Trudging along the stony pathway a ruggedly dressed Argonian made his way towards the border. As his stomach rumbled from hunger he thought back to how circumstances had led him to be in this sorry state. He had originated from the depths of Blackmarsh however he knew little if anything of the swampy homeland. Not that he considered that hellhole as he saw it to be home. His home was a small camp to the north of Vos in Morrowind. He slouched against a large boulder to rest his aching feet and massaged his toes. His eyes rolled as he realized one toe was poking out of his worn boots. That reminded him of earlier times when his mother scorned him for swimming in a new pair of shoes which she saved up for.
As he pondered on his family a finger toyed with a big hole in his shirt. He chuckled to himself as he watched it poke through like a caterpillar. Sighing, he muttered to himself in his state of near depression.
“Sotek, if your mother saw you now she’d beat you over the head with that broom of hers. Get up!”
‘Sotek’. That was his name. A green scaled Argonian stuck in the middle of nowhere with nothing but a hole in his boot and a finger pretending to be a caterpillar for company. That was Sotek, a typical Argonian from the slave land known as Morrowind. Even the Khajiit were more tolerated but then the Khajiit had animal fur that the unscrupulous would kill and skin for. Having just managed to escape some bandits the day before, he headed out for Skyrim not really knowing why. Unaware of an ancient calling of a beast, the calling of a wolf.
It took many days to get this far, living off the land was not easy. Farmsteads gave little in return for a day’s work and civil war had broken out splitting Skyrim in two. Where before there was unison, now brother was set against brother and family ties of old tradition were shattered. Skyrim’s borders were affected with constant patrols and skirmishes which left the land ravaged making foraging for food far harder. This added with the wake of battle which drew in bandits from both sides of the border made travelling difficult and doubly dangerous. One could just as easily succumb to starvation as they could a quick blade. Hardly a day had passed where Sotek wasn’t hiding from the sounds of fighting troops which often forced him to abandon areas where the successful search of any food source was likely. If that wasn’t bad enough he often found himself being strong-armed out of what little he managed to find by patrolling soldiers. He considered them to be no better than the bandits he was trying to avoid. As he pondered upon this and his predicament a low resentful sound escaped his lips.
“Hsss”.
Night was rapidly setting in so Sotek headed for some trees in the distance which formed part of a deep woodland and as such they offered plenty of cover from prying eyes. He had been lucky so far with the minimal encounters of the local wildlife. All he had come across was the one bear which he unwittingly disturbed as he entered a small clearing. Fortunately the bear was happy to just growl a warning at him and a quick change of direction was all that was needed. Preferably he would have liked to light a fire but being so close to Skyrim’s border, it was just too risky. Although it would be of a great help if he encountered wildlife, it would also attract them to him let alone the bandits and soldiers which he was eager to hide from.
He sat on the mossy ground and slouched against a tree then he pulled a ragged fur over himself and tried to settle for a few hours. He felt cold, tired and hungry but despite all of that he finally managed to drift into an uneasy and restless sleep.
Sotek awoke with a start. He could hear various voices on the wind and of several footsteps treading clumsily on the woodland floor towards his position. He could make out the voices of two Nords who were laughing about something but he couldn’t quite hear what they were saying. Then a third masculine voice far louder than the others broke out abruptly.
“Quiet back there”.
“What?” A second male voice softly answered.
“I said quiet”. All the talking ceased instantly, as did all the footsteps. The group of Nords came to a rapid stop and each member of the group fell deathly still and silent as a multitude of ears and eyes scanned the forest around them.
“What is it?”
“I don’t know... Something’s wrong”
Sotek then heard the third voice whisper back.
“The birds, there aren’t any birds, hell there’s nothing at all”.
Sotek listened as well and over the course of a few seconds his stomach started to tighten.
‘Damn... They're right’ he thought knowing full well that it meant one thing, trouble…
In the woods of Skyrim you could hear many sounds, Hawks hunting the night sky. Wolves hunting deer, foxes hunting rabbits and insects of all manner and description. But here, right now there was nothing! Nothing at all.
A harsh loud shout further in the tree line shattered the silence.
“Now!!!” Torches lit up the woodland like the morning sun as fireballs flew towards Sotek’s position which the group of Nords had unwittingly closed in upon. The destruction spells exploded as they impacting against armor and trees. Arrows thudded into their targets as screams of fear, pain and panic filled the air amidst the firestorm which engulfed anything which happened to get caught in its flames.
The man closest to Soteks position screamed with terror as he blindly turned to run from the flames.
“Ambush!!!”
Sotek crouched down by a tree stump as his eyes strained with the sudden glare of the fires around him. He could make out one Nord equip his bow and let off a flurry of arrows. Two of them slammed into a guard killing him outright. Before the Nord could line up another shot, a fireball struck into him instantly bursting into flames burning flesh and hair. He dropped his bow as he ran wildly, screaming from the intense flames. Then a sword came out of nowhere striking him down. Another Nord with his Nordic battle-axe held high above his head came charging in from nowhere running full pelt at the soldier who struck the blow. Arrows darted through the air hitting the Nord in the chest. Still he managed to keep his momentum as he charged bringing the axe in a long downward cleave. It’s keen edge threatening to slice through the guard’s armor. The guard was quicker. He deflected the blow with his sword, not even bothering with his shield. The axe buried itself into the ground. Within a second the soldier swung his sword in a downward arc slicing the Nords hands clean off which were still clutching the axe tightly. Spinning around the soldier stretched out his arm, bringing his blade straight into the neck of his adversary. Death was instant as the Nord was decapitated with a single blow.
In the trees ahead were soldiers with torches, from the glow Sotek could also make out the silhouettes of three mages. Lightening ice and fire flared out from the line into the swirling melee on his right. Sounds of men screaming, shouting out orders, metal against metal, and metal against flesh filled Sotek’s ears. Cries of the dying even the cries of the dead lingered in the air around him.
From out of nowhere a hand grabbed him by the shoulder pulling him across the ground.
“This way move”.
Sotek stumbled as he tried to get on his feet while he was being pulled along. Running blindly he desperately turned to the Nord who had grabbed him. He was clad in leather fur armor, covered in blood which was pouring out from a gaping wound in the Nord’s side. It spilt on the ground, droplets of blood spraying over Sotek as they ran. During all this time everything else was drowned out by the sound of his adrenalin charged heart which hammered furiously like a drum while his stomach fought against the sickening feeling of absolute terror that was fueled by the awful screams and the stench of burning flesh.
They burst out of the tree line, without slowing down, barely any time to take in his surroundings, Sotek blindly followed the Nord’s lead and ran as hard as he could as they headed down the hillside into a valley. The Nord in agony tried to keep his footing but with his injuries it was impossible. He tripped arms desperately flaying about trying to regain his balance. The next thing that Sotek knew was when the Nord came crashing down on top of him causing a sense of panic and fear at being captured or even killed. They fell forwards in a tangled mass of limbs and began rolling down the grassy slope. Sotek tried to add some control managing to stop rolling, but he still slid down the steep side of the hill.
Clawing at the ground he left marks in the grass like some wild animal was trying to tear up a carcass. Only when he became entangled in some bushes did he come to a stop near the bottom of the hillside. Crouching down he instinctively hid in the bushes and undergrowth, his scales camouflaged him perfectly. He looked around properly for the first time since the ambush started. In the air he could smell an aroma, one he knew so well, water. Looking behind himself he saw the river a good few feet away. He fought the urge to go running towards it and just sat there as still as he could, knowing full well in the darkness he was not alone. Struggling to hear every sound he listened intently, trying to hear what was going on around him. All he could hear was his own heavy breathing and his heartbeat, hammering like a drum.
Sotek looked up the hill towards the woodland. He watched the torches in the wood as they spread out, as the soldiers systematically searched the surrounding area. Suddenly there was a noise, feint movement from someone, or something was close by. Very close in fact. Then the Nord’s body rolled past, it stopped at the river’s edge. Slowly, hardly daring to breathe in case he gave his position away, Sotek crept down the bank towards the Nord but he was already dead. The imperial soldiers started heading downhill towards where he lay.
‘Someone must have spotted us’ he said to himself. Turning to the dead Nord, he fought off the feeling of guilt as he took the sword and scabbard then pocketed a small pouch of gold from the corpse. He then slipped quietly into the water, disappearing completely out of sight. A squad of soldiers arrived at the river edge where he lay moments before. Just behind them a mage let loose a barrage of fireballs from his hands erupting along the far edge of the river. The soldiers then started spreading out along the riverbank. Sotek could see from where he lay just below the surface, an officer who started talking to a soldier standing by the Nord’s body. Straining to hear, only just breaking the surface of the water, he could just make out what they were saying to each other.
The officer sneered, his voice was full of contempt.
“How many curs ran?”
“Two I think but there are seven bodies up there”.
“Well with this one as well that’s the lot so they are all accounted for”.
A mage who was listening in to the soldier’s report came over towards them.
“Well? Have you got them all?”
The officer snapped back at him angrily.
“Of course we got them all. I told you we would”.
The mage gently kicked the dead Nord, more out of interest than anything else.
“Any survivors?”
The Officer snapped at him once again.
“When I catch Nords I use a bloody sword. If you want survivors, then find someone who uses a bloody net”.
The mage wasn’t happy which clearly showed due to his cursing through clenched teeth.
“I wanted one alive for interrogation”.
The officer laughed slightly.
“So you wanted information. Here’s some you can take back, they’re all dead... That’s all the Information you need. After all, that’s all the General cares about”.
The Mage sneered as he walked away.
“Oh really? And what of Ulfric Stormcloak?”
The officer threw down an old battered Nord helmet to the ground as he scowled at the mages back.
Sotek slowly sank down into the depths and swam away leaving only a faint ripple behind.
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