Four Heroes - Chapter 3

  • Destri had managed to persuade Hjor to go hunting to take his mind off of things. Although Hjor was only too happy to, since he really didn’t want to think about anything Destri had told him; But on the other hand, he couldn’t stop thinking about it.

    Who did send those cutpurses? It was as intriguing as it was frightening.

    But much to Hjor’s relief, Destri interrupted his thoughts.

    “I’m bored stiff slaying these critters in the Rift…. how about we go find us some more challenging game nearer Whiterun? Talen-Jei gave me a tip off where a few wolves prowl about…he used to actually be a hunter too, Hjor.” Destri had certainly perked up, considering what he told Hjor just a few hours earlier.

    “Hmmph.” Hjor just about managed to wrap his slothful lips around a grunt of an answer. He was already lost in thought again.

    Destri took the answer as a firm yes and began to stride towards Whiterun with a pondering Hjor trundling behind him, eyes fixated on the floor, clearly still deep in thought.

    * * *

    It was around early evening as they strode past the northern side of High Hrothgar, towards downstream, and both Destri and Hjor breathed a sigh of relief as Dragonsreach was just barely in sight throughout the sun streaked sky, with the actual sun just setting over the west over the Whiterun farms.

    …”Gerroff me! I said…GERROFF ME!!”  Destri and Hjor both heard a seemingly female voice over the hill, right outside a towering stone bridge the cleared that river.

    Destri had heard about this place…what was the name of it again? Var-something? Valtim? Val…Val…..Valtheim! This is Valtheim Towers! Destri nudged Hjor.

    “Be on your guard – this is a bandit camp, big guy.” Hjor had already snapped out of his train of thought as he heard the female’s angry plead – and readied his mace to suit.

    Destri and Hjor both cautiously wandered over the hill towards the scene of the noise.

    Two people – both male, and by the looks of things, one Orcish – had a small female tightly gripped under each armpit with one hand. She was struggling as hard as she could, but even she knew she wasn’t going anywhere.

    “GET. OFF. ME. NOOW!!” As she wailed (much to Destri and Hjor’s dislike), she thrust her shield as hard as she could straight into the Orc’s abdomen.

    But he didn’t like that. At all.

    The Orc lifted her up, unintentionally wrenching her from the other bandit’s grasp, and still by the underneath of the arm – shoved the small woman straight against the door of the keep and she made an silent, agonizing face as he did so; You could see a large, pulsating vein directly on his temple under his dirtied, greyed flesh, his protruding Orsimer fangs bit into his top lip as he grinned maliciously, almost imagining the defilement he’d grace her young, supple flesh with.

    Destri just completely lost it – again. As he was charging towards the Orc he vowed to unleash his wrath on him that he just about managed to contain earlier that day with the gate guard at Riften.

    Hjor had stopped mid sprint when he saw Destri effortlessly gain on the gargantuan Mer in a matter of seconds. Hjor, even though he too was driven by his own rage and sympathy that had befallen this poor woman – just couldn’t keep exerting himself like that; He was already out of breath from the enormity of the trek here.

    C-K-CRA-ACKK!!

    Destri just cleaved the Orc’s head in with his axe, and blood instantly saturated both Destri and the other woman, who’d dropped to the floor, partly by the traumatic justice she’d just witnessed, and by the fact that her attacker had just had his brain disunited from the side of his skull by a monstrously generous piece of metal.

    Destri calmly hoisted the woman to her shaky feet, almost as if he had not seen what she had. Hjor eventually caught up with them after she brushed herself off – her iron breastplate now ruined with both immeasurable amounts of dirt and orc entrails.

    The other bandit sped off, even quicker than Destri had gained on the Orc; he was already around the corner, over the bridge, and past the Honningbrew Meadery before Destri had bothered to put his battleaxe away.

    “Thank you….so…much..” The woman said breathlessly. “I’m Neeshka.”

    “I’m Destri.” The Redguard replied. “And he (gesturing to his Nordic friend) is Hjor.”

     

Comments

2 Comments
  • Nelaf
    Nelaf   ·  August 2, 2014
    Thanks Okan! I especially enjoyed writing the whole 'Destri's angry....again' part, but as you can see my writing tends to show that I enjoy it a bit too much since I have lots and lots of commas and try to nudge it all into one sentence. 
    Thanks fo...  more
  • Okan-Zeeus
    Okan-Zeeus   ·  August 2, 2014
    Talen-Jai? A hunter? I thought he was a bartender from Gideon before coming to Riften... :P

    I've read both of your latest chapters now. I am glad at least that the story has started gaining some momentum in terms of plot. On the whole, you wr...  more