A DEAD MAN'S TALE, the story of a dying man Options

[Mazelure]

A Dead Man’s Tale


Diego could be seen drinking bottle after bottle of flin… everyone in the bar was staring at him… “How can a man drink so much?” was in everyone mind. Everyone’s except one… a young boy who could see through Diego’s desperate attempt to numb the pain… by filling the empty hole inside with alcohol…he has seen it before in others… but none showed as much pain and desperation as Diego…

Diego felt cold and empty inside… he no longer cared about what others thought… he just wanted to replace the pain with something… with anything… but he knew that no amount of alcohol will ever fill the hole inside his chest… but he had to try even if it was in vain… even if it killed him.

Each flin he drank helped him face the truth… that he was alone… that he will always be alone… that he was already dead inside… only that his brain did not know it yet.

His eye were empty of emotion, slowly scanning his surroundings… watching all… then gazing at the table before him… filled with empty bottles of flin… and then the beautiful melody crawled in his ears and into his intoxicated brain.

Such melody… “Music of the gods” Diego slowly whispered.

It got louder and louder… and with the increase of volume Diego’s pain decreased in size. He slowly turned to the left to see a young Breton boy playing a lute that fit perfectly in his arms… as if it was a part of him… an extension of his arms…

“Leave me alone child… I have no money… I have nothing… so just leave this poor man to his drinking…” Diego whispered the words slowly as if every one pained him to speak.

“Don’t worry… this song is free of charge” the boy responded with concern in his eyes and sadness in his voice.

“I don’t need your sympathy… I don’t need your charity either… but I will be willing to barter.” Diego told the small boy.

“I’m listening old man.”

“Now listen closely you fetcher… I will be willing to tell you how this once mighty hero lost everything… how I was loved and respected… how much my wife and children adored me… and how everything was taken away… ripped away from my grasp…and in exchange you will play that soothing melody to help ease the pain.”

“That sounds like a deal old man” the young child responded even though he truly did not wish to listen to this poor man’s story… he never liked listening about the suffering of others.

The bar was half empty now… and in the middle of the room a child could be seen playing a beautiful melody for a dyeing man… listening to a dead man’s tale…


I hope this is the beginning of a good story… and remember I’ll appreciate some criticism… and by the way…

Kudos… Kudos

This post has been edited by Mazelure: May 23 2006, 03:40 AM

[Mazelure]

No problem Kiln... by the way I appreciate your comment as well... I appreciate every comment I get... so without any more delay here is another update...


A DEAD MAN’S TALE

I remember those brave souls who I had the honor to have fight along side with… Garoth the humble healer…. Jasko the mighty crusader… and Sem the jolly scout…

Each one was the best at what they did… Jasko was a giant of a man… never wore any armor… except for Orcish greaves…. and that blasted war hammer he swung around like a mad man… Garoth was the complete opposite of Jasko… a small dunmer who could not have weighted more than a scrib… and Sem… Sem was the troublemaker… who was known for being in the wrong place in the wrong time… especially with the daughters of any noble man…

We set out on our quest as soon as we could… we said our good bye’s to our family and friends since we all knew that most likely we would not be coming back… and we set off… with Sem leading the way… the man was a trouble maker… but he was damn good at tracking down anything… you could have shot a arrow in the middle of a blight storm and he would be able to find it within seconds… he lead us through a abandon road and over hills… that to our miss fortune were populated with rouge ashlanders… people who he had not the best relationship with…

There was no rest… we could not rest… and if we did that meant losing Kain’s trail… something that we could not afford to lose… and so we marched through the night… Jasko killing anything that moved… Garoth watching quietly at Jasko’s barbaric ways… and Sem… Sem was actually doing his job…

We followed Kain’s stench to his lair… an abandon dwemer ruin…completely devastated… with only an entrance to a tower…

There was two guards at the entrance… two Dremora Lords… and without a doubt many more waited inside… Sem wasted no time… he prepared his bow and launched a arrow straight for the one farthest from the door… the arrow hit it’s target… it had pierced through the Dremora’s throat… but it did not die… instead it charged at us in a mad frenzy… along with his companion…

Jasko was preparing his war hammer… but there was no need for it… Garoth cast a control spell over the unharmed Dremora… we stood there and watch how the Dremora wielding a daedric claymore cut down his comrade in a matter of seconds…

Sem stood with his mouth hanging down several minutes after the Dremora had killed his own companion… amazed at how at a wave of a hand Garoth had converted the once deadly enemy into an ally…

Garoth in the other hand knew that his spell would not last long… he had the Dremora go in the tower and go on a rampaging frenzy… it did not live long… but it was able to slay a couple of his brethren before he himself was torn apart by the survivors.

I lead the way in the tower… walking over the dead corpses on the floor… and over our dead ally… who had helped us beyond what he could have imagined… only four Dremora’s were left alive after the confusing chaos… Jasko made easy work of two… and both I and Sem tackled down one… Sem shooting it in the kidney to restrain movement and I went in for the kill… all the meanwhile Garoth ducked and roll out of harms way until Jasko came and put a end to the last Dremora with one mighty swing of his hammer to the head of the unsuspecting creature.

We searched the dead creatures on the floor for anything useful… Jasko traded his Orcish war hammer for a daedric one… Sem picked up a daedric knife… Garoth gathered a couple of daedric dust and hearts… and as for me… I traded my silver blade for a daedric katana...

After we found what we needed… we climbed up to the dark chamber at the top of the tower… where Kain was awaiting us in the opposite side of the room…

He had changed much since we last met… his wounds healed into scars… one across his face horizontally and another vertically… and I did not doubt that there was another on his back… but he had changed in another way as well… his movement… his way of analyzing things were gone… replaced by madness… a crazed look was in his eyes… not that of a man seeking revenge… but that of a suicidal one… some one who would not care to die as long as others died with him…

The sight of Kain petrified Garoth… he could not move… and Kain took advantage of it… he cast a giant bolt of lightning towards Garoth direction… both Jasko and Sem were able to move out of the way… but Garoth did not… he was slammed against the dwemer wall by the might of the bolt… he fell to the floor and did not move… I did not know if he was dead or alive… but I did know that I had to act…

Before I could do anything Jasko let out a roar and charged at Kain… meanwhile Sem launched his arrows from afar… Kain reacted to both of them… he shot another bolt of lightning at Jasko witch send him flying across the floor… and cast a barrier to deflect Sem’s arrows… but one did reach him before the shield was summon… but unfortunately it did not hit it’s mark instead it barely scratch Kain’s leg…

Kain did not even let out a gasp of breath… as if the arrow did not even touch him… meanwhile Jasko was barely getting up… and Sem had the foolish idea to run and charge directly at him… and I was dumb enough to follow… as well did Jasko…

The monster casted another spell… this time it was fire… it hit poor Sem on the stomach… and as I looked in horror at Sem’s twitching body (witch was still ablazed) I manage to see Garoth on the floor… he was smiling… pointing his hand at Kain… and with his last breath Garoth cast a silence spell… Kain not aware was still laughing at the sigh of Sem twitching body… I charged at him and he tried to cast another spell but instead found himself with a whole in his chest… Kain was still standing… but not for long… Jasko was still charging and hit Kain in the stomach with a full blast of his hammer… it send Kain slamming against the dwemer wall the same way Garoth did… and he sank down to the floor…

He was not dead… he was sitting up… laughing… mocking us… I came closer to him… and he stared me right in the eye…

“What's wrong old man?” the boy asked as he saw a look of fear take hold of Diego’s eyes.

Diego took a deep breath… “Nothing… just keep playing…”

Kain did not damn me with his last gasp’s of breath… no… he took the time to tell me… he was not the real threat… he was just a puppet… obeying his masters orders… that he was nothing more than a shadow… in the darkness… but the darkness… hides much more than just shadows… and then he laughed… he died laughing… as a mad man…



I’m going to post the rest of the story tomorrow… or whenever I come up with the rest… until then

Kudos… Kudos

This post has been edited by Mazelure: May 25 2006, 02:16 AM