A FULL PARTY
Travius awoke the next morning and rolled over to see a sight he was positive he could get used to seeing. Anaelle. His movement must of woke her as well. She opened her eyes, smiled at him, and planted a large kiss on him. He placed his hand on her cheek and stared into her eyes. The blue gleaming in the morning sun.
"I had better see the Jarl. I'm surprised his housecarl wasn't knocking on my door the moment the sun came out." Travis stated in between small kisses on her neck. He really did not want to go but knew he had to. It was nothing against the Jarl, in fact he was quite fond of the Jarl. He just found a naked Anaelle much more enjoyable to his eyes.
She kissed him back final one final time and then sighed "I should head to my cabin and get packed anyway; I was promised an opportunity to wear a pretty dress after all"
Travius didn't want to say anything to her until his meeting with Kraldar but the trip to Whiterun she was promised may not happen. He was really not wanting to start this blossoming romance with disappointment.
"And I'm excited for the opportunity to see it"
Travius quickly threw on his clothes and headed down the stairs to the living room. As he was leaving, he saw the door to the armory was open. He walked and saw Vhornyak passed out on the bench in the middle, stark naked and snoring loudly with an empty ale barrel lying next to him and their armor from the night before spread out all over the place. A common drunk habit of Vhornyak of polishing armor and then falling asleep in a drunk stupor. Travius blew out the candle, shut the door, and headed out.
He was pleasantly surprised as he walked along the main road through the city. If you didn't see it you wouldn't know what happened last night. The shops were all opened on time. The guard's presence was normal. It was not until he got in front of jarls longhouse where he saw the bloodstains on the stones where the last of the Thalmor were executed that he saw any indication of what happened last night. He knew the rain would wash it away eventually but part of him hoped it would stay there forever. A message to those who thought they could hurt Winterhold.
He stepped into the longhouse and was again surprised to find business as usual. He walked through the hall and found the Jarl, his housecarl Thonjolf and the owner of the lumber mill looking through documents for building the arena.
The jarl enthusiastically greeted Travius when he saw him walk up.
"Aye son, shouldn't you be hitting the road soon? White run isn't exactly a short jump."
Travius was happy to hear him say that. Although he himself was having a tough time leaving the city after what happened last night.
"I wasn't sold on the idea of traveling today after last ni…."
"Nonsense" the Jarl injected. "They will not come back today. Word has most likely not even made it to them yet. Even when it does, they will take a different approach. They will not run the risk of losing a fight twice. Especially not with you. Thalmor concerns aside, one of these new students comes from one of the wealthiest families in Tamriel. They paid good money for the best guardians we can offer. Luckily for them we have you. Now go, visit your friends, crack some bandit skulls, and help get these students excited about magic. I also hear you have invited a guest with you. I have always quite liked that young woman. The guards by the door have something to give you on your way out. Just in case you need it."
He then went right back to digging into the paperwork. The guard handed him a necklace on his way out the door. Travius found this odd and checked the charm. It was an amulet of Mara. He sighed and put it in his pocket. He went home to suit up and collect his gear.
...
An hour later the traveling party began to arrive at the stables and began loading their belongings into the carriage. Travius was the first to arrive. He was followed shortly by J'Zargo and Yarwil. Yarwil was not traveling with them but always made a habit to see the crew off when they did. Especially since J'Zargo was his second in command and the college Master Destruction Mage.
"With everything that went on last night I never had a chance to thank you for defending me like you did. I wish it had gone differently but quite frankly; I owe you my life right now. I wanted to show you my gratitude." He then pulled out a silver mask with a hood attached to the back. The mask shimmered in the sun with a faint glow, indicative of an enchantment.
Travius held the mask and inspected it, "This is a dragon priest mask. How did you find this? Does the Dragonborn know you have this?" Travius asked astounded.
"No, he does not. It is the mask of Morokei. I acquired this when I slayed him in labyrinthian to find the staff of magnus. This mask allows an almost immediate recharge of your magicka reserves. It'll take some getting used to wearing and it won't be necessary for most battles but you'll be glad you have it when you need it. Do not let the Dragonborn get a hold of this is all I ask. This is a powerful artifact that you can use to save your own life. Not a trophy for him to display and show off to nobles."
Yarwil then reached into his bag and pulled out two sets of gauntlets. One made of ebony coated steel and one from orcinium and dragon stone. Same material Travius and Vhornyak armor are made of. Both had a small hinge on the inside panel that goes over the forearm and a cover that lifted up and contained three small slots for vials. The slots had a small sharp end to them. On the outside of the gauntlet were three small soul fragments.
"We had been working on these for quite some time and have finally built a working prototype. Them are three HIGHLY concentrated potions. Health, magicka and stamina respectively. Remove or crush the small gems and it will cause the vial to move and pierce the skin to Inject the potions. Since they are so highly concentrated, we found that having them pumped directly into your blood amplified the effects to levels we've never seen before. Our tests with these have shown two things. The first one is that the more innate magical ability, strength or general health you have will amplify these. I am cautiously excited to see how this might work with someone as powerful as you. The second, and this is important, every single test we ran, even in beasts, showed that once this wore off, the person using them was even more depleted than before. The gauntlet is designed so no one can see them. You will have the element of surprise if you use it. This could be a highly effective lifesaving device but hopefully you won't wind up in a situation where you'd need to use it. We have not had time to evaluate what happens when you use more than one at a time. Seeing how they act individually, I would be overly cautious doing so. Safe Travels my friend. And again, Thank You." Yarwil leaned on and gave Travius a small hug.
As Yarwil headed back through the city gates he passed by Anaelle. She was wearing what appeared to be an incredibly old but well-maintained suit of leather armor. A deep brown color that if he did not know any better looked like modified Thieves Guild armor. She also had a cloth hood. She dressed in a way that covered everything but her face and even the hood was fashioned in a way to keep the sun away. She dropped her bag in the carriage and placed a small box with several of her home Made drinks in it. The box was lined with soul gems. These must have been the new shipping containers the college was creating. Before greeting anyone, she walked up to Travius and said hello in the form of a large kiss. Which Travius was happy to return.
J'Zargo had a shocked look on his face. "J'Zargo was not aware of this new companionship" his shocked turned to a big smile, very unusual for him. "J'Zargo likes this union."
They were interrupted by the gawking sound of a chicken coming over the city wall and children hysterically cheering and laughing. That meant Vhornyak was here. It was tradition that before he would leave the city, he would kick a chicken over the gates for the amusement of the children. It was also for him. Vhornyak had a well-known and almost irrational hatred of chickens. He refused to eat them and if they came in close contact with him, he'd throw or kick them. Travius was the only one who knew why, and it was a secret of which he would never speak. When he arrived at the caravan he had an unexpected friend with him. Aratore. J'Zargo sighed when he saw the orc. It was not that he did not like him. He just found him a bit much with his volume, his drinking and his often-crude sense of humor. It also did not help that Vhornyak insisted on calling him "Admiral Zargs". An inside joke from a prior trip they went on that J'Zargo felt had run its course. Vhornyak found the cat too uptight, and it sometimes creates tension. However, both had a mutual respect for each other's respected abilities and when push came to shove, they both were able to set aside their opinions of each other and fought well together. Travius did dread the inevitable day he would have to break up a fight between the two though.
Vhornyak put his belongings in the carriage and greeted everyone as Aratore sheepishly approached Travius.
"Good morning Mr. Thane, I'm excited to travel with you."
Travius made a small laugh.
"Good to see you too son. You realize Thane is just a title though, right? My name is Travius."
Aratore seemed slightly embarrassed. "I apologize sir. I meant no disrespect."
Travius leaned into whisper to the boy. "None taken, these nords have a strange name for everything."
"I am curious what happened with the companions though? They are the best place for a hunter" he asked out loud.
Vhornyak interjected "That was my decision. The night we met I wanted him to show me what he could do with that bow. Even with being properly drunk for the first time he was able to shoot a squirrel out of a tree. We could use an archer in our group and he is a damn good one. He will be wasted with the companions out hunting deer. I bought him some quality gear. Let us see what he can do. If it all works out, we have room for a steward in our home I think."
Vhornyak was right. They needed an archer, and the kid did manage to travel by himself and found Winterhold through all the rough terrain which showed he had good resolve. Most people in his situation would of froze to death.
"Can you manage one more?" Travius asked the carriage driver.
"Aye, these horses are strong stock. An extra Bosmer is no issue. Always could use a good archer for travel anyway" the driver responded.
"Then welcome aboard kid" Travius said.
Travius decided to ride his own horse along with the caravan and he and Anaelle both mounted the horse as the others piled onto the caravan. Right as the caravan began moving forward a loud sudden fart sound startled everyone.
"One of my horses must have an upset stomach, I do apologize for the discomfort" the carriage driver stated with slight embarrassment.
"By the moons !" J'Zargo loudly exclaimed while plugging his nose and turning his head away from the carriage.
Aratore almost gagged as he turned his head away as well.
Travius laid out a deep sigh "I don't think that was your horses sir"
Vhornyak could no longer contain his laughter as he made himself comfortable and laid down on the bench in his side of the carriage.
The carriage driver turned around and looked at the orc with a look on his face that wasn't so much anger as it was a fatherly disappointment. This is going to be quite the fare he thought to himself.
...
Volonare struggled to hitch the horse he had stolen on his way out of Winterhold. Even the damn horses in Winterhold gave him a fight he thought to himself. It had tried to throw him off three times. He was very much looking forward to slaughtering it now that he finally arrived at the Thalmor outpost just past the border for the Pale where he had initially gathered his crew for Winterhold.
He stepped inside and immediately stripped his heavy and now unbearably cold robe. The silence of the empty building was well received after spending nearly a day traveling through wilderness. The silence was abruptly ended. When the Outpost captain came in from the barracks.
"Rough travels I see? My men must be ready for a meal and good night sleep." The captain stood in front of Volonare with his arms crossed and a very perturbed look on his face.
"Now that I think of it…where are my men Volonare? Where is my carriage?" he asked with a growing sense of frustration on his voice.
"Quite the unfortunate circumstance. A frost troll attacked us on the road." He paused.
"Maybe with better training they would have survived"
The captain clenched his fist to quell His anger from the insult.
"A frost troll? A frost troll killed twelve justicars? The twelve justicars you needed to question a Talos shrine being built in Winterhold, right?"
He paused and breathed heavily. Trying to keep his frustration at bay.
"Also, quite odd that Jarl of Winterhold sent word to me that the bodies would be returned to Solitude for a proper burial. From a frost troll attack."
Volonare sneered. He was already caught in his lie.
"Apparently, the couriers from Winterhold travel quicker and with more stealth then you do. Rest up this evening. You will need it while we travel to Solitude to visit Elenwen at the embassy tomorrow.
I do not trust easily. I certainly do not forgive broken trust any easier. You try and leave before tomorrow, and I'll kill you and bring your head back to those two drunks in Winterhold myself."
Volonare considered testing him on that, but he knew he had already buried himself deep enough. He begrudgingly went into the barracks and prepared to sleep.
...
The sun was just slightly beginning to set as the caravan pulled into Night Gate Inn right off the main road in The Pale near to the border of White Run. Conveniently located near the old ruin where a group of bandits were believed to be holding up who had a petty bounty on them. Travius and Vhornyak have stayed here on multiple occasions and had sent a courier to rent all the rooms for the evening with the large party they had with them. Everyone brought their belongings into their rooms and then headed towards the small creek river just on the other side of the road from the Inn to fill their canteens and as a good opportunity to loosen up after riding all day long.
Travius leaned on a large boulder and pulled out the bounty letter to double check the information. He turned away from the group and pointed towards the ruin. "This bounty is small at three hundred gold. With such a small bounty I'm thinking this is a small group and may be a good opportunity for Aratore to get his feet wet. See what he's got. According to the map was about a twenty-minute walk from the ruins. So, the three of us should not be too long…."
Ananelle removed two ebony daggers from her holster. Much like her armor they appeared incredibly old but very well maintained. "Four of us you mean" Anaelle interrupted. Travius thought about this for a second. She did prove last night she can manage herself in tense situations and she did seem surprisingly prepared. No one expected her to show up to the carriage today with armor and daggers.
"I didn't wear this armor just because of how cute my butt looks in it lover. I'm coming too" she stated with confidence that sent a chill down Travius spine.
"Bandits out in the wilderness are different than groups of thugs hanging around cities, they can be very unpredictable." he responded and then turned around and Anaelle was nowhere to be found. The others were so focused on refreshing themselves in the river they did not notice she was gone either. With a light purple flash, she re appeared behind Travius. One dagger to his throat and one perfectly placed on his back to slip right through two pieces of plating on his armor.
"So am I" she said and then planted a kiss on his cheek.
Invisibility spells were one of the most difficult illusion spells to master. She was able to cast it silently with four other people around. Travius normal response would have been to immediately burn anyone to who put a knife to his throat to a crisp but in this situation he realized he had never been so attracted to any woman in his life. Had the other three not been there he would of taken her right there on that boulder. Vhornyak started laughing hysterically while walking towards the inn, he stopped and put his arm around Anaelle.
"I already plan to run a few bounties while in white run, she can have my spot and take my share. All this traveling has made me thirsty anyway."
He then leaned into Anaelle and whispered to her. "You ever put a blade to his throat again I'll rip your head off and take it to a stronghold and play Voshball with it."
She gave him an understanding nod. "Well then it's settled" Anaelle said out loud. Keeping the orcs warning to herself.
"I'll more than happy to be your pretty arm piece while we're in the city but i won't be your worried damsel at home waiting for you." She said as she resheathed her daggers.
...
WHEN A HAWK FLAPS ITS WINGS
The ruins were underground, and the entrance was at the bottom of a small hill. This gave them a perfect vantage point about fifty yards away where they could assess the situation before heading in. Travius held up his left hand and a green glow emanated from it. A detect life spell. Four humanoid shaped figures appeared as a green glow in his vision. He saw one bandit patrolling the outside of the ruins. Two more bandits guarding the entrance to the door and what looked like one more sitting down just inside the entrance.
"Alright kid. This is where we can see what you can do with that bow. Once this third guard is out of sight of the two at the door, we need to take him out before he alerts the others. You get one one shot before the whole group knows we are here. Anaelle, see if you can sneak…." He turned to her and saw she was already gone. He cast his detect life spell again and still only saw four figures, so he wasn't quite sure where she went but at this point, he had the idea this wasn't her first time doing something like this.
Aratore snickered." Understood" he said and pulled out his bow and began to ready an arrow. The guard kept stopping and looking around rapidly before moving again.
"He's clearly on alert about something. We don't know if it's us or something else." Travius had a moment of realization. "You've never killed anyone before, have you?"
"Not until last night. He is looking out for a pack of wolves. I saw the tracks walking up here" Aratore responded never moving his attention from his target. The guard finally stopped. Aratore took a deep breath and focused in on the head. "One shot" he said and released the arrow.
The arrow went right through the bandit's head.
"Good job kid" Travius made a fist and extended his arm to Aratore who looked at his fist confused. Not sure what to do he made his own fist and extended parallels to Travius' arm. Travius smiled and moved his own fist to meet Aratores. Aratores had a look on realization on his face.
"We will have to work on that. I am going to head down there. Stay alert and cover me in case anything shows up."
Travius made his way through the trees as quietly as he could. Once he made it to the clearing, he saw the two bandit guards had no idea of his presence. He readied his right hand to cast his bound sword when Anaelle flashed in behind the bandits with a dagger in each of their backs. Before they realized what had happened the daggers went into the back of their skulls. Then with a big, sweet smile as if she didn't just stab two people in the head she waved at the other two to signal it was clear.
Once all three were there they moved the bodies of the guards to the side and began to search the bodies, removing the coin purses. Aratore seemed apprehensive.
"You didn't think we do all this just for the bounty money do you?" Travius asked him. Aratore worked through his discomfort and saw one of the guards had arrows. They were a much lower quality then the ones he already had but too many arrows was a good problem to have.
They quietly made their way in the entrance to find the one remaining bandit Travius had detected earlier. He foolishly had his back to the entrance sitting in a chair which allowed Anaelle to sneak up behind him and with her dagger to his throat and put her other hand over his mouth. Travius walked over in front of him.
"You scream, you die. How many of you are there?"
Anaelle removed her hand from his mouth but kept the dagger to his throat. He accepted his position and trusted their word would be kept. "There were twenty of us at first. It became fifteen recently. Guessing it's only twelve now that you're in here. Look, this isn't what I signed up for. That Orc has lost his mind. Get that damned dagger off my throat and I'll tell you whatever you want to know." Travius nodded at Anaelle and she reluctantly removed her blade and He took a breath to relax.
"Like I said, twelve left including me. We've been running The Pale for months now. Robbing caravans and lone travelers. The usual. We decided to camp in these ruins here. One of these Caravans was smuggling skooma. It had a different taste, and it was much more potent that any we had ever tasted. The entire caravan was full of it. After a few days with this skooma. Our leader, an Orc named Gruzrag, started to become restless. He was no longer satisfied with robbing and looting. The last two caravans we didn't just rob the merchants and kill guards like normal. He wasn't even interested in the loot.
Both caravans had women. Fairly young Nord women at that. He took the women and he's kept them locked up…..he's…..oh may the eight forgive us…he's been having the men brawl to win the woman for the night. I don't think I need to go into details of what that entails." He developed a guilty look and stated at the floor.
"Five of us objected to what was happening and tried to stop it. Gruzrag has their heads on a pike in front of our feasting table."
He ran his hands through his red dreadlocked hair and sighed.
"After that. It seemed a fool's errand to not just…. participate. "
Travius pulled a small rope from his satchel. And then ripped a sleeve from the bandits shirt.
"Aratore, tie him up and gag him." he ordred
"What?!" The bandit proclaimed. "I told you everything!"
"For your own sake I hope so. We can't risk you alerting the others. You're not exactly innocent here." Aratore did as instructed and gagged and tied the bandit's hands together through the back of the chair. "If you've been honest with us, we'll release you when we're done. You have my word on that." Travius assured him.
The three of them then headed down the corridor. The corridor ended in a large staircase that led to the main hall. With a ledge that went all the way around the hall. The bandits hadnt yet noticed them at the top of the stairs. This was smaller than many of the old ruins and appears to just be one main hall with one large table. Five heads mounted on wooden pikes just as they had been told. It had three rooms on each side. The doors on the left-hand side were closed and the three on the right were wide open. He could see bedrolls, empty bottles and poorly maintained weapons scattered throughout. Looked like bandits all right. This was obviously where the bandits were laying their heads at night. The doors on the left were all locked with one bandit guarding each one. This must have been where they were hiding the women.
The remaining bandits, including the orc leader, were in a circle cheering and hollering as two of them fought bare knuckles in the middle. Travius loved it when they made it easy for him.
"I'm going to charge them head on. Aratore, I want you to sneak up on this ledge and take out the bandits guarding the doors and then cover me once I've got their attention. Can you manage that?"
Aratore nodded and began to sneak on the ledge. Finding a good spot where he can get a shot.
"Anaelle, I know you can pick locks. Once he has the doors clear I want you to get into those rooms and see what you can find. Theirs a reason those doors are closed and guarded."
She nodded and made herself invisible and headed down the steps. Travius then ran down the steps and charged a fireball in both hands. Once he was halfway down the steps he sent a large ball of flame towards the group. Landing with a loud boom. Killing the two directly hit and the rest scattered screaming and trying to put out the flames. Aratore took this as his signal and sent an arrow through the guard on the farthest left. The other two guarding the doors charged onto the chaos in the middle. Two more quick arrows had them out before they even drew their swords.
This left the doors unguarded for anaelle to quickly pick the lock on the first door. She entered the room and quickly closed the door behind her. She looked around the room and what she saw made her heart sink. These were not women. These were girls. The oldest looking was still Aratores junior by a couple of years. The Three of them huddled in the corner crying hysterically.
Anaelle cautiously approached them. "My sweet babies. It's ok now." Her hand glowed with a faint green and she touched all three on their heads and one by one giving them a calming spell. They stopped crying and started to relax.
"Are you here to take us home strange lady?" The oldest one asked with a tone that was happy and cheerful, the polar opposite of how they were merely ten seconds ago. Anaelle nodded yes while trying to hide her concern from the girls
"Yaaaaaaaaaaaay!" All three of them cheered in excitement and jumped up to hug Anaelle.
"Did you find Astrid? the young one" the oldest one spoke with a wide smile.
Mind spells have a much stronger effect on children than adults and she put quite a strong one on these girls. Seeing how heavy it hit them made her feel guilty as it's not good for them, but it seemed like the right thing at the time.
"The young one? You're not the young ones?" Anger started to grow in Anaelle's voice.
"Oh no. I'm thirteen and these two are eleven, she's much younger. The leader said she was her special one and keeps her in her own room at the end."
Her cheery demeanor from the calm spell made that information all the more Hard to hear.
"Their leader, the Orc?" Anaelle had met plenty of Orcs in her own travels over the years and although she found most of them unpleasant, this was an unusual proclivity for an Orc.
"Oh no, he's not the leader silly strange lady. The orc doesn't hurt us. He just decides who will. The leader they call Red Erik. The other men say we're too old and he doesn't care about us. But we are not old at all. So silly."
All three girls began to laugh hysterically.
"They call him Red Erik because of his hair, don't they?" She asked them.
"Yeah. It's all stuck together and yucky too." One of them said followed by a laugh from the other two.
"You girls stay here. I have some friends outside and we're gonna talk to these men and then we're going get a bath and eat some food, ok?"
The three girls cheered as Anaelle walked out the door and then broke into hysterical laughter once again. She made herself invisible again as she walked out the door. Outside in the main hall she saw that Travius and Aratore had made quick work of the bandits. Only Gruzrog remained. The Orc charged at Travius, and he quickly threw another flame at him. The blast sent the orc flying back into the table and his head struck the table with enough force that it cracked his iron helmet and as he fell, he knocked over the spikes with the heads from the attempted mutiny. One of them rolled towards Travius, he picked it up and walked toward the orc.
The orc began laughing with bits of coughing in between. "So, stern you are. So, stoic. Save the theatrics. I know I die here" Gruzrag grumbled as he removed the broken helmet from his head and threw it across the hall at Travius. He tried to stand up from the sitting position he was in but he couldn't feel anything below His waist after the blast.
"I know who you are. Your flames, your deadric sword, your shiny black armor. Shame, all the years of death and violence must have taken its toll. You're not as handsome as they say you are. I've Heard every drunk bootlicker in the province chant that song about you and your drunk friend. I guess I can die proudly knowing we made enough trouble that they had to send a dragon slayer after us."
Travius snickered just loud enough for him to Hear. "Your bounty is only three hundred gold. You're nothing more than a detour on my travels. I used this bounty to evaluate a new steward. No one will remember you, besides these prisoners I suppose."
Travius whistled and Aratore whistled back so Gruzrag would look up at him. He then started making his way off the ledge and down the stairs. Gruzrag started to laugh but it turned into a cough that filled his mouth with blood which he spit out at the feet of Travius as he approached.
"You and I were almost the same, you know that right? You decided to sell yourself as a champion for people who used to spit on you while you begged them for scraps. They put their armor on you and told you to die for them. They only love you because you spill the blood that these milk drinkers are too weak to draw themselve. They'll abandon you as quickly as they threw you on a pedestal. Sell out. " He coughed again covering his own chin and chest in blood. Travius threw the pike down in front of the Orc. His bounties often would try and plead or monologue to him. It annoyed him but he saw it fit to oblige a dying man with his final words. After what he was told this orc was doing Travius wanted to let him suffer for a bit while he collected loot anyway. Travius made a point to grab a couple bottles of this supposedly special skooma.
"When I was a child the stronghold shaman once told me that a hawk flapping its wings in Skyrim created the wind that guides an arrow through a deer all the way in Cyrodill. Who knows how things would could Of been huh? The smallest change in winds and I'd be the beloved Thane in shiny Armor, and you'd be the one paralyzed on the ground covered in your own blood. Looks like the wind favored you though, didn't it? You're no better than me. You're just lucky."
Travius walked back over to him and picked up the wooden spike. Without saying a word, he stared directly into the orcs eyes and drove the spike through his throat and then went back to checking for valuables. Anaelle easily picked up the lock to the third door where she was told Astrid was. She opened the door to find a young Nordic girl. No older than 7 or 8 she thought. She was completely naked. Her body covered in filth and the dark red color spots of dried blood. She was covered in bruises and cuts and clearly hadn't bathed in quite some time. She had a rope around her neck that was tied to headboard of the filthy torn up Bed in the middle of the room. Enough to allow her to move in the bed and get to the clearly neglected food and drink bowls laying on the ground near the bed.
Anaelle immediately went over and cut the rope off the girl's neck, she slit open one end of the lone pillow that was laying on the bed and removed the feathers and then cut small holes on the opposing end and sides to make a shirt. No need to place a spell on this child as she was so malnourished and traumatized that she had completely disassociated and allowed Anaelle to dress her in this makeshift shirt and pick her up with zero words or resistance as they left the room.
Travius and Aratore had retrieved a set of keys off of Gruzrag and opened the middle Door in between where the rooms the girls were kept in. He saw bodies of four adult male nords. The bodies were too decomposed to see any wounds, but the walls and the inside of the doors were covered in scratch marks. The men from the caravans were left in here to starve. He shut the door back and locked it. Anaelle went back to the first room and opened the door and the three girls cautiously walked outside the room. The spell was starting to wear off by now but they still recognized Anaelle.
Travius saw the young girls and the condition they were in and his heart began go faster and a lump developed in his throat.
"These are the women, aren't they?" He asked with a sense of hurt in his voice as Anaelle's eyes gave him all the answer he needed as she walked over to him.
"We were lied to. The orc was not their leader. The leader they call Red Erik. They call him that because of his hair color. The girls said it was gross and stuck together. Like our dreadlocked friend we have tied up by the door."
Anaelle leaned into a whisper to Travius. "He's been keeping the youngest one locked in her own room. Calls her his Special one."
"Little cousin! Astrid!" Yelled the oldest of the girls and Astrid finally showed a sign of life by jumping from Anaelle's arms and running to her cousin who embraced her in a big hug. The girls noticed the dead bodies laying all over the hall. Normally this would Be scarring for a young kid bit after what these men did to them the girls all felt a little Ting of joy.
"How about that bath and dinner I promised you?" Anaelle asked to try and keep the girls focused on the exit instead of the carnage.
"Is my papa here?" One of the girls asked as they walked up the shoes.
"I'm sure he's out looking for you right now"
Aratore responded and then looked at Travius. No way either one of them were telling those girls the truth about the males. When they approached the corridor at the top of the steps Travius and Aratore Moved in front of everyone and Travius readied his bound sword. Creating an odd mix of fear and amazement for the girls. When they approached the entrance, they saw the chair they had Red Erik tied to smashed on the ground. The legs and seat were there but the back wasn't, meaning it was still tied to him.
"He couldn't have gotten far with his hands tied up behind him, quickly!"
Travius ordered as him and Aratore took off out the entrance. Travius cast a detect life spell and found him off to the left, running with his hands still tied behind his back. Travius pointed towards him and Aratore immediately saw him and readied his Arrow.
"Don't kill him. He doesn't get to go that easy" Travius ordered.
"Agreed" Aratore said as he released an arrow that stuck in Red Erik's right leg.
He fell to the ground and began to crawl.
"Glad you were here for this. Vhornyhak was right about you. Escort these girls back to the Inn, Anaelle and I will catch up with you"
Aratore nodded. "I won't let you down, sir."
Once they made their way outside Anaelle leaned down to the girls. "My friend here is going to take you to get the food I promised you. We have even more friends there and theyre all going to be so happy to see you!" The spell had completely worn off now and the girls seemed frightened, but they all held hands and followed Aratore.
Astrid finally spoke as the group walked away. "Are you an elf? Those elves with the robes are mean but they are tall. You're short, does that mean you're nice?"
Aratore smiled at her. "I am, us short elves are always nice. We're all going to play a game. If you see any animals while we're out here I want you to point to it and tell me what kind of animal it is, sounds fun huh?"
"Are we going to see any doggies?! I miss my doggie" Astrid asked him.
She didn't want to see any dogs out here he thought but he kept that to himself.
"I hope so, I love dogs too, what's your dogs name?" Their conversation trailed as they walked away.
Once they were far enough away. Travius and Anaelle walked toward Red Erik, who was groaning and cussing as he tried and failed to crawl away. One leg now crippled, and his hands still tied to a chairs back. He saw them getting closer and he gave one last try with his left leg to stand up, but he fell back down in pain as soon as he made it to his feet. He landed on his back and was stuck there with a crippled leg and his hands tied to behind him strapped to a broken chair. Anaelle was the first to get to Him and stepped on his chest. Driving the broken wood into his back and piercing his skin.
"I guess I may not have been completely honest with y…." he attempted to speak but his words were interrupted when Travius kicked him in his face. Sending a cloud of blood and teeth to the ground. Without saying a word Travius picked him up and leaned him against a large tree. Anaelle used the same rope that was used as the girls leash and tied him to the tree.
"Please! No! You have it all wrong! It was trying to protect ….."
He was again interrupted when Travius upper cut punched him under his chin causing his head to fly back and strike the tree with a thud. He had a ringing in his ears and went dizzy.
"Please don't kill me, I'll do any….."
His words again interrupted when Travius backhanded him across his face. The small but very sharp spikes on his gauntlet ripping a chunk out his cheek.
"Incredible that you haven't figured out you need to shut up yet" Travius said to him and then put his right hand over Erik's mouth pushing his head back against tree.
Anaelle undid Erik's pants and pulled them completely off him. Exposing his entire lower half to nature. She grabbed his genitals and pulled as hard as she could, he began to squirm and panic. Tears began rolling down his cheeks. Anaelle pulled her dagger out and in one quick swipe she sliced off his genitals. She put them in front of his face and squeezed them.
"Move your hand" she coldly stated to Travius while keeping her eyes on Erik.
Travius removed his hand and for a short second you could hear Erik scream. Anaelle was counting on this and then she shoved the dismembered parts into his wide-open mouth. She then tied his pant leg around his face, covering his mouth and nose. He began to choke and gag and squirming as much as he could hoping he could somehow get out of this confinement. Refusing to accept the inevitable. The distinct howl of a nearby pack of wolves set even more panic in his eyes. His eyes plead for mercy that he most certainly not going to be shown.
"I've seen more people die than I care to remember. But you? I guess you're just a special one" Travius said to him and then Anaelle spit in his face. Without another word they left him to his fate and quickly walked through the woods to catch up with Aratore and the girls.
…...
Back at the Nightgate Inn the four girls had just finished bathing and were given clothing from items that had been left behind by prior patrons.
They sat down at a table in the corner across from where the traveling party was sitting. Hadring, the nord owner of the inn poured venison stew in a bowl for each of them.
"You eat all you want now children, we have plenty" he gave them all piece of bread and left them to eat in peace.
It was finally starting to sink in that they were safe now. They had begun to converse with one another and even the occasional giggle could be heard. Everyone Except Astrid atleast. When she sat down at the table the first thing, she saw was J'Zargo. She had never seen a Khajit before and although she had heard of them, she was dumbfounded at seeing a man shaped cat eating normal food and having a conversation at a dinner table.
She stared intently while slowly eating her stew. J'Zargo certainly noticed the girls stare and this was certainly not the first time a child has stared at him. He knew they meant no harm and wasn't bothered. J'Zargo was sitting next to Vhornyak who also saw the girl was staring and took the opportunity to help cheer her up. He put two carrots on his protruding bottom row teeth and made a goofy cross-eyed face he's been known to use to on Children who are afraid of him. He slowly and quietly moved his head next to J'Zargo, slowly coming into Astrid's view. He held his pause there for a few seconds until he saw Astrid crack the smallest smile from the corner of her lip. Then he slowly pulled back away.
J'Zargo obviously knew that he was doing this but decided he would humor him since it was intended to cheer up the kids. Vhornyak Slowly pulled himself back into Astrid's view but this time he was facing J'Zargo, and the carrot was sticking out of his mouth and pointed toward the Khajit s face. He slowly moved the carrot closer and closer until the top of the carrot Barely touched his fur. J'Zargo flicked the end of the carrot and gave Vhornyak a sigh.
He slowly moved it to his ear and Astrid began to giggle. He then pulled the carrot back away. J'Zargo giving him a look from the side of his eyes letting him know he was done with the joke. Vhornyak however, was not done. J'Zargo was doing his best to continue the conversation about their opinions of restoration vs alteration magic on the battlefield he was having with Anaelle.
Vhornyak moved in slowly a third time. This time he was holding his hands behind his head and his index fingers sticking out the top to mimic cat ears and began to move his mouth in a very exaggerated movement every time J'Zargo would speak. This caused a loud genuine laugh from Astrid. J'Zargo moved his hand under the table and dug two claws into the orc's leg. Vhornyak took the hint and stopped mocking his friend.
The girls quickly ate their bowls and then ate their second helping even quicker. Now that they had finally eaten, and the shock had worn off they were all ready for sleep.
Travius, Anaelle and Aratore had given up their rooms for the girls to sleep in and had made camp outside the Inn. The girls had started to gather their dishes, but Hadring stopped them insisting he would take care of it.
"You look like you need some sleep. I'll Show you to your rooms." The girls all passed by the table where the adults were eating and the oldest girl stopped and looked at Travius and Vhornyak.
"You're them, aren't you? The Knight in the black armor and the silly orc from Winterhold. It's you, isn't it?" she asked in between yawns. "I always knew a knight would save us." She went into the room with her cousin Astrid and all four girls were asleep as soon as they lay down and closed their eyes. Everyone else decided they should head to sleep as well and prepare for travel again in the morning. Normally when traveling they would drink a small country Inn like this completely dry but reveling just didn't feel right this evening.
Everyone said their good nights and Hadrig walked Travius and Anaelle out the door.
"I have already had my assistant send word to the guard outpost near to here. I expect someone to be here tomorrow to find these girls' families. One of them is from all the way in Markarth. What a mess this will Be." Hadrig spoke with concern.
"I'll have a courier send word to jarl to have my bounty delivered here. I'll pick it up on our way home. Take whatever you need to cover the expenses for the girls." Travius told him as he held the door for Anaelle.
"I'll hear nothing of that. Your bounty will Be here in full when you return. You did me a favor. I had no idea bandits were making camp so close and it was only a matter of time before they become bold enough to rob me….or worse. I'll see you in the morning, a knight needs his rest."
Hadrig closed the door and started blowing out candles around the tables when Vhornyak came into the main room in his full armor and his hammer. He sat down at a table where he could see the doors to the girl's room and the front door. Hadrig went behind the bar and grabbed a few bottles of mead and set them on the table.
"I'll leave this candle for you." Vhornyak nodded and Hadrig went to retire for the evening himself. Until he remembered one thing.
"My assistant will be returning soon. Leave his head intact please."
...
Aratore was sitting on a large boulder by the river. Right next to where they made camp. He had been out here since they returned. Even chose to eat his dinner out here. He mostly had just stared at the water. Occasionally moving to lounge in a new position.
It was a perfect spring weather night. The night air still had just a hint of that crispness from winter but still warm enough to only must wear one layer.
Travius and Anaelle head towards the tent,
"I have never been so glad to prepare some rolled leaves before traveling before" Anaelle stated while staring at the water. The river made a wonderful reflection of the moons and the small ripples in the water almost seemed to move in sync with the crickets and sounds of the forest.
"Yeah, I'm actually quite happy to be sleeping outside tonight…..I need to talk to Aratore first, make sure he's ok. He's had to do a lot of growing up the last few days. I'll meet you at the tent." They split ways with a kiss, and he went over and sat down on the boulder next to Aratore. Travius had bought the remainder of his drink with him from the Inn and offered it to Aratore. He took a large swig and handed it back to Travius.
"You finish it. You've earned it today. You earned a lot more than that. I know I told you earlier but I think it deems repeating. You composed yourself like a true warrior out there. You showed no hesitation. You showed you had confidence in your skills. You were fearless out there. You and Anaelle both were incredible tonight."
Aratore finished the drink and took a deep breath. "I felt like every move I had to make needed to be perfect or I was dead. I didn't know my heart could beat that fast. I felt so…. alive, but at the same time I was mostly scared."
"You should be scared. I know many people would say you can't fear death in battles, but I disagree. You should be afraid of death and that's why you do everything you can to prevent it. More importantly though, you were scared but you pushed it aside and did what needed to be done and that's courage kid. 'Something you obviously have a lot of" Travius told him assuredly.
"I wasn't so courageous with the Thalmor when they killed my uncle." He responded.
"And that was wisdom. You wouldn't be here right now having this conversation if you had tried to fight them. You'd either be in mistwatch keep or you'd be with your uncle. Fighting the Thalmor is generally a fool's errand"
"Generally, unless you're there" Aratore chuckled.
"The fighting aside, is what we saw today normal? Those girls…after the red one told us what they were doing and then I saw Anaelle bring out these girls who were barely old enough to bleed….I just…..the oldest is the age I was when I left Valenwood with my uncle. They are the age my sisters back home are now. All I saw in those girls was them. It was just…..it broke my heart" Aratore started to feel a lump in his throat.
"It was despicable. Bandit clans holding children as sex slaves is not normal if that's what you're asking but you will see things and will do things that weigh on your heart. You can't dwell on it though. Spending too much time dwelling on it just gives validation to evil acts.
Doing what people like myself do. What people like US do. You'll learn to accept that evil has no boundaries. Eventually nothing will surprise you. About anyone. Now, Let's lay our heads for the night. This tent is plenty big for the three of us. We have just as long of a journey tomorrow" Travius aid to him.
"I found an old hunting deck in one of these trees. I find a certain comfort in sleeping in threes if that is ok sir. " he asked
"Aye, as long as you sleep. I need my archer alert. The roads can be unpredictable."
They both started towards their own respective resting places when Travius thought of something "Aratore, One more thing. Stop calling me sir. We're equals here, Call me by my name. Sir is for knights and old nobles."
"You are a knight. Those girls said so as well. You don't need any king to give you that distinction. At least not to me or to those girls. Goodnight Sir….I mean Travius" Aratore made his way to the tree and climbed onto the deck.
Travius made his way into the tent and found that Anaelle had already started the rolled leaf and handed it to him. She had also disrobed and laid in a seductive pose once she saw he was alone. He took a drag and admired her. Her eyes had a unique red hue that amplified in the darkness, and he always found it so beautiful on her. He found her body perfect and her mind captivating. He found all her varied talents astonishing. From her alchemy to her confidence and from what he saw tonight an incredible grasp of illusion magic. Every new thing he learned about her kept her on his mind increasingly. He had never been in love before, and he hadn't quite realized yet what he was feeling. He laid down next to her and handed the leaf back to her.
"Quite the unexpected day I suppose" she said while laying her head on his chest. And handing him the last bit of the leaf. He finished it off and crushed it in his fist to put the flame out.
"You're telling me. My lover put a dagger to my throat and then cut a man's cock off" he wanted to contain his laughter after saying that but just couldn't.
She slapped him playfully on his chest. "Shoosh you. You'll learn I'm full of all kinds of surprises"
She gave him an enthusiastic kiss while reaching her hand down to his crotch.
"Speaking of cocks, I've been thinking about a particular one all day."
Travius grabbed her by her hips and flung himself on top of her. Good thing the Bosmer are so fond of trees he thought to himself and then let himself get lost in the moment.