Lara slipped one of her hands into his huge hand. “How could he not be pleased with a son who has become such a fine and honorable man?” she asked, knowing better than most the pain that losing his parents had cost her giant friend.
Kaliq invited the giant to eat with them in the garden as the evening fell. And afterwards he brought Og to a large room with a great long bed that he had conjured up so the giant could be comfortable. He placed a golden charm shaped like a tree in full leaf about Og’s neck. The tree’s leaves were enameled in various shades of green. “This will keep you safe upon the Dream Plain.”
“What is it like, my lord?” Og asked.
“It is a misty place, but you will feel a firmness beneath your feet, and the mists will clear allowing you to see your father and he you,” the prince explained. “If at any time you find yourself threatened or even frightened you may simply picture yourself away from the Dream Plain. When you lie down, concentrate upon your father and call him to you,” Kaliq instructed. He handed Og a goblet of frine. “Drink this, my friend. It will aid in your sleep.” When Og had drained the large goblet, Kaliq said, “Now I will leave you. Dream well.”
Alone, Og looked about the chamber. It was large and simple with a long single window opening onto a garden. The giant sat down upon the bed and pulled off his boots. Then swinging his legs up he lay flat upon his back. The bed was more than comfortable, he was pleased to note. Outside the window he could hear the song of a night bird. Og closed his eyes and thought of the giant who was called Skrymir. Lara said that his father looked like him, but Og had only seen himself a few times in his life. Still, he concentrated and as he did he felt himself relaxing, slipping away into a deep sleep.
Opening his eyes suddenly, the giant found himself surrounded by a pale mist that swirled about him gently. This, he realized after a brief moment of fright, was obviously the Dream Plain. Could he move? He sat up and stepped forward cautiously. Aye, he could move. But where was his father? Then he realized it might help if he called him. “Skrymir, son of Thrym, son of Eggther, come to me!” his voice boomed out.
“Who calls me to the Dream Plain?” a voice thundered back. “Who dares to speak the hallowed names of my father and my father’s father?”
“I am called Og. I am the son of Skrymir and Oona of the Forest Giants,” Og replied. “If you are that same Skrymir, son of Thrym, son of Eggther, then you are my father. Show yourself to me.”
Og waited in silence wondering if the other giant would reveal himself, but then the mists fell away from the form of a huge man with red hair who did indeed look like him but that his eyes were amber. Skrymir stood at least two feet taller than Og. He was dressed in a green gown with a leather breastplate, but he was unarmed.
“You are small,” Skrymir said. “Why are you so small?”
“My growth was stunted by lack of nutrition and the conditions in which I was forced to survive,” Og answered. “Why did you not look for my mother?”
“You have Oona’s eyes,” Skrymir said sadly. “I see her now looking out at me. When we returned from the hunt four days after we had left we found the killing ground the Forest Lords had turned our home into,” he began. “The bodies had been mutilated. Some had already fallen prey to the beasts of the wood, and the crows and ravens had taken the eyes from many. We could identify no one. I assumed that your mother had died and our child with her. How did you both survive?”
“My mother was on the hill picking berries when the Forest Lords swept into our village. She could see the slaughter and mayhem from her vantage point and realizing what was happening she fled into the deep wood, where several months later she gave birth to me. When I was four a party of Forest Lords discovered us. She saved my life by telling them that I had been in her belly on that fateful day. She begged for my life knowing her own would soon be taken. The Forest Lords slew her before me, and then thought it would be amusing to have a giant child as a slave. Since I had not been born until after the destruction visited upon our people the Forest Lords believed their secret was safe. They were not aware that our people have a collective memory that is passed to infants in the womb.”
Skrymir nodded slowly and then he asked, “Are you still in the forest? If you are we will come and rescue you and slay as many of the Foresters as we can!”
“Nay, Father, I escaped several years ago. I am the horse master of the Shadow Princes. I make my home at Shunnar, in the desert of Hetar. I have a wife and children.”
“How have you found me?” Skrymir wanted to know. “If you have a happy existence then why do you seek me out?”
“You serve the Twilight Lord, my father,” Og said. “Why do you and those with you who are of the light serve the darkness?”
“Because Lord Kol was the only one willing to shelter us after our families were destroyed,” Skrymir said. “We dared not take our complaints and our case to the High Council of Hetar. We dared not even allow the Forest Lords to learn that some of us had survived. Look what they did to your mother. One frail woman with a small child and they still feared exposure enough to murder her because she knew their secret. Do you believe they would have shown you any mercy had they known of our collective memory? We fled from the forest across the desert and, finding a sea at its far edge, we waded across it. But the land upon the other side, even though empty of mortals, was not suited to our way of life so we traveled onward toward the mountains that make up the Dark Lands. It was here we found safety. We owe Lord Kol much for his kindness to us.”
“Your master wishes to conquer Hetar and Terah, the land below the mountains,” Og said slowly.
“Hetar is a weak kingdom. It needs a strong master, and the Twilight Lord means to be that master. As for Terah, its people are simple folk who will be easily taken,” Skrymir said.
“Father, while Hetar is in its decline, Terah is not. And that land you found deserted on the other side of the Obscura when you fled Hetar is now populated with the clan families of the old Outlands of Hetar. They accept the Dominus of Terah as their overlord. He is a strong man and his wife is a powerful faerie woman.”
“How do you know this?” Skrymir asked.
“Because the Domina of Terah is my friend, and Prince Kaliq of the Shadows is her mentor. The Twilight Lord is now penned within his castle by Prince Kaliq’s magic. He will remain there for a hundred years. He can lead no armies of unjust conquest against Hetar and Terah, Father. The Dark Lands is leaderless right now.”
“Lord Kol may be confined, but the rest of us come and go at will,” Skrymir said. “We will follow his orders and go forth to conquer.”
“To what purpose?” Og countered.
“Because he has asked us to,” Skrymir said. “Because he is the only one to shelter our people, my son.”
“You never asked others, Father. Your complaint is not fair. Why would you follow after someone who would do to the peoples of Hetar and Terah what the Forest Lords did to our people?” Og wanted to know. He looked up at this father he had never known. “Many will die.”
“You are slight of stature,” Skrymir noted, “but you are large of intellect, my son. I have not considered the consequences of a war before now.”
“At their height the Forest Giants were few in number,” Og pointed out. “The City of Hetar has a large population and then there are the provinces outside of The City which now include the Outlands. There are many who will suffer from your master’s desire for conquest. And why does he seek Hetar and Terah?”
Now Skrymir looked confused. These were questions to which he had no answer.
“Is there hunger in the Dark Lands? Has the population grown too large for your borders?” Og persisted. “If these things are so then could you not seek aid from your neighbors in Hetar and Terah? Why must you march forth and slay them? What have these innocents ever done to you?”
“You are hurting my head with all your questions,” Skrymir complained. “Our people owe the Twilight Lord their allegiance.”
“The lord Kol sits in his castle directing his minions to go forth to their destruction,” Og said. “Do you believe Hetar and Terah so weak that they will not fight back? They already know of your coming and are preparing to defend themselves,” Og lied. “The surviving Forest Giants are few. How many will be killed in this foolish foray? And are the dwarfs and Wolfyn so numerous that they, too, can allow their ranks to be decimated? While you go to war, Kol will sit back and watch. He has not even the courage to lead his armies himself, Father. And this is who you would follow into death?” Og stood tall before his sire, his big hands upon his hips.
“I can listen to you no longer,” Skrymir said irritably. “You confuse me, my son. If indeed you
“I am your son,” Og assured his father. “If you doubt me then come down from your mountains. I will meet you
