Honour Duty or Fortune part 4

GingeNextDoor

There was a slight growling in front of Zathal, what it was he was unsure of, he'd directed Liryanne to stay behind him as he approached the source of it, he was cautious, his sword was drawn, gripped tightly in his hands, the bush in front of him rustled lightly, Zathal was mere feet away from the bush when he saw a pair of deep brown eyes glared out at him, Fingolfin stayed close to Liryanne, so did Lierwen, then that was when a figure came from the bush, Zathal outstretched his blade, it was a wolf, quite a large one, pure white, glaring directly at them.

It was then when a Bosmer, clad in black stepped out of the bush as well, it was a Briar, he was brown eyed, he outstretched his hand to the wolf, who nuzzled against it, then the Briar watched over the group, a smile over his face “Do not worry” He spoke “If Polo truly saw you as a threat, you would be dead”
“Polo?” Fingolfin asked
“Can a wolf not have a name now?”
The wolf stepped jauntily over towards Liryanne, its tail wagged happily as it reached her, then it sat down, leaning its head into her palm, she gently stroked it, the Briar looked on, he chuckled “Polo seems to have took a shine to the young lass”
“That is true” Zathal said quietly, turning to the Briar.
“I hope you do not mind me saying, but I overheard you speaking, you mentioned the Dragon stone?”
“Yes..” Zathal responded
“Fools” a voice piped up
“Hush Polo” The Briar snapped
The wolf began to glow white, then shifted it's shape, it grew tall, and stood upright, turning into a Bosmer, he turned to Zathal “Fool, you hunt what you do not understand”
Zathal narrowed his eyes “What is it I do not understand?”
“The Dragon stone” He hissed “It holds more power than the likes of you should wield”
“Polo, yield”
“No, these travellers do not understand the danger of this weapon they are searching for.”
“Weapon?” Lierwen asked
“Yes, do your ears falter?”
“How do you know of it's power? Fingolfin asked
“I witnessed it, I touched the surface of evil” The Bosmer's words trailed off into a cold silence, one that lasted for several minutes
“Tell us what happened” Zathal said quietly.

“So you were a crow, right?” Glaon asked
“More questions? There are easier ways to flirt with someone my fine Altmer friend” Turien said with a smirk
“Er, right, okay”
“Yes, I was a crow, why do you ask?”
“We met crows in Kvatch, they were not very fearsome as you make them out to be”
“Yes? Who was their leader, do you know?”
“An imperial who's name was Rose”
“Ah Rose, she trains the newest crows, she is a nice woman, very fond of me she was, she had a lovely laugh, tell me, how does she fare?”
Glaon struggled to find words for a second “She... she fell in combat”
For once Turien had fallen silent, his eyes glanced down to the floor, then back to Glaon “Against whom?” He asked, his voice in a lower tone than usual
“I do not know who he is, but he was built like a mountain...”
“I know of who you speak” Turien interrupted harshly

There was a rustling to their left, each man stopped and turned to it, out of the bush quickly appeared a hooded figure, cloaked by the shadows of the overhanging canopy, it stepped forward, allowing the light to illuminate it, underneath the hood shone bright blue eyes, and a wide smirk was seen, his features were imperial.
“Turien” The man said calmly
“Danarius Mylls” Turien said, stepping forward, the other three stood close together
“I trust you know that there is now a price for your pretty little head, just the head”
Turien nodded “There always has been”
“And that the stupid little cow that used to follow you around now lies dead in the streets of Kvatch”
“Yes, yes”
“You could have been there to shield her from the killing blow Turien, but where were you? Chasing myths, and murdering her brother”
“Hey, we all know Marium knew too much, he was prepared to sell us out, I could not just allow him to do that, could I?”
“But still, going behind our back, then attempting to kill one of our most valued allies, and the very man who taught you the common tongue”
“Erion really had it coming, racists do not deserve and mercy”
“Now, I have come to claim that price” Danarius said coldly as he unsheathed a very fine blade, Turien watched carefully, his own clutched in his hands
Danarius rushed forward and quickly slashed, Turien had only a few seconds to step backwards, raising his blade against his opponents, steel hit steel and both reeled backwards, but quickly were upon each other again, both had similar fighting styles, only Danarius was more aggressive than his former ally, he took more risky moves, he lashed forward with a quick jab that Turien could not block, creating a wound on Turien's left side, forcing him to cover it and jump to one side, Danarius continued his attack with a large overhead swing, crushing down on Turien's back, to which he let out a yell.
Turien then gripped his sword with both hands and turned quickly with all his energy, it collided with Danarius' sword, forcing it out of his hand, Danarius looked in shock, then smirked as he drew another sword, this one shorter and curved, Turien was panting, the last of his energy spent, Danarius gripped his head and lifted it so he was looking him in the eye, his shorter blade close to Turien's throat.
That was when Son Dro'kai smashed into him with all his weight, sending Danarius reeling, it was then when he stood, urging Turien to run, but Danarius was upon him, Son Dro'kai fled, leading Danarius, who was in a frenzy, away from Turien, Zerenthiel and Glaon pursued.

Turien scrambled slowly to his feet, the blood was dripping to the floor, a few seconds between each drip, that was when another figure appeared from the bush, a woman, a Redguard, a crow painted across her face, the wings over her eyes and body down her nose, she held an axe in one hand, Turien raised his blade and pointed it to her, a bloody smile on his face “Have at you!” He muttered wearily.

The Khajiit was running faster than ever before, but even then Danarius was hot on his tail, but quickly Son Dro'kai turned to his attacker, but quickly fell as a small blade skimmed his shoulder, Danarius made a quick leap, sword high, but was blocked as Zerenthiel got between them, shield first, pushing the attacker backwards, Glaon quickly assisted the Khajiit to his feet, and Zerenthiel rushed forward, swinging in a clockwise arc.
But he missed, the Khajiit watched as Zerenthiel stood for a few seconds, then tipped to one side and collided with the floor, Danarius had sliced through the thick Thalmor armour as if it were grass, then he stood, watching both the Khajiit and the Altmer.

“It was a magnificent sight” Began Polo, his eyes fixated on the floor “Red, burning with the fires of a thousand suns, it spoke my name, drew me in, I touched it” He then paused “The room turned dark, red eyes stared from the darkness, I was petrified, the darkness spoke, if I swore to tell nobody of it's location, I would be immortal, but if told anyone, it would find me”
Zathal looked at him for a long time, then spoke “And where is it?”
“Where you would least expect” Polo said quietly.

They left the two Briar's and continued their journey through he woods, in silence mainly, each pondering what Polo had said, trying to decipher it, Fingolfin was the first to speak.
“What just happened?”
Liryanne shrugged “I do not know”
Lierwen spoke softly “Maybe where we would least expect means in the company of someone we know?”
“Or a place we have been” Zathal said
“Or a place we are yet to go” Liryanne added
“Well thanks a lot mister wolfman, now you have confused us all!” Fingolfin spoke loudly.

Out of the brush in front of them rushed Erion, he seemed to be running with haste, that was when Zathal tripped him so he landed face first into the ground, quickly rising to his knees, he turned to Zathal.
“You bloody fool Delagraht! Now you've doomed us!”

a dark fog crept over them, reducing visibility to a few feet, the very air around them became thick with despair and hard to breath, the trees surrounding them began to dwindle and decay, leaves dropped and faded into ash before they hit the ground, a whistling sound could be heard, faint, but high pitched, it squealed into their ears, that was when a pair of red eyes pierced through the fog, moving over each person, a voice spoke through the mist, it was deep and high pitched at the same time, it spoke menacingly and slowly.
“What have we here, five fleshy sacks”
The eyes moved over to Fingolfin “Fingolfin Tiwele, the elf who watched his mother and father burn before him, holding the key to their survival, but choosing not to use it” Fingolfin held his head, gritting his teeth as flames filled his memories, the eyes shifted to Liryanne.
“The young Delagraht, who chose not to save her mother as she bled to death, you know you could have stopped her pain.”
Liryanne winced in pain, also holding her head “I... I could not”
The eyes moved to Zathal “The eldest Delagraht, who lead his friends who trusted him into a trap for his own selfish desire, and who slaughtered thousands of innocents who stood defenceless before him, and who's actions cost the life of his own wife.”
Zathal gritted his teeth, falling to his knees.
Erion was next “Erion Southward, warden of Haven, murder, slaver, and why do you do this? Out of revenge, revenge that Zathal lead right to you, but then slipped out of your grasp”
Erion growled “I could have had that bloody thing!”
Finally onto Lierwen “And the one who hides the most, she knows exactly who holds the thing which they search for, but will not tell out of fear for them”
Lierwen raised her hand “I will not be toyed with Niirfaro!” A blue light emitting from her hand.
The eyes then locked firmly onto her, she was lifted slowly off the floor, and within a flash she was thrown directly into a tree which she hit with a large thud and a scream.

The darkness then faded with a final “Do not continue the search, or death will begin it's search”

Fingolfin wearily pinned Erion to the ground as both Zathal and Liryanne limped to Lierwen, when they reached her she was sat slumped against the tree, but upon further inspection they noticed blood on her, Zathal crouched down, he then closed his eyes and looked away, a large branch had pierced though the back of her skull and appeared out of her forehead, another smaller branch jutted out of her throat.

“You bloody fools!” Erion cursed “Whatever you are searching for has bought death himself upon us!”
“I'm sure you are used to seeing death” Fingolfin muttered
“You idiot, that was death!”

“What do we do?” Fingolfin asked
Zathal stared blankly at the body for a few seconds “We must bring this to Eirthal's attention”
“We do not know where he is”
“Then we will continue to the Elden Root, someone must know where he has been sent, and what for”
“And of him?” Fingolfin gestured at Erion
Zathal paused for a few minutes, then walked over to Erion, he slashed his sword across the back of Erion's left leg “Now let him go”
“Zathal?”
“Let him go, he will not last long out there”
Fingolfin released Erion, who scrambled to his feet and dissapeared into the woods limping “You will regret continuing Delagraht!”
Liryanne then moved to Zathal's side, silent, staring at the ground, her father put a hand on her shoulder and lead her away, Fingolfin followed suit.