“Sharpen those axes, fletch the arrows!”, shouted a Forsworn to his colleagues. The left side of his chest where his heart was had a briarheart stitched inside of it. Serpent’s Bluff Redoubt was located south-west from Rorikstead but the the Reachmen weren’t aiming for the small farming village, they were aiming to retake Markarth, capital of The Reach from their Nord oppressors.
“The Matriach has grown tired of waiting in her nest. We must rejoin our brethren from the South crushing any that stands in our way!”, The Briarheart’s speech gave the others a boost of morale, sparks were flying across the night sky as a Reachman was sharpening dozens of iron axes. Beside him, a fellow Reachwoman was fletching arrows using hawk feathers that were gathered all month long. Two more Reachmens served as bodyguards for the Briarheart.
Near the entrance of the camp, two Forsworn were patrolling the perimeter, looking for any trespassers. After a few rounds around the camp, they stopped at the entrance and started a conversation.
“It’s finally here, the moment we’ve all been waiting for, Ysara.”, said an excited Forsworn.
“Indeed Agrane, I can’t wait to kill all the Nords in that city”, Ysara spoke with fire in her heart as she raised her battleaxe high above the midnight sky.
Both of them then look towards The Reach with their eyes sighted on the Dwarven city. Suddenly, a fast firebolt hit Ysara on the side of her face, killing her instantly. “Ysara!?”, Agrane was shocked as he look at his fallen comrade’s charred face. Agrane then looked forward after hearing the sound of clanking metal. To his suprise, a hooded armoured man charged at him with a ebony mace on his right hand. Before the Forsworn could react, he was quickly taken down with the force of the mace crushing his head.
Then a figure emerged from the bushes nearby, a Dunmer clad in Chitin Armor which was well known in Morrowind.
“Two down, six more to go”, said the armoured warrior to his Dunmer partner.
“Let’s just finish this quickly Ax, I’m tired of hearing that Briarheart saying Forsworn this or Bleed the Reach...” said Sero.
The two had been scouting Serpent’s Bluff Redoubt since dusk, looking for an opening. As they entered the camp, the sound of grinding and banging came to a halt as the Briarheart and his men set their eyes upon the two intruders.
“Kill them and bring their hearts to the Matriach!” shouted the Briarheart which prompted the five Forsworns to charge at the duo.
“I’ll take care of the Briarheart, you take care of his cronies”, Axius then proceeded to charge through three Reachmen by shouting Wuld.
“With pleasure...”, Sero grinned shortly before attacking a Forsworn with his katana. As Reachman and Dunmer clashed with steel and sharpened bones, Sero finally got the upper hand by disarming him and slashed his vulnerable chest.
“Who’s next?”, asked Sero with a faint smile. This angered the two other Forsworn into attacking him.
Meanwhile, Axius was busy dealing with an archer. Her quick, nimble body dodged Axius’s deadly blows until the Imperial couldn’t stand for it any longer. Axius then shouted FUS at the archer which caused her to be pushed into a tent and killed as the tent collasped due to the impact.
As Axius slowly approach the Briarheart, another Forsworn appeared. He wielded a axe and a sword of each arm, both were made from sharpened bones capable of cutting through armor. The Forsworn then spun his weapons around trying to strike fear into the heart of the Imperial. Axius, tired of the Forsworn’s nuisance, casted a firebolt spell at him which caused the Forsworn to scream in pain as he died.
The Imperial finally met the Briarheart who seemed amused by how quickly he killed his warriors. Axius saw the Briarheart’s beastlike eyes, he tries to reason with the Briarheart to surrender to end any further bloodshed.
“By the order of Jarl Igmund of Markarth, you are to be killed for your ties with the Forsworn and killing innocent civilians. However, if you surrender yourself and come with me to Markarth, I will make sure you’ll be treated properly.”
Axius’s last line made the Briarheart spat at the ground and laughed. “Treated properly!? Have you seen Cidhna Mine, Imperial? That is where our kind get sent to if they are captured. Why do you think the Forsworn fight like wild dogs?”
“You have my word, I’ll see to it that you and the prisoners in the Mines be fed if you lay down your arms”, Axius lowered his voice trying to make the Reachman come to his senses.
“Your words means nothing in Markarth! The Silver-Bloods controls all of Markarth. As long their kin lives, there will be blood spilled in The Reach.”, The Briarheart cried out in anger. The situation was going nowhere as the sounds of swords clashing and screams from the Forsworns being attacked by Sero filled the air. Axius knew that the Briarheart’s words are true since he had seen the Silver-Blood’s cruelty first hand.
“I guess there’s no reasoning with you then, very well.”, Axius then charge at the Briarheart but he dodged and began to bring a flurry of slashes with his bone swords on the Imperial’s rear. Axius quickly spun counterclockwise bringing his shield to the front which blocked the Briarheart’s attack. The impact of his swords against the shield staggered the Briarheart but he quickly got up and continued pounding Axius’s shield.
“This guy really is a madman...” Axius thought to himself as he tried to hold up the shield.
“Guess there’s only one option left...”
Axius’s bashed the Briarheart giving him enough time to become ethereal by using a shout. The Briarheart, filled with bloodlust continued attacking the spot where Axius was, believing that he used an Invincibility spell.
“Coward, show yourself!”, the Forsworn screamed at the nightsky. The briarheart in his chest had made him lose what sanity left in him for power.
“Coward? I was just taking a...break”, Axius’s voice sounded as if he was standing right in front of the Forsworn.
Suddenly, Axius reappeared at the same spot where the Briarheart had attacked repeatedly followed by a blast of fire which knockbacked the shocked Forsworn. Sero then appeared with blood on his blade and cuts on his left arm.
“What took you so long?”, jokingly asked Axius who seemed to be exhausted.
“Let’s just say those two Forsworns were as jumpy as a pair of skeevers in heat.”, Sero replied, adding some humor to the scene.
“Looks like you just made a miniature Oblivion here, Ax.”, As Sero whistled and inspected the area. Tents were on fire and collapsing as smoke rose high up, blocking the moonlight. The scene truely resembled something Mehrune’s Dagon would done should the Oblivion Crisis happened again.
“So much for treasure....”, Sero muttered to himself while looking at the destroyed tent that housed a Nordic tomb chest.
“Sero, would you do me a favor?”, panted Axius as he tried to rest. He dropped his mace and shield right beside him, too tired to even carry them.
Sero raised an eyebrow before replying.
“Sure, what do you need?”
“See if our Briarheart friend is dead. If he isn’t, kill him.”
“What happened to reason before killing?” questioned Sero as he eyed the body of the Briarheart.
“Did that and look what it got us into.”, answered Axius as he pointed towards all the burning tents. Axius always preferred to reason with his enemies to stand down because he knows things can get messy if he doesn’t.
“You have a point”, Sero then walked towards the Briarheart, his body was burned by the intense heat of Axius’s Fire Storm yet he’s still alive, barely. He could hear the faint sound of the Briarheart groaning in pain.
“Hey Axius, he’s still alive but badly burned.” shouted Sero to his partner who apperently appears to be laying on the ground even though the camp is on fire.
“Is his head ok?” Axius shouted back with his arms were behind his head.
“Yeah except for a couple of bruises and stitches. What’s so important about his head?”, asked a confused Sero.
“Cut it off, atleast we’ll get some extra gold from this...disaster”, Axius replied in a deadpan tone as he gazes upon the orange night sky. He hates watching beheadings or executions due to his past let alone doing it.
Sero let out a sigh before raising his katana, positioning it atop of the neck.
“Well my Forsworn friend, on the bright side, you won’t feel a thing.”, smiled Sero before he swung the blade down onto the Briarheart’s neck.
Author's Note:
*Whistles* 3 blogs in 3 consecutive days, wow that's something I never expected. I added a movie reference in the story so try to find it.
So school starts tomorrow, that means I might post a blog or two once a week for the rest of AMOST. I have an idea of making a long story about Axius on March after I'm done with a build I'm currently doing. But for now, I'm just sharpening my skills.
Comments
Noticed a typo:
...believing that he used an Invincibility [invisibility] spell.
*screams*