Authors note: Hello my friends I hope you enjoyed my little cliff hanger back there in chapter 6. Thank you so much for reading. I would love to know what you think of the story so far and what you think Aela told Zofie in that letter? HINT HINT *cough cough* reviews *cough cough*. Oh and if you like this story then I recommend my good friend Voidwalker99. See if you can spot the link between our Skyrim stories. *evil laugh* Anyway here's chapter 7.
Battlemage
Chapter 7- Late recruit with raven hair
"Usually I don't tolerate lazy recruits, however I am aware of the situation of my fellow companion in the Bannered Mare yesterday evening." Vilkas, a fairly muscular man with messy black hair, was to be the young girls mentor and assessor. If she didn't please him she would not become a companion so she decided to try genuinely being friendly to people here might be a good idea after her little show yesterday. "I was worried if he stayed too long he might tarnish your reputation" her smile shines through from under her hood. The bear man chuckled slightly as he added "probably a good thing too. Now I want to test you so take out your sword. Mind," he gestured to her hands "none of that magic, I am testing your sword arm not your years of schooling."
Nodding in agreement the mage took out her elven sword and prepared herself for a fight. As the man drew his own sword she assessed his every move. his footwork was clearly practiced and he certainly had the strength advantage. Deducing that he could do some damage in just one hit made her think that she should try not to get hit by this one. Eyes scanning him for a weakness she noticed the end of a bandage sticking out of his armor, his knee must have been recently injured so as a last resort she should probably give him a quick jab there to buy herself some time. Inhaling the crisp air her feet, as if she had never left the hall, slid firmly into their fighting stance.
There was no warning from the burly nord as the first strike came hard and fast ready to split her skull. luckily, she twisted out of the way just in time under his arm round to his back. Towards his right shoulder there was a slight break in his armor. Instinct overcame her and her elven sword came down on the new found weak spot with an almighty clang. Though the nord let out a low surprised grunt, unfortunately no actual damage was done to the armor.
Zofie had no time to curse the impeccable work of the skyforge steel master as a moment later she was faced with a huge sword swinging towards her left side. Clang! Thankfully her own armor, elven to match her sword , took most of the impact.
The smirk forming was hidden by her hood as she clutched her side in pain staggering over and leaning on her sword. She didn't need to see him to realize he was coming over as the stench of wet dog that hung around a lot of the circle members, including her uncle and father, gave him away.
"I knew it. Your not that tough at all without your magi..." As soon as his feet were visible the faking mage sent a surprisingly sharp jab to his bandaged knee, causing the circle member to howl in pain. With another three strikes she had him disarmed and on his knee as she added "keep your guard up when facing any opponent. Any warrior should know that."
The silence she now faced unnerved her slightly. one thing she had learned from her years of schooling was that silence was not a good thing. last time the practice hall was silent one of the students in her class had turned the professor into a cow and was panicking too much to change him back, so this silence was worrying her more the longer it remained.
"Yes I should," he stands and looks directly at her smiling "I should." Zofie smiles at him, clearly relived, offering him a hand to shake. He takes it while returning her smile and congratulating her "well done mage erm... Zofie, I mean Zofie." His smile widens momentarily at something, which the young mage fails to notice, giving him a much more approachable demeanor. "And now that your one of us you can start your duties." Grinning with excitement she is about to reply when her excitement is quickly shattered.
"Take my sword up to Greymane to get it sharpened lass and quickly too." His laugh cuts through her smile as she is tossed his greatsword, scrambling to catch it. Zofie holds back curses as she nods at the bear man lifting his sword with ease, to his surprise.
He watches the girl that bested him walk away. Aela was right, devines forbid she ever heard him say that, this mage had fire and not just in her hands. The way she moved in battle mesmerized him. He hadn't cared how much he smiled when her hood fell down revealing the raven black hair. His smile grew at the thought. she hadn't even noticed it fall momentarily making him pause in the middle of their battle.
