Tales of Anderida... Frost Giants

Prologue: The story continues the tale “Death of a Librarian,” which should be read prior to reading “Frost Giants”. “Tales of Anderida” features these same main characters: Scorpion, the reformed pirate; Wolverine, the one armed dwarf who carries a curse; Alan Dark, head of the secret service; Erock, the hyena man who aspires to become a druid; and Brand Helsun, avatar of death and all around badass.

Intermission: Opening a gateway between realities ( or dimensions or planes whatever term suits you best) is a chancy thing. Even Merlin, arch druid and king maker, with the aid of the Lady of the Lake could not know exactly what would happen. It had been an evil end to the reign of Arthur, “Artorios Rex Britannia “ high king of Britain. The rebel army, led by Arthur's son Modred had crushed the King and the few old knights who still followed him. Arthur had killed his son but still lost the battle and sustained grievous wounds of his own.

When Merlin opened the gateway, he and the lady of the lake intended to take Arthur to Avalon where he could be healed and eventually return to Britain. Instead, Merlin, the Lady of the lake, Arthur, his war band, his son Modred and his war band, were all moved to a reality that they named “Anderida” in memory of the enchanted forests of Northern Britain.

Here they found a world where humans were oppressed and kept in bondage to a race of Dragon men. These creatures ruled by virtue of their size, ferocity, and their knowledge of darkest sorceries. Arthur and his son Modred bonded and led the humans and dwarfs in a rebellion. Arthur and Modred both married and had families in this new reality.

To everyone's surprise, the Lady of the Lake and Merlin married. Their offspring became the royal house of Pendragon, rulers of Anderida. …….

We take up the story again with Scorpion and Wolverine trapped in a tunnel beneath a tomb, by creatures led by a homicidal yeti.

Chapter one:

Scorpion continued to bait the yeti. A battle of wits was not the creature's strong point. “Do your men know that their leader is really a dyke bitch named ‘Bettie the Yeti'? Did you promise them a blow job for helping you to kill us?”

An enraged yeti is an empowered yeti, able to smash battle lines or pulp a half dozen enemies. Rage is not, though, the best way to enter into the confined space of a tunnel guarded by two skilled fighters. The monstrous humanoid charged the tunnel, followed by its band of creatures. In each paw it held a flail.

Erock, the hyena man, thrust his lochaber axe between the yeti's legs and twisted. Most creatures would have crashed to the ground. The yeti's immense and powerful legs kept it upright and moving forward. All the lochaber axe accomplished was to cause it to stumble one step. That one misstep was enough to doom the monster.

Scorpion jumped forward, plunging his bastard sword into its throat and holding on as the sword's pommel dragged downward forcing the tip of the blade upwards into the yeti's mouth and out the back of its skull. The mortally wounded monster rushed on into the tunnel smashing its flails into the walls, into Scorpion and into its own body indiscriminately before collapsing.

The dwarf pulled Scorpion out from under the yeti's legs. His bastard sword was lost beneath the creature. He limped towards the far end of the tunnel where the faintest glow of moonlight promised a way out. The adventurers and the princess had just exited the tunnel when it collapsed, trapping the dying yeti and his minions below ground. The magical entrance that had formed beneath the tomb had disappeared.

“Do you think the creatures will manage to dig themselves out before the dead cavalry rise from the tomb once more?” Wolverine wondered.

“Life's a bitch and so am I,” the little princess quoted, to everyone's shock.

Chapter two:

They traveled on into the Mountains of Terror. Scorpion cut himself a staff from a cherry tree to replace the bastard sword left in the tunnel. They climbed steadily up through Storm Break Pass, the little princess able to keep up now that the party was slowed by Scorpion's injuries and pains. Atop the pass they came upon a battlefield where giants with red hair lay dead alongside smaller half-giants with blonde hair and beards. One half-giant had been crucified to heavy timbers nailed together to form an X. The unfortunate half giant was still alive; bleeding from his hands and feet and with his knees shattered by the flat of some fire giant's axe.

They got the half-giant off the X and sat him against a boulder. There was no way they could carry him, nor could he walk with his kneecaps smashed. He gave them a ring to carry to his mother and some messages also. They placed a dagger in his hand so that he could kill himself when the dire wolves or cave bears came to feast, and left him.

Chapter Two:

When the Black Prince moved his army downriver to confront a pirate army, he left Brand Helsun, death's avatar, in charge of the defense of Anderida. Brand's first act was to bring the two remaining little princesses into his fortified manor. His second act was to invite the royal family's worst enemies to contribute men at arms to aid in the manor's defense. Brand may have been following the hackneyed advice “Keep your enemies even closer”. More likely, he was simply having fun, playing the crown's enemies off against each other. No great house was willing to let such primo hostages fall into the hands of another noble family.

Only house T'Argyll might benefit from the deaths of the princesses. The members of this house were near enough to the royal family to claim the throne if the Queen Empress died without heirs. Brand had dreamed of his death when assassins from house T'Argyll broke into his cellars from the sewers. Such a prophetic dream could be used to advantage. If it was indeed a true future, he need not fear death anywhere else. He stationed warriors from rival houses in the cellars and kept out of them himself.

Alan Dark, head of the secret service, stared at the report just received from his spies in the army that had followed the Black Prince downriver. The army had suffered a disaster.

The soldiers of Anderida were fleeing in panic back toward the capital city, leaving the Black Prince a captive in the hands of the pirate armada. The pirates were in no-holds-barred pursuit mode; cutting down the fleeing humans and smashing whatever resistance was attempted.

Horrid magic, outlawed in Anderida since the founding of the kingdom, was the reason for the defeat and panic. Shards of ice driven by summoned winds of over a hundred miles an hour literally blinded some soldiers and left the rest unable to see or hear commands. Within this horrid fog were ice trolls and demons who slaughtered the helpless soldiers.

Chapter three:

Brand Helsun was sworn to the defense of the capital city Anderida. However, as they teach in the war college, there are many ways to defend a city beside just sitting within the walls and repelling attacks. Brand had promised his paladins of death that they would make their own fun. Now, with the enemies of the royal house stalemated and watching each other, he decided to have fun big time!

Night time on the great river with the pirate fleet at anchor: A boat disguised with logs and heavy branches drifts slowly among the ships following the scent of black magic. Tara, a powerful witch, signaled the paddlers their directions.

“They know we are coming,” she whispered. “They have spies on the astral plane and sea trolls in the water. I can not block them all out.”

“Well that's good,” Brand responded. “No fun killing black wizards who can't defend themselves. Also, we do not want them to have any excuses for losing this fight.”

The paladins of death were warded by every spell their warlock/mage Ethan could research and cast. However, their greatest strength lay in the fact that they were each technically dead. Unless their bodies were destroyed or their souls banished, they could keep on fighting. Brand Helsun was somewhat more invulnerable, even alive he could be destroyed only by fire or decapitation. The wizards with the pirate fleet had shown themselves to be masters of fog and ice spells. They were therefore unlikely to have fire, Aeromancer, or earth spells. The trolls and demons they summoned could, of course, rip apart or decapitate their foes. In fact ripping apart and devouring foes was sort of what trolls and demons were all about.

Brand drew his claymore “Bane” and tied a fighting claw to his right hand. “Drop a fireball onto the flagship,” he ordered Tara. “Let's have to light to see by and some heat to warm us after drifting down the cold river.” He leapt into the river and swarmed up the ship's anchor chain, Rhino the pit fighter and four other warriors close behind him.

The waters around the boat seethed as trolls attacked and were met with fire and lightning. A cold hurricane roared up the river carrying ice and rain that doused the fire balls of the mage. From within the hurricane demons screamed out their lust for blood and souls. Black mages aboard the flagship had waited until the boat was alongside to spring their trap!

Something from the abyss, orange and almost all maw, came out of the icy rain and tried to swallow Rhino. The pit fighter reached into the orange mouth and pinned the demon's tongue to its lower jaw. Brand turned and slashed the creature with his claymore and it began to dissolve.

Billy, who had been a famed martial artist prior to his demise, lashed among the demons using a fighting chain with an axe head on either end.

Nagale, a former crime boss, swung a magical war hammer with either hand. He and Billy had killed each other. Now they both served Brand the avatar of Hel.

The three mages seated upon the flagship's afterdeck congratulated each other on the devastating attack they had sprung. One bore the visage of a young girl, the second a beautiful woman, and the third a black robed and bat winged, bald demon. No one, it seemed, could have lived through the hurricane and the demons within it.

Brand came out of the hurricane, walked up to the mages and cut the head from the beautiful woman. He picked up the thousand year old crone who disguised herself as a young girl and flung her into the hurricane. “Go and play with the demons ye have summoned, little girl.” Then he turned to their master, the evil old man who wore the visage of a bald demon.

“All right you evil piece of shit, give me your best shot, for I have come for your head.”

Klondarr, high mage of the pirate fleet, felt an emotion he had not felt for generations, bowel loosening, gut twisting terror. He summoned his most potent spell, one that blasted with cold and took the soul of the target along with his fast frozen body down to hell.

“Poor choice of spells old man,” Brand told him. “I am immune to cold based spells and can only be destroyed by a fire spell. When you get to hell, inform my grandmother who sent you to her.” He paused. “Ye have but one chance to live. Will you free our prince in return for your own life?”

“Yes, anything you want”.

“Thought that was what you would say”, Brand responded. “Sadly for you, I lied. I don't want him back alive. Your head on a stake in front of my manor means more to me than saving the prince. Your head will be the centerpiece of my collection. I shall beg my grandmother to place your soul back into your staked out skull. Sometimes in the evenings we shall talk together of politics, love and magic.” The claymore swung down!

To be continued.