwarves we call the Dwarves of Ariemel. These small people were the sons and daughters of Tubal. They would have been content to live in peace and happily drink pints of ale or mine in the earth for precious ore. Alas, but both Slaughter-Wolves and Goblins chose upon the Dwarves to make vicious war! Now hear ye all, the tale of King Togrobeg Andarvarson and his sister, the Princess Eileza Andavarsdottir.

  N ews spread across the great land of Tervingia, also called Gomeria, of the losses suffered by the Dwarves. King Osrik sent word to them that they were welcome in Thorstadt and that the people of Gomeria would stand by the Dwarves in their hour of need. “Come, all ye Dwarves, to your friends in the Kingdom of Osrik”, was the message delivered to King Togrobeg. This was in spite of the fact that the Dwarves had not supported them in the past.

  On the great day that the Yuralian Dwarves arrived at Thorstadt, crowds lined the procession way as the mighty King Togrobeg Andarvarson led his people amidst throngs of cheering onlookers. They rode shaggy haired ponies and were clothed in furs with their great beards and long hair flowing down below shoulder and chest. These men were a race of short people, the largest of whom stood no more than five feet and five inches tall. But what they lost in size, they made up for in skill and courage. There were thousands and thousands of women and children as well, and the women were for the most part the same height as the men, with long blue-black hair and sleek, smooth faces. Their eyes were dark as well and the little Dwarf children were absolutely adorable. The Queen and her sister, as well as her new ladies-in-waiting, young Aestrith and Borghild, were so taken by the Dwarf children that they were smiling and giggling back and forth about them.

  Gerda said, “Oh, look at them! They are just so adorable!”

  Gwynnalyn replied, “They’re like dolls and I love them; they’re so cute I could just hug and kiss all of their little faces!”

  The vast majority of Togrobeg’s people had to camp outside the city, but a good many were able to come inside, where accommodations had been made. As the long columns of Dwarves and their families approached the main doors of the Long House, King Togrobeg could see the armour-clad Thanes with their sharp-edged weapons and fierce-looking helmets. But he feared not an ambush, for he knew he was among friends and allies. Walking through the doors were the monarchs of the Tervingian alliance, escorted by their personal Thanes, and as well the Great Council of Ealdormen, led by Lords Volsung and Snaevar and the Scop Rolf, Sigurd’s First Minister. Amongst them as well was little Lord Sigmund. The Queen had been chosen to honour the Dwarves with the official greeting.

  So it was that the Shield Maid said, “Come all ye Dwarves. Come here to us as friends and family. Welcome King Togrobeg Andarvarson to sit as an equal with the monarchs of the Tervingian Kingdoms. May Thor and Wotan grant protection to our cause and we all as one make eunuchs of the Slaughter-Wolves!”

  Togrobeg was clearly amused by the eunuch and he chuckled about it, as well did his officers and Thanes.

  King Togrobeg and his delegation dismounted and walked forward, warmly greeting the allied Monarchs. With his delegation was Princess Eileza Andavarsdottir who, as I have said, was the sister of King Togrobeg. With them as well was the Dwarf healer and Priestess, Skadi, and the Royal Thanes, Dvalin and Durin, Austri and Vestri, armed with swords and pole-axes. On their ornate shields were painted Raptor Dragons. Eileza stood four feet nine inches and was barely age fourteen. Her long locks of thick and wavy blue-black hair flowed around a tanned face marked by full lips and eyes as brown as almonds. Her nose was thin and her attire was furs and deerskin boots. Her sword lay across her back in a sheath held to her small body by a softened rawhide belt. Eileza’s eyes met that of Queen Gwynnalyn, who smiled a greeting back. Sigmund saw Eileza and was awestruck when the Dwarven Princess smiled at him and butterflies filled his stomach and his heart skipped a beat. This was the very first time in his life that a girl had given him such an emotional reaction and he didn’t know what it meant, other than he thought she was the most beautiful creature he had ever seen in his whole life! Eileza’s heart jumped and butterflies filled her stomach when she gazed upon Sigmund for the first time that day and their reaction towards one another bore the mark of destiny.

  The procession continued into the Long House and ended where a fourth throne had been set up alongside the other three, for King Togrobeg. King Osrik motioned with a gesture of the hand for the King of Dwarves to take his throne, and as he did, another great cheer went up from the assembled Ealdormen of the Witena-Gemot. Lord Azgar and the Dwarf Lords were given their place as well in the Witena Gemot, and then the Gomerian monarchs seated themselves on their thrones. Lord Snaevar nodded to the ram’s horn trumpet men, who in unison sounded a long call to bring to order the first meeting of the Witena Gemot, which was to be made up of all monarchs, both Kings and their Queens of all people now in the alliance or who would be joining the alliance against the Scythian Slaughter-Wolves, as well as the Ealdormen of their tribal Witans. Kegs of ale were brought in for everyone to partake, as well as much food: mostly mammoth and elk meat, as well as liberal amounts of carrots and other vegetables mixed into great cauldrons of a soup called Skause. The Dwarves were very hungry. Outside of the Mead Hall, there were those who were seeing to the needs of the thousands of Dwarves and their families, and showing them to comfortable quarters in the city of Thorstadt. Food was being taken to the thousands of Dwarves camped outside the log and earthen walls of the city. It seemed that a village would have to be constructed to house them all. Mammoth hunting had been good this year and no-one was starving. Soon, a city of Dwarves arose outside of Thorstadt, which would have to be enclosed by a wall as strong as the current one.

  Young Sigmund sat next to his sister Greta at a long table, eating his skause. He could not stop from looking across the aisle at Eileza, who sat next to her mother, Rutia. This was the Dwarf Dowager
Queen and her Thanes, Austri and Vestri, were there to guard this dour woman who had given birth to Eileza quite late in life. She was silver-haired and dignified, but when she smiled her teeth were green. Sigmund shuddered at the thought of what her breath must smell like. Eileza looked right back at Sigmund and smiled with butterflies burning in her stomach and her heart racing at the very sight of Sigmund. The young Getic Lord blushed red and he quickly looked back to his skause. His brother, Lord Gedron, who sat with King Sigurd’s delegation, noticed the glances between his little brother and the Dwarf Princess and smiled. But he said not a word, keeping it all in his thoughts.

  A blast from the horns brought everyone in the Long House to silence as all the Monarchs rose from their thrones. Lord Volsung made an announcement, saying, “Hear ye, hear ye, all nobles and delegates of the Tervingian alliance and of the Kingdom of Dwarves! Let the first Grand Witena Gemot of our new steppe Confederation come to order! King Sigurd will now speak, my brothers and sisters.”

  The King looked from left to right as the assembly grew quiet. Not even the slurping of beer could be heard. “It is good for us all to be here this day, brothers. This Witan heralds the beginnings of a new hope for all of our peoples and marks the beginnings of the end for the Slaughter-Wolves and their evil reign of terror across this land! But this we know! No matter the cost! No matter what we lose in the short term, victory shall be ours and freedom will reign once more! We shall all see our Mead Halls once more and those which have been sacked and burned shall be rebuilt. I have momentous news to share with everyone. This is news of great importance and of great joy and happiness.” King Sigurd turned to his left and said, “Come forth, Queen Gwynnalyn Volsungsdottir Rothgarson, my beloved wife, matriarch of the Getic tribe, Shield Maid and ruler of my heart.”

  The Queen rose from her throne and joined her husband at his side, standing with him in front of the great assembly of the people. She looked beautiful beyond description as her long locks of dark, red-raven hair fell down her back in her favourite style of inter-locking ponytails, thick double cords starting on either side of her head above her small ears, but coming around behind her head to join in one great cord at her shoulder-line, falling down to her waist. Her beauty was a natural beauty, and not the painted-on kind, such as are the women of Troy and Byzantium far to the south. She held her head and chin up high as a proud Queen, yet one could see that her pride was not one of arrogance. On her head sat the jewelled crown of the Getic Queen.

  Her husband took his beloved Queen by the hand and said aloud to all the assembly, “It has come to pass that our nation shall be blessed with an heir to my throne. The Lord of Asgard has blessed your Queen and she is with child. Long live the Queen! Long live the child!”

  The entire assembly roared in applause and great cheering! King Osrik rose from his throne, as did King Togrobeg, and joined in the chorus as well. “Long live the Queen! Long live the child! Long live the Queen! Long live the child!”

  The Queen’s family was overjoyed at the news, but the Queen’s Mother and sister had to act surprised, because her daughter had already confided in them a week ago. Gedron and Sigmund were really happy, as was their father, the Great Warlord, Volsung.

  Gedron pulled Sigmund up on his shoulders and he said, “Uncle Siggy!”

  The boy hugged his big brother around the neck and replied, “Uncle Gedry!”

  There was singing and dancing in the main audience chamber, a welcome bit of happiness in the gloomy time of war. The musicians began to play and the shupatter dancers began a grand performance.

  Byock the White saw all of it through the eyes of his butterfly from his monastery of Yerpa in faraway Shangra-La, just as he had done when the Queen had first announced that they had conceived. But someone else was watching and Byock noticed that a raven was perched up in the rafters. “So! Hister knows of this as well. He will try and prevent the birth of the child. The time has come for me to take my journey west. They have sent Horsa and his scouts to fetch me to Tervingian Kingdoms, and so I shall. The time of the gathering draws near, Min- Tze, as you well know. Have we not seen it in the stars?”

  Byock spoke these words to his wife, the Spirit Maiden of the East, Min-Tze. He may have been a great wizard and prophet, but this did not require him to walk alone in life, and she was his greatest friend this side of Asgard.

  “Then I shall make ready our journey, husband. I remember the prophecy as well. Is it not written in the sacred scrolls?

  ‘Now a great sign was seen in heaven — a woman clothed with the sun, under her feet the moon, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. She was pregnant and about to give birth, and she screamed in the agony of labour. Another sign was seen in heaven: there was a great red dragon with seven heads and ten horns, and on its heads were seven royal crowns. Its tail swept a third of the stars out of heaven and threw them down to the earth. It stood in front of the woman about to give birth, so that it might devour the child the moment it was born. She gave birth to a son, a male child, the one who will rule all the nations with a staff of iron.’”

  Lady Min Tze was dressed in long silk robes embroidered with lotus flowers. Her hair was thick and straight, long and black, tied into a ponytail. She gathered up their tea cups on a tray, rose from the small table, and carried them away. Her father was a War-Master of the Rising Sun, and had trained her in all fighting arts. Kung Fu would serve her well. “I will prepare things for our journey, husband,” she said, as she left the room.

  Byock’s butterfly fluttered its wings and flew from the rafter above the thrones and was immediately spotted by Hister’s Huggin. The fowl-bird took flight and dived down in an attempt to eat Byock’s butterfly. But as it drew in close, a tiny bolt of lightning jumped from the tail of the butterfly and struck the bird in the eye! The Huggin was blinded and went out of control! It crashed head-on into another roof beam, and fell straight down, landing in Eileza’s skause! She was aghast! Sigmund leaped over the table and charged across the aisle! The bird regained its composure and jumped out of the soup bowl just as Sigmund grabbed it! It squawked and beat its wings into the boy’s face as Eileza grabbed it with him! The two of them slammed the bird down onto the table as the people around were roaring with laughter! At that point the Dwarven Dowager Queen began shouting in anger at the whole situation! Sigmund drew his dagger and impaled the bird, pinning it to the table!

  “Did you have to do that next to my supper, boy?” shouted Rutia.

  All the Dwarves at the table, especially the Dowager Queen’s Royal Thanes Austri and Vestri, were beside themselves with laughter and Eileza looked at Sigmund and her heart skipped a beat and with a bright smile she said happily, “You saved me, Little Prince. I finally found a hero.”

  Sigmund smiled back and replied, “Sehr Gute [really good], Lady Dwarf,” and returned her smile and, as his heart skipped a beat, butterfly sensations filled his guts. He said, “I am Sigmund.”

  She smiled big and wide and replied, “I’m Eileza, Princess of the Dwarves; nice to meet you, Siggy.”

  Seeing as Princess Eileza had wasted no time in giving him a nickname, he replied, “You to Leeza.” He couldn’t help but stutter and his heart was pounding in his chest and he did not understand why, because no girl had ever in his life caused him to feel this way. He just didn’t know what to think. Love was new for him, that much he knew for sure. Unknown to him, she had the same reaction, but she was able to conceal it better than Sigmund. Rutia could see this going on with Eileza and was angered by it. She glared at her daughter and Sigmund both.

  Far to the west in Kul-Oba, Hister was not amused. “So Byock strikes now directly at me! Soon he will know the power of the dark side! We shall soon face off against his kind and they all shall be doomed!”

  In a field far away at that same moment, Dragos and his Gargoyles took flight to return to Kul-Oba. They left behind a field of horror! Hundreds of crucified Cimmerians on trees and crosses! These were the very ones who had attacked
the Dwarves, bringing them into the Midgard war on the side of the rebellion. As well, a great army of Goblins was marching north from their underground Kingdom in the Lofty Mountains led by Field Marshal Zorkan and Commandant Vlach. Zukhi, the Fuhrer King of the Goblins, would not join the battle in person. He was a creature who would play both sides. If the rebellious humans were crushed, he would partake of the spoils and Thralls. On the other hand, if the humans of King Idanthrsus were overthrown, then he could switch sides and partake of that plunder.

  Far away from there and travelling steadily east towards Shangra-La were Horsa and his unit of light Cavalry. Their quest was to find and bring back the White Wizard of the East. They had been travelling for many days, crossing rivers and plains. Going south of the great mountains of Yural, they made for the River Oxus and the country of Bactria. The route from there would carry them across great deserts and then high into Baltistan, and thence to the Kingdom at the top of the world, that land of legend known as Shangra-La. Once there, they must find the Monastery of Yerpa, and persuade the White Wizard to come to their aid. Or so they thought, for Byock and Min Tze were already called to do so by the Archangel Gabriel.

  But all was not going as planned. One afternoon, as the twelve men watered their horses at a small stream, the ground seemed to tremble ever so slightly. The stream at this point was backed up into a pond. A slight ripple went through the calm water. Suddenly, the horses raised their heads from drinking. Their ears stood straight up and they became very worried and nervous. Another ripple went through the water. Horsa and the warriors stood up and began looking around to see what had caused this. They could feel tension in the air and something was not right.

  Again the water rippled and they felt the ground vibrate slightly once more beneath their feet. Horsa said, “Mount up, men, now. This is not good. I fear we be stalked by dragons; the kind that run up on two feet! Hurry now!”