A Song of Askaldenfirsts and Dragons. Part seven: Gaaldalksirin
Chapter 3: Hemrockhever

They took shelter for the night in a half-destroyed house, which was already partially covered with snow, leaving the karkhashes tied to a burnt wooden pole. They were able to heat the stove. However, all the heat from the house went out into the courtyard of the cool winter street because of the partially destroyed wall. There was little snow, and they covered the distance quite easily, moving eastward on the karkhashes. The nearest suitable town for their task was Elnastaarnall, an arqilunian town on the border with Farderland. If it was not destroyed, and if the arqilunians had not abandoned it, a mage could have been found there, though only a madman could believe it. However, Hemrockhever himself hoped for this, he has already tired of the unpleasant cold and would have accepted any mage into their group, even an arqilunian!

Suddenly a chirping sound distracted him from his thoughts, and he tensed and looked closely, then stuck his head out the window, looked around and turned back.

“Wake up,” he said softly, and kicked the sleeping Richten. Ulrihelga lay beside him and immediately jumped up, grabbing her sword. Richten hesitated a little.

“What happened?” asked a sleepy Ovenka, lying nearby.

“Quiet,” Hemrockhever said, “there are jartraxies flying over there!”

The jartraxies are flying creatures with relatively large wings, resembling the enlarged wings of an Earth dragonfly. The jartraxie themselves were slightly larger than the snunorfs, apart from the wingspan, they had the heads of Earth bulls, like the kirthrolants, only the kirthrolants were white and had four upper limbs, and had no wings. And the jartraxies were dark, sometimes with black-brown fur, and sometimes with gray-blue-brown. Their horns were curved. They had huge massive limbs with large claws.

When Hemrockhever stuck his head out again, the jartraxies spotted him and flew toward him.

“Sumnargish take me!” the tonnebeard cursed. “Ovenka, hide,” he said, grabbing his axe, and Richten and Ulrihelga were already holding the swords and shields they had borrowed in Stumbleglade.

“Take the shield!” Richten shouted to him.

“No thanks, my axe is not for one hand!” Hemrockhever said.

And they all ran out of the house.

Four jartraxies were flying in the sky. Hemrockhever, Richten and Ulrihelga stood back to back and got ready.

The jartraxies swooped down, attacking Richten and Ulrihelga’s shields with their claws, but because of the snunorfs counterattacks, the jartraxies could not tear the shields with their claws. One jartraxie flew up to the tonnebeard and when he swung an axe, knocked the axe out of his hands, and then plunged its claws right into the back of the tonnebeard and took off, lifting the dwarf up. Hemrockhever screamed. Jartraxie seemed to be hugging the tonnebeard, and so it flew.

“You stupid beast!” Hemrockhever shouted. The jartraxie flew higher and higher diagonally, carrying the tonnebeard away from the battlefield. Hemrockhever felt for a dagger in his bosom, grabbed it with both hands and plunged it with all his might into the creature’s chest. From shock and pain, the jartraxie retracted its claws, and Hemrockhever, holding on to the dagger, began to fall, ripping open jartraxie’s chest and stomach. And together they flew straight into the trees.

Hemrockhever fell into the branches and twisted, so that he became entangled in his long braided beard. He tried to free himself, but nothing worked, and he floundered and wriggled so that in the end he became completely entangled and nearly broke his arm.

About ten minutes passed, maybe more. And Hemrockhever began to scream.

“Hey, anyone?! Richten, Ulrihelga.”

After a while, snunorfs ran up to him with Ovenka.

“Look, what a great warrior we have in our team, right, Ovenka?” Ulrihelga quipped. All three of them smiled.

“Sorry, Hemrockhever, but I can’t climb up there,” Richten said, examining the tree.

“I can!” Ulrihelga said confidently. And she climbed up.

After a while Hemrockhever saw her face next to his. He thought, “She may not be such a beauty, but Narastas loves crazy combinations!” For some reason he remembered the god of love of the tonnebeards, but obviously he wasn’t in love with Ulrihelga.

“Hold on,” she said, and began to free him.

She skillfully untwisted and untangled his beard.

“Maybe I should get stuck more often so you can set me free?” he laughed. Ulrihelga smiled.

“Come on, Richten,” Ulrihelga shouted, “I’ll throw him off now!”

“Will you hold me?” Hemrockhever asked.

“I’m not going to hold you, I’m going to throw you,” Ulrihelga said, and grabbing his arm, with a light movement threw him straight at Richten, who nevertheless climbed to a small height to try to catch the tonnebeard by the hand and thus soften the fall, but he failed. Hemrockhever fell right on Richten, and the northerner fell almost on a thin layer of snow that had melted. Tonnebeard was on top of him.

“We don’t do that anymore,” Hemrockhever said, and got off Richten.

“I agree,” the snunorf said, getting up and shaking off the snow.

They heard Ulrihelga and Ovenka laughing.

“So, how was the fight, how did you manage without me?” Hemrockhever asked.

“It was very hard,” Ulrihelga shouted from the tree, “but your big beard spirit helped us!” Everyone smiled, even Hemrockhever almost laughed.

“You are very fortunate, kardareign,” Ovenka said.

“Ovenka, I asked you not to address me like that, so please call me Hemrockhever.”

“Well, maybe she’ll have to address you as ‘Your Majesty,’” Richten remembered this hackneyed topic again and smiled.

“There you go again!” Hemrockhever got a little annoyed. “I’ve already said I believe the king is alive, and besides, if everyone dies and I’m the only candidate for the throne, I simply won’t want to and will refuse.”

“If the survival of your kind depends on it, Hemrockhever, you’ll agree,” Ulrihelga said with conviction.

They went into the house, gathered their things, untied the karkhashes, climbed on them, and rode further east.

“Silenta is keeping us warm today,” Ovenka said.

Hemrockhever thought it was really warmer today than yesterday.

“We’ll replace the mage, then we’ll go back to Stumbleglade, and then–” Hemrockhever broke off.

Suddenly, they heard the sound of flapping wings, and then saw the blue dragon brightly reflecting the light of Silenta.

“It’s pointless,” the dragon’s voice boomed, addressing someone.

Hemrockhever and the others rode to the nearest wooded area, but it was too late. The dragon saw them.

“Hurry, get to the trees, it’ll be easier to fight!” Hemrockhever shouted, but the dragon landed right in front of him, whipping up some of the snow and wet mud of damp soil, splashing the karkhash and Hemrockhever with it. The karkhash reared up, threw off the dwarf and ran away.

Richten and Ulrihelga jumped off the karkhashes and ran up to Hemrockhever.

The isters was sitting on a dragon. Hemrockhever took a fighting pose, holding his axe in his hands.

“You’re without a karkhash, tonnebeard, and now you’re going to fight me?” the blue dragon asked. He had white-edged scales that glittered in Silenta’s light. “I saw you galloping toward those trees, and what was your plan, huh? I’d just set the trees on fire and then circle around and wait for you to crawl out,” and the dragon laughed.

“We mean you no harm,” the isters said, “my name is Jamashar Mantillish, and this is Delmirbirznaaks–”

“I told you, old man, it’s a pointless idea,” the dragon interrupted him, “they will either be afraid and hide, or fight and die. The dragons have brought too much evil to Ermir.”

“You can’t argue with that!” Ulrihelga shouted.

“What do you want?” Hemrockhever asked.

“You’ll be surprised, dear kardareign, but we’d like to help you, to save you, if possible, from a terrible evil!” Jamashar replied.

“What kind of evil is that? The only two evils I know are the dragons, who want to burn everything in their path, and the army of Kaushmanashtoon, which was going to take Norvinoria, Eileenelia and Farderland!” Richten said. “I see a dragon and an isters in front of me, a real double evil.”

“It was rude, but straightforward, typical of the northerners,” Jamashar smiled. “You don’t know what evil is. I’ve seen it… But it’s a long story, and I suggest you get on Delmir and we’ll fly to our temporary camp and I’ll tell you all about it.”

“What kind of camp? A prison camp?” Ulrihelga asked.

“I told you, Jamashar,” the dragon complained, “it’s pointless trying to reason with the ermirians. If they want to die, let them die!”

“What is this evil you speak of, umm,” Hemrockhever hesitated to respectfully address the isters, “deshaar?”

“It’s like smoke, so dark, flowing. Such smoke completely destroys the flesh. Only two smokes destroyed Queen Nulara’s army along with the valiant stormentan Carlfrig–”

“Queen Nulara?” Richten interrupted him and exchanged glances with Ulrihelga and Hemrockhever. Hemrockhever turned around because he was constantly worried about Ovenka. She was in the distance on her karkhash; she had thought of grabbing the karkhashes so that the animals would not run away. He breathed a sigh of relief and turned to Jamashar.

“Yes, Queen Nulara’s army,” Jamashar continued. “After the rebellion and the murder of Ganrikter the Second, the snunorfs needed a new monarch, and now they have a queen Nulara. She is the daughter of Timnar Tossed, and he and his brother and nephew are dead, and there were some other pretenders, probably, but most likely they’re all dead, and she was, by right before her proclamation, actually the yarlantan of Larmar Islands, of which almost nothing remains–”

“Is anything known about the king of the tonnebeards, Tulvarick the Sixth?” Hemrockhever interrupted him.

“Unfortunately, I don’t know anything, but let’s discuss everything in the camp, we’re waiting for the return of the First–”

“Yes, come on already, get in and fly. Delmirbirznaaks is a savior of the ermirians! Maybe your descendants will sing songs about me! That would be some consolation for my kindness, but I think I’ll never hear them," the dragon interrupted him.

“Let us think,” Richten said, and with a glance invited Ulrihelga and Hemrockhever to move toward Ovenka. Tonnebeard and Ulrihelga began to back away, not removing their weapons, until they were far enough away.

“It’s a trap,” Hemrockhever said.

“Maybe, but think for yourself, why does the dragon need the isters, why does he need to communicate with us? He could burn us right now, why play games?” Ulrihelga asked.

“Just to gain our trust and extort information from us. For example, where are the tonnebeards or snunorfs, how many of them are left, their location. I don’t know, but this is clearly a trap!” Hemrockhever insisted.

“You’re right, that’s why I’ll fly the dragon alone,” Richten said.

“What?! Are you insane?” Ulrihelga burst out.

“I have to do it, Helga, I have to,” he walked over to her and kissed her.

“How touching,” Ovenka blurted out.

“What’s touching about it?!” Ulrihelga got angry, “He’s going to die and you think it’s touching?”

“I’ll come back to you! I love you!” Richten suddenly said.

“Oh, that’s how it is,” Hemrockhever grinned.

“I’ll fly with you!” Ulrihelga said. “It’s not up for discussion! If you want to risk yourself, you golden-haired fool, we’ll take risks together!”

“No!” Richten resisted, “I can’t lose you!”

“It will be me,” Hemrockhever said suddenly. “If you’re so interested in what kind of dragon camp is there, and if you’re too afraid to lose each other–”

“But, kardareign–” Ovenka began to object.

“No buts,” Hemrockhever interrupted her, and headed for the dragon.

“Wait, we haven’t agreed where we’ll meet,” Richten said, not even trying to dissuade the tonnebeard, he probably realized that the stubbornness of the forest dwarfs is stronger than the stubbornness of the northerners.

“Wait for me here. I’ll try to convince them to give us a mage, if they have one, so we don’t have to ride back and forth, and I’ll be back as soon as possible. A couple of days won’t solve anything,” Hemrockhever said and smiled.

“We’re not going to set up camp in the middle of this field,” Richten looked surprised.

“Then wait at the house where the jartraxies attacked us. We haven’t gone far. It’s better to return than to travel without me to the elven city. You’re responsible not only for each other, but also for her,” Hemrockhever shook his head towards Ovenka.

“We’ll be there,” Richten said, “take care of yourself, Hemrockhever!”

Hemrockhever nodded, but said nothing. He didn’t want to feel like a hero, and he didn’t want to fall into a trap, but he allowed himself to feel that he had done the right thing. He approached the dragon.

“I’ll fly with you and see what kind of camp you have, and then we’ll go back for my friends, if that’s all right–”

“I have nothing better to do, tonnebeard, than to transport you ermirians back and forth as if you were on a winter ride on the karkhashes!” Delmir interrupted him and made a terribly loud low sound.

“Fjallik forundran,” Jamashar said to the dragon, “let’s make concessions this time, please.”

“Well, all right,” the dragon suddenly relented, “climb up on my back,” and the dragon spread his wing, and Hemrockhever clumsily climbed.

When he had climbed, and sat down beside Jamashar, he asked the isters, “Do you have mages there?”

“Well, me, for example,” Jamashar said happily.

“You’re an isters, you isters are great at the magic of the school of destruction,” Hemrockhever said.

“It’s properly called the school of damage, pain and destruction,” Jamashar corrected him.

“Well, yes. But there is one place where I need to remove the corpses; there are a lot of them,” Hemrockhever said.

“Ah, that’s it. Even though the school of damage, pain and destruction is directly related to the element of fire or ice, unfortunately the cleansing fire spell is known mainly to arqilunians and larmarians.”

“Yes, that’s what I’m talking about,” Hemrockhever thought that Jamashar took him for an idiot. “Do you have such mages there or not?”

“I’m sure when our First ally returns, he’ll be able to cast a thousand spells of cleansing fire for you,” Jamashar exclaimed cheerfully, “but I’m sorry, dear kardareign, I can’t speak anymore, my tongue and hands are going to fall off.”

The dragon was flying relatively high, and the wind was fierce. Hemrockhever himself ducked as low as possible behind Jamashar’s back, so that the isters would take on the entire stream of freezing cold. They were flying over snow-covered, dragon-scorched fields, and Hemrockhever was even more doubtful about his decision.