U.O.T.W. Chapter 3 Sentenced to death

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    The path itself was narrow and winding as it snaked its way up the mountainside. A chill in the breeze blew down the mountain which made Sotek shudder slightly. The cold climate of Skyrim didn’t suit Argonians which left Sotek silently wishing he had better armor on than the shirt he was wearing. Still he had bigger concerns to worry about soon enough. The trouble was though his concerns were closer than he had realized. A lot closer in fact. Trouble brandishing keen eyes, lethal claws and razor sharp teeth. Up above him on the rocks was a wolf. It was hunting and very hungry. Saliva dripped from the corner of its mouth as it watched the Argonian with a lot of interest.

     

    Fast… Agile… Cunning… These were the attributes of a wolf. All of them used in conjunction in a lightning attack which was both swift and brutal. The wolf jumped straight at him with its claws glistening in the light. It snarled angrily as the wolf’s full weight came slamming into Sotek. He was thrown sideways with the impact, knocking him to the ground. Feeling dazed and confused, Sotek staggered to his feet as pain tore through his left arm where blood spewed out from a gaping wound. He lashed out at the wolf with his sword, missing it completely. He swung his sword around at the wolf like a child waving a stick at a dog. The wolf, who was completely unflustered, turned and faced him.

     

    Both he and the wolf stood in attack stance as they slowly circled around the ground between them. Concentrating on the healing spell was hard, very hard in fact. It proved to be a lot more difficult than Sotek had previously expected. He struggled with the intensity of the thought of the spell casting. Let alone speaking the words combined with the anxiety of trying to keep the wolf at bay. Sweat poured from his forehead. As it trickled down his brow, some found its way in his eyes making it difficult to see. His sword was hard to grip with his sweaty hand while the weight of the sword itself seemed to be made of lead. It felt so heavy. His sword arm started to ache.

     

    The wolf darted forwards, forcing Sotek to arc the sword in a defensive wide curve. He managed to hit the wolf clumsily on the side. The strike barely wounded it at all, but thankfully the blow had forced the wolf back, allowing Sotek a few precious seconds. Slowly but surely his wound started to close as the torn flesh started to bind and heal.

     

    The wolf pounced again, but Sotek thrust his sword straight at its chest. Unfortunately despite his best efforts he only managed to impale the wolfs shoulder. However, that was enough. The wolf cried out in pain as it tried to back off, but Sotek kicked out catching the wolf in the head knocking it to the ground. As quick as he could, Sotek leaped on to the wolf pinning its neck down with his knee while its paws thrashed about wildly but its attempts at freedom was in vain. With Soteks full weight on it, there was nothing the wolf could do but snarl as its claws tried desperately to make contact with something, anything, but it was useless. Sotek gently put his hand on the top of the wolfs head, stroking it slowly. The wolf stopped struggling as it just lay there panting heavily.

     

    Despite its sudden calmness, not for one second did the wolf take its eyes off what was considered earlier to be its prey. Sotek spoke softly to it, his voice whispered like a soothing breeze.

    Travel well”. Then without waiting another second he thrust his sword deep into the wolfs chest. During the wolfs final seconds, it just gave a slight whimper then died.

     

    Skinning animals was second nature to Argonians, everyone could do it as soon as they learned to hunt. This was their way of life, to live off the marshlands. A short while after the fight with the wolf, Sotek continued up the mountain path with the wolf pelt wrapped up on top his pack. There up ahead through a break in the mist, Bleak Falls Barrow came in sight.

     

    Sotek crept up the cold stone steps as silently as possible while his eyes scanned everywhere in all directions for any indication of his enemies. On the left by a pillar was an archer, he was looking out along the path for any sign of an intruder. Sotek gave a prayer to the Nines, thanking them for the mist which must have hidden him from the archers sight. Fortune indeed favored him for he now was behind the archer, several feet behind, but behind nether the less. To his right was the entrance. A large black ancient and foreboding stone door barred the way inside. By it sat a Bandit lazily resting. In Sotek’s mind, without a doubt the archer was the immediate threat.

     

    With his sword raised high, primed for the killing blow, Sotek moved slowly towards the archer. As he closed in on his opponent he hardly dared to draw breath. The archer quickly moved to his side. He readied an arrow in a split second and fired. The arrow flew true and fast, fatally striking its target.

     

    Below them a rabbit lay dead on the path where Sotek had been moments before. The arrow skewered the rabbit straight through, pinning it to the ground. As the few other rabbits scattered for cover, the archer laughed unsympathetically to the rabbits plight.

    “That’ll teach the little bastards”. Sotek froze where he stood. He prayed that he wouldn’t be seen as the archer was now just a few feet away.

     

    The archer however happily returned to his original position. That was his first mistake, for now he positioned himself unwittingly directly in front of Sotek.

     

    He never took his eyes off the rabbit he just killed. That was his second mistake for if he just turned his head around slightly he would have seen Sotek standing there with his sword raised, poised and ready to strike.

     

    Then the archer started to whistle…

     

    That was the last mistake he ever made, for he never heard a god damn thing. Sotek grabbed the man by the face covering his mouth with his left hand and instantly embedded his sword into the man’s back. The blow killed him quickly, silently and without mercy.

     

    The bandit dropped his bow which hit the stone ground making a large thump. Sotek glanced across to the other bandit, but luckily he was still sitting there. If he had heard anything, he certainly didn’t react. He didn’t bother looking up what so ever. Even when Sotek picked up the bow and recovered some arrows from the dead archer, the second bandit made no indication that he was aware of Sotek's presence. When an arrow was sent towards the outlaw, he didn’t even flinch.

     

    But he certainly bothered looking up when the arrow missed him by less than a foot and the arrowhead shattered itself against a stone slab next to him. He angrily climbed up on his feet and pointed his sword towards who he thought was the archer.

    “Hey cut that out!!! Are you trying to kill me?”

     

    The second shot was far more successful. It shot through the air and slammed into the bandits stomach. He fell back into the wall and tried to lean on it for support but his legs failed him. He slumped down to the ground leaving a trail of blood on the stone wall behind him. Sotek walked out of the shadows and stood over him. The bandits face was full of disbelief and pain. He held the arrow with both hands while blood dripped from his mouth. Despite the gargling and choking on his own blood, he managed to say a few words.

     

    “Didn’t even… See it”. Then he swallowed some blood as he gasped for air. With both eyes fully open he leaned sideways, and sank to the ground. Sotek gave him a slight kick in the side with his foot but the bandit was already dead.

     

    Sotek went through their belongings, searching for anything that might hold some value. He didn’t find what he was hoping for however he did secure a few items of interest. A sword, a dagger and a bow along with some arrows. The chest armor he paid particular interest to along with two pairs of boots. “Damn it!!!” Sotek cursed to himself as he was hoping the claw would be here. Alas, that was not to be so he had to go inside. But he was thankful in another way, he had better armor now, Along with a bow and some arrows and at least his feet were warmer.

     

    Inside was dark, damp and cold but not as cold as the mountain outside. A wood fire in the furthest part of the chamber illuminated the walls around it with a warm soft glow. It reminded Sotek of the sunrise’s he would watch when he was younger. During his childhood he would sit by the beach on the edge of the Sea of Ghosts, north of Tel Vos in Vvardenfell and wait for the sun to break the horizon, until the light temporarily blinded him and forced him to turn away.

     

    By the fireside Sotek could make out a bandit sitting there warming himself by the fire. Sotek crept closer cautiously bypassing massive stone blocks and rubble which littered the floor.  Fortunately there were plenty of dark places and shadows for him to hide in. He readied an arrow and fired. It flew from the bow towards the bandit, unfortunately just hitting him in the leg. The bandit screamed out in pain as he snapped off the arrowhead and staggered to his feet just as another arrow hit him in the sword arm. The impact threw him to the ground just before a third arrow shot past him and shattered on the wall besides him. Yet another arrow whizzed past just missing his head.

     

    Frustrated at his poor aim, Sotek charged across the room. His sword sliced the bandit through the chest almost punching him off his feet.

     

    Searching the immediate area by the warmth of the fire, Sotek smiled as he found more loot. A few gold coins found themselves a new home in his pouch along with a gem and another sword which he stored in his pack. Unfortunately despite his best efforts, he found no claw. He did however find four beds. Not your conventional beds but these were animal skins sewn together for protection against the cold ground. Sotek quickly looked down the corridor leading into the depths when a thought hammered home.

    ‘Four beds, but three bandits… Where’s the last one?’ He pondered on the possibilities as he peered into the gloom.

     

    Having found he had no other choice, he proceeded down the corridor into the darkness. In a wall recess there was a burning torch. He pulled it off the wall and continued along the corridor. As he got to the end, the air became full of a strange smell, leading from the next chamber which lay beyond the corridor. The chamber was full of thick white dirty spider webs. Sat in the middle of the room was a giant spider, and it had heard Sotek’s approach.

     

    It quickly turned around and scuttled towards Sotek. Its speed and agility belying its size. He backed off a few feet away from the room to which the creature reacted by stopping where it was. It stayed there in the room but all the while it kept watching him. Sotek realized at once it was too big to follow him through the corridor.

     

    Staying where he was in relative safety, he fired an arrow which hit the spider in the side. Sotek fired off a second arrow then a third and another. Five arrows in all, embedded in its side. Despite this, there was no sign at all of the spider suffering from its injuries in any way. With no way to kill it and no way past it, Sotek was stuck.

     

    It was only then that Sotek looked around the room properly. That’s when he noticed the nearby wall had an alcove.

     

    Maybe that leads deeper in’ Sotek thought to himself. Giving the spider one last glance, Sotek ran as hard as he could towards the alcove. The giant arachnid was caught unaware but it still gave chase despite being way too late to catch him.

     

    The alcove led to a small room. Slumped over in the far corner was a body. Sotek nodded to himself as if he recognized the braggart.

    “Ah, the fourth bandit. So this is where you’re hiding”. He glanced back at the main room where the spider scuttled about as if it was aware that Sotek had nowhere else to run to. Sotek gulped quietly then turned back to the bandit. “I can’t say I blame you”.

     

    After he gave the room a quick search, he found a book which he recognized as a spell book despite the fact that it had a different symbol on its cover. He opened it up and as before the words danced around on the pages and slowly faded but he managed to make out a word before the pages became too blank to read. He smiled to himself as he spoke the word out loudly.

    “Flame!”. Slowly a wicked smile broke across Sotek’s face. He concentrated as he said the words and a small jet of flame shot out from his hand. It only travelled about 8 feet but it was quite intense. Sotek kept the flames up for a few seconds but then felt a bit weak and the flame died out. Obviously the flame used a lot more mana than the healing spell.

     

    “I worked it out” a voice said weakly. Sotek spun round in surprise looking at the bandit. He wasn’t dead after all. He weakly pointed to a door which consisted of three stone rings. “The claw, it opens the furthest door… Got bitten... Venom… Killing me” the bandit struggled to speak. With every word his face contorted from the pain as the poison flooded his system.

     

    “Why did you take the claw?” Sotek asked.

     

    “What!” The bandit looked genuinely shocked. “We didn’t. We own it… We own the shop”. He declared weakly.

     

    Now it was Soteks turn to be confused as he tried to grasp what the bandit was saying. “No… You took it from the shop. They asked me to get it back”

     

    The bandit laughed slightly, which caused him to groan. He shook his head despite the pain he was in as he laid the facts out for Soteks benefit.

    “No. We own the shop. Don’t you see? Don’t you get it yet? They send fools like you up here after a thief. That’s when we ‘cough’. That’s when we kill them. Then Palan, the bandit you must have met by the fire… He takes all the gear which Lucan sells in the shop”.

     

    The man struggled to get something from within his tunic and passed it to Sotek.

    “Here, it’ll do me no good now. Besides they held back on us. Why should they have it?” He held his hand out, offering Sotek the claw. “Kill the spider... Through the door. They’ve been ‘cough’. Been keeping gold back, gold from us”. With those words the man died dropping the claw on the stone floor.

     

    Sotek reached down and picked up the golden claw. Once he secured it in his pack, he turned his attention to the spider. He then went to the edge of the room. Instantly the spider came towards him but this time he was ready. He concentrated on the fire spell and spoke the words. A cone of flames leapt from his hand smothering the spider. It ran in terror as its flesh and hairs burned. However Sotek’s victory was somewhat short lived. Unbeknown to Sotek, old oil used for the lamps formed small pools around the room, literally coating the floor in highly flammable oil.

     

    As the spider that was now covered in flames ran across the room, Sotek smiled to himself. Little did he realize that the flames from the spider were all that was needed to set the oil pools alight. The whole room suddenly burst into an almighty inferno, flames shoot up ten to twenty feet. They even managed to scorch the high stone ceiling. Everything in the room became engulfed by the inferno raging out of any and all control.

     

    Sotek took cover in the alcove behind the wall, it was getting hard to breath. What little oxygen remained from the sealed section was quickly used up from the rampaging greedy furnace caused by Soteks flame spell. His head started to spin from the lack of oxygen. He needed to get out and fast.

     

    After using up what little air was available, the flames died out almost as fast as they started. Sotek ran gasping for air as he tried to breathe. By now the oxygen had already been consumed by the inferno he so willingly, yet unwittingly started. Disorientated, he ran in the wrong direction and ended up in another alcove. He fell on his knees and started to craw as he choked and gasped for air. Death was near him now, he couldn’t get to the door let alone get up the stairs.

     

    With only seconds of his life left, he panicked and blindly crawled forwards, totally ignorant to his surroundings.

     

    The alcove he ran into had previously suffered terrible damage over time. After only a few feet in, the floor slopped downwards to the far corner. An underground river which now ran through the lowest section of the room due to cracks in the walls had over countless years washed away the foundations of the room. The water flowed through easily forming a pool but there was no way anyone could get through the cracks themselves. Sotek slipped into unconsciousness, but as he did so, he also slipped into the water.

     

    His last thoughts were the shopkeepers, they had sent him to die. Darkness came to take him, but the water took him first.

     

     

Comments

18 Comments   |   SpookyBorn2021 and 1 other like this.
  • SpottedFawn
    SpottedFawn   ·  May 16, 2016
    Echoing what everyone else has said here, but I really enjoyed that little twist at the end. I wish it was part of the original questline, just seems to make more sense. Where DOES Lucan get the goods he sells, anyway?
    • Sotek
      Sotek
      SpottedFawn
      SpottedFawn
      SpottedFawn
      Echoing what everyone else has said here, but I really enjoyed that little twist at the end. I wish it was part of the original questline, just seems to make more sense. Where DOES Lucan get the goods he sells, anyway?
        ·  August 18, 2017
      Lucan... I got plans for Lucan...... (A long long way off).
  • Rhoth
    Rhoth   ·  November 10, 2015
    Bad, bad Lucan. Heh, the change there, as well as some of the differences in BFB are a little jarring, but I like it. Looks like this story is going to keep me guessing a bit.
  • Sotek
    Sotek   ·  November 6, 2015
    Thanks Karver. I should point out that U.O.T.W. is far from Lore friendly. Lots more twists to come.
  • Karver the Lorc
    Karver the Lorc   ·  November 6, 2015
    Oh, that thing about bandits working together with Lucan is really great twist, Sotek! I hope to see more of these "game twists" in the future. 
  • Sotek
    Sotek   ·  June 18, 2015
    Thanks for that GF. I went with the second option as well. All errors fixed.
  • Sotek
    Sotek   ·  June 18, 2015
    Thanks for the errors I'll fix 'em right away. Oh for thewant of a keyboard that types what I think I'm typing rather one that types what I actualy am typing.. oh well.
  • Golden Fool
    Golden Fool   ·  June 18, 2015
    I like the connection between the bandits and the riverwood trader.
    Sotek you brought this on yourself, remember that 
    "The impact threw him to the ground just before a third arrow shot passed him and shattered on the wall besides him." Should...  more
  • Sotek
    Sotek   ·  June 14, 2015
    I've fixed the first error.
  • Sotek
    Sotek   ·  June 14, 2015
    I don't mind in the least. Thanks for pointing them out. I'll fix them right away.
    There's a few twists and turns (That's puting things mildly). I'm glad your liking it so far. It makes the whole thing worthwhile when others enjoy it as well.
  • Idesto
    Idesto   ·  June 14, 2015
    I also liked the way he was compassionate in victory with wolf: nice touch