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"You aren’t the only one." Viconia muttered, looking about the village again and trying not to visibly shy away from the locals as they shifted forward now that their chief had allowed us to stay. Most, now that they were closer were obviously thin and malnourished and several, especially some of the older villagers ha... |
There were a number of them, well over a hundred living within the several dozen huts in communal groups. There was a strange order to the place that seemed at odds with the way how one out of every three of the locals were emasculated to the point of death, and despite their resilient hides there were some that were s... |
Leaving Weebam-Na and Bejeen to wander the village talking to the locals and making arrangements, the rest of us unloaded and retrieved everything of value from the boats and stowed them in the hut allocated to us. in a village such as this, anything of value was everything that wasn’t the boats themselves, right down ... |
The communal hut itself was large and accommodating, surprisingly so for a village of this size. Even the floor to our surprise was actually stone, and while lacking in mortar was clean, solid and so well built that any of us would have struggled to slip a dagger between the cracks. It was unusual to an extreme, especi... |
There was more than enough space within its baked-mud walls and marsh wood roof for two, possibly three dozen individuals to live comfortably and we all put the fire pit in the centre to good use almost before we had finished moving inside. Our water stocks had run out quickly and while this had been something we had e... |
Our equipment too required much more maintenance than it had previously, and our days whenever we hadn’t been in our boats had been repairing and cleaning everything we owned. Mud and muck accumulated on every surface, clinging with a grim tenacity and threatening rust and decay on almost everything we owned. Only Alex... |
"At least this place is cosy." Alexi said with an ever present cheer that seemed utterly indefatigable. He could be buried up to his neck in a latrine and would still smile and comment about at least his face wasn’t covered. |
"It could be an upper class tavern in the Imperial City compared to another night in the boats. I think my spine is bent in three separate places." |
Smiling while rubbing his polishing cloth over the surface of his armour, he briefly looked up at me before turning his attention back to the demi-plate armour carefully laid out in front of him. As typical for his level of skill, whenever he wasn’t mounted on his horse he wore a significantly cut down plate armour tha... |
"I would have thought that a man such as yourself was used to sleeping rough? How many times has Viconia kicked you out of bed of a night?" |
"Only the times that he has failed to live up to expectations." Viconia added with a grin that was simultaneously blood chilling and amused. |
"So... Every night then?" |
We all laughed and he barely looked up to catch the wadded up ball of cloth that I threw at his head. "If only your abilities within the bedroom were as gifted as your skills with a blade." The tone and words in Viconia’s voice was nine tenths challenge and one tenth teasing and Alexi sighed, leaning back with an expre... |
"Both are satisfying in their own ways. Although if I was to be as skilful with a blade as I am in bed then I’d have to get a bigger sword." using his polishing cloth, he pointed in the direction of the far wall where the enormous shadow of Falid sat as still as the mud walls themselves. "I’d have to start wielding tha... |
Falid sat quietly, legs crossed and hands resting on his knees with his armour arrayed neatly next to his and his enormous greatsword resting with the tip facing him. It truly was a monster of a weapon and while not much larger than other greatswords it was incredibly made. Without my vampiric strength it was too cumbe... |
With his eyes closed, the only motions that separated him from being a colossus of a statue was the steady rise and fall of his chest as he mediated. "Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value." He rumbled without opening his eyes for a moment. |
Even sitting the sheer size of the Black Knight was humbling and it was almost incomprehensible that such a big man could move as smoothly or gracefully as he did. What was even more unusual was his ability to sit as still as a stone for hours on end, doing nothing more than controlling his breathing, mediating and pra... |
"There are many women throughout Cyrodiil who value my... Swordwork." Alexi said specifically to Viconia. |
"All flash and no staying power. Those painted damsels who are so easily swayed by gracefulness and a smile never know what it is like to have a true man under their power. Say what you like about Kaius however, but there is no denying a legionary’s stamina." |
My expression must have been obvious despite my attempts to hide it and while Alexi was obviously enjoying my sudden embarrassment, Viconia’s amusement was hidden to all but myself. Her eyes though did move about the room to our other companions; Detane meticulously running a whetstone along the edge of his rapier to k... |
"Sometimes I miss the customs of the Underdark, like the breaking in of new pleasure slaves. The largest and strongest were the hardest to break, but they were the most rewarding..." |
Falid briefly cracked an eye in Viconia’s direction, before shutting it again and continuing on with his mediation and showing no sign of her words. Alexi however suddenly looked a little uneasy if still highly amused. "You know... You terrify me sometimes Viconia." |
"How do you think I feel?" I replied. "In these past months I have fought vampires, werewolves, daedra and have jumped headfirst into Oblivion on two separate occasions and she scares me more than all those combined." |
"Behind every great man, is a woman that scares the shit out of him." |
White teeth flashed in her face and there was immense amusement in her expression and the three of us were left laughing much to Detane’s annoyance. In a partially concealed attempt to change the topic Alexi ended up grimacing and gesturing to Mazoga where she sat close to the fire removing the leeches and other parasi... |
"You know there is an easier way to get rid of them, right?" |
We had all suffered attacks by the blood thirsty creatures as well as the varied collection of fish and insects that all seemed intent on feeding upon our flesh. Like the others I was also covered with dozens of mosquito bites wherever my flesh hadn’t been covered by my clothes although I had an increasing fear from th... |
She looked up at Alexi, down to her enormous green leg where the last surviving pair of leeches sat hungrily feeding away and shrugged. "Eh. This is quicker." Pinching one of the leeches, she simply tugged it off her leg and ignored whatever pain she must have felt and the blood streaming down her leg from where it and... |
Shifting at the sudden appearance of Argonians walking through the opened doorway, we all saw the familiar sight of Weebam-Na and Bejeen as they returned from their walk through the village and speaking with the locals. They had a small collection of dried fish, and behind them a trio of younger hatchlings were bringin... |
"Find anything interesting?" |
"Not really." Bitterly dropping the fruits of his labour down into one of the empty cooking pots for storage, he also leaned his spear against the wall next to Bejeen’s. "The whole village is quiet and none of them are willing to talk to us about much at all. Every time that we try to talk about the Shield, the local a... |
"These scum probably have already plundered the shield and seek to hide it from us." Detane snarled, his whetstone stopping mid blade. "I say we tear this place apart and find it." |
"They have no need for trinkets or relics such as that." Weebam-Na explained, showing his hunters patience as he stared down the Breton chevalier. "They value the Hist and not much else. Something is going on here and my sniffer is telling me that we need to find out what." |
"Addicts and inbreds the whole lot of them. The only redeemable feature about them all is that least they aren’t pigs." |
As she had several times during the long days travelling, Mazoga simply couldn’t resist the bait and glared at him. I knew most Breton’s had a racial prejudice against the Orcs but Detane took it to an extreme. "At least they aren’t Breton’s with their heads stuffed up their arses!" |
"Big words from you Greenskin. You almost reached three syllables there." |
"That’s enough from you Detane!" I snapped, and both he and Mazoga turned to look at me from the growl in my throat. Like the rest of them I was tired and sore, but unlike the others the responsibility of leading the group had fallen to me. Despite herself, Viconia had been content on taking a step back and following a... |
"Can we not go a single day without you two going for each other’s throats?" Next time either of you say anything to the other, I’ll throw your arses in the swamp for the night." |
Mazoga looked at me like she had done over the previous days as though she was trying to calculate whether I had the strength necessary to make good of my threat but in the end she relented. As for Detane, he simply scowled even more deeply as though his facial muscles were going to crush his skull and returned to what... |
I turned to Weebam-Na who was looking highly amused, his reptilian grin enormous as he too didn’t get along with the short Breton. "You know that you had someone following you?" |
His head twitched and he looked confused for a second before a scratching at the door announced a visitor. |
"I keep forgetting that you have better hearing than me." Turning on his heel, he moved back to the door, looked out and stopped in place. "Ah. We definitely have a visitor." |
Stepping back from the door, he shifted slightly and allowed the new arrival to enter. Of the locals we were not expecting the sight of the hunchbacked and leather clad shaman to come shuffling in. |
Almost as a united group with the exception of Falid who continued to sit as still as a granite statue, we all shuffled in place to put distance between us and the unnatural visage of the village magic user. In the confines of the hut his stench was almost overpowering, smelling like a sickly-sweet combination of vomit... |
Hissing and chirping in a manner that I could only describe as slow and purposeful, the way that the Argonian spoke was at odds to the customary tics and spasms that rocked various limbs at random. He looked about the room under his cowl of leathery hides and layer of moss, speaking to us all at the same time. |
"Greejan-Ze apparently has several things to tell us that we will find of interest." Weebam-Na translated. "But firstly he recommends that we do not drink or otherwise use the water that we were just provided." |
Mazoga was in mid motion of reaching for one of the gourds to help scrub the blood off her leg from the leeches and paused. "Why?" |
Hissing back and forth Weebam-Na suddenly looked a lot more nervous. "Because the water has been poisoned." |
"I knew it. these filthy lizards mean to kill us!" Detane snapped, looking pleased with himself for being proven right. |
Talking to the shaman, Weebam-Na shook his head. "It doesn’t sound to be that simple. Apparently they were instructed to poison any travellers who came here for any reason and dispose of the bodies." |
Viconia’s brow furrowed and there was no doubting the way her hand was gripping Dragonbane’s hilt. "Instructed by who?" |
There was another collection of hisses to Weebam-Na’s question and if he had been human he would have paled. "Uh oh." |
"We... ah, may have stuck our heads into a flamestinger nest." They continued chittering for a few more minutes which left Weebam-Na leaning against the wall and Bejeen looking just as concerned as he was. "It appears that the reason why none of the hunters or warriors of this village are present is that they are all d... |
"Shit." I murmured, and there was a sudden pall of unease and concern filling the room. |
"Yeah. Wuleen-Tulm is the son of the previous chief who tried to stand up to the bandits. As he’s now the chief you can understand how well that worked out for them at all." |
"So why is he telling us all of this?" |
"Because he has been instructed to do so by the Hist. The bandits have for all intents enslaved all the Argonians within the area and have threatened to burn the Spirit-Trees and kill every last villager if they are betrayed or otherwise crossed." |
"A tree told him that he is to help us?" Detane asked incredulously and found himself partially surprised when Viconia and I seemed to share his disbelief. |
"The Hist aren’t normal trees." Weebam-Na explained. "To you smoothskins they might appear to be so but they and the Argonians exist together in harmony. They have power unmatched by anything in existence whether you believe it or not." |
"So now we are being aided by a stack of sentient firewood." Despite her bitterness, Viconia was smiling and almost laughing to herself. "I’ve seen stranger things in my time." |
"So obviously they want our help in kicking their arses out of the area?" Alexi asked, beating me to the most obvious question of them all. |
The hissing and chirping was renewed and left Weebam-Na scratching at his jaw in frustration. "It appears so, but unfortunately for us this is definitely the village we were seeking. Greejan-Ze says that he knows how we have come for the shield and knows where it is located. The really bad news is that the old fort we ... |
The wave of despair and defeat that suddenly flooded the room was almost a physical thing but only a few of us were unaffected by it. Falid, still sitting quietly in the same position he had in the past hour simply opened his eyes. |
"They will not have the shield." He rumbled. "If they had, they wouldn’t be staying here. They would be closer to civilisation trying to bargain or ransom it." |
"There is still hope then." I turned my gaze from the giant Redguard and back to Weebam-Na. "How many are there?" |
Having obviously already asked the question, Weebam-Na shrugged and gestured hopelessly. "They are uncertain as they have never been here in a single group but there are at least forty, easily a lot more." |
Of all the typical reactions throughout the room, it was Detane’s that caught my attention. While everyone else looked extremely sober by the number we were facing, Detane had somehow relaxed, an expression of contentment consuming his usual sneer until he was as relaxed as Falid. It was not an expression that I found ... |
Mazoga however was busy using the fingers of both hands to calculate the number, her brow and tusked jaw tightening as she counted, lost count and began recounting before shrugging and losing interest. |
"Viconia and I have faced worse odds." My exclamation was more concerning that it wasn’t a boast and I wasn’t entirely sure how I felt about that fact. |
"So have I." Alexi replied, and he smiled as he caught my gaze. "Okay, fine. I haven’t, but I didn’t want to admit so in the presence of the Heroes of Kvatch." |
Rubbing the rough stubble on my jaw in thought, I glanced at Viconia before looking at the others in the hut. "I’m not sure. What does Greejan-Ze say?" |
Weebam-Na gestured to the water that we had been provided. "The bandits usually come once or twice a week for their tribute, but their scouts keep a close eye on the villages under their control. By now word of our arrival will be going back to their camp and he said just before that the last time that they had visitor... |
Detane’s expression soured again and changed from the relaxed expectation that he had worn the second before. "So they expect us to fight and bleed for them instead. Pathetic." |
"How many are they expecting to come tonight?" |
After a brief hiss, Weebam-Na nodded to the shaman. "Last time there was three to four dozen who came to secure the town while they checked on the visitors. The merchant or whoever it was managed to kill or wound a couple of them before he and his guards were killed." |
The slow crawl of a plan started to form in my mind, and I clenched my jaw at the thought of what awaited us once the darkness fell. Taking my time to look about the group, I blew out a long breath clicked my tongue. "Everyone’s thoughts?" |
"We retrieve the Shield." Falid said simply, and Viconia, Alexi and Mazoga nodded in agreement. |
"What about you two?" I asked Weebam-Na and Bejeen. |
"You have only paid us for half the journey, which means that we need to get you back to Leyawiin to get the rest of the coin." The gleam in Bejeen’s eyes was not entirely the lust for gold. |
"And it’s either facing death here, or death in the marshes. This lot coming for us will know the area between than myself and Bejeen. We have a better chance surviving if we stand and fight here." |
"What about you Detane?" |
The Breton’s scowl was in full force but somehow the prospect of a fight and potential death was calming his otherwise bitter tongue. "I will fight. Banish your thoughts to the contrary Sir Desin." |
"Well then." Turning back to the hunched shaman, I looked him straight in the unusually mismatched eyes and gave him a single nod. The way that his mouth opened slightly in what I assumed was a grin left me remembering the enormous crocodile that we had encountered a few days previously that was longer than our boats. ... |
"Well, you know what time it is then Sir Desin?" Alexi said, picking up his custom made duelling sallet and fitting it down over his head. |
As I turned and looked his grin entirely matched the Argonians in size as he was struggling to contain his laughter. As he slapped down the visor that hid all but his eyes in the three centimetre gap between the face plate and the helm itself his voice became muffled and slightly muted. |
"It’s Knight time." |
My groan at the pun was matched only by Viconia and our Argonian guides while Mazoga looked confused, Detane looked gravely insulted and Falid’s eyebrows marginally raised. |
"Isto’sunduiri sslig'ne uns'aa dal waelen." Muttered Viconia bitterly while fingering the hilt of Dragonbane. "Surely he doesn’t need his tongue in this endeavour?" |
Creeping silently into the village with implements of murder and pain in their hands, the group of bandits arrived only a few hours after the sun had finally set. Just as we had been told there were several dozen of them, moving into the village in twos and threes and spreading out to secure every building and being wi... |
To my hearing, I could almost count the individual heartbeats, especially those directly outside of the hut as their nervousness began making their pulse race with anticipation. There was no fear that I could detect from any of them, but it was uncertain whether it was because of how safe they believed themselves to b... |
One by one, the smaller group of the bandits entered the hut only after one of their number poked his head around the corner and gave the interior a quick glance. The distance and the shadows between us, compounded by the fact that my hood was pulled over my head ensured that he couldn’t see my eyes but his quick glan... |
"Looks like the scalies really came through this time." One of them whispered as they entered. We had been expecting a considerable number, but having eleven of them clustering into the hut and just outside its door was not something we had anticipated. |
"They wouldn’t cross us, not after last time." |
There was an appreciative whistle as one of them moved closer to where Falid sat with his back against the wall. To the bandits he would have appeared to have simply fallen asleep in the sitting position, but his sheer size had drawn their attention anyway. |
"Gods, look at the size of this bastard. They must’ve had to give him a triple dose just to knock him out!" |
"Have you seen some of the snakes around here? Remember Nedrolros? He got bitten by one of the little ones and choked on his own tongue before anyone realised what had happened." |
"Well, I’m certainly glad that all of them are dead. Wouldn’t want to face this fucker in a dark alley." |
They shuffled about and I slowly closed my eyes as one moved in my direction. Our particular trap had been set with an attention to detail and I hoped that they didn’t look too closely to the way we were all sitting or lying down or notice how we were all fully dressed in our armour. To help with my own illusion, my d... |
"Looks like we’ve hit a payday here lads. Their stuff is worth more than the usual flea-bitten villager. The swords alone are worth a lot of gold." |
"You really think that Brugo and the others are going to sell any of these once they get their hands on them? Fucking idiot." |
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