The Ice Warrior Options

[redsrock]

The Ice Warrior

CHAPTER ONE


The horrifying, ear-piercing screams ran through the night, waking me up from my slumber. Upon hearing these dreadful noises I immediately rushed from my old wooden bed and entered the hallway of the fort. The others had already risen from their own cots and were brandishing their blades while running outside.

Come, Erick! The time is now! Prove your honor and your pride!

I heard someone yell those three sentences, but I couldn't make out who was talking. But I didn't have any time think. The enemy horde was on our doorsteps and I was not about to let my people down. After seeing the others rush out into the cold night, I sprinted back into my own room and lifted the lock off of my old oak wood-chest. Then I reached for my silver broadsword and ran out into the hall to join my comrades.

Outside the battle had already commenced, and the white-colored floor had by now been stained with the crimson blood of my friends...and my enemies. I ran, creaming at the top of my lungs as loud as I could. The enemy from the northeast had at last built up enough courage to attack us without surprise. I for one was not going to let this opportunity go to waste.

The untamed Nords had made their way through our defenses and were now in our camp. There were at least fifty of them; all running around setting to fire to anything they could find. Their dirty beards and hair flapped in the wind, along with the blizzard that was coming down from the dark sky.

The first enemy I came to face was a heavy-set warrior wielding an iron war axe and a dagger of the same material. The piece of scum roared at me and got into a defensive position as I charged towards him with my broadsword held high into the air. As I neared the man he swung his axe at me but I ducked just in time and tackled him to the cold floor. Snow splashed up into my eyes but I quickly wiped it away as I hacked at my adversary's face. Again and again I slashed at his face, even when I knew his death had already come and passed.

I was too crazed with wanting revenge; too distraught to even observe the other heavy warrior lumbering towards me with a giant wooden war-hammer. The weapon hit me square in the back and I instantly dropped my blade and fell to the white canvas. Then the warrior turned my body over and I was face to face with the enemy; the despicable Nordic warrior from the north...the Skaal!

The oaf of a Nord glared into my eyes with pure disgust. He hated me and I hated him. This story of revulsion between the Imperials and the Nords has lasted for many years. And this particular battle was only one of hundreds that was sure to follow.

Then the Nord opened his mouth and began to laugh insanely. Spit fell from his mouth and hit me in the forehead. I could smell the putrid stench that was his breath; but alas there was nothing I could do. He had my arms pinned to the ground. Then, a ball of green smoke came from the mouth. It formed into some kind of animal, though I couldn't tell what it was. Suddenly I heard a deep howl, and that's when everything went black and I snapped back into reality.

"Erick...Erick, wake up! Wake up, Erick!"

A dream....it was all a dream. I could have sworn it was real; the heat from the fires, the yells of the Nords, and the impact from the war-hammer...it was all so real to me. But, fortunately I was only dreaming, and now my roommate was trying desperately to rouse me up from my delusion.

"It was a dream, Erick...only a dream!"

Finally I sat straight up in my cot with my roommate's hand on my shoulder. Melvin, an Imperial soldier just as I, was looking into my eyes with a most concerned look about his hairy face.

"You don't look so good," he said, stroking his slick and thin black beard. Melvin had always been proud of his facial hair. He always kept it neat and tidy; which the ladies loved.

"I'll be fine. I just had another dream..."

I looked outside my window to see that it wasn't snowing the least bit, and there weren't any angry Nords running around with torches. Everything was peaceful for the time being

"More like a nightmare, Erick! I can't keep living with those screams, friend. Sooner or later I'll throw you in the hallway!"

I merely laughed it off, trying to forget what I saw. For the past several days I've had some of the most dreadful dreams ever imaginable. They all started out differently, but they all ended with the same green smoke and the same howl. It had really started to bug me and I had thought about seeing a mage about it.

But Melvin wasn't going to let me do such a thing. He figured the mages would think me insane. Such dreams were a sign of lunacy, you know. But I just couldn't help it. I wanted to know what they meant; if something was going to happen to me. I've talked with Melvin about it hundreds of times, but he doesn't seem to think anything is wrong. I wished I could feel the same way.

"So...was it the smoke again?"

"Yes."

"The howl as well?"

"Yes."

Melvin had jumped back into his bed by now, but when I told him it was the same dream, he turned around to meet my sweaty face.

"I know I've said this just a few seconds ago, but you look awful, Erick."

My friend's ‘kind' words weren't doing me any good. I couldn't keep living like this. At that very moment I told Melvin I was going to talk with the local mage first thing in the morning. He got out of bed and stretched his arms into the air.

"Where you going?" I asked him.

"Taking a piss, if that's okay with you," he said playfully walking out the door, closing it gently behind him.

I was lucky to have a friend like Melvin. I remember the first time I met him here in this desolate snowy island of Solstheim. It was three years ago then, just shortly after I had arrived from the mainland. Melvin was always the smartellic type. He never let anyone tell him something he didn't want to hear, but he was always one to voice his own opinion.

And you know what; I almost feel grateful for getting sent here to Fort Frostmoth. Sure, I'd be much more comfortable back in Caldera, stealing ebony again. But what good would that do me? By coming here and working my tail off I've become a better man and a better human being. No more thieving for me; my life as a criminal was over the moment I set foot on this island. Since then it's been a lot of hard work, but at least I can say I now have control over myself.

But Melvin...well, he's different story. Though he's stopped his skooma addiction, he's also still a heavy drinker. Mazte is his favorite and I could almost bet you a hundred septims there's a couple bottles of it under his bed right now. But at least he can control when he drinks. It's not like he does it in broad daylight. No, he's way smarter than that. If you ask me it's his intelligence that's allowed him to survive so far. Everyone has their own personal attribute that compliments themselves. Melvin's is his charm and intelligence, and mine is...well I'm not quite sure just yet.

Captain Falx Carius seems to be respectful for my hard-working nature, but that has only gotten me the title of "Captain's Pet" from the other soldiers. Of course, none of us are really soldiers. Everyone knows Fort Frostmoth is where all the trouble makers go to spend the rest of their lives working for the Empire. It's not really that much work if you ask me; a little bit of construction, a little bit of mining, and some other minor chores.

The life of a prisoner isn't so bad I guess, but I can still can't help but wonder if there's something else out there for me. I realize that my life as an inmate is eternal, but still...I've got a feeling something's about to happen. Something big...but I just don't know what; nor if it's good or bad.

"You still awake?"

Melvin had walked into the room and flopped onto his bed. It was likely a little after midnight, and I had awoken my friend from his sleep for the third night in a row.

"I'm sorry, Melvin. I'll...I'll wait on speaking to the mage if you want me to."

"Yes, I'm glad to hear it, my friend. Do NOT tell them about your dreams, Erick. It will only lead to more problems. They'll lock you up in a cell, and before you know it they'll throw you out into the wild. You wouldn't want that, would you?"

No, that didn't sound like a good life to me. Perhaps my dreams would fade away?

"Don't worry, I'll keep quiet."

Only time would tell.....

This post has been edited by redsrock: Feb 7 2008, 05:11 AM

[redsrock]

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN


"How long until we arrive at the cave, Rolfe?"

The Thirsk Nord, Rolfe, and I had been walking for nearly ten minutes, give or take a little. When we left Thirsk Rolfe had explained to me that the lair was just around the corner, but in my opinion we had been traveling for more than ‘just around the corner’.

"Not too much longer, just a few minutes or so."

His accent was very strong, and his body looked to be the same. After all, according to Andel this particular Nord was their fiercest warrior. That felt good knowing that I was about to go up against one of Solstheim’s fiercest creatures. I didn’t mind having some help along the way.

Just as Rolfe said, it wasn’t too much longer before we made it to the came. All that could be seen inside was darkness, and I could feel my legs start to tremble from the anxiety.

"Hold still, Erick. Showing fear is surrendering to the enemy, suicide even. Ye must show bravery in any given situation. It is the only honorable way."

"Sorry, I….I’m just not used to fighting all the time like you. As you can tell I’m not the warrior type."

"But ye have come this far, eh? I’d say that accounts for sumthin. And don’t worry, lad, I’ll be here fer ‘ya. Just take my lead and we’ll strike down the beast together."

I felt a little more comfortable after hearing those words, especially since Rolfe was a massive body of muscle. Also, his gigantic Nordic axe spoke for itself as well. This Nord was quite confident in his abilities, and thankfully the confidence was rubbing off on me. But there was still….I wasn’t too sure how this was going to turn out.

I watched as the Nord with the thick black mustache took out his axe and slowly began to creep into the cave. His mass of black hair was covered by his Nordic Trail-bone armor, and for a second I just stood there frozen. Then Rolfe turned and around and motioned for me to followed. I gripped my wooden spear tightly, sighed heavily, and followed my helper into the dark cave.

After three minutes of walking in the light of Rolfe’s torch we found nothing, yet I was still more nervous now than I have ever been in my entire life. Fighting Nords was one thing, but this beast…..this was much different. After seeing what it had done to the entire community of Raven Rock I didn’t really want to have anything to do with it. But of course that was impossible if I wanted to save Melvin, and I most certainly did.

"Shhh….Do you hear that?"

Rolfe had raised his hands and we both stood still, listening to who knows what. The Nord apparently heard something, but if he did I had no clue what it was. For several minutes he stood there with his right hand to his right hear, listening for something. After nothing happened Rolfe shrugged his shoulders and we continued on. But as soon as we started walking from out nowhere came a figure from the side of the cave behind some rocks. The creature roared fiercely and charged towards Rolfe.

"It’s the Udyrfrykte! Prepare yourself, Erick!" Rolfe yelled over the monster’s screams.

Luckily the beast was far enough away that we had time to prepare ourselves, and once the Udyrfrykte was in range I was in a defensive position, ready to protect myself. Rolfe on the other hand was on a complete offensive and charged towards the beast, which was a terrible mistake. Rolfe swung his axe with one hand and tried to burn the beast b means of the torch in his other hand. But alas that didn’t do the trick and the Udyrfrykte pushed the torch away and swung at Rolfe face.

With the torch on the ground it was extremely hard to see anything, and soon I saw Rolfe running towards me with his face filled with fear. "Come, we’ll have to fight outside in the light! I’ve wounded the monster, but we he will attack again soon!"

So we left the cave in a hurry and stood outside in the sun, waiting for the monster to return. A slash mark was across Rolfe’s right eye, and blood was seeping from the wound profusely.

"Are you alright?" I asked him.

"I’ve had worse wounds than this. Just get ready for the attack and don’t worry about me."

As soon as he said that from out of the cave came the Udyrfrykte. At last I was able to get a good look at the creature, and it wasn’t a very pleasant sight. It was basically all black, and had the most fluorescent-green eyes I had ever seen. They almost mesmerized you in a way. The beast stood about three four feet tall on all fours, which meant it was probably about six feet tall on its hind legs. The creature had a massive overbite that featured two long razor-sharp teeth in the front, and two shorter ones on the side. Of course there were plenty more on the inside, but I didn’t want to think about that. And just as Rolfe had said, the beast had been wounded. Blood was pouring from a wound to its left leg, and the beast was limping noticeably.

"Quick, hand me your spear!" Rolfe ordered as the beast started lumbering towards us.

I tried give my spear to Rolfe, but for some reason my body wouldn’t move a bit. When I didn’t give him the spear his eyes flashed with anger and great surprise. Then he yelled almost in an insane way, "Give me the damn spear I said!"

I tried and tried as hard as I could, but it was almost as if I were frozen in time. And as soon as I thought about ‘frozen in time’, I unfortunately thought about Madila. Right then and there I knew she had something to do with this.

Within seconds the Udyrfrykte had lunged at Rolfe, and unlucky for him he didn’t even see it coming. The creature knocked Rolfe to the ground, and the Nord’s axe went flying somewhere to the left. Immediately the beast clamped down on Rolfe’s neck and tore a huge piece of flesh away from the body. Rolfe was dead, and then the beast lunged at me. Suddenly I was able to move once again and quickly, as the beast was in mid-air, I held my spear in front of me.

The point of the spear tore through the Udyrfrykte’s chest, and then ripped through all the way through its body and out the back. I landed on my own back onto the cold snow, and the now-dead beast was on top of me. Blood from its wound was falling onto my, and with the strength I had left I pushed its body over and I just laid there on the ground, astonished by what just happened.

Then that familiar purple haze filled the area, and sure enough Madila was standing before me. And this time she didn’t have that usual irritating grin. In its place was an angry sneer, and she looked like she wanted to kill me on the spot.

"Just who the hell do you think you are, hmm?" She asked me loudly, and it felt as if the ground was trembling from her yelling.

"What are you talking about?" I asked, totally confused by her question.

"This Nord," she said while pointing at Rolfe’s mangled body, "has helped you complete your first task!" She yelled furiously.

"So? You never said I couldn’t have any help!" I scream in return, only to get a small taste of Madila’s powers.

My throat began to tighten up and I noticed I was being lifted from the ground. I looked at Madila and her hand was motioning towards my neck, and I knew it was she who was causing phenomena.

"Let us get something straight, Erick. This is MY game, and you will follow MY rules. NEVER assume ANYTHING! Do you understand me?"

Just barely I was able to nod my throbbing head. I was starting to feel very dizzy and it was extremely difficult to breath because of Madila’s magical grasp.

"Because of your behavior I have taken the lives on everyone there. You can get angry all you want; it really doesn’t matter to me. I just want you to know that unless I specifically say so, you may NOT heed the help of ANYONE. By disobeying the rules of my game you are taking the fun out of everything! Now, travel back to Thirsk and look for the throne of where Chieftain-Andel once resided. There you will find the next letter."

Another circle of dust appeared and she was gone in an instant. I fell from the air, which was only about three feet, and landed, on my bottom. Thankfully the soft snow broke my fall and I wasn’t hurt, at least physically anyway. Psychologically I was being drained to the fullest, no matter how much I wanted to put that aside. I’ve been trying to stay strong this entire time, but it’s getting harder and harder by the day. Sooner or later I’ll crack, I just know it.

The only thing you’ve cracked was the throat of an innocent…..

"Shut up! I don’t want to think about the past, now isn’t the time!"

Why do you keep running away from it?

"I said shut up! Get out of my head!"

I was essentially talking to no one, but then again I guess you could say I was talking with myself, inside my own head. Sounds confusing, eh? Believe me, this isn’t anything compared to what I used to deal with when I first arrived at Fort Frostmoth. It was one of the reasons Melvin became my friend in the first place. But that of course is yet again another story of my troubled past. Perhaps it’s time I let everything out? Maybe then this game of internal struggles may end…..

This post has been edited by redsrock: Apr 12 2008, 02:05 AM