Chapter 11
Ishild was not sure how long she was asleep, but she was awakened by noises. They were coming from above her on the roof. They sounded like hooves and that's when she realized who it was.
"Meinrad!" she whispers through a hole and the hooves walk over to her spot. A pair of beaming yellow eyes peer into the hole and Ishild's heart thumps louder than ever.
"Ishild, are you all right?" he asks.
"You shouldn't have come, the villagers will kill you if they see you," Ishild whispers to him.
Meinrad looks around, he sees the lights of torches wandering around the village and he breathes steadily. "I am not going anywhere without you," he whispers back and asks, "How can I get you out?"
"My father has the key and he doesn't sleep at all," Ishild replies and then slips two fingers through the hole. "Can you make this hole bigger? Just try not to make too much noise," she adds and Meinrad begins to break the wooden roof apart, piece by piece.
After awhile, the hole was big enough for Ishild to slip through with the help from Meinrad. She then pulls him down when a light from a torch was close to them.
Once the guard was gone, Ishild looks at the forest just beyond the village. "Can you make it that far?" she asks in a whisper.
"I'll try," he answers and gestures her to get on his back. Ishild holds on to his horns as Meinrad steps backwards and then, he jumps in one giant leap across the rooftops of the huts, passing the moon above them.
Meinrad lands hard on the ground, just within reach of the forest and he dashes off into a run with Ishild still on his back. She then sees a light from a torch just beyond them.
Ishild then sees the dwarfs and Meinrad stops. Ishild gets off of him and says, "You were crazy for coming, what if a guard saw you? You'll lose your head or something worse than that."
"I don't care about that," Meinrad replies and his breath was seen as he snorts. "Tell me, what happened? Helmold told me you were locked up," he asks and Ishild looks at the ground.
"Ishild, please, tell us," Runa said to her. The young woman presses her fingers to her eyes, trying to control the tears from coming down.
"The chief was planning to banish my father and brother because he suspected that they were going to assassinate him and his family. He also planned on marrying me to his oldest son. I barely know any of the chief's family," Ishild explains and Meinrad's heart filled with anger.
He was angry at the chief for wanting to marry off Ishild to someone she barely knew. "And your family locked you up?" Hartwig asks and Ishild nods and fresh tears flow down her cheeks.
"My brother hates me, I wish I knew why, but there is something wrong with him. My father barely pays attention to us, but he is a scheming fool," Ishild said to them.
"Why is your father a scheming fool?" Helmold asks, it was out of curiosity.
"Oh, you idiot, don't you get it? Her father probably wanted to install both his children into the chief's household," Runa said to the dwarf.
Ishild nods and adds, "I know my father wants to be in the chief's good graces, but mostly for the riches. Being an adviser is not enough for my father."
Meinrad wipes away the tears from Ishild's cheeks with his claws. "You are more than welcome to stay here. Don't go back to your village," he said and Ishild nods, again. She then embraces him, catching him off guard, but he returns the embrace.
"I say that in light of these events, we should have the celebration of Saint Nicholas tonight," Helmold said to them.
"I agree, it is a lovely night for a celebration," Runa replies and her husband nods.
"I will go on ahead and tell everyone," Helmold said and in a flash, he digs through the snow and was gone.
Ishild watches the dwarf go and asks, "How does he do that?"
"It is his gift, he is a natural digger," Meinrad answers, but Runa chuckles.
"He is a mole," she whispers to Ishild and the young woman laughs. Ishild then looks up at the bright moon in the sky and at the stars that were glittering.
"Tis beautiful in the winter," Ishild said to them and Meinrad also looks up at the sky. He then pulls out the badger's skin and shows it to Ishild.
"I kept my promise, in honor of Saint Nicholas," he said to her and Ishild takes it and loops the skin around her neck like a scarf.
"Thank you, it's cozy," she replies and they follow Helmold's snow trail deep into the forest. They hear the howling of wolves and the hooting of owls. Ishild stays close to Meinrad and he keeps a lookout.
"Are there more dwarfs?" Ishild asks Runa and Hartwig.
"Oh, there is a whole community of them," Hartwig replies, "No human has ever found us, well, except for you, but we trust you. Besides, they wish to meet you after we told them about you."
"Be careful though, some of them are just as mischievous as Helmold," Runa warns Ishild and she nods. The pain where the bite was on her arm was throbbing, again, but she ignores it.
After what seemed like forever, Ishild notices lights in the distance and they continue to walk towards it. Ishild hears chattering and some other noises when they got closer.
Meinrad stops and so does Ishild when they made it to the dwarf community. Ishild takes in the setting; it was actually a clearing in the forest with snow mounds. Smoke was coming out of holes from the mounds and the chattering diminished when the dwarfs saw Meinrad.
"It's Meinrad!" a dwarf calls out and there came cheering and shouting.
"Look! It's Ishild!" another calls out and more cheering came. Ishild looks at the dwarfs; they were wearing different kinds of furs and Ishild thought she counted at least one-hundred.
The welcoming was too much for Ishild as the dwarfs crowded around her, shaking her hands and tugging on her coat and dress. "Enough!" Meinrad calls out and the dwarfs stop in what they were doing.
"Give the girl some space, she has had a terrible night," Runa said to everyone. There were whispers among the dwarfs and one offers a bottle of wine to her.
"Drink your sorrows away," one of them said and Ishild takes a sip. It actually tasted better than any other wine she had in her village.
"Not too much, we still have a celebration to look forward to," Hartwig said to Ishild. Then both he and Runa take Ishild away from Meinrad.
"We have to fix that hair of yours," Runa points out and Ishild looks back at Meinrad, who hides a chuckle.
Ishild passes mounds where many dwarfs were cooking and making other preparations for the feast. "This is a nice place," she comments to Runa and Hartwig.
"Oh, you'll like it here. No humans to bother us, which means no ridicule," Hartwig replies and Ishild nods. She did like the sound of that as she felt harassment by her family every day.
They take her into a snow-mound and Runa orders her husband to go. "You take care of Meinrad, he needs attention," Runa whispers to Hartwig and he leaves.
"What kind of attention?" Ishild asks as Runa takes off her fur-coat.
"Never you mind. Now, let me see," the dwarf replies and begins to comb Ishild's hair. The young woman relaxes as she knew she was in for the night of her life.
()()()()()()()()()()()
Back in the village, Oda the storyteller knew something was amiss in her hut. She knew that someone was going to kill her tonight and she accepted her fate. The old woman sits by her fireplace where the fire was dying.
The front door opens, but Oda does not see anyone, however she senses that someone was outside. "Lucifer, away with you!" she shouts, but then, a figure rushes in. Oda was pushed to the floor and hands enclosed around her throat.
Oda did not fight, she was not strong enough, and she was being choked to death. She looks at her attacker and before her vision goes black, she forces out, "You...are...going...to...hell..."
Then, Oda passes out and the intruder looks down at his victim. He then looks at the dying fire and pulls out a burning log. "Ah!" he exclaims as his hand was burned and he sets fire to the wooden structure of the hut.
The fire catches and it spreads all through the storyteller's hut. The intruder leaves the hut in haste and disappears into the night.
From the author: Oh no! A wonderful moment ruined! Well, not for the feast, at least not yet. Stay tuned for more!