Corin Darbon, the badass Breton [2]

• Posted by Inge February 14, 2016 - 1,615 views

  

  Corin did not hesitate for a moment, but as he moved forward to attack, the bandit in front of him had already recovered from the shock that Horse's rather fierce attack had brought on, and the man released the arrow he had readied. Corin was too close to avoid it, and he involuntarily let out a pained scream as the arrow lodged itself in his side. He stumbled, but regained his balance quickly, despite the stinging pain. He slashed at the man, readying a healing spell in his free hand. The bandit darted backwards and threw his bow aside. He then brandished two daggers. 
  Beside them, the other archer was trying to fight off Helene, who was having none of that. She had an arrow stuck in her shoulder, but fought on all the same, casting a powerful lightning spell at the bandit. The third one now had two aggressive horses to deal with and was bent over, clutching his gut. His face had gone a ghostly pale and he dropped to his knees. 

  Corin hardly had the time to cast his healing spell, but a quick attack with his blade was enough to knock one of the daggers out of his opponent's hands. The other, however, left a nasty gash in Corin's arm. The Breton retaliated by stepping forward, grabbing the bandit by the front of his furs and jamming his blade down his chest, entering behind the collarbone. He then ripped it back out and dropped the other onto the ground. He was dead almost instantaneously. Helene was done with the other one and had also taken care of the man who had been severely injured by Horse's hooves. It was probably more of a mercy kill at this point.
  Corin put his sword away and looked at the arrow. He took a deep breath, clenched his teeth and pulled it out. He almost let out a scream again, but managed to keep it at a grunt. Then he cast his healing spell and he briefly closed his eyes. As bad as things like this could hurt, there was something almost pleasurable about the sensation of that pain smoothly leaving the body. 

  "Helene," Corin said, walking over to her. She too had rid herself of the arrow she'd been hit with, but Helene's strong suit was offensive magic. Restoration wasn't her cup of tea. She raised her eyebrows.
  "Hold still," Corin said with a faint smile. She looked more like a lady than a warrior, but it took more than an arrow to get her down. He placed his hand on her shoulder and cast another healing spell, ridding her of the bloody wound. She slowly let out her breath.
  "Thanks," she said, after which she walked back the her horse. Corin mounted his again as well, and they rode on.
  He felt quite good. Yes, he certainly had allowed his ego to get the best of him, but he had come out victorious. And all that without wearing actual proper armor. How was that for versatility?
  "You really find it funny when he shows what he's made of, don't you?" Helene said, as they rode into Riverwood. Corin laughed.
  "Helene, he is trained to be the most vile animal on Nirn if someone else tries to ride him. I find it hilarious."
  The Scarred Lady shook her head, though she did seem amused. 

  From Riverwood it was not much further to Castle Gonduin, their destination. They passed multiple gates on the way, including a portcullis. The castle was well-defended and the guards were capable men, every single one of them. 
  Though Corin was treated with respect here, often enough the guards would joke with him as well and he liked it that was.
  He was technically the lord of this castle, but even if he tried, he couldn't feel like one.
  And that was peculiar, as he had a considerable ego at times. But he simply wasn't the man he had been back in High Rock. And as  much as he appreciated respect, he was not a better man than these guards. 
  They left their horses at the stables and went to the main hall. Helene sat down and helped herself to some bread, cheese and meat. Corin walked over to the steward.
  "How have things been?" he asked, briefly embracing him. 
  "Same old, same old," the elderly man replied with a little smile. "We had a small group of bandits trying to gain entry a few days back, but the Jarl's men in Riverwood had already gotten to them before we even could."
  "That is good to hear," Corin answered. The castle was in capable hands, as always. He sat down besides Helene and poured himself a glass of mead. He leant back in his chair. 
  "Home sweet home."

  After eating some, they made their way to the lords chambers. The library to be precise. They sat down at one of the small tables there and Corin flipped through one of the books on that table without really reading a word. 
  It was good to be back home, but he doubted he'd stay for long. He never did. Either he or Helene would get restless sooner or later.
  He put the book away and picked up another. It was titled 'A kiss, Sweet Mother', and it reminded him of something.
  "Still wonder who wants me dead so very bad," he said, staring at the book in his hands. It was a somewhat strange idea. He was used to fights to the death, but someone unknown sending someone else to kill him was downright cowardly. Yet it was effective. So far he had been able to fight the assassins off when they came for him, but if one caught him in his sleep he'd be done for.

  "The Thalmor perhaps?" Helene guessed, glancing at him sideways. "Then again, from what I hear, they have their own killers, so it doesn't add up."
  "Maybe they don't want to be associated with the kill," Corin said, thinking aloud. He had given them reason to be angry at him. Plenty of reason. He hadn't really chosen a side in Skyrim's civil war, but helped free a Stormcloak captive from Northwatch Keep all the same since the mother had been worried about him. And, well, Corin also really disliked torturers. Not a very solid argument, but it was enough for him. 

  "Could be." Helene said, not sounding overly convinced. "But what reason would they have for that? It won't be very hard to prove what you did - even the Solitude guard somehow caught wind of it - so they'd certainly get away with it."
  "I've accumulated a few titles by now, though, they might not want to ruffle any more feathers than absolutely necessary." Corin wasn't too sure of that reasoning himself, as he just wasn't involved in the land's politics enough to be able to really gauge the situation properly. He had been named Thane of Whiterun and with his status of lord of this castle around here, his position in the hold had only strengthened. But would the Thalmor care if they really wanted him dead? He had no idea. 
  "The title of Thane is honorary at best," Helene said. "I don't think that would stop anyone." She frowned and rubbed her temples. Corin looked back at the book. 

  Truth was, the main reason he was only asking these questions now, was because at first it hadn't really bothered him. In his confidence he had not really considered it such a big threat. But that was before he screwed up with both the Dawnguard and the Volkihar vampires. Now it wasn't just the assassins. The Dawnguard still believed him a traitor and had already sent multiple deathsquads after him and so far every single vampire he had met wasn't overly fond of him either. 
  He had made a lot of friends during his time in Skyrim, but a lot of enemies as well.
  "Wouldn't be the Danwguard either, they definitely take care of their own business," he mused. Gods, he could use another mead right about now. Or two. It was moments like this where he just wanted to drown out his thoughts for the night. 
  "No, they've proven that already. But let's not forget someone can always go rogue," Helene said sharply. Corin sighed. She had a point. Contacting the Brotherhood might not be the style of any of the groups he angered, but you needed only one individual to perform the Black Sacrament. 

  The evening fell and before they knew it, they had been talking for a few hours. Not just about the assassins - Corin got fed up with that subject at some point - but about other things as well and eventually the conversation had taken them back to High Rock, though briefly, as neither one of them really felt like raking up too many of those memories.
  Corin got up when he suddenly realized just how tired he felt after a full day of traveling. 
  "I'd say we hit the hay," he said. Helene nodded and made her way to the guest wing - the lord's chambers only had one bed, after all and the guest wing was right next to the lord's chambers - and Corin made his way to his own bedroom, putting the worries out of his head. It was no use overthinking it all. Things would come the way they would come. 
  He undressed and slipped under the covers. He then pulled them up and closed his eyes. He drifted away into a deep sleep.

  It was Helene who woke him the next morning. 
  "There's a courier in the main hall for you," she said. She was already dressed and looked tense. Corin was suddenly very aware of how little he was wearing.
  "On my way," he said. She nodded and left. Corin got out of his bed and quickly put on some clean clothes.
  He made his way to the hall and the courier immediately walked up to him.
  "I'm very sorry to disturb you this early in the morning, but it's urgent," he said, handing Corin a neatly folded up letter. "The man who gave me this said to tell you to make haste."