Shimmering eyes are as blue as the deep sea that seem to glow even when there is no light. Golden hair that shines brighter than the sun. She\u2019s a pure goddess with a touch as warm as a hearth of a burning flame. The way she looks at me is of pure love and devotion. The sun slowly peeks through our balcony as she snuggles up in my arms, kissing me softly. She\u2019s my beautiful wife, my love, my heart. I would give her all the realms even if it cost me everything else. She\u2019s everything to me. Her kisses give me life. They are what fill me with purpose. She\u2019s given me everything I\u2019ve ever wanted in life, beautiful children and her love most of all. With it, I feel like I can take on anyone. Not even giants are a match for my hammer because her love gives me the strength to defeat them all. Even the storms will bow before me when I have the heart of such a strong woman. With her by my side, there are no impossibilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I open my eyes and see nothing but the dark cave, feeling more alone than I\u2019ve ever felt without Arngunn\u2019s deep blue eyes to look into. It was only a dream, but it felt so\u2026 real. That woman, I know it was Arni\u2026 She shared the same face. The same smile. Why do my own dreams give me hope only to take it away when I awaken? What could\u2019ve happened if I had only stayed home? If I had just let go of my hate. My need for revenge. Would she still be here? Would our son grow old? Would we have had more children? These thoughts haunt me. The strange thing is it felt more like a memory than a dream. It felt like I lived it. How could that be? Could be what is to come when I reunite with her in the halls of the gods? I must earn my worthiness so I can make that my fate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The morning came, and I met with my father\u2019s friends at the gates. They followed me up the mountain to the cave where the others trained. Einar wasn\u2019t too keen on taking orders from Aldam and being put to work. Koll and Throst didn\u2019t complain, however.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While Aldam pushed them to their limits, he fashioned thin bracelets for them all to wear. That\u2019s when I noticed his hammer is made out of the glow metal as well. Not the same hammer he went to battle with, but a simple blacksmith\u2019s hammer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I left them to Aldam to fetch my siblings and Thora. It is time she learns to truly fight and grow strong. If my brother and I knew of this type of training, who knows how things could\u2019ve gone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I meet with my father, who\u2019s overseeing the construction of our harbor, pulling him away from any ears that might get back to my mother. \u201cI am going to train Bodvar, Svala, and Thora.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He shakes his head. \u201cAs much as I\u2019d like to, your mother will not agree.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIf Thorkel and I trained at their age, do you not think things would\u2019ve gone differently? Maybe Thorkel might still be alive. Maybe our wives and children would still be here,\u201d I say.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He scratches his beard as he turns to look over the town. \u201cYou may be right. I\u2019ll talk to your mother. In the meantime, take Bodvar and Thormar up to train.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI will take Thora. She\u2019s my responsibility,\u201d I say with no room for argument.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYour mother won\u2019t see it that way,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou have to make her see it. Thora will not be weak like Thorkel and I were.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMy son, you think strength comes from the body?\u201d father asks, his eyes meeting mine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhere else does it come from?\u201d I ask.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He places his hand on my shoulder. \u201cYou need a strong mind and a strong heart before you could ever have a strong body. Strength comes from your will and your heart. Make them strong and your body will be strong as well. I\u2019m surprised you don\u2019t know that seeing how strong you\u2019ve become.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou\u2019ve always been wise, father.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He nods. \u201cNow, take your siblings and show them the way.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I nod and walk away to find my brothers inside the hall, pelting Thon with a thousand questions. Thormar beams with utter excitement. \u201cIs it true that banshees exist?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Thon nods. \u201cThey\u2019re spirits of the dead who come to herald their descendants.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHave you killed one before?\u201d Bodvar asks, his eyes lighting up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cCan you kill the dead?\u201d Thon asks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know. Can\u2019t you just bash ’em?\u201d Bodvar asks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBodvar, don\u2019t be a complete and utter fool. You can\u2019t just bash a Banshee, they\u2019re a corporeal spirit. Physical weapons won\u2019t work on them. Or so I\u2019ve heard,\u201d Thormar says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bodvar turns and gives him a good kick in the shin. \u201cDon\u2019t call me a fool! I\u2019m not a fool.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou bloody bastard! What was that for?\u201d Thormar hisses as he practically jumps up and down on one leg while rubbing his shin. I can only snicker. These two will never change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBanshees aren\u2019t necessarily evil and you\u2019re right, you can\u2019t just bash a spirit. It takes magic to kill them, but I wouldn\u2019t kill a banshee, for they only seek to protect their descendants. It is those who they warn of that need killing,\u201d Thon says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAlright, you two. Stop annoying our honored guest and come with me. I\u2019ve got work for you,\u201d I say, grabbing them by the collars of their tunics and dragging them away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHey! I\u2019ve got loads more questions,\u201d Thormar says, struggling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cFather\u2019s orders,\u201d I say.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They grumble and complain as they follow me out the side gate that, oddly enough, doesn\u2019t have a scratch on it compared to a few paces down where the entire wall has been destroyed. We make our way up the mountain again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhat are we doing?\u201d Thormar asks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou\u2019ll see,\u201d I say.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWill mother be mad that we\u2019re going into the mountains?\u201d Thormar asks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNo questions. Just come,\u201d I say.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWill we get to fight a bear? I heard you fought a bear and killed it. I could take one on,\u201d Bodvar says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I turn and eye him. The boy is hardly big enough to fight a hare. I turn back and continue on. \u201cYou\u2019d make an excellent supper for a bear.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI would not. The bear would be my supper.\u201d He puffs his chest out. I don\u2019t doubt he\u2019d try to fight a bear. Bodvar has always been fearless. I think he must\u2019ve been born a few ore men short of a full boat. Stupid boy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We head down the path and arrive at the cave where the others work hard. Solmund, Griotgard, and Skardi are making good progress. They\u2019ve got the wristbands on and are out in the cave swinging pickaxes. Koll, Einar, and Throst are still working with the pebble. Aldam continues to pound his anvil, making more materials for the village. He looks up at me. \u201cBoy, if you go back down to the village, take these fools with you and have them carry down the nails and get more iron. I don\u2019t have a lot left, so you\u2019ll have to go out prospecting.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I nod. \u201cI already know where some veins are and coal as well.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Aldam smiles with a hint of pride. \u201cGood lad. I figured as much. You spent a whole winter up here. I\u2019d be disappointed if you didn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHere\u2019s these two more, put ’em to work. Come on, you three. Let\u2019s head back. I need to convince my mother to let Thora and Svala train up here,\u201d I say.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The three of them look ready to collapse. Griotgard bends over and rests his hands on his knees, heaving for air. \u201cStrike me dead and send me to Niflheim. It could be no worse than how I feel now. I need a quick breather. How did you do it, Bothvar? I can barely move.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cCome on brother, you\u2019re acting like a Southerner,\u201d Solmund says before he nearly stumbles over.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Skardi is drenched in sweat and teeters back and forth. I can\u2019t help but smirk. My time here was far different and more of a war than work. I nod towards the cave. \u201cGet some cave water that has the glow rocks in it and eat a mushroom or two and you\u2019ll feel better.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The three stumble over to the cave. Aldam gives my brothers both a little pebble. Or at least sets it on the ground for them to pick it up. Neither of them succeeds at it. Aldam only smirks. \u201cYou boys are weaker than a rotten board. Now go in there and drink the water and eat a shroom. We\u2019re going to need to find another cave at the rate we\u2019re going.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWell, hopefully after I fetch Svala and Thora, it’ll be it for now. I suppose after Koll, Einar, and Throst finish, their children will be next. Then our crews after that. We need to be careful who we train. The wrong people could be truly devastating. Especially Grom, Thrain Haklangsson, and their lot.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAye, you see the dilemma now, don\u2019t you? The more people who have this strength, the less of an advantage it becomes. That\u2019s why the dwarves hoarded it for so long. Our Iron Mountains are full of this metal and the shrooms with large caverns of pools glowing with it along with. However, only those who\u2019re deemed worthy can mine it and gain its strength. Being the brother clan of the royal line of succession gave my clan access to it. But not all dwarves get it. You can tell who the royal line considers worthy by who shares our iron skin. That\u2019s how the Ironhammer\u2019s got their name. Of course, when your lot arrived, or I suppose the southern lot, we helped them because they were the enemy of our enemy, the Wood Elves.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhat did you mean when we arrived? Or the Southerners? Where did we come from?\u201d I ask.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cGoat’s blood, boy. Do you not know where you come from?\u201d Aldam asks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI heard we\u2019re not from this land, but our home has been long forgotten. We don\u2019t know much beyond our ancestor, King Bjorn the first king. They say he was the first to arrive with an army of settlers. Of course, they also discovered that humans, as you call us, were already here. The southern Saxons and the ones south of them. But later did we realize they were different from the people south of them. The Tyrants. King Vandil\u2019s people who worship different gods.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWell, I don\u2019t know much about the Saxons, as you call them. But I know Vandil\u2019s line. It was his ancestor, King Alexander, the first great king who arrived here. He brought an army and made the mistake we dwarves made when we left the mountains for the first time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s that?\u201d I ask.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThey started chopping trees down. The elves don\u2019t like that, bunch of tree huggers, the lot of them. They think Trees are alive and the pointy-eared bastards think they can talk to ’em or something. A crazy bunch of bush fuckers, if you ask me. But to them, chopping a tree down is a reason for war. That\u2019s how our war began with them. And that\u2019s how King Alexander and his men got themselves mixed into it. They weren\u2019t a strong lot. Rather weak at the time. This was a couple of hundred cycles ago or more. I was but a wee lad at the time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My jaw drops. \u201cHow old are you?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The dwarf counts on his fingers. \u201cLet\u2019s see. I was born only a few cycles after my cousin Nesley was born. It was oh\u2026 about 1104 Dragon time. What cycle is it today?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhat are you talking about? What is Dragon time?\u201d I ask.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cFor the love of the gods, boy, how do you not know what dragon time is?\u201d Aldam asks, holding his hands up in frustration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cFor us, it’s the 272nd summer since we have arrived here. Give or take a cycle. The wise one keeps track of these things. To most it is not important,\u201d I say.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWell, Dragon, time started when the Dragons arrived and formed the world into their image. Of course, they weren\u2019t the first ones here you see. The Gronns and the Giant Titans were fighting over the land before the Dragons arrived. Neither could stand against the Dragons though. The Dragon Lords are gods in their own right and killed many of the Gronns and Giants. Of course, the elves will tell you this Lady of the Forest of theirs came and made peace between them, breaking the land into many different lands scattered throughout the seas. But that\u2019s just what the elves say. They worship this forest lady as if she were Hreitharr himself. But she ain\u2019t no builder god. She\u2019s some witch, if you ask me. However, it\u2019s said that she made the elves and the orcs. Or at least the elves we have today. They used to be little savages who were shorter than us dwarves who huddled in small tribes throughout the forests. Cowering from the Dragons, Gronns, and Giants. But then she made four elves out of them. Their names are Deker, Alluin, Syphire, and Saria. Two boys and two girls. And made orcs out of Gronns. Two orcs. Sharogg and Barathogg. Maybe she mated with them, I don\u2019t know. But dragon time began when the Dragons first came here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHow do you know when they came?\u201d I ask.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe dragons told us,\u201d he says as if that were obvious.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou spoke with the dragons?\u201d I ask.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWell, not me personally, but my ancestors did. I have only seen one dragon in my entire lifetime. It was large enough to black out the sun. You do not want to meet one of them. They are smart and cunning, but they\u2019d sooner eat you for breakfast than tolerate your presence. We\u2019re just but mere mortals to them,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHuh\u2026\u201d I say scratching my head. This is a lot to know. Griotgard, Solmund, and Skardi walk out of the cave. \u201cWell, let\u2019s get to it then. Come on, you three.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They seem to have recovered some. The water and shrooms really are something else. They take turns pushing the cart down the mountain as we head back to town.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Once we arrive, I split off from them to find my father. He\u2019s in the hall talking to my mother. They\u2019re with the leaders of the Valkyrie tribe and the Builder tribe. Among them are Dasyra Ragnarsd\u00f3ttir, Amalgunda, and Amalasontha, along with the old chief of the Builders Trefor Treharne, and his head carpenter, Aethelwin. Thon also sits in the corner. This time, Svala and Thora pester him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The three Valkyrie leaders give me a nod in recognition. I return it with respect. \u201cThese giants will return. We need to prepare for them and have a plan of action when the time comes,\u201d my father says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThat we can agree upon,\u201d Dasyra says. I still can\u2019t believe she is the Valkyrie\u2019s matriarch. She looks far younger than Amalasontha and Amalgunda and yet they refer to her lead. It\u2019s not that Amalasontha and Amalgunda are old. They\u2019re not young either. About the same age as my mother even. \u201cWe\u2019ll need to strengthen our walls.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019d suggest adding ballistas throughout your walls,\u201d Aethelwin says. \u201cWe can come to some agreement by installing them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYes, that would make the giants think twice,\u201d father says with a nod.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I step forward. \u201cMay I make a suggestion?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYour advice is always welcomed, Bothvar Beorcolsson, friend of the yeti and bone breaker,\u201d Amalasontha says, but the smile she wears is one of sadness. Bone breaker? I never heard that title before. The other doesn\u2019t surprise me. However, mother and father seem to look at me with curious expressions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI think we should train our warriors on how to fight these giants. Shield walls and the other tactics we use against the Southerners and the elves will not work. They can break the shield wall as easily as a twig.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cDo you have any suggestions on how to fight them?\u201d Dasyra asks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe need to fight like wasps and swarm them. Chop at their feet and bring them down to their knees so we can take their heads or go for their hearts. That worked well, even though it might take four or five men for each giant,\u201d I say.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThat is good for fighting them one at a time, but what if they match our numbers?\u201d Amalasontha asks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIf we can make walls strong enough to withstand their attacks, we can drive them into a narrow passageway to force them to fight us one at a time,\u201d my father says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMight I add a suggestion?\u201d Aethelwin asks. Everyone nods. \u201cWhat if we make crossbows with rope attached to bind their arms and legs? Or even rope with weights attached to snare their wrists.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019d take several people to restrain them. A giant can pick up even the largest of our men as easy as picking up a stick,\u201d my father says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe need spell swords like Thon. He was the most effective against them,\u201d I say.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They all look over at the spell sword, who meets their gaze. \u201cI cannot stay. In fact, I\u2019ve stayed too long. I should be on my way. I have my own journey.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cVery well, then we shall reward you for your aid, friend,\u201d father says as he shows Thon his treasure. \u201cTake what you think is worth your service.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Thon looks over the treasure, and he picks up a glowing orb. \u201cYou have a shielding orb? You\u2019ll want to keep this on your ships. It\u2019ll shield your ships from magic. You\u2019ll need it more than I will.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He sets the orb down. Then looks at a particular, rather ugly, necklace and meets my father\u2019s gaze. \u201cThis will suffice.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThank you again, for all your service. If you’re ever in the North, you\u2019re always welcome here at Stormfront.\u201d My father holds out his hand and Thon takes it in a shake, nodding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I walk over to him and hold out my own hand. \u201cIt was an honor to fight alongside such a warrior as yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI say the same, Bothvar, Giant Slayer.\u201d He shakes my hand and nods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I laugh. \u201cIf I am the Giant slayer, then you are the bane of them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThen so shall it be. From now on, Bothvar will be known as Giant Slayer and Thon will be known as Giantsbane,\u201d Sigvor says. He nods once more before he turns and walks away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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