Chapter 337 - Escape
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Alaric was awakened from his hut and was dragged by his men out. A crisis happened.
"Prince, you need to come."
"What is that noise?"
"The Nord, 'God Blood', he broke free."
"Impossible!"
It was completely not possible. The Nord was finally dying after two months of anticipation. They almost gave up and now what? He broke free.
"Did you capture him?"
"... No… Prince, something terrible happened."
The man led Alaric to the place where Forsworn warriors were gathered. It was a hole opened in the mountain leading to a cave, that cave was leading to one of the Briarheart Groves.
As soon as Alaric reached the inner cave, more people gathered and a lot of cries were heard. What Alaric saw made him almost go insane with anger.
How in the world… why?
Children, they were lying on the ground in puddles of their own blood. They were his part of his tribe and he knew some of them by name. They were all the children that Grosh plays with.
Just as his brother crossed his mind, Alaric started looking around for Grosh.
"Hey, has anyone seen Grosh? Where is my brother?"
Alaric looked and looked and entered the Briarheart Grove.
"Gods!"
He saw every single tree in the Grove charred black like what happened with the Saplings some time ago. Still, the real shock was still to come.
On the largest Briarheart Tree where the Nord was trapped, there was a large thing waiting for him resting on the tree.
Alaric's being froze in its place. He didn't want to take a look or look away, he didn't want to go closer or go further. He was just frozen.
He saw something his head couldn't accept at all. He didn't understand it even though it was clear to him as the light of day.
Shock!
Disbelief!
Denial!
"No."
He shook his head.
That is not how it was supposed to happen. That is not it at all.
"Grosh! Please no!"
His brother that protected him for years and they stood together in many battles against both Nords and Reachmen was just lying there head and body separated. Jon meant it that the body would be visible and the head stuck on the tree.
Alaric kept looking at the scene with anger swelling inside him, he was about to shout and rage but someone came running.
"We found him! We found the Nord!" A Forsworn boy came running.
"Go down there and capture him!" Alaric shouted with eyes bloodshot.
"He… He didn't go down, Prince. He went up the mountain!"
Alaric and the Forsworn were taken aback for a second. Everyone knew what is up the mountain.
Alaric pushed it all to the back of his head and shouted.
"GO AFTER HIM! Break his limbs and don't let him die yet! GO!"
Alaric shouted at the men behind him and walked to Grosh's body lying it down and putting the head where it should be. He stained his hand with his brother's blood and marked on his face.
"Whoever kills him will be killed. That Nord is mine!"
***
Since the moment he stepped out of the cave, Jon smelled the fresh air he was deprived from for two months. Being forced to live in the hell hole of the Briarheart Grove for that time made him forget how the world smelled so nice. The Briarheart Grove was filled with corpses after all.
Jon knew where he was, according to Shadow, he was southeast of the Reach not far off Old Hroldan. The place he was in was known as 'Lost Valley Redoubt', an old ruin filled with Forsworn savages.
The place was one of the Game's best locations too.
Jon looked around and made sure that he wasn't spotted. Lucky for him, he found a sleeping Forsworn stationed on the cave with a few arrows with him. Jon finished the guy by cutting his head in one slash with [Greed].
He threw the corpse back in the cave and exchanged the rags on him with some of the Forsworn's iconic gear of hide and bone.
There was no way he can go down there mountain as he will be found out right away just by his side. At least the disguise he has can support him for a bit if he went up and from there, he knew the way out.
The road up the hill was not hard, it was still early in the morning and Jon was in a mood that is hard to describe. It was his birthday and he was breaking free after two months of humiliation and imprisonment. He was happy that he was finally free and he was in a grim mood to as he was barely resisting the urge to kill every Forsworn he saw.
Until the way up the mountain, Jon knew he would find a large waterfall with a large portion of the ruins. Up there, there was a Nordic Word wall that he already knew what it was all about as Shadow has memorized its content for Jon.
Still, there was some sort of party going around the Word Wall on the summit. Jon knew what to expect once he reached up there.
'Hagravens!'
He sneaked quietly until he saw the three hags that survived the fight with him were busy creating a Briarheart Warrior in a hurry. It seems they are working on a complicated ritual.
"Heart of thorn... bones of the wild... in life, Forsworn… rise from death, Blood of our Blood!" The hags kept chanting.
Jon has seen that ritual a few times in the Grove so he was familiar with all that Dark Magic. Because of that, he kept waiting until the crucial moment came. Once the Hags were about to place the Briarheart Seed in the dead warrior, Jon transformed [Greed] into a bow and used and Arrow to shoot the hand holding the Briarheart Seed.
"GAAAA!" The hag screamed but Jon didn't give her any chance to cause a scene. In the next second, he shot three arrows all to her head.
The other two hags were busy trying to cover their sister and Jon used that to sneak in as fast as possible and assassinate one of the hags.
The second was about to lash at Jon but he took the third Hag as a hostage right away!
"Stay!" He said.
"Curses! Curses on you…"
The free hag seemed to be retreating so Jon kicked her sister towards her and the thrust with [Greed] in the form of a spear.
The two hags struggled for a bit but Jon transformed [Greed] that was stabbing them and obliterated them from inside.
A smirk showed on Jon's face as he interrupted the ritual successfully. He finally killed those three annoying hags that tortured him a lot the past month.
He looked around and destroyed some evil totems then gathered some alchemical ingredients that are easy to preserve and fetch money in a bag he found. As he finished, started to make a big fire at the end of the way to the summit.
***
Alaric finally caught up to Jon only to find Jon waiting for him near the waterfall on the summit. This summit was known as 'Bard's Leap Summit', a place only the bravest of souls would step in.
Jon stood alone on the end of the way up with a fire in front of him facing Alaric and his horde, he seemed to be preparing for something big.
Alaric looked at him with rage.
"Nord, I'll kill you for what you have done." Alaric stepped forward aiming [Bloodskal] at its owner.
Jon smirked disdainfully and picked up something from the ground. It was the three severed heads of the Hagravens.
"No!"
"It can't be… he killed the rest of the Matrons!"
The Forsworn were infuriated at Jon and all aimed their weapons at him. Sadly, none can hurt him now as his plan was already complete. He just threw the heads of the Raven in the Fire along with some other prepared ingredients. The Fire in front of him turned green and some strange noises came out as if the hags were still screaming. This was one kind of the Hedge Magic that Jon picked up from observing the Hags the last couple of months. Something that didn't need Magicka but rather a sacrifice.
As the screaming sounds started to settle, three points in the ground formed up and expanded like portals. From them, three foul creatures walked out.
The creatures were large humanoids with crow heads and legs with large black wings on their backs and sickles in their hands. They looked like a very advanced form of the Hagravens but only Jon knew what these are. They are called 'Wraiths of Crows' and they come from the daedric realm of Evergloam, Nocturnal's realm in Oblivion.
Once those creatures appeared, the Reachmen froze at their places. Something so unfamiliar can bring confusion regardless of the situation.
Jon, on the other hand, walked away with light steps. He may have summoned the 'Wraiths of Crows' but he has no power over them. These creatures were unbound which means he will get attacked if he gets noticed.
*SCREEEECH*
Sure enough, the creatures he summoned we're powerful and didn't disappoint him. They viciously screeched and rushed at the first target they saw, the Forsworn.
"Get rid of those. I want to rip him apart." Alaric was still enraged and rallied his men at the Daedric creatures.
A fight started at the narrow path up and the 'Wraiths of Crows' proved to be too tough to. The Briarheart Warriors were all stationed away from here and there was no time. No one knew what Jon was planning next.
Alaric was desperately fighting the creatures Jon summoned and seemed desperate.
"Prince, there is no way down from up there. The Nord won't go anywhere." A man said.
"No! There is a way down. The Leap."
"That's… impossible… Damn it! We will buy you time, Prince."
The man understood what leap Alaric was talking about. Bard's Leap Summit is high place on the Jerral Mountains and a place where a river flows down into a waterfall. On the edge of the waterfall, there was a walkway overlooking the whole reach. One can say it is a very high and steep place that walkway was on.
Right now, Jon was standing on the Edge of the walkway and someone arrived behind him. Jon barely looked with half an eye before looking forward again.
"You… You murderous son of a bitch. I won't let you die if not by my hands." Alaric spoke to Jon with hate.
"So… far… you are… not doing a… very good… job." Jon mocked.
"Even if you survive the leap, you won't go too far. We will drag you back and I will torture you to death. I swear on the name of my grandfather, King Madanach, that you won't get away from me." Alaric held [Bloodskal] and pointed it at Jon.
"Madanach?! Right… they call… you 'Prince'."
Jon smiled vividly. He knew the King in Rags, Madanach. He put many dots together now.
"I will… come for... you, Blood Eagle." Jon left Alaric with those words.
"DON'T YOU DARE! DON'T YOU DARE JUMP DOWN!" Alaric was desperately trying to get his hands on Jon.
Jon looked at Alaric disdainfully.
"Bitch… Dare is… my surname. And, I fly."
Jon reached the end of the walkway and let himself fall.
"NO!"
Alaric ran towards Jon only to see him falling but not for long. Suddenly, [Greed] expanded on Jon's body and made a wingsuit. Jon glided outside of the Forsworn camp to the Karth River.
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