The dress worn by Rin Tohsaka is similar to the one seen in the game "Fate Hollow Ataraxia".I don't think there's going to be any criticism this time about Rin being useless.
The city of "Torrent" is my invention... I find that given the size of the kingdom of Menevia, it would be strange if there were only one important city.
I also invented Prince Pélage, because I found it strange that the King of Meneva did not have a boy from his first marriage.Its name is the French version of a Roman name much appreciated by the authors of the TES: "Pelagius".
The Battle of the Bjoulsae
On destroyed worlds, time sleeps, motionless.
The castle of Tournelle lay in the rubble of its torn walls. Skeleton of fortress where stretches of blackened walls and mutilated towers protruded. The fire was burning in the ruins and the wind carried to the flax the dreadful smell of burned bodies.
Yet there was life in the devastated castle.
A tearful figure went from one body to another identifying... a guard with whom she had spoken... a old Khajiit who had taught her to read... a squire who had mocked her... a teenager of her age whom she remembered flouting a declaration of love.
Artoria Draconis died at the same time as all the inhabitants of the fortress.
With her tears she closed the memories of the father who had supported her when she learned to walk, the mother who told her stories. Her second childhood had just ended. The first had not been so happy. Uther Pendragon had died when she was eight years old and she had never met him. Her mother... the Duchess of Cornwall, hated her.
Saber shook her head.
Yet the memories of her first life were what gave her the strength to continue visiting the ruins. She had not found a living thing. Everywhere laid the remains of the inhabitants, often surrounded by goblin corpses. Saber had, however, found a map of the Menevia and a backpack in the guardhouse, a purse on a corpse and an intact quarterstaff in the hands of a guard.
Artoria Draconis, the daughter of Alain Draconis and Eveline Draconis, had died at the same time as her parents, but Artoria Pendragon was alive and wanting to avenge everything she had lost.
To do this, she must first reach Wayrest, the capital, to warn King Eadwyre. Holding a new sob, Saber went down the steep path that allowed descending from the fortress from the eastern postern. This was the fastest road, bypassing the entire escarpment of the main road. Arriving at the foot of the rock supporting the ruins of Tournelle, Artoria arrived at a bifurcation.
While she hesitated, her instinct warned her that a rear guard of the attackers lingered near the castle in the hope of picking up survivors coming out of hiding. Avoiding the two paths, Saber slipped under the thick foliage of the woods that were cascading on the slopes of the Wrothgar Mountains.
For almost half an hour, Artoria made her way through the thick brush. As a heavy beating passed over her head, she clung to the rough trunk of a century-old oak tree. Between the leaves, she discerned one of the winged monsters who had attacked the castle. The creature carried a saddle occupied by two goblins. These small humanoids related to the Mers - the Elves - formed very primitive warrior clans living from the brigandage and looting of isolated villages. Like orcs and ogres, they worshipped Malacath, the god of the outcasts. Some of Tamriel's cultures, like the Aldmers, had enslaved them to fight for them. North of the Wrothgar Mountains, the goblin clans were vassals of the orcs. The stronger, more organized ones had no trouble imposing themselves on their weak cousins, paying for their services with weapons and tools.
Waiting for the patrol to leave, Saber ran slowly towards the southwest, bypassing the ruins of the castle.
However, just five hundred meters later, she came to rest when she heard an explosion shake the trees. Intrigued, she approached, taking care to stay under cover. Having spent her childhood in the area, the teenager remembered elven ruins in this direction. On the spot, she discovered a troop of about thirty goblins and perhaps three or four times more, lying on the ground dead or dying among the remains of the ancient Direnni's city. All of a sudden...
- Fixiering Eile Salve !
A gust of Gandr Shot blew into the air, striking the goblins with the power of a machine gun. The magic projectiles were curses so powerful that they took on a tangible form, drops of darkness wrapped in a blood-red aura. It was a massacre. The first rank of humanoids collapsed.
A colossal orc, recognizable by its pig face, covered with a black chainmail, loosed a long blackjack to its belt, stinging the goblins' backs to revive them to attack.
Artoria drew the lumberjack axe, her only weapon, and observed the clash, her heart beating with a doubling in his chest.
Gandr Shot...
This spell in German...
And especially that voice!
Moving to see the interior of the ruins, Saber discovered...
A young woman, barely older than she, is standing up to the humanoid horde all alone. She wears a long dress leaving her shoulders bare, cut in red satin, sleeves and bodice lined with black tulle. A vermeil and ebony fabric necklace completes her outfit. She is styled in pigtails decorated with black ribbons, an Asian with beautiful sapphire eyes. Rin Tohsaka, Archer's master in the Fifth Grail War... and a very dear friend! A touch of red appeared on the cheeks of Saber who drove away the memory of a ruined house in the Einzbern forest.
As five goblins ran toward Rin, the spear waved, she turned to them with her right arm outstretched, supported by her left hand. A rain from Gandr plucks the humanoids, breaking their armor. However, she did not see that one last monster climbed a pillar, a dagger bent between the teeth. He is ready to leap...
Boosted by the Prana Burst, Saber leaps forward and strikes. The goblin has only time to shout that his life breaks. The arrival of a second opponent completes demoralizing the frails monsters. They fall back into disorder. However, the orc who commands them takes a vindictive look before moving away.
- Saber!
Rin also recognized her friend. With her hands pressed on her chest, she stares at the former Servant with surprise:
- What... but...
Then the Magus shook her head and smiled:
- You always seem to pop up at the right time.
- Rin, I'm as surprised as you can be. How did you get to Nirn?
- Oh? Isn't it obvious?
Her eyes narrowed to shine with a perfectly evil glow matched to her crooked smile:
- I was born on Nirn. Seventeen years ago! And my last memory of my previous life is that I fainted because of the blood lost in my fight against Kirei. You and that idiot Shiro-kun were about to prevent the materialization of the Grail... and you failed, didn't you!?
Saber agreed, summarizing in a few sentences the fight then their discussion with Angra Mainyu, before ending with his new life. An arm passed on her stomach, rubbing her lips with the other hand, Rin listened with interest. She ends up sighing:
- Exactly what I feared.
Artoria, one hand on her hip, leaned her head slightly to the side. Her gaze was serious:
- You don't seem surprised, Rin.
- I have already met two former Masters and one Servant. I suppose the wish to give all the victims of the Grail War a second chance is the cause. And I guess all that happens now is the danger that you and Shiro have to stop...
Artoria nodded seriously:
- I suppose so too, Rin. In fact... should I call you Rin?
- Yes, this is not the name I received at birth, but according to the tradition of the Guild of the Magi, a new summoner can register under the name of his choice. And I took "Rin Tohsaka".
Saber pounded his eyelids, impressed:
- Have you ever been an summoner of the guild?
Rin blushes before repelling one of her twintail with a mechanical gesture and pounding the torso:
- Obviously, I am a genius. As an individual, I have to thank you and Shiro because... ah... that can wait. There is more urgent!
She took a letter out of her sleeve and handed it to Saber:
- This is a letter addressed to the Earl de La Roche by the Master of Wayrest Guild House. Alas, we were attacked on the way and I was forced to continue on foot.
Artoria reads a few lines and jumped:
- A mage betrayed and helped the orcs attack?
Rin nodded coldly:
- The Magus in question is called... Shinji Matou. You understand better why I am not really surprised to meet you?
- I do now, Rin.
- I'd stay and talk to you, but... I'm tired of the fighting I've been doing since this morning. I have a way home to Torrent, but I can't take you.
The young Magus hesitated and Saber smiled:
- Don't worry about me. I can handle myself.
Rin agreed, hesitated, and took her friend in her arms. After a while, she made an effort to break contact:
- Promise me you will see me very soon, I have thousands of things to tell you.
- I promise, Rin. Good luck to you!
- To you too.
Rin drew a medallion from a holster on his belt. It was seen as a complex pentacle. She impregnated it with prana before pronouncing a command word:
- Erinnerung!
The magic circle engraved on the fetish appeared under her feet as she became translucent. A moment later, all that remained were luminous particles that dispersed.
Artoria nodded. This is a teleport spell that had probably brought Rin home, a useful precaution in case of dangerous travel.
Saber turned towards the tree-covered hills that were cascading from the Wrothgar Mountains towards the Stormhaven plains. The river Bjoulsae waved in this peaceful landscape… finally not totally peaceful. A high column of smoke climbed into the sky. Seen the direction, to the southeast, it must have been the city of Torrent burning. The teenage girl clenched her lips... Rin! Refusing to worry about what she could not change, she resumed her walk.
Artoria followed a path that joined a wider road that descended southwesterly. The high pavement was overrun by a dreadful crowd. Carts on which little goods had been piled up were next to wheelbarrows, people on foot, men, women, and children. They had haunted faces. They walked without speaking, without a look to the right or to the left, their lines drawn, their eyes fixed on the ground or in front. Despite their exhaustion, they were moving forward.
Unwilling to mingle with them, the squire followed a path parallel to the road. She reached a small, miserable farmhouse built on the edge of a tiny plot where only pebbles grew. The door was wide open. There was no noise. Saber pressed the lumberjack's axe, her only weapon. Fruit was left on the table; a stool lay on the floor. It looked like a gale had thrown the contents of the buffet to the ground.
- Is anyone in there?
No one replied and Saber shrugged her shoulders. To calm her hunger, the teenager quickly ate the abandoned fruits. She was about to leave when horrified calls rang out. The girl ran to the entrance of the road leading to the farmhouse. The little road she had followed was visible… and it was panic. The reason appeared to her when a shadow overshadowed the sun for a moment. One… no, three… Yes, three giant birds were spinning in the wind. They looked like lizards with bat wings and a long sinuous neck finished by a head with a heavy beak filled with teeth. Whatever these horrors were and what they were called, they were used as mounts. Each one wore two humanoids on leather stools.
- Goblins!
One of the dragons' stupid cousins ran into a cart full of scared children. A trio of goblins jumped out of the saddle and attacked their parents. Saber's blood only took one turn. She took the hit with two hands. In her chest, the dragon's heart was activated: Prana Burst. An instant later, she had caught up with the team. Her weapon whistled and cut the neck of a first humanoid monster. The other two goblins experienced an equally expeditious end.
Alas, other aerial mounts were spinning above the column of fugitives, plunging down on the men to rip them off the ground and release them from the sky. Goblins also emptied quivers, gleaning with contentment. Around her, it was carnage. The terrified refugees ran under the trees and Saber followed their example.
After walking for several hours, she reached a wide stream. According to her map, it must have been the Bjoulsae. This river cut Ménevia from north to south, slaloming for many kilometers before reaching the Illiac Bay a little to the east of Wayrest. There was a bridge to the south of her position. Except that the road seemed to be going straight ahead and that... She listened to the rumors of combat: Battle horns, clash of weapons, shouting.
Blessing of the Lady of the Lake.
No body of water could stop the legitimate carrier of Excalibur. The blessing continued to protect her, running on the surface of the water; Saber reached the other side of the river in an instant.
Walking south, she went out of the forest on top of a hill overlooking the royal road where it crossed the river. The stone bridge was disputed in a fierce fight, the neighing of the horses responded to the cries of the combatants and the striking of steel against steel. Under the stone arch, the water had taken on a red hue and the current was carrying corpses.
At the height of the melee, a knight in heavy plate armor, his helmet surmounted by a crown of gold and a head of winged pegasus fought a musculous and drooling ogre.
These two figures wonderfully symbolizing the armies that clashed: men of arms, halberds, crossbowmen fighting under the banner decorated with three roses of the Menevia against goblins archers, barbarian mercenaries, Reachmen in fur clothing and orcs in armor of orichacum who raised black flags. The sky was filled with arrows, bolts, lightning, ice stalactites and fireballs.
The noble knight in charge of Menevia's army could only be Prince Pélage, the king's eldest son. His sword was splitting the masses of goblins converging on him. The ogre attacked, brandishing over his head a huge axe of green metal. There were sparks when the blades collided. Prince Pélage's sword did not break... But the horse knelt, unable to withstand the power of the impact.
Despite this the prince was not yet defeated, he stood up and wanted to strike. At that moment, an arrow pierced his flank. A double cry of horror and jubilation crossed the battlefield... the defeat of Menevia seemed close.
Except that Saber had crossed the Breton ranks to pick up the magnificent sword of Pélage and divert the deadly blow intended to end the days of the heir to the throne.
Despite the calm face that the teenager showed to everyone, she was terrified of her own impetuousness. Her second life had returned her to a human body still poorly trained in combat. She only had for weapon an ordinary sword of steel, certainly a weapon forged for a prince, and before her...
A cry shook the sky, expressing a brutal and primitive anger.
The ogre reached nearly three meters. His body,color of dirty ivory, was deformed because of his massive musculature. His bald, hairless skull with his big, droopy mouth and round eyes couldn't have looked more stupid. The monster was dressed in a fur loincloth with two human skulls attached to the waist. He also had bracelets of force, in studded leather, on his wrists. His massive axe must have been less as long as an adult man.
All the courage in the world couldn't do anything against a good shot.
Without looking after Saber, the ogre relaxed one of his powerful hands, snatching the prince from his saddle, lifting him up above his head before sending him to several of his men who collapsed in the middle. Faced with this terrifying display of strength, the soldiers hesitated to move forward and they could hardly be blamed.
Immediately, the anthropophagical monster rushed forward,, sweeping several men in large movements of his axe. Some halberdiers wanted to react but were stopped by a party of goblins who rushed at them.
Holding the prince's sword, Saber tried to remember what the Tournelle guards had taught her about these monsters. They are large humanoids, almost giants. They live in the mountains and remote regions of Cyrodiil and High-Rock. But we also meet them in the orc armies where they are renowned for their power, their savagery and... their cannibal temperament.
Slowly circling the ogre, Artoria studied it attentively. The monster grunted but seemed to be waiting for the attack. Fortunately, the monster was far from unharmed. He had been fighting since morning and the prince's soldiers had managed to hurt him several times... However, he should not be underestimated. The creature remained fearsome.
Suddenly, the ogre jumped forward. However, the axe iron sank into the stone. Artoria faded to the side and his sword struck a deep slash in the chest. The blood gushes all over the soiled dress of the teenage girl.
As she was staggering, the ogre attacked again. Saber jumped and the huge axe simply nicked her shoulder slightly.
Tightening the hands on the handle of his weapon, the monster growled.
Prana Burst, Artoria crosses the few strides separating her from the ogre in a flash. The whistle sword opened a third slash on the chest. Nevertheless, the ogre reacts with an astounding rapidity for its size. A masterful backhand ran towards Saber, who lost hope. Raised by the impact, she struck the balustrade of the deck violently.
The creature rushed forward, his weapon raised high, determined to finish the fight. Except Artoria rolled on one shoulder and straightened out in motion. With the same fast reflexes as before she rushed forward and the blade of the prince cut the handle of the axe... causing the iron to fall to the ground!
Unfortunately, the monster violently threw the remaining fragment at Artoria's staggering head, her lip cracked, her eyes filled with tears. The monster's fist struck the teenage girl in the belly and the prince's sword escapes her. The other hand is already closing on her throat. He'd put her on the ground, and he'd squeeze her neck.
Artoria's hand closed on a bloody spear of a goblin. The monster howled with pain and terror when the iron sunk into his eye. He let go and the skimmer rolled aside. Saber straightened up, knocked on the belly to open a new wound. The ogre collapsed and the last blow was carried by the exhausted girl, covered with wounds and bumps.
Around Saber, the battle remained furious but the halberdiers began to repel the goblins demoralized by the death of their leader. However, the fire of arrows resumed more beautifully and men-at-arms of the prince approached Pélage and Artoria to elevate a wall of shields. Raising the knight's visor, the young girl uncovered the bloodless face of the inheritor of the throne, his pale lips that drew a smile:
- Lady, you have saved me from knowing the fate of the victims of an ogre. My life is coming to an end... but I would rest among my ancestors... thank you. Take my horse, and go and warn my father of my defeat. May he defend Wayrest, our salvation now rests in the power of its ramparts. Go, go and take my blessing.
With a heart full of sadness, Artoria bid farewell to the prince, then climbed on her white stallion, which she threw on the way to the south, leaving far behind the fierce battle that resumed behind her back, while the enemy launched all its power to the assault.
Very hard first fights for Saber who still has only a small part of her power.