Hadvar opened an iron gate at the far side of the room which led to the rest of the barracks, I hobbled over towards him as he beckoned for me to follow him. I cringed at each bang of the broom handle on the stone floor, wishing that we would be able to leave the fortress soon and I would be able to seek the aid of a healer.
We found ourselves approaching a circular room which I assumed to be the base of one of the towers, a number of Stormcloaks had found their way to the same area.
“Cedas, wait here, I’ll try to reason with them,” he held up his hand and bid me to wait as I made my way towards him.
I leant briefly against the stone wall of the hall which opened into the circular room, Hadvar did not have a moment to say anything before the Stormcloaks attacked. I could hear the clash of steel on steel, and straightened myself as best I could and began to make my way forward.
As I entered the room a Stormcloak fell to the floor his cry alerting me to his inevitable death. The second Stormcloak circled Hadvar, meeting his every thrust, my approach distracted the rebel, Hadvar took advantage of the situation and aimed for his opponents shoulder. The Stormcloak dropped his stolen shield and brought his sword arm up to defend himself. Hadvar swiftly brushed the weapon aside and brought his sword arm back with the pommel towards the rebels face, causing the man to stagger backwards. He then brought his sword down on the man’s neck cutting deeply into an artery.
The rebel fell to the ground next to his fallen comrade, if ever there was a waste of life it was this, fighting each other just to escape the confines of the keep, I could not understand the reasoning behind such an action.
Hadvar grumbled impatiently, “We need to keep moving, I don’t know how long the walls will hold out.”
I struggled to keep up as we continued on through various halls and stairways, the pain in my ankle continued to worsen and the broom handle was barely giving any support at all. Hadvar seemed to know the route he was taking, however as he turned to the right to leave our current path, the roof collapsed, stone blocks fell to the floor below and smaller pieces flew in all directions as they broke on impact.
“We keep moving,” he said turning to me. “There will be another way.”
On entering a large storeroom we encountered further Stormcloaks, again they did not give us a chance to reason with them, though the thought of them stealing from the Empire still turned my stomach. They approached Hadvar as a group, dismissing me as a threat due to my limp and broom handle.
The first Stormcloak, a woman took Hadvar on from his right side with a short sword, “Back off Imperial”, she spat. “We’ll take what we want.”
The second, a large burly male carrying a war hammer, approached from the front but looked as though he would switch to the left where necessary. “No, we’ll not let them leave, less dogs for later,” he sneered.
The third held back, smaller than the others, but I could see his hand hovering at his side; a dagger maybe? Hadvar blocked a swing by the short sword with his shield, but had to dodge to the side as the war hammer swung towards him. I leant heavily on my broom handle, making a show of limping, which in fact wasn’t that hard, if I could just get near to the wall next to the Stormcloaks, I may be able to assist Hadvar.
The swordswoman caught Hadvar on the arm, as he dodged another blow from the war hammer; I made it to the wall, the smaller soldier watching me suspiciously, I stumbled deliberately, though it caused me further discomfort. Knowing that the swordswoman and Hadvar were both showing signs of slowing in their battle, I knew I had to make a move soon.
I carefully drew my sword, making as little noise as possible and tried to keep my actions out of sight. The swordswoman slipped on a stone, Hadvar took advantage dealing a blow to her right arm making her drop the sword, the smaller one with the dagger looked set to throw his dagger and I knew it had to be now. I lunged aiming my sword towards the Stormcloak with the war hammer, my inexpert aim found his thigh, I stumbled, something grazed the side of my helmet, the dagger maybe?
Hadvar turned and blocked an attempted swing by the burly Stormcloak which was badly aimed, the war hammer colliding with the shield, which Hadvar had supported with his right arm. I found my feet and lifted the sword again, the smaller soldier tried to move between the larger Stormcloak and the wall to retrieve his dagger, but found my sword waiting for him. I realised that he was only around fifteen winters and wondered what had driven the boy to join with the rebels. Blocking him with the sword, I shook my head and indicated that he should move back with a nod. He turned and ran, I cursed myself as I realised that there may be more Stormcloaks waiting for us further on.
The larger Stormcloak and Hadvar were still trading blows, the swordswoman trying to use her left arm as her sword arm but struggling as blood poured from her right. Though her blows hit Hadvar’s armour, there was little force behind them and it appeared that Hadvar was ignoring them to deal with the bigger threat. I repositioned myself and again lifted my sword, this time above my head, I brought it down as Hadvar ducked and brought his sword in low towards the Stormcloaks chest, the soldier raising both arms to bring his war hammer down. My sword caught the Stormcloak on his shoulder, Hadvar’s blade collided side on with the leather cuirass, winding the larger man, the war hammer fell to the ground, he staggered, Hadvar drew his sword back and buried it deep within the man’s belly.
“You alright?” asked Hadvar panting.
“Give me a moment,” I replied, panting as well and leaning back against the wall.
“Take a look around, there may be something you can use,” advised Hadvar, as he looked through some drawers and pulled out an old linen shirt.
I hobbled over to a raised platform where a table and some shelves stood, “I will ensure that the army is suitably recompensed when I can,” I replied as I picked up a piece of reasonably fresh bread and a small healing potion. I could hear the tearing of fabric and assumed that Hadvar was making a bandage for his arm.
“I wouldn’t worry,” he replied waving a hand as I drank the healing potion. “Bandits will clear the rest, remember this is Skyrim not Cyrodiil.”
As Hadvar turned toward the door he pointed to some barrels, “Check for anything else you can use.”
My conscience permitted me to take a further three small bottles of healing potion, I needed to keep track of the items I would need to reimburse an Imperial Quartermaster when I could locate one. Items which were unaccounted for were an administrator's nightmare, and generally due to petty theft in the military amongst the lower ranks. Hadvar noticed me placing the small number of items in the small satchel attached to my belt and shook his head in despair.
The pain in my ankle had eased somewhat thanks to the potion and I made my way cautiously towards Hadvar, taking care not to place too much weight on the joint, and using the broom when necessary.
Our next encounter was in the torture room, I wished we did not have a need for these in the Empire. The interrogator was a hateful man, which I suppose is necessary for the position, and was gloating over the deaths of his latest victims.
“We need to get you both out of here, there’s a dragon up there attacking the keep,” pressed Hadvar. I shook my head, it could not have been a dragon, I am wondering if such fantasies were created by the ancient Nords to control the more meek and feeble populace with fear, such a beast cannot truly exist.
“What are you on about soldier? Never mind what’s out there, these walls are strong and you need to find me some more prisoners,” replied the interrogator, as another loud crash sounded above us.
“No time for that now, the keep is under attack!” shouted Hadvar.
“Fine, fine, whatever you say, just find me some more prisoners,” the interrogator dismissed Hadvar with a wave of his hand and turned back to his notes.
The interrogators assistant, who until this point had remained silent, chose this moment to speak up as another sound of stonework collapsing shook the room. “Master, I really think…”
“Did you not hear me the first time, you insubordinate fools, bother me when you have found more prisoners, and not before!” snapped the interrogator.
Hadvar shrugged and turned to the next hallway which lead past the cells, I followed along behind the assistant. We continued downward through further corridors, our progress slow.
Hadvar was quickly becoming impatient with me. “Take another health potion man, there’s no time to hang around!”
“The pain has eased enough, I will not waste a minor potion on something which requires a healer,” I replied shortly, “I will manage.”
The walls were now made of solid rock as if hewn with an axe, rather than the smooth walls of the keep, reminding me of an old mine. The tunnel opened up into a larger cavern, but this had a solid stone floor and columns and water running through, which made me think this was an old cistern for the town and fort. Unfortunately we were not alone.
A number of Stormcloaks had also made it this far and were expecting trouble.
The battle was drawn out, the Stormcloaks outnumbering us. The interrogators assistant was the first to fall, taking two arrows, one to the arm, the other to the chest. Hadvar fared worst of all as he was set upon by two rebels, one with a pilfered sword the other with a war hammer. I tried to remain behind the rebels to allow me to take a swing with my sword whenever I had my balance, I had dropped my broom handle near the entrance in the hope that I could locate it again should we succeed.
Between Hadvar and I we overcame the two Stormcloaks, but there was still the archer and another with a war axe to deal with. Hadvar chased down the archer, dodging to avoid the arrows that flew in his direction, I hobbled towards the axe wielder in the hope that I would distract him. My plan worked too well, and I was soon attempting to block the war axe with my sword, fortunately it did not take Hadvar long to deal with the archer and he soon came to my aid.
When the final rebel fell to the ground, I breathed deeply and wondered how ashamed my father would be to see the state of my swordsmanship, I shook my head and went to retrieve my broom handle.
“Come on, we need to get out of this cave,” said Hadvar as he turned towards an opening on the far side of the cavern.
We made our way through the tunnels, Hadvar seemed unsure whether the route would actually lead us out, but under the circumstances, I considered it worth attempting. After some time we reached a raised drawbridge, which Hadvar lowered as I caught up with him. This led to yet another large cavern in which we could still hear the noise of the attack, which penetrated the layers of earth and rock. A loud crash of rocks sounded behind us and the route back across the drawbridge became blocked with the rubble from the floor above.
We continued on down the stairs and across an underground stream, from a dark corner came a loud squeal and then we were attacked by a pair of skeevers. Nasty vicious things, almost the size of a small dog and a much nastier bite. With two swings of his sword, Hadvar sent the damned things back into their corner never to return.
In the next cavern Hadvar tapped me on the arm and pointed to the far side, a bear, a beast not to be trifled with, and especially not in our condition. Hadvar motioned for me to remain silent, and we crept cautiously past so as not to disturb it. At the far end of the next tunnel, light appeared to filter in, Hadvar and I looked at each other and nodded, our pace increasing.
As we exited the tunnel onto the mountainside, I spied an outcrop of rocks and promptly collapsed onto the ground next to them remaining out of sight. Hadvar joined me briefly, but an almighty roar caused him to return to his feet while sheltering behind the rocks, while I pressed myself into them.
“The next village is Riverwood, you should stop there,” said Hadvar offering me a hand so that I could return to my feet. “My uncle is the village blacksmith, I am sure he would be willing to assist you, though it may be wise for us to split up.”
“Hadvar,” I countered, my wits returning, “I have barely eaten, I am injured, I have no horse, and I can barely swing the sword which hangs at my side. Your country seems to have taken a dislike to me from the moment I set foot in it, I would much prefer to accompany you if I may.”
“Very well, it is not far.”
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