Chapter Two- Another Settlement needed his help
Edreanna and Inago waited quietly in the woods not far from their horses as the sounds of combat could be heard from inside the town.
"Do you think we should help him?" The Battlemage asked, getting a chuckle out of the Khajiit.
"Nah, he should be wrapping up any second now." He said, as an audible thunderclap, a few screams, and the words "Fus Ro Dah" echoed out of the hamlet.
"So, what exactly was this village like. It's… like nothing I've ever seen." Inago asked. The township held a familiar charm as the building material seemed to primarily be wood and bricks, yet it was also sleek and futuristic. Lamp posts with no visible flame, black roads with a type of ward flanking either side, horseless carriages, and many more technological wonders advanced enough to make even a Dwarf blush.
"It was very strange. The population was mostly humans, though a species called Faunus also inhabited it. Think humans, but with animal traits such as a tail. Anyway, there seemed to be a divide between the two. Aside from that, advanced technology."
"So no Elves, no Khajiit, no Argonians?"
"No. Just those two species."
Inago looked back to the village as a stray bolt of lightning shot into the air followed by a loud war cry.
"He should be finishing up, let's go check up on him." Inago said as he began to creep forward through the brush and towards town.
Inside the town, the loud clashes of metal on metal echoed across the street as the oversized axe hooked itself on the golden sword the Dragonborn held in his hands, only for a fireball to form in his off hand and slam into the attackers face, forcing whatever ward the man was using to disperse, followed by a disarming motion and quickly slamming the circular hand guard into the man's jaw, knocking him on his ass.
When the man attempted to get back up, he found Dawnbreaker's point pressed against his throat, and a very angry Imperial staring down upon him.
"Where are the villagers?" He asked coldly, as a bit of blood began to be shed out of his neck.
While the man remained silent, his eyes slightly drifted to the left giving Aragon all the information he needed before pulling the blade back and smashing the pommel into the bandit, knocking him out. Only moments later, Edreanna and Inago arrived on the scene, and taking in the scene on knocked out or dead bandits sprawled out along the street.
"You've been busy." The Battlemage said, as she looked at the field of dead and moaning bodies.
"This is what happens when you cross Aragon Silfurhár. The amount of survivors actually surprises me." Inago said with a smirk, before being called over by a distracted Legionnaire.
"Inago, Edreanna, search these houses for civilians and try and help." He said as he kicked open a door to what appeared to be a bar.
As light poured into the villagers, all bruised and bound, began to try and retreat back into a corner out of fear. But at the sight of a man who didn't look like any of the bandits, fear was replaced with a form of hope, hope that was confirmed as their saviour began to cut the rope binding them.
"Is everyone alright?" He asked the eldest of the group, an old human woman.
"For the most part, yes. After the Grimm attack the other day, we were too weak to fight off the bandits when they showed up so we surrendered, probably what kept us alive." She said as she began to rub her wrists.
"Is there any other survivors here?"
"No, it's just us here. Most of the others, including all of the Faunus, were taken off somewhere."
"So there's more to this group. Damn." Aragon knew he would likely be able to take care of any of the group that may return, assuming they were on a similar level to the men here, but he couldn't risk getting the civilians caught in the crossfire, especially considering they wielded weapons that seemed to be a rapid fire evolved and smaller version of the Redguards cannons.
He lead the survivors, numbering only about 30, out into the town center, where Inago and Edreanna stood.
"You, you came back for us!" One of the younger men in the group said as he caught sight of the Battlemage before they began to swarm her.
"Yes, I'm back." She said with a bit of a smile as a very young child began to hug her leg. "I just had to go get some allies. This is Commander Silfurhár" she pointed to Aragon "and one of his bodyguards, Inago."
As the civilians looked to the Khajiit, many of them froze.
"What is he, some kind of Faunus!" "He actually keeps a Faunus as a guard!" "Get away from me freak!" These and many other shouts rose from the survivors, before the Battlemage slammed her staff on the ground, causing a magically amplified this that shook the crown to their core.
"This is my friend and ally, and I would appreciate it if you didn't attack him." She said loudly and sternly, causing the party to stop their shouts, allowing for Aragon to begin giving orders.
"Me people have a camp not far from here, follow Edreanna, I won't be far behind." He said, voice echoing as the survivors began to shuffle after the Battlemage, and a few moments later it was only him and the Khajiit.
"Inago" Aragon began "are you alright?"
"Yeah, just not surprised that even here, my kind is hated." He said, readjusting his Katana before he spotted something.
"My friend, did you say what we were looking for was called Dust?"
The Dragonborn followed the man's gaze. "Yeah, wh- well I'll be damned." He said as he spotted a store with several crystals he could spy through the windows, though they were few in numbers and scattered on tables and the floor. The Dragonborn laughed before running up to the store and entering, picking up the multi-colored crystals before he stopped.
"These are not ours… I need to return them to the person who owns this store." He thought to himself, before he grabbed a bag and placed them inside gently before he and joined up with the Khajiit before heading back to camp.
A few hours later, Camp Silva had been set up, campfires roared, food was being passed out, and wards and runes joined wooden stakes in outlining a perimeter.
At first, the rescued villagers believed the Imperials to be a primitive tribe of sorts, due to their lack of firearms and, to them, ancient armor designs. However, once that caught sight of the portal to the Imperial City, as well as the non-humans in the camp such as Dracano, many began to change their tune.
Aragon and the elderly woman he had spoken to were in his tent as she informed him on where exactly they were.
This world, known as Remnant, was divided into four major kingdoms and minor territories. The Kingdoms, Vale, Vacuo, Mistral, and Atlas, are in a state of piece, yet also always on the edge of being killed off from dark creatures known as Grimm, hopefully Dawnbreaker will cut through them just as easily as Daedric and Undead flesh. Despite this, the species has still produced technological wonders to help them survive. He also learned that they were not far from the capital of the Kingdom of Vale, also unoriginally known as Vale.
"How far away is Vale?" Aragon asked, his helm removed as he stared at the map of the world, his eyes continuously being drawn north of the continent of Sanus upon which they were located towards another landmass that looked suspiciously like a Dragon.
"Probably a days walk from here."
"That's not bad, If your people are willing to stay here under our protection, I can send out a few riders to Vale and try and get help."
"Oh, there's no need for that. We managed to get a signal out to the City before the attack, they're probably flying here at this very moment, likely not far away."
" Flying?"
"Yes, flying. We've developed incredibly fast Airships that can reach here from Vale in just a few hours." She said with a smirk, while Aragon retreated into though. He knew that Airships can be made to work. He stumbled upon one in Solstheim, and heard of the Empire using them during the conquests of Talos himself. But they were rare and very expensive. If this world had managed to mass produce a perfected version, this would vastly improve trade and transport if the Empire can gain access to some.
"Alright, so we have a plan. Wait to see if your people arrive, if not I send riders out tomorrow morning."
"Sounds good, and thank you."
"Your welcome ma'am. Now, where is the proprietor of your villages Dust shop. We found some crystals there."
"That would be Shea Lux, my granddaughter" the woman said as she got up and walked out the tent and towards the campfire, where a Bosmer archer was showing off his skills by sniping apples out of the air when the woman in question tossed them into the air.
"Shae, the leader of this bunch wishes to speak with you."
"One moment Nana." She said back as she tossed another apple into the air, only for an arrow to pin it to a nearby tree, and for a second arrow to split the first in rapid succession.
"That's enough kid, can't have you wasting arrows. Though that was damn good archery."
"Yes sir." He said with a fist-over-heart salute before leaving, but not before sending a wink to the woman.
"Excuse me, Shae Lux?"
"Yes?"
"When we were in your village, we found these in the ruins of your shop. I didn't want to leave you without any merchandise." He said, producing the bag with Dust Crystals to the woman.
She took one look at them before saying "keep them. I doubt the Company will notice them."
"Really?"
"Yeah, go ahead. It's the least I can do for… well saving everyone here's life."
Aragon's mouth curled up into a smile. "Thank you ma'am. I'll send these back to the portal immediately for testing."
"You mean back to your world?"
"Yes, of course."
"Oh, I thought you would use them here. Dust doesn't work off of Remnant." She said sympathetically.
Aragon's smile suddenly died "What?"
Again the woman said softly "Dust only works here on Remnant. It loses its power off world."
"No.. I felt. Drakano!"
The old Atlmer suddenly shuffled over "Yes Sir?"
"The lady here says these Dust Crystals loses its power outside their world, but didn't you sense something powerful within?"
"Yeah, I sensed power just as much as I do so now. We didn't try to use it, mind you, but unless it lied, it worked."
"That's impossible, it goes against everything I've ever read."
"Perhaps it has something to do with-" suddenly he stops and listens.
A low roar echoed over the trees as the Imperials readied bow and spell against the enemy.
Aragon's Dragon senses were in full iver drive as he sensed a powerful soul nearby, and heard an all to familiar-ish sound.
"Dragon."