Stelm: Well this is a quite short chapter but it gives you a slight hint on what his story is about. Last night I kind of got hit in the head with a few orbs of genius and now know how the next story will be about. Not getting anything from me though…
BTW I want to say it now. Skyrim and all lore connected to the Elder Scroll Series belongs to me…
SIKE but really all of the lore belongs to them and if any of the guys there are reading. 3 thumbs up for a great game and an even greater series.
The Arena
"Jet you ready man?" Jarod asked as I finished stuffing the rest of my grilled rat. As I did the Redguard reared away.
"That's gross!" Jarod said as I finished the rat off.
"The average bird…has less meat than a rat. To each… his own." I said as I wiped my mouth of my prep meal. We had thirty minutes tops until we were set to perform.
As I finished my rat the Redguard began to eat his plate full of chicken. The guy was a heavy eater. Right beside him he had bread with melted goat cheese. Me I didn't need all of that. Four meals a week and I was content.
Elsweyr food was the only thing that kept me eating. When I went there with Shade a few weeks ago I couldn't get enough of it. I swear I got at least a thousand bad looks at at least half of the taverns. Didn't get to go to a few of the taverns I heard were really great though. The upper-class taverns didn't allow "lizards" inside.
The only bad thing about the trip was the camel milk. By the divines I hated milk. Didn't see how anybody liked the stuff past infancy. To me man drinking milk should be a taboo past the age of five. I mean what would a Nord look like drinking his own milk.
Anyway this was our preparation meal. A lot of messages would come through our communication ring before we went into the arena. It was always like that. Already had twelve people wish me luck in the last thirty minutes. My finger was buzzing as I thought about it.
"Jet." A feminine voice spoke into my head.
"Shade!" I thought "aloud".
"Good luck in your fight I'll be watching in the front row." Shade thought into my head excitingly. The front row was always the best place to sit. The magic barrier protecting the arena from outside influence also provided entertainment for the crowd. A few red auras around the mud arena made for a good sight.
"Hope to see you in the crowd." I said tapping my communication ring off.
I sat back in my chair relaxing as Jarod continued his feast. It was only three minutes till I heard the sound of bells. The sound alerted me of a telepathic conference call. I almost already knew who was calling for me before I blacked out.
"Jet did you finish your little fight in the arena yet?" A voice said as I was pulled into a random conference world. This one was placed in a small clearing surrounded by autumn forest. Smelled like it and all but I knew if I left the clearing I'd be thrown back into reality.
"It's about to start in about a ten or thirty." I said to the unmistakable Argonian crime boss; Bajee. Materializing beside him were Durabo and an Argonian who attended my school, his name was Lossis. They were both holding the crime boss's hand; it was required for someone who didn't have a communication ring.
Oh I forgot to tell you that since our victory in Windhelm we started to recruit everybody, from all races. Durabo's uncle died a while back and since his money dried up he needed some quick septims and I quickly referred him to Bajee. We got another ship last week and we were now shipping skooma from here to Hammerfell. The only thing that bothered me was that we started to recruit a few Dunmer members. Even after I heavily advised Bajee not to. The attack at the bar still fazed me as weird. Since when did Dunmer have a vendetta against Argonians?
"Ok well your boys Durabo and Lossis are going to be at the Dovakhiin Plaza." Bajee said and Lossis nodded.
"Don't be their t-to late. We need y-you on this run on Riverwood. You k-know h-how the guards are about the fu-u-cking curfew." Lossis said and I nodded in understanding. I could see Durabo suppressing his laughter so I decided to test him.
"You seem a little blue over their Durabo your scared your old toothpick can't handle a big boy job like this." I jibed motioning the flimsiness of the Orcs's sword. He straightened up at that comment just like I thought he would, and just like that Durabo let go of Bajee's hand and all three of them vanished. I turned around and went towards the trees. A few seconds of darkness later and I was sitting on the chair with a Jarod standing in front of me.
"It's go time." The Redguard said cheerfully and I sprang up. You didn't know how ready I was to put on a show we sure were going to put one on. We were given special suits that were enchanted by the best of enchanters; the suits themselves were used multiple times a year. They were special in that the wearer could sustain a lot of magic damage and still be able to fight. The only end to a duel would be the forfeit of the opponent/opponents or a knockout. The only exceptions to those rules were if a referee called a foul (there aren't too many of them). The person guilty of the foul would be force to forfeit. Nobody wanted that so everybody usually played fair.
Tonight we were going up against a dynamic duo from the College of Winterhold. The COW duo were the only ones from the College that came down. So it was pretty big. With the rivalry and all that. I read up on the duo the night before. One of the fighters went by the name Charcoal the other went by Paige.
Charcoal was a wet wood dark brown Redguard (thus the name Charcoal); he was a conjuration freak and could conjure up anything from a saber-toothed tiger to a juggling ball. All from the power of his handmade staff. His accomplice was a Breton woman around the age 25. She was known for her skill in healing and going invisible. She could maintain it for over an hour or at least that was what was said.
We had it all planned, we knew what we were going to do. We had both drank a few bottles of increase magicka before we ate. Our alchemy teacher had always told us that food helps keep potions within our bodies longer. Once we got out we would put on one hell of a show. I was sure the COW couple would do the same thing.
"Coming onto the stage is our very own dynamic lizard and sandman, sly and fast, killing with class! Two Third years who have nothing to lose and one hundred septims to win. Two friends belonging to the class of the fourth era and the 244th year! Jarod and Zuvejjet." Boomed a voice from above as the large gate in front of us was lifted. The screams of our peers splintered the two calloused circles on my head that I called ears.
Jarod and I came out of gates roaring with energy. Jarod did a few flips to rouse the crowd and I did a few cartwheels. You usually didn't see Argonians move this acrobatically, at least not in a cold place like Skyrim. I always had a lot less energy in cold places. Plus we were swimmers not jumpers.
Anyway once we had done all of it was time to show off our magical prowess. We made our way to the center of the at least four square kilometer space. It was wet with water for a reason. Water made everything look dramatic and important. Jarod held a bright light in his hands and I roared, stretching my mouth out all monstrous like. As my mouth was open Jarod threw the magelight into my gaping mouth. As the light coursed throughout my body I completely illuminated. The glow was mystical. I did several posses and jumped in the air victoriously. As I felt the magelight start to dim I roared again letting the magelight escape my body from my eyes and my mouth. All it did was blind me momentarily but we had been through this before.
Next was a trick from Jarod. He created a "ball" of telekinesis. As he created it I jumped towards Jarod. The ball formed as I was at my arch and before I touched the ground Jarod casted a feather weight spell on me. I did a flip and before you know it I felt Jarods pinky holding up by my back. I did a few flips in the air as Jarod threw me up. All the Redgaurd had to worry about was keeping his balance as he zipped through the arena slinging mudd all around us. Adding to the beauty effect. Jarod threw me one more time and with the glass shattering roar of the crowd he made a horseshoe turn around the middle of the arena and bounced off of the T-Ball sending him flying straight towards me, I raised my hand and it slammed into Jarod's as he flew past. It was one of the best high five's I have ever experienced. This next part was the hardest part of the whole sequence though. We spent a good five days one it.
As we went down we both formed ice slides down to the ground. We also had to slide down them without busting our asses (tail in my case). Jarod did so perfectly but I slipped up during the end. I played it off though and rolled on the ground and roared again to the crowd's mixed approval, some laughs and some applause. Jarod, Shade, Kobin, Ennis, and Durabo weren't the only ones that knew that slipping off wasn't part of the routine. I surely did play it off well though. It was a pretty good finale before the fight. I knew it was COW's chance now.
"Now introducing the black and white mix and match. A little bit of this a little bit of that. On demand no reprimanding courageous duo from the northern reaches of the beautiful land named Skyrim! Charcoal and Paige!" The announcer said his voice booming once again for the rival duo.
Jarod and I walked respectably off to one of the stone walls. We first saw Charcoal walk out calmly his bronze colored staff calmly in his right arm. The crowd probably couldn't see the blur that was taking light steps behind him, but Jarod and me surely could. As the Redguard got into the center he started to spin it around himself blowing fire at different directions and a few seconds later he started to conjure up about two dozen colored balls. The wooden balls flew all across the arena. I thought nothing of them. As the spinning got faster I could see the steps disappear and the blur get a little higher in the air. The blur hadn't even gotten fully off the ground before an inferno surrounded Charcoal and as the fire slowly disappeared I saw the Breton woman standing on the staff that had been raised horizontally on his hands. The balls made a beautiful show of fireworks as the fire hit them. It was quiet beautiful.
My eyes were mostly on the Breton woman. She was quite beautiful herself. A nice figure if I did say so myself. My tail ended up tapping my left leg rapidly something I did when I was…well it didn't matter she was my enemy today, although it wasn't impossible for me to take a trip to Winterhold later tonight. That would be the time for me to put that mixed breeding theory to the test.
As the duo's opening act ended. The crowd roared with excitement. What came next would be the real fight. Jarod and I already went over this. I would throw the first fireball. If the attack was blocked then he would use telekinesis to get an aerial advantage over their opponents. He would rain weak lightning strikes from there and I would continue throw balls of fire. That was the plan.
So as I created a powerful fireball and let it loose I whispered a prayer to Sithis. I really wanted those septims. The fireball as we predicted was only canceled out by a ward from the Breton. Before the woman could return the offensive Jarod was flying over them to the pleasure of the crowd. As soon as Jarod started to shoot lightning out his hands I ran into a full sprint forward throwing fireballs as I went.
After Jarod went on the other side of the duo I threw a flash bang at the couple. As soon as I threw it I cast invisibility on myself and could only hope that Jarod succeeded in doing the same. By this time I was exhausted, so as the flash bang blinded the COW students Jarod and me I took the time to grab a potion of ultimate magicka. The arena workers gave us two potions of our choice. So I picked two ultimate magicka potions. One was snowberry flavored, the other one was Jazbay flavored. Hated the normal ones you found in dungeons. They always tasted like Nordic mead, Jarrin Root, and River Betty.
As I drained the potion I dropped it and tapped my way a few paces away. The blinding effects wore off and I could see the crowd roaring and the COW student's looking confusing. It was the Redguard who broke the silence.
He spun his staff around a little bit and the next thing you know a savage looking dog appeared out of nowhere. He sniffed around and barked in my direction. I froze in place and as the dog went on the hunt the crowd went dead silent. The dog barked some more and got around ten yards of me. That's when I conjured a temporary dagger and struck the dog in the head. I knew it had served its purpose, to sniff out any magic users.
As soon as I reappeared I heard "FUS!" and Jarod had tipped the COW conjurer off balance and it absolutely killed the crowd. They laughed as the Redguard got mud all over his already dark face. He quickly scrambled to get up but before he could even get himself oriented Jarod was on him punching him in the face savagely, with ice on his knuckles. I knew it must have hurt like bloody hell.
On my side the Breton had began to throw volley after volleys of fire bolts at me. I decided I show a little bit as well so I shouted.
"TIID!" I shouted from the deep center of my soul. I ran forward with all my strength dodging the fire bolts as they flew by me. As the effects of my shout ended I had closed in on the Breton. Before the woman could react I sent an ice punch to the woman. The Breton took the full blunt force of the hit and was knocked out immediately. I felt kind of wrong about even touching the woman's beautiful face but the crowd roared me on nonetheless.
"The fighting is OVER! Folks it seems like a good fight was fought here." The announcer called out as Jarod finished his opponent. Quite a good battle even if was somewhat short. As we celebrated I saw the magical aura that shielded us from the spectators turned turn up spots of red. "The next fight will start in only half an… By the Divines. Everybody please EXIT the arena!" The announcer yelled as he noticed the red aura growing and pulsing, creating a loud high pitched noise. I could barely himself think.
Through all of the noise I was one of the first to react to a fireball that came a yard from hitting me. I only got a little heat from it and as I ran towards the exit a few more went my way. I lost Jarod as I quickly shifted through the crowd. People were casting wards over their heads and ironflesh on themselves like Aldiun himself was coming back.
I got out of the arena surprisingly quick and as I did I saw three first years fighting a completely covered warrior. They were truly getting there asses kicked that was until. The crowd burst through and easily overwhelmed the warrior.
I sprinted more than I ever sprinted before. I ended up near the Dovakhiin's Plaza. As I turned the corner I was mortified by what I saw. At the entrance to the plaza was a dead Argonian. Not just any Argonian. It was Lossis's. He looked to have been chopped into pieces. The murderer was obvious.
Standing in the middle of the plaza was a giant with a gigantic axe. Not one of those skinny malformed giants you see in the Great Plains. The one in front of me was a red fully built giant with a black cowl and a ragged fur leg dressings. Fighting him was a sweating Durabo.
"Damnit!" I exclaimed running past Lossis's dead body. I conjured up a battle axe as I got close and threw it, letting it spin into the red giant. The red giant caught it hard in the shoulder. He ended up falling into one of the nineteen pillars that symbolized the number of common shouts known to man, mer, and beast.
I took that time to cast feather weight on Durabo. I then carried the Orc on my back and hid him behind the Become Ethereal pillar. I began to heal the Orc quickly. I eventually decided finding out what had happened would be the best thing to do now.
"Durabo what happened?" I asked as I used my healing hands to cure a few bad cuts around the shoulder and chest.
"Lossis's and I were waiting here when that big giant bitch came and ambushed us. That's when those black shrouded guys came attacking everything they could find. "Durabo said and I was about to say a few calming things to Durabo but the a few loud footsteps running towards us stopped me.
Before I could even rise from my position a huge axe struck the pillar sending it crashing down on us. Gladly I was able to roll Durabo out of the way before it went to the ground. As the beast looked down on me I casted a fire storm at the giant. The giant fell back smoking. He got back up quickly but before he did I had another battle axe conjured and ran towards him. Before I could bring it down on him he gave punch to the face and I felt the bones one my snout crack. Even a few of my well kept teeth seemed to take off and fly out of my mouth. I definitely was bleeding. On top of all that it hurt like oblivion.
Next thing you know I saw Kobin tackle the giant who was just readying itself to take one final swing at me with its axe. As I scrambled to get on my feet I saw Kobin beat on the giant viciously, it wasn't enough, and the giant simply cackled loudly and threw the Nord into the Dragonrend pillar. I heard a sharp cry and a few seconds later the pillar collapsed on the Nord. The monster took a victorious breath and started to walk back to me his giant axe spinning to his will.
"What do you want?" I pleaded with the giant and all he did was laugh.
"I want Argonian bloa-." The giant started as his death weapon drewback for a final swing. Thankfully the axe never arced.
I heard a loud "YOL". Gladly when I looked over it was a running Ennis (I was three types of happy Timmerman hadn't saved my life). He had a pot of something in both of his hands. And as the fire settled down I could see the giant looking at Ennis with a death stare. As Ennis got close he threw the pot on the giant. I heard the giant scream in pain before his insides were all over the plaza. That included a few intestines in my face, ew.
Covered in blood I looked at Ennis incredulously. He was covered in the most of the giant's insides. He looked terrified out of his mind. I closed my mouth though. I knew my tongue would be able to smell the shit on the guy. I'll tell you about that later. Anyway, I went up to the guy and patted him on the shoulder.
"You did good Ennis. You did good."
Stelm: Hope this chapter leaves more than a few questions than answers, trust me the chapter after the one imma post early next week will be a think-a-lot chapter. All questions will be answered then. If you have extra question PM ME!