Here we go with chapter 3 then. Hope you enjoy. Please feel free to review if you like it.
Ash pressed himself flat against the wall as he heard the Imperial soldiers approaching the gate. "Lets get out there and try to restore some order!" He recognised that voice, it was the Legate from the execution. "Get this gate open" she ordered one of her men.
Ralof looked over at Ash and nodded. Ash responded with a nod of his own, gripping his axe tight in his hand as the gate swung open and the Legate marched through with two other soldiers.
Ralof dived towards the Legate as she crossed the doorway and she only just managed to duck her head down out of the line of his sword thrust. Taking a step away from Ralof she drew her sword "Damn Stormcloak" she screamed as she lunged in to engage him.
The other two soldiers had stepped through the door behind the Legate and when Ralof had dived at the Legate they moved to attack his unprotected back. However they were cut off as Ash stepped out infront of them. They paused for a second then attacked the large Orc together. He sidestepped to the left out of the path of one blade, parrying the other with the flat of his axe. The soldier closest to him brought the sword back across in a brutal slash aimed at his midsection. However Ash dodged back a step to avoid being sliced open at the guts. The man had put a great amount of his strength into that swing and missing had left his sword arm out to the right, leaving him exposed for just a second. Ash used this second to take a step in and head-butt the man viciously. His head spikes pierced the man's skin and the force of the blow sent him reeling back onto the floor. The other soldier launched his attack from the side as the man fell back. Thrusting his sword at Ash's head he managed to knick him on the cheek as he turned his head to avoid the blow.
Ash was annoyed that he had managed to be blooded due to leaving himself open. He continued his turn and swung his axe low. His axe connected with the mans leg and almost severed it due to the momentum of his spin and the mighty muscles in his arm. The Human fell to the ground screaming in agony. The other soldier had recovered and was charging over hoping to skewer Ash with his longsword, in an attempt to save the man on the floor. The Orc brought up his axe and used the flat side to slap them mans blade down. Using his free hand he grabbed the soldier's wrist and directed his blade into his fallen comrades' chest. The Imperial on the floor gurgled for a moment before dying. The soldiers eyes were wide with shock and anger as he attempted to withdraw his sword from his allies chest. Ash spun his axe in his hand and brought it down into the mans shoulder, once then twice. The soldier coughed up blood and fell to the floor in a heap.
Ash's head spun around to see Ralof still engaged in a furious back and forth with the Legate. For a second the woman gained the upper hand and swatted his blade aside. The Stormcloak had not expected the sudden change of direction and the sword flew from his hand and clattered to the floor. The Legate smiled and raised her sword for the killing blow. Ash knew he would never be able to cross the room in time to intercept her blade. He drew back his arm and let his axe fly. The weapon flew end over end as the Legates sword swiftly made its way toward Ralof's exposed neck. Moments before the blade sliced into him there was a sickening –thunk- as the axe embedded itself in the back of the Imperial. She gasped for a second trying to draw breath, then she dropped her weapon and fell to the ground dead.
Ralof sighed a breath of relief as Ash made his way over to retrieve his weapon. "That was a close one friend" he looked down at the dead woman as the axe was ripped from her back. He smiled to the Orc "How did you know you wouldn't miss?" Ash smiled back to him "I Didn't, but it seemed like even if I did you would have died either way". The Stormcloak looked shocked for a minute then he burst into laughter "Hahaha….I like you Orc…Ash. You dealt with those fighters well. It looks like with a bit of luck we might actually make it out of here"
Ash nodded and looked to the now unlocked gate and walked over to pick up a longsword to replace the axe as it suited his fighting style more "Lets move then before more of them turn up." And with that they ran down the hall
Ralof and Ash moved slowly down the staircase as they moved through the fort. They had been moving uninterrupted for about twenty minutes now and were making good progress. Just as they came to a corner Ralof raised his hand for Ash to stop "Do you hear that?". Ash listened and indeed he could hear it, the sound of what could only be fighting not far from them.
"We best hurry" said Ralof, clearly worried that some of his comrades could be in danger. They ran along a corridor and stopped when they got to the room where the sounds were coming from. They heard the clash of steel on steel, then suddenly a crackling sound ripped through the air and a scream rang out. They looked at each other then both ran through the door. On the other side they were greeted by two Stormcloaks fighting an imperial soldier and some kind of wizard. The room appeared to be some kind of torture area. The soldier and stormcloak fought furiously, each trying to gain the upper hand. The Imperial swung his Two-handed sword in huge arcs trying to dismember the Nord, who was franticly deflecting the blows with his warhammer. It was the other Stormcloak however who was in the most dire need of assistance. The mage had him on his knees as lightning sparked out from his fingers and into the mans chest. His armour was starting to sizzle as he tried to climb to his feet. Ralof sped across the room to help the soldier engaged in combat with the Imperial, who was swinging his sword with abandon as he tried to cut the man in half.
Ash ran forward with his sword drawn hoping to cut down the magic user. He was not so lucky as the man turned on him and blasted a wave of shocking lightning toward him. The Orc tried to quickly change his direction and dive behind an overturned table. Just as he hit the ground the wave smashed into the wall and floor beside him and he felt his hairs stand on edge as his left arm was dealt a glancing blow. The lightning was indeed powerful as even just an indirect hit like that caused him to go dizzy for a moment. He shook his head quickly to try and clear it and peered over the top of the table he now hid behind. Another wave flew toward him and he quickly ducked behind cover.
"Damn mages" he cursed as the table crackled from the blast. He tried again to get out from behind the table and yet again the mage forced him to take cover. He peered over to Ralof and the other Stormcloak who were still fighting the large Imperial. It looked like they still had their hands full. He couldn't rely on them to come to his aid here.
Suddenly he had an idea!
He quickly exposed his head and ducked down behind the table again. However when the lightning struck the wood he was ready with a surprise for the mage. He gripped the underside of the table and launched it at the magic user. The man's eyes went wide as it soared through the air towards him. He dove to the floor to escape the flying battering ram that was heading for him. When he crashed into the wall behind him he sighed in relief at having dodged it.
His relief was short lived. He climbed to his feet turning quickly to look for the Orc. This had all happened in the space of a few seconds but this was all the time Ash had needed. As the man turned to face him he was already upon him and he plunged his sword through the Imperials neck. The lightning on his finger tips fizzled out as his eyes glazed over in a death stare.
Ash kicked him off of the end of his sword just in time to see Ralof dart in under the fighters sword and slice his belly open, followed by a hammer blow that cracked the man's skull from the other Stormcloak. Ralof cleaned his sword on the fallen trousers of his fallen opponent and sighed deeply, regaining his breath.
"These Imperials don't fall easy do they?" Said the Nord to the other Stormcloak.
The man shook his head and looked over to his companion who now lay dead on the floor, his armour, hair and skin all burnt and singed by the mage's unrelenting lighting.
Ash walked over to join them. "Well fought again Ash" he introduced him to the other Nord "This is Vosmir. Vosmir this is Ash'Atarn" they shook hands in welcome.
"I don't know where you found this one Ralof, but its lucky you both came along when you did. Too much longer and I might have ended up dead on the floor with Bortik" he said pointing to the dead Stormcloak.
Ralof had a saddened look on his face as he looked to the dead man "Another true son of Skyrim struck down fighting for his home land" He regained his composure and turned to the two men "Lets keep going, I don't think we can be far from some kind of exit now". Ash turned to the dead Imperial on the floor and Picked up his greatsword. It was steel and well made, as well as being his weapon of choice. He strapped it to his back and dropped the longsword he had been using previously.
Turning to him Ralof smirked "Must you pick up every damn weapon we find? You'll end up carrying so much you can't run at any decent pace."
"The greatsword is far more suited to me than any weapon we've come across so far" he retorted patting the weapons hilt behind his head. As they walked off he smirked "In any case I might need to save you again soon and you will be glad I brought this sword along when I do".
The Nords laughed as they walked along "Bold words Orc, we shall see I suppose.."
The Trio had walked for another half an hour before they found a passageway down into a cave system under the castle. When they had made their way deeper into the area they found a small skirmish taking place between some Imperials and Stormcloaks. They joined the fray and managed to quickly deal with the opposing soldiers with few casualties. Ralof had decided it was best to head out from there and some of the other Nords had volunteered to wait behind for Ulfric to ensure he escaped safely. They had bid farewell to the Stormcloaks taken their leave.
Together Ash, Ralof and Vosmir made there way through the cave.
"We've been in these damn caves for too long, we best not be lost" complained Vosmir.
"Have some faith friend" said Ralof "Can't you feel the breeze? We must be getting close."
Ash had to agree. For a few minutes now he had felt the air coming from the direction they were headed. It would be nice to smell the fresh air again.
They came to an opening and stepped out into a large room. The entire roof and most of the walls were covered in webs. Ash drew his sword as did the other two. Spiders in this area could apparently grow quite large and many a wanderer was caught unaware in a giant spider's web. They moved along swiftly trying to get to the other side of the room without incident. As far as any of them could see the spiders didn't seem to be around.
Vosmir swung at one of the webs that blocked his path, getting his warhammer stuck in the process "Damn these webs to oblivion, stupid creatures are-ARRRGH" his sentence was cut off as a spider the size of a human leapt out of its web at him. With his hammer stuck in the web he had nothing to defend himself as the creature tackled him to the ground and pierced his neck with its massive poison fangs.
"Vosmir!" shouted Ralof as he ran over to try and pry the creature from his fallen friend. As Ash ran over to help spiders began to emerge from many webs and made their way toward them, their fangs dripping in anticipation of the meal they hoped to get from this fight.
Ash spun around to defend Ralof's back and the Nord impaled the spider on top of Vosmir with his sword killing the creature. He kicked it off of him but had no time to check on the man as another two began to snap at him.
Having his own problems Ash swung left and right with his powerful arms cleaving any spiders that got too close to pieces. One darted under his defences and made a lunge for his leg. The Orc kicked his leg muscles into action and dodged the spiders fangs with a jump. He came down hard on the creature, feeling it snap beneath him as he landed on its back. Another pounced at his face as he regained his footing. He wasn't able to bring his sword up in time due to him being off balance aster landing on the squishy spider underneath him. He turned his face to the side and closed his eyes, bracing for the impact that would probably leave him flat on his back and unable to defend himself from those deadly fangs. He heard a slice and was surprised when he opened his eyes to see the spider held in mid air. The creature was being supported by Ralofs sword on which it had been impaled.
"Damn creatures" snarled Ralof as he tossed the creature aside to twitch and die on the cold stone floor. "That seems to be the last of them"
They quickly ran over to Vosmir, but they were to late. The Nords skin had gone a sickly green and his eyes were glazed over staring into the distance. He was dead.
"Damn it!" curse Ralof as he punched the ground in anger.
Ash picked the man's warhammer out of the web it had been caught in. He carried it over and laid it on his chest "There is nothing we can do for him now Ralof. I'm sorry"
Ralof got to his feet and sheathed his sword "Lets go" he said as he started walking off from the scene "I want to be gone from this place".
He headed into the tunnel at the other side of the clearing and disappeared. Ash walked after him, only turning to look back when he reached the tunnel. "May the afterlife welcome you brother" he said to Vosmir's lifeless body. With that he departed to catch up with Ralof.
When he caught up to the Nord he was crouched behind a rock peering over into the cave ahead.
"What are you doing?" Ash whispered as he got closer.
Ralof pointed over to the far end of the cave "Theres a cave bear sleeping over by the wall, I'd rather not wake it up if we can avoid it.
Ash nodded "Thats a sound plan" he looked out at the creature. He did indeed not want to fight it. Enough blood had been spilled today, there was no need for them to fight with this bear who was simply sleeping in its cave. "Lets go"
They crept along the beside the wall furthest from the sleeping beast trying to keep as quiet as possible. Stealth had never been Ash's strong point but he did his best to keep from waking the snoring creature. As they came near to the exit and could finally see sun light it seemed like they would make it safely. Ash turned and faced the bear for a moment and sighed in relief that it was still asleep. He moved to follow Ralof, as he did his sword caught on the wall behind him making a loud –TING- as it did. Ralof froze in front of him and Ash himself stood totally still realising the mistake he made. He turned very slowly to regard the bear.
It shifted its head from where it lay, however it seemed content to just roll over and continue sleeping.
They both sighed heavily and Ralof shook his head, smiling at the Orc. Ash shrugged and apology and pointed toward the exit. Ralof nodded and they made their way out into the sunlight.
