Chapter 3
Another Barrier Broken
He had only just finished eating a pheasant breast and some bread, and was sipping on his wine when he heard them. Nirn or his own world, he knew what that sound was and what it meant. Those were warning bells; something was wrong. Another problem on the pile of problems he was already having.
He stood up with a start, placed his hand on his hilt and ran over to a window overlooking the city, and gasped at the horror of the sight below.
Men clad in black cloaks were setting fire to the lower levels of the city with what looked to be something similar to Zed's Wizard's Fire. Some kind of sorcerers? And alongside them were black and crimson armored men, killing any and all who escaped the flames. Black and Crimson...had the D'Harans found him? Had they followed him here somehow?
"We need to go help them!" he shouted to the guards in the hall.
"And we will," a new voice answered him. "Ilend told me who you were, so consider yourself pressed into service for the defense of Kvatch. Time to put that fancy blade to use!"
"Of course; just tell me where you need me!"
"Stick with me for now; Ilend, Menien, also on me. The rest of you form up and prepare to defend the castle. Don't let those bastards near the Count!"
"SIR!" their reply came.
Richard turned to take another look out the window, and to his horror, he realized that these were in fact, not the forces of Darken Rahl. D'Hara didn't employ giant lizards...or spiders...or giant blue demons...these were something else entirely. And beyond the gates of the city, he saw it; a giant orange flaming doorway...
He hoped he wouldn't have to enter that. But he steeled himself for the possibility that he may have to.
"Richard! Let's go!" Ilend shook him from his window.
"Right; okay. I'm ready!"
"Without any armor on, I hope you're quick and deadly with that blade."
"As I need to be," he replied. "Never liked the feel of armor; always made me feel sluggish. I need to be light on my feet."
"I respect that. Just stay out of reach of their blades. These dremora are taller and larger than we mortals, and their pets are even more deadly."
He nodded to his new brothers in arms and joined them as they scrambled out of the gate. The sound of armored boots on the cobblestone walkways echoed off the walls, only to be drowned out by the sounds of the carnage beyond the castle gates. The screaming, the demonic laughter. The heat from what he could only guess was Wizard's fire—or something akin to it—and the explosions of buildings bursting into flame...the smell of singed flesh and human excrement flooded his nostrils and he felt his senses being overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of it all.
He gripped his sword more tightly and centered his thoughts, feeling the power of the blade begin to calm him and surge through him, granting him focus and the courage to face this new terror.
"Shields! Shields!" the guard captain—Matius, Ilend had called him—shouted. "Shield wall! Form up and don't get separated!"
The Kvatch guardsmen formed up tightly as commanded, while Richard stayed behind their steel curtain. And then he saw their enemy up close. And the captain was correct; these men, whoever they were, were enormous.
"Stand fast!" Matius shouted, and they began their counter attack, moving into the city square, doing their best to push against a foe that was clearly, at least physically, superior.
"I. Smell. Weakness!" he heard one of the dremora shout above the carnage, as he and some of his black-and-crimson-clad warriors turned to face their shield wall. And then they charged.
"Hold! Hold you soldiers of Kvatch!" Matius bellowed above the fray. And then the crash of steel.
Their shield wall held, but it was clear from the rocking it took that these men, these dremora, were in a different weight class. Richard noticed one of their number working his way around the end of their wall, and so took it upon himself to meet him head on. Time to earn his keep and earn the captain's trust...assuming they'd both make it out of this alive.
"Bow to me, mortal!" it yelled at him in challenge. "No one escapes!"
"Come at me then, demon!" he answered the challenge as their swords clashed.
For its size, this warrior moved with the speed and agility of one much lighter, and less armored. It caught him off guard, but he was still the quicker and was able to maneuver around and find openings. And so he struck.
His blade, always so reliable, glanced off the dermora's thick armor.
"You are weak, mortal!" it taunted him.
So it would take a thrust and not a swipe to end the life of this being, he realized.
The demon took wide swipes at him with its halberd, using the weapon's length and his own physical superiority to great effect, pushing Richard backward, so Richard decided to play the part of weakling and retreated on purpose. He even tried to make his face appear afraid.
No doubt sensing his own prowess, the dremora pushed his advantage, and after a few more maneuvers, he saw his opening. The dremora, supremely confident, had neglected his balance in its zeal to end Richard's life, and his footing was off. It lunged at Richard, swinging wide and wild and Richard ducked up underneath and thrust the Sword of Truth up under the ribcage of the armor, near to the hilt.
"No! Not by a mortal!" the creature managed through a gurgle of blood.
Richard twisted the blade, and yanked it back out before the flesh could seize it, and the dremora fell to one knee, spitting and coughing up blood, eventually rolling over and collapsing.
Breathing a sigh of relief, Richard turned back to join the shield wall with Ilend and the rest.
Except, the shield wall had broken, and in its place, among the mangled and dismembered bodies of dead and dying soldiers, was the closest thing to a dragon Richard had ever seen.
