The Ice Warrior Options

[The Metal Mallet]

Well now, lots of interesting tidbits about some of these characters are revealed in this update. You've definitely shown some new things.

[redsrock]

Thanks, Metal. Glad you liked it...

[jack cloudy]

Real smart, Melvin. Real smart. And what are you going to do when he'll push for a confrontation next morning?

On another note, I see that the dreams have progressed. Erick shouldn't go see a mage though, but someone who actually believes in the power of dreams. Like an Ashlander wise woman. Can't find them on Solstheim, though.

[redsrock]

lol, I've gotten that reaction of Melvin from everyone.

[LadySaira]

Land of cold is bad, wolfmen worse.
Prehaps miners should stay indoors?

Poor Melvin. He doesn't think his plans through well.

This post has been edited by LadySaira: Feb 19 2008, 04:45 PM

[redsrock]

A new reader? Thanks for your comments, LadySaira.

[redsrock]

CHAPTER SIX


I woke up abruptly, from yet another nightmare, drenched in hot sticky sweat. I felt my forehead, which was feeling very clammy. My heart was pounding like a beating guar drum, and for good reasons. Yes I had just had another nightmare, but this one was different. A werewolf was involved this time.

“You alright, Erick?”

I had awoken Melvin from his sleep, just as I always did with my nightmares. But for some reason he didn’t seem to be too angry this time.

“I had another nightmare, but it was different this time.”

“Yeah, how so?”

“I saw a werewolf…”

Melvin looked at me for a couple of seconds with a blank stare, and then all of a sudden busted out with laughter. Her was actually holding his stomach and complaining that it hurt from the laughter.

“A werewolf? That’s funny, Erick, it really is. But you know it’s probably good that happened. Now you know you have nothing to worry about.”

“And why is that?”

“Erick….a werewolf? Come on, give me a break. How can a werewolf mean anything?”

“You and I both have heard the stories…”

“Exactly…STORIES! Stories told to us by Nord wanderers so old they don’t even remember their own names!”

He obviously didn’t seem to think these dreams weird, but I certainly did. Werewolves, though considered mythical creatures at best, still scared the living daylights out of me. Many stories have been told about how man have been torn to pieces by these ferocious beasts, yet nobody has actually be able to prove their existence. I for one believed in them, but Melvin did not.

I was so angry at him I went back to sleep without saying anything else. One thing was for sure though; I was going to talk to the local priest first thing in the morning. I had a bad feeling about all of this.


+++++ +++++ +++++ +++++ +++++ +++++ +++++ +++++ +++++


The next morning I woke up extra earlier, some time around five o’clock in fact. I headed straight for the Imperial Cult Shrine, where the priest Antonius Nuncius had his own room.

Antonius wasn’t your regular priest mind you. He may act all nice and all in front of you, but let me give you a forewarning, he’s actually a backstabber who’ll do anything to save his own head. I never did like the man and I never will. He helps inmates smuggle alcohol right under Captain Falx’s nose. But of course I wouldn’t dare tell him for fear of losing my own life at the hands of the other inmates.

It might seem to you a bit strange that I was going to this man for advice when I hated his guts, but what can I say? I’m a desperate man in need of figuring out what my dreams mean and why I keep having them.

So I entered the building and walked over to Antonius’s door. I wasn’t too sure if he would hear the knock or not since a study room separated the hallway and his actual room. But, after about thirty seconds of loud forceful knocking, the corrupt priest opened his door, and it appeared he wasn’t in a good mood.

“What in Oblivion do you want? It’s almost five thirty in the morning!”

His face was rather hairy, signaling that he was in need for a good shaving. Also it appeared as if I had angered him. I guess I shouldn’t really be surprised.

“I wish to speak with you, Antonius.”

“This early in the morning? I don’t think so. Come back later…”

He began to close the door in my face, but I stopped him just in time.

“No, I need to talk to you now. I’ve been having dreams, and…”

“I said not now, Erick. Everyone has dreams, you know. As I’ve already told you, come back LATER!”

Before I could react the old wooden door was slammed violently in my face, almost breaking my nose in the process. Thankfully I was able to back away from the door just in time. I left the armory feeling quite annoyed by everything, and then decided to go back to my room. I didn’t really know what else to do, and it wouldn’t be too much longer until it was time for work. But then Captain Falx walked out from the main building and spotted me.

“Erick, what are you doing up so early?” He yelled from across the yard. I walked over to him so we didn’t have to yell.

“I just couldn’t sleep, sir.”

I lied to him of course, but I wasn’t about to tell him the truth. There was no way I could tell him the dreams I was having. He would think me as a lunatic, just like Melvin does. Thankfully he hadn’t seen me leaving the armory.

“Well, how about you join me on my morning walk. There’s something I’ve been meaning to speak with you about anyway.”

To be honest I didn’t really want to walk anywhere, for it was freezing cold, but then again I didn’t want to upset Falx. So I walked with him. We exited the fort through the back entrance and began walking on a small dirt path leading to the northeast.

“I hear there have been some problems at Raven Rock,” He said simply, not looking at me but keeping his eyes pointed straight ahead.

“Yes, um, about that…”

“There’s no reason to explain, Erick, Falco has explained everything,” he said in an unusually gentle tone. I had expected him to lash out at me in anger for disgracing Fort Frostmoth and the Imperial Legion.

“And you’re not angry?” I asked wearily.

“I was at first, and then Falco explained the situation. I understand there is a certain Bruno that is causing problems?”

“Yes sir, but that’s no excuse for us to act irrationally.”

He chuckled and then looked me in the eyes. “Yes, I knew you would say that. You always have been a level-headed person. It’s a shame your life was ruined by your ill-fated decisions earlier in life, hmm?”

He was right. I really wasn’t that bad of a person. Just a few bad decisions led me to where I am now. But I wasn’t ready to openly talk about that with anyone just yet….not even the Captain. And when I didn’t respond to his comment, he continued anyway.

“But I digress. I just wanted you to know that you are not in trouble, Erick. Knowing you I’m sure you’re worried about what’s going on, but remember, I picked your group for a reason.”

“And what’s that?” I asked eagerly.

“Because you and your mates, for the most part at least, stay out of trouble. The Argonian and the Khajiit are a little crazy-acting sometimes, but that’s okay. Melvin is a little controversial, but I think everyone is used to that by now. And then of course there’s Madila, but I don’t she’ll be a problem any time soon. What I am trying to say is that you five are the best prisoners of Fort Frostmoth. That might not seem much to you, but believe me, at least it’s something.”

We talked for another twenty minutes or so, but most of it was just small talk, nothing really important. When we arrived back at the fort most of the prisoners were awake and ready to leave. I had not showered this morning, but I didn’t even care. I was still shocked by what happened last night. And when I saw Melvin standing over in a corner, rubbing his leg where he received his wound from last night.

“How’re you feeling?” I asked him.

“My leg’s killing me, but at least I looked good,” He grinned and winked.

I wasn’t at all amused. I was only ashamed of what he did. And after speaking with Falx earlier I was now ashamed even more.




On the way to Raven Rock I explained to Melvin what Falx and I talked about, but he didn’t seem to care.

“So what? Do you really think it matters, Erick? Either way we’re prisoners. No matter if he likes us or dislikes us we’ll always be inmates.”

I didn’t feel like arguing with him so I simply let it go. Besides, I had a feeling we were going to have a long day ahead of us and I didn’t want to be in a bad mood all day.

At the entrance of the mine Madila, Teemee and J’Dato were waiting by the door, all three looking to their left. When I looked to see what they were staring at I saw Bruno marching towards Melvin and me. He stopped just inches from Melvin’s face and glared at him for several seconds. Then he reared back with his fist and swung at Melvin’s face.

[Steve]

AHH!!!
The story continues.

My compliments to this continuation. It further solidifies my theories on where this story is heading.
Which is global war......... lol

Redsrock, your stories have always been a pleasure to read and this one continues onto that tradition!

[redsrock]

Thanks a lot Steve, it's good to be back.

[The Metal Mallet]

Here we go again with more escalation! Now things will get messy.

[redsrock]

Yes it will.....I'm just debating on how messy I want it...

This post has been edited by redsrock: Mar 5 2008, 04:21 AM

[Steve]

May I suggest spilling tomato sauce everywhere?
Yes, indeed, these are a surprising turn of events. I'll admit, the main character seems like the best behaved but, definetally not his friend. But, anything can happen right? Well, that captain guy doesn't know about everything.... right? lol

I hope my suggestion was subtle enough!

[Agent Griff]

I hope that Bruno guy gets what's coming to him. Melvin however fought fire with fire and did something far worse than Bruno. We shall see what the consequences of his actions are however.

[jack cloudy]

Well, told ya. Don't come bawling saying I didn't warn ya!

[redsrock]

CHAPTER SEVEN


Bruno’s fist connected with Melvin’s face with so much force that it knocked my friend into the snow. He then sat on Melvin’s stomach and began punching his face in. I attempted to break the fight up, but Bruno’s cronies were holding me at bay. There was nothing I could but watch my friend get pummeled by the Redguard’s massive fists.

What seemed like hours later Falco came running, along with several city guards. They pried Bruno from Melvin’s body and held him in place against a tree. Melvin then went after Bruno but one of the guards restrained him.

“What in Oblivion is going on here?” Falco demanded forcefully.

“You saw my wife, Falco. It was he who did it!”

“You’re a liar!” Melvin yelled back.

“Oh yea, then what is this?”

Bruno held up a wrinkled parchment, and then began reading it aloud when Falco and the guards allowed him to.

“It’s a letter…to someone named Winona. And it is signed by you! You dropped it in my house last night!”

At that moment Melvin’s eyes went blank and his face was white with fear. The gig was up. He was finally caught.

“You lied to me?” Falco asked in a harsh tone. Melvin was speechless.

“Once a criminal…always a criminal,” Bruno growled.

“You two, come with me...NOW!”

Melvin, Bruno and Falco walked off into the distance, and the small crowd dispersed into the caves, including my own partners. But me, I just stood there, frozen in time. I didn’t know what to do. Everything was going a hundred miles and hour. But I had to do something. I couldn’t let Melvin defend himself alone with Bruno. Talos knows he’d be ripped apart by the Redguard and his boss, Falco.

I took off towards the three, ultimately deciding that I would vouch for my comrade, my friend. I wasn’t going to leave him behind, I just couldn’t do that…not after all he’s done for me. All the guidance he’s giving me, all the advice. All of that would be contradicted if I were to turn my shoulder when he needs me most.

Unfortunately me for by time I decided to help my friend, they were already way ahead of me. I had to run the entire way and when I made it to the fort I was completely out of breath. They were already speaking with the Captain at the edge of the entrance, and Captain Falx didn’t look to happy.

“What are doing away from your post, Erick?” Falx asked me.

“I…I’ve come to defend my friend. I want to make sure…nothing is blown out of proportion…” I barely gasped.

“No, you will not. Get back to your post!”

“But sir…”

“Now, Erick! I’ll deal with you later…”

I wanted to argue further, but before I knew it they had already entered the fort, leaving me behind wondering what the hell was going on. I just couldn’t believe how fast things were spiraling downwards. But standing there doing nothing wasn’t helping, so I walked back to the mine.









Back in the mine, Madila was of course working diligently as usual, while Teemee and J’Dato were resting on the job already. They did this rather often, and most of the time I let it slide, because I was never one to get in someone’s face. But today, this very day, I was about to put up with their lack of work ethic.

“Get off your tails and get to work!”

“Sheesh, don’t blame us because your boyfriend got in trouble…”

The Argonian had taken it too far. I had finally had enough of his bantering, so I walked up to the lizard and pressed his body forcefully onto the rocky wall. His squinted his eyes and shield himself from me, as if he thought I was going to strike him. Though the temptation was getting to me, I was luckily able to control myself.

“I’m not in the mood for your mouth, Teemee. Get to work…now.”

I said this with a stern and gentle tone. It was almost maniacal in a way, and Teemee could see something was seriously wrong with me. I had never blown up at anyone. Melvin and I have had our fair share of arguments, but it never amounted to physical contact.

I looked over to the left and J’Dato was already shoveling, with Teemee following shortly after. We worked until noon, and that’s when the lunch bell sounded. We all walked outside and I decided to join Teemee and J’Dato as they scurried off towards the pub. I had lost track of Madila, and therefore had not a clue where she ran off to.

Inside the pub was a vast crowd, mostly made of up miners. They all sneered at us a bit when we walked inside, but other than that they gave us no problems. I spotted Bruno and his buddies at a corner table, and of course they were pointing fingers and making gestures towards my way. I paid it no attention and simply sat down with my fellow miners.

“Hey…umm….sorry about back there in the mine, Erick. I’ll….I’ll try to be more productive. I know times are tough for you, and I shouldn’t have said what I did. That was very immature of me.”

My jaw dropped as Teemee caught me by surprise. J’Dato looked at him in disbelief as well. I wasn’t accustomed to the lizard making amends. This was certainly a first.

“Thanks, but let’s just forget about it. We al make mistakes, eh?”

“Yeah, well I think it’s time we talk about our little friend,” J’Dato said, motioning towards Bruno’s table. “We need to start planning if we want to survive.”

“Survive what?” Teemee asked.

“Bruno and his buddies, of course. They are automatically going to want us dead now that Melvin did what he did last night. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not knocking on Melvin or anything, but we’re in danger of losing our lives now.”

“Come on, are you really serious? Bruno isn’t after our heads, J’Dato…”

Regrettably for me it appeared that I had spoken a tad bit too soon. Bruno was walking towards my table with a malevolent grin spread across dark rough face. He stopped short of our table and extended a hand towards me.

“Congratulations on losing a member of your mining team. I’m sure he won’t be seeing this place anytime soon.”

I merely looked away and stared at the window, hoping Bruno would just leave the tavern. I could sense J’Dato and Teemee looking worried, sweat pouring down their scaly and furry faces. They knew something was about to happen.

“Aren’t you going to shake my hand, Erick? I know you’re a stupid prisoner, but it’s rude to leave someone hanging, you know.”

Still I stood my ground and moved not a muscle. Then Bruno picked up a pitcher of water from the table and tossed it in my face. Water got into my eyes and I wiped it away while Bruno and his men roared with laughter like wild boars.

“Oh, I’m so sorry. I must have accidentally knocked it over. I hope you don’t mind being wet for a while. It’s a good thing it’s not cold out there,” he said sarcastically while walking out the door, still laughing it up.

I grabbed a nearby towel that just so happened to be lying around. I didn’t know if it was dirty or not, but at this point I really didn’t care.

“Don’t worry, Erick. Just ignore him,” Teemee reassured me. Too bad that was harder than it looked…

[jack cloudy]

Ya know, if someone gets that much time to beat someone else's face in, I doubt that Melvin is getting out of the sickbed for a while.

That said, Bruno is really going the bully-route. If it keeps up like this, he'll die the moment a real werewolf barges in.

"Werewolves don't like bullies. HHHOOOOOOWWWWWLLLLLL!!!!!!" (Sorry, couldn't stop myself. Also, this smilie needs sharper teeth.)

This post has been edited by jack cloudy: Mar 11 2008, 08:11 AM

[Agent Griff]

As I said earlier, if either Erick or Melvin ever turns into a werewolf, we know for sure who he will go for first.

That aside, I liked the update and I'm really starting to hate this Bruno guy. It'll feel good when he finally gets what's coming to him. Melvin should have slit his throat when he barged over him in his house and be done with it.

[redsrock]

Hey guys, thanks for the comments. I'll try to get the next chapter out soon, but then again...I've said that before. We'll just have to see what happens.

[Steve]

GENIUS!!!
Yes, Bruno is annoying and I wish he's fall into a ditch and never come out......

[Burnt Sierra]

Well I've been reading your work for quite a while, and I have to say this is by far the best work you've done.

The development of the character's is superior to previous ones, they have depth and are truly believable. Even the supporting characters are fleshed out. As for Erick, he's very good. Not superhuman, able to kill anyone in one blow with no training, but has faults. Most enjoyable for me is that he knows that he has faults. I can honestly say I really like him, and I think you've done a terrific job of creating him.

The dialogue is much more natural. This has never been a weakness for you, but in the past you occasionally had a tendency to use dialogue just to get information across. Not this time. Now the dialogue feels like the character means what they say. More naturalistic, more believable. A good quality of your writing that is getting better and better.

And for the plot and the action? Well, to be honest you've never had any major difficulties in those areas, and this lives up to your usual high standard.

A very good story so far, and a real delight to see you improve each and every story you write. It's clear that you've put a lot of effort into improving, and the results are fantastic. Put me in the "eagerly awaiting more" category!