The Forsworn

 

"When we understand the events that occur to us, the events become history. History is understanding. Otherwise we are all just dumb animals trying to get in out of the cold."

--Hasphat Anabolis

 

Five days has passed, and a new Month has been put in place. The 3^rd of Sun’s Dawn.

 

  About a day or three ago, I picked up a map from a fellow Hunter, and if I’m able to read it well enough, I must be in around the Reach area now. From now on, probably close to Markarth, or something. I do know I passed Rorikstead (the Thief’s hometown) a day or two ago, and met his family. They were saddened, but not surprised about my news of their child. I guess he’s always been a known thief to them, just not a very good one.

 

  The further North I go the colder it gets, I’ve even seen areas covered in Snow that I’ve tried to stay away from. I’m still wearing the Imperial armor I had found back in Helgen during the Dragon attack, and it’s not a very warming set of armor, being it has a skirt and all. I try to keep my distance, even if I wanted to join the Imperial Army (which, I don’t really want to get myself involved in a War that has nothing to do with me) I could never get to Solitude with all the blizzards on the way there.

 

  “Help! Someone!” I hear from a distance, the voice being female and close. She sounds scared for her life. It’s probably just another person who wandered too far, and ran into Wolves, Bears, or even a Sabre Cat of some kind. People need to learn to hire some help, carry a weapon, or just be silent when they come out this far. This has to be the ninth time this happened since I’ve gotten here.

 

  “Stupid W***e! We’ll have your head!” Another shout from the same area-- this not being from the woman. I guess it’s not an animal, I guess she has bandits after her now. I get out of a small I made at the base of a tree to peer over a small hill to a group of three or four bandits crowding around a woman lying on the ground. She’s wearing a dress and has long black hair; there’s no way she came out this by choice, they’ve probably chased her away from a town or hut somewhere near here. The four bandits are wearing animal skins as armor, and the one leading them has a Deer skin and antler covering his head/face. Who are these men? They look nothing like the occasional bandits I’ve previously encountered.

 

 I raise my bow, which I had also purchased from the Hunter the same time I bought the map, and ready an arrow. I aim for the man ready to take the woman’s life, as he raises his sword, which looks of bone or something tied around with leather straps to make a point and multiple bones sticking out each side of it, I fire my arrow at his chest�"aiming for his heart. As he begins to slam the sword onto the woman, the air collides with his chest�"piercing through and pushing him back a few inches or feet, knocking him down and killing him.

 

  The other three bandits react to their fallen ally, and look towards me to see where the arrow originated from. “Hey!” I yell over with a smile, “I think it’s about time for you to leave the poor woman alone!” The three men tilt their heads in sight of me, curious of who I am, or what in the Oblivion I’m doing here.

 

  The leader takes a step forward towards me, “You’ll regret interfering with the business of the Forsworn, Imperial b*****d!”

 

  I laugh at his threat, “For-what? Never heard of you!”  I quickly send off another arrow, piercing one of the other men, sticking him to a tree. “I won’t say it again, leave her alone, and leave now.” I try to make a scary-enough threat to make him back off, with only the leader and one man left. I ready another arrow, prepared to take his last man out. “Will you surrender?”

 

  From my spot, I can only see a little through the Deer helm the leader wears, and I see a small smirk cross his lips as he raises his hand to signal something. In the next instant I feel a quick piercing pain through my right shoulder, and in the next, my body goes numb. I try to see what happen to my shoulder to only see a double-jointed arrow through it, with something covering it�"must be some kind of paralysis poison of something�"not again, I don’t want to die. I fade into the blackness, yet again.

 

  I awaken in a cage�"my head pounding, my body has feeling once again. “Where am I? What is this?” I mutter to myself in pain, I can feel a throbbing wound in my shoulder, must be from the arrow shot.

 

  “You’re at one of our multiple locations, spanning across the Reach. Remember me, boy?” I hear a familiar voice from outside my cage, looking to see it was the man to signal for the archer, and was leading the bandits in the forest against the woman. “It looks like Hero has fallen, too bad, you actually seemed skilled enough to take me.” He laughs out loud, showing his self-absorption.

 

  “Funny. Real funny. Still going to kill you, you know?” I remark with, trying to get back onto my feet. “And, when I do? I’ll make you suffer through it all; as I’m sure you want me to.”

 

  “Oh, scary. Instead of threatening us; use your skills for something greater. Join the Forsworn, boy.” I can see the smirk through his Deer helm again, he’s not joking, and he actually is giving me a way out.

 

  “You know, I still have no idea what in the Oblivion the Forsworn are.” I cough out with bits of blood, realizing they hadn’t taken care of me; they beat me while out cold�"subtle?

 

  "You want to know who the Forsworn are. We are the people who must pillage our own land. Burn our own ground. We are the scourge of the Nords. The axe that falls in the dark. The scream before the gods claim your soul. We are the true sons and daughters of the Reach." He declares, as if practiced a thousand times, with pride. “That’s who we are, even if not a true son of the Reach, we could a new warrior as yourself, even the Hagraven agrees we could use you.” 

 

  “So, you’re insane?” I respond with a smirk of my own. “You’re making your own Civil War just because you want land back that the Nords moved into? Some kind of death wish?”

 

  “They took it from us and made us outcasts!” He retaliates with anger to my remark.

 

  “You made yourself outcasts by dressing like deer, and attacking innocent people who happen to live in the Reach. Like I said-- insane.” I declare with my own pride, finally gaining back my strength from the poison, facing him to his face.

 

  “You just don’t understand, the Nords have poisoned your mind. It’s too late for you. We were going to give you a way out, but it looks like I get to enjoy taking your life, and maybe finally becoming a Briarheart for the Hagraven!”

 

  “What in the Oblivion is a Briarheart and a Hagraven?” I question.

 

“You’re dying anyway; it’s no business of you.” He responds and walks out of the room, leaving to my wooden prison.

 

  I move back to the wall of my prison, my back to it. It’s time to break out; I won’t die here by some extremists for their own cause. Why is War everywhere? “Mother, let’s hope the skills you taught me pay off today.” I whisper to myself as I raise my left hand. A ball of fire forming in my hand, casting a light to my face and outside my prison, “Destruction Spell: Firebolt.” I whisper again, charging my hand forward sending out a ball of fire�"making a hole in the bars, and burning the wood remains. I hear the Forsworn Guard outside, “What was that?!”

 

  She runs into the room just to feel my fist collide into her gut and I throw her down. I slam my fist on her face, feeling the bone shatter in the process. I take the axe off her belt made of a stick, with a sharpened rock for the blade. I sneak out of the room, and sneak down the hall. Two guards are standing by the entrance, waiting for anyone to come in�"making small talk about the cause. I chuck the axe at the first guard, piercing into head and killing him while I rush the other guard and tackle him into the wall. I quickly grab the axe back and slam onto the second guard a few times�"making sure of his death. I collapse to the wall, and sit against it to look down at my bare body with every scratch and scar on it. I’m going to need some clothes; I wonder how deer skin feels.

 

  I strip the first guard of his body armor, gauntlets and boots�"I take sword as well, feel the bone handle that makes the entire blade itself, with leather strips tied around to make bone spikes on the sides. A fragile blade, but sturdy enough to get the job done, unless I run into real soldiers, of course.

 

  I exit the through the doors the guards were watching, to see the leader from before standing next to him is what to appear to be some ancient woman with bird feet for hands�"her face is messed up, and her eyes are black as darkness itself. She’s wearing robes, and is hunched over.

 

  “I take it this HAGraven you spoke of before; I understand the name a little better now.” I joke to him, that he doesn’t seem to respect much.  

 

  “You watch your mouth, Imperial B*****d!” He snaps back in defense.

 

  He takes out two swords�"equivalent of mine�"and prepares a stance towards me. “Prepare to die, you swine!” he yells and charges at me. I bring my sword up to defend against his attacks, and try to use comeback against him. We defend and dodge each other�"matching each other in skill.

 

  He stumbles backwards after a defense, and tries to get back on his feet. “You’re skilled well, we can still use you!” He yells at me, still trying to recruit me.

 

  “I’d rather kill you, and get back to my life, thanks anyway!” I joke back, as I get my back into my stand, pointing the sword towards him.

 

  “Good luck.” He charges forward slashing down into another of my defenses, and uses the other sword slashing into my side�"pushing me back in pain. The blood quickly comes pouring out of my side and down it; I put the sword in my left hand and use my right hand to push a little force on my side.

 

  “Restoration: Healing.” I cough out with blood, my right hand glows closing the wound. I breathe heavily and get back into my stance, still able to feel the cut. The leader charges at me again, slashing down with both swords�"I’m able to block both and place my hand on his chest. “Thanks for the luck. Destruction: Firebolt!” Fire forms around my hand, burning into his chest. On the other side, his back turns red with fire bursting through. Blood spills onto the ground and in the air. He stands there for a second, standing in awe with a gaping hole in his chest. The next second, he collapses�"dead.

 

  I can feel my body running out of Magika, the aura that allows me to use these spells. I need to get out of here, and heal myself properly before the cut reopens itself. The Hagraven does a loud screech at the sight of what happened to its warrior. It stares me down, and raises its hand releases a bolt of lightning at me. I jump to the side, trying to escape the path�"the bolt blows into the fort, destroying the wall. The smoke of the wreckage makes it hard to see where this abomination went. I try to breathe through the smoke, to try and keep up my strength to fight it.

 

  I raise look around for it, to see a firebolt coming at me�"I dodge again to the opposite side to run forward at wherever it came. Nothing�"there was nothing there. Where in the Oblivion did it go? A shadow forms under me and I look to see it above me landing on me, knocking me down. It wraps its claw around my neck, pushing the talons into my neck; I can feel the blood rolling down. It’s does a loud screech into my face, the spit from its mouth landing on my face.

 

  “You�"“ I start, trying to breathe at the same time, the words coming hurting with every single one, “are really�"“ the pain being unbearable, but I finish, ”ugly.” My left hand is covered in blue, and feels cold shooting at the face of the Hagraven, freezing it solid. I dig the talons out, releasing myself from its grip and drop on the ground. I can breathe, thank the nine. Precious air, filling my lungs�"burning the wounds that are still bleeding out.

 

  I look towards the frozen face, and without a second thought, I punch at the face shattering it everywhere�"the body dropping onto the ground. I pull out the sword from before, and continuously stab into its body. Once my anger has resided, I drop to the ground and try to let my Magika fill itself back up. I wait an hour or two, allowing it to fill�"once I can, I use Healing to get rid of the wounds inflicted by the talons on my neck and do a better healing of the slash from before by the leader.

 

  I remember what Hadvar about Riverwood�"I decide to take him on about the offer about going there. It may help me prepare for something like this much better than how I went about it. I drag myself out towards nearest road, waiting for someone to come by. Multiple people passed�"one finally stopped a young Redguard man riding a horse with long black hair, a scar overtop his right eye�"a bluish tattoo meeting at the top in the center of his forehead creasing down on both his eyes and creases off of his lips.

 

  “Are you okay, Imperial?” the Redguard asked me in surprise of how I like. “Do you need something?”

 

  “Yeah, yeah. I’ll give you all the gold I have, just please, take me to Riverwood, if it’s not too much to ask?” I cough out in pain and hopefulness.

 

 He smiles and accepts.