Chapter 27
Day 79
"This blade. It's Meridia's. A daedric prince" Kiera looked over the sword and gave it a few test swings. "You said you prayed to Akatosh?" She looked at me with a doubtful glance.
"Yes. Then there was something banging, like a drum. The sword just flew past my head afterwards." I rubbed the back of my neck, still nervous after the close brush with death. Lately I had become used to slaying undead creatures, them I had a fighting chance against. An enchanted blade coming at my face from out of no where?
"If you prayed and this blade appeared, it is yours then." She sheathed the blade in a leather scabbard that Zaynabi had stitched together and handed it to me. I grasped the shining sword and held it in both hands. It was slightly heavier than the steel blade that Kharjo had given me but it felt warm, almost as if it was alive. Why would Meridia's sword appear to me when I prayed to Akatosh? Did it mean something? No daedra prince would ever answer a prayer meant for one of the divines would they?
"This could turn the tide for us." Jarl Laila said in awe as she stared at the shining stone by the hilt of the blade. She was right, this sword alone could destroy a great number of undead. Even if it's wielder was a novice like myself.
"It could change the outcome of the next few days perhaps. But the danger is still at large." The dragonborn remained the leveled headed one here. She tapped tapped her mask with an armored claw. It made a slight rapping sound as the mask hit the piece of armor it hung by on her belt. "This also means that there are more eyes on you than you might feel comfortable with." Her gaze pierced through my very being. Those Emerald green eyes shone with a fierceness I didn't think possible. "Why though, I cannot say."
"Have you had dealings with Daedra in the past?" Mjoll looked at her quizzically.
"I have had a few skirmishes with their worshipers. Nothing more than that though." Though Mjoll seemed confident enough in the dragonborn's words I wondered if that where completely true. After all, she wore the ebony chainmail that you would get in the game after doing a quest for a daedric prince. The dragonborn wore a red hood that would normally frame a dragonpriest mask, now hanging off her belt. Black metal and chains adorned her torso. Her gauntlets however where clawed and where black and red, a trait that daedric armor held. She noticed that I had been looking at her and glared menacingly.
"What's our next move?" I asked the jarl, trying to get on task.
"With that sword we could drive the undead from our walls and give us a little reprieve." She rubbed her head with her fingertips as she spoke. She held many lives in her hands in a more precarious way than before. Her face looked slightly sunken in, heavy bags under her eyes. She looked almost double her age.
"Let us handle it. You should try and get some rest. Mjoll, please make sure she gets some rest." I bowed my head and took my leave. It took me some time to gather everyone up and get the ready but luckily no more undead had showed up. Instead of opening the gate, Marsh-Walker suggested that we lower a rope from the wooden part of the wall. There where fewer undead around that area and we could make our way around the clear the gate.
Ryona and Farian had volunteered to be lowered first and take out the three that had been pounding against the wooden frame. But as Shavari was lowering Farian her hands slipped and he plummeted onto the flailing bodies. Ryona dropped the nine feet to help her brother, Marsh-Walker following suite. I also attempted to follow the same way, ignoring the ropes. But as I landed my armor made the fall more difficult. I landed hard and fell forward, face hitting the dirt. I would think the situation almost comical where it not for the walking corpses around us. Ryona had helped her brother on his feet, slicing into one of them as it had tried to grab onto her sibling. Marsh-walker finished off the other two but our scuffle had attracted more of them that had been roaming around. Shavari dropped down next to me and grabbed onto my arm.
"Best get up. More are coming." She notched her bow and fired off three arrows into one. It continued to shamble forward until her daggers bit into it's neck. I stood and drew Meridia's sword. It shone brightly even in the sun, humming as the undead grew near. It emitted an almost joyous like feeling as I held it. Was it excited at being used against the undead? I remembered only a little of the quest to get this sword, DawnBreaker I think it had been called? You had to slay a necromancer as Meridia hated undead of any kind. Meridia must be hating all of Tamriel at the moment.
I hefted the sword up and held it in both hands. Charging forward and brought it across the two shambling creatures before me. The slice that formed on both their chests began to shine brightly then they burst into flames. It took only seconds for them to be reduced to ash where they stood. I looked down and smiled, this sword definitely could change things for us. After the rest of the group finished off the stragglers we made our way around the fort where the major group of undead rammed themselves against the gates.
Minutes later we rested over now still corpses and piles of ashes. Marsh-Walker wheezed while leaning heavily on a great-sword that he had just recently procured from the armory. Ryona and Farian tended to each other's bruises while Shavari surveyed the area.
"Shadr! Open the gate!" I huffed out as I tried to catch my breath. The gate lurched inward and a single door moved open.
"We had barred the other one shut, this way it'll be more sturdy." The redguard reported when the gate opened.
"Everyone get some rest. I'll have Mjoll post some of her men as guards for the rest of today." The others where happy with that, marching their way back into New Riften with smiles. We all where tired but we had survived an attack on our position. We even had survived against one of the necromancers who commanded these things.