15When we entered the Whistling Gallows Inn, we reunited with Hjollder and informed him that we have met the Seer and found a way to expose the spirit that has control of Wylfdene's body, and Hjollder told us that while we were gone he visited the camp frequently and learned many things, like the day when the tribes will invade the Ten Towns, which is no more than a day away, and he informed us that will return to the Reghedmen camp in secret again and wait for us there. We allowed Andy to take a bath and wash and dry his robes before we took the long walk back to the barbarian camp.
We were never waylaid by any patrols, which means everyone must have gathered in the camp, which might mean that Wylfdene is about to get the war against the Ten Towns underway, starting the assault on Lonelywood since it is the most vulnerable of the Ten Towns. We found our old barbarian "friend" Angaar the Brave guarding the gates by himself this time. Whatever is going on, Wylfdene called in most of his people into the campsite for it.
"Why have you come yet again, outlanders? I cannot allow you entry here. You must leave," he said.
"We seek an audience with Wylfdene," I said with confidence.
"By what right? You are not of our blood!" Angaar retorted.
"We have passed the test of Tempos and have shown we are destined for a greater purpose. The time has come for me to fulfill that purpose," I said.
Angaar took a long look at us and I could tell that he sees the change in us.
"Yes... perhaps the time has come. May Tempos continue to favor you. Come, I'll take you to Wylfdene," he said.
He turned around, opened the gate, and escorted us in. As we headed for the great mead hall tent, our return caused quite a commotion throughout the camp. Apparently the barbarian men and women did not expect us to return, and they were extremely curious at why we have come back. After we came in to the great mead hall, hundreds of barbarians followed after us, eager to see what we have to say to Wylfdene. We found him sitting in his throne flanked by his bodyguards just like the last time we saw him several tendays ago, and like everyone else, he was genuinely surprised to see our return.
"Why are you here, outlanders? I see no shaman for you to hide behind this time," Wylfdene said smugly.
"We have visited the Seer of the Gloomfrost. She has sent us to you,' I replied.
All the barbarians behind us gasped in surprise and murmured among themselves.
Wylfdene nodded, obviously amused, though his usually stoic expression didn't show much of it. "I see. You lose one shaman who shielded you, and now you hide behind another... So tell me, why did she send you?"
I pulled the mirror out of my pocket slowly. "To bring you a gift, Wylfdene. A mirror of ice," I announced, holding the ice mirror.
The barbarians around us murmured among each other again.
Wylfdene smirked briefly. "Gift me a mirror? You humor me, outlander. Neither I, nor my people, have use of such a thing. It is a toy of your people. It plays upon the vanity of fools and females. Why would she gift me such a thing?"
I tried to reply, but Wylfdene cut me off before I could.
"No, more likely this is some outlander trick designed to slay me. You seek to succeed where your previous assassin failed," he said.
I shook my head. "You say that we hide behind a shaman and all the while you hide behind your bravado and a curtain of words. What is it that you fear?" I asked him.
Wylfdene rose up out of his chair, standing tall and proud.
"I am Wylfdene, blessed and guided by the spirit of Jerrod! I fear nothing, outlander," he rebuffed me.
I nodded. "So you say, and yet you find a simple mirror to be daunting. I will gaze into the mirror a without fear... See?" I held the mirror up to my face, seeing my reflection in it.
"Hmm," Wylfdene huffed skeptically, crossing his muscular arms. "And what is it that you see? What truth is revealed to you?" He asked me.
I gazed at my reflection intently before replying. "I see a man who accepts what he is, good or ill. A man who does not fear the *truth* of his own reflection. I wonder... what would the mighty Wylfdene see?"
"What indeed. Wylfdene shall see the truth of his reflection, outlander. He shall see a king raised from the dead, he forming of a great nation, and the triumph of his people as the Ten Towns are erased from the face of Faerun!" He exclaimed triumphantly.
And in response, the barbarians around us whooped and cheered loudly, emboldened by their king's exuberant claims.
"Hold forth you mirror, and behold such a king among men!" Wylfdene challenged me when the cheers died down a bit.
I walked toward him slowly, holding the mirror up at him. "Gaze deep, Wylfdene. Reveal to us the truth of your words..." I said.
Wylfdene crouched down slightly and looked into the ice mirror for about 4 seconds., and scoffed.
"...Bah. Your mirror is nothing more than I expected. A simple toy that..." He let his voice trail off there for some reason, and as he looked into the mirror further, his calm, stoic facial expression slowly turned into a horrified expression, eyes wide and eyebrows arched upwards in shock.
"No... No! It cannot be!" He said fearfully in steadily growing horror. Then he began touching the stubble on his face as if in sheer disbelief that he is a tall, rugged, muscular man.
"What have I done? This hideous form defiles the majesty of my being! Enough! Put away your mirror!" Wylfdene demanded, standing up on his feet and shielding his face from me.
At that moment I understood what the Seer meant about how Wylfdene cannot look into a mirror and remain Wylfdene. The foreign spirit that controls Wylfdene's body is basically an actor that is proud of what she once was, so proud that if she sees herself as Wylfdene in the mirror, she will become so horrified at the sight of not seeing herself that she will break character.
""Majesty of your being...?" What..." I feigned confusion as I placed the mirror back in my pocket as "he" commanded, then I backed away.
Then suddenly, the Seer teleported into the mead hall next to Wylfdene to his right. All the barbarians gasped in surprise and fell to complete silence. The Seer smiled at Wylfdene, showing her old teeth.
"Ah, sight is painful, is it not, spirit? Such pain is well known to me. And seeing yourself as you truly are- the most painful thing of all. Look into the mirror, creature that is Wylfdene. See truth... See yourself," she said to the creature controlling Wylfdene's corpse.
Wylfdene grew so angry at her, I saw his muscles tense up, revealing some blood veins on his arms.
"What do you know of pain, HAG?!" Wylfdene exclaimed angrily at her, his voice sounding somewhat different, a strange mix of his own voice, and a new voice, a baritone feminine voice. "I held the North in my claws! When I spread my wings, I shadowed the face of the world! I was a GODDESS! One man... One man took it all from me! My life... My love... Everything that I was! Aihonen! I curse you and all your kind! I will yet see the day that I eradicate all humans!" Wylfdene grabbed his war axe near his throne. "... And I shall start with you, hag!" He prepared to swing his axe at the Seer!
"NO!" I yelled, pulling Aihonen's sword out of my scabbard and charging forward. My companions tried to jump in, too, but we were too late to act.
Wylfdene diagonally swung his war axe down at the Seer, the blade sliced open her midsection in the shape of a slanted "l", spraying blood on several crates nearby, and she fell to the ground in a fetal position, her arms crossed in front of her wound trying to keep her intestines from falling out. Then almost immediately, Wylfdene's body began to melt, causing a lot of confused barbarians to clamor loudly. His melting body collapsed to the floor, and I'm pretty sure my companions and I weren't the only ones who saw this, we saw the spirit that possessed the body leave. She appeared to be in the form of a white dragon. White dragons are a species of dragon known as "chromatic dragons", which are types of dragons that are usually distinguished by a solid, non-reflective coloring of their scales. There are red dragons, blue dragons, green dragons, brown dragons, black dragons and white dragons. White dragons are known to be the smallest species of chromatic dragons especially when they reach adulthood and grow older becoming great wyrms, which is a term given to dragons that are 1,000 years old, and they are the weakest, but most feral race of dragons based on colors like red and blue. From what I heard, Red dragons are the most powerful race of chromatic dragons. Anyway, the white dragon spirit, she rose up out of Wylfdene's melting body, roaring angrily at us before rising several feet up into the air and disappearing.
"It is done," the Seer said, shuddering as a pool of blood quickly formed around her.
My companions and I rushed over to her.
"By Tempos... Wylfdene dealt a fatal blow..." Gorris said in horror.
"Lay still, Seer- your wound is great, yet we my still save you," I said.
The Seer looked up at me and forced a smile regardless of the pain she is feeling.
"This wound is by time's hand, there is no healing it. The time of my death is now upon me," she said.
"You were brave to come, Seer. I thought your fear of death ruled you, and you would not help us face Wylfdene," Xalorn said.
The Seer coughed for a few seconds. "I have found that fear, the fear of death... is no small thing to put aside. Yet I will not allow the hopes of my people and yours to be slain because of an old woman's fear. Death comes for us all, and I for one, see it... and now, embrace it..." She let out one final exhale and she rested her head on the blood-soaked floor.
"Farewell, Seer," I said solemnly, comparing her bravery to that of Everard's.
The Seer and Everard are two brave souls who gave their lives to preserve the hopes and futures of people. Then, as I suspected, confusion began to spread among the barbarians.
"What... What happened to our king?" A warrior of the Tribe of the Great Wyrm looked around in confusion.
"Our king was not our king! Weren't you listening? His body had been taken over by the spirit of a slain white wyrm!" A warrior of the Tribe of the Elk exclaimed.
"No! It must be some trick brought on by these outlanders!" A tribesman of the Great Wyrm Tribe pointed an accusing finger at us.
"I am no outlander!" Gorris stepped forward bravely.
"Who are you, you who claims to be of our blood?" A tribesman of the Tribe of the Elk asked Gorris among the crowd of barbarians.
"I am Gorris, son of Keifstarr, proud member of what was once the Tribe of the Bear!" Gorris answered back, standing tall and confident.
And to my surprise, Xalorn stood up with him.
"And I am Xalorn, the half-blood son of Galdarik, proud member of the Tribe of the Bear!"
"We have been away for the past several months to go on an expedition to Kuldahar to stop a great evil that sought to bring demons into our world through Jerrod's Stone. Now that the evil has been slain, we come back to find our tribes misled by an impostor who wore our once beloved king's skin. And now that the spirit's identity has been exposed, you are going to let a civil war break out among the tribes? All of you shame our ancestors!" Gorris boomed loudly with authority.
"Silence, young one! You know not of our suffering! Impostor or not, the spirit that controlled Wylfdene's body promised us a land free from the clutches of the Ten Towns!" A middle aged warrior of the Tribe of the Great Wyrm exclaimed.
"What she really promised is death and destruction for the Ten Towns, and us along with them!" Gorris shot back. "Open your eyes to the truth, and understand that war will bring destruction to both sides! This what Tempos wanted Hjollder to understand, and that is why he brought me and my outsider companions here, to stop the false Wylfdene from destroying the Ten Towns, and us in the process! The spirit that controlled our dead king cares nothing for us! We were her tools to be used in her quest for personal revenge!"
"Silence, whelp!" A veteran warrior of the Tribe of the Great Wyrm exclaimed. "False king or no, we were going to be led into a new age of prosperity! One with the people of the Ten Towns wiped out of existence!"
"No!" A warrior of the Tribe of the Elk exclaimed. "Gorris speaks the truth. Nothing good will come from a bloody war against the Ten Towns. We should focus on preserving our ways for future generations to learn so they will not be lost in the "civilized" ways of the Ten Town settlers."
At that moment, I realized that the Tribe of the Elk will stand with Gorris, and by extension, us too, against the Tribe of the Great Wyrm.
"Fools! Spineless traitors! All of you! If you will not follow us to a future where the Ten Towns no longer exist, you will die along with them!" The veteran warrior of the Wyrm Tribe exclaimed.
Then all hell broke loose! Civil war erupted in the Reghedmen campsite! All warriors of the Great Wyrm Tribe fought against the warriors of the Elk! My companions and I aided the Elk warriors during part in the battle, but Gorris fought the veteran Great Wyrm Tribe warrior in single combat. It was an intense fight, two men of brute strength going all out on each other... it would have been a marvel to see if we weren't in the battle ourselves. Eventually Gorris bested and killed the veteran warrior and when we stepped outside, we saw hundreds of Wyrm Tribe warriors being slain by the warriors of Elk. The Great Wyrm Tribe may have been strong, proud and defiant, but with our help, in the end, they were outnumbered, outmatched and killed trying to uphold the belief that war against the Ten Towns is the only way the Reghedmen tribes can survive and prosper.
After every single Wyrm Tribe warrior was killed, all the surviving barbarians of the Tribe of the Elk cheered, happy that they averted an unnecessary war and killed the rogues that the spirit of the white dragon managed to indoctrinate while impersonating Wylfdene. Three hours later after throwing the bodies of the Great Wyrm tribe warriors outside the camp and setting their bodies on fire so that they'll burn to ash, they threw a party in the great mead hall that we were all invited to come and participate, and they also congratulated Gorris on helping them see the error in their ways, and considered the possibility of making him the new king of the reinstated Tribe of the Bear. Even Hjollder joined us in the celebration.
"You have succeeded, my friends! The corrupt spirit has fled Wylfdene's body! Your heroic deeds shall forever be sung by my people," he said to us.
"So, that's it? We defeated the bad guy, now our journey is over?" Lysara asked, expecting a yes.
Hjollder grimly shook his head. "No, I'm afraid our journey is not at an end. This spirit... this malevolent soul of a great wyrm has fled the field, but it is still free to pursue its mission of terror and vengeance. I fear that until it is hunted down and destroyed, the threat of its return will hang over the heads of my people and the Ten Towns like an evil cloud. I would ask you once again to take up arms against this ancient hate, so that my people and yours can finally be at peace."
"We'd be more than happy to help, but you said it yourself... the spirit has fled. How are we to know where?' I asked, hoping Hjollder has a plan.
"I have learned that just two days ago, Wylfdene ordered a score of virgins to be taken by ship to an island upon the Sea of Moving Ice," Hjollder stated.
"What is so important about this island?" Andy asked curiously, eating a roasted turkey breast that the barbarian tribes have cooked during this celebration.
"The island was once a sacred site where an elder tribe made sacrifices to their patron spirit, the Great Wyrm. The ancient tribe died out long ago, and with them died the practice of sacrificing virgins to appease the Great Wyrm," Hjollder explained.
"Is there a connection that I'm sensing here...?" Gorris asked us, smirking, and I could see that he gets where Hjollder is going.
"I believe that the spirit we routed today and the spirit of the Great Wyrm are one and the same. That is why Wylfdene ordered such a sacrifice," Hjollder said.
At that moment I was beginning to piece together the identity of the spirit of this white wyrm.
"So ye think the spirit may have fled to this island?" Ordmar asked before biting into his own piece of a cooked turkey breast.
"Yes," Hjollder nodded. "A ship stands ready to take you to the island. The warriors of the Tribe of the Gray Whale, our seafaring cousins to the west, are prepared to show you the way."
I smiled. Hjollder must have taken the three hours after the civil war to teleport himself far west to Icewind Dale and inform his cousin tribe of what has been happening, and asked for their assistance to send us to that island in the Sea of Moving Ice. Hjollder knows how to plan ahead, I'll say that.
"Very well. We shall leave at once," I said without hesitation.
"Good luck, my friends. May Tempos continue to show you favor upon the field of glory!" Hjollder bid us farewell, and we bid him farewell too before we left the campsite along with a group of nine warriors who escorted us to where the Tribe of the Gray Whale is located many miles northwest from Bremen's Run.
Seven days later, we met with the king of the Tribe of the Gray Whale, who has already been informed by Hjollder of our arrival, and he offered us a boat ride across the Sea of Moving Ice to the icy island where the elder tribe known as the Tribe of the Great Wyrm used to make sacrifices to a white dragon. The ship that we will use to get there is huge, meant to be rowed by ten strong warriors of the Gray Whale Tribe, five on one side of the ship, five on the other side. Our Elk Tribe escorts left us when we climbed on to the ship, and once we began to leave the shore, I once again felt uneasy being on solid ground being rocked by the waves of the icy water.
The Sea of Moving Ice is the part of Toril's ocean that is directly north from Icewind Dale, which makes it the northernmost and coldest part of Faerun, which means that it is much colder there than back in Lonelywood or Easthaven. These are mostly uncharted waters, filled with icebergs, islets of ice of many shapes and sizes, but there is enough room for any ship, including the one my group and I were on to pass through. Though the winds chilled my face, I was fascinated by the sights. I stood on the deck of the ship with a barbarian who vigilantly watched what is ahead of the ship. If we were running towards an iceberg or a large islet of ice, he would bark a command to the warriors rowing the boat to bank left or right to dodge the iceberg or islet.
"ICEBERG! HARD LEFT!" He would shout, then we would feel the ship gently tilt to the left and I would see the iceberg move to the right, away from the front of the ship.
As I checked my surroundings, I saw that the air is so cold here, there is a soft mist that makes it difficult for you to see what is 40 feet away from you. On some of the islets of ice, I saw walruses, seals, and polar bears. I also saw several shipwrecks, ships that were unlucky to crash into an iceberg or a large islet of ice. The navigating barbarian, who is named Beneorn told me that ice trolls usually make their homes in shipwrecks like that.
By nightfall, Andy came up to me, comfortably wrapped in a thick cloak with a hood over his head.
"You can't sleep?" He asked me.
I shook my head, still looking out at the vast icy ocean with Beneorn. Andy tried to step in front of me and lean far enough to get a look at my face under the hood of my cloak.
"Is something bothering you? If there is, what is it?" He asked me.
"I think I know who the spirit of this white wyrm is that we are searching for," I said.
Andy blinked. "You do?" Then he signaled Ordmar and everyone else on the other side of the deck to come near us.
I closed my eyes and started to tell them everything.
"After everything I've seen, after everything I've heard... It all connects." I took a deep breath an exhaled, watching my frozen breath leave my lips. "I think the spirit of this white wyrm we are chasing is none other than Icasaracht."
"You... you mean that white dragon that Jhonen's ancestor Aihonen slayed a century ago? Are you sure?" Andy asked skeptically.
I looked at him with all seriousness. "Weren't you listening to her before Wylfdene's corpse melted? She said that she curses Aihonen and all of the human race. No other dragon would say that unless they have been slighted by Aihonen."
"That makes sense," Andy nodded.
Then I felt Lysara tap my back to get my attention. I turned around and looked down at her.
"I don't mean to change the subject a bit, but if we find Icasaracht, how will we destroy her ghost?"
"We'll cross that bridge once we get there, lassie," Ordmar patted her head.
"I have to admit, I'm kinda nervous," she admitted to him.
Ordmar gave her a soft hug.
"Aw, don't you worry about it. I promised yer father years ago that I'd look after ye, and I will keep that promise. I kept good to it so far, didn't I?"
Lysara nodded in response.
"ICEBERG! HARD RIGHT!" Beneorn shouted, startling Lysara and Andy.
"Yes, you did," Lysara replied to Ordmar after a short pause to catch her breath.
Then Felicia stood net to me, watching the vast misty ocean.
"It's beautiful, isn't it?" She asked me.
I nodded, then I looked at her.
"Is there something on your mind?" I asked her.
"Only that I've been thinking of a good name for our baby. Do you have a name planned?" She asked me.
I shook my head. "Nope. I'm drawing a blank," I shamelessly said then continued gazing out at the icy islets, watching two mated polar bears feed their baby a fish they caught.
"Well... if our baby is a boy, why don't we name him after my 3rd human cousin Oliver?"
I turned my head to look at Felicia again and smiled.
"Oliver? Really?"
"What? You don't like Oliver?" Felicia asked, smiling.
"No, no, I approve, it's just that... when I hear the name Oliver, I can't help thinking of olive trees, that's all," I admitted. "... But what if our baby is a girl? You have to think of a girl name," I added.
Felicia was surprised that I caught her off guard like how she got me off guard about giving a name to our baby if it is a boy.
"Hey, no fair! I haven't thought of a girl name yet!" She whined, pushing my chest softly with her right hand.
I laughed. "Well, lucky for you, I have thought up the perfect name."
"Really? What is it?" She asked me excitedly.
"Let's see..." I rubbed my chin. "How do you like the name Ilivia?"
Felicia thought it over for a few seconds. "... Not bad! I like it!" She finally replied.
I wrapped my left arm around her neck and kissed her lips. "Glad we could come to an agreement," I said proudly, and we lapsed into silence watching the many icy islets pass by.
"... Oliver Goldmarsh or Ilivia Goldmarsh... I like the sound of those names..." Felicia said, breaking the silence.
"LARGE ISLET! HARD LEFT!" Beneorn suddenly shouted, startling us.
Then Felicia and I looked at each other and started laughing.
After 3 days of sailing through the Sea of Moving Ice, we came to the biggest ice island we have ever seen at nightfall. It has a dock for parking ships, and not far up ahead is an very old temple built into a very large cavern, which was probably built by the tribesmen of the Great Wyrm Tribe many centuries ago, in a time when dragons roamed freely around Faerun. I'll explain that part later. As soon as the boat docked, we climbed out, setting foot on the pier, and Beneorn and a few other of his warriors climbed out to stretch their legs.
"So, this is it?" I asked Beneorn, pointing up at the temple 50 yards ahead.
"Yes, this is the place. My grandparents used to tell me stories about an ancient tribe that used to worship the matron mother of all white wyrms many centuries ago," he explained to us.
"Icasaracht," Andy stated.
"Yes," Beneorn nodded.
"Look, we better get going, there's no telling how much time we have left before we miss our opportunity to stop her for good," Gorris said.
"He's right. We should move fast," I said, then I led my group away from the docks and towards the temple.
"Good luck," Beneorn called to us as we left.
We trudged through the snow and ice towards the temple entrance, which as for steps and two closed doors When we got to the doors, we tried to open them, but the ice has frozen them shut. Then Gorris and Xalorn had this idea to use their strength to bash the door down. They slammed their bodies into the door simultaneously with Ordmar's help until the ice on the door broke and the door swung open.
Then we stepped inside the temple. There is no lights. the torches along the temple pillars have long been unlit, so Andy had to use his Light cantrip spell to light the way as we continued deeper into the temple. The temple seems to be one large room suspended by thick pillars, meaning the more interesting stuff is further back into the cavern that it is built into. The other end of the temple is 80 feet away from the entrance, and near the entrance to into the cavernous parts of the temple is a sacrificial altar, which is where the Great Wyrm Tribe possibly sacrificed their maidens to Icasaracht. It is possible that happened, because there are dried and wet blood stains on the flat surface of the altar.
"I get the feeling that the maidens were sacrificed here recently," Xalorn said, checking the blood on the altar.
"That means we are on the right track. Stay focused, everyone," I said warily, holding my crossbow at the ready as we cautiously approached the cavern entrance.
We entered the cavern and soon we found ourselves in an open space too wide for the light orb levitating in Andy's right hand to illuminate. But fortunately the ceiling of the cavern had a hole big and round enough for a dragon to fall down into, allowing the moonlight and stars to shine down into the center of the cavern, partially illuminating except the outer rim areas it to give us a sense of our surroundings. The cavern is big enough to hold a family of white dragons, and about 30 feet northwest from our position, at the edge of the light we saw a frozen body of a white dragon. The dragon's frozen corpse is big, meaning it could possibly have been over 1,000 years old or a bit more than that.
"Is that Icasaracht's corpse?" Andy whispered at me, dispelling the Light cantrip.
I frowned after close examination of the corpse. "No. I don't think so."
As I recalled, before we left Easthaven, when I heard Elisia's song, I had a vision. I saw the bones of Icasaracht's body laying deep below the surface of Lac Dinneshere. Then, when we stepped under the light of the night sky above, we sensed that we are not alone here. My nerves felt on edge, as if I wanted squeeze the trigger of my crossbow or turn tail and run away. Of course, I had to fight that urge. We've come too far to get scared off.
"Icasaracht! We know you are in here. Come out from the shadows and face justice," I called, my voice bouncing around the walls of the vast chamber until it disappeared.
Then seconds later we heard heavy footsteps in the snow slowly coming at us from the shadows ahead of us, away from the light beaming down from the ceiling. Again, we had to fight the urge not to run, we stayed our ground, waiting for the wyrm to show itself in the light of the night sky. The footsteps grew louder, closer, and then, from out of the dark shadows at the rim of the light, a head appeared. Then the body and wings. We were staring at a young adult white dragon. The body that Icasaracht's soul now wears must be no more than 110 years old, she is fairly small compared to the corpse of the white dragon close by. Icasaracht stood a foot shorter than a adult frost giant, her scales are flawlessly white, her wings appeared to be frayed around the edges, and she has a small flap of skin under her chin that is called a dewlap, lined with small spines. Her head is streamlined like all other white dragons, with a high crest on top of her skull, her toes are spaced wide unlike other chromatic dragons, with barbed claws meant to aid movement on slippery ice, and her blue eyes have extremely thin eyelids meant to prevent her from being blinded by snow when observing arctic landscapes during a blizzard. To be honest, I was amazed. How did Icasaracht have a white dragon body ready to face us? My companions and I also felt the fear aura that all dragons emit to terrify enemies. Fortunately we fought off the urge to run away.
"So... You dared to follow me here. I think you will find that to be a fatal mistake," Icasaracht said, glaring down at us.
I noticed that probably because she is in the body of a female young adult white dragon, her voice sounded less baritone and closer to the range of a 30 year old human woman's voice than when she was controlling Wylfdene's body seconds before she killed the Seer.
"Fatal only to you, Icasaracht," I retorted.
Icasaracht snorted. "Spoken like a true hero. Shall we put those words to the test?"
I quickly realized now might be the time to learn more about her before we get to the possibility of fighting.
"Wait, I'm curious. Returning here made it so easy for us to find you. If you did not want us to find you, why did you come here anyway?" I asked.
"I feared as much, but I had little choice. It was a calculated risk," Icasaracht replied.
"To what end?" I responded.
Icasaracht stood up on her hind legs to make herself appear taller and more majestic with the moonlight shining down on all of us. "To cheat death itself! To be born anew as you see me now! Only by returning here could I do this."
"Why did you need to return here?" Felicia asked the she-dragon.
Icasaracht then fell back down on her front legs. "Long ago, when I built this lair, I included two special wards. One would serve as a beacon that would allow my spirit to find its way here upon my death, and the other would preserve a body almost indefinitely. A few centuries later, I then reared eight offspring, devoid of their spirits, and placed their bodies in the preservation wards. The plan was simple. If I were to die, my spirit would return here and find a new body in which to live again."
I felt confused after hearing her explanation because no creature can give birth to lifeless young naturally.
"How did you rear young with no spirits?" I asked Icasaracht.
"While their flesh was yet unformed, I warded the eggs so that no spirit could find a home within them," she replied to me.
"That was a terrible thing to do to your own kids, Icasaracht," Andy said in mild disgust.
She stared at him with in indignant scowl. "Would you rather I had bore them normally and then stripped their spirits from them? No. By doing what I did, they were nothing more than empty shells, ready for use."
"I understand what you did and why you did it, but still that does not make it ethical at all," Andy replied to her firmly.
"Unfortunately, their father felt as you do and objected to my plan. Had he agreed to it, he could have shared immortality with me..." Icasaracht told Andy in depression.
"I'm guessing that's his skeleton over there?" I pointed over at the frozen corpse at the edge of the light.
Icasaracht briefly glanced over at the corpse I was pointing at, then looked back at us and nodded.
"Yes. He attacked me and had to be slain." She paused and let out a deep sigh of regret. "I regret... but it had to be..."
"Let me ask you another question. Why do you hate the Ten Towns so much?" I asked, hungry for more questions that need to be answered.
I saw Icasaracht's eyes look up at the moon and stars far above the large hole as she answered my question.
"Ages ago, dragonkind roamed Faerun freely. Then the *civilized* races came to power and began to encroach upon our lands. Bloody wars were fought in which your kind launched entire armies upon us. Against such numbers, even we soon fell."
I vividly remembered this detail from the stories my grandparents told me when I was younger. A very long time ago, even before my grandparents and their grandparents were born, much longer than the human mind can fathom in fact, dragons were the dominant race in Faerun. They either roamed the wilderness of Faerun hunting whatever animal or adventurer they wanted to and freely or ruled over humans, elves and other races as kings, queens or slavers. These times are known in Faerun's recorded history as the Time of Dragons. Eons ago, dragons fought giants over large swaths of land, and after forcing the surviving giants to flee north, individual dragons and dragon clans ruled over humans, elves and other species they would obviously deem "lesser", fighting rival dragons for dominion over lands and such.
But eventually there came a time when humans, elves and other races they dominated rose up against them and rebelled. Some rebellions succeeded, a few failed. The ones that succeeded united and liberated towns and cities ruled by chromatic and metallic dragons and hunted and killed every dragon they came across. However, it wasn't the combined efforts of humans, elves and other races alone that brought down the tyrannical reign of dragonkind. Somewhere in Faerun centuries after The Thousand Year War which involved dragonkind going to war once again against the giants, an organized group of elves created a secret weapon against dragons, a mythal not so different from the mythal back in The Severed Hand known as the Dracorage mythal. This mythal is tied to a red meteor that passes over Toril every few centuries called the King-Killer Star. The meteor drives all dragons mad with rage, causing them to kill anything in their path, even their own young and kin without reason, and the mythal amplifies the effects of that comet. If it weren't for the existence of that King-Killer comet, we would probably still be under the rule of dragons.
I'm glad I wasn't born at during those times. Back then, there were so many dragons, it was far too dangerous for lone adventurers to go out roaming the wilderness for tombs and dungeons to explore without being easy prey for a dragon. However, Icewind Dale remained unaffected by the mass uprising of civilized races, but I'm not sure if the dragons in Icewind Dale were safe from the King-Killer Star, though. Icasaracht and her white dragon kin ruled Icewind Dale freely until sometime after 1100 DR, settlers discovered the knucklehead trout from the lakes and decided to build the Ten Towns there, which eventually led to the war against the white dragons, and the death of Icasaracht's kingdom, her second mate and herself. This is all adding up now.
"Now we are solitary creatures who hide in caves in far away lands. We fear sleep, for it is often the sleep of death if we are discovered!" Icasaracht continued.
"What does this have to do with the Ten Towns?" I asked her.
"I was slain fighting for my homeland against an invading army. Aihonen, a man of the Ten Towns, wielded the blade that broke my heart..." Icasaracht said grimly, disheartened by the mere memory of the event.
Confusion struck me at that moment after she said that. The settlers of the Ten Towns sent an invading army to Icewind Dale first? That would make the Ten Town settlers appear as the aggressors, not just towards the Reghedmen barbarians, but also Icasaracht and her white wyrm kin. Official Realms history books didn't say that they used an invading army to settle in Icewind Dale. After a few explorers discovered the knucklehead trout and their high value, an army of adventurers, Aihonen included, were sent to secure the areas around the lakes to make colonization safe, not to invade lands inhabited by the barbarians and the white dragons. Conflict against them was inevitable, but not instigated, or so the history books say.
"An invading army?" I asked the dragon incredulously. "History paints a different picture, Icasaracht."
She nodded in agreement. "Yes, and history is written by the victors as they say. It is also said that history repeats itself..." She said dryly.
"What do you mean?" I asked, mildly confused.
"Look at the plight of the barbarians. Even now they are being driven from their lands by the Ten Towns. Soon they will be left with two choices: extinction or absorption. They are a proud people and will not bend. They will choose extinction. An entire culture will vanish, lost forever, all in the name of civilization... Just as my culture has been lost..." Icasaracht replied solemnly.
Normally chromatic dragons like white dragons are generally evil, seeing humans, elves, dwarves, halflings and other sentient creatures as either prey or slaves. Hearing Icasaracht speaking sympathetically about the plight of the Reghedmen tribes because she could relate to their situation confused me.
"I find it hard to believe that you were doing this out of altruism," I told her, making no attempt to conceal my thoughts.
"When I awakened from my sleep, I looked upon the world anew. And I was shocked to see how little had changed," Icasaracht said, slightly lowering her head in depression. "My lands were still in the hands of the Ten Towns. The plight of the barbarians had not changed at all. I saw a kindred spirit in Wylfdene, so I joined with him to end this tragedy once and for all."
"Tell us something else. You were slain almost a century ago. Why did it take so long for you to awaken?" Gorris asked her.
"The sword of Aihonen had a special enchantment, almost an intelligence of its own. When the fatal blow was struck, it somehow knew that I would be born anew. The blade broke, sacrificing itself, that I might be trapped. My spirit lay within my shattered heart at the bottom of Lac Dinneshere. I can only guess that the blade was removed, allowing my spirit to go free..." Icasaracht said almost hesitantly.
I knew that Elisia acting out of desperation in her love for Jhonen would do something crazy like remove a broken sword from Icasaracht's corpse deep underwater of Lac Dinneshere, but I never expected her actions to lead up to this. If only I knew that little event before our expedition to Kuldahar would lead up to this... But it didn't matter now. Icasaracht was alive, and I have the sword that killed her before, and like she said, history has a way of repeating itself.
"I now hold the sword of Aihonen. It has been forged anew and now sings with a life of its own," I declared.
For some reason, she wasn't worried at all, but she was amused.
"Yes... I sensed the blade when you first entered here and was concerned. However, I now see that the original enchantment was not restored. It is of no consequence."
What she meant by that is even if I manage to kill her with this sword, it will not break off and trap her spirit this time, that special ability the sword had is gone forever. But however, for some naive reason, I believed that Icasaracht could be reasoned with rather than fought. Despite the Seer's claims that Icasaracht has a heart of winter, that she is consumed by thoughts of revenge, I believed that she could be convinced to let go of her vengeful desires and rebuild her life from scratch without harming the Ten Towns. After all, they say that living well is the best revenge in some cases.
"Icasaracht, I'd rather we came to some sort of agreement than fight. Can we do this?" I asked her.
The edges of her mouth immediately curled into a snarl revealing her dagger-like teeth. "NEVER!" She roared. "My heart was shattered long ago, and all mercy bled from the wound. I lost my love, my life, and my kingdom. I shall reclaim it all, or I will pass into oblivion like most of my kind." Then she dropped low into a crouch like a cat preparing to pounce. "Draw your blade. Let us end this now..."
As she commanded me, I pulled Aihonen's blade out of my scabbard.
"So be it," I said.
It all happened so suddenly. Andy immediately jumped right in front of us, spreading his arms wide to cast a strong ward, and Icasaracht opened her mouth wide and exhaled a cone of extremely cold wind that would freeze us in seconds if Andy didn't shield us! Instead of hitting us, the cold wind bounced off Andy's magic ward like a shield, protecting us all! I'm so glad Andy had the foresight to shield us. The fight would have ended as soon as it began.
"Now! Fire!" I instructed to Lysara.
We moved away from Andy's protective magic shield in opposite directions while he still held his magical ward up blocking Icasaracht's icy breath. Then Lysara and I took aim at Icasaraht's head and fired. My bolt and Lysara's arrow hit Icasaract in her snout, causing her to stop breathing ice wind and throw her head back, roaring in pain. Andy cast the Bless spell on us while Gorris, Xalorn, and Ordmar charged at Icasaracht, and instead of trying to brush the bolt and arrow off her snout, she chose to ignore them and instead use the pain to increase her rage. I can't believe I didn't miss, I was holding my crossbow with only my left hand, Aihonen's sword in my right hand. Remember, white dragons are the weakest of all chromatic dragons, but they shouldn't be underestimated, as we soon learned during the fight. Xalorn got close to her first. She swiped at him with her claws, and Xalorn blocked each strike with his shield. Before she could attempt to bite him, she had to move her head to dodge another one of Lysara's arrows, then she found herself getting ganged up by Gorris and Ordmar. Felicia stayed behind, playing her lute, using her bard abilities to strengthen our morale.
Icasaracht headbutted Gorris to subdue him for a while, but the move came at a cost. She left herself exposed to be attacked. Xalorn struck at her neck with his morningstar mace, and Ordmar hit her with his war hammer hard. Feeling blinding pain on both sides of her neck, she jumped up slightly turned her entire body around clockwise while flapping her wings to knock Xalorn and Ordmar away, knocking them on their feet. When Icasaracht landed, she turned to face Ordmar still lying on his back, then she opened her mouth, turning her head sideways and quickly lowered her head down towards him. I thought that he would become a chew toy for sure, but Ordmar was smart, he turned his large shield sideways so that Icasaracht's mouth wouldn't be able to clamp around his body. She picked him up using her mouth, unable to sink her teeth into his armor. However, she quickly realized that his shield is stuck in her jaws, and tried to shake him off.
"Yeah! Smart move, Ordmar!" Andy exclaimed, then cast a magic missile at the white dragon.
Before Icasaracht got hit by Andy's magic missiles, she roughly threw her head to the side while opening her mouth wide, throwing Ordmar into a small mound of snow in the shadowed darkness of the cavern.
"Whoaaa...!" *SPLAT!*
Gorris still had a big headache from getting headbutted by a dragon, so he was still laying on his back, holding his forehead in pain. Xalorn jumped back up on his feet while I dropped my crossbow and tried to rush in and join him with only Aihonen's sword in my hands. Icasaracht tried to strike at him with her claws again, but all she kept striking was Xalorn's shield, and when she tried to slash at him with her front left leg for the 4th time, Xalorn struck at her claw with his mace, breaking the left "index toe" with a sickening crunch noise. With one of her toes broken, Icasaracht is no doubt in severe pain, but instead of roaring in response to the pain, she became a lot more aggressive. She snatched Xalorn up in her jaws around his torso and started shaking him left and right very viciously like a rabid dog with tough meat to chew on.
"Xalorn! NO!" I shouted when I got up close enough to Icasaracht and began slashing at her exposed chest with Aihonen's sword.
Even though I was doing serious damage, Icasaracht still did not let go of Xalorn. Believe it or not, the sword was cutting through the dragon's scales like butter! I've never had a sword this strong before!
Andy, thinking fast to save Xalorn from getting killed, cast the Stoneskin spell on him once again so that Icasaracht's teeth wouldn't be able to bite deeper into his flesh. Felicia decided to stop singing her bard song, drop her lute, wield her mace and join me in trying to save Xalorn. Finally Icasaracht threw Xalorn down into the snow, but she didn't give him any slack. Knocking me aside with the back of her front right foot, she stood up on her hind legs, front legs above Xalorn, and with a ferocious roar, she brought her front claws down on him, clawing at his armor and hardened skin like crazy. I guess she was mad at him for breaking one of her toes. Who wouldn't be pissed off if someone broke their toe or finger? Anyway, we knew the Stoneskin spell wouldn't last long, we needed to get Icasaracht's attention before it wears off while she is still attacking him. Ordmar rejoined the battle and Gorris managed to get back up on his feet and grab his sword.
"Get off me friend!" Ordmar yelled as he charged towards the dragon.
While pinning wounded Xalorn to the snowy ground and scratching up his armor and hardened skin, Icasaracht turned her head to face Ordmar and breathe a cone of icy wind at him! Felicia almost got caught in the cone, but she managed to jump away in time. Ordmar hid behind his large shield, protecting himself from the fatally freezing wind. After trying to freeze him, Icasaracht turned her entire body clockwise and whipped her tail around, knocking us all down. Andy, who was near the corpse of Icasaracht's first mate, cast the Flame Arrow spell, and the magical fire arrow flew at Icasaracht and hit her right in the side of her body, under her left wing. She turned to look at Andy, snarling, and I knew right then that he must have wet his pants at that moment, being under the gaze of an angry dragon.
Thinking fast, Andy used his dagger, which I have never seen him use before, to carve an opening in the corpse of the long dead dragon. While he was doing that, Icasaracht was coming towards him. Lysara tried to fire another arrow at the dragon, but she missed again. Then instead of firing another arrow, she had an idea. Andy quickly and frantically carved an opening big enough on the dead dragon's corpse to climb into just seconds before Icasaracht got close enough to bite him.
"Hey! Where is Andy?" Ordmar asked us while Gorris checked on wounded Xalorn all scratched up, bleeding and half buried in the snow.
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," I pointed over at the dragon corpse.
Inside the corpse, Andy was protected by the frozen skin of the dead dragon, but he was crowded in the darkness with the frozen liver and intestines close to his body and face, and Icasaracht outside is madly trying to claw her way through the skin to reach Andy. Taking advantage of the situation, we rushed forward. Lysara fired the only +3 arrow she had at Icasaracht, and the arrow's sharp triangular head lodged itself into the back of Icasaracht's head. Now we have her full attention. She leaped at us, and we scrambled out of the way.
She turned her attention to me and tried to bite me. When her open mouth got near me, I swung Aihonen's sword at her snout, under her nostrils, cutting scales and drawing blood, and she pulled her head away from me and roared in pain. She is in so much pain now, and is losing blood from all the wounds we have inflicted, and the effects are showing subtly. She's not attacking us as quickly and viciously as she used to. We worked as a team, taking turns attacking, taking turns dodging, and protecting one another but soon Icasaracht decided to rely only on her breath weapon as a last resort attack. She tried to breathe icy wind on Xalorn, and he dodged it by jumping aside, but the dangerously icy wind caught his legs, and when Xalorn collapsed to the ground, he noticed that he can't feel or move his legs because they have been frozen, and he is so cold his brain can't register the pain. We all felt cold. Even my hands were beginning to get numb in the freezing air. It almost felt as if I wasn't holding Aihonen's sword anymore even though I still was, I just couldn't feel it in my hands anymore. Icasaracht tried to breathe the icy wind on Felicia this time, but Ordmar was close enough to her to get in front of her and use his shield to protect himself and her.
At that moment, Lysara used her Shadowdancer ability to summon Shadow monsters from the dark corners of the cavern to come help us fight Icasaracht, and they helped turn the tide of the fight to our favor, especially when one of them touched Icasaracht with its cold hands. Meanwhile Andy climbed out of the opening he made in the dead dragon's corpse and he noticed Icasaracht fighting us and three Shadow monsters, then he decided to cast a spell that he has been saving to use at this particular moment. The spell is called Finger of Death. Using verbal and somatic components to cast the spell, Andy successfully cast the spell and it worked, but not to the desired effect. Finger of Death didn't kill Icasaracht, but it did wound her greatly in a way that doesn't show on her body. She immediately collapsed in front of us, and she tried to get up again, struggling, trying to lift her head, but the pain was so great, her entire body felt heavy. Wasting no time, I charged forward and slashed at Icasaracht's head with so much force, the blade cut through her skull and she immediately collapsed dead without any resistance.
We didn't see this happen, but we knew that at that moment, Icasaracht's spirit left her dead body, and she moved to the preservation ward she told us about, a soul gem, which is in the darkness of the cavern northeast from where we were. We were looking around in confusion until we saw the eyes of a dragon statue light up in the northeastern corner of the cavern, illuminating the area around it, and in its mouth, we saw a large violet colored gem containing a transparent mist in it.
"That's Icasaracht's soul gem! Her spirit has gone inside it!" Felicia exclaimed.
I found my crossbow in the snow and loaded it with a bolt.
"She is not cheating death this time!" I declared.
I ran towards the statue until I got in range to fire at it. I don't know how much time I have before Icasaracht's soul will be sent to another ward, where the seven bodies of her lifeless children are being kept somewhere, but I knew I had to destroy the gem, and fast, even though my hands were numb by the cold air and I couldn't feel the crossbow in my hands. If I didn't act fast, Icasaracht will eventually fight us again in the body of another one of her offspring, and in the state we were in, we won't survive another fight against another white dragon. After getting 50 feet close to it, I crouched down on my right knee, took aim with my crossbow, and pulled the trigger, pulling it hard because I wasn't sure if my numb hand was actually pulling it. The bolt flew through the air towards the orb in the dragon statue's mouth, and the bolt struck the gem, shattering it to pieces, releasing Icasaracht's soul and forcing her to go to whatever afterlife dragons go to, her desires for revenge finally put to rest forever. After seeing the orb break, I fell on my back in the snow, breathing heavily, relieved that it is finally over.
"Jovan! are you okay?" Felicia called to me.
I waved my arm holding my crossbow with it to signal to them that I was okay, though I doubted that they could see me in the shadowy darkness.
We made our way back to Benornen's ship with Gorris and Andy helping wounded Xalorn walk back with us. We made the long trip back to Icewind Dale, we informed Hjollder and the entire Reghedmen tribe that Icasaracht is gone for good, and believe me when I say this, they were so overjoyed, they threw another party. That's not the best part. Gorris revived the Tribe of the Bear by allowing all the men and women from the Tribe of the Tiger and Seal to enter the reinstated tribe, and became its new king, with Xalorn as his right hand man and bodyguard. Also, the barbarians of the Tribe of the Caribou and Wolf joined the Tribe of the Elk to replace the barbarians who have fallen in battle against the Tribe of the Great Wyrm. Now there are only two barbarian tribes that exist in Icewind Dale now, the Tribe of the Elk and the Tribe of the Bear. As the new king of his tribe, Gorris allowed true delegates from the Ten Towns to come to the campsite and have a formal discussion about the terms of peace.
Gorris promised a somewhat peaceful relationship between the Ten Towns and the barbarian tribes of Icewind Dale as long as the Ten Towns don't try to expand their towns beyond the lakes, because if they do, their hand will be forced and they will fight back against expansion efforts without mercy. It is a peace of sorts, but I completely understood that sanctions must be made if the people of the Ten Towns are to continue living in Icewind Dale. Wylfdene's partially melted corpse was returned to the Burial Isle and placed back into its grave, soothing the wailing of the virgin spirits like Mebdinga and allowing them to return peacefully to... wherever it is they come from. As for Andy, he left our side, wandering Faerun, trying to find his place in life. I don't know what has become of him, but I wish I knew. Ordmar joined Clan Battlehammer, Lysara journeyed to Neverwinter for reasons I've never been able to learn.
As for me and Felicia, we departed Icewind Dale, living in the town of Mirabar, and we got officially married, and not a moment too soon. A few months later, we learned that Felicia is not carrying just one child, but two! A boy AND a girl! When they were born, we named the boy Oliver, and we named the girl Illivia. And as years passed, we raised our children on stories of our adventures, and eventually they grew up to become adventurers themselves. Oh, and about the very fragile peace between the barbarians and Ten Towns... It did not last long. A few decades after the Year of the Cold Soul, hostilities between the barbarians and the Ten Towns began to brew again, with barbarians frequently raiding them, up until the tribes tried to invade the Ten Towns in 1351 DR, only to be repelled back by not only the Ten Towns, but also the dwarves of Kelvin's Cairn. I don't know if Ordmar was there with them during that battle, I haven't spoken to him in years, and I seriously doubt that Gorris' son or grandson, if he lived long enough to have children I mean, was in charge of the attacks... a new king, a king likely from the Tribe of the Elk must have claimed the throne from Gorris. As I said before, my wife Felicia and I were not in Bryn Shander when the rogue mage from Luskan with the help of Crenshinibon tried to enslave the inhabitants of Icewind Dale in 1356 DR, but neither Felicia nor I were able to help Drizzt and his companions during that incident, we were retired adventurers... Temporarily, at least. And so, that is how my companions and I became the heroes of Icewind Dale many decades before Drizzt and his companions were hailed as heroes of Icewind Dale, and our journey in Icewind Dale finally came to an end.
(Hammer, The Year of the Gauntlet, 1369 DR)
"...That's very interesting, Jovan. You've seen so much and experienced so many things..."
"Ha ha ha... Well, not everything. Why do you think I am here? There's never an end when it comes to being an adventurer. No matter how long you live as an adventurer, there are so many things that you haven't yet seen. You may be human, but having a long lifespan is irrelevant when it comes to the joys of adventuring. The excitement and danger is endless."
"Hmm. I'll remember that next time."
"You're young, but you have a very good start. Being a hero of Baldur's Gate... That's quite an accomplishment."
"Thanks. I-"
(someone peeks into the tent and clears his throat)
"Am I interrupting anything?"
"Oh! Marshal Nederlok! I was just-"
"No need to give me excuses, Jovan, you are not in trouble. I just need to talk to your new friend here. Ralis?"
"Yes sir?"
"Come with me. General Stonehand and Torsin de Lancie are having a meeting, and I want you to be there to hear it."
"Got it. Jovan? I'll get back to you later."
(Ralis leaves the tent)
THE END
