» Sat May 28, 2011 9:22 am ------------------------------------------
Chapter One: Capture
Erik wiped the grime out of his eyes as he silently cursed his father; Erik muttered to himself as he dug the plow deep into the rocky soil of the Jerall Mountains, it was bad enough that his father Ural the Strong had humiliated him in front of his younger siblings, but he also made him plow the fields with no rest. "For the Nine's sake I am almost a man!" Erik yelled at the snow topped mountain. In Nord customs a boy becomes a man after an extensive journey into the mountains and brings back a pelt of a certain animal, when the boy is at the age of 16, the pelt of the animal also determines the last name that the Nords are given by the elders of the community.
As Erik returned his gaze toward his home at the edge of the fields his heart raced and fear overtook him as he saw flames had engulfed his home. "Father!" Erik yelled as he ran over the broken earth towards his burning home. As Erik arrived his home the heat from the flames drove him back like a physical force, "Father," Erik whispered as he stared towards the flames. Suddenly Erik's pulse quickened as Erik's father staggering forward engulfed in flames as he clutched his youngest daughter Sara.
Ural was a strong man but his strength could not save him or his daughter Sara as he slowly collapsed to the floor only a few feet from the door as a pool of blood slowly spilled onto the ground. "Father.... Sara, please get up, please! Don't leave me here alone!" Erik whispers turned into sobs as he saw that his dad and favorite sister layed motionless on the stone path; as he stumbled toward the forest Erik fell onto the hard soil. Erik got up painfully as he noticed that his clothes were sticky. Erik suddenly started to tremble as he realized that he had fallen into a large puddle of blood that belonged to the rest of his brothers' and sisters' broken bodies lie in a tangled heap fifty feet away.
Erik started to panic as he tore through the woods trying to get anywhere but his home, or what was left of it, however Erik didn't make it far before rough hands forced him to the ground, "Aye, what have we got here? A nasty little boy running away from home?" A horrid voice whispered into Erik's ear as the stranger's rank breath washed over Erik, stunning him and disorienting his senses, Erik struggled with the stranger but that only earned him a sharp crack to the head as the stranger violently struck his head against a rock. "Not so fast you harlet's mistake," the stranger yelled as he smacked Erik's head against the rock again. Erik's vision blurred as he was thrown against the rock again, have to fight, Erik sluggishly thought as he remembered his rusty iron dagger strapped to his boot.
"Get the hell off me you lich!" Erik yelled as he struggled to grab his dagger, Erik's hand finally clutched the dagger. He stabbed wildly at the stranger and heard a satisfying grunt as the stranger landed heavily beside him. As the stranger tried to stagger up he was forced back down again as Erik kicked him in the soft spot and sat on top of him, after the stranger's vision cleared he saw that the boy had somehow gotten a dagger and that the cold metal was biting his skin at the base of his neck. "Go ahead kid, you don't have the strength or guts to do it. You will just beg for your life, just like your father." The stranger laughed only to be cut off and replaced with a gasping and svcking sound as Erik viciously slashed his blade against his throat.
Erik sat back in terrible awe as he watched blood come out of the stranger's throat like a torrent. Erik started to get up before savage howls echoed through the now dark forest, "You killed him you wretched beast you killed him!" A voice howled before a large Breton crashed into the small clearing wielding a crude iron short sword; the Breton roared as he crashed into Erik who was still in shock of what he had done. Erik nearly lost consciousness as he slammed into a tree and lost his grip on the dagger.
"Enough Brekin." A cold voice called, it belonged to a Redguard who wore intricately carved armor of some kind and a mysterious claymore that looked wickedly sharp on his back. The man had a cruel gleam in his hazel eyes as he looked down onto the young Nord. Erik was instantly terrified of the Redguard and identified him immediately as the leader since that a group of rough looking cut-throats was gathered around him. The Breton almost immediately turned from a berserker into a whipped dog.
"Arnuld deserved his fate since he was stupid enough to think that the boy was defenseless. Also if you would stop and look," the Redguard spat as his shifted his cold gaze to Brekin, "you would see what a fine specimen the boy is, he will catch atleat 15,000 septims as a combatant at the Institute." The Redguard said as he smiled coldly, the boy was of slight build for now but he was already almost as tall as a full grown Nord and would quickly add on muscle once he trained at the Institute. "However, you get the honors of subduing our newest prize Brekin." The redguard whispered to the Breton.
Erik glanced at Brekin as he smiled coldly and smashed his fist into Erik's jaw. Erik slammed to the ground and watched the stars start to appear as he silently slipped into darkness.
