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Page 27
The little folk listened to him quietly.
"What shall we do?" asked Ak.
"These creatures are of no benefit to the world," said the Prince of
the Knooks; "we must destroy them."
"Their lives are devoted only to evil deeds," said the Prince of the
Ryls. "We must destroy them."
"They have no conscience, and endeavor to make all mortals as bad as
themselves," said the Queen of the Fairies. "We must destroy them."
"They have defied the great Ak, and threaten the life of our adopted
son," said beautiful Queen Zurline. "We must destroy them."
The Master Woodsman smiled.
"You speak well," said he. "These Awgwas we know to be a powerful
race, and they will fight desperately; yet the outcome is certain.
For we who live can never die, even though conquered by our enemies,
while every Awgwa who is struck down is one foe the less to oppose us.
Prepare, then, for battle, and let us resolve to show no mercy to
the wicked!"
Thus arose that terrible war between the immortals and the spirits of
evil which is sung of in Fairyland to this very day.
The King Awgwa and his band determined to carry out the threat to
destroy Claus. They now hated him for two reasons: he made children
happy and was a friend of the Master Woodsman. But since Ak's visit
they had reason to fear the opposition of the immortals, and they
dreaded defeat. So the King sent swift messengers to all parts of the
world to summon every evil creature to his aid.
And on the third day after the declaration of war a mighty army was at
the command of the King Awgwa. There were three hundred Asiatic
Dragons, breathing fire that consumed everything it touched. These
hated mankind and all good spirits. And there were the three-eyed
Giants of Tatary, a host in themselves, who liked nothing better than
to fight. And next came the Black Demons from Patalonia, with great
spreading wings like those of a bat, which swept terror and misery
through the world as they beat upon the air. And joined to these were
the Goozzle-Goblins, with long talons as sharp as swords, with which
they clawed the flesh from their foes. Finally, every mountain Awgwa in
the world had come to participate in the great battle with the immortals.
The King Awgwa looked around upon this vast army and his heart beat
high with wicked pride, for he believed he would surely triumph over
his gentle enemies, who had never before been known to fight. But the
Master Woodsman had not been idle. None of his people was used to
warfare, yet now that they were called upon to face the hosts of evil
they willingly prepared for the fray.
Ak had commanded them to assemble in the Laughing Valley, where Claus,
ignorant of the terrible battle that was to be waged on his account,
was quietly making his toys.
Soon the entire Valley, from hill to hill, was filled with the little
immortals. The Master Woodsman stood first, bearing a gleaming ax
that shone like burnished silver. Next came the Ryls, armed with
sharp thorns from bramblebushes. Then the Knooks, bearing the spears
they used when they were forced to prod their savage beasts into
submission. The Fairies, dressed in white gauze with rainbow-hued
wings, bore golden wands, and the Wood-nymphs, in their uniforms of
oak-leaf green, carried switches from ash trees as weapons.
Loud laughed the Awgwa King when he beheld the size and the arms of
his foes. To be sure the mighty ax of the Woodsman was to be dreaded,
but the sweet-faced Nymphs and pretty Fairies, the gentle Ryls and
crooked Knooks were such harmless folk that he almost felt shame at
having called such a terrible host to oppose them.
"Since these fools dare fight," he said to the leader of the Tatary
Giants, "I will overwhelm them with our evil powers!"
To begin the battle he poised a great stone in his left hand and cast
it full against the sturdy form of the Master Woodsman, who turned it
aside with his ax. Then rushed the three-eyed Giants of Tatary upon
the Knooks, and the Goozzle-Goblins upon the Ryls, and the
firebreathing Dragons upon the sweet Fairies. Because the Nymphs were
Ak's own people the band of Awgwas sought them out, thinking to
overcome them with ease.
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