Attack

Chapter 13: Attack

It was hot. The air was thick. Still asleep, Noela struggled to breathe. Unconsciously, she tossed in the bed roll. But something didn't feel right.

She jolted awake, eyelids flying open.

It was dark, and she couldn't see a thing. The fire had burned itself out long ago and she vaguely wondered what time it was.

Beside her naked body, she felt something warm, move. It took a few seconds till she realised what or rather who it was.

She lifted her hand to brush strands of hair out of her face, exhaling as her heart skipped a beat. She noticed a strong scent on her fingers.

Just great, she thought.

Knowing she wouldn't be able to go back to sleep, she tried to wriggle herself out of the bed roll as smoothly as possible, so she wouldn't wake the other woman in it.

Once she slid out, she cast a mini version of Candlelight, just bright enough so she could see where her clothes were. She located her robes and slipped them on, gazing at the blonde-haired Nord still fast asleep.

Noela swallowed hard, then exited the cave.

Outside, the moon was still high up in the sky. The surrounding sky was a deep indigo; there wasn't much cloud cover.

She then spotted a pair of red eyes in the dark.

"Shadowmere," she spoke softly. She was surprised that he was awake, but now that she thought about it, perhaps this horse never needed sleep. Trigger, still tethered to the tree, was snoring standing up.

Shadowmere watched her approach. Noticing an apple in her pocket, she held it out to him, and he gobbled it up from her hand.

"What am I going to do about your owner, huh?"

Finishing the apple, the horse shook his head.

"You don't know too," Noela continued. "You know we just slept together?"

Shadowmere looked at her but she had no idea if he understood.

"Yeah, and it means nothing. At least to her. That's what she told me." She patted his mane. "Are you like that as well? Can you have sex with someone you don't have feelings for?" She stared into his red eyes. "What's that? You're a demon virgin horse?"

Noela chuckled, and scratched the horse's chin. Then she stepped away, and strolled toward a nearby stream they had passed yesterday.

Once she found it, she washed her face and hands. In her pocket, she found her wash cloth, and decided to give her body a wipe down since she hadn't bathed since leaving the sanctuary.

I'm a hypocrite, she thought to herself.

She had never equated sex with feelings in the past. In fact, before Lydia, she had not even known what love was.

Before Lydia, there had been the random girl or guy. A fellow thief, the odd traveller she met at an inn… Not any friends per se, as she was always moving and didn't really have any. Not since she left her childhood gang of thieves, anyway.

And maybe that was the hard part. She knew that she was unlikely to see these people again and therefore wouldn't have to deal with the mess that could happen afterward. And all her partners knew that too.

She wrung out her cloth and put her robes back on.

So how could Astrid even look at her and expect things to go back to the way they were? The Nord had even said they don't have to pretend it never happened. But, now what?

Now that they've had sex, does the attraction just vanish?

To her, that wasn't possible. Even disregarding her feelings which were most definitely still there, how could she even be near Astrid and deal with the physical attraction alone?

She supposed, now that Astrid had fucked her and 'got it out of her system', that the Nord was done. No adverse effects for Astrid, and Noela would just have to pick herself up after being stupid enough to allow herself to fall for her.

So then, forgetting that she had been used as a piece of meat, she now had to get Astrid out of her mind and heart. All the while working alongside her.

Noela sighed heavily and made her way back through the trees to the cave.

She was an idiot.

When she got back to the cave, the sky was already lightening. The indigo had progressed to a royal blue, the sound of birds beginning to fill the air.

Stepping through the short passageway, she saw light from the chamber within.

Astrid must be awake.

She located the woman, and stopped short.

There sat Astrid atop Noela's bed roll, eating a piece of bread. The problem being… she was still completely naked.

The Nord turned, hearing her approach. "Sister, there you are. I was wondering where you'd disappeared to," she said between bites of food.

Noela's eyes began to water as she tried to keep her eyes from straying off the blonde's face. It was not an easy task. "I um, took a bath. Or rather, just cleaned myself."

Finishing the bread, Astrid stood up, brushing the crumbs off her hands and thighs.

Noela took the opportunity to look away, spotting the fire pit and the dishes from the night before. "Are we heading out now? I'll pack up, then."

She moved to grab the supply bag lying on the ground to start gathering their stuff. Behind her, she heard Astrid moving around and hoped to the Gods that she was going to put on her clothes.

"I'll help." Astrid appeared in her vision and Noela almost fell backwards at how close the woman was. Still naked, of course. The blonde started gathering their plates, bowls and cutlery.

"Uh, why don't you put some clothes on first?" Noela suggested. "I've got this."

Green eyes turned to her and Noela still avoided eye contact. "I figured I'll quickly wash myself. You went to the stream nearby, right? May as well clean the dishes while I'm at it."

The mage nodded mutely and continued throwing things into the supply bag. Then she started rolling up her bed roll. She paused, noticing translucent white stains on the material. Ears feeling slightly hot, she looked up, feeling the Nord's gaze still on her.

Astrid was holding her satchel. "Do you know where my washcloth is? I can't seem to find it."

Noela dropped the bed roll and picked up her own bag. She found a spare cloth, and handed it to Astrid. "Are you really going to walk out of here without your clothes on?"

Astrid laughed, "What's the point of putting on my clothes only to take them off again and then put them on again?" There was a pause. "Are you that uncomfortable seeing me nude?"

The mage met her eyes. "No, of course not. But since we're back to being 'professional' now... shouldn't we be acting so?"

"My dear, we've spent weeks together on the road and undressed in front of each other more times than I remember. I've stolen glances, you've stolen glances. Besides, there's nothing you haven't seen now."

Noela kept her eyes glued to Astrid's face. "Yes, but now that we've gone all the way, don't you think it'd be more appropriate to re-establish boundaries? It's not like I can just turn the attraction off, you know." She finally let her gaze drift down the woman's body. "I can't look at you without feeling turned on."

The Nord watched her face and sighed, "I suppose you're right. It's counterproductive."

"I mean if I kept walking around you naked doesn't that do anything for you?"

Part of the reason for her question was to gauge the leader's interest in her now. Even if it was just her body. Perhaps, she was even a little scared of the answer.

But Astrid said, "You're absolutely right, Noela. If you stripped off now we'd be having a round two, for sure. I actually prefer to walk around naked at home, at least in my bedroom. But around you, I agree we should keep our clothes on as much as possible. It would not bode well if we were to have a repeat of last night."

Noela nodded. A part of her noted that it didn't bode well either way for her, period. "Agreed."

"I trust you'll forget whatever fancies you hold about me. The feelings?"

The mage met her gaze, displaying resolution. "Feelings? I have no feelings for you."

Astrid smiled, "That's a good girl."

The sunlight was filtering through the dewy trees by the time they were untying the horses. The air smelled exceptionally fresh, and Noela tied the supply bag to Trigger's side, the mare munching on a carrot Noela had just fed her.

Astrid leapt onto Shadowmere's back. "If we travel at full speed we might make it to Markarth by nightfall."

"That would be preferable," Noela replied as she stepped into Trigger's saddle.

The morning air was brisk and inviting, though a little chilly considering their horses' speed. After they had left the cave, Noela carrying their stack of dishes, not a word was exchanged as she cleaned them in the stream while Astrid took her 'bath'.

Though she had tried hard to pay attention to the soap on the dishes, her hands frozen in the cold morning water, she had still stolen glances at the Nord, especially when the latter had been washing her face, and thus couldn't tell Noela was watching.

From the smooth and slim curves of her body, to the small bush of blonde between her legs, Noela forever engraved the image into her mind. It wasn't something she did intentionally, but she figured since it was the last time she would see Astrid in her full, physical glory, she wanted to remember it.

The morning after the special night they had shared.

After Astrid was done and dressed, Noela knew it to be over. The moment Astrid fastened the last straps of her armour on, was the moment Noela pushed the Nord and her body and the feelings she had for her out forever.

She pictured that Astrid had washed away her scent, her sweat, and whatever fluids Noela had left on her during their session, and that every last trace of her was gone from the blonde's body.

She supposed, she had done the same when she had washed herself earlier, too.

Astrid was riding ahead as usual, and Noela lifted her right hand to her face.

Somehow, Astrid's scent still lingered on her fingers. A small smile set on her face at that. Maybe, she wasn't completely erased from the Nord, either. It's not like the stream had warm water for them to be able to wash thoroughly.

Then her thoughts came full circle to the fact that she was acting like an infatuated teenager again, and she stopped her train of thought.

Three hours passed and they were still riding as fast as the horses could go, which was exceptionally fast compared to the average horse. Trigger was keeping a steady, constant pace, her breathing not too laborious, but Noela knew they needed to give them a break soon.

Almost as if on cue, Astrid began to slow down. Noela thought they were about to have an early lunch break, when she noticed the burning of wood and a damaged carriage up ahead.

Astrid hopped down from her horse's back and Noela followed suit. They hurried to the peculiar wreckage—

"They're dead," said Astrid.

Two people; a Breton and a Bosmer, seemed to have been burned. Or was it?

"One's died by fire and the other… from the look of the deep gashes on his chest, likely a wolf, or no, maybe a bear," said Noela.

Astrid pointed off to the right near the tree line. Indeed, there was a dead cave bear. "Good deduction, Noela."

"So, should we loot their stuff? We could use some extra food."

The Nord held up a hand. "Hang on a sec. But why is the carriage on fire? Surely if the bear's dead, they must have defeated it, or rather, one of them did. The bear killed the Bosmer, and the Breton—why is the Breton not alive?"

Noela headed to the dead bear. "Looks like it's been burned. So then the Breton killed the bear with magic fire, and then… someone must have killed the Breton."

She looked back at Astrid who was examining the dead Breton. "No bear marks. Wait. There's a small spike of ice in his chest."

At her words, tingles started forming throughout Noela's body and suddenly she knew they were being watched. "Quick, duck!" she yelled, diving to the ground.

The familiar sound of magic ice hitting something filled the air, and Noela looked around to see if Astrid had been hit. She breathed a loud sigh of relief when she noticed she had not.

The older woman was crouching by the side of the carriage, her curved dagger withdrawn. Shadowmere trotted over to her, and Astrid retrieved a bow and set of arrows from the horse's satchel.

Noela whipped around to try to sense where the enemy mage was, and ducked again when she heard the next ice spike being released in a loud 'whoosh'.

Astrid was firing arrows in the direction of the hidden ice mage, and Noela still couldn't see them past the tree line. She let loose a fireball from her palms, and there was a shriek.

The enemy ran out from the trees, her robes singed from Noela's fire, and since Noela was closest to her, she immediately engaged in battle.

"Who are you and what the hell do you want?" Noela spat as she let off another ball of flame.

The mage dodged it and shot an ice spike. "A bit of help, Athel?" the elf called into the air.

A strange sight was occurring in Noela's peripheral vision, and as she tried to dodge more ice attacks from the high elf she turned to see the large cave bear coming back to life.

Reanimation…

This Athel must be resurrecting it.

Noela heard a whinny from one of the horses, and between magic attack exchanges, noted that Shadowmere was on his hind legs, likely attacking the second enemy mage that she hadn't known the location of.

Astrid had stopped firing arrows at the ice mage, instead slashing at the enemy behind the carriage, which was blocking Noela's view of the other battle.

She only hoped the Nord would be okay. Vaguely, she noticed that Trigger was nowhere to be seen.

But, she was now in trouble. The resurrected bear was surrounded in a purple fog which meant they had a third enemy to fight.

The ice mage was good—Noela would guess her level as Expert, and each powerful wave of ice was heading toward her one shot after the next. She continued countering with fire, but knew this had to end soon before the bear charged her.

As she rolled from another ice attack, she noticed that the bear was not heading toward her, but instead… charging right toward Astrid!

The Nord had not noticed the bear being brought back to life, her back to it, and as she fought together with Shadowmere against the second mage, the bear did not even let out a roar as it made contact.

Noela watched in horror as it swiped at the Nord and the black horse, Shadowmere dodging just in time.

"Ah!"

A shard of ice grazed Noela's arm. She had to end this now or they were dead.

"IIZ, SLEN NUS!"

The shout hit the ice mage square in the face, and she was instantly entombed and incapacitated in a block of ice. Noela turned toward the bear and Astrid.

Thirty seconds until the mage would unfreeze.

Noela shot a fireball from her left hand as she dashed toward the bear, but it was too late.

The ball had just left her palm and beyond its fiery edges, she glimpsed the dead bear's claw, coming down right on top of Astrid. The Nord was preoccupied with fighting the other mage as well, and turned to defend herself, raising her arms in a cross to protect her head.

"DUCK!" Noela yelled as she raised two hands and released an Icy Spear.

The fireball and the icy spear hit the bear exactly one after the other, and it was blown off its feet and into the opposite line of trees beside the road.

An explosion of magic, dust and particles filled the air, and Noela yelled, "WULD NAH KEST!"

Her whirlwind sprint projected her through the air like a torpedo, and she landed on her feet, dagger raised, ready to block an impending attack.

The wind from her dragon shout had cleared the air, and she met the other mage head on, his black robes billowing as he started casting a ward.

As she noticed he was on the defense, Noela leapt right at him with her dagger. With any luck, it was just a weak ward…

And she broke through, her blade penetrating his chest.

He fell with a cry, landing sprawled in the grass, and Noela let off a firebolt to finish him off.

She turned to the bear, and was startled to see it back on its feet.

Shouldn't it be gone in a puff of purple ash by now? she wondered.

And just as she thought it, the bear disintegrated into just that.

Which just left…

"You're dead!"

Appearing around the carriage, the female mage she had previously frozen rushed at her, forming a new set of ice spikes in her right hand.

"Bad idea…" Noela muttered, and threw her dagger as a projectile. It easily hit the mage through her robes, landing right in her heart.

She was dead within a second, falling to the ground, and Noela pulled her blade from the corpse.

"Astrid!"

Noela spun around, not noticing what had happened to the Nord after the bear had swiped at her. Then she spotted her, lying on the ground by the carriage wheel.

"No!" the mage yelled in panic.

She dashed over, collapsing on her knees beside her superior, her eyes roaming the wounded woman's body.

Astrid was barely conscious, and smiled at her. "Looks like… this might be the end, sister…"