U.O.T.W. Chapter 50 The Grudge

  • Over the course of the next three days Sotek worked hard forging the dragon bones and scales . During that time he had a few close calls with Aela. On one occasion he even had to hide under the river bridge by the Warmaiden’s. He finally managed to corner the Harbinger so he could ask that Kodlak would see to it that Aela would hold back her wrath, at least until he returned to Jorrvaskr.

     

    In the three days he worked, his time at the Skyforge was spent boiling oils, softening up the bone while at the maidens he worked on the scales. At night he would sleep on the Warmaiden’s shop floor or by the Skyforge. He would only manage to rest a few hours at a time as his nights were interrupted constantly due to the dragon bones and scales need to be tempered and folded at regular intervals.

     

    During the day when he was at the Skyforge he would look down to the training area. There he could see Aela, Farkas and Vilkas training the Whelps. Each day they would put the Whelps through their paces but every so often Aela would look up and make a threatening gesture at him, or he would see an apple or something fly past him to smash, crash or slam into the Sky forge’s guardian eagle.

     

    Gradually with each passing hour the weapon he was making started to take shape, at the same time the blacksmith Eorlund was also working on something of his own design. On the fourth day Sotek visited Dragonsreach to speak to Farengar the mage. He spent nearly a whole day with him in his study mulling over the enchant table. Eventually in the evening he had finally finished his task and so he headed off towards Jorrvaskr.

     

    He sneaked around the back of the building past the Skyforge and carefully crept into the yard. Vilkas was sitting there by himself at one of the tables so he cautiously moved closer.

    Psst, is she about?” He whispered.

     

    Vilkas looked around at him appearing somewhat startled.

    “What? Nope, not sure where she is. You should be aware shes still gunning for you”.

     

    Sotek broke his cover by standing up. He shook his head defiantly in disbelief.

    “What? It’s been four days… She can’t hold a grudge for four days”.

     

    Vilkas’s face went white then he shot up and hurriedly headed inside the hall.

     

    Sotek knew instantly he had it. He gave out a loud sigh then turned around. Just behind him only two feet away was Aela glaring at him.

    “Ermm, judging from your face, you can bear a grudge for that long”. Then he stepped backwards.

     

    “You owe me a bloody door! My room was wrecked!! What the hell did you use to search it with, a bloody hurricane?” He never seen her glare at someone that intensely, he could almost feel her eyes burning into him.

     

    “Ermm”. He stepped back again almost tripping over a stool.

     

    Farkas stuck his head out the door then shouted out to everyone inside.

    “Hey guys, she cornered him”. Then he came outside to watch the blood. Within seconds Vilkas, the whelps and even the Harbinger were outside, including the blacksmith and Tilma.

     

    Sotek looked at them all and gave a weak cry.

    Help!” However he found himself whimpering quietly as no one moved towards him to offer any aid. He reached into his bag and pulled out a bright red flower and held it out to Aela as a peace offering.

     

    “I got you this”. While he held it she reached out and crushed the flower head with her hand then let it go. The crushed flower petals fell on the ground leaving Sotek standing there holding a pathetic crushed stem.

     

    Farkas commented on Aela’s stature to the others.

    “Oh yea, she’s really gonna kill him”. 

     

    Sotek looked at the stem, gulped, then tossed it to the ground. He then glanced at her eyes.

    “Ermm ok, flowers not much fun”. As he vainly looked around for salvation he glanced across the training area. “Oh look at that, a new training dummy”. As he quickly moved over to it he noticed the old iron armor used to construct it were from the items he and Aela had collected a few weeks before from the Warmaiden’s. Instead of straw and wood which was used in the typical construction of training dummies, this one was made from iron.

     

    Aela just stood there fixing him with her cold hard stare, her eyes were like daggers. The blacksmith Eorlund called over to Sotek.

    “Yep I made that for you, was gonna get you to give it your best. Seems a waste of time now as your gonna die in the next few seconds, oh well”.

     

    “Oh I’m not dead yet”. Sotek smiled.

     

    Aela stormed up to him.

    “No, but you will be!” As she stepped closer Sotek held out a wolf fur he used to wrap something up in.

     

    “Before you kill me… See what you think of this”. Then he handed the fur bundle to her.

    “What the hell is it?” She demanded as she examined the fur. She was obviously  unimpressed.

     

    Sotek smiled as he spoke sarcastically.

    “It’s a wolf fur”.

     

    “I know that moron”. She snapped. She held back a bit as she was trying to contain her temper. However at the same time she was also wondering why she tried to show restraint.

     

    “Well unwrap it and have a look. Duh!. Sotek mockingly snapped before stepping back so he was out of her reach.

     

    As Aela unwrapped it, she uncovered a long slender bow. Its handle was jet black while off white dragon bones formed the frame. On the front along each side of the handle were three spikes, six in all. Each one looked like a Dragon’s tooth. Aela just stared at it in awe as her hand tenderly stroked the draw string.

     

    Without using an arrow, Aela drew the bow and pulled back the drawstring. She could feel the bows resistance and the energy it contained almost screamed out to be released. The Huntress relaxed her arm causing the bow’s tension to dissipate whilst still being under her control. A slight sheen caught her eye as the Dragonbone Bow reflected the sun’s rays, giving her a hint of the magical power it held.

    “Enchanted?”

     

    Sotek smiled as he watched Aela’s eyes blaze with a hunger and an uncontrolled wanton need to let loose an arrow.

    “Yess. It’s enchanted”.

     

    “I’ve never seen anything like it”. She just couldn’t take her eyes off it.

     

    “No one has, not for ages. It’s a Dragonbone bow. Dragons haven’t been around for hundreds of years so it’s a lost art, until now". He passed her five arrows, each one made from dragon bone. The tips had three points instead of the typical single point.

     

    She knew about arrows, she knew a lot. Fletching was one skill she mastered, taught from her mother when she was young. “Don’t the tri point affect its accuracy, its range?”.

    “Actually that’s the only way to make the arrow stable, try it”.

     

    She stood where she usually went then started to take aim until Sotek stopped her.

    “No, not there, move further back, right back”. She moved to where Sotek stood when he had his trial but he was still unhappy with her positioning. “Nope, no good”. Sotek walked to the farthest end of the training yard then called her over. “Here, shoot the iron target in the chest, all five arrows”.

     

    “Here? That’s over a hundred yards, you lose hitting power”. She knew what she was talking about, she told all the whelps about ranges and arcs.

     

    “Trust me” He stated then he turned to Eorlund and spoke apologetically at him.

    “Sorry”.

     

    Eorlund looked initially confused which was obvious due to his fingers scratching the top of his head. Everyone knew he done that when things didn’t seem clear to him.

    “About what?”

     

    Aela fired the five arrows in quick succession, each one hammered into the iron armor. Not only did the arrows penetrate the chest piece but each one actually ripped out massive holes into it as they tore through the other side. The fifth however was too much and the iron, old and rusty finally failed and split. To add insult to the wound, every shot caused the target to burst into flames.

     

    Sotek looked back at the blacksmith with a big grin on his face.

    “Oh no reason”.

     

    Eorlund looked at the destroyed dummy and sighed.

    “Why do I bother”. Then he just shrugged to himself.

     

    “It’s got both fire and frost enchantments. I’ve managed to do it… With Farengar’s help I can now double enchant weapons. You like?”

     

    Aela excitedly moved towards him. All thoughts of revenge for her room were quickly forgotten.

    “Oh me likes, me likes a lot”. The biggest shock she received however was when she went to hand it over to him.

     

    Sotek refused to take it and instead handed over to her the quiver full of arrows.

    “It’s yours”.

     

    She shook her head adamantly.

    “No… You need it”. Then she tried to hand it back.

     

    Sotek’s hands gripped her by the shoulders and gently shook her.

    “You’re the better shot. It will serve me better in your hands. Put it to good use”.  Then he shouted at her in jest. “Don’t go shooting me in the bloody arm with it”.

     

    She threw her arms around him and held him tightly.

    “I don’t know what to say…” Just then a thought occurred to her which caused her to smile broadly as a glint of mischievousness formed in her eyes. “Oh yea, you still owe me a door”. She couldn’t help but laugh as she said it. “What’s her name?”

     

    “She hasn’t got one yet, not mine to name. Try her out, something will come to you”.

     

    The blacksmith called out to her as he pointed to the archery targets.

    “You’re not trying that against my targets, so forget that”.

     

    Aela just sneered and blew a raspberry at him.

    That night in the Undercroft there was a few shouts of despair and bangs on walls while in Aela’s room various howls cried out for over half an hour.

     

     

Comments

14 Comments   |   ShyGuyWolf and 1 other like this.
  • ShyGuyWolf
    ShyGuyWolf   ·  December 12, 2016
    Awesome, Fire and Ice is a great combo
  • Relycs
    Relycs   ·  March 31, 2016
    Great, that's much better than what I suggested. :)
  • Sotek
    Sotek   ·  March 31, 2016
    He certainly managed to pull his tail out of the hot coals here....
    Ahhh The Dragonbone Bow Paragraph. Problems.......
    Personally I like the way the paragraph is so I'm not going to change it. What I have done is added a second paragraph inste...  more
  • Relycs
    Relycs   ·  March 31, 2016
    Glad she let him alive... I mean, it could have gone far worse, like she cutting off his arm or something...^^





    I found the moment when he/she revealed the bow and you described it, was probably the most important one ...  more
  • Ebonslayer
    Ebonslayer   ·  October 21, 2015
    Damn
  • Sotek
    Sotek   ·  October 21, 2015
    Kill is such a strong work and somewhat final. Maim maybe .
  • Ebonslayer
    Ebonslayer   ·  October 21, 2015
    I wonder... Would she have actually killed him if he didn't pull out that bow. *shudders*
  • The Long-Chapper
    The Long-Chapper   ·  July 6, 2015
    Aww, gives Sotek a hug. All better now. 
  • Sotek
    Sotek   ·  July 6, 2015
    An ELF? Hsssss!!!
    ' A loud thud echoes as Sotek's tail slams down' 
  • The Long-Chapper
    The Long-Chapper   ·  July 6, 2015
    Spoken from experience, perhaps? 
    Ha! Not everyone can be born an Elf.