Arc 3—Uncivil War—Chapter 4:
It was almost noon when I saw the elk. My arrow flew, straight and true, and brought down the magnificent beast in just a few steps.
It was very weak but still alive so I gave Serana a few minutes before I gutted and cleaned it, and then tied it up on a travois for travel. We were only a mile or so from our destination, so, when all was set, I started dragging it that way.
Up the canyon we went, cautiously and quietly, always on alert for danger. We entered the giants' encampment slowly, as much from the heavy travois I was dragging as from the plan. When they saw us and started moving our way, I nodded and dropped the poles before stepping back behind them. Serana was trailing about about twenty paces behind. I gave what I believed to be a sign of peace and then waved toward the carcass with one hand and then both hands toward them, hoping they would interpret it as a sign of a gift.
The three male giants gave a questioning look but one of the females stepped forward, gave me a nod, and then retrieved the elk, picking it up similar to how we might a sack of grain, and carrying it toward their fire. Another female joined her there. A couple of young giants, appearing to be a little less than twice my height, were playing across the camp.
The males, having been apparently shown up by their women, gave me a sneer but didn't make a hostile move. Therefore, I gently waved a hand from me to them and back a couple of times before saying "Trade." I slowly pulled out a fine red cloth, carefully folded, and spread it out on the ground between us.
They were watching intently, two with their hands on clubs and the third, the largest one, holding what I took to be a huge two handed sword as if it was little more than a penknife. While my weapons were available, I was careful to keep my hands away from them. Dead giants or a dead me was not my preferred outcome from this little adventure.
Stepping back, I pulled a small jar from my belt pouch, pulled off the top, and showed each of them that it was empty. It would hold only a few ounces, all that Quintus would need, and more, for the repair of Nurelion's little bottle. When the largest giant nodded, I placed the empty jar and the lid on their side of the cloth. Backing slowly, I returned to my side and, once again, reached into my belt pouch to pull out a bag. Their eyes grew wide when gold septims started falling, one by one, from the upturned bag onto the red cloth below. I let them fall slowly, so they could hear each "clink" as the pile on the trading cloth grew.
When the bag was about half emptied, I tucked it back in the belt pouch and nodded to them. Taking my hands, I motioned to one of their mammoths grazing nearby. This brought a frown from the big one I assumed was the leader and angry words (that sounded much like grunts to me) from the others. I held up a finger to regain their attention and then pointed at the little empty jar. Making a circle with the fingers of each hand, I swept them away from my cheeks as if they were mammoth tusks, which brought equally angry looks and words from all three. A grinding motion with one hand in the palm of the other drew a nod from the leader as the other two continued to look upset.
Serana must have moved on seeing this for she suddenly drew the biggest giant's attention. He pointed to her and made a sharp motion, as if he wanted her there next to me, most likely, I knew, so he could watch her.
I shook my head in reply and waved off his suggestion, leading him to make another sharp 'suggestion' that she come closer. Again, I shook my head, this time curtly, and then motioned toward the female giants, by now turning the elk on a spit over the fire.
He wasn't taking no for an answer. Saying gruff, angry-sounding words that were unintelligible to me, he pointed at her with one finger, pointed sharply at the spot next to me, and then, with his index finger pointed toward the ground, jabbed it sharply downward. He said another stream of words that I didn't understand, but the meaning of which was clearly, "Get her here, now!" As if to emphasize the point, two more males I hadn't seen earlier came walking up.
I didn't want to endanger Serana, and, considering the revised odds, I didn't want to lose the advantage of the long-range firepower she could bring to bear so I slowly shook my head. This appeared to be a patriarchal clan so I used the only thing they might understand, saying, "No. Female." I pointed to their women once more and then, taking both hands, I cupped my fingers and sharply held them out in front of me in what I hoped might be interpreted as female breasts.
It must have been successful for all five of the giant men burst out laughing.
"Jerk! I'm nowhere close to that big," called Serana, also laughing, only then making me realize my hands were at arms' length in front of me. I laughed, too, and within minutes, I'd traded the giants the red cloth, the gold coins on it (and rest from the bag), four large but fairly low quality gemstones, and a silver ring with a turquoise setting all for the little jar of very finely ground mammoth tusk powder. I nodded and smiled as I recorked the jar and put it inside the bag that had once held the gold. Wrapping it up carefully, I deposited it in my bag, gave a little half bow so I could still watch them as I did, and said, "Thank you," before backing away.
One of the giants, still grinning at me, licked his lips as he glanced out at Serana and then picked up the four corners of the red cloth. Everything on it fell into the middle of his makeshift bag and he carried it away while the other giants continued to look at Serana. Once I reached her, I turned and we made a hasty exit.
~ESV~
We ran several hundred yards down the canyon before slowing to a fast walk. We'd gone another fifty paces or so when Serana hit me in the arm with ball of her fist.
"What was that for?"
"Aerik, you're a jackass sometimes," Serana told me with a laugh as we continued our brisk pace. She held her hands out in front of her similar to what I'd done and said, "Seriously?"
I grinned. "Had to make sure they'd get the point. Or points, as the case may..."
She frowned at me but on seeing my eyes, she turned to look where I was focused. There, on the sides of the canyon, was a squad of Imperial soldiers with their bows drawn and arrows targeting us. Even as we were taking stock of the situation, several more marched out from the bend ahead of us.
"Dragonborn!" called an officer, who stepped forward a bit, but still well behind his troops. "We heard a rumor from a spy at the Nightgate Inn that you might be in the area, despite the bad dye job, so we came calling to deliver a message from General Tullius. He must meet with you."
The arrows were still trained on us, and one or two seemed to be wavering at least a bit. "Your men grow tired, Imperial. Think how upset the general will be when some of those arrows are accidentally released. If you kill me, he'll see that you regret it. If you harm a hair on my friend's head, I'll see to it that you don't live to regret anything else."
He glanced at his forces and nodded to the sergeant standing beside him.
"Lower arrows!" called the sergeant in a loud voice. He was a grizzled man, wearing many scars from his many battles, but his voice was one of authority, leading the bowmen to point their weapons down and relax their bows, while keeping the arrows nocked for quick firing.
I nodded to him. "So where's the General? How soon will he be here?"
"It doesn't work like that, Dragonborn. He requires you in Solitude."
Serana was looking at the Imperials around us but also had me in her peripheral vision. Under her breath, I barely heard her say, "Aerik?"
"No. Patience," I replied in like manner. Looking at the Imperial captain, I said, "We are on a mission to help a dying man in Windhelm. He's a merchant and has nothing to do with the war. Let us accomplish this mission and I'll meet with General Tullius in Solitude in...ah...ten days."
The captain shook his head. "And eleven days from now, my successor will pick my head up out of the basket and go looking for you. No, I think not."
"No, Captain. I'll be there. In ten days. I give you my word."
He stared at me for a while before replying. "Hmmm. I honestly believe you would be." His look continued for a few seconds before he added, "Unfortunately, I have my orders, so releasing you would mean that I wouldn't be there. I'm sorry, but you'll have to come with us now."
"Aerik?" growled Serana, still barely audible to me.
"Okay, Captain. My word, I'll go, on one condition. I told you we're on a mission to help a dying man. He doesn't have enough time for us to go to Solitude and then get back to Windhelm. You'll release my friend so she can return to help him and I'll go with you. But Captain, if, by chance, you think of harming her once we get out of each other's sight, my earlier promise still stands."
He nodded, slowly. "I'm a Tribune in the Imperial Legion. My word as well, Dragonborn."
I turned to Serana and gave her the pouch containing the finely ground mammoth tusk powder. "Get this back to Quintus. At the gate, tell them we got separated or something, and you've returned to wait for me to join you. Help Quintus however you can, and I'll be there soon. If I'm not there in two weeks, you know the plan."
Serana looked grim at the thought but was about to respond when large boulders crashed into the midst of the soldiers surrounding our position. There were screams of pain from before and to the sides of us, and loud roars probably meant to frighten or intimidate from behind. The roars worked.
I pulled Serana down beside me. "The giants must think the Imperials were coming to attack their encampment!"
Another boulder landed near us, this time throwing up rocks and dirt. Another sailed a few feet over our heads and crashed into the front group of soldiers that had their bows redrawn with arrows ready to release. Three of the soldiers were broken and sent flying. Some of the arrows were released accidentally and one glanced off the fibered glass armor covering my arm, leaving a deep grove in the surface.
Several of the Imperials to our left dropped their bows, formed a short phalanx with bucklers, and charged one of the male giants. His club came crashing against them, proving once and for all that bucklers are not suitable protection against weapons wielded by giants. The soldier who took the brunt of the attack was killed instantly, and three others in his group were sent flying. However, the other four closed and began a concerted attack on the big fellow.
I didn't see the result, though, since I had to deflect a blow from the leader of the giants. His huge sword, looking small in his hand, smashed into the ground near me, sending rock fragments flying. He had a club in his left hand that he was bring around to good effect when Serana hit him with lightning that caused him to jerk as steam came off of him and his hair sizzled.
In later years, I might have bent the will of those nearby by using my shout, but at that point in my career, I hadn't learned it. Not wanting to kill everyone, I shouted, "Stop!"
Without the benefit of my magical voice, my cry did little good, but it did draw the attention of several of the soldiers and the giant standing in front of me. He started to bring the big sword around again, but, knowing from a past encounter that it was unlikely that I could disarm him, I hit him with the full force of my unrelenting fury shout, knocking him backward.
"Stop! Stop fighting!" I yelled again. Sheathing my sword, I stepped toward the giant and picked up the big sword that he'd dropped when he fell backward. As he got up to his knees, I pushed it toward him, but patted the air in an attempt to calm him.
Seeing me being as nonthreatening as I could be, he looked at me closely for a moment as Serana moved closer to guard my back from unexpected attacks in other directions. A moment later, the giant himself gave a loud call and the other giants disengaged from their battles as soon as they could.
"What's going on?" asked the tribune as he came forward with the sergeant and four other soldiers.
"This is their territory, so they thought you were coming to invade their home. They have women and children there, so they staged a preemptive attack to prevent it," I said, guessing and hoping I was reasonably close. Still looking at the giant and ready for an attack at any moment, I waved back at the tribune. "Tell your men to lower their weapons and back away, and let's see if they'll do the same."
"And if I don't?"
"Very, very few of us will leave this spot, Tribune."
Seeing the situation, he nodded, "Give the order, Sarge."
The sergeant did as he'd been instructed, leading the Imperial soldiers to back away, pulling their injured with them in some cases. Seeing the Imperials give ground, the giants did the same, with one limping and the other pulling a dead or badly wounded comrade away with him.
Still looking at the giant leader, I pointed to the Imperial soldiers and then pointed to me, several times before making a crossing motion toward him and his men. I signed that we would be leaving, out from the canyon and he nodded before slowly backing away.
Helping gather the dead and wounded, we found seven Imperial soldiers dead and three more who were so severely wounded that they would never fight again. Eight others were hurt but capable of walking away from the battlefield.
Serana looked at me, raising an eyebrow. With the devastation around us, it was likely that we could have escaped without the Imperials being able to stop us, but I'd given my promise, so I approached the tribune.
"Do you still plan to return to your general?" I asked.
"Yes, it's my duty."
"Then my companion must be on her way. Let her go as promised, and I'll help bury your dead before we go see your general. Just remember my other promise, Tribune, if any harm comes to her from you or your men."
"Let her go," he said to the others. "No harm will come to her from our quarter. I can promise nothing regarding others."
"Nor would we expect it," she said. Adding with a whisper to me only, she said, "See you soon, Aerik. Don't be late."
~ESV~
Author's Notes: Thanks for reading! Any feedback you can offer will be greatly appreciated, too.
Good news: I've finished the rough draft for Arc 3—Uncivil War and am currently editing the chapters. I've also started the outline for a possible final arc.