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]

Here is the last chapter. It's not what you're expecting, I am sure. In fact, you probably won't even like it, though I don't think anyone's reading it so it doesn't matter I guess.

CHAPTER NINETEEN


You don’t have to do this, Erick…

Yeah, just calm down and rethink this. I don’t mean to offend you, but you’re in the wrong…

I originally thought they were in fact the ones who were wrong. Unfortunately it was me who was blindly mistaken. It’s too bad I didn’t figure that out until it was too late.

Several years ago, in my hometown of Caldera, there lived an absolutely gorgeous Breton by the name of Mabrelle. She was a looker, that much was for sure, and because of my teenage hormones I became vastly attached to her at a younger age. At the time of my infatuation with Mabrelle I was only fifteen years of age. My mother and father had been killed when I was an infant, and since then I had been living at the local orphanage.

By the time I was twenty I of course was on my own, and owned a little house inside Caldera, working in the mines. Mabrelle had married to a rich and pompous man from Ald Ruhn, and the two settled down at a mansion just outside of Caldera. Ever since they got married I had tried desperately to get rid of my obsession with the girl, but nothing worked. I tried dating several other women, but it wouldn’t go away. My only two friends tried to help me by taking me on a trip to see some Morrowind greatest sights, but even that didn’t do the trick.

Finally one Mabrelle’s husband was killed in a freak-accident in the forests, and she was of course a widow. I wanted to console her and try to make her mine, but that would have been the wrong thing to do. I realized she needed some time to herself, and I was willing to let her have that time of peace and reflection.

Then one night I got the craziest idea. I went to the local floral shop and purchased an expensive bouquet of roses. I was going to give Mabrelle the flowers and also give her my condolences. I hoped this would let her know how I feel about her, but not in a way that I was protruding onto her privacy. However, when I reached her mansion I noticed she was sitting on the porch, talking to none other than my best friend, Marty. He had his arm around her, and she was smiling. That was it. That was when I totally lost it.

I immediately went home and grabbed an old dagger I kept under my bed. My other friend, Benivus, asked me what I was doing. I tried to explain to him that Marty was trying to steal Mabrelle from me when he knew how much of a crush I had on her, but he didn’t believe me. I told him to stay out of the way or he too would be killed. As soon as I said that he went to the local authorities. I knew I had to act quickly.

So I marched back to Mabrelle’s mansion, where Marty was still talking with her. I walked up to them, with my dagger-hand behind my back and asked, “What are you doing here, Marty?”

He got up from the porch and tried to subdue my obvious anger. “What’s wrong, Erick?”

“You’re trying to steal the woman I love!” I responded.

Then I did the unthinkable. I took the dagger and shoved it through Marty’s heart. He gasped for air and put his hands on my shoulders. He tried to say something, but I simply dig the blade deeper into his skin. Mabrelle watched in horror as Marty slowly died, and once he did I turned my eyes to her.

She had been standing there, hands over his face, awe-struck. “What in the world is wrong with you?” She asked in confusion. And then something had come over me. My love for Mabrelle was then over, and in its place came a firm feeling of hatred. I then wanted nothing to do with her. In fact…I wanted to kill her.

I then ran at her, almost insanely in a way. Come to think of it, I probably was insane at that point. She ran into her mansion, trying to close the door behind her. But I was too fast and bashed through the door before she had a chance to close it. I took her by the neck and twisted it violently. I heard a loud crack, and before I knew it I had killed two people. One of those was my best friend, and the other was my hidden love.

Shortly after that many guards had arrived at the scene, and the rest is history. I am lucky to have my life the way it is. They should have killed me on the spot. But no….they had to send me here, to this frozen wasteland.

And in comes Melvin. When I first arrived at the island I was a mess. I was talking to myself, I was always anxious and paranoid; everything was terrible. But Melvin took me in for some reason and offered to be my roommate. He taught me it was okay to feel bad for what I did, but it wasn’t healthy to let it kill me so-to-speak. After months and months of work I have transformed back into my regular self.

Although, up until now I have been constantly haunted by my past. I never did get a chance to apologize to Benivus. I never got a chance to apologize to anyone for anything. I am here, and now that I have let loose everything that’s happened, I feel good about myself. I can’t explain it, but my internal struggles are over, I think. I just…feel relieved.

But alas that has not changed the death of many on this island; nor has it changed the annihilation of Fort Frostmoth and Raven Rock. All of that is a reality no matter what, and the only way of giving everyone a proper ‘burial’ is going through with this sick…..’game’.

I looked at Rolfe’s body, and ultimately decided against taking it back to Thirsk. If Madila was telling the truth, and I knew she was, there was no point in it. So I simply trudged back to Thirsk, and thankfully I didn’t get lost along the way. And just as Madila had said, the place was destroyed. Inside bodies were everywhere, but the scene wasn’t bloody at all. They were just…dead. It was as if they had all just suddenly dropped dead. There were no signs of a struggle, no choke marks, no signs of suffocation, no blood. It was so eerie that I tried not to pay attention to them, but of course that was easier said than done, especially whenever I stepped I had to step over a body.

Of course the letter was resting on the wooden throne, just as Madila had said. I snatched it up, went upstairs to get my stuff, and then went back outside. Then I sat on a tree stump and read the letter.

Dear Erick,

Obviously if you are reading this letter that means you’ve passed the first task. But to save the two of us some time I will skip the congratulations part of this letter. Besides you don’t need it anyway.

Your next assignment involves something a bit different from what you’ve just experienced. I would like you to travel to Castle Karstaag. While being cursed from leaving this island, I was also cursed from ever entering the ice castle again. Enter the frozen ruins and search the place up and down until you find someone who will give you quite a surprise. I will not speak anymore of this, for I want you to find the surprise yourself. Good luck, Erick, you will need it.”

I took the letter, crumpled it up into a ball, and threw it onto the ground. Then I took my right foot and buried it even deeper into the snow. Castle Karstaag? What was I going to find there? Wait a minute; isn’t that where Madila was cursed in the first place? Yes, I remember now, that is where she met Lord Vero. But why would I be going there?

So I strapped my pack onto my pack, sheathed my broadsword into its case, and headed out. I held my spear in my right hand, just incase I was attacked by a wolf or something. The journey wouldn’t be too long, according to the map on the back of the note. Judging by the measurements I was only about six or seven hours away from the ice castle.

So I walked the rest of the day until it was dark, which was only about three hours. The sun had been replaced by the moon and I quickly found a small cave to take shelter in for the night. Thankfully I was the only inhabitant of the cave.

Before going to bed I made a small fireplace with some rocks and pieces of wood. I saw a guard do this before at Fort Frostmoth. It took a while but finally I had myself a nice warm fire. Then I took out my cooking pan and cooked some food. I was very hungry, and of that’s because I haven’t eaten since leaving Raven Rock. Nor have I had anything to drink either.

And after I was done eating it only took me a mere ten minutes to fall asleep. And when I woke up the next morning I was met with the vast rays of the sun. Outside there wasn’t a cloud in sight and the weather was great. It was course shivering cold, but that was to be expected. Besides, I was used to that by now.

I traveled a few more hours until I finally arrived at Castle Karstaag. By this time it was roughly noon. I walked up to the massive double doors and realized I wasn’t going to be able to get through. Then I looked at the map and noticed there was a hidden entrance in the back, although I would have to go underwater.

So I trotted around to the back, and looked into water. It was fairly clear, and there was a spot that looked like the seafloor was closer to the surface. This was probably the hidden entrance I was looking for. I took off my back pack and placed it on the ground, along with my spear. The only thing I would be taking with me was my Imperial broadsword. Anything else would make it to hard to swim.

After stretching for a few minutes I dove into the icy water and swam as fast as I could through the water. It was awfully cold and I couldn’t wait to get out. When I reached my destination I realized I was standing in a cave. Obviously I was underneath the castle, and I crept along the dark area while trying to find my way through. I was looking for someone, though I didn’t know who exactly. I guess a person here in the castle isn’t a common sight. That means whoever I see first is likely who I’m looking for.

It only took my about ten minutes to make my way through the caverns, and once I actually entered the castle itself, I noticed the large amount of tables surrounding me. I searched the room for any sings of life, and then went on to the next area. There it seemed that I had found the throne room, and of course the throne was empty.

But then to the left I heard a door open, and in came an old-looking Breton man, using a cane to walk. He had a long silvery beard and was panting heavily. Suddenly a tight knot formed in the pit of my stomach.

Long silver beard? Old Breton? No, it couldn’t be...

I walked over to the man and he held his staff in defense, as if I was going to attack him.

“WHO AE YOU?” I screamed loudly.

“Wh….why should I tell you? Who are you?”

He was trying to sound tough, but I could tell he was scared to death.

“You are Lord Vero, aren’t you?” I asked flatly, and once I did he eyes lit up in amazement.

“Yes. And you are Erick?”

“Yes, I was sent here by a witch to find someone of importance. I take it you know here, since you put the curse on her. Does the name ‘Madila’ ring a bell?”

He was still confused, and seemingly had no clue what I was talking about.

“Yeah, nice try, you damn liar! I know all about you, Erick ‘Ice-Warrior’!”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“Madila told me all about the curse you put on her. “Ice-Warrior’, eh? You don’t look so tough to me. Because of your damn curse I’ve lost many friends, and if I don’t help Madila lift her curse I will lose my wife as well. Who knows where she is right now!”

A trick, it was all a trick. I just realized what was happening. She made the lie up to the both of us just to see us walking around. This Lord Vero very well could be a ‘lord’, but he was not a mage.

“Is your name ‘Lord’ Vero?” I asked the man.

“’Lord’? Hell no I aint a lord. I’m a simply adventurer from Cyrodiil. I came here looking for treasure, and Madila found me and took my wife. I have to accomplish three tasks in order to get her back. I was sent her to find someone of importance, and it seems I’ve found that person!” He said angrily, for he still thought I was the enemy.

“You have it all wrong, Vero. I am not Erick ‘Ice-Warrior’, just plain Erick. I am in the same situation as you, only it was my best friend that was stolen from me.”

“What are you trying to say, that Madila lied to me?”

“That’s exactly what I am trying to say. Look at me, do I really look like a mage to you?”

“No, but you could still be tricking me. Why should I believe you?”

And right then I remembered throwing the letters from Madila away once I read them. I hated myself now for doing that. If only I had kept them I would have all the proof I need.

“I don’t know what to do, Vero, but you just have to believe me.”

Suddenly a loud cackle of insane laughter could be heard behind us, and when Vero and I turned around to see who it was, none other than Madila herself was sitting on the throne.

“What the hell?” Vero gasped in confusion.

“You really are the intelligent little Imperial, aren’t you, Erick? I knew sooner or later you’d figure everything out. Unfortunately I was hoping this would go a little farther, and one of you would kill the other. No matter, I have another idea in store for the two of you.”

“You mean, this boy is not the one who placed the curse on you?” Vero asked Madila.

“No, you silly old man. I was never cursed. This has been a whole game! I’ve mentioned that several times before, I was afraid you would catch on.”

“But why have you lied to us?” I asked.

She smiled widely and replied, “Because I needed a little fun. I could leave this place if I wanted to, but I don’t. I figured why not cause a little destruction, you know?”

None of this made any sense. I just, I couldn’t even begin to believe any of this. Then all of a sudden I heard Vero beside me yell, “Wake up, Erick!”

I looked at him crazily and then things started getting fuzzy all of a sudden. The next thing I knew I was lying in my bed at Fort Frostmoth. Melvin was in his bed and was yelling for me to wake up.

“Are you alright, Erick?”

I got up from my bed and ran over to Melvin. I touched his face just to make sure he was real.

“Get the hell off of my face you fruit!” he said playfully.

Then I looked outside and saw several guards walking about, even Captain Falx talking to Antonius.

“Where’s Teemee and J’Dato?” I asked.

“Um….asleep? What’s wrong with you? You’re acting weird.”

A dream, could it all have really been a dream?

“What about Madila? Where is she?”

Then he cleared his throat and said, “She was found dead yesterday in the woods. They won’t tell us how she was killed, so I don’t know what happened. Just go back to sleep Erick….”

I was absolutely speechless. I guess it was all dream. But it felt so real. Then, I remembered the ring in the dream. So, anxiously I put my hand in my pants pocket and felt around. I felt something metal and pulled it out. It was the ring.

“What’s that you got there, Erick?”

I opened my window and threw the ring outside into the snow.

“Nothing, it’s nothing, really.”

THE END