Blood of the Reach
Chapter 8: Battle for Karthwasten Part 2
Xaxa Faolan Red
"Xaxa wake up, the nords are marching on Karthwasten!" I heard a voice shout in my ear. I awoke groggily and looked to see that it was Raven standing over top of me. I looked to my left and saw that Alma'Lexia was lying stark naked next to me. "Prepare the warriors, fight them for every step they take toward this position." I told her, and she nodded, turning to leave. She would turn out to be a fine general.
"Alma get up, the nords are coming." I told her nudging her until she opened her eyes slowly and yawned. "Xaxa is it morning?" she asked sleepily. "Yes, and a battle is about to begin." I told her, and she sat up and I got up and donned my armor. She did the same, putting on her headdress, and grabbed her sword, and her staff.
"Okay let's go." She said and I grabbed Red Eagle's fury, and my new ebony war axe. "I'm ready." I said nodding to her, and we walked out of the tent I had set aside. Outside was a mass of warriors, they were gathering into groups and packs and then rushing out of the gates. The hills were lined with camp fires, and warriors.
"Faolan are you ready?" asked the familiarly raspy voice of Esmeralda. "Yes matron." I told her. "Then don't let them get to this town!" she shrieked excitedly. "And bring me back an officer's head." She continued. Then she looked at Alma'Lexia "Oh so you have new meat? This is the morsel from the south." She said nodding "A leader no less, and a well known one. Very good choice." She said in approval. I just nodded.
"Esmeralda I should go to the warriors, the next pack is forming." I said and she nodded. I went to the next pack which was mostly chosen swordsmen, warlords, briarhearts, shamans, and ravagers. "Xaxa, it is an honor that you grace us with your presence, may your sword darken with the blood of your enemies." One of the warlords said, I noticed Raven, Kaie, Eithne, and Madanach were there, and after nodding to the warrior I walked up to them.
"Are you guys ready?" I asked them, Madanach turned to me. "I've been ready young one. The question is… Are you ready?" he said a smile across his face. "Just be sure to keep up old man." I said back to him, and a deep hearty laugh came from my side. It was that orc, the one called Borkel the Beast. I also noticed old man Uraccen in the crowd.
"This young one has spunk. I like him." The orc said, and I grinned at that. "Who is ready to kill?" I shouted over my shoulder. A war cry rose up from the ranks. "All hail Xaxa, first and foremost lord of the Reach!" one of the warlords shouted, and the rest of the group followed after him. The only ones who didn't were Eithne, Kaie, Madanach, and Borkel. Raven just smiled at me. "Then let us go and kill some NORDS!" I shouted, breaking into a run, and my large pack followed after me. Aeihe was staying back on healer duty, it saddened me, but I had Alma'Lexia by my side in battle as of right now. We charged out the gates of Karthwasten, and onto the road, we kept charging until we saw large battle was underway. The nords had formed a small shield wall sections. It was nearly impossible for them to form a large shield wall like they wanted to because of the reaches rocky and craggy terrain.
We engaged the first group we saw, and it was fairly large. "Let them feel the bites of our swords!" I barked and the warriors raised a battle cry. Alma'Lexia unleashed torrents of chain lightning and ice spikes on the unwary nords. The nords reeled and, and charged at us right back. Kaie let loose ice spikes and fire ball, and I let loose a few arcs of lightning, before picking my war axe back up and charging at the nords.
A Stormcloak tried to slash me, but I ducked underneath his strike and separated his mid section from his legs with Red Eagle's fury. I split another nords skull with my war axe. Raven charged in at my back and took out a nord to my left, and Alma felled another one with an ice spike to the throat. She had deadly aim with destruction magick. A nord tried to cleave down upon my with his iron battleaxe, but I blocked with both my weapons, and then disarmed him, and ran him through the chest.
"Kill them all!" I roared, and I saw the chosen swordsmen tearing into the nords. Madanach jumped onto one of the Stormcloaks and finished him with a thrust through the chest. Alma'Lexia unleashed an ice storm spell engulfing several nords, and then she unleashed a wall of lightning into the nords ranks. Frying them to the bone.
I hacked another Stormcloak to pieces, and then I decapitated another. His blood spewing from where his head once sat upon his shoulders. "Come and face the mighty forsworn!" Raven bellowed dispatching two nord warriors. Eithne was following close behind her, slashing and hacking Stormcloak after Stormcloak.
Alma'Lexia conjured a storm atronach to deal with the Stormcloaks she couldn't get to, and Kaie summoned a flame atronach. The storm and flame atronachs began ripping the enemies apart. I rammed into a Stormcloak warrior, thanks to the restoration magick I knew the injuries from the day before had all but healed. I cut another Stormcloak soldier deep in the chest, and then I took from him one of his arms.
"Talos save me!" he cried. "This is the reach. There is no Talos here to save you." I said to him before effectively ending his life. "Skyrim belongs to the nords" I heard a Stormcloak warrior shout, and Alma'Lexia responded saying "Yeah? Well the reach belongs to the forsworn!" then she unleashed a powerful arc of lightning along with five ice spikes, and tore the man apart. Her hair was blowing wildly from the raw power of her magicka which was swarming all around her.
"Reinforcements are coming for us! The nords have called upon theirs as well!" cried a warlord who was wielding a sword of gold. He had wild war paint and a necklace signifying him as a forsworn warlord. Three chosen swordsmen stood around him with ebony swords. I looked and saw a large contingent of forsworn descending upon the battle from one side, and a massive horde of Stormcloaks on the other. Today was going to be a long day.
"Hey bitch! You ready to live forever?!" exclaimed a voice behind me, it was Aonai. I smiled and nodded at him. "Let them sing of us and our deeds for generations." He laughed, and then he pointed toward the Stormcloak army. "Let us go and slay them!" he cried, charging off into the fray, dispatching several Stormcloaks on the way. I followed after him, with Alma'Lexia in tow. She unleashed several ice spikes on the Stormcloaks in our way. I took the head from one, and I cut another in two.
The rest of our army finally descended into the valley we were fighting in. the battle had raged all the way to the Karth river valley, and the fighting was apparently up the entire length of the Karth, and there were enormous casualties on both sides.
"I'll rip you snow backs in half!" I heard a briarheart growl, throwing down his axe, and charging at Stormcloak soldier. The Stormcloak didn't stand a chance. The briarheart tore the head from his shoulders. After seeing that I gained a whole new respect for the briarhearts.
At some point Raven, Eithne, Kaie, Madanach, Borkel and Uraccen had caught up to my little war pack. "So you were just going to leave us?" Eithne said, though she was smiling. "Instead of watching the old man you should have stayed close. I hope he didn't slow you down." I said, while slashing another nord who made the unfortunate folly of attacking me.
"Old man?! Hah, boy if we weren't in the middle of a battle I'd show you what this 'old man' can do." He said, "Matter of fact…" he trailed off as he unleashed an arc of lightning on a Stormcloak soldier, the lightning tore him apart from the chest outward.
"Impressive." Alma'Lexia said, then she unleashed chain lightning, and a fire storm spell on a group of nords. The spell ripped them apart, they didn't stand a chance. "First you, then all the reach!" Raven cried out, before descending upon an unwary Stormcloak who was engaging the briarheart I recognized as Alaric. She killed him quickly, and then Alaric and her nodded at each other. Then Alaric did something I didn't think he could do, he conjured a hagraven. I didn't know he was that powerful.
The hag turned to a group of Stormcloaks, and attacked them with a torrent of fireball spells. He smiled, and then took another Stormcloak down with a thrust to the stomach. I looked and Alma and she looked at me and then we smiled. "Whoever has the least amount of kills buys everyone drinks!" we both said in unison and then we charged off into the fray, followed by whoops from Eithne, Kaie, and Raven, and groans from Madanach, Uraccen and Borkel.
"Mother would be so proud of you Xaxa!" Raven cried over the sounds of the chaotic battle, as she engaged another Stormcloak, wielding a greatsword. I jumped onto a nord warrior and began hacking at him with my war axe, then I felt something slam into my back, and pain exploded across my shoulders. Some damned archer had hit me when my back was turned. Can't say I wouldn't have done the same. I turned, but Alma and Raven were already on it, Ice spikes from Alma, and a gout of flames from Raven. Raven never was one for magick, never understood that, but I didn't question her choices.
"Kaie came up to me and cast healing hands, and Eithne pulled the arrow out of my shoulder. It hurt a little, but it was better than walking around with an arrow in my shoulder. I turned once my shoulder had been healed by Kaie's magick, and began going after an officer, surrounded by Stormcloak warriors, Raven followed after me in hot pursuit.
She leapt over me and cut down two Stormcloaks, opening a gap for me to get to one of their officers. I charged the officer, and he raised his shield to defend himself. The opening Raven had created had taken the Stormcloaks around him by surprise, and before they could fill the gap Alma, Kaie, and Eithne had unleashed a deadly rain of destruction magick upon them. The officer tried to bash me with his shield, but I rolled around his attack, and slashed at his legs.
The blow I had dealt was enough to cripple him, and he fell to the ground. I swung my sword in a wide arc, taking off his head. Then I let out a triumphant war cry, as the nords were beginning to retreat. They were routed, they were in a full retreat.
I jumped onto a raised stone as some of my comrades pursued them, and the others celebrated our victory. "Brothers sisters hear my words! The enemy thinks they are strong, but they are weak! They cannot stand against the tide which is our righteous fury. We shall take from them their homes! We shall take from them their lives! And we shall take from them their pride!" I roared, and the hills went up in uproar, at the excitement of our words.
"Let's not forget the most important thing to them, their most fatal weakness!" shouted Aonai. I turned to him, all turned to him. "And what would that be brother?" I shouted and a cheesy grin broke out across his face. "We must take from them their knees! We must use our arrows to strike at their knees!" he finished, and everyone broke into laughter. Raven and Eithne rolled their eyes.
"Well looks like Aonai wants to end their adventuring careers." Raven said trying hard to no avail to contain her mirth. Just then I saw fireballs coming toward us from the skies. Not just regular fireballs, but massive fire balls. I stood wide eyed, and then I realized what was going on.
"Everyone, get down! Run!" I shouted, as the first fireball struck the valley, sending a large explosion sending many warriors flying. I jumped down from the rock, and then I saw what looked like a massive arrow coming straight towards us.
"Ballistae! Get down!" cried Raven, and I dove to the ground. The arrow struck a group of warriors ripping them apart in its wake. Then a rain of arrows descended upon us with the siege engines.
"They are using their catapults, and ballista Xaxa! We have to move now! It was a trap!" shouted Raven, and I looked for Alma'Lexia, she was staring at the sky in awe. I ran for her, grabbed her and threw her over my shoulder. "Alma we have to go now!" I said, before running, grabbing Raven by the hand. I saw Madanach grab Eithne, and Kaie was running with Borkel, and Uraccen. Aonai had disappeared. I prayed to the old gods that he was out of the danger. Aryn had disappeared as well. Just then another massive fireball struck another group of warriors ripping them apart.
Everyone was on the run, they had disappeared into the woods, or had taken off back to Karthwasten, or were dead or dying. I put Alma'Lexia down, and ordered Raven to make sure she returned to Karthwasten. "I'm going to find Aonai and Aryn!" I told her. She nodded and dragged Alma away. I turned and ran back into the fires that had started from the destruction. There were so many warriors dead or dying. Some were burning from the flames crying out to the old gods, their mothers, or their fathers. Others were blown to pieces, some were crawling missing legs and arms.
The smoke from the flames made me cough and gag, and I called out Aonai, and Aryn's names. Another fireball struck and sent a group of fleeing warriors flying. Trees were falling, and the smoke choked the air. "Aonai!" I cried "Aryn!" I continued as I wandered through the flames. Then I heard my name get called. It was Aryn's voice. I started to run toward the sound of the voice. Once I reached where it came from, the sight made me sick to my stomach. It was Aonai, charred and burned missing his left leg and right arm, but he was still alive. Aryn was hunched over him, trying not to cough, and talking to him.
"Xaxa… finish me… please…" he coughed out, I didn't want to, but I knew he wouldn't want to live as an invalid for the rest of his life. I nodded my head though my body was trembling. I drew my dagger, and plunged it into his chest cavity, ending his life, and putting him out of his misery.
"Your dance has ended brother, may you dance among the stars with your ancestors." I told him. Aryn just looked at me. I waved my hand in the air. "He sees his father, and his father's father, and all of his ancestors. We still have a life to live, we must leave before we join him in death." I said, and Aryn nodded. "What of his body?" Aryn asked me, and I looked at him "We shall bring him with…"
Just them I saw something I dreaded through the flames. It was a group of nord warriors in heavy and ornately crafted steel armor, and what looked like ebony armor that had been designed the same way as the Nordic carved I had heard about. They were killing our comrades, the ones who were alive, the wounded, and stabbing the dead once more to make sure they were that way. They were the feared Beowulfs which I had only heard of through rumors. I thought they were just a legend, but I was wrong.
"Any survivors you kill them! Then we take Karthwasten. The trap shall be sprung, by nightfall he siege will have begun!" Barked a nord officer who had a mask of cloth on to stem the inhalation of smoke.
I hit the ground with Aryn "That's the Beowulfs, if we engage them they will kill us, if they catch us they will kill us. On the count of three, I am going to cast ice spikes, and lightning bolts to distract them, I'll then run drawing their attention, and you return to Karthwasten to warn the remaining forces, and to round up what is left of us for a defense." I told Aryn, but he shook his head. "No my lord, you are too important to our cause, allow me to do it, you are needed more than I." he told me, and I stared at him for a moment, thinking. He didn't drop his gaze, and eventually I relented. I nodded my head "Promise you will live, be safe not stupid." I told him and he nodded with a grin.
"This plan was stupid from the start." He told me and then he jumped up and began to throw ice spikes and hurl arcs of lightning at the Beowulfs shouting "Glory to the Forsworn!" I rose to my feet and took off with a sprint toward Karthwasten as fast as I could, the flames, and the smoke choked me as I inhaled every breath. I turned back to see if Aryn was behind me, he wasn't he was still fighting the nord zealously.
He was lobbing lightning at them while taunting them, and raising dead bodies around him to help him fight. "First you, then all the Reach!" he roared throwing a fireball at one of the Beowulfs. They were cursing at him, and trying to get close, and they were failing. I knew that his magicka would soon fail him, and he'd be in trouble. Eventually it did, and then he drew his axe and his sword and charged into the fray like a true forsworn, with no regard for his life. He was doing what a true forsworn would do, me I was returning to the safety of the fortified Karthwasten.
He put up a good and desperate fight but eventually the Beowulfs overtook him. There were just too many of them, he took out a few, and wounded others but in reality he had no chance of winning. They killed him, ran him through with their swords, and then hacked him to pieces with his axe.
"I die for my people!" he shouted before another sword blow to the chest finished him. I forced myself to watch him die, and it angered me, I would use him as a martyr as I would Aonai. I turned away and took off back to Karthwasten.
-Scene Break-
Xaxa Faolan Red
Once I arrived the sight was awful, the wounded were lying all around on makeshift mats, and bedrolls, and the healers were working furiously. I saw Raven, Eithne and Madanach arguing with a few warlords, and chieftains. I walked over to where the conversation was taking place. "The Sundered Hills is driving us to ruin!" a chieftain who looked unfamiliar, but I could tell he was a chieftain by the bone crown he wore. I had one but I chose not to wear it, I preferred the torc and headdress. The chieftain was angry, Raven and Madanach were trying to reason with him. Then he saw me and glared "This is the young whelp who you allow to lead you! Our destruction is on your head!" he barked pointing an accusing finger at me. Then Raven, Madanach and Eithne grew angry.
"Do not speak of my brother that way!" Raven shouted, but I stepped up to the chieftain before it could go too far. "What is your name?" I asked in a low growl. He stared at me "My name is Ducorah of the round hill clan of the far eastern area of the reach. And I am taking my warriors to return home. You have brought ruin upon us and I shall have no part of it." He said, turning on his heel to leave, but I grabbed his shoulder. "If you leave now if the nords come knocking you shall receive no help, and you and your people will be enemies of the Sundered Hills." I told him, he turned to look at me. "If there is a Sundered Hills left at the end of this, the same can be said about you." Ducorah said, and walked away flanked by his warlords.
I sighed and shook my head. "How many more are leaving?" I asked Madanach. He looked at me angrily. "Not many, just him and a few of the tribes to the east. The eastern tribes always have been cowards. Now we have nine tribes gathered here, instead of ten." Madanach snapped, he clearly didn't like that question. "Well we need to prepare them because the nords are coming here in great number, we fell into a trap. And they have their elites in play now, the Beowulfs." I told him. And he nodded grimly "They shall pay for all they have done either way." Madanach told me and I nodded.
"Where is Aonai?" Raven asked me, and I hung my head. "Aonai and Aryn are dead." I told her, and she looked at me in disbelief. She recovered herself quickly however. "I see, I have things I must attend to I will catch up with you later." She told me turning to walk away, and Eithne followed after her. The hurt in her eyes was unmistakable, as was the heartbreak.
To Be continued…
I may end this book at chapter 15 to 20, but only because I am going to be making a sequel to it. It may be a while until I do post book two because I want to have at least five chapters to start with. As always drop a review to tell me what you think so far, and once again Yours truly The Last Dragonborn Warrior.