Chapter 30 Chapter 25 A Miracle Appears

Two days later, the blizzard that Morik had predicted did arrive, but as the weather had begun to warm up, it was not as violent—the road was barely passable.The two riders plod forward while carefully looking for the "way".Despite the inclement weather, thanks to Wulfgar's efforts, they moved quickly.It didn't take long to reach an area of ​​​​scatterers' farms and stone houses.The storm helped them a lot now, for in such weather curious faces were seldom seen behind heavy curtains, and their skin was so smeared with blood that they were almost impossible to recognize after walking through the storm.

Wulfgar soon hid behind a large overhanging rock and watched as Morik, Lord Brandburg of Waterdeep, rode into the village.The days were long now, and the storm continued, but Morik did not return.Wulfgar left his shelter and moved to a place where he could see Castle Orc.He wanted to know if Morik's identity was revealed.If so, should he rush down to save his friend? Wulfgar laughed at his situation.Morik was most likely enjoying a delicious meal in front of the castle's warm fire right now.The Savage returned to his shelter and began brushing his horse, reminding himself to be patient.

Finally Morik came back, looking serious. "I was not received in a friendly manner," he explained. "Your identity has been exposed?" "No, it's not because of that," said the thief. "They think I'm Duke Brandberg, but they suspect that you and I disappeared at the same time." Wulfgar nodded. They had foreseen this situation. "If they doubted you, how did you get away?" "I tried to convince them it was a coincidence," he replied. "And why did I come back to Orkney? To enjoy a meal explaining my departure, of course."

"Of course," Wulfgar agreed slyly, his tone cold. "And what has become of Meralda and her child? Have you seen her?" asked the Savage. Morik tore the saddle off his horse and began brushing his horse, as if ready to hit the road. "We should go," he said quietly. "Get away from here." "What do you know?" Wulfgar asked eagerly, genuinely concerned. "We have no friends here, or even acquaintances, and no one is in the mood for visitors right now," Morik replied. "Whether it's Wulfgar, Morik, or Duke Brandberg, it's a good choice to stay away from this poor land."

Wulfgar reached down and grabbed the rogue by the shoulders, turning him around. "What's the matter with Meralda?" he asked. "She had a baby late last night." Morik seemed reluctant to admit it.Wulfgar's eyes widened with concern. "Both alive," Morik added quickly, "so far." The rogue turned away, and went on with his work. Feeling Wulfgar watching him eagerly, Morik sighed and turned back. "Listen, she once falsely accused you of raping her," he reminded. "She was trying to cover herself," Morik continued. "Her lies condemned you to death, just to hide her infidelity from her own husband." Wulfgar nodded again, knowing all this.

Morik looked at his friend in bewilderment, wondering that he was indifferent to all this, strange that he was not angry at all, because of this woman, he was tortured and almost executed. "Well, now they have doubts about the birth of the child," Morik explained. "Too soon, considering how long she was robbed by us, that's why no one believed her story." Wulfgar sighed. "Everything I feared happened." "I heard that on the day of the wedding between Duke Feringal and Meralda a man jumped off a cliff and died calling her name." "Lord Feringal thinks he cuckolded him?" Wulfgar asked.

"Not quite sure," Morik replied. "The child was considered before the wedding--even if it was yours--but he knew, of course, that her wife had been in love with another man, and now, he might think she was voluntary and Not raped." "A raped woman is innocent." Wulfgar said his opinion, and it was his own. "A lying woman..." Morik added in disgust. Wulfgar sighed again, stepped out of his shelter, and gazed at the castle again. "What will happen to her?" he turned to Morik. "Send the child away, as you planned," suggested Temigast to Lord Feringal, who was pacing about the room.

"It's different now," said the young man, clenching his fists impotently, looking past the old butler at his sister. Priscilla leaned back in the chair very relaxed, her smug smile seemed to remind her that she opposed her brother marrying a farmer from the beginning. "We don't know what has changed," said Temigast, still in the voice of wisdom. Priscilla snorted and said "Can't you tell time?" she asked. "The baby must be premature," objected Temigast. "He's the most fully developed baby I've ever seen," Priscilla said. "No premature birth, Temigast, you know." Priscilla stared at his brother, and began to recount her point - which had caused chaos in the castle all day - "child conceived at the summer solstice," she said, "before that so-called road robber attack."

"I don't know," lamented Lord Feringal.He tugged at the hem of his trousers, which reflected how messed up his mind was right now. "How could you not know." Priscilla asked back, "You have become the laughing stock of the whole territory, a coward, because you are weak!" "You still love her," interposed Temigast. "Do I?" said Lord Feringal, looking puzzled. "I don't know." "Then, expel her," suggested the butler. "Deport her with the child." "That would make the villagers laugh even harder," Priscilla said sourly. "Do you want to see this kid come back in a few years and inherit your land? How much do we know of things like that?"

Temigast glared at the woman. Such things had happened, but not their own. "Then what should I do?" Lord Feringal asked her sister for answers. "Trial her." Priscilla replied decisively, "Immediately, and then I will settle my worries." "Solved?" Feringal repeated in confusion. "She wants you to kill the child," Temigast explained. "Throw it into the sea," Priscilla continued excitedly, leaving her chair and walking towards her brother. "People will respect you more if you don't act weak now." "People will hate you if you kill an innocent child," said Temigast angrily, more than Duke Feringal had at Priscilla.

"Innocent?" Priscilla asked rhetorically, as if it was a complete fallacy. "Then make them hate you," said her face, within an inch of Lord Feringal. "Better than ridicule at least. Would you let the illegitimate child survive? By the way, shouldn't you investigate who impregnated Meralda?" "Shut up!" commanded Lord Feringal, pushing her away. Priscilla didn't give up, "Okay, but imagine how happy she is in Jake Scully's arms," ​​she said, leaving her brother trembling with anger, unable to even speak. Come on. "I bet I'll try to show him my best self," Priscilla finished obscenely. A savage roar escaped the young lord's mouth.He grabbed his sister's shoulders with both hands and pushed him roughly away.She smiled contentedly, watching as her enraged brother walked past Temigast and rushed for the stairs.The stairs leading to Meralda and her child's room. "She's protected, you know," Morik reminded aloud, but his voice was thin against the wind. Wulfgar did not heed the warning.His eyes were fixed on the castle of Oak, and his eyes did not move.He piled the snow into the shape of the Spine of the World, as if it were a barrier between who he is now and who he was.When that gets in the way between men he is and he becomes a victim.Now that his brain was no longer benumbed by alcohol, and he resisted the horrific images of his captivity with a strong self-acknowledgment, Wulfgar had clearly made his choice in the depths of his heart.He found that he held on when he could leave, that he could jump over emotional barriers, that he could fight like he had before. The savages roared against the blizzard.When he approached the bridge, he even started to accelerate, faster and faster, ran at full speed, and quickly turned to the right, the snow drifted almost parallel to the castle walls and guardrails.The snow on the ground was up to Wulfgar's knees, but he lay there roaring and kept going.He jumped up from the snow, stretched out his arm and hooked the city wall with the hammer head.Wulfgar heard an exclamation from above, especially loud because he was facing the stone, but he hardly slowed down, his strong muscles tensed instantly, and he pulled himself upwards, rolled with the momentum, and passed through the city wall crenel.He landed nimbly inside the railing, right between two stunned guards, who were not holding weapons in order to keep their hands warm. Morik entered the castle the same way Wulfgar had done, leaping nimbly over the chop with perfect balance rather than strength like Wulfgar.Even so, when he reached the parapet, Wulfgar was standing in the castle courtyard, two guards lying on the ground moaning, one clutching his chin, the other cradling his stomach. "Hold the door," a guard yelled hard. The door snapped open, and a man peered out.When he saw Wulfgar, he tried to close it quickly.Just before it could be shut, Wulfgar arrived, pulling the door back with all his might.He heard the voice of the man calling for help, and felt another guard pulling the door inside, using all his strength. "I am coming too," Morik cried, "though only the gods know why!" His thoughts were far away, in a place filled with black fog, and in the air was the cry of his child in agony.Wulfgar didn't hear his friend's cries that he wasn't needed.With a roar, he used all his strength, pulled him away before the door was finally closed, and flung the two guards against the wall of the front hall as if they were two children. "Where is she?" Wulfgar asked, and at that moment another door in the vestibule opened.Ryan Mumen appeared behind the door and rushed up with a sword. "Now let's settle the score, dog." The coachman roared, and thrust out the sword quickly and fiercely, it was just a feint.He pulled the sword back, turned around suddenly, swept the blade to confuse the opponent, and then quickly turned back, stabbing with precision enough to kill the blow. Ryan was brilliant and he knew he was the best fighter in all of Orkney.But he couldn't understand how Wulfgar's hammer could be swung out so quickly and then hooked the hammer head to the blade to miss the attack, how he could move his huge body so quickly to a place where he could attack himself , How did he make such a perfect turn, and raised Ryan's arm holding the sword with his thick arm. Ryan knew his own sword skills, so it was difficult for him to understand how his such clever attack was completely resolved in this way.Lane felt his face pressed against the wall, his arms twisted behind his back and tightened, and the barbarian's hot breath hit his neck. "meralda and her child," Wulfgar asked. "Where are they?" "I'll never tell you," Ryan replied.Wulfgar pressed on.The old dwarf felt that he was going to die soon, but he fought the pain with determination and roar. Wulfgar turned him around and knocked him to the ground with repeated blows.Lane nearly tripped Morik, who had just entered through another door. Wulfgar followed him, they heard voices, Morik led the way, and they smashed through a set of double doors into a cozy sitting room. "Lord Brandberg?" Prasiri called. When she saw Wulfgar follow the burglar into the room, Prasiri screamed and got up from his chair and backed away. "Where's Meralda and the child?" he yelled. "Haven't you done enough damage?" said Steward Temigast, standing bravely before the gigantic man. Wulfgar watched him. "Too many," he admits, "but not here." Temigast stood back. "Where are they?" Wulfgar asked, approaching Prasiri. "Robber, murderer!" Priscilla screamed and fell to the ground. Wulfgar looked at Temigast.To Wulfgar's surprise, the old butler nodded toward the stairs and walked over. Just then Priscilla Oak ran up the stairs at full speed. "Is there anything else you can say to me?" Feringal asked Meralda, standing on the edge of her bed with the baby girl lying warm beside her. "To us? To Orkney?" "I beg you to try to understand, my lord," the woman pleaded. Feringal became depressed, and punched himself hard in the eye.With a blank expression on his face, he bent down and picked up the baby girl lying beside her.Meralda tried to sit up, but she was still weak and fell back on the bed. "What do you want? Feringal strode to the window and drew back the curtains. "My sister said that I should throw it on the rock and die." He gritted his teeth and said, "Get rid of the evidence of your betrayal for me." "No, Feringo, don't—" cried Meralda. "There's been a lot of rumors out there, you know." Feringal didn't seem to have heard her at all.He wiped his face with his sleeve. "Jack Scully's boy." "My lord!" she cried, her eyes red with terror. "What do you want?" Feringal yelled, looking at the child in his hand, and then out the window.Meralda began to cry. "An unfaithful wife, and a murderer," murmured Feringal, walking towards the window. "I hate you, Meralda!" he cursed.Stretching out his arms, he lifted the child out of the window, and then he looked at the innocent child, his tears mingling with the child's tears. "I hate you, I told you," he cried, sobbing and sucking in air. Suddenly the door was opened and Priscilla rushed in.She slammed the door shut, bolted it and turned to lean against it.Assessing the situation, she ran to her brother, screaming, "Give it to me!" Lord Feringal rolled his shoulders between the child and Priscilla's grip. "Give it to me!" the woman screamed again, and rushed to grab the baby Wulfgar gave chase quickly, taking only four strides up the winding staircase.He entered a luxuriously carpeted corridor with only one posing guard.The savage knocked the man's sword away with one blow, and threw him out of the way with his hands around his neck. Morik walked past him, listening carefully to every room, and finally stopped in front of one. "They're in here," he announced.He grabbed the doorknob and found it locked. "Key!" Wulfgar asked, shaking the guard. The man grasped the savage's iron arm. "No key," he said, almost choking.Wulfgar looked like he was about to strangle him, but the rogue stopped him. "It's okay, I'll pick the lock," he said, taking out his tool belt and walking up quickly. "No, I have the key," Wulfgar growled.Morik watched as the barbarian charged, one hand still clutching the guard.Morik understood his intentions when Wulfgar hurled the hapless man against the wooden door. "Key," the Savage explained. "Good throw," Morik commented. "I practiced," Wulfgar explained, leaping over the dazed guards with lightning speed and entering the room. Meralda lay tearfully on the bed, Duke Feringal and his sister stood by the window, Feringal had the baby in his arms.He was leaning toward the window as if about to throw the child out.The siblings and Meralda stared at Wulfgar dumbfounded, eyes wide open until Morik ran in and bumped into the barbarian's back. "Lord Brandberg!" Feringal called. Priscilla yelled to her brother, "Quick, before they destroy—" "The child is mine!" Wulfgar declared.Prasiri stopped her words in surprise, and Feringo's expression was as cold as stone. "What?" asked the young ruler at the same time as Prasiri and Morik. "What?" Meralda also whispered, hastily coughing to hide the surprise in her voice. "The child is mine," Wulfgar reiterated firmly, "and if you throw her out the window, you will soon follow, and you will land before her, and your wounded body will be her fall." cushion." "You're very talkative in an emergency," Morik commented.Looking at Lord Feringal, he added, "The window is small, yes, but I bet my strong friend could fit you in, or your fat sister." "You can't be the father of the child." Lord Feringal announced, shaking violently all over his body, looking like he was about to lose his standing.He turned to Priscilla for help, and his sister was usually always better than he was. "What kind of trick is this?" "Give him to me!" Priscilla demanded.Taking advantage of her brother's momentary bewilderment, she ran and snatched the baby from Feringal's arms.Amidst Meralda's cries and the baby's cries, Wulfgar rushed over, knowing that he would never make it in time, knowing that the innocent child was doomed. As Priscilla turned to the window, her brother jumped in front of her and punched her in the face, and the woman stepped back, fainting.Feringal snatched the baby from her again and pushed his sister to the floor. Wulfgar watched the man, for a long time, disbelieving by his expression that Feringal would not harm the child despite his anger at the matter.The Savage stepped back around the house, watching the man within his reach, trusting that the young lord would do no harm to the child. "The child is mine," growled the Savage in a low voice, reaching out and pulling the crying child from Feringal's grasp as gently as he could. "I didn't expect to be back for another month," he explained, turning to Meralda. "You were born prematurely, but well, the birth of a full-fledged barbarian baby will kill you." "Wulfgar!" Morik warned suddenly. Lord Feringal, obviously regaining some of his sanity and all his anger, drew his dagger from his waist and stabbed the barbarian behind him.Morik needn't worry, though his back was turned, Wulfgar heard the voice.Lifting the child away from the attack with one hand protected it, and slapped the short sword away with the other free hand.As Feringal approached, Wulfgar raised his knee and hit the man hard in the crotch.Lord Feringal fell, curled up on the floor, groaning under his breath. "I think my big friend can't make your husband a dad," Morik commented with a wink at Meralda. Meralda didn't even hear, she had been watching Wulfgar since he announced the child as his. "I'm sorry for my actions on the road, Lady Meralda," said the Savage, who now had a large audience, with Lion Wooden, Steward Temigast, and half a dozen remaining castle guards standing at the door, wide-eyed. Big eyes looked at him suspiciously.On the floor in front of Wulfgar, Priscilla looked up at him, confusion and anger burning in her eyes. "I was attracted by your beauty," Wulfgar explained.He turned his gaze to the child, and smiled, lifted the child over his head and looked at her with his blue eyes. "But I will not apologize for the outcome of the crime," he said. "never." "I'll kill you," growled Lord Feringal, trying to get to his feet. Wulfgar stooped and grabbed the man by the collar with one hand, and with all his might helped him to his feet, pulling the man close enough to feel the heat of his breath. "You will forget me and the boy," Wulfgar whispered into his ear, "and the rest of the barbarian tribes in Icewind Dale will bloodwash this castle and your little hold." Wulfgar pushed the young ruler away, throwing him to Morik.Under the menacing gazes of Llane and the other guards, the burglar held a dagger to the man's throat without melancholy. "For safety on the road," Wulfgar said. Suspicious expressions were on the faces of all who looked at Wulfgar and the child. "Go find it now," the barbarian roared.Morik frowned and pushed Lord Feringal toward the door, pushing Priscilla ahead of him. "Go find it!" the thief shouted to Ryan and Priscilla.He glanced back and saw Wulfgar walking towards Meralda, so he continued to move out and chased everyone out. "Why did you do that?" Meralda asked when it was just her, Wulfgar, and the child in the room. "Your lies are easily caught," Wulfgar explained. "I falsely accused you." "I understand," Wulfgar replied. "You were terrified and helpless, but in the end you risked it and released me from prison. I owe it to you." Meralda shook her head, trying to make sense of it.Too many thoughts and emotions were swirling in her head.She seemed to see Feringal's despairing expression again, thinking that he would indeed throw the child to death on the stone.However, in the end, he couldn't do it, and he didn't let his sister do it.She did love this man—how could she not? But she still couldn't deny her disappointment with his behavior, even though she knew the child would never be her own to raise. "Duty? Was that the only reason you stayed?" Wulfgar asked her, apparently feeling there was some other reason. "I love him, you know," Meralda replied, tears running down her beautiful cheeks. "I know what it will think of me, but the truth is, the kid was-" Wulfgar held up his hand before I married him. "You don't owe me an explanation," he said, "I'm not in a position to judge you or anyone else. I'm beginning to understand your...problem, and so I'm repaying your generosity, simple as that." He looked out the door Morik holds Lord Feringal in charge. "He does love you," he said. "His eyes and the level of his pain made it clear." "You think I was right to stay?" Wulfgar shrugged, again refusing to judge. "I couldn't leave him," Meralda said, reaching out to caress the baby's face tenderly, "but I couldn't keep her either—Fringo would never take it," she admitted, her voice starting to crack. choked up as she realized her time with her daughter was coming to an end. "But maybe he would have given her to a family in Orkney, he thought when he thought I hadn't betrayed him," she whispered. "As a reminder of his own pain and your lies," Wulfgar said softly, not blaming the woman, but reminding her exactly what the truth was. "And within reach of his hot sister." Meralda bowed her head and accepted the painful truth.Babies are not safe in Orkney. "Who better to raise her than me?" Wulfgar asked suddenly, determination in his voice.He looked down at the little girl and made a warm smile. "You will raise her?" Wulfgar nodded. "Glad." "You'll keep her safe," Meralda pressed in. "Tell her about her mother?" Wulfgar nodded again. "I don't know where my path leads," he explained, "but I suspect I won't venture too far from here. Maybe someday I'll come back with her, or just her, to take a look." Her mother." Meralda cried, tears streaming down her face.Wulfgar glanced at the door to make sure he wasn't being watched, then bent down and kissed her. "I think it's for the best," he said quietly. "Do you agree?" She looked at the man, a man who had risked everything to save her and her child without getting any reward for his heroism, and Meralda nodded. Tears continued to flow freely.Wulfgar could understand how she felt, how painful it was for her to make such a sacrifice.He leaned back on the bed, letting Meralda stroke and kiss her baby one last time, but when she tried to carry her to him, Wulfgar pulled her back.Meralda returned an understanding and bittersweet smile. "Grow up, little one," she wailed, before turning her head away.Wulfgar nodded to Meralda one last time, turned and left the room with the child in his arms. He finds Morik in the hallway, who extorts a lot of food, clothes, and gold, which they will need to house their children in a warm and comfortable hotel.Barbarians, babies and thieves, on the way to the exit of the castle, no one tried to stop them, it seems that Lord Feringal ordered the guards to do so, hope these two robbers hurry up and take his bastard daughter Leave the castle, leave his life. However, Priscilla doesn't think so.They ran into her on the first floor where she had tried to snatch the baby, who had been staring at him defiantly.The Savage kept her at a distance, his expression making it clear to her that if she tried to take the baby he would cut her in two.Priscilla was so angry that she grabbed a thick wool coat and threw it at her, and with a curse, she turned and left. "Stupid cow," Morik murmured. Wulfgar laughed, and gently wrapped the baby in warm blankets, finally getting her to stop crying.Outside, the day was coming to an end soon, but the storm was much lighter, and finally, the dark clouds were blown away quickly by the wind in the sky.The drawbridge was lowered, and on it they saw Steward Temigast waiting for them with a pair of horses, and beside him stood Lord Feringal. Feringal watched Wulfgar and the baby. "If you dare come back..." he said. "Why me?" the Savage interrupted him. "I have my baby now, and she'll grow up like a princess in Icewind Dale. I'm not coming back to destroy your world, Lord Feringal." "Why me?" Feringal responded with the same The tone replied, looking Wulfgar squarely in the face. "I have my wife now, my beautiful wife. My sinless wife, who came with me willingly, and I will not force her." This final statement, capable of restoring some man's self-esteem, told Waugh Fgarferingo had, or would soon, fully forgive Meralda.Wulfgar's reckless, thoughtless and unprepared actions this time had miraculously had such an effect.He refrained from laughing at such absurdity, and gave Feringal the quiet he needed.He just watched the ruler of Orkney stand calmly, straighten his shoulders, leave the drawbridge through the lowered gate, and return to his home and his wife. Steward Temigast took the reins for them. "She's not yours," said the overseer suddenly.Wulfgar told the boy to mount, pretending not to hear him. "Don't worry, I won't tell, and neither will Meralda, you saved her life today," the butler continued. "You are a good man, Wulfgar, son of the Beoni family, of the Icewind Dale Elk Clan." Wulfgar blinked in surprise, surprised at both the man's compliment and what he knew. "The mage who captured you must have told him," Morik said. "I hate mages." "Nobody will catch you again," Temigast said. "I promise." The promise came true, and Morik and Wulfgar made their way up the hillside without any trouble, found their own horses, and continued on their way east, leaving Oulf for good. Kney. "What's the matter?" Wulfgar asked Morik late that night, seeing the rogue's amused expression.They were huddling around the fire to keep the baby warm.Morik smiled and picked up two bottles, one of warm goat's milk for the children, the other of wine to celebrate their good fortune.Wulfgar took the bottle of goat's milk. "I'll never fully understand you, my friend," Morik commented. Wulfgar smiled, but did not answer.Morik couldn't really understand Wulfgar's past, the good times he had with Drizzt and his other friends, and the worst times with Errtu and his daedrons. "There are easy ways to make money," Morik said, which caught Wulfgar's determined gaze. "Of course, I mean buying the kids," Morik continued. Wulfgar looked at him mockingly. "Can get a good price," Morik argued, picking up the bottle for a healthy swig. "Not good enough," Wulfgar said, turning to look at the little girl.She was wriggling and drinking goat's milk. "You're not trying to raise her!" Morik argued. "Where can we go with her? For you, where do you want to go? Have you lost all judgment?" Wulfgar frowned and turned to look at him, knocking the bottle out of Morik's hand, Then push him back to the ground, taking this as an answer to Morik the Rogue. "She's not even yours!" Morik reminded. Thieves missed no more.