Chapter 18 The Dragon Grounds

• She said no more so that Baldr and the others could change out of their worn and tattered clothes and into some garbs that Elvinia's men had brought back. Baldr didn't take too long for already he started feeling his strength after a good night's rest and some actual food in his belly. His wife feeding their son while everyone was getting everything ready to get back on the move. Viggo helped his wife, Elsa though they were siblings they couldn't deny what they felt for one another. Once their twin babies were dressed warmly in new blankets, he then helped Elsa into the howdah, which was made out of the furs and skins of animals. It resembled a tent that was secured onto the mammoth beast. It was built to hold many though there were only the elves along with Viggo and Elsa, who were holding their infant twins. The weather outside had taken a turn as the winds and the chills felt like teeth gnashing against their flesh. Viggo turned to Elvinia, "We can watch over Bjorn in here if that's alright. At least he and his cousins can keep together and out of the elements." Once she had finished feeding her son, she swaddled him up in the cloak that Baldr had given her some time ago then Baldr picked up his son to hand over to his brother. The howdah was a very sound structure and held against the winds as they began moving through the snowstorm. Though Elvinia wore her battle skirt, she was not affected by the freezing temperatures as the others were. Everyone now was on their mounts as she led them into the darkness of the swamp. Her men were on either side of the mammoth beast, she only stopped for a moment allowing captain Baudric to take the lead, and she waited till everyone was now in front of her except Baldr, who rode beside his wife, his bride the love of his life that he had believed he would never see again. Though he didn't say anything at first she waited till she knew there was nothing behind them, nothing following them. "As I was saying earlier, we were mainly to focus on hunting down these monsters and demons, but the creatures began going after the army even before they had a chance to gain ground. We were ordered to go behind the enemy lines and disrupt the attacks, so now we are fighting without allies or backup. However, my men seem to prefer these missions rather than just hunting monsters down. Already we have disrupted a few campaigns the armies of the South were given a clear path. Now they control several of the Holds that had been overrunning such as the one Ingemar had stolen from you. So far the survivors are few and far between, but then we got word of a group of elves trying to get back to the king, I had no idea you or Viggo and Elsa was with them. What if your men?"
• Baldr didn't speak right away finally he did so in a tone she had never heard before, "Ingemar is alive, but Beadu is not. My men were thrown into a pit and were slaughtered but no harm was to come to me or Viggo or Elsa, not yet anyways. The night we escaped, we weren't told about anything because the elves were using us as shields till they learned that I was married to the war maiden. then they no longer treated us as enemies but as allies. I told them that Ingemar wasn't my real father but my stepfather, and I was the right heir to my father's Hold. None of my men survived, those that lived in the city of the mines were sought after because the word was that you were with them. However, I never found out what had happened to those people or the dwarves that were supposed to watch over you."
• "The city of the dwarves was attacked but we managed to save them and now they and the humans have formed an alliance to the West as more armies are coming from the South. Right now there are a few miners back at the mining city and are heavily guarded. This war isn't just between monsters and man, but now many races have come together sadly there are a few races that refuse to join the ranks. So I have sworn alliance as well, to see this war to the very end. It was the only way I could come back to the North and search for you, or at least find a way to get back to you. I know the odds were not in my favor of finding you alive, but I had to try not just for my sake but for the sake of our child. I searched every jail and abandon Hold for any signs of you or Viggo or even Elsa, but every time I found nothing it gave me some hope that you all were still alive and to keep searching. Though he wanted to pull her against his chest and kiss her lips, now was not the time for they had many miles to cover before they reached the fishing village where they were to take the longship back to the South to regroup. Viggo kept his eyes on alert as the mammoth passed through the waters of the Murk, once a thriving village but now like many places fallen tragedy because of all the attacks that had happened recently. The mammoth didn't make a sound for it was used in battle, but because this female mammoth was recently injured. The commander didn't want to use her anytime soon in open-field combat. So instead of killing her, she was sold to the merchants, and now she was being committed once again by Elvinia's crew. This was what Cyrus was told and seeing some of her scars, validated the merchants who were running out of means to take care of her, thankfully Elvinia's men came in time before they were going to kill the beast. She was still young, and