Board Thread:Roleplaying/@comment-29559990-20160630223627/@comment-7262318-20160813204147

"If they can make it back..." Mongo murmured. "I will go see if there's anything worth taking in this place."

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PART I:

“Well, look who decided to show up,” Taronan smirked as he saw his old comrade walking with purpose. “I thought the wolf would have chewed you up first.”

            Athorian simply glared at the monster standing before him. There was a guard on his left and on his right. It amazed him how he was managing to keep his composure. Even with a giant wolf tearing down his men right behind him, he was still as smug as ever. And it only served to make Athorian more infuriated.

            “Aw, what’s up? You mad because I stabbed your wife?” Taronan nodded to the men on either side of him, and they both stepped forward with their swords drawn. “You come to get revenge, have ya?”

            Athorian didn’t answer.

            “It ain’t happenin’, bud,” Taronan smirked. “I have plans to live past this day. You think taking down the Emperor means something to me? Nah, I’ve served plenty of rulers. Seen em all rise, and seen em-“

            Taronan didn’t even have the time to finish his sentence before his men were dead. In one quick move, Athorian had removed their skulls from their bodies, severed the necks, and let the blood pour from the gaping hole on their shoulders. He stood now, his red-coated sword pointed at his former CO.

            “ – all fall…” Taronan finished.

            “This is the last one you’ll see fall,” Athorian stated. “This time, I’ll make sure you stay dead.”

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;line-height:107%;font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif;mso-bidi-font-family:"TimesNewRoman";mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi">            “This time, you won’t stab me in the back,” Taronan replied. He grabbed his own sword and stepped down. He and Athorian were now on even ground.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;line-height:107%;font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif;mso-bidi-font-family:"TimesNewRoman";mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi">            “You know that was what they wanted,” said Taronan.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;line-height:107%;font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif;mso-bidi-font-family:"TimesNewRoman";mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi">            “Who?”

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;line-height:107%;font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif;mso-bidi-font-family:"TimesNewRoman";mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi">            “The rebels in Rihad. This is what they wanted. The Dominion to fall in on itself. Make traitors, make rebels. And you bought into it.”

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;line-height:107%;font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif;mso-bidi-font-family:"TimesNewRoman";mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi">            “I didn’t buy into anything,” Athorian snapped. “I saw the Thalmor agenda that day. Kill everything that might be a traitor! No reason, no cases made! Just murder! And you went along with it! Like the easily-manipulated sheep you are!”

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;line-height:107%;font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif;mso-bidi-font-family:"TimesNewRoman";mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi">            Taronan stood silent for a moment, his smug smile turning into a glare, and letting his defenses down for just a moment. “You don’t think I realized that?”

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;line-height:107%;font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif;mso-bidi-font-family:"TimesNewRoman";mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi">            He looked back towards the city as the wolf took another 5 men or so into its gullet. “The CO’s knew what they were going to do. What hell they were about to unleash, what atrocities they were about to commit. But we did it. We did it for the Dominion, Athorian.”

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;line-height:107%;font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif;mso-bidi-font-family:"TimesNewRoman";mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi">            Athorian thought about it for a moment. “We murdered a lotta men that did nothing wrong. We pillaed, we raped. We did things that most would consider inhuman. But after that, those who survived learned their place. Rihad never bothered us again. Rebels gave up and ran for the hills.”

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;line-height:107%;font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif;mso-bidi-font-family:"TimesNewRoman";mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi">            “You think that justifies what happened?”

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;line-height:107%;font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif;mso-bidi-font-family:"TimesNewRoman";mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi">            “No. But we won. They lost. That’s all that mattered,” Taronan said. All the while this conversation had been transpiring, his left hand had drifted down towards his belt and had now seized a dagger on it. He launched it forward towards Athorian’s head.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;line-height:107%;font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif;mso-bidi-font-family:"TimesNewRoman";mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi">            The High Elf ducked, and the sharpened metal went flying over his head. Taronan took the moment to dash forward and swing down his sword, but Athorian was able to block that and roll out of the way.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;line-height:107%;font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif;mso-bidi-font-family:"TimesNewRoman";mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi">            “You’re not escaping this time,” Taronan growled, hastily catching up to Athorian and hacking away at him. Each attempt was countered, parried, and blocked. Eventually, Ath managed to create some distance by jamming his foot into Taronan’s shin and rolling onto his feet.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;line-height:107%;font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif;mso-bidi-font-family:"TimesNewRoman";mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi">            “It was never the plan,” Ath growled. He charged forward and swung his sword down onto Taronan’s, knocking it to the ground and pinning it under his boot. Taronan retreated until he felt a brick wall against his back.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;line-height:107%;font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif;mso-bidi-font-family:"TimesNewRoman";mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi">            Now with nowhere to run, Athorian expertly kicked the sword up into his hands, and approached his former commander. Just as he was about to finish him, a deafening howl echoe’d throughout the city and blasted the eardrums of the Ex-Thalmor.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;line-height:107%;font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif;mso-bidi-font-family:"TimesNewRoman";mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi">            Athorian covered his ears, pained, and looked back to see the wolf was closer than he thought. He was gobbling up scared outsiders and the Emperor’s people quickly. He was coming this way, too.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;line-height:107%;font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif;mso-bidi-font-family:"TimesNewRoman";mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi">            This distraction gave Taronan more than enough time to regain control of his sword and drive his boot into Athorian’s gut, thus creating room for him to run. However, it wouldn’t do him any good. Athorian would chase him down, for sure, and if not him, the wolf.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;line-height:107%;font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif;mso-bidi-font-family:"TimesNewRoman";mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi">            He backpedaled up a flight of stairs and ran inside to what appeared to be an old Smith workshop.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;line-height:107%;font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif;mso-bidi-font-family:"TimesNewRoman";mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi">            Athorian watched him go, and was about to chase him inside, until he felt the ground shake. It told him the wolf was coming this way, and would probably smash through the building. That would kill, Taronan.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;line-height:107%;font-family: "Helvetica",sans-serif;mso-bidi-font-family:"TimesNewRoman";mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi">            But it wouldn’t do. He would need to see the corpse to know he was dead. He would need to rip out this monster’s heart if he hoped to finally put him away. And so, with his grip tightening by the moment, he ran inside. With the divines as his witness, he would be the one to bring Taronan’s reign of terror to an end.