“She prefers “Dreke” or “Draken”, lad. Not “Wyrm” or “Dragon”. Hates “wyrm” actually.
She's very polite. Anyway, I think we're here but it’s raining outside.”
Polite? A dragon? What do they do when they meet? Tea and crumpets?
“Hrun, would you terribly mind a roof over the ledge? I doubt if our young friend here
wants to be drenched.”
Hrun simply grunted. After some seconds, he looked at Rumpr and said something. An
opening appeared in the rock wall before them.
They stepped out. It was indeed raining. But an outcropping sheltered them from the
rain.
Tyler oriented himself. He stepped to the edge of the ledge and sat down. His Elder-
enhanced eyesight showed a sorry sight. To his right, he could see Scarburg. Its walls
still stood, pockmarked by signs of struggle. Burned and burning mantlets and other
equipment were on the field before the walls. Mounds of dead were on the field. A lot
of barricades have been destroyed and ditches filled in. As of the moment, nobody was
attacking the town. But smoke billowed from the settlement itself. Some structures
have been burned. The small tower fortifications have also sustained damage. All
details pointed to several heavy attacks and the struggle of the defenders to keep the
walls.
On his left was the enemy host, deployed in attacking formation. Mantlets, a few siege
towers, and catapults were deployed behind the front ranks. We must have done more
damage than we thought. The siege equipment is far less than what I expected. He
looked at the mass of the enemy. There was a lot of them. Torches and campfires
marked the entirety of the enemy force in the Gap. The rear of the host moved like a
living thing, the slightly twitching tail of a snake.
Most of the front ranks were already arranged in assault formations. And the entire
column stretched back for some distance, a good four miles in his opinion. Daylight
would bring a major attack as the enemy favored the use of the jotnar. They formed
the bulk of the forces available anyway. Giants, ogres and trolls, the shock forces of the
enemy, also do not do well at night. His shoulders slumped in disappointment.
When he began the skirmish against the jotnar and dokkalfr, it was an exercise in his mind. Now after the blood, the fear, the adrenaline, and near-death experiences, it had
become part of him. He wanted to see the battle through. He wanted to win. But the
mass of figures he saw brought him crashing back to reality.
Rumpr sat beside him.
“You look like you lost your favorite horse, lad,” Rumpr said. The being looked at the
deadly vista before them. “That's a lot of ants. But a smidgen of Ymir's true might.”
“Then why not send more?”
“You forget you’re dealing with a paranoid and a bit unhinged entity. Who has gone
through wars with the Nordic pantheon, with the dark elves, rebellious jotnar, and even
Sutr. He fears an attack anytime from long-standing enemies and even from erstwhile
allies. That's Ymir for you.”
“Look at that, Rumpr, how can I ever think of defeating them! There's too many!”
Hrun gave a grunt. He was kneeling behind them. Tyler didn’t notice. The being was
also looking at the mass of enemies.
“I see a stream,
Not a wall of shields;
I see water,
Not armor and swords;
One does not need,
To empty a river,
A flooding to prevent;
Barriers strong, will hold
True, when a storm surges,
Towards the far shore.”
“You know, Hrun, one of these days, I am going to find a madder and a more atrocious
skald as my teacher. Those lines stink.”
Tyler was silent. Hrun's words had some truth in them. There was no way he could
defeat the enemy in open battle. That would be tantamount to suicide. And to what
purpose? Scarburg would still fall. Ragnarok will follow.
He looked at the opposite side of the Gap. It was a distance of roughly a mile. The
sheer sides of the far peaks could be glimpsed through the pouring rain. He looked
down. The passage through the Gap below was narrowed by the rocks and boulders at
the foot of the mountains on both sides. That left a distance of less than a mile.
I could try to put as many barriers as I can between the enemy and the town. Break the flow of their attack. Narrow their frontage and minimize the impact of their attack.
That way, the defenders would face fewer enemies at any given time. Compared to a
wave of enemies all advancing in a wide frontage. Now the question. How to do it?
He looked around. There were rocks and boulders here and there but he doubted if he
had enough. He also needed a good level launching area. He would probably exhaust
himself quickly once he starts but no omelets without breaking some eggs. Or is it no
pain, no gain?
He turned to the two powerful beings.
“Hear me, please. I know you cannot go directly against Ymir. But would it be possible
to have a flat ledge nearby with plenty of large rocks and boulders. I will perform the
spells to release them down the Gap. It must be timed with their attacks so as to cause
casualties among the attacking jotnar and dokkalfr. Yet it will also bring down solid
barriers to break up their attacks.”
The two looked at him and talked between them. Tyler couldn’t get used to the
grinding language. At times it sounded like somebody scratching a blackboard. It rattled
his teeth.
Rumpr looked him and gave him an impish smile.
“We don’t see any problem with that, my lad. I doubt if they'll suspect a mage doing it.
No ordinary mage, even a High Mage, could keep the pace you’re thinking about.
Without our magic working the boulder throwing, no magical being will suspect us
lending a hand. They would suspect a rogue group of stone giants but that’s another
matter.”
“Thanks. You don’t know how much this means to me.”
“Be careful with giving thanks, young mage. You don’t know if or when some may try to
collect on your appreciation.”
Tyler gave a wry grin. “That’s a lesson I need to be reminded about.”
“Anyway, rest while we play. Which reminds me. If a giant asks to play, don't accept.
You will not survive.” Another laugh accompanied Rumpr’s statement.
“I don’t know how
