Notice: The song in this chapter belongs to master musician Miracle of Sound, and it is one of my favourites.
Chapter 37
Countdown
After Kate had gotten her upgrade to her whip, Percy had been given a very stern talking to by Tyroth, making it very clear that the grasshopper should not antagonise the viper under any circumstances.
Or at the very least, not before they have dealt with the gnolls.
Percy agreed, if reluctantly, as he thought people could do with some laughs to keep the mood up. But after seeing Kate's new whip, and the most malicious smirk she had ever had, Percy agreed wholeheartedly.
In the blacksmith, Leonardo, Ragnir and Loki were working hard on crafting new weapons from the supplies they had, including any piece of scrap metal that Sharky had scavenged from the shipwrecks.
Loki was hammering a piece of red hot metal, almost violently so, before throwing it back into the forge and adding his own flames to the mix, then pulling out the metal again and resuming hammering on it.
Ragnir and Leonardo couldn't help looking at the teen hybrid, but it was looks of concern.
"Loki, maybe you should calm down a bit?" Leonardo suggested.
"Can't, got too much that we need to make!" Loki said without even looking up. He just kept hammering at the metal.
Sighing, Ragnir walked over and grabbed Loki's hammer mid-swing.
"Hey!" Loki objected.
"Listen, kid, I get that you feel stressed." the dwarf said. "I've been in the same position several times before. The pressure to perform, to create on demand and on a tight time table. It is true, we do have a lot to do, and not much time to do it all, but if you keep going at this rate, what you craft will suffer, not to mention that you'll burn yourself out in short order as well."
"But-" Loki began, but Ragnir stopped him.
"We don't need masterpiece weapons for what awaits us. We need basic, but reliable weapons, and they will have to take the time they require."
"Remember the old saying, Loki." said Leonardo. "Haste makes waste."
Loki's shoulder slumped and he sighed deeply.
"Yeah. You're right. I'm sorry."
"Don't worry about it." said Leonardo, placing a hand on the hybrid's shoulder. "You got a real drive to help people, just like your father, but you need to learn how to pace yourself, even during these times. Think you can do that?"
"I think so. I'll try."
"Great." Ragnir said with a smile, and handed Loki his hammer again. "Let's get back to work, this time at a slightly slower pace."
By the moat and wall, several people were still digging, while most were in the nearby woods to gather materials to craft the stakes that would surround the moat.
On the village side of the moat, two small towers were also being constructed, to allow people with ranged weapons to shoot at the attackers. The towers were little more than a couple of tall logs with a platform on top, with protective walls and roof to provide cover, once they were completed.
Raphael was currently helping by raising up one of the logs for the first tower, assisted by Jun, a male tiger with shoulder length brown hair in a plait down the back of his neck.
"Okay, guys, keep it steady there." Leona the fox instructed as she started working on stabilising the tower.
"Hey, Raphael?" Jun asked during the time.
"Yeah?"
"Leonardo said that you and the others fought these gnolls before."
"We did, yeah. Well, sorta. We were in, as Leo called it, an augmented Dungeons and Dragons session, and that's where we ran into the gnolls, or our characters did at least, but we were experiencing everything through them… it was one shell of a mess, man, I'll tell you that."
"I heard mentions of that before we got here, but to tell you the truth, it sounded rather… not really impossible, given what happened to Dahila and me, but it still felt like quite the stretch."
"Trust me, Jun. I still have a hard time believing it all myself."
"But how did you deal with them?"
"It wasn't easy. There were some very close calls, especially for some of us. But back then, there were only around a hundred of them."
"And now we're facing almost ten times that. I do not like those odds one bit."
"Agreed. But we actually got a few advantages now that we didn't back then."
"I assumed that there are more of us here than there were in your game."
"True, but there's an even bigger advantage. You see, Big T was our powerhouse in the game as well, but he was nowhere near as powerful as the real deal. He's like a living tactical nuke."
"Hey, guys, a little less talking and more to the left, please." Leona said firmly.
"Sorry." Jun said, and he and Raphael adjusted the logs. "Better?"
"Perfect! Hold it there, please."
A short while later, Raphael and Jun went to collect some planks for the top of the tower, resuming their talk.
"Do you think Tyroth will be strong enough to stop the gnolls?" Jun asked.
"Honestly, I'm not sure. He is the strongest of us, and he's even stronger here than back on Earth."
"Really?"
"I'm not sure exactly how it works, but from what I've been told, the more magic a world has, the more Tyroth's own grows. According to him, while Earth had magic, it was actually pretty dry. The world we went to, where Skyrim was, had more magic than Earth, and this world has even more, so he'll have a lot to use.
But if that will be enough, I don't know. What I do know, however, is that he will not give up, and neither will I."
"We're in agreement on that. These monsters are a threat to all, and if we can do anything about it, we have to try."
Sitting down in the shadow of the mighty spruce-tree, Velnak was taking a short break from all the hard work preparing for the inevitable fight. He wasn't used to the kind of physical labour he had been put through so far during his stay, and now it was even tougher.
Thinking about it, Velnak concluded that this village was attracting dangers like a flame attracts moths. Dinosaurs, raiders, slavers, attention from the Empire of Kiosho, Nordlings, and now gnolls. While he had not experienced all of those events, he had heard the stories told in the village, and now with the gnolls on the horizon, almost literally, Velnak was all but convinced that the gods themselves had take offence to the Mutopians being here, and now tried to get rid of them.
The battle ahead worried him greatly, but what scared him even more was that if he was right, if they survived this ordeal, what would the gods send next?
Drinking some from his waterskin, he chuckled dryly. Despite the odds against them, the Mutopians didn't waver. They would stand their ground regardless of the foes they faced, and Velnak could respect that.
And since they had placed their faith in him, he would do his best to honour that trust. Stretching a bit, he got back up and headed back to work.
When he was given his punishment of working like a commoner in Mutopia for a whole year, none of this was what he had imagined, but while he at that point would have fled at first sign of trouble, now he would stay with those he had shed sweat, blood and tears together with.
And more would soon be shed.
Sephie and Amber walked into the office of Dragon Hall, having been summoned by Tyroth.
Currently, the dragon was sitting at the desk, looking rather tired, which worried the girls. He had been working very hard during the last few days with the defences, and not just the physical work, but all the planning, that and the burden of leadership were clearly taking their toll on him.
"Are you alright, hun?" Sephie asked.
"Yeah… just dead tired."
"You really should try and get some rest, brother." said Amber. "You, if anyone, need to be at the top of your game for when we fight."
"Trust me, I'll sleep like a log once I allow myself." he said as he stood up from the chair. "But that will have to wait a bit longer. I got something for the two of you."
Walking over to the two lizards, Tyroth handed them two stones, each the size of their palms and engraved with dragon runes.
"You called us here for these?" She studied the runes for a moment. "I'm afraid I'm not well-versed enough in the dragon tongue to read this? What does it say?"
"It says Sos Gron. Blood Bond." Tyroth explained.
"I remember that." said Amber as her and Sephie's eyes lit up with recognition.
"I would imagine so. It's the spell that dragons could use to give blood relatives some of their own power. The same one that I gave Sephie so she could defeat Fumetsu before the twins were born. As I've made some advancements in my enchanting skills, I hope that these will last long enough for you to use them."
"What do you mean by that, brother?" Amber asked.
"I'm still not sure just how long the magic will be held in the stones and runes, so I poured everything I could into them, hoping that at least something will be left tomorrow."
"So that's why you're exhausted." said Sephie, placing a hand on her mate's arm.
"Yeah. I want you two to have the best chances you can get, so when you feel the time is right, I want you to use these to get more power, dragon power. Even if it may only be for a short while, but I'm afraid that it will have to be enough. I don't think I can do much else."
"You've already done more than anyone else, honey." said Sephie. "We'll make sure these gifts makes a difference."
"For sure. But I got a question." said Amber. "Would it not have been a good idea to make one each for mom and dad as well?"
"I did consider that, probably more than I should." said Tyroth. "But I'm afraid that it would cause more harm than good."
"How so?"
"You two are more likely to handle this well, since you both been through more than one transformation over the years."
"Far too many, if you ask me." said Sephie. "Let's see… I got mutated into this gecko form, I've been turned into a vampire and back again, same thing when I became part snake and then reverted back. And then there was the temporary dragon form that when I first did this, so that's another back and forth. That makes… seven times that I've been transformed."
"I can't even compete with that, but I've still been through more than most." said Amber, shuddering as she thought back on it. "First the Foot messed me up, left me as a half mutant, then I became this."
"My point still stands, you would both be used to it, to having a different body from what you're used to, but mom and dad won't." Tyroth continued. "As much as I want to give them a boost as well, I just don't think they would be able to adapt to the changes quick enough for to be useful for them, it could even be dangerous for everyone else instead. And on top of it all, I'm not sure how the dragon magic will mesh with mom's new Druidic magic."
"I see what you mean." said Sephie. "But don't worry, we'll look out for them, and everyone else."
"Yes. We'll make sure to use these gifts wisely." said Amber
"I know I can count on you two." Tyroth said with a soft smile, and the three joined in a big hug.
Suddenly, a war horn blared loudly from the beach area, instantly catching the attention of the trio.
"What the…?" Tyroth wondered as he and the girls hurried out of Dragon Hall.
Looking down at the beach, they saw three longships approaching the shores.
A wave of relief washed over Tyroth as he saw the Nordling ships draw closer.
Reinforcements had arrived.
Grabbing each of the girls with his arms, Tyroth flapped his wings and flew them all to the beach to meet their newest friends. Nearly all of the village also headed to the beach to see what was going on, and they were met by quite the spectacle.
The horn sounded again, and now the powerful voice of Harald Stormrider was heard across the waves, singing at the top of his lungs.
"Ships on vigor of the waves are skimming!
Barren summits to the verdant plains!
Each horizon is a new beginning!
Rise and reign!"
A few more of his crew joined in.
"Far from the fjords and the ice cold currents,
Ravens soar over new frontiers!
Songs and sagas of a fate determined!
Shields and spears!"
Now, everyone of the Nordlings burst out in song.
"Vows of favor or the thrill of plunder,
Pull together for the clan and kin!
Clank of hammers and the crash of thunder,
Pound within!"
"Oh-ho-oh!
The echoes of eternity!
Oh-ho-oh!
Valhalla calling me!
Oh-ho-oh!
To pluck the strings of destiny!
Oh-ho-oh!
Valhalla calling me!
Valhalla calling me!"
"Sails a' swaying on the crimson rivers,
Blood and glory on the fighting fields!
Shields a' shattered into splintered timbers!
Iron and steel!"
"Fires are rising and the bells are ringing,
Glory take us into Odin's halls!
Golden glimmer and the sound of singing,
Asgard's call!"
"Oh-ho-oh!
The echoes of eternity!
Oh-ho-oh!
Valhalla calling me!
Oh-ho-oh!
To pluck the strings of destiny!
Oh-ho-oh!
Valhalla calling me!
Valhalla calling me!"
"Wind and the waves will carry me!
Wind and the waves will set me free!"
"Wind and the waves will carry me!
Wind and the waves will set me free!"
"Oh-ho-oh!
The echoes of eternity!
Oh-ho-oh!
Valhalla calling me!
Oh-ho-oh!
To pluck the strings of destiny!
Oh-ho-oh!
Valhalla calling me!
Valhalla calling me!"
"Valhalla!" Harald roared at the top of his lungs as he stepped ashore, followed closely by Vincent and Sharky.
"Hey, boss!" the shark said with a wave and a nod. "We're back!"
"Needless to say, they were quite eager to help." said the owl.
"I can see that." said Tyroth. "It was quite the entrance. I take it that it wasn't difficult to convince them."
"Quite the opposite, actually." said Vincent.
"Yeah, when we found them, we told them that we needed their help, they said 'with what?', we said fighting an army of gnolls, they said 'let's go!'. I didn't know they could turn those ships around that sharply." said Sharky.
"Friend Tyroth!" Harald shouted as he walked up to his fellow jarl, and the two greeted each other with a firm handshake. "I knew that we'd fight side by side one day, but I did not think it would be so soon."
"Trust me, I would rather that it had not come to this. But I am really thankful that you will help us."
"I hear that our foes are gnolls."
"That's right. Many hundreds of them, possibly even a thousand or more, bound to arrive at noon tomorrow. We've been working on our defences, but even with all the advantages we've gained, survival is not a certainty."
"As with any battle. My people will help where we can, but our greatest skills will lay in the battle tomorrow."
"I hope it will be enough."
"Fear not, either we live through this and can tell of this legendary battle, or we will fall and our ancestors will welcome us with songs of valour."
"Speaking of songs, why did you lot sing as you got here?" Tyroth wondered.
"It's a tradition among my clan. Before a great battle, like a siege of a castle or this we will soon face, we sing that hymn to raise our spirits, and break those of our enemies."
"Not sure if that would work with the gnolls, but we could certainly use any advantage we can get."
"Right, now let's get to work."
As Harald walked off to direct his people to where they could help, Tyroth couldn't help but feel a little envious of the Nordling leader, and his people. Much like his own Scandinavian ancestors, the Nordlings did not fear death as most did, their belief that falling in battle was a requirement to be granted entrance to Valhalla only made them fight even more fiercely.
Despite now knowing that Valhalla was very much real, Tyroth wanted to live through the upcoming battle, so he couldn't fight with the same kind of wanton abandon as they did.
Thinking back on his fight with Vulstrun, however, this time, like before, he might not have a choice in the matter.
The clock was indeed ticking down for all of them.
So much going on in this chapter, even if it doesn't seem like it at first. Firstly, Jun the Tiger is another of Bloodrayne666's characters that has yet to make an appearance, just like Dahila the White Wolf from earlier.
Next, Sephie and Amber both count up the different times that they have transformed in some way or other.
Sephie's first time, that being into her current Gecko form, happened before my earliest stories, while her becoming a vampire was in my Mutants Misplaced fic, and she became partly snake in Curse of Naginalga, and lastly becoming a dragon in Cursed and Blessed.
As for Amber, both of her transformations occurred in A Sister's Plight.
I think that's all, at least for now, so I will see you lot in the next chapter.