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]

@Cap'n Bambam: Thanks for the compliments. Actually, it was Rielus who got the cleaver, and gave it to Casnar in return for the amulet. For how Rielus got the weapon (and Casnar the amulet) in the first place, well, you've already figured out that it's Destri that must tell that tale. Good catch on the cleaver's name, I've gone back and fixed it. And when I clicked on that link, I just about died! I had forgotten about Cap'n America!

@Destri: *Sniff* Now you made Julian and me cry! That was the ultimate compliment from a master storyteller, and we thank you from the bottoms of our hearts.

@Olen: I'm not sure just how much magic comes into play in the next fight, beyond the interaction of the enchanted gear. But I'll let you be the judge. I'm glad you liked the third fight - that was quite the challenge to write. As for your comment about the spine, that's my medical background showing again. Spine refers to the column of small bones that we like to call the backbone. Collectively, the spine is considered singular. But when referring to the small bones that interlock to make a single spine, those are vertebrae. Thus, cleaving a spine in two makes sense to me, but not cleaving vertebrae into two. I hope that was clearer than mud.

@Acadian: To say I was out of breath after writing that fight is the understatement of the decade. It was tough to capture so much blurring-fast action in words so that people can understand what Julian experienced was difficult. And muscle memory - what a wonderful thing it is. When it works, that is.

@Grits: I realized after playing Oblivion on the PC that there is an empty space on the rafters at Cloud Ruler Temple. I discovered that the two katanas hanging over the hearth belonged to Captain Renault and Glenroy, and knew that the empty space had to have been reserved for Rielus, Casnar, Alain and Valdemar, the four Greatest Blades ever. So I knew Julian had to bring them back even before she told me she had to bring them back.

@Sage Rose: Yes, I was so happy to find that little film. It was awesome to watch these guys - the choreography was so convincing that my heart jumped into my mouth more than once! And yes, Julian still has a bad case of hero-worship - she never quite outgrew that one. I wanted to play that up as much as I could given the situation.

@mALX: Thanks!

@TK: After fighting three tough hombres, Julian is going to have to dig very very deep to go up against Alain. I think you've pretty much summed it up.

Again, many, many thanks to Destri for the inspiration and characters of the four Blades, and D.Foxy for his combat expertise. I've learned so much writing this chapter.

And Julian makes her way to the final guardian. One more to go . . .

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Chapter 26.8: The Final Battle

I crept over the rough cavern floor toward the mystic flame that burned in the center of a relatively smooth area. The skeleton, his bones limned in a faint blue glow, shambled loose-limbed around the wide brazier. His ancient katana glimmered in the cold light.

He’s carrying the usual shield and blade combination, I thought to myself. But I can’t assess his fighting style by the way he moves. Unlike mortal opponents, these undead skeletons gave no indication of their training or combat preferences in their typical flat-footed toe-dragging. One thing for certain, he will be a tough fighter. Didn’t Grandmaster Jauffre call them the four greatest Blades that ever lived?

I recalled what Casnar had said about this Blade - “-they were fighting side by side, as always.” Alain and Valdemar. Ironic that they should end up on opposite sides of this cursed keep.

Still crouched in the shadows, I set my weapons down carefully. A second assessment of Valdemar’s shield showed the damage from Casnar’s dai katana had not improved in the last few minutes. I’m not certain I can trust this shield anymore. The magicka flared slightly in the darkness as I laid it gently against my pack. My katana and Daedra Slayer showed similar signs of damage. I regarded the red glimmer of Casnar’s weapon. It looks like the same glow on Thornblade. Disintegrate armor? Silently I fingered the broken rings in my shoulder. A few applications of healing spells and potions had closed the wound, but the unmended gash in the mail reminded me how close I had come to losing my arm.

Again my gaze moved back to the shambling bones, automatically trying to assess his fighting style, though my mind knew it was useless in this case. Can I handle this dai-katana now? The last time I held one of these, I could barely last two minutes before my arms started failing. But I was sick, weak, lame then. Now I’m healthy, strong. My right hand caressed the long hilt of the heavy weapon, designed for a two-handed grip. Would its enchantment help me, or hinder me?

Once more I rubbed at my right shoulder, feeling the raw scar beneath the broken links. The muscles beneath still felt bruised, but I had been able to carry my pack easily. My right hand still had its grip. And my left hand is the stronger. Using this weapon makes sense - I can bring my dominant side into play should my right side weaken. Fatigue still lingered in my bones, despite the last of the restoration potions I had drank down.

Never mind how I feel right now. I have to finish this. Blanco, and Martin Septim, are waiting for me to return. My right hand closed around the hilt of the dai katana, bringing it up to my left. I rose to my feet and straightened my spine, bringing the long narrow blade to rest lightly against my right shoulder. Ignoring my sore muscles and aching joints, I stepped forward into the glow cast by the brazier and waited.

The skeleton’s katana glimmered with a silver light as he turned toward me. Another enchanted weapon. Well, it’s to be expected - every one of the Blades so far had something enchanted. Wonder what this one has? Fortunately the shield seemed ordinary - if one could call the beautiful Akaviri shields ordinary.

The undead Blade stiffened and froze in place as his empty eyes met mine. His katana rose into the classical en garde position, the shield rising to protect his left side. As Casnar’s bones had done, I presented my left shoulder to him.

This one didn’t wait, but leaped past the brazier toward me, his weapon darting for my unprotected left side. I danced back, avoiding the slash that nearly sliced my hip. As he passed in front of me, I reached my left hand to his shoulder before he could spin away to bring his shield up. Magic swirled from my fingers, greedily sucking at his life energy before he broke the contact. I didn’t follow with a counterstrike, not wanting to waste the blade’s charge on the round metal. Instead, I waited for him to recover. Wait to strike. Evaluate his fighting style first.

He turned and faced me, his katana lowered, its tip barely touching the uneven ground. His frozen grin gleamed in the mystic light as his skull tipped to one side. An eerie sense crept over me at his assessing regard. He’s sizing me up just as I’m figuring him out. He’s fast, and strong. And he knows not to overextend himself.

As we stared at each other, I shifted my grip on the dai-katana. That bony visage moved slightly at the soft humming of my enchanted blade. Does he recognize it? Have I given him the impression that I’m not experienced with the two-handed blades? As with Rielus’s bones, I hoped he considered me a tiro.

Those empty eye sockets lowered slightly to meet my gaze, and he tapped his katana slightly on the ground so that its enchantment flickered again in the argent light from the ancient brazier. I couldn’t resist glancing at that enchanted weapon again. Before I could shift my gaze back to the grinning skull, the undead bones leaped toward me, his shield leading.

I skipped back just in time to avoid the bash and brought the dai-katana down on his armor. Red sparks flashed along the length of the blade as it skittered across the brass trim of his shield. I could see the nicks and scratches my weapon gouged out of the hard yellow metal as he stepped back. I barely ducked the overhead chop from his katana, catching it on the mailed sleeve of my left arm just above the elbow.

Argent magic swirled with blue as the enchantment of Matius’s cuirass interacted with that of the undead’s blade. Through the fur-lined tunic beneath my mail, cold sank into my flesh and numbed the bone. Damn! That’s frost magic! The impact of the strike, though glancing, gave me a hint of the strength the skeleton could wield.

My teeth clenched involuntarily against the combination of cold and bruising pain as I leaped back another step. He’s not as powerful as Valdemar, but he’s faster. Almost as fast as Casnar. As agile? I’ll have to find out. My gaze moved to the stairway that led out of the cavern. It rose into the darkness just beyond the skeleton’s shoulder, several paces away. Can I get to it before he does? I sidled to my right and feinted toward his shield. He blocked me easily, for I did not follow through on my hit. Then it was time for me to parry his counterstrike. We fell into a syncopated rhythm of parry and block, neither of us yielding ground to the other. After my third hit, the sound of the clanging metal changed slightly in pitch.

Good, this dai-katana is working on his shield. Apparently the bones also noticed the warning signal of metal fatigue, for he dodged my next feint, avoiding contact with my blade. Again his enchanted katana sent cold flooding through my left shoulder before I could duck back. This time the blow sent me reeling, pain chasing the chill. Damn, he’s fast. And he keeps his weight centered over his feet. No overextending or exposing himself unnecessarily.

I darted closer to that stairway, my left hand dropping from the dai-katana’s grip long enough to shake the chill out of my arm and shoulder. Argent light fizzled around me as I cast a quick healing spell to take the edge from the frost magic. Again the skeleton lunged at me with another overhead chop. I slid back, and as the other’s weapon struck the hard ground, I stepped forward and brought the dai-katana down as hard and fast as I could. I kept my body centered over my hips as the weapon bit savagely into the structure of his right shoulder, sending red sparks fizzling from the white bone. He rose and sent me staggering with a backhanded sweep of his sword arm.

This post has been edited by haute ecole rider: Jul 16 2011, 01:57 AM