Chapter 12
In the dwarf community, the festivities had already begun with songs being played on instruments and the dwarfs distributed all their wine among themselves. A bon-fire was burning in a pit in the center of the square and the dwarfs were dancing around it.
Meanwhile, Meinrad was being groomed by Hartwig, who combed the tangled hair. "Not so hard!" Meinrad shouts as the dwarf was tugging hard on some knots.
"Well, you should groom every so often," Hartwig replies, but Meinrad snorts.
Just then, Helmold and a few dwarfs came and show a new fur coat fit just for Meinrad. It was red with white fur trim.
"Our gift to you, I thought it's time to depart with that old thing you're wearing," Helmold said and Meinrad takes the coat.
He sheds the old fur coat and puts on the new one, it fit. "Hold on, just a minute," Hartwig said and demands that Meinrad lower his face down. Hartwig then does two braids on Meinrad's long beard. "Thought I spruce you up," he adds and shows a mirror.
Then, there came a shout from the festive dwarfs, "Our honored guest is here! Raise your cups for Ishild!" a voice calls out. In the center of the village, Ishild was offered a cup of wine and the dwarfs resume their singing and merriment.
Ishild's blonde hair had been made into a decorative bun and the dwarfs commented on her lovely dress. Ishild's arm began to ache and she began to feel dizzy, but she ignored them. The pain from the bite was minimum, but Ishild rubs it.
"And here is Meinrad! Raise your cups!" the dwarfs shout and Ishild notices Meinrad in his new coat. He notices her and she raises her cup to him. He gives a tilt of his head and then a lute begins to play.
"Go on! Dance with her!" a dwarf shouts to Meinrad and Ishild blushes at the sound of that. Meinrad was also embarrassed at the sound of this, but he moves forward to meet Ishild.
Everyone moves away from the two, making a big circle. Ishild looks into the moon beaming eyes and the lute continues to play. Ishild takes Meinrad's claws into her hands and the two start to dance.
The dwarfs resume their cheerful merriment and they ate and drank, while some join in on the dancing with Ishild and Meinrad. "You look good in red," Ishild whispers to him.
"I think green suits you," he replies and Ishild nods. "Ishild, are you happy here?" he asks.
"Yes, I never felt this happy in a long time, ever since mother died," Ishild answers, but suddenly, she slips. Meinrad catches her, but he also falls onto Ishild.
"Yikes!" some of the dwarfs screech and the playing stops. Meinrad was able to prevent himself from crushing Ishild and moves away from her.
"I'm sorry," Meinrad said, but Ishild shakes her head and chuckles. They stand up and balance themselves on the icy ground, but Ishild slips again and this time, she causes Meinrad to fall on his back.
"Sorry," Ishild said, but Meinrad gets to his feet and stomps on the ground, crushing the ice beneath him. It was then that Ishild started to feel even more dizzy. She touches her forehead, she felt really warm, but she thought it was from the bon-fire.
Meinrad seemed to notice the change in Ishild and moves her away from the bon-fire, but at that moment, Ishild faints. "Ishild!" Meinrad cries out and takes her into his arms.
"Oh, terrible! Terrible!" a dwarf calls out and another shouts, "Where's Eydis?"
Ishild touches her forehead as she pants and sweat trickles down her head. "In here!" Runa demands and Meinrad brings her into a large snow-mound.
"Ishild? What is wrong with her?" Meinrad asks Runa as he lays her down on a bed of fur.
"She feels hot, touch her forehead," the dwarf replies and he does. Ishild was hot to the touch and she continues to pant, but then starts to shiver.
"I feel cold," Ishild said in a weak voice and Runa wraps her up in furs, but also places a cold, wet cloth on her forehead. Just then, Eydis arrives and checks on Ishild. She looks around the woman's body, including her chest and then removes the sleeves of her dress.
"Oh my, look at this," the old dwarf said, revealing the bite wound. It was black and blue and it looked infected. "That is the culprit," Eydis said and asks Ishild, "Who did this to you child?"
Ishild shivers, but she answers, "My...brother...bit me..."
Meinrad takes a clump of hard earth and crushes it in his claws. Rage fills his heart as Ishild lays there, sick and weak. "Why did he bite you?" he asks in an angry voice.
Ishild does not answer, but looks at Meinrad before she closes her eyes. "I best make a potion for this, infections can be deadly," Eydis said and leaves the mound. Runa places another cold cloth on Ishild's forehead, but it causes her to shiver even more.
"I'm sorry Ishild, but you have quite a fever," Runa said to her.
Meinrad stays close beside Ishild and places a claw on her forehead, pressing the cloth down. "Why didn't you tell me about the bite?" he asks, this time in a calmer tone.
"I was afraid that you would go to my village and attack my brother. Then you would be killed; I don't want that to happen to you," Ishild replies, weakly and her body shivers. "I'm so cold," she adds.
Meinrad lies down beside her and holds her, keeping her warm. "Thank you," Ishild whispers before dozing off to sleep.
Outside of the mound, Runa notices that all of the dwarfs had stopped their festivities. "A shame that our honored guest is sick," she heard a dwarf say. Runa finds a bottle of wine and drinks it all.
Most of the dwarfs were drunk and others were snoring, a result of their drinking. Runa felt like sleeping, but she decided to stay awake.
()()()()()()()()()()()
In Ishild's village, the guards were doing patrol, when one came upon Oda's burning hut. "Help! Fire! Fire!" the guard calls out and rings the warning bell. The villagers were aroused from their sleep and hurried to help douse the flames.
The best thing to use was the snow on the ground as the water in the troths were frozen. "Mother!" a man cries out. It was Oda's son and he takes part of the dousing.
In the hut, Oda awoke to see her hut in flames, but she doesn't move. She lies there on the floor, letting everything burn, and waited for herself to be burned to death. The old storyteller knew that Lucifer had won and he was going to succeed even more.
"Ishild..." she said and her mind flashes with the eyes of the intruder. Suddenly, a burning beam falls from the ceiling and crushes the old woman, and the whole hut crumbles to the ground.
"Mother!" Oda's son shouts in horror and the villagers hurry to douse the flames. Some look around the wreckage and discover the woman, she had been crushed to death.
The villagers surround the burned wreckage of the storyteller's hut, including the chief. At Ishild's hut, Gerhard and Gerlach were not aroused by the warning bell or the cries of fire.
However, Gerlach covers his mouth to hide a grim smile and goes to his room. A moaning noise was heard and Gerlach uncovers the baby bear that he hid. Its mouth was tied shut with rope and it balances itself as his left leg had been cut off.
"You miss your mother? Well, you're not going anywhere for a long time," the boy said with an evil grin and covers the cub, again with a heavy blanket. Gerlach looks out of his window to see the smoke from the fire.
He heard cries and shouts and Gerlach could not help it, he smiles at the deed he had done.
From the author: Oh no! So much going on! What does this mean for everyone? Find out next time!