The morning the company of guards and mages set out was thankfully a relatively warm one, the snow was as always annoying to walk on but at least they weren't getting face fulls of it.
Early into the march, so of the guards removed their helts and Reyvin was surprised to see that Thorfinn was among them. He noticed that the young man is nervous so he decided to fuck with him for a bit to help him ease his nerves.
"Didn't know you would be joining us, since when do the holds send little boys into battle?" He teased his friend.
Thorfinn grew red in the face "I am old enough to fight!"
"Sure you are" Reyvin gave him a mocking smile "Can you even hold that shield for more than a minute? I rember you using that tiny toothpick in your offhand when we sparred"
The nearby guards snorted or chuckled.
"I swear to Shor Reyvin I will kick your shit in"
The young man really did look like he was about to start kicking, but they were interrupted by Thorgrim's gruff voice "Alright kiddies keep it in your pants" Who then turned to Reyvin "You, elf boy." Said elf raising an eyebrow "The captain said there was so reason or another for us to lug so much damn antidote with us, said you would explain"
"So nice of him to volunteer ." Reyvin said in a sarcastic voice before starting his explanation "There is a good chance we will be fighting Falr, they are known to use poison and are usually accompanied by massive poison bugs"
The senior guard seed unsurprised, likely asking for the benefit of his subordinates, one of whom couldn't help but ask "Falr? Is that so kind of weird elf?"
Reyvin lightly facepald "Really?" So of the guards were laughing at their confused friend but a larger number shared the confusion.
The young elf sighed "Before your people ca to Skyrim, the dominant race was the Falr or snow elves, a bunch of Auri-el worshippers or Akatosh as humans know him." Before he could be interrupted by an outraged guard he continued "No I do not care that you think they are not the sa, and neither do the Aedra, let continue before I sic my bird on you" Seeing the rather large smoldering hawk appear on the elf's shoulder the guard wisely shut up, much to the amusent of his comrades. *cough* "Where was I, ah yes! It is not known who started the conflict, but long story short, the Nords under Ysgramor brought the Falr to near extinction. The defeated elves sought refuge with their underground cousins, the Dwer, who being completely ruthless bastards enslaved and blinded them. Fast forward a couple of eras and the Falr are now degenerated to the point of being blind, slightly magical goblins."
The curious guard seed to regret his question, appearing queasy, even those who already knew the story were uncomfortable.
One of the other guards soon asked "And what about the prisoners, if as you say they are basically goblins, does that an they ate them all or sothing?"
Reyvin shakes his head "No, it is far worse. They are known to brainwash and enslave their prisoners, I don't know how they do it but sohow they make them fanatical servants after so ti."
Everyone present suddenly turns serious, with the senior guard saying in a steely tone "Well then boys we better get moving, closest hostead is half a day away, hop to it!"
They make good ti and are quickly greeted by the sight of an empty cluster of Nordic longhouses.
Thorgrim speaks up "Alright lads, I want all of you to look for clues. The attack happened two days ago so there might still be tracks."
Everyone spreads out but Reyvin stops his two colleagues "You think you wolves could sniff out the attackers and catch their tracks?"
Bor thinks for a mont and answers "Well they could, but we would need sothing with a strong sll for them to follow"
The elf nods "Ill inform the captain"
It took them most of the afternoon, visiting four different empty hosteads. Every group of hos they visited made the guards either disheartened or vengeful, no one made any jokes anymore, and the march felt more like a funeral, whose funeral was yet to be seen.
Thankfully on the ground near the fourth site they found the remnants of a skirmish with so small humanoid tracks and a severed ear.
Reyvin sighed as his suspicions were confird "Yup, that is definitely a Falr ear"
Everyone turned serious at this and started preparing, spreading potions and antidotes around and securing their armor.
Bor and Brienne got to work having their wolves rember the ear's scent.
Reyvin was left alone with his thoughts for a mont. 'It is very odd for Falr to raid in such large numbers, they usually only grab a couple of people and are rarely so overt, are they just growing more bold or is there a greater reasoning behind the attack?'
Shaking his head and accepting that there is only one way to find out he sent Scorch to scout around incase of predators or other annoyances, it wouldn't do for them to never reach the Falr after all.
Following the wolves for a couple of hours they found an icy ravine going into the side of the mountain, both of the familiars showing absolute certainty that this is where the prey went. Thorgrim had them sit down for a short rest and a very light al, it would be pointless to die because they were all too tired and hungry from the search.
Scorch soon returned and 'said' that there were no other threats around.
While the young mages, joined by Thorfinn were huddled together and preparing ntally for what was to co. Reyvin snuck an extra ring of poison resistance he made to the young Nord guard and told him to put it on under his gauntlets, the young man was about to protest but thankfully Thorgrim ordered everyone to get ready, so he shut up and put the ring on.
After following the ravine for a bit they were t with a cave, small Falr effigies were erected on the sides of the entrance, the atmosphere turned ominous and everyone steeled themselves. Soon they plunged into the darkness, the mages casting light spells and guards readying their shields.
Everyone knew this was not going to be easy.
If you have enjoyed reading this toss a stone.
If you want to support directly and read a bit ahead do visit my patreon page patreon. com/Rastislav156 (currently up to chapter 13)
Reviews
All reviews (0)