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Chapter 18: Parven's Mission
The monstrous
Nix Hound growled, examining the two left standing. A deafening roar filled the
room as it charged at Barbarius. He jumped out of the way just as the monster
ran past, unable to stop before crashing into the wall. Barbarius laughed as it
stumbled after the impact.
"At least it's
not very fast, or bright." Barbarius said.
"It's not the
only dim one here, move you idiot!" Ruby shouted as the beast turned and rushed
Barbarius again.
It slammed into
Barbarius, sending him rolling across the ground. Ruby yelled something and ran
at the monster, stabbing it in the back. It took a step forward and spun around,
slapping Ruby in the face and slamming her against the wall. Ruby limply fell
onto the ground, a large gash on her forehead.
"Ruby!"
Barbarius shouted, grabbing a handful of throwing knives from his belt and
hurling them at the monster. A few stuck, but they didn't seem to do much, other
than piss off the deformed Nix Hound even more. It began moving toward Barbarius
but stopped as it heard someone other than Barbarius speak.
"What hit
me...?" Schimmel groaned, sitting up and looking around. He saw the monster a
couple feet away and gasped. He tried to stand but Trelana was passed out on his
legs. As the beast raised it's arm to crush them both, Schimmel grabbed Trelana
and rolled them both out of the way as it struck the ground. Trelana awoke from
the sudden movement, shaking out of Schimmel's grip in a panic. The two of them
scrambled to their feet, staring at the monster.
"What is that
thing?!" Trelana screamed, bumping into the wall.
Schimmel grabbed
his sword and took a step back as it growled at him. The monster charged,
Schimmel gracefully moved to the side and around behind it, slashing it's back.
The monster fell to the ground and Schimmel sheathed his katana, running over to
Ruby.
"Ruby... hey!
Wake up!" Schimmel said, casting a healing spell on her wound.
"Schimmel..."
Trelana muttered.
"Help me out
here Trelana, I'm not very good with healing spells."
"Schimmel,
move!" Barbarius shouted.
"Huh?" Schimmel
turned in time to see the monster back on it's feet and making a grab for his
neck. He didn't have time to react, something hard knocked him to the side and
he tripped. A sickening crack echoed throughout the room, followed by Trelana
screaming in agony. Schimmel looked back to see the beast have Trelana's left
arm in it's grip. Schimmel picked up his sword and thrust it through the
monster's arm in a fit of rage. It dropped Trelana and hit Schimmel, making him
lose his hold on his sword and fall over backwards.
Trelana fell to
her knees by the gate leading deeper into the cave. She was crying in pain and
trying to heal her limp left arm. The monster turned to Trelana and began
walking toward her, ignoring Schimmel's sword which was still stuck in its arm.
Trelana was in too much pain to move or fight back, Schimmel had no weapon, and
Barbarius's leg was wounded after the beasts last attack, not to mention he had
used all his throwing knives.
When the monster
was a few steps away from Trelana, an arrow struck it in the back, followed by a
crossbow bolt. The monster slowly turned to see what had hit it, and was met
with another arrow and bolt. It stumbled a bit, and two more sped through the
air, each one striking it in the head. The monster growled weakly and collapsed,
finally dead.
A Bosmer stepped
out of the tunnel leading to the entrance, holding a crossbow. "I told you we
should have done something sooner."
"Shut up,
Fargoth." I grumbled, returning my bow to the inside of my robe. "I told you I
wanted to make sure we had a clear shot first. Shooting one of our allies, even
by accident, would not be helpful. I don't trust the accuracy of those things."
"Crossbows are
just as accurate as normal bows!" Fargoth argued.
"I don't feel
like having this conversation with you again, they each have their own perks and
drawbacks, let's leave it at that." I sighed, not even noticing the others
staring blankly at the two of us.
"It's about time
you stopped following us and came into view! I've heard you two idiots following
us from Suran!" Ruby shouted, now awake and looking extremely angry. "You're
late on your little last minute rescue thing, Trelana got hurt because you
idiots took your sweet time!"
"It wasn't our
fault, you guys missed a few guards on your way in, so we had to deal with
them!" Fargoth shouted back.
"We should get
back to town. Now. Trelana needs a healer quickly." I interrupted, looking at
her arm. "None of us specialize in restoration magicka... and this is far too
much damage for an amateur to handle."
Schimmel removed
his katana from the monster's arm and stabbed it in the throat to make sure it
was dead this time. "Fine by me." he said, wiping his sword clean.
The six of them
left the cave in a hurry, leaving the countless dead Nix Hounds behind. They
began down the road to Suran, tired and sore from the battle.
"I hope we never
have to fight something like that again." Barbarius said.
"That would be
nice, but we did let that Breton escape." Trelana sighed, nursing her broken
arm.
"Crap! I forgot
all about him!" Schimmel exclaimed.
"Forget about
him." I said, crossing my arms and glancing at Trelana. "That fetcher teleported
out of there right after the giant Nix Hound fell."
"Yeah, but that
Breton aside... doesn't it feel like we're forgetting something?" Fargoth
mumbled.
"Did we? I
wonder..." Ruby scratched her head.
"Damn it! What
are you guys thinking just leaving me behind?!" Someone shouted from behind us.
Bryenn was running to catch up, and he didn't look happy. "How could you ditch
me like that?!"
We all looked at
each other, trying to figure out why none of us remembered Bryenn had been
knocked out by that monster and the left in the cave.
"Sorry Bryenn, I
guess we were all so worried about Trelana we just sort of... forgot about you."
I chuckled nervously.
Bryenn grumbled
something and walked off ahead of us. We followed behind as quickly as we could.
When we arrived back in Suran we took Trelana to the healer and returned to the
guild tavern for a relaxing drink. I was more interested in food than drink for
once, those idiots had interrupted my breakfast and it was now past noon.
When we opened
the door to the tavern, we saw Parven standing in the corner. He was speaking to
a small crowd gathered around him, but stopped when he saw the six of us walk
in. He grinned as he usually does before giving us another mission that's next
to impossible and called us over. I ignored him, walking up to the bar and
ordering something to eat. Even if it was important, I could hear him just fine
from the counter. He turned to the crowd again and began to speak while everyone
sat down.
"I'm glad
everyone is here! I was hoping to give you the details of the mission today, and
send you off tomorrow. Now then, as I have already said, my agents have reported
the location of one of the ASP's base of operations. It is in the northwest part
of Solstheim. I will need a dozen of you for this mission, and have selected you
for your excellent skills. The people I am sending on this mission are..."
Parven removed a list from his pocket and began reading off names. "Assuni,
Barbarius, Bryenn, Fargoth, Gorub, Harvey, Mark, Nem, Razelus, Ruby, Schimmel
and Valen. All of you are to meet me at the edge of Lake Masobi in the city
tomorrow morning, I have arranged for a couple boats to take you to Vivec. From
there, my personal ship will take you all the way to Solstheim. Details of the
mission will be explained then." The moment he finished talking, Parven walked
out of the tavern.
The silence was
broken by loud chatter the moment the door shut behind Parven. I sighed,
wondering why I had to be a part of it. I prodded the food now sitting in front
of me with a fork. After that little speech I had suddenly lost my appetite. I
dropped my fork and walked out of the tavern to clear my head. After a long,
aimless walk, I found myself in the Fields of Kummu along the edge of Lake Amaya.
I sighed, laying on the ground a few feet from the water. I stared up at the
clouds, countless questions running through my mind.
"Is he dead...?"
"I don't think
so."
"What could he
be doing out here?"
"Don't ask me. I
know as much as you."
I groaned,
slowly opening my eyes. A Dunmer and Altmer were standing over me, staring down.
They took a couple steps back as I sat up. The sun was now low in the sky,
barely above the horizon. "Crap.... it's dusk already?" I yawned.
"Actually...
it's just after dawn." the Altmer said.
I leapt to my
feet in surprise. "What?! Double crap! I'm gonna be late!" I shouted, charging
down the road back to Suran. The two elves stared blankly at my back as I ran
off.
"You're late!"
Ruby yelled, pulling me into the small boat.
"Sorry... I went
for a walk and fell asleep." I said, sitting down.
"For someone
claiming to be a scholar, you can be a real idiot sometimes." Barbarius
muttered.
"Shut up,
Barbie." I grumbled as everyone else climbed into the small boats.
"Damn it! Don't
call me that!" Barbarius shouted, rocking the boat.
"Calm down!
You're gonna tip us over!" Ruby yelled, nearly falling out.
After a short
trip to Vivec, we all boarded the ship that would take us to Solstheim. It
seemed like a good idea for once, sending so many people. However, there was a
nagging question in the back of my head. Along with a feeling of dread about
this mission.
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