Now back at the city, the crew decides to take time off from contracts, but what does the day have in store for them? Will Reynold be able to woo Ruthven's Granddaughters to be trained? and things seem to be cooking up Swain, what proposition does he have for the Gnoll Queen? all these will be answered...now!
Chapter 31
Dancing with the Storm Sister
Later that night...
Gem'Ahd Tavern... Star Sight district
At the Bar counter, Both Traysek and Endra sat at it, the former Regailing everything that happened with their mission, with Grace listening in intently while serving the other customers.
"And that's what happened over there, you really missed out," Traysek said, taking a gulp from his tankard.
Endra whistled and said, "That was sure a colorful experience that you had there. Bet that it gave Zephyr some bonus points."
"I'm sure she did, even if she ended up with healers here at the end of it," The Redguard sighed, taking another gulp of mead, "Erik's been worried sick, and almost blames himself for it, still, things ended on a good note..."
"She'll be fine." Endra assured, "She may not look like it, but she's very hard to kill."
Traysek nodded in agreement, "She seems the type not to give in so easily, I'm sure she'll bounce back around," sitting the tankard down, "And then, there's Dargo..." taking a heavy gulp there, "That's the one I actually feel bad for...After seeing all that,"
"What happened to him?" Endra asked.
"We saw a glimpse of the past over there, he apparently had a friend by the name of Cehili who died in battle and we saw who she died to," The Redguard began with, taking a gulp of mead, "That same knight from before, the one I mentioned, Rey...he was the one, had to catch her in a backstab to win, so you know how that's going..." with a deep sigh.
"A knight who backstabs others... what a joke..." Endra commented with a foul tone.
"We aren't against backstabs." Grace said as she gave them another filling, "But doing it wrong proves what kind of person you are."
"Exactly, and Endra we do that too, you saw me do this to those guards during the caravan mission," Traysek sighed, setting the tankard down.
"But you aren't knights who preach that you're 'Good' or that you are honorable." Endra retorted, "The problem comes when you say day, but you do night in the end."
The Redguard nodded, "Yeah, I see what you mean, after all, Knights are generally conditioned to fight honorably and with prowess, backstabs are considered cowardly and underhanded to them, which is...extremely limiting...but that's how they view it," taking a deep gulp, "And if anyone has to preach about how "Good" and "Honorable" they are, chances are they're really not, at least my men and I understand the reality of violence, nor do we try to shy from it, we're trained in Stealth and Guerilla tactics, we do what we gotta do out there and we everyone we meet knows it,"
"The thing is that you're honest with yourself." Endra pointed, "If you look at the Dark Blades, they backstab on a regular basis. Even the fighting style of some Felinefolks is based on dancing around your opponent and backstabbing if you get the chance. But not knights who swear to fight with a knight's honor."
The Redguard nodded again, "Right, goes against the honor and principle they love to preach about, they're warranted to, but they're not allowed to...when he did it, it was over revenge for killing two of his own friends, but when you think about how much they took from her and how she went out, you can't feel for him in that case, and I don't," going for another gulp.
"Say... have you ever seen how Dargo fights when he's angry?" Endra asked.
Traysek shook his head, "Can't say I have, even back there he did a good job reigning that in,"
Endra chuckled, but there was fear in that chuckle, "It was in our first mission when we could rejoin force... the three of us; Dargo, the girl he liked, and me. At one point, we were separated and the girl was captured by the Black Dogs and the Holy Knights. When we arrived, he simply walked in, got in the fort... and got out bathed in blood. Afterward, it's showed that Dargo killed over 300 armored men armed to the teeth... without suffering a single scratch." he sighed before adding, "But she was saved in the end..."
Traysek blinked twice, "And how is this man, not a deathbringer yet? seriously, if that's just from anger alone...it's not looking good for Rey," Taking another deep gulp, "And I don't care if he comes up and asks and/or pays, I'm not helping him outta that, he's an adult, that's on him, "
"One thing is for certain, Dargo is more than a silent guy." Endra said, "He's someone you don't want as an enemy." he took a big swing of the drink before adding, "Well, this doesn't apply to you since you're clearly more powerful than him."
"Even so, I wouldn't want that at me, one of the blows is guaranteed to catch, even the strongest opponents can go down from a blow they didn't see coming," The Redguard pointed, "Besides, he's more like one of the boys now, much like you are...so there's no point in trying to save this kid, especially if it's going to cost me friendships,"
"Well, that kid better be prepared... because the Light Blade isn't easy to talk to when he seeks blood." Endra pointed.
Traysek smirked, "Because you're not going to take a shot at him, right Mr. Light Arrow?" he chuckled.
"To be honest, I don't have anything to win from that situation." the Dark Elf answered, "Besides, it's not my problem... for now."
"Perhaps, he's already got the storm steel after him too, I'd say that's enough," The Redguard chuckled, taking another sip of the mead.
The entire place froze as a look of fear was on everyone there.
Traysek noticed the eerie silence, "Um...was it something I said there?" with a raised eyebrow.
"T-T-THE STORM OF STEEL!?" Endra asked as he has fallen from his seat,
"Oh dear, what could have brought HER to pick her weapons again?" Grace's tone was full of worry.
Traysek casually took a gulp, unfazed, "Yeah, we've met her, nice lady, and it's because of the same reason Dargo wants to off Rey, that was her sister,"
Everyone lost their color once they heard that.
"Killing her sister! That's insane!" one of the clients said.
"We'll see another one turned into blood, that's for sure." this time, it was a minotaur who spoke.
"L-listen," Endra called as he sat back on the chair, "Whatever you do... don't stand in her way... the last guy who tried to fight her... didn't even get the time to breathe as he was turned to ribbons within the following second."
Traysek laughed, "I'm not crazy enough to stand in the way of that, I've felt that bloodlust, no thanks," he waved off, "Though..." a smirk forming, "I am interested in facing that strength, just maybe not while she's hunting the holy knight," chuckling.
"The problem is that she retired because she wanted to never pick weapons again." Grace pointed, "After all... she was born with a gift called the Eye of Storm. It allows the bearer to see through any attack... even General Greil's attacks..."
"Which means that she can block or evade easily." Endra sighed, "The reason why she decided to retire was to protect a village. Being a soldier means being tied to a hierarchy, but if you're not, it means that you are free to do what you wish."
"I see, well that explains a lot," The Redguard nodded, "Only thing I can say, is that Rey better stay out of her way...if that's the case, he'll be a blood puddle when she's done," taking a final gulp, standing up, "And with that, I'm gonna head on out, I've had plenty to drink tonight," he said, laying a couple of amethysts on the table, "And that's for the tab, I'll see you around Endra, you too Grace," with a grin, leaving.
Endra took a deep breath, "I never thought that the Storm of Steel would appear again."
"Me too." Grace stated, "Even my husband was afraid of her back there... when he was alive."
"Don't be sad." Endra said with a smile, "I'm sure that he wouldn't want you to be sad like this."
"You're right." Grace sighed as she began to clean the tankards.
The next day, the House of Wings
8:30 am
The next morning at the house, Recorder was over a large pile of clothes with a nose pin clenched on her nostrils, "Ugh...my god this shit stinks...it can't be helped that we barely had other clothes out here but this is ridiculous..." quickly dropping Yuri's underwear, "Gross..."
Said person was also up in the morning, cooking for everyone when she heard Recorder yell out about something...
'What's she talking about?' with an eyebrow raised, heading to her, "Record? You good? I heard-" before taking a sniff, grimacing, "Ugh...what in oblivion is that stench?!"
"The same outfits everyone's been wearing, I know we were supposed to take this to the cleaners, but this is all we've got for now...something's gotta change here," Record sighed, shaking her head, "Or at least we need newer clothes, and I'm not talking about Armor either,"
Yuriana nodded, "You know, there's a shopping district called: the Great Nest, it's where the Harpies reside but they're apparently fashion fanatics, meaning they'll know what's good and what's not and are also the ones responsible for the fashion statements here, It'd be nice to get an outfit from them,"
"Yeah...we wouldn't stick out, I mean we would, but not in an outlandish way...yeah, that would be a good call," Recorder grinned, before it faded, "Only one problem..."
"The guys...they're not going to care about fashion, even though, they're plenty of outfits for men here, some I know they'd kill it in," Yuri sighed, "Only way we can get that attention is if we get the boss to call a meeting for it, even then, that might be pushing..."
Recorder shook her head, "I don't think so, not this time, especially if they smell this old smell from them like we can, but that does give me an idea..." smirking afterward...
Later, house meeting...
Traysek gave a yawn, indicating he's just woken up, with an annoyed stare..."Want to tell me... why you decided to have me host this meeting early in the morning...?"
"One, it's not that early and two," Recorder began glancing at the dirty pile, "We need really to talk about our lack of clothing here,"
Inigo raised an eyebrow, "That's it? that's what you woke us all up for? you cannot be serious, we have training today..."
"Now now, let's give the ladies a chance to explain themselves, I'm sure they've got a good reason for waking us all up like this, we can complain afterward," Lucien interjected.
Erik nodded, "Besides they do have a point, we don't exactly have much clothing unless it's in terms of armor,"
"Glad you see it our way Erik," Yuriana pointed, "Now, it's not the fact that we don't bathe often, it's the fact that the clothing themselves, the current clothing, has an old smell coming on them, same with our stuff, it's just combined,"
The Redguard sighed, "Okay, it shouldn't be that bad, is it like a vintage smell or something?"
Recorder passed him one of the clothing, "See for yourself,"
Traysek took a whiff and immediately threw it on the table, "Huueerk! Ugh! What in oblivion?! Is THAT how they smell?! Ugh!" holding his nose, "That smelt and felt toxic, was that mine!?"
"No, that was actually Inigo's sand armor, but to be fair yours is even worse than that," Recorder winced, "The guild coat, not your sand assassin gear, which still and surprisingly had a decent smell, but it starting to go stale,"
"Whew...yeah I see you both mean now, that would not be something to meet someone in, by the gods," The Captain groaned, fanning it from his nose.
Erik took a whiff and quickly placed it back on the table, "Oof, yeah this pretty bad, felt like I wanted to hurl there," offering it to Inigo, "Take it, it's yours..."
"Nah I'll...pass, I'm aware it stinks, I've got strong senses, I can smell it from here," Inigo denied, with his hands up.
Lucien nodded slowly, "No thank you, Erik, This might be a problem, I know what was said about training and all, but if one of the councilmen or even the dark queen herself wanted to see us right now, this would be embarrassing,"
The others nodded in agreement...
"Yeah, definitely, I've kicked people out myself for smells like that, ugh..." The Redguard groaned, "So where is this shopping district? what is it called?"
Recorder beamed up, "Ah, glad you asked, it's called the Great Nest and it happens to be in the Molten Gift District,"
"Ah the same district we came back to when Dargo warped us back, okay then, and the "great nest?" why do I feel like harpies are involved?" Traysek asked, already feeling a headache coming.
Lucien had a hand on his chin, "Come to think about it, we did pass by a colossal bird's nest, think that could be the place?"
"It is, and it's the hub of the harpies outside of their homes with spouses, but that's where you guys go," Recorder said.
"Just us? what are you two going to be doing?" Erik asked with a raised eyebrow.
Yuriana now had a pin on her nose, "Attending to the toxic-smelling clothes, you guys get scope it out for us, lucky you!"
The Redguard sighed, "Fine, we'll go after breakfast, but we're not going to take all day, we still have the academy to go to,"
"Which will be open by the time you're done, if not we still have the rest of the week," Recorder retorted with, narrowing her eyes.
"Very well, once again, after breakfast..." Traysek concurred with a headshake, 'Something tells me though, this is going to be a long day...'
After breakfast...the Molten Gift District...Great Nest entry...
The four men were now standing at the colossal nest, the Redguard whistling...
"This must be the place," Traysek commented, watching the harpies fly from atop of it, "Apparently these guys are fashion gurus here, still don't think we need to be here,"
"Wait why not?" Erik asked with a raised eyebrow, until it dawned on him, "Oh...oh...I almost forgot..."
Inigo slowly nodded, "Yeah, we fought with them on our way to Ken, but to be fair, they attacked us, do you think they still hold a grudge?"
"I'm sure they do, but those could've been different harpies, they might be the same..." Lucien added, spotting a flock flying past them, "Okay, somewhat similar but I remain optimistic,"
"That's going to be your downfall one day," The Dragonborn deadpanned, "Come on, the less we waste time here, the better chances we've got of not running into familiar faces," being the first one in, before the others followed him.
Unfortunately for them, however, there were onlookers on the rooftops glaring down...
Inside, there was no other female of any other race, but males of Minotaurs, Orcs, and Dark Elves.
"I know them." one of the harpies whispered to another one, "They're the ones who slaughtered a lot of our sisters."
"I heard the same thing." the other harpy replied, "Why are they here? to kill more of us?"
The group of men walked through, glancing at everything they passed, the Redguard furrowing his brow.
"There's no other woman in here, it's mostly men, looks like the girls were on to something," Erik commented, spotting some of the outfits on display, "But the look on some of these, I can see you wearing that, Lucien," nodding his head at the green spiked jacket.
The imperial's eyes went wide, "Oooooh, I like the spikes on those, the green's not bad either, I wonder how much it is?"
"She was, but there's also an...uneasy feeling here, can't put my finger on it..." Traysek said, cautiously looking around, "Tread carefully, something feels off..."
"Yeah I feel that too, it's in the air almost...or maybe it's those glares we're by most of the harpies here," Inigo added, frowning at one of them.
The Redguard nodded, "Maybe, we just find somewhere to start..." glancing around until he spotted a store with metal accessories, "How about that one? They look like they've got nice stuff from over here, Let's check that one out," heading over to it, ignoring the glares he got on the way.
He was greeted by a Minotaur and a harpy who wasn't too pleased to see him.
"Welcome..." the Harpy greeted with an unhappy tone.
Traysek raised an eyebrow, "Hello there...my friends and I have come for the clothing here, from the looks of it, you've got a nice selection," as the others soon joined him in the store.
"Oooooh I like these boots, captain!" Lucien commented, inspecting the boots on display, "Especially the gold coin on them, very nice touch to the maker,"
"Good for you..." the Harpy commented.
The Redguard furrowed his brow, "Okay...I'm getting a sense of hostility here, not sure why, we never did anything to you guys," looking at her feathers, "But...you do look familiar...trying to recall where I've seen you before..." going into thought.
Inigo noticed a crowd of harpies gathering outside of the shop, "What the-? is there an event going on or something? what's going on here?"
"I've got a question for you." the Minotaur stepped to them, "How many Harpies have you killed?"
They actually thought on this for a second, the captain sighing deeply...
"The only time we've killed harpies was when they attacked our ship, and thinking on it now..." He started with, "I'm uh...seeing some familiar faces here,"
Erik frowned, "But if that's the case, then you know we're not the aggressors in that!"
"Answer the question..." the Harpy said, "After all, none of your friends are dead."
"Honestly, I think I've got around six of you, plus whatever number they racked up," Traysek answered, pointing his thumb at his men.
"I stopped around five, I'm going to be honest..." Inigo threw his hands up.
"Same here, although I think my number might be lower than theirs," Lucien nervously chuckled.
The Nord nodded, "I'm around a good four, but even then, you act like we weren't supposed to defend ourselves, would you not have done the same if it was one of your nests? our ship was no different,"
"Do you think that you were the targets." the Minotaur shook his head, "They attacked because you sided with the real target."
"And maybe I should remind you of that other time..." the Harpy added.
Traysek frowned, "Wha? What other time? There's only been the one time I've faced the lot of you unless you're talking about the ambush that happened in the wilderness on land, but that still wouldn't be on us..." taking a deep sigh, "I'll admit, we were on the wrong side in the beginning...and I'm willing to apologize for the lives lost, even make up for it, but we're not taking full responsibility for a fight that we. did. NOT. initiate, especially one that could've and SHOULD'VE been avoided,"
The imperial nodded, "True enough, you may have been after a different target, but that was still our ship, how were we supposed to know you were after them and not us?"
"I see... so that's how you want to play it... fine." the Harpy turned and left, "Go tell that tale to all the young chicks left without a mother." the Minotaur glared at them before leaving as well.
Traysek took a deep frustrated sigh, "Dammit..."
"Well, what are we going to do now? it's obvious we're not welcomed here," Lucien said, noting the glares.
"Might as well go somewhere else, we're not going to find what we're looking for," Inigo added with a headshake.
Erik sighed, "That's...if they let us leave..." glancing at the crowd outside.
"Don't really have much of a choice, let's just go..." The Redguard sighed, leaving the store...
Even if they were given the way, the glares were still there. As well as older Harpies who picked the young ones to hide them from the crew.
Now on a bench, they pondered what to do, the captain noting the passing glares...
"So with our stuff in the cleaners, we may have to make nice with some of them," The blue khajiit said, "Not sure if I feel paying another blood price,"
Traysek shook his head, "I wouldn't ask that of you anyway, but this is a fine mess we're into though...something told me this was a bad call, I should've followed my first instinct..."
"I don't get it, we're the ones attacked, but we're the aggressors...? how does that work?" Erik asked with a furrowed brow.
Lucien sighed, "I don't think that matters, the way they see it, they lost people and we're the ones who did it, nothing we can do about that..."
The Redguard lit a cigar in his mouth, "On that I agree, maybe I can talk to Greil, but even then I don't know," taking a deep pull from it.
"What are you doing here?" a familiar voice asked them.
They turned around to find Dargo with two kids around him, the khajiit grinning.
"Dargo my friend, good to see you!" He grinned, "And we're getting some new clothes,"
"Trying to get new clothes, apparently we're a bit infamous around here," Traysek chuckled, "What about you? what are you doing here?"
"They need new clothes to withstand the coming frost months." Dargo answered, "Some bugs ruined their old ones."
"I see," The Redguard nodded, "Well, I hope you get what you're looking for, we didn't have much luck there,"
"More like we were turned away," Erik muttered, shaking his head.
"Maybe you need to talk to one." Dargo pointed out, "Since they live in a community, having one on your side can help you."
The Dragonborn exhaled, smoke blowing out, "Perhaps...but after the way that crowd gathered, those chances are looking pretty slim at best,"
"It wasn't even our fault... we didn't want to fight with them, they attacked our ship on the way to Ken, what were we supposed to do?" Erik added.
"Well... it's more like the skies being their territory." Dargo pointed out, "As well as their past with how humans used to hunt them for the feathers."
"Didn't know that, I figured the sky was free, that would explain why they were so quick to," Lucien sighed, "But throwing a head onboard? trying to carry off Erik...?"
the Nord winced, "Pretty sure they were gonna rip me apart...I felt that coming, but we understand where you're coming from with it,"
Traysek nodded, "Yeah, especially when I've seen what they've done to Salamanders and batfolks back there...just so you know, for every mistake I have to pay for because of the past two factions we worked with, that's going to be another hot molten blade going up their-"
"We get it, my friend, no need to get graphic," Inigo chuckled, "But is there someone we could talk to? like low-hanging fruit, we don't want this rep over us,"
Dargo nodded before saying, "There's the mate of Endra. She's a Harpy."
The Redguard rubbed the back of his head, "I mean...we can try it, but I'm not sure if she's related to those we've slain back there or not...taking a big chance there,"
"Not to mention we don't want to blow our friendship with the guy," Erik added, "But it would sure beat this,"
Lucien sighed, shaking his head, "That might be our only shot, guys, and if we get scorned about it, we get scorned, nothing new there,"
"Right, it's not like we're expecting a gut punch...well most of us aren't..." Inigo chuckled nervously.
"Gut punch?" Dargo asked with confusion.
Traysek waved it down, "Long story, but if we had to look for his wife, where would we find them, currently?"
"They live in another district." Dargo replied, "I can show you the way if you want."
The group looked amongst themselves, with agreeing nods...
"Alright, we might as well go ahead and speak to them, I doubt we'll get lucky here..." The Redguard nodded, standing up, "But what about you and your siblings? I'm sure you want to spend the time,"
"It's no problem." Dargo waved his hand, "After all, I've got quite the free time in these days."
Traysek rose an eyebrow, "Oh? You know what? I'll ask on the way," turning to the two kids, "Sorry kids, gotta steal your big bro, we'll be back," he apologized, turning to him, "Ready when you are,"
"Now I need to find someone to watch over them." Dargo sighed.
Lucien thought about it, "You know what? we can wait here, I don't think Endra's wife will appreciate all of us coming, and you're the one who drinks with him often,"
"I was thinking about that, you guys sure you're okay here? you are around hostile forces," Traysek said, glancing at the two armed harpies, who glared at him.
Inigo waved him off, "They're all stares and glares, but I doubt they'll attack while we're babysitting, we'll just have to stand outside the doors when they shop,"
Erik nodded, "Go ahead and go, sir, we can hold it down here, even with the hostility..."
Traysek sighed, "Fine, but do know you were warned..." Turning to Dargo, "I guess it's you and me then, your siblings will be okay with them around,"
Dargo nodded before leading him away.
Fire Tongue District...
After a while, they arrived in front of a door and Dargo knocked.
Traysek looked around at the surroundings of his house, noting the decent size, "Well, this is a nice house, looks like Endra's livin' pretty good,"
"He does some highly dangerous Kletzkrieg missions alone." Dargo pointed.
After a while, the door opened and a half-asleep Endra opened the door, "Yes?"
The Redguard blinked twice, "Damn bro, you live like this? nice~" nodding in approval, "Sorry to wake you up man, but uh...we need to talk to the wife, is she around?"
"The hell you want with Thelys..." Endra asked before his view became clear, "Oh, it's you guys." he gave them the way and said, "Come in..."
Once they were, Traysek gave the inside of the house and overall glare, "Gotta say, your place is bigger than mine, must've been proud getting it,"
"It was the only one here." Endra yawned before adding, "Besides, this place is close to where Thelys works."
"That's pretty convenient, for her that is," The Redguard commented, "Still, it's a very nice place,"
Eventually, they reached the living room, hearing the sounds of and smell cooking coming from the kitchen...
"You did it again, huh?" Dargo asked, causing Endra to look away.
The Dragonborn raised an eyebrow, "Done what now?" until he put it together, "Oh...ooooooh~ okay I see, Nice Endra, nice~" he chuckled, adding to the embarrassment.
"The thing is, is that alcohol is like an aphrodisiac to him," Dargo said.
"WHY DID YOU TELL HIM?!" Endra snapped.
"Well, you're the first to bust out things about me," Dargo replied.
Traysek laughed, "That's true, you have gotten him a couple of times and like I told Recorder, it's always got a funny way of coming back," smirking, "Well, seems like you did your part, maybe she's in good enough mood," shrugging.
"Depends on what you want from her," Endra said after a sigh.
The Redguard sighed, "Well, for starters, we went to the great nest today for newer clothing, and found out that we were blacklisted there, because we had killed a decent number of the harpies that had tried to invade and slaughter everyone onboard the ship, threw one of the crewman's heads back onboard... although they said they were targeting the black dogs on our ship, it doesn't explain why one of them was trying to take a dive at me..." pausing and taking a deep breath, "Needless to say, we're being villanized for defending ourselves and I came here to at least try to plead our case," Nodding his head at Dargo, "And D here, Reccomended I see your mate..."
"Ship... were you in the sea?" Endra asked as he sat down on the couch.
Traysek shook his head, "No, we were flying by Airship when we ran into them...they were far away too, we didn't even think about engaging them..."
"I guess that it should also be pointed out that you don't know that the sky is Harpy territory." Endra pointed, "And they probably wanted to take you to a nest to study you, but then they saw their enemy with you, therefore, they thought that you tried to take their territory... not that it didn't happen before."
The Redguard nodded slowly, "Perhaps that may have been the case, but we've gotten so used to sailing by air, that ship was a prize from besting the Thalmor in our world...so it was natural for us, but I'm beginning to see why the alliance doesn't have any of their own...that would explain it...wish we knew, but our live cargo were assholes,"
"Well, it might be hard, you know?" Endra pointed out, "Harpies can hold a grudge forever, especially if one of their close relatives is felled by your hands."
"I see that, but whether I like it or not, I gotta fix this either way," Traysek sighed shaking his head, "I'm pretty sure Yuriana has taken half our laundry to a firepit so I don't have much of a choice, which is why I'm here, I'm already expecting claws and teeth,"
"With them, it's more like claws and violent winds." Endra laughed nervously before a group of cries were heard, "And here I thought that they'd stay asleep for longer." he got up and went to a room.
Traysek watched him leave, turning to Dargo, "I heard little cries there, are those his kids?"
Dargo nodded, "He has seven here, and one who hunts with the hunting parties."
The captain blinked twice, "Yikes, one is trouble enough, not sure how he can manage seven,"
"Well, to him the question isn't 'Can I take care of them?' but rather 'What kind of a man would I be if I didn't?'" Dargo stated, "He forces himself to work hard to be able to afford happiness for his family."
Traysek smiled, "That's an interesting way to look at that, a dutiful father, there's nothing wrong with that if you can do it, you can do it, and props to you for pulling it off," with a nod, "For me, I think I have enough kids in my life, my friend Misty, great friend, adopted many kids and after meeting her, me...so I'm technically an uncle already," he lightly chuckled, "I actually miss them, especially my nephews, D'usha, Zarain and even Ma'rahaka..."
"The thing is... Endra wishes to live up to his father's reputation as a man who brings joy to everyone around him." Dargo pointed.
"Living up to his father's rep huh? well, if how he's been has been an example, I'd say he's doing just fine in that regard," The Redguard grinned, "More than that even, if I'm being honest,"
At that moment, Endra exited the room, breathing heavily and sweating bullets, "I finally managed to put them back to sleep."
Traysek frowned, but grinned, "You good? You look like you just came out of battle," he chuckled.
"A battle is way easier than that, trust me." Endra chuckled, "And I think that Thelys should be done with breakfast."
At that moment a curvy woman with bird wings for arms, bird-like legs, and her feathers were a mixture of purple and red, showed up in the room with a platter and a jug lifted with wind Magic...
The Redguard nodded in approval, "You've got taste there Endra, I can see how you fell for her," with a slight chuckle.
"Shaddap..." Endra sighed before going back to the room, only to get back out with two little Harpies, and following him were five Harpies that were a little older.
Traysek gave them a genuine smile, "Well~ aren't you all adorable...?" watching one shy behind her father, glancing up at him, "What are their names?"
Endra sighed before saying, "Céim a fhoirmiú. (Get in ranks)" At that, they got from the oldest to the youngest, "Well, first, there's Gylena, Nelielle, Therone, Phlorola, Beloya, and finally those two; Zelaphe and Orinoene."
"It's nice to meet you all, I'll do my best to remember your names," The Redguard said with a slight bow.
"Now, let's get you something to eat before sending you to school, alright?" Endra said as the girls nodded before hurrying to the kitchen.
The Dragonborn watched them scurry to the kitchen, "They seem...lively, full of energy..." turning to Endra's wife, "And it's nice meeting you, Thelys right?"
"Yes." the Harpy nodded, "You're welcome to join."
"I-"Traysek stopped thinking about, "You know what? sure, I could eat,"
In the kitchen, there was a big table with cups of juices, chocolate mousse, and smoked elk.
The Redguard looked over the food with wide eyes, 'Suddenly, I don't feel so full anymore...' clearing his throat, "Wow, this all looks great, you really worked hard back here, huh?" with a smile.
"I take that you have no other way to deal with that problem, huh?" Endra asked.
"Guilty as charged," Traysek chuckled, glancing around at younger Harpies eating, "But, why don't we wait until after breakfast for that conversation, it's a nice meal and I don't want to waste it on business,"
After a while, the children went back to the room while Endra and Thelys stayed.
"Now... why don't we talk about that problem of yours," Endra said as he was feeding one of the little ones.
The Redguard slowly nodded, "Yeah," turning to Thelys, "I'm having a problem trying to shop at the Great Nest right now, apparently we've been blacklisted because we fought off your harpy brethren when they tried to swarm our airship and had taken quite a few of them, and then back at the wilderness when my men fought off a monster horde," Sighing deeply "We...weren't on this side of the fence at first, but it doesn't seem like they've forgiven us for it," nodding his head towards Dargo, "Dargo here, recommended that we talk to you in hopes of that changing, even left my men back there to do it,"
"I did hear of it." Thelys said as she was feeding the other Harpy, "I'm not a Wingleader, nor anything that can speak to defend you. However, I can ask that you get the Storm Trial..."
Traysek frowned, "Storm trial? what's that? I know what trials are, but I've never heard of this one,"
"All that I can say is that you must choose one to face against one of our Storm Sisters." Thelys pointed.
The Redguard beamed at that, "Really now? so all I have to do is choose and fight one of your storm sisters and we're off the hook if I win?"
"I can't answer that question..." Thelys pointed, "After all, all Harpies, and anyone who wants to put himself to the challenge, must swear an oath to NEVER speak of it to others. Knowing what must be done, hinders the trial. And breaking the oath is seen as a betrayal to all the children of Airionne."
"Don't try to understand their logic," Endra stated with a sigh.
"Don't worry, I'm not..." Traysek chuckled, waving it off, "Alright then, so you can't break oath, that's fine...I'll figure it out, on that note, let's do that, request for this trial, I'm ready" with a grin.
"Unfortunately, I need to go alone." Thelys pointed.
"They need to buy new clothes." Dargo stated, "I do know that this sort of demand takes time."
"Well, they can go to the shop where I work," Thelys replied with a smile.
The Dragonborn nodded, "Okay, that'll have to do, we'll stop by, pick up a few things, and wait until you're done getting that set up," with a smile, "Thank you, and we'll remain in this district to make things simple,"
"Now, if you excuse me I'll-" Endra got up and tried to leave.
"Take the kids to school, right?" Thelys smiled, but it wasn't a pleasant one...
"Y-Yes!" Endra responded as he was sweating bullets.
Traysek chuckled and stood up, "And I'll head out, I'll see you guys soon," before leaving the room.
Meanwhile at Feoh...
Reynold wandered the courtyard in search of the duelist, hearing that she would be around there at this time...he looked around finding many of the gold knights training with each other as he passed, finding an interesting scene between Niall and the newcomer Sylla...
'What's this about?' he mused, getting close enough for a better view.
Sylla, armed with a katana, which had a blade made of some kind of stone, and a smaller one. On her back was a black glaive and on her hips some sort of magical staff.
"Ha!" Niall brought his halberd down which Sylla rolled to his left before slashing with weapons.
"Nice try, Commander." the Tarnished complimented before she had to close her eyes as Niall stomped on the ground, creating an icy whirlwind before slashing down on Sylla.
"I'm not a commander for nothing." Niall chuckled before going for a piercing attack but was parried by the Wakizashi.
Sylla took the opening given by her parry to lift her katana above her head and brought it down on the commander, making him stumble backward.
"Not bad." Niall smiled, "You are a Tarnished who was a Night Cavalry before losing her Grace. But..." he twirled his halberd once, creating a whirlwind of frost around him before dashing straight towards Sylla and performed an uppercut with the halberd, causing Sylla to move away.
"Trying to take me full on?" the Tarnished asked with a smirk before blocking a strike.
Niall stomped the ground again, but this time, he began to gather a whirlwind around him by circling his weapon around him several times before striking it down with a thunder strike which made some sort of thundering aura around him.
"Let's take this to the real fight." Niall dashed forward and attempted to cut Sylla in two, but the Tarnished rolled out of the way before sheating the Katana and the Wakizashi, and taking in her hands the Glaive and the Staff.
"I never saw the commander fighting like that." one of the knights commented as Sylla dodged backward before creating fire from her hand and swung her glaive horizontally, imbuing it with the same flames.
'Incredible, I've never seen the commander move like that, not even with crimson viper...' Reynold mentally gasped, watching their standoff.
Sylla used her staff to lift three rocks that were thrown at the commander. Niall, on the other hand, tanked the rocks and surprised the Tarnished with a forward stab.
'What kind of magic is she using, looks almost like...gravity? doesn't feel dark at all," Rey mused, watching her dodge the stab.
The commander turned, preparing a large swing, as he began to suck in the air that began to become cold near him before unleashing a huge whirlwind made of frosty wind that engulfed the Tarnished.
'I think he got her this time,' Rey noted, watching the large gusts of wind, 'If she dodged that, I'm impressed,"
As it became clearer, it showed Sylla standing with some parts of her armor encased in ice as she was breathing hard.
"You're as strong as ever." the Tarnished complimented with a grin, "No wonder that no Tarnished could conquer Castle Sol."
"Heh, you're the one to talk, using fire to counter the build-up of Frostbite." the commander retorted, "How about summoning your Funeral Steed?"
"You want to face me like that?" Sylla grinned before putting the staff on her hips and struck the ground with the end of her glaive, summoning a horse hidden with black clothing, "Now you'll face a member of the Night Cavalry at the best of her capacity."
The young knight's eyes widened, 'A ghost steed...? That's not gravity magic, it's something else, and Niall seems unfazed by it..."
"Now... let's get serious!" Niall roared as he charged Sylla, who did the same from her mount.
The weapons began to clash more often than before as Niall was quicker at countering the charge attacks of the cavalier.
"Been a long time since I fought like that!" Niall grinned before stomping the ground, but this time, he pulled out the blade hidden in the prosthetic, enhancing it with electricity, and leaped at Sylla, who maneuvered to evade the coming strike and jumped from the aftershock.
"You're trying to kill me, huh?" Sylla laughed before charging toward while dragging the Glaive to the ground, causing Niall to use his weapon to swiftly dodge to the left.
"You've improved, little girl," Niall smirked as he saw the horse turning and then leaping at him.
'I really need to meet the duelist, but I can't stop watching, I want to see how this ends,' Reynold thought, folding his arms.
Niall dodged and blocked a strike that was aiming to decapitate him, "Could you try harder?" the commander taunted as Sylla went for another strike, "Or rather, can't you be smarter?"
The commander dodged a sweep and managed to grab the Tarnished by the back of her armor before forcing her on her back with the point of his halberd on her neck.
"Looks like I'm still weak, right, commander?" Sylla joked as she grabbed the commander's arm to get on her feet.
"It's more like the lack of experience." Niall laughed as the knights around them applauded them.
Reynold found himself clapping with them, 'That wasn't a bad sparring match, if all else fails, maybe I can ask him, but for now,' continues on with his search, 'On to find the first sister...'
Back at Yamakhroz
La Plume D'or (The Golden Feather)
Fire Tongue district...
The four men entered the store, finding a large selection of clothing, even some with patches of steel in them. Traysek nodded in approval as the other three began to browse...
'Very nice~ there's a lot more styles to choose from in here, some of them even come with armored patches,' He mused with an amused grin, scanning around until he spotted a long coat with spikes on the shoulders along with inner shirt with pants and boots in crimson and black colors, 'That looks nice...wonder how much it goes for...' before heading to the counter, finding no one there but a bell, ringing it, "Hello? anyone back there?"
A man in dark leather with a gold-tracings on the rest of his armor exited the back.
"Yes?" he said with a rough voice.
Traysek gave him an overall look, "Ah yes, hello there, we're interested in buying some of the clothing here and since we're new, we were hoping you had recommendations," with a smile.
The man raised an eyebrow before looking back, "Aurora! You have clients!"
From the back, a silver-haired Dark Elf walked to the front with a sleeping child in her arms.
"You desire something?" she asked with a smile.
"Oh, nothing too crazy or out there for now, we're looking for something nice but casual," The Redguard pointed, "And since we're new here, I figured you could give some recommendations,"
The Dark Elf kept smiling before handling the child to the man, "Now, let's see." she closed her eyes before re-opening them as they were glowing with a purple color, "Interesting... very interesting." after looking at each one of them, she said, "What kind of color do you like?"
Traysek thought on this, "My preferred color is red, but if you have any dark colors with gold or the like, I can wear that too,"
"Personally, I like green, it gives me a very earthy feel," Inigo added with a grin.
Lucien nervously chuckled, "I...don't have a favorite color, but if I like it, I'll like it,"
"I prefer a steel color in my clothing, been wearing armor for so long, I've gotten to like the color," Erik said while looking over at the checkered vest.
After a while, Aurora came back with various outfits...(A/N: You can find what the outfits are on AO3, it's too many to describe, you'll see why when you do )
The four men were awed at the selection presented before them, the captain slowly nodding at the choices...
"These look well crafted," Traysek commented, spotting the light grey outfit with a large scarf, "Lucien you'd look good in that one if not the white and gold, both look sophisticated enough,"
"I see what you mean, but gold's not my thing, the purple jacket looks nice enough though, I like that one, fit and lean," The imperial nodded, "If not that one, that other one you recommended is nice too,"
Erik spotted the olive green business outfit, "I like this one, even if you don't have it steel color, I could wear this, it matches my eyes even,"
Inigo nodded, spotting green ranger gear, "This looks good enough, it actually comes in the color I'm looking for," glancing at the Crimson and gold jacket with a jeweled steering wheel in the center and a gold anchor on the side, "My friend, I even found your coat, fit for a captain," nodding towards it.
The Redguard inspected it, nodding, "I did see this one, was thinking about getting it too, but this other one I'm looking at, looks really good," pointing out the black and gold pirate attire, "But it's too open in the front, just like this one,"
"Aww come on... that red coat is literally your calling, sure, the hat might be a problem, but you'd definitely sell it as a captain if you picked this one, my friend," The Blue khajiit coaxed, "Besides, you have your headband incase the hat doesn't cut it..."
Traysek sighed, "Alright you've made your point, and besides, I like the gold anchors on them," turning to the owner, "Is there a room we try these on before buying?"
"You don't have to waste your energy and time." she pointed to a mirror, "Go in front of it with the outfit and it will show you how you'd look in it."
Traysek raised an eyebrow, "Really? Just like that? Say no more," grabbing the crimson pirate attire first, walking to the mirror...
It first showed his reflection, before it the mirror rippled, showing him now in the outfit, "Whoa...! So that's how that works, not bad~, I could wear this and casually," checking himself out with it on, before grabbing the other outfit, "Let's see how this one looks," stepping in front of the mirror, once again, morphing his image with it on, "This one too, more casual the other one but its got flair, I approve,"
Inigo stepped in front of it next, the image morphing on him, "Oooooh~ the green looks dash on me, my friends, freaky, but not unpleasant..." grinning.
Lucien went after Ingio, holding the purple outfit, the mirror morphing once again, "Oh this looks good, purple's not my thing, but this? This I could do..." checking his sides, before grabbing the Dark grey outfit with the scarf, the mirror warping into it, "This one looks way better, that scarf even more so..."
"My turn!" Erik called out, holding the business outfit, finding himself in it, "That fits very well, better than my armor does and it doesn't look like it'll slow me down, it'll do nicely" with a wide grin, grabbing the casual white shirt and jeans outfit, stepping in front of the mirror, "Okay, now this one...this one works well enough, light and straight to the point, no extra designs,"
The Redguard turned to the owner, "Thank you, I think I figured out what I'm buying, both of these for now," looking at the other three, "You guys too? if you want a second outfit, we do have plenty to spend on, we were paid before and after our recent job,"
"Good point, we did find that large bag of diamonds waiting at our step," Lucien nodded, "Okay, I'll choose the purple and the grey scarf attires,"
Inigo waved him down, "I'm okay with this one for now, I don't see anything else I could sport,"
"I'll take this olive green suit unless you've got in grey, that would work too," The Nord smiled, "Along with the white shirt and jeans outfit,"
Traysek gave them a nod, turning back to the clerks, "They've made their choices, and yes we're paying separately..." going for his gem bag, "How much?"
As Aurora was about to say something, a Dark Elf entered with various papers and went to the man, "Sir, we need your input on the plans for the Village of Luckwarden."
The man began to look through some schematics before humming, "The outer walls are far from the houses; even if you need to leave some space, it shouldn't be too great. As for the height, this is too short for a defensive wall. some of the houses there that need to be rebuilt from scratch, and we need to have a gate at the west side to connect the village with the small village that we're building near the river."
The Dark Elf nodded before leaving.
"It seems like work follows you everywhere, sweety." Aurora smiled before turning to the four clients, "As I was about to say, for all of these... you're going to pay 10 Diamonds."
The Dragonborn raised an eyebrow, "Hold up...all of these together are only ten diamonds? That's...not what I expected, in that case " he smiled, dropping the payment of ten on the table, "Here's the ten diamonds, and we'll definitely be back here, especially with deals like this,"
"See you soon." the Dark Elf waved her hand.
The four dragons walked out with bags full of their new clothing, Inigo whistling at the price paid...
"Gotta say, that wasn't bad at all, we'll have to tell the ladies about this place," The blue khajiit grinned.
Traysek nodded, "We will and you guys do owe me for dropping that amount, but I know you're good for it, I'm not worried," he waved off, checking his bag, "Now what to change into for this challenge..."
"Well, what did you plan on wearing for it?" Erik asked, raising an eyebrow.
"The gold and black outfit, since it's open enough," The Redguard pointed, "And it seems more mobile than the other one,"
The other three said nothing, going quiet for a moment...
"What? it does look comfortable, even the material is...like the other one, but this one has less metal in it..." The captain defended with.
Lucien nodded, "Well yes, but might I make a suggestion? Since these harpies are all about fashion...the red one would set a statement like no other, think about it, this is a big event, and they may want a show as a well as fight, and dressing to look the part could gain some points in our favor, if not galvanize the store,"
The Redguard thought on this, "You have a point, but if we're going to be damaging each other, then what's the point of looking good then?"
"The point is that, despite how the nature of this sounds, I get the feeling they're looking for style in the trial... if you outdo them in it and manage to beat them..." The imperial point.
"We'll win their favor for sure...okay, I like the sound of that, if they're not looking for death, only a fight, then that's not too bad..." Traysek nodded in thought, "If so, could you wait here, in case Theyls comes back, I have to pick a few things up, I'll be right back," teleporting afterward.
The other three were confused at his sudden departure, Inigo frowning...
"Where's he going...? back to the house?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.
Lucien nodded, "I think so, we didn't exactly leave with our weapons, so maybe he's gone back to get them, we just need to wait until we see Endra's wife come through,"
At the house, in the basement...
Traysek had his sword plunged into the forge flame, causing the sword to slightly spark up, while he added what he needed to wake it up, two daedric hearts, three ebony ores, and a dragonbone, making the flames from the forge pick up, 'And now for the last thing...' taking a knife and slicing into his palm, dripping the blood into the forge, causing the flames to erupt around the blade in the form of a vortex, "Well, that did it!" stepping back from the wild flames.
The fire burned a natural red before it deepened, swirling around the blade and seemingly going into it as a black shadowy aura surrounded it as well, the flaming cyclone going out, with the blade now activated, floating in mid-space...the cracks, edges center glowing an eerie blood red...
'Whoa... that's the power of the blade when it's active...? By the nine, it looks beautiful...' holding his hand out, as the blade floated over to him, allowing him to grip it, finding it lighter than it was when he got it, "Gods...so light..." taking a swing, coming as fast as he intended, before giving more practice swings with it, slicing the air in rapid motion as he did, before gripping it with two hands and giving a powerful downward swing, causing a large gust of air to bellow from it, 'Works like a charm...way lighter than it looks, guess that Dremora salesman didn't lie about the compulsion it has, it'll do...' putting it on his back until he thought about it...
'Hiding it from them can help fight the uneasiness...' Dargo's voice reminded him, turning his excited smile into an expression of worry...fully inspecting the new blade...
"Hmm, the killing power coming from this is insane though, no way could I wander out there with this on my back bare...or even use it as such...' The Redguard hummed in thought, turning to his table, finding black and gold-Runed wraps on it, smirking, 'Good thing I bought these, let's hope they work like they're supposed to...' grabbing them and began wrapping the blade in it carefully...
Thelys flew over the district until she saw the three members of the crew.
"There you are," she said as she landed beside them.
Lucien frowned, until he recognized the colors, "Oh! you're the wife of Endra! the boss told us you'd be stopping by, unfortunately, he's off getting some things ready, he'll be back soon,"
"The Harpy Queen is ready to see him... and to swear the oath to fight..." Thelys stated.
At that moment, Traysek warped back in a cloak with the completely wrapped up sword on his back, "Sorry that took a minute, was busy getting prepped for the challenge," turning to Theyls, "And good to see you, Thelys, are things ready?" with a grin.
"Yes... you need to come with me... alone... to take the oath." Thelys said, "After all, it's a secretive matter."
The Redguard nodded, "I'm ready both physically and in for Lucien's case, fashionably...normally not my thing,"
"Oh?" The imperial said, raising an eyebrow, "So you took my advice then, nice~"
"Wha?" Thelys was confused.
Inigo sighed, "Well, the egg head here, put together that you guys rate by fashion as well as skill, which I thought was goofy too, but I didn't say much," shrugging.
Thelys laughed nervously as she sweatdropped, "Well if you want to wear something like that, you're welcome. But you'll be seen more like an idiot."
Traysek at this point was visibly blushing, "Wait a minute...what?!" turning to Lucien, "ThEy'Re LoOkiNg fOr StYle MoRe thAN A FigHT, what the hell?! It's too late to change, Now I've gotta hide it, this is embarrassing!" with gritted teeth.
"O-okay, I THOUGHT it was a possibility...not that...it would be...I'm sure it'll work out just fine..." The imperial waved off and nervously chuckled.
The Redguard blinked twice, narrowing his eyes, "Just so you know...it won't come now, but when this is over...I'm going to punch you in the nards...Hard"
The sweating imperial gulped at the impending punch, "A-again, I'm sure it'll be fine, just keep it wrapped up like your new sword,"
"Until one of them cuts it up..." Erik snickered, "Might as well start numbing up your arm now...or face, that too..."
The Redguard groaned, shaking his head, turning to Thelys, sighing, "Let's just go, I'm ready to meet your queen,"
"Right." the Harpy nodded, "Please, follow me.
Open area on a plateau outside...
After a while, the two arrived near a statue of some sort of Harpy, and around it, various Harpies with one of them having her feathers engulfed in fire.
Traysek noted the burning feathers, before glancing around, "So this is the meeting place? there's a lot of people here,"
"Try to be respectful to the queen." Thelys whispered in a low voice, "This is your only chance..."
The Dragonborn slowly nodded, "Yeah, of course, wouldn't want to give them... any more wrong ideas,"
Thelys gulped before saying after kneeling in front of the fiery Harpy "Moja kralica, go donesov onoj što saka da go pomine sudenjeto za bura. (My queen, I brought the one who wishes to pass the trial.)"
"Dali e togaš podgotven da položi zakletva? (He's then ready to take the oath?)" the queen asked.
"Da, moja kralica. (Yes, my queen.)" Thelys bowed her head down as fear was written over her face.
The queen narrowed her eyes before turning to Traysek, "You, human, touch the statue and take the oath of secrecy."
The Redguard nodded, before touching the statue, awaiting the queen...
"Right, I forgot that you humans don't know anything about our culture." the queen said with a sigh, "Repeat after me; 'I hereby swear on my life and on my soul, that none who breathes and think shall know of the trial.'"
"I hereby swear on my life and on my soul, that none who breathes and thinks shall know of the trial," He recited back, awaiting more...
At that moment, a strong wind entered his mouth.
"It seems like it's done." the queen said before looking at a narrow road over a chasm, "And your opponent is waiting for you."
There was a black feathered Harpy in a white dress wearing a golden breastplate, and wielding a glaive.
The Redguard gave the queen a bow, "Thank you, Your Highness," before glancing at Thelys, "And thank you too, Thelys, no matter what happens, thank you," and made his way towards the chasm, finding the storm sister waiting on him, "So...you're my opponent, you seem strong enough, this will be fun~" drawing the blade from his back, twirling it before taking a stance, "I'm ready when you are..."
She took flight and began to hover above the narrow road.
'The road's narrow, if I'm to win this battle, I've got to rely on close-quarters, ground her for it if I must...' He thought, before gripping the blade with both hands and giving a hard swing, causing a large gust of wind to blast at her... "Gron!" a sheen of energy going over him.
Battle theme - Egg Dragoon- Sonic Unleashed - GaMetal Remix
She evaded the gust before flying from the side and attempting to strike him.
He threw up his ward, blocking the attack before it reached him, reflecting the damage, before giving a counter swing into her breastplate, knocking her away from him, the harpy remaining in flight...
The harpy generated winds on her glaive before launching them at the Dragonborn.
He held the ward up once again, blocking the winds, returning fire with a stream of lightning bolts...
The Storm Sister evaded them before generating a light blue lightning strike, launching it at Traysek.
The Redguard hardened his stance, unable to dodge sideways, and blocked the bolt with his blade, the impact rattling his bones and scorching his cloak, leaving him steaming, "Damn...that actually hurt..." gritting his teeth, building up ice magic and discharging an ice storm at the storm sister.
The Harpy flew sideways before spinning while charging the Dragonborn as the wind began to gather around her.
Traysek broke into a run, parrying the quick blow from the side, before ducking from the next, "WULD!" he shouted, dashing forward on the narrow road with blinding speed, turning around and taking a deep breath, "VEN, GAAR NAAS!" he shouted, sending a powerful cyclone at her.
The Storm Sister waved her wings as a bigger cyclone fell from the sky to eat the one sent by Traysek.
"The Harpies are born in the winds, so of course it wouldn't work." the queen sighed as she shook her head.
The Dragonborn covered his face as the wind blew, making it harder to keep his balance on the narrow path, 'Resistant to wind magic huh? guess I should've expected it...but if that's the case then...' an idea came to mind, activating an armor spell, ebonyflesh, He then aimed another ice spell, blasting in cone of frozen wind, chilling the atmosphere there...
"Scorching Winds." the Storm Sister chanted as waves of heat began to raise the temperature to a normal one, she then flew in circles, gaining speed, and then went for a frontal attack.
"FEIM ZI!" he quickly shouted, the harpy's frontal attack passing through his spectral form...He then dashed at her, breaking the form and locking sword with glaive, gritting his teeth, and breaking the clash with an upward swing, retaliating with a powerful thrust, sending her reeling back from it and nearly grounding her, 'Close...' taking a defensive stance as the winds increased, making it harder to stand...
The Harpy flew up before flying down toward the Dragonborn.
Once again, he hardened his stance, meeting her blow with his own, the armor spell on him flickering, "Nice blow!" he complimented, giving her a hard front kick, disorienting her, before taking a deep breath, "YOL, TOOR SHUL!" spitting a large gout of dragon fire at the harpy.
the Storm Sister encased herself in ice that melted when the shout hit it. She took flight and went up until she reached the clouds.
The winds were now at high speeds, Traysek nearly being pulled to the sides where they blew from as he anticipated what the harpy was doing, 'I'm not going to be able to stand on this platform for much longer... if the winds pick up again, I'll have to improvise...' taking a relaxed stance, the blade down to his side...
Thunder began to strike her glaive until the appearance of runes on it. The Harpy then flew at him with a great speed, ready to attack him.
Feeling himself slide off when the winds picked up once more, he took a deep breath, "LOK BAH QO!" the lightning fueling his blade as he leaped up at her, activating his wind-running spell and clashed blows with her, causing a bright explosion of lightning along with thundering boom, sending him somersaulting back to the ground, quickly teleporting there when he shook off the blow and sliding back when he landed with the sword stuck into the ground... not realizing his cloak had been destroyed, while he watched her fly back up out of the smoke...
The Storm Sister conjured a blast of raw magic, hurling it at Traysek.
The Redguard saw this coming and instead of turning ethereal, he held his sword up and blocked it, struggling with the energy of the bolt as it tried to strike through the blade...he gritted his teeth and channeled his own lightning before discharging it back in the form of a sword wave with a loud yell...
The Harpy swung her glaive with all her might, sending a thundering wave of her own.
When both attacks clashed, another flash of light followed up with a sonic boom echoed the chasm, a large gust of wind blowing not only on the fighters but on the crowd as well...
Once the explosion cleared, Traysek stood at the bottom, his fierce gritted expression, turning to that of a smile, giving her an impressed nod..."Damn you're good! Better than what I expected!" resting the sword on his shoulder.
Song end...
The queen sighed before clearing the skies with one wave of her wings. After seeing it, the Storm Sister flew and landed near the fiery Harpy.
Traysek frowned, planting the sword in front of him, "It's over...? Where'd the storm go?"
"That weapon... what is it?" the Queen asked as she narrowed her eyes, "I've been alive for a long time in this world... and the only weapons that can resist a Withering Bolt are those made by a Dark Elf who works exclusively with the Deathbringers."
The Redguard frowned, glancing at his bandaged blade, "A dragon sword that's sealed... comes from my world and only those with Dragon blood can wield it...!"
"The air is uneasy... well, no matter. Time is short and we need to be ready for the Moon Festival." the queen sighed.
Traysek pulled the sword from the ground and put it on his back, "Alright then, so we're off the hook?" with a raised eyebrow.
"I won't say that you passed with flying colors, but you passed." the queen said, "Although, I must say that your skills were impressive. I only saw similar ones from a High Elf King long ago."
The Redguard gave her grin, "It's pleasing to hear that from you, your Highness," giving her bow, "Thank you for the opportunity, and to you, my opponent, thank you for showing me a good time~" with a wink.
The Storm Sister simply stared neutrally at him.
"I will pass the word." the queen stated, "They won't be that hostile or unfriendly, but for those who lost family members... I don't think that I can change their view."
Traysek nodded, "I can understand that, I don't expect them to be too forgiving, that...back there was just a bad situation for everyone involved, whether we were attacked or not...my heart goes out to them...take care, your highness," with a genuine smile and bow, and began to head out of the chasm...
Thelys flew and landed next to him, "I must say, you were quite impressive. Even heard some sisters complimenting how well you adapted to every situation."
Traysek chuckled slightly with a blush, "Well, if I had to be honest, I'm normally not a defensive fighter, it was hard adjusting to defense tactics, something...I'll have to work on..." giving her a smile, "Thank you, Thelys...I appreciate you setting this up, I doubt those who are still bitter towards us will ever see it differently, but, this is a good start, " offering a handshake, "Endra made the right call marrying you, he's a very lucky man, and you're lucky for having him...we'll still shop at your store too,"
"You'll be welcome," she replied as the air formed a hand to shake his.
He couldn't help but chuckle at the air hand, but still shook it regardless, "I'll see you around, Thelys," continuing his way out the chasm, before he stopped a few feet ahead, "Oh, and tell Endra, I'm buying the first round this time," with a smile, leaving chasm...
Later at the House of Wings...
The crew sat around the dining room table, Recorder having a curious eyebrow raised...
"So...how'd it go?" She asked, "You seem to be in a good mood,"
Traysek nodded, "I am in a good mood, it went pretty well, we can shop at Great Nest now, however, we'll still shop at La Plume D'or store they've got nice wear..." looking down at his crimson outfit, "Very~ nice wear~"
"I see, but what about those that hate us still, what of them?" Yuriana asked frowning.
"That...is going to have to work itself out," He replied, "But after coming to terms with it, no matter what side we were on with this, it was just bad for everyone at that moment, there will be few that hate us than those who respect or are neutral to us...it's expected and it's normal, you wouldn't be able to get along with your family member's killer if the roles were reversed..."
Inigo grinned at that, "Agreed, I think we couldn't have asked for a better ending," with an improved nod, "So how exactly did this trial go?"
"Seriously, we want answers," Lucien added, "Sounds like quite the struggle if you lost your cloak..."
Traysek laughed aloud, "On that, guys, I can't tell you for sure, even if I wanted to, I wouldn't be able to...but it was...something, that's all I can say," with a cooly expression.
Erik narrowed his eyes, "That's not fair...but...if they are about their traditions, then I can understand that, at least we know that we can go back without being glared at,"
"Right you are, Erik, but in case you do run into a few hostile ones, do. not. engage. walk away, there's no point to prove by arguing or fighting with them, just excuse yourselves and we should be fine," The Dragonborn pointed.
Yuriana nodded, "So...what happens now?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.
The Redguard grinned, "Well now? now we do what we've been meaning to do all day...it's time we hit the training academies up, and learn some new skills, I could use more defense tactics and hand-to-hand training than what I know now and I know all of you would benefit from this, especially now that we're starting to use these weapons with ashes of war,"
The blue khajiit nodded, "I think I like the sounds of that...speaking of equipment," turning to the girls, "Did you girls manage to get that laundry taken care of?"
Recorder nodded slowly, "Yeah...but it was hard for the cleaners, they told us the next time the clothes smell that old and stale, to just burn them, they'll hand us coupons for free clothing at cheaper stores,"
Erik nodded, "Fair enough, not that we'll be wearing the same things over and over now, so there shouldn't be reason for it,"
"And with the right material, we can always make more...so if that does happen, don't panic," Traysek waved off, "But now if you stink, I get to call it out, so please for the love the gods, bathe regularly...!"
The rest of the crew shared jovial laughter, nodding in agreement.
"Of course, my friend, I know how my smell can get," Inigo chuckled, "So to the academy?"
Traysek nodded with a grin, "Yeah, we've still got half a day left, so there's time,"
Lucien stood up, "I'll head to the archive and join you guys later, I feel like taking a class there, might learn more about this world's magic that way,"
"Alright, anyone else going? or are the rest of you coming with?" The Redguard asked, looking around, getting headshakes from the remaining members, "Good, then let's get to it," with a grin.
End of chapter...
So with that ending, Traysek passed the trial and worked it out with most of the harpies, as for the Harpy queen you'll see more of her later, including Endra's wife, Thelys...but for the next chapter, the crew's going to be busy grinding their skill sets... now, on to reviews :)
Cross: Aren't we all? LMAO, and yeah, they'll have plenty of access to them, even the rarer ones that come later, stay tuned for that :)
Guest: he's got a massive hero complex, which should be obvious by now, and I know you want him to get what he deserves, but everyone and I mean...EVERYONE deserves at least a fighting chance before going down so pathetically...don't worry though, he'll get what's coming to him, I won't spoil it, just know...it will be epic, karmic, and elegant...stay tuned for that ;)
That's all for now folks, once again, if you want to know what I've chosen for them, You can easily find this on AO3...wish they allowed pictures on here though... see you all at the next chapter, stay safe :)