An Ashlanders Tale Chapter 4, By Jonajosa Options

[minque]

I received the beginning of the next chapter from jonajosa, so here you go

Link to chapter two, which this is the continuation of...


Chapter 4



After spending about 3 hours in a barrel on a nord supply ship Ashibalk was beginning to feel very depressed. This was certainly not how a general should be treated. He was going to have to talk to Darius about getting his rank changed to something more… safer. He sat in the cramped space thinking of what he would do when he reached the shore. Would he try and escape back to his own lines or would he try be forced to live in secret inside the nord lines? He had time to think of almost every possibility during the ride and had come to a conclusion. He would run.

The plan was to get taken off the ship and when the nord left him he would get out of the barrel and try and take off through the hills. He felt certain he could easily lose the nords in the rocky landscape of West Gash. Ashibalk knew his chance was getting closer when he started to hear the waves crashing upon the rocks near the shore. He heard some mumbling around his barrel and knew they were about to start taking cargo off the ship. He was picked up and carried some distance before they dropped him on the ground. He stayed still for a while and listened to the footsteps start to fade away. At that moment he put his plan into action.

Ashibalk opened the lid and peered out around him. He was in some sort of room filled with other crates and barrels. He got out and went to the door. He looked through and saw a group of other buildings that had storage signs above them. It was then when he saw a nord carrying a barrel towards his shack. Ashibalk looked around him for something to use as a weapon. There! A large knife was stuck in a lid on the other side of the room. He hurried to it, yanked it out and laid against the wall by the door. Hopefully the guard would pass by quickly and would not notice him standing there.

When the guard did enter the room Ashibalk gave a quick glance through the door to see if anyone followed his new prey. There was no one in sight so he rushed up behind the unsuspecting nord and slit his throat. He quickly dragged him into a corner and began taking his armor off. The nords armor was a little big but it was good enough to fool anyone who would glance at him when he left the camp. Once the armor was on he took a deep breath and took a step out of the room. The sun was blinding and he was forced to lift his arm over his head to block out its light. He had spent too much time in that barrel with no light. Now… which way lead out of this place?

[Neck' Thall]

Cool story. and how is Jona?

[minque]

He is improving and let´s hope he comes up with more updates...

[mplantinga]

Just found this story and got all caught up; definitely a great story. I do hope we will get to see more of the story.

[Fuzzy Knight]

Great as always by Jona... Hope as you said that we can await MUCH more updates by Jona

[minque]

An update.....enjoy!


Ashibalk quickened his pace away from the building and soon found himself just a few dozen yards away from a ridge that was outside of the camp. He was about to turn the corner of a building when one of the men that were carrying the barrels into the room he was just in yelled out to him. Ashibalk felt the best thing to do was to just act like he didn’t hear him and keep walking. He turned the corner and made it a few more feet before he was jerked around by the shoulder into the face of an angry nord. At first the nord just stared at him wondering why a Chimer was in his camp but before he could completely comprehend what was going on Ashibalk hit punched him in the gut and slammed him into the wall. The nord tried to cry out but Ashibalk’s hand was clenched firmly around his neck. When the nord stopped moving and trying to get free he let go of him and threw him behind some sacks.

Some shouts were heard from behind as Ashibalk continued to walk out of the camp but no one approached him again. He made it out of the camp and into the woods just before the dead bodies were found.

“That’s the last time I ever get captured… Im getting tired of getting stuck in situations like that.” He said as we walked through the forest. The sounds of the birds and guar purrs clamed his nerves and he soon found himself being almost numb. His feet seemed to kick themselves as though they had a mind of their own. That’s when the sound of footsteps through the snow reached his ears. He dropped to the ground and slowly and silently drew his sword from its sheath. The footsteps grew closer and the sound of voices became audible. He couldn’t tell what language they were speaking but he could tell that there had to be more than five men walking towards his position.

“Here we go again.” He whispered to himself as he got ready to make a break away from the men coming at him. But before he could a sharp whistle came through the air past his head. A cry of pain and alarm rang out behind him and he attempted to raise his head to see what happened but he was forced back down the ground by the arrows flying over his head. Just as suddenly as the attack had started it ended. Voices came from the patch of trees ahead of him and several chimer archers dropped from the trees and began walking towards him. This was his chance he had to get back to his unit. He jumped up and shouted at the men coming at him.

“Help me! I need to get back to my soldiers.” The archers in front of him quickly notched arrows and fired them at him. Ashibalk dropped to the ground and covered his head.

“What are you doing? I am on your side!” He yelled while he wove his arm up over the tall grass in an attempt to get the to recognize him as an ally.

“Who are you?” One of the men shouted back.

“General Ashibalk, commander of the northern units in Darius’s army. I seek to return to my men.”

“Get up slowly so we can see your face.” Ashibalk heard them begin to notch arrows and decided that he should try and use as much caution as he could with getting up.

“Im getting up now.” He slowly stood and faced them, “See? I am no nord. Now can you please take me back to the Northern army.” The men relaxed a bit but still kept their arrows in position to fire on him if he decided to try something threatening.

“Easy men. Im eager to leave this place. We are not far from a Nordic encampment and I don’t wish to be captured again.” With that they walked off together through the woods heading south towards Darius and what he hoped what was left of his army.

[Fuzzy Knight]

A little friendly fire there...

Goods story, wish it was longer because I really want to read more...

[mplantinga]

I'm glad he managed to convince them he was a friend before he got an arrow put through him. I'm curious to see if anything else goes wrong before he makes it back to Darius.

[Soulseeker3.0]

very nice please more. er wait that sould be more please....

[Jonajosa]

What a great story... Missed this short part when giving it to Minque. Stupid me!

“Stay close. We saw many enemy patrols in this area. I fear we may run into a few of them again.” One of the men said to me. He apparently very nervous. His hand was gripped tight to the hilt of his sword and his head looked around into the surroundings constantly. The other man seemed just as nervous except he already had his weapon drawn.

“You men wouldn’t happen to have another weapon on you would you? I can fight fairly well. But this cooking knife won’t do me any good in a fight.” I said hoping they would forget their lack of trust in me and hand me a weapon.

“Sorry, but we don’t have anything else you could use.” They both said quickly and in unison. They glanced at each other, gave a grim face and turned their attention back to the area around them.

I sighed and began thinking about what I would do when I got back to Darius. Should I stay and fight or leave my position as general to someone else and go back home? Could I leave? Would they kill me for trying to dissert them? What could I do?




This post has been edited by Jonajosa: Oct 13 2005, 12:46 AM

[Neck' Thall]

Yay!! Jona's back!! Kinda...

[Fuzzy Knight]

Great Jona - Nice descrition of the scared soldiers and I wonder what will happen now as he has his doubts about beeing there, if he should leave or fight with the cocking knife

[mplantinga]

Welcome back Jonajosa. Thanks for the update; this story continues to get better and better.

[The Wolf]

This may sound stupid, but I have to ask. Who is jonajosa? I've seen him a few times, but only as an unregistered user.

[Jonajosa]

It had been sometime since the run in with my fellow soldiers and the severe wind had forced us to walk looking down and away from the wind. Which if you haven’t tried is quite hard in such a maelstrom for the wind blows in all directions. The ground was soft and muddy from the storm I was just beginning to see dissipate. My Nordic boots which by the way were supposed to be immune from harsh weather conditions were beginning to rip apart and leak mud through onto my worn and blistered feet. The pain was excruciating and I knew that if I stopped to rest the men ahead of me would certainly leave me behind to be eaten by some wild animal. I decided now was the time to strike up some conversation if I were to keep my mind off the pain and keep from passing out.

“How much further to the camp?” I asked hoping to get a comforting answer. But it seemed like the men with me weren’t in the mood to talk. After the awkward silence that followed with me wondering if I should ask again just in case they didn’t hear me one of them stopped suddenly. He turned around and began laying his equipment on the ground.

“Were here.” He said barely above the noise of the wind. It occurred to me that “here” happened to be our new camp. It was a small opening surrounded by rocks and trees that kept the weather at bay and left a desolate and warm feeling when you walked into it. It certainly made me feel better but my joy was cut short by a harsh cry by one of the men.

“Hey! Go out and gather some wood so we can get a fire going. Id prefer to sleep warm and dry tonight wouldn’t you?” The other smirked at me and continued cleaning his fingernails with his knife. The fact that these guys looked like they had killed their share of people and wouldn’t hesitate with “outing my brief candle” drove me to follow their orders. Even though I was a general the idea of taking orders from a mere scout didn’t really bother me for I’ve spent more time taking orders than giving them.

When I left the safety of the grove the weather began to take its toll upon me again. But this time it held nothing back. I was forced many a time to collapse to the ground to keep from being thrown backward by the force of the wind. After several minutes I had gathered enough wood to get a fairly large fire going and I started heading back. After forcing myself back through the torments of the storm I reached the outskirts of the grove. But there was a light coming from inside its protection. I set my wood down and crept up to the edge and peered through the branches and saw the two scouts eating something over a… fire? Anger swelled up in me and I was about to go crashing through the brush to confront these terrible men when I heard my name being said. I leaned closer into the brush and stayed quiet so I could better overhear their conversation.

“Boss… pleased… General…”

“Think… the… money… we’ll…”

“Lets… kill…”

There was a sudden pause in the wind.

“Yeah. Generals are best dead. The boss only wants the guy for his uniform. Not sure why though.”

I leaned back and stared in horror. They were going to kill me. They weren’t part of the Chimer Army. No doubt these men were bandits. I slowly snuck back towards the woodpile and began to think about what I should do. Attacking them wouldn’t work. They out numbered me and had better quality weapons. Running wouldn’t help either. I was sure they could easily follow me anywhere in this forest. It only left one choice. Deception. I laced up my boots and tightened my belt. Time to show these men their fault in trying to take Ashlander like myself hostage.

[mplantinga]

An excellent twist. I look forward to finding out what sort of deception this cunning general has planned.

[Soulseeker3.0]

wow, yes a sudden twist. congrats on another astounding update Jona

[Jonajosa]

The first few seconds went by slow as I planned my attack on the two. After some consideration on all the different approaches I figured the best way was to charge in swinging. It didn’t sound like the best plan but all the others took to long and had to many places where I could mess up and possibly get killed. I unsheathed my blade and took a deep breath before crashing through the brush.

My plan worked great at the start and I had quickly overwhelmed one of the men and slashed his throat. The other however had time to draw his weapon and ward off my blows before I could finish him off. It truly was one of the most furious battles I had ever been in. We had both sustained several deep wounds and our actions were slowing down to a creeping pace. It turned into fight where we each hit each other’s shield over and over. I realized that I would soon run out of strength if I didn’t end this soon so I summoned up all that was left of my power and charged forward. The man reeled back against my sudden onslaught and his sword snapped off at the hilt. Before he could make a grab at his knife I shoved my sword at his throat. He immediately stopped reaching for his belt and got down on his knees.

“Please don’t kill me! I don’t want to die!” Tears were forming up in the corners of his eyes and he was rocking back and forth on his knees. “Please…” He bent down all the way and began grabbing at my boots. I kicked his hands away and sheathed my own weapon.

“Go tell your “boss” that if he tries to capture another soldier of the Chimer army ever again, I will personally come after him and put a stop to his meaningless life.” I picked him up by the collar and drug him to the edge of the grove. “Give me your knife.” I commanded. He slowly took out the knife and handed it to me. “Now go!” The man didn’t need me to tell him twice for as soon as I finished speaking he was already some 20 yards away from me.

I sighed and walked back to the fire. When I looked around I saw that several things had to be done now. First, I had to get rid of that dead body. Second, I had to collect all the bandit’s food and supplies. And third, I had to start thinking of a new way to reach my own men. I was certain the bandits had led me anywhere but closer to the Chimer army. But where had they led me? The sky was starting to darken again with storm clouds and the sound of thunder was heavy in the distance. I put aside any thoughts of getting home and began digging through the bandit’s stuff to try and find a tent or something to make a shelter with. I had no plans to sleep in the rain again.

After searching through several small packs and finding nothing but dried fish and rat meat I ran out of hope of finding anything that could be used to make a shelter. That meant I had to move out. I snatched up the bandit’s equipment and started out of the protection of the grove and into the sprinkling rain.

I spent several hours walking through the forest until I came upon a road that looked well used. Thinking it would lead me to some allies or some warm and dry tavern I wasted no time following it south… or rather what I thought was south. I was leaving the rain behind me now and the ground was becoming drier the further I went. That was a relief to me for I was tired of my feet getting my feet stuck in the mud. As I went along I noticed several things I had never witnessed before. The flowers were opening up and catching the after shower sunrays and the small animals were running about doing whatever it is they do. I stopped on the top of a hill and took some time to take in the sights. I felt relaxed for the first time in many weeks. There had been so much I had been through. With all constant killing and near death experiences I had felt certain that I would never get to see my home again. Now here I was back in my homeland.

The sun was starting to come up now and with it came the sight of warfare. I looked ahead and saw some smoke coming over the next hill. I frowned and started walking at a quick pace towards the smoke. As I got closer I started to hear muffled clashes and yells. My pace quickened into a run and I soon found myself climbing up the steep hill. When I came over the top I came face to face with another horrific sight. Ahead of me was a town or should I say what was left of a town. All but a few buildings had been turned into nothing but black smoldering piles of wood. My attention was drawn away from the city towards a small group of men running through a field. Behind them were about two-dozen nord archers.

The men kept running from the nords but it was clear they were already doomed. When the nord archers had all reached the edge of the town they lined up and sent two waves of arrows into the running men. All the men fell and disappeared under the tall plants. I forced myself to keep from running down into the city and trying to avenge their deaths but the thought of having to go back to that snowy wasteland kept me from doing anything stupid. Instead I started to creep around the town to where I saw the men go down under the plants. Maybe I could find something of use.

[mplantinga]

Thanks for another great installment. I'm glad to see that he has escaped the bandits, but it doesn't look like he's in the clear just yet. I hope he can avoid a meeting with those Nord archers....

[Jonajosa]

I would like you all to know that I shall not be posting on this chapter for some time. However this does not mean the end of this story. It will return... in a let us say more detailed manner. I'll be pulling a Burntsierra and redoing my entire story.

Have a nice week and don't quit writing!