An Ashlanders Tale Chapter 3 Options

[Dantrag]

no update I did catch up though...

[jonajosa]

Let me do this then so people can see that my last post actually had an update in it. A rather long one too.


General Galos stood and shouted orders to the men around him while I sat there on a rock watching the battle in front of me. It seemed no side had gained an advantage yet. They still fought in the same place the both had collided. Would this battle ever end? I asked myself. What can be done to save this land?

“What can we possibly do?” I said quietly not knowing Galos had heard me. He turned to his second in command and told him to take over for awhile. He then walked over to me and sat down.

“Why don’t you head back into the city and try to board a boat for Tel Branora? I don’t know what I would do if you were killed because I allowed you to stay here.” He smiled and looked at me, “Marit would have my head for that.” I smiled back but said nothing. I had decided long before the nords even came that I would stay with Marit here until the battle ended. Seeing that I was not going to leave Galos stood up and grasped my hand.

“Well there’s no sense for you to just be sitting here then huh? Come with me.” He pulled me behind him as we started walking away from his command post.

“Where are you taking me?” I asked wondering what I could possibly other than sit there.

“We, my lady, are going to the armory.” He laughed and sped up his pace. “I can’t have you just sitting around while people are dieing out there. You are going to be an archer.” He stopped and turned around, “You do know how to shoot a bow don’t you?”

When I was little I had always gone hunting in the mountains with my father for nix hound. He had taught me how to use a bow and dagger on those weekly trips. “I do know how.” However it had been some time since I had last held a bow in my hands. But I was sure I would be able to adapt quickly. As we got to the armory I saw dozens of bows and swords hanging up against the wall and it seemed that all were in fair condition too. I started walking towards the weapon rack when Galos tugged at my arm.

“We don’t get a weapon yet. First we must grab you some light armor. What would you prefer? Leather, Chitin, or some of our rare glass armor?”

The leather looked fine so I grabbed that but when I put it on it was real stiff and I could hardly move my arms in it. I shook my head. “This won’t do. No movement in it at all.” I slipped those off and grabbed the chitin armor. It looked strong and durable so I started putting some of that on. It fit fine and it hardly weighed anything at all. I was about to say this one was a go when I noticed that all the men around me had dirty steel armor on. If walked out onto the battlefield with a white suit of armor on in the middle of all those dark suits then I would be a prime target for any archer out there. So I turned to the last suit, It was green and had pieces of glass sticking out of it everywhere. It didn’t look very comfortable but when I tried it on I found out that the inside was layered with netch leather. It was soft and to my surprise the armor was very loose and easy to move in. I looked at it and saw that some of the armor under the glass was black. It seemed my problem with the last suit of armor wouldn’t be a bother with this one.

Galos looked at me and saw my expression of satisfaction with the glass armor. “Glass it is then?” He asked relieved that I had finally not found anything wrong with this suit.

I nodded. “Glass it is.”

“Now then lets go get your bow.” We walked out of the armor room and into the weapons gallery. I went strait past all the hand weapons and to the bow section. I looked around at all of them and saw that most were either chitin or bonemold. But at the far end I saw what I was looking for. A glass bow was gently laid against the wall just ready to be picked up and strung. I walked towards it and grabbed it. Just like the armor It was light and it bent very easily. Beside the bow was a pouch full of glass arrows also. It seemed my luck was going good. Now all I had to find was a-. I stopped and couldn’t believe my eyes. Right on the table beside me was a glass dagger and It also was glowing… green! Before I could reach for it Galos came up and grabbed my arm.

“Be careful when wielding this weapon Johannes. It has a poison enchantment on it. We don’t need you accidentally cutting your self with it.” I nodded and turned around slowly, grabbed the enchanted dagger and quickly stuffed it into my greaves. I acted like I didn’t care and walked towards the next table.

“I guess I’ll take this one then.” I reached for a silver dagger laying on the table. It was well balanced it shone brightly showing that it had been made recently. “Do I have all my stuff now Galos?” I asked when I had put the silver dagger in its sheath and latched it to me belt.

“I think so. Are you ready to leave?”

“Yes. Lets go.” We walked out of the building and towards the ruined village to the right of us. On the way I took out the silver dagger and threw it into some bushes. I smiled and sheathed the enchanted dagger. This one would be able to take more lives anyway.

“Take your post up in that tower right there.” Galos said pointing. The “Tower” was actually the lower half of a granary with the top half scattered around it in shatters. “From there I want you to wait until that man,” He pointed at an archer in glass armor like standing by a wall. “gives the order to fire. There should be a Nordic pike column coming down this road at any moment.”

“I’ll do fine. But what do I do when we finish up with these nords?”

“Just find that guy and follow his orders and you’ll do fine.” With that Galos trotted off back to his command post. I looked around and spotted archers hidden all over this road in buildings and behind walls. It seemed like this would be an easy ambush. I started walking towards the tower when I heard a shout from the road up ahead. I turned and readied my bow. A chimer came running over the hill with a sword in his hand and blood all over him. “RUN!!” He shouted over and over again. He passed our positions and kept going over the hill and back to the city. I ran towards my position and found another archer there waiting to fire. I crouched down beside her and pulled an arrow from my pouch.

“How soon do you think they’ll get here?” I asked her when I had finished readying my bow. She looked at me and turned back to the window.

“I’d say right about now.” She ducked below the window and pulled an arrow out of her own use. I peeked around the corner and saw about two hundred nord pike men and swords men marching down the road. I stood and ran up the stairs to the top of the tower. When I reached the top I looked down the road only to see more columns of nord soldiers marching down the road. How on Nirn did they expect us to defeat all of these nords? I never got a chance to answer that because right at that moment I heard someone from behind me shout open fire.

I stood up quickly and drew my bow back aiming at the commander to the right of the column. I let the string go and my arrow flew strait into the commanders chest killing him instantly. Dozens of other arrows smashed into the ranks of the nords and the entire first unit was on the ground dead. I crouched back down and readied another arrow. “This is going to be a long day…”

[Dantrag]

I give you a.....you.

:goodjob:

great as ever jonajosa! (can't get any battle scene ideas to continue my own from the update though...thanks alot :< !)

I love your story...

[minque]

There can be nothing but very good writing coming from you jona....as I´ve said so many times: Keep it coming!!

:goodjob: :goodjob:

[Fuzzy Knight]

Nice update Jona... Keep it coming! :goodjob:

[treydog]

Beautiful! And now Johannes has joined the battle. As always, the scenes are written vividly, giving me the feeling that I am not only watching, but actually there.

[jonajosa]

This was supposed to go in the last post but I missed it when I was pasting it here.


For what seemed like days Johannes popped up and down behind the tower walls trying to shoot nord soldiers. She would load an arrow, jump up aim into the masses of nords, fire and sit back down to reload not even trying to see if her arrow hit anybody. She reached back behind her to grab an arrow and felt only two shafts in her pouch. Johannes froze trying to think of what she would do when she ran out of arrows. There was no possibility of anybody having any more arrows she could use. She grabbed one of her two arrows and stood up and this time she aimed and made sure she had a clear target before firing. The arrow struck the nord just below the right shoulder and sent him spinning to the ground. “One left.” Johannes said when she had sat back down below the wall again. “Lets make this one count.”

Before she could stand up again a load horn blow sounded through the small valley she was in. It echoed across the land and sent a shock wave of silence through the valley for a whole 10 seconds. The nords stood about wondering what the horn blow could have meant and that cost them dearly. For at that moment a black cloud appeared over the ridge and sailed down upon the valley. Commander screamed for their men to take cover but it was too late. The hail of arrows that made up the cloud landed amidst the scrambling nords and the few hundred unlucky nords who couldn’t find cover fast enough soon found themselves with a few arrows stuck in them. The street was littered with the dead and wounded and it seemed that we had killed most of them. But then some of the nords started to rise from the ground and grab up their weapons. I stood shocked at the determination of these men. The sound of hundreds of angered voices filled the valley and countless numbers of more nords started to run up the road towards the ruined village. I started to step backwards away from the wall and was about to start running when a woman came up behind me.

“Come on! We have to get out of here!” With that she ran down the steps and out the door. I looked over the wall again and saw that the entire force I was in was running. I didn’t want them to wait for me so I ran off after the woman. I ran out the door and almost tripped over a dead chimer archer. I paused for a moment and grabbed her remaining 6 arrows. Not much but it would do if I had to survive on my own out in the wilderness. I looked behind me and saw that the nords were drawing closer. From where I stood I could clearly see the bloodlust in their eyes. If I stayed there any longer I was going to be hacked to pieces. So I took off down the road as fast I could not stopping to look back.

[Dantrag]

thanks for remembering :goodjob:

edit: now that I've actually read it, YOU ROCK!

[jonajosa]

Marit stood the ridge that overlooked the valley that Johannes had just left. Anger swarmed through his veins as he saw the nord soldiers overrun the remaining archers below. Now was the time to take care of these brutes once and for all. His hand rose into the air and fell back beside him in a slow motion. Unseen by the enemy four catapults loaded with flaming cargo fired up into the air towards the valley. Marit watched the soldiers below him scramble about looking for cover as the flaming missiles arched over him and land in the valley setting everything ablaze.

“Give the order to fire at will.” Marit told his subordinate after the dust cleared below him. Even though entire front column of soldiers was destroyed by the sudden strike more nords from the back of the force quickly filled in the valley and continued to push forward through the rubble. Again the catapults fired and killed more nords. But it seemed for every nord they killed dozens took his place. Marit looked down the valley towards the enemy and saw to end to the force he was trying to stop. It was evident that he could not do this by himself. Therefore he made the only decision he could at the moment.

“Tell the catapults to continue firing into the valley until they run out of supplies or in danger of being overrun. It’s time for us to leave this place. We’ll fall back to…” He took out his map and examined it. “this forest. From there we can wait for the rest of the refugees and transport them to the mainland.”

“But sir, that would mean leaving the battle. We couldn’t possibly-“ He stopped when Marit raised his hand.

“I have orders from Galos that if we couldn’t hold this valley, which has just became evident to me that we can’t, that we should fall back to this bay and help escort the remaining townsfolk there off the island.” He stopped and sighed. Secretly he hoped deep inside that Johannes was there amongst the refugees. “Believe me I don’t like it either and I did all I could to get Galos to change his mind but…”

“I understand. I’ll give the order then.” The man walked off and began talking to the other captains. Marit turned and looked back down into the valley and a tear came to his eye. His country was being destroyed and there was nothing he could do about it. At the moment…


******************
“Don’t look back. Don’t look back.” Johannes told herself over and over as she ran behind the group of archers in front of her. They had just barely escaped from the nords in the village behind them and now they were being chased by nords on horseback. She could hear the hoof beats behind her as she turned and twisted through the trees around her. She would be able to avoid them until they came to another open area. Then they would speed up, catch her and possibly kill her.

She heard a scream of pain behind her and instinctively looked back. She saw a horse finish trampling a soldier behind her and keep coming. But the thing that really made her start to run faster was what was behind the horsemen. As far as the eye could see was soldiers. The sound of drums and marching cadence echoed down the valley made the very rocks under her feet tremble. Horns blasted, explosions sounded yells and screams carried through the air. These were the sounds of war. Hopefully she could get out of this valley before it became a resting place for her. So… she ran faster.

[Fuzzy Knight]

Oooh... More more!!! :goodjob:

[jonajosa]

“Sir! The nords have broken through the valley defenses.” Galos stopped what he was doing and stood up strait and looked north towards the place where he had left Johannes. He frowned when he saw smoke rising from the valley up into the sky. Galos jumped off the rock and began shouting orders.
“Give the order to fall back to the city! The valley has fallen. IF we don’t leave now we’ll be flanked. Go!” When the word had been spread around his command post he sat down and began drawing in the dirt. His sub commanders walked up and gathered around him to get new orders.

“As you can see in the drawing the nords are advancing through the valley north of us. Surely they will sweep down behind our forces and completely surround us. Now I’ve given the order for retreat back to the city so when we get there I want every civilian you can find to be given a weapon and shield. We have to buy some time for Marit so he can evacuate the refugees at the pick up point. Any questions?”

A commander from the back of the circle pushed through. “Sir were going to have to leave a troop behind to delay the nords until we can escape… Which troop should that be?” Galos looked around but couldn’t decide which one to choose.

“Do any of you have a full force?”

“I do sir.” Someone said behind him. Galos turned and looked at him. It was Sakruth, captain of a small group of cavalry.

“You think you can hold them?” Galos finally asked after staring at the captain for awhile.

“I know I can.” He responded quickly. The man very confident that he could do his duty. Galos admired that and wished he wasn’t sending this man to his death.

“Go then. Good luck son.” With that Sakruth saluted and ran off to his troop. Galos stood with his commanders and watched as the cavalry galloped past him towards the front line. “Good luck…”

***********************
Sakruth knew that what he was doing and that it would be the last thing he would do in his life. He reflected back on his life for the few seconds before he closed in with the enemy. There were so many things he wished he could do over and change. He could be sitting in a place of power right now far away from the fighting or he could be with all those refugees fleeing for the mainland. But alas fate had led him here to this moment so he could be in this fight. That was all he got to think about before his mount slammed into a nord and sent itself flying sideways and landing on the ground.

The nords closed in around him and were about to start cutting him to pieces when some chimer on horseback rode through them killing most with their swords and lances. Sakruth got up slowly and realized his leg was badly injured from the fall off his horse. He started limping towards a group of his soldiers surrounded by nords. When he got within striking range he threw up his sword and brought it down on the back of a nords head cutting him in two. Before the others could react he brought his sword back up and slashed it through the chests of two more nords. The rest soon fell to the rest of the chimer soldiers.

Sakruth turned around and saw an endless number of nords rushing towards him and the rest of his men. He lifted up his sword and stood there waiting for the coming storm to approach. A nord rushed ahead of his comrades and came directly at Sakruth holding his axe over his head screaming for his blood. But Sakruth knew how to deal easily with these types of enemies. He stepped out of the way of the blow and stabbed the nord in the back as his momentum carried him by. He turned around just in time to block another thrust by a nord. This one seemed to be a little more experienced than the last one and Sakruth had trouble blocking his blows. He knew it would be over soon. His leg was starting to give in and he found it hard to stand up after blocking a blow. Finally after fighting back and forth for more than a few minutes Sakruth finally fell to the ground.

“Time for you to die Chimer scum!” The nord shouted as he rose his claymore above his head. That was when an arrow struck him in the chest. The nord faltered and tried again to kill Sakruth with the arrow still stuck in him. That was when another arrow hit him. This time in the right shoulder making his drop his weapon and fall to his knees. The nord reached for the dagger at his side and was about to pull it out when he shot again. He collapsed beside Sakruth and died still trying to grab his dagger. Sakruth tried to get up and grab his weapon but before he could even sit up he was struck by arrow in the stomach. He laid there unable to move wondering if he had bought enough time for the rest to escape. Surely he had? He looked around him and saw that the command post was disserted. He had accomplished his mission and that made him glad. He died smiling.

[Fuzzy Knight]

... :drool:

[minque]

I just got this update from jonajosa so enjoy!



Last part to chapter 3

Johannes had finally caught up with the rest of her unit at the beach after running for what seemed like days. She looked around her and saw hundreds of refugees but only a handful of soldiers. But where were Marit and his troops? Certainly he couldn’t have died… Could he have? No! Johannes thought. She wouldn’t allow herself to think such thoughts. He was alive she could feel it. A horn sounded through the bay and everyone looked out to sea. The boats had finally arrived.
Everybody started to walk closer to the beach and try to get a place on one of the boats. But Johannes was reluctant to join the others in their move. She stood there staring out into the woods waiting for any sign of Marits arrival. The archer that she had shared a building with at the village saw her standing alone and decided to approach her.

“Why aren’t you trying to get a place on the boats?” She asked.

“Im waiting for someone.” Johannes answered without looking back. She felt that if she stopped watching the trees she would miss the chance to see Marit or any of his unit. The woman looked at her and guessed that Johannes was in shock of losing someone. But before she could go get one of the soldiers to assist her with Johannes a cry of terror swept across the bay. Everyone looked towards the hill where the scream came from and saw a woman running at them waving her arms.

“Their coming! They’re coming to kill us all!” Several people just shook their heads in disbelief and began walking towards the boats but many stayed and watched the woman run from person trying to convince them to run with her. Finally after being turned down by dozens of people the woman rushed out of the crowd and ran over the ridge still shouting.

Johannes watched the hill from where the woman came from and saw to sign of any nords following her so she returned her attention to the forest. She was still scanning the woods when something caught her eye on the ground. The pebbles that lay along the beach were shaking. Sensing that that could only mean something bad was coming this way she began to prepare herself for battle. Seconds later a loud roar came over her and the refugees. They all looked up instinctively towards the hill that the crazy woman came from and saw a dust cloud
slowly coming over the ridge. Johannes picked out the glints of armor from the cloud and began to warn other around her.

“They’re here!” She shouted while pulling out her sword. People around her started shoving their way towards the boats but a few drew their own weapons and formed a ragged line around her. A quick glance around told her it wasn’t just refugees getting ready to fight. Small surviving groups of soldiers were starting form up also. Johannes saw a few from her own group and walked towards them. She saw the woman she shared the tower with and went to her.

“Are you ready for another battle? You looked like you were in shock a minute ago.” The woman asked when she saw Johannes approach. She had her bow drawn and an arrow ready to be fired.

“Im fine.” Johannes responded. The woman chuckled and turned back to the hill that was now swarming with nords.

The nord front lines were composed of some of their finest soldiers. Blood swords, large men who carried huge two handed claymores and felt no fear on the line of battle. Behind them was the pikemen, their job was to hold the battle line after the blood swords cut deep into the enemy lines. And in the back of the force were the axemen. They were the counter force used when the pikemen started to lose control of the line.

The refugee force was composed of several knights, a dozen bowmen, two dozen swordsmen and about a hundred lightly armed civilians. There was no hope for them and they all knew it. But it seemed like a good day to die to them and they didn’t care if they took a few nords with them.

The nord mass picked up speed as the drew closer to the rag-tag force. When they did collide the result from the fast paced charge was devastating. Three dozen civilians and soldiers died within seconds. Almost a quarter of the force was down and the battle barely even started.

Johannes swung back and forth not bothering to stop to try and block any blows at her. She pressed her attack so ruthlessly that the enemy didn’t have the chance to even take a swing. She had killed several swordsmen before she ran into the pikemen. They poked their lances at her and she was forced to weave back and forth to avoid being stabbed. After a few tries at charging them she found that she couldn’t break through the pikes. So she looked to her sides for more swordsmen but instead she found herself in the path of a raging blood sword. The crazed nord ran at her and swung his massive weapon at her head. But Johannes ducked and drove her sword up through the nords stomach. He reeled back and slammed his fist into her head sending her flying backwards into the dirt.

As she tried to fight away the dizziness she found that her weapon was still in the nord. She looked at him in time to see him rip it out of his body and use it as another weapon to cut down the men around him. Johannes quickly searched the ground around her for something to use against this beast. There! A few feet away was a pike. She grabbed it and jumped to her feet. Fighting away the dizziness she started clumsily stabbing away with the pike. Johannes had never used a pike before and that combined with the fact that there was no room for maneuvering the weapon around her made it extremely hard to use effectively. The blood sword saw that she was untrained in the pike skill and used that to his advantage. He shoved her pike to the side and slammed into her knocking he to the ground again. Johannes rolled to the side to avoid his downward thrust and kicked him in the groin. She smiled and asked herself why she hadn’t used that tactic before. The nord fell to his knees and dropped Johannes’s sword. She picked it up and swung at his head cutting it from his shoulders.

Despite the overwhelming numbers the nord army had the determined refugees were able to hold their own against countless attacks from the nords. Slowly the refugees fell back into a tight circle and began a new more ruthless defense. Most of the civilians were dead now and a little more than a dozen soldiers stood and fought. The fight had been lasting for about and hour now and the situation was worsening by the minute. Despite the bravery of the chimer soldiers the sheer numbers of nords began surrounding small pockets of chimer and cutting them to pieces. Johannes was in one of these pockets.

She was with the woman she shared the tower with and a knight. They had their backs to each other and were trying to fight out of the circle of nords they were in.

“We have to get out of here!” The knight said from behind her. His voice showed he was in pain and anguish. He had been stabbed in the shoulder at the beginning of the fight and he had lost a substantial amount of blood. It wouldn’t be long before he fell and Johannes knew it. Something had to be done now or else they would all die.

“We should all attack the area at the same time and try to break through. That might work.” She looked around her and saw a part of the line where the nords weren’t packed together and decided that’s where they would go. “On three follow me!” The other shouted their readiness and got ready to charge.

“One… two… THREE!” They all ran at the supprised nords and cut them down before they could react to the sudden counter attack. Johannes slashed left and right and was out of the circle before the others. She looked behind her and saw the knight fall underneath a slashing mass of swords. The woman was right with her running as fast she could. Their aim was the woods ahead of them. It was there they could have a chance of getting away from the battle. As they ran forward they saw movement in the trees. It looked at first just to be some wild animals but after a few more sighting Johannes saw it was a large group of swordsmen running through the woods towards them.

“Get down!” The woman shouted and pulled Johannes to the ground beside her. The mass of swordsmen ran past them and towards the nord army. Johannes forced herself to glance up at the passing soldiers and saw them carrying shields with the symbol of the chimer army upon them.

“Look!” She said jumping up, “The chimer army has to come to help us.” The woman got up beside her and stood there watching the men rush past them. One of the soldiers stopped beside them and seeing their small cuts and bruises guessed they were part of the small group of people fighting the nords. Johannes took the short moment of silence to talk to the soldier.

“Where is your commander? I need to speak with him.” The soldier pointed towards the east where a group of men on horse back were trotting back and forth. “Thanks you” Johannes said and dragging the woman with her ran off towards the men.

As she approached she saw one of the men on horse back was Marit. He had a bandage stained with blood over his chest and was apparently trying to coordinate his troops with the other commanders. Johannes approached him and coughed loudly. Marit turned around with a “what is it now” face and was about to start yelling when he recognized Johannes. His face grew happy and he tried to speak but his mouth moved wordlessly.

“You have no idea how long I’ve been looking for you…” Johannes said after a while. She then grew angry suddenly, “And now that I have finally found you I can’t spend time with you because I need some medical help. Me and my friend here…” Johannes gestured at her companion and looked to her for a name.

“Namea. My name is Namea.”

“Yes. Namea and I need medical attention. We have been fighting down there in the bay with the other refugees and it seems we got ourselves a little cut up.”

Marit still looked at her unable to speak but he managed to point across the field to a group of healers by a tent.

“Thank you Marit.” Johannes answered smiling. She turned away and began walking away to the healers when Marit rode up to her. “Yes?”

“Get on.” He said firmly. Johannes was about to protest when she realized he must be giving her a ride to the healers so she wouldn’t have to walk. She looked beside her and saw Namea on another horse. Marit turned the horse away from the healers and towards a small beach away from the battle field.

“Where are you taking me? I need a healer!” Johannes shouted angrily but Marit did not respond. He just sped the horse up and they began galloping towards the beach now. Johannes could see a few small ships still beached and realized what was happening. “Im not leaving you again!” She shouted and began trying to get off the horse. Marit gripped her roughly and finally spoke up.

“You must go Johannes. Sadrith Mora is in ruins and this is no place for a commoner like you. You will only die if you stay here. You will get on this boat and get medical help aboard. The battle is almost over now so I will catch up with you later.”

“I must stay! My place is here with you. I am tired of leaving you behind!”

“You will get on the boat and leave.” He signaled for the guards to come and get Johannes and get her aboard one of the ships. “You will go to Vivec on this boat and from there you will travel to Molag Mar. I will come for you there when this is over.”

“Why Molag Mar? Is it safer there?”

“Not really… but Galos has ordered me to send you to officer school. Your actions in the valley and here in the bay have shown him that you would make a good addition to the army. Now go. I promise this will be the last time we part like this.”

Johannes tried to continue arguing with him but the guards grabbed her and dragged her onto one of the boats. When she kept trying to get off the ship they tied her to the mast and left her. Johannes sat there watching the battle which she knew Marit was now in the middle of. Both sides had added more men to the fight and now the battle had spread across the entire beach. Arrows flew back and forth, soldiers charged at each other and cavalry trampled chimer and nords beneath them. The dead lay everywhere on shore and the stench of blood and dust in the air was enough to make someone gag. At that moment Johannes knew that this war with the nords was far from being over. The boat pushed off into the ocean leaving the condemned island to its fate.


End Chapter 3

[Dantrag]

Jona! Sweet update. I'll give you a...umm...a 'you'

[Soulseeker3.0]

I'm sure its great but havn't the time to read it. ;goodjob:


so does this mean he is out of critical?