Dragonsbane
Chapter 5
-Percy-
-Story-
"How far are we to the nearest town that isn't on fire?" Percy asked the two locals of the area, the group trudging through the landscape of Skyrim, the smoke still rising off the burning mountain village.
"A day's travel, maybe two." Ralof grunted, using a blood covered iron axe to chop down branches that lay in their path "Then we reach Riverwood, my sister runs the mill and is one of the defacto leaders of the town."
"And my Uncle is the Blacksmith." Hadvar added before glancing at the blond Nord "And won't your sister be upset about you leaving the Stormcloaks?"
"Not if I explain things to her." Ralof said with confidence, a bundle of sticks under his arm for when they made camp later "Ulfric was the man she thought should be king, but I'm her brother, and that means a lot more."
"What will I do?" Nelsi asked, speaking up for the first time since Helgen left their sight "I…everything I knew, everything I had was back there. I have nothing left but this bow and some ash covered clothes."
"Hey, don't say that." Ralof said to the woman, "You're still breathing, you're still fighting, and damn it all, you're a Nord! You're going to survive and come back swinging."
"But…but I don't…" she's shaking as the reality of what had happened begins to crash down upon her.
"I'm going to stay in Riverwood for a while." Ralof set down his wood and Axes as he gave the woman a hug, Hadvar having a knowing smile while watching the two interact "You can stay with me and my sister, maybe help out around the mill. You can and you will make it past this."
"The girl from Helgen he used to be sweet on?" Percy asked, leaning over to whisper to Hadvar, having guessed who the woman was.
"Oh yeah." Hadvar was trying, and failing, to hide a grin "The two of us would come up to Helgen every few weeks to browse what their markets had, it was once a week when we had horses. Every time Ralof would do his best to find her and see her, even if he never spoke."
"Too scared or too shy?" he asked in amusement as Ralof had managed to calm down Nelsi and they had once more resumed walking down the mountain road.
"Oh, he was bloody terrified." Hadvar snickered "But he'd leave little presents for her whenever he could. One time someone from Helgen tried claiming that they were the one giving her the gifts, but Ralof was quick to get payback. The next gift held a note saying that the man who had claimed to be giving them was lying while at the same time Ralof snuck a family of angry badgers into the man's home."
"…Badgers?" he asked the imperial soldier "Seriously?"
"Badgers are mean but also not lethal like wolves." Hadvar shrugged "Which was Ralof's original suggestion."
"Of course it was." He sighed as he noticed a curve in the road along with a path worn into the hill "What's that way, do you know?"
"Embershard mine." Hadvar shrugs "It's been abandoned for years."
"Then explain the footprints." He pointed at the fresh marks, the two locals being put on edge by them "It looks like either your village reclaimed the old mine or…"
"Bandits." The two finished, drawing their weapons while Nelsi nervously gripped her bow and walked behind them.
"I'll take point." He told them, drawing the executioner's axe as he followed the trail, hearing the sound of a bandit muttering to himself up ahead. Holding up a fist for the others to stop, he looked around before getting an idea. Motioning for the others to stay he crept around and atop the stone ledge above the bandit and the mine he was guarding. Seeing the others, he motioned for one of them to approach, wanting to make sure this actually was a bandit and not someone else.
A nervous Nelsi stepped forward before the others could "H-hello?" she called out as the man he assumed was a bandit stopped muttering to himself.
"Well, well, well," the man had a vile air as he seemed to leer at Nelsi "what do we have here?"
"Look sir, I…I just need to find the nearest town." Nelsi was either the best actress he had ever seen with the scared show she was putting on; or she actually was that scared which would make her one of the bravest people he had met given that she was still going.
"Normally I'd just demand your money or your life," the bandit clearly didn't care about what she was saying as he drew out a steel sword "but with such a tasty little thing like you I have several more entertaining ideas." Not waiting to hear anymore he gave a roar and leapt from the stone ledge as the man turned around in surprise. With a roar of primal rage, he brought the axe down and smote the bandit in two, the halves flying in separate directions as he landed with a small thud, sinking somewhat into the dirt from the force of it. Hadvar and Ralof approach from their hiding spot, their faces a mixture of red rage from the bandit's plan and green queasiness from the bandit's fate.
Before either could try to comfort the scared woman, she seemed overtaken by anger as she stomped over to the bandit's head, still intact given that Percy's axe had entered at the shoulder, and started kicking it. "Want to rape me will ya?!" she yelled as she repeatedly kicked the corpse's skull, shouting other questions and insults, her stress and fear having bubbled into a rage.
"Normally I'm not accepting for disrespect of the dead but…" he trailed off as the others finished the thought.
"it's justified." They nod before Nelsi finally finishes venting her frustrations.
"Everyone ready?" he asked, putting the axe back at his back and picking up the bandit's steel sword.
"Yeah." Nelsi panted out, leaning into Ralof's touch when the blond Nord put a hand on her shoulder. Nodding he opened the wooden door, finding a long tunnel leading downward. They were nearing the point where the tunnel leveled out when Nelsi shot a hand out and stopped Ralof from taking another stop, "Trap." She pointed at a rope on the ground that they hadn't noticed, then the rocks above their heads.
"Good eye." He complimented the woman who preened under the praise as they carefully walked around the trap. Peeking around the corner he saw two bandits on a lower level and a raised bridge. "I'll take those two." He whispered to the others "wait a moment to make sure that more won't come from over there." He pointed at the forked tunnel at the other side of the bridge "After that I want you," he turned to Nelsi "to go lower the other bridge. Hadvar, Ralof, you two take care of anyone who comes across."
Seeing them nod in agreement to his plan, Percy took in a deep breath before giving a war cry and charging. Vaulting over the side of the bridge towards the bandits who quickly drew weapons.
The first bandit charged with a yell, preparing a strong but grossly telegraphed overhead swing. Side stepping the attack, Percy lashed out, grasping the bandit as he let loose a point-blank flames spell. He normally only used this spell to start campfires or to char wood, he'd never used it in combat before. Given that, it wasn't long before his prolonged use drained his magicka reserves, the spell sputtering out as the bandit dropped dead to the ground. The bandit hit the water by their feet with a hiss of steam, the cold water clashing with the heated flesh.
Drawing out his axe, he leapt back to avoid being struck with a mace as he heard the drawbridge lower and the sound of a few more sets of feet. Grunting when the mace smacked against his armor covered ribs he swung, clipping the Bandit's leg as the Orc roared in anger at the injury.
Side stepping another mace swing he swung up, using the axe's shaft to catch the bandit under the chin before he spun in a circle to build up momentum, beheading the man who dropped like a sack of rocks. Hearing the sounds of combat up top ending he sighed and began checking the bandits for anything useful, getting some gold, a few gems, and their armaments. Walking up to the bridges he saw the others looting their bandits of anything of value, including the armor and weapons.
"This one had a key." Nelsi held up a key she had looted from a bandit who's hand still clutched the arrow in his throat.
"Good find," he nodded as they rounded a corner and found a cell with some chests and weapons.
"I'll take the hand axes." Ralof grabbed some Iron Axes, "Here Nelsi, this is better than that wooden one." He said as he handed her an Elvish bow while Hadvar decided to stick with his own equipment. Pushing on they found a last large cavern with three bandits.
"Nelsi," he whispered as he took in their surroundings "how far of a shot can you make?"
"That bridge over there would be pushing it." She admitted with a frown "but if they're still I should be able to land a shot." Nodding he watched the one bandit on the lower level working at a forge, one on the other side of the bridge counting some coins, and a third patrolling, stopping at two specific points in the path. After watching for a bit to make sure they wouldn't suddenly change patterns he looked at the others. "Nelsi, next time the patrolling one stops I want you to take the shot. Hadvar, Ralof, I want you two to take the two paths down to the lower level and handle that one so he doesn't get past you and to Nelsi. I'll take the other path to the third bandit."
In silence, they waited, each breath sounding like a troll's roar as they waited for Nelsi to take her shot. Finally, the arrow flew with a soft whistle, catching the bandit in the chest as he fell over the side of the bridge and into the pool. The other two bandits shot up in shock as he and his fellow warriors charged their selected targets.
"You made a big mistake coming here boy." The bandit leader growled, pulling out a pair of hand axes "My men will kill you for this."
"Your men are dead." He rolled his eyes, keeping his axe holstered in the narrow space as one hand became alight with fire and the other with lighting.
"Oh, you think those were my only men?" the bandit grinned "No, I have many more in the area and when they find this, they'll come for you. Maybe starting in that nice little town down the road."
His eyes narrowed at the threat to his new friend's home "Oh," he growled angrily at the wood elf "big mistake." With a yell, he switched out sparks for flames and let loose a torrent of burning fire as the bandit leader screamed, the ale covered furs the man wore bursting into flames and keeping the pain going before Percy decided to end it by grabbing one of the dropped hand axes and burying it in the bandit's skull.
"He has more men." He said as the others approached "And they're going to attack Riverwood looking for us when they find this." Hadvar and Ralof's eyes darkened.
"You know old friend," Hadvar said coldly while whipping the blood from his blade "I don't think I need to return to Solitude just yet. I'm sure the General will be understanding about the delay while I deal with this little pest problem. What say you?"
"I'd say so Hadvar," Ralof nodded "would you like a hand with it? You know how far spread these rodents can be."
-Olympus-
"Are bandits really that common of a problem in Tamriel?" Nico asked him, sounding surprised about that fact.
"What do you expect from savages." Malcolm snorted derisively before yelping when an arrow landed a hair's breadth from rendering him unable to produce children.
"Bandits are people who decided robbing people who pass by and killing those who resist is easier than working." He shrugged "They're pests and are often dealt with by military or adventurers."
"Hunting them does give some decent bounties." Inigo said with a grin "And some okay fights."
Chuckling, he was about to continue his story when he heard another portal open and turned to see several children run over to him "Daddy!" most yelled happily the fifth shouting out "Uncle!", tackling him as he laughed and let them bring him to the ground. Behind them walked a laughing woman with brown hair and dark green eyes.
"The kids were excited to see you and their grandpa." The woman said with a small laugh as he chuckled and sat up, the five kids hanging off him with wide innocent grins.
"What, no hug for grandpa?" Poseidon said as the four girls and the one boy rushed over to the sea god who happily scooped them up.
"As you no doubt have guessed," he smiled as he got to his feet, putting his arm around his wife's waist "this is my family. Here is my honorary sister Carlotta," his love gave a small smile and a nod of her head "and these are our children. Sissel, Lucia, Sofie, and Aventus are mine while little Mila there is Carlotta's daughter." Each of the kids waved at their names.
"That's…a lot of children." A wide-eyed blonde girl, Annabeth if he remembered right, said in shock.
"Percy has a habit of finding children with no home or bad homes and taking them in." Carlotta laughed at the girl's shock, "Each of those four were ones he adopted over the years."
"But each and every one of them is no less my children because of it." He said with pride at the little ones who beamed at him "And I'm sure they'll happily take care of their new baby siblings when they join this world." He put a hand on his wives' stomachs.
While the rest of gods and demigods, who weren't Malcolm, Zeus, or Aphrodite, started offering their congratulations an amused Apollo leaned over to Aphrodite "You never have a chance in Tartarus." He snickered before yelping when she slapped him.
