Ch 9 Death At The Doorstep

[Edge of Elisnore Forest] (MAP INCLUDED OF RELEVANT AREAS)

A man in a dark forest ran.

Ran for his life.

Ran for his soul.

This was Yaren the local lords huntsman sent to find the whereabouts of Sargeant Reibard, His son's, and a handful of peasants sent to catch an Aelven woman.

But what Yaren saw deep in the dark forest still filled his soul with terror.

The huntsman had not stopped running the entire way back, he'd fallen more than a dozen times but he stood each time more bloody than the last.

But the cuts and scrapes were nothing compared to the terror in his heart.

he needed to flee.

To reach the church.

The only place where he'd be safe.

As he neared the edge of the town the numerous peasants working the fields looked at him strangely....The huntsman was usually a calm and collected man after all.

But just as quickly as they saw him, they turned back to their menial labor these peasants had more important things to worry about after all.

Before long the huntsman reached the twelve foot tall wooden wall which surrounded the village of Elisnore, In the town walls was where the craftsmen, guards, and merchants lived away from the grimy peasants.

As the bloodied huntsman, drenched in sweat reached the walls the two gate guards immediately stopped stepped forward and stopped the familiar man.

"Yaren whats happened!!! Did you find the men...." The guardsman asked with worry laced in his voice.....from the ghostly pale visage of the huntsman the guard knew something was wrong.

"AHHHH!!!! Let me in!!! Its coming for us!!!! I need to reach the church!!!!" The huntsman yelled before pushing forcefully past the guardsman who held him lightly from the shoulder.

Both guardsman looked at Yaren who rushed directly towards the small church while bumping into several of the commuting villagers.

The two stunned guardsmen looked at each for a long moment, both seemed extremely nervous.

"Willem What do we do?" One slightly portly guardsman asked the other.

"I'll go inform the Lord, bar the gates now, and go alert everyone in the garrison house to get ready just in case!!!"

The Guardsman Willem spoke in a hurry before sprinting off up the small hill to the Baronets 'castle'

Calling it a castle was quite a stretch however.

The Lords fortress was little more than a shabbily built moat and bailey fort of a measly size with an empty moat to boot.

Before long the guardsman reached the short drawbridge and called out to the guard manning it, he was nowhere to be seen.

"LOWER THE BRIDGE!!!" Willem yelled out urgently.

After a few long moments an older man with one missing eye emerged from the battlements, rubbing his crusty sleepy eyes, the kettle helm on his head was completely lopsided as he stretched and yawned lazily.

"W...what are ya screamin' abut Willem.....gimme a damn momint...."

The older man spoke with annoyance before walking over to the iron ratcheting mechanism used to control the little drawbridge.

*CLACK *CLACK *CLACK *CLACK *CLACK *CLACK *CLACK *CLACK *CLACK *CLACK *CLACK....*THUD

When the drawbridge was completely down Willem rushed inside to the tiny courtyard where a young stable boy brushed the fine glistening coat on a large gray Destrier.

The Lord's personal mount, his pride and joy.

The powerfully built horse was a few hands taller than the five other horses nearby and its muscles far more developed.

A true specimen.

If one looked closely they'd see the large horse's big hazel eyes follow Willem intently as if offended that someone decided to interrupt his grooming.

Willem didn't notice this however.

instead the Young Guardsman rushed towards the main door of the castle and banged on it quickly.

*KNOCK

*KNOCK

*KNOCK

Almost immediately the small grated view port on the reinforced door was flung open.

 A single haunting pale blue eye stared out, Willem gasped and lost his composure for a moment and instinctively stepped back....The owner of that pale blue eye spoke.

"....Willem I thought The Captain had you guarding the Gate Today, why are you here...." A frighteningly cold monotone voice asked.

"Sir Wizard...Yaren is back but not with news of Reibard and his sons....He ran into the church in a panic, I had the gates barred and garrison alerted....S..S...Sir Wizard...." Willem spoke with trembling hands.

Everyone knew who met the sinister seeming wizard would think the same.

"I shall inform the Lord of this....But in the meantime.....Go to the church and get more information from the Huntsman....do well and you shall be rewarded by me personally...." The wizard spoke in his monotone voice and a cold shiver ran down Willem's spine.

"Y....Y..Yes Sir Wizard..." Willem spoke with trembling hands before sprinting away.

he didn't rush to do his task however, he simply wished to flee from the wizard as quickly as possible.

The cold eyed Wizard shut the peephole before spinning around and heading towards then Lord's chambers where the useless man was surely still sleeping.

The Wizard wore a dark hooded robe made of the finest thick cloth to keep his old bones warm.

With every step a distinct jingle was heard from the poorly forged iron chain which dangled around his neck, A small engraved red orb attached to its end.

As the Wrinkled Wizard walked through the halls of the small castle the few servants who moved busily along the hallways immediately rushed to move out of his way.

most moved into the closest available room upon seeing him.

but those who couldn't flee into a side room simply shrunk against the hallways walls and looked down nervously at the floor.

their fear was palpable.

Eventually the Hooded wizard reached a large silver embossed door and sighed audibly before knocking.

*Knock

*Knock

*Knock

Then the wizard took one step back and waited...before long several mechanisms could be heard unlocking.

The heavy reinforced door creaked open slowly and a woman's pretty face could be seen peeking through the cracked door.

"Sir Wizard, What is it? My Lord Husband is still resting." The red haired noble woman asked.

"Alert the lord that Yaren may have found the whereabouts of Old Sargeant Reibard and his sons...Tell him the news is probably not good...Currently one of the guardsmen is questioning The Huntsman....."

The Wizard spoke respectfully, almost immediately the door closed in his face...quite rudely the wizard thought.

He mumbled to himself before leaning on a nearby wall. "God why do I have to serve these people....I should've never attended the Order Of Magic...."

The Wizard mumbled and rubbed his wrinkled old face under his dark shadowy hood.

Mages in human society were not just respected, they were feared beyond belief by nearly all common folk due to stories of Wizards and Witches cooking them into stews and turning their blood into potions on a whim or cursing people if they offended them.

After ten minutes The old wizard heard heavy boot steps rushing towards him from where he had just come.

Instinctively the Wizard mumbled a small chant, a faint red glow appeared in his right palm, A firebolt which would melt a finger sized hole into even the best un-enchanted plate armor and burn the insides of any man before they could fight back.

Once, many years ago The Wizard was proud to have learned that spell....But he never progressed much further than that.

That is why he served such a small time lord while all of his acquaintances served great counts and dukes,

Noble ladies of the highest class.

He was stuck in the piss poor village of Elisnore with its meagre castle which was smaller than some castle towers.

But the nearing bootsteps brought him out of his melancholy, As soon as the owner of those footfalls turned the corner he allowed the firebolt already prepared to dissipate into the air after making sure there was no danger....it was just Willem after all.

"Sir Wizard....ha....ha...I questioned the Huntsman....He...He said they were all slaughtered....Their faces and limbs removed...and worse...a..b...bloodbath....ha...ha...ha...."

Willem spoke while panting, his hands trembled and sweat dripped down his brow from sprinting back with great haste.

The Wizards usually cold and emotionless face furrowed in shock for only a moment before he nodded softly.

"Good work Willem....Here...Your Reward.....Now tell the Knight Captain all his men must be on high alert." The Old wizard spoke while handing over a small pouch from underneath his robes.

Willem's hand trembled in fear upon reaching for the extended bag....The fear of a strange curse being passed to him gripped his heart.....But it was truly just a pouch filled with a three silver coins....A sum it'd take Willem A few months to earn from his wages.

"Th...Thank You....S..Sir W..Wizard..." Willem spoke without even thinking about what was in the bag then the young guardsman was seen rushing away in a clumsy panic.

"This is bad...." The Wizard mumbled to himself shortly before the Silver Embossed door swung open.

"Jericho you old bastard what is it!" The Baronet of Elisnore asked loudly, he wore a Black Velveted doublet and stood at 5'4 with an oversized fine longsword at his waist.

"My Lord...Apologies for waking you....It seems The Huntsmen found the missing men, from what Yaren said they were slaughtered deep in the Forest...Likely by the Female Aelven they were tracking..." The Wise Old wizard spoke in his monotone voice and waited for the Lords response.

After nearly a minute of the Lords smooth brain processing the information he turned bright red and steam nearly escaped his ears as he shouted out in a rage.

"CALL THE MEN!!! EVERY MAN TO ARMS!!!!CALL MY HOUNDSMAN!!!...WOMAN I NEED MY ARMOR!!!" The short Lord roared while rushing back into the room, shutting the heavy door once more.

"...I just wanted to read my new volume of 'Nirn in Flames' today...I waited three fortnights for it.....Fuck my life..." Jericho spoke with a sigh as he walked away to fulfill the Lord's orders.

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[Not Far Away]

In the tall wheat fields two Aelves moved stealthily to avoid being spotted by any humans, The small walled town of Elisnore not far away.

"I thought the castle would be larger.." I spoke, Natalka who was moving just ahead of me responded.

"That's why I decided to stay in these woods, The humans here are weak and stupid and they only send a few foragers into the woods who barely reach the edges...The only one who goes deeper is a clumsy and loud one who's easy to avoid..." Natalka spoke softly, her sweet grassy scent filling my nose.

"A great place if you want to stay hidden...I'm impressed." I spoke and if i could see her face I'd have noticed a light red hue on her cheeks.

Then a great ringing bell resounded from the town.

*CLANG

*CLANG

*CLANG

*CLANG

. . . . . . . . . . 

*CLANG

*CLANG

*CLANG

*CLANG

"What's going on, does it happen often?" I asked Natalka.

"No.....it doesn't....I've lived in the woods for three months and I've never heard that..." She spoke a bit nervously.

Then we both heard a yelling voice in the distance, our sensitive Aelven ears could only faintly hear it.

'All men! Grab a Weapon! Gather At The Town Center!!! By the lord's Orders!!!!' We heard the booming voice in the distance yell out.

"Seems they found the bodies...." Natalka spoke with a shudder, remembering the mangled men and haunting screams of the one man she saw being tortured with her own eyes.

"Aye..." I spoke as my mind churned with ideas.

"Natalka." I spoke and immediately she noticed the change of tone in my voice.

"What is it white hair?" She turned back and stared into my icy silver eyes.

"If all the men leave the town is undefended...." I spoke with a sinister smile and saw her shudder in fright but she knew the horrors i was imagining were not aimed towards her.

"Y....Y...Yes....T...That's True...W..What are you planning..." She asked with a trembling voice and her breath hitched when she saw the murderous glint in my eyes intensify.

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[Town of Elisnore]

The Stout lord of Elisnore stood in his meticulously polished plate armor while flanked with twenty five of his guardsmen...Nearly all of them.

Flanking him were two men, one was Jericho the annoyed mage and the other a tall man in battered plate armor, The grizzled knight captain Evander who's visage was hidden by a battered and red plumed armet.

Standing in front of them were more than four hundred dirty peasants and craftsmen consisting of nearly all the townsmen apart from the elderly and the cripples.

nearly all in the crowd had bewildered looks on their faces and assorted weapons in hand while waiting for their lord to speak.

"LOYAL MEN OF ELISNORE!!! WE ARE GOING ON A HUNT!!! A KNIFE EARED BITCH KILLED SARGEANT REIBARD AND HIS SONS!!! WE WONT STOP LOOKING UNTIL THAT AELVEN MURDERESS IS BURNING ON A FUCKING PYRE!!!!" The short man roared out while raising his oversized longsword into the air.

His guardsmen roared in excitement....They couldn't wait to begin the hunt.

. . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [Fifteen Minutes Later]

The shabbily built wooden gate of Elisnore Swung open and The short lord rode out on his massive Dappled Gray Destrier.

Behind him were a handful of men on horses including Jericho the old Wizard and The Heavily armed and armored Knight Captain, Twenty five armored guards, A dozen Baying hounds, and hundreds of armed villagers.

all in the mob were being whipped into a frenzy for Aelven Blood.

Little did they know that nearby was a white haired Aelven man, far more bloodthirsty than they could ever be.

A cold sinister smile spread across his sharp handsome face.

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