Authors Note:
Hey, thanks for reading! This is one of my first fan fictions, and I plan on writing it as a trilogy. Please leave a review, as it would really help me improve my writing skill.
Delric plunged his sword through the chest of the Darkened beast, the Breton steel going straight through it's chest cavity. The monster gave a muffled screech, grabbing Delric by the throat with it's clawed hand. Gasping for air Delric kneed the beast in the chest, however the monstrosity did not relent, tightening it's grip around his throat. An arrow whizzed by Delric's head, plunging itself into the skull of the demon. The sudden event caused the demon to loosen it's grip on Delric's throat, reaching for it's damaged eye in reflex. Using this new advantage Delric ripped the sword out of the Demon's chest and severed it's arm. Gasping for air and feeling his neck, he took a step back, planting his feet down firm and getting into a position to engage the Demon again.
"These things are hard to kill" Delric yelled out, as the beast also got into an attack position, pointing it's sword straight at him.
"These 'things' are Daedra my boy. Spawns from the plains of oblivion" Akorithi, the Redguard Prince yelled. The Redguard stood a bit behind Delric, using a stolen imperial bow to take down Daedra from afar while Delric fought them up close. Delric turned back to the Daedra as it began to charge at him, wielding it's sword in a fairly barbaric manner. The Daedra quickly shorten the distance between it and Delric, bringing it's sword down directly over him. Delric rolled to the left, leaving it's large blade in the grass where he had just previously been. Scrambling back to his feet, Delric spun to face the Demon as it attempted to pull it's sword out of the ground. Taking the opportunity, he performed his own charge on the Daedra, severing it's other arm, and then slicing it's head off. The now headless Daedra fell to the ground, dissolving into purplish dust afterward. Hefting up the sword the beast left behind, Delric examined it, noticing the extremely brutish nature of the weapon.
"What in Akatosh's name do they want then? If they're from the plains of Oblivion?" Delric asked, looking at the Redguard as he sheathed his sword.
"No clue." Akorithi answered bluntly, slinging his bow onto his back. "We should get going, for all we know the Hammerfell fleets could have taken off without us" Dropping the sword on the ground, Delric gave the Redguard a quizzical look.
"Wait, are you not the commander of the Navy?" Delric asked. "Why would they leave their own General behind?"
"And why would the King leave his own Lion Guard behind?" The Redguard replied, silencing Breton as the began walking towards what they believed to be the coast of the Stronghold.
After a bit of walking, the two were nearing the shore when they heard shouts. I unsheathing his sword, Delric turned to see a couple of Imperials running towards them, swords unsheathed and waving.
"Lay down your arms!" one of the imperials shouted.
"Oh for the love of Stendarr, don't these idiots see the giant portal in the sky?" Delric asked, holding his sword out. Although His sword had been dented due to fighting the previous Daedra, it was still sharp enough to cut Imperial armor. Spreading his feet out, Delric prepared to strike down those who came a bit too close.
"No way in hell I'm being taken back to Cyrodiil" Akorithi agreed, unslinging his bow and knotting it, preparing to fire a barrage on the imperials while Delric dealt with them upfront. Hearing a slight rustle in the leaves behind him, Delric turned his head a bit to see a glint of silver behind him. Before he could do anything, he felt a sword brush against the back of his throat.
"I'd suggest you drop those" A female voice behind them said. Gripping his sword, but now staring straight ahead towards the Imperials Delric asked
"And what would happen if we don't?"
"Well, then you get shot by about 12 archers behind me, assuming I don't cleave your head off" She said, her voice fairly nonchalant in the threat.
Looking to his side, he noticed that Akorithi had dropped his bow. Having no other choice, Delric followed his lead, sheathing his sword, and unbuckling his belt. The belt fell to the ground, his potions and knives clattering to the ground along with it. He continued to look forward, as his arms became bounded chained together with cuffs, as the other Imperials from before finally caught up.
"Thanks Legate, we needed the help back there" The Imperial leading the group said, sheathing his own sword.
"Well of course I had to, you idiots would've been castrated if I had not." The female Legate claimed, stepping out from the shadows behind Delric and Akorithi, sheathing her sword onto her hip.
As she walked in front of the two prisoners, Delric was able to discern that the Legate was indeed a female. She was tall in stature, and was fairly muscular for a female. Her hair was of a golden color, placed in a knotted bun behind her head. The color easily distinguished her as the mixed child of both a Nord and Imperial, not a surprising sight due to the mass amounts of imperials being placed into Skyrim during the coup d'etat of the provinces previous King. The Legate had a scar going across her chin, although not necessarily deep, it showed that she had been in many battles before. On her side was the sword that she had sheathed before, an Imperial sword known as a Gladius. It was maneuvered typically with one hand, as many short swords would, however strangely she had multiple strings attached to the handle of her sword, each one a different shade of green.
"Now, if you idiots have done enough staring" She said as she tightened and checked the bounds on both Delric's and Akorithi's cuffs "Load these two men onto the ship, and do not delay". The imperial soldiers, after sheathing their swords walked up to both Delric and Akorithi, grabbing them by the arms and hoisting them up from their kneeled positions. The Imperial that had grabbed Delric had been the one who had initially yelled at them before. He was a short man, shorter than Delric, who was of an average height for a Breton. The Imperial was also very skinny, and lacked any if all muscle, making him look more like a Nordic druager than an Imperial soldier. Delric knew that he could most likely take this Imperial out in mere seconds, but what worried him was the 3 other imperials walking next to Akorithi and him. They would be sure to strike them both down, making the escape effort thoughts of escape were suddenly interrupted when he heard a large roar, that sounded to belong to some type of large creature. He looked up as the other Imperial soldiers unsheathed their weapons.
"What in the hell was that?" The Imperial next to Delric said, his eyes nearly popping out of his skull
"It was nothing, keep moving to the ship" The Legate ordered, as she motioned for two archers to go back and check out the bizarre sound. The archers nodded, unslinging their bows and moving back towards the blood curdling sound. Most of the imperials began to continue moving, however Akorithi had stopped dead in his tracks, his head low as he began participating in some sort of prayer. The legate opened her mouth, about to issue an order when the ground below them opened upwards, sending everyone flying backwards. Landing roughly on his back, Delric rolled to the right, shielding his face with his cuffed hands as dirt landed on top of him. Putting his hands down, the Breton looked up in shock as a large winged demon flew over head. The beast had the look of a dragon, however it sported four wings instead of the average two. It's body was of a humanoid origin, having two stalwart legs, and two arms that were of a dark gray scale nature. The beast landed, roaring as it did. Suddenly, it lunged at one of the imperials on the ground, grabbing him in it's hand the beast let out a roar. In doing so, the Imperial man screamed, his gladius dropping from his hands, and landing a down on the mud coated ground. The beast let out another roar, crushing the Imperial. The action instantly killing him, as blood seeped down to the ground like water from the beasts hands. Disturbed, Delric attempted to get up from his position, refusing to die in this nightmare. Praying to each divine, He began sprinting away from his previous location, jumping over bodies of the damned.
Screams filled Delric's ears and mind as he ran through the forest, their cries quickly being cut with each roar that accompanied them. As the minutes passed, the screams decreased, as men were ripped apart by the flying Daedra. Praying for the poor souls, Delric continued to run, beads of sweat flowing down from his face as he exerted himself to his limit. His vision began to falter, as he felt himself give up inside. Tripping over a branch, he placed his cuffed hands in front of him, forcing them to take the brunt of his fall. Now coated in mud, he attempted to get up when he heard the same loud roar that would later begin to haunt his nightmares. Still in fear, he slowly cocked his head up to see the that same Daedra who had ripped countless men apart, had landed in front of him, however it's back was faced towards him. Thanking Akatosh for his new found luck, he slowly brought himself up. Looking in front of the Daedra, he could see that a woman was in front of the beast, her long hair golden. Looking closer, Delric was surprised to see that it was the Imperial Legate who had placed the cuffs on him.
The Imperial was now holding onto an imperial shield, holding it in a defensive manner on her front. In her other hand, she had her Gladius, now coated in blood. Standing in front of the Daedra, she did not give off the sense of feeling intimidated by the beast that towered over her. Her face was calm as she fixed the spacing of her feet. She positioned her shield at an angle to deflect any frontal blows, and then taunted the beast to attack, yelling a few explicits that Delric was too far away to hear. The Daedra, having fallen for these taunts, lunged, swinging it's clawed hands towards the Imperial. However she was quick on her feet, rolling to the left and avoiding the attack. The Legate got back on her feet, hefted her shield up and charged at the Daedra, taking a few swipes at the beast as she jumped onto it's arm and began running up straight for it's head. The Daedra, now noticing the danger it was in, quickly made a swinging motion with it's arm, causing the Imperial to lose her footing. Plunging her sword into the Daedra's arm, her shield flew from her hand and she grabbed hold to her Gladius for dear life.
Cursing, Delric looked at his cuffed hands. He would be no use dead, however if he could just break his chains, he could cast some sort of spell to turn the battle. Looking around, his eyes fell on a large boulder, that with enough effort would be able to break his chains. Running up to it, he noticed a pair of red glowing eyes out in the wilderness. Ignoring them, he began to bang his chains against the boulder, praying to every divine he knew for his cuffs to break. Looking back, he saw that the Imperial had dislodged her sword, and was now on the ground, rolling out of the way from as the Demon slammed it's fist on the ground, sending a shockwave that even Delric felt. He watched as she rolled behind the Daedra, shoving her sword into it's back. The Daedra thrashed, wiping it's fists at the ground as it began to beat all of it's wings. The Imperial, now without a sword or shield, dashed out of the way, and continued running as the beast turned towards her, it's eyes filled with rage. To His surprise, he noticed that the Imperial was running towards him, her sword still no where to be seen. Delric stopped his his futile attempt at breaking his chains as the Imperial came to a brisk jog in front of him, grabbing his arm and ushering him to run with her. Reluctantly obeying, he ran behind her, his breaths coming in short gasps, only to quicken in pace as he heard the loud roar of the Daedra behind him. Looking back, he noticed that the beast was tearing the forest apart, inspecting the beast further, he observed that one of it's wings had a large gash. Looking back to the Imperial, he noticed that she was holding a match in one hand, and a sad attempt at a fire spell in the other.
"Concentrate" Delric yelled, as he attempted to run next to her, raising his chained hand to protect his face as a large branch crashed down next to them.
"And what do you think I'm doing? Twiddling my thumbs!?" She yelled back, continuing to attempt a fire spell, but having it sputter and then die at each go.
"Just…just clear your mind of everything and everyone, let it the flame flow through you" Delric replied, looking behind them to see that the Daedra was closing in on them, it's mouth opened as it prepared to lunge and eat them both in one go. Shaking his head, he looked back to the Imperial to see that she had closed her eyes, and was starting to slow down. Cursing, he began to slow down as well, hoping with every ounce in his body that Daedra didn't like the taste of Breton.
"I… I've got it!" The Legate cried, as a ball of fire appeared in her hand.
"Great… So uhm, how is that going to help us in this situation?" Delric asked as the Daedra was practically on top of them, uprooting trees as it closed the short distance.
"You may want to get back.." The Legate said, casting the torrent of flames on the ground in front of them. The foliage caught fire, and soon after he could hear the shattering of glass and explosions.
"Run." The Imperial yelled, turning around as the whole area began to explode in flames. Delric followed suit, jumping over a log and running after her.
"What in Akatosh's name was that?" Delric yelled, his heart beating at nearly unhealthy measures.
"Just some of Ebonheart's other defenses" She called out, slowing her pace and looking back. Gasping for air, Delric slowed himself as well, turning back around to see that the majority of the area they were just in was engulfed in flames. The beast was nowhere to be seen, and Delric hoped it stayed like that. Turning back to the Legate, catching a look at her. Her golden hair was slightly burnt, and had a new scar across her face.
"So… think we can finally get off this god forsaken Stronghold?" Delric asked, turning around to see the coastline along with multiple Imperial ships.
"I guess you could say that" The Legate said, grabbing his shoulder and leading him onto the shore, calling to a few Imperials as she did.