Rastislav
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Arc 3 Chapter VIII: Extermination (Part 3)
🕑 Added 2023-06-25 11:44:12 +0000 UTCAt first, the town looked to be oddly empty of any Falmer, the streets were quiet and there were no guards in sight, but activating my third eye I could sense a large amount of living creatures hiding behind corners and skulking on the roofs.
Just when Hjolmir was about to start walking in I grab his shoulder and pull him back, he looks at me with confusion before I mouth "Ambush"
He asks me how many and I take my time counting and tell him it is about five dozen Falmer with a couple seeming to be mounted.
Hjolmir seems to be chastising himself for a moment but quickly refocuses, a wicked smile now on his face, and starts whispering loud enough for everyone to hear him "All right lads and lasses, the fuckers are waiting for us, they have a full ambush prepared so I think we will respond in kind. Bor, Brienne I want the two of you to focus on any archers on the roofs, I know ol' Tolfdir taught you the wind-ward so you two should be able to win out against them."
The twins nod seriously and start preparing.
"Reyvin, I want you to harass them and stop them from acting together, you can use your flying trick but if enemy mages start going after you, return to the ground immediately and start covering us"
I also nod and start planning.
"As for the rest of you, you will do what you do best, I want a strong shield wall and quick kills, they are spread out right now so if we manage to kill them quickly enough it will be us outnumbering them. As for their weird chaurus cavalry, leave them to me"
The guards salute and we all take our positions, the mages casting augmentation spells on themselves, the guards checking their weapons and armor one last time, and I start levitating into the air. What does surprise me is Hjolmir throwing down green runic traps in front of the largest enemy positions and then casting ebony flesh on himself, I thought he might just be an adept mage at best but apparently, I underestimated what an old Nordic clan can do.
Some of the Falmer seem to get agitated and I see a couple of heads peeking over the roofs, so do my college friends evidently, as an ice shard lodges itself into the closest snow elf's eye.
As soon as this happens all hell breaks loose, as we hear shouting from every direction in front of us, groups of large Falmer wearing Dwemer armor start leaving their hiding spots.
They are about to get into formation but some of the groups are suddenly caught in a blast of green and are paralyzed. The Nords take this opportunity and charge into the enemy closest to them.
A group of three chaurus riders emerge from behind a house to the side of our formation but are noticed by Hjolmir, who explodes in a burst of speed and rams into the first rider like a truck, flattening it and its mount. The two others try and use the death of their companion but the Captain simply turns to the next closest rider, and they both soon share the fate of their comrade.
While our ground forces butcher the enemy, I go about my task harassing their backlines. Many Falmer heads are exploded with a firebolt treating their armor as a mere suggestion, when enemy crossbowmen try and take me out their only reward is a lightning bolt to the mouth.
Unfortunately, the pale goblins aren't complete idiots.
Two Falmer dressed in robes, wielding chaurus chitin staves emerge from the bottom of the tower and start targeting me with ice spells. As I was ordered I return to the ground and focus on protecting my comrades from enemy fire with my wards, noticing my predicament Brienne stops targeting the mostly dead crossbowmen on the roofs and starts firing back at the mages.
The one dressed in less ornate robes falls after some exchanges, but the presumed elder mage suddenly throws a telekinetic push at us, throwing Brienne to the ground and only staggering me because my necklace absorbed some of the magic, thanks to my perception I manage to evade an ice spear aimed at my face.
I quickly start throwing spells back at the enemy mage and send Scorch to distract him with sudden attacks, Brienne appears to have been knocked out so it's just me and the ugly ass blind bitch in front of the tower.
The Falmer's defenses are very robust, seemingly being very proficient at wards, so none of my spells seem to even phase it, drinking a potion of Magicka I decide to change my tactics.
While casting a couple of fireballs to its sides to distract it and sending Scorch to get into its face, I unsling my spear and start spinning it in place with my telekinesis, using what little control over wind I have to speed it up.
The Falmer mage quickly dispatches my flying friend but that was all the time I needed, I launch another lightning bolt at my opponent forcing it to block with another ward, and at the same moment I overcharge my telekinesis and launch my spear for its head. It tries to block with a ward on instinct, but most wards are made to block magic, not material items and the spear breaks through it immediately, impaling the Falmer mage in the throat.
The tough motherfucker still seems to survive my attack but I give it no time to recover, throwing lightning bolt after lightning bolt at its twitching body. Soon the last bit of life leaves the creature and I turn back to rejoin the battle.
I quickly check on Brienne and cast a fast healing spell when I notice her bleeding a bit from the back of her head, she will survive with no issues but it will hurt like a bitch.
Hjolmir is still going berserk in the enemy lines flattening the poor things like they were snowmen instead of snow elves. The guards themselves seem to have taken no casualties and are methodically cutting down the disorganized enemy warriors.
Bor is blasting any enemy that tries to flank the guards with his ice magic and when someone tries to end him, his wolf kindly explains that that is not an acceptable outcome, by ripping them to shreds.
I levitate once again, this time not harassed by any crossbow fire, and land behind the enemy formation, smiling wickedly with what must have been a very terrifying look in my eyes I start channeling as much Magicka as I can into my scorching flames spell, even turning them blue for a moment.
The Falmer scream in incredible agony but I don't let up, stuck between a wall of Nords and a pyromaniac Dunmer mage, the degenerated elves stand no chance and are cut down.
The Nords give a celebratory cheer, not one of them died during this battle, but to be fair we did have a walking ballistic missile in the form of the Captain.
I quickly wave to Bor and point to his sister, he rushes to her faster than I've ever seen him move but soon he lets out a relieved breath, thanking me for looking out for her.
The guards get to the grim business of finishing off any wounded Falmer, and we all take our time checking for any traps or additional ambushes. Soon we are ransacking the houses in case there is any Falmer still hiding, we do find some very young ones but Hjolmir sends all of us out of that house and I prefer not to think about what he did next.
After spamming healing spells and using the potion Tolfdir sent me, my voice seems to be recovering slightly. I can now talk with some difficulty and sound like a lifelong chain-smoker.
As I am recovering my spear from the dead Falmer mage, I notice a ring of health on one of its fingers and a scroll tied to its belt. I put on the ring, which gives me a pleasant feeling before receding, and take a look at the scroll, it seems to be a scroll of summoning for some kind of Daedric merchant. Definitely something to check out once we are out of this cave and back in a more comfortable setting.
After a short rest, we all gather in front of the gates of the tower. Checking for any traps and finding none we enter through the gate and get ready to finally end this.
