Cathal and Dolan ride south with Fulgrim's blessing.
Cathal sets outriders to watch their flanks, and organizes watches in which the number of Yngvi among the waking always outnumber those from other clans. They descend on Rjuvik through the dense taiga of southern Hogunmark.
There they cross rolling moors and dark forests, avoiding the scrutiny of any of Rjuvik's hardy peoples. Cathal is determined not to cross any of the Rjuvik queen's warriors.
They catch sight of a fairly large village on a river in the moors. Cathal sends Egil into the village with a few of his more discreet warriors. They disguise themselves as nomadic traders and mingle with the Rjuvik villagers to gather information. Cathal and the rest of the band circumvent the town and make camp. Egil and his spies leave the village the next morning and rendez-vous with the band.
Egil tells Cathal a tale of Authilde, the Rjuvik Queen, that counters those whispered in the south. Since Authilde seized the crown, she has defeated and killed or driven out the bandit lords of Rjuvik and has restored order to the kingdom. Cathal orders his warriors to raise a white flag of truce, just in case they cross any of Authilde's newly mobilized patrols.
Despite his concerns, they manage to cross the kingdom without drawing attention due to their superior wildcraft. The land slopes upward and turns too treacherous for the horses, so Cathal orders his people to make camp and continue on foot. He leaves some ten of his warriors behind to guard their mounts.
After a short trek, they come to the Wyrmrest barrows, a cluster of low, rocky hills covered in fresh snow. Cathal ascends the steepest of them, finding a portal of worked stone at its apex. The door has been long sealed, however, and the Hoguns take to it with pickaxes. As they work, the sky begins to rumble. It worries the Hogunr, but Cathal takes up a tool himself and strikes a crack in the barrow door. As soon as the small breach is made, a soulpiercing roar splits the air, and a shadow falls across the barrows. The Hogunr look up, and see death.
A great winged serpent, a wyrm from out of Cerilian legend, its black and grey scales shimmering in the dying afternoon sunlight, descends on the warriors of Veikanger. Its gorge pulses and throbbsd, and its maw spread wide, seeming to engulf them all in blackness. That blackness only to be lit with the furnace heat of dragonfire. Cathal and his huscarls are frozen in place, overcome by the beast's awesome presence, and many are seared by its fearsome breath. It descends among them, clasping men and women in its sword-like talons, and rending them asunder to be flung wetly through the air as the dragon ascends.
Cathal shakes free of the binds on his mind and screams out orders, telling his warriors to disperse and take cover. He rushes to the top of the main barrow, and throws his arms wide, screaming at the serpent to fight him. It pays little heed, and continues to dart and dive like a hunting bird among the Hogunr. Cathal continues bellowing orders, and eventually manages to shake loose the wits of some of his warriors, who gather bows and begin peppering the wyrm with arrows. They have little effect, but do force the creature to land, only to unleash its breath once again. Cathal dives over the side of the barrow, taking cover, but some few are not so lucky. Dragonfire melts swathes of fresh snow to vapour, and scorches the dead grass underneath. The Hogunr who are caught within its infernal deluge meet a similar fate.
Cathal yells in fury, invoking Haelyn to judge him worthy, Cuiraecen to guide his sword, and Laerme to guard him from the dragon's flame. Other Hogunr take up the call, and rush to the fight. Cathal, his Anduiran blood boiling within him, attacks the winged monster with uninhibited ferocity, darting under its lunging jaws to rake its underside with piercing jabs of his ancient blade. The wyrm's scales are marred here and there with ancient scars; chain marks, as though it were some sort of monstrous guard animal. Cathal screams to his warriors to target the scars, and sure enough, Dolan rushes in to flank the monster, his glaive drawing dragon-blood at its stroke. The dragon, enraged that it has been wounded, rears back and buffets the air with its vast wings, casting Cathal, Dolan, and the nearby warriors tumbling through the air. As they regain their feet, and make to rush back into battle, the beast's gorge expands once again, and liquid flame pours forth. Cathal raises his shield to defend, though he is at the center of the conflagration.
Just as the flames are about to envelop him, Egil and two other Yngvi interpose themselves, and their stout shields, taking the brunt of the fire. Cathal calls out to Egil, but can only watch as the brave thegns' lives are burned away. He sees Ysgerda, attacking the dragon from the side, impaled on a great horn at the tip of the monster's tail, then tossed heartlessly into a nearby snowbank. At least half of his warriors are dead or dying.
Cathal tosses his shield, useless and ruined, to the ground and begins loping toward the dragon. It has to take some time to regain its ability to breath hell, he surmises. Dolan falls in at his side and his heart rises. The two of them raise their arms to the sky and shout together.
"EYES!
EVER!
ON OUR PREY!"
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