With the events of the last chapter, the crew finally confronted the queen and her vassals only to be stopped short by the true revealing of Volt's plans for princesses and ALL Eostia...a truce was insured between the crew and the Queen and her Vassals as they fought to Escape, Traysek managing to defeat Volt in the process but took a blow from the dragon dagger... now with a wound that's barely closing...with their hearts heavy and their thoughts deep, they head back to Ken, but will their patience win out...? or will they cut loose from it all...? find out now?
Mid-space, nearing Ken...
The trip back to ken had been a quiet one or at least an attempt at one... The crew mostly kept to themselves. decided that after getting tired of Cloe's rude outburst and remarks towards them in the first thirty minutes...even Inigo who had tried to be nice in the beginning gave up himself and just hung out with the rest of his mates...As for the Captain, he mostly kept to himself piloting the ship, not so much as a word to anyone with a cold stare ahead, and while one would normally appreciate the silence, it had reached a defeaning point...
Traysek continued to pilot on forward, with a cigar in his mouth, taking puffs and pulls as he navigated, checking his compass every now and then.
'We should be nearby now...not much longer to go...' putting the compass away, grabbing the wheel.
Greil sat in total meditation as the air was surrounding him. Olga was on the beast, contemplating the stars. And Cloe ended up sleeping next to Greil.
The general snapped his eyes as a crow landed on the ship.
"It's nice to see you back." Swain said before adding, "You even managed to push the great general Greil of the Dark Army into submission. Impressive."
Traysek's eyes were shadowed over, with a small smile "Depends on how you look at that..." picking up a bottle and taking a gulp from it, exhaling after, "Damn good stuff...I won't lie to you here, it ended inconclusively..." gripping the bottle tightly, "Something happened, but we'll be back soon to tell more, especially to the shields..."
"Very well." The bird flew away.
"Still the same as ever." Olga smiled as Cloe woke up.
Traysek cut one eye back at that, 'Wait...she knows him?' before turning back around, 'Okay...that's weird, last I checked, lord Swain was on Celestine's court... what the hell is going on here...?'
As he pondered, Inigo came out of the crew hatch, heading straight to Traysek, not saying a word until he got there...
"What is it Inigo?" Traysek said in low tone.
The khajiit moved in to whisper something, as Traysek leaned in, nodding in agreement to something...
"It seems that we're going to part away soon." Greil said as he walked toward Traysek, "It was an honor meeting you."
They both stopped, the Redguard gave a blank with a nod, "Yeah, same General, same..." turns back around, 'But I won't deny that this, feels like defeat...' He mentally sighed, taking more gulps from his bottle.
Inigo gave the General a cautious look, giving him a nod, "Nice meeting you too, though I wished things would've gone differently," before turning back to Traysek, "I'll be with the others, try to take it easy my friend, I know it feels like we got cucked back there, but try to take it easy, alright?" shoulder patting him, before heading back to the captain's doors.
Olga looked at them before looking at Ken, "It's been a while... Celestine."
"Lady Olga?" Cloe walked toward her.
"Hearing his voice takes me back, hopefully with him there, it'll be like old times..." Olga said with a smile.
Traysek scrunched his brow, raising cutting his eye back 'Okay...that's two...either swain's a double agent or..." before shaking it out of his head, ' forget about it...not like she'd tell me if I asked, not that I want to either,' pulling a small photo out of his breast pocket, of the dovahkiirs back home, 'Times like this, I really you miss you, kids...atleast one of you, would've been able to make sense of this...ALL of this...' eyes going towards a red-headed woman on the photo.
Ship's cabin
The crew sat hung around the ship's lounge area, with scowls and frowns about what had all transpired...
"Man, he's taking it pretty well...I'm amazed he hasn't snapped yet..." Erik said, taking a gulp of his tankard.
The others nodded in agreement, Recorder had a hard scowl.
"the sooner we get them off our ship, the sooner I no longer have to hear that fangirl go on anymore, ugh...!" Recorder cringed, shaking her head.
Yuriana sighed, "Not to mention they tried to kill us, seriously, it's not like we're all GOOD friends now..." rolling her eyes, "Grounding us does not guarantee a victory..." taking a bite out of her mammoth steak.
Inigo nodded, "Yeah, even I tried to be nice about it, I ended up giving up after hearing her brag about it for the fifteenth time..."
"For once Inigo, I don't blame you..." The imperial said, shaking his head, looking out of the deck window, "At least we're almost there, I can see a city, which means this blasted job is almost over..."
"Thank GOD!" Recorder agreed, peeking out the window.
When they arrived, they were welcomed by the entire holy army with their weapons ready as Greil and Olga landed on the ground.
"It seems that they want to stop us, how cute." Olga smiled as Claudia walked forward.
"Olga Discordia! You have some nerves to come here!" the woman stated as she drew her sword.
"Oh my. Are you trying to be threatening?" Olga asked with a smug as Greil glared at them.
"Reign it in, dumbasses!" A strong voice from the ship boomed, as it landed in the open field, Traysek holding the intercom, "They're with us and we're here for Celestine"
The crew walked out of the captain's cabin, glancing at the armed men below.
"Treason! you-" Claudia tried to talk but was cut short by Swain.
"Lower your weapons, unless you want to die," he said as he walked forward.
"But-"
"Didn't you hear what I just said?" Swain asked as the knights lowered their weapons, "Besides if they were here to harm us, everyone here would be dead."
The Captain cranked the lever up on his ship, deploying the anchor to weigh it down, walking down from the wheel to the crew, "Alright, we're going with these tops to the tower of Celestine, I'm taking you two, Inigo and Lucien, the rest of you will wait here..." he ordered.
The khajiit nodded, "I got your back, my friend, I'll let you know the first sign of danger..."
"Don't forget about me over here," Lucien added in, "We're both watching his and our backs in there," looking at the tower, "Back into uncharted territory..."
Recorder gave them a grin, "Good luck boys, if anything goes wrong in there, you remember the codes?"
"I do, and I've got the radio on me just in case..." Traysek smirked, "Remain on standby...this might turn out like how it did in skyrim...it might not, but I've got a bad feeling this..."
Yuriana gave the group of knights a stare, "Will do, if you guys take too long in there though, we'll pick you guys up...the Red dragon way,"
Erik nodded with a convicted expression, "The only way that makes sense in this crazy place..."
The crew shared some laughs before the Captain left with both Inigo and Lucien to the bridge...
Swain looked as the Dragonborn and the two of his crew landed next to Greil.
"Lady Levantine, lead them to the chamber, and don't try to attack them," he ordered before walking inside the tower.
"Fine..." Claudia's tone was one of a child that had his favorite toy removed.
Traysek flashed a smirk with a raised eyebrow, hand resting comfortably on his sword, "Lead the way paladin" with a curtsy bow, making the other two snicker behind him.
She wanted to do something, but froze when she felt the gaze of Swain on her, "T-This way..."
The soldiers cleared the path as Claudia headed toward the gate of the tower.
Traysek glanced around noting the nasty looks they were getting, along with the Queen and her vassals, which prompted both of his friends to move closer to bodyguarding distance, keeping hidden trained hands on their guns, as they passed the knights...'Is it just me...or do they look ready to jump at notice...?'
"I'm getting that same uncomfortable feeling I got back at the fortress..." Lucien whispered.
Inigo nodded, "I can see that...Honestly I think their bowels might be locked up...look how unhappy they are..." he whispered.
"Be quiet damn you...! you'll both blow it..." Traysek whispered back harshly.
"Sorry..." Inigo apologized in a whisper.
As they were walking in the corridors, they found two young women talking with an old man standing behind one in priestess clothing.
"I'm so jealous that you have so much free time." the other one said.
She had pink eyes and orange hair.
The one in the priestess clothing sighed and said "Trust me, I'm more occupied with the unification of Rad. The civil war may have ended, but that doesn't mean that all the warlords are agreeing with the emperor."
"You're really lucky, Kaguya, at least you don't have a rebellion like the one in Geofu." the orange-haired one said before pouting, "They also have some sort of monkey as a leader."
"Luu Luu... don't you think that you should address this matter yourself?" the priestess Kaguya said with a sweatdrop, "If you talk with them and listen to them, they might stop it."
"Don't worry about it." Luu Luu said as she grinned, "Dong Zhuo said that he has everything under control."
Kaguya sighed before turning to Claudia, "Lady Claudia, how are you doing?"
"It could have been better..." Claudia looked at her side, only to see Swain looking at her. She shivered before saying, "I need to escort these... guests... to Lady Celestine."
"One of them is Olga!" Luu Luu pointed before looking at Greil, "That would mean that this beast is..."
"It seems like you're quite popular." Olga smirked as Greil shook his head.
Kaguya simply stared at them with a neutral face.
Traysek and the other two gave them an overall stare, the former nodding...
"You must be the other two shields, it's nice to finally meet you both, just wish it was..." The captain greeted, glancing at the other trio, "Better than today..."
"Who's that?" Luu Luu tilted her head as she looked at Traysek.
Kaguya looked at the old man behind her and asked, "Do you know them?"
"From what my shadows could gather, he's a mercenary employed by the Goddess Reborn." the old man answered.
"I see..." Kaguya looked at Traysek and gave him a gracious bow, "It's nice to meet you..." she then eyed Olga and Greil.
"I know you!" Luu Luu said as she pointed at him, 'You're the one who met Fiore! She said that you can fly!"
"I'm pretty sure that she didn't said that." Kaguya stated before turning to Traysek, "Please, excuse her, she's... not the most mature Shield..."
"Hey! I'm old enough to lift an axe!" the orange haired girl said.
The Redguard chuckled waving it off, "It's fine, really, it's almost refreshing actually compared to what we just dealt with back there...and she's not half wrong there, I just don't have wings," giving a formal bow, "The Name's Traysek, captain of the Red Dragons," motioning to the other two men behind him, "And these two are my mates, they'll be attending today,"
The blue Khajiit gave nod, "Hello there, I'm Inigo the brave, nice to meet you,"
"I'm Lucien Flavious, Greetings," The imperial introduced, giving a bow.
"Owl, don't try to do anything... they may have tried to kill your daughter, but that doesn't mean that you must spill their blood." Kaguya said as she eyed from the corner the old man behind her.
"I wasn't going to." the old man, Owl, replied, "Besides, that vixen brought it on herself by being sloppy."
Kaguya sighed before walking away.
"Hey! Wait for me!" Luu Luu rushed to her side as Owl gave Traysek a calculating stare before joining Kaguya.
The Redguard frowned at that, "Okay...that was a bit intense there...felt like he was going to jump at any moment..." he whispered to his men, the flames exhausting in his hand.
"Agreed, maybe we should watch ourselves around that one, my friends...getting a bad vibe from him," Inigo whispered back.
The imperial nodded, "You and me both Inigo, you and me both...by the gods that stare," in a low tone.
When reached the meeting chamber, Swain opened the door and both Shield princesses entered and took a seat while Owl Stood behind Kaguya.
Claudia walked and took seat next to Celestine.
Swain walked and took the seat in the middle.
The trio made it in, taking their seats. The captain shared glances with his men, getting agreeing nods from the other two, the former giving a quick bow, "Hello again, Lady Celestine...the mission was a success, but...there were some... complications...involving Volt and the black dogs...which is why he's not here with us," motioning to Olga, "But, I managed to bring her here on request, unharmed as you said..."
The other two had the best grins they could muster, the Imperial's eye twitching...
"Um... thank you for that." Celestine said as she looked at Olga.
Olga took the seat in front of Celestine and smirked while taking a comfortable pose, "Not going to give your guests something to eat? It's not nice to leave guests hanging, you know?"
"You... you're not a guest, but an enemy out of their territory," Celestine replied with all the courage that she could as she tried not to be intimidated by Greil.
"Of course you'd see me as an enemy. Meanwhile, the elves that escaped Thorn see me as their only hope against your slavering church." Olga replied as she eyed the nobles.
"That was in the past!" Celestine countered, "At least I'm not unleashing monsters to rape innocent women!"
"In case you forgot, whenever a member of the Kletzkrieg was seen in the command, the monsters are tamer than when they act on their own. Besides, a lot of Dark Elves were attacked by monsters that were accompanied by humans." Olga stated with a scowl before adding, "There's a difference between the times when it was a human in the command, and when it was a Dark Elf in the command."
"You're lying!" Celestine got up and began to gather some of her power.
"Enough!" Swain's voice froze everyone as the entire room was looking at him, "There will be no fighting here! Both of you will talk without acting like spoiled brats!"
"Yes unc-" Celestine stopped before putting her hands on her mouth and began to feel embarrassed.
Traysek and his men rose an eyebrow at that, glancing at each other, as the former disapprovingly shook his head. "I'm beginning to see how this war began, nobody's listening to anybody...Swain's right, we don't have the luxury for a bickering contest, not the place nor time..." turning to Celestine, "I doubt it it's in the past when we're still seeing her people in chains..." narrowing his scowl, before turning Olga, "And Lady Olga, I believe you had something to discuss, can we do that?"
Inigo nodded in agreement, "Seriously, it is not like the danger disappeared just because we got away from it..."
Olga sighed before saying, "Let's not beat around the bush, we're here to offer you help to fight the coming of Volt and his army."
Roars could be heard as everyone was trying to defend him.
Greil turned to Traysek and said "If you sent a message before, they could have filled her head with lies." he then walked forward before unleashing a roar that shut everyone up.
The Redguard let out a relieved sigh, "I see, didn't know he had THIS much support...this is worrisome...extremely so..."
Inigo took his hand off his pistol, keeping a trained eye on them, "They still smell aggressive, despite that roar..."
"Agreed, I've never seen people that angry..." the imperial gasped, "Not since the stormcloaks and even then..."
Traysek cleared his throat, " Long story short, Volt has betrayed us, mostly you and the other princesses, and intents to LITERALLY rule the world with his sick little sex kingdom..." face contorting into a hard cringe, "He wanted to start on them," motioning his head toward Olga and Cloe, "And my friends...which are fine, but we're here for the alliance and our payment, since we've got her here," motioning his head towards the dark queen.
"Now, Goddess Reborn, will you hear us out, or continue to be the puppet of those humans?"
Celestine looked at Swain, who nodded to her, "Fine."
"As the captain said, your mercenary turned his blade on you, and none of us wants to see his dream realized." Greil explained as he walked toward Olga, "We have the necessary power, but we lack what you have: knowledge. If we can put aside this hatred that has been on this world for nearly a millennia, we can overcome our real foe."
Some whispers were heard as they were insulting Greil and the two dark elves.
the Adventurer trio frowned at the whispering voices, the captain turning his gaze to the khajiit who had a scowl with his ears twitching.
"What are they saying...?" Traysek whispered.
Inigo shook his head, "Not very good things...mostly saying burn the witch, hang the pirates, kill the beast...there's more but...I'd rather not say..."
"Hang the pirates huh? that's not foreboding at all..."
Lucien gulped, with a paled expression "Can we go home now...?"
"Not yet...wanna see how this plays out and from the look of things," Traysek turned a gaze to the fuming paladin, "Someone's about to snap soon..."
"Enough!" Claudia drew her sword and pointed it at Greil, "Do you think that we'll trust that you won't turn on us!"
"If that was our point, we would be here with more men." Olga pointed as Cloe had her hands on her weapons.
Greil looked at her shaking his head in disapproval before turning to Celestine, "Now, what will you say, Goddess Reborn?"
"She will never accept!" Claudia said as her men drew their weapons on them, "You will all die here!"
Inigo and Lucien drew and aimed their pistols, as the Traysek charged the spell mass paralysis in both hands.
"So you're just going to jump to that conclusion without the word of your leader?" The captain gave her a glare of disdain "How are you overstepping YOUR goddess? No good champion of their god would do what you do," leaning in with the spell charged, "Call off these armored monkeys or you're gonna watch them all freeze up and tip over, Along with you... and we'll still continue our conversation..." began to glow in a green light.
Swain sighed as he lifted his left hand and conjured a red-clawed hand that grabbed Claudia, "Be mindful of your place." Swain's words froze everyone, "We are facing a problem above those petty problems of your ego. If you want to see this war to the end, I would suggest that you sit down and talk with your eyes. Am I clear?"
Everyone could only nod as swain looked at them, while the soldiers backed down.
"Now, your answer, Lady Celestine." Greil looked at her in the eyes before hearing.
"If she accepts, I'd rather fight for someone else than her!" a man said as others began to mumble some lines of the same type.
"My lady, you should refuse." Claudia said, "Otherwise, we can have a civil war on our hands."
"No matter where there will be conflict," Kaguya mumbled.
"A civil war is bigger than a rebellion!" Luu Luu said before turning to Kaguya, "Right?"
"Your rebellion is just around Geofu, the Civil War that might erupt from this might break the Shields and bring back the war era between the kingdoms," Kaguya explained.
"Which is why Lady Celestine mustn't accept." Claudia added, "We must show that we're a united force against our enemy."
"Well, it looks like your little alliance isn't that great." Olga smirked before getting a more serious look on her face, "Listen, you're the Goddess Reborn, not a kid that must wait for approval."
Lucien frowned at the paladin, "Excuse me, against what enemy...? we're here warning you, that you ALL just got screwed over...and you won't take a second to let old grudges go, I don't think you understand just what's coming here or for that matter, whose ALL involved..." earning a scowl from her.
"I think it's a little late for that, Lucien..." Inigo sighed, "If listening was their skill set, we wouldn't have seen slaves last night, just saying..."
Celestine looked confused and worried.
"I urge you to do the right thing here, like it or not, we're going to have to work together to deal with this new problem...I'm not expecting you guys to make up over night, but something worse is coming for you all in the form of, Volt and whoever else maybe working for him...If we're to win against that, we gotta pull our numbers together to crush them,"
"Except that no one wants to have anything to do with them." Claudia pointed, "They killed our families, friends... we'd rather die than join forces with them."
Celestine shivered at that as she said, "Y-You don't have to!"
"Throw them into a cell!"
"Kill them!"
"They don't deserve to speak!"
Greil sighed before saying, "It looks like we are talking with a puppet, not a goddess."
Traysek sighed, glancing at Claudia, then Olga, and back to the goddess reborn, "I get it, families friends, lovers... lost...people you'll never get back...that is tragic..." Taking a deep sigh "In no shape or form, are we saying those lives were meaningless, they had meaning, but don't you think it's a little off-putting that they want her dead without a proper trail...? I understand not forgiving her, you're not inclined to, but atleast hear her out before you start the key tossing and execution blocks...!" he said, loudly, ignoring the angry scowls towards him, "you've known each other too long to be that cold, and I know how different elf years are from humans..." causing her to widening her eyes in slight shock, "That's more that I can say for a court you've know a couple a decades..." cutting his eye back at the nobles.
"Shut up!"
"You know nothing of suffering!"
"They're our enemy!"
Celestine sighed, feeling a pang in her heart for what she was about to say next, "Thank you for getting her here, Captain, but the years of suffering she has caused cannot be ignored...all the people who lost their homes, their lives to her monsters...it pains to me to say this, it really does...but I can't pretend that there wasn't a war between us, even if I forgive her, I doubt others will..."
The Redguard sighed, deep down he knew there was truth in that...even if Celestine did forgive Olga, there was the possibility of the assassin's blade seeking her out...hell, he's been the assassin's blade himself to know it...he glanced up with her...
"I understand that too...more than you know and no doubt, one of these "Suffering" Nobles would do "anything" to achieve that...nor would you do anything to stop it, even if we did make progress," Traysek said, in a low tone "I can't say that I wasn't expecting your answer, I just figured you could see this deeper than your court is telling you to, but something tells me that's not the case here, nor has it ever been...a bit disappointing to be honest," Turning to Greil "Think I'm done trying to convince, got anything else to say, big guy...?"
"No need to waste more of our time here." Greil sighed before looking at Celestine, "One day, your confusion will be lifted, I'm sure of it."
At that moment, the beast flew through one of the windows and landed next to Olga, "We'll meet again, Celestine. Until then, try to survive." the beast then flew when Olga and Cloe got on it.
Greil then, found himself surrounded by weapons."Do you really think that you can stop me if I go on a rampage?" he asked as some soldiers began to take some steps back.
Traysek and his two friends were surrounded by weapons, the former pulling out a cigar and lighting it with fire magic, slowly nodding to himself as he took a long pull, exhaling.
"Sir, what are we going to do about them now?" Lucien asked, hand on his pistol.
Inigo had his ears back with a hand on his sword, "Whoever wants to die first, please step forward...
"No need for that boys," The Redguard said, his eyes shadowed over, holding the same spell, and quickly slamming it on the ground, causing every armed knight and noble in the vicinity to fall over paralyzed, including Claudia who gave the trio a hateful glare, "we won't come to a conclusion, at least not today" giving Celestine a respectful bow, "Should you come out of this... haze, I still have the calling stone, ring me up anytime, I won't ignore ya," nodding his head up at the other two, "Negotiations have failed, code purple,"
Coming out of the Mist Raven, next to Kaguya. Owl had narrowed his eyes while slowly reach for his blade before looking at the priestess who shook her head, making him relax his hands
"Aye sir" Lucien saluted, giving inigo a signaling nod.
The khajiit grabbed his radio and clicked it on, "Code purple, I repeat...CODE PURPLE!" clicking off the radio, "They should be here in moments... should we look for our payment?"
"If we knew where it was, I wouldn't mind that last part..." The captain sighed, shaking his head at the paralyzed paladin, kneeling down to her level, "Not a fan of losing huh? neither are we..." shaking his head "It's a shame, we could've been on the same side about this...Instead you chose poorly, Claudia, you and the rest of these dumbasses...Solve this shit yourselves, we're out," walking away from her
Claudia gritted her teeth, "You will be burned on a stake for this!" she swore, "Mark my words!"
"Well, I'd better head to where I sent my Queen and Cloe." he then turned to Traysek "I wish you luck."
Greil then leaped away.
"C-Curse all of you..." Claudia muttered with pure anger.
Swain sighed before getting up from his seat, "What a bunch of incompetent brats." he then began to walk toward the door, "If only they could see the bigger picture."
Traysek watched him leave, "That man gets stranger by the minute..." shaking his head, walking over to a paralyzed noble, taking a bottle from his table, "I'll be taking this..." cracking it open, and taking a gulp, "Ahh...that's a taste of quality," corking the bottle, "Boys, lets bail, no more reason to stick around now," turning his back to head to the exit, before stopping short, "Oh and Celestine...? That other "Reward" for this job...I decline..." cutting an eye back at her, before continuing out the door.
"Right," Lucien said, turning to the paralyzed shields, "Well, it was nice meeting you all, sorry it ended like this, but we do hope you consider what we've said today..." giving them a respectful bow despite the angry shouting.
Inigo nodded, giving a bow as well, "I feel the same it was nice meeting some of you...others I will be glad to never see again,"
Celestine at his point was on the verge of tears as the trio of adventures left the chamber, ignoring the angry clamoring as the door slammed shut behind them...
"Shouldn't we go after them?!" Luu Luu asked as she was about to jump.
"It would be useless as they would have done the same to you." Kaguya replied, "Even with speed, they could still have gotten you... Owl..."
"Hmph, you're underestimating me, priestess." Owl said , 'I should definitely get Masakumi to get him... and knowing how he truly feels about Fox... it might be the necessary incentive to have him deal with him.'
In his office, Grave was drinking while looking at the bag of gold.
"I'll kill them... I'll rip off their arms..." he muttered before looking toward the man sitting in front of him, "How are things going?"
"Everything is ready" it was a silver haired man with a purple coat over a red kimono and a black hakama, "How about you?"
"Volt must be rallying the rest of the monsters as we speak." Grave stated before adding, "By the way, how long until that bird bastard is dead?"
"I tried to send something, but it failed." the man replied as Grave growled.
On his way, Swain was passed by the Dragonborn and his crew as they were running.
"Took them long enough..." he mumbled before continuing his way.
As the Trio ran from the tower, the guards hot on their heels while the fleeing men shot at them, attempting to slow them down.
"By the gods, how did this all turn out so bad?!" Lucien huffed, firing a couple of shots at the pursuers.
Traysek shook his head, "We'll have plenty of time to figure that out once we're away from 'em!" Blasting the ground with an ice wall, which managed to stop some in their tracks.
Inigo fired an arrow from his bow, blinding them with a blanket of smoke, "That should slow them for a while, but we gotta find somewhere to hide until we can find out what happened to the others,"
"I couldn't agree more... let's get someone where we can lose them," Traysek said, glancing back at the large smoke cloud, before looking back in front of him, smirking when he saw it, "Over here, found our ticket!" Leading them both into an alleyway.
Once Inigo and Lucien joined him there, both of them frowned at the dead end.
"Seriously? please tell me there's a hidden path here or something!" Inigo whined.
Lucien gulped, hearing the boots approach, "And it sounds like they found us, are we fighting them here, sir?"
"Nope," The Redguard smirked, both hands holding invisibility spells, "Here's the part we lose them..." casting cloak other both of them, before Invisibility on himself.
The guards arrived at the alley and began searching.
"Look everywhere! And kill them on sight!" their leader shouted.
"What are you doing here?" Swain approached the man he straighten up when Swain was in front of him "You must find them. And if you had a brain, you'd look at the docks where there's a lot of sailors. They do look like one, so it's obvious that they went there."
"B-B-But sir-"
"Do you want me to repeat what I just said?" Swain asked as the soldiers ran towards the docks, "I only gave you some moments... so you'd better use them wisely." he then walked away.
Once swain had left, the cloak faded on the three, the captain blinking twice at that.
"Remind me to buy that guy a drink the next time see him," Traysek huffed out, getting agreeing nods from the other two, also in shock
"We need to keep moving, the sooner we're out of this city the better, which reminds me..." pulling out a radio, "Guys, come in! where the hell are you?"
"oh shit...! boss?! holy shit, we thought you guys had gotten pinched! we had gotten the code purple, but when we started the ship up they started attacking!" Recorder's worried voice came through, "I'm currently navigating the ship around while Erik and Yuriana deal with the knights that have gotten on board!"
Traysek took a deep breath, "I see, alright then, let's try to meet somewhere, somewhere open, it's bound to draw them but we're at least leaving once onboard, until then, stay alive,"
"Will do, you stay alive too, we'll do something about our...guests,"
The line clicked, going silent, the Redguard putting it away.
"So what now? are they coming here?" Inigo asked, frowning.
Traysek shook his head, "No, we'll be meeting them up in the town Center, they're dealing with a few knights on board at the moment, hopefully, they'll be gone by the time we're there,"
Lucien nodded, "So until then, how are we going to get there without them noticing us?"
"With these," Traysek said, pulling out three familiar cloaks, handing two of them theirs, "Keep your hoods up and avoid eye contact if possible, Inigo you hide your tail, that's going to give us away," Wrapping the cloak on himself, covering his entire garb, pulling up the hood.
"I can see that happening," The khajiit agreed, wrapping his tail around the waist, before putting on his cloak and hood.
Lucien already in his, put up the hood and nodded at the other three, "Convincing?"
"If you keep eye contact away and keep your mouth shut, it will be, they're not completely foolproof but it'll be enough..." Traysek said, peeking around a corner, finding the way clear both ways, "Alright, it's clear we can go ahead," is the first out, as the other two hooded figures followed.
Meanwhile on the ship...
Erik had a holy knight in the air with both hands, tossing him offboard, the knight screaming as he went down,
"Bastard!" the nord yelled, Looking behind him to find another knight getting boob charged into the mast, getting smacked completely off the ship with her hammer.
Recorder whistled, "Looks like that's the last of them, also good news, the boss and boys are alive and are meeting us there!"
"Really?! I thought they bit it back there, the way those guards were coming at us!" The Redhead exclaimed, out of breath.
Recorder shook her head gleefully, "Nope, apparently, they got away from their pursuers, but it's where we're going that's a problem..."
"And that's where...?" Erik asked with an eyebrow until he went wide-eyed, "No...he can't be serious, the town center?"
"It's our only shot of getting out of here, despite where that's leading us too," Record defended, "Look, it's either this or-" ducking from a bolt that nearly struck her, "Fuck! or we keep dealing with that!"
Both nords glanced at each other, giving each other agreeing nods.
"Seems like we have no choice there, at least this time, I know I'm headed to a fight," Erik said in a low tone...
Town Center...
The fleeing pirates were nearing the center of town, finding a few locals hanging around as they crept by.
The Redguard raised an eyebrow, glancing around the area, "Something about this doesn't feel right...how are there no guards here?"
"Yeah, it's way too quiet...almost as if there's barely anyone around...and that can't be from the patrols back there," Inigo noted in a whisper.
Hooded Lucien had a worried expression on his face, "Normally, I would say you guys are being negative, but for once after all that...I'm agreeing this is way too easy..."
"Be ready for anything, something about this whole scene just feels...off..." The hooded Redguard whispered back, hand on his dagger.
As they were walking, the soldiers seemed to be running around, looking for them.
"You three, stop!" a soldier yelled, "Who are you supposed to be?"
He pulled on Traysek's hood, only to find an old man.
"S-Sorry, sir, I thought that you were the ones we were looking for," he said with an embarrassed tone.
"What are you doing to that old man?" they turned and saw Dihya walking toward them, "Do you really want Lord Swain to know about that?"
The man paled before running away.
Dihya sighed before walking to them, "You're lucky that Lord Swain enchanted the cloaks with some sort of illusion magic. By the way, he asked me to 'Help you' to get to... wherever you want to go. According to him; the soldiers are looking for three people, not four."
Traysek blinked twice, noticing the magic apparent on his cloak, glancing up at Diyha, "Thanks for the help, Diyha...as you can imagine, things have turned sour,"
"When did he get the time to do that? waeren't those in your haven bag?" Lucien asked, raising an eyebrow, "And you guys seem to know each other, whos this?"
Inigo grinned at the woman in front of them, "Oh right, you weren't with us, this is our friend Diyha, she's a Dragonborn like the captain,"
"Oh...I see, well then, I am Lucien Flavius, a pleasure to meet you," the hooded imperial bowed, "Wish we could've met when the circumstances were better...this was not the afterwar party we had in mind,"
"Trust me, I had a feeling that things might have turned out like that... or a way similar..." Dihya sighed before adding, "Well, it would seem like you ended like the situation I was in during my adventuring days... forced to hide from the Thalmor and the Imperials. Although, General Tullius helped me to stay off the sight of those bastard elves." they could see a small smirk as if it was some sort of good memory.
Traysek sighed, rubbing his temples, "Guess I can explain on the way then, we're nearly there anyway, so I'll give you the brief version..."
Center of Ken...
On their way there, Traysek was laying out details about what happened with the fortress, while Inigo and Lucien kept an eye on their surroundings...the khajiit spotted a strange trio of knights Gawking at them from a distance.
"Long story short, Volt has betrayed all of Eostia and the nobles refuse to listen to reason," Traysek sighed, giving her a somber look, "And I now know what you meant...I met his dragon dagger..." showing the wound to her, "It still has yet to close, but it's trying to..."
"Trust me... I know everything about it since I'm the one who crafted it as a gift to Celestine." Dihya looked at her trembling hands before adding, "I thought that it could be a nice gift for a goddess... but I think she didn't like it if Grave got his hands on it..."
"That or he STOLE it from her, which is a likely possibility..." Traysek said, shaking his head, "Anyway, our ride will be here in moments best to just hang here until-"
Inigo's eyes went wide, "Guys hold on, we have company..." cutting his eye behind to find that the strange trio had moved up closer.
The hooded men and Diyha turned around to find them there, with their weapons out...A fully plated knight with a gold crest holding a greatsword, a much bigger knight with spiked pauldrons, the same crest, and a halberd, and finally one seemed to be a paladin with a hood donning a steel crown and armor, armed with a large shield and long sword.
The largest of the trio stepped forward, "Well well...I thought we never see your face again, been a while, Reaper...you're a hard woman to find," chuckling under it.
"We weren't even hunting for you and still happened to run into you, today must be a good day," The warden knight hummed.
The hooded knight narrowed his eyes on the cloaked trio, "And whose these...gentlemen with you? the criminals we're hunting?"
"What do you want?" Dihya's tone has gotten very dark, "If you have forgotten, I'm under Lord Swain's protection. And he has eyes everywhere. So why don't you go to the lower district to do your dirty business like you do every night."
The hooded knight chuckled, "Normally, that would be on the menu, unfortunately, Grave is on warpath for these morons...apparently, the funds they were supposed to fetch were fake, counterfeit gold and all...you could make it easy on yourself and tell us where they went, and we 'might' not have seen you here..."
"Or don't, which works for us too..." The large knight shrugged, "Either way, we're getting these criminals..."
"And because we know that old crone is a magic user..." the plated knight began with, turning to the trio, "You three, cloaks off and not just the hood...I mean alll the way off..."
Hooded Traysek smirked, sighing, "Very well...no issue at all..." slowly reaching for his cloak, ripping it off with his ebony scimitar and pistol drawn after, "Be careful what you ask for...!" His eyes going slit, pointing the gun at the large knight.
Inigo and Lucien had thrown theirs off as well, the khajiit arming himself with the bow, while Lucien drew his dwarven beam sword...
"Tried to do this the nice way, but to oblivion with this...I'd rather shut that trap of yours personally," Inigo said, in a dark tone.
Lucien ignited his weapon, spell in hand, "Seems like these chaps want to dance, alright, let's have that dance then!"
"Try to attack me, and I'd show you why I was feared with the name 'Fox Reaper'." Dihya said as she charged a spell in each hand, "Last chance to back off if you don't want to taste the voice of two Dragonborn."
The large knight sighed, shaking his head, "First a deserter, now a traitor, very well... Spare the woman, kill the others, the captain's mine!" rushing towards Traysek with a powerful swing.
Battle theme- Break through it all - Sonic frontiers ost
The Redguard's smirk didn't change, as he vanished before the swing connected, confusing the large knight, until he was slashed on the back, nearly succumbing to the sting of the captain's blade, who backed away before now angered knight swung his halberd out.
"Yeah, this is going to be easier than I was..." Traysek chuckled, building up magic in his blade, causing it to Vibrate violently, dashing towards the armored brute with hard swings, putting him on the defense, taking a deep breath, "Fus, RO DAH!" he shouted, sending the brute ragdolling in flight, "Wuld, Na Kest!" rocketing after him.
While that was going on, Inigo rained arrows on the shield-wielding knight, trying to wear him down as he approached him, clashing his bow with the sword, the khajiit struggling.
"You think we're easy prey?" Inigo snarled, slamming his head into the nose of the hooded knight, forcing him to back up enough to draw his sword, "I'm about to be proof of your ignorance!" rushing at him, slashing at his shield.
Lucien kept a running pace with the last knight, blasting lighting magic at to keep him at distance, which was closed when the plated knight tanked it through, prompting the imperial to dodge and counter with a swing of beam sword, taking a chunk out his pauldron in that swing.
"Got one in, you sure want to keep this going?" Lucien frowned, ducking from the swing of the knight's blade in surprise, "I'll take that as a yes!" blasting the knight with sparks, stunning him from the voltage.
Dihya took a deep breath and "Yol Toor Shul!" a wave of fire at the black prior sent him staggering, "I'll try to help you. Also, don't try to attack him with a sword when you're close, he'll flip you on your back before cutting your head with a swift strike." she hit the ground as a Werewolf appeared, "Go help the imperial!" the beast nodded before obeying the order, "Now then... how about to make this fair." Dihya charged with both hands before unleashing a huge fireball toward the knight.
Inigo went for the side of his sword arm as the fireball connected, taking an opportunity to slash him in the sword arm, before backing away from the retaliating swing as the smoke cleared.
Meanwhile, Lucien was having a bit of trouble, the force of the knight pushing him back with every blow from the greatsword, going for a shoulder charge which knocked the imperial down.
"Argh!" he shouted out, discharging sparks again to force him to a stop, which work despite the knight holding his sword against it...
it was then, the warden was pounced on by the summoned werewolf, the beast biting down on his left arm and shaking him before tossing him.
Lucien huffed and gave the beast a nod, "Thanks,"
Traysek on the other hand was dancing around the Lawbringer's swings, parrying the last blow and forcing him to stagger...He then opened his hand, blasting a dark force that sent him into a wall, drawing his pistol and firing a few shots at him, which he got out of the way of, going back for a charge at the Redguard.
"Going to enjoy smashing that pretty face of yours!" The brute swore, giving a violent downward swing...
Traysek gritted his teeth and countered the blow, ending up in a lock with the knight, "Really now?" breaking the clash with a powerful upward slice, "Yol Toor Shul!" Blasting him with dragon fire from his maw...
Dihya took a deep breath before unleashing a swirl of flames at the Black Prior, "I remember you... and all that you did to those girls in the lower district... I guess I should teach you a thing or two..." She began charging a lighting spell.
The black prior smirked, fending off a blow from Inigo, "I have no inkling as to what you're talking about, all I remember was that they were heretical, just like you're being!" shoving off the attacking khajiit with his shield, before making a beeline towards Diyha, "You're done, witch!" with his sword raised for the kill.
Traysek fended off the aggressive swings of the charred lawbringer, taking a blow to the face from the pommel of his halberd which distorted him for a bit, before the brute struck with the pommel again, this time on his shoulder wound, making the Redguard wince in pain.
"oh?~ a wound from the battle that didn't heal? this couldn't be any easier!" going for a cleaving blow, swinging down...
Time seemed to slow down for the Redguard, watching the swing slowly near its way to him, until he smirked, narrowly side-stepping the blow, widening the eyes of the lawbringer under the helmet.
"How did he-?!" Was the time the brute had, before Traysek slammed the ebony blade into his arm, making him cry out when the vibration added to the sting, giving another slice to his upper thigh, forcing him to the ground on one knee as it bled profusely, taking a deep breath.
"Fus, ro DAH!" He shouted once again, sending him flying once more into another building wall, webbing it, "Wuld, NA KEST!" rocketing after him, this time ramming straight into the lawbringer's helmet with his knee, shattering it completely.
"Now, whose face were you going to smash there...?" Traysek taunted, as the angry brute got back up, slightly wobbly.
Lucien had help from the werebeast, blasting at the knight long-range with lighting spells, coining him a few times with it after the beast would ease up, "You know, this is a losing battle for you guys, There's no shame in surrendering!"
"I'd much prefer your head-mounted than surrender!" the warden growled, giving the were-beast a powerful slash to its abdomen when it charged, going for Lucien, "Once we kill you three, Grave will give us any reward we want!"
"Not worth much if you can't spend it..." The imperial muttered under his breath, activating his lighting cloak when the warden closed in.
"Acting like their life was worth nothing... unforgivable..." Dihya unleashed the spell which was a burst of lightning that staggered the knight before that she took a breath "Fo... KRAH DIIN!" Blasting a powerful breath of ice before taking another breath "Yol, Toor Shul!" causing him to be pushed back by the fiery breath "They were innocent... they wanted to live their life to the fullest... even in a godsforsaken place like that one... and you..." she unleashed a torrent of fire from her hand, toward the Black Prior.
The black prior gritted his teeth with his shield raised, going for a charge, knocking her back with a hard bash, going for an overhead swing after.
Only to be intercepted when he took a shot from an arrow into the side of his body, grunting at the impact, turning a hateful glare towards the smirking the khajiit.
"Forget about me over here?" notching another arrow and firing it, the prior deflecting the shot, going for a shield rush towards him.
Traysek on the other hand, was on the defense, avoiding the angered brute's wideswings with backsteps, until he was harshly shoved back by him, nearly losing his balance, and almost going in the fountain. He quickly glanced behind himself and got an idea, jumping back and into it, boots in the water taunting the brute, "Up here big man, lest you're too afraid of a little water~?" smirking at him.
The bald brute growled and got in the water fountain with him going at him with a full wide swing, prompting the captain to duck, returning a blow of his own, slashing the chest-plate and leaving a deep groove in it, the vibration and lightning from it rippling through him more...
"Damn you!" the lawbringer cursed, going for a shove, only for the Redguard to roll to the side from it, rising up to clash scimitar with halberd, putting pressure on the redguard, "Gotta say, didn't peg you for being a stupid criminal, you won't win at this distance, surrender I might make it painless for you..."
Traysek chuckled lowly, giving him something between a grin and sneer, "Actually, YOU'RE the stupid one, FUS!" breaking the clash with his thu'um staggering him, giving powerful slash to the lawbringer pauldron, smashing through the joints of the armor with a spray of blood, causing him to go down, before the Redguard pulled out a lightning spider and shoved it in his face, which latched on to him with its legs, making the man scream out curses trying to pry it off.
Once disoriented, The Redguard wasted no time in sticking shock spiders to the rest of his armor, casting a lightning kennel spell, and hopping out of the fountain.
"Three...two...one..." Traysek counted down, the lightning kennel detonating finally, electrifying the water, which caused the shock spiders to explode on the brute.
"AAAAARRRRRRGGGHHHH!" the lawbringer screamed in a torrent of lightning, the crowd in complete horror before he took a gasp falling on his back with a hard splash.
The Redguard sighed, sheathing his sword, "Size does NOT guarantee a victory, you lost the moment this started..." turning his attention to others still fighting, "
With Lucien, the knight had managed to get close, tanking the shocks of his cloak while going for a quick overhead swing, which the imperial ducked away from, only to take a shoulder rush from the knight, sending him barreling down.
"Guh!" Lucien coughed out, the knight standing over him pointing a blade down at his face.
"Give up outsider, you aren't the first to think they could get one on us, and you aren't the last..." raising his sword up for a final blow.
That was until he was hit with a firebolt, forcing him to back up, the culprit being the man he had on the ground.
"Give up...? right now, I don't think I know the meaning...!" Lucien retorted with, blasting him a torrent of flames, setting the warden aflame, "Especially to someone like you!" turning the flame spell into sparks, electrocuting the poor bastard as he stood back up, putting both hands in it now as the knight screamed and convulsed.
Then it happened, the werebeast from before had recovered, pouncing the warden this time going for his neck and tearing at him with its claws.
"AAAARRRRGH! HELP ME HELP MEEEE!" The knight screamed, while Lucien watched, catching his breath.
"Now normally, that's what the doctor would order...but for you," The imperial huffed, putting away his beam sword, "I'll make an exception today..." walking away from the werebeast and his armored meal.
"Liz, SLEN NUS!" the Black Prior found himself unable to move as he was encased in ice.
Dihya walked up to him and said, "You're not worth killing."
Song End...
The black prior shivered, unable to move, "You...think...you've...won...? we will...hunt you...and these...freaks...down...such...as...it...has...to be..." he struggled out, while trapped in there.
Inigo walked up to the frozen knight, laughing, "Wow, you really scared him stiff huh?" turning to the frozen prior, "Justice prevails! pirates win! hahahahaha! the burning you feel? it is shame..."
"Enjoy...this...while...you can...fur ball...I'll...wear...you soon enough..." the prior shivered out.
Inigo smirked at him, "Pfft...Good luck moron..." Flipping him off with both hands.
"AAAARRRRGGGGHHHHH!" the frozen knight screamed, unable to do anything about it.
Dihya's beast disappeared with a puff of smoke.
"I wish that these tin cans would be stealing from the peasants outside." Dihya sighed before turning to Traysek, "Also, what was that about false gold?"
Traysek walked up, sighing, "Right, the fools gold... their idiot boss wanted us to collect for him, the problem was, that place was run down and downtrodden...there was nothing to gain from stealing from those people, hence the fake gold,"
Dihya shook her head before saying, "I knew that the Levantine idiot was greedy, but not to this point..."
"Trust me, you saw nothing of the capacities of his idiocy." a raven belonging to Swain landed next to them, "This is quite the mess."
"We had to defend ourselves." Diyha said before adding, "But you already know that..."
"I took the souls of those two who succumbed and got to look into them. Not the best vision if I have to be honest." Swain replied.
Traysek folded his arms, "Given why they were attacking us, I'm not surprised..." glancing at the frozen knight, turning to the raven, "We keep bumping into each other, Lord Swain, for someone on their court, I'm surprised you haven't tried to kill or arrest us for this, why?"
Lucien walked up to Diyah, "Thanks for summoning that beast, even if it was a gruesome way to go," glancing at her blindfold, "Also, I notice you wear a blindfold like someone we've met back home, are you blind too?"
"And why should I attack you?" Swain asked, "As far as I'm concerned, you didn't threaten me in any way, nor the Goddess Reborn. You are adventurers that are free to do as you, please. Of course, as long as it doesn't reach me. And since I have a Dragonborn under my services, I know that you can be more useful to this world as free men, not as someone in prison... that is if a prison can stop you."
Dihya sighed before saying, "It's... complicated." she then added, "I just feel a little uncomfortable talking about it."
"I see, forgive me for prying then," Lucien apologized, rubbing the back of his neck.
Traysek stared at the Raven for a second, nodding, "You have a point on something there, a bit odd, but I appreciate it..."
Inigo put his sword away, looking at the sky, spotting the ship with bolts riddled through it, coming towards them, "My friends, our ride has arrived," turning to Diyha, "By the way, I'm out of the special arrows, you have a recipe for them?"
Dihya shook her head and said, "They're recorded in a book, but I can tell you all that you're going to need; two steel ingot, two silver ingot, five ebony ingot, wood, hawk's feather, and, the one that I doubt you have, a refined Soulstone. And before you ask, You can get one by tempering a molten soulstone acquired from a dragon."
"Give them some cover," Swain ordered.
Dihya nodded and took a deep breath "Ven, MUL RIIK!" a heavy fog sets on the place.
"I'll guide you through this fog." Traysek and his men's vision became clear, "Good luck out there."
The Redguard frowned at the fog, "I recognized those words, that was one of Alduin's shouts, didn't know you had your own unique set," turning to where the ship was, "Alright Diyha, Lord swain, take care...I'm sure it won't take long to find the ship, even in this,"
Inigo spotted a large nearby shadow, looming nearby, "I think that's it over there, my friends"
"Looks like it, no time like the present then, thank you for your help, Diyha, you too lord Swain," Lucien thanked with a grin.
As they went Dihya sighed before saying, "What are you going to do with the bodies?"
"I'm going to need some new henchmen. And, I know some demons that I can kill to get their soul." Swain replied before turning to the frozen knight, "I need you to die..." a red light struck him as he fell limb.
"Are you going to take the bodies?" Dihya asked.
"They need to be healed." Swain replied as shadows took the bodies away, "Now, Grave won't be much of a problem."
Dihya sighed before saying, "I guess that I should return to Salma." she then began to head toward the lower districts.
On the ship, Recorder squinted her eyes on the helm, "Goddamn it's hard to see in this, why did they agree to meet here?"
"There was nowhere else they could've gone that would've let us pick them up, and this fog makes it easier to hide in," Yuriana said, squinting her eyes too, "Wish they would yell out or something..."
Eric nodded, "Yeah, or atleast-" he would've added in until he heard a thumping noise, finding a shadow climbing on his ship, gritting his teeth, "Guys, we have more of these knights on here!" drawing his war ax.
"Wait! stop Erik, it's me!" The silhouette panicked, turning out to be Inigo when he got close.
"Inigo! by the gods, I was about to cut you down!" Erik exclaimed, putting away the war ax, "I'm glad you made it, but where are the others?"
"On their way up, got caught by grave's men our way back here!" The khajiit explained, as the two more shadows climbed up, two of the revealing themselves to the Nord when they got close enough.
"Boss and Lucien! you guys made it back too!" Yuriana grinned, "Now we can finally get out of here!"
Traysek nodded, jogging up his ship, "I couldn't agree more, get ready for departure!" reaching for the helm, which made Recorder nearly draw her pistol, "Easy! it's me, Traysek!"
"Thank god," Recorder sighed in relief, "What the hell happened in there?"
"Stupid nobles wouldn't listen and tried to have us all killed, that's what," Traysek responded, taking the wheel, "Time to leave this crazy town, all aboard!" pulling a few levers, causing the ship to elevate higher.
"So what now? where are we going?"
Traysek sighed, "Someone away from here...somewhere I know for sure they won't follow..."
Lucien went straight for the control room, entering the hatch...
Within a few moments, the ship's thrusters activated to maximum power, the ship now rocketing completely over the city wall, heading North...
5hours later...the badlands, mountain terrain...
The ship slowly cruised over the deadened lands, the crew on deck with downtrodden expressions, as their captain shared one of his own, shaking his head as he finally pulled the ship to a stop, landing near a large mountain wall, lowering the ship there.
Traysek sighed, "How did this all go so wrong...?"
"It's like they didn't want to hear it, no matter how true it was...by the gods, whose have we really been on?" Inigo asked with a frown.
Yuriana shook her head, "I didn't really trust them either...I should've known from what Maia told us how this was going to go, damn it!"
Traysek rose an eyebrow, "Wait what? what's this now?"
Recorder and Yuriana shared a scared look, the former gulping..
"Okay, so...we MAY not have told you everything that happened when we met them..." Record nervously chuckled, "They wanted us to join them as shields, and to do that, we had to betray you guys,"
The men in the crew gasped in shock, the Captain had an appalled look.
"What?!" Lucien's voice exclaimed from the intercom.
"Why?!" Erik said, clearly offended, "I haven't done anything wrong to these guys!"
Inigo nodded, "Yeah, I agree, why?"
Yuriana sighed, shaking her head, "You guys didn't HAVE to do anything...it's who and WHAT you are, and they hate you the most, boss...for having the powers you have and for being who you are, and not being as tame as the other men there,"
"Tame in what way? like those gelded armored crabs back there?" The captain slightly yelled, "No, NO! that will NEVER be me, it will NEVER be us! oblivion NO!"
Recorder nodded, "That's why we told them to shove off in there, but there you have it...after this job, she and I were supposed to screw you guys over, but we pissed them off instead, so...guess that opportunity isn't coming anymore..." glancing around, "Especially now..."
The Captain rubbed his temples, feeling done, "Gods...so even if we would've done this right, we still would've gotten screwed over...wow...fucking hate this place..."
"We're sorry we hesitated on telling you, but given who we were with, there's no telling if we would've needed that or not..."Yuriana said, giving him a smile, "I'm glad we didn't and I don't regret it..."
The Redguard felt his cheeks heat up, "Geez...now it's hard to be mad at you two for not telling us, but I am going to ask, why wait that long?" narrowing his eyes on them.
"Because we knew you would've confronted them or walked from this and we still wouldn't have known anything then..." Recorder explained, "I'm glad we know who the real bad guys are now, back there was just corruption on a malignant level..."
Inigo gave them a grin, "Atleast YOU guys didn't screw us over, thank you..."
"Yeah, seriously, thank you, we know we can be difficult..." Erik chuckled, along with the other guys.
Yuriana nodded, "Don't mention it guys, we've known you longer...and I think we'd lose our individuality being under them anyway, didn't seem to like the idea that I mentioned Dibella there..."
Lucien came out of the hatch, "I've set her down for now, are you sure we're safe here sir?"
"Yeah, at least for a while..." The Redguard said, looking over the side, "You guys go ahead and get the campfire started, got something to do up here..."
The imperial nodded, "Alright then, we'll call you when it's ready, come on guys,"
The rest of the crew followed Lucien off the bridge, to the ground, beginning their scouting...
Once they were out of sight, Traysek took a deep breath and moved away from the ship, finding a spot on the deck to sit and meditate, closing his eyes...
Mindspace...
Traysek opened his eyes again, finding himself on a moon, standing up...
"Satakal...Satakal! where are you, you old snake?" The Redguard questioned, looking around.
"I'm here champion, I've been waiting for you to get here... I'm sure you have questions about how all that went, no?"
Traysek gritted his teeth, "Damn right I do! what the hell was that back there in the fortress? Why did all those men turn like that and more importantly...why didn't you give me any power back there?"
"One thing at a time my champion...firstly, yes...I did depower you back there and it was for a good reason...I was wrong, Traysek, I had the dark threat all figured out wrong and I sent you to the wrong side..."
The Redguard was in complete shock about that, shaking his head disbelievingly, "I don't believe it...you're the reason I lost?! by the gods old man, why?! we could've lost our lives!"
"Because you would've killed him back there! that's why..." The voice of Satakal snapped, "That General, is this world's hero... like you're Tamriel's...and you're going to need each other because something bigger than you BOTH is behind all of this!"
Traysek was surprised by that revelation, if Satakal himself was worried to the point he'd do that and took away his power...that was something to be concerned about, "What are you getting at...? You mean there's way more than Volt involved with this?"
"Yes Traysek, that's why I haven't let you open a way back home yet...that darkness is still here...and growing...and there's more...I've met the Earthmother...she'll talk to you when she's able to...but before then, talk to that General..."
The Redguard frowned at the voice, "The servant of the dark army? you can't be serious, Satakal, yeah he's a cool guy, but we aren't friends!"
"You don't know that yet...just talk to him, Traysek...you're hanging out here like a bandit otherwise..."
The Redguard was offended by that, "What?! what in oblivion is that supposed to mean, hey!"
Everything went silent, and lit up...
Back in the real world...
Traysek opened his eyes with a loud gasp, finding himself sweating, 'By the gods...what was that old snake talking about? he met the Earthmother? like the statue back in Erdora?' Standing up, stretching, 'And he's very insistent on me talking to the General too...seems sure of himself this time...but I'm not too sure myself...' he mused walking to the banister, peeking over at his crew starting the fire, "Well, only time can tell now...that all depends if I meet him again," grinning, "Something tells me I will..."
As the hours flew by and Greil was flying on his beast with both Dark elves.
"What do we do now?" Cloe asked.
"We fight." Greil answered before looking at the mount, "Let's rest a little."
Olga nodded as the beast flew down.
"We need to regroup with the other and-" Greil stopped when he heard voices, "Someone is near..."
The three of them readied themselves as they approached the source of the sounds.
The ship was docked on the ground once again, with most of the crew around a campfire, passing around a bottle.
"Hahahaha! I wish I could've been there to see it, how did those faces look Inigo?" Recorder laughed, passing him the bottle next.
The khajiit gave a frozen angry face, "You will burn on the stake for this! mark my words!" with his face frozen, causing a roar of laughter.
"Hohoho by the gods, they had to have been sour about it..." Erik chimed in, with a laugh.
Lucien chuckled and sighed, "Yeah, funny as it was...we still didn't get paid for that debacle..."
The group grumbled themselves in disappointment...
The Redhead piped up, "Oh lighten up...it's not the worst thing we've been through, just...annoying..."
"Yeah...I can agree there," Inigo sighed, "Very much annoying...seriously were never hated that quickly in Tamriel..."
Recorder frowned at him, "We still had our problems, but there were with the bandits really...this just seems...I don't know, I'm not even mad anymore that we lost if we were going to be rewarded like THAT...my god..."
The crew nodded amongst themselves somberly...
"So anyone know where the boss is?" Erik asked, "I figured he join us all here,"
Inigo looked at the ship, "He's behind the ship with the Dremora blackmarket, so he'll be a minute...said he could probably get those arrows for me,"
meanwhile behind the ship...
"I hope you summoned me here because you intend to do a deal..." The dremora smirked.
Traysek gave him a nod, "Indeed, Just need more ammo and arrows, hoping you had some soulfire arrows too for sale,"
"Oooooooo...I can probably help you with the bullets and arrows, but as for the soul fire arrows, that's negative there, sir," The dremora said, shaking his head, "But, I do have a couple of soulstones that could help with crafting them, but don't expect them to be cheap and no, you can't haggle this price either, dovahkiin,"
Traysek narrowed his eyes, "I can take a bit of cut here, better my pockets than my pride, how much are we talking here?"
"Normally, 5000 a piece, but for you, because we're old friends and all, I'm willing to let you have it for a good 3000, And I'll throw that as the restock price... whaddya say?" the dremora smirked, wriggling his eyebrows.
The Redguard rose an eyebrow, a grin appearing, "I say we've got a deal," shaking his hand, handing him the gold owed, getting soul stone handed to him, along with a restock of bullets, potions, and other arrows.
"Pleasure doing business, and hey, the next time you summon me, I'll have something for you, on the house," The dremora smirked, "Until we meet again, Valued customer..." disappearing back into his plane.
Greil peaked around only to see a familiar flying ship.
"Well, this is a surprise." he smiled before sheathing his weapons.
"But-" Cloe tried to speak before stopping as she felt Olga's hand on her shoulder.
After getting a nod from Olga he approached them.
Traysek made it back to the crew, taking the bottle next, "You guys enjoying yourselves?" taking a gulp from it, face scrunching up "Whew...I can see why it was expensive," taking a seat.
"So how'd the black market go?" Recorder asked, raising an eyebrow.
Traysek passed the bottle to Lucien, tossing Inigo the soul stone "Got that for you, an ingredient for the soul fire arrows, but be warned, this will be the set you can probably craft for a while, those stones are expensive, even to the black market's standards..."
"Gods, I didn't think they were...then again they're from a dragon so..." The khajiit shrugged, "Thank you for this, my friend, I will treat them well,"
"I'm sure you will," The Redguard nodded, turning to the others, "No one took notice of us here yet?"
"None, I figured since we're out here in the badlands, there would be a patrol or two to encounter," Yuriana said, rubbing the back of her head, "To be honest, it's a bit of a letdown,"
Erik scoffed with a smirk, "You say that now until something actually comes along and-"
"I thought that you'd be home," Greil said as he approached them while Olga and Cloe are behind him.
The entire crew turned to that, the captain's eyes wide in surprise.
"Well, you aren't you three a sight for sore eyes~" Traysek greeted with a friendly grin, "Good to see you again General, you too lady Olga, cloe..." with a polite bow, "To answer your question, we CAN'T go back to our world, much as we want to...so we're hanging out here,"
"You can't?" Greil was confused, "I thought that you have some sort of magical ability to travel to other worlds... I guess that I was wrong."
The crew had downtrodden looks on their faces, Yuriana being the first to sigh...
"It's not that we DON'T have it...it's that it's blocked off..." she said in a solemn tone.
Traysek nodded, "Yeah, if we arrived here ourselves...but we didn't... we were in fact yanked here, apparently Celestine had gotten in contact with him and made a deal...hence here we are..."
Greil began to think before asking, "Now, where are you going to stay?"
"Wait... you're not going to ask them to come with us..." Cloe stated as she had wide eyes.
"If they need help, we must give it to them." Greil said before adding, "Not to mention that we may be the cause of some of their problems."
"Yeah, you were..." Traysek began with, sighing, "But, we cannot deny our involvement in that too...we have a part in this blame as well, though not for the same reasons..." looking away with a hint of regret, "And... there's...something I owe you too..." turning to his crew, "Could you guys gives us the air?"
"Sure my friend, take your time," Inigo said, nodding his head at the others, prompting them to get up from the fire.
Yuriana noted his expression, turning to the General and giving a bow, "It's good to you again General, hope it works out with you guys,"
"Your band is as lively as usual." Greil said with a smile, "A sign of unity and trust."
Traysek grinned, turning to them departing for the ship, "They're trying, but this situation has gotten to them too..." sighing, "First thing's first, I want to apologize for not taking what you said back there with certainty...This isn't our first job, and knowing what people will come up with to save their own skin in a crisis, I figured it would be no different, no matter how much that evidence stacked...but that back there, in the fortress and at the tower...I can't deny it anymore, there IS a problem here..." glancing back to the trio, "When we left, I was sour about it...for not finishing our battle and for how it was interrupted..." clenching his fist, "But now? I'm beginning to understand what you meant about not taking their side...had we known about that helping hand being a dirty one...I wouldn't have been so helpful," taking a gulp from the bottle, "So once again, I apologize to you and the queen for our bullshit back at your fortress..."
"Captain, you don't have to apologize for that." Greil said, "You weren't aware of the truth. We all live through a perspective, not one shared by everyone. What you consider as good isn't what others would consider as good. And, not all humans are the same, I did meet some who showed kindness, even if there were fighters."
"Why is Master Greil nice to someone who caused the loss of the fortress..." Cloe mumbled a bit loud.
Greil sighed before saying, "Please, forgive her, she hates humans for a specific reason that I'd better stay silent about it, for her sake and humility."
The Redguard waved him down, "It's fine, I wasn't going to pry anyway, we all have pasts," staring at the fire for a moment, " Alternatively, I thought about joining your side to do something about the corruption here...but I do have my concerns, as both man and a captain..." turning to the ship, "I know you're neutral to humanity, but most of you aren't and that concerns me...while I'm not too worried about getting a slave collar placed around me, it's my men that I'm more worried about..." turning to them, "They're good people, General...rough on the edges, but they ARE loyal...you can trust them...I just need assurances from both you and the queen, that it won't happen to THEM...I don't want to see those spirits broken..." eyes going low for a second, glancing back up with a small grin, "Do that, assure me THAT and you may get six new allies for your cause,"
"I think that you misunderstood something." Greil said as he looked in a direction, "Most of us aren't like that, we have human allies, friends, even families for some of them. What we're against, is the supremacy and forced control that humans desire to do on us. Of course, there's some that would like to see all the humans dead, but we're working on turning all that hatred toward the real enemy..." he then looked at Traysek in the eyes, "And that enemy is the concept of seeing all humans as killers and slavers." he then laughed before adding, "Besides, pirates aren't seen as criminals, but as our best men when it comes to the seas. Maybe you should meet them."
Traysek's eyes lit up, "Really now? I think I'd like that, so would the crew..." with a small smile, turning to the queen, "What about you, your highness, you've been silent... what say you?" raising an eyebrow.
Olga was rose a curious eyebrow, slightly taken aback "Interesting proposal human..Despite your stupidity earlier today," narrowing her eyes on him, "I'm not going to sugar coat it, outlander, I'm NOT too pleased about what you and friends did back at my fortress...what you all let...in..." with venom, narrowing them more, "However, I understand the bigger problem...and normally, I'd reject your offer and have Greil turn you ALL into bloody paste...but," flashing a slightly amused smirk, "Your power is interesting to me, not many have that gift, aside the fox reaper, even then your talent in magic goes further than that...it would be a waste to turn this away, and we need all the power we can get...so you'll get my assurance," giving him a stern stare, "Just don't make me regret it, Dragonborn..."
The Redguard nodded, "Okay then, I think I can work with that..." giving a smile, "Consider me onboard..."
"We were going to rest a little, giving Soru some time to rest her wings." Greil stated as the beast approached him and purred when the general began to pet her head, "After some minutes, we'll be ready."
Traysek gave him a nod, "Very well, I'll talk to the crew, let them about our new alliance, we'll be ready soon after, ship's still good enough to travel, I won't be long," standing up and leaving towards the ship.
The crew cabin...
The crew hung around waiting around for their captain to get back from their talk, the Nord was starting to get anxious...
"Okay, they've been out there too long I'm going out there," Erik said, standing up from his chair.
Recorder frowned at him, "And do WHAT? you saw how that General kept slamming into the boss, you can't compete with that speed Erik, chill out!"
"And besides, if there was something wrong, I think we would've heard something, swords clashing, things blowing up, so far...it seems to have gone well," Inigo said, his ears up in the air, "Sounds like, he's also heading back here too..."
Yuriana whistled, "Those ears of yours are impressive, what else can you hear?"
"The sounds of plants dying..." he responded in monotone, getting complete silence and stares, "What? you all asked!"
Lucien chuckled nervously, "Yeah we did, just wasn't expecting that answer chap..."
Right then, Traysek walks into the lounge where they were all hanging out, sighing with grin.
"Hey everyone, I'm back with some news..."
"Oh? please do tell," Yuriana greeted, sitting down her tankard.
Inigo turned to him, "Are we going home?" with a wide grin.
"Are we still staying here?" Erik asked with an eyebrow raise.
Traysek sighed, shaking his head, "No on both of those, I had a chat with the General and Queen, and it went pretty well all things considered..."
Recorder rose an eyebrow, "So if we're not doing either one of those...what going on then?"
The Redguard took a deep breath...
Back outside...
From the ship itself...
"YOU DID WHAT?!" a loud collection of voices boomed out of it...
Back inside, Traysek had his hands up with a nervous expression, "N-now, I know what you're all thinking...and we did get screwed over by two armies...I don't think that's going to happen this time,"
"How do you really know that? just a few hours ago, we were trying to kill each other...now suddenly we're ALL friends now? what gives?" Recorder scolded, with her arms folded.
The Redguard sighed, "I get it, we were enemies and all that jazz, but if things are so bad that the divines STILL won't let us return, maybe we SHOULD do something about this, for all we know, there could be darker forces involved, if it is... I don't want that returning home with us!"
Yuriana nodded, "Good point, we already had one sex ring in Skyrim and that was a headache enough... I don't want to ever go through that again..."
"Then you understand where I'm coming from, trust me, I had doubts on that too...but I think we can trust these guys, I'm sure here..."
Inigo nodded, "I could see it, I mean out of almost everyone we've met, that General's story hasn't changed, despite beating on us..."
"And there's that name...'Gronik' he said that back there too, so that confirms we might be meeting someone from back home if that's who I think it is..." Lucien said in thought.
Erik nodded, "Right, the supposed 'hero of Kvatch'...I've read a few books on him, he was the one who curbed Dagon during that crisis...if that's the case...then yeah, we need to meet this guy...he might even know whose all involved in Volt's little plan..."
"Right you are, Erik, which is why I had no issues making that alliance," Traysek smirked, "Got a feeling we're in a ride going this way...And if it doesn't, don't we always have an escape plan...?" raising an eyebrow.
The crew all thought about this, glancing among themselves, giving each other agreeing nods...
"I'm in too, my friend, all the way..." Inigo smiled, "and besides, I could use more Arrows, and I'm sure they got recipes there for them, besides what I just got"
Recorder nodded, "As long as we're not still hanging around here like bandits, I'm all for it..."
"I'd be interested to see where they're going, so I'm in this too," Lucien added in.
Yuriana smiled, "Well, someone's gotta watch your backs, why not, I'm in...
"Sir, I go where you go...to oblivion and back, count me in," Erik grinned, "And I may be looking forward to punching Kin in the mouth, can't do that If we go home, can we?" earning a chuckle from the others.
Traysek gave them a bright grin, "Then it's settled, get your things ready," turning to Lucien, "And I need you to warm the ship up, I'm sure she's got more in her before we have to fix her up.
"I'll try, but don't expect a miracle like last time..." The imperial said, leaving for the steam room.
"Why did you invite them?" Cloe asked, "They could be spies sent by the Shields!"
"I doubt that" Greil replied, "You do know that pirates are seen as criminals in their eyes. And since they have a Felinefolk with them, they might be more hated."
"It's true that Celestine's cultists are easy to predict." Olga chuckled before adding, "And Greil had some points right; they could have been spies... but they aren't since they're from another world and are more open-minded that the Shields."
Cloe simply pouted as Greil sighed, "Not all humans are like those you were with. As proof, look at those that joined us, look at the one who calls himself the Hero of Kvatch."
"You were trying to find a reason to hate them, am I right?" Olga asked as Cloe began to sweat.
"This... will take a while to deal with." Greil said as he began to check on Soru's wings.
In the engine room of the ship, Lucien was shoveling more coal into the furnace, the steam igniting the engines, as a strange metal scraping sound could be heard as well.
"What was that?" The imperial questioned, looking around until he saw it, eyes going wide, "By the gods...this really will be the last time the ship moves around, it was a miracle it was able to from back THERE..." walking over to the slightly charred flight Gyno, "Gods...what caused this ? being here?" putting a hand on his chin, until a thought a occurred, flashing back to the lightning spear hitting their ship, the electrical blast affecting the systems..."That might've done it, I do remember that weird lightning crashing through it...hope we can make it,"
Traysek walked out of the captain's cabin with most of the crew following behind, the steam from the ship rising, indicating it was ready, "Okay, looks like we're good to here," heading toward the bridge, "Wait up here, I'll let them know we're ready," heading towards the General and his beast, "Hey Greil? we're good to go here," frowning at the winged beast, "Is something wrong with him?"
The beast growled at the Redguard as Greil said "Soru still needs some moments to recover from all the way she flew from Ken to here... and without stopping..."
Olga sighed before casting a recovery spell on the winged creature as it jumped and spread her wing.
"Looks like she's good to go," Greil stated as Soru landed.
"But once we get there, she will need to rest for a good time," Olga said as she began to pet the beast.
"Well, Captain Traysek, we'll begin to fly there at your signal," Greil said as he mounted, before helping Olga and Cloe.
Traysek nodded, "Alright, setting sail now then, lead the way," heading back to the ship, going up the bridge as the crew got to their respective places near the cannons, Lucien coming out of the hatch, "Is she good to enough to go?"
"One more trip sir, the flight Gyro was compromised in the battle, scorched and slightly dented" The imperial explained, "It's having a hard time staying in track as it spins now..."
"Damn, alright then, the last trip it is..." The Redguard sighed, heading to the wheel, "Raise anchor! we're following them!" pulling down the lever, causing the ship to levitate once more, reaching its maximum altitude, "All aboard folks, enjoy your voyage now, it will be a while before we're sailing again!" getting loud groans from the crew.
Soru jumped and began to fly toward a direction and the ship followed it.
3 hours later...
Traysek and his crew began to see that they are approaching a chain of mountains and that Greil was heading toward the side of the mountain.
The Redguard frowned, pulling out a telescope, "Where the hell is he going...?"
"Sir is he about to head into that mountain...?" Recorder asked from the nest, shaking her head with a hard frown.
Erik went wide-eyed, "By the gods, is someone going to tell him to stop?!"
"No seriously, he's getting dangerously close to that thing!" Inigo shouted, "Please tell me you've got the microphone..."
Yuriana furrowed his brow, "I'm hoping that wall is either fake or he's lost his mind..."
Instead of crashing head first, they went through it.
The entire crew had shocked faces, mouth agape, turning to each other with eyes as wide as dinner plates, before looking back at the Illusion wall...
"Fake wall it is, well I'll be..." The Redhead nodded, impressed.
Traysek slightly shook his head, "Hidden in Illusion magic, clever...would've never found it ourselves, onward lads!"
The ship passed through the same wall, the General's beast did, the wall rippling like water.
Traysek only had the time to lower the altitude to evade some stalactite rocks, eventually, they spot an airship, two times bigger than theirs.
It was bigger than the Aveza with cannons on the sides, other cannons that were installed on the deck by an orc and dark elf workers, a massive cannon in the front exiting a wolf head, and two vast air balloons suspended above the ship, which are nearly as large as the fuselage itself.
The crew was in awe at the size of it, completely dwarfing their own ship...
"By the gods, look at the size of that monster..." Inigo said in shock.
Erik nodded in agreement, "They've got airships too I see, and they're much bigger..."
"Bigger is an understatement here Erik," Recorder gulped, "and I thought ours was the largest in Skyrim..."
Traysek whistled, "That was Skryim...this place is way different, they didn't even have this back in the holy city...I'm impressed..."
"Boss are you guys seeing this?" Lucien's shocked voice rang from the intercom.
Yuriana nodded, "Yeah we did, monster of a ship...all those guns were intimidating too, our ship wouldn't be able to fight these, no way..."
They all saw Greil pointing to a docking place.
The captain frowned at that, pulling out the telescope, "Where's he pointing to?" turning the direction his finger was pointed in, finding a large docking station with other ships around, "Well I'll be...there's a docking station near us below and it's massive,"
Recorder whistled at the sight, "You can say that again, some of those ships are even bigger than the one we just passed..."
'It'll have to do sir because the generator is beginning to smoke out and lose its track...' Lucien's voice warned.
Traysek nodded, "Very well, here's hoping they can get her back up again..." lowering the ship to the docking station.
Following the lights from the workers motioning them in, the ship eventually touched down, the captain pulling the lever, the ship slowly cooling down as a thick smoke blasted from the exhausts, causing a few of the crew to cough and fan it away.
"We have arrived!" Traysek announced, stepping away from the wheel, and heading down the steps.
At that moment, Greil got in with a young Dark elf.
"This is Arripe Dhesrunod, just call him Arripe, he'll help you with whatever material you'd need." the general said.
"N-Nice to meet you!" it was clear that the boy was intimidated by Traysek.
"If you need anything concerning your ship, don't hesitate to ask him," Greil added.
The Redguard rose an eyebrow, before chuckling with a smile, "No need to be so tense lad, names Traysek or captain, whichever suits your fancy," giving a bow, turning to smoked-out exhaust, "Good thing we stopped here when we did, our engines were going out..." he sighed, shaking his head, as the hatch door opened, Lucien crawling out, "Is that it for it?"
"Yeah, that Gyro broke off in pieces as soon it stopped spinning, the aveza won't be in flight for a while," The imperial explained.
Traysek sighed with a nod, "I figure that would happen, oh well," turning Arripe, "We were hoping you could help in getting her to soar again, although judging from the smoke, it won't be awhile so I'll be leaving the aveza in your capable hands," handing him the keys to the ship.
Arripe struggled to catch the keys before saying, "Don't worry, sir, I'll do my best to have her like new!" with that he took out a book and a pen made of wood and charcoal, he then turned to Lucian, "Can you show me where it's damaged?"
"Now, I would love to guide you, but I was called to a meeting," Greil said as a young woman in armor that looks like the one worn by the imperial royal guard in the Imperial City. She had fiery red hair, red scales on some parts of her face, and a lizard tail with a flame at the tip, "Her name is Juko, a Salamander knight, she'll guide you in the city and even to your living quarters."
The Salamander woman gave them a salute and said "I'm at your disposition."
"Now, if you excuse me." Greil turned and began to walk away.
The Redguard nodded, "Alright then General, we'll enjoy our tour, I'm sure I'll see you around," waving at him, turning to the Salamander guard, "Nice to meet you Juko, the name's Traysek, and this my crew, we're in your hands today," giving her a smile.
Lucien turned the young elf, "Ah, right this way," leading him to the crew's hatch, opening it with both him and Arripe going through it, closing behind them.
The rest of the crew marveled at the surrounding city as they walked off the bridge, finding it to be more lively than Ken. The sounds of people clamoring and laughing could be heard all around them, as well as children of all races, both human and monster seen playing and laughing together.
"I don't believe it..." Erik said with wide eyes, "They're all together..."
Recorder nodded, "Yeah, and no killing each other...ever weirder..." rubbing the back of her head.
Inigo took a deep inhale, grinning, "A lot of warmer smells here too, and the town looks more alive..."
"It's like we're in another world here, opposed to the other one...strange indeed, but not unwelcomed," Yuriana said, smiling at the group of children passing them.
"Welcome to our city; Yamakhroz." Juko said before looking at a shop, "Here is the general store of this area, if you seek something that's not there, he can direct you to the right shopkeeper." she then turned to them and said, "This city is big, but you can ask help from any guard, and they will respond. For the rules; don't harm others, don't bother others, and enjoy your life. For your living quarters, we prepared as the general Greil asked us." she guided them to a house, "Big enough for seven people, working sewers, the beds are made from good silk... well, I'd better let you see it with your own eyes. do you have any questions?"
The five adventures gawked at the new house, the leader of the group nodding in approval.
"The General prepared this huh? how nice of him, really it is, tell him I said thank you when you see him," Traysek said, giving her a warm smile, "As much as I want to check out the city..." Yawning and stretching, "I could use a nap for a couple of hours, maybe a few...that craziness back there took it out of me, thank you, Juko," taking the key from her, shaking her hand, turning the crew, "Well, I don't know about you guys, you can all check this city out, get drunk and party, I'll probably join you in few," chuckling.
Inigo nodded, "I think most of us could use a rest after today, my friend, I will happily join the nap train," chuckling with him.
Erik frowned, "I don't mind partying for a bit, I want to see how strong these drinks are before I crash out, anyone joining me?"
"I'll take you up on that Erik, not quite tired yet," Yuriana added in.
Recorded nodded, "Yeah same here, and besides," turning back in the docking station's direction, "Someones gotta wait for Lucien, might as well be me,"
"Alright then, I'm heading in," The Redguard said, unlocking the door, and pushing it open, "Since I'm crashing, the master room is mine, have fun guys..." dragging himself in, with Inigo behind him, who was also yawning.
With the trio now left out there, the armored nord turned to the two ladies...
"So...to the nearest tavern?"
The Redhead smiled, waving him off "Nah, maybe not a tavern, we were drinking a lot back there, but I am hungry...no denying that..."
"Same here, Yuri, I could eat an entire horse right now..." Recorder said, taking a sniff, drooling, "And I'm loving the scents I'm getting here,"
"Fine," Erik said, sighing in defeat, "That drink back there was kinda strong, eh, why not I could eat too," looking around, "Only problem is, where to even start,"
Recorder had her nose in the air like a bloodhound once again, "Just *Sniff* leave it to me *Sniff* *Sniff* I'll be the food guide today,"
The two nords shared a laugh, before Recorder joined in, as they waited on Lucien...
As Greil was walking, he looked to his left and saw a dark elf assassin.
"How are things on the fronts?" Greil asked.
"We returned to the fortress, and saw how many monsters began to follow that human." the assassin responded.
"Any new from the other cities?" Greil asked.
"Commander Niall is currently on the hunt for a slaver near Feoh, the rebels are gaining more support from the people Geofu, Lord Swain has the entire city of Ken in the palm of his hand..." the assassin was about to continue when Greil spoke.
"I see... this is better than I thought." Greil smirked before stopping at a gate, "With some luck, Ansur and Thorne will be easy to take. send a message to the samurai of Rad, tell him that he can begin the cleansing operation on his territory."
The assassin nodded before disappearing into the shadows. The gate opened, and Greil entered before taking a seat.
"Well, let's begin the assembly," Greil said as he eyed the others.
Traysek opened his eyes, and he found himself in a forest.
He sat up knitting a brow, looking around to find himself surrounded by a lush forest 'What the...? I've only been out for a minute, did they trick me and ditch me somewhere? no...couldn't be...I would've felt it, so then...I'm still asleep but...' He stood up, frowning as he scanned the area, "Where am I...?"
Then suddenly, he felt a large gust of wind blow on him, forcing him to cover himself, "What in oblivion?"
"It's nice to finally meet you, champion of Satakal." it was a gentle and carrying voice that caused Traysek to look at the source, only to meet an elf.
The Redguard had his brow furrowed, getting a good look at the giant elven woman in front of him, slowly nodding, "Hello...are you the Earthmother the old snake spoke of?"
The earthmother smiled as she said, "I hope that Satakal told you about our deal and the real enemy."
"No...the only deal I remember him making was with Celestine, but as for the enemy..." his mind going back to those disgusting grins back at the palace, "I have an idea on who that could be...just not whose all involved..."
"The shadows that are protecting them are more powerful than me." the Earthmother's tone was filled with pain, "Whatever deity is helping them, it's a really powerful one."
The Redguard rose an eyebrow, "Shadows?' you mean like an Evil god...? that would explain what...happened back there, I wouldn't be surprised if Molag Bal had something to do with this..."
"It's not him Traysek, I've already had that confirmed..." Satakal's voice called from the sky, following a crimson portal that opened with him coming through it, "This... this is something else entirely...something taking pleasure off the suffering itself, not so much the vile act..."
Traysek widened his eyes at both his arrival and the Revelation, "Like it's feeding off of them...getting stronger...and what Volt wants to do, is going to do exactly that...if the kingdoms don't cause it themselves..." finally putting it together, "There are way more people involved in this isn't it? meanwhile, there's a dark god feeding on the misery they'll cause...Gods, yeah, alright, I see why we got blasted back there, we were supposed to be the catalysts..."
"Exactly...glad you figured that out...and now that you know who the lead man is, it will be easy for you to trail the rest, eventually they're going to lead you to that dark entity and from how strong its power is...it's almost up there with mine, it's going to take more than JUST your power to cleanse the lands of them...hence why I didn't want you to kill her champion,"
The Redguard nodded, "I get that now, yeah, close call there, I was definitely going for blood back there..." sighing after, "So what did you take from me anyway?"
"Your divine crimson form, as well as your dragon Aspect, and few other shouts, like your kingsbane for example..."
Traysek sighed, "I see, so do you plan on giving those back now...? kinda need em,"
"I will, but first..." Satakal began motioning to the Earthmother, "She has something bestow you, we've talked about it...and you'll be getting a similar blessing to the one the General has, and...we know about your shoulder wound, it's not healing either...you've just dulled the pain..."
The Redguard sighed, "I suppose it's been bothering me, been drinking to deal with that pain..."
"It's not as strong as Greil's abilities that I gave him, but it should help you with that wound." the Earthmother lifted her hand and a light enveloped Traysek, "But, be warned. If you do anything that may prove to be a danger to my children, I will take it back." now, her tone was stern.
Traysek gave her a smile, when the light around him went out, "I promise not to do anything I wouldn't do..."
"Traysek..." Satakal chided, voice full of warning.
"What?! I'm just being honest, I really won't do anything, not me..." The Redguard defended, throwing his hands up, "Fine, officially it is..." turning to the Earthmother "I promise not to be a literal danger to your people," bowing at the Earthmother.
"Good." the Earthmother smiled, "Because, no one can save you from me if you dare to harm one of my children." she was still smiling.
The Redguard gulped, glancing at Satakal who nodded in confirmation, "Noted...outside of self-defense, I won't be harming them...especially like the black dogs intend to..."
"Very good champion, and now..." the giant serpent started with, pulling out a bright red crimson orb with dragon aura surrounding it, "I believe its time to give this back too..." lowering the held orb to him.
Traysek held open his arms, as the serpent god shoved the orb into him, feeling the other half of his strength return, crimson and gold aura enveloped him, his hair turning bright red, his fangs lengthened and when he opened his eyes, they were a golden color, slit, along with snake patterns on his face and arms.
"ROOOOOAAAAAARRRRWWWW"
An explosion of crimson aura boomed out, him now in his crimson form, smiling at his returned strength...
"Hahahahaha! now that's more like it...!" Red Traysek laughed, turning to the other two, giving a respective bow, "I really appreciate this, thank you both, and don't worry I'll keep my word and I'll make sure my men do the same!" with a bright toothy grin.
"Now, replenish your forces. You're going to need them for the coming battles." with that, the Earthmother threw him away from her plane of existence.
Satakal chuckled, "Wow, I usually just wrap my tail and toss him out, funnier that way..."
Back in reality...
Traysek snapped away, sitting up quickly, the crimson aura around him dying down, "Was that a dream or real...?" checking his wound to find it completely healed up, as if it was never stabbed, "No...that was real...which means that WAS the earth-mother back there, alrighty then..." getting out of bed, stretching with a yawn, "I think I'm done napping for a bit," grabbing the lantern from the dresser, 'Might as well check out the house, didn't get a chance to earlier...' smirking to himself as he proceeded to map out their new house.
In the Dark Fortress, Volt looked at the army that he amassed.
"Very good." he smiled as he watched them standing in front of him.
"Volt," Kin called, "We still have a problem concerning that god."
"We'll just leave this place to him." Volt said before adding, "We can't repair it and even if we tried, it would cause us to lose a lot of time."
"Where are we going to rest, then?" Kin asked.
"The ruins of a village." Volt grinned, "They will think that we disappeared, or died. However, we will be taking our forces there while waiting for the right moment to strike."
"I see..." Kin went into deep thought, 'This better work.'
In the council chamber of Yamakhroz, Greil took a deep breath.
"As much as it would benefit us, we need to take into account the possibility that opening routes to any human village now would be a danger to us." he said before looking at a female Dark Elf with black short hair, yellow eyes, and wearing dark grey leather armor.
"The Dark Blades found more than enough proof that Thorne is completely under the influence of the Black Dogs and their allies." She said adding, "And all those that we send to Rad end up dead."
"What about Ansur?" Greil asked.
"The Rose Company is keeping the illusion of power, but it's being chipped away by the day," she added.
"Not to mention that there were sightings of imps in the dark alleys." a young woman with long red hair, cat ears, and eyes that bear a vertical slit instead of rounded pupils, surrounded by a metallically glistening gold iris.
"We should strike now!" A woman with brown hair tied up in a ponytail, with bovine horns that stick out sideways, and crimson eyes.
"We need to wait for the right time to make sure that we don't give the location of our city to the Shields." Greil countered, "We still have something else that needs our attention."
"The guests?" a Harpy with red feathers said.
"It would seem that they're here to help us against the corruption that set itself in each city." Greil pointed, "That's why I have a proposal."
At the Aveza, engine room...
The blanket of smoke spilling out of the engine room was thick, causing Lucien and Arripe to cough when they opened those doors, the imperial scrunching a brow.
"Well, *cough* here it is," Lucien showcased, walking over to the burnt-out and broken Gyro, "This was to the ship's flight control, but due to the battle back there, this had happened once I shut it off, the noise was more than Gods awful "
A sky-blue aura enveloped the young boy as he got closer, "We can make something to replace it. Does it work with electricity or fire?"
Lucien sighed, shaking his head, "If it was that easy I would've done it, unfortunately, the Dwemer had used steam to power these up...usually, an accumulator would work, but we left that at home so...no luck there, the entire flight system would have to be replaced in order for something new to go there," rubbing the back of his neck.
"Not necessarily." Arripe began to write in his book, "If we can recreate something similar while adding the wind element, we will have done half of the work. As to compensate for the heat of the steam... some fire runes can heat the device, and the winds will spread the heat around... I think that would work... maybe..."
Lucien frowned, slowly nodding, "Actually...that just might do it, that's Genius!" getting excited, clearing his throat "Apologies, but we could use the very broken metal, along with any pieces that can be melted down to get a base, the fire runes in the furnace could be the last thing to do after the piping system get repaired..." giving the young elf a grin, "You're pretty good at this, you a scholar too?"
"N-no! I'm not that great. In fact, I just ended my formation on the latest warship." Arripe said while blushing, "I just used an idea that I had; the usage of pressure through wind and fire. But... a warship doesn't have time to wait for the pressure to build up. Thankfully, they tried to implement that idea on the civilian ships."
The imperial nodded, "And since this is a smaller ship, it'll be easier to implement this aircraft with it..." turning to him, "I can melt some dwemer metal down for the base, after that, I'll leave it up to you and your team, Fair enough?"
"I don't have a team..." the Dark Elf said nervously, "B-But I know a runemaster that can write the runes on it!"
Lucien rose an eyebrow, "Do you? it'll be interesting to see how magic works around here, I wonder if the others were as lucky..." before turning to Arripe, "Whenever you can get to him, you can contact me with this," handing him a communicator from the desk, "The red button will allow you to call me, press it again to hang it up,"
"T-Thank you." Arripe smiled before looking at the communicator, "Just like our crystals..." he then looked at Lucian "I'll go talk with him right now about that." Arripe turned before stopping. He then turned toward Lucian with an embarrassed look, "Um... where's the exit?"
The imperial chuckled, "Since I'm heading out anyway, I might as well show where that is, follow me," nodding at him, going in a direction...
In the outskirt of Feoh, Rey walked alongside Niall as they were heading southeast of the city.
"Spread and search for anything that's alive!" Niall ordered before lifting his weapon, aiming it at the sky with a battlecry, giving a red aura to his men, "As for you, lad, just stick with me. Would hate to explain why you died while under my watch." he laughed before walking away.
Rey inclined while following "I promise not to slow you down, any Idea where to start looking?"
"Anything that proves the passage of people." Commander Niall answered, "Considering that they were seen around this place, we can hope to find them if we search with a watchful eye."
The young knight looked around with a nod, "Check for any strange passages, got it, shouldn't be too hard out here," scouting around the area, along with the commander.
As they were searching they heard one of the men calling, "Sir! we found something!"
As they all rushed to the soldier, they found the dead body of an elf.
"Poor lass seems like she was dead for quite a while too..." Niall said as he knelt to inspect the body, "Multiple marks on the body, obvious signs of a struggle... this is really bad."
Rey also knelt down and inspected the corpse, finding the obvious signs that Niall pointed out, as well as something seemingly shiny she was covered in, touching it, feeling it stick, "Looks like she was covered in some kind of fluid too and it reeks..." scrunching his face up, "I don't like that smell either, reminds me of something...too familiar..."
"They tried to hide their traces... but neglected to hide any magical residue..." Niall looked at one of his men who took a bottle and spread some of its content around the body, showing shadowy figures, "Too bad that it doesn't help us hear what could be said." after some seconds, the shadowy figures began to walk toward a direction, "Let's see where they were going."
Rey nodded in agreement, following the shadows to where they led to with Niall and some of his men following behind 'If it's like that storehouse incident, then they'll be no question then...'
As they approached, they saw two Black Dogs with a strange man.
"You'd better make sure that no one enters, we're training new whores to sell them in Ken. Of course, you'll get your cut." the man said.
"You mean one girl each?" one of the Dogs asked with a grin.
"Minus the one that died because you didn't do your job properly." the man answered as the two Dogs groaned.
"C'mon, it was an accident!" the other mercenary stated.
"An accident that cost us one of our merchandise." the man said before adding, "See Lady Oboro and stop wasting my time." he then walked away.
Nearby, the knights along with Reynold and Niall were listening in on them, the young knight frowning at the mention of that name...
'What's a shinobi from Rad doing here? I thought they were in service to Kaguya and yet...he mentioned a 'Lady Oboro' a name I thought I never would again hear...from last I heard, the dogs had dealt with the Red snake, but she's alive? I don't like the look or sound of any of this!' Turning to his commander who was glaring ahead, "On your Command sir..." Rey whispered to him.
"Not yet... let's first deal with the ambush." Niall looked around and said, "Imps and orcs are surrounding the entrance. Well, lad, time for you to prove your worth." he smirked as he looked at Rey, "I'll take their attention, and you'll deal with the ambush."
The young knight nodded, "Roger that," remaining in his position, as his commander went to do just that.
Niall walked up to the two Dogs while saying, "You never learn do ya? We take you down, and then you do the same thing that caused your fall..."
"Beat it, gramps, this is a private area." One of the two Dogs said.
"Wait a second..." the second one took a better look, "It can't-You're the commander of Feoh's forces!"
Niall smirked as he said, "Took you long enough." he then threw a quick glance at the sides, 'The lad should be ready now.'
Rey glanced at Niall, giving a silent nod, before quietly moving around them, spotting a hidden black dog, dagger in hand with a glare trained on the old Commander, 'Found the first ambusher...!' creeping up on him, while drawing his sword...Once close enough, Reynold ran the dog through from the back, causing the merc to cough up blood, and fall over lifeless.
Upon the merc dying, he was met by an orc who came at him with a spiked club, bringing it down hard, making the knight roll to the side before more Monsters and Dogs began to show themselves...
Niall charged up, sucking in frosty winds towards him. He then twirled his halberd several times, releasing an expanding whirlwind of frost, either freezing some ambushers or killing those that jumped at him.
The soldiers enhanced their weapons with electricity and the slaughter began.
"Been a while since I felt like that!" Niall stomped the ground before a blade came out of his prosthetic leg he then jumped before landing with a thunderclap killing five orcs, "What a rip! I feel like I'm young again!"
Reynold ducked the swing of an imp, nodding at the aftermath of Niall's attack, 'Damn...never seen an attack like that before, could it be taught?' his thoughts interrupted, when he clashed with a bandit, gritting his teeth and pushing him back, killing him with a downward slash, and evading the same Imp from earlier, only this time, he caught it with a vertical slash, splitting it in two.
Niall charged toward an orc before performing an upward strike, cutting the monster in two, "Hahahaha! Who's next to fall by my blade!" he then dashed toward two Dogs before cleaving, removing their heads.
The skills of Niall's men made them untouchable, either dodging or parrying strikes before finishing off the criminals.
Reynold killed a bandit with a throat stab, kicking him away before observing Niall's men, impressed by their display, 'They make the rest of the holy army look like chumps...! what kind of training did they go through?' brings his blade up in time to intercept a blow from a battle ax-wielding orc, gritting his teeth, "Dammit...!"
The orc gave a laugh while pushing back, breaking his guard and bringing down its ax on him until...
"Not on my watch!" Niall pierced the orc before throwing him away, "Ya need to stay focused, lad." Niall then swung his weapon, decapitating another orc.
The young knight shook off his shock with a nod, "Right, apologies!" ducking from the swoop of an imp, which got cut down by one of the gold knights, as he went rush a bandit with an overhead swing, catching him in the chest, wounding him and knocking him to the ground, finishing the bandit off with a downed stab, "Stay down!"
Time had passed from the clashing of steel, and eventually, the ground was littered with bodies, Reynold and the knights seemingly out of breath.
"Now that's what I call a one-sided skirmish, right?" Niall laughed as his men laughed with him, "As for you, lad, not bad. Remind me to add a bonus at the letter that you'll get to Swain, that way, you'll end up captain, if not something greater."
Rey pulled his sword from the last enemy, shaking the blood off, "You really think so...?" eyes going wide in realization to what was said, "Captain huh? Never thought I'd live to see that outcome, it's honor sir," bowing to the commander.
Unfortunately for all of them, there was one remaining, coming out of the building with a blade to a woman's neck.
"Commander!" one of the gold knights called out, turning their attention to him and the hostage.
"P-please...help me..." The woman begged, the knife getting pressed on her harder.
Rey gritted his teeth, hand on his sword, "You damn coward...! let her go, it's over!"
"Nothing is over, brat!" The vile bandit spat, "Drop your weapons, all of you, or she stops being pretty..." pressing the knife on her cheek.
Niall stood as he glared at the Dog.
"Don't you dare harm the merchandise." the shinobi cut one of his arms before looking at the soldiers as he caught the woman, "As for you, you don't know what you did."
"Who're you working for?" Niall asked, "Who in Feoh is allowing you to act like this with impunity?"
"Who knows, it can be someone you know or someone you don't." the shinobi replied before adding, "Well you saved us a lot of products by getting rid of these incompetent fools, so I guess that you earned a reward." he pushed the woman forward before throwing a smoke bomb at his feet, disappearing.
"This is bad." Niall muttered as one of his men looked after the woman, "Let's go inside! We're gonna find something about them!" he then entered.
Reynold nodded, following him and the group of knights in the building, prepared to face whatever awaited them...
In Ken, in the lower districts, Dihya sat as she was looking at a raven of Swain.
"It's ready." he said, "You can move there whenever you want."
"And it's safe?" Dihya asked.
"Yes," Swain answered, "And everything that you asked is ready."
"I see..." Diyha looked at Salma before adding, "I think that it's time to put the past in fire."
To be continued...
Well shit...things have taken a turn now...with the Red Dragon's defecting from the seven kingdoms, there's no way to tell how this will go now...what does this monster society have in store for our heroes? will Celestine ever be able to see the corruption among her, what will happen to Eostia once the darkness closes in...find out next time on Red Dragon's Roar!