Chapter 9: Summer Falls

The circle of hunters widened further, leaving Asha with her back to a cliff and a flaming woman in front of her. She glanced at Krosis who walked calmly beside her. “My…my lord?”

“Simple,” he said. “Confront my flame atronach.”

Asha looked back at it as it approached slowly. The heat of its flame could be felt now, the grass beneath it wilted. Its hand raised behind it. “Move, hunter,” Krosis barked in a commanding tone.

Asha snapped out of her reverie and snatched up the bow and quiver. As she ducked to grab them, the atronach flung its hand forward and a firebolt flew over Asha’s bowed head, missing her by a hair’s breadth. She scrambled upright, batting at her singed hair, and drew an arrow. The atronach threw another firebolt and Asha leaped aside, drawing the bow back as she did. She released and, to her delight, it struck the creature. It let out a hiss but, otherwise, seemed unfazed by it. Its advance continued. Asha panicked and pulled another arrow and released it. This one flew wide as the atronach floated to the side. It flew over the heads of the hunters and into the treeline.

The hunters took cover behind the trees and cleared the clifftop as the atronach bore down on Asha. She pulled back and released a third arrow, the creature so close she couldn’t miss if she wanted to. It took this arrow to the chest without so much as a flinch and clawed hands lashed out at Asha. Asha pulled away, backing up and nearly tumbling off the cliff. She rolled under its second slash and sprinted away, trying to give herself distance.

Asha had just enough sense to dodge left to right when a firebolt followed her and nearly hit her in the back. It clipped her shoulder and she tumbled to the ground, crying out in surprise more than pain. She couldn’t feel much at the moment, her thoughts only on the task at hand. She growled in anger, stood quickly, and drew an arrow while she turned into a crouch. The creature was following her again. She released the arrow and it flew toward its head. It performed a graceful midair somersault and the arrow flew between its legs.

Asha watched in horror as her arrow missed its target and nearly struck Krosis. He produced a barrier of shimmering magic just in time to block it. Asha gapped, expecting her death to be swift and instant for such a mistake. She was so stunned she failed to notice the atronach was on her again, hand raised. It struck Asha a glancing blow across the other shoulder and Asha rolled into it, feeling every stone dig into her body as she tumbled down to the path. She stood quickly to face the creature but noticed her hand was empty.

Her bow lay at the creature's feet, smoldering and broken from the strike that had just missed her. She had nothing now but her arrows. She took two in either hand and stared at the approaching, flaming woman. She had no other choice. She rolled aside as a firebolt flew at her and it struck the path. She charged forward, ducking under the atronach’s swipe as she stabbed her arrows triumphantly into the creature's back. Her triumph turned to pain and she cried out as her hands were burnt on the demonic creature's skin. She scrambled away but was struck in the back by the creature's foot which flew around in a graceful arc to knock her over.

She turned over from her prone position and saw the atronach looming above. She rolled aside as a firebolt missed her and she tried desperately to crawl away. The creature leaned in to strike her when she removed another arrow and plunged it into its hand. It hissed again and spun away briefly. Asha had just enough time to stand when it was upon her again, hand raised.

“Enough.”

The creature dissolved in an instant, its fire going out and its body crumbling to dust as it fell to the earth. The ash from its body melted into the ground and left no trace of its existence save the scorched earth from its passing. Asha took the moment after this to begin breathing heavily. Her body hurt from being struck, her skin felt raw where it had been burned, and she suddenly realized that her heart felt like it was going to explode from her chest.

She slumped to the ground, her mind reeling. She had failed. She had failed to kill it. It had been about to kill her when Krosis decided to end her embarrassment. Krosis. She suddenly realized he was standing beside her and she rose quickly to her feet. “My Lord, I…I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to shoot at you.”

“An amateur failure,” said Krosis. “You must see what is beyond as well as in front of you before you fire.”

“I have failed,” said Asha, bowing low and feeling her cheeks flush with shame. Whether the test had been fair or not didn’t matter. She had failed to achieve it.

“Look at me, Asha.”

She looked up. His inscrutable mask stared down at her, perhaps studying her. “I never named the goal, young Asha. You failed to kill it. You did not fail the task I set for you: fight for survival with any means possible. You fought without giving in to fear or overconfidence.”

She stared up at him, confused. “I was never meant to win?”

“You might have,” said Krosis. “But if you did, I would have counted you among my elite. Instead, I welcome you, Asha of Shriekwind, as an initiate of the Hunters.”

Asha’s mind whirled with emotions. Excitement, trepidation, confusion. She had done it. She was in. But if this was the entrance test, what would the rest of her training be like? And what sort of master was Krosis? Was he any better than Rukil?

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She bowed low and said, voice trembling, “Thank you, lord Krosis.”

He nodded in return. “Gather yourself together. We are continuing our march to Summer Falls.”

Asha bowed again and bent to pick up her bow. She suddenly realized it was broken and burnt, likely beyond fixing. She picked it up and held it forlornly. Krosis approached. “You won’t need that,” he said. “It is part of your old life. You are a Hunter now. Put aside the old you and embrace the new.”

***

Asha followed close behind Krosis as he led the party of Hunters down the path. They were following a river flowing from Lake Ilinalta, circling the Brittle Mountains. The hunters and Krosis were completely silent, always listening to the forest around them. Asha, in like manner, tried to listen for anything out of the ordinary. Insects, frogs, rippling water, birds, wind in the trees, gravel crunching underfoot. There were so many sounds around her she didn’t know where to focus. A distant roar echoed through the forest and Asha stiffened. A dragon.

She looked to the skies, hoping to see one. She had only ever seen a dragon from a distance, soaring high over her home and the solitary mountain. They were so insignificant, however, that a dragon had never bothered to land. The trees blocked her view, frustrating her search as another roar echoed across the mountains.

A clearing was ahead. As the party entered it, she looked toward the Brittle Mountains and gasped in surprise. Summer Falls lay across the river and high up on the Brittle Mountains, shining in the afternoon light in magnificent glory.

Summer Falls had large, stone pillars rising around it with dragon heads mounting the towers. The arched stone pillars held a massive wooden roof over the great hall. In front of it, a giant courtyard sat on a manmade stone acropolis, surrounded by stone arches and with shade clothes over the edges. A crowd of people, distant but still visible, moved around the courtyard. Highlighting the sight was a multitude of small waterfalls that ran down the mountainside around Summer Falls, flowing in rivulets into the stream below. Asha had stopped to gape and was bumped into by a hunter from behind.

“Keep up,” said Krosis without looking back.

A horn sounded from a distant tower on the fortress, its wail echoing across the valley in a mournful tone. Asha hurried behind Krosis. “Is that good?”

“They alert our people to our arrival. We will feast tonight.”

The party continued to follow the path around the mountain and Asha found they were in a valley between the Brittle Mountains and the foothills of the looming Throat of the World. She looked up to see its distant peak and gasped again. There were large, dark forms circling the peaks. Dragons. Still too far away to see clearly. Krosis slowed his pace to follow beside her.

“You will see our overlords soon enough. They often visit the Summer Falls with news from the north.”

Asha didn’t respond but tried to take everything in. It was all so much. Her mind and heart were full of so many thoughts and emotions, that she could hardly contain herself. Their path turned and they crossed an old stone bridge over the stream just before it plummeted into a series of waterfalls. The path led uphill around a peak and the grand expanse of Summer Falls appeared before them. Asha had never seen a building so large in her entire life. It was beyond anything the mind could comprehend, a massive hall built into the mountainside.

An honor guard of hunters was waiting for them at the base of the mountain. A single hunter stepped forward and bowed to Krosis. “Welcome back, Lord Krosis. We are glad to see you safely returned.”

“Thank you, captain,” said Krosis. “The threat was more real than we could have imagined. Summon the council immediately. I will attend as soon as I housed our new initiate.”

The captain glanced at Asha but didn’t give away what he thought of her. “Very good, Lord Krosis. The council will be ready and waiting for you.”

Krosis continued and the hunters bowed as he passed them. Asha hesitated only briefly before running to keep up with him. They climbed the steep stairs up the stone acropolis, Krosis’s staff cracking loudly against the steps, and to the platform on top. To one side, overlooking the valley, was the massive courtyard which Asha barely caught a glimpse of. They turned immediately to the opposite side and entered through the double doors of the great hall.

The faulted ceiling rose high above, its wooden beams and stone arches hazy with smoke from the fires in the center and edges of the hall. Tables and benches filled the center while open areas around altars were around the edges. She sped so quickly through the hall she couldn’t get a good look at the altars and statues. They descended from the hall into the mountainside, down open and clear corridors lit by torches. There was so much to see that Asha couldn’t take it all in. Before she knew it, she was led through a doorway and into a small room lit by a lamp on a wooden stool. A small bed on a wooden frame was against the wall along with a chest, the only pieces of furniture in the room.

“These are your quarters,” said Krosis.

“I have my own room,” Asha spluttered.

For the first time ever, a chuckle emitted from behind the mask. Asha turned, shocked at this. The sound died as quickly as it came. “Of course, child” he replied, a hint of cold in his voice now. “We are not the poor, secluded members of Shriekwind Bastion. This is Summer Falls, one of the fairest and most powerful fortresses in Skyrim. When you are ready, return to the great hall for food.”

Asha nodded, looking around her small room…her room. “Of course. When can I start training?”

“Tomorrow,” said Krosis. “You will go to the courtyard after the morning meal. If that is all, I must attend my council.”

“One more question, Lord Krosis.” Asha felt bolder by the second. Asking a question would never have been tolerated before under Rukil.

Krosis turned back in the doorway and asked, “What is it, child?”

“When will your storyteller begin their tales? I’m looking forward to hearing new legends, perhaps one of how this fortress was founded.”

Krosis huffed in derision. “We have no storyteller here, child. We have neither the time nor the need for stories.”

Asha blanched. “What? No…no stories?”

Krosis huffed, his voice tinged with annoyance from behind the mask. “Stories are for children to awaken their minds. We, as hunters, must spend our days training, surviving, and fulfilling our destinies, not reliving the destinies of others. You must do as I have said; put aside the old you and embrace the new. I will see you in the training ground tomorrow.”

With that, he swept out her door and down the hallway. Asha was alone in her room which suddenly lost some of its charm. It felt small and cold. Her favorite thing since childhood, the thing that had given her such hope…didn’t exist here. She sat forlorn on the edge of her bed.

“No stories?”