Traveling through The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim

The north gate of Howling Bastion was closed. Tagel cautiously ordered everyone to stay alert. Although we had more than 40 people, half of them were archers. Riya led five members of the Rich Guards and followed closely behind Barbas and me, searching carefully. Judging from the situation on the first three floors, the vampires had indeed evacuated. All the doors inside the Howling Bastion were open, and all the mechanisms had been removed. The cave where the vampires lived was behind the iron door where we saw Atreus last time. It was now empty. These guys didn't even leave a page of paper.

In the corridor leading to the fourth floor, we could already hear the clanging sound of armor rubbing against each other, which made everyone feel relieved. Dragon priests and vampires would not wear heavy armor. This Songyue Drake was indeed just a ghoul. There were many partition walls in the hall on the fourth floor, which cut the wide space into a long and narrow passage and many small compartments on both sides. The dragon language wall and the sarcophagus were at the end of the passage. The ghoul wearing a horn helmet on his head and a long sword on his waist was pacing back and forth anxiously. The space here was not suitable for taking advantage of the number of people. I summoned the fire element at the first time. The little guy walked in the air and immediately attracted the attention of the undead creatures.

"Gera!"

The ghoul let out a deep roar from its chest, and its two forearms were suddenly wrapped in a gust of wind, even the fireballs shot by the fire element were blown off. With a sharp metal scraping sound, Songyue Drake's long sword was unsheathed. This guy actually showed up leisurely, and pointed the sword tip at the head of the fire element twice, indicating that the other party could attack first. The fire element was not polite to it, and the fireball whizzed in, but was directly chopped apart by the long sword. I couldn't see this move clearly, and I heard Riya's inhalation beside me. The Red Guardian was also very surprised at the opponent's speed. The ghoul's body followed the sword and slashed the fire element who was preparing for the third fireball. The long sword flew up and down with the sound of wind. The little fire man was hit continuously in a short period of time, staggering back, but he had no way to escape the opponent's attack range. Its flame cloak had no effect on the dry and hard body of the ghoul, and it was completely at a disadvantage in this duel.

"Can you summon another fire element?" Ruiya had already unsheathed her two swords and took a step forward to stand in front.

"Not now. I need to recover some mana."

"Alas... ask Lord Tager to send the archers over. I'll try to hold it off for now. Don't come over. I can't take care of you!"

While we were talking, the fire element had been chopped down by Songyue Drake and disappeared in the lightning. The explosion that followed did not have any effect on the ghoul. Riya let out a long roar, waved her two swords, and attacked it. Songyue Drake used a single sword to fight against two swords, but it seemed that it was the one with an extra weapon. Riya was soon caught in a dilemma, but she was very skilled after all. When she was unable to resist, she jumped out of the battle circle. Although she would soon be stuck by the ghoul, at least she would not be like the fire element, unable to even take a breath and adjust herself.

Floki had led ten archers up, but the small space could only accommodate three people standing side by side, and Rhea was fighting with the enemy, so no one dared to shoot arrows randomly. I soon discovered the problem. Rhea could still hold on for now, but she was a living person after all. Unlike lifeless zombies, she would feel tired! Although the Red Guardian had not shown any signs of physical exhaustion at this time, with the speed of Songyue Drake's sword, she would die immediately if she made a slight mistake. I can't summon the fire element yet, but the power of the Ice Thorn spell is barely enough, but the ballistic trajectories of magic and bows and arrows are different, and I usually neglect to practice this spell, so I am not sure of hitting it. It's a small matter to miss Yangyin's joke, but if I hit Rhea...

Only Babas can help right now! But the dog looked as if it had nothing to do with him, lying on the ground and stretching.

"Master Barbas, can you help Riya?"

Although I had already greeted all of Gouzi's relatives and friends in my heart, I could only ask respectfully. Babas rolled his eyes at me, and his big eyeballs almost rolled into his skull.

"How can you not be able to handle such a thing? When this guy was alive, he was at most a senior officer of the Dragon Cult, and he might not even be a senior officer. Now that he has become a ghoul, he has lost his knowledge and thinking ability, and only has some physical instincts left. I advise you to pick up your wooden stick and poke it now. In a while, the woman will win, and then she will definitely come to praise and criticize you again. You can be right if you listen to me. Go up now, and you will become the benefactor who saves her life."

What Babas said confused me. Although I am not an expert, I am not a complete layman. The current situation is obviously that Songyo Drake is attacking with all his strength, and Ruiya can only defend herself without any chance to fight back. How can she win?

Is this dog trying to trick me?

No matter what, I still planned to go up and get involved, at least to make Rhea retreat, so that the archer would have a chance to shoot. Telling Floki to be ready, I held the spear upside down in my right hand and rushed up from the side and back of the corpse ghost. Rhea quickly expressed her opposition with her eyes, but she was facing the fierce attack of Songyo Drake and had no way to distract herself to stop me.

This ghoul must have used the "Elemental Rage" dragon roar, which is why it is so fierce. Of course, I didn't rush forward to give myself a head. I held my left hand in the air, and a white magic ball condensed into shape. I was ready to get close to it and cast an ice thorn spell to calm it down. Songyue Drake had already discovered me. It slashed three times in a row to force Riya back, and turned to rush towards me.

This was exactly what I wanted. At a distance of seven meters, I cast the Ice Thorn spell, and an ice spike pierced into Songyue Drake's unarmored waist, penetrating one-third of its length, causing the corpse ghost to stagnate. I held the spear tightly with both hands, jumped up, and used the moves I had used against Cindy, aiming at the opponent's heart. Songyue Drake also held the sword with both hands, intending to block.

At this moment, I suddenly understood why Babas said that Riya would win soon. I was already a few seconds faster when I used the stride to shoot the spear, and the effect of the elemental rage suddenly disappeared at this moment. The sword that should have been focused on the spear was a few centimeters off and failed to knock off my attack. Sparks flew, and the spear pierced my chest! My arms were numb from the huge force, and the knuckles of both hands were torn.

"careful!"

Riya yelled and rushed forward brandishing her two swords.

For a normal person, this shot to the chest would be enough to kill him, but for an undead creature, it was not enough. After being severely injured, Songyue Drake still turned his sword to slash at my shoulder and neck, but I couldn't block it because my weapon was stuck!

The Red Guardian's double knives smashed against the long sword, and the wind from the knives made my cheek hurt. She flipped her right hand and slashed the corpse ghost's neck horizontally. With a loud bang, she chopped off the opponent's head. Ruiya groaned, threw the double knives on the ground, and held the wrist of her right hand with her left hand.

The corpse's neck was too hard, and Ruiya's knife was broken into a notch, and her wrist was also dislocated. But we finally killed this guy together.

I stepped on Songyo Drake's body and tried to pull out the spear, but failed after half a minute of hard work. Riya fiddled with her right hand, pulled and pushed violently, and after a crisp sound of joints, her wrist was reset. Even though the female knight was proud and strong, the corners of her mouth twitched. At this time, Tager sent someone to inform us to retreat to the third floor.

Because the terrain on the fourth floor was narrow, Tager and most of the people were left on the third floor. He immediately sent out scouts to monitor the movements of the Imperial Legion, but found that the other side had actually come out in full force, so he quickly called us to check it out together.

"Each team has ten people. Twelve teams have already passed. This is the thirteenth team. There are still people coming out from behind. This is a big move."

"He's out! He's out! Is the one wearing the feathered helmet their leader?"

Tagel, Floki, Rhea and I hid on the platform outside the south gate of the Howling Bastion, counting the number of the Imperial Legion together. The other side lined up in a neat queue, which was convenient for us to count. In the fifteenth team, there was a guy wearing the standard heavy armor of the Imperial Legion and a special helmet, which attracted our attention. His outfit was very similar to that of the former warlord Skuna, which brought back some unpleasant memories for me. We suspected that this person was Lucius. This was a sturdy Imperial man. He walked side by side with other soldiers, but he clearly showed a different temperament. He was powerful but not overbearing, and he was approachable but not approachable.

The enemy dispatched 17 teams of soldiers. Since Lucius lost more than a dozen men in the previous skirmish, there were less than 20 defenders left in Falkreath. It has been nearly a month since Cindy intercepted General Tullius's letter. I guess Lucius must have reconnected with Tullius. This guy wasted more than a month in vain. This time, he seems to be determined to win the battle in one fell swoop. The Imperial Legion marched very cautiously, and the formation was kept relatively compact. They paid special attention to the protection of the right mountainous area. It seems that they learned a lesson from their failures. Unfortunately, when facing an opponent like us, learning a lesson is not enough.

I suggested to Tagel that Rhea should return to Helgen Town from the north gate of Howling Bastion to inform my father to prepare for the enemy. The Red Guard thought I was taking care of her and immediately said that the dislocation was only a minor injury and she could still continue the mission. As a result, I persuaded her to leave with a sentence "Make sure to protect Lord Horik's safety."

"You are quite capable, young man. No wonder my brother thinks highly of you. This Riya is a stubborn girl. She doesn't even listen to me. You are the second person who can make her so obedient."

Due to his military career, Tager always looked resolute and dignified, never showing his emotions. This was the first time I saw Danger's signature sly smile on his face.

"You are joking, my Lord. What should we do next?"

It only takes a whole day to walk from Falkreath to Helgen. Even if the Imperial Legion walks slowly, it will take at most three days. For this reason, Lucius did not arrange a baggage train, but left all the supplies in the city. Soldiers may only carry three to five days of rations.

"Floki, you arrange for the sentry guards to stand guard, and the others can go into the fortress and rest on the spot."

Tager put away his smile and gave the order without announcing his plan, but I got the answer from his eyes.