U.O.T.W. Chapter 96 Where Hawks Rest

• Posted by Sotek December 11, 2015 - Filed in TSC: CB Story - 1,026 views

  

   

  While the Harbinger watched a solitary hawk fly ominously around the tower in search of prey, a single snowflake landed on his cheek. He brushed it off and turned towards the dark clouds which slowly drifted over the mountain peak.

  “A storm's coming”.

  The black haired Imperial whelp groaned bitterly as she semi consciously hugged herself to fend off the chill from the mountain winds.

  “Great, that’s all we need”.

  Kodlak nodded in agreement although that wasn’t what the Whelp expected.

  “Indeed it is lass. Now stay close, the incoming blizzard will help us”.

  She grimaced as more snowflakes tumbled down and thick depressing snow clouds darkened the sky.

  “How? Freeze the bandits to death?”

  The Harbinger raised his hand as a way to silence the girl before she inadvertently alerted the bandits. Once he had established order, he inexorably began the climb up the pathway which lay frozen due to the ice clad mountains that loomed overhead. The track turned sharply around a large set of boulders, which caused it to trace precariously close to the edge of a hundred foot drop. Below him, despite the now raging snowstorm, he could just make out the clearing which they had wandered through earlier. He stood near the edge and peered down into the valley while carefully making sure he had good footing. A few loose stones tumbled downwards and rapidly picked up momentum, reminding them all of the dangers ahead.

  “Stay here, all of you! And for the love of the Nines stay away from the edge”.

  Without even waiting for them to answer, Kodlak drew his sword and proceeded onwards by himself as he made his way through the storm. Old senses kicked in alerting him of one simple thing. Death was everywhere, it was here, in the mountains. The tower reeked of it.

  To his left, half buried in the frozen ground, an iron node lay untouched. No doubt if the bandits had seen it then they would have already mined it but here it was. In his mind he saw a certain member of the Companions draw a pick axe and chip away at it while another gathered the chunks of metal for him. Wherever Kodlak went, there was a constant reminder of Sotek and his mate. Kodlak had lived in Skyrim for far longer than the two of them together and yet Sotek and Aela lived with the land, they understood the balance between themselves and Skyrim.

  He knew of the balance himself, but he also knew that knowing of such a thing was far different to living within its laws. He obeyed the laws of man. Sotek and Aela obeyed the laws of the land. The laws of Skyrim and the laws of the realm of men often clashed. He reasoned that it was that point which led them into trouble, and it often did.

  Farkas and Vilkas were both far simpler men. Although they too shared the wolf blood, the two brothers resisted it just as much as Kodlak did. Provided they had mead in their bellies, food on the table and a maid in their beds they were happy, content and… controllable. Even a leash of barbed wire couldn’t contain Sotek and Aela. The Harbinger often wondered what would.

  He lightly dug the tip of his sword in the ground around the node as he pondered on this until a second thought disturbed him. He knew Proventus was a snake, a man not to be trusted. He was fully aware that Proventus had indeed written to the military governor Tullius. General Tullius wouldn’t pass on an opportunity to have the ‘Dragonborn’ fight in his army. Such a man would turn Nords towards Tullius’s banner and away from Ulfric. Kodlak banished such thoughts as to whether this was a good thing or not. What he knew for certain were either way, the general wouldn’t count the cost. If anyone did then it would undoubtedly be the Companions. Aela would count it every night she lay in an empty cold bed, while the empty step would stare back at Kodlak and plague them all. He decided there and then to prevent such a thing. He knew Sotek’s dislike of the dragon inside him. He took quickly to the wolf, to Aela’s wolf and yet the Dragonborn plagued him. He was an Argonian, a Companion, not a banner to be waved at the masses and certainly not a weapon to be manipulated at will. Should the General ever visit Whiterun then Sotek would have to disappear. But how?

  He blotted out that thought by turning his back on the Whelps and began to examine the stone tower’s defences. Around fifteen feet up the side of the tower, a precarious wooden walkway trailed around it as a means of reaching the higher level. The beams used in its construction seemed to suffer with the damp. Even from this distance Kodlak could see splits in the timber from the water that seeped within the wood and froze by the chilling mountain winds.

  He only had two options for attack, he could follow the tower to the left which had various rocks and large boulders that would provide him with excellent cover, or he could go to the right. That way was the opposite situation entirely. There was no cover to be had and the frozen icy particles that smothered the rocky terrain glistened which undoubtedly made the surface slippery. One false move and he would plummet down a hundred feet where the jagged rocky floor laid in wait for the unwary or the unlucky. He gave the Whelps one last fleeting glance then headed cautiously around the left side of the tower.

  He paused momentarily as a small arched stone bridge came into view. An archer, who was on sentry, wore thick furs made from the goat hides that he had obviously hunted. He leaned lazily against a tree and watched the two paths that lay ahead. This suited Kodlak fine as he was already behind the rogue.

  The archer, who was oblivious to the Harbinger’s presence, jumped when he felt the tapping of a large heavy blade on his shoulder. He turned around in astonishment to find the tip of a two handed sword, was just a mere few inches from his face. The bandit was so surprised to see Kodlak standing there that he didn’t even call out to alert the others of the intrusion. His bow dropped to the ground as his hand quickly grabbed hold of the hilt of his sword.

  Kodlak quietly groaned while he shook his head in response to the man’s blatant intentions.

  “Don’t, you’re not that fast!”

  The light scraping of a sword being drawn was all Kodlak needed to hear. Instead of surrendering, the bandit unwittingly chose death. With no further thought of trying to preserve the bandit’s life, Kodlak thrust the sword into the man’s stomach. It cut through the fur and armor with ease and tore a gaping hole in his soft belly. His knees collapsed under his weight and he looked up pitifully as Kodlak’s boot kicked him in the chest to aid in the withdrawing of his blade.

  Seconds later he was hauled backwards out of sight. The only tell-tale signs that he was there at all were some footprints, an empty bottle of ale and a red spray of blood which the storm quickly smothered. Within a minute all traces of him were gone.

  Kodlak made his way up a slight incline and headed past the few trees so he could reach the bridge. As he had now been out of sight for a few minutes, the Whelps listened intently as their nerves became frail.

  Two voices called out from the darkness to the old warrior who stood before them. The first of the bandits was a Nord clad in steel armor. Upon seeing the Harbinger, he drew his sword and advanced behind the cover of a worn shield which had clearly seen better days.

  Kodlak slyly watched as the Nord drew closer while in his ignorance, he taunted the Harbinger.

  “You’re a long way from an Inn old man. What’s wrong? No stories to tell by the fire? Want one of us to fetch you a chair?”

  The second fiend, a girl with a large red tattoo on her face, wore hardened leather. The two handed sword which she wielded seemed far too long and heavy for her but a few twirls of the blade told Kodlak she was capable and trained in the use of such a weapon. The girl called out to him mockingly.

  “I’ll give you a gold septim for that sword, take it off your hands. You’ll only do yourself an injury”.

  The man sniggered as he glanced at her.

  “A septim? Just take it. You watch. He’ll be on his arse in a second”.

  The girl groaned as she rolled her eyes.

  “Well duh!! Do you think I would pay when I can steal?”

  The girl lunged her sword forwards but all Kodlak had to do was step back. He positioned himself on the slope despite the icy frozen earth’s treacherous terrain. He knew he was steady on his feet and the high ground would work to his advantage. The female stumbled due to simply overreaching herself. Kodlak didn’t react to it, he did however take note that she wasn’t as experienced as he had previously thought. The simple fact that she was in front of the shielded Nord added to this. Both the bandits knew how to rob, but to fight a worthy opponent?

  Kodlak couldn’t help but defiantly laugh.
  “Take my sword? Humph, and I thought Aela had bad manners... I think it’s time that you were taught a lesson”.

  The bandits two handed sword swept downwards in an overhead arc but Kodlak easily countered by lifting his own blade to meet it. Such a move left him exposed but he was ready and indeed expecting the man to try and drive his blade into Kodlak’s underarm where his armor was weaker but such a blow never took place. In fact much to Kodlak’s surprise, the man blatantly looked on and just watched.

  The girl pulled her sword around and tensed up. She fully intended to swing it with all the force she could muster into Kodlak’s side. The blow would at the very least unbalance him even if he had managed to block it. Such a move however was rash and silly due to it being so painfully obvious. Kodlak slightly shook his head as he sadly whispered to the girl.

  “Don’t do it lass... Just drop your sword and go...”

  An evil glint in her eye told him all he wanted to know. The foolish girl took his words as words of fear and not of caution which he had intended. He knew there was only one outcome. She uncoiled the tension like a snake and the sword whooshed through the air. Kodlak being on higher ground just leaned backwards. The tip of her sword skimmed past his armor, twisting her around as Kodlak’s own sword countered her move.

  The other bandit ran forwards with his shield raised in an attempt to block Kodlak’s strike but he was too late to save her. Kodlak’s own blade was just an inch higher than the edge of the shield. The bandit looked on with shock as ‘Twilight’ sliced through the girl’s neck, cleaving her head off in a single blow.

  Kodlak followed through with the strike, not letting his guard down for a second. The very instant he stopped the wide arc of the sword, he twirled it around and thrusted the tip of his blade under his arm. The swords keen edge thudded against the bandits shield forcing him on the defensive. This gave Kodlak the time he needed to turn and face his second opponent directly.

  Around the other side of the tower, a debate was heating up between the dagger wielding Dunmer and the black haired Imperial. She was insisting upon charging forwards and supporting their Harbinger while the Dunmer was all for doing what he was told and staying the hell out of the way.

  Everyone froze as the frantic yell of the bandit, due to his partners untimely and sudden death, drowned out the argument. The black haired Imperial gulped while she tried to look around the tower without advancing. Due to her leaning too far over, she lost her footing and slipped on the icy ground.

  “By the bloody Nines, Eights... Damn... Can’t see anything... Who yelled?”

  She moved to the grey stone walled tower and tried to peek around it. The snow was falling far heavier than when Kodlak first drifted out of sight and the winds were picking up which only made the poor visibility worse. She crept around the right side of the tower while her eyes were wide open as they followed the edge of the rock face.

  Despite the winds constant howling across the terrain, she could hear a soft quiet noise which reminded her of a rabbit casually making its way across the snow that lay on the ground. She recoiled in shock and a feeling of nausea claimed her stomach when she saw a head roll along the small rock crevice towards her. It bounced off the wall of the tower and hurdled into space as it disappeared off the edge of the mountain.

  The Whelp turned back to face the others then doubled up as she vomited where she stood. A flask of water was trust in her hand while the Nord Whelp who had fair hair, pulled her away from the edge.

  “I think we’ll stay here and wait. Don’t you”.

  She half expected his flask to contain mead as he was never far from a flask of mead or ale. Often he would sit in the training yard with a jug of drink by his side. She sniffed the flask which only contained water before taking a large mouthful so she could rinse her mouth out. Once she swallowed some water to clear the burning sensation from her throat she returned the canister to its owner.

  “Thank you. We’d better wait here I suppose”.

  The Dunmer nodded in agreement as he spoke dryly at her.

  “That would be for the best. Come and sit down before you fall down”. With that, he pointed to a boulder for her to rest her haunches on.

  Oblivious to the effect of his swordsmanship on the Imperial Whelp, Kodlak mentally prepared himself for the onslaught of the second bandit. The rogue bashed the flat of his sword against the edge of his shield three times in a vain attempt to intimidate Kodlak. The Harbinger however was used to taunts and such tactics from the training sessions in the yard of Jorrvaskr and he was far from impressed.

  He rolled his eyes and groaned at the pathetic display of intimidation.

  “You could at least try to look scary as you do that. May I suggest you glare more? Oh and scowl, that works great for Aela. One last thing, you look like you’re going to piss yourself... That doesn’t help you know”.

  He then held aloft his two handed sword and spoke clearly with a distinct air of authority as he gave the bandit a free and much needed lesson in swordsmanship.

  “First off, wave your sword in the air. When you do that, try yelling. Like this...”

  He swung his sword in a fast wild large circle like a berserk warrior of old and charged forwards a few steps as he cried out at the rogue.

  “Yaaarrrhhhh!!!”

  The bandit stumbled backwards in fear, dropping both his sword and shield in the process. His boots slipped on the ground causing him to fall against a jagged rock. A single loud ‘crack’ drowned out the sword clanging on the ground and the man yelled as the pain from his broken arm fuelled his fear. He staggered to his feet then ran around the tower in an attempt to flee. In his haste he slipped and nearly followed his partners head but he managed to prevent himself from going over. In the wild winds and snowstorm he blindly stumbled towards the other side of the tower where unbeknown to him the Whelps were waiting.

  The Imperial lass was the first to see him. She screamed at the others as she pointed towards the hapless foe.

  “Get him!!”

  The man screamed in fright as the mob charged towards him. With no weapon and his arm bleeding badly from when he smashed it on the rock, he simply fell pitifully on his knees and surrendered. The Imperial Whelp turned her back to him when she noticed his elbow. She quietly walked away leaving the others to decide upon the rogues fate.

  Kodlak had by now sneaked around the other side of the tower and started spying on the Whelps to see how they would react to the wounded bandit. He silently tutted as he saw the Imperial back away but he felt genuine pride when two Whelps bound the bandits good arm behind his back. That at least showed Kodlak that the Whelps were at least prepared to take prisoners.

  The Dunmer formed a sling and wrapped the rogue’s broken arm against his chest then wrapped five linen cloths around him. Once the bandit’s arms were effectively tied up, the Nord Whelp gave him a healing potion. He screamed out as the bones bonded together but the tightness of the wraps prevented him from flailing about. He was vigorously manhandled to a boulder then was forced to sit down by the Dunmer.

  “We’ll keep him here for the moment. He’s in no state to go anywhere. I expect the Harbinger will turn him over to the guards in Riverwood”.

  Kodlak nodded silently in approval then turned his attention back to the tower. He had yet to enter it and there could be any number of foes waiting for him. With his sword at the ready he crossed the small narrow bridge and headed inside.