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]

@Glargg: Welcome to Chorrol! I'm glad you finally came in from the cold. There are so many good stories here, don't be shy about posting comments or questions! And thanks for enjoying Julian's story!

@Olen: Yes, that was the big challenge in writing this chapter - how to make four consecutive fights different from each other. With D. Foxy's help, I've been able to present each one differently. This third one was actually a lot of fun to write. This little movie was my inspiration for Casnar.

@ghastley: Yes, it was close to that point! But hang in there, k?

@Acadian: Julian was glad for all the fortify potions she bought in Chorrol before leaving town! I believe she used them all up here in Sancre Tor. (in an aside) You did? Okay. (back to the forum) Yes, she did!

@Grits: As ineffective as the Adrenaline Rush is in the game, it wouldn't surprise me if Casnar didn't think to use it but instead relied on his ancient training. Ironically enough, it has been passed down to Julian through her old pilus Jelin.

@Sage Rose: I really wanted to give each Blade his own distinctive flavor that suited each one as we know them in Interregnum. The fact that you recognized Casnar by his fighting style tells me that I've succeeded. I only hope that I've inspired Destri to resume writing!

@Cap'n: I'm really glad you enjoyed catching up. I like stories that entertain, and that's the kind I try to write. The fact that you assure me you had fun tells me I've been successful. And thanks for catching the formatting error on Daedra Slayer.

@mALX: Did you have as much fun in Sancre Tor as I did writing it?

@auggie doggie: Thanks for the wonderful spammage - it's great to get a review of what works in the previous chapters. Yup, girls and horses are like boys and cars. Thanks for the nits - I'll make sure the final draft of this story has 'em all fixed before I send 'em off to you for your Kindle!

@all: Here is the second part of the fight with Casnar. Once again, credit goes to D. Foxy for his expertise and Destri Melarg for his inspiration for these four Blades.

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Chapter 26.7: The Knight of the Moon

The undead Blade’s side-slash rebounded from my shield as he shifted his sword to smash another overhead strike - or so I thought. Instinctively I shifted my own weapon up for a parry, but instead of a hammering downward blow he smacked my sword with the flat of his blade, and then pushed my katana down and then, still in the same smooth move, swung it around, up in a savage twist - and spun it out of my grip. With only one hand on my sword versus his two, his heavier weapon easily sent my lighter blade flying from my hand across the dim chamber.

With no time to think things through, I took immediate action. Jelin’s hard training kicked in, and I spun the shield at the undead bones’ lower legs, releasing the grip so it flew from my arm sidewise just above the floor. The skeleton leaped upwards, his feet easily clearing the flying metal.

It gave me the break I needed to regain the advantage. I dove right, rolled along the floor, and recovered Daedra Slayer where it rested against the wall. Before the undead Blade could follow after me, I kicked off the stones and launched myself toward my pack, still near the entrance of the chamber. With Daedra Slayer in an underhanded hold, its enchanted blade held along my left forearm, I caught up my katana in the same grip with my right hand.

The skeleton charged me before I had time to reverse my hold on the weapons. Thank you Jelin, for showing me how to fight with upside-down swords. The two blades moved as extensions of my arms as I parried his blows, first a sideways slash to my left side, then a high right attack toward my bleeding right shoulder. Damn you fetcher! Aren’t you getting tired yet?

I crouched beneath the blow, deflecting it long enough to get out from under the strike. Daedra Slayer flared toward his knees. The undead Blade leaped backwards, his dai-katana rising high for an overhead chop. I crossed my weapons, both of my katanas pointing forward, and caught his blade on both of mine. I shoved upwards, pushing up with my knees, then danced to my left, letting his weapon slide away to my right.

With a swiftness undulled by centuries, he returned with another chop toward my head. I raised the katana to parry his heavier weapon, again deflecting it harmlessly to the side. At the same time, I darted Daedra Slayer toward his pelvis. Fire flared as the steel bit into his upper thighbone. I barely managed to break it loose of the bone before he was swinging at me again, his teeth clicking angrily at my hit. One hit for you, one for me. Now we’re even.

Again I parried him with the katana, again I attacked from the left side with Daedra Slayer. He barely deflected the enchanted weapon and spun away from me, dropping to his left knee in a defensive crouch, dai-katana stretched straight-armed behind him. I caught myself from following through when I recognized the Coiled Serpent stance. As I instinctively dropped into the counter Collected Lion pose, nearly sitting on my right heel, my left leg stretched in front of me ready to take my weight in a forward lunge, his eye sockets glared into mine for a long breath. His gaze seemed to follow my blades as I extended my katana behind me in a similar straight-armed position, Daedra Slayer flickering horizontally in a low guard just above my left knee.

The skeleton dipped his head slowly, once, then rose to his feet. His dai-katana lowered until its hilt rested near his right hip, its tip nearly touching the stone floor. I barely had time to flip my swords into a more conventional overhand grip before he charged me, his weapon flashing toward my head. My blades crossed above me of their own volition, again catching his sword and parrying it off to my left. Before he could retrieve his weapon, I stepped forward with my right foot and pivoted my right shoulder into him, shoving him back off balance.

As the undead Blade staggered for the briefest instant, I disengaged my swords from his weapon and swung them back toward him, leading with my katana. He barely managed to parry them and fell back another step. I took advantage of the momentum he imparted to my blades and spun my back to him, then completed the pivot to bring my weapons back into him from my right. Daedra Slayer flared in a metallic scream as it struck his dai katana, and I followed with a rapid strike from my plain katana.

While he sought to bring his greater strength to bear on me, I focused on keeping him moving defensively to counter my double weapons, sweeping first one then the other toward him in high strikes that he easily parried with his two-handed sword. Yet the rapidity of my blows forced him to yield back until he was close to the wall.

And now it is your turn to pay the price for overconfidence. Your technique has become sloppy - you are just a touch more reckless now, which means . . .

When his right elbow struck the unyielding stone, the skeleton resumed the offensive toward me, seeking to avoid being pinned against the high structure. He began matching my slashes with rapid sideways sweeps that flung my swords to either side. Then he stepped forward and brought his dai-katana high in another overhead chop.

The muscles in my chest complained as I snapped my blades back together in time to cross them and parry his chop. This time when I shoved him back, instead of attacking from the outside as I had been doing, I lunged forward with Daedra Slayer leading. The point of the enchanted blade dug deep into the bone of his spine. Before I wrenched Daedra Slayer free, my katana bit into the vertebrae from the other side. His spine cloven into two, the bones scattered before me. The dai-katana struck harmlessly against my left shoulder and slid down my back to the floor in a slither of white magic from Matius’s enchanted mail.

Short of breath, I knelt shakily. Akatosh! That’s the third time I’ve had my behind well and truly tanned by the unexpected! Think I'd have learned by now? I sheathed Daedra Slayer, the act of catching air still an uphill task. As I waited for the next phantom, I struggled to my feet, wincing at the complaints from my knee. It’s going to be Alain. Or Casnar. We’ll see. I held the katana left handed behind my back, ignoring the trickling blood beneath Matius’s mail.

The phantom that shimmered into being was not quite as tall as Valdemar. Actually he was the same height as I. I recognized the proud features of a Ra’Gada man as he met my gaze. His ghostly eyes widened, and he lowered his eyes.

“Who are you? And what brings you here?” His voice was as light as a feather. His accent, so like my mother’s, triggered a twinge in my heart. “And have you found my brothers?” His tone grew pensive. “They were with me here. Rielus fell in the lower chamber. I did not see where Alain or Valdemar went, the fog was too thick. But they were fighting side by side, as always.” He shook himself. “But no, that was the dream, and I’m awake now. I must go and finish my duty to the Emperor.”

“Emperor Tiber Septim died nearly four hundred years ago,” I said softly. “But his descendant has need of your help.”

The Blade regarded the stone wall past my shoulder silently for a long moment. “You serve the Dragonborn?” Now he met my gaze briefly. What is that I hear in his voice? Guilt?

“I serve the descendant of Tiber Septim,” I answered. “Your name is Casnar?” I chose the one name that sounded most Ra’Gada to my untutored ears.

Again Casnar turned his face away from me, his gaze moving over the dismal chamber. “I am he,” he admitted reluctantly. I wondered at his attitude, so unlike those of the Blades I had met so far, including his undead comrades.

“Rielus and Valdemar are waiting in the tombs, before the Shrine. I go to find Alain and send him there.”

“Are you Duneborn, or city-bred?” he asked suddenly. Wondering at his question, I shook my head.

“I was born in Anvil,” I answered. “My mother was from Hammerfell, but I don’t know which town.”

“She never told you about - about - Hammerfell?” His voice faltered on the last word. I stared at him, puzzled by his odd demeanor. Why is he acting guilty toward me?

“She spoke very little of it,” I said finally. “Mostly tales of Cyrus -“ I stopped when Casnar shifted uneasily. My eyes widened at a sudden thought. The Blades were formed when Talos became Emperor. Was Casnar one of the original Blades? If so, he must have participated in the military action against Hammerfell during the Redguard rebellion. Suddenly I thought I understood the source of his unease. How could he take up arms against his own countrymen? That couldn’t have been easy for him to do. “She used to tell me if it wasn’t for Cyrus, Hammerfell would not hold the close relationship it has with Cyrodiil. Instead, it would be a place of unrest, much like Morrowind is now.”

Casnar finally faced me. “You have the air of the Duneborn,” he straightened his shoulders beneath the ephemeral cuirass. His gaze raked over my own armor. “Yet you wear the mail of a Kvatch guard. And your katana is heavier than our own, though it resembles the Akaviri make.” Now I could see the typical Blades pride that marked the others.

“I am still a Blade sister,” I answered. “Though I came to it late in my life, and by a roundabout way. As for my ancestry -“ I shook my head.

“None of that matters,” the Ra’Gada waved me into silence. “What matters is that you are a Blade sister, and you have freed me from an eternity of slavery.”

“I could do nothing else, sir.” I regarded him for a moment more. I wish I could ask him about Cyrus. They lived in Hammerfell at the same time. Or did they?

Casnar’s left hand gestured toward the discarded dai-katana behind me. “Take my weapon and restore its honor. Else return it to Cloud Ruler Temple, hero and fellow Blade sister.” He gestured toward the amulet around my neck. “I see you have the amulet I gave Rielus. He needed it, the young rapscallion, taking too many chances. He gave me Mishaxi’s Cleaver in trade. And a fair one it was, too.”

I found myself smiling at his description of Rielus. “Brother, your cleaver shall hang in a place of honor in the Hall of Blades,” I said to him. And I should recover the old katanas from the others, too. When I’m finished clearing this place I will do so. “The last passage from the central hall is blocked though, I do not know how to get past it.”

“There is another door somewhere here that passes into the Catacombs,” Casnar advised me, his tone turning brisk. “At least, that’s what Alain said they were going to search.” He saluted me before turning and walking away. As his ghost disappeared into the gloom, I paused to drink a few healing potions. I wanted to conserve my magicka for the last Blade, the last fight.

This post has been edited by haute ecole rider: Jul 15 2011, 03:21 AM