Ekali of the Frozen Heights, Book one Options

[Saquira]

So, I've been working on this since before Skyrim came out now and I think it's about time I publish it. I'm still working on Felisas Memoires, I actually got really inspired yesterday and wrote up the ending so now I know exactly where I want to go with it. I just wanted to get started on publishing this story as well.

I'm no longer working on A Strange Love, you'll probably have gotten it by now but I just wanted to get it out. I might go back to it and continue sometime, but then I'll make a completely new version and it probably won't happen for a very long time.

I change a lot of the things in the main quest in this story, because the dragons really should be able to use all the shouts(it's their language after all) and a lot of other reasons. Ekali won't only follow the main quest though, not like Felisa did. And I'll also have this story be much more orderly, in that I'll divide every chapter in numbered parts and will be writing a "what came before" paragraph at the start of each update.

Anyway, this is the story of the khajiit Ekali, and her journey through Skyrim.

Ekali of the Frozen Heights
Book one

Prologue

The female threw herself across the cold stone just as fire lit the sky, melting the snow of her former location. The beast roared out his rage as he turned after the khajiit, pale fangs still hot from the fire. She thought up the words when its jaws clamped shut above her, forcing Ekali to roll out of the way as it brought its head down again.

“Fo Krah!” The shout was loud, and covered the beast in frost as he lifted his muzzle towards the sky in rage. He flapped his wings, unleashing more fire in her direction, and took to the air.

Getting up from her crouch, the khajiit sprinted across the ice crusted stone, coming to a stop at her pack from which she drew a bow and quiver. The bow was already strung in anticipation for an event just like this, and she put an arrow to it just as the beast came around for another go. Her hands wouldn't be still as she aimed for the creature, and it was by chance that the arrow stuck in its throat. She sprinted again as he roared in fury, black eyes intent on her body.

“Dovahkiin! Zun Haal Viik!” His powerful voice was triumphant as the bow flew out of the woman’s grasp, and she cursed, barely avoiding the swipe from his tail when he flew past. As it was the blast of wind knocked her of her feet, and she pictured a fireball in her mind as she got up again. The dragon was wrapped in flames mere moments before his feet connected with her shoulders and threw her backwards.

Her feline claws where out before she had time to process the empty space beneath her feet, clinging like picks to the ice encrusting the rocky mountain. The stone shuddered as the dragon landed and made his way towards the precipice on which she was hanging.

“Dovahkiin.” The beast smiled at her as he lowered his head, looking over her white body.

The tension on her claws was causing a numbness in her hands when she hung there, and the khajiit grunted when she tried to get a better grip on the cliff side as well as getting her legs up. She'd be damned if she didn't get up, she knew that all to well.

“Trouble, Dovahkiin? Perhaps you should have practised your claws before coming, they often make a lot of difference.” He smiled again as he reached one of his feet out, extending a claw. He looked at it briefly before turning back at her. “How is it you say... oh yes, any last words?” Ekali kept quiet and he smiled again, edging further out on the edge to get to her.

The light of the blue green aurora reflected on his scales when he got closer, making him look even more majestic than before. His head had the shape of an arrowhead with spikes that were angled backwards from his face. His eyes were dark, and the scales had a soft brown colour to them.

She narrowed her eyes at the dragon as she tried to get a better grip on the ice, and clung tighter when the wind picked up, tousling her fur. The ice was mixed with snow, and her hands were barely noticeable because she didn't wear any gauntlets at the time.

The beast crept closer still, and put his foot on her paw to be able to break her grip. With a last smile that caused the blue light to be reflected by his teeth, he tore her away from the cliff, and opened his mouth to shout.

“Fus Ro Dah!” The shout threw her further away from the ledge, away from any hope of survival, and caused her to yell out in shock.

Oh hellfire, was the one thought that went through her head as she looked down at the ground far beneath her, the wind wining past her ears.

* * *

End note: So, there's the prologue. You don't get to find out what happened for a long time though as the prologue takes place long after the first chapter, which I intend to post the first part of on Tuesday. And I really like constructive criticism.

[Saquira]

Chapter 1.1 Bloody white sights

The star-covered sky gazed down upon the mountains in the chilly night, making sure that every creature slept, and that no animal had left the side of their mate. The trees together with the rocks covered the fire from watching eyes, all but two pairs who looked down on the watchman who'd been placed to make sure that no one crept close to the sleeping bandits.

The soft twang of the bow and the noise as the arrow pierced the watchman’s throat, pinning him dead to the tree, went unnoticed by the people sleeping in the bedrolls. Thus allowing the owners of the two sets of eyes to creep unseen into the light of the fire.

She was the first one into the light, her bow now secured on her back and her dagger in hand. With her yellow khajiit eyes she looked back at the gray wolf following after her. He looked back at at the woman, and with an understanding that only they shared, each of them approached a sleeping bandit.

Simply pausing to note that the man was a nord, she slit his throat as quietly as possible, while the wolf used his claws for the same purpose on another man. In this manner they continued until the last four sleeping bandits were dead, but she still waited for a while before standing up straight, and giving a smile to her companion.

“Say Gladio, you don't think these might have been the people we were looking for?” she asked the wolf and turned from him to search the pockets of the man she'd just killed. He answered with two quick barks, and a faint smile appeared on the khajiits' lips.

“Why I think you're right, just look at what I found in this ones pocket,” She held the black amulet she'd found up into the air for Gladio to see, and he gave her an expression that could only be interpreted as a smug smile. Then she looked around the little clearing, and grabbed a couple of sacks lying by the fire. Beneath the ancient pines she then stopped to kneel by each bandit to remove their equipment and stuff it in the bags.

Most of their armour lay on the ground next to them, but it still was tedious work, and when Ekali went to recover the one arrow she had used, she was forced to break the shaft to have any chance of getting it out of the watchman. He slumped to the hard ground. The ground on the side of the mountain was tundra, the ice mixed with earth so frozen it did not even soften during summer. The Jerall Mountains never did attract much warmth though.

She undressed the dead man and put his fur armour in the sacks as well, then the female took him under his arms and dumped him in a pile with his companions. She used snow to extinguish the fire, and when she picked up the now filled sacks she sunk a couple inches into the snow from the weight.

“Come on boy, we gotta get going,” Ekali said, and with the wolf at her heels she began the trek into the forest again. Her eyes glanced up into the sky after a little while, noting the storm clouds coming further towards the mountains for every hour and she shivered, though not from the cold.

* * * * *

It was the thunder and the hard, cold wind that first told of the coming of the snowstorm. Gladio barked unhappily, and the woman whom was having a hard time staying on her feet looked around for a deep enough pile of snow. She bent down by a tree, and set to dig a hole with her hands. Understanding her intention, Gladio barked and came forth to help. She backed away, giving the wolf room to dig.

It didn't take very long with Gladios' help, but when the khajiit crawled into the shelter after him the storm had picked up it's pace and snow whirled past outside. There was so much of it you couldn't see your hand if you held it out in front of you, and the cold would have been excruciating for most people.

The cave of snow was barely big enough to sit in, and she took her bedroll from where she'd fastened it on her back, blocking the entrance with the sacks. Ekali then put the bedroll in the bottom of the cave, and laid down on it to wait out the storm. Accustomed to the situation, Gladio crouched down besides her, and she put her arms around him so that they could provide each other with warmth. After that, there wasn't much to do, and a silence soon fell upon the the snow cave.

This post has been edited by Saquira: Dec 6 2011, 05:13 PM