Vigilance: An Akaviri Tale, Chapter 2: Home

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    Chapter 2: Home

     

       Snow hits my face like needles as the horse speeds into the night. Eventually I find a crag that could serve as shelter for the night. As I dismounted from the horse it ran back in the direction of the stables, ignoring this I sat down in the snow with my back against the crag. A blizzard envelops the area around the crag. It’s just like home.

     

       I grew up in a human settlement in kamal. We were hardy folk, better fighters than our southern cousins. This is due to the fact that every winter the snow demons  would assault the walls around our settlement, calling the men to action. Big creatures, human like in a way they usually attacked with rocks, hurling them towards the village.

     

       Our steel may bend, but we did not. It would take a good amount of men to take down one of the beasts. We obtained a gift from down south, a siege weapon called a ballista. They’re massive crossbows usually manned by 3 men. When the scouts would come back telling us that the demons are coming, we would ready the ballista. That weapon could easily take down a snow demon with one good hit in the chest.

     

       We had long bitter winters, though the snow demons were pretty rare. They would always have a reason for attacking, usually for our livestock. I remember being in my father’s dojo, sparring with my brother. The cherry blossoms would dust over the snow covered dojo every late winter. We always liked that sight.

     

       One day we were called to action. It was during the summer when the all the demons would awake and attack the south, one of them decided to attack so we rode out. This demon was troublesome as it survived the first shot from the ballista, so we surrounded the creature. The archers would keep the thing stunned while people like me would run up and attack it’s weak points.

     

       We lost 7 men to the creature. Death was normal in our village, almost clockwork. Every couple of weeks someone would die either to the cold, or the demons. A new factor came into play one year. A disease started in the south and made it into the north. It’s called Daxil. What it does is it shuts down a person from the inside taking away their senses and eventually stopping the heart. I left as soon as I could. I tried to convince my father and brother to come, but they were stubborn and declined. Thought I was foolish for leaving akavir.

     

       I finally rest my eyes and sleep through the blizzard. The morning sun reflects off a patch of ice and hits my face, waking me up. I move over to the patch of ice on my hands and knees, looking at my reflection.  Sharp green eyes, angular cheekbones, black beard tied in knot, scars across my face. I take some nearby snow and wash my face with it.

     

       Off in the distance I hear the creaking of a cart wheel, so I get up off the ground, throw my hood and cloak on and walk towards the road where the cart is passing. The hooded man seated in the front of the cart pulls on the horse’s reins and asks me,

     

    “Hello traveler, do you need a ride? I can take you to any of the hold capitals”

     

       I take a moment to respond and think back to what my father’s journal said about a school with an intense library that could hold some knowledge about Akavir. The College of Winterhold.

     

    “Winterhold please.”

     

    “That will be 50 septims.” the man says as he sticks out his hand for payment.

     

       I pay the man and take a seat in the cart. Opening my bag I pull out the book I bought and begin to read it over the long ride to Winterhold.

     

Comments

2 Comments   |   Karver the Lorc and 1 other like this.
  • Sotek
    Sotek   ·  December 31, 2016
    College of Winterhold... I  wonder what events await the Akaviri there...
  • Karver the Lorc
    Karver the Lorc   ·  December 20, 2016
    So human, eh? Also, I think you might get some info wrong about Kamal. "Every summer they thaw out and invade Tang Mo" - Mysterious Akavir.  This suggests that during winter they are frozen solid.