C.o.t.D: Chapter 5 - A Minor Delay

• Posted by A-Pocky-Hah! January 22, 2016 - 1,098 views

  Chapter 5: A Minor Delay

  

  “Books!? I thought Boss said that this carriage would have loot not paper!” exclaimed a Nord bandit as he rummaged through the seized carriage. Just in front, an Orc was skinning the driver’s dead horse.

  “Atleast we’ll have horse haunches for tonight” the Orc said. His mouth was drooling, imagining ways on how to cook the meat. The horse’s exposed flesh had bits of skin on it as the black iron blade cut through, showing the Orc’s poor work. They caught the cart-driver and his bodyguard by surprise. The bodyguard was sleeping and didn’t even bother to fight when he was pulled out of the carriage.

  “What about the two milk-drinkers we have Filrik guarding?” the Nord mentioned to his green cohort.

  “We’ll strip the Imperial off his armor and let them walk back to Dragon Bridge… if the wolves don’t get them first” the Orc replied, grinning, revealing his cracked tusk and yellow teeth.

  Nearby, Axius and the cart-driver were tied to a large rock by a thick, old rope. A Nord, Filrik was guarding them. The skinny Nord wore only fur armor that smelled like it hadn’t been washed for ages with a worn out linen cloak, stained in dried mud and dirt between his thin shoulders. A rusty iron spear was firmly gripped on his hands as he circled around the rock, giving stone-hard looks on the captives. He had his back away from the two captives for a moment, looking at his comrades scavenging the carriage, only to turned towards the captives after hearing a noise from there.

  “Oh gods, I don’t want to die… Please, let me go!” the cart-driver cried out. He was causing quite a commotion that the bandits tried to find a piece of cloth to quiet him down. Unfortunately, there wasn’t a piece of cloth thick enough to muffle his cries. So instead, Filrik had to hit him with the wooden end of his spear everytime he opened his mouth.

  “Shut up! Or I’ll cut your tongue.” Filrik warned. The blow from the wooden end caused the cart-driver’s right cheek to be swollen in purple as blood dripped from his mouth. Axius was being awfully quiet, even with a tight rope squeezing his chest. He seemed to be calm during his capture and apparently sleeping when the bandit observed him.

  The bandit then walked towards the river stream, trying to relieve himself. Amidst the sound of clutters being tossed out of the carriage and the river flowing through the flat tundra, Axius opened his eyes and finally spoke.

  “What’s your name, driver?”, Axius whispered softly.

  “Th...Thaer” the driver answered. His words weren’t very clear due to the bruises he sustained. “It’s about time you said something” He wasn’t very pleased when the Imperial finally spoke. When they were ambushed, Thaer expected the crusader to put up a fight. Instead, he didn’t reach out for his mace and simply raised his hands in surrender.

  “Look, sorry for not fighting them earlier but I have a plan if you’re in.”

  Thaer only let out reluctant “Mmhmm” in agreement.

  Axius ordered Thaer to lean forward at the same time, stretching the already tightened rope. He flicked his right hand, motioning his fingers while closing his eyes. His hands then glow red hot and touched the rope which began to sizzle. The rope slowly burned, without a single smoke coming out. They were almost free until footsteps can be heard coming from the river.

  “He’s coming back..” Thaer whispered. His heart beats faster for every footstep that comes closer. He was breathing heavily, imagining the worst outcome if they were caught escaping until Axius calmed him down.

  Almost… there

  Filrik came back, baring the same hard look as he did before. He didn’t even noticed the partially burned rope as the starless night sky concealed it from his narrow eyes. He resumed his posting, turning his back against Thaer and Axius.

  “Ok, now.” The two lean forward again and this time, the rope snapped, releasing them from their bindings. Axius quickly crouched and crawled towards Filrik, who was oblivious of their release. He interlocked his right arm across the bandit’s neck, incapacitating him. When the bandit was knocked out, Axius told Thaer to head to the nearest settlement and report to the Jarl before grabbing the bandit’s spear and walking towards the carriage.

  The first one Axius encountered was the Orc. A sack filled with horse meat was slung on his back with a steel battleaxe on his left hand. He mistaken the Imperial for Filrik in the distance before realizing who it actually was.

  “I should of never let that puny Nord guard you two” the Orc dropped the sack and charged at Axius with his battleaxe, roaring out his battlecry.

  Axius raised the spear above his shoulder, adjusting the arc so the spear would hit the target. With a single breath, he tossed the spear towards the charging Orc, it spun around as the rusted spearhead pierce through the air before meeting the Orc. It was stuck in the Orc’s chest as his lifeless body dropped.

  “Hey, what’s all that racket?”. The last bandit emerged from the carriage after hearing the Orc’s battlecry. “Ysmir’s beard!” He was shocked when he saw the Orc’s dead body, the spear protruding from his chest. His eye soon met Axius’s whose eyes were watching and waiting for the bandit to make a move. The Imperial soon realized that the Nord was carrying his backpack with all his gear inside.

  “That’s my backpack, you bastard!” Axius shouted before rushing at the bandit in anger.

  Out of fear, the Nord ran for the rocky plains with the Imperial on his tail. He was fast and nimble, climbing up rocks to get away from the Imperial but he was catching up to him. Axius’s armor didn’t slow him down. He was worried what would happen if the bandit got away with the Mace of Aevar Stone-Singer, most likely a trophy presented to his leader. The bandit soon stumbled when he dropped down a steep hill. A scroll dropped from the side pocket of the backpack as the bandit rolled down.

  Perfect, just what I need,  Axius picked up the scroll. He never thought the day would came when a magic scroll would be of use to him.

  Axius unrolled the scroll open, revealing partially fade magical inscriptions in the yellow paper. He hovered his hand over the scroll. The inscriptions begin to glow faintly then floated towards Axius’s hand, forming a light blue spell that emits a freezing sound.

  Now armed with a frost spell, Axius aimed for the bandit, now a few distances away from him. His eyes narrowed into the bandit’s legs as he charged the spell. He fired the spell which released a large ice spike that pinned the bandit’s left leg to the rocks. The ice spike could be seen in a distance, it’s bright blue surface was covered with the bandit’s blood. The Nord couldn’t removed the ice spike from his leg due to the freezing bite it’s inflicting. As he groaned at the chilling pain, Axius stood in front of him with an irritated look.

  “Hand over my backpack” Axius demanded, reaching out his hand.

  The bandit tossed the backpack at Axius. “Take your damn backpack, Imperial. Because my boss will have your head”. The bandit laughed even with the pain he’s enduring.

  “And where is this boss of yours?” Axius asked when he grabbed the bandit by his fur collar.

  “Lo..look beyond th..those rocks” the bandit pointed out, smirking before spitting at the Imperial’s face. Axius responded with a ham-sized fist to his face, knocking him out cold.

  -----------------

  He scaled up the rocks, heading South to where the bandit pointed out. Just beyond his right was the Harrald River. Mudcrabs were scuttling around on the muddy shores but from afar, they looked like rocks.

  “Why did I even believe that bandit.” Axius muttered to himself. He wasn’t one to trust a bandit’s word but he couldn’t let this bandit leader terrorize the citizens of this hold. That being said, the Imperial found himself in a different land. Haafingar had the rocky coasts at the edges of its land and snow-speckled forests down South. This Hold was the opposite. The lands were flat and barren with the only things that stood were old stone landmarks and the grey hills which matched the ground and sky.

  Axius soon saw bright lights from the distance. It was too bright to be a campfire. Perhaps it’s a military camp, he thought but deep inside, he knew it wasn’t.

  As he went closer, he could hear people chatting, metal being banged and grinded as well as the smell of roasted venison, crawling into his nostrils. He crept towards a large rock and peeked out to see what was going on.

  By the gods… Axius had his jaw wide opened when he saw probably the largest bandit camp he’d ever seen. About three dozen tents gathered around, inside the wooden palisade. A wooden shack at the end and two towers that guarded the barricaded road were the only distinguishable features of the encampment. He ducked his head down when two bandits approached, warming their hands by the campfire.

  “I heard the Boss is getting paranoid.” a bandit said to his associate.

  “Yeah, I’ve also heard that Brodir and Herd are planning to stage a mutiny to overthrow the other.”, the other bandit replied.

  “Sshh! Not so loud, shit-for-brains. You want our heads on a pike?” The bandit whispered harshly as he slapped the back of his associate’s head. “Anyways, best we don’t get involve and see who survives”.

  The two shared a bottle of mead and some stories before a sentry from the towers blowed his horn, putting the whole camp on high alert.

  “Take up arms, you worthless oafs! They’re here.” The leader emerged from the wooden shack, barking orders. He was a big, muscular Redguard with oiled braided black hair and clad in steel plate from chest to heel. He held a dagger and a sword in both of his hands. The sword had a red glint to it. That’s just great, he has an enchanted sword, Axius cursed as he observed the situation from behind the rock. He wondered who could possibly attack the fortified bandit camp. The guards? Sellswords? His answer came in the form of screams as the sentries fell from their towers, arrows in their chests or throats. The barricades were smashed followed by the sound of clashing steel and more screams. In the midst of the chaos, the bandits were in disorder like a flock of crows being scramed away but the Redguard managed to keep them disciplined.

  Axius finally found out who they were when a bandit was stabbed through his chest by an unseen figure. The figure then revealed himself from behind the wooden wall. A Nord with the same build as the Redguard. His hair was as black as the fur on his dark grey armor. A red cape fastened with a miniature battleaxe, enameled in gold, gently flapped behind him.

  “Aela! We got them trapped inside.” He shouted out before three bandits rushed at him. They were all dead within seconds, each had an arrow between the eyes.

  “Good work Vilkas. Now, let’s find their leader an...” Aela paused for a brief moment before her face went red in rage . “Where’s Farkas!?” The tone in her voice were like the arrows in her quiver, fast, sharp and loud when it hits.

  “Here!” Farkas answered. His armor was nearly identical to the Vilkas’s armor. In fact, they were identical from their features and body, except Farkas wielded a sword and a shield while the other one had a claymore.

  “You had me worried. Now, let us continue th…” Aela was interrupted by heavy footsteps and the Redguard emerging with two dozen bandits behind him. “So the Companions finally arrived.” The bandit grinned menacingly. “ You’re heads will be a nice decoration once I’m done with you. Get em!”

  Axius was glued to where he was as he saw the three Companions fighting valiantly against the horde of bandits. “So this is the Companions Captain Radovir has been boasting on about.” he muttered. Bodies piled up on the ground as each bandit was either shot, stabbed or sliced. The camp now smelled of blood, iron and piss until Axius nearly vomited.

  An archer stood just below where Axius was hiding. He was aiming for one of the Companions until Axius dropped down and clobbered him. Not on my watch… The Redguard turned around and was surprised at the Imperial’s presence.

  “Another Companion!? How many of you are there.”, He mistakenly identified. “Not a Companion, just a wandering knight.” Axius corrected. The bandit leader nonetheless, attacked Axius furiously as he raised his shield, every hit sent a loud “bang” echoing through the camp until it caught the Companion’s attention.

  “Who the hell is that?” Aela spied on the two combatants. “Dunno, but he’s good.” Farkas replied, leaning his head out after he killed his batch of marauders. “For an Imperial.” Vilkas added before finishing off a wounded bandit.

  The Redguard made a small cut on Axius’s mace arm, the fire enchantment lightly burning his flesh. He was facing a deadly dancer, every twirl and twist brings blades and fire with them. He tried closing the gap, shield raised, but the bandit pushed him back with his attacks. With only one option left, Axius decided to back away from him, luring him near the firepit. The bandit poked his weapons at the Imperial, trying to lower his guard. Axius also poked at him with his shield, keeping him on the edge and unaware of his plan.

  “Um.. shouldn’t we help him? He seems to be… losing.” Vilkas was worried about the sellsword and tried to step in, but Aela grabbed his arm, holding him back with her stone-cold grip. “No, I think he has the prey right where he wants it.”

  Axius had the Redguard in place, facing against him with only a firepit and a cooking pot between them. They circled around until Axius made his move by kicking the cooking pot towards the bandit. The Redguard was screaming in pain as the boiled water burned his exposed face. He ran towards the wooden shack, dropping his weapons and covering his face. Vilkas then approached from the other side and kicked the Redguard down.

  Aela and Farkas appeared from behind as Axius healed the cut until it was gone. “Well done, sellsword. I must say, you’ll make a fine shield-brother” Aela clapped her hands slowly. She was more visible near the fire. Red hair, green eyes and fair skin, she was stunning yet dangerous with a bow. Reminds me of someone I know, Axius thought. “Thanks but I already have a title. The name’s Ser Axius Cornell.” They shook hands while exchanging glances, something about her eyes made Axius uneasy but he tried to hide it.

  “Ah, a knight from Cyrodiil I supposed. Never seen the likes of you here before.” Her reaction was somewhat, unusual. He’d expect the Nords would of heard about famous knights like the Knights of Stendarr or Pelinal Whitestrake. “My name is Aela, Aela the Huntress.” she continued,  “and the two knuckleheads are Farkas and Vilkas, they're...”

  “Twins?” Axius guessed her next word.

  “Yeah but it’s easy to tell the difference between us.”, Vilkas answered as he hauled the unconscious leader over his shoulder. And easy it was as he had a darker eye shadow and rougher complexion than his brother.

  “So, where are you heading Ser Axius?” Farkas asked, his Ser sounded like a Sayer due to his gruff voice.

  “Markarth, I was supposed to arrive there by dawn until three bandits ambushed my carriage. One of them told me about their leader and so here I am.”

  “The roads to Markarth are cruel, so to say the least about the Forsworn.” Aela moved her hair back. “Now, about the leader. How about you come with us to Whiterun? He was your prey and thus, your reward.”

  “I appreciated your offer, Aela. But I must head to Markarth” He yawned for a moment, seemingly tired after all the running and fighting.

  “You looked tired, Ser Axius. There’s an inn at Rorikstead just south of here. You could sleep there with us until you’re good to go.” Vilkas insisted. The Companions were very friendly towards Axius.

  I wish Captain Radovir would act like them.

  “Well.. I see no harm done. How long till we reach Rorikstead?” They walked out of the camp, now burned and ruined, crossing the small cobblestone bridge. “We should be there in a few minutes if we ride these beauties.” Vilkas showed Axius three magnificent horses, two were of similar breeds while the last one was charcoal black.

  “You’re kidding me. How could these horses even get us to Rorikstead in a few minutes?”

  Axius was irritated by the fact that the horses in Skyrim are slower due to the extra hair on their hooves compared to the ones back in Cyrodiil. They were however, quite sturdy.

  The three Companions laughed. “You really don’t know anything about Skyrim do you?” Aela said. “What if I showed you how a Nord truly handles a horse?” If? Sounds like she wants me to walk to Rorikstead. Axius thought. Although his mind thought something else on what Aela really wanted to say. No. Not that.. Damn you Dibella. Axius pat his head, trying to jog the thought away.

  “You okay, Axius?” Aela asked when she looked at the Imperial gazing at the plains.

  “Yeah, just admiring the.. emptiness.”

  Axius got up the saddle of Aela’s black horse with Vilkas and Farkas behind them. “So what happens now?” Her red hair flowing behind him, still having the smell of blood on it. “Now? Now, you hold on.”

  “To what?”

  “Anything besides me.” she smiled before the horse started sprinting.

  Oh shit...

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  Author's Notes

  Long paragraphs this time. To much reading GRRM's novels and Straag Rod. I decided to extend the "Journey to Markarth" arc by one or two more chapters.