The Outpost - a story by Milanius & Minque Options

[minque]

yeah....gonna check it...erhmm later not tonight, it´s time for a ...

[Fuzzy Knight]

Niiiiiiice :goodjob:

[milanius]

I must apologize for being late - I've been caught up with several other obligations and they've eaten all my spare time...
______________


V


Corvin’s plan at this point, as he was able to move fairly well, was quite simple: move away from the temple in a wide arc and then go for the ravine where Redoran and Ordinator troops were supposed to pass, so he could warn them about the trap Elgorin was setting for them; he had only one advantage - the night just became even more unpleasant as the strong winds from Red Mountain, without warning, started to spread ash and dust.

Sadly, his plan worked only for the first several seconds, after which he heard a loud, angry yell behind him.
"Bugrub, you drunken hard-headed sot ! Have I not told you, not once, but ten times, to get to your guarding post and STAY there ?!"
Corvin turned around slowly, with his head bowed down, trying to remain calm. Underneath the robe he squeezed dagger’s handle, knowing that this time his chances for survival are minimal. Orc’s furious voice became louder as he approached Corvin and roughly grabbed his arm:
" … but no, he is too damn keen on booze and nothing else but booze, right ? Well now, sir, if you don’t want to stay put in one place you will haul cargo like everyone else !"
Corvin realized to his amazement that the orc, which he recognized as the one who broke his nose, haven’t even looked at his face, half-covered by hood; instead, he simply continued to drag him along, still thinking that beneath dark cultist robe was his subordinate, drunkard Bugrub. He sent a silent prayer to Divines, thanking them for ash storm and those few scattered clouds that still covered moon, deciding to play along for the moment: he started to imitate drunken staggering the best he could, while his angry enemy pulled him further, back to the place where once stood Urshilaku camp.

Once they both came close to the center of camp Corvin saw that ashlander yurts made place for several tents and piles of boxes with supplies, although there was no sign of violence or razing anywhere. There were various boxes with clothing, food, some potions and weapons and other miscellaneous things, but Corvin noticed one particular pile of crates which was loaded onto three separate guar carts by a group of some twenty dunmers and orcs. That was the very place where his captor took him and threw him on the ground near the crate pile. Corvin luckily fell on his face, without anyone else seeing it, and started to get up off the ground as slow as he could, while orc yelled once more trough the furious winds:
"Get up now and work, you honoured user ! Gurshak, get your but back to the shrine and guard the rear exit instead of this drunken scum !"

As the two orcs moved away from him and other workers, Corvin carefully moved pass everyone and came close to the crates. He then took one of them and started to carry it toward the closest cart. When he got a quick chance to look into it he examined its content and saw something that made him tremble: the box was filled to the top with bags of one alchemical powdered mixture which he recognized as the same one that was used for explosive satchel charges. A small amount of that stuff was able to turn a huge rock into pebble, and miners of great Houses have used it sometimes, when they had to clear rockslides in ebony or glass mines - but every time with great caution and fright. However, there were boxes and boxes filled with it and Corvin was terrified. "This is intended for our boys... enough to turn them all into dust", he thought and hope started to fade in him. Mechanically, just like a puppet whose strings were pulled, he loaded the crate onto cart and slowly turned back for the next; no one bothered to look at him, as everyone seemed to be in a great hurry. On his way back, his mind was racing and one weak thought came to him, derived trough expirience from those few precious years he spent studying alchemy: he knew that this powder wouldn't burn all by itself, even if it was left in a very dry and warm place, unless if someone set it off with at least one spark. When he came back to the crates he stopped and looked around the camp, trying to find anything that would help him to set it on fire, but there was not even one campfire in sight. In desperation, he turned his eyes to the north of the camp, where he saw few tents and one table in front of them. No one was near those tents at the moment and Corvin noticed several scrolls on it, which finally made him decide what he had to do.

Once Corvin loaded the second crate he turned around and started to walk back calmly. After he came back to the crate pile he just walked past it and continued towards the scroll table, speeding his pace up nearly to running, careless for the other workers and their angry shouts directed to him. Once he got to it, he started to rummage through the scrolls, praying to Nine that he would find something suitable.
"Hey, you idiot... what are you doing ? Come back here !"
Corvin didn't pay attention to yelling, as he franticly searched... "Summon Scamp, Summon Skeleton, Paralysis... Hellfire ! YES !" - he grabbed the scroll, turned back to face the crates and started, very poorly, to read the magical incantation. Shouts aimed at him have risen by two octaves and several nearest workers started to run to him; but the very next second it was all too late, because Corvin finished reading. Scroll burst into fire between Corvin's palms, creating a solid ball of dark orange and red flames, half foot wide, which he then aimed, along with his last prayer to the Divines, right into the crates with powder.

Tremendous explosion shook the camp at the moment when fiery projectile hit the center part of crate pile, turning several boxes at once into scorched, heated mass. Corvin, who stood on the edge of camp, but still not very far from the crates, was thrown away by the fury of initial explosion. He flew all the way over the northern coastal edge, landing right into the sea. Telvanni and their mercenaries weren't so lucky: huge, fierce fire started to rampage all around the camp, several other explosions came after the first one, as everything flammable started to burn, and screaming and cries filled the night.

Corvin somehow managed to swim up to the surface, throwing up water which got into his lungs. Battered, bloodied and exhausted beyond all limits, he threw away all armor and clothes except his pants and started to swim back to the shore, as far away from the shrine as he could. Nothing was important to him anymore; he didn't noticed fires he instigated in the Telvanni camp, or the small slaughterfish that started to approach him trough the dark waters - the only thing he thought about now was getting back to shore, even if it kills him. He continued to swim, wasting away remains of his strength, while seconds started to look more like hours in his weary mind. At last, after several painful bites he endured from slaughterfish, he reached one small cove. The rocky shore was empty; all the animals, frightened by the noise and fires, had fled, leaving it deserted. Corvin turned back; ash storm has finally started to fade and he managed to spot contours of flame on the east - and after that he just collapsed to the ground. Before his mind sunk into haze he recollected everything that went down that night; then, he felt cold waves that splashed, slowly and gently, near his feet.
"I have lost too much blood and the death is upon me", he thought, "it's no wonder I feel so cold... but that is unimportant. My lord, Gods, I've failed you... forgive me". He gazed upon the star-filled sky once again, then closed his eyes and fell into a restless sleep, full of memories...

[jonajosa]

ITs ok i know how you feel. We could have waited longer if you needed more time.

:goodjob: keep it up (at your own pace)

[Wolfie]

Another good installment, but there's still a few places with the present tense instead of the past tense, one example being [quote]all the animals, frightened by the noise and fires, have fled[/quote]
This should be had fled

[minque]

I know..i´ll check it later on....

[Wolfie]

lol well you can't catch them all
that's what i'm here for

[minque]

thanks sweetie.......have a :cake:

[Wolfie]

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.....................cake