The Queen of the Draugr: Stories of the Nine Worlds (Thief of Midgard - a dark fantasy action adventure Book 2) Read online

  THE QUEEN OF THE DRAUGR

  THIEF OF MIDGARD – BOOK 2

  ALARIC LONGWARD

  The text and the story copyright © 2016 Alaric Longward

  (www.alariclongward.com)

  All Rights Reserved

  Cover art by Markus Lovadina

  (http://www.artofmalo.com/)

  Design by The Cover Collection

  (http://www.thecovercollection.com)

  All the characters in this book are purely fictional and any similarities between them and real persons are purely coincidental.

  - For the Goddess of Patience, my wife, and Freya, for her wisdom -

  A WORD FROM THE AUTHOR

  Thank you for getting this book. I hope you enjoy it. The third book for this series will be The Sons of Ymir, and should arrive early 2017.

  Please note, that The Dark Levy of Ten Tears Chronicles is related to this series.

  I humbly ask you rate and review the story in Amazon.com and/or on Goodreads. This will be incredibly valuable for me going forward and I want you to know I greatly appreciate your opinion and time.

  Please visit

  www.alariclongward.com

  and sign up for my mailing list for a monthly dose of information on the upcoming stories and info on our competitions and winners.

  OTHER BOOKS BY THE AUTHOR:

  THE HRABAN CHRONICLES – NOVELS OF ROME AND GERMANIA

  THE OATH BREAKER – BOOK 1

  RAVEN’S WYRD – BOOK 2

  THE WINTER SWORD – BOOK 3

  THE SNAKE CATCHER – BOOK 4 (COMING 2016)

  GOTH CHRONICLES - NOVELS OF THE NORTH

  MAROBOODUS - BOOK 1

  THE BEAR BANNER – BOOK 2

  GERMANI TALES

  ADALWULF

  THE CANTINIÉRE TALES – STORIES OF FRENCH REVOLUTION AND NAPOLEONIC WARS

  JEANETTE’S SWORD – BOOK 1

  JEANETTE’S LOVE – BOOK 2

  JEANETTE’S CHOICE – BOOK 3 (COMING LATE 2016)

  TEN TEARS CHRONICLES – STORIES OF THE NINE WORLDS

  THE DARK LEVY – BOOK 1

  EYE OF HEL – BOOK 2

  THRONE OF SCARS – BOOK 3

  THIEF OF MIDGARD – STORIES OF THE NINE WORLDS

  THE BEAST OF THE NORTH – BOOK 1

  QUEEN OF THE DRAUGR – BOOK 2

  SONS OF YMIR – BOOK 3 (EARLY 2017)

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  THE QUEEN OF THE DRAUGR

  A WORD FROM THE AUTHOR

  OTHER BOOKS BY THE AUTHOR

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  MAP OF NORTHERN MIDGARD

  NAMES AND PLACES

  PROLOGUE

  BOOK 1: THE CROWN

  CHAPTER 1

  CHAPTER 2

  CHAPTER 3

  CHAPTER 4

  CHAPTER 5

  CHAPTER 6

  CHAPTER 7

  BOOK 2: THE CHAINS OF ATEN

  CHAPTER 8

  CHAPTER 9

  CHAPTER 10

  CHAPTER 11

  CHAPTER 12

  CHAPTER 13

  BOOK 3: THE HERO

  CHAPTER 14

  CHAPTER 15

  CHAPTER 16

  CHAPTER 17

  CHAPTER 18

  CHAPTER 19

  BOOK 4: BALIC’S PRIDE

  CHAPTER 20

  CHAPTER 21

  CHAPTER 22

  CHAPTER 23

  BOOK 5: THE KING

  CHAPTER 24

  CHAPTER 25

  CHAPTER 26

  MAP OF NORTHERN MIDGARD

  NAMES AND PLACES

  Ann – Sand’s unhappy sister.

  Arrow Straits – the body of water between Callidorean Ocean and the Bay of Whales.

  Aten – grand harbor city of the Verdant Lands.

  Aten-Sur Atenguard – draugr king of Aten

  Baduhanna – Aesir, a demi goddess, general of the humans.

  Balan Blacktower – head of the Tenth House, a historian, and father of Shaduril and Lith. A conspirator and Maskan’s host.

  Balic Barm Bellic – the High King of the Verdant Lands.

  Beast of the North – the title of the ruler of the Red Midgard.

  Blight – the mighty mountain range of the north.

  Brinna – a knight of the Danegell’s.

  Callidorean Ocean – the grand sea of the west.

  Crec Helstrom – Lord Commander of Red Midgard and Dagnar, head of the Second House.

  Dagger Hill – the ancient name of Dagnar’s prominent hill.

  Dagnar – the capital of Red Midgard.

  Dansar’s Grave – the western fortress of Grimwing Pass

  Dark Grip – ancient giant artifact.

  Dverger – dwarves

  Draugr – wily, intelligent undead, masters of disguise.

  Falg Hardhand – servant to the queen, slave from the south.

  Falgrin – allies of Red Midgard, one of the Fringe Kingdoms of the north.

  Fiirant – eastern county of Red Midgard

  Gal Talien – Lord of the Harbor, Lord of Trade, head of the Seventh House.

  Gorth – captain of Quiss

  Gray – butler of the Blacktower’s.

  Gray Brothers – a legion of Red Midgard

  Grimwing Pass – route through southern Blight Mountains from Alantia to Fiirant

  Hawk’s Talon – one of the four brigades of Red Midgard.

  Hel – goddess of the dead, mistress of rot, and the one whose war sundered the Nine Worlds from each other. She is forever seeking her eye.

  High Hold – land of the Blacktowers.

  Hilan Helstrom – wife of Crec Helstrom, the Regent of Dagnar

  Hillhold – the eastern fortress of Grimwing Pass

  Jotun – giants of Jotunheim, populating many worlds, including Muspelheim, Nifleheim, and Jotunheim. Often foes to the gods, to the Aesir and the Vanir, but sometimes not.

  Kallir – Bear’s henchman.

  Larkgrin – Morag Danegell’s stolen staff.

  Lisar Vittar – mighty draugr of Vittar

  Lithiana “Lith” Blacktower – daughter of Balan Blacktower, a conspirator and Maskan’s temptress.

  Hammer Legion – High King’s experienced, brutal armies.

  Heart Hold – the fortress of Red Midgard near Falgrin, home to Heart Breakers

  Mad Watch – the Dagnar city guard

  Maskan – a thief and a ruffian with a surprising past and even more surprising future.

  Magor Danegell – King of Red Midgard.

  Malingborg – capital of the Verdant Lands, home of the High King.

  Mara’s Brow – the mighty fortress of Falgrin

  Mellina Danegell – Queen of Red Midgard.

  Mir – Maskan’s mother and more.

  Molun – Bear’s henchman.

  Quiss Atenguard – the princess of Aten

  Raven Atenguard – draugr queen of Aten

  Ragga – a Mad Watch sergeant

  Rose Throne – throne of the Danegells.

  Sand – son or the Bear, Maskan’s partner in crime.

  Shaduril Blacktower – daughter of Balan Blacktower, a conspirator and Maskan’s love.

  Shakes – master of the “Lamb,” a tavern of Bad Man’s Haunt.

  Sorrowspinner – a magical artifact, a ring of dark metal and a blue stone.

  Stone Watchers – Red Midgard Legion from the west

  Tallo Atenguard – the prince of Aten


  Taram Blacktower – arms master of the Blacktowers. For to Maskan.

  The Bear – also called the “Uncouth Lord.” A highwayman and Sand’s father.

  The Crimson Apex – home of the Blacktowers.

  The Harlot – executioner of Dagnar.

  The One Man Cult – a cult of the High King, denying the existence of the gods.

  Thrun – a dverg lord.

  Tower of the Temple – Danegell’s mighty fort on top of Dagnar.

  Valkai the Heavy – brute leader of the Grim Jesters criminal outfit.

  Verdant Lands – the holdings of the High King, rich and powerful lands.

  Ygrin – allies of Red Midgard, one of the Fringe Kingdoms of the north.

  Ymritoe – nation of the giants.

  PROLOGUE

  An unexpected war had torn the land of Red Midgard apart.

  The Hammer Legions, the armies of High King Balic of Malignborg, were crawling across the frigid northern lands. Winter was on its way, and Red Midgard’s own upstart king, Crec Helstrom, had led most of the ablest fighters far to the north on a mysterious quest, and left Balic free to try to take over Dagnar and the others cities of Red Midgard. Crec, like many of the royals of the southern lands, was one of Balic’s draugr flock. Little remained to oppose the foe in the grand city of Dagnar and the southern Red Midgard. Goddess Hel’s servants were going to take the north, and few truly knew what they were planning. Red Midgard fought to survive.

  It wasn’t the first time Hel had reached out from Helheim to punish the gods and their creations for her cursed, forced appointment as the Lady of the Dead. The incursion of the devious, hidden dead to the kingdoms of the living during the past twenty years was the second such attack by Hel. During the first war, the Nine Worlds with the Aesir and Vanir gods had been cut off from each other. It had been called Hel’s War, thousands of years past, and there had been a true invasion from Nifleheim, with living armies hired by the goddess. During the war, the gates between the Nine Worlds were closed, and none had travelled them in ages. It had been a war for the Eye of Hel, and it had changed everything across the lands. And yet, at that time, despite the might of her armies, despite the closed gates to the worlds and absence of the gods, Hel lost the war. The gods lost the Nine Worlds, being trapped in Vanaheim and Asgaard, and the gates were closed until such time as the Horn of the Heimdall, the Gjallarhorn, be returned, and rung at the gates.

  It had not yet been found.

  The worlds lost the gods, and mortals ruled, and forgot.

  But, Hel wasn’t done with her vengeance.

  Seething in her misery and hatred, she had found a willing champion in a desperate girl, Shannon, and that girl released a terrible spell, handed to her by Hel herself, while she struggled to put down her enemies in the world of Aldheim. That seed, Hel’s seed, had swept through all the lands near two decades before, and brought the scourge of the draugr, the wicked, intelligent, and secretive undead, to the land. They hid, bid their time, grew in power, and then, struck. The High King of the central Midgard, the lord of the Verdant Lands, King of Malignborg, was the first such creature in Midgard. He was the King of the Draugr, and Mir Blacktower, a noblewoman of Red Midgard, was the Queen of the Draugr. These two had a unique power to raise the dead, one by one, into creatures like them, though lesser in rank. Together, they raised others, all the kings and queens of the south, and grew in power, and schemed for more, and possibly, hoping for something even more sinister. The Cult of One Man, Balic’s invention, the lie of the King beating death itself, granting eternal life to his followers, grew in power with the population, except in the north, where Morag and the others kept a wary eye on their nominal overlord. The old gods stood firm in the north. And that was what Balic had set to eradicate.

  The war the draugr unleashed on Red Midgard was terrible. Twenty Hammer Legions, led by the draugr royals of each kingdom, were ready for war. Since the High King had been slowly corrupting his vassals and lords of his lands, these draugr royals had no will to resist, and they were ready to destroy all of the northern alliance. There, the first blow was struck in shadows. Draugr Mir Blacktower used Maskan, the lost son of the ancient noble family of Morag Danegell, the scion of the hidden ruling jotuns, lost generals of Hel’s war, and they struck hard. Morag, the jotuns, were killed, and the dead led away the armies, just as Hammer Legions attacked the city.

  And yet, the strikes fell, but didn’t yield the expected results.

  The north yet stood. Maskan, the thief, the last son of murdered Morag, found his true beastly nature, and defended the land with the demi-goddess, Baduhanna, and an army of the dverger, and the rising anger of the northern men, who understood the true nature of their foes.

  Now, standing on the remains of Dagnar, they faced the King and the Queen of the Draugr. The enemy were marshaling the armies of the south to finish the kingdom of Red Midgard, while the pretending king of Red Midgard, Crec Helstrom, had led the armies of Red Midgard treacherously north, away from war, and on a special quest for Balic. What that deed was, was uncertain.

  What remained to defend the land was torn with distrust. The dead might have deceived Red Midgard, but people also distrusted Maskan, for he, like his kin, was a jotun, a giant, and people perceived the Danegells as impostors who had been pretending to be humans for thousands of years. They were, in many people’s eyes, as bad as the attacking armies of the undead draugr. Both were hidden under layers of deceit and magic.

  The time was short for squabbles, though. The High King Balic was the King of the Draugr, and while defeated in Dagnar, there were many more Balic’s armies moving to Red Midgard.

  Maskan expected to be the king.

  The calling was in his nature, in his blood, and yet, a jotun raised a human had weaknesses his father had not had. To make the tough, honest northerners willing followers of his banner, much would have to be sacrificed and dared, and perhaps the price for a crown was more than he would he willing to pay. And since Balic and Mir were far more powerful than Red Midgard, it might not matter at all. Not even the demi-goddess, Baduhanna, their sole hope, could be sure to defeat the foe.

  Listen.

  BOOK 1: THE CROWN

  “Announce you will let go of the crown. Let the greedy bastards take it, and then, later, earn it back. Or take it back when the war is over. For now, you are no king.”

  Baduhanna to Maskan

  CHAPTER 1

  The winding tunnels and ancient streets under Dagnar were mostly dark and moist. The dverger, the odd, squat remnants of Hel’s ancient army, were milling in the dark, born to it. They were white or black skinned, four feet high, thick as boulders, and as strong as oxen. None better for war underground.

  Or even above, I thought. They had proven it well in the battle for the city.

  The short denizens of Svartalfheim were savage, stoic soldiers, and, thank Odin; some could touch the magic of the Filling Void, like I could.

  Thrum, their leader, was silent. Sixty of his kin were huddled around us, and I stared at him with slight concern. His eyes were closed, and he had told me he was listening. He looked like he wasn’t breathing, and I resisted the urge to nudge him. If he had fallen asleep, I’d be fool to wait for him to wake up. I also suppressed an urge to speak. Narag, one of the officers, booted my leg, as if reading my thoughts.

  So I breathed deep, and looked around the shadows of the Old City, waiting for the bastard to hear something. The underground streets seemed to be holding their breath, just like Thrum. Only the forlorn sound of dripping water echoed in the tunnels, and the occasional squeak of a rat echoed in the alleys. We had been down there for days, hunting the remnants of Millis Illar’s Griffon and Palan’s Bear Legions, the Hammer armies of our former sovereign Balic, the King of the Draugr, the One Man, had set on us. They had attacked as soon as his servants, Mir and Crec, had sent our armies away along the Iron Way. His cult had spread in the land to the south, and rumors of his miraculous powers over death ha
d turned many a man and woman into a believer, but we knew better.

  Balic and his royals were draugr, and instead of raising the dead to live again, they raised them into hidden, rotten, evil, covetous things, and they’d not stop before the dead ruled the lands for Hel.

  Not while we stood, I thought.

  The north still had warriors. The dead, led by Crec Helstrom and Mir, had duped the armies of Red Midgard. They were both draugr, but our armies were still full of breathing men. Like the southern Hammer Legions, they were following a hidden draugr. Our armies were following Crec, the new king, crowned since all the Danegells were supposed to be dead: They were marching into the north, perhaps to fight with allies, perhaps for some other, hidden reason. Whatever the reason, Falgrin, the allied kingdom just to our north had a cause to worry.

  Baduhanna would have to figure it out, I thought, and then cursed myself. I’d have to. I was the rightful king of Red Midgard. They had to be stopped from attacking our allies, I mused, at least that.

  I sighed, drawing another kick from Narag. I ignored the pain and tried to occupy myself with the drawing of plans. As soon as we figure out what Balic was doing down south, we would have to act. We would reverse Mir’s and Crec’s hijacking of our army. We would, if Thrum could just make up his mind where we should go.

  Water dripped into my eye, as something rattled above in the streets of Dagnar. A horse was pulling something over the cobbled streets. The water stung my eye, and I batted the filth away, cursing softly, and pointed a warning finger at Narag, who had drawn his foot back.

  He scowled, and opted to kick a bit of brick instead.

  We are wasting precious days, I thought, by sitting in the city, hunting for lost legionnaires.

  Baduhanna had been trying to rebuild the city officials, to convince the lords of her right to command them, and hopefully for my right to sit on the throne.