6
A Trip Through Hell
Having left the company of Maia and her mercenaries, Henry rode at full pace. Forgoing rest, he would arrive back at Fort Blackthorne in about a day. Once back, he would assess the current situation including resources, training, population, etc.
Unbeknownst to him, he was being watched again. This time, a cloaked figure watched him from atop a hill. Eventually, the target moved further out of range, the figure quickly mounted a horse before moving to shadow him.
/
A Day later
Having ridden day and night, Henry managed to arrive back at Fort Blackthorne in the late hours of the night. Greeted by the watchmen, the gate was quickly opened for him.
Entering, he noted the repairs to the walls appeared complete. While not completely restored due to the lack of stone, not having gaps in the walls gave him a bit of comfort. As it was late, only watchmen were seen out and about.
He noted the additional housing erected, as the fort was originally designed for a maximum capacity of around forty at most. While roughly designed, the secondary barracks stood firm with the capacity of at least another thirty.
"My lord! It's so very good to see you again!" One of his guards ran up to quickly address the knight.
"Sergeant Bauer. Good to see you alive and well. How goes the watch?" Henry turned, recognizing the man.
Bauer was one of the few he promoted to a leadership position, his natural leadership and hunger to learn made him an ideal candidate.
"All quiet so far, my lord. Nothing to report." The young man replied.
"I see, as you were then." Henry said, dismissing the sergeant.
Walking to the keep, Henry greeted the courtyard patrol before entering.
"Henry! You're back!" A harmonious voice said in joy as the form of a dark elf emerged.
Stepping forward, Henry was immediately greeted with a bone-crushing hug from the elven maiden.
"Good to see you too. How have things been?" The knight said with a slight blush.
"We had another twelve refugees arrive yesterday afternoon, bringing our population up to seventy-six. The hunting party managed to bring in a deer and a handful of rabbits yesterday, though we still lack a steady source of reliable food." Claire explained, slowly releasing her grip on the Breton.
"I've managed to secure food shipments, they should be here within the next few days. What else?" He added.
"Our scouts have located another bandit clan, it's the same one that's been harassing our people for days now." She answered.
"Have they now?"
/
Wasting no time, Henry snuck through the darkness. Following closely behind him was a squad of eleven of his guards. Spotting a smoke column, they traced the source to an encampment nestled at the bottom of a valley.
After climbing down into the narrow valley, the vampire surveyed the camp. The camp was basic and was composed of six tents and a central firepit. "On watch" was a sentry of four men, though saying they were on guard duty was being generous. In reality, all were situated around the campfire and were more concerned with eating and keeping warm than guarding the camp.
After ensuring there was no perimeter patrol, Henry turned his attention to Sergeant Bauer.
"Sergeant, ambush formation b." He whispered to the sergeant who nodded at the order before sneaking off with five guards
After ensuring his own cell was sufficiently hidden behind cover, he looked up to see a bright flash of a mirror. After confirming Bauer's cell was in position, he drew his own bow and drew an arrow and took aim.
Releasing the arrow, it flew with the speed and precision of a hawk. Finding its target, it instantly fell a bandit carrying a handful of logs to the fire.
"What the?!" One man exclaimed in shock as the sentries' attention shifted to the dead bandit.
Before they could raise the alarm, the remaining three were dropped by a volley of crossbow bolts from Henry's flank.
"You boys say somethi-" Another bandit said emerging from one of the tents before he was cut down by two bolts from Bauer's group.
"Wake up! We're under attack!" A sixth bandit yelled out, stepping from another tent. The crossbowmen fired again, though this time the man's iron plate armor deflected the bolts.
"Charge!" The black knight ordered before charging downhill to the camp with the sergeant's cell following suit.
Within moments, the camp was roused from sleep. Despite this, the clearly tired bandits were slow to respond and were quickly killed.
Dueling with the bandit leader, swords bound as the two leaders battled for supremacy. Dodging a sword swing, Henry sidestepped his opponent before slashing the man across his unprotected throat. Dropping his sword, the man fell to his knees. Ending the duel, the knight gripped his sword with two hands before swiftly decapitating the man with a downwards swing.
Turning to his retinue, Henry found them finishing off the remaining bandits.
After clearing out the camp, the knight retrieved a brass whistle from his belt. With a long blow, five men and women arrived with a wagon and horse. The combined group then quickly went to work looting the camp along with its former occupants.
/
Early Morning
Returning to the fort, Henry sat at the desk he'd set up in the main hall. Looking over the logbooks, he noted the current food stocks could support the population for at least another week. It seemed that his scout reports came up empty for any other bandit cells. To compensate, it appeared his gatherers had found a suitable location for fishing and hunting.
Reading over Bauer's report, the sergeant had requested another ten recruits to his retinue. Included within the request were the names of the additional ten men and women as well as further equipment requests.
"Hmmm" Henry scowled.
"Something on your mind?" He turned to see Claire coming down the stairs.
"Bauer is recommending I train another ten recruits for the retinue." Henry answered turning his attention to another logbook.
"And?" She came up behind him, putting a hand on his shoulder as she looked over his report.
"We don't have enough armor or weapons to supply them, I'd have to forge them myself. And we're running on a limited time frame as it is." He answered scrolling through the logistics report.
"Time frame?" She tilted her head in confusion.
"Lady Celestine was attacked by an assassin from my universe, it was a demonic entity summoned by a powerful sorcerer in league with Olga Discordia. I'm to discern the identity of the summoner and destroy them." The Breton explained, flipping to another page.
The dark elf frowned as the knight closed the book and stood up from the desk.
"So… How are you going to do that?" She asked as the knight turned towards the front door.
/
Pushing through bushes and branches a lone figure bound through the forest. Though the vegetation was dense, the figure was mindful to move slowly, as to prioritize stealth.
Entering a small clearing, the individual stepped out of the treeline. Entering the sunlight revealed a curvaceous redhead in a revealing vest and stockings.
Looking down, Maia noted the pair of footprints ahead of her. Sneaking off in the direction of the prints, she pushed through another bush and spotted him.
The Knight
At around one hundred yards away, he calmly walked through the woods and into a cave. Maia quickly followed suit, though cautious not to make too much noise.
Entering the cave, she watched as the hooded man walked further into the cave and into a single passageway. Carefully shuffling along, she felt he was unaware of her presence. Rounding a corner, Maia slightly increased her walking speed to avoid losing sight.
Rounding the corner, she found the hallway opened up to a small room. Looking around, it appeared to be used before as it contained a small firepit in the center, a table, and chairs as well as two bedrolls.
It appeared one of the bedrolls were currently occupied with a large blanket covering the presumably sleeping knight.
Approaching it, she noticed something… off. Taking a closer look at the occupant, she could see a small patch of blood near the head area.
Reaching to pull back the covers, a voice suddenly spoke up from behind her.
"You don't want to do that…" A male voice said softly into one of her ears, sending chills down her spine.
Turning around, she was confronted by the black knight, having appeared seemingly out of nowhere. Though his face was obscured, his glowing red eyes practically burned right through hers.
"Why are you following me?" He asked calmly.
Though somewhat scared of the man, Maia didn't show it. As she knew if she did, he would take advantage of that. Instead, she maintained her usual aura of confidence.
"Just doing as I'm paid. I don't ask questions." The sellsword responded with a sly grin.
"Don't" He said with a glare as he turned to walk out of the room.
"Why not? Or you'll kill me? Like that spy, you killed that night on the road?" Maia countered with a smirk as the knight stopped dead in his tracks.
Turning back to face her, he stared her down.
"Then you know what I am…" He spoke.
Maia frowned as she stared him right back. He walked forward, forcing the redhead to back up slightly.
"... And you know what I'm capable of… I could kill you in so many ways, and no one would know it was me." He spoke eerily to her as he continued his advance, slowly, like a predator closing in on its next meal.
Maia watched with slight trepidation as the vampire closed in, opening his mouth and revealing his fangs.
Before she could become his lunch however, he calmly closed his mouth. Narrowing his eyes he leaned into one of her ears.
"...But you're not who I'm here for." He whispered.
Stepping back, he smelled the air above them before reaching out and grabbing Maia by her wrist. His free hand shut tightly before reopening, and dark blue energy formed in his hand.
/
Rounding the corner, a cloaked figure entered the small room. Spotting the occupied bedroll, it slowly crept forward. Reaching behind them, the figure drew a black dagger from a sheath on its belt.
Approaching the bedroll, the assassin raised the dagger. Pulling back the sheets, they were surprised by the dead body lying before them. The victim, a man lay with his throat slashed open, his eyes wide open.
Standing back up, the figure was quickly grabbed and pinned to the wall by the black knight with the mercenary right behind him.
After forcing the assassin's hand to drop the dagger, Henry reached up and ripped off their hood and mask. This revealed the figure to be a beautiful young, female dark elf with long blond hair tied back into a ponytail. A pair of dark brown eyes stared at him with pure contempt.
"Unhand me, you bastard!" She demanded.
"What's the plan for her? I doubt she'll tell us where Olga is." Maia commented from behind the knight.
"No… She doesn't have to tell us anything." He spoke, opening his mouth, revealing his fangs to the wide-eyed elf.
Sinking his fangs in the elf, he made sure to only drain a small amount of blood from the would-be assassin. Still, he could feel her heartbeat and hear her whimpers like that of a dying puppy. Eventually, he felt her resistance soften and he slowly released the dark elf.
Looking back at her, he found her pupils dilated and she appeared stone-faced. A shame he couldn't finish, elven blood always tasted the best. Leaning back in, he smelled her new bitemark before speaking to her.
"Run home to your mistress…" He quietly commanded and the elf quickly nodded before running off.
"Why let her go? Getting soft now?" Maia asked with a smirk.
"That way we can track her…" Henry answered, taking a long whiff of the air before walking off towards the exit.
/
Riding after the dark elf, the two maintained at least a one hundred yard distance to avoid detection from any orcish patrols. As Maia's had left her horse in her fief of Ansur, the two rode together on Shadowmere.
"Are we seriously going to attack the Dark Fortress by ourselves?" Maia asked, holding closely onto the vampire knight.
"No, we're going to infiltrate the fortress, kill the summoner and retreat." Henry clarified.
"That's it? That's the plan?" Maia criticized.
"It's the best one, given the circumstances." He retorted.
Even though she was definitely wary of the vampire, there was certainly something… romantic about him and the situation. Here she was riding on the back of a knight's horse, holding onto him like some rescued princess. A complete tale out of a children's book if she ever read one.
Then she smiled jokingly at the thought. He wasn't some shining knight of virtue on a noble steed, rather, he was more of a bloodthirsty hellspawn on a clearly demonic creature… but maybe… the unknown… that's what interested her.
"Are you alright back there, my lady?" He asked, snapping her from her thoughts.
"Fine. Still got the scent, ol' faithful hound?" The sellsword asked teasingly.
"She's still close, hopefully, we're not far… I don't like the place." He answered unamused.
Looking around, the surrounding environment was unsettling, to say the least. The colors gray and black were largely the only colors to describe the Badlands. The land was completely barren and devoid of virtually any signs of life.
"That looks like where we need to go." Maia pointed out as a large black castle stood on the edge of the horizon.
"And it looks like she's making her entrance, we should get closer." Henry said, pointing out the now dismounted elf approaching a sidewall.
Approaching the Black Fortress, the duo were surprised to find no sentries posted to oppose them. Catching up to the enthralled dark elf, they watched as she ran her hand along the stonewall. Eventually stopping at one brick before pushing on it, springing a hidden door.
Entering the fortress, Henry could feel the magic become stronger and the air gets even heavier. Removing a flash from his belt, he took a quick swig before hooking it back on his belt.
Blinking hard, he felt his senses sharpen, the room appeared brighter and he could even hear the slow drips of water from the ceiling. Looking behind him he saw that Maia was following closely behind him with a hand on one of his pauldrons while holding an axe.
Looking closer, he noted the slight hint of fear as she closely stepped where he stepped. Despite this, he had to applaud her for her fearlessness and determination.
Following the assassin, he watched her step through a door before it quickly vanished, and two more doors opened in its place.
"Dammit, I lost her." He said, sniffing the air.
"How? We were hot on her ass for the past few hours." Maia questioned, poking through a pouch on her belt.
"Illusion magic… whoever cast it knew what they were doing, this whole castle reeks of it." Henry answered, grabbing Maia before picking a door.
Stepping into a new room, the door instantly shut behind them. The two were surprised when the room was soon lit up by torches on the walls.
Surrounding them were six orcs. The knight and the mercenary looked to each other for a brief moment, nodding they drew their weapons before engaging their foes.
Sprinting, the knight drew first blood when he lunged forward, slashing an orc across the throat. Turning, he blocked an axe swing before elbowing the creature in the face before slashing it across the abdomen.
Nearby, Maia followed suit and charged into the fray. She parried a club swing with one of her short swords before slashing an orc with her other sword. Seeing a massive battleaxe swing in her direction she dive rolled past the axeman before stabbing the creature with an over the shoulder backstab.
Turning, she spotted an orc charging her with a crude Warhammer raised for a downwards strike. Reacting quickly, the mercenary pulled a throwing knife from her belt before lobbing it at the beast. Catching the orc's throat, the orc stopped his charge altogether before collapsing to the floor.
Maia was then knocked to the floor with a swing across the stomach from a wooden club. Before she could rise, an orc stood over her, slowly raising his club for a downwards strike. But before the club could fall upon the sellsword, the orc's hand was sliced off.
Crying out in pain, the orc gripped his now amputated wrist before he was soon decapitated with a sword swing.
With the orc now dead, the redhead was greeted by the black knight standing behind the now dead orc. Stepping over the corpse, he quickly approached the downed mercenary.
"Are you alright my lady? Are you injured?" He asked, sheathing his sword.
"Just… got the wind knocked outta me. Bastard got lucky." The sellsword replied, extending her hand out to the knight.
Pulling her to her feet, the two proceeded ahead to the next door.
Upon entering the next room, they were greeted by a winding staircase. At the top of the stairs, another group of orcs blocked a door and were holding their position firmly.
"Wait, allow me." Henry said, holding Maia back. Stepping in front of her, he took in a deep breath.
"Yol Toor Shul!" He shouted and the tightly packed group of spears and shields were engulfed in flames.
"Showoff…" Maia pouted as the orcs were reduced to piles of ash and burnt flesh.
Rushing to the next room, the duo wasted no time with the locked door. Breaking down the door, the two entered what appeared to be a throneroom. Laying at the foot of the high throne, Olga Discordia lie tied up with a cloth gagging her.
Immediately rushing to her aid, Henry attempted to treat her injuries while Maia tried cutting away her restraints.
"She won't be able to walk out of here on her own, find some way for us to move her. If this is as bad as I think this is, we'll need her help." Henry said to Maia who nodded before running off.
After treating her visible wounds, the Breton cut the dark queen's bindings off. Collapsing into his arms, the dark elf soon awoke.
"You came… my knight in shining armor." She said with a smile, running her hands weakly along the black knight's armor
"Where is he?" Henry demanded, and the sorceress immediately pointed to the door on the other side of the room.
"Stay here, I'll be back for you." He said softly to a sigh of affection from the dark elf as he walked to the door.
Entering the next room cautiously, he found it was a bedroom with a large, luxurious bed in the center. Expensive dressers and tapestries adorned the room, but what piqued the knight's interest was the dark red curtains in the corner.
Seeing the shade of a figure, Henry drew his sword to a stab position as he quietly snuck to the curtain.
Pulling back the curtain, however, Henry was greeted by the sight of the assassin from earlier cradling the injured Olga who lay chained and injured but conscious.
"Chloe... you returned to me." The dark elf sorceress said weakly.
"Fear not my lady, I won't let the pretender harm you." Chloe said, stroking Olga's hair.
"Pretender? But that means…" Henry gasped, realizing the truth.
Turning Henry was confronted by the clacking of heels as the "captive" from earlier revealed herself at the doorway.
Grinning evilly, she pointed a dark staff at the knight. Soon, the Breton was launched back into the wall from a lightning bolt.
Grunting in pain, he attempted to rise to his feet before being struck once more. Landing against the wall, he managed to block the third strike with a ward spell.
Though he could weather the imposter's attacks, he was unable to move from the position and had to concentrate fully on casting the ward. After several more lightning bolts, his ward was broken and he was forced to dive out of the way of another attack.
Landing on his stomach, he watched as the summoner raised her staff for another shock. Before she could cast it, however, she was struck by a powerful fireball that sent her flying into a tapestry.
Looking to his left, he was surprised to see Olga standing, though severely injured. With one hand on her handmaiden's shoulder for support and another for casting spells, she joined the magical duel.
"I'll have your head imposter!" Olga growled, fire burning in her eyes.
Standing up, the imposter grinned. To the shock of all, "her" skin began to burn off from Olga's attack.
"I suppose I won't be needing this anymore…" The doppelganger said with a demonic voice as it began to shed its hair.
Henry could only stare in bewilderment as the skin fell off, revealing rotting flesh and bone. Underneath the fake torso was a tattered blue robe, beneath the hood was the decomposing face of a male Wood Elf.
"Who are you?" Henry demanded, assuming a guard stance in front of the two dark elves.
"My dear boy… I am but a humble subject of the divines, like you." The sorcerer answered, causing the Breton some confusion.
"Enough of this!" Olga roared, launching another fireball, this time though the Bosmer casually deflected the spell.
"Now Olga is that any way to treat a guest?" He casually taunted the dark elf.
"What do you want?!" Olga demanded.
"Ha… I want everything… I had everything… an empire in my grasp and wealth to rival the gods'... but it was not to be. I was denied my empire, my legacy." The summoner said with demonic smile and laugh.
Looking closer at the sorcerer's attire, Henry spotted something. A faded symbol of a red diamond was emblazoned onto his robes.
"It's you… the usurper." He spat in disgust at the former Bosmer.
"Yes. And now that you're here Dragonborn… I have an offer for you." The lich said with a wicked smile.
"What is that?" Henry answered.
"A place at my side, from this world I will forge a mighty kingdom. You can be the heir to my legacy." The sorcerer answered.
"Why me?" The Breton asked, still maintaining his guard position.
"You deserve greatness, as did I. We were both spurned by those we served... you even more so. Had he only accepted you-" The sorcerer answered hauntingly.
"Enough! My blade is not for hire, I will have none of this plotting." Henry spat out venomously.
At this, the undead caster raised his staff. Speaking a few words in a foreign tongue, a group of roughly thirty undead soldiers formed up behind him.
"A pity...seize them." The lich commanded and the undead pikemen slowly advanced hardpacked in a phalanx.
"Take my hand!" Olga shouted and the knight quickly grabbed one of the dark queen's hands before the three were teleported.
/
After seemingly passing through a solid floor, the group ended up landing through the roof of a carriage.
"Hot damn stranger! You certainly know how to make an entrance!" Maia said with a hearty laugh from the driver's seat.
Soon after, a wall behind them was blown open. Looking back, the undead sorcerer levitated with his staff in hand and a group of around forty undead guards following behind. Raising his staff, the lich spoke in a foreign tongue.
The four felt the earth ripple as thousands of decomposing and skeletal hands and limbs burst through the ground. Within moments, seemingly thousands of undead warriors rose from their graves before turning their attention to the carriage.
"Drive!" Henry commanded.
"Hiyah!" Maia shouted as she lashed the reins of the horse hard. Immediately, Shadowmere took off with almost heartstopping speed as the undead horde moved to surround the carriage.
Riding off, the group found themselves pursued by a large group of undead horsemen. Dodging an arrow, Henry turned to the driver.
"My bow! Give me my bow!" He shouted and the redhead quickly obliged, reaching into the dark beast's saddlebag before retrieving a silver-white bow and matching arrows.
Wasting no time, he snatched the bow and quiver from the sellsword. Drawing an arrow he took aim, releasing the arrow, it instantly vaporized the horse-archer. Releasing another arrow, it fell short and slew the rider's mount. This pattern continued as the knight continued to suppress the pursuers with his holy bow and arrows.
"We can lose em in there!" Maia pointed out as they began to approach a high rising mountain range.
Entering the valleys, Henry grabbed a filled lantern along with a spare can before dumping the contents all along the narrow road. After emptying it as much as possible along the road, the knight projected a fireball into the sizeable puddle of fuel, instantly igniting it.
Attempting to catch up, many of the riders unwittingly road into the fire and were destroyed instantly. Those who arrived later stopped immediately at the barrier.
Seeing the pursuers discontinue their chase, the knight sat down in the front seat next to Maia. Though all appeared quiet, he kept a tight grip on his bow as he kept a keen eye out for any ambushes. Looking into the carriage, he found Olga laying on her back silently while her retainer closely tended to her. Glancing back to the driver, he found Maia staring at him intensely.
"Who was that?" Maia asked sternly, turning he found both Olga and her courtier looking to him for answers as well.
Sighing, he prepared for the next questions.
"Jagar Tharn…"
