In which Teagan learns the quality of mercy is not strained—but sometimes extracts an excruciating price from those that give it.
Teagan watched the two draugrs approach at a sedate walk, the magical flare shedding enough light to see every gruesome detail. The flayed corpses would have been horrifying enough just laying still. It was all the girl could do not to run as she watched the living dead casually stroll toward her.
“We aren’t here to fight, Your Majesty,” one of the draugrs said in a voice that made Teagan grimace in disgust. It bubbled, as though the draugr was speaking through a throat full of blood. Which, she realized, it probably was.
“My name is Caramel. Candy Floss was my sister.”
“Candy Floss?” Teagan asked. “Who is that?”
“She was the pony my masters forced to lure the filly into Rimor’s clutches,” the draugr replied. “But she was also the one who saved her by attacking the diamond dogs. She gave her life for that filly. My little sister was always braver than I, to the very end. Thank Celestia she was spared my fate.”
“I’m Hayseed,” the second draugr spoke, its voice a wet bubbling whisper. “I’ve been trapped by that monster Rimor too. Please, Your Majesty, free us.”
Teagan stared at the draugr in shock.
“So you aren’t on their side?” She said, somewhat stupidly.
“No!” Caramel shook her head. “We are bound by a web of magical geasa. We must serve our masters by obeying their every command, and we may not end our unlife ourselves. I have tested the bounds of that geas whenever I could. But no matter what I do it always heals in seconds! I even managed to cut my head off once, but it just slithered back onto my neck.
“Please, it hurts, Your Majesty! It’s like I’m on fire! I haven’t slept at all for over two years and the pain just never stops! Please. Let us go. I want to be with my sister in the Elysian Fields tonight!”
Hayseed spoke again. “What you did just now gives us a chance. You separated us from our masters before they could give us any orders! We may not be able to free ourselves from this living Tartarus, but Mountain Heart can. I heard two of the demons talk about it. They said Mountain Heart inflicts damage that can’t be healed! Please, for the love of Celestia, they slaughtered my entire family! Let me see my wife and son tonight, free me from this awful pain!”
Then both draugr bowed to her, the way ponies did to Celestia and Luna.
Teagan started to raise Crush to attack, but froze.
Why are you hesitating? Kill them! Crush demanded. They are a danger to everyone you know. Where is your compassion now? They are in agony! Strike!
“Dronning,” Alene Hule spoke softly, “it is mercy. You cannot deny them. Why do you wait? Every moment you wait only adds to their anguish. Let them go.”
Teagan took a deep breath and nodded jerkily. She stepped forward and swung hard, bringing Crush down on top of Caramel’s skull. There was a blinding flash and a horrific crunch. The draugr dropped like a stone, landing with a wet squelching thud.
Hayseed screamed, surrounded by a web of lightning that caused him to collapse, convulsing in a tangle of flailing hooves.
“Do it! I can’t fight it much longer! The magic! It’s trying to make me—”
Teagan slammed the club down again, but missed the wildly threshing draugr that slowly started to sink into the earth.
“It shall not be!” Alene Hule bellowed, his claws suddenly surrounded by a fiery red glow. “Come forth! I forbid your departure!” With a grimace the old troll raised his arms as though lifting a massive weight. The draugr slowly stopped sinking and began to rise. The mage began to chant a rapid spell in a language Teagan didn’t recognize, but knew wasn’t Trollish.
“Quickly, min Dronning! I cannot hold this spell for long! The Deepest Dark is calling this one to it!”
“Just a little more, Alene! I have to crush the skull!” Teagan darted forward, club ready. Suddenly she was too busy parrying the now deadly accurate hooves to have a chance to attack. With a roar the mage thrust his arms overhead, causing the draugr to shoot into the sky. With a curse Teagan used Crush to leap after it, one final swing causing the draugr’s head to explode, spraying blood and brains through the air.
The corpse stopped threshing, the lightning vanishing. At the same time it shot upward at a pace Teagan couldn’t match, only to pause, and slowly begin to sink again. Teagan followed it down, wobbling a bit as Crush fought to control their slow descent.
When they reached the ground Hayseed’s corpse collapsed, laying still in true death.
Behind her Alene Hule dropped to his knees, drawing in huge gasps of air. His face was ashen green, and he clutched his chest.
Teagan stared at the two corpses a moment before rushing to the mage, who was being steadied by Flint and his brother.
Slowly the mage’s color returned and his breathing slowed.
“Are you all right?” Teagan asked in concern.
“I will be min Dronning.” The mage said, wheezing slightly. “The death magic tried to take me when you slew the second draugr. But my skill prevailed. If you had not hesitated after killing the first one their masters would not have had time to react.”
“You mean I almost got you killed? I’m so sorry, Alene! Everything happened so fast,” Teagan exclaimed in horror.
“Do not fret, Dronning. You are new to battle. Death magic is something you cannot fight and could not expect. But learn from this. In the future do not hesitate. Killing those stolen by the Deepest Dark is simple mercy. You heard the draugr’s own testimony. Next time you will be ready. I am glad you accepted my help this day, for if you had not you would have fallen.”
The mage rested a clawed hand on Teagan’s shoulder, looking at her solemnly.
“No troll stands alone, min Dronning. You try to take too much on your own shoulders. Remember, the clan is stronger because we stand together. You are mighty, min Dronning. But you are not a mage. Today it was magic that won the day. Just as it was might that saved us from the blod drenering fugler and the formen veksler before that. Each member of the clan has skills that serve us all. You give the clan much, but cannot give us everything.”
Teagan winced at the troll’s remarkably gentle scolding.
“I will remember, Alene Hule. But I can’t stand by and do nothing when my family is threatened.”
“No, you cannot,” The mage smiled. “But you do enough. Let others share the burden, and the glory, min Dronning. It is only fair, after all.”
“I will,” Teagan nodded. “You have my word.” She glanced over at the pair of headless corpses. “We need to bury those two. They were heroes in the end. We need to honor them.”
“Allow me,” The Alene spoke another spell and gestured downward. Teagan watched as the two corpses sank into the ground. Another guttural growling spell saw stones rise behind the graves and then shape themselves into a pair of ponies, a stallion and a mare. Both stood peacefully, staring serenely down the trail toward Hejm. Runes were carved at the base of each statue that Teagan couldn’t read.
“Rest in peace,” Teagan said, slumping in exhaustion, the adrenaline finally running out. “Caramel, say hi to your sister for me, Hayseed, the best to your wife and son. Enjoy your afterlives, guys, you really earned them.”
She felt herself being picked up. Since Skrent and Alene Hule were still in sight she assumed Flint was carrying her as the three trolls headed back to join the caravan.
Crush, remind me to apologize to Cerise, she thought muzzily just before drifting off to sleep.
ooOoo
Dear Diary,
Well, we finally made it to Hejm! But I’m sorry to say we had to travel all night because we got attacked by an army of skeletons…yeah, I know, ok? Old Dusty’s got an army of skeletons. Can’t say I saw that coming. Oh, I guess I should say had an army of skeletons. Teelo kind of went postal and smashed them all. Everybody’s fine, but it exhausted Teelo to the point she conked out. Flint had to carry her back to the caravan and then tuck her into the wagon. It was so cute! Especially if you know Flint... (laughing)
Then a couple of draugr showed up. I was back at the caravan but Skrent told me later they hated being draugr and asked Teelo to…umm…well… help them pass on, if you know what I mean. It seems that when they were, uh, turned into draugr their souls were trapped and couldn’t travel on to pony heaven. Skrent said one of them even…well, never mind. Brr. The thing was nothing could destroy their bodies because they just kept regenerating.
But they told her that they knew if Crush…I can’t bring myself to say it. Long story short, Teelo…helped them. So they’re in pony heaven now, which is—better. A lot better.
It was still dark when we got to the customs station, so I didn’t get to see much. Just a big hole in the side of a mountain, you know, like a normal cave. Sort of like when we went to Mark Twain Cave over in Hannibal?
Except this was a long tunnel, maybe half a mile or more, that ended at what looked like the front of a castle carved into the wall. There weren’t any stairs or anything, so Søyle actually had me hang on as she climbed the wall! The porters had to leave their wagons behind. When I asked Søyle what would happen to them she said they’d be unloaded and taken back to the customs station until needed again. Apparently the only time they use them is traveling above ground.
Flint had to hand Teelo up to Skrent because she was still asleep. Crush really takes it out of her, she either has to eat like a horse or sleep for half a day after using it too much.
The Sun Shield and Rolling Thunder didn’t follow us into the cave. Apparently they were only supposed to escort us to the customs station, where the trolls would take over. So they made camp there. I guess they’ll head back in the morning.
Anyway, I managed to walk the full five miles to the city proper, which is AMAZING. Mom, Dad I wish I had a camera with me because Hejm is just the most beautiful city I’ve ever seen. The main cavern’s about two hundred feet high at the far end, and maybe three miles long. The ceiling and walls glow this bright green color from what Søyle calls lis-mosay, a kind of moss or lichen I think. Anyway it lit the entire cavern about as bright as twilight just after the sun goes down, so it was fairly easy to see.
The trolls have built their city across the entire floor of the cavern, up its walls, and even across the back wall! And they use candles and magical lights of all different colors for their buildings too. It was like seeing a human city from the air at night, because the tunnel entrance to the city is half way up when you first arrive, it’s sort of like being on top of a hill and seeing the city spread out below you.
The decorations are just…wow. EVERY SINGLE BUILDING has intricate carvings all over it, and a lot have metal inlays and plaques on them. There are statues everywhere! And not crude ones either. Big ones, little ones, all completely realistic and amazingly life like. There are trolls and dragons and all manner of strange creatures.
Søyle says a lot of trolls love working in stone. Some engrave it, some are masons, and some are out and out sculptors. And they’ve been working on Hejm for thousands of years. They’ve been here so long they even remember when ponies first came to Equis!
Forget everything you’ve ever heard about trolls, Dad. Think Constantinople, or the Taj Mahal. If this city were on Earth today it would be one of the seven wonders of the world. I’m really looking forward to exploring Hejm over the summer!
Lady Silkwind is still with us. She asked Søyle if she and her bodyguards could shelter here until the situation in the mountains settled down. Søyle said they could enter Hejm but it would be up to Kongen Fjell or Teelo exactly how long they could stay.
I really don’t know what to think about Lady Silkwind. I mean from what I’ve heard griffins are schemers and intriguers, Machiavelli would be their patron saint if they knew who he was! On the other hand she’s as friendly as can be, and super smart. She can talk about anything and make it fascinating. Of course, given she’s a griffin, that’s a danger signal in and of itself. Not to mention she’s apparently a big wheel in Canterlot among the griffins, meaning she bears watching. Like, a lot.
We’ve been given an entire wing of the palace. Apparently as queen Teelo’s clan traditionally lives there. Normally the king and queen live together, of course, but since Søyle is Fjell’s wife that means Teelo has to have her own suite in her clan’s part of the palace instead.
Man, you should see this place! They’ve given me my own room in the queen’s suite, and it’s HUGE. And I do mean HUGE. The beds are like 10 feet long and five feet wide! The chairs make me look like a toddler. Søyle promised they’d get some smaller furniture for both of us, but until then it’s like I’m living in the Land of the Giants or something. Oh, and there’s gold everywhere. Søyle told me trolls like the yellow gleam so they use it a lot like humans used to use the color purple. But since gold is a lot more common here than on Earth it’s not a status thing for the trolls, they just like the look.
I’m headed to bed now, they may be huge but they’re also super comfy!