The Fall of Lord Kelvyn
By Commentaholic
A/N: As I said at the end of my last submission, I intend to give this backstory the length it deserves. Because of the importance of Rhesus's joining with Velvet, as well as Velvet's mysterious past, I plan to make 1 or 2 more parts of this part of the story before returning to the present.
Sooner or later, I am going to finally get around to rewriting the earlier chapters in an effort to make my story's quality uniformly good throughout the submissions. I feel as though that too many people get driven off by the teaser trailer and the first real chapter's poor quality. Looking at the traffic for the individual chapters, it starts off at roughly 300 hits, and then drops to about 90 for the chapter after the trailer, then constantly drops in number of hits as the chapters continue. Therefore, the trailer will be rewritten as a legitimate prologue, and the other early chapters will undergo a massive overhaul. When the refit is complete, I'll let you loyal readers know, so you can let me know how my remake went.
Also, Dark Minion's Diary will be making a comeback, with improved chapters and an ending that will end in tears for a certain group of fangirls, probably prompting a few angry messages.
Anyway, let's get this show on the road!
Read and Review!
Chapter 9, Part 4: Cropsford
A bolt of lightning burst from the swirling stormclouds, illuminating the darkened forest path below for a brief, blinding moment. Sheets of rain pelted down upon the lone figure on horseback that was working his way up the muddy path. The howling wind swept through the thrashing trees, causing the thick cloak protecting the figure from the harsh element to billow about him. As another jagged line of lightning clove the dark clouds in two, the rider, head bowed against the wind, struggled to rein in his crazed and panicking horse. Thunder rumbled through the thick curtain of rain that obscured the surrounding woodlands from view. The horse reared in fright, almost throwing the rider down into the mud. As the horse came back down onto its front legs once more, the figure's hood that he wore low over his face was whipped back by the wind as he attempted to reach forward to grab the horse's bit and calm it.
"Easy, girl, it's only a storm," Rhesus said soothingly. The horse turned a big brown eye towards him and nickered against his hand worriedly, still frightened, but reassured by her master. Rhesus patted her neck, sitting back up in the saddle, rain plastering his warrior braids onto the back of his neck. Rhesus tried to peer through the curtain of rain that veiled the world. This wasn't going as planned at all.
After finishing his apprenticeship under Neville, an Imperial Legion soldier posted in Rhesus's hometown, Rheus had left his home to seek his fortune as a warrior, as was tradition. Redguards who came of age were expected to embark on a journey of self-discovery, and Rhesus was no different. Rhano, Rhesus's younger brother, had begged Rhesus to stay. Rhesus had knelt down to look his brother in the eye, tousling Rhano's thin hair as the 10-year old clung to his mother's skirt with a deathgrip that would require a troll to break it.
"Rhano," Rhesus had said, "The world calls to me, as does my destiny. When you are older, you will understand the feeling. For now, I need you to be strong for me, to take care of mother. Unlike father, I don't intend to die in some far-off, god-forsaken land before I return home. I promise you, I will return in 3 years, after I make something of myself. Be the man around the house while I'm gone, can you do that for me?"
Rhano sniffed and nodded, tears streaking down his face as the young boy tried to put on a brave face.
Rhesus had smiled and stood, and after saying his farewell to his mother, hefting his claymore across his back and strapping on his shortsword, had departed through the gate in the stone wall that enclosed their yard.
After a year of travel through Morrowind, he had crossed over the border and entered Cyrodiil, the capital province of Tamriel. Rhesus didn't expect for there to be much work here, because the Imperial Legion likely kept the lands safe in this important region. Therefore, he was planning to get through the province quickly, trying his luck in Elsweyr. He'd been making good progress when this terrible storm had hit.
Rhesus averted his eyes from another blinding flash of lightning, and in doing so, happened to notice a yellow glow illuminating the dark, huddled clouds that gathered in the air to the west. At last, civilization! Rhesus thought, hoping for an inn in which to wait out the clouds' deluge of water and lightning. He turned his horse off the path, proceeding through the trees toward the glow.
Rhesus and his horse emerged from the accursedly thick bushes that had sprung up in abundance throughout the woods. What he found on the other side made his blood run cold.
The settlement was engulfed in flame, pyres of smoke billowed toward the already dark sky as the wooden structures crackled under the intense heat. Silhouetted gainst the flames, he could make out figures engaged in combat. Drawing his claymore, Rhesus lunged toward the melee. As he closed the distance, he managed to distinguish the figures through the heavy smoke that obscured the battlefield. Goblins, dozens of them, were attacking a small cluster of people who were showing obvious signs of fatigue and injury.
Rhesus leapt towards the goblins that were encircling the small band of settlers. Reaching the closest one, he swung his claymore in a diagonal slash, cleaving through the goblin's thin bone armor, but only causing a light injury. The goblin spun about and screeched in a high voice at the newcomer. Rhesus swung once more, severing its head, and the goblin crumpled. Rhesus immediately slashed at the next goblin, first hacking off its arm, and then cutting the goblin in half, causing it to collapse onto the ground, its strange staff rolling from its limp fingers.
Turning to the rest of the goblins, he saw that he had lost his element of surprise. Alerted by the fallen goblin's screech, the others had spun about and started charging towards the Redguard. Backpedaling to buy himself time and to lure them away from the beleaguered farmers, Rhesus almost lost his balance when his foot struck a stone. Stumbling, Rhesus swung his blade to discourage the goblins from taking advantage of his momentary imbalance. When Rhesus hit the ground, he tucked into a backwards roll, trying to get back to his feet as soon as possible, he was only partly successful.
Rhesus had managed to tumble backwards into a crouch, but as he tried to stand, he felt his back hit the side of a wagon's burnt-out husk. The goblins regrouped and advanced towards Rhesus slowly, fanning out into a semi-circle to prevent his escape. Rhesus noticed that some of the goblins had different markings from the others. He realized that he had stumbled upon the battlefield of a goblin clan war.
Normally, goblins only fought other clans, but he had painted a huge target on himself when he had killed the warlord of one clan, and the shaman of the other. The goblins looked pissed. Although it was rare to see goblins of opposing clans teaming up in the face of a common foe, Rhesus didn't have the luxury to appreciate history in the making. Rhesus leapt to the side, and then darted towards the right side of the half-ring of goblin warriors, swinging his heavy claymore. Decapitating one and disarming another, he managed to break free of the deadly semi-circle.
"Duck!" a female voice yelled in a thick accent.
Rhesus dove to the ground as a pair of arrows streaked overhead, cutting down two of the 6 remaining goblins. He looked up to see two Dunmer, a man and a woman, each holding an iron bow. Rhesus sprang up again and turned toward the goblins. He had to cover the archers as they prepared for another shot. As he dropped his claymore in favor of the more agile shortsword, the goblins rushed him. Rhesus kicked the nearest one back, and brought up the blade. He sprang forward and slashed a deep furrow in the torso of one of the goblins, then wheeled about and stabbed another through the heart. Two more arrows flew past him, missing him by mere inches, and twin feathered shafts grew out of the goblin that had been sneaking up behind Rhesus. Rhesus then heard a pained yelp from the archers' direction. The Redguard spun about once more and threw his shortsword through the air. It spun end over end, glittering in the firelight, and made a hollow thunk noise as it pierced into the skull of the goblin standing over the bleeding form of the female Dunmer. The goblin toppled backwards, its face skyward, a gleaming steel blade standing erect from its forehead.
The male Dunmer rushed to the woman's side, Rhesus assumed that she was his wife from the gentle caresses used to comfort her as she passed into the void. The Dunmer broke into tears, lowering his head to her side, weeping. Rhesus approached cautiously, placing his hand on his shoulder in an attempt to console him.
A Breton approached Rhesus and the Dunmer from the direction of the burning buildings. Stepping gingerly over Breton, Dunmer, and goblin corpses alike, he reached for Rhesus's hand. Pumping Rhesus's gauntleted hand up and down furiously, the man let loose a stream of thanks. Rhesus freed his hand as gently as he could and asked the obvious question: "How did this happen?"
The Breton sighed as he ran a singed, bloody hand through his already grimy hair. "It all started about 3 days ago when the second goblin clan appeared in the forest southwest of here. We never had any problems with the ones to the north other than the occasional stray goblin, nothing we couldn't handle. Then 3 days ago, my son spotted a goblin with different clan markings in the southwest woods. For two days, we witnessed the two groups skirt around Cropsford. They never came in, nor had any sort of confrontation until about four hours ago."
A resounding crack interrupted the story as the roof of the nearest house collapsed in a flurry of sparks, ashes and flames. The Breton gestured that they move a bit farther away, and as they relocated, he introduced himself as Barthel Gernand. Rhesus gave his name and returned the man's handshake.
"Anyway, as I was saying," Barthel continued, "A few hours ago, I was roused from sleep by quite a ruckus from outside. I hopped up and went to my window and saw a group of goblins thunder past, right through the village square, heading into the woods to the southwest. What I took to be the leader was carrying a staff with a shriveled old goblin head upon it. It had to be important, or else they wouldn't have made such a big deal about it. We thought nothing of it, dismissing it as one of those common goblin fits of insanity. Then a pursuing group of goblins ran past, chasing the totem-bearing group. They must've gotten it, too, because the same group came a-running back this way with staff in hand. This little game of capture the flag continued until about 10 minutes ago, when this happened." gestured at the fiery buildings.
"The north goblins were running back through, clutching their staff, when one of the other clan's shamans lobbed a fireball after them. The spell went wide of its target and hit the house across the square from mine. It spread, well, it spread like wildfire." Barthel smiled grimly at his own joke, "We tried to put it out, but our efforts drew the goblins' attention. Before we knew it, they were everywhere, bristling with weapons. We tried to fight them off, but they just kept coming until you came along. In fact, it's rather odd, but they must've run out of goblins to send at us. Either that or they're massing for another attack, but let's hope for the former rather than the latter."
Rhesus nodded and pulled his shortsword from the dead goblin's skull with a juicy popping sound. He cleaned it on the goblin's tattered clothing and looked about on the ground for the claymore he had dropped during the battle. His search was interrupted by a terrified scream from a nearby house that was engulfed in flame.
The grieving Dunmer whipped his head up at the noise, looking for its source. Once he'd determined its location, he started babbling incoherently in the confusing Dunmeri tongue. Barthel tried to calm him, asking a something in the panicked mer's language. The mer let loose a storm of slurred phrases that would have been hard to decipher even if Rhesus could speak the dark elves' language.
"What's he saying?" asked Rhesus.
The Breton looked at Rhesus, his eyes wide, "His daughter. His daughter is still inside!" he said.
Rhesus whirled and dashed towards the burning building without a word. Crossing the distance between the survivors and the flame-engulfed structure only took a matter of moments. Once he got there, he charged through the charred door, splintering its fragile frame with the strength born out of desperation to save the stranger's daughter.
Rhesus's head whipped around, looking around the room for the girl, hand over his mouth to block out the smoke and ashes.
Another scream rose above the sound of crackling flames.
Rhesus looked upward, where the scream had come from, then started for the stairs. Fire was crackling along the wooden steps, but Rhesus paid no heed to the danger. Bounding up the stairs, Rhesus turned the corner and ran down the burning corridor. After checking two of the rooms, he entered the third to find a girl cowering under her bed, her face streaked with lines of purple skin revealed by tears as they washed away the ashes that covered her shaking form.
Rhesus ran to her and tried to extract her from her haven, but she fought him viciously. Rhesus took a precious moment to think. She probably was too frightened to distinguish the Redguard from the monsters that had done this to her home, so he couldn't force her.
"Listen, I'm here to help," Rhesus shouted over the roar of the inferno as they ate at the building's wooden frame, "Come with me, I'll get you out of here and to your father."
The girl's eyes met his as Rhesus said this, glittering green orbs reflecting the dreadful orange glow of the flames that filled the room. She crawled out from under her bed and Rhesus picked her up and turned towards the door. Rhesus, hugging the girl to his body to protect her from the inferno, ran towards the stairs. He turned to descend the steps, and almost tumbled into the gap where the steps had been. They now lay in a smoldering pile on the bottom floor.
The girl coughed into his neck. Rhesus franticly looked around for another exit. They had to get out fast, or the smoke would be the end of them. Spotting a window, he told the girl to hang on tight. She must've understood, despite the language barrier, because she tightened her grip about his waist. Rhesus sprinted down the hall and dove through the window, praying that there was something to soften the landing. He twisted in mid-air to make sure that he would land on his back, protecting the girl from the impact. Together, they flew through empty air, and arced toward the ground below.
A/N: Well, there's the start. It just seemed like a good place to stop, you know?
I'm still working on my other stories, but I also plan to finish this part of the story before moving on to fixing DMD.