Valkyrie's Shadow

Chapter 15

Ludmila’s curiosity grew over Ilyshn’ish’s statement. Just how much did she know about what had become of her? The tales often spoke of the ‘Wisdom of Dragons’, but they rarely described it in any concrete terms. She certainly never imagined she would be intermittently buried by it.

“What is this ‘curiosity’?” Ludmila asked.

“I’m fairly certain I know the answer already,” Ilyshn’ish answered, “but do you know where you rose as an Undead being?”

“I do,” Ludmila nodded. “The large mountain pass between the central and southern Azerlisia Mountains.”

“Yes, that’s what I thought,” Ilyshn’ish swung her legs over the side of the bed and rose to her feet. “Do you recall anything special when you became aware of yourself again?”

“That dead Frost Giants stink.”

Ilyshn’ish brow drew into a furrow.

“…that’s not what I meant.”

“I wasn’t aware that I was Undead until after I returned and Lady Shalltear noticed my change in…state.”

“So you saw nothing?” The Frost Dragon asked, “Felt or sensed nothing? Remembered nothing from what lies between one life and another?”

“I haven’t any clue about that last part,” Ludmila answered, “but no, nothing at all. I just woke up and got to work trying to salvage the situation I was in.”

“That single-minded devotion to duty as a Human puts all of His Majesty’s Undead servants to shame, you know,” Ilyshn’ish told her. “Well, we still have the rest of the night. How about we go out there and take a look?”

Ludmila stopped by the letter room to inform the Elder Lich on duty that she would be out for the night. Several minutes later, she and Ilyshn’ish were standing on top of the inner wall’s southern gatehouse. The Frost Dragon reached into her Infinite Haversack, then paused.

“Do you get cold?”

“I can feel cold,” Ludmila replied, “but I don’t think I suffer any adverse effects from it.”

“I see,” Ilyshn’ish removed her hand from the bag. “I had to transport someone yesterday, but he didn’t like it despite all of my efforts to keep him warm. Now, how shall we do this…”

“Why not how we did it when following Sigurd to his challenge?”

“We were flying excruciatingly slow back then,” Ilyshn’ish replied. “If you sit on my back on this trip, you might get blown off.”

“How did your passenger from the other day do it?”

“He wasn’t a passenger – more like cargo. I carried him in my claws.”

Ludmila briefly imagined herself dangling limply from the Frost Dragon’s claws like a rodent in the talons of a hawk.

“…let’s try sitting, first.”

Ilyshn’ish settled herself low to the ground and waited for her to climb up. Lady Shalltear had simply tossed her onto the Frost Dragon’s back the first time, so she had no idea how to get on. As she carefully crept her way up a forearm, Ilyshn’ish’s tail whipped around and smacked her off.

“Ow!”

“That’s ticklish!” Ilyshn’ish shivered, “Can’t you just hop up in one go?”

Eventually, Ludmila settled into a position just ahead of the Frost Dragon’s wings.

“Is this alright?” She asked, “Maybe I should have changed out of my dress…”

“No, keep it on,” Ilyshn’ish answered. “If you fall off, spread your arms and legs.”

“What will that do?”

“It will slow your descent relative to mine when I dive after you,” she explained. “At the altitude we’ll be flying at, it takes a long time to hit the ground. Just stay very still and I’ll scoop you up again.”

The world lurched as Ilyshn’ish took wing. The wind filled Ludmila’s ears as they ascended, making their way north.

“This wind is stronger than I thought,” Lady Zahradnik yelled.

“We’re flying straight into it, after all,” Ilyshn’ish replied. “You don’t have to yell, by the way: I can hear you just fine. I’m speeding up now.”

The air flowing against them pushed against Ludmila like a spring torrent. She dug in her knees reflexively.

“Geh!” Ilyshn’ish made a choking noise, “Don’t squeeze so hard! Dragons are very delicate, you know!”

“I’m sorry, I was just trying to recall what few riding lessons I’ve had–”

“Riding lessons?! I’m not a lizard or a horse!”

Ludmila released the pressure on her legs. Then the next gust of wind lifted her right off of Ilyshn’ish’s back.

Great.

Arms akimbo, she watched as Ilyshn’ish banked back towards her after several moments. The Frost Dragon tucked her wings and dove to match her descent.

“Many Undead can fly,” Ilyshn’ish offered in conversational tones. “Have you tried?”

“Um, no? How do I do that?”

Was she about to convey another tidbit of mysterious Draconic knowledge?

“How would I know? Ask a Ghost.”

Below the tops of the conifer trees slowly grew, looking very much like a carpet of green spikes.

“The ground is getting closer…” Ludmila’s voice grew tense.

As the wind whipped around them, Ilyshn’ish came within reach. Ludmila grabbed her shoulder, pulling herself closer until she was splayed against the Frost Dragon’s back. She felt pressed tightly against Ilyshn’ish as they levelled out, then sighed in relief.

“It’s still a good three thousand metres to the ground – there was no reason to panic…”

“I’m afraid I don’t have any flight instincts,” Ludmila replied.

She sat up again, and the air immediately threatened to pull her off. Ludmila tightened her legs, but she started feeling sorry for Ilyshn’ish as she squirmed in discomfort beneath her.

“How do I stay seated properly with all this wind?” She asked, “It constantly tries to pull me off.”

“Make yourself smaller,” Ilyshn’ish told her. “It’s the same idea as spreading out your arms and legs when you’re falling to slow your descent. Right now, you’re slowing us down by catching as much wind as possible.”

“Um…”

“Lean forward!”

Ludmila did as instructed, leaning low over Ilyshn’ish neck. The wind was still hitting her full in the face, but she no longer felt like she would be blasted off at any moment.

Below, the Great Forest of Tob started to give way to the lower peaks of the Azerlisia Mountains.

“It took a week for the Azerlisia expedition to go from the Great Lake to the high foothills,” Ludmila marvelled. “We just came all the way from E-Rantel in a bit over thirty minutes.”

“Yes, imagine how I feel when I have to walk around or ride wagons…speaking of which, one of the Vampire Brides told me that Warden’s Vale is going to have the same air traffic rules as E-Rantel.”

“That was the idea, yes. The Ministry of Transportation is trying to implement the same traffic regulations throughout the Sorcerous Kingdom. Do you take issue with them?”

“I-it’s not that I have any wish to challenge Lady Shalltear,” Ilyshn’ish said carefully, “but they’re very inconvenient! I have to land at a designated place in the harbour, then ride a wagon to get anywhere. People who can fly should be allowed to fly. There are even races that are at a marked disadvantage when walking.”

“Landing on a road or plaza would be extremely disruptive to the operations of the city,” Ludmila told her. “The districts will be divided by walls, so you’ll be able to use those once they come up.”

“How about designated plots of land near popular spots in the city?”

She briefly reviewed the rough layout of Warden’s Vale in her head. Even at this point in development, she hadn’t finalized everything. New ideas always seemed to pop up that were superior to what she had come up with before.

“Well, there will be parkland throughout the city,” she told her, “but I’m not sure how convenient the placement will be. It’s a work in progress – maybe Lord Mare has some idea of how to arrange everything nicely.”

“Isn’t it supposed to be your city?” Ilyshn’ish asked.

“It is,” Ludmila answered, “but I’ve relied on the kind assistance of many. I’d still be in my hole-in-the-ground if not for them.”

Ilyshn’ish started her descent as the pass Ludmila remembered came into view.

“This place looks very different from high above,” she scanned the frozen landscape below. “Do you know what happened here to turn it the way it is today?”

“I only have the Dwarf histories to go by,” Ilyshn’ish replied. “During the Golden Age of Runecrafting – before the coming of the Demon Gods two centuries ago – the lands all around the mountain range were the territory of a single Human nation.”

The Frost Dragon’s recounting immediately struck her as odd. She knew of no such Human nation.

“Are you sure?” She asked, “The histories that I was taught say that the Humans of this region came from the Theocracy after the Demon Gods brought ruin to the lands. Before that, the lands of the Slane Theocracy were humanity’s final bastion.”

Beneath her, Ilyshn’ish shoulders moved, as if to shrug.

“Well, I don’t know anything about the Theocracy’s histories, but there are countless volumes in Feoh Berkana’s administrative archives containing centuries of trade and diplomacy with their neighbours. The Dwarf Kingdom still has much of their coinage still in circulation. I don’t think anyone would go out of their way to make all that up. As a noble of the Sorcerous Kingdom, I believe that they would happily cooperate if you wished to perform an investigation.”

Ludmila’s gaze unfocused as she dwelled on Ilyshn’ish’s words. The Frost Dragon’s voice rose again.

“Anyway, you non-flyers seem to love your passes very much, so you can probably imagine that it became a source of conflict. It was hotly contested during the old Human Kingdom’s wars of unification, with many great battles taking place. After the nation was brought under a single power, however, they still had to deal with the Frost Giants that would regularly raid the pass. Several major campaigns were launched in a monumental effort to quell the Frost Giant threat for the notion that the Humans could secure a second route across the mountains that didn’t contribute to Dwarf coffers.”

“It didn’t work, I take it.”

“No,” Ilyshn’ish snorted. “Though the Human nation was large and powerful by Human standards, the Frost Giants still stomped them flat. Dragons like my parents – who were Adults at the time – probably had their fun as well. You should know by now what it’s like to fight the races that rule these climes.”

Lady Zahradnik nodded slowly. Not only were the apex predators of the Azerlisia Mountains extraordinarily powerful compared to races from the lowlands, but nature itself was also an enemy for any Human army attempting to wage war in the peaks.

“How did the Dwarves keep their highway free of Frost Giants and Dragons?”

“They didn’t,” Ilyshn’ish replied, “but they kept it secure enough that merchants considered it well worth the risk. Dwarves, despite being so short, are also very good at fighting Giants for some reason.”

“But not Dragons?”

“I’m sure they tried, but Frost Dragons don’t enact predictable raids or have insane cultures that fling people headfirst into death for some strange ideas of glory and the afterlife. Going by Dwarven accounts, being attacked by a Dragon is more akin to being struck by a natural disaster – there’s not much you can do about it unless you just so happened to have someone present that was strong enough to fight back at that exact moment.”

“I see…”

“So the culmination of all this conflict overwhelmed the pass with negative energy. How many people died here?”

“A lot. The lowlands all around here are ideal for breeding Humans, so I’d say at least several million over the course of centuries. The Dwarves were somewhat derisive over the entire affair – the Toll of Blood, they called it.”

“Centuries?”

“Oh yes, Humans seem to love passing their vendettas from generation to generation. It’s probably the only consistent thing about them, and they often consider it romantic. Not that it did them any good. Now the entire area’s a practice range for Frost Giants.”

They descended within two kilometres of the pass. A furrow appeared over Ilyshn’ish’s brow.

“That’s strange,” she muttered. “I don’t think we’re in the wrong place, but the landscape has changed on me recently before…”

“No, you’re right,” Ludmila told her. “I remember this location quite clearly. Something is off…”

Ilyshn’ish glided in lazy circles over the icebound pass, and they confirmed their initial observations over the next few minutes. Across the frozen expanse, not a single Skeleton or Zombie could be seen.

“There should be tens of thousands of Undead here,” she said. “Where did they all go?”

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