Thunders End; the Death of King Budic
BUDIC, a King to the Britons and those who had been invaders with the Eagles, a peerless warrior, a wise judge, a father, a husband, an alpha of alphas. Lord Thunder for many long years ruled a great patch of the land which is now Britain, keeping his people safe from the Danes and the Irish, and from the beasts beyond the Curtain. All know of his Helm, ensorcelled by powerful magics to keep him safe on all journeys, of his Battle Horn Stormcaller whose call would always be heard by those of his blood and those sworn to it and most of his mighty Hammer, called the Hammer of the Clouds, and the Storm-hammer, which broke bone and stone and metal and could smite creatures from the Other no matter of their power. The tales of each are known too, of how they were found, or won, or created.
MANY are the tales of great journeys into the Other, of how he came to create a union of Packs who deferred to him as their ruler. The Protectorate founded by the Thunderwolves and protected by his Band of Thunder was called the Kingdom of Storms and this was a true name for its borders were often protected by violent winds and driving waves, by lightening which would strike ships filled with raiders and by unsettled oceans which would suck them to their deaths. For many long years these were saved and kept safe whilst Budic took himself a wife and made a family. Many were the sons and daughters he bore on women within the Kingdom of Storms, for none would deny their Lord. The story of Elen, and how she won the heart of Budic so that he forsook other women, and of the twins she bore him are known.
IN truth there are dozens or more stories of Budic, the Lord of Thunder, King of the Storms but this one is his final story for it tells of his end. Listen then to the last days of the Kingdom of Storms and of the hero who forged it as a smith forges a mighty sword in the white-hot coals of victory. For many turnings of the Mothers Face had Lord Thunder rode at the head of his host, for many times had the seasons changed. Children had grown and married and had children of their own, their children had grown and wed and birthed another generation, and another. The Band of Thunder had grown from some half dozen packs of mighty warriors to many times its number, the children of those who founded it having had their Changes, and with peace those who felt Mother Luna’s touch being found. Many of the Iminir stood amongst the Band, but all of the Lushar Iduthag lived within the Kingdom of Storms, only the Suthar Anzuth rivalling Winter Wolf’s children for numbers.
FINALLY another came to challenge Budic and the Band of Thunder, long years had brought word of invaders from Europe, Germans, Angles, Danes, Saxons. For long years they had come and settled and fought and took what they desired. The warlord Eisherz (Ice-heart) led a band of Rabid Wolf’s followers, seeking to bring pain and fire to those who were loyal to the Mother above. Worse still were the children of Dire Wolf whose ferocity was matched only by the few sons and daughters of great Fenris-Ur. There were things with them too, nightmares and monsters from the deepest parts of the Other, some bonded and twisted with men to create vile half-blood creatures of Spirit and Flesh. Yet more of these creatures were of Spirit alone - their misshapen forms enough to strike feat to the heart of the boldest. To make matters worse Eisherz’ horde had many men in whose blood was the strain of Urfarah.
BUDIC knew that his people were outnumbered by this horde, and that if they were not stopped that nothing would prevent them from killing his people and seizing his territory, defiling the Kingdom of Storms and destroying all that the Band of Thunder had made. He called together the warpacks within the Protectorate, he called on their allies and their friends, he called upon those spirits which were bound to the Kingdom for aid. He did all of this, and then he listened to the wise words of the Meninna who knew the hidden paths and to the Irraka who had spied the host before calling his Knights and Alphas to make battle plans.
KNOWING the land better than the invaders a pack of heroes called the Winds Blades declared that they would spend their life’s blood to draw the host from the most sacred places of the Kingdom and to a ground of Budic’s choice. The last of them fell within sight of a long, low and curved hill, upon which a shield wall was made. There were a half dozen bright banners flying from the crest of that hill, and the shields showed the signs of two dozen brave champions and heroes. This was the hard core of the Band of Thunder, three score warriors, scarred and victorious they would stand till the last fell. The Garmir called Brightaxe strode forward to spit and mock the Anshega, to call insult on their Patrons and to urge the Highborn invaders to do battle. Eventually a champion from the ranks of the horde stood forward, the Ninna Farakh Zahnmörder (Tooth-killer) in a massive dire-wolf form, a crude collar of bronze giving a mane of long, curved canine teeth and with the broken skulls of a dozen fallen werewolves hanging from it. For long moments the two great champions circled, dire-wolf and near-man, tooth and claw and fury against axe and shield and experience. With a battle shout meeting a roar of anger the two clashed once! Twice! Again and again seeking a gap in the defence of the other. Brightaxe’ warform and fetish-axe smashing the bone carapace growing from Zahnmörder’s sides, the blood flowing freely from both till both armies watching grew silent. Zahnmörder fell with lungs bared to the sky as Brightaxe howled the pain of an arm torn from the shoulder.
WITH honour done and respect for the other both champions left the field, neither would fight again that day. As buzzards gathered in the sky the first of Eisherz’ warriors took to the field - the men of the Saxon and Angle peoples advanced up the hills, releasing dogs who refused to approach the tight-packed shieldwall fuelled by rage and discipline. The half-spirit and half-flesh duguthim amongst them giving power to the mass of people, and arrows and thrown spears seeking to weaken the strong position of the Band of Thunder.
THE tide of Eisherz’ horde broke on the wall of the Lord of Thunder, the shieldwall held and drove off the men from other lands. Many of the duguthim were slain there, the Hirfathra Hissu especially seeking their deaths. Some of the Talons employed had been made from the knowledge brought by Irraka of that tribe and were of deadly effect, others were slain through skill and knowledge hard won - the Rahu of Death Wolf’s children reacting with cold fury to the unholy spirits who had brought payment in the only kind available to them - and end.
QUICKLY it became apparent that the horde had not been expected to succeed - as the centre broke and started to run, as panic strarted to spread, as the victorious young warriors of the Band of Thunder made to follow then did Dire Wolf’s followers strike as a thunderbolt. Massive direwolves raced to the weakened shieldwall which held firm even as some of their brothers were ripped to pieces before them. The thrown axes and javelins from behind the line of pine and iron slowed the dread Predator Kings, but as their great weight and fury struck the line it wavered and as the foul children of the Rabid Wolf reached their allies came close to breaking. The streadfast sworn blades of the Destroyer Wolf stood and fought, dying rather than turning or surrendering to invaders, but even that would not be sufficient.
HERE and now it was that the moment had come as it comes in each battle. Budic, the Lord of Thunder, King of the Storms and Alpha of the Thunderwolves stepped forward into the face of his foe, casting his shield aside and gripping the Hammer of the Clouds high he walked forward, crushing bones and cracking skulls. As his brave followers saw their King they took heart and stepped forward.
AS disaster struck for the Kingdom of Storms so too did it for Eisherz and his foul plans of dominion. Budic was struck with a longsword whose blade dripped with foul acid, the strike missing his heart but plunging through his coat of mail and piercing his side. The Band of Thunder rose up and drove forward with great anger, casting the Anshega from the hill in disarray. It was then the Farsil Luhal struck, having concealed themselves earlier and carefully worked their way round the flank of the horde they chose the perfect moment to launch their own lupine attack - great Urshul forms tore through the confused men, drove the spirits into a circle of silver concealed earlier to trap them for later and spreading further panic through the ranks of the invaders. Though at great loss the children of Red Wolf would not allow any who brought dishonour to their territory to pass, driving them off as best they could, slaying those few they could not.
BUDIC stood, supported where none could see by the Thunderwolves, Iminir all who knew the sight of their King would end the days battle and blew three long blasts on Stormcaller, his Battle Horn. All eyes upon him the Lord of Thunder showed all his inner strength by standing forward and challenging Eisherz to single combat, a challenge of dominance. As the Tzuumfin stepped forward it was as if ice and lightening met - and there could be only one outcome.
EISHERZ fled the field, the remains of his mighty host behind him. The dauntless warriors sworn to Fenris-Ur and the canny ones sworn to Hikaon-Ur following at their heels. The rest of the Band of Thunder remained to do honour to the land and to the dead, to see to the wounded and to ensure that strength remained in case the foeman should return.
WITH many wounds of their own the Thunderwolves escorted the sorely wounded Budic to the Hall of Winter, where he dismissed all but his mate, seeking comfort with her as his hurts started the long process of healing.
IT was then that the worst of all fates befell Budic, who was King of Storms, as he lay in his bath, his armour stripped from him, his mighty Hammer in its place and his horn far from hand. His mate, the treacherous Elen, showed her true colours. She had won a place in Budic’s heart as well as his bed, but as her mate and King lay before her sore-hurt she produced a knife whose blade was made of hated silver and she drove it time and again into his body till there was no more of Budic, who was the Lord of Thunder. Budic who took oaths deadly seriously and who had sworn never to lift a claw to his mate. Budic who had been prepared to sacrifice all for his Kingdom as any true King should.
WHEN the foul murder was discovered the Thunderwolves, sworn swordbrothers to the King, set off after the false Queen and discovered that her path ran to the still mighty army of Eisherz. She had not reached him, instead her treachery had earnt her nothing but a pained death nailed to a tree with nails of iron, her skin flayed from her back and her fingers ripped off. Grotesquely she had been crowned anew, a crude circlet made of silver - from the very blade which had stolen the lifeblood of her husband.
BUDIC, who was Lord of Thunder, King of the Storms, who led the Band of Thunder and was Alpha of the Thunderwolves was laid to rest in a Otherworld Barrow by the twins who were too young to hold what he had created. He was laid to sleep in his shirt of iron, with his mighty helm upon his head, with Stormcaller at his side and with the Hammer of the Clouds clasped in his hands.
AS the last of the scared stones were rolled back many who were there claimed that a light had shown from within the dark place, the truth of that never being known. Around that cairn of stones the storms and lightening often flashed, marking the heroes tomb. For the Kingdom of Storms that stone which sealed the tomb also sealed its fate - within a decade the protectorate was no more, though many of the Packs who had made the Brotherhood of Thunder remained friendly unity was gone, and soon enough all that remained was memory.
MANY are the tales of great journeys into the Other, of how he came to create a union of Packs who deferred to him as their ruler. The Protectorate founded by the Thunderwolves and protected by his Band of Thunder was called the Kingdom of Storms and this was a true name for its borders were often protected by violent winds and driving waves, by lightening which would strike ships filled with raiders and by unsettled oceans which would suck them to their deaths. For many long years these were saved and kept safe whilst Budic took himself a wife and made a family. Many were the sons and daughters he bore on women within the Kingdom of Storms, for none would deny their Lord. The story of Elen, and how she won the heart of Budic so that he forsook other women, and of the twins she bore him are known.
IN truth there are dozens or more stories of Budic, the Lord of Thunder, King of the Storms but this one is his final story for it tells of his end. Listen then to the last days of the Kingdom of Storms and of the hero who forged it as a smith forges a mighty sword in the white-hot coals of victory. For many turnings of the Mothers Face had Lord Thunder rode at the head of his host, for many times had the seasons changed. Children had grown and married and had children of their own, their children had grown and wed and birthed another generation, and another. The Band of Thunder had grown from some half dozen packs of mighty warriors to many times its number, the children of those who founded it having had their Changes, and with peace those who felt Mother Luna’s touch being found. Many of the Iminir stood amongst the Band, but all of the Lushar Iduthag lived within the Kingdom of Storms, only the Suthar Anzuth rivalling Winter Wolf’s children for numbers.
FINALLY another came to challenge Budic and the Band of Thunder, long years had brought word of invaders from Europe, Germans, Angles, Danes, Saxons. For long years they had come and settled and fought and took what they desired. The warlord Eisherz (Ice-heart) led a band of Rabid Wolf’s followers, seeking to bring pain and fire to those who were loyal to the Mother above. Worse still were the children of Dire Wolf whose ferocity was matched only by the few sons and daughters of great Fenris-Ur. There were things with them too, nightmares and monsters from the deepest parts of the Other, some bonded and twisted with men to create vile half-blood creatures of Spirit and Flesh. Yet more of these creatures were of Spirit alone - their misshapen forms enough to strike feat to the heart of the boldest. To make matters worse Eisherz’ horde had many men in whose blood was the strain of Urfarah.
BUDIC knew that his people were outnumbered by this horde, and that if they were not stopped that nothing would prevent them from killing his people and seizing his territory, defiling the Kingdom of Storms and destroying all that the Band of Thunder had made. He called together the warpacks within the Protectorate, he called on their allies and their friends, he called upon those spirits which were bound to the Kingdom for aid. He did all of this, and then he listened to the wise words of the Meninna who knew the hidden paths and to the Irraka who had spied the host before calling his Knights and Alphas to make battle plans.
KNOWING the land better than the invaders a pack of heroes called the Winds Blades declared that they would spend their life’s blood to draw the host from the most sacred places of the Kingdom and to a ground of Budic’s choice. The last of them fell within sight of a long, low and curved hill, upon which a shield wall was made. There were a half dozen bright banners flying from the crest of that hill, and the shields showed the signs of two dozen brave champions and heroes. This was the hard core of the Band of Thunder, three score warriors, scarred and victorious they would stand till the last fell. The Garmir called Brightaxe strode forward to spit and mock the Anshega, to call insult on their Patrons and to urge the Highborn invaders to do battle. Eventually a champion from the ranks of the horde stood forward, the Ninna Farakh Zahnmörder (Tooth-killer) in a massive dire-wolf form, a crude collar of bronze giving a mane of long, curved canine teeth and with the broken skulls of a dozen fallen werewolves hanging from it. For long moments the two great champions circled, dire-wolf and near-man, tooth and claw and fury against axe and shield and experience. With a battle shout meeting a roar of anger the two clashed once! Twice! Again and again seeking a gap in the defence of the other. Brightaxe’ warform and fetish-axe smashing the bone carapace growing from Zahnmörder’s sides, the blood flowing freely from both till both armies watching grew silent. Zahnmörder fell with lungs bared to the sky as Brightaxe howled the pain of an arm torn from the shoulder.
WITH honour done and respect for the other both champions left the field, neither would fight again that day. As buzzards gathered in the sky the first of Eisherz’ warriors took to the field - the men of the Saxon and Angle peoples advanced up the hills, releasing dogs who refused to approach the tight-packed shieldwall fuelled by rage and discipline. The half-spirit and half-flesh duguthim amongst them giving power to the mass of people, and arrows and thrown spears seeking to weaken the strong position of the Band of Thunder.
THE tide of Eisherz’ horde broke on the wall of the Lord of Thunder, the shieldwall held and drove off the men from other lands. Many of the duguthim were slain there, the Hirfathra Hissu especially seeking their deaths. Some of the Talons employed had been made from the knowledge brought by Irraka of that tribe and were of deadly effect, others were slain through skill and knowledge hard won - the Rahu of Death Wolf’s children reacting with cold fury to the unholy spirits who had brought payment in the only kind available to them - and end.
QUICKLY it became apparent that the horde had not been expected to succeed - as the centre broke and started to run, as panic strarted to spread, as the victorious young warriors of the Band of Thunder made to follow then did Dire Wolf’s followers strike as a thunderbolt. Massive direwolves raced to the weakened shieldwall which held firm even as some of their brothers were ripped to pieces before them. The thrown axes and javelins from behind the line of pine and iron slowed the dread Predator Kings, but as their great weight and fury struck the line it wavered and as the foul children of the Rabid Wolf reached their allies came close to breaking. The streadfast sworn blades of the Destroyer Wolf stood and fought, dying rather than turning or surrendering to invaders, but even that would not be sufficient.
HERE and now it was that the moment had come as it comes in each battle. Budic, the Lord of Thunder, King of the Storms and Alpha of the Thunderwolves stepped forward into the face of his foe, casting his shield aside and gripping the Hammer of the Clouds high he walked forward, crushing bones and cracking skulls. As his brave followers saw their King they took heart and stepped forward.
AS disaster struck for the Kingdom of Storms so too did it for Eisherz and his foul plans of dominion. Budic was struck with a longsword whose blade dripped with foul acid, the strike missing his heart but plunging through his coat of mail and piercing his side. The Band of Thunder rose up and drove forward with great anger, casting the Anshega from the hill in disarray. It was then the Farsil Luhal struck, having concealed themselves earlier and carefully worked their way round the flank of the horde they chose the perfect moment to launch their own lupine attack - great Urshul forms tore through the confused men, drove the spirits into a circle of silver concealed earlier to trap them for later and spreading further panic through the ranks of the invaders. Though at great loss the children of Red Wolf would not allow any who brought dishonour to their territory to pass, driving them off as best they could, slaying those few they could not.
BUDIC stood, supported where none could see by the Thunderwolves, Iminir all who knew the sight of their King would end the days battle and blew three long blasts on Stormcaller, his Battle Horn. All eyes upon him the Lord of Thunder showed all his inner strength by standing forward and challenging Eisherz to single combat, a challenge of dominance. As the Tzuumfin stepped forward it was as if ice and lightening met - and there could be only one outcome.
EISHERZ fled the field, the remains of his mighty host behind him. The dauntless warriors sworn to Fenris-Ur and the canny ones sworn to Hikaon-Ur following at their heels. The rest of the Band of Thunder remained to do honour to the land and to the dead, to see to the wounded and to ensure that strength remained in case the foeman should return.
WITH many wounds of their own the Thunderwolves escorted the sorely wounded Budic to the Hall of Winter, where he dismissed all but his mate, seeking comfort with her as his hurts started the long process of healing.
IT was then that the worst of all fates befell Budic, who was King of Storms, as he lay in his bath, his armour stripped from him, his mighty Hammer in its place and his horn far from hand. His mate, the treacherous Elen, showed her true colours. She had won a place in Budic’s heart as well as his bed, but as her mate and King lay before her sore-hurt she produced a knife whose blade was made of hated silver and she drove it time and again into his body till there was no more of Budic, who was the Lord of Thunder. Budic who took oaths deadly seriously and who had sworn never to lift a claw to his mate. Budic who had been prepared to sacrifice all for his Kingdom as any true King should.
WHEN the foul murder was discovered the Thunderwolves, sworn swordbrothers to the King, set off after the false Queen and discovered that her path ran to the still mighty army of Eisherz. She had not reached him, instead her treachery had earnt her nothing but a pained death nailed to a tree with nails of iron, her skin flayed from her back and her fingers ripped off. Grotesquely she had been crowned anew, a crude circlet made of silver - from the very blade which had stolen the lifeblood of her husband.
BUDIC, who was Lord of Thunder, King of the Storms, who led the Band of Thunder and was Alpha of the Thunderwolves was laid to rest in a Otherworld Barrow by the twins who were too young to hold what he had created. He was laid to sleep in his shirt of iron, with his mighty helm upon his head, with Stormcaller at his side and with the Hammer of the Clouds clasped in his hands.
AS the last of the scared stones were rolled back many who were there claimed that a light had shown from within the dark place, the truth of that never being known. Around that cairn of stones the storms and lightening often flashed, marking the heroes tomb. For the Kingdom of Storms that stone which sealed the tomb also sealed its fate - within a decade the protectorate was no more, though many of the Packs who had made the Brotherhood of Thunder remained friendly unity was gone, and soon enough all that remained was memory.