Traveling through The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim

"Killing!"

The onlookers were slow to react, realizing that in just a few minutes, four people had already been killed. Who would dare stand with those three thugs? Screams erupted, and everyone rushed down the mountain impatiently. The fragile human barrier of the guards was instantly torn apart, and the gang also turned ruthless, swinging their swords and killing indiscriminately.

The chaotic crowd and frantic guards gave the instigator a chance to escape. Aiola and Cindy carried Idene and fled down the mountain.

boom!

Another loud explosion echoed from the south city, accompanied by a massive fireball soaring into the sky. Even as countless people screamed at the top of their lungs not far away, Aigis could still clearly hear the cries of killing emanating from the opposite hillside.

At the same time, plumes of smoke suddenly billowed from the North City. Markarth's buildings were mostly constructed of stone, so fires were rare, let alone multiple fires. There was no doubt it was arson.

The whole city was in chaos.

Aigis lay quietly, fiddling with the eight remaining arrows in the jar. Iola and Cindy's methods were so brutal that people chose to ignore her, the one who launched the attack. The little cat girl hadn't forgotten her mission. She hoped to find an opportunity to descend the mountain from the north and explore the Silver Blood Family's treasure chamber.

The conflict in front of the temple has turned into a brawl.

Hundreds of people attended the Love Heart Festival. Initially, horrified by the murder, they fled for their lives. The Silver Blood Family's guards, numbering only a dozen or so, were dispersed by the crowd and began to kill without distinction. Once everyone came to their senses, they rose up in resistance, killing several men in a flurry of attacks. The remaining guards dropped their weapons and fled.

The small square in front of the temple was littered with corpses and blood. Agis weaved through the treetops, following the crowd down the mountain. She ran, following the sound of running water, and soon she saw the door to the treasure room.

The sheer number of people gathered there made her scalp tingle. They were all swathed in cloaks bearing the Silver Blood emblem. Torches flickered everywhere, like countless eerie eyes flickering. Four men stood guard at the door, their swords unsheathed, reflecting a blinding cold light. Servants came and went, carrying all sorts of equipment.

Under the command of a man carrying a big axe, those who received equipment lined up and set off, and more people came from nearby.

Aigis knew she wouldn't have a chance tonight. She could either flee the city with Cindy and the others as planned, or continue hiding in the slums. Either way, she had to return to the south of the city.

The little cat girl soon discovered that this was not easy to do.

The city of Markarth is already seething.

The northern part of the city was packed with people. Residents enjoying the festival, frightened by the explosions and the murders, fled in all directions. Crowds rushed through the market area, overturning stalls and sending goods flying. Some roads were impassable due to the fires, causing further congestion and stampedes. Some people even lost their footing on the mountain roads and fell to their deaths.

There was no one to put out the fire, and the teams that could be organized had more important tasks.

The lord's guards hastily assembled, guarding every entrance and exit to the Stone Fortress. They even sent a contingent into the supposedly haunted Hall of the Dead. Besides the Silver Blood Family, the private armies of other wealthy families were also mobilized. Some gathered in front of the mansions to protect their masters, while others hurried on their way, fearing their own properties in the city would be affected by the riot.

These teams shuttled back and forth between the southern and northern urban areas, leaving the central urban area, sandwiched between two rivers, a relatively quiet place. Agis decided to return the same way and cross the mountain where the temple was located.

She thought she had wasted a lot of time going back and forth, but unexpectedly she met Cindy on the way.

"Ah! Kitty, you haven't come down the mountain yet? I thought you would run away from us."

Cindy was also quite surprised by Ajith's appearance.

"We can't go any further north. There are a lot of people there, but they have no plans to search the mountain for now."

"Not surprising at all, is it? And we can't go south either. They came up that way."

Cindy nodded behind her. Aigis then noticed a dozen or so strangers hiding in the shadows on the side of the road. They were all bruised and in a state of distress. Aiola and a twenty-year-old Rich girl were busy bandaging Idene's wounds. It seemed she had reconciled with her teacher.

"The prisoners at the mines escaped, and the group was dispersed. They came up the mountain and, together with us, fought off two groups of guards. But everyone's not in good shape."

Cindy explained with a smile, then leaned closer to Aigis's pointed ear and lowered her voice.

"If you want to know Helgi's news, instead of risking your life in the treasure room, you'd better follow these people. Once you meet their leader, you can find out."

Aigis nodded. She and Cindy discussed it and both agreed that they should quickly head east along the mountainside, taking advantage of the Nords' individual struggles to break out before a circle of encirclement formed. But Iola disagreed.

"The teacher needs a break."

The escapees all wore leather armor. Cindy and Iola also wore light soft armor beneath their outer garments, but Idene, alone, wore coarse cloth. She had already been wounded at the temple gate, and after two rounds of fierce fighting, she was wounded several more times. Hearing her apprentice arguing with someone else, Idene patted Iola's hand.

"Don't worry about me, you go first."

"no!"

Aiola merely protested, and the girl beside her simply stood up with her sword drawn.

"I will kill anyone who dares to abandon the teacher!"

Cindy shrugged, her expression nonchalant. With her skills, escaping would be easy. She stayed simply because she didn't want to see Iola die here. As an assassin, she wasn't good at teamwork, and these escapees wouldn't obey her orders. So, she'd just have to take it one step at a time.

Idene grabbed the girl's hand, but she gritted her teeth in pain because of the wound she pulled. Even so, she still struggled to stand up, leaning on a sword.

"She's right, we should leave immediately."

"But……"

Aiola wanted to say a few more words of advice, but was interrupted by Idene with a wave of his hand.

"If we keep wasting time, no one will survive. Since you two children are unwilling to abandon me, I can't hold everyone back."

As if to confirm her words, a man ran out of the nearby woods. It was the sentry Iola had arranged earlier, and he brought news that several troops were heading up the mountain.

"I'll cover your retreat. Sister Iola, you all should start heading east now. No matter what happens behind you, don't stop. I'm confident we can escape."

Cindy didn't want to argue with these people, so she just said something and disappeared. Iola had no choice but to support Idene and set off.

"Kitty, go ahead and explore the way."

Agis kept moving around on both sides and in front of the team. In order to care for the wounded, they moved very slowly, which made the little cat girl very anxious. She found that not only were there pursuers heading up the mountain, but there were also enemies coming down from the top.

The mountain at the heart of the city had two peaks. The lower, western one housed the Temple of Dibella. The taller eastern peak housed the Markarth Guard Tower, the headquarters of the garrison. Six hours before the riot, it had been even quieter than the Hall of the Dead. Now, past midnight, the garrison seemed to have just woken up, rushing from their garrisons to various locations throughout the city.

"Hurry up, or we'll be surrounded!"

The little cat girl didn't know anyone else, so she had to find Aiola. But instead of speeding up the team, Aiola stopped them.

"Cindy hasn't caught up yet, so don't rush forward. Everyone, take cover and take this time to rest. Kitty, go scout again. We'll try to get between the two patrols."

"If these garrisons block the way down the mountain, we'll be in trouble."

"Then we need to rest even more. We have three mages and they need time to recover some of their mana. Then we won't be afraid of a head-on attack. Okay, it's settled. We'll set off in an hour."

Aigis' nose was crooked with anger.

She grabbed her shortbow and ducked into the bushes, intending to flee, yet still hoping to learn Helgi's whereabouts from these people. While she hesitated, the first group of Markarth soldiers passed her. They moved slowly, searching for shelter along the road as they went. The little cat followed the soldiers' movements, and suddenly, her eyes widened.

A girl crouched beneath the tree. She wore a ponytail, was short, and had a slender but not delicate figure. She knew she would soon be discovered, and within her clenched hands, a faint flash of lightning magic took shape.

The girl bore a striking resemblance to Helgi, but Agis was too far away to confirm. However, the little cat girl was certain that even with Helgi's extraordinary talent, she couldn't single-handedly defeat ten fully armed warriors. If her whereabouts were exposed, she would undoubtedly face grave danger.

Then, we have no choice but to let others find out.

Agis drew her bow and shot a soldier. She leaped from the tree, swerved along the torchlit path, and circled behind the enemy. She unleashed two more arrows before turning and running towards the hiding place of Iola and the others. This provocative act successfully attracted everyone's attention, and when the soldiers saw the entire escape team, they all showed a look of sudden realization.

No wonder he dared to launch a sneak attack, it turns out he had an accomplice!

The two sides suddenly clashed and both were shocked.

The soldiers were shocked to find that among this beggar-like mob, there were actually mages, and more than one. Aiola and the hot-tempered girl protected Idene behind them. They raised their hands and unleashed a fireball the size of a human head, filling the air with a scorching stench.

The escape team gained the upper hand, but soon discovered that the soldiers before them were far tougher than those they had previously encountered. Not only were they better equipped, but their coordination was also more seamless. Even though they were caught off guard, they quickly adjusted their tactics and charged forward, shields in hand.

In close combat in the narrow terrain, magic and bows and arrows are difficult to use. Most of the jailbreak team only have light weapons such as daggers. The soldiers of Markarth City have the upper hand by fighting against a larger force.

Aigis had emptied her quiver and retreated from the battlefield early, intending to confirm whether the girl was Helgi. But when she returned, she found no sign of her. There was blood under the tree, suggesting the girl was wounded. But her quick disappearance suggested her injuries were not serious.

By the time the little cat girl returned to the battlefield, the prison escape team had lost even their numerical advantage. Idene, already severely injured, was now completely unable to stand. If it weren't for Iola's desperate protection, she would have been hacked to death.

Yet, the desperate Reachmen grew even more ferocious. Even if their own bodies were pierced by longswords, they gritted their teeth and plunged their daggers into their enemies' necks, refusing to breathe their last. Those whose weapons had been knocked away gouged out their enemies' eyes, while those whose arms had been severed bit with their teeth or butted their heads. Screams and roars echoed endlessly.

Aigis closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and silently went over the claw dance moves taught by Hayo in his mind.

"Even though I've forgotten most of it, I still have to rush over and scratch it a few times!"

The little cat girl flew into the air and saw nothing but a flash before her eyes.

At the critical moment, Cindy arrived. A ghostly figure, she weaved among the soldiers, her frost blade creating a bloody mist wherever it touched. Like a bolt of black lightning, she not only tore through the Markarth soldiers' formations but also terrified their very hearts.

After defeating the last enemy, the hot-tempered Reach girl glared at Aigis.

"You damn cat! Did you lead the enemy here?"

"Little Kaye, dear, never mind, it's not her fault. From the moment we decided to rest, it was inevitable that we would be discovered."

Idene coughed a few times, and blood foam came out of the corners of his mouth.

"Come, sit with me for a while. Iola, you come too."

Her trembling hand brushed across Iola's blind eyes, and she wiped the blood and tears from the cheeks of her two disciples.

"Okay, kids, this time, I really can't walk anymore. Leave me alone and get down the mountain quickly."

"We won't leave. Don't worry, teacher. I still have enough strength to carry you down the mountain."

Aiola was being stubborn, but in reality, she had injured her left leg and was limping. Kai, whose swordsmanship was lacking, had been hit in the face by an enemy shield, and was still dizzy. But at this moment, both of them stood straight, trying to prove that they still had strength left.

Idene smiled sadly, muttering something to herself. A dark red magic rune appeared beneath her.

Aigis gasped. It was the fire rune she had seen Falion cast outside the lair of the Vampire King Movarth.

"teacher!"

"Don't even come here!"

Idene stopped Iola and Kai, a smile still on her face, a smile of relief.

"Being able to see you two children one last time is enough for me. Iola, you have suffered a lot over the years. I know you probably have a lot to ask me. Unfortunately, the teacher has no time. Go down the mountain and ask King Mednaki. He will answer you. By the way, give him my regards."

On the mountain road, flames flickered. Nearby patrols were attracted by the sounds of fighting and rushed to investigate.

"Go! Go!"

With tears streaming down her face, Iola bowed deeply to Idene.

Of the ten-plus members of the group, only three survived, besides Kai. Together with Iola, Cindy, and Aigis, the seven of them supported each other as they rushed down the mountain.

Halfway up the mountain, Idene's voice was full of energy, just as it had been over ten years ago when she had taken out a ring and handed it to Iola. But today, there was a different emotion in her voice: calmness, determination, and perhaps even relief.

"For the Forsworn! For the Reach! For freedom!"

The flames rose into the sky like the rising sun.