“Your lands are our concern. Were our situations exchanged, I know that a respect of our own lands lies in your heart. It may not bring you the decisive help that you require, but the Midragardans will not abandon their friends in a time of need.”
Eirik raised his right fist, clenching it tightly in emphasis, as his face took on a darkened scowl. Ayenwatha sensed the great, simmering anger welling up within the rugged warrior. When Eirik spoke, he seemed barely able to stifle the strong emotions heating up within him. His next words came out in a controlled fashion, though he was unable to mask the fiery look blazing in his eyes.
“If the Unifier thinks that He has made your defenses soft with His monsters in the air … and if He thinks that His forces will simply walk into tribal lands, with no challenge … then He will be most surprised. His forces will be met with fierce resistance, and the warriors of the Five Realms and Midragard will stand side by side. By the One Spirit of your people, by the All-Father of my people, and by the spirits of the brave warriors of all of our peoples, we will stand with you, Ayenwatha.”
Ayenwatha was taken aback at the sudden ferocity in the tone of the Midragardan leader. The man had an inferno residing within his heart towards the dark intentions of Avanor, and those fires were being given full vent as he agreed to help the tribes.
“I am deeply thankful,” Ayenwatha replied, in utmost sincerity. “My heart told me that you would stand with us.”
“That I have agreed is nothing to be lauded … no more than what our duty should always be in such times,” Eirik replied. He looked back over towards the rest of those gathered with Ayenwatha. “There is much to be discussed. Come to my hall for some food and drink. Word will be sent by sky before the night ends, to King Hakon, and to others who are much closer. I will seek out my brother Gunnar immediately. If he can be reached in time, I know that he has considerable strength under his command. A small force can immediately be raised from this homestead, and hopefully there will be several others that can be gathered. You will not be abandoned to fight by yourself, Ayenwatha … it will be a great honor to stand with you.”
He placed his large right hand down upon Ayenwatha’s left shoulder, and squeezed firmly. “For now, come with me. We will make our enemies bitterly regret the moment that they take one step underneath your trees.”
None of those present, whether Midragardans, warriors of the Five Realms or the Lnuk, or strangers from entirely different worlds, doubted the truth flowing through the words of the Midragardan warrior.
*
ERIN
*
“Leaves in the wind, that’s what we’ve become,” griped Erin sourly to Lynn, as they sat together on the carved wall-seats within their frontal chamber. “Blown helplessly in any direction that the wind cares to go.”
“Afraid so,” Lynn responded wearily, a dour expression spread upon her face.
“Prisoners too,” Erin stated with despondence, venting her honest feelings regarding their current situation.
“Maybe, and maybe not,” Lynn retorted curtly.
Erin stared down at the floor, a pout on her face. She could not believe that Lynn steadfastly refused to admit the obvious. By any reasonable definition, Erin and the others were under incarceration.
Living away from open sky and sunlight was already grating heavily upon her nerves. She was growing ever more anxious to simply take a few breaths of fresh air, and escape from the weighty confines of the shadowy, underground realm.
The food that they had been served only added to her irritation. Erin had barely been able to keep down a small portion of fish, though all the others had demonstrated quite healthy appetites. Then again, they had not been coerced into compromising their standards.
“Lynn, we are prisoners, whether you want to say it or not. And God knows where we’ll find ourselves next,” Erin observed, her words accelerating. “And we sure can’t go home. No, we are stuck here. What I wouldn’t give to just go home now, and get out of here.”
Tears welled up swiftly in her eyes, as her simmering frustration reached a boil.
Lynn shot Erin a sharp look, and her next words had a noticeable edge to them. “Must I remind you that we really don’t have a lot of say in the matter? We’d be dead right now, or prisoners of those invaders, if it weren’t for Gunther and, now, the Unguhur. Just be very, very glad we’re still free of the invaders’ grasp, as things could be a whole lot worse. It is a fact that we can’t do a damn thing about where we are, and we’d better start dealing with the reality that we may never get back home.”
Erin looked up for a moment, taken off guard by the sobering, hard utterance from her friend. Lynn’s eyes held a determined glint, but Erin found it very hard to believe that their situation was not tearing her friend apart inside.
“Never? How can you say that so easily? That you think we will never get home,” Erin questioned.
“I don’t know! Do you think I’m thrilled about being hidden underground among a race of giant cave dwellers?” Lynn snapped back, losing a little of her composure. “I’d like to be home right now, with my family, and my friends, just like you. But there is such a thing as reality, and it is better to confront it sooner than later.”
Erin’s lips trembled, as tears began to roll down her cheeks. She found herself at a great loss for words, caught in a swirl of emotions.
“Look, Erin, I don’t want to sound so harsh with you, as you are my best friend … After all I’ve been separated from, I still have you with me, and you being here is helping me get through this nightmare. Believe me, I’m very grateful for your friendship, and that I’m not alone in this weird place, even if I wish that you weren’t having to endure this world too,” Lynn said more softly. “It’s just that I’m girding myself for the worst. It’s all that we really can do, until we find a way out of all this.”
Erin said nothing, as she looked into Lynn’s face. Her friend’s eyes had moistened, and her expression had softened considerably from the stony visage of moments before.
The two young women then embraced tightly, hugging the only strong tether that each of them had to their former worlds. They parted only at the sound of footsteps scraping across the roof towards the opening down into their chamber.
A moment later, Ryan and Lee stood at the edge of the roof opening, peering downward.
“Well, you’re both awake, so I’m coming down,” Lee announced, kneeling, turning around, and starting down the ladder.
Erin watched Lee navigate the ladder with a little difficulty, quite oversized for an average human’s stature. Ryan followed closely after Lee, faring only a little better on his descent.
“So, how are we doing here?” Lee inquired, turning around to face them, when he got to the bottom.
He smiled amiably at the two women, though the lighthearted expression quickly faded as he took in their forlorn faces. Erin imagined that her tear-streaked face was quite a sight, but she made no move to turn aside, or try to mask it.
“Can’t say I can really decide right now,” Lynn answered through a throaty voice, laden with emotion. “Passing the time, I guess.”
Erin nodded, and added in a low voice. “Passing the time … that’s a good way to say it.”
“We seem to be doing a lot of that, though I can’t nap as well as Ryan, it turns out,” Lee replied gently. “Still, our situation is better than some alternatives might have been.”
Lynn nodded, as she cleared her throat. “I think you are very right about that. So, what do the two of you advise right now?”
“We rest, we eat, we wait, and maybe learn a little more about this world … and we pray that nothing disastrous comes to us,” Lee commented matter-of-factly. “There really isn’t much else that we can do right now.”
“How is Gunther doing?” Erin queried.
“He’s fishing at the moment, out on the lake,” Ryan said. “You can see him from the roof, if you want to. He’s not very far off.”
“And the Jaghuns?” Lynn asked.
“Still in their quarters, and I’m glad he found separate ones for them,” Lee said.
Erin could not disagree with Lee. As cute as the younger ones were, she did not want a bunch of animals around her at the moment, especially ones as intimidating as the Jaghuns. The more solitude that she could get, the better, as far as she was concerned.
“So we can speak a little more openly,” Lynn said. “Then I guess it is safe to ask, what do you all think of him now?”
Erin bit back a few choice words that rushed to her tongue concerning the woodsman. Gunther had not hurt them, and it was undeniable that he had saved them, but he was still a brooding, abrasive man, who was altogether unpleasant to be around. He was insulting and inconsiderate, and better suited for his non-human companions than the company of people. She hoped that he stayed out fishing as long as possible, as her interactions with him were never comfortable.
“Come on, I know you all have some thoughts about Gunther. Any volunteers?” Lynn prodded.
Lee shook his head, with a rueful grin. “An enigma? I think that would be the best way to describe him. He’s a very good man, I’m more certain of that than ever, but he is a man with many levels. I can understand some things about him, but others are a deep mystery. I kind of feel sorry for him, in a few ways. Don’t forget, just like us, and just like the Unguhur, he has been pulled into all of this against his will.”
“No real choice for any of us, is there?” Lynn responded morosely.
“Certainly not on my end,” Erin muttered irritably.
“We do what we must do, when the situation presents itself,” Ryan stated, walking over to take a seat next to Erin. “Moment to moment. I’m just glad that Gunther has stayed with us.”
“Believe me, me too,” Lee agreed quickly. “I don’t know how I would feel about things right now without him.”
Erin held back another acid retort.
“So, is there anything to consider doing around here?” Lynn asked.
“I was thinking about going down to the shoreline, just to watch the locals for awhile,” Lee commented. “They are fascinating, you have to admit.”
“That sounds like something, at least,” Lynn said. “Which way are you going? Down through the chambers below, or up and down the staircase by the big landing?”
“Staircase,” Lee responded. “I’m still not comfortable walking through occupied dwellings, though that does not seem to be a very bothersome matter for the Unguhur.”
“They haven’t heard a lot about privacy,” Ryan said.
Lynn looked over to Erin. “Want to go for a stroll?”
Erin shook her head. “Not right now.”
Lynn got to her feet. She gestured towards the ladder. “You first.”
Lee smiled, and glanced over to Ryan.
Ryan waved him off. “Not now, I’ll hang out here for a little while with Erin, if that’s okay.”
Ryan paused and looked over to Erin, who nodded her approval.
“I could use some company,” she said.
Lee shrugged. “Have it your way.”
He grinned as he turned around, and started up the ladder, followed by Lynn. When the sound of their footsteps had ebbed, Ryan looked into Erin’s face.
“Hard day?” he asked.
There was a surprising degree of compassion in his voice, given his tendency for being rather boisterous most of the time.
Erin nodded, and her voice was thick with exasperation as she replied. “Not my best day. Let’s see … cooped up in a big cave, with a lot of big ugly creatures that look like they just walked off the pages of some disturbing storybook. Being hustled and badgered around by a surly, ill-mannered, reclusive, foul-smelling wilderness man, and just wanting to get five minutes of breathing open air. No, Ryan, definitely not my favorite of times.”
She grinned, though the expression was devoid of humor.
“Not the best of times, is it?” Ryan responded agreeably.
“So why would I want to walk down by the shore, or go anywhere around here. It’s all the same stuffy cavern,” Erin said in resignation. She gave a long sigh. “What I wouldn’t give for a short trip to the surface.”
“Probably not too hard to do that,” Ryan replied, with an intriguing tone to his voice. “Gunther said that they have many passages and tunnels in other places that go up to the surface. These Unguhur have a lot of options for going to the forest, it’s just that they choose not to spend time up above. They can easily access the surface, evidently, any time they want to.”
“But how easy is it to get around here? Without being watched all the time, that is,” Erin responded.
Ryan grinned with an edge of mischief. “Like I said a little earlier, maybe when the situation presents itself. I don’t think it would do a whole lot of harm to go for a short walk outside. We don’t have to go far, and I don’t think we would miss the sight or sound of an invading army if they were somewhere near. If we poke our heads out, and there’s any hint of an entire army about, then we just come back right away.”
“I would think that an army would be pretty hard to miss,” Erin concurred.
She could not deny that even if Ryan had misunderstood things, it still sparked a little hope in her. Just the thought of going above seemed to make her next breath feel more crisp to her lungs. Almost instantly, the cavern no longer seemed so confining.
“Lee and Lynn have gone for a walk … Gunther is out fishing. I noticed a lot of rafts down by the lake, and we can talk to the Unguhur,” Ryan said, with an adventurous sparkle in his eyes.
“Maybe we should go for a stroll then? A situation might present itself, perhaps?” Erin queried, seeing where Ryan was going.
“That’s exactly what I was thinking,” Ryan nodded, with a merry chuckle. “Or at least we can begin to form some contingency plans.”
*
AVANOR
*
The mustering of the behemoths and their crews took place far to the north of Avalos, outside of the great castle of Robert Beaumaris, one of the great Barons of Avanor.
The Darroks had to be fitted well outside of the castle’s walls, as even the expansive outer bailey of the castle could not hold the immense creatures and swarm of attending warriors, artisans, and other laborers attending to them.
A few plowed and planted fields had been forcibly requisitioned out of necessity, ruining a greater portion of the nascent crops for several hard-pressed farmers. It was not the first time that the peasant farmers had been forced to endure such injury to their labor. Tournament melees held by the knights and nobles of Avanor had trampled and ripped up their fields, and those of many others, on multiple occasions over the years.
As with the far-ranging tournament melees, the village farmers had to swallow their anger and pride, even more so at the present, as the Darroks were being sent forth at the behest of the Unifier. In some ways, the nature of the requisition helped to take a little of the sting out of the invasive, destructive act, as it was not just another indulgence by the Avanoran nobility. Nonetheless, the long-suffering peasant farmers quietly seethed, cursing their ill-fortunes, as they looked on incredulously from a distance at the monstrosities occupying their ruined fields.
The Darroks were outfitted with a new design of harness, one provided with a couple of additional adjustments to increase protection for the vital network of hide and iron. The group of Darroks was larger than the one used in the first strike on the Five Realms, as two more of the winged titans had been added to their number.
One of the new additions was a fully trained, matured female, while the second one was a younger male that the flight masters had just enough confidence in to dispatch for the coming task. The latter had given no indications that it would give any sort of trouble to its handlers, but it was still untested beyond its training exercises.
There was some initial hesitancy at the sight of the young male Darrok, especially by those that w
ould have to be carried upon its back. The Trogens had to stifle their misgivings, as it was made abundantly clear that every possible resource was needed for the coming strike. It was a consequence of the tremendous pressure coming from Avalos that the final decision had been made to add the younger Darrok to the main contingent.
All but two of the Darroks were to be sent off with a full compliment of well-armed Trogens, heavily supplied with carefully sorted and selected stones for the coming bombardments. The remaining two Darroks were to carry a much lighter load of Trogens and stones, as each was to ferry a cluster of Harrak-mounted Trogen warriors. The carriages on those two Darroks were far from being filled to capacity. A considerable amount of space was left to enable the coming additions to their surfaces, as the contingent reached the outer boundaries of the Five Realms.
At the firm behest of the Trogen leaders, Avanoran skyriders would accompany the Darroks in the first part of the trek, across the skies of Gallea. Other Trogens would then join the force of Darroks in mid-flight, as the behemoths neared the Five Realms. The force of Trogens would intersect with the Darroks’ path, as the former flew up from the south, where they had been deployed in Saxany. The mounted Trogens would create a formidable escort, quite capable of fending off challenges much larger in size than the one that had manifested during the first raid. This time, the raid would be conducted under the auspices of the Trogen chieftains, and the tribes of the Five Realms were not going to be underestimated again.
The takeoff of the Darroks was a sight to behold, and even the peasant farmers forgot about their troubles as they observed the creatures taking to flight. With tremendous exertions of force, the Darroks plodded across a considerable distance of open ground, building up speed. Massive wings beat the air powerfully, as their bodies lurched off the ground.
It seemed as if they hovered in place for a moment, just before their forms began to lumber slowly up into the sky. Once all of them were airborne, the Darroks consolidated into a loose formation as they flew in the direction of Avalos.
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