THE HALADIN

by Archaic Scribe

Chapter VII
THE ASSEMBLAGE OF THE HALADIN

The time Haleth made to Mulco was not as swift as she would have preferred, but it was as slow as she anticipated given the crew she was leading and the terrain they had to hurdle along the way.

As the mid-size group of women and children that made up the tribes reached the final summit of the hilly terrain, the thatched roofs of the consolidated buildings of Mulco came into view, small specs upon a vast horizon. It would now only be a short time before they reached the trading center, where they would find only a few men of the tribal peoples remained, along with masses of women and children much like themselves.

As Haleth expected, the city was more reflective of a ghost town, the daytime empty of the normal bustle and chatter of bartering vendors and customers. Knowing her group needed a good amount of proper refreshment and rest, Haleth opted to stay at Mulco, making sure the group was settled in for the night.

Before the sun crested over the horizon the next morning, Haleth left Jorhild in command of the group of women and children, swiftly riding the short distance to where the stockade was being constructed between the Rivers Ascar and Gelion. Using the two rivers as a natural boundary, all that remained was for the laboring men to manufacture a sturdy wall joining the two, so that the area, which remained in-between, could be their stronghold.

Haleth could see well from a distance that the laborers were making considerable progress on the structure and that things may soon be complete, if all continued to go well. This she could surmise with all plausibility at a deliberate and calculated glance, even before she sought her father among the men.

"Ah! You have arrived!" Haldad said pleasantly, seeming to materialize without warning out of thin air, arms outstretched and held out in welcome to assist her in a dismount from her horse.

"But where are the rest of the people?" He asked, catching her as she slide down from the horse's back where he enfolded her into a warm embrace and affable kiss on the cheek before her feet hit the solid foundation of the earth.

"They remain at Mulco, for I thought it best to give them solid refreshment before continuing and I did not know if you were prepared to receive such a large group yet," Haleth replied, her tone resonance clear as if giving a factual report to an assembly.

Haldad laughed heartily in spite of the formal mannerisms of his daughter that he held so dear to the nucleus of his soul and jovially clapped her on the back. Haleth stumbled a fraction from where she originally stood, under the exuberant force of her father's affectionate and ample, thumping palms.

"Well done, my daughter. You have the effective discretion and hardy substance of a natural leader," he said, winking at her before he twisted his torso to gain a panoramic view of the edifice he coordinated, his pride brimming at the fine workmanship done over such a limited amount of time.

"You did notably well, Haleth, dispatching Beinir ahead of your group of women and children to us with the utmost haste. The progress you view before you would not have been possible were it not for his crafty hands and gifted eye for detail and vision," Haldad mused with discretion in a barely audible mumble.

"Stay in Mulco one more night and then bring them at the first light of daybreak tomorrow and be adequately prepared to make camp for a day or two outside the barricade. By then," he said beginning to be lost in his own thought, "We should be in readiness to establish the entire amount of people into the haven against the Orcs."

"Now," Haldad said merrily as his thoughts drifted from methodological organization of logistics to genuine contentment, "How fares my grandson and his mother?"

Haleth grinned, her expression undiminished and alight with cheerfulness, her thoughts a great distance from deliberations of war and death as she responded to her father's query, "Haldan is well as is Jorhild, who is in command of the group at Mulco."

Her father nodded his approval and regarded her with level eyes, sincere pools that looked like a lush gray smoke twisting upwards from a central furnace of endless heat, "Another daughter I am blessed with, as if she too could be directly from our very own bloodline."

"Aye, Jorhild!" Haleth nodded with a wide smile, letting her thoughts reflect on Jorhild, who had become a foundational part of their small, immediate family, but more outspoken than any of Haldad's children, and for this trait, they adored and relished her every word.

"I dare not delay, most respectful Godi," Haleth suddenly insisted with an easy, informal bow, "For I must find my brother and give him news of his wife and child."

"I bid you, do not forget mighty chieftain to all the folk, who from thence shall be known as the Haladin," he said smirking with mock haughtiness and amusement at his daughter's startled expression.

"You have been declared the chieftain of all the folk, say you, father!" Haleth exclaimed with astonishment and happiness, jumping into his embrace and clasping her arms around his great trunk of a neck as if she were about to sink into a formidable bog of swampy filth, oozing with bubbling gases from depths unknown. Haleth was ecstatic with glee that Lord Tunni had not been able to connive and establish an underhanded strategy to see his will done.

After a few moments, Haleth unfastened herself from the embrace as Haldad chuckled and bowed, extending his arm in a wide arch, indicating that she must continue onward and to his right side if she was to locate her brother.

It was not long ere she discovered her twin brother, whose from, lean and muscular like her own from hours of training, riding and farm work, was bent over the ground digging with a crudely shaped shovel, sweat running down his face and dripping from the end of his nose.

"You look to me, my dear brother, like the equal to a greased pig," Haleth said as she stood near Haldar, her arms crossed over her chest as she sternly looked down at him in a disapproving manner.

Haldar wiped his forehead on his tunic sleeve and then rubbed away the sweat that was trickling into his eyes and along his tanned face, mocking her expression and treating her with an actual snort as a reply before he spoke.

"It is a rare pleasure to see you too, my sister," Haldar said, grinning with disdain at Haleth, as he narrowed his eyes, every word marinated in irritated sarcasm. "You have all the refinement and personality of an ass, Haleth - would that you had been born my brother, so that you could share the joys of such labors."

His trifling rebuke sent Haleth into an indulging chortle, as Haldar came around the hole to stand close to her, removing his sweat-drenched shirt she replied, "I am what he gods will me to be, blessed be Freya!"

Haldar nodded his head and called a truce to their feigned battle, as he smiled widely, a spark of mirth in his eyes and embraced her with a quick, lightening like grip before she had a chance to move away from him.

"Tell me, sister, how you like this flowery stench," He said, barely getting the words out amongst a burst of laughter as she tried to wriggle away out of his firm grasp, finally squirming out of his reach and then scrunching her nose up in disgust.

"Boar," she said casually as she continued, "Jorhild is in Mulco and Haldan with her."

"How fair my bold flame of beauty and unruly son," Haldar asked with clear devotion and good nature in his tone, which earned him a look of uncensored endearment from Haleth. Though Haldar was her twin brother, she also had a strong bond to his wife, Jorhild, that only the relationship of female sisterhood could cement.

"They flourish, much like your farming estate, thanks to Jorhild," she replied without any noticeable pause after his slightly melodramatic thespian show of theatrics. "And how do things fare among the tribes at this time?" Haleth asked, motioning to the men who persistently continued to work on the barrier, and whose skins were tinted pink from their unaccustomed and prolonged exposure to the sun while Haldar rolled his eyes and sighed with exasperation.

Catching his expression in her peripheral vision, Haleth ignored him and continued to look at the men, her gaze sweeping amongst the workers whose long, brown locks matched their own, many of them their brethren, as she then began to pick out the men whose skins shown like shiny bronze coins, chiseled muscles glistening, welcoming and soaking in the brutal rays of the sun.

"Well, tomorrow things should be brighter for you," Haleth continued and then turned to Haldad, "For your wife and child shall be making camp along with the others near here until you are finished and things are ready to fortify."

This statement brought a genuine, refreshing smile to Haldar's appearance and his whole countenance lit up considerably as he began to wipe the sweat from his chest and armpits with his garment before he put it back on to protect his pallid, hairless-looking skin from the hot sun.

"That," he replied as he looked kindly at his sister through a beaming grin which spread across his entire face, "Is something I shall look forward to with much anticipation!"

Haleth returned his smile and abruptly zoned in on the subject she had been waiting to know more about, asking in a low, conspicuous voice, "Tell me more details of the Oath-swearing?"

Haldar paused for a moment and sat down as Haleth followed his lead and sat next to him on the unearthed turf he had been piling next to his hole, "What would you say if I told you Lord Tunni now rules all these folk?" Haldar asked, swinging his arms wide to encompass the air and those people all around them who worked robust fervor at their tasks.

Haleth's eyes blazed for a moment before she gave it more impartial thought and replied, "Godi Haldad would not be in such a state of good humor if Lord Tunni were to rule the Folk and besides, my dear brother, I have already spoken with father and know the news, but what I really desire to know is how this thing happened without Tunni's interference."

Haldar smirked with affection at the keen and direct candor of her statement, giving up the failed ruse he had attempted and restated the information already known to both, "Aye, sister, we are son and daughter of the Godi who now rules all the Folk that willed to join under the name we have always been known by during this time allotted to us on Midgard. We are all, now, Haladin."

Haleth's face turned to a crimson hue of dark pink as she gasped sharply without meaning to be heard, and said with disbelieving skepticism, "All the Folk are now truly Haladin?"

"Aye, even our esteemed and beloved, hospitable Lord Tunni," Haldar stated with the hint of unbridled hostility, heedless to the vicious grin playing at the corners of his parched, cracked lips.

"Lord Tunni," Haleth said with utter incredulity, her voice rising with inflected excitement as she looked intently into a reflection of what looked like cold steel in Haldar's eyes. Haleth struggled as her mind raced and her blood pulsated and pounded at the restraints of her flesh as she gathered her words and willed them to form her next question, "He swore this oath with no debate?"

"He swore allegiance reluctantly to the chieftain chosen by the majority after much debate, and only after it was sworn in public that he would be the next leader in turn, should anything go awry with Haldad. Lord Tunni's statement held some sway over the other godis and thingmen because he brings great military force to our defense, but this you know."

Haleth raised both eyebrows, her forehead visibly wrinkling, and grimaced as her thoughts vocalized themselves into a dangerous whisper to her brother, Haldar, "I do not like the sound of his conditions."

Her brother nodded sullenly with understanding and agreed, uttering only one prophetic word, "Aye."

By mid-morning the following day, Haleth's group of women and children came upon the encampment area with wonder and awe at what met their eyes. The stockade loomed like a towering bastion, a clear impediment to any onslaught of enemies, where there could be no doubt of its worth of protection to its inhabitants. It was generally assumed among many of the Haladin that all their homes were in grave peril of being destroyed, in all likelihood, but the wall before them promised safety of life. Homesteads could be rebuilt, but life as they knew it could not be so easily replaced, or most readily accepted by most, even in such a belief system in their culture. Many of the Haladin had freed their animals, though it meant that they would have to go without sustenance like eggs and meat for a long while, but it was a better choice than having them slaughtered by the flesh-consuming Orcs that rained down upon their homes.

The group made a considerably pleasing amount of travel time, in Haleth's reckoning even with the sun already beating down upon them with scorching heat with another rare, above average temperature day for this time of year. It was surprisingly humid with little wind to ease a cooling hand to the heat as the men continued to work, with renewed fervor and excitement after news spread yesterday of the coming of their families and loved ones.

The bold, thundering rush of the rapids of Gelion and the soft flow of the steady stream from Ascar could be heard through the rock and wood of the stockade wall, which had grown considerably since yesterday when Haleth had viewed it. They would begin to settle in there by the next day, she thought, after gathering more food the next morning - this day and night would be for celebration and little work.

The women had just missed the men, who had just gone back to work on the structure and would not see them until dusk, when they took their final break from their massive task of work on the wall.

Haleth began to merge the two camps and sent the women and their families to find the tents of their spouses or loved ones while Jorhild began to manage an army of widows and spinsters to cooking the mid-day meal for their own group.

As Jorhild managed this large chore, Haldan's steps wondered from the cooking fires and shadowed his aunt Haleth, conniving with resolution for a way to see his father earlier, rather than later.

Haleth made her way towards her father, desiring to have news of when they could move the entire population behind the safe walls. She had yet to determine the amount of gear they would unpack, and knowing the reality of how the structure was progressing would aide in the direction she would give the other women. Though Haleth had her own assumptions about when they could move behind the wall, she would need to consult her father, who was not only her Godi, but also now the sovereign ruler of all the peoples.

"Do you consider it fair that you should see your father before your mother has such an opportunity, Haldan?" Haleth said without turning, acknowledging his proximity, which Haldan thought he had cleverly disguised with soft footsteps and practiced movements of furtive stealth.

"You saw father yesterday and are going to see him again now," Haldan replied saucily, but with the expert logic and candor of an average child his own age. To others, this statement would have been considered flippant, but to Haleth, it was a normal and acceptable question, thought she stretched her instincts to put on a respectable show of disapproval. Haleth surpressed an urge to smile and nod in agreement with his reasoning and tenacity, trying not to laugh at a debate that would never arise disputing who gave him the gift of birth. Such a flawless example of the unfairness life can offer even in simple matters, Haleth thought with disheartened regret: Touché.

Still standing yards away from the structure, Haleth halted her step and turned to rest her eyes upon the camp, seeing many of the women and children straining to pick out their loved ones as they ate and set-up camp. She was torn between the ideals of being impartial and fair, and granting her only nephew whatever was in her power.

"Return to your mother, child, for I seek your grandfather and only go on business," she finally said, regret bursting in her heart as she tried to inflect firmness into her tone and disguise the weakness of her statement.

Haldan looked at her, his eyes widening at the prospect of seeing both Haldad and Haldar at once, before a small pout began to form as he searched her eyes, sensing her insincerity.

"But..." he began to stammer hesitantly before Haleth fixed upon him a stern look of steadfast coercion from which he turned and slumped back towards the cooking fire and his mother's skirt.

Was showing favoritism to Haldan worth the sad feeling in her heart, Haleth wondered as she shook her head and began to work past the walls, calling blessings and greetings to those who were finishing the small touches that were necessary to the outside of the structure. Her father must be working inside the structure today, she thought as she began to turn the corner down at the far end of the wall where the River Gelion raged against the steeply banked shoreline.

Distracted and gazing up the towering wall, Haleth rammed into an unyielding, solid body as she turned the corner before the bank of the river. A familiar, unwelcome hold immediately steadied her as her steps wavered in the middle of an interrupted flow, and uneven earth.

"Careful, my lady," a deep, tenor voice crooned softly as Haleth felt her cheek rest against patches of rough skin barred and unhidden behind the intimate stubble of facial hair. "You could be lost to us if you do not give more attention to your step near this deadly bank," Lord Tunni said, motioning to the steep slope leading to the jagged rocks pointed out of the river.

Shocked and displeased with the situation, Haleth struggled out of his grip, which he held her in purposely for a brief moment longer than necessary, mentally implying upon her that her strength was no match for him.

Haleth glared at him with venomous anger and stood still, knowing she could not pass him until he moved, and resolutely refusing to speak, vainly choosing to wait until he moved. At her obvious exhibition of determined resistance, Lord Tunni donned a grim smile and crossed his bulky arms over his wide chest.

After what seemed like boundless moments of time vanishing into the stanch heat of the day, Haleth's hostility boiled over, getting the better of her patience as she hissed, "Move!"

Tunni only smiled more pleasantly, scrutinizing and probing what thoughts she must be having at her own lack of control, and enjoying her powerlessness under his authority.

"Hail, Tunni," came a commanding voice, crashing like thunder from behind them, as the confident look of victory instantly disappeared from his face, his bronze features turning an ashen white.

Haleth smiled triumphantly as she turned to Lord Tunni as she passed, noting that he seemed to have a visibly difficult time swallowing as he turned and stepped aside for Haleth to get around him.

Ah - a voice of salvation, to be sure, Haleth thought with relief as she bowed formally to her father, who awaited her on the other side as Tunni followed her, bowing formally to Haldad.

"I was just seeking to speak with you, Chief Haldad," Tunni said, attempting to hinder the tenseness he felt surrounding him, threatening to choke the lie he had shamelessly uttered.

Haldad tersely gave him a quick nod and narrowed his eyes dangerously, "Well, Lord Tunni, tell me why you choose a path that is opposite of my company?"

There was a long, uncomfortable pause as Tunni spoke, "I must have overlooked you inside, and thought you must have gone outside to do some final checking on the finishing touches outside."

They all knew he lied, but in the spirit of union, Haldad put his bubbling rage aside, determining to deal with Lord Tunni after the threat of Orcs had safely passed them. The Althing council was approaching this next summer and as the supreme ruling chieftain of the Haladin, he determined to strictly adhere to the laws of for disagreements their ancestors had created and observed since before passing over the Ered Luin. Tunni's time of reckoning would come, publicly and unopposed.

"What is it, then?" Haldad said regally, looking at Tunni with malevolent eyes, which looked like ashen charcoal, flecked with bursting slivers of blue flame, unabashedly and intentionally unmasking his disdain for this arrogant and bothersome under-lord.

Tunni seemed to flinch noticeably, but in a quick flash, before meeting Haldad's gaze with unwavering hostility, he responded in his turn to participate in the volley of words with the ruling lord, "As you know, I sent scouts to track the enemy's progress along the Dwarf-road." Scathingly, he continued, "They have failed to return and I fear they have been lost."

"Dispatch more and without any such delay!" Haldad said condescendingly to Lord Tunni, focusing more of his unhindered wrath upon him by retaining his glare, unspoken warning communicated and understood between the two men.

Checking his wrath, Haldad wondered why Tunni had not sent more earlier, but did not trust his temperament at the moment, and walked away, his hand under Haleth's arm as he lead her from Lord Tunni.

After walking along half of the finished wall, Haldad spoke softly, "What is it between you and he?"

Haleth's heart raced as blotchy patches of red appeared on her face and neck, her body temperature rising in the already blistering heat of the afternoon. Quickly, and self-consciously, she turned to look away from her father at the men who all seemed to gather and work industriously in one area of the structure.

"He is an ill-bred swine," Haleth replied, trusting herself to say nothing more and reluctant to lie to her father, and equally as reluctant to share the whole truth that would complete the story which would cause certain upheaval in a none too timely manner. No, this was not he time or place to tell all that had happened and add to their intense animosity and situation that may have already come to blows. War would soon be upon them and an attack was impending, as were the countless deaths that would result from battle, Haleth thought, looking around the area inside the fortress.

Haldad pursed his lips and opened his mouth to speak, but decided against pursuing the topic as they neared the group of workers who all stood in a mass around a figure near the wall.

"What is this?" Haleth said, looking suddenly at her father with concern as they neared the opposite end of the wall, approaching the intersection of the majestic River Gelion and the steady-flowing Ascar.

Haldad did not make any attempt at a reply, looking puzzled as he instead lead Haleth through the crowd which parted from their path, after realizing who was among them as they came upon Beinir, who was standing in the front of the crowd.

Beinir stood, a strapping, thick-bodied powerhouse, chest-high to Haldad with his hands on his hips, a telling grimace across his frustrated appearance.

"What is all this, Beinir?" Haldad said with deep concern.

"We are out of construction materials and this breach between the bank and the wall is too large to withstand an attack," Beinir said, shaking his head with such dire exertion that his jowls trembled, the strain of his words sounding harsh to any who had delicate ears. "If materials and time were endless, we should have a wall along this River Gelion too."

Haldad's eyebrows furrowed deeply into her forehead and his jaw became a tight set of determination.

"Well then, we must take wood and rock from wherever we can find it," he said, turning to address the mass of people behind him before when he was talking with Beinir. "We will seek for the waters of the river for heavy stone and every able men of strength shall move it up around the bank, to level ground and then roll it over to this place. I will be clear so there is no misunderstanding in what I say to you all: I do not want even one of you to risk pushing the rocks directly up this perilous bank. Some of you shall go with Haldar, who will take a group of you to excavate deep holes where we will set spikes made from the tent poles in the encampment."

"Go!" he commanded with the undisputed air of rule as the crowd dispersed and he turned to Haleth, "Bring what wood you can to this place and call upon the woman you must to bring it, the insult to custom be done away with this day! You must bring our small group of warrior women and strong farm maids to this task - we need what might we possess in our ranks, even if it is from women - and set someone in Jorhild's stead to take charge of the camp for you. Time is short."

Exasperated and regretful at having to share the secret society many of the neighboring tribes thought dead after his wife's death, Haldad took a deep, cleansing breath and blessed Haleth as she quickly sprinted along the wall back to camp to carry-out the High Chieftain's command. Then Haldad looked skyward into the branding light of the sun, praying to his wife's patron goddess, Freya, to lend all the strength she would allow to the women set upon this task and for the future battle with the Orcs.

Author's Note:

Thanks to all you anonymous folks who are leaving reviews - I sincerely appreciate the time you have taken to read this story and the encouraging words of inspiration you share in your comments! I am thrilled that you are enjoying this story and that you really seem to appreciate all the elements that are melding together.

Disclaimer:

Characters and situations of The Silmarillion (Second Edition) by J.R.R. Tolkien, edited by Christopher Tolkien are the property of The J.R.R. Tolkien Copyright Trust and Christopher Reuel Tolkien.

Produced solely for the enjoyment of other fans and not for any monetary profit. Please do not sue me, as I have little money.