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The Forsworn Retribution	By : Samson Category: +A through F > Elder Scrolls - Skyrim Views: 60892 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 3
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To Move Mountains

The Forsworn Retribution
Part VII - "Unsung Heroes"
By: Jesse Racine AKA Samson
Original Date Written: October 24, 2014

Maximus’ mind had devolved to one thought at a time, all to cope with the effects of his Thalmor treatment. He couldn’t handle anything more than that, not in his current state. One foot in front of the other. Sleep deprived, stomach a hollow, mouth and throat a desert, every single muscle in his body stiff and burning with agony, he truly wasn’t sure how much longer he could go on for. One foot in front of the other. Some part of him was aware things could only get worse. After all, he wasn’t yet in a cell. The marching just never seemed to end...He simply had to keep going, he wouldn’t give these elves the satisfaction of seeing him break. One foot in front of the other.

As the hours wore on and day turned to night, the air grew nippier, chilling him through his armour. Shortly after, the Thalmor diverged from the main road, forging northward as soon as the trail began winding too steeply towards the east. The chill in the air intensified until the hills and mountains stretching on into Solitude were capped with white, the snow spreading down to the ground in an almost visible transition. First, his breath became visible, steaming the air before his face with every harsh exhale. Then, the grass grew paler, the little blades turning ivory with thickening layers of frost. He didn’t even notice the patches of snow until the ground beneath his aching feet began to crunch.

For a moment, he dimly wondered if the sound was coming from his bones, breaking from under him. His eyes practically rolling around, he blinked sharpness back into them, then looked off to the side. The white had collected into snowbanks, at some point. Just where was he, by this point?...He didn’t have nearly enough mental alertness to mull over that question any further than somewhere far, far north. The snow shifted unevenly beneath his feet, crunching at odd angles beneath his sore feet. At some point, something inside him finally gave way, and his eyes briefly began to roll back into his head. He stumbled, he collapsed, and the side of his face crashed into the cold, damp snow.

The Thalmor agents immediately stopped, turning inwards in a black circle, staring down at him contemptuously. Maximus just heaved for air, limbs spasming as his muscles rebelled against him, crying out against such merciless use. One of the Thalmor cruelly swung out a leg, kicking Maximus in the stomach hard enough to blast the wind right out of him. Maximus tensed up for several seconds, face going red through a combination of blood rushing to his head and need for oxygen. Before he could even draw in a wheeze, the agent was barking out “Get up, Imperial! We haven’t reached our destination, yet! You have quite a bit of marching left to do before you can even think about catching your breath!”

Maximus’ eyes sightlessly rolled around, his eyelids feeling like ten-pound weights as he struggled against them. He finally sucked in air, again, in time for one of the females to make a fairly obvious observation. As detached as a sociopath observing an immolated dog writhe about, she casually remarked “He appears to have reached the limits of his endurance...I’m a little surprised he’s lasted even this long. Young humans don’t typically have this level of willpower...” One of the men glanced about, judging the group’s distance from their destination. “We don’t have time to stop, we’re less than a day away...”

The agent who had kicked him grabbed Maximus by the arm, trying to heft him up. When Maximus didn’t spring to comply and remained dead weight, the agent pulled back a fist, slamming it down into the side of Maximus’ face. The spikes on his black glove bit into Maximus’ skin, gouging him in three thick points alongside his left temple and cheekbone. Maximus’ head snapped to the side from the impact, blood quickly flowing into his eyes and down his face from the wounds. His composure already on the verge of cracking, the man barked “I am not going to drag you, human! On your feet!”

Maximus turned his head as well as he could. He arched an eyebrow and defiantly retorted “...Just kill me now...I’m not going anywhere else...” between a few heavy breaths. The man lost his patience. He slid his hand up to Maximus’ wrist, then pulled his arm out as far as he could. He pulled his fist back once more, rocketing it into Maximus’ elbow with bone-crunching force. For a brief moment, Maximus’ arm bent at a rather unhealthy angle, his eyes going wide at the sudden explosion of pain. He clenched his jaw and made not a sound, however, simply enduring the injury.

It was odd, the things his mind focused on in that moment. The way the arctic wind swept across the snow, sending clouds of powder dancing. The way the snow had matted down his hair over the side of his head. The way their black boots, so close to his face, contrasted with the white Skyrim snow. His vision blurred and darkened as more blood ran into his eyes. He felt his arm numbly swing as the agent threw it down to the ground, the damaged limb collapsing by his face. The pain was intensifying by the second. Was this how it ended? Better here than in their cage. Again, Maximus told them to just kill him then and there, adding that they were wasting their time. He wasn’t going to tell them anything about anyone.

The brutal male agent angrily remarked “Oh, rest assured, human. I am going to end your miserable life, but not before you tell us all about your heretical worship. You’ll be begging us to put you out of your suffering, soon enough. Until then, I’m sure you know someone similarly infected with...Pitiable ancestor worship.” The agent spat his final few words, hands clenched so tight by his sides that they were trembling. Anya’s sister-in-arms glanced at one of the other females, who briefly glanced back before commenting “Tyrel, it’s well in hand. Nothing to get flustered about. Just one moment, and...”

The woman raised a hand, an ethereal green mist of Illusion Magicka appearing over her hand. She reached down, grabbed Maximus by the shoulder, and instantly covered him in a green glow as the Magicka coursed through him. Maximus tensed up, his eyes turning a bright green as the Dominate Humanoid spell wrested away control of his faculties. Speaking in an elevated, clear voice, she ordered “Up to your feet, human, and continue. Even if your feet bleed, you continue until I tell you to stop. Your destination is Northwatch, and we will lead the way. Do you understand?”

Maximus didn’t verbally respond. His body shaking, his breathing ragged, he slowly pushed himself back up. He struggled when he got to a knee, and almost collapsed back down when his balance rebelled against him. One of the men distantly remarked “He’s fighting the spell.” “Impossible, that’s just his body, not his mind. His body is exhausted, but he doesn’t have much farther to go.” The caster retorted, barely glancing at him. The woman smiled and took a step back from Maximus, watching with keen interest as he finally got up to his feet. The glow surrounding Maximus’ body faded, but the glow from his eyes took several seconds longer to disappear.

Staring sightlessly ahead, Maximus slowly took a step forward. He stumbled, rapidly taking several more until he could regain his balance. He started holding his injured arm, cradling it close to himself as he continued, walking deeper into the snow. Without any apparent humanity or compassion, the Thalmor agents watched him with poisonous smiles. One of them callously remarked “We should’ve done this from the very start.” The female caster enthralling Maximus grinned, chuckling shortly before the group began walking after their prisoner. When they reached him, one of them gave Maximus a light shove to the back, urging him on with a taunting “Keep walking, Imperial. We only have a single mountain between us and Northwatch, that’s all...”

Maximus collapsed from the push, falling to his hands and knees in the snow. Again, he rose, showing neither pain nor fatigue on his face. Lumbering like a corpse, he began walking again, fulfilling the new compulsion overtaking his mind. The group steadily disappeared into the powder breeze, marching towards a nearby mountain, it’s jagged peaks looming before them in the black sky.

Sabrina ran through the hills for nearly a full hour, recklessly calling Bunny’s name without any concern for attracting hostile creatures or people. Panting hard, a thin layer of snow crunching beneath her boots, she paused when a sound reached her ears. Her eyes lit up when Bunny’s voice came again, calling her name in return. Sabrina started running again, taking off in a mad sprint. In the shades of gray of the darkness, she quickly began to spot the pulsing of Bunny’s body, her blood giving her an almost fiery red glow in the distance. Bunny, on the far side of the hill’s plateau, jumped up in the air and waved her arms back and forth.

Sabrina started to smile. By the gods, she had finally caught up with her! Was Maximus close? As Sabrina came stumbling to a stop by Bunny, the young woman suddenly went in for a hug, briefly embracing her before letting go. Wasting no time, Bunny hastily said “Thank the gods you’re here! Where are the others, are they not far behind?” Sabrina, briefly surprised by the hug, quickly brushed it off and said “No, they’re...We can’t wait for them, they’re at least a few hours behind me. We have to keep going, we’re running out of time!” Bunny shivered and blinked a couple times in rapid succession, then asked “...You’re alone? It’s just the two of us?”

Sabrina gave a nod, briefly leaning over and holding her knees as she caught her breath. “Like I said...We can’t wait, we were separated...Whew, separated a while back...They told me you were...Were tracking Max?” Bunny needed a moment to digest the idea that the rescue attempt might consist of purely herself and a single other individual. When it clicked, however bitterly that acceptance may have been, she quickly started running backwards, numbly saying “Yeah, they’re...Uh...They’re not far, you should be able to see them, yourself, in a minute. They’re at the foot of the mountains, we should be able to catch up without any trouble, c’mon!”

Sabrina started jogging after Bunny, and the two quickly descended the side of the miniature mountain with Bunny taking the lead. As the two made their way back to the road leading east into Solitude, Sabrina couldn’t help but eye the sky. The black above was slowly turning lighter, a troubling sign that her time was running short. Bunny tore Sabina’s thoughts away from the impending sunrise, quickly squatting down as she breathed out “Here are their tracks...Can you see them? We need to hurry and get them in our sights before the wind fills in their footprints. The snowing won’t be letting up, any time soon...”

Sabrina looked over, quietly huffing and puffing as her eyes roamed around the ground. As soon as she saw the mass of footprints, she gave a nod, following them with her eyes. The footprints blended together in a jumble, so it was hard to tell how many individuals were left in the group, but they were distinct enough that they left a wide trail through the snow, heading northward towards a wide, snow-covered mountain. “Yes, I see them...C’mon, we don’t have much time. I hope you can handle the cold, because the snow’s only going to get deeper off the road.” Bunny started following after the tracks, remarking “I’ll live...I had no choice but to ditch your cloak, it was terrible camouflage.”

“Speak for yourself.” Sabrina commented, smiling a little. Bunny glanced over, and at any other time, she might’ve smiled right back. The two took off into the escalating winds, following the pattern of bigotry Skyrim left behind for them. The footprints of the Thalmor were neat, deep, and spoke volumes of their calm concentration. Maximus’ footprints, meanwhile, were shuffling, dragging, messily throwing snow around. Bunny couldn’t imagine how exhausted Maximus must’ve been, but simply considering it gave her the resolve to ignore the fact that she had gone numb long ago. Maybe if Sabrina had arrived a minute later, she could’ve investigated that nagging feeling of being watched, but no matter. Maximus took precedence without contest, and she had probably just been paranoid, anyway.

Within fifteen minutes, Sabrina’s eyes widened. Her hand shot out, grabbing Bunny by the wrist. “I see something!” She breathed out, eyes glued straight ahead. Bunny perked up, peering ahead into the gloom as well as she could. Through a chattering jaw, she said “I d-don’t see anything, yet. We’d better split up, I’ll s-stay by some trees and move ahead as q-quietly as I c-can. Okay?” Sabrina nodded, but couldn’t help watching Bunny with concern as she trotted off. Dressed for the cold, she was not, and the two of them had stepped into territory frigid enough to make a Nord complain.

The Thalmor group were already ascending a slope in the mountain, climbing a lengthy path weaving up towards the summit. Considering the path was all but completely hidden under the snow, the Thalmor group had clearly memorized it, which only upset certain concerned parties all the more. Purely by happenstance, one of the Thalmor agents slowed his marching, tossing a glance over his shoulder. Even he, himself, wasn’t sure why he bothered. Maybe he wanted to make sure nobody was following him or his comrades. Maybe some part of him had sensed the eyes glued on his back.

When he spotted something upright through his peripheral vision, smaller than a tree and standing in the middle of the path, he gave a double-take. He stared for a few moments, trying to make sense of the moving shadow. Was that really a person? Were they coming closer? His eyebrows slowly rose up as a distant voice yelled out “Hey! Hey, elves!” A couple of the other Thalmor agents furrowed their brows, slowing to a stop. The noise making their ears prick up, they looked over their shoulders, then turned around completely once they spotted the silhouette. The first agent to spot the figure slowly started to smile. Almost under his breath, he said “I don’t believe it...Do my eyes deceive me, or do I see a suicidal fool?”

The final unaware two of the six agents came to a stop, raising eyebrows at their fellows before they, too, noticed the shadow. Maximus continued up the path against his will, reduced to an automaton without an escort as he shambled his way through the thick snow. One of the women started to develop the same wolfish smile as the first. Quietly, she remarked “And here I thought this trip would be wholly uninteresting. At least one of the heretics had the courage to show me otherwise.” Anya’s sister-in-arms threw a glance Maximus’ way, then unsheathed her Elven sword with a grim expression.

The figure yelled once more, briefly holding up it’s arms by it’s sides. By that point, every hooded Thalmor agent was grinning from ear to ear. They each raised a hand of their own, purple-black light briefly radiating from their hands as Bound Swords appeared from nothingness. They each grabbed the swords out of the air, openly presenting them by their sides in the first and last warning they’d ever give to someone who might try to intervene. The figure simply kept approaching, arms outstretched by it’s sides. Unexpectedly, large swirling orbs of purple-black light erupted by the figure’s sides, just beneath their arms. That wiped the grins off of the Justiciars’ faces, especially once they noticed the two Storm Atronachs pulling themselves up into formation out of the light.

“A Master Conjurer?” One of them commented, eyes beginning to widen. One of the women suddenly gasped, stumbling back so hard and fast that she collapsed, falling to her back in the snow. The other quickly looked over at her, instantly noticing the arrow protruding from the right side of her chest. A few inches to the side, and it would’ve been a mortal wound. One of the others hastily crouched down, grabbing her under her arms as he started pulling her up to her feet. The others began projecting Wards from their free hands, aiming them in the direction the arrow had come from. “How many do you think there are?” The sole soldier asked, eyes locked on the incoming Atronachs.

The first man to spot the figure ignored her question as a second arrow impacted with his Ward. “Our best bet is just to get to Northwatch, we need to secure the prisoner and alert our allies. Get moving!” The distant figure shouted at them again, abruptly thrusting their arms forwards, launching thick bolts of lightning Magicka in their direction. Both bolts struck one of the females’ Wards, utterly demolishing it in an instant, shattering the glowing wall like a thin pane of glass. The shock of having her Magicka overpowered so violently left her momentarily dazed, but when she noticed the Storm Atronachs floating towards them with their arms upraised, she was quick to retreat.

Sabrina bared her teeth in rapidly escalating anger. The high and mighty Thalmor, fleeing? Instead of making her arrogant and self-assured like some might’ve been inclined to feel, their obvious retreat only upset her even further. She could see Maximus, and she wished she could call out to him, but the sight of him heading on ahead without his escort confused her into silencing herself. Had they already indoctrinated him into accepting his own execution? Sabrina started after the group, firing concentrated streams of lightning in their direction as accurately as she could manage.

The Thalmor made due with their Wards, enduring her blasts as well as they could. They knew Sabrina would eventually think to try casting Chain Lightning, and effectively made it a non-option when they reached Maximus and crowded around him; smash down their Wards as a group, and harm the prisoner in the process. Their deduction was correct, and Sabrina could only grit her teeth and accept that that particular approach wasn’t possible, resenting the fact that she hadn’t thought to try it sooner. The Storm Atronachs, however, weren’t as discriminating as Sabrina was, and proceeded to fire bolts of lightning Magicka at the group with reckless abandon.

Although Sabrina was certain her summons would understand her intent in regards to Maximus, and the lightning enchantment on his ring should’ve been able to shield him from an errant shot or two, that nonetheless didn’t mean she was eager to escalate his suffering in any way, shape, or form. Sabrina didn’t need vampiric night vision to spot a few of the Thalmor agents near the rear of the group drop their Wards. When red spheres of light began to arc through the air towards her, her eyes widened. Flame! Sabrina locked up, for a moment. Her hands simply twitched by her sides. Some animal instinct told her to run, but then she sucked in a deep breath and regained control of herself.

Her ring, the cock ring Maximus had duped her into obtaining and then enchanting, gave her a powerful enough resistance to flame that it wouldn’t instantly end her life. Despite her recent feeding, she was still slightly more susceptible than an ordinary mortal, yet she had no choice aside from making do. The fireballs struck the snow startlingly close to her, exploding with steam and tongues of flame as they ate away at the ground. Sabrina cast a quick Invisibility spell, then attempted to mask her footprints by stepping in the holes the Thalmor boots had already dug into the snow.

As soon as the Thalmor at the rear of the group began firing spells like magical artillery, Bunny had new targets. Her arrows had dwindled to but a few, and the stress of needing pinpoint accuracy in the battle’s harsh conditions quickly began to get the better of her. Pulling one of her remaining Orcish arrows from her quiver, she stepped out from behind a tree, notching the arrow and pulling back on the drawstring with a quiet grunt of exertion. The group were rushing up the mountainside as quickly as they could, momentarily disappearing behind a tree in Bunny’s way as she followed after them down the sight of the arrow shaft.

She muttered curses, her heartbeat pounding in her ears. Quickly stepping to the side, getting further out of cover, she got one of the rear Thalmor agents in her sights. A split-second later, she let the arrow fly, watching as it whipped through the air like an emerald hawk. She watched one of the two rear agents recoil, and although it looked like she had hit him in the throat, she couldn’t truly be sure from her distant position. Considering what happened next, however, she knew she had to have found her mark. The Thalmor turned their attention back towards her, and one of them pointed their Bound Sword at her, yelling that they saw the enemy archer.

Bunny quickly jumped back behind cover as spells were flung her way, giant spears of ice whipping around the tree on either side. Sabrina watched as the Thalmor group moved on, leaving behind a body in the snow. The remaining five still surrounding Maximus, one of them summoned a Frost Atronach just in front of the group, the walking iceberg appearing upright through a swirling flash of purple-black light. Although the Frost Atronach took a few blasts from Sabrina’s own two conjurations, it seemed wholly hellbent on eliminating Bunny, running towards her position with great, pounding footfalls.

Bunny heard the behemoth coming her way, eyes widening as she peeked out from around the tree’s side. She gasped when the dangerously-close Atronach pulled back it’s enormous club fist, diving away from the tree as quickly as she could. The entire tree gave a shudder as a resounding crack filled the air, splinters and wood chips exploding out from a thick crack around the tree’s circumference. Bunny, snow clinging to her fur underwear and turning her skin red with chill, looked over her shoulder in time to see the tree begin to tip over. She cried out in panic and scrambled to her feet, racing away as the Atronach gave the tree another smashing.

Bunny felt the ground tremble as the tree came slamming down, narrowly missing her legs as it threw up a cloud of powder snow. The enraged behemoth came charging for her, raising it’s club arm over it’s shoulder. Bunny rolled to the side so fast she practically twirled through the air, the ground trembling as the Atronach punched the earth through the snow. Bunny got up to a knee in time for the Atronach to swing it’s club to the side, prompting her to kick off through the snow like a spring, half-backflipping until she slammed down over her front. The Atronach’s entire body swung to the side from the force of the attack, causing it to face her.

It let out a bellow, pulling back it’s sharpened lance-like arm. Bunny scrambled forwards through the snow, pulling herself between the Atronach’s legs. The Oblivion creature almost caught her legs, the sharp point of it’s other arm piercing into the snow just between her limbs. Bunny got up to her feet and ran out from between the Atronach’s legs just in time for it to bellow, again. Out of sheer confusion, she stood locked in place, watching as it pulled up it’s club arm. After a second, the club arm came slamming back down, crashing directly into the earth. In that instant, a wave of force blew out from around the Atronach, an arctic wind rushing out with razor-sharp ice shards carried in it’s wake.

Bunny screwed her eyes shut, bared her teeth, and impulsively tried shielding her face with her arms. The force of the shockwave threw her through the air, flinging her back through several feet of open space before she finally rammed back into the snow. Bunny gave a few rough coughs, sucking in air as pain wracked her cold body. She looked up and watched with dazed eyes as the Atronach turned around, featureless face staring in her direction. It pulled back it’s lance arm once more, taking a few quick steps towards her.

A blinding flash of light made Bunny screw her eyes shut, her face instantly feeling dry and irritated as the air turned boiling hot. An eruption of flame struck the left side of the Atronach’s body, instantly causing steam to billow off of it as it’s left arm was shrivelled into a melting mess. The Atronach turned, spying Sabrina nearby. Her Invisibility spell had been disrupted by the offensive action, but she didn’t care. Expression grim, she pulled back both arms, then thrust out both hands in another Incineration blast. The powerful flame Magicka struck the Atronach directly in the chest, immediately reducing it’s chest to a gushing cavity. The great creature leaned back from the force of the spell, began to tip over, and abruptly vanished into thin air as it was expelled back to Oblivion.

“Silence that infernal mage!” One of the Thalmor shouted, pointing his Bound Sword at the newly-visible Sabrina. Sabrina looked over too late, spotting the remaining spell-flinging agent to fire a green sphere of Magicka in her direction. Sabrina couldn’t hope to dodge it in time. When it struck her, her Magicka was instantly snuffed out, temporarily severed from her command. The agent was quick to hit her Atronachs with a Mute spell, as well, rendering them both incapable of their lightning blasts in an instant. Sabrina let out an irritated huff of a sigh. If they wanted to play that way, then they might be in for a surprise...

Bunny pulled herself up to her feet with a wince, taking stock of the situation. She looked down, noticing with some confusion that a laceration had been opened across the side of her stomach. She couldn’t feel much from the wound, aside from a mild amount of stinging. She supposed she had the cold to thank, for that. She checked her quiver as she looked out at the battle. Her stomach sank when she realized she only had two arrows left. That sensation was only compounded when she spotted Sabrina running towards the Thalmor, her boots tossing up snow behind her with every step.

Sabrina’s Atronachs hovered up the incline in the mountain, arms held out threateningly by their sides. The blue glow from the Thalmor Wards dropped without warning, and then, the entire area was lit up with a hellish glow as the Atronachs were assaulted, the Thalmor combining their strength into a united effort with powerful flame spells. Sabrina kept charging as her summons were destroyed, the stones of their bodies momentarily blasting around her before they vanished into thin air. She could see the Thalmor huffing and puffing, and she knew their final attack had temporarily drained them, especially after maintaining their Wards for so long. Hopefully, she’d be able to use that to her advantage.

As she charged up the mountainous incline after them, however, Anya’s sister-in-arms started coming down towards her, parting from the rest of the group. One of the hooded agents called her by rank, but the woman didn’t respond. Staring Sabrina down, she held her Elven sword at the ready. Sabrina had a wicked grin on her face as she closed the distance. Trying to capitalize on her Silenced state would be a big mistake. She wasn’t helpless, just because she couldn’t cast spells. As soon as she was close enough, the Altmer soldier took a diagonal swipe towards her left shoulder, lashing out with both of her hands on the weapon for extra control.

Sabrina ducked with inhuman speed, bobbing her head down and to the left, as well. The sword harmlessly passed over her, nearly nicking her right arm. As she rose back up, she swung her right arm over, bashing the back of her wrist into the elf’s right forearm so hard the sword was nearly thrown right out of her grasp. The soldier responded by whipping her arms back around in the opposite direction, aiming for Sabrina’s throat. Sabrina effortlessly leaned backwards, avoiding the sword without even getting grazed. The soldier couldn’t defend herself as Sabrina came closer in the blink of an eye, right hand ramming into her throat with crushing strength.

Her thumb dug into the Altmer’s windpipe hard enough that her nail began to cut into the elf’s golden flesh. Her other hand grabbed the woman by her left wrist so fast that an audible clap filled the air as her palm struck the cold metal of the gauntlet. Sabrina grinned from ear to ear, eyes widening with joyous bloodlust as the soldier’s pulse filled her ears, throbbing against her hand. The Altmer woman’s eyes widened when she noticed Sabrina’s own red pair, spotting her fangs a split-second later. She let out a choked sound of panic, then shot her knee up into Sabrina’s stomach.

Sabrina briefly winced, quickly sucking back in a deep breath as the wind was knocked out of her. The soldier tried to pull away, and in the process, she pulled her leg back, aimed a little lower, and rocketed her knee back out. The instant that metal-covered knee crashed up between her thighs, Sabrina’s eyes went as wide as dinner plates. Her mouth dropped open, and she let out a sharp, heaving sigh. Her strength quickly left her, and the Altmer was able to pull herself away from the vampire before Sabrina fell to her knees. Tears were already streaming down her face as she silently cupped her groin through her skirt, gingerly holding the damaged area with one hand while helplessly holding up the other towards her enemy.

Her face bright red with agony, body utterly immobilized by the pain, Sabrina was ripe for a coup de grâce. The soldier raised her sword up over Sabrina’s head, but pain exploded in her mid section before she could deliver the finishing blow. When the metallic clang registered in her mind, she looked downwards, spying the dark green arrow protruding from the middle of her torso. To her confusion, she suddenly found it difficult to breath, and even attempting a shallow breath made searing pain tear through her chest. Looking out towards the base of the mountain path, she spotted Bunny, having abandoned the cover of the trees.

Bunny was already notching her last arrow on her drawstring, her expression hard as she glared at the soldier. The Thalmor soldier swung her sword down a moment later, but it was already too late. The finishing blow had already been ruined. Sabrina, by then, had recovered enough from the shock of the below-the-belt blow to spot the sword coming, pulling her head to the side before it could connect. Instead of ending her life, the sword slammed down into her left shoulder, dangerously close to the side of her neck. Blood burst against the sword, a few droplets spraying against the side of Sabrina’s face.

Sabrina suppressed a grunt as she blade bit down to her bones, impacting against her very frame in one blow. Bunny fired her second arrow, hitting the soldier directly in center of her chest. When Sabrina thrust out her free arm up towards the soldier’s face, a bloody red glow suddenly illuminated the two of them, making the snow around them look like molten lava. The soldier screwed her eyes shut and grit her teeth, trying to pull away as her strength was sapped. Sabrina allowed her no such mercy. As she vampirically drained the woman, Sabrina quickly stood back up, her recovery occurring with startling abruptness.

Letting go of her groin, she swatted the soldier’s arms away, knocking aside the sword in the process. The injury in Sabrina’s shoulder magically knit itself shut, closing without a scar in but a few moments. The soldier continued to struggle as her very life force was siphoned, but she had been doomed the instant Sabrina had overcome her Silenced state. The Altmer’s face quickly became gaunt, and her struggles became increasingly feeble. Once her eyes began to roll back into her skull, Sabrina cut the connection, grinning sadistically as she shoved the withered shell of a woman down into the snow.

Eyeing the Thalmor, she ensured any further Silence spells wouldn’t hinder her quite as badly. She flicked out her hands on either side of herself, purple-black spheres of light swirling around instantly. The Thalmor watched as they retreated, one of them already preparing another Silence spell. When they saw Sabrina’s new summons, however, they couldn’t help but pause for a moment. Out of the darkness came a pair of Dremora Lords, the infamous Daedra immediately letting loose bloodcurdling war cries.

The Dremora were humanoid in physique, unlike many other denizens of Oblivion, and were easily as tall as an Altmer. Their entire bodies were made up of the colours red and black. Their Daedric armour, sharp and jagged, was comprised of warped ebony with unnatural crimson sections, giving off their own dim light. Their skin was inky black with swirling patterns of blood red, most visibly running across their misshapen and asymmetrical faces. The sclera of their eyes were jet black, while their irises were red like hellfire. Finally, their black hair was messy and wild, but in no way, shape, or form could it ever hope to hide their horns, the charcoal-black spikes protruding from either Dremora’s forehead, curving upwards like minotaur horns.

They were both armed with Daedric claymores, the massive swords as long as a short human, jagged and black just like their armour. Immediately spotting their enemy, one of the Dremora Lords charged with recklessness only an immortal could muster up. His deep voice twisted and warped, he shouted “I’ll bathe in your blood, mortals!!” Sabrina grinned, watching with a certain sense of satisfaction as her minions ran into the fray, tailing not far behind them. The Thalmor agents couldn’t believe the tide had turned so swiftly, but they clearly weren’t cowed by the Daedra. Two of the remaining four ran forward to engage the Daedra, gripping their Bound Swords with both hands.

One of the Dremora Lords yelled and swung his claymore around like a twig, swiping it at waist-height. The Thalmor agent brought his Bound Sword to his side and braced one leg out, catching the blow with a metallic clang. The Dremora’s extreme physical strength nearly pushed him to the side, but he retained enough energy to counter, taking one hand off of his sword before lashing out in a surprise backhand. Meanwhile, Bunny ran up the incline, dropping her Glass bow to the snow. She grabbed the fallen soldier’s Elven sword on her way up, yanking it out of the white with a twirl of her wrist.

The second Dremora Lord lunged, thrusting his claymore towards the female agent’s chest. She twisted to the side, narrowly avoiding the blade. Before she could swing her blade up and knock aside the heavy claymore, the Dremora yelled and swung it around with impossible ease, slamming her across the mid section with the flat of the blade. The blow hit her hard enough to knock her off of her feet, sending her crashing to her back, into the snow. The Dremora, eyes ablaze with rage, flourished the claymore around, bringing it up over his head. She thrust out her arm, a green flash of light briefly washing over the palm of her hand. The Dremora Lord abruptly went rigid, and the Thalmor agent wasted no time scrambling to her feet.

As she rose, she plunged her Bound Sword upwards, slamming it into the Dremora’s chest. The sword bit in, but didn’t get very far. Grabbing one of his shoulders, she bared her teeth and grunted, pushing the sword in with all her might until the curved tip broke through the back of his Daedric breastplate. The Paralyze spell ending, the Dremora yelled in her face, firing out a fist in a savage uppercut. As she went down a second time, the Dremora Lord yanked his sizeable sword back by his side, thrust it out, and finally found purchase. The woman gasped and tensed up as his blade bit into her abdomen, piercing clear through her in a single lunge. He twisted his body to the side, tore the claymore back up over his shoulder, and unleashed a fountain of gore from her core as the jagged edge of his sword utterly eviscerated her.

One of the two agents who had hung back by Maximus finally found the strength to cast another spell. Thrusting out an arm, a blue-black sphere of Magicka launched out like an arrow from his palm, striking the Dremora Lord still engaged with an agent. As soon as the Magicka struck, the Dremora Lord abruptly vanished, expelled back to the realm of Oblivion from whence it came. The now-free agent quickly turned his attention back to the remaining Dremora, taking a quick step forwards before whipping his Bound Sword upwards. The Dremora Lord grunted and stumbled back with surprise as the blade cut him clean across the face, slicing deep from his chin all the way up to his hairline.

When the Dremora Lord swung his sword back and around over his head, the agent brought his Bound Sword up, blocking the Daedric greatsword with the flat side of his sword. Jamming the Bound Sword to the side, the agent caught the edge of the claymore on the hooked cross guard of his sword, shoving against it with all his might. The Dremora fought to keep his lengthy weapon under control, but the agent was quicker. Whipping his sword back around, he caught the Dremora across the throat, slashing it deep enough for a fatal blow. The Dremora crumpled over and, in the next instant, had disappeared amidst a few crackles of purple electricity.

The agent paid a price with his victory. He never saw Sabrina coming, running up to him like a woman possessed. Facing his side, she grabbed the wrist of his sword hand, then brought up her free arm. Crashing it down, she smashed her elbow into his forearm hard enough to instantly shatter it, making him shout in pain. The sleeve of his robe went deformed as one of his bones tore through his flesh, leaving the limb utterly disabled. The Bound Sword vanished the instant he let go of it, further sealing his fate. Still stretching out his arm, Sabrina grabbed his hair through his hood, yanking his head backwards.

With her undead strength, such a move was fatal. A sickening crack rang out as the man’s neck was, presumably, snapped clean in two. Sabrina took it one step further, however, and ensured the man’s death. With his throat so exposed, the finishing blow seemed obvious. Without regard for the remaining two agents, Sabrina brought her head over, maw opened wide before she clamped down on the limp agent’s throat. The remaining two agents realized her vampiric nature even before she had ripped her head back, letting loose streamers of blood as she tore out a mouthful of the man’s throat.

She spat out the hunk of flesh as the pushed the corpse down to the ground, face splattered with blood as she closed in on the remaining two. She couldn’t get far before one of the agents curled up her lip and thrust out her arm. Flame burst into life in the palm of the agent’s hand, quickly escalating until tongues of fire were licking around her fingers in a miniature inferno. Sabrina locked up by sheer animal instinct for a second time, her eyes widening as the flames roared out in a thick jet towards her. Bunny rammed into her from behind, knocking her clear of the immolating Magicka.

Sabrina collapsed to her hands and knees, quickly rolling to her side in the snow. She called Bunny’s name as the flames engulfed her, billowing out around her body like a roiling blanket. When Bunny kept charging through the inferno, Sabrina was momentarily dumbfounded. When it clicked, her eyes widened, a big half-grin growing on her face as she eyed the Thalmor. Dragonskin! Perhaps due to the stress of combat, Bunny had tapped into her innate strength as a Breton, manifesting her inborn inclination for Magicka in a writhing navy glow around her body. Bunny absorbed the Altmer’s spell like a sponge, tongues of blue light flying off of her body as the flames harmlessly washed over her.

The Thalmor agent didn’t realize Bunny’s miraculous immunity to the spell until it was too late. Bunny charged in swinging, hastily slashing across the Altmer’s arms to kill her spell casting. The woman grabbed her Bound Sword and clashed blades with Bunny before the Breton could finish her off, and it only took seconds for the agent’s vastly superior swordplay to emerge. Bunny, a complete amateur with a sword, couldn’t hope to stand her ground against a professionally trained soldier, especially not in her cold and exhausted state. The agent parried a couple blows, then swiped the Bound Sword into Bunny’s forearm.

Bunny screamed when the blade bit deep enough to impact with her bones. The agent swung the sword back around in the blink of an eye, bashing the cross guard into the underside of Bunny’s wrist. When Bunny’s arm was launched upwards, she let go of the sword, sending it twirling through the air and disappearing behind her. The agent turned her blade and chopped it into the side of Bunny’s chest, making Bunny screw her eyes shut and bare her teeth in pain. Before the agent could tear her sword back and rip between Bunny’s ribs, Sabrina ended the encounter.

Rising to her feet, she brought her hands close together, an icy mist violently swelling between the palms of her hands. She grunted and thrust out her arms, the mist between her hands suddenly expanding tenfold, blasting out through the air in a miniature blizzard. Bunny dove away from the woman, escaping the spell’s path before it blasted over the agent. The woman seemed to endure the spell stoically, but it became clear once the spell had passed her by that her silence was from overwhelming shock and pain, not fortitude. A coating of ice had snap-frozen over her armour, and her eyelids had been glued shut by her own frozen tears.

Her nose already turning black with frostbite, she feebly extended her arms towards Sabrina, as if she were begging the vampire not to launch that spell again. Sabrina, with a flair of sadism, granted her wish...Instead of launching another blizzard, she simply threw a javelin of ice, impaling the woman’s torso with a giant spear of an icicle. The final remaining agent glanced over his shoulder, noticing Maximus had gotten ahead of him in the fight. Maximus disappeared over the edge of the incline a moment later, disappearing on the mountain’s summit. The agent turned his attention back to the two female fighters, baring his teeth in desperation. How in Oblivion had it gotten to this point?

He released his Bound Sword, freeing up both hands. He thrust them both out in unison, noxious green spheres of Magicka firing from his palms. One struck Sabrina while the other struck Bunny, instantly freezing the both of them in place, locking their bodies up. His eyes lit up a moment later, a flash of blue-white light emanating from the Highborn in an aura as he found himself flushed with a second wind. He turned and ran after Maximus, and somehow, Sabrina and Bunny both knew what he was intending to do: if he couldn’t kill his aggressors or reach assistance, he’d simply kill the person they were hoping to rescue.

Neither of them were sure why he hadn’t made use of their paralyzed states to finish them off, but Sabrina deduced the man may have been holding out some slim hope of reaching Northwatch with his prisoner intact. He had to have known he wouldn’t have been able to keep casting something as tiring as a spell from the Paralysis family, but perhaps he was hoping he could hold out until he could alert his fellows. As soon as strength returned to her limbs, Sabrina was sprinting after the man, racing up the mountain path to the summit. Bunny needed a few moments before she could overcome the freezing cold numbing her body, but eventually, she got up to her feet and trotted after Sabrina as quickly as her nigh-frozen legs would allow.

As soon as Sabrina reached the summit, she came to a hasty stop. Her brow furrowed, and her blood-encrusted lips were set in a hard line. The agent was standing close behind Maximus, putting his prisoner between himself and his aggressor. Holding Maximus by the forehead with one hand, he held a Bound Dagger to his throat with the other, effectively keeping her at bay. The agent smiled. Nonchalantly, he remarked “Finally, I find something that gives you pause.” Sabrina didn’t respond, simply staring hard into his eyes. There was a tense moment of silence, during which the agent began to grin.

He took a few steps backwards, pulling Maximus along with him. Maximus nervelessly and silently complied with the man’s guidance, shuffling backwards through the thick snow. The agent glanced skyward, then called out “It’s just about sunrise, vampire. You don’t have much time remaining, do you?” Sabrina’s eyes narrowed, her jaw tightening. Bunny reached the summit a moment later, gasping in the thin air as she took in the situation. Sabrina’s eyes shifted to Maximus’, and when she noticed the faint glow coming from them, her eyes subtly widened. The agent eyed Bunny for a moment, but considering her weakened state, he knew she wasn’t much of a threat.

Narrowing his eyes at Sabrina, he muttered out “In the short time you’ve shown your face, you’ve already been an extreme thorn in my side. Stand there and burn, for all I care. I’ll deal with your little Breton friend, then take the Imperial in for questioning. It’s a shame my colleagues won’t be there to join in, but...I’ll find a way to make do without them.” The agent smirked a little more. Bunny took a step forward. Clearly exhausted, her jaw chattering from the cold, she helplessly demanded “L-Let him g-go, you’re outn...N-Numbered!” Sabrina watched the man as keenly as a hawk. The moment his eyes left her, the very instant he opened his mouth to speak, her hand opened up by her side.

He never saw the Dispel Magicka coming his way. The bright pink spell hit Maximus, but due to the small radius of the spell, the agent was also hit with it. The glow coming from Maximus’ eyes faded, and in the same moment, the agent’s Bound Dagger abruptly disappeared, as well. The Altmer’s eyes had hardly widened in surprise by the time Maximus had already comprehended his own rage. With his last shred of strength, he shot his uninjured arm back, striking his elbow into the man’s stomach. The agent wheezed, releasing Maximus’ head. Maximus simply collapsed into the snow, crashing down to his knees before falling face-first into the white.

Sabrina held her hands together in front of herself, lightning arcing and streaming between her palms. She thrust out her hands a second later, grunting from the heavy drain on her dwindling energy. The deafening explosion of the lightning bolt was mild compared to the blinding flash of light that lit the area surrounding the four of them. The Altmer didn’t even have time to scream. The lightning bolt struck him in the chest so hard that he was thrown right off of his own two feet, flung into open air straight over the other side of the mountain summit. Sabrina, panting, didn’t give herself even a moment to recover.

She rushed to Maximus’ side, wringing her hands together beneath her bosom as she dropped to her knees beside him. “Max? Max, say something! Are you alright? We came as fast as we could, I’m sorry I didn’t realize you were bewitched earlier...” She quickly started rolling him over, getting his face out of the snow. Her hands darted away from him when she noticed the twisted-up look on his face, his wincing harsh enough to startle her. “My arm...Oh, fuck, my arm!...” Sabrina laid her hands on his stomach, hastily asking “Which one? Did they hurt you? Sorry, I’m sorry, let me help!”

Maximus took sharp little breaths as Sabrina took him by the shoulders, easing him upright just enough to pull his broken arm out from under him. Setting his arm over his stomach as gently as she could, she lowered him back down so he could rest, eyes already going skyward. The sky was overcast, but that wouldn’t protect her from the imminent sunrise. Panic swelling in her breast, she leaned over him, one hand going to his chest as she brought her face over his. Being in the rush that she was, she couldn’t help but sound hasty. “Max, I don’t have much time, I need to go! Bunny’s here, she should be able to help you. I have to go, I’m sorry!”

Maximus struggled to open his eyes, already blacking out from exhaustion. The sky was gold with sunrise, and sitting in the middle of it all was Sabrina’s face. Snowflakes were in her hair, contrasting with her raven locks. Almost the entire lower half of her face was covered with chilled blood, soiling her beautiful visage. She started tearing up, closing her eyes as she dropped her head down, pressing a quick kiss to his cheek. He fell unconscious as she jumped up to her feet, calling Bunny’s name once before racing over the far side of the summit, leaping over the edge in search of sanctuary.

Bunny stumbled her way over to Maximus’ side, losing sight of Sabrina the instant she went over the edge. She brought a hand to her injured side, wincing as she touched the frozen blood encrusting the wound. Bunny couldn’t help but close her eyes and let out a chuckle. She almost tripped, stumbling for a moment before dropping to her knees beside Maximus. Shaking like a skooma addict in withdrawal, jaw audibly chattering, her face had already lost an unhealthy amount of colour. She had no idea he had already fallen asleep, taking him by the shoulder as she breathed out “Oh, th-thank the g-gods we made it, in t-time...I c-can’t b-believe we killed th...Them all...Max, I’m s...So s-sorry that we weren’t f...Faster...Max...?”

She only put two and two together when he didn’t answer. Bunny slowly looked left and right, trying not to let hopelessness get the better of her. Where would she go? Where would she take him? If she didn’t get the two of them in shelter soon so they could warm up, they’d both be too weak to do anything. Bunny looked down at Maximus one last time, then struggled to get up to her feet. She couldn’t hope to carry him. Even if she weren’t chilled to the bone, she simply didn’t have the strength to pick up a fully-grown man. She reached down and took him by the ankles, then slowly started dragging him through the snow in the same direction Sabrina had gone in.

The sun broke through the clouds a moment later, making Bunny squint as the light washing over the summit intensified threefold. Bunny slowly inched her way closer to the summit, glancing at the ocean over her shoulder before looking back at Maximus’ face. No matter what, she couldn’t fall asleep...Sleep meant certain death. Maximus was free, but now the two of them faced a new danger: Kynareth, herself. They just had to find shelter, somewhere dry, anywhere that got them out of the snow...

(Author's Note - Hey guys, new chapter for ya^_^. By some miracle, and probably a lot of desperation, Bunny and Sabrina managed to free Maximus...No telling what kind of consequences this could have in the future. The Thalmor aren’t exactly known for being forgiving, after all. It’s hard to imagine how they could figure out what happened, considering there were no apparent survivors, but then again, Anya’s a bit of a loose end, isn’t she?...

We can only hope all involved parties manage to find shelter before the elements claim them. If Gabby and Lana could catch up and find the others, they would be of invaluable assistance, but...Anyway, we’ll have to see how this continues. Hope you guys enjoyed the lengthy fight scene^_^. Next chapter should have a sex scene, and I'm leaning towards a more tender one with Gabriella. Dagger-ears hasn't gotten any love, for a whileD:. Time we did those scenes people voted on at HF, eh:D?)
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The Forsworn Retribution