They marched by day and night. The Doitherúna do not need sleep as the Hyûvandri do, and a gangworm can travel hundreds of miles without a rest. But as the procession entered the Dagnath Nebren, and approached the Southlands, the air became warmer, and Dreygan became weaker and weaker. He sat slumped on the neck of the Coldworm, trying to keep cool.
When they drew near to Mount Hogunoth, the site of the Giants’ stronghold, Kapgar Kûm, they heard a new and deadly sound, a sound that had never been heard in the Midworld before: the clash of steel on shield and helm and the bellowing of wounded warriors. When they had descended the track from the northern slopes of Hogunoth, they rounded a great shoulder of the mountain and saw a mass of Giants in shining armour, jostling and struggling, raising swords and shields and smiting one another. A small knot of Stonegiants was battling against a much greater force of Fellgiants. At the Stonegiants’ backs was a cliff-like wall of rock, in which could be glimpsed the dark outline of the East Gate of Kapgar Kûm. This the Fellgiants were aiming to capture so as to gain entry to the stronghold.
The unfamiliar noise aroused Dreygan from his torpor. He rose up alert on the Coldworm’s back, and gripped Gantâr more powerfully. Slungandi cried out to the Falakkazri to fall back but be ready to run when the coldworm was roused. Then he went to Firungwáfi and touched his head with the Talyoran. The coldworm seemed to awaken abruptly from his drowsy state. A great cloud of icebreath streamed from his nostrils and he gathered his huge bulk together and bounded forward. Dreygan grasped at his knobbled back and brandished Gantâr with a yell. With the Falakkazri running at speed behind, steering the coldworm as best they could, Firungwáfi bore down on the besieging Fellgiants. Dreygan swayed on his back, bellowing defiance and waving his hammer. One glimpse of the great jaws, the flashing eyes, and the clouds of icebreath was enough for the Fellgiants. They turned and fled from the place of battle. A great cry of triumph went up from the defending Stonegiants.
Then Slungandi, by his art and the power of the Talyoran, returned Firungwáfi once more to his drowsy state. Dreygan dismounted from the coldworm. As a result of his exertions, and the warmth of the day, he was now very unsteady on his feet, so he seated himself on a large boulder. Then came Mivgâ, leader of the defenders of Kapgar Kûm, and said:
‘My Lord Dreygan, we Kapangangri thank you and your servants for coming to our aid at this time. It would be in our mutual interest if you and your servants, together with your doughty mount, would take up residence in Kapgar Kûm, which we are about to garrison as a bulwark against the infernal Dagangri. They have broken all the bonds of kinship and brought destruction on the Northlands.’
Then Slungandi said:
‘My Lord Mivgâ, on behalf of the lord Dreygan I thank you. My master is unwell from the effects of the climate. We need a deep place of which we can make a cave of ice, where he and the coldworm can lodge.’
Then Mivgâ said:
‘From this very gate runs downwards the passage we call the Eastern Incline. At its end through a further hall lie the great chambers, deep underground, that are known as Onskabâ. There they may dwell, and there is lodging nearby for the servants of Dreygan who need no frost!’
With that he spoke the Opening Rune and the East Gate of Kapgar Kûm swung wide. The wormwardens passed in, drawing the drowsy coldworm along behind them. Then came Dreygan, the last of the Frostgiants. He was suffering greatly from overheating, and to his shame, he needed the help of Slungandi to limp down the dark passages, despite the considerable difference in their stature. To light their way, Slungandi held up the Talyoran with its peak forward.
In the lowest level of Kapgar Kûm — or rather, what was believed to be the lowest level by most of those who dwelt there in the time of that war — were several vast caverns. One was furnished with great gates. Into this, Firungwáfi was dragged by the wormwardens, and made fast with Kâwrungdaga to a stanchion in the floor. This den was the new Handuvandûr, and the gates were named Mathúr ta-Handuvandûr. The greatest cavern was set aside for Dreygan. They bestowed him there with as much comfort as they could. Then Slungandi stepped into the midst of Onskabâ. He turned the Talyoran so that its peak pointed downwards. He began to beat softly on Brandubur, and to chant the greater runes.
It was a great wonder then that these caverns began to grow cold, as cold as the shores of the great Northern sea. Ice formed on the damp patches in the walls and floor and the breath of the Falakkazri steamed. By the power of the rune, the ice pinnacles glowed blue with coldfire and lighted the caverns dimly. There in the midst of the Great Cavern of Onskabâ they set up Nolgon the anvil, which, despite its great weight, Dreygan had insisted on bringing all the way from Firungráda. And a throne was built for him, the Fâlagidhron, where he sat and gave commands to his servants.
And so Dreygan became lord of Onskabâ, and the Falakkazri were housed in chambers close by, and Slungandi went to and fro on some errands of his master’s, and on many errands of his own.
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