20demayo Chapter 288: Chapter XIV: Rambling And 'Recruitment'
Chapter 288: Chapter XIV: Rambling And 'Recruitment'
Chapter 288: Chapter XIV: Rambling And 'Recruitment'
(Reyvin's POV)
As the now former Champion of Boethiah falls unconscious I make a show of wiping my gauntleted hands, lazily pulling Blasphemy out of the legendary armor without making a sound and depositing it back into my soul space "Someone take him to a tent and let him rest, do not touch the armor if you can help it."
The veteran who was standing at the ready beside Oren immediately got to work dragging Terryn's limp body to a nearby tent, the sound of armor being dragged across the soft ground failing to disturb the sudden stillness that had befallen the entire camp.
Unperturbed by this I simply unsummoned my crown and took a seat by the crackling fire, I grabbed a stick covered with sizzling bits of meat and took a bite, intentionally letting out a far too sensual moan and nodding to myself.
Scorch appeared on my shoulder and I tossed him a bit. He gulped it down in one movement and nodded as well "This is some good shit."
This finally seemed to break the awkwardness as the troops slowly relaxed and went about their day, while the officers allowed themselves to slowly sit back by the fire.
They were silent for a while longer but after a while Tiberius was unable to take it anymore and asked in a slightly disturbed tone tinged with awe "I am sorry... but what in all the gods' names just happened?!"
The rest seemed just as curious, if a bit more wisely reluctant to ask me. Smiling eerily I shrugged my shoulders and waved it off like it was not a big deal "Boethiah tried serenading me, I refused."
I barely held myself back from laughing aloud when my words finally clicked. Oren looked scared shitless, the Paladin nodded in approval, Thorfinn looked at me like I was an idiot, Garm laughed his ass off, Zarok looked just about ready to piss himself and Tiberius definitely regretted ever asking me anything."
"But that is enough about my demonic escapades." I cut into their mental breakdowns with a clap of my hands "What have you lot been up to recently?"
We spent a good two hours catching up after that, we were in no hurry since unless Tullius sent out orders we would not be doing anything for as long as two full days.
Tiberius was the first to answer, almost gleefully describing the increasing responsibilities delegated to him by Imperial Command due to his immense flexibility on the field and his ability to save up on manpower due to simply being able to resummon his servants should they fall in battle.
Exactly the reason Tullius called him Battlemage back in the main camp, his promotion was as inevitable as the big head he inevitably got from it. Naturally, all it took for him to suddenly appear as humble as a priest was for me to idly ask him about his combat magic training.
Even after all his experiences he somehow still managed to slack off...
'You know, the biggest irony is that idiots like this are the ones to usually survive.' Scorch points out unhelpfully.
Zarok was far less willing to engage in any 'non-professional' conversation with me. Not that he did it out of any disrespect, dude was simply too scared to speak with any real confidence. His men seemingly shared his thoughts as a good chunk of them were former Sprawl residents.
At least I would not have to worry about them disobeying orders.
Garm did not have much to say, the man simply offered me a bottle of mead and a cheer before waddling off to his own people to ensure no one did a funny because of my earlier words.
Thorfinn on the other hand had changed a fair bit. He was still as short as I remembered, poor man was seemingly cursed to remain a pocket prince forevermore but that did not stop him from advancing in other areas.
He had apparently befriended Jarl Assur and the two spent a good chunk of time either sparring together or just being two rambunctious youths when the people weren't looking. The bout of teasing he sentenced himself to when he revealed the fact that the two seduced a pair of twin daughters of the local miller one drunken night almost made his face burn off in embarrassment.
I stopped only when he mentioned something I valued even above annoying people, namely magic. His magical focus turned fully toward alteration, much like the Captain of his hold's guard, and his attainments in casting enhancement spells placed him squarely at the expert level.
He even had a formal declaration from Tolfdir for his ability which earned him even more respect from the hold and had him firmly entrenched in the city's ruling nobility, even at his young age.
But none of their achievements came even close to my own tales so they kept pestering me to tell them about the mad shit I've been doing in recent months. I did fold after a while and proceeded to share a carefully edited tale.
Just as I finished retelling the dragon slaying and the reveal of the Dragonborn to the captive audience, the soldier that dragged Terryn away came up to me and after saluting spoke "The..." He hesitated briefly "Guest is awake, my lord."
I gave the crowd an apologetic look and got up "We will have to continue this later. Enjoy yourselves today because when the sun rises tomorrow I want full discipline back in this camp. Dismissed!"
But he goes completely ignored as Mephala... moans "I love it when you are so commanding~" Before staring straight into the bedridden Dunmer's eyes and offering him
the deal.
The staredown lasts for a good five minutes as I practically feel the idiot genuinely debate
between the pros and cons of being my designated chamber pot and accepting the actual
spirit of his 'wish'.
But his decision was as inevitable as his earlier defeat, as he released a sigh of despair and
nodded slowly.
"Capital." I clap my hands "Now let us see that info you had."
As the grumbling new member of House Dagoth brings out the heavily cursed scroll I hear Mephala mutter into my ear "Do be sure to visit, dear." Before disappearing.
I awoke early the next day with an annoyed frown on my face. I rarely dreamed much, and when I did it was the usual insanity one might expect of someone as overimaginative as I, but this time it was different. I remembered nothing of what I dreamed but I knew it to be something which made me uneasy and uncomfortable.
The possibility of Vaermina fucking with me already was there but I doubted she noticed me
so quickly... or was I underestimating the Daedric rumor mill and paying for it already? My confusion only grew when I woke up the next morning, perfectly fine.
I wanted to ponder the situation further but a mere ten minutes after I awoke, a messenger arrived from the Imperial encampment, carrying Tullius' marching orders now that he had had the time to acquaint himself with the changes in enemy numbers.
How Ulfric managed to double his forces so quickly I was not sure honestly but he was
gambling a lot for a single victory and I would be more than happy to show him the error of his ways.
Ten minutes later we were, all one thousand and one hundred of us men and elves, marching out through the slight fog which had descended upon the future battlefield, the slight rumble of the earth the only real noise that followed our march.
As we approached our designated position I opened my eyes and waited... and waited... and
wa- in the distance, the sound of military ballistae letting loose cracked through the air as
multiple explosions hit the eastern river bank.
Without a word, I summoned my glaive and pointed it forward.
The battle for Dawnstar had begun.
To battle my pretties!
Conquer stones in my name!
If you want to support me directly and get access to 35ish chapters (Some 70k-ish words) in
advance visit my patreon page patreon.com/Rastislav156
If you want to discuss the story or just meme about join my discord server:
https://discord.gg/NSDHGQpvsF (refreshed)Nôv(el)B\\jnn