U.o.t.W. Chapter 279 Hold Your Fire

• Posted by Sotek June 22, 2018 - Filed in TSC: CB Story - #Sotek  #U.O.T.W.  - 1,102 views

  Hold Your Fire

   

  

   

  As they made their way south along the road, their eyes became accustomed to the darkness. Above them the two moons had started to climb but they were quickly blotted out by the storm that ravaged the mountain range above. The open pathway was the last place Sotek wanted to be so his pace quickened.
  “Let’s pick it up a bit. We can go slower once we’re off the road”.

   

  “Oh, great! A slave driver. Did you want to cover the rear, so you could whip us as we travelled?” Kul-et grumbled.

   

  “Oh no, Aela would enjoy that too much. I want to speed us up not slow us down”.

   

  Aela laughed as she gave him a light shove in the back.
  “Oi, quit it. That’s not funny”. As she looked around at the others though, they were both smiling broadly.

   

  Further along the road, the open woodland became denser and far more forest like. Even the height of the trees seemed to stretch higher, but it was an illusion cast by the steep slope which the trees were situated on. From one particularly dense cluster of trees, the group heard a rustling from something. Aela could tell by the smell what the creature was and she quickly put the pack to ease.
  “It’s just a bear”.

   

  Sotek nodded while Kul-et drew her bow. The bear approached them then raised itself up to full height as it growled out menacingly. Sotek held his hand up telling Kul-et to stop. He walked to the edge of the path then stood to his full height. The Companion growled out loudly, threatening the bear. He could feel Scarface there inside him, bursting to get out, to be released upon the bear. Sotek didn’t see the bear as a threat, he just saw it as food.

   

  The other three stood and watched him and the bear face off each other. Whether the bear was just curious, or just giving them a warning, they couldn’t be sure. The result however was the same. Even Sotek couldn’t be certain of the bears intentions. For all he knew, the bear was just warning them, or maybe the bear could sense something was different with Sotek. The bear might have sensed that Scarface was there, inside him. Either way the bear dropped to all fours then turned away after roaring out once more. Sotek stood there watching it as it disappeared amongst the trees. Only when he was certain it had left did he continue on his way.

   

  Aela walked up to him and smirked.
  “And they got the nerve to call me an animal”.

   

  Sotek laughed quietly.
  “He was just being curious that’s all”.

   

  Kul-et walked alongside Aela then whispered.
  “Have you ever seen a bear act curious?”

   

  “Oh yea, they like to know who’s in their territory. You should know that”.

   

  “Oh, I do. But, have you ever seen a curious bear run off like that?”

   

  Aela cast a worried look at Sotek. She watched him for a few seconds while he walked in front.
  “Ermm no, not even if Red threatened them. Not run off. He was afraid”.

   

  Sasha came alongside them.
  “Who Sotek? He wasn’t scared!”

   

  Aela shook her head.
  “No, not Sotek. The bear”.

   

  An hour later they came across a wide stone bridge which crossed the river. Sotek halted the group then walked across by himself while the others leaned against the bridge wall, except for Aela who sat on top of it. Once Sotek scouted the other side for a few minutes he returned to see all three of them sitting on the wall with their legs dangling over the side. He laughed as a thought entered his head.
  “Hang on, I’ll find three rods then you can all fish while you’re all sitting there”.

   

  Aela went to kick him but she nearly lost her balance so she franticly grabbed Kul-et who screamed as she felt herself nearly topple over. Kul-et in turn, gripped Sasha’s arm making her scream as well. She had visions of being dragged over the side by the other two.

   

  Between the three of them, they had just managed to prevent themselves from falling off the wall. Gingerly they jumped off the side and sighed, thankful that they all had solid stone beneath them. Now the incident was passed, Sasha snapped at Kul-et.
  “You’re a stupid, bloody idiot! you nearly took me over with you. Next time fall by yourself”.

   

  “Don’t you have a go at me Sasha! It was Aela that grabbed hold of me. Blame her”.
  “Hey, don’t either of you start on me. He’s the one that made the wisecrack”. As she snapped back at the others, she pointed to Sotek who was leaning against the wall.

   

  Sotek promptly burst out laughing.
  “How the hell am I supposed to get you three over the mountain when you can’t even sit on a foot-wide wall? Come on, this way”. With that he ignored the bridge altogether but instead he started following an old narrow trail which ran steeply up the mountainside.

   

  Kul-et had one last look at the bridge.
  “This is it, isn’t it? We’re really gonna do this”.

   

  Sotek looked at the three of them watching him then nodded back to Kul-et.
  “Yep, this is it. But don’t worry, I prayed to Hircine. He said I’ll be fine. He has plans for me”.

   

  Aela grimaced.
  “Yea but what about us?”

   

  Sotek smirked at her.
  “Oh, he said your all screwed; I’ll be ok though”. The next moment he ran up the trail while Aela chased him with a big stick which she picked up from the ground.

   

  In the few hours they had climbed along the trail, the storm had moved further towards the south. Aela cursed loudly as she saw it in the distance.
  “Damn it, that’s all we need”.

   

  Sotek cast a quick look at the mountain and shrugged his shoulders at her.
  “What? It’s clear now I thought you would be happy?”

   

  “Yes, it’s clear here, but its gathering over the seven thousand steps! I swear he knows nothing… That mountain’s notorious for storms settling there. it’ll hang around that bloody mountain for nearly a god damn week. And that’s the bastard you want us to climb down”.

   

  “Aww come on where’s your sense of adventure?”

   

  Aela sneered out her reply.
  “At home in Jorrvaskr, on our step where it’s warm”.

   

  Kul-et joined in.
  “And dry”.

   

  Sasha snipped out her reply as well.
  “And food, drink, a chair to sit on”.

   

  Sotek shook his head as he laughed at the three of them.
  “Aela, Kul-et and Sasha. Look at them in awe everyone… the three great adventurers of our time. Let’s go on an adventure, oh hang on where’s the food. Don’t forget the drink! Yes, as long as we have a comfy chair each. What about the bedrolls? Oh no, we don’t have bedrolls, we’ll get that slave Sotek to come along. He can carry the mattresses”.

   

  Aela kicked him lightly in the leg, then she sarcastically replied to his jesting.
  “Let’s go on an adventure with Sotek. Ok, where are we going to go? Well I thought it would be fun to see if we can kill ourselves in interesting ways. Today I want to see if we can get killed by climbing and then descending an undecendable cliff face. Not any mountain, but the biggest bloody mountain in the entire world. Is undecendable even a word? See? You put us in situations where there’s no bloody words for!”

   

  Sasha laughed at her as she added her bit to it.
  “Don’t forget Aela, it’s during a bloody blizzard”.

   

  Sotek stared at Aela blankly then mumbled under his breath before carrying on along the trail.
  “undecendable isn’t a word…. It’s steep, I get it!”

   

  Soon afterwards they reached a far flatter part of the mountain range. Ahead in the darkness they could make out the silhouette of an old tomb.
  “My god it’s Hillgrund’s tomb”. Aela gasped.

   

  Sotek waked alongside her with a puzzled look on his face.
  “What’s so special about this Hillgrund?”

   

  “Hell, I don’t know. But we’re north of Ivarstead. Damn it, we’ve been climbing for hours. Ivarstead about the same level as we are, look”. She pointed towards the south. In the distance they could see the torches and lanterns of Ivarstead. Inside, Sotek groaned. Aela was right. For all their effort, they still had to reach the town.

   

  From out of no-where, a wolf snarled out and rapidly closed in for the kill. It lunged up but Sotek stepped in its path and grabbed it with both hands. The weight threw him to the ground as he wrestled with it; just managing to hold the Icewolf off. Kul-et quickly drew her axe and hacked at its back while Sotek gripped at its neck, preventing its maw from reaching his face. With a feat of strength, Sotek prevented it from retaliating against Kul-et’s attack’s resulting in its quick and sudden death.

   

  As Sotek got to his feet, Aela thumped him in the arm.
  “What the hell was that about? Use your bloody axes. You moron”.

   

  Sotek shook his head as he tried to explain.
  “I fucked up. I overlooked something… I can’t use them they have...”

   

  Before he could finish his sentence, another Ice Wolf came at them from behind. As quick as a flash Aela drew her bow then fired just as Sotek screamed out at her.
  “Nooo…” He was however too late to prevent her from firing.

   

  Her arrow shot through the air as if it was in slow motion then impacted perfectly in the Icewolf’s chest just as it leaped in the air. The impact threw it over in a long flip and sent it cascading over the edge of the mountain into the river hundreds and hundreds of feet below. The biggest trouble was, and what Sotek realised when he fought the first wolf, was the fact that his axes and Aela’s bow were enchanted. The instant the Ice Wolf was hit with the Huntress’s arrow, it exploded in flames, thereby lighting up the entire area where they all stood. Then to make matters worse, it was sent down the mountainside, leaving a trail of flames like a gigantic comet plunging to the ground.

   

  He stared in disbelief when below them various torches suddenly lit up and snaked their way along the trail they were on.
  “Oh, bloody hell and Oblivion”.

   

  Aela looked down the mountainside where he was looking.
  “Oh crap, oh crap”.

   

  Sotek slapped her on the back of the head.
  “Well done Aela. Once… Just once! Why couldn’t you bloody miss? Do you have to make every bloody arrow count?”

   

  Aela stood there stunned as she watched the trail of torches slowly head towards them.
  “I... I… Oh crap”.

   

  “That’s why I didn’t use my axes, damn it”.

   

  Aela desperately stared at him.
  “Fix it! That’s what you do”.

   

  Sotek looked at her like she was crazy.
  “Fix it? How? What am I supposed to do? Go down there and say, ‘Hey I know you’re looking for us, but can you pretend you didn’t see that bloody great explosion on the mountain side. Oh, and if you can ignore the blazing wolf plummeting down the mountain that would be great. Here, have a few gold and get yourselves a round of drinks on us?’ I can’t fix everything Aela”. He then cast his eyes desperately at the tomb then burst out laughing.

   

  Sasha grabbed his arm.
  “What’s so bloody funny?”

   

  “I have an idea. Follow me”. With that, he entered the tomb.

   

  Aela called out to him.
  “What the hell are you doing?”

   

  “Fixing it, like you asked me to”. With that he stated laughing.

   

  Once they were all inside the tomb, Sotek barked out his orders.
  “Aela, stand by the door with a torch, and for crying out loud don’t bloody drop it. That, with some luck, will keep you out of trouble. Kul-et, help me with these fire urns. Sasha, make your way further inside the tomb. Just through one door, then follow your footsteps back here. Don’t leave a trail showing you came back”.

   

  Sotek and Kul-et hid an urn full of oil near the doorway, then a second one further inside. He tipped a third urn’s oil across the passageway, smothering the passage floor with oil. While he did that, he had Kul-et collect a bag of dust from around the room. Once Sasha came back to them Sotek cast a fire trap right in the middle of the pool of oil then he covered it with the dust Kul-et had collected up. Once he was satisfied with their work, he filled two empty flasks with oil he had collected from the tomb’s braziers. Once Aela had extinguished the torch, Sotek led them all outside once more.

   

  Immediately outside, Sotek halted the group.
  “Now, follow me exactly”. He climbed up on some rocks then made his way across using the tomb’s collapsed stone blocks to hide his trail. Once they were several feet away, he headed once more across the mountain side.

   

  Kul-et whispered out to him. Her own fears were easily heard, betrayed by her own voice.
  “That wasted a good half hour. They’re gaining on us”.

   

  Sotek grinned at her.
  “With some luck they’ll think we hid inside. If they go in, then… Boom”. They were now travelling along rough, rugged ground as the trail they were following stopped at the tomb. Sotek cursed inside as he was all too painfully aware that they were leaving tracks. Even though it was dark, he knew they could still be easily followed by any good tracker.

   

  Kul-et’s blood ran cold when she heard two Argonian voices on the wind.
  “Oh fuck, oh fuck”.

   

  Sotek stopped then looked back at her, he could see straight away that she was afraid.
  “What is it?”

   

  “It’s Shadow Walker! He’s here, and her”.
  Sotek sighed.
  “Ok… Who the hell is ‘Her’? I would have thought ‘Her’ was Sasha”.

   

  Sasha gulped loudly.
  “She’s Huizi’s top assassin. He’s only in power because of her. She’s an expert on every weapon. Spear, swords, daggers, axes, maces, even bows and crossbows. No one, but no one has ever come close to beating her in a duel. She’s killed more targets than us lot put together. Oh yes… She’s highly proficient at all the magic schools. Some even say she reached master level with destruction. We’re fucked”.

   

  As Sotek glanced back at the tomb he whispered to Sasha.
  “What’s her name? I like to know who I’m dancing with”.

   

  Aela grabbed his arm as she quietly cursed at him through clenched teeth.
  “This isn’t a fucking game”.

   

  Sotek smiled at her.
  “Oh Aela, but it is. A dangerous game that I grant you. But it’s still a game. Now, what’s her name?”

   

  Kul-et gulped loudly.
  “She’s called the Collector. She ermm… collects hearts and keeps them in boxes”.

   

  Aela could have cried at that point.
  “Oh fuck… She sent the others after you, they said they wanted your bloody heart”.

   

  Sotek looked back towards the voices.
  “How interesting”.

   

  The small group stopped moving for a few minutes as they listened intently. From the tomb they could all hear the voices of the Shadowscales as they talked. They could hear a female Argonian speak to the other members of the pursuing group.
  “Their trail leads in here”.

   

  “That’s her”. Kul-et whispered.

   

  Sotek smiled.
  “Yes, but not for long”.

   

  Shadow Walker started to head inside but the Collector called him back. “Wait!”

  “What?”

   

  The Collector stared at the tomb as she spoke.
  “They say he was clever. His mind is like a female’s, devious and smart”.

   

  “Yes, yes. And us men are all muscle and brawn. What’s your point?”

   

  “Well if he is as smart as they say he is, then why run into a tomb where he’ll be trapped?”

   

  “What are you saying? They aren’t inside?” Shadow Walker asked as he peered at the tomb door.

   

  She sneered at him.
  “You men are thick, aren’t you? No, you idiot. I’m saying it could be a trap”.

   

  Shadow Walker looked at the tomb then thought for a few seconds. As he spoke, he pointed to three Shadowscales who were part of their group.
  “Right, you three! Go inside. See if they are there. Go careful, I don’t want any casualties”.

   

  The three Shadowscales carefully headed inside the tomb as instructed. They had hardly taken five steps when there was an ominous explosion as the leader set off the fire trap which ignited the oil. Both urns exploded, smothering the other two Shadowscales in flames. The one who set the trap off died almost instantly, while the second one ran past him, but within moments he too succumbed to the intense heat and flames. The third one, a female, ran outside, screaming as she fled the tomb. Her face and body were smothered in flames, causing her to fall as she screamed out in pain and terror. The Collector struck her in the chest, killing her outright.

   

  Sotek whispered quietly to his pack. Inside he cursed at the Collector. All he managed to achieve was to waste time. ‘Damaged the serpent, yes’, he thought to himself. ‘But you missed the head’.
  “Damn, she’s good. How did she spot that?”

   

  The Collector laughed loudly then called out.
  “Hey, Kul-et? Guess what?”

   

  Without thinking, Kul-et called back.
  “What? Oh crap!”

   

  Shadow Walker shouted out as he saw their targets break cover.
  “Over there!”

   

  Sotek grabbed Kul-et’s and Aela’s arms and broke into a run.
  “Move!”

   

  The group ran along the mountain side through the rugged terrain as best as they could while the Shadowscales followed close behind. Every so often an arrow flew past them and slammed into a tree. Within moments Sotek saw a deep canyon which had a tree log spanning across it.
  “Over there, run damn you all”. He shoved Aela towards the log then cast his flaming familiar. It immediately ran back the way they came and attacked a Shadowscale. The familiar exploded, smothering the area in flames. The Shadowscale, although burned, kept coming towards them.

   

  By now everyone was heading across but Sotek went across last. He tipped the two flasks of oil over the log then once again cast his flame trap on the log. However, Shadow Walker saw the glow of the spell being cast but he kept the knowledge to himself.
  “Wait”. He pointed to the other Shadowscale who was burned from the familiar’s attack. “You! Cross the log. We’ll cover you from here”.

   

  The wounded Shadowscale cast a scared look at the log and refused to move. Shadow Walker grabbed him by the collar and pulled him to the edge of the gully.
  “Move or else”. He gulped then proceeded to cross the log but just as Shadow Walker feared, he set off the fire trap.

   

  The moment he stepped on the firetrap it erupted, catching the unfortunate Argonian in a massive explosion. At the same time, it ignited the oil which Sotek had poured on the log. The Shadowscale, who received the full force of the explosion, was sent plummeting into the rocks below. It was irrelevant as to whether the flames or the explosion had killed him or not. His body smashing on the rocks a hundred feet below made certain he was dead.

   

  Shadow Walker looked at the blazing log then across the canyon to Sotek and the others.
  “Damn him. We’ll have to wait for the flames to die down before we can cross”.

   

  The Collector tugged his arm.
  “No, we head back”.

   

  He looked at her somewhat surprised.
  “What? It will take half a day. I want him dead. Now!”

   

  “Oh, you men are all the same. I want this, give me that”. Then she pointed across to the other side. “Aela’s across there. The moment we start to cross, she’ll shoot. But you want him dead, so you go get him”.

   

  “So, we wait or feint going around?”

   

  “And we won’t know if they moved off or not, so we’ll still be in danger. We must head around. They could be gone by now, or just sit there and wait”.

   

  “Ahh, but they can’t wait indefinitely”. He stated confidently.

   

  “No, they can’t. But, then can we?” She stated winning the argument. She then took a piece of parchment from her pack and wrote a note on it. She tied it carefully onto an arrow and took aim. Her breathing slowed to almost a stop as did her heart. Finally, after several seconds, she fired the arrow across the chasm.

   

  Sotek, Aela and Kul-et were all aiming their bows across the chasm waiting to see if indeed the two remaining Shadowscales would try to cross. The Collector’s arrow shot across the gap and slammed into Sotek’s leg, sending him to the stony ground. He screamed out on impact as the arrow tore through his thigh and protruded through the other side. He clutched his leg as he crawled backwards into cover while the others scattered like ants. Aela ran out from cover to help him despite his protests.
  “Get back, damn you”.

   

  “Shut up you moron”. She screamed as she grabbed him by the arm and pulled him to his feet. It took mere moments to reach cover, but each second seemed like an eternity. Once they were in relative safety behind some boulders, Sasha cut around the wound with her dagger while Kul-et gave Sotek a piece of leather to bite down on. Aela broke off the arrow head so they could remove the shaft. That was when she noticed the piece of parchment tied to the arrow shaft.
  “Hey, there’s a note. Sotek, it’s addressed to you”. Aela stated as she unravelled it from the arrow.

   

  Sotek spat out the leather from his mouth.
  “For fuck sake, take out the bloody arrow”

   

  Aela looked down in shock.
  “Oh crap, sorry”. She gave him the piece of leather again then steadied his leg while Kul-et pulled it out.

   

  Shadow Walker slapped the Collector on her back.
  “You got him, he’s dead”.

   

  She hissed at him with contempt.
  “Sstupid fool. He’s just hurt, but he’ll heal himself up, you watch”. Moments later a bright glow resonated from the other side of the canyon, “There! Come on, we’re going around”.

   

  Aela looked across the canyon at the Shadowscales. She could just make them out although it was pitch black.
  “Take this you bitch”. She shouted as she fired her own bow at the Collector.

   

  The Argonian stood there as she watched Aela fire her bow at her, but to everyone’s total astonishment, the Collector snatched the arrow out of the air.
  “Thanks for the arrow. Oh, Aela! It’s a Dragonbone one! Don’t worry I’ll be sure to return it to you… Soon enough”.

   

  Aela stood there staring at her.
  “What the fuck! She caught it? How the bloody hell did she do that?”

   

  Sotek having just cast his healing spell pulled himself up to his feet.
  “I don’t know. I’ve never seen anything like it. Come on, we’re out of here”.

   

  He looked over to Aela to find her looking somewhat pitifully at him. “Sorry about that arrow business. Here”. She then passed the note over to him. Upon opening the parchment, he read it out.

   

  

  
  Aela groaned when Sotek finished reading it.
  “Oh, great. You’ve got a psycho bitch as a fan”.

   

  Sotek pulled her close then gave her a kiss. As he looked into her eyes he smiled.
  “Why not? I got one as a mate”.

   

  “Oi! I’m not a… Ermm… Oh, so bloody clever you are, aren’t you?”

   

  Kul-et looked across the canyon in alarm.
  “Will they try to cross?”

   

  Sotek shook his head as he glanced at the log.
  “No, they will go around and lose half a day. That gives us time”.

   

  Sasha huffed at his answer.
  “How can you be so sure?”

   

  Sotek laughed loudly.
  “If we were on the other side, waiting for you, would you try to cross?”