Chapter 21

Day 63

I awoke to the sound of shouting from the market square. It was hard to make out the words and who was speaking them but it was enough to rouse me from my sleep. My eyes felt like weights as I opened them to view the surroundings. I was at the inn, a soft cot made of furs and blankets beneath me. Other people lay on similar cots around me. There was little room left in Riften as even refugees from Ivarstead had come to seek shelter. We had started to make beds in the main area of the inn and even set up tents in the free spaces around the market square.

I rolled over in my cot and brought myself to my hands and knees. My body ached all over, my head felt like it was going to explode and my mind was fuzzy. I know it hadn't been a side affect of drinking as I hadn't had anything, but the feeling was very similar to my first hangover. I groaned and brought myself to my feet where I stretched out my limbs carefully. Looking around I could still see people sleeping or groggily waking up as well. My mind was still trying to process the massacre that took place yesterday but today was another day and I knew that I would need to keep going. I checked the armor that lay by my cot then strapped Kharjo's sword to my side and walked out of the inn. The bright sun pierced through the clouds just as I walked outside. I shielded my eyes and waited until they adjusted to the brightness.

"Darius!" I turned to see Zayanbi aproaching me from the market. I could see a few guards arguing about something, more than likely the source of the shouting.

"Is everything okay?" I asked as I walked up to her.

"Their arguing about what group is going to be going to that fort nearby. Greenwall I think they called it. It is rumored that hooded figures where seen on the walls."

"If those are the people controlling those creatures then they have already have the advantage. If they took the fort then it is going to be trouble trying to retake it. It would help greatly though if we could take it back." I pondered a moment, trying to think of a plan I could bring to the jarl.

"If the Empire still controlled Riften then this wouldn't be happening!" I heard someone shout from the crowd. THe dragonborn had negotiated Riften and Markarth but after Alduin had been defeated, Ulfric was quick to reclaim Riften while the empire still struggled to take back Markarth.

"Enough!" Mjoll walked into the square and put herself between the two guard captains. "You have orders! Now, I've just been given a rank among the Riften militia. I'm taking volunteers on the mission to retake Fort Greenwall. Anyone willing to defend their homes and families meet me at the gate in the hour!" Mjoll's face was serious as she shouted at the people in the square to disperse. I gave Zaynabi a nod and walked over to Mjoll.

"So, captain of the militia now?" I smiled bitterly and tried to congratulate her.

"I liked to consider myself defender of Riften. Now I guess I get to prove it more. Besides, you and I are among the few that returned from trying to rid ourselves of those things." Mjoll's face darkened as she looked down, no doubt remembering jsut yesterday.

"What is the Jarl thinking sending more people out their after the defeat yesterday? Surely morale is so low that we wouldn't stand a chance." I tried to think about everything I knew of war from movies and games from my world. I was also struggling to think about history lessons from when I was in school. It was minimal knowledge but I figured anything would help. I honestly didn't even want to think about going back out there, I was still recovering from yesterday but there was little choice in the matter. Mjoll would need people and though I had felt useless, I had still been able to survive somehow.

"She is trying to recover from it quickly. If we could retake the fort it will give us a chance to raise morale, both for the soldiers we have as well as the citizens staying here. We've had no word from anyone farther than Ivarstead. But rumors are that hordes of these things are running rampant all round Tamriel. This very well might be on equal grounds to the Oblivion crisis."

"I've heard about them being sighted around Tamriel but hordes of them are now running around?!" I paniced just at the thought. There was an army of undead creatures all over this world. I sure as hell came at a bad time! As if there weren't enough problems for me enough as it is. Now the world of Tamriel has met with a zombie apocalypse movie!

"Relax friend. We'll win the day. I'm sure of it. Just try and get yourself together. From what I could tell, yesterday was your first real battle." Mjoll placed a hand on my shoulder, smiled, then turned to walk away.

"Mjoll!" She turned and I gulped hard. "I'll volunteer."

The next hour involved me paying a visit to Kharjo, telling Zaynabi of the situation and preparing myself for the battle ahead. THere had only been a few sightings over the last night an dinto this morning of hooded figures on the walls of Fort Greenwall but I knew that there where creatures there. Whatever these necromancers wanted, we needed to stop them here. A siege on the city would succeed and I believed that they knew it. We where in no position to fend them off.

I doned Kharjo's armor and made sure I had everything in order. Fort Greenwall was only a little ways North of Riften so I wouldn't need to bring any significant supplies. I did ask that Zaynabi watch my pack for me though. It had my journal and the two empty conjuration books. I brought a small pouch that held some water and I had bought a few healing potions from the apothecary. I also was given a shield by the blacksmith who was handing out weapons and armor to volunteers. We had a total of twenty-five volunteers as well as a small group of five guards. Thirty in all, but I knew numbers didn't mean anything. We had fifty to try and retake Shor's Stone and less than a handful had returned. I wondered why I had put myself in this position again.

"Akatosh. I ask that you bless us and watch over us." I said the prayer before the group at the gate, word had traveled around Riften that I was a priest of Akatosh. I felt a familiar feeling through my body. I could also tell that the group gathered before me could feel something. Their faces lit up and their shoulders no longer slumped. Mjoll aproached me and smiled then drew her greataxe.

"This is it! We will take back the fort, we will protect our homes! Our families! For Riften! For Skyrim!" The guards opened the gate and we all stormed out.

It took less than an hour to reach the fort, we could see shambling corpses walking along the walls, others wandered around the gateway. We couldn't get a count on them as we couldn't see anything inside the walls. We all formed up behind Mjoll and drew our weapons. I readied the shield in my left hand and gripped my sword tightly. This was it, another battle, but this time I wouldn't shut down. I needed to stay on my toes, to stay alert and not give in to the chaos around me. We needed to win if we where to have a chance at repelling this new menace.

"Fan out, Ten to each flank." We split apart as she instructed. I was placed in charge of the ten on the left flank. We where to take out the shambling creatures around the fort then make our way around to the other gate. "Attack!" Mjoll brought up her axe and gave a shout. The middle group followed behind her while the right group charged around the other end of the fort. I also got caught up in the moment and gave a shout. My legs carried me forward and I could hear the others behind me. I brought up my arm and swung down with my sword. It bit through the neck of an undead and kept going. My arm swung wildly, slicing through two more before I could see the others pass me and take down others. There where few on our side so it was easier for us to make it to the other end of the fort. I lead my group through the gate and assisted Mjoll in clearing out the courtyard and walls. The other group arrived just as we finished them off.

"Two casualties." The other guard reported while we all caught our breath.

"We'll clear out the inside soon. Everyone prepare yourselves." Mjoll ordered then motioned for me to follow her. She lead me up to the walls and looked back at Riften. "This seemed too easy." She said as she sat down on a pile of rubble. I took a seat beside her and set down my shield, my sword still held firmly in my hand.

"It's not over yet." I replied, looking around the area. I couldn't see any other undead shambling about. "I'm sure the hard part is coming."

"You're probably right. It's going to be close fighting in there and if those necromancers are in there it's going to get very messy." Mjoll gripped her axe and brought herself back to her feet. "Let's finish this and bring back the good news.

"Captain!" A volunteer came up the stairs out of breath and shaky. "There's no one inside! We scouted it out but it's empty!" Just as Mjoll was about to say something, we heard a loud bell ringing in the distance. It was coming from the direction of Riften.