As the soldiers marched, the smell of burning flesh assaulted them, making the two lines falter as the men turned away, gagging at the stench that burned their nostrils, that made it impossible to forget the fires that burned fiercely in the distance, seeming almost like a beacon, urging them onward, towards the town.
Sensing their unrest, Ulfric yelled out,
“Men! We must move forward, to see what is happening, and how we can help, even if it is an Imperial controlled city. Harden your hearts, and set forward, for Skyrim!”
Gathering their courage, the soldiers set out again, their faces set in determined lines. Meanwhile, Fjorrod nervously rolled an arrow between his fingers as he walked ahead with Ulfric, unnerved by the screaming that accompanied the smell, together effectively turning back all but the bravest.
Suddenly, a black shape loomed in the sky above them, towering over the men, the shadow of the shape cascading over them, turning their legs to mush, and breaking their will to go on.
Fjorrod, blocking out the sound of the burning town and the soldiers, nocked an arrow. Drawing the bow back, he let loose a careful shot, aiming for the dragon’s head, for that’s what the beast undeniably is, a dragon. His arrow missed the head though, landing in the chest of the beast, from a combination of the dragon lunging forward at that moment he released his shot, and Fjorrod being used to a much heavier draw weight on his bow.
It did, however, attract the monster’s attention, and Fjorrod, with a quick leap to the side, narrowly missed being roasted by the fires that poured out of the dragon’s mouth. Many of the other soldiers however, weren’t so lucky, and died in the inferno that rushed forth, their charred bodies almost unrecognizable.
Drawing their bows, the men who survived that had bows quickly fired a round of arrows into the dragon as it circled above them, with Fjorrod firing but a second later. Most arrows missed, a few hit the dragon’s chest, and Fjorrod managed to hit the head. Roaring in annoyance and minor pain, for the few arrows that didn’t outright bounce off the dragon did little damage to the beast on account of its stone-hard scales, it swooped down, and grabbed one soldier in its claws, and gripped another in its mouth. As it ascended to the heavens, it grabbed Fjorrod with another clawed foot, the talons digging into his skin.
Fjorrod, near panic, took out his bow, and fired another hasty shot into the dragon’s face, his jerky motions throwing the arrow off the intended target completely, resulting in a sloppy miss. Then, regaining his senses, he took arrow after arrow out of his quiver, trying to stab the dragon with each one, the brittle iron snapping each time, making no visible success. He began to panic, as the other two men the beast grabbed had already fallen to its claws and teeth, and he was undoubtedly next.
Then, finally, an arrow went through a near-invisible crack in the dragon’s scales, causing it to bellow out in pain. The beast dropped him, assuming the fall would kill him, and, leaving him outside the town walls, the dragon began circling towards the soldiers, abandoning Fjorrod to his fate.
As Fjorrod plummeted towards the ground, the air whistling around him, his only thought was, I really messed it up this time, before the ground rose up to meet him with a loud smack, and pain invaded his senses, robbing him of intelligent thought, before he blacked out once more.
Author's Note: This is a bit short, but I hope to release chapter 6 tomorrow, and it just felt right to cut it off here.
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Comments
Lol, seriously though, when you have to wait? I hate having to wait after cliffhangers, errgh.
@Ben