A changeling's visit to Skyrim

Fenora’s eyes slowly opened, a few early streams of sunlight blinding her with their brilliance. She groaned as her senses awoke with her and her head started pounding again.

“Grh, oh, were are I?” she moaned “How much did I drink last night?”

“Ah, you’re finally awake.” Came a coarse voice beside her.

Fenroa tilted her head to see an orc woman sitting near her mixing some powders, a shaman by the look of her robes and face paint. She tried to get up, but found her hands and were bound together around a large tree trunk, her feet tied in a similar manner around one of the large roots, preventing any kind of productive movement.

“Ah yes, I apologize for the ropes. But we had to take precautions.” Atub told her.

Frowning, Fenora focused on the ropes around her arms and legs. “Kren dii grin! (Break my bonds)” And the ropes were torn asunder, allowing Fenora to get to her feet.

But no sooner had she stood up, then a wave of pain surged through her, crumpling her to the ground as she coughed up more blood.

“Yes, I wouldn’t keep doing that if I were you.” Atub motioned casually and continued mixing a bowl of a chalky red substance “You were in a pretty bad way last night. But I force-fed you most of my stock of reagents, you seem to be doing fine now. Which reminds me… here, take this.” She handed Fenora a spoonful of the powder and a cup of water.

Fenora didn’t question and eagerly drank it, though the unpleasant dryness and taste made her cringe. “What was that; medicine?” she asked once she’d washed down the foul-tasting stuff.

“Sedative. It took four whole doses of this particular blend to keep you out last night” Atub corrected, chuckling when Fenora went woozy and sprawled on the ground like a puddle. “You nearly killed every one of us actually.”

“Sorry.” Fenora said, being the only thing she could manage to mutter.

“Well… you also saved us immediately before, so I guess that makes up for most of it.” Atub rubbed her chin “Ah, but no matter. We’ve still bigger problems to deal with, problems I have no doubt you could help us to solve.”

Fenora was in no position to add to the conversation, so Atub simply continued.

“You see, for many moons our tribe has been cursed. Malacath, our god, is displeased with us, and our chief Yamarz has become afflicted with a terrible sickness. Because he is weak, our tribe is weak. The giants like the ones you aided us against last night can sense this weakness among us, and have besieged us non-stop ever since.”

Atub paused to collect herself, choose her next words carefully, and make sure no-one else was listening to closely.

“Yamarz is a good leader, as was his father. But… his solution is a terrible one.” Atub said as though she’d just spoken sacrilege “He wishes for us to wall ourselves away, to refuse help from anyone, even our own kin from the other strongholds. If this keeps up, we’ll all be wiped out, slowly but surely.”

“So what can I do?” Fenora said, managing to get into a sitting position.

“I’ve been trying to contact Malacath, but he praises only strength, something we have not shown. And so he ignores my pleas for guidance.” Atub knelt down to Fenora’s level and took her head in her hands “But you! You are far stronger than any of us! I am hesitant to bring an outsider into our affairs, but times are desperate; perhaps with you in our midst, Malacath shall answer.”

“M’kay.” Fenora said through her squished cheeks.

“Again with these pointless rituals Atub?” Yamarz said, looking very bored as he stood around the séance stone with the others in the stronghold.

“I refuse to believe Malacath would abandon us without a chance to prove ourselves.” Atub said as she aligned several items; a troll’s hide, a handful of bear teeth, a few jars of red mush that no-one wished to know more about… “You, elf, I’ll need your help for this. Place your hands on the altar with me.”

“My name’s Fenora.” She told her and did as the shaman said. “What exactly are we trying to do here?”

“Yes, what are you trying to do Atub?” Yamarz butted in “You bring an outsider into our home against my wishes, after she tried to kill us nonetheless! And now you’re wasting your time on these stupid rituals!” he yelled, spit coming from his mouth as he got in Atub’s face and jabbed a finger into her chest.

“The only waste of time here is you Yamarz, you pathetic weakling.” Fenora spoke, her voice deeper and heavily distorted. The rest of the camp, which had already been keeping a respectable distance from Fenora after her assault last night, now backed up even further.

But Yamarz was too angry to care. “You dare insult ME!?” he shifted the direction of his anger “I’ll have your head you stupid elf!”

“I would have yours… for speaking like that to a god!” Fenora yelled back, her eyes coated in black. The world seemed to darken around her as she marched up to Yamarz, who was suddenly on the verge of cowering before her.

“It worked!” Atub said with a mixture or joy and reverence “Malacath has answered us, and speaks through her!”

“That’s right… I have arrived, this champion acts as my voice to- wait. Did you say HER?!” Malacath questioned Atub and quickly patted down his vessel. “Oh this is so embarrassing for me. Are you seriously telling me that even this puny elf is stronger than you now, Yamarz? First you let giants, filthy lumbering GIANTS, take over my shrine to use as theirs toilet, and now THIS!?” Malacath shook Fenora’s head “You don’t deserve to call yourself an orc.”

Yamarz could only stand there baffled, his clansmen’s support for him wavering after being told off by those whom they all worshiped.

“It should be clear what you must do Yamarz. Go to Fallowstone Cave, rid my shrine of this plague… and give it a good scrubbing while you’re at it. In fact, scrub it with the blood of the alpha giant! And then set it on fire!” Malacath ordered, finally content with the awesomeness factor.

“Would you like to add fries and a shake for ten septims more?” Fenora joked.

“Quiet woman!” Malcath wrestled for control of her body “Go Yamarz. Prove to us all what it means to be a true orc! Only then shall I lift this curse.”

And with that, Malacath released control of Fenora’s body for good, returning to Oblivion to… I don’t know, do some crunches and sit-ups or something.

Protein powder yo.

Now that their god had spoken, the orcs had their full attention on Yamarz, waiting for him to speak.

The chieftain let out a disgruntled sigh. “Then I shall venture out for Fallowstone Cave!” he said with forced enthusiasm “Give me a moment to prepare, and I shall end this curse once and for all.”

His kinsmen cheered and praised him as he left to his longhouse to gather equipment and weapons.

“You see Ugor? Everything will be fine now. And you had your doubts about this outsider.” Atub lightly chided her friend.

Ugor huffed “She still attacked us you know. But now Yamarz will save us, just like he always has.”

Atub rolled her eyes and turned to Fenora. “And thank you for helping us.”

“Of course. Sorry again about the whole trying-to-murder-you-in-a-blind-killing-frenzy thing.” Fenora rubbed the back of her head “Things haven’t been going too well for me lately.”

“You are forgiven.” Atub put a hand on her shoulder “Please, join us for breakfast. I believe this will be the first calm meal we’ve had in a very long time.”

“No way! You’re the legendary Dragonborn?!” Gularzob said, leaning over the table with stars in his eyes, despite the fact that doing so had reopened his wound.

“That is so freaking cool bra.” Lob agreed.

“It’s not like I had much choice.” Fenora told them, setting aside her half-eaten goat leg “One day I just happen to kill a dragon and absorb its soul and BAM! I’ve gotta save the world.” She let out a sigh “I should have been back in High Rock tending my farm by now; the place is probably falling apart on me as we speak.”

“You speak of being a hero like it’s a bad thing.” Garakh said questioningly, pausing with her meal as well.

“It’s not bad really, it’s just…” Fenora searched for the right words “Inconvenient… and really tiresome. But if I don’t do something, I know there isn’t anyone else who will. Or at least they haven’t come up to me and said ‘Hey I’m the hero now, leave this to me!’ and I’d be like ‘Cool! Dragons be that way.’, happy ending.”

“Well, I for one am glad you were able to pause in your quest to aid us.” Atub told her “Those giants would have likely crushed us had you not come along.”

“But Yamarz is the one who will truly free us from this scourge!” Ugor chimed in, feeling the outsider was getting more praise than their leader. “Isn’t that right Yamarz?!” she called over to him while he walked to the exit.

It was strange, for one with such a large presence; Fenora hadn’t even noticed him until now.

“Hm? Uh, yes. I must be off!” he waved to them.

Fenora watched as he left, hefting a large pack over his shoulder and struggling to keep it from falling off his back. “Thanks for the meal guys, but I’ve gotta go too.” She said, eyeing the direction Yamarz left in.

…

Yamarz huffed as he struggled to keep his pace up, but he would have to. “Gotta get away from here…” he said to himself “No way I’ fighting a whole tribe of giants…”

“Hey!” A voice called out behind him, making him flinch. “Yamarz!”

“Oh great…” he turned to face the elf, if he played this right he could still walk away without a scuffle “Oh, hello. I didn’t see you there.” he said with a winning smile “You’re that outsider that helped us, Fenris right?”

“Fenora.” she corrected him.

“Right, that. Is there something I can help you with? I’ve kinda got a giant to fight.” He said, gritting his teeth trying to maintain this chipper attitude.

“You certainly seem prepared for it.” Fenora motioned with a nod to his bulging pack.

“Well you know… giants. Gotta be ready for anything… right?” Yamarz awkwardly shifted under Fenora’s calm yet scrutinizing gaze.

“Oh yes, of course.” Fenora then pulled her arms out from behind her back, revealing a pouch full of gold coins and small gems “I’m sure this will be enough to bribe them.”

Yarmarz’s eyes went wide. “Where did-“

“It fell off your belt just outside the stronghold. And I’m guessing you don’t just carry around enough money to buy a house everywhere you go.” She glared at him “So… about those giants.”

Yamarz’s brow cringed and he threw his bag at Fenora. She avoided the massive weight, but was instead grabbed up by the giant orc, who pinned her against a nearby tree.

“This is all YOUR fault!” he screamed in her face.

Fenora grabbed the handle of her sword with her left hand, unsheathing it so it would cut across Yamarz’s chest with a single movement. He immediately dropped her and backstepped, bringing out his axe.

“I’m not the one abandoning my tribe!” Fenora circled him with her sword poised to strike “They trust you, they look up to you! Now you’re robbing them and running like a coward!”

“Stupid outsider, you know nothing!” Yamarz spat “I’m already weak from this curse, barely slept in weeks! And you just had to come along and interfere. Now I have to fight a giant because of you! There’s no way I’m going to die for nothing.”

“And there’s no way I’ll just let those people get wiped out because of your selfishness!” Fenora countered.

“Then how ‘bout you kill that giant instead?! Head that way until you reach the cave with Malacath’s damn shrine and clear it out, if you care so much.” Yamarz pointed in a direction to the northwest “I’m out of here.”

And with that he picked up his pack and kept running before Fenora could retort.

“Huh, clear it out myself. ’S not a bad idea.” She mumbled to herself before quickly checking herself over, sheathing her sword and heading in the direction of Fallowstone cave.

Stross and Barbas walked side by side in silence down the dirt paths outside Whiterun as the sun was slowly rising into the sky, and farmers were heading into their fields to start the day.

Stross swiveled his eyes to the dog and then looked away, and Barbas did the same in return.

“I said I was sorry.” Stross whined like a little kid would whine to their parents after egging a neighbor’s house.

“I can’t believe you screwed up the cake heist because of some stupid random PTSD.” Barbas said bitterly “You weren’t even at that stupid invasion, bug-brain! What’re you complaining about?”

“That’s not the point!” Stross yelled back, a bit louder and more suddenly than he wanted to, but he couldn’t help it “Things are bad for changelings in Equestria. I mean really bad; they always have been, and mostly 'cause we won't stop being evil. But I mean you look around and all you see are cute little ponies, all happy and friendly, no hostility. All the monsters like Manticores, and harpies, and deathmaws are all kept outside the borders of Equestria. But then…”

Stross did a little jig while he sang “One of these ponies is not like the other ones, one of these ponies just isn’t the same…” he stopped his impromptu dance number for a more serious tone “Changelings are terrifying to ponies. The only reason they never bothered to fear us all the time is because they didn’t know we existed; they thought we were myths and legends, stories to tell around a campfire.”

He let out a remorseful sigh. “Ever since that colossal failure of an invasion, we’ve been front and center in ponys’ minds. I know some of our factions are pretty bad, and should be feared for a reason, but I’m pretty sure changelings aren’t un-killable devils from Tartarus that can bend your will to theirs with a single thought and make you slaughter your own loved ones while we revel in your pain and misery.

“But that’s apparently what ponies think we are, and honestly I’m not sure how many believe it or not. Maybe that’s the real reason they haven’t tried hunting us down in our own territory, not because of mercy, but out of fear. I have to wonder what would have happened if we had tried to broker peace on first contact instead of declare war.” Stross rubbed his chin “What if we’d shown up in a crisis, aiding them instead of fighting them. We could have been heroes! We could have been-“

“Gods above! Are you still talking?’ Barbas cut him off. “And to think Clavicus calls me a chatterbox. Anyway, we're here. So look sharp, and don’t mess this up like the last one.”

“Okay!” Stross enthusiastically jogged off.

He then enthusiastically jogged right back. “What are we doing again?” he asked with a sheepish grin.

Barbas face-pawed. “Oh for the love of all that’s- Weren't you even listening to Clavicus back at... We’re here to ruin Honningbrew’s reputation. The owner, Sabjorn, wanted it to be a hot success, but he stupidly came to Clavicus for help. The head of the city guard and a contingent of his men are scheduled to attend an ‘inspection’ this morning. Use your brain, buggy.”

“Hmm, I’m going to scope the place out first!” Stross decided and switched on an invisibility spell, leaving his form little more than a rippling blur.

…

Once he’d cleared the small distance to the meadery and sidled up to the front door, Stross quickly pushed it open and slipped inside to the nearest corner. Immediately he witnessed a rather uncomfortable scene.

“Mallus how many times must I tell you!?” an older man with a receding hairline shouted at one of his subordinates who was sitting at a nearby table reading a book “The guards will be here any minute, and you still haven’t cleaned this place up! Honestly, what do I pay you for?”

Mallus looked up with a bored expression. “You don’t pay me, you son of a whore. I should never have taken that loan all those years ago.”

“I pay you with strong work ethics!” Sabjorn threw a broom at Mallus so the handle smacked him in the face “Now get sweeping! I need to check on the brewery.”

Another man sidled in after Sabjorn had left. “You know he’d probably go easier on you if you just did your work, right?”

“Oh I’m sorry Eimar, I believe kissing his ass is your job; you volunteered so eagerly after all.” Mallus snarked “Sod off. I’ve got work to not do.”

Eimar just shook his head in shame before leaving as well. Stross silently stepped around the entrance and behind the counter, trying to get his bearings before planning his first move. If what he just saw from Sabjorn was any indication of how he worked, he definitely deserved to be taken down a peg.

“You’re not very good at this are you?” came Mallus’s uncaring droll “I can tell you’re there. If you’re going to steal anything, I recommend checking the safe in Sabjorn’s office; the key is under his pillow.”

“Wait what?” Stross asked, dropping his invisibility and walking over to the inattentive worker.

“Oh, well look at that, a Nightingale of all things. You must be a newbie if I can see you.” Mallus said, his interest perking up by the tiniest bit “But like I said, do as you wish. I couldn’t care less what happens to this place, or that conniving bastard Sabjorn.”

Stross thought about this. Mallus already knew the ins and outs of Honningbrew, and could help him reach his goal. “So you know a way I could sabotage Sabjorn’s reputation?”

Mallus handed him a book. “Here,” he said “It’s my personal wishlist of things I’ve been wanting to do to the bastard.”

Stross gave Mallus a look of surprise, but began flipping through the pages anyway. In the book was described everything from torture, to murder, to political scandal the likes of which would take years to accomplish, and even then most of it only seemed possible in dreams.

Stross was pale by the time he’d finished half the book. “Uh, do you have anything milder?” he asked as he passed it back.

Mallus frowned, but turned his head to the door as his ears caught something. “Guards are here. Get lost.”

Stross didn’t need to be told twice, and quickly darted downstairs into the basement where all the barrels of mead were stored. Apparently Mallus really was negligent when it came to his duties, as there were rats and cobwebs everywhere in the musty dusty cellar. He had made himself hidden not a moment too soon either, as he heard the door swing open loudly and several pairs of armored boots stomp in.

“Well, Sabjorn, the boys and I are here for our weekly inspection.” a firm and commanding voice said with a distinct lack of actual authority “You've taken care of your little pest problem, haven’t you?”

Stross recloaked to peek outside at the events unfolding.

“Ah yes, here at Honningbrew you’ll find only the finest quality in both out mead, and our establishments. I think you’ll find this place is quite up to standards.”

Suddenly a mouse scampered across the floor.

“Eh-heh, as long as you don’t look too hard.” Sabjorn chuckled while giving a quick glare to Mallus.

“When do we get to sample the mead?” one of the eight guards asked bluntly.

“Ah yes, of course…” Sabjorn moved around the counter to the taps, happy for a change of subject “Help yourself, gentlemen. This is my finest brew yet... I call it Honningbrew Reserve. I think you'll find it quite pleasing to your palate, but I do recommend caution; the taste can be dangerously incredible.” He joked.

“Now this is what I’m talking about.” The guard captain grabbed the first mug “Let’s all find out if Honningbrew has ‘passed inspection’, eh fellas?”

The rest of the guards joined him in a rousing toast, drinking the amber liquid down with gusto.

It was then that a delivery boy came up from the cellar carrying a large, dirty-looking crate. “Hey boss, here’s that spider venom and skeever droppings you wanted for the mead!” he said in a loud and overdramatic tone.

Several of the guards coughed, sputtered and spit up their drink all over the floor.

“Guardsmen I assure you, I can explain I- Just wait. Hold on here a minute.” Sabjorn walked over to the delivery boy “What are you doing here?” He hissed in Stross’d ear “You weren’t supposed to get here with this delivery until tomorrow.”

“Wait, what? You actually put spider venom in your mead?!” the delivery boy said, clearly confused.

Sabjorn stepped back “Wait… you’re not the guy that delivers the spider venom and skeever droppings! What is going on here?!”

“What’s ‘going on here’ Sabjorn, is that you’re under arrest!” the guard captain stormed over and drew his sword “Trying to profit off of tainted mead; I’ll see you rot in the dungeon for this! Now move!”

“This is impossible, there must be some kind of mistake. There’s no law against this kind of practice, mead is poison anyway!” Sabjorn yelled as a guard dragged him off.

Many of the guards gasped in disbelief, one even shrieked like a lady and fainted.

“We’ll have you charged with sacrilege as well you imperial, tea-loving, mead hater!” the captain spat in his face “Take him away! You there,” he pointed to Mallus “You’re in charge now.”

Mallus jumped up in an uncharacteristic display of pure joy. “Yes! Suck it Sabjorn, Mallus Maccius is in control now!” he threw his hands in the air and taunted his former boss. “Eimar… get me a sandwich.”

Outside the meadery, hidden from view around a corner, a young delivery boy dove out an open window where his canine companion was waiting. A pulse of red embers washed over him to reveal his true form.

“Well that worked better than I could have hoped.” Stross said as he discarded his makeshift delivery boy getup and redonned his Nightingale armor “Aaannd it turned out Sabjorn neither conformed to workers’ rights, or to quality control. I’m not evil for doing this, yay!”

“I gotta admit, ya did good in there. It was easy work and you barely did anything anyway, but ya did good.” Barbas gave him a nod. “Now let’s get back to Clavicus and-“

“AAAHHH! Oh gods they’re all over the place!” came a frantic yell from the front of the meadery.

Barbas shifted his eyes back and forth. “… let’s get back to-“

“So many teeth!”

“Let’s-“

“Won’t someone help us?!”

“… le-“

“Screw it, I’m going out there!” Stross ignored Barbas and charged around the corner, igniting his hands, ready for anything.

The scene he found was one of utter chaos; giant skeevers were swarming the yard in front of the meadery, pouring out of the building full of boiling vats. The guards were fighting a losing battle, many of them were already on the ground, parilized by the skeevers’ venom and frothing at the mouth. The captain and the two guards that had not already fallen were frantically hacking, kicking and stomping the giant rats away.

Meanwhile, an elderly mage clothed in fur and a cloak of shredded leather stood among them with his arms outstretched. “They laughed at me, they said I was mad! But now I’ll show them, I’ll show them all!” he laughed manically “Go my swarming brethren! Go and devour all who stand before you! Show them that Hamelyn the rat master will not take their insults and disgrace lying down! Vengeance!”

“Aw rats.” Stross muttered before taking to the sky and condensing a volatile ball of fire.

Fenora stood outside the entrance to Fallowstone cave. There were telltale signs of giants living there; painted rocks, and stings of bones littering the entrance.

Drawing her sword, Fenora took a deep breath and walked through the narrow passage. How any giant managed to fit through was beyond her.

Inside Fallowstone was beautiful. It was a large cave hollowed out of the mountain, with large pine trees growing up towards the light granted by hole in the ceiling. Snow drifted down through that hole as well, and anything that melted at the top flowed down as a waterfall that eventually became a branching stream of rivers that flowed through the rest of the cave.

But Fenora didn’t come there for sightseeing, and even through its splendor, she could see even more evidence of the giant’s presence. There were bloodstains, piles of shattered animal bones, and more of those painted rock shrines everywhere.

It seemed as though she was not the first to enter this place either. Immediately to her right was the corpse of a bandit, or perhaps a mercenary. It was hard to tell with how smashed in their torso was.

Fenora knelt down to the dead woman, and gave a customary moment of silence before looting her remains for any choice bits of gear.

With a few extra pieces of gold, a couple small heath potions, and a new satchel to carry them in, Fenora cautiously crept deeper into the cave.

…

The journey to the end of the cave was surprisingly uneventful. After traversing some natural steps made by a series of small drop-offs, and dispatching a single giant lurking about via a sneak attack and subsequent impaling, Fenora found yet another dead body.

“Huh, you know I thought this would be way harder.” She said to the fallen orc as she pulled his shield off his arm and slung it over her back “I thought these giants would be stronger, or at least there would be more of them. But they can’t even swing those clubs straight.”

The dead orc responded by being a dead orc.

“I guess all the others are out hunting. Or maybe I just killed the rest when they were attacking the stronghold.” Fenora surmised “Anyway, thanks for the stuff buddy.” She thanked the corpse as she pocketed his loose change and lockpicks. And with that, she moved on to defeat the dungeon boss.

As she entered the final area, Fenora found the gaint’s leader. It was a massive thing, even taller and larger than a regular giant, wielding an entire massive tree trunk as its weapon. The leader and three of its underlings sat around a giant bonfire in front of the shrine to Malacath, roasting a whole mammoth, tusks, hide and all.

She crept up a bit closer and watched them, devising a plan of attack.

Then one of the giants got up and walked over to Malacath’s shrine. It unzipped its loincloth, and there was the distinct sound of liquid hitting rock. After a few seconds it let out a satisfied grunt and trudged back over to the fire.

“Well… I guess that’s better than using a shrine as decoration.” Fenora muttered.

Apparently the giants’ leader had heard this, as it stood up and thrust its chest forward in a “Come at me bro” stance.

Fenora decided that her cover was officially blown, and stepped into the open, drawing her sword and shield. She stood there in what was admittedly a pretty epic pose, weapons at the ready, standing there like a badass as a slight breeze ran through her hair and coat.

The giants stood there looking at her for a second, seemingly confused for some reason. They then looked between each other scratching their heads. One made a motion of grasping at its chest with its hands, looking to the others for confirmation.

The others looked back at her before nodding.

Then, one by one they started snickering. The snickering soon became hooting laughter as the gangly brutes stared making what looked to be vaugely effeminate gestures and laughing more. It took a second for it to click in her brain, but once she did, Fenora was outraged by what they were saying. And it basically boiled down to this;

(“Come at me bro!”)

(“Hold up bro, is that a chick facing us down? Are you guys seeing this too bro?”)

(“Yeah bro, that’s totally a chick.”)

(“Bro that’s crazy, everyone knows chicks can’t fight!”)

(“Right bro? They're all like Oh look at me, I’m a big tough lady hero. Oh no- I chipped a nail! Bah hahaha!”)

(“Oh, let me try. Ahem… I might smear my makeup if I fall. HA ha ha!”)

(Umm... Periods.)

(...)

(“HA-HAH HA HO-HAHA! Good one bro.”)

Well Fenora wasn’t taking none o’ that smack!

“Oi! Are you dude-bros questioning my awesomeness because of my gender?! My inherent badass factor is more than a match for your testosterone fueled tomfoolery!” she yelled taking an even more aggressive stance. “How ‘bout you come over here and say that to my face!? I’ll show you what a proper beating feels like! I'll hit you right in your incredibly vulnerable man-parts!”

One of the giants grunted and jabbed a finger at her before crossing its arms as if saying “Those words had too many syllables. Say you’re sorry!”

The leader shoved the others out of the way and stood to accept Fenora’s challenge, grunting something along the lines of “Chill out bro, I got this.”

The giant hefted its massive log above its head and brought it down with a force that shook the earth, but expectedly, its target had moved out of the way the second it began choreographing its attack.

It was prepared for this however, and quickly shifted its body to drag its club sideways in a large and fast sweeping motion that caught the elf in its arc, getting her airborn in the process.

Fenora managed to recover from the blow and land on her feet. The size of the log actually helped distribute the force of the impact rather than increase it, but she knew a direct hit would be the end of her. She dashed forward and swung her blade, carving a mark in the giant’s massive boot and into its leg.

The giant seemingly shrugged this off though, clearly made of tougher stuff than its lesser brethren, and used that very same leg to punt the elf across the battleground as the others cheered it on.

Fenora got up with a grunt, her ribs aching from that kick. It was time to bring it up a notch.

“Iiz Slen Nus!” she used the Ice Form shout, catching the giant in its wake and freezing it over “KREN! (shatter)”

The ice did shatter, but not like she’d hoped. Instead of turning to a bunch of frozen meat bits, the giant had resisted the initial ice form shout, and when the ice broke it simply left a series of bloody gashes and frostbite.

The giant roared. (Aw 'blivion naw, you did not just give me the cold shoulder dude-chick-bro!)

It charged forward, and Fenora made to dodge but her movements were more sluggish than before. When the giant brought his club down a second time, she had no choice but to block it with her shield.

There was a clang of metal denting and bending, wood being splintered, and the sickening sound of bone snapping as Fenora was smashed into the ground. She cried out in pain as the log was dragged off her, and she was forced to roll out of the way of a killing blow.

She breathed heavily, looking to her arm hanging limply from her side with the remains of a shield still clinging to it.

Gritting her teeth, Fenora called upon her thu’um once more. “Rathol Nah Do Qo Wah Dii Zahkrii! (Channel the fury of lightning to my sword.)”

With her echoing call, her sword’s black blade was encased in lighting, and a chorus like a thousand birds drowned out nearly all other noise.

Fenora charged forward towards the giant. It raised its massive club to block her assault, but she struck it, and the tree trunk was torn in half, splinters flying everywhere.

“Chidori blade!” Fenora yelled as she leapt and drove her sword into the giant’s chest. “Fus, Krentaan Dii Paal! (Force, sunder my foe.)”

As soon as the words left her mouth and were channeled through her blade, a great pulse of energy was forced into the giant’s body, liquefying its organs, and causing its limbs to fly off while a geyser of blood erupted from its mouth.

Fenora slowly turned her head to face the other three giants, who were trembling in fear at this point.

One of them threw its hands up and let out a most undude-like shriek. (Shit be whack, yo!)

The others quickly agreed with it and they ran away, scrambling up the sides of the cave to escape.

Fenora heaved a sigh of relief, droplets of blood falling from her mouth and the headaches returning. The adrenaline from the fight wearing off as well and letting her know just how badly she was hurt. With her good arm she reached into her satchel for the healing potions, but to her misfortune, she found that all but one had been destroyed at some point during the fight.

Sighing, she set it carefully on the ground and removed the remains of her shield, having to forcefully pry the twisted metal off. It was not exactly pleasant.

She rolled back the sleeve of her armor to find that the bone was sticking out through her skin, but at least it looked to be in one piece. Gritting her teeth, Fenora fought through the pain as she realigned the bone.

Quickly uncorking the healing potion, she took a small sip of it before pouring the rest into the open gash in her arm. The gash closed up quickly enough, leaving only a small red line to show it had been there in the first place. The bones inside were probably a different story however, and she’d likely need a couple more potions and some rest before they healed completely.

She smirked at a thought that just occurred. “If Stross were here, he would have fixed me to mint condition by now. He’d probably scold me on how reckless I was too… and then I’d just hug him and say I’d be more careful next time… and he’d say ‘no you won’t’ but hug me back anyway.” she chuckled to herself “And he’d be right.

“Where is Stross right now?” she wondered.

“Wherever he is, he’s probably safer than you’re about to be!” came a familiar mocking voice “But regardless, thanks for taking care of that giant for me.”

Fenora got to her feet to face the chieftain. “I didn’t do it for you, you coward. You left, remember? I did this so the others at the stronghold wouldn’t be killed.”

“Whatever. What matters is you did it!” Yamarz declared, though it was far from congratulatory “That means I can go back and tell them all that I did it! Unfortunately, that means I can’t let you leave here alive; wouldn’t want you telling anyone the truth after all.”

“Are you stupid or something?” Fenora asked him “I just killed a giant- ‘Blivion, I killed six more at your stronghold! Why in the world do you think you could take me on and win?”

*Fwip*

A poison dart stuck in Fenora’s neck, and suddenly her body locked up on her. “Gard… derrnit!” she managed to growl from behind her teeth.

Yamarz strutted up to her, casually discarding his blowgun in favor of his axe. “And now to end this.” He raised his axe to execute her.

“Well now that’s just cheating…” Malacath’s voice echoed in the back of Fenora’s mind.

Yamarz swung his axe, expecting to hear the satisfying sound of it cutting through bone.  But instead, all he got was a silent thwump.

Somehow, Fenora had managed to move her hand to intercept it. She grabbed the shaft and yanked it away in that moment of surprise.

“W-what, how!?” Yamarz backed up a few steps as Fenora stiffly got to her feet and glared at him.

“You want to know how?” Fenora growled as she grabbed him by the collar of his armor and miraculously lifted him off the ground “I’m the Dragonborm, motherfucker. Fus… RO DAH!”

The unrelenting force hit Yamarz in the face point blank, snapping his neck and killing him instantly.

“Yamarz was a coward. Always scheming his way out of responsibility.” Malacath spoke through his shrine as Fenora panted, letting Yamarz’s body fall to the ground “But you have done well; you have done what he could not, and rid my shrine of these disgusting creatures. You even managed to defeat Yamarz himself… with a little help from me of course.”

“So what now?” Fenora asked the daedra.

“Normally I’d make you the new chief.” Malacath told her “But seeing as how you’re neither an orc, nor a male, that just wouldn’t work.”

Fenora frowned “Are you seriou-“

“However!” Malacath cut her off “You’ve proven your strength. Here, take Volundrung, this big-ass hammer.” Suddenly a giant, spiky glowing warhammer appeared in her hands “Now go. Return to Largashbur and tell them that Gularzob is the new chief, I gotta do some more chin-ups.”