Authors Note:
This is in no way my views on the current KoH vs EoT war, or any subsequent wars. This is not my views on nords, or any other Elder Scroll race. The Elder Scrolls is owned by Bethesda studios. Names of characters belong to their original creators. I only own the main character, and a few other OCs. This is an entire work of fiction.
If you see spelling or grammar mistakes, or if things just don't make sense please contact me.
Chapter 1: Ebonheart
Rain landed softly on Delric's cape. The rhythmic pitter patter used to calm him when he was a child, looking outside his parent's house in Shornhelm, an area prone to deep rain. He gripped his sword, a steel blade that was long enough to be used for offense as well as defense, but was short enough for it to be held in one hand. He twisted the sword in his hands, admiring the Breton craftsmanship as he heard the screams of war. Rolling his shoulder in anticipation, Delric looked to his side as he marched along with some of the remaining High Rock forces.
The battle had been going on for hours at this point and the assault on the Imperial stronghold was just about lost. High Rock had lost most of it's troops in the first wave, proving no match for the Nordic and Imperial forces working together, slaughtering the High Rock and Hammerfell legions before they even had a chance to put up a fight. Those who had survived the first wave rallied together and attacked again, resulting in the same lost. Now the survivors began to rally again, at the entrance of the fort in attempts to breach the Imperials and Nords and make landfall within the stronghold, where they would have better luck fighting in the tight corners. Delric sheathed his sword, and continued to march, stepping over bodies of Bretons, Nords, Redguards, and Imperials a like. The battle had been bloody, and both sides had lost a lot of men in the first and second wave. Arrows from the Imperials who had been perched on the battlements littered the ground. Swords, axes, and maces laid in the mud, their owners next to them, lying still. Delric was not used to war, his face contorted as he stepped over a mangled arm, his position did not throw him into the face of death often.
He was a Lion Guard, a protector of the king. Most times, this simply meant that he had to follow the king to multiple political events, fend off a few angered Khajiits, and maybe a lusty Argonian. Very rarely did Delric have to get his sword bloodied. However times had changed. The Imperials had begun taking over Skyrim, killing the previous king and emplacing their own. Since then, the Empire had begun expanding its influence, taking over Morrowind and Black Marsh, both nations providing small uprisings that were extinguished just as fast as they started. From there the Empire marched, edging into the sovereign nation of Hammerfell, home to the Redguards. However Hammerfell did not bend over like the other nations. Lead by King Cyrus and Prince A'tor, the Redguards retaliated. They attacked the Imperials, driving them out of Hammerfell and chased them into Cyrodiil. Battles were exchanged, and soon a full blown war erupted, with Hammerfell attacking Imperial strongholds all over Tamriel, including Skyrim outposts and Black Marsh forts. Rebellions began, and with the support of Hammerfell they grew stronger. The Empire was beginning to fall, and with that desperation began to mount. The empire refused to lose it grip, and using their powerful fleets they began to blockade coastal nations such as Summerset and High Rock, forcing these nations to go into a famine.
Months later, any ship that was seen out in the waters by Imperial ships were attacked, no matter the nation. High Rock was forced to get most of its imports out of Hammerfell only, causing widespread famine as Hammerfell was not able to provide enough food for the whole province. Soon, the Empire began to invade High Rock, entering in from the Skyrim border. This forced King Vincent to act, mobilizing the High Rock army in efforts to fend off the Empire. Now allied with High Rock, Hammerfell continued it's war with renewed vigor, attacking key Imperial positions and strongholds, forcing them to retreat back into Cyrodiil. All these key moments now lead up to now, the invasion of Ebonheart, one of the Empires biggest strongholds outside of Cyrodiil.
Shouts brought Delric's attention back from his wandering. He looked around to see that men were starting to run backwards, towards the ships that had delivered the raiding party to shore. Confused Delric began to move forward, brushing the running men aside as he continued to move and see what in Akatosh's name was occurring. As he got closer to the front of the battalion, his eyes narrowed. In front of him was a wall of Imperials and Nords. The Imperials stood back, knotting arrows and firing on the crowd as Bretons and Redguards engaged in tense sword fighting with the Nords. Looking up to the sky and praying to multiple Divines, Delric unsheathed his sword and turned towards the running Bretons, grabbing a young man by the arm. The Breton turned around, his helmet barely fitting on his head as his hands shook in fear.
"Listen to me" Delric told the boy, as he took the boy's sword and placed it in the Bretons shaking hands.
"Your family needs you. Your province needs you" Delric told the boy, trying to raise his voice above the shouting of the war around them. Delric raised his sword and turned towards the battle. Even though Delric was never a front line soldier, this battle was for the liberation of High Rock. He refused to stand back and let the Empire walk over him.
"FOR THE PROVINCE" He yelled, turning to the boy and signaling him to follow. They both jumped from the small elevated hill they were on, landing right into the middle of the fray. Delric gripped his sword with two hands, moving calmly towards the entrance of Ebonheart, swinging only when necessary. Although he had never seen war, he was a very skilled sword fighter and spell caster. He had trained with some of the best spell swords in Tamriel, learning proper footing and hand placement, along with other techniques.
As he remembered his training, A nordic man raced up to him, war axe raised and spittle flying from his mouth. Delric, not intimidated by the Nords brutish fighting style, raised his sword and bended his knees, anticipating the incoming strike. The brute brought his axe down on the Hawksmith, however the nimble Breton side stepped the swing and then spun back around to face the Nord as he tumbled into the bloodied ground. Delric, not allowing his opponent to get back up, raised his sword and brought it down on the Nords neck, cutting off the airflow and effectively slicing through his trachea. He then ripped his sword out of the Nords neck, wiping the blood on the back of the dead Nord and then sheathing the sword again. The whole encounter took only a few seconds, his efficiency surprising even him.
After another 15 minutes of fighting, Delrich had made it to the entrance of Ebonheart. Grabbing a shield that had belonged to a long dead nord, He hoisted it in front of him. He and a few other Hammerfell and High Rock troops had situated themselves in a trench merely a few miles from the entrance to the Imperial Stronghold. They had positioned multiple shields and other debris on top of each other, preventing the continued barrage of arrows from penetrating them. Delric looked around, noticing most of the men before him were fairly young, most of them farmers who had been conscripted into their countries army. This was probably the first time they had seen war, the first time they had seen men die in front of them. Some of them looked frightened, others angered, and a few with no emotion at all.
"So, you've made it this far" Delric started, as he looked to every single man in the trench with him. There were about only 15 men , not enough to charge and take the stronghold, however he wasn't about to be taken captive by the imperials and then executed in Cyrodiil. He was going to die an honorable death, buried with his fellow brothers. Gripping his sword, and grabbing the handle of his shield Delric began to stand out of the trench.
"Today, we fight for our Brothers, our sisters, our Mothers, and our Fathers" Delric shouted as he looked at the Imperial stronghold. He noticed as archers began to knot their arrows, but did not fire upon him
"Today we fight, for the children that have died with no food for them to eat. Today we fight for our independance!" Delric shouted, turning back to the 15 young men, as they all started to stand up, gaining their own courage.
"Today, we fight, not for honor, not for pleasure. Today we fight to be Free!" Delric shouted, bringing his sword up as he jumped out of trench, holding his shield over his head as he charged the gates. The other men quickly followed suit, yelling their own chants as they too jumped out of the trenches and towards the entrance. The imperials began to rain down their arrows, but the shields provided ample cover as the small battalion quickly closed the gap between them and Ebonheart.
Delric's heart raced. He was the leading the charge against the fortress, arrows whizzed by him, impaling the ground and sending up dirt next him. He could see the entrance now, the gates were opened, with multiple Imperial archers positioned right outside with their arrows knotted about to fire. Delric kept running, holding out his shield in front of him, anticipating the arrow barrage. Then suddenly, Delric felt the ground give way as a large shockwave hit him, throwing him back a few feet. Now on his back he looked up to see a large chain protruding from Ebonheart and leading back into the sky. The entire stronghold had been thrown into a craze. fires burned as Imperials and Bretons alike ran from the fortress, looks of terror on their faces. Delric struggled to get up, but fell back down as he felt a sharp pain near his ribcage. Mustering up enough strength, he pushed himself into a sitting position. He watched as a purple large circular object descended out of the heavens, creating a portal in the sky, lightning sparking all around the foreign object. Out of the portal fell winged demons and knights in darkened armor, holding swords with red tints. The knights and demons fell into the fortress, slaughtering the Imperial soldiers like butter, the their arrows and steel doing nothing but to taunt the demons.
Delric had never seen such a monstrosity before. He recounted the sudden event in detail, a large "anchor" had appeared above the fortress, killing most of the men inside. Out of that anchor spawned multiple demons, slaughtering the remaining soldiers. Not even in the stories elders told children did they come close to what Delric was witnessing with his own eyes.
"You there! Can you walk?" Surprised, Delric turned around to see a Redguard,his curved sword on his hip as he ran over to him. Placing his hand on Delric's shoulder, he looked him up and down.
"You're not a Nord or an Imperial, and by your garbs you don't seem to be an Imperial sympathiser." The Redguard said. Delric noticed that the Redguard seemed to have been in his middle age, scars covered the Redguards brownish face.
"The name's Delric" He claimed as he attempted to stand yet again, but yelped in pain instead.
"Nice to meet you Delric. Name's Akorithi, Prince of Hammerfell" The Redguard stated, removing a vial from his pouch. Twisting the top of the vial, he handed it to the Breton, nodding for him to drink it. Delric took the vial, gingerly smelling the top before drinking it's contents. Gagging, Delric looked up to Akorithi with a sickening look, until he felt the pain from his ribs subside. Now fully healed, Akorithi offered him his gloved hand, which Delric took with great him up, they both looked at the large Anchor in the sky, as more nightmarish creatures, worse than the next continued to pour out of it
"And here I thought, I was going to die a boring death surrounded by Redguard woman" Akorithi sighed, removing his curved sword from his belt. Chuckling, Delric followed the Redguard into the tree line behind them, heading back towards the way they came.