Old Habits Die Hard Part Six, some old habits never die Options

[haute ecole rider]

Hello all, and welcome to the final thread of Old Habits Die Hard. Those of you who are familiar with the Main Quest know that we are fast approaching the end game. Only three more artifacts to obtain, then we can recover the Amulet of Kings and light those Dragonfires and see Martin to the Dragon Throne at last. Right?

For those who are coming late to the party, here are the links to the other five threads:

Chapters 1 − 7: From the Prison to finding the Path of Dawn.
Chapters 8 − 13: From Dagon’s Shrine to Bravil.
Chapters 14 − 18: From Sheogorath’s Shrine to the start of the Grand Tour of Cyrodiil.
Chapters 19 − 22: From Leyawiin to Skingrad.
Chapters 23 − 25: From returning home to Anvil to the final Mages Guild recommendation.

Here in this last thread we will see the Main Quest through to its tragic conclusion. Some questions will be answered, including who is the man Julian loves? Other questions will be raised, including what’s next for Julian? Those of you who have suspected a second story in the making, you are correct.

After a year and a half of writing this story, I am happy to bring this to a close, yet I am sad to bid it adieu. Hopefully I won’t let any and all of you down as we wrap up.

This post has been edited by haute ecole rider: Jun 26 2011, 01:10 AM

[haute ecole rider]

@ghastley: To answer your question, yes, Julian brought some repair hammers. She is busy repairing her weapons and armor off-stage in this story, so to speak. She can only do so much without time and a proper forge, though. We'll see later the price she pays for the lack of proper repair work.

@Cap'n Bam: Thanks for catching that wayward the. I have gone back and fixed it. I've already found a place for it in Miscarcand. I hope it hasn't been too difficult catching up with this story, and thanks for doing so.

Acadian: I'm glad that you are just as proud of these four Blades as I am (and as I hope Destri is!). Coming from a retired Marine that means a great deal. For them to accept her as a Blade sister means a great deal to Julian herself, as well.

@treydog: You re-read this story again?? Either you're crazy or this story is that good! That one chapter in the Imperial City with Phillida, Camillus and Ocato was intended to be a simple bridge, but turned out to be oh, so much more. I had a great deal of fun venturing off the paladin trail into Robert Ludlum territory for a little while. As for the Interview with a Vampire, I wanted to convey the mixed feelings I have every time I deal with the Count of Skingrad. How to reconcile his manner and the well-being of the city/county with his vampiric nature? That's a problem I'm still wrestling with, as well as Julian. Ever since that dig of SubRosa's about Julian rescuing cats in trees, I couldn't resist pointing that out a couple of times. Even she is aware of how that quirk of her personality appears to others. And it doesn't stop there, as we will see when she reaches Miscarcand. I'm glad you loved the glimpses of her childhood in the Mages Guild - I think it further reinforces the logic of her joining that particular Guild rather than the Fighters' Guild. And I see you caught the origin of her wandering brow!

@Olen: The reason I went to D. Foxy for the combat scenes was because I wanted each fight to reflect each individual Blade's strengths and weaknesses. This is where Destri's development of these characters came in. He and I talked about how the events in Interregnum would influence their later careers in the Blades as well as their attitudes and personalities after being frozen in the undead zone for over 400 years. I have to say that D. Foxy exceeded my expectations, and Julian's readers are totally reaping the rewards of the contributions of these two men. There will be references to their characters in Interregnum in upcoming posts, and I intend to tie Destri's story even more tightly to mine, as his vision is so close to my own it's a shame to ignore that tale. Thanks for your suggestion of PM'ing a writer for a copy of their original document. I know I can convert it into PDF format and import it into my iPad that way.

@Grits: I'm glad you enjoyed the Nordic flavor of that last fight! Destri's story really made these four guys come alive for me, beyond what Beth had so pathetically done with them. It seems that you have picked up on the strong relationship between Valdemar and Alain - I really wanted to bring that forward through the years of their undeaths.

@Sage Rose: I'm glad you recalled Valdemar's curse from Interregnum. When Destri posted that bit, it really hit home because I knew what lay ahead for these two intrepid friends. And believe me, the next two fights don't get any easier!

Two down, two more to go. That's how far Julian has progressed through Sancre Tor in her search for Tiber Septim's armor. As Rielus told her, all four of the Blades have to be freed from their curses in order to overcome the deadly magic Zurin Arctus left behind.

Once more, many thanks to Destri for letting me borrow the four greatest Blades from Interregnum, and to D. Foxy for helping me with the combat scenes and keeping them from becoming too repetitive. Now we move on to the third Guardian.

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Chapter 26.6: The Third Guardian

As I made my way into the lowest level of the Hall of Judgment, I peered over the edge of the mezzanine overlooking the bottom. The undead Blade paced around a large space rimmed by two low steps that ran around the walls. He clanked onto the steps and swung his weapon with casual ease. My eyes were drawn to the glimmering blade. A faint red glow shimmered along the narrow blade. I recognized the long hilt of the dai-katana and understood the absence of the typical Blades shield.

I knelt down and took a deep breath of the dank, stale air. The damp chill seeped through the fur-lined tunic and into my muscles. I could feel the fatigue already settling into my bones. This bad air is no good, but so far I’m still fighting, still lucid. There must be ventilation somewhere. I resisted the urge to cough the moldy stench out of my lungs and took another deep breath. Three vials of refresh remained in my belt pouch. I drank one down, feeling a renewed surge of energy beat back the exhaustion that was becoming apparent.

I’ll keep Valdemar’s shield, I hefted the large round on my left arm, shifting my hold on the leather-wrapped grip. And I’ll use Daedra Slayer. I don’t know what kind of charm is on that dai-katana. I studied the skeleton a few moments longer. He’s about my height. We’ll be evenly matched, except his blade is heavier than mine. I’ll have to keep that in mind. I slipped down the stairs while his back was turned, and set my pack, my katana secured to the outside of it, at the base of the stairs. Then I straightened up and stepped forward. My booted feet sounded loud in the echoing stillness.

The blade of the dai-katana flashed in the dimness as the skeleton spun toward me and immediately attacked. I ducked back to stay clear of the slashing sword and to keep my distance from him. His skull faced me again with that imperturbable expression as the dai-katana swept back down toward my head.

I sidestepped right, bringing Valdemar’s shield up to block the strike. I tilted the enchanted shield around to deflect the dai-katana to my left, pushing off my right foot. As the undead Blade’s weapon slid off the shield boss with a clatter, I angled the metal over the blade to keep him from swinging it back up. At the same time, I lifted Daedra Slayer in an overhead arc toward his right shoulder, fire trailing after my blade.

The undead Blade slid back fast, recovering his dai-katana in time to parry my strike with a deft flick of his wrist. He stepped away, his weapon continuing its swing to his left. I lunged forward and swept Daedra Slayer in a low slash at his legs.

My breath caught in utter surprise as the skeleton leaped upward and pulled his feet well clear of my enchanted blade. His own weapon darted up into yet another overhanded strike as he retreated a full step. I barely managed to block it with Valdemar’s shield. Then he was charging forward, laying into me, smashing that dai-katana into my left side, then my right, then my left again. I yielded back, struggling to block, then parry, then block again. My teeth and knees vibrated and my muscles strained from the continuous attack.

Without thought, I slammed back into him with the shield when his weapon sparked against its brass trim again, the shrieking of the metal changing pitch ever so slightly. He staggered two paces back and dropped into a guard posture I had not seen in years. With his left shoulder presented to me, the skeleton held his two-handed sword vertically at his right shoulder, his empty eye sockets steady on mine.

Recovering my breath, I regarded him from my own crouched guard, my shield before my left leg, Daedra Slayer extended straight-armed behind me, ready to sweep around in either defense or offense. Where did I see that before? A niggling memory whispered in the back of my mind, but I ignored it, more focused on staying alive against an adversary that had the slightest edge in speed and agility on me.

I shifted my weight back onto my right foot and swept Daedra Slayer forward and upward. The undead bones swung his weapon toward me, again parrying my blade on his forte. He resisted for the slightest of instances, just enough for me to press back, then released his grip on the weapon. As I fought to recover my balance, the dai-katana spun around my blade in a full circle and the hilt smacked home in his hands again, only now it was free of mine.

Before I could disengage, he pressed forward, again slashing at me from side to side. While retreating - again - I cursed myself for being caught like that. Damn! He’s also a better tactician - I should have seen that coming!

As I backed across the wide chamber, Valdemar’s shield wrought its enchantment on the undead Blade. Every time I blocked his weapon, he would grind his teeth in frustration as magic tingled up his forearms. Yet at the same time, I could hear the change in pitch as metal clanged on metal.

I was still at a disadvantage. He was quicker than I, more agile. Though we were equally matched in height and reach, he had more upper body strength than I. I kept my knees bent, my body below his, so I could use my lower body strength against him - in accordance with the tactical plan I was developing. Each time he strikes and hits my shield, he gets weaker. Being on the defensive conserves my energy. I'll let him exhaust himself, then finish him off with a whirlwind attack. That's the plan.

Justine Case would be proud of me, I thought.

For a moment I forgot another truth as old as war: No operational plan survives contact with the enemy.

As I deflected strike after strike from that deadly dai-katana, we settled into a rhythm that was eerily familiar to me. Careful now. Don’t get lulled into a false sense of rhythm. He’s about to do something unexpected - right - about - now.

Then the skeleton did something I never thought I would see a collection of bones do. He leaped high into the air, bringing both bony feet against Valdemar’s shield. His skeletal mass drove me nearly to my knees. As I shoved him away, tilting the shield into him, he lunged over the round metal toward my throat. I barely managed to slip aside from the strike. The thin edge of his blade grated across the top of my right shoulder. Savlian’s mail flickered and crackled apart in a long gash right next to the just-healed wound from Valdemar’s weapon, sending a renewed stab of pain through my right shoulder.

In that same instant, the niggling memory clicked, shouted. Of course! He fights like a Knight of the Moon. That’s the Desert Wind style he’s using! Jelin had demonstrated how the ancient style of fighting could overwhelm a shield bearer, making a burden of something that was normally protective.

The leap onto my shield had seriously unbalanced me, and worse than that, it left me with only one option - a quick scramble back. He knew this too, which meant he didn't need to think at all about his best countermove - to follow me as closely as possible. Even as I went scrambling away, desperately trying to regain my balance and fight him off at the same time, he surged forward, switching between overhead smashes, lightning side slashes and deadly straight thrusts. Somehow I managed to block and parry them all without thinking - I was in survival mode, not even registering the pain of some strikes that got partly through. I stayed in constant motion, ducking, weaving, and blocking, all the while moving back and trying to anticipate his next strike.

Which was how he caught me.

This post has been edited by haute ecole rider: Jul 1 2011, 07:50 PM