The Fall of Lord Kelvyn
By Commentaholic
A/N: I'm feeling really optimistic.
4 reviews, one story favorite, and two story alert additions! And 84 hits and 40 views in the past two days! (August 18th and 19th)
I've got mixed reviews about romance, so it's probably safe to assume that I got some things right, but I do admit that I made their connection seem a bit fast. One must keep in mind that they had been working together for about 4 months, and love does work in mysterious ways (CLICHE).
Thanks to Arty and DualKatanas for pointing out things I missed.
Because of the questions that have been presented about the color of Velvet's eyes, I will clarify: As opposed to the normal eyes of a Dunmer (black pupils with a red ring around it), Velvet's eyes are like a normal black pupil surrounded by another circle of green, like a normal eye. Dunmer eyes are like the red ring of death for an Xbox 360, Velvet's are like a emerald circle with a black dot at the center (with the white around those, of course).
I am now going to write something that I should have written several chapters ago.
Read and Review!
Chapter 7: Dawn Breaks on Battlehorn
"Six o'clock of the morning watch and all's well!" a voice yelled, shattering Kelvyn's peaceful dream.
Lord Kelvyn, Master of Battlehorn Castle, grumbled as he rolled out of bed.
As sat on the edge of the bed, rubbing his eyes and yawning, a knock came at his door. It was Hannah Theloria, his aide.
"My Lord, Caecilius Saramius is here to see you." she said.
"Good, he made it, send him in." said Kelvyn.
Kelvyn dressed in his burgundy linen suit and waited by the windowfor Caecilius to come in.
A tall, armor-clad Imperial Legion Soldier strode in, he walked to Kelvyn and saluted sharply. "Caecilius Saramius reporting for duty as requested, sir," he said briskly.
"Have a seat, Caecilius," Kelvyn gestured to the chair opposite him, and once the man had taken a seat, he continued, "I requested your presence because I have an offer for you. I want you to be the Captain of the Guard here at Battlehorn Castle."
The Imperial looked confused. "Surely there are some more qualified than I am," he said.
"Indeed, but I have seen your file. During training, in the face of insurmountable odds, you managed to construct your team into an unbeatable defensive force."
"I had a good teacher, that is all," Caecilius said calmly.
Kelvyn beckoned, "Come here, Caecilius, have a look."
As the two men approached the window, Kelvyn pointed down at the courtyard, where the men-at-arms were sparring.
"What do you see, Caecilius?" asked Kelvyn.
Kelvyn saw Caecilius's eyes take in the walls, the stairs, the gate, and finally sweep over the soldiers.
"I see soldiers willing to die defending this brilliantly designed fortress, ones that know it better than I do and are more capable of defending it." said Caecilius.
Kelvyn sighed, then said, "You see a leaderless army, a bladeless sword, a headless chicken. None of these men have the knowledge or cleverness to lead, only to follow." he turned his back to the window, striding towards his private library, saying, "They have been wandering around the walls aimlessly since the last full moon, when my guard captain had to take half of Battlehorn's forces to eradicate a werewolf pack harrassing a settlement from a den nearby. You may ask why we took the risk, but as the only military establishment in the entirety of the Colovian Highlands Wilderness, we are obligated to protect the nearby citizens."
Kelvyn sat down at a writing desk, setting up a quill, an inkwell, and a piece of parchment, then looked at Caecilius, saying, "Anyway, on the night of the Werewolf raid, 500 of my men went into that cave to fight 50 of the beasts, 70 came out. They had been successful in killing the werewolves, but to those fifty beasts, JUST FIFTY, I had lost 430 men, including my Guard Captain, Alveroth. Since then, all of my soldiers have either been too traumatized or too cowardly to step up to any leadership position. They spar now only because I ordered them to. Caecilius, we need a soldier with your leadership talents," Kelvyn said while writing on the parchment, "This note will get you anything you require from the forges or armory. You can start at once, or leave and let me try to find another before any more trouble happens locally." Kelvyn handed him the sheet.
Caecilius was speechless. He couldn't just leave these people without a leader, and it would take a week to even get a courier to the Imperial City for a request for a replacement.
"I accept your request, Lord Kelvyn."
2 hours later, Lord Kelvyn was watching the men-at-arms sparring with a will that he hadn't seen for a fortnight.
Caecilius was marching among them in his gleaming new steel armor.
"Good lad, you'll need to be prepared, if the rumors I've heard are true. If they are, Battlehorn will have to go through Oblivion and back by the time we're done.
20 miles south of Battlehorn Castle
The Velvet Rogue raised her elven claymore, pointing it north.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, Men and Mer, Bandits of all races. Move Out! I want to be at Battlehorn Castle by nightfall!"
The horde raised their countless implements of death and destruction in celebration. The horde, 2,000 strong marched north, for death or glory, but mostly for money.
Aldrein the battlemage watched them go from his hiding spot. Originally, he had thought that this mission of watching the bandits would come for nothing, despite it being the largest bandit gathering in over 50 years. Archmage Traven had been correct, The Velvet Rogue was a threat. He had to warn Battlehorn, or The Colovian Highlands would burn. He wrote the warning on a scroll, summoned his eagle familiar, secured the scroll to the leg of the eagle. He sent it on its way to Camdafire, his friend at Battlehorn, she would know to get it to Lord Kelvyn.
The eagle took flight, rising on the thermals, banking north towards Battlehorn.
20 minutes later
Fires-His-Arrows-Quickly raised his amber eyes, from watching the bandits ahead of him, to the sky. The mysterious eagle had been catching up to them, almost as if it was trying to outrun the horde. He raised his scaly eyebrow. Eagles weren't even native to Cyrodiil, they were only hatched in Argonia, and most of them were used as letter-carriers for Shadowscale commandos.
They couldn't have found him, could they? He couldn't take that chance; he raised his bow, Surestrike, sighting along the arrow's shaft. He let fly the arrow.
300 feet up, the arrow found its mark, the bird familiar screeched in pain, tumbling to the ground, an arrow through its breast. Its message would lay unread in the branches of the trees.
Fires-His-Arrows-Quickly breathed a sigh of relief as the eagle tumbled from the sky, his secret was safe. No one would know his location, the renegade Shadowscale was hidden safely again.
At the head of the column, Velvet rode atop her fearsome steed, Sunburst. Beside her rode Rhesus on his black stallion, Helen on her gray mare, with Starlight and Shadow riding white and black horses, respectively.
A grim look crossed Velvet's face. Some would die, she knew that, it was inevitable of war. She just hoped that those closest would survive.
A/N: To tell the truth, that last part with Velvet's grim look, I didn't know how to end the chapter, so I just put that. When I rewrite this story, i'll probably come up with a better ending. I did get to use 5 of the names that Arty gave me, though, so :D. Recognize them, Arty?
*post submission correction: Vampires can travel during the day, providing that they drink blood within 24 hours of the travel. In the game, 24 hours w/o blood = stage 1 vampirism=sun damage, with each progressive day that passes, it gets worse. Helen, having a large horde from which to suck blood secretly (the horde doesn't know her true nature), she can travel any time she wants. Sucking blood does not automatically cause death, like in the game, you can suck blood w/o killing.*
I'd actually like to take a moment to recognize all you loyal viewers, readers, reviewers, and supporters. It is you that have inspired me to write these stories. Even now, I am writing to approach a milestone, 10,000 words in The Fall of Kelvyn. I reach that milestone with this word here.