Age of Kings

by A bag of plums

108 - Long Night of Unease

Emerald Edge watched as a young boy with red hair jumped up at Rake the Red as they finally arrived at a settlement, this one being larger than the abandoned fishing village they had seen earlier.

The ride to Rake's hold, which had the near unpronounceable name of Jorgjafylki, was easier than their previous journey had been. Partially because the sun had finally decided to rise, warming the bones of the questors a bit. Second, because the large horses ridden by Rake and his fellows carved a trench in the snow for Emerald’s group to follow behind in. Third, because they now had a guide, they were finally heading in the right direction to rid Morn’s influence over the Frozen North.

Along the journey, Emerald and her group had gotten to know Rake and his group a little more. Rake the Red was an explorer, finding his joy in tracking and mapping previously undiscovered locations. He had also talked a little about his son, Leaf Rake, whom Emerald guessed was the boy she was now looking at.

He spoke to his father in Northern, then pointed to Emerald. She smiled. He was probably asking his father why her hair was so shiny.

“My boy wants to know why your hair shines,” Rake said.

Yes, I thought so.

“That’s because I am not from your world, little one.” Emerald got off Amira and gave the boy a pat on the head. “I am from a world known as Equestria, where we are all ponies.”

Emerald also hadn’t told Rake or his group any of this, so it was no surprise when the northerner’s jaw dropped open.

“There is much to be said,” Emerald told him. “But I would rather do it somewhere warmer and away from this biting wind.”

“I s-second tha-that!” Parisa Pie’s teeth chattered so loudly that Emerald thought she sounded like a woodpecker.

“Aye, I too would be a lot warmer and happier with a belly full of mead.” Rake spoke to his men and they all dispersed, their patrol over. “Come with me, travelers.”

“Finally, somewhere safe and away from the cold?” Jewel Pin rubbed at her bright red nose and sniffed.

Rake chuckled. “Away from the cold? Yes. Safe? These days, safety is hard to come by.”

“W-What do you mean by that?” Guard Streak asked as they made for a large rectangular wooden structure past a central fire pit. It stood atop a small mound, where logs led up as a form of a stairway, with torches on the sides right up to the main doors.

“The Valravn.” Leaf Rake gulped. “It comes more frequently, with our numbers growing smaller, because of the invaders.”

“Oh oh, Ah’ve heard o’ them!” Honeygold skipped alongside him. “Them nasty raven knights. They like to eat kings. Ah read about ‘em in my fairytale books. They’re ravens that turn into knights when they eat the king’s heart.”

“They are no fairytale, bairn,” Rake the Red said grimly. “The jarl has lost many a good man and woman to it. However, they are unlike your stories. A valravn is a fearsome beast that hungers for flesh at night. They do not turn from bird to knight.”

“But your nights last so long,” Honeygold pointed out.

“Aye, it does,” Rake agreed as he threw more wood onto the fire. “That is why winter in the north is known as the Season of Everlasting Night. It is the day that lasts longer in summer.”

“A bit of an exaggeration, but Ah see your point.” Apple Bean rubbed her hands together. “What’s up there?”

“That’s Drengrfell, the Jarl of Jorgjafylki’s abode,” Leaf Rake told the group. “That’s where you go to meet him.”

The interior was somewhat darker, lit with a sparse few torches. There was a roaring fire in the middle of the room and two massive tables had been positioned on either side. Banners and flags hung from the walls, all of them depicting a stylized mountain goat holding a branch in its mouth. Other Northerners stopped what they were doing to look and cheer for Rake the Red’s return.

“These are my guests!” Rake announced. “They are here to help the high king, so make them feel welcome!” Then he repeated that in Northern.

Once inside, a Northern woman with pale skin and dark hair came around, depositing mugs of warmed mead in everyone’s hands. Emerald drank some of the mead and found it more sweet than any other beverage she had been served in her time in the human world.

“This is some good drink.” Spectrum placed her empty mug on one of the tables and hiccuped. “What do you have of this I don’t know, how do you do?”

“Umm…” Guard Streak looked at his mug, then put it down, untouched. “Spectrum, are you feeling alright?”

“Of course I am to be or not to be. There is some of what there is none. Hey, what if ravens do attack this and now?”

“Ah think ya best not be havin’ it, dear.” Golden Nugget took Honeygold’s mug. “Anyway, y’all ain’t old enough for things like this.”

Rake the Red sat down nearby and took a gulp of his mead. Then he sighed and wiped his mouth.

“Ah, that drives the cold back sure as steel,” Rake said contentedly. “Now, we can talk. So long as the sun is up, we needn’t worry about the beasts of the night coming to this hall.” Then he gestured with his mug to a blonde haired man seated at the end of the room on a small throne-like chair. “That’s the Jarl. I shall get his attention for you. Ahem, Jarl Goat Gruff, these are travelers from Canterlot and a land known as Saddle Arabia. They have come to aid us in driving the Canterlot army away and to free our people and the high king!”

“Is that so?” The jarl’s face was stern, but not unkind. He had many wrinkles around his eyes that must have been the result of smiling a lot. “It has been many long winters since we heard of any other kingdom outside of the Frozen North. Might I ask, why does your kingdom attack us? We have had good relations in the past. Now your people threaten the life of our high king and all people of the Frozen North.”

Emerald took to the center of the hall and stood beside the large bonfire. “Good jarl of… of… of this hold, hear me out.”

And she once again explained her story of how she had first arrived here, seeking the artifacts of Star Swirl the Bearded to restore the Crystal Empire to its former glory, then to her adventures as a Knight of the Round Table, then to the darker part of his history, where the man she loved had murdered their king and usurped his throne. She went on about the power of the artifacts, but to her surprise, the jarl seemed like he knew what she was talking about.

“We have liberated Saddle Arabia, where King Sombra is from, from the clutches of Morn Dread,” she continued. “And we have now come to your kingdom to do the same. Morn has to be stopped, or it would mean enslavement for all the world.”

“You talk a good game, I’ll give you that,” Jarl Gruff conceded with a thoughtful nod. “But you will forgive me if I do not give you my trust just because of a story. Trust in the Northern lands is something to be earned. I will go over your tale with my advisors and warriors, but if you truly wish to earn my confidence, then you will have to prove that you care about my people.”

“Very well.” Emerald nodded. “What would you have us do to prove ourselves?”

The jarl clicked his fingers and one of his servants brought over a scroll. “There is a monster out there which attacks my hall every night. We have no choice but to barricade ourselves in our homes until the sun comes, and in this season the sun does not come swiftly. I would have you set out to slay the Valravn, and bring back proof of your kill. Do this, and I will know that you truly care about the people of this land.”

The servant passed the scroll to Emerald and Jarl Gruff settled back in his chair, leaning slightly to the side and resting one arm on his throne, while the other hand was propped near his mouth so that his index finger was left exposed in an expression of security and command.

“Easy enough to find to kill the baruvan!” Spectrum raised her empty mug to the air, then sipped at it. “To be we are great to have this!”

“Um, yes, we will accept this, Jarl Gruff.” The spymaster rolled it up and placed it in her coat.

“Good,” Jarl Gruff said. “That scroll details most of what we know about the beast. ‘Twould be wise to study it. May the Nine watch over you.”

“You may use my home to plan your move.” Rake downed his last mug of mead and stood up, letting out a deafening belch. “Come, I will lead you there. Uh, you might have to help your friend there.”

“Oh, yes.” Streak was the first to hook an arm under Spectrum, hauling her away from the table. She still reached for another mug, but Honeygold slapped her hand away.

“Ya ain’t gettin’ anymore, Spectrum. That ain’t good for ya,” the farmgirl said.

“Rake, tell me, how do you people deal with this cold?” Sombra asked as they left the warmth of Drengrfell and headed back out into the icy winds of the Frozen North.

“You get used to it, growing up here.” The red haired man gave his belly a pat, his other arm around his son. “Of course, it is not wise to stay in the frost for too long. Even the most seasoned viking may fall to its icy chill. That’s why we have big fires and lots of mead.”

“So tell me more about these other holds. The jarls do not stand together against Morn Dread and his army?”

“Jarls have always had their own agendas,” Rake started and let out another burp. “Jarl Goat Gruff generally has the interest of the people here, but he too can be selfish at times. If you are looking for a real jarl for the people, that would have been Jarl Windslope of Flankfold.”

“Would have been?”

“Aye. Flankfold was the first hold hit when the Canterlotians sailed to us. I fear most of them have been killed or worse…”

“Expelled?” Spectrum looked up, her eyes half closed.

Rake looked at her for a second. “Uh, no. Turned to be a part of his army by magic.”

“Speaking of that, what have you seen? This magic. How has it been used?” Emerald interjected. She needed to know if Morn himself led this charge.

“We have not seen the invaders ourselves, but the reports say they are led by a formidable knight, wielding a sword of unknown nature. I wager this would be your fabled Excalibur?”

“Morn is here,” Emerald breathed. She had hoped to find another artifact before facing him. “This changes things. Without an artifact of our own, it will be challenging to face him, even if we could convince the other jarls to help.”

“Convince the jarls?” Rake let out a low bellow. “On that, I wish you luck. Jarls like Jarl Stern Counsel of Otterslo will not come to your aid. He had kept his forces back and did nothing as Flankfold fell.”

“Your systems are made complicated with separate rulers.” Sombra shook his head and exhaled.

Emerald nodded, but perhaps that was what Morn saw in the world. He had said that there were too many kingdoms and that things would be better under his rule. Maybe he was right, but taking free will away from these humans to accomplish that was no just goal, even if the world would be better from it. She just couldn’t accept something like that.

“And here we are.” Rake the Red waved a hand at his cottage.

It was made of logs, just like every building here, with a pot over a bonfire just to the right of the door.

As he pushed the door open, the first things Emerald noticed inside were rows of maps hung up on the walls with fishing hooks and daggers. There were stacks of tools in one corner, consisting of metal poles, sticks of charcoal, and a strange looking triangular object with needles at the ends of it, along with a bunch of harpoons and nets.

“Father says there are more islands west of us. Here.” Leaf Rake pointed at one map, then tracing his finger from the edge of the world to the left, where nothing was drawn. “And he’s going to find them. One day too, I will follow in his footsteps.”

“Aye, once he’s of age. He shall be a great explorer like myself.” Rake patted his boy’s head.

There was a table in the center of the room, also filled with maps, and Rake walked over and ran a hand over them. “You may use this table. Just do not move my maps.”

“Right. Let us see what this scroll says about the valravn.” Emerald took it out and rolled it out on the table.

The younger ones were in the corner, where Spectrum was already fast asleep, the others snickering as they watched her.

Jewel Pin had put down their provisions pack and was already digging through it for some food.

Emerald unrolled the scroll. It was not all that long as far as scrolls went, but it had quite an amount of text in it, but it was in Northern, so she couldn’t read it. There was a charcoal sketch of their target there. It looked like a spindly human with a crow’s head and wings instead of arms. There was a small doodle of a human next to it, as if to compare size. The valravn was at least twice the size of a man.

“It is unlike anything I have seen in Saddle Arabia.” Sombra was beside her, leaning down to better inspect the creature. “One would have to be of great courage to even think of battling such a beast.”

“Aye, we have lost many a warrior to the monster,” Rake nodded. “It has gotten to the point where no one dares take the night watch anymore. Jarl Gruff says he does not wish to lose any more fighters to it, not while there is a war going on.”

“It flies, but Posey can deal with an aerial foe such as this.” Emerald looked to the archer, who was seated in a corner by the wall maps.

“It also says they have dagger-like wing appendages hidden under their feathers.” Sombra pointed at one sentence. “We must watch out for those.”

“Wait, you can understand their language?” Emerald looked at the king with a quizzical expression.

Sombra tilted his head in question. “Just like I can speak to you in yours. When I was prince, I was educated with worldly knowledge, if you recall me saying. Language was just one part of that. Though I am a bit rusty, seeing them and hearing them being spoken has helped my memory.”

“Aye, impressive work. That is what it says.” Rake picked up a bowl of some bread and bit into one himself. “Want some, king?”

---

Morn Dread now stood on the edge of the Frozen North, looking back at the snowy landscape one last time before stepping onto a ship with dark wood, sporting the familiar flags of his conquest, with the black and white backing and the red sword in its center.

He had done what was necessary here and his men would be able to handle the rest without him. Using Excalibur to take the world was more taxing than he had first thought. To even maintain control of his Unified army, he would constantly need to reach out through his Knights of the Round Table and reapply the enchantment on them, lest he release his control and allow them to fight back against him.

What this meant was that Morn was constantly feeling fatigued, but no one was to know this. He kept his face hidden behind his visor constantly, and even if he did not, it was not as if his army was going to say anything about it.

Without having to say anything, the knights on his ship began steering it away from the North, taking them back across the sea to Canterlot. Morn sat himself down on a throne he had built on the ship and leaned back.

He was doing it. His United Kingdom was being realized and soon, all a new world order would be established and the world would be unified under his rule.

Another of his Unified, a young girl he had taken control of from the Frozen North, walked over with a tray, with a single gold chalice sitting atop it.

Morn took it and drank its alcoholic contents and smiled at his throat’s refreshment. The North did indeed have some of the best brews he had ever tasted.

By now, he knew Sirs Agramane and Boercival would be finding a way to breach the North’s capital of Nidaroats. He had learnt from his mistakes in Saddle Arabia and whilst their siege was going on, he had men searching for a way in to find the North’s king and to remove him from his place of power.

It had dismayed him to know that Sir Gallophad had been killed by his lady of all people. He had thought better of Emerald to not hurt her former brothers in arms, but instead, she had liberated Saddle Arabia from his grasp with the death of Gallophad. Even without the artifacts on her side, she was still a formidable opponent. He would have to be more wary from here.

It had been a setback at Nidaroats that the people there seemed to resist the power of his sword, but Morn had every confidence that his generals would be able to overcome it eventually. After all, it wasn’t as though these Northerners had an artifact of their own, was it?

It didn’t matter. Like Lionheart and Gallophad, Sirs Agramane and Boercival too had their swords enchanted and empowered. The Darkness of the Lake and the Wand of the Woods, as they had been called, even before their empowerment. Holding true to their names now, Morn knew that whatever the North king had in store, what he thought he had in store, would prove useless against his almighty power.

“Soon, everything will be mine, and everything will be right. My United Kingdom shall bring out an Age of Peace no man has ever seen. Nothing will stand in my way.”

---

Comments

[Marcthelightspark2004]

“Soon, everything will be mine, and everything will be right. My United Kingdom shall bring out an Age of Peace no man has ever seen. Nothing will stand in my way.”

I'm reminded of a C.S Lewis quote.
“Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.”

it seems that Morn has fallen into being a tyrant for our own good.

[MoonlightRift]

It had been a setback at Nidaroats that the people there seemed to resist the power of his sword, but Morn had every confidence that his generals would be able to overcome it eventually. After all, it wasn’t as though these Northerners had an artifact of their own, was it?

🤨

[MoonlightRift]

11070621
Reminds me of the Empress-Mother path in Equestria at War for Daybreaker. She believes the ponies to be like children who need to be protected and disciplined.