Sigmund looked down from the glacier upon the house where his liege was said to be at. He had asked the divines to guide him forward and take him to the area where it was. The wind battered the young Nord's face and his beard was pressed against his chest plate armor. He was a hunter, born of hunters, but gifted with the souls of dragons. He could embrace power in ways his forefathers never imagined. He looked down at the patrols and watched each and every change in their paths. A smasher that is what the visions told him. Men and women of great power from different times and places came and fought to prove their worth.
He breathed in the cold air as Alyssa came in next to him. His wife was like him and not so in more ways than he could imagine. He preferred to attack his foes face to face, overwhelming them with force and skill, though he knew when stealth was the option to go with. She prefers to use her skill and magic to accomplish what her muscles could not. Next to her was his second in command, Ralof. The two were brothers by all means except through blood. It was he who brought Sigmund into the ranks of the Stormcloaks and to free Skyrim from the oppression of the High Elves. The two had forged a bond found only in combat.
"Mark me well, Ralof, they will sing glorious songs of this day in the halls." Sigmund's voice carried over the wind and his group. Ralof nodded and unsheathed his warhammer, made of sky-forged steel. Alyssa smiled to her husband and took out a staff made from dragon bones. Sigmund rolled his shoulders. They felt light without the hulking bear pelt. The old relic was not prepared for what he was about to do next. "Wolves of Skyrim, attack!"
He dashed forward to the edge and with the other two behind him; they leapt into a free fall. The winds battered against their skin as gravity took them. The hundreds of feet fall would have killed most men, but Sigmund was not an ordinary man. He called upon the knowledge of the Dragons and shouted three words of power. Soon wings of energy sprouted from their backs and the three used them to halt their freefall to a slow descent. The three landed in the deep snow and one of the sentries had head them and wanted to react. Sigmund raised a crossbow bolt and aimed right between the eyes of the sentry. Pulling the activation lever, he sent the bolt through the head, and soon the thing disappeared into a torrent of shadows. Sigmund growled at the illusions. When would the real enemies show themselves so he could spatter their blood over his face and armor?
The three then began to trudge through the snow and looked for other sentries. For each of them they encountered, Sigmund's crossbow talked quietly for each one of them. The mansion was large as it was splendored. Alyssa was surprised to see the High King would take residence in such a place, but then again, Ulfric was probably against his will held here. Sigmund gestured to the door and Alyssa rolled her eyes and approached it with a set of lock picks. She worked fast, her time in the thieves guild evident in how she carried herself with such covert acts.
She finished her deeds and just in time, the thundering steeps of what sounded like a giant came towards them. She opened the door and they got in hopefully before they were noticed. A few moments passed as they left the door shut behind them. Sigmund gestured with his hand and holstered his crossbow and unsheathed his twin iron blades. Stealth was never his strong point, though there were cases in which a knife to the back would accomplish more than an axe to the front. He heard the booming sounds of footsteps all around and he realized that they were three mice in a den of vipers. One false move and they were to be discovered. He snarled quietly to himself and moved forward.
Sigmund peered around one of the corners and gazed at the patrols. These were still mere shadows of whoever they were suppose to be representing, but it was noticeable that these shadows were much more heavily armored and armed. This was not a good sign. It would take a lot of skill and grace to accomplish a stealth mission. His thinking began to put two and two together and he leaned in next to his wife and spoke. "Ralof and I will grab their attention. You have to go and find out where Ulfric is at. Think you can handle it?" The younger Nord responded with a quick peck and she disappeared into the shadows using her magics.
The two warriors continued forward, hugging the walls and trying not to grasp their attention from the patrols. A pair of voices were heard, and they soon leaned in or a better listen. It was two voices, one from a young female and the other from a much larger man. Hugging the shadows, Ralof and Sigmund listened to their words. It was a heated exchange, and it appears they were right at the beginning. "I sent you with reinforcements and yet you still failed! Do you have any idea in that royally thick skull of yours how difficult it was to fail that fool's errand?" The male voice spoke and the sound of a table being wiped clean with glasses and silverware falling to the ground filled their hearing.
The female spoke, in a much more calm and controlled voice. "It was much more difficult then you think. It's not my fault Leman came down from the heavens to strike at me. Focus on the bright side of this case. Granted we lost the Heart of the Elements, but we have Ulfric Stormcloak. He knows where the next piece is at. And," They could hear her smile from where they were at. "it all seems that we hold the cards. They will more than likely come to claim Ulfric, and all we need to do is just wait for them. But you could answer me this question. When Leman attacked me, he mentioned something about putting his own race to the torch. Care to enlighten me of this weakness so we could exploit it for our gain?"
The man laughed and shook his head. "Yes, if there is any weakness Leman has it is his own past. He was a son between Thor and a Celtic shaman affiliated with the Roman Legion. The son was born and matured quickly, adopting his duel heritage with ease. He was a barbarian like his father and a Legionnaire like his mother. From his father and mother, he learned martial pride and honor. He enlisted with the Legion and led them to many great victories. He rose through the ranks quickly and he alone conquered the massive Germanic empire of barbarians with his own Legion. He returned to Britannia to receive a hero's welcome. He was greeted only the hail of arrows from the defenders of the city."
The man continued and Sigmund gestured for Ralof to get into position. "He consulted his father, who told him that he was born not as a human, but as a wolf-spawn. His mother was a werewolf affiliated with your's truly." The female laughed along with him. "Leman succumbed to his rage and he himself became a wolf because of his anger. He descended upon the village and slaughtered all who were in it. His own village, his flesh and blood, was run through with his own blades. He howled with anger and rage for being betrayed and killed his mother, the bitch who gave him life, last."
The female was intrigued by the story and nodded. "So he still feels guilty for killing his entire village with his own hands?" She smirked, "We can most certainly use this to our advantage." Sigmund growled as he saw the pointed ears of the female. Elves, why did it have to be them? He tightened the grip on both of his weapons and nodded to Ralof. With a feral roar, the two charged the elf and man. They were taken off by surprise and Leman slammed his balled fist into the side of the elf. She had not yet adorned armor so the blow sent her sprawling down to the ground. Ralof swung his war hammer in at the man, who dodged it with an uncanny ease. Ralof got him on the return stroke and smashed his war hammer into the jaw of the man. The attacked reeled in a few moments and The Dragonborn was ready to meet them in combat.
Ike sat down on the edge of a cliff, watching as the rolling mists passed beneath him. In a mere thirty hours, his world had been turned upside down more than once. He had been at death's door and had fought against an empowered Lithia. However, once all was said and done, the others came back, missing two but gaining two new faces. He listened as he heard Link's story on Zelda and made a point to gesture with his new mechanical arm as much as he could. With Ulfric and Tobey dead, Ike walked into some place of solitude and seclusion to gather his thoughts.
Tears still fresh in his eyes stung as he looked for some peace of mind. He pulled out the Stormcloak medallion his was going to give back to Ulfric when he awoke but now that seemed very unlikely. He ran his fingers over the roaring bear and noticed that it was the totem of the bear that Tobey worshiped in the elements. Ike shook his head and felt tempted to throw the small pendent, but realized that it would have been a useless gesture and he would end up regretting it later on. He placed in back into his pocket and heard the sounds of footsteps behind him. He spun around and saw Cherry Bomb.
She was dressed in one of Tobey's old black leather dusters and some cremate plates for armor underneath it. She was very stubborn and adamant that she had a score to settle with whoever it was that killed her lover. Link, Snake and even Samus told her no, but she eventually got her way. Granted she threatened to take out their knee caps with her sidearm if they didn't let her. She may have been bluffing, but women on hatred and hormones will do crazy things. "Cherry, I was not expecting you." Ike said plainly and sat back down, gesturing for her to do the same.
Cherry sat down and sniffled slightly, evident that she had been crying for a while. "Nor I with you." She replied and shook her head. Ike could clearly see that she still believed that it was impossible for obey not to be here. She sighed and looked to the mists as well. Ike looked over to her and she smiled sadly. "I thought he would make it out. He had done near fifty runs like that, all dangerous and borderline suicidal. Each time he came out with some cuts and scrapes, but he was alive. I thought-"She felt tears swarm her eyes and Ike laid her head down on his shoulder for him to cry on.
He was also with her. Tobey didn't seem as if he would die that easy. Nor did Jarl Ulfric. Those two bears could survive the fires of hell and storm the gates singlehandedly. He let her cry for a while before she continued. "When we started being a couple, he made it full well known to me that sometimes a mission may go south and he may comeback dead or maimed. No matter how many times he told me about the situation and scenarios, I didn't take it to heart. I always thought he would overcome the odds no matter what came his way. Obviously, I should have been prepared for it."
Ike nodded and brought her to her feet. "I thought likewise Cherry Bomb, but it just goe s to show that no matter how hard we try, we are all mortals in one way. I know that when Tobey died, his eyes were closed and his heart was open. I know that even if he is indeed dead, he will watch over you." She smiled at his kind words and walked back to the long house. Ike laughed slightly to himself and picked up Ragnell and walked around, trying to clear his head. As he was walking he saw Lithia practicing with her war spear. She was grunting in effort as if the harder she tried, the easier it would be to forget the past few days. "Your form is all wrong." He said to her, causing her too yelp in surprise.
The spear flew from her hands and embedded itself in a tree trunk next to Ike. Lithia's hands flew to her face in shock and shook her head. "I'm sorry, you surprised…" She was about to continue but remembered what had happened, she then hung her head in shame. Ike sheathed Ragnell and pulled the spear out in a smooth move. The then passed the spear back to Lithia, who was hesitant to accept the weapon. She looked at the shaft of the spear and noticed that Ike had the tip if the spear aimed at his heart. He was taking a gamble in seeing if she could be trusted.
Reluctantly, Lithia accepted the weapon and took it away. "You are forgiven." Ike said and Lithia looked up to him and saw that e was serious. "For almost killing me twice, I forgive you on that. " She nodded and Ike unsheathed Ragnell and gestured for Lithia to come at him. She lunged forward and Ike parried the spear away with a passing blow. Lithia spun around and attempted to counter the attack with one of her own and they began yet another spar. It was to let out the frustrations at each other more than anything else.
Alyssa snuck along the thin ice and let the patrols of shadows and others pass by her. She was a mage and a thief, skilled with both shadows and magic. Though she was equally skilled in both, she was a powerful one in both skills, but preferred the shadows over he magic. They merely aided her in such undertakings. She had the weight of a feather now, making sure that she would not disturb the fragile ice beneath her. She had an elven dagger n one of her hands and she walked with it ready to gut the first enemy he saw.
She heard someone coming up around the corner and as such, she stopped to a halt and huggd the hall with her back. A shadow figure passed her but she knew that he would be around later. She gripped its mouth and ran the knife through the spinal column, severing the primary nerve endings. The shadow figure dissipated and she waited a moment, to be sure no one had witnessed the clandestine killing. Seeing none she moved down the hallway again until she reached a door that bore the smbol of the bear on it.
Thinking that this was the one that was holding Jarl Ulfric, she pulled out her lock picks and began to pick he lock. The lock was much more complex than the other ones she had run into before, but she embraced the challenge and picked it. She had fifteen lock picks on her so she could afford to lose a few, but she had no idea how many more she had to pick. Putting the primary pick in and the lever in, she fished around to find the primary lock and the tumblers along with it. Feeling the tumblers, she turned the lever but the she heard a sickening snap, and soon the lock pick broke on her. She swore under her breath and tried again.
After the fifth attempt, she opened the door and moved in. The room was predominately dark, though through the candles and troches, she Saw Ulfric Stormcloak. She rushed in to him and pulled the blindfold and gag off of him. "Ulfric, can you hear me?" She whispered in a low voice. His eyes open groggily and whispered something back.
"Behind you." Alyssa dove out of the way and barely missed a foot destined for her neck. She looked and saw a massive being, growling. It looked like a reptile, but then it was wearing a shell and had red hair on his head. She swore quietly , and lept forward with her dagger. She buried it in his eye socket, causing the reptile to howl in pain. The creature began o throw it's weight around and began to batter her into the wall. Bones began to break under the intense weight and abuse, but Alyssa had been through worse. She blasted back with her magical skill and grace and soon she was back on her feet.
She set her jaw back into position and looked at the mighty beast. Soon more of the shadows were coming to get her. She smiled and drew a sword from her side. Praying quickly to the Nine Devine, she narrowed her eyes in hatred and charged the foe.
Ike and Lithia had been attacking each other for about an hour. Both of them were drenched in sweat and for each blow Ike delivered, Lithia did the same. Eventually the two began to talk, Lithia explaining what had happened. Each blow she told him more and more of what came to pass. She let her anger towards Zelda get the better of her, she was always distrustful of magic users. In her angered state, she was beset upon by Loki, who used his own spells to turn her into an unwilling pawn. She finished sparring with Ike after all had gotten off her chest.
The two walked back to the Long house where everyone else had gathered. Odin spoke once they were seated. "Everyone is here, let's begin. No we have the heart of the elements though e have lost two members, one of which knows where to find the souls of dragons. It was recently that our reports have discovered that Ulfric is still alive, though in the grasps of our enemy. If he is tortured for the information, it is only a matter of time before he gives in. I have sent out Leman and Thor as a forward assault to soften up the defenses long enough for you to retrieve Ulfric. You have the night to prepare for the battle."
Odin left them and the smashers rose from their seats. Cherry Bomb followed Link to practice her aim. Samus and Snake disappeared soon afterwards, apparently to their shared room. Marth sharpened his blade and Ganondorf meditated. Peach decided to preoccupy herself with the children. Ike needed to get some rest. As Ike turned to watch the Stranger leave, he thought he saw a strand of golden hair. He shook his head and it wasn't there anymore. He must have been seeing things.
As he entered the bed room he laid his sword don beside his bed and heard someone came up behind him. He felt gentle fingers on his back and he turned to see Lithia. Her eyes were full of unshed tears as her fingers traced the exit wound of her spear. She buried her head in his chest bawling quietly. Ike stroked her head and whispered calming words to her. One thing soon led to another.
The Stranger was bounded in the forests at the base of the high mountains. He struggled against the binds but they were stronger then granite. He looked up and saw the one now wearing his cloak. "Comfy?" He asked sarcastically, the stranger howled but was soon drowned out by the wind. "I will make this very clear to you. You will remain here and eventually you will be found by the elves wandering around here. Of that I am certain. By that time I will be down at the Mansion with the others. So you might just want to sit back for a while."
The stranger tried to attack the unknown person, but the bounds were to tight. The figure in his cloak only smirked and left him to his own devices.
Sigmund swung his blades again at the quick elf, and again the elf parried them. For the better part of an hour, the two were locked in combat. Ralof and the other stranger were fighting downstairs. The elf had tried her best to evade the incoming blows and cast her own magics out against him. Sigmund had expected as much, elves were infamous for using spells when others could best them by martial honor and pride.
He had even fought the giants, and they were very much unlike those from his home lands. Truly capable of tactical thinking was one thing, having iron weapons was another. He had slain three of the fire and two of frost before he cornered the elf on the roof. It was a large, flat and open plane. "Give it up, elf." Sigmund said lowly. "You have been beaten and you do yourself no good hiding from the inevitable."
She spun around with her blade and slashed Sigmund across the face. "It's Zelda. And I would be more worried about your High King." She lashed out again but Sigmund parried the blade and shouldered her in the chest. She was caught off balance an in response, Sigmund shouted, sending Zelda toppling to the ground. He lunged forward, brining his swords down on the Princess. He felt both of his swords carve only stone and the princess surged forward, bashing him from his feet. He sprawled down to the ground, a long crimson fissure across his chest.
He rose to his feet in and instant, swords back in hand. He lashed out on Zelda with all of his fury, with all of his skill but the elf was too damned quick. She moved fast and she brought the sword sliding down across his thigh and across his back. He snarled, Zelda was toying with him like a cat to its prey before devouring it. He gripped his swords and parried each and every one of her attacks. Eventually the inevitable happened, she got tired. It was a battle of attrition, to see whom would be the first to get tired. Sigmund was a warrior from birth. Born under the warrior stone, he and he alone held off against the dragons from claiming the end of the world. When Zelda swung clumsy, he gripped her by the throat in the opening she created. She struggled fro a moment and Sigmund was ready to run this Zelda through.
"Stop!" A voice echoed over the battle. Sigmund looked to the voice and saw the other stranger, dressed in black and red was holding Alyssa by the chin and with a dagger to her throat. "Release her or she will die." Sigmund growled and looked as if he was not about to relent. Placing the sword right over her chest, he was about ready to run her through. Loki looked as if he was about ready to do the same.
A crack of thunder happened almost right over head and two new armored figures joined the fray, one with a gladius in each hand chained to his wrists, and the other one with a massive hammers. The moment shattered, like brittle glass.
Another week, another chapter. I hope you all enjoyed this. Please remember to review.