U.O.T.W. Chapter 153 Old Warriors Never Die

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    The steady drum of the of the horses hooves ‘clip clopping’ along the pathway helped to sooth Kodlak’s troubled mind. His apprehension grew with the inevitable passing of every landmark on the Companions journey back to Whiterun and their final destination, the hall of Jorrvaskr.

     

    The vial which Sotek, who now held the position of Harbinger, had given him worked wonders on his leg. It numbed the pain significantly which helped him to settle for the journey yet his concerns were now flooding all other feelings such as pain and foolishness for becoming trapped under his horse in the first place when the dragon attacked.

     

    Kodlak was fully aware that everyone in Whiterun, the guards, Jarl Balgruuf and indeed all the city’s residence would see him as nothing more than a broken old man. One who held so much respect and power, a tower of strength fall to become a worthless being wallowing in pity; one unable to even walk up a flight of steps.

     

    He hated himself for what he had so quickly become, a burden to his kin. Yesterday it was so different, he was a man who commanded respect just by walking in a room and now he was little more than an infant child; defenseless, helpless and dependant on everyone around him. The more he thought on it, the darker his mood became and the blacker his heart turned. He hated himself for what he had become.

     

    How Kodlak would have coped when the towns folk saw him only the Aedra and Daedra could dare to say. Whether he handled the situation or fell into an abyss of remorse and pity would be the ultimate test for his character. The one true test to determine if he was truly worth his weight or whether he was little more than a want to be hero was just moments away.

     

    Fate however had different plans as fate often does. On this occasion fate took the form of an Argonian, Sotek. Whether he knew or was vainly aware of Kodlak’s dilemma he never let on. All he knew was how he would feel if he was a man such as Kodlak. He knew Kodlak was proud of his achievements and he carried a bearing which few could compete with.

     

    Sotek though had no such feelings about himself. His world was different but he was the Harbinger. The Harbinger looks after all and now it was Kodlak who needed looking after and thoughts of pity could bite just as badly as any saber cat.

     

    Seconds before they cleared the rocky plateau where they would step into view of the guards of Whiterun, Sotek pulled on the horse’s reins, bringing them to a stop.

    “We’ll rest here for a few moments. Aela, see that Kodlak has a drink. Farkas, hold the horses; quietly now”.

     

    Aela ignored his request and approached him with a raised voice. Within the hour they would be back at the Hall of Jorrvaskr so she saw little point in stopping.

    “What are we doing? We should…”

     

    “Hush yourself”. Sotek whispered. “We don’t want to be heard so keep your voice down”.

     

    Aela looked back at the two brothers who shrugged their shoulders at her. It was clear from their actions that they had no idea as to what Sotek was doing. She took Sotek aside by the arm and spoke harshly yet at the same time, she did her best to keep her voice low.

    “What the hell are we stopping for? He needs to get back home not sit here for no reason”.

     

    Sotek rested his palm against the side of her face and lightly stroked her cheek. He found it purely by chance but such a touch had the effect of calming her down; sometimes at any rate.

    “What we need to do is consider the manner in which he returns home. Come with me”.

     

    He led her to the stretcher and beckoned her to kneel down beside Kodlak before moving to the other side so the three of them could talk amongst themselves. Holding Kodlak by the shoulder, Sotek spoke, giving voice to his thoughts.

    “Do you want us to carry you in or do you want to walk in like nothing happened?”

     

    Almost on reflex, Aela snapped back at him straight away before Kodlak could even have the chance to respond.

    “We’ll carry him in. Don’t be so bloody stupid!”

     

    Kodlak however, caught Aela by surprise. He threw the fur which they had used to cover him up with, off himself, dropping it on the ground. With a determined voice and with the help of Sotek’s shoulder to support him, he tried to pull himself up to his feet.

    “I’ll try to walk in, thank you. I will walk in, thank you”.

     

    The moment he stood up however, he found he was weaker than he expected. Because he was unsteady on his feet, he started to topple over and his bad leg lacked any strength to support him. Both Farkas and Sotek grabbed hold of him from either side by the arms before he fell down. They held on to him tightly while he regained his footing.

     

    Sotek cautioned him which did little to help Kodlak’s situation but he knew the Argonian was right.

    “You will have to take it easy if you want to walk in. Take it slow”.

     

    Aela shook her head at the whole situation. Everyone seemed to be acting mad and she for one had enough of it. She grabbed Kodlak’s arm, forcing Farkas out the way before proceeding to initiate a ‘tug of war’ using Kodlak as the rope.

    “Harbinger, we’ll carry you in. This is silly”.

     

    Sotek allowed himself a slight chuckle. With a big cheesy grin he turned to Aela and replied.

    “Why? I don’t need to be carried”.

     

    She cried out in a loud groan as her frustrations began to boil. A single fist pointed at Sotek’s face in a clear threatening display, causing him to back away. Now that Sotek had been dealt with, Aela turned her attention to the other fool; Kodlak.

    “You shut the hell up else I will deck you. Kodlak, you can’t walk. We’ll carry you in so stop this nonsense”.

     

    Sotek moved to Kodlak’s side and put his arm around the Nords waist to help support him.

    “He’ll walk. We’ll be ok”. Kodlak gave a simplistic nod and shuffled slowly forwards whilst fending off the pain coursing up his leg.

     

    Aela moved in front of them, barring their way with the palm of her hand raised up, almost against Kodlak’s chest like she had cast a Ward Spell. Her eyes glared with fury at them both in equal measures.

    “Why are you doing this? He can’t walk! Kodlak let us carry you”.

     

    Sotek sighed and moved away slightly. He beckoned Vilkas over to him and placed Kodlak under his care. Once Sotek was happy that Kodlak was alright, he held Aela by her hips and wrestled her away from the others so they could talk. Aela begrudgingly let him lead her off but her tolerance was wearing extremely thin.

     

    Sotek gently pulled her close to him, knowing she resented his touch but he needed to whisper to her.

    Aela, Kodlaks an old warrior. He has his pride but not his strength. He doesn’t want the whole of Whiterun to see an old man carried home. He wants them to see the Harbinger return his pack back to the halls of Jorrvaskr where they will tell their tales of adventure and deeds. Will you not help him?”

     

    Aela’s train of thought crashed spectacularly. She felt numb and ashamed at her own actions but what really hurt her was the fact that she didn’t see it. She slowly turned around to Kodlak and finally understood what Sotek was trying to do. He wasn’t pushing Kodlak beyond his limits; he was trying to give him a way to save his self-respect and dignity.

    “Of course I’ll help him”.

     

    She tried to shove her way in between Vilkas and Kodlak but such a move didn’t work. A low threatening snarl however proved to be most successful in getting Vilkas to back away. She held onto Kodlak’s waist as Sotek had done and began walking with him along the pathway.

     

    They had barely taken two steps when Sotek called out to them.

    “Stop! It isn’t going to work. Even if Farkas held on to him, everyone would know he can’t walk. They will start asking questions and everything we try to achieve here will be for nothing. He might as well crawl on his hands and knees for all the good it will do”.

     

    Sotek sat on the side of the path for a few moments and set about tackling the problem at hand. He thought about all the ways in which they could carry Kodlak or have him make his own way to the hall but every possible method was either implausible or blatantly obvious to any observer that Kodlak was hurt.

     

    With no plan in mind he glanced behind him towards Kodlak. Aela had now sat down on her knees and rested her haunches on the backs of her feet. Kodlak stood beside her and leaned on her shoulder, using her for support. Slowly, over several seconds, Sotek’s head tilted to the side as he watched them both with fascination.

     

    His position to them gave him a unique view point and when he tilted his head, the two Companions became an ‘optical illusion’. Kodlak’s legs disappeared from Sotek’s sight as they were hidden by Aela’s body.

     

    Bizarrely, Sotek started laughing and called out to them.

    “Omega! Omega verses Red. Red won! Don’t you see? Omega lost and Red won!”

     

    The three members of the inner Circle as well as Kodlak all looked at Sotek like he was insane. He chuckled as he picked himself up and dusted his hands off by rubbing his palms together. Kodlak was completely perplexed and Aela wasn’t far behind. She jumped up to her feet and held on to Kodlak while she demanded answers to Sotek’s seemingly irrational ravings.

    “What the hell are you on about? Omega versus Red, Red wins? What the hell has that to do with this?”

     

    Sotek laughed loudly and clicked his fingers at Vilkas.

    “Aela, what has this got to do with it? Everything; Vilkas, Farkas, do you remember when I lost that bet regarding the amount of kills Omega and Red had? You remember when Red beat me?”

     

    Farkas and Vilkas looked at each other with big grins strewn across their faces. With a single nod of confirmation, Vilkas replied.

    “Yes, we do”.

     

    The two brothers impudently approached Kodlak and came either side of him in a pincer move. Before he could object they both knelt down and carefully lifted him up and sat him on their shoulders. As one they stood up while Kodlak desperately grabbed hold of them both so he wouldn’t fall backwards.

     

    The two brothers raised a fist high in the air and cheered together.

    “The victor!”

     

    While Kodlak hung on for dear life, Aela turned to Sotek with a sarcastic smile which complimented the tone in her voice.

    “Ok Mr. Harbinger. Who or what did he beat? The dragon?”

     

    Sotek thought for a second and shook his head dismissing the idea.

    “No, that’s not acceptable. He won’t live with that tale even to save his own honor. He won’t let others sing of that victory when he knows he couldn’t help in the fight. No, we need a small but solid victory. One that can easily be given and then quickly forgotten about”.

     

    Sotek looked around for anything which could serve as inspiration but nothing came to mind. As everyone fell silent, he could hear the feint sounds of trickling of water by a stream which happened to be nearby. He blurted out two words then broke into a run.

    “Wolf Armor!”

     

    Everyone watched him as he sprinted off towards the stream. He darted across the grassland then skidded sideways and deliberately fell to the ground where he slid down a long muddy ditch. Once he climbed back out of it, he promptly slid down the bank a second time leaving Aela scratching her head.

     

    he was now caked in muddy stinking water but despite this, he had a massive smile on his face. Everyone looked at him like he was crazy, but he just stood there in front of them grinning.

    “Perfect”.

     

    He drew his axe and handed it over to Kodlak who was still sitting on the two brother’s shoulders. While Kodlak held the weapon, Sotek explained his idea to Aela.

    “Give it back to me once we are in Jorrvaskr. In answer to your question Aela, I challenged Kodlak to a fight and he won”.

     

    Kodlak felt uneasy with the plan and he was also equally troubled by it. He couldn’t help but point out his objections despite Sotek’s good intentions.

    “I appreciate you taking flak for me Sotek but no one will believe I beat you”.

     

    Sotek laughed loudly and dismissed Kodlak’s arguments. He had already thought about their fight and laid it all out for Kodlak’s ease of mind.

    “But they will believe you beat me if I slipped in the mud. Everyone knows I need to get some light armor, that’s no secret. You only beat me because of this steel set. It’s so restrictive!”

     

    Aela wanted to affectionately rest the palm of her hand on Sotek’s chest but he was covered in mud. She briefly examined his torso for any clean areas but there were none so she moved away from him and held her hands behind her back to fight any temptation she had on holding him.

     

    Her concerns now switched from Kodlak to her mate. Kodlak was out of any danger with regards to other people but in doing this, Sotek had stepped into the line of fire.

    “But everyone will take the piss out of you”.

     

    Sotek sadly nodded but he didn’t dwell on his dark mood. In a matter of seconds he had shrugged it off.

    “Have I ever cared what others think? I survive you three and your goading when we all train don’t I. What the hell can anyone else do? That’s the plan and we’ll damn well stick to it. Let’s go; Aela can you take the two horses back?”

     

    Aela’s eyelids narrowed to mere slits and she gave him a sneaky smile.

    “As long as it’s not so you can talk about me behind my back”. She spun around on the spot and quickly gathered up the horses. With their reins in hand, she walked towards the stables while Farkas and Vilkas, with Kodlak sitting precariously on their shoulders, headed towards the main gate.

     

    Sotek drifted off in a stare and came to a stop. Aela felt the presence of someone watching her so she peered over her shoulder to see Sotek’s eyes fixed upon her backside. She knew exactly what he was looking at as his head had a tilt to it. She smiled to herself then started swinging her hips with every step she took.

     

    The change in her step was quickly noticed and not just by Sotek either. Farkas pointed at her as he asked Vilkas about the way she was walking.

    “Why is she moving like that all of a sudden?”

     

    Vilkas turned his head around as he had noticed that their ‘Harbinger’ had disappeared. Upon seeing Sotek gawping at Aela, he yelled out; catching Sotek off guard.

    “Hey!! Sotek!”

     

    As if he was in a world of his own, he snapped out of his daze and noticed he was standing in the middle of the trail by himself.

    “Huh? What?” He quickly scurried along the path and ran past the stables where Aela was leaning against the fence. The she-wolf blew him a kiss as he went by to join the others, causing him to stumble as he ran along the pathway.

     

    Kodlak shook his head at the Argonian and tutted at him.

    “Seriously? You’ve got to get some control Sotek”.

     

    “What do you… mean?” Sotek replied. His voice drifted away as he slowly turned around where his eyes promptly fixed onto Aela once more.

     

     

Comments

5 Comments   |   Aela The Huntress likes this.
  • Sotek
    Sotek   ·  November 25, 2016
    Ok, that was a silly error I should have picked up. Thanks for pointing it out Ebonslayer. 
    Kodlak does have the four members of the Inner Circle to cover for him. :)
  • Ebonslayer
    Ebonslayer   ·  November 24, 2016
    I wonder if someone's smart enough to see through this ruse, even with Vilkas and Farkas he'll have a slight limp.

    "Everything; Vilkas, Farkas, do you remember when I lost that (that) bet regarding the amount of kills Omega and Red had?"
  • Sotek
    Sotek   ·  October 7, 2016
    Kodlak's down but don't think he is out. 
    Glad you are enjoying it Teekus. I hope I don't disappoint further down the line.
  • The Long-Chapper
    The Long-Chapper   ·  October 6, 2016
    I always feel sorry for Kodlak in this group of chapters.  :'(
  • Teekus
    Teekus   ·  October 6, 2016
    Good chapter I'm interested in seeing where this tale is going.