Chapter 24:
It felt wonderful to be on a horse again. The gentle swaying of the creature's strides, the soft warmth emanating from its chestnut colored fur; it all felt familiar and homely, like sitting in front of a fire after a long day of working. Riding certainly beat walking, especially now that they would be passing into the frigid province of Skyrim.
Beras smiled, surveying the frozen landscape around him. Now that the blizzard had finally subsided, everything looked less dangerous. Beautiful, even. The snow lay like a pristine blanket, coating the earth in a perfectly smooth, white surface. Not much lived in this region, so nothing managed to disturb the powder. Icicles hung like a thousand crystalline chandeliers, which glimmered in the sunlight, casting tiny rainbows across the snow below. It almost made him forget the evil that inhabited this beautiful realm.
The horses and the landscape were not all that made this journey more enjoyable than the last. Now that they had all the supplies that the Blades were able to offer, they had warm winter robes to keep out the cold, as well as superior fur camping gear. But what really caused Beras's spirits to be lightened was the company of Annel.
Eager to prove herself to Sabona and Alix, she had geared up in all her armor and collected her sword, only to be told to put them away.
"We're trying not to draw attention to ourselves," Sabona had groaned, covering his eyes and regretting his decision to allow her to come. "Walking around with someone in a Blade's uniform will do the opposite. Some stupid drunken idiot might assume that Beras is the Emperor in disguise."
After some squabbling and much shouting, Annel finally agreed to leave her armor behind. However, when it came to the matter of bringing her sword, she refused to budge.
"It's a part of me!" she had insisted, clutching the gleaming blade close to her body. "I can't just leave it behind! Besides, what use will I be if I can't even fight?"
Sabona ended up letting her have her way on this, though he advised to keep it out of sight unless in combat. It was not worth the risk of being discovered.
Beras nearly laughed when he glanced over at her, as she galloped behind him on her black and white horse. Her precious sword was laid out across her lap, in plain view of anyone who might come across them. Clearly, despite agreeing to respect Sabona as her leader for this mission, Annel was not ready to obey his orders.
Beras felt his stomach lurch as his horse nearly fell over on the uneven stone surface that was their road through the Jerall Mountains. The path was treacherous, a fact that he was beginning to learn the hard way. He needed to be more vigilant; this was the fourth time he had nearly fallen, and should he topple over the edge, he had a long way to fall.
He stared off into the distance, the landscape of Cyrodiil now on display for him, as if it had been a map resting on a table. The White Gold Tower jutted out of Lake Rumare like a massive white stalagmite, glinting in the light of the sun. He could even see Leyawiin off in the distance, and if he looked to the east, a strange tower with a pointed roof that shone like metal. To think that he was setting out to determine the fate of all of this land was a little overwhelming.
A sudden and powerful gust of wind whipped by him, causing him to flinch as the air rushed against his skin and swept away his thoughts. The white powder that surrounded the group was tossed into the current, and formed sparkling streaks in the air as it spiraled around. Beras pulled his robes in closer as a chill rushed through his body, and turned back to look ahead.
"How much longer!" Annel shouted in a loud and unceremonious voice.
Beras nearly shrank in fear when Sabona looked back, anger glistening in his eyes like daggers. Without answering her question, he turned away and flicked his reigns. He darted forward, robes billowing in the breeze.
In a moment, it became evident that the argonian had no intention of slowing his newly accelerated pace, and as the tail of his horse disappeared behind the rocks up ahead that lined the road. Beras glanced over at Annel to see a look of discomfort and annoyance spreading across her face. Gritting her teeth, she gave her steed a kick to the side to send it careening forwards.
¨This isn't going to be a smooth journey, is it?¨ Alix grumbled as she watched Annel chase after Sabona's trail. ¨Is your friend always like this?¨
Beras shook his head. ¨Only when people try to tell her what to do.¨
Alix groaned, the exhausted and aggravated expression on her face saying all too clearly that this quirk would be an issue. She then whispered something into the ear of her horse, and shot after the other half of the party. Beras followed suit, giving his reigns a little shake.
It didn't take long for Beras to turn around the bend, and when he did, he almost screamed with frustration. Sabona and Annel were well ahead of him, and appeared to be in some sort of unspoken competition; their heads were bent low over the backs of their horses, and the pair of them moved so fast that it was hard to gauge the speed of the rippling in their robes. Beras had heard about alpha struggles amongst packs of wolves, and this most certainly matched the description. Neither one of them could afford to back out or slow down, because doing so would mean accepting the other's superiority.
Beras was cantering alongside Alix, gritting his teeth in concentration. One slip up could send him and his horse toppling over the edge of the mountain path, but he needed to catch up to the other two in order to get them under control.
¨Stop!¨ Sabona suddenly shouted, jerking his reigns and skidding his mount to a shaky stop. Beras slowed his pace substantially, unsure as to what had driven the argonian to give up, but whatever the cause, Annel did not seem to care. She had already shot ahead like an arrow fired from a tightly drawn bow, smiling victoriously back at her opponent. Then, the world seemed to move too fast for Beras to register.
A massive, white shape burst forth, seemingly from nowhere, and crashed into the side of Annel's horse, causing her to be launched from its back. Beras felt his stomach lurch and his eyes shot open with fear as he heard the horse's distressed screaming, and saw an explosion of red burst forth from the animal's side. The white thing, which was now painted red with blood, slowed nearly to a near stop, relishing in its kill. Then it let out a bestial roar that shook Beras' bones; the roar of a frost troll.
He had heard this roar before, though not in the context of this situation. It was the same savage, violent roar that was emitted from the soul of Inyen, a soul so consumed by a desire to harm that it had lost sight of its true purpose. Beras felt a sudden shaking overcome his body, and a pain like a knife slowly dragging through his skin plagued his mind. His pulse quickened rapidly, as did his rate of breathing.
Annel was lying on the rocky earth, fifteen or so feet away from her recently deceased horse. She pushed off the ground with her hands, groaning softly. The impact had clearly stunned her.
Beras shook his head to snap himself out of his trance, then leaped off his horse's back, knees bending slightly as his feet made contact with the road. He ran forwards a few steps, but was promptly blocked by Sabona's outstretched arm.
Beras gave him a horrified look. ¨What are you doing!? We need to help her!¨ he shouted, attempting to push the argonian out of his way. Sabona simply grabbed Beras' shoulder, and easily used his superior strength to hold him in place.
¨If you truly need to help her, then she wasn't all you made her out to be,¨ Sabona said flatly. ¨If we need to help her, then she isn't that much of a skilled fighter, and thus not worth bringing on our trip.¨ He sighed, and tilted his neck to the side so that it made a popping noise. ¨If you want me to step in, I'd be more than happy to assist. But if I do, we're sending her back where she came from.¨
Beras' jaw dropped open in outrage at the injustice of Sabona's decision, then quickly shut it. He already knew there was nothing to do to change the lizard's mind. He had started off with a strong mistrust of Annel, and the growing rivalry between the two of them had only added kindling to the fire. He was, at this point, looking for any excuse to get her out of his scales, and was trying to use Beras' worrisome nature to play into his claws. But Beras had no intention of making it so easy. He would at least give Annel a chance. He turned his eyes away from Sabona, and off towards Annel and the frost troll.
She had, at this point, gotten herself to her feet and shaken off her daze. Looking forwards, she saw the troll, face buried in the bleeding entrails of the horse she had ridden for years, the horse that had faithfully stood by her side throughout every mission she had ever been on. A burning rage boiled up inside of her, and her face flushed red.
"You bastard!" she screamed in a voice so loud that Beras thought she must have torn her vocal chords. The troll looked up from its carcass, face dripping with blood and guts, and roared back at her. Annel raised her battle cry to drown out that of her adversary's, and sprinted towards it at breakneck speed.
The troll rushed forwards as well, drawing with it a primal fury that came only with the primitive desire to survive and kill. The two monsters drew closer and closer together, until a quick flash of silver and a spray of red sent the troll staggering to its knees.
Beras nearly whooped with delight. He had hoped that Annel would be victorious, but to think that she would win so quickly… it was beyond even his high expectations of her capabilities. But something was wrong. The troll was standing up again. It had stopped bleeding. And Annel had already sheathed her sword.
Beras tried to call out to her, but his hands had started shaking again, and his voice would not obey him. A bead of sweat rolled down his temple.
The frost troll let out another cry, and Annel wheeled around, her dark hair whipping out behind her. But it was too late. A powerful blow to her chest sent her flying backwards towards the rocks. By some miracle she managed to catch herself before her head collided with the stone, but by then the troll was already on top of her.
Frantically, she rolled to the left, narrowly evading the beast's raking claws. She then nimbly kicked off the ground, and launched herself to her feet. Without pause, she spun in a circle, drawing and extending her sword as quick as lighting, and sliced across the troll's stomach. Annel smirked confidently, then kicked hard directly where she had made the incision. The monster staggered backwards, roaring in pain.
Before it could react, Annel was already coming at it again; a jab to the lower leg, a quick slash across its arm, a powerful stab to the stomach. She delighted in her own prowess, revealing her newfound speed that came with being unencumbered by armor. Seeing that her foe was nearly decimated, she took a step back and raised her left hand, taking a deep breath in. She then thrust it forwards, and a burst of frost shot forth and smashed into the creature. But it seemed to have no effect. Furthermore, the troll was already rising to its feet, wounds almost having been completely regenerated.
Beras felt a wave of panic overtake him. How was Annel supposed to take this thing down on her own while it was able to heal itself? The longer this battle took, the lower her chances of victory became, for as she grew weary, this thing seemed to maintain its infinite stamina.
Annel, looking thoroughly discouraged, raised her blade to defend herself as the troll lunged towards her. While her stance deflected most of the force, she was still sent tumbling backwards, so that this time, she stumbled and fell on top of her dead horse.
Annel's empty fingers gently clutched some of the black and white hair, feeling that, by now, almost all of the warmth of life had escaped the animal's body. A choked sob broke free from her mouth, and she gritted her teeth in hatred as tears welled up in her shimmering eyes.
She stood once again, sword hanging loosely at her side. She then extended her left fist towards her enemy, and opened her hand, sending fibres of her horse's hair falling to the ground like more fresh snow flakes. "I'll send you to Oblivion for this," she growled.
If Beras hadn't seen it himself, he would not have believed what happened next. Annel was a hurricane, twisting and spinning at incredible speeds, sending blood and chunks of troll flesh flying in all directions with strike after strike. Even when the beast's claws dug into her, she responded as if unaware, sending her now crimson blade to destroy what had taken her companion from her. Within the next minute, it had been reduced to a steaming pile of bloody meat.
Beras felt like he was going to vomit as Annel staggered back towards their group. She was covered in blood, though it was impossible to tell which of it was the troll's and which of it was her own.
"A-Annel…" he stammered as she drew close, but she walked right by him without even acknowledging his presence. Instead, she stopped when she was standing directly before Sabona. Without warning she punched him hard in the face, splattering some blood on his face, and causing him to fall backwards.
"I assume I passed your test," she growled. Then she fell to the ground, completely unconscious.
Sabona sat up, smirking, and wiped his face dry with his sleeve. "Yes," he said. "You'll do nicely."