The Cursed Tribe - Chapter 2

  • Chapter 2

    Adal Matar II

     

    Yamarz looked at Snagam with interest as they walked, but he didn't seem to notice it. They had been travelling for some time now and that had given Yamarz some time to think.

     

    Snagam's chieftain had presented an offer to trade his daughter. But Yamarz had to fight and defeat her beforehand. This was one of the oldest traditions between Orcs. It meant that the chieftain of Adal Matar wanted his daughter to become Yamarz’s shield-wife.

     

    Shield-wives weren't very common these days and Yamarz had never met or heard about one in Skyrim. He had heard that the king of Orsinium had several of these wives acting as his bodyguards. Most Orcs had heard that, but king of Orsinium could kiss their arses.

     

    He snorted. What kind of Orc is the king of Orsinium that he has to have bodyguards? It might be true what the wise-women say. Cities make Orcs weak. And it doesn't matter if it's a city of Orcs or not.

     

    “What's that?” Snagam asked, stopping.

     

    “I was just thinking,” muttered Yamarz. “But tell me. Why does your chieftain want to trade off his daughter as a shield-wife?”

     

    Snagam grimaced at that. Other races would think it to be disgust or dissatisfaction on his face, but it was actually a smile. It wasn't really an easy thing to smile when you had tusks protruding from your mouth.

     

    “When you see Ghorurz, you'll understand, gro-Largash. She is the strongest of our tribe. No one can match her in battle. And our chieftain is looking for a strong ally. That's why he's willing to offer her as a shield-wife. If he wasn't looking for allies, he would probably keep her.”

     

    While it was not against tradition to refrain from trading off a daughter, it wasn't very common. But what Snagam had said got Yamarz thinking. Strongest of their tribe. That could mean only two things. Either the warriors of Adal Matar weren't very good fighters, or she was really that good. And because Adal Matar was an Orc Stronghold, Yamarz thought that it had to be the other possibility.

     

    “And why does your tribe need allies?” he asked Snagam.

     

    The gro-Adal scowled. “It would be better for my chieftain to answer that question.”

     

    Heavy silence fell between them. Neither of the Orcs minded though. Orcs don’t talk just for the sake of conversation. That wasn't the Orcs' way. They spoke only when they had something to say.

     

    Yamarz looked around his surroundings. They were still in a birch forest; that meant they were still in the Rift. The journey was a little bit longer because they had to avoid Riften - Nords didn't like Orcs in full armor coming near their cities. So they had to go to the east, around the Forelhost ruins and then to the north. They traveled along the Velothi Mountains since, but Yamarz saw they were slowly leaving the hold of the Rift.

     

    Between the trees, he could see Mount Anthor in the distance, which meant that they would soon cross the borderline between the Rift and Eastmarch. Pine trees started to appear here and there between white birches and Yamarz felt through his legs that they were slowly descending. He knew that there was a Nord settlement nearby, somewhere to the east of where they were.

     

    They were in a pass between the Velothi Mountains and Northwind Wall - which was the name given by the Orcs to the mountains that divided the plateau of the Rift from Eastmarch, below it.

     

    “How far now?” he turned on Snagam.

     

    “Not far. We just have to descend through this pass and then find a cave known as Stony Creek Cave to the locals.”

     

    “Then-”

     

    A mighty roar interrupted Yamarz's reply. Both Orcs stopped and their hands went to the hilts of their weapons. Snagam's hand was on his shoulder, holding the hilt of his sword and Yamarz pulled both his axes from their place, at his sides.

     

    From underneath the pinetrees came a large mountain bear, standing upright upon its hind legs. He let out another mighty roar before falling forwards, upon his strong forepaws as Snagam pulled his sword from his scabbard. “We have to make him raise himself upon his hind legs again, so I could pierce his-” started Snagam, but Yamarz pushed him aside.

     

    “Don't tell me what to do,” he growled and let out a roar just as loud and mighty as bear's. The animal charged and it was a sight to behold this animal, with the weight of three grown up Orcs in full armor, charging it's prey. It was a shame that this bear’s prey was an Orc.

     

    “Blood and bones!” roared Yamarz, banging his axes together. The bear responded with a fearsome growl. Time froze as the bear leapt at Yamarz, whose sight was suddenly clouded by red mist. He saw the bear's fangs and mighty paws, able to shred his armor like paper.

     

    He stepped aside and with a powerful swing from both of his hands simultaneously, he buried both axes into the bear’s neck. The animal's leap had torn the weapons from his hands and a swipe of its paw sent Yamarz on the ground. The armor luckily protected him from the claws and he quickly rose back on his feet, baring his tusks as he was supressing the pain in his side where the bear’s paw hit him. There would be a nasty bruise, but bruise was better than spilled guts.

     

    The bear was limping, struggling to stay upright and Snagam used a moment to bury his sword into the animal’s side, piercing its lungs. The bear weakly swung its paw and Snagam quickly dodged, surprisingly quick in his ebony armor.

     

    One last angry growl from the bear and then it collapsed on the ground. Yamarz went to the corpse and with a heave and a growl he freed his axes from the animal’s flesh.

     

    “No tusking animal bests an Orc,” he spitted on the carcass.

     

    He noticed Snagam standing just a few steps away from him with a stone look on his face.

     

    “What?” asked Yamarz.

     

    “Nothing. I just hope we never become enemies, chief Yamarz.”

    It took them almost an hour to traverse the pass and by that time, the sky was already red, as the sun slowly disappeared behind the mountains. They abandoned the road and headed east to Stony Creek Cave.

     

    Yamarz saw a flickering of campfire between the trees; Snagam was leading them directly towards it.

     

    “Friends?” he asked Snagam, checking to see if he could easily unsheathe his axes from their holding rings without trouble. He could.

     

    “Yes,” nodded other Orc. “My brother.”

     

    They emerged from behind a large rock and before them, there was a camp of two fur tents, a campfire and two Orcs sitting close to it. One wore similar armor to Snagam, his face painted by purple war paint and when he raised his head, Yamarz noticed an empty eye socket and nasty scars on the left side of his face - probably done by some animal, maybe a sabercat.

     

    The other Orc wore orichalcum armor covered with mammoth furs and his hand was positioned close to an orichalcum warhammer lying on the ground. Yamarz recognized the face. “Gorgul gro-Narzul,” he growled, shooting an angry look on Snagam. “He got the same offer, right?”

     

    “Yamarz gro-Largash,” said Gorgul and got up on his feet. He was extraordinarily tall for an Orc, taller than Yamarz by almost one entire head. “I'm just as surprised as you.”

     

    “You two have a blood-vengeance between yourself?” asked Snagam looking from one to another.

     

    “We have a score to settle,” muttered Yamarz, as he removed his gauntlets and helmet.

     

    “That we do,” Gorgul nodded, doing the same. Then he jumped over the fire and swung his fist towards Yamarz face.

     

    The young chieftain ducked as his fist shot upwards, smashing Gorgul’s chin. There was a loud clop of Orc's teeth and Yamarz expected him to fall, but his taller opponent regained balance quicker than expected; in that moment, he was assailed by a heavy fist in his own jaw. Bright stars exploded in front of his eyes, but he blindly blocked another punch with his elbow. He leapt forward, and yanked Gorgul to the ground.

    Snagam watched the two orcs fight and sat next to his brother. “How was your journey, Azuin?”

     

    Azuin looked at him with a distasteful look. “That Gorgul is much too grumpy for my liking. Even our chieftains are not that grumpy, and you know full well that’s something. You saw them arguing everytime they met.” He narrowed his eyes as something cracked. “Probably some branch. But anyway, he lives with his dead wife's sisters. Imagine that. Damn hags. What about yours?”

     

    Snagam remembered the moment when Yamarz killed that bear with one single blow. “I'm quite impressed, actually. He's very promising. He has only one wife now, but that could change. He could be useful.”

     

    The sun’s light was already gone and the two chieftain’s brawl had moved elsewhere, into the dark. Snagam was wondering how long they would continue.

     

    “At least that’s something,” grumbled Azuin. “Gorgul gro-Narzul won't be of much use to us. He's not that tough to-”

     

    “Don't make any predictions you’ll regret,” Snagam interrupted him.

     

    “Hmm,” muttered his brother. “Shouldn't we stop them? They might kill each other.”

     

    Yet again Snagam recalled the moment of the bear's death. “If they wanted to kill each other, one of them would already be dead. They're just settling some disputes. I'm more worried that they might not be able to walk after that.”

     

    A painful scream sounded from the dark. There was silence for a second and then the brothers heard heavy breathing.

     

    “Yup, one is dead,” proclaimed Azuin.

     

    “Shut up.”

     

    Some branches cracked under heavy steps and then both Orcs emerged from the dark, supporting each other. Their faces were bloody and swollen, yet both were grinning.

    Yamarz sat down next to the fire with a silent wail. “I think you've broken one of my ribs, you oaf,” he said to Gorgul who was lying on his back, right next to him.

     

    “You could have prevented that. All you had to say was that my sister is a better smith than yours.”

     

    “She's blind as a bat! How can she be a better smith?” yelled Yamarz.

     

    “Seriously?” asked Azuin. “You two were fighting over that?”

     

    The chieftains looked at each other and Yamarz shrugged. “Yeah, that's pretty much it.”

     

    Azuin shook his head in disbelief. “And our chieftains-” he started but Snagam prodded him with his elbow.

     

    Yamarz narrowed his eyes. Chieftains? What's that about?

     

    He looked at Gorgul and helped him to sit. The chieftain of Narzulbur was older by ten winters, so he was already chieftain when Yamarz had met him. He remembered that he and his father were good friends and because of that, both strongholds had a good relationship with each other. Gorgul became chieftain when he killed his brother, the previous chieftain, and he took his wives as his own. It wasn't that strange, but it frankly didn't happen very often. If a brother had to fight his chieftain, it usually meant the chieftain was weak.

     

    “You're still keeping those two hags in Narzulbur?” he asked Gorgul.

     

    The chieftain of Narzulbur sighed. “Unfortunaly, yes. You have no idea how happy I am I could run off,” he said with a grin. Then he looked at Yamarz and laid his hand on Yamarz shoulder. “So you're chieftain. Your father was a great warrior.”

     

    “He was. But his time came,” said Yamarz with a sour look on his face. Memories of that fight emerged yet again, but he shook his head to drive them away. “It was his time,” he repeated quietly.

     

    Gorgul patted him and turned his attention back to the brothers of Adal Matar. “So why have you brought both of us?”

     

    “Our chieftain wants to strike an alliance with both of you,” Snagam answered calmly. “While only one of you can gain shield-wife, the chieftain is willing to give the other one his other daughter. With the same conditions and benefits.”

     

    “That actually doesn't sound that bad. What do you think, Yamarz? Will you be satisfied with some other daugher?” laughed Gorgul.

     

    “Only in your dreams,” he muttered, deep in thought. Why does their chieftain want an alliance with two Skyrim strongholds so badly? What is there that I don't see?

     

    “You should sleep,” said Snagam. “We'll be leaving tomorrow morning. It isn't safe to climb through the mountains during the night. The first part of the path is extremely dangerous. So get your strength back, chieftains.”

     

    Yamarz was looking at the brothers and saw some strange reflection in their eyes. They seemed excited. And a little bit afraid. He smelled that in the air, though the smoke from fire made those scents distorted.

     

    Something was off.



     

Comments

20 Comments   |   Paws and 4 others like this.
  • Caladran
    Caladran   ·  November 27, 2017
    “Nothing. I just hope we never become enemies, chieftain Yamarz.”

    ^ This made me giggle.  I hope Yamarz can overcome whatever "something was off" is.
  • Karver the Lorc
    Karver the Lorc   ·  June 6, 2016
    Spot on!
  • SpottedFawn
    SpottedFawn   ·  June 5, 2016
    Great chapter, Karvs! I have a question for you though. Grogul is the father of the NPC Mauhulakh, right? Bolar and Yatul are the hags mentioned?
  • Justiciar Thorien
    Justiciar Thorien   ·  March 15, 2016
    You too are going to say I'm a Thalmor reading machine? If I read it all in one evening, what I'll read tomorrow?)))
  • Karver the Lorc
    Karver the Lorc   ·  March 15, 2016
    Yup, just keep reading! You can make it Thorien! You can read it all today! 
  • Justiciar Thorien
    Justiciar Thorien   ·  March 15, 2016
    Wow, things grow more and more interesting))) Chiftains? They have more than one?))
  • Karver the Lorc
    Karver the Lorc   ·  January 18, 2016
    Heh, thanks, Phil. Don´t worry, we´ll get to that douche one day. Just not anytime soon, so you´ll have to read about badass Yamarz for the time being.
  • Paws
    Paws   ·  January 18, 2016
    “No fucking animal bests an Orc,” he spitted on the carcass.

    Yamarz is just so damn cool in this series so far. How did that happen? In the game he's a douche but you have actually flipped that really well.
  • Karver the Lorc
    Karver the Lorc   ·  January 14, 2016
    Well, most of the fight happens somewhere in the dark, so there are what? 4-5 moves max here? Not sure if it´s very helpful. 
  • The Long-Chapper
    The Long-Chapper   ·  January 14, 2016
    Reread this again for my own research. Well done fight scene. I think this is close to what were discussing between the two disputing parties (who shall remain nameless for now) in chapter 3.