Chapter 5 Friendly but foe

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    Descending down the winding path, he collected some more flowers, berries and the odd herb. In the distance he could make out the different farmsteads as he made his way down the mountainside. At one particular farm there was some commotion due to a large giant fighting two muscular men clad in heavy steel armor. They were hacking away at it with their swords. One of them wielded a large claymore while the other used a sword and shield. The person who stood out however was the third party member. A redheaded young Nord woman firing a bow at the giant. Sotek could see her archery was deadly as arrows struck into the giants side.

     

    Sotek ran closer readying his bow. He fired, hitting the giant in the side. His second shot went wide hitting the ground near the archer. She turned around in surprise to see Sotek fire another shot hitting the giant in the leg. Unfortunately the giant saw him as well and started to lumber towards him. He fired again hitting the giant in the chest. By now the giant was running at him and getting far closer than what Sotek wanted. He dropped his bow as the ground started shaking as the giant approached and readied himself. Fire leapt out from both hands streaking towards the giant catching him full in the chest and face. In surprise and pain the giant staggered and fell, but Sotek kept up the attack although he also managed to set fire to a few wheat bales in the process. Upon seeing the giant was temporarily distracted by Sotek’s bungled attempt to help, the three Nords renewed their attack, finishing off the giant.

     

    As it crashed to the ground in defeat, the red headed young woman approached Sotek angrily.

    “What the hell were you thinking?” She shouted as she demanded an explanation.

     

    “Go easy Aela, he was helping” replied one of the muscular behemoths standing before him.

     

    “Yea tell that to the farmers” the other Nord grinned as he watched the bales burn out.

     

    “I was trying to help but I didn’t achieve much”. Sotek wasn’t overly impressed with his own performance, even so he found it hard to turn away from the girl whom he found himself staring at.

     

    “Oh I don’t know, you proved to be a good distraction” the first Nord exclaimed.

     

    The Young woman laughed then explained who they were.

    “We are the Companions, these two are my shield brothers” as she spoke she pointed them out “Farkas”.

     

    The Nord who first laughed at Sotek for setting fire to the wheat raised his hand in a friendly manner.

    “Hi”.

     

    The red head continued before Sotek could return Farkas’s greeting.

    “This is Vilkas”. The other Nord just nodded slightly. “I’m their shield sister Aela the Huntress”

     

    As Sotek compared their gear to his, he felt very underdressed and uncomfortable. He stuttered as he tried to introduce himself.

    “I’m…So… Sotek. I ermm…” His nervousness wasn’t helped by the disgruntled glare which Aela had as she watched him.

     

    Before she could say anything, Vilkas intervened.

    “We fight with honor, sword, shield, and bow, we don’t dabble with magic’s”.

     

    Farkas sniggered as he added to Vilkas’s statement.

    “We definitely don’t go around setting fire to farmers crops”.

     

    At that comment all three companions laughed. Sotek just looked at the piles of ash on the ground. Aela turned around and started heading towards Whiterun, she then turned and snapped at the others.

    “Come on we got to go, they're waiting at Jorrvaskr”.

     

    “Where is that?” Sotek asked, half shouting out as he watched the three companions walk off towards the city gate.

     

    All three companions stopped in their tracks. Farkas walked back to him.

    “You’re not from around here are you?”

     

    Aela sarcastically called out to him.

    “Of course he is, he’s an Argonian. They live in the mountains”.

     

    “Well how come I haven’t seen any before around here, until now then?” Farkas asked all seriously.

     

    Aela rolled her eyes while Vilkas snorted to himself.

    “It’s in Whiterun. Come on ice brain”. Aela called back to them.

     

    Farkas responded grumbling.

    “Must you always call me that Aela”.

     

    Sotek followed at a distance. He tried discreetly to maintain the gap between them, which he found hard due to the pace they travelled which seemed to be set by Aela. As he approached Whiterun a Khajiit called out to him. He turned to face the direction where it came from. There to his left were a few tents and a small campfire, it was the Khajiit trading camp. These Khajiit traders would move from town to town selling and buying wears.

     

    “Welcome” greeted the Khajiit trader who was sitting just inside a tent. He introduced himself as Ri’saad. “I am a trader and a thief” he stated seemingly proud of his heritage.

    “You wish to buy and sell, yes?”

     

    “I have a few swords and armor” Sotek stated showing Ri’saad what he had picked up earlier.

     

    Upon seeing the state of the weapons, Ri’saad shook his head.

    “Ooh dear not great quality, but we can make a deal yes?” Ri’saad wasn’t overly impressed but then Sotek wasn’t at all surprised because of the poor condition of the items.

     

    Sotek assured him that they could make a deal so they bartered and traded. Once they agreed on a price Ri’saad opened up a bag then held out some thin long pieces of what initially looked like wire.

    “Here, Lock picks”.

     

    Sotek instantly held his hands up, politely refusing to buy them.

    “I’m no thief” Sotek stated not wanting to cause offence.

     

    Ri’saad chuckled as his hand thrust out towards Sotek the offending Lock Picks.

    “No, no… You misunderstand. All around there are ruins and caves in which treasure awaits its turn to be found. No lockpicks then no treasure, see”

     

    With that Sotek agreed to buy some. By the time they finished trading Sotek had over a hundred gold in his pouch and ten lock picks. He was also considerably lighter after selling all the spare gear he collected.

     

    As he approached the gate to enter Whiterun, numerous guards came running out. They were all being led by an elf. As she past him she called out pointing to his bow.

    “If you can use that thing come with us but hurry”. Sotek couldn’t mistake the sense of urgency in her voice.

     

    He fell in with the guards but soon found himself struggling as he tried to keep up. They all followed a path to the west across the plains heading towards what looked like a half built guard tower. As they got closer Sotek could see smoke and flames coming from the base. He soon came to realize that it wasn’t half built but was actually half destroyed. He couldn’t help but wonder what he got himself into.

     

    “What happened here?” Sotek asked trying to get some idea as to what sort of trouble he had landed himself in.

     

    Before anyone could answer a guard shouted out in fear and panic

    “Dragon!”

     

     

Comments

14 Comments   |   SpottedFawn and 2 others like this.
  • Golden Fool
    Golden Fool   ·  August 18, 2017
    Reading the title of this chapter makes me feel like a 5 year old, because every time I do I just imagine whatever a butt-foe is and it makes me laugh xD
    • Sotek
      Sotek
      Golden Fool
      Golden Fool
      Golden Fool
      Reading the title of this chapter makes me feel like a 5 year old, because every time I do I just imagine whatever a butt-foe is and it makes me laugh xD
        ·  August 18, 2017
      Haha.....  :D
      Does make sense though............ Not sure if that's a good thing. 
  • SpookyBorn2021
    SpookyBorn2021   ·  August 16, 2017
    Ah, I'm just not powering through this as fast as I thought I would be. Sorry Sotek I did think I'd be further along by now but time has not been on my side. I really do like the last 4 or so chapters (I think I commented on the first, but I could be wron...  more
    • Sotek
      Sotek
      SpookyBorn2021
      SpookyBorn2021
      SpookyBorn2021
      Ah, I'm just not powering through this as fast as I thought I would be. Sorry Sotek I did think I'd be further along by now but time has not been on my side. I really do like the last 4 or so chapters (I think I commented on the first, but I could be wron...  more
        ·  August 18, 2017
      I'm pleased you are enjoying what you read so far DB. it seems so long ago now when I wrote these chapters....  Glad I started though. 
  • SpottedFawn
    SpottedFawn   ·  July 4, 2017
    Best part was the dialog between Aela and the wolf bros! LOL Argonians living in the mountains.

    Noticed you used 'bail' in place of 'bale' in this sentence:
    the other Nord grinned as he watched the bails burn out.
    • Sotek
      Sotek
      SpottedFawn
      SpottedFawn
      SpottedFawn
      Best part was the dialog between Aela and the wolf bros! LOL Argonians living in the mountains.

      Noticed you used 'bail' in place of 'bale' in this sentence:
      the other Nord grinned as he watched the bails burn out.
        ·  August 18, 2017
      Aww rats. Sorry it took so long to get to this SF.... fixed it.
      Thanks for pointing out the error and a double thanks for taking the time to read.
  • Aela The Huntress
    Aela The Huntress   ·  August 23, 2015
    This is when all my troubles started...
    • Sotek
      Sotek
      Aela The Huntress
      Aela The Huntress
      Aela The Huntress
      This is when all my troubles started...
        ·  August 18, 2017
      You had troubles before I came on the scene.......   ^o)
  • Sotek
    Sotek   ·  June 22, 2015
    Thanks Idesto, although saying that, it does need updating. I'll get around to it at some point. (Yea right) 
  • Idesto
    Idesto   ·  June 21, 2015
    Ah - the moment when Sotek and Aela first meet! Nice
  • Sotek
    Sotek   ·  June 20, 2015
    Aww rats, rats, rats!!!   Fixed. Thanks for pointing that out.
  • Golden Fool
    Golden Fool   ·  June 20, 2015
    "We defiantly don’t go around setting fire to farmers crops" definitely
  • Sotek
    Sotek   ·  June 11, 2015
    I've fixed both errors. Thanks for letting me know. If you happen to spot any others then please let me know. Thank you again for taking the time to read my story and pointing out those mistakes.
  • Kaiser
    Kaiser   ·  June 11, 2015
    Couple errors I noticed:
    One of them welded a large claymore

    we got to go, their waiting at Jorrvaskr”.

    Still enjoying the story despite!