18+ The Great Journey Retaken

[TommyTequila]

Casamir whistled, amused, as Emric summoned his familiar. He had underestimated the small nervous archer, even as he had cautioned himself not to. Everyone here had been skilled enough to be chosen for the task, and even the meek breton had a trick or two up his sleeve.
He followed the rest of the group, being careful to watch his step. Even the muffled footsteps of the fellowship echoed off of the walls, the smallest stumble could give away their position. Adrenaline sharpened his senses, and even the sound of water dripping from a stalactite was deafening and simultaneously ominous.

Crouched on one knee along with the others, his eyes had trouble picking out the threats his companions scouted from this distance, but the black and gold billowing robe was unmistakeable.
Thalmor.
Political implications aside, even the most modest of Thalmor agents were highly trained, formidable with a blade and deadly with destruction magic. And if this agent was on a mission alone, he wasn't a modest one. This turned an otherwise one sided fight into a dangerous battle.

Casamir knew the immediate future contained fire and lightning. This did not worry him, his wards have never been broken, and that record would not be tarnished today. It also brought him comfort that some of that elemental fury would be weilded by his companions. He knew at least a handful had experience in destruction. Cosset seemed the most magically inclined, and if she was as talented as she insisted, would be a valuable asset.
Allerya's plan made sense, using the strongest and most stalwart to draw attention while the rest started dropping bodies. He wondered to himself if any besides Emric had experience with conjuration, as summoned creatures would make a strong addition to the frontal force. He leaned toward the breton, speaking under his breath.
"I don't know if you can summon another familiar, but now might be a good time."
The ranged fighters would most likely cover those fighting on the ground, and Casamir knew to play to his strength. He was no good at range, so he was going to get up close and personal with any mages among their adversaries. If he got the chance, he'd square off with that Thalmor, keep him busy while his companions thinned out the rest. Although confident he could keep the more skilled adversary at bay, he hoped someone would help finish him off.
He carefully drew his short sword in his right hand in a reverse grip. He spread out the fingers of his left hand facing the ground. A ward spread outward from his hand as he did so, and withdrew back into his palm as he relaxed. He did so again, like stretching a sword arm before a duel. He tensed up his shoulders, and they hardened to stone. He relaxed them as well, shrugging the last of the spell out of his muscles.
He cracked his neck and looked to their leader, ready to follow her into the fray.

 

[Ellen Ripley]

Rahd felt his muscles twitch as the grip he had on the hilt of sword tightened and he returned the blades glare as she addressed him and Cossett. He had been eager and ready to move forward first to attack only to have the blade beside him send him to the back of the group. He was always grateful to be beside his friend and more than happy to watch her back. He silently moved back to stand beside Cossett and clenched and unclenched his fist absentmindedly. His light brown eyes focused on Allerya as she directed the high elf and the ebony armored Nord to be the shields for the group. A warrior booted to the back and for what felt like the third or fourth time she completely ignored his words as though he didn’t exist.


Perhaps she really hated khajiit or maybe she just didn’t like him. His lips almost furrowed in a growl and his tail flicked consistently behind him. He had honestly contributed nothing to the group thus far. Sure he took out a bandit but she sent a whole handful of khajiits to handle a small number. He had almost hoped that the Thalmor would injure these fools he was travelling with. Closing his eyes he let out a small sigh as he realized how tense he had become and exhaled deeply. He needed to have patience and he needed to be alert for Cossett. He was left to watch their backs and that is what he would do. He knew the blade had her reasons and regardless if they were significant he was here only for himself and Cossett. Glancing to the mage beside him he lowered his hood and his eyes focused on hers for a moment. He patted her head and smiled knowing she would have been annoyed with his actions if the group had been paying attention.


It almost felt like all those times where Cossett handled the danger before he learned to wield a sword. She was talented and he knew his place but the same feeling washed over him. Shifting in his scale armor he broke the gaze and tapped the hilt of his sword. Watch everyone’s back and enjoy the view although he wasn’t particularly happy about anybody in this group. His long black ears were laid back and it wasn’t until the high elf addressed did he raise them up. “ What is there to like? It is what it is and we just need to be prepared for the unexpected. I do not think anyone is going to die here and if someone does I highly doubt it will be from the group of bandits.”


Maybe he should just be quiet and sit in the back. It sounded like he was plotting someone’s murder and knowing the high elf he would assume because he was a khajiit that Rahd was able to complete such actions. He wasn’t good in groups and he wasn’t good with people. Maybe he should have questioned the blade but why waste the energy and effort. He would have a time and place for assisting the group. Now was not his time and perhaps he should be thankful as Ysarth and Haskor would probably deal with the magic users. His tail twitched and his ears lowered as he realized maybe the whole thing was a setup.


Maybe this group was just a farce and everyone was out to kill those who sought the horn. How could it be that easy to meet up in a tavern and walk a short distance and find such a relic that could save the world? He turned to his side glanced behind him as he withdrew his steel falchion. Taking several steps away from the group and walking a back to pathway they just left he glanced down the passageway. If anything were to come in his direction he would be more than happy to deal with the issue. He knew Cossett was safer in the back and if she needed his help she would alert him. He prayed to Mara that this would end smoothly because if harm came to his friend he would be ready to spill blood.

 

[Kivuli_The_Khajit]

Kivuli gives the Blade an annoyed glare, something along the lines of 'what am I, chopped liver?'. She just huffs and aims her bow right for the enemy Altmer's brain meat. One shot and he'd be down, like so many before him and so many will after him. Then she could use his body as a free bodyguard, so total win for her all around. However, she wasn't much of a leader, and decides to wait for Cossett's signal to attack over Allerya's. So far, she had more faith in the cautious lady mage than the clearly racist lady nord.

 

[Ysarth the watcher]

Murmuring accompanied the precipice on which all of them lingered - the bandits in the cave hollow before them shifted about and Ysarth watched the Thalmor and Dunmer mage talk to the Bandit chief beside the horn. Just under his view he saw the Blade tense up and ready herself - she was a hard woman, torn apart and whipped about by the savage jokes of life. It was present in her demeanor, which gave the Altmer the impression she did not care for her own life, that she had nothing to lose.
He felt the tensity wash down into the rest of the companions, enough to make the one khajiit and the hunter to stand and draw their bows. The Breton mage caught the eyes of the ork-khajiit and nodded.
The soft whip of bowstring sounded as Ysarth's eyes adjusted colour from a green-amber to wild yellow, and his primal brain kicked in.
Yet he was not quick enough to launch past the Nord woman, who, a few feet ahead, had cut through the unwary bandit warming his hands.
The slaughter landslid in their favour for a few moments, long enough for Ysarth to dispatch a bandit stumbling out of his bed to grab at his sword. He grunted at dismissing a life that could not fight back.
It was not until the three gambling at the top of the platform and the heavily armoured bandit joined in that the tide met on equal levels, and the latter approached Ysarth, bringing his greatsword to bear and bellowing. The giant blade thrashed with shock magicka just before bearing down close to his shoulder, a mean parry deflecting the massive weight.
The blow allowed Ysarth to counterbalance and spin around and return a waist-high cut, which to his surprise, was parried by the bandit's kneeguard.
'Damn elf - you should've stayed out of Skyrim!'
The bandit before him brought the weight of his greatsword back around, this time bringing the blade across, attempting to meet Ysarth's mail just under his breastplate, which the elf parried again, and with quick ferocity, swung the other's weapon down with his own, placed his boot on its lower end, and brought his dwarven greatsword in a swing up the length of the bandit's extended arms and through his exposed neck.
The high elf did not wait for the bandit's helmed head to crash to the floor before catching Allerya shouting:
'He has the horn!'
A rage flooded his veins and arteries - Thalmor wanted power over this part of their quest, and he alone was going to deny them of the right to interfere with finding the Dragonborn. Perhaps even they were the cultivators of the new threat that loomed over Skyrim.
The scar beneath his chin burnt with the fires of a thousand eternal hells and the familiar cramping of his body set in as he rushed after Allerya into the passage, chasing the Altmer Thalmor and Dunmer.

The speed Allerya heard the bowstrings extend she knew to leap forward, and as her leg muscles contracted, arrows flew past her head, catching part of her blonde hair on their journey.
She was onto the closest bandit in moments, feeling the subtle friction of her giant katanna ease its way through the flesh and bone of the man - his body slumped oddly in two pieces.
She looked about for the Altmer mage in Thalmor attire and caught him snap off some destruction magic before pointing to the doorway opposite the group, to which the other Dark elf mage acknowledged.
A buzz caught her off guard and a battle axe slashed away at the air in front of the Blade, who was quick enough to jump back. She suddenly found herself off to one side of the cave, against the left wall, unable to bring her katanna to bear in the direction she wanted, she pushed forward and bounced the bandit with her shoulder, knocking him to his feet.
With enough room opened up to her, the Blade seized the opportunity to smite the man.
Allerya wiped away the blood splatter from her cheek and brushed aside her fringe before catching the high elf wanderer taking on a much larger and heavier bandit.
The Thalmor mage!
She realised she had lost sight of the altmer. The Blade looked amidst the fighting and found him, snatching the horn off of the table.
No! He's going to make off!
'The Thalmor - he has the horn!' Allerya shrieked in a pitch that embarassed her, and she pushed past one of the Khajiit to bolt after the Thalmor mage, whom was trailed by the Dunmer.
Dammit! They know what we want! All we need now is for the horn to fall into Thalmor possession!
Not caring who followed, she bound into the entrance after the two elves, bearing her katanna behind her.

Not fully capable of taking on a man in full combat, Alla'Amir hugged the walls of the cave down the left side, hoping to sneak up on the two mages and bandit to take the horn.
It had to dodge past a bandit rushing towards it, which soon met the company of someone behind it - the Khajiit did not look back to see who, and watched the horn instead.
It would do the group an honour of retrieving it. The deed would redeem it from its previous fault.
Alla'Amir watched as the Blade woman cut down a bandit stumbling to its feet. The Nord was scary with the giant blade - the weapon swung back and forth in leaps that dared anyone to stand behind it so it could claim another life.
Not today; not this one's life
The bandit by the horn was now at making its way to the thick of the fighting with its blackened mace, protected by the supportive magic from the two magicka users that stood by the other entrance. Alla'Amir admired the black and gold cloak and wanted it for itself. Yes, it would take the cloak, as soon as its dagger had been buried deep in the elf's gut.
Alla'Amir had to step under the overhang of the platform to vault it and as it landed both paws on the platform, daggers in hand, the horn was no longer there.
How can this be. This one saw the horn just here.
Then it heard the Blade woman shout and watched the Nord disappear after the mages
'O, but its not going in there. This one knows cramped places and magicka make best friends.'
It shook its head before descending the platform and joining the more open battle which has eased slightly, taking its chances rather with swords than with magic.

 

[Kivuli_The_Khajit]

Kivuli fires her arrow right at the Thalmor mage's head, three times in rapid succession before chasing after him. "Lazgl! Fall back, do your job as a healer! Rahd! Sneak around, cut off the theif's escape!" With that she fires again and again at the Thalmor, her aim switching to any of his major joints, back to the head, and looping back around again. One shot had to hit, if it didn't kill it would at least incapacitate.

 

[MB_52]

The group of would be heroes gathered together prepared to spring their ambush on the unaware bandits, Emric prepared himself for the coming skirmish rolling his shoulders as he pulled three arrows from his quiver plunging two into the dirt and keeping the last ready to use. Emric almost jumped when Casamir stepped close and whispered under his breath "I don't know if you can summon another familiar, but now might be a good time." Regaining his composure, "Sorry, but I can only have one up at a time and I feel like having one guarding our back might be more useful. This cave is getting cramped as it is so I don't think we need to be squeezed any more." Emric turned his attention back towards the bandits eyeing the target he was given the big armored bandit toward the rear.

As the battle began Emric slowed his breathing and slowly drew his bow, drawing the string to his ear like he had done hundreds if not thousands of times before. Taking a deep breath he let the sting go as he breathed out, the arrow springing forth towards the armored bandit striking him near the left armpit just under his armor. Though it was not enough and as his companions charged forward Emric hurried to let he remaining two arrows fly. The second arrow took the bandit through the neck causing him to drop to his knees before lying still on the floor in a slowly spreading pool of blood. By the time he had his last arrow ready the fight was already winding down his companions taking care of the remaining threat. Emric scanned the battlefield when he heard Allerya yell that the thalmor was escaping, as the elf ran into a tunnel Emric shot his last arrow but do to his haste it clattered harmlessly into the rocks above the thalmor. Cursing under his breath he went to join his companions to survey the slain bandits.

 

[TommyTequila]

The group exploded into action, and the reaction from their adversaries was immediate. Fear and adrenaline were a potent antidote for the sleep and drunkeness they shook out of before arming themselves. Casamir began to follow Allerya, but jumped back when he saw and orange glow originating from the Thalmor's perch. He was raining fire on where the brunt of the force was congregated. He sheathed his sword and scrambled toward the person nearest him, Rahd. His sudden change in direction and the urgency with which he moved caused him to trip into the dirt, but he quickly got back to his feet and threw up a ward in each hand in time to meet the onslaught of fire. The impacts on his ward rocked him, and he spread his feet further apart to absorb the impacts. The small explosions pushed him backwards, sliding through the dirt. The spells that missed his wards blasted divots out of the earth all around himself and the Khajiit divots that could have been carved out of his body if his wards were up a second later.
The deafening blasts stopped as abruptly as they started. Casamir could not see why they had stopped, but he did not have time to wonder. He rushed toward the bandits in the center of the cave. Three were already running to meet him, one of them about 10 feet in front of the other two. Deciding to let the treats come to him, Cass stopped. The bandit closest to him raised his sword as he ran, eyes betraying his excitement to rend a head from its body. Cass undid his sheath from his belt and held the still-sheathed sword in his right hand. He bent his knees slightly and feigned perfect stillness. Right before the moment of impact, he exploded into movement. He ducked under the too-eager swing of his adversary, and used the momentum of rising back to his full height to strike the man in the neck with his sheath. The blow stunned him enough to interrupt his follow-up attack, and he back pedaled as he gasped for air and grabbed at his throat. He step backward put all the weight onto his back leg, and Casamir didn’t waste time in taking advantage. He took a step closer, spinning on his left foot and driving his right diagonally into his opponents kneecap. The knee dislocated with a snap and bent back at an impossible angle. He fell to the dirt writhing and screaming.
The sight of their screaming comrade on the ground halted the charge of the other two. Casamir walked closer to them as he spoke, intentionally stepping on the broken leg of the man at his feet as he did. The resulting scream drove his point home.
"I haven't even unsheathed my sword, and I'm far from the most skilled fighter in this ambush. Save me the trouble of killing you. Throw your weapons down, put your hands up and walk out. Whatever you're paid isn't worth your life."
The men looked too confident of their odds to consider his offer, even as Ysarth cleaved off a man's head not 15 paces away. They didn’t get a chance to answer though, as their standoff was punctuated by and uncharacteristically urgent shout from his leader.
"The Thalmor - He has the Horn!"
All of their eyes followed the voice, to see Allerya darting down a passageway after the horn. The two bandits looked briefly at Cass, then turned toward the passage at a sprint.
plops.
Casamir took off after them, knowing they had too much of a lead on him to catch them. He took the sheath off of his blade, and threw it like a boomerang in a Hail Mara attempt to trip one of them. Whether it be divine intervention, the drink still lingering in his blood, or general clumsiness, the sheath struck his shins, and the shock caused him to stumble and fall flat on his face. His compatriot bent over to help him up, and Casamir vaulted over the both of them without breaking stride. He slid to a stop in the dirt, now positioned between the bandits and the passageway.
Casamir, hoping his luck would hold out, made a lunge to swing his blade at the bandit's throat. Still trying to stand up, he threw himself back out of harms way onto his butt. His companion swung a sword at Casamir, who dodged too late and suffered a blow to his bicep. He jumped back holding his arm, giving the bandit time to stand up and ready his weapon. Cass now stood fast against the two, left hand pointed toward them, and blood dripping down the right that held his sword.
One lunged towards him. He pointed his palm at the charging enemy and turned away, closing his eyes. A concentrated burst of light emanated from his hand, briefly illuminated the dark cave, and blinded the two men (and hopefully none of his comrades.)
Casamir stepped out of range of the first bandit’s clumsy swing, then shoved him hard toward his comrade. The second bandit recoiled from the unexpected impact as they collided, and in a blind panic made a two handed swing with his weapon. His blade cleaved clean through his friends arm and a couple inches into his side.
The armless bandit dropped, the other squinted confusedly trying to figure out who he hit. Casamir, genuinely surprised by the effectiveness of his diversion, didn’t waste a moment in taking advantage of the chaos. He walked through the fountain of blood and past its screaming source on the floor, disarming the squinting bandit and throwing him over his leg into the dirt. He knelt next to the man, who was too dazed to fight back, and hardened his right fist to stone as his left pushed the man’s face into the dirt. He drove his fist into the bandit’s temple hard, three times.
He stood up, looking at the crumpled body. The unconscious brigand vomited and his extremities curled into his torso. The last hope of an injured brain trying to defend it’s host.
I gave them a chance.
Blood from the other bandit, now silent, pooled around his boots. He shook himself from his thoughts as he looked up to survey the battle field. Sanguine mud grew in pools around mangled bodies. Others had run after Allerya and the horn, Casamir moved toward the entrance to the passage to make sure no surviving bandits tried to give chase. He didn’t rush. The battle was good as won.