The Scaly Legionnaire Chapter 2: Fort Kastav
And we're back. We don't own Skyrim.
As the squad was on their way back to the camp, Black Sail looked towards the sky and tried to find the moon out of the cloudy sky, he was starting to get restless. To make him even a bit more suspicious he started to pick his pace. The rest of the soldiers were having trouble keeping up with him after a while.
"Praefect, sir, can we slow down, please?" one of the soldiers whined.
"Shut up you damned rookie! We keep moving, I'll make soldiers out of you lot if it kills each and every one of you," Black Sail barked. He was getting tired of Legate Fasendil giving him the rookies every time he gets sent out on missions and assignments, they may not get along very well but sending him practically on suicide missions with rookies that will most likely get killed before they even realize a Stormcloak is right in front of them. After about another three hours of walking the wounded of the three rookies threw up more blood, Black Sail turned around and saw the blood and shivered once again then turned away and started walking faster.
"Praefect, I think that we're getting close I recognize that tree with the sword marks," one of the rookies said, just as they made a turn into the woods.
"We all do, boy," said the Argonian, who saw that sunrise was only half an hour away. He was really starting to get restless and hurried ahead about five meters. When he stopped jogging he was hit by a massive paw and flew back as many meters as he jogged. When he came to his senses he grabbed his helmet off the ground beside him, he was happy he grabbed the light and studded Imperial armor or else he would have taken longer getting up in the full metal armor. But he realized he must have been out for a short period of time, for the rookies were trying to fight the troll, but were getting their hides torn apart since the troll broke their light shields to splinters. One of the Legionnaires was knocked off his feet by the troll but not long before the other soldiers got its attention by slashing its back. As the troll turned around the first soldiers stabbed the troll in the back but before he could pull his sword out it turned around and grabbed the rookie. The beast threw him at the other rookie. As Black Sail saw what was happening he looked at the wounded soldier he just realized was right next to him and was able to look better at his wound, he saw that the wound wasn't as bad as it looked; he just took too much damage and was dealing with it like a baby. The throwing up blood was just from a stomach stab, nothing a few health potions and time would heal. After thinking of what to do he realized that to save two soldiers, he had to sacrifice one.
"Hey, ugly," yelled Black Sail throwing a few rocks at the troll, it turned around and growled. The other soldiers looked as well and their eyes widened when they saw what Black Sail was doing. Black Sail had the wounded soldier in his arms, flinging him around, showing how wounded he was. The troll didn't seem too distracted and was slowly turning away. The Praefect was trying to think quickly, and came up with an idea he wasn't too fond of, he put his hand in the soldiers hound and got a good scoop of blood out of the wound. The feeling of the warm liquid on his hands made him shiver. He flung the blood at the troll's face and it turned back towards him. The troll brought out its long tongue and licked a bit of the blood from its face and the Praefect could see the bloodlust in its eyes. It charged at him, and without a moment of hesitation, threw the wounded soldier at the troll. As he threw his fellow Legionnaire, he could see a look of betrayal in his eyes, but the Praefect didn't think much of it, he's seen that look in people's eyes enough times before.
The troll had grabbed hold of the soldier, and then bit right his neck. Black sail waited until the troll had his teeth sunk in well and deep until he decided to draw his swords, with his ebony blades drawn he charged straight for the troll, and stabbed it in the back, digging his blades in much deeper than the troll's teeth in the man's throat. The troll roared one last time before falling to the ground. As Black Sail turned towards his other soldiers, they looked at him with the same looks as the man lying on the ground beside the troll.
"Get yourselves together, we're moving."
Rift Imperial Camp, roughly twenty minutes later
Right after the three soldiers got to the camp the Praefect looked to the sky when he saw a bit of light, and saw that the sun was rising. Black Sail looked to the area of his dwellings and hoofed it. When one of the soldiers looked towards the Praefect's direction he saw just how fast the Argonian was running as well that he had left a trail of dust.
The Praefect finally got into his little cave, not much larger than a small bedroom that was meant to try and be an iron ore mine but was abandoned by amateur miners who seemed to have been too impatient to continue. He had converted the cave into his own little room. When Black Sail got next to his bed he took off his helmet, letting the lime green feathers on his head stretch out. He then placed his helmet and bracers on his nightstand, got out of his boots. After taking a few moments to stretch he fell onto his bed, exhausted. He sighed once and looked at his right hand, looking at the nearly dried blood on it. He sniffed it once then moved his hand as far away from his face as he could. His stomach started to growl but he ignored it, he didn't have enough energy to even raise his head let alone get up and eat. He was about to fall asleep when he heard footsteps outside the cave entrance. One of the big reasons he liked the small cave was that the entrance was a tunnel went down a good bit, to where you couldn't see the rest of the room until you got to the bottom. The Praefect grabbed one of his blades then jumped to the side of his the entrance then climbed until he was hanging above the entrance, he had his body bundled and facing the wall, and with his sword in his mouth while he used his arms and legs to keep him held to the wall. Once he heard the footsteps get behind him he turned his head slightly, but didn't think about the sword in his mouth, and it clanged against the rock. Once Black Sail saw the figure turn around he pounced off the wall and landed on the intruder, sword in one hand with the blade touching its throat, and his other hand covering the possible assailant's mouth. He took his hand and blade away when he realized it was one of the soldiers, whom of which had a look of pure fear on his face. Black Sail got off him and walked towards his bed area and opened the drawer of his nightstand and pulled out a small glass and a half empty bottle of Surilie Brothers Vintage 415 and poured some into the small, ornate glass.
"What do you want, soldier?" Black sail said slightly irritated, taking a sip of his wine.
"I just came to ask you something, sir," the soldier said rubbing his throat. The Praefect mumbled something as he took another small sip.
"What is it then?" the Praefect said as he removed the glass from his lips. "I haven't got all day, soldier!" The Praefect was now becoming impatient.
"Well the cook, well he wanted me to-" the Legionnaire tried to say but before he could finish the Praefect interrupted him, patience lost much too soon.
"Legionnaire," he said calmly but with venom in his voice that, plus his pale scales, caused the soldier to shiver in fear. "I am extraordinarily tired, and you are successfully working my last nerves."
"Yes, sir."
"Do you know how much this bottle of wine cost me?" Black Sail continued talking calmly, swirling the Vintage wine in the glass around.
"No, sir," The Legionnaire was slowly starting to sweat. His nerves were starting to betray him. The Praefect took another sip of the wine from the glass.
"Back home, in Cyrodiil, it would cost from a mere 25 septims all the way to well over a hundred the farther you get away from the brewery or the more rundown the tavern. But up here in Skyrim where the Nords are more interested in their beer, it is very hard to come by. This bottle alone cost me over 300 septims… but I am still willing to break it and cut your throat nice and deep with whatever is left of the shards if you DON'T TELL ME WHAT YOU CAME TO ASK!"
"S-sir," the Legionnaire was now shaking, sweat pouring down his face. "The cook wanted to know what you wanted to eat."
"Tell him I want grilled leaks with an apple, if no apples are available I'll take half a bread loaf," the Praefect said after taking a breath.
Ten minutes later
Black Sail went to the entrance of the cave and reached for a bowl that was left outside as well as a tankard of water. He grabbed both the bowl and the tankard and sat down in the shade of the cave, looking out into the wilderness. As he ate the grilled leaks he thought of his strategies for taking the fort. After thinking of a plan he decided to rest his mind and focus more on the wilderness outside. He found it peaceful and albeit clean compared to the swamps of Black Marsh, even though he missed his home very much. He looked down at his food and remembered his home. He remembered his mother's cooking the most. His mother was a very good cook; she could bake, grill, make soup and stew, roast, and do just about anything cooking wise. He remembers coming back from the swamps with any of the many ingredients she would need to cook. He would collect anything from spices to any of the non-poisonous fruits and plants and even some of the poisonous ones-his mother had an old family secret to extract the poisons, they would then sell the poisons to alchemists-to fish and wild game. His mother was a sweet woman who would heal any of his wounds that he got hunting and foraging. Thinking of his mother he was reminded of his tribal life in Black Marsh.
The reminder of his tribal life brought back many memories. He remembered how the men in the tribe would go out pillaging to supply the village its supplies. He chuckled at how eager he was to join the men when he was old enough, then again what Tum-Taleel boy wasn't? ((Note: I'm no expert on the Argonian tribes, I may be a lore nerd but give me a break there's a lot of shit to read. I'm making some of this stuff up to fill in some holes, I know a good bit but not a lot so if you find a website that explains them better than Wikipedia and UESP tell me.)) He then thinks back to when he was a teenager and finally of age to go out pillaging with the men. The tribal elder had come to his mother's hut to pick him up for his tests, he must have been quite a sight for he was stuffing his face with his mother's fish and herbal stew, and brought him to a sacred area where his strength, skill, and agility would be tested for three weeks. The tests were brutal, from having to run and swim countless miles without stop, to climbing the tallest of trees and then finding ways to survive the long drops, fighting with his bare hands against some of the most viscous warriors in the tribe and any number of wild beasts within the swamps, and much worse. When he was done with his tests the elder gave him a bowl of some sort of herbal stew that night. After drinking the stew Black Sail fell to his knees and grabbed his stomach, the herbs were poisonous. His vision was becoming blurred and all he could see was red and his body ached like nothing else. When Black Sail came to he was on his back looking up at the sky, it was late in the afternoon. After a couple hours of lying on the ground, letting the soreness pass, he got up and made his way back to the sacred grounds upon which the elder was most definitely waiting. When he returned the elder had a grin on his face, Black Sail then was too young to understand that the elder was most surprised and proud of the young man. Black Sail also didn't know it but being given the poisoned stew, which alone was only something given to those who surpass the above average area of the tests, but he had survived which meant that not only was his body fit and durable but so was his soul had a will to survive. The elder signaled him to move closer to him and gave Black Sail a ceremonial necklace of bones that signified he had passed the tests in which a Tum-Taleel boy becomes a man. He remembers having to force himself to hide his excitement as the elder put the war paint on his face, he can still remember the satisfying feel, sound, and sight of steam and the painful sting as the white ceremonial paint stained itself onto his face, forever marking his himself with all the beautifully intricate patterns and shapes of a true Tum-Taleel man. When the elder finished putting the paint on he sent him home with a respectful bow, Black Sail returned it and began walking. He waited until he was out of the elder's sight before running back home so that he could show his mother the necklace and his war paint as well as tell her about the tests. When he entered the hut and she saw his white marking she actually dropped the clay pot she had just finished cleaning. She was so happy for him that she didn't even bother cleaning up the pot fragments and after giving him an endless amount of hugs and kisses, despite his almost childish resistance, she made him one of his favorite pies.
Black Sail came back to reality at the realization that he knocked over his tankard of water. He frowned at the distant memories, especially those of his mother.
Fort Kastav, night, two days, three bandit attacks, and five dead soldiers later
The Legionnaires were surrounding the fort, the last 45 of them, though Black Sail was on the mountain above it, scouting out the fort. He quickly then climbed down after looking over the area once over for the twentieth time and went to where Legate Fasendil and some other Legionnaires were waiting, a distance away from the fort.
"It looks like there are a few sentries patrolling the outside the fort, I got a good sight of the conch blower, he's asleep under the post," said Black Sail still squatting next to the standing Legate. He was mainly squatting to remain out of sight but mainly to help keep the Legate's view of him as a degenerate of a Legionnaire, people found it dumb but Black Sail found that it helped keep Fasendil manageable and off his back.
"Good, Vertus, go up to where Praefect Sail was and take out the blower, if the rest of the sentries realize what's wrong take out the sentry right there," said Fasendil, pointing to the sentry on top of the main building.
After the team's young archer went up to the ledge, Black Sail and an Auxilary sneaked off towards an entrance to the fort. After he heard the familiar sound of an arrow piercing armor, he immediately passed through the entrance and stabbed a Stormcloak in the chest with both swords. The other Legionnaire took out his patrol partner.
Three minutes later
The Legionnaires had cleared out all the sentries without a scratch, except for an arrow in Vertus' shoulder, but it wasn't very deep. Black Sail went up to Vertus and just ripped it straight out of his shoulder, receiving a cry of pain out of the poor boy.
Inside Fort Kastav Prison
"So what you in here for cat?" asked one of the inmates.
"Killing someone who asked too many questions," answered the Khajiit with an aggravated hiss.
The inmate grunted then laid down and turned his back to the Khajiit, going back to sleep while the female cat just sat in the corner trying to keep warm; she wasn't used to the cold of Skyrim nor did she think she ever would. She hated this damned province, why of all places did it have to be here that she got caught. She would have preferred getting caught somewhere warmer, like Hammerfell or even better, Elsweyr. But no, her partner just had to want to go to Skyrim; civil war he said, lot of coin to be made he said, plenty of contracts he said. She hissed to herself for falling for his words. After many minutes of boiling with anger she almost fell asleep, until she heard the sound of heavy running and the clashing of swords. She saw that some of the Stormcloaks in the room ran towards the entrance of the holding cell room but she could then hear their screams of pain. She thought that it might have been bandits and that a chief might have been here or that some Orcs were attacking by how the Stormcloaks were screaming; she tried to look for any weapons but couldn't find anything. She heard a cry then something gargled, she then looked above only to see a body fall on top of her cell. She then saw a sword dangling down from the body and tried to reach it with all she was worth. She then jumped back whenever she saw the head of the soldier fall into her cell between the bars. She jumped higher and tried to grab for the sword but was unsuccessful and saw a slight silhouette of the invader, it jumped down and started opening the cells of the inmates. It could be heard talking to the inmates, heard something about the Legion before the inmates ran up the stairs. The Khajiit immediately got frightened; the Legion and she didn't have a very good relationship. She saw how the inmates ran out after the Legionnaire let them free, and she didn't know what to do, so she just stood there, waiting. As the Legionnaire got closer she noticed scaly, pale red skin with some green highlights, and a tail. As the Argonian leaned onto the cell bars, giving her a better view of his face and the intricate bright white war paint, he spoke to her in a kind and calming voice.
"Ma'am, are you alright, are you hurt in any way?" said the Argonian. As he began to unlock the cell door a Stormcloack, a very muscular one at that, came out of nowhere and knocked him into the cell doors and raised his Warhammer for a killing blow and brought it down. As the mountain of a man brought his large weapon down, the Legionnaire instantly turned invisible, strange because she didn't see him take a sip of any potion like she usually would. As the Warhammer hit the ground it shattered the cobblestone floor. The soldier got in a weird stance and then the Legionnaire reappeared with his sword across the rebel's neck. As the Legionnaire whispered something into the rebel's ear, most likely the usual saying whose side is better, the Stormcloak then head butted the Legionnaire. The Argonian used his free hand to see if his head was still fully intact.
"You know what, I thought that I would give you a peaceful death," the Argonian said in a very dark tone. Black sail then looked at where his sword had been cutting into his captive's neck and saw some blood trickle out.
"But I have a different idea," he hissed before turning towards the Khajiit in the cell. "If you know what's good for you, you'll close your eyes and keep your mouth shut."
The female in the cell was confused until she saw the lizard open his mouth and saw his teeth, she knew Argonians, like Khajiit, had sharp teeth, but his front teeth were sharper, but she didn't realize that the ones that were sharper were at the front corners of his mouth when it was too late. The Argonian reeled his arm with the sword back almost too quick for the eye to see and bit into the soldier's neck and held tight to the rebel as he tried to get away. The rebel screamed as if he was being eaten alive and the female realized that he was, the Legionnaire was a vampire.
After about a moment of the Stormcloak screaming, he stopped and his skin was paler than bleached snow. The Legionnaire removed his jaws from the Stormcloak's neck, blood dripping from his fangs, and dropped him onto the ground. The female just looked in horror at what she had seen. The Argonian looked towards her direction and eased his expression before he walked over to the Khajiit's cell. He unlocked the door, and extended his hand for the woman to take. The woman then thrust her hand and a large explosion threw the Legionnaire back into the cell door parallel of her own. As soon as she could the woman sprinted towards vampire and got on top of him and wrapped her hands around Black Sail's throat with her claws digging into it, threatening him silently.
Well there we go another chapter. Took you long enough. Shut up, and don't forget everyone to leave a review.