Exams are coming up and I decided to write fanfiction. Procrastination at its finest. Anyway I got stuck on a major writer's block and this chapter took forever and a half to get out. Hope you enjoy!
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Rogvir's muscles were trembling as he held his sword with both hands. Sweat was dripping off his face and into his eyes but he didn't bother to wipe it off, instead he roared and brought the weapon down with a powerful slash. The sword whistled downward and bit into the wooden dummy Rogvir had been practicing with most of the morning. Wrenching it out of the wood, he collapsed to the ground in exhaustion.
He was getting out of shape. The weeks he had spent in Whiterun he had been performing odd jobs, mostly cutting up firewood and the occasional package delivery. Although with Nyl back and Lywel now awake, he had begun to practice again in the hope that they could go out on a job soon.
As he lay on the cool ground just behind the inn, he heard the town begin to bustle to life. Rogvir had always liked to practice early, when no one was watching, so he grabbed his sword and started to trudge back inside.
He began to climb the steps to the inn's door when he was stopped.
"By the Divines Rogvir, I think you're getting fat."
He gritted his teeth and looked up to see Nyl sitting on the steps near the door, waiting for him.
"What?" He was in no mood for her games, still furious at her for her disappearance. Nyl stopped her teasing, realizing that Rogvir might as well cleave her in half if she continued. She stood up and brushed the dust from her hands.
"We're going outside the city to test Kira soon. You need to be there, and wear your armor. I think you'll need it."
She looked at him, waiting for a confirmation. When none came Nyl rolled her eyes, but made no comment as she walked back into the inn.
Just what he needed today, testing out yet another potential for the group. Only a few days after Nyl had left, Rogvir and Amir had put out word that they were hiring for new members. They had hoped for a few with a basic knowledge on how to defend themselves. What they got was a group of farm boys, none older than sixteen and had never held a sword in their lives. One of the boy's mothers had even came by, dragging her son away by one of his ears, screaming at him why he would do something so stupid. To say it was a complete failure was an understatement.
Nyl had seemed confident that Kira would be an adequate replacement for Amir so today they were heading outside the city walls to test the girl on her abilities. Rogvir knew she was a mage but he was still doubtful, the girl looked like she would faint sooner than she could cast a spell.
He was still slightly wary though, last time he had fought a mage he had lost most of his beard. He rubbed the remaining stubble in the memory; even after a few months the blasted thing still hadn't grown back.
A few hours later Nyl, Amir, Kira, and Rogvir were walking towards the city gates. As the group approached, they saw a dark-haired figure waiting for them at the city entrance.
"Lywel!" Nyl beamed when she saw the young man and waved as they approached. Lywel managed a weak grin and returned the gesture.
"What are you doing here?" Amir's voice was stern as he neared Lywel. "You've been awake for only a week, go back to the temple and rest." Amir paused before glaring. "Who even told you we would be here?"
"I did," Rogvir's voice was firm. "He won't get stronger by laying in bed, and we're here to test a mage. He's the only one with magic. For all we know this girl is nothing more than a trickster and we wouldn't be able to tell illusions from actual magicka we can use."
"Thanks," Nyl's voice dripped with sarcasm. "Do you think I'd be so stupid to volunteer a charlatan?"
"Do you really need me to answer that?" Rogvir asked irritably.
"I don't know, need me to explain the big words?" She shot back.
"Quiet, the both of you," Amir snapped, "Lywel, it is important that you don't overstrain yourself. We don't know if you'll slip back into a coma if you push too hard."
"I won't," Lywel said, a touch of confidence in his voice.
Amir gave him a look of exasperation, "Fine, I doubt I can change your mind anyway. Lywel this is Kira, Kira meet Lywel. I suppose he'll be the one testing you."
The girl gave a small smile, which quickly faltered when Lywel didn't return the same, instead studying her with a critical eye.
They began walking again while Lywel began a barrage of questions towards Kira.
"Where did you learn?"
"You mean magic? Well I guess my aunt taught me most of it, I also read a lot."
"Where did she learn from?"
"Oh well, she wasn't actually a mage, she just knew a bit of theory behind it so-"
"You're telling me you're self-taught?" Lywel asked, slightly arrogant.
"Well, I mean, I suppose I am but I had plenty of books and like I said my aunt knew about magical theory." Rogvir saw Kira bristle when Lywel let out a small chuckle.
"What's so funny?" Her voice was slightly indignant.
"Nothing at all," Lywel said, still with a smile on his face.
Rogvir couldn't help but to stifle a laugh at Lywel. He had just made an enemy within the first five minutes of meeting this girl.
When they arrived at the stables they took a right and moved off of the stone cobbled path. Close enough where they were still safe from bandits, but far enough where they wouldn't accidently set anything important on fire.
They stopped and Kira stood looking unsure as everyone stared at her.
"Um, what would you like me to do?"
For the next hour, Lywel put Kira through a series of tests. For some of them Rogvir couldn't help but think magic was a waste of time. Why would you spend all that energy focusing on a ward when you could have a solid shield instead?
He did pay attention when Lywel tested Kira's expertise in Destruction spells. She seemed the most comfortable with those and the waves of power that radiated from her attacks caused Rogvir to back away more than once.
Lywel seemed pleased by her work.
"You're a little rough around the edges, but I suppose that would come from never learning correct form. As far as being in battle, I would say you have all the skills necessary to capably defend yourself. Your Restoration magic is severely lacking beyond wards and your Conjuration magic is atrocious but luckily for you, I can make up where you lack."
Kira scowled at his criticisms, Lywel didn't even seem to notice as he continued.
"The only thing we really need to test now is how you do in actual combat."
Rogvir noticed Kira's scowl shift into a blank expression. If he didn't know better, she looked like she was trying to cover up being terrified.
"I would guess you've never trained against another mage before." Lywel paused as Kira shook her head. "Well, that takes time to learn, so right now we'll see how you do against a physical attack." Lywel beckoned Rogvir forward.
Rogvir unsheathed his sword from his back and handed it to Lywel, who ran his hand along the blade, blunting the edges with a ward. He also ran a hand over Rogvir, placing another ward on his armor. Lywel turned back to Kira.
"You will be going against Rogvir, I put a ward on him so you can't hurt him. You won't be able to break it so feel free to use as much power as you'd like. I also blunted his sword so he won't actually cut you, but it will still hurt if you get hit so try to avoid that." Lywel finished dryly.
Kira nodded, her face looked ashy at this point, and glanced at Rogvir nervously. Rogvir felt bad for the girl. He couldn't imagine how he looked to her but carrying a sword almost as big as she was probably didn't help his image. He wanted to go easy on her but if she couldn't handle this then she couldn't handle facing the real thing.
Both Amir and Nyl were paying full attention as Lywel backed out of their range.
"Alright, go!"
Rogvir got a good grip with both hands on his sword and ran toward the girl. By the Nine this was going to be too easy. She looked rooted to the spot as he rushed toward her. He went to hit her arm when she ducked and scrambled back.
Rogvir was a touch surprised but sliced the air where she was. She jumped backward and ducked again when he swung another time.
"Use your magic!" Lywel cried out exasperated. "You're supposed to try to win!"
Kira ran out of his reach, surprisingly quick, and held out both of her hands in preparation for attack. Rogvir circled her and swung downward toward her shoulder when he had an opening. Kira quickly used a ward to block his attack, and shot a blast of ice toward him.
Although Rogvir was protected from the major damage, it still stung his hands where he held the sword. He began to pick up the pace, relentlessly pushing attack after attack. All of them were blocked by a ward, which then was followed by a short burst of ice.
It was getting to a point where Rogvir was becoming exasperated by her defense. Although it didn't seem fair, he fainted the next attack and almost took her by surprise. He then brought the sword down hard and for the first time her ward faltered, making her jump back quickly. Instead of allowing her to recover as he did before Rogvir shoved Kira with the pommel of his sword, causing her to trip. He quickly swung his sword at Kira's neck, intending for a light hit to show the fight was over.
As the sword descended, Kira caught sight and screamed, raising both hands toward him. What came next felt like a giant had punched him in the chest and he went flying backward. He landed hard, causing the air to fly out of his chest.
"Talos help me," Rogvir groaned as he rolled over. He looked up to see he had flown back at least ten feet; Kira was still on the ground.
"You alright?" Amir had come over and used his good hand to help Rogvir up.
"I'm fine," Rogvir wheezed out. He managed to glare at Nyl who was practically in hysterics. Kira had gotten up by now and rushed over, trembling and tears leaking out of her eyes.
"Are you alright? I'm so, so sorry. I didn't mean to do it that hard; I panicked when I saw the sword! By the Divines I'm so sorry Rogvir." Kira babbled as Rogvir began to catch his breath. He managed a smile at her.
"I'm fine lass, I wasn't actually going to hurt you though." Despite still not being able to completely catch his breath he managed to give her a reassuring wink, which he was rewarded for with a hesitant smile.
Rogvir stood straight up when he saw Lywel. The expression on his face had an intensity that he had never seen. A frown that seemed both confused and disbelieving. It dropped into Lywel's normal expression so quickly though, Rogvir wasn't even sure he saw it in the first place.
He glanced downward for the first time at his armor. It was scorched black and was dented so badly he could feel the steel pressing against his chest. Rogvir shrugged it off angrily, cursing under his breath when he realized it was searing hot.
"I thought your spell protected me?" Rogvir asked crossly as Lywel began walking forward.
"My apologies, I didn't cast it as strong as I thought." Lywel's voice was cool and collected as he looked over Rogvir for injuries. Finding none severe enough for healing he allowed Rogvir to inspect his armor.
It was going to take a trip to the blacksmith to fix this. He sighed, just what he needed, another dip into funds. Kira noticed his irritation and began laying on apologies once more.
"I'm so sorry I destroyed your armor Rogvir. I promise I'll find a way to pay you back for the damage."
"You'll find your way by going out on jobs." Amir gave the shaking girl a grin. "Cut is divided equally between all of us after ten percent is taken off for an emergency company insurance fund. If that sounds good to you, are you in?"
"I almost hurt Rogvir and you still want me?" Kira murmured, her eyes were cast downward.
Amir shrugged his shoulders," I don't hear any objections and hopefully you'll be directing all that power to enemies and not your teammates." He paused and held out his hand. "You in?"
Kira looked at for a split second before shaking his hand delicately. Rogvir smiled at the girl and while Nyl just gave her a wink. Lywel stayed silent, the same collected expression on his face. Nyl then sauntered up to Kira and grasped her shoulders, turning the girl toward her.
"We need to celebrate, Kira, when was the last time you got drunk?" Nyl smirked as Kira stammered out she never had a drink before. The two girls walked off together toward the city, Nyl telling Kira a list of things every woman needed to do in her life, one of which included being drunk, and a few others Rogvir wished he hadn't heard.
Amir laughed as they walked off and began to follow them at a safe distance from their conversation. Rogvir grabbed the remains of his armor and turned to Lywel, still deep in thought.
"Coming?" Rogvir shook Lywel out of his reprieve and the younger man nodded. Both caught up with Amir, as they walked back to the city for what Rogvir was guessing would be an interesting night.