In the Northland, the Fellgiants were full of fury at the fall of Fundrubâl. Even across the wide river, Slungandi could see that they were now at council, planning their next move.
‘Lord Dreygan, there is no time to lose. We must leave Firungráda at once.’
‘I cannot leave the North. The ice and snow are a Frostgiant’s life. And now I have taken my great prize, Firungwáfi the Coldworm. We cannot convey him from here, and I will not leave him behind.’
In his anxiety, Slungandi, with his hand in the wallet he wore by his side, was turning the Talyoran over and over. It was not long before he saw the shapes of birds flying from a southeastern direction. As they approached he saw that they were not birds, but Melainë.
‘Once again you have somehow drawn me here,’ cried Kerorkîn Melainen, as he circled round and came to the earth. ‘How, I know not. But that is of little import. Today we have averted a dreadful battle among the Doitherúna, but now we are here at the bidding of your kin the Stonegiants.’
As his companions alighted, all the Falakkazri backed away. These Melainë were their estranged kinsfolk, who had left them houseless in the mountains. But the Melainë paid them no attention. They surrounded Dreygan.
Kerorkîn addressed the Frostgiant earnestly.
‘My Lord Dreygan, your friends the Stonegiants have heard of the great malice of the Fellgiants and their intention to destroy you. They will receive you in Kapgar Kûm, where there are cold caverns suitable for you. You must flee south at once. It is very clear to us that the Fellgiants will shortly march that way and ford the river Throndir where it is shallow. You must be away into the hills before that.’
‘I will fight them with Firungwáfi,’ declared Dreygan. ‘Just let me loose him from his chain!’
‘Nay, my Lord,’ said Slungandi. ‘The beast is senseless. He will attack us all, you, me, and the wormwardens, and turn us to ice, before he comes near the Firungangri. But let me rune him into docility, and you can ride on his back to Kapgar Kûm.’
‘Never was it heard that a Frostgiant, or any nyanda, rode on the back of a dragon,’ Dreygan objected.
‘And you, Lord Dreygan, are the last Frostgiant,’ said Kerorkîn Melainen. ‘If you do not take your servant’s advice, there will be no Frostgiants at all.’
Slungandi, taking Brandubur, trudged through the snow to Firungwáfi’s den. As soon as the Coldworm saw him approaching, he rose up menacingly as far as Kâwrungdaga would let him, and sent forth a cloud of icebreath. But Slungandi had the Talyoran in his hand, and the freezing vapour vanished before it reached him. He sat down and began to drum. He intoned the greater runes. Soon the Coldworm became quiet and still, his eyes staring emptily. At once Slungandi ceased drumming. He went boldly into the den and undid Kâwrungdaga from its great stanchion, beckoning to the Falakkazri. The wormwardens came with some hesitation; but Slungandi spoke encouragingly to them and put the great chain into their hands. He bade them start to march, and as they did so, the Coldworm followed along meekly, as if in a dream, slowly placing one huge clawed foot in front of another, heedless of the snow or the chain.
‘Take your rightful place on his back as his captor, Lord Dreygan,’ said Slungandi.
The Falakkazri halted, and so did the Coldworm. Cautiously, the Frostgiant took hold of the great knobbled hide of the Coldworm’s back, and climbed up as if on to a rock, and then seated himself where the body narrowed to join the neck. There was no response from the Coldworm; his eyes remained glassy. Slungandi gave a sign and the wormwardens again set off, hauling on the great chain; and once the Coldworm started to move, he kept on at a steady pace. Dreygan roared with delight and waved his hammer, Gantâr. Slungandi slung Brandubur around his neck, ungainly though it was, and accompanied their march with a continual low beat.
Then the Melainë took to the air, with a great whirring of their dark wings. They wheeled in the sky and streamed away towards the host of the Fellgiants.
‘What possesses those Ainë,’ cried Dreygan, ‘Have they gone to betray us to the accursed Dagangri?’
‘No, my Lord Dreygan,’ Slungandi called back. ‘They are going to give battle to them, to hinder their progress and prevent them from catching us up.’
And so it was. With great courage, Kerorkîn Melainen led the whole flight of avian Doitherúna across the river and round to the rear of the Fellgiants, and then they all dived and swooped upon them, taking them by surprise. But they had no weapons with which to cow the Giants. Their claws and beaks would be no match for the torches of the Fellgiants. They turned away again to the north, drawing the angry Giants after them for many miles.
That was enough time. Dreygan’s strange party soon gained the cover of the hills and began to climb up a narrow path, well hidden from pursuers, leading south into the heart of the mountains.
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