lib/5.4

From: Andrew Joelson <joelsona_at_cpdmfg.cig.mot.com>
Date: Mon, 7 Apr 1997 18:21:39 -0500

                The Last Icebreaker, Part V

Hollri! Uzhim! Nameless Creatures!
That follow in thy liegelord's train
Turn about! Avert thy path!
Return unto thy custom'd haunts!
Is not the Glacier large enough?
The White Sea's northern shore?
Onward, to the Altinea
Sheltered by Himile's mantle

        Harlios continued to sing the Ritual of Formal Challenge. His   voice boomed and echoed, as if a giant's roar across a vast canyon.   But when he looked to the left side or the right, he was alone.

"Where is Kalikos?" he wondered. "I do but follow in the path
  she blazed. He felt the power of Rashtingall behind him, magnifying   his voice. He suddenly knew that whoever he might challenge, his foe   would hear him and be forced to answer. His spine began to tingle.

Leave the Southlands to themselves
Disturb not their ordered seasons
Winter comes and has it's turn
Seek not to prolong Dark Season!
Winds shall blow across the southlands
Bearing mist and fog and snow
Valind need not strive unduly
For the south to feel his strength

        The image of a man appeared suddenly before him, fading away in   an instant. A small man, on a gigantic horse. The stallion gleamed with   an inner light, obviously housing the rider's ally. The man wore a gold   necklace, draped across his naked breast. A golden amulet hung there,   so bright Harlios could not make out it's shape. The man held his reins   in one hand, and a glowing bow in the other. Silvery arrows gleamed   from their quiver.

        Shocked, Harlios began to stutter.

Honor n-now.....the other gods
In their....s-season, give them due
Nature treads eternal.....p-pathways
W-winter is enough for you....

"That was Kalikos!" gaped Harlios. "I'm not on the HeroPlane, I'm
on the GodPlane! What _have_ I done?"

        He stumbled in the ritual a final time, then paused to pull himself together.

				Mortal Man!  I see thee clearly
				Come to challenge Winter's King
				In thy hubris, over-vaunting
				You shall learn your proper place
				Inandana DaughtersBlood
				Came this way not long ago
				Nevermore shall she return
				To the Southlands, whence she came
				Thinking to engage my weak son
				Beaten down by losses many
				Instead she found my kinsman's thane
				Argrath!  King of Dragon Pass!



"OH NO!!" cried Harlios in his mind; his mouth was sealed.
Orlanth's Champion! Bold and Fearless! Dear my brother, to lend such aid He has thrown off Lunar fetters Now my time has also come A wave appeared on the horizon, like long grasses rippling in
  the wind. But these waves glinted and glittered; Valind's forces on   the march. Behind them a dreadfull sight began to form, a whirlwind   spinning slowly. Larger and larger it swelled, as it became more solid,   more visible to mortal eye.
				Inandana has escaped me
				Her spirit fled the Realm of Heroes
				From her howls I'll eke no vengence
				All her comrades joined her rout
				Strong and generous is Argrath
				So with Hend, my battered son
				Went to Kalikos for battle
				To vent his fury, not all spent
				Long they seiged the glowing Palace
				Kalikos no weakling foe
				Till at last the walls were breached
				And red slaughter then unfolded


	Harlios tried to speak, but was unable.  The strength of
   Rashtingall held him fast. He had challenged, and stopped. Only    for a moment, but it was enough. Valind was answering his call    and he could not interrupt. He only hoped that when Valind paused,    he could finish the Formal Challenge; else he would face an ancient,    angry god.
				But the battle was still grim fought
				Retreating slowly, inch by inch
				IceBreaker strong with doom'd fury
				Heedless of her streaming wounds
				Blow by blow she slew my hollri
				Uhzim fell dead by the score
				Finally came forth Orlanth's favor'd
				Gesturing his comrades back
				Engaged he then in final combat
				She who thought to tame the wind
				Argrath battled Kalikos
				And struck her down! the scarlet trull!



"Drel!" called Harlios in his mind, as the whirlwind slowed and
   began to take on man-like proportions.

                aaaaaaaaawwwwwwwwwww.............

"Fool," he thought, "Drel is frozen in Timelessness. That would
   be protection in the Realm of Heroes; few there could muster the power    needed to affect one so heavily under the Stasis Rune. But Valind is    more than strong enough. Drel is a sitting trollkin; he will be    crushed without even knowing what happened."

				Then Winter's host knew deep bloodfrenzy
				Figthing on with doubl'd strength
				Sacked that fine and gleaming Palace 
				Dyed the walls a crimson hue
				But alas! in their fell fury
				Slew all things with such dispatch
				That not a one was taken prisoner
				Routed all, these foemen too.


	The misty figure of a man towered over the advancing host.
   Broadly built, with icicles in the place of hair and beard. Another    form hovered behind, almost shapeless, compellingly Dark. Harlios    wrenched his eyes from Himile before they could focus better, fearfull     that his mind would break. Valind leaned forward, reaching    out with one arm. An arm that seemed to grow longer and longer,    the grasping hand ever larger....
				Who shall pay for long trespasses?
				Who shall I vent my rage upon?
				Tormenting until the end of all things
				When Chaos finally conquers all?
				You have challenged VALIND, fool!
				You shall serve for this grim task


	As Valind's hand descended Harlios felt cold winds swirl
   round him. He knew that he would never finish the Formal Challenge,    only the power of the Black Rock kept him from freezing as it was.    When Valind finished his counter-challenge, he would sieze the tiny    mortal. His great hand loomed ever closer.

        Harlios cast madly back into his memories, seeking a day he had    long sought to forget. The Class of Inner Light. A whimsical name    for courses in philosphy and other obscure lores intended to bring on    Illumination. He sought the Riddle of the Feathered Cloud; his one    great humilation.

				Even if you wriggle forth
				From 'neath my grasp, with Chaos wiles
				Thou shalt not escape this Doom
				As my own prey now I mark thee
				Thou shalt ever be persued
				Aye, even into mortal realms
				Now I reive thee of thy Callings
				And I name thee,
	
						   LAST  ICEBREAKER!!
						   ----  ------------


	His limbs went numb instantly, as he heard Lady Jarvenesh
   speak again. His mind exploded into grey streamers, he felt his    body spasm in pain.

        Then nothingness.



Andrew

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