Tusker
A beast from the Northsong and Westsong Cycles—and a story fragment from the third epoch
Tuskers were long-nosed creatures indigenous to northern climes of the Fledgling World. They were slightly shorter than their mammoth-beast cousins, with flatter heads, more angular ears, and straighter tusks. Though their hair was not as long or thick as mammoths’, long-haired tuskers predominated in the Nordlings’ domain, while nearly hairless varieties inhabited the northern Redeemed kingdoms. Earthly folk found tuskers, like mammoth-beasts, useful for battle, military transport, and the construction and breaking of fortifications. Nordlings preferred mammoths to tuskers, considering the latter inferior and ill-tempered—much the same way they viewed their Redeemed neighbors.
“Relief” (from the Northsong Cycle, third epoch)
One after another, serpentine noses to stubby tails, a file of beasts broke through the blue-grey shroud that lay upon the snowy ridge. The towering critters swayed and wobbled on their plodding path downslope, but every rider kept his seat.
They survived. Wright be praised. Shouts and cheers filled the hollow below the lengthening line of tuskers. Hleg didn’t move from the opening of his command tent. He folded his arms across his chest, half-fastened armor hanging from his legs and shoulders, and studied their unlikely reinforcements. And so we might survive, too. If there be any fight left in them after that crossing. He grimaced under his whiskers and grunted.
"M'lord?" his lieutenant asked. The other aides likewise peered up at Hleg.
"The beasts resemble me," he groused.
The lieutenant’s eyes widened, and the aides gaped. Not a soul dared smirk. Hleg withdrew into his tent. Time to lay new plans.
Author Note
Over the weekend, I spent more time than I’d like to admit sifting through emails and reading old Substack posts. Now I find myself at inbox near-zero for the first time since February, when I began subscribing to many of the Warrior Wednesday and Sword & Saturday fantasy authors on Substack. Though I’ve deleted hundreds of email notifications without reading the posts, I read and enjoyed dozens. Among my favorites are Ethan Sabatella’s series on Cú Chulainn of Celtic lore. For years, the legends of Cú Chulainn (such “The Cattle Raid of Cooley”) have served as one of several sources of inspiration for my Northsong Cycle. Ethan’s reviews are well written and worth your while if you have any interest in mythology and folklore. Happy reading!
Ugh—when I originally posted this, it was missing the links, including to Ethan Sabatella's reviews of the graphic novel and original legends about Cú Chulainn. If you read it in the app or browser, you'll see the links are there now. Sorry for the inconvenience, email readers!