Chapter 3: Two Brothers - Part 2
The cold night win pounding upon Azeel and cold stone wall behind him, the wind was to strong to light a fire. He rubbed his hands together, and then his arms often to keep himself warm. The small blanket that the watchmen used kept almost no elements out and provided very little warmth, but it was better than nothing. Azeel had been watching the sun’s rays slowly move over the land as the morning drew on. He was anxious, Azeel was furious with his brother, although he would never raise his voice or take action against him. BUT SKOOMA!? It was a stretch, even for them they had been bodyguards, enforcers and even hired to take care of a few people, Skooma had never even been discussed between them. The coin should be good enough for the job though, thought Azeel.
It was early morning and the pair of Argonians were taking the main road northward that would lead them to Eastmarch. They walked in a line, one behind the other and walked at a pace that would have them at Cragslane with three days. Skyrim was a beautiful land, the forests are large and full of diversity and life. Unfortunately their Civil War had divided the people and the war was destroying the land, it saddened the Argonian. If Azeel knew how to shoot, the forests of The Rift would be a perfect place, at least he could set snares.
The sun was nearing midday as the pair walking down the road and twin watchtowers loomed over head. They both stood 50 feet high and had cobblestone bases and wooden walls. The square towers and the crest of The Rift hanging from each side half way up and an open balcony at the top where lookouts should be. There was something wrong, there were no guards posted up top. “Utadeek, wait.”
The Argonian turned, “Brother, what is the matter?”
Azeel raised his arm, gesturing to the entrance of the tower on the right, there was a red coloring around the door and a body lay in the dirt. “There was an attack, should we help?”
Utadeek walked back to his brother, and rested a hand on Azeel’s shoulder. “No, if we are seen by anyone we will be blamed!”
Azeel pushed past towards the doorway, upon reaching the man he could see that we wore fur and hide armor wrapped around him. He had a stab wound under his left arm and a cut on his face, his mace lay a few feet away. Azeel turned his head to Utadeek, about 50 yards aways and waved his hand for his brother to come.
Utadeek moved towards the dark, open doorway and he drew is steel longknife from his boot. It was about a 16 inches long and was sharp on one side and bent backwards slightly at the end to form a tip. He raised his left hand, to have Azeel hold outside. Utadeek slipped into the dark room, and crouched behind a crate. His eyes began to adjust and the bottom floor had two bodies of guards of The Rift laying dead on the floor, one seemed as if he was trying to climb the stairs.
Moving quickly up the stairs he rose his head above the floor boards to catch the surroundings. The room was filled with blood thrown everywhere and chairs toppled and the stores strewn around the now red room. “AZEEL!” Called Utadeek, “Come now.” Utadeek moved with purposefully slow movement as if not to wake the dead, he poked a few of the bodies to make sure. Then proceeds to fill a rucksack with dried meats and bread for their journey. Azeel moved to the third and the fourth floor, both house sleeping quarters and then the top floor was the look out point. There was a slain marksmen on the platform, nothing valuable to use.
“Azeel!” Came the shout from the lower levels. “Brother! We need to leave now!”
Azeel ran down to find his brother looking out from the entrance to see a detachment of cavalry coming down the road, probably the replacements of the current watch. Utadeek took several steps backwards towards the road and calling for Azeel “BROTHER! RUN!”
Utadeek took off down the road and Azeel ran after him, trying to put as much distance between the watchtowers as well as the horseman and themselves. Utadeek lead with his longer strides and when the path weaved side to side, they went straight through the trees and bushes until they reached the road again. They ran deep into the afternoon covering more ground towards their destination, and the heat was exhausting them. Tired, they stop and retire to a small river bank a few hundred yards from the main road.
Stooping, Azeel began to cup handfuls of water into his mouth. Utadeek took a knee next to his brother and rested a hand on his back and panted. Looking around, Utadeek began to laugh. He laughed and laughed! Azeel looked at his brother with a confused look, like when someone says something that makes the situation awkward.
“AZEEL!” Laughed Utadeek. “Let a laugh escape! Don’t be a stone face!”
Azeel shoved his brother, “There is nothing funny about what happened!”
“They were not going to chase us! Didn’t you realize after we stopped! They weren’t riding hard or they hadn’t seen us. Just replacements and WE RAN LIKE SCARED PUPPIES!!!”
Azeel looked at his brother and then the water and shook his head at the water. “Are you kidding? We made all this ground for no purpose. Damn, less travel time there then I guess.”
“That is the truth, let's catch some sleep. I’ll take first watch.”
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HEY GUYS! We're actually going to make this a THREE PART arc, the Arc of the Brothers I guess you could call it! But besides that, there's not really much to write about for the Redguard, Malachi. I might do a half chapter or a full one if I could BS enough.
Well I hope you guys are enjoying so far, I’m probably going to finish the Skooma arc (DONT WORRY - ITS NOT LIKE HOW IT IS IN THE GAME!)
Well check back later for part 4
Twitter for updates or anyquestions: https://twitter.com/MrNoahCow7
