Age of Kings

by A bag of plums

111 - Pass to the Capital

“Is everything alright, Emerald?” Sombra asked as he pulled his coat’s hood over his dark hair to better protect himself from the biting cold.

“Just woolgathering,” Emerald said as she kept in stride with the king. She held a torch in one hand, keeping the area around herself alight. “I have to say that the cold here seems harder to bear than in Equestria, even with these coats.”

“That must be because you were of an equine nature.” Sombra prodded at his arm. “Humans don’t have fur like you horses. Just tiny hairs on our skin that don’t seem to do much, I am afraid, especially with sand.”

The group came to a downwards slope and Emerald was about halfway down when she heard a whoop from behind. Not a moment later, Honeygold and Spectrum Song came skidding past down the hill, seated on a pair of shields. The pair slid right past the head of the convoy and ploughed into a large snowdrift.

“That was great!” Honeygold popped out of the snow, wearing a wide grin. “Ah wanna go again!” She dug herself out of the drift and helped Spectrum get up as well, giggling. “Ah didn’t know snow could be so much fun!”

“We ain’t got time for this little ones.” Golden Nugget put a hand on his daughter’s shoulder, then pointed back to their horses. “We’ve still got a full day’s journey to make.”

“Your father is right, dear.” Apple Bean breathed out into her palms and rubbed them together. “Come on now, back on the horses, you two.”

“And me!” Parisa’s head burst out from under a pile of snow, her teeth chattering madly. “It’s amazing how you can swim in here! Sure, it’s cold, but it’s almost just like water!”

“You get used to it in time, lass.” Rake moved past her, atop his horse with a map in one hand and a torch in his other. “Our next major terrain will be the Midgardsormr Pass. It is a mountainous area plagued with wolves and trolls. Camping there is to court death. We shall be walking through it through the night. Keep your fires up and there would only be a small chance we might be attacked.”

“Wh-what?” Guard Streak shook on his horse.

“Streak, stop shaking.” Spectrum slapped him on the back. “Wolves and trolls are nothing new. We’ve fought them before.”

“I-I’m not sc-sc-scared…” He cleared his throat and sat up straighter. “Tis j-just cold.”

“Do not fret over such beasts, squires,” Posey said, running a hand down Gabriel’s head and neck. “When we are closer, Gabriel will keep an eye out for us from the skies.”

“I am more concerned about our meals.” Jewel Pin held a torch near the rear. “When are we stopping for food? How do we know when we should set up camp? I’m already hungry.”

“Again?” Rake turned to face her from the front, a puzzled look scrawled on his face. “Even we vikings do not easily hunger like your violet haired lass here. And she can still maintain a good figure. Impressive.”

The other vikings from Jorgjafylki bellowed in laughter at this.

“Aye, Leaf would want to hear this.” Rake swatted snow off his red beard. “Once our journey is completed, I will be sure to return home to tell him.”

He nodded to Emerald, then pointed ahead and kept moving. She watched their torchlights moving ahead in the darkness and followed after them atop Amira, with her horse doing her best to keep up. With their smaller build, kicking their way through the snowfall was harder and more taxing for them.

As they walked, Emerald became aware of a feeling of being watched. She looked into the snowy dark, and was repaid with the sight of a pair of yellow eyes.

“What’s that?” Emerald asked Rake, pointing. The viking stared at where her finger was pointing and squinted. Then he guffawed.

“Ah, that’s no trouble, lassie. It’s just an owl. Looks like a big one.”

“How can it be an owl?” Spectrum asked, staring at the yellow eyes. “It’s not laughing.”

“Why? Do your Canterlot owls laugh?” Rake gave them a weird look.

“Uh, all the time,” Spectrum said it like it was the most obvious thing.

“Aye, you have weird Canterlot animals, don’t you?” One of the vikings bellowed.

“Maybe the owls are laughing at how weak they all are.” Another one laughed. “After all, they’re all so skinny. Not enough meat and mead.”

“But they’re not.” Rake turned and spoke to the patrolmen with them. “They killed that valravn plaguing the village.”

“Ah. Aye.” One glanced at Emerald. “The Raven Knight. Killer of the winged beast.”

“Ja.” the rest chorused.

“She’s more than just some raven killer,” Honeygold said atop her saddle. “If she has one o’ them artifacts from her world, then y’all will see what she can really do.”

She would have said more, but just then, a howl pierced through the night and immediately all eyes were alert and heads were spinning around.

“Have no fear.” Rake stowed his map and raised his hand. “As long as our torches burn, they should not approach us.”

“That doesn’t sound like a certainty.” Light Speckle was skeptical.

“They had better not come near us…” Sombra held up his hands and darkness deeper than that of night swirled around his fists. “I will not tolerate anything to hamper our journey.”

“And neither will I.” Emerald squinted into the dark, trying to tap into the power of the eagle vision, but as usual, it eluded her.

There was soon the pitter patter of movement out there in the snow, sometimes clattering off rocks somewhere in the dark. Emerald kept her eyes peeled, looking back to Posey to see if she had caught a whiff of anything coming too close. She had released Gabriel to the air and as of now, he hadn’t given them any warning, which meant that they were doing fine for the time being.

Just ahead, two mountainous shapes came into view, extending up into the air and curving near the tip, forming what looked like two horns coming out of the ground between a small rocky path heading past a slope.

“We’re here. Midgardsormr Pass.” Rake lifted his torch higher as they arrived at the start of the rocky terrain. “Now, no sudden noises. We don’t want to have the trolls upon us should they be around. Night is their favorite playtime, after all.”

“We don’t want an avalanche on us neither,” another one of the Northmen added.

“No word from Gabriel. We must be clear.” Posey nodded to Emerald.

“The lass talks to the bird?” One viking raised a bushy eyebrow. He turned to some of the others and muttered to them in Northern. They soon started snickering, but were quickly silenced by Rake.

“Quiet. I do not want to attract any more trouble than we need to.”

The group proceeded into the pass, torches held high and trying not to make any sound other than the crackling of their flambeaux and the soft crunching of snow beneath their boots. No one said anything, but the entire party kept their hands near their weapons and looked around cautiously, ready to spring into action the moment anything unusual might happen.

The walk through was plain and simple enough. Emerald swore she could see one of those snow owls watching them, but as long as they stayed away and silent, then she had no problem with them.

Posey pulled her horse to ride alongside Emerald’s. She was still looking about, but her face was pinched, and not just from the cold.

“There were wolves following us,” Posey said in a low voice.

“Were?” Emerald whispered back. “What do you mean?”

“As in there was a wolf pack stalking us,” Posey explained. “But they’re gone now. Tis not like wolves to give up easy prey like that.”

Emerald gripped the handle of her sword. “It would not have been easy.”

“They must sense the t-t-trolls…” Jewel Pin whimpered and looked in every direction. “Never liked those beasties.”

“We’ve faced trolls before,” Emerald said calmly. “Or at least, I have. The trick is not to get grabbed by them. They aren’t particularly fast or smart.”

This did not seem to reassure Jewel Pin, who gripped her shears tighter and looked about herself warily.

“Plus, you have me.” Sombra’s eyes seem to glow in the dark. “Should we be attacked by any man or beast, I will defend us.”

“Don’t forget the twelve or so horsemen with us.” Spectrum added.

“They sure think a lot of themselves, don’t they?” Nightfall whispered. “But they were so afraid of that valravn coming every night.”

The sound of crunching snow stopped as the party came to a halt at the behest of Rake. He pointed ahead and several of his companions unslung their bows.

“What is it?” Emerald whispered. “What does it mean?”

“It means,” Sombra narrowed his eyes and stared at where Rake was pointing. “That we have company.”

Along the path, behind one fairly large boulder, Emerald could just make out something white and hairy dragging along the body of a deer of some kind into what looked like a cave entrance.

“Keep still and quiet,” Posey muttered. “That troll seems to already have its dinner. If we do not provoke it, we may be able to pass unmolested.”

“Somehow I doubt that will be the case,” Sombra said as he eyed the troll, dark vapor molding itself into a long, thin shape in his hands.

“Single file, everyone,” Rake shout-whispered back at them. “No sudden moves, let’s take things nice and slow, aye?”

The horses, under the instruction of their riders, fell into a thin queue. They could smell the troll and were understandably nervous, but all of the group were experienced enough horsemen to know how to calm their steeds, at least well enough that they would not bolt.

As the group pressed on, Emerald couldn’t help but place a hand on the axe at her side. Should a fight brew out here in the pass, then she would see just how good this axe was. In her opinion, it was a very well crafted axe, but it seemed a bit excessively made. It could’ve been a lot simpler, and engravings didn’t really give the weapon any advantage over others. She would just have to see how strong its steel was in a fight.

Gabriel squawked something from above.

“Emerald, up!” Posey warned.

All eyes flicked up to see a large white shape standing atop the rocks, looking down at them, a bloody bone in one hand. It roared and leapt off its perch, dropping down and knocking Jewel Pin and Nightfall off their horses.

“Get it away! Get it away!” Jewel Pin began screeching as she flailed her arms around her face.

Emerald grabbed her axe and hopped off Amira, but Sombra was faster. In a blink of an eye, a wisp of darkness shot past her and enveloped the white troll, swirling around it as red marks began appearing across its hair. The beast roared and swung its arms around, but it could not hit him. Materializing once before its face, Sombra slashed his scimitar across the beast’s neck, then dropped to the ground along with its head, while its body rocked on the spot, then fell back against the cliff.

“Now, that was truly a show, your majesty.” Rake chuckled, but then pointed to the sides in front, where heads of trolls were popping out around boulders. “But we have much unwanted attention now and we should make haste to leave this place.”

“Aye, we don’t want to be caught here, not before we can rescue the high king!” Another viking flicked his horse’s reins and was off, followed by the rest of them.

Emerald got her friends back on their horses and made sure they were off before galloping off after them. Now at the rear, she could see trolls of all sizes walking out, trying to get their group. The ones here seemed larger than the ones back in Canterlot, and instead of brown fur, they had white fur and their fangs jutted out of their mouths more.

One reached out for her, but Emerald didn’t stop and ducked under a clawed hand as she slashed up with the axe. She felt the steel tear through flesh easily and blood sprayed out against the rocky surface of the mountain side.

There was a roar behind her as she kept moving, all the while making sure her allies were in front of her. She wasn’t going to lose sight of one of them here, not now, not ever. They had gotten her through so much and she wasn’t going to let them down now.

The rocks clattered under the thundering hooves of her horse and her friends’ horses, almost like bells awakening the night. There were more trolls around them that she could count, but from above, she could see a swirl of a shadowy vortex, before Sombra lashed out at a few trolls on their escape. One troll tried to jump on Honeygold and Parisa, but Sombra appeared between them and kicked the troll back with both feet, then tossed it aside with a shadowy tendril.

Another one swiped at Emerald’s face, but she took the blow and managed to still grasp the reins of Amira. It tried it again, but a vial of whitish liquid splashed across its back and soon, it began freezing. Emerald spotted Amber Fang giving her a knowing nod in front before she turned back to focus on the escape. Emerald silently gave her her thanks and slashed the ailing troll in the back, shattering its frozen back and sending blood and bone scattering about on the floor.

From above, Sombra dropped down on her horse after another wave of his sword behind her, shearing off another troll’s hand.

“Thanks for the ride.” Sombra gave her a pat on the shoulder.

And then they were out, back into the open, leaving Midgardsormr Pass behind. The trolls didn’t follow and instead watched them leave, before retreating back into their dens. The group soon slowed to a stop once they were far enough from the pass to take account of their items and people.

“Everyone alright?” Rake asked and dusted his cloak of snow and some troll guts. “I’d say we did quite well, even after alerting the whole lot of them.”

"Aye, this will be a great story to tell over some drinks!" a viking boomed. "But that will have to wait. We are getting close to Nidaroats now. Only about an hour more and we should be able to see it."

“Please, no more monsters…” Jewel Pin wailed and grabbed her hair.

“Aye, if all goes well, we should have no more random encounters.” A viking guffawed and shifted his helmet onto his head. “But we must ready ourselves for battle. The enemy will be near.”

Emerald and her group had not yet traveled so far in the biting cold and it was already beginning to wear on them, even her. All she wanted now was to find some place warm and sit by a fire with a warm bowl of soup, but that was likely still a ways away.

Over the top of the next hill, something glimmered orange in the faraway distance.

“That city really looks like a city,” Nightfall said, looking through her spyglass. “Is that…”

“Our destination, aye,” Rake said, turning around. “We’ve still much more ground to cover, but we’re getting closer to Nidaroats. We can see it from up here.”

A trio of spear launchers fired at the wall, followed by a flaming payload from one of the catapults. That one smashed into the gates with a resounding gong, heard even from all the way here.

“It doesn’t look like the walls have fallen,” Nightfall continued to survey the city through her spyglass. “Though the army outside seems to be trying very hard.”

Just then, there was the sound of the earth shattering and the ground shifted under them.

“By the world tree…” Rake breathed, then pointed to the city. “Look.”

The gates for the outer wall seemed to be shrinking, but once Emerald looked closer, she noticed it wasn’t sinking. The ground was giving way, crumbling beneath the defensive structure as tree roots grew around the walls. The metal gates that once kept the city safe fell into the newly cracked open chasm and she could just make out people diving off the walls as the whole wall shook and rocked.

“I… take that back.” Nightfall looked apologetic, as though her words had been the cause of this event.

“I have never seen anything like that…” Amber Fang whispered beside Emerald. “It must be one of the Knights of the Round Table.”

“Excalibur can give rise to the power to control nature?” Light Speckle asked, also astounded at the sight at the gates. “Even with all our magic, we have never been able to do that.”

“Excalibur is from my world.” Emerald eyed Canterlot’s army as they began marching into the city. “It would not surprise me if it allowed one of Morn’s men to breathe fire.”

“What do we do now?” Honeygold looked to her older companions. “They’ve already entered the city. We’re too late.”

“We’re not too late, Honeygold. Not yet.” Emerald shook her head. “While we still stand, we will defend this kingdom from Morn. We must make haste, before they breach the castle gates.”

“How do you suggest we get there before the enemy?” Rake also had a defeated look on his gruff face.

The spymaster looked to Posey, who nodded. “I’m sure we could find a way over the wall. How good are you horsemen with scaling walls?”

“We’ve scaled walls in raids.” Rake nodded. “Do you have ladders for us, then?”

“Oh. I was thinking of just getting some rope when we reach the top of the wall.”

“Nay, we vikings don’t use rope. I am afraid we might not know how to do it. Ladders are preferable.”

“Well… Very well.” Emerald didn’t figure it would make much of a difference. “We shall do our best to find a ladder on the other side.”

“Then we should make haste for the walls.” Posey whistled something to Gabriel and he flew on ahead of them. “Let us hope that the castle still stands by the time we reach it.”

---

Comments

[MoonlightRift]

These trolls are particularly more intimidating than their online counterparts

[Marcthelightspark2004]

“And me!” Parisa’s head burst out from under a pile of snow, her teeth chattering madly. “It’s amazing how you can swim in here! Sure, it’s cold, but it’s almost just like water!”

....how did her bloodline survive till pinkie pie?

[Marcthelightspark2004]

Emerald grabbed her axe and hopped off Amira, but Sombra was faster. In a blink of an eye, a wisp of darkness shot past her and enveloped the white troll, swirling around it as red marks began appearing across its hair. The beast roared and swung its arms around, but it could not hit him. Materializing once before its face, Sombra slashed his scimitar across the beast’s neck, then dropped to the ground along with its head, while its body rocked on the spot, then fell back against the cliff.

I'm glad he's on their aide....