Rise of the Dawnbearer - Part 4: Sibling Rivalry

Raxogar sat motionless. He was completely lost. Nothing was making sense to him anymore. He had been brought up as a fighter, taught to kill without mercy. With that world crumbling in front of him, he no longer knew what he was or what he should do. He looked down at his hands and wondered what they were for if not for fighting. The anxiety spread in him like a virus, starting at his heart and continuing to his extremities. His fingers felt like they were moulded from clay – unfeeling and unresponsive.

As he sat, his life unravelling before his eyes, a piercing scream permeated through the mental fog that surrounded him. It was the same scream he had heard only moments before, the cry that had started the end of his life has his knew it. This time though, the scream was cut short.

As his eyes refocused Raxogar could see his brother Mondaresh with his hand around the neck of Ellana, his meaty paw lifting her off the ground, choking the life out of her. She kicked and clawed at him, but Mondaresh was too strong. He held her aloft, staring into her eyes as he watched the life slowly drain from her. Gradually her attempts to extricate herself from his grip grew weaker and her eyelids drooped. Just before she passed into the next world, the meaty grip on her neck vanished and she dropped to the ground with a thud.

Coughing and spluttering, Ellana crawled to her knees. She looked to where her captor was now wrestling with the blue Dragonborn she had just encountered. Scrambling backwards away from them, with confusion she watched as the two creatures tussled, throwing punches and kicks at each other. She could see that, whilst a fair bit smaller that his counterpart, the blue Dragonborn was much quicker and was able to block or dodge many of his opponent’s blows.

Raxogar didn’t know why he had attacked his brother. He had no loyalty or feeling towards the girl being strangled, so why should it matter to him? Regardless, he had felt an overwhelming force lift him from his torpid state and push him into the confrontation with his brother. Without any forethought he had tackled his brother to the ground, forcing him to release his grip on the young girl. His brother retaliated with his fists and feet, and Raxogar responded in kind.

Still on the ground with his brother on top of him, Mondaresh grabbed Raxogar by the front of his leather tunic and, with an acrobatic flip, threw him over his head and onto his back. Both Dragonborn rolled off their backs and onto their feet, crouching low in preparedness. Now face to face with his quarry, Mondaresh growled angrily at his sibling.

“Traitor! I will take pleasure in finally ripping the life from you!”

Raxogar stared deep into his brother’s eyes. Not until now did he see the monster that his brother was, the monster that he himself was so close to becoming.

“Whether you kill me or not, I will ensure you never touch her again.” Though he spoke with confidence, he felt anxious inside. He did not want to fight his brother, but he knew there was no option now.

“Raaaaarrgh!” Mondaresh roared in anger, baring his teeth at his now former brother. He dashed the few meters towards him before leaping into the air. With all of his weight behind him he came crushing down on Raxogar with both fists.

Raxogar had little time to react to his brother’s attack. He crossed both forearms above him to block the strike, but the strength of Mondaresh combined with his greater weight was too much. Raxogar’s left knee buckled under the blow, putting him off balance.

Seeing his quarries weakness, Mondaresh continued with a vicious assault. He followed several quick punches the abdomen of Raxogar with a nasty jab to the face, breaking the Dragonborn’s cheekbone. This gave him an opening for a knee to the stomach and a left hook across the head.

Blood spurted from Raxogar’s mouth onto the cold dirt. He had seen and fought his brother many times, but this assault was far beyond anything he had experience. He felt blow after blow connect, unable to dodge or block them. As he felt his flesh rend and his bones break, Raxogar’s will faded. His defences dropped as he turned into little more than a punching bag for this brother.

With a mighty blow, Mondaresh kicked his former brother to the ground. He then knelt over the hapless Dragonborn and proceeded to pummel his near lifeless body. With each blow Mondaresh’s bloodlust grew as Raxogar’s hold on Iife diminished.

Raxogar’s body fell limp. Seeing he was at the edge of death, Mondaresh stood up and walked over to where he had dropped his sword. As he retrieved the blade, he felt with relish the idea of finally driving it through the runt’s body. He turned with a sinister smile back towards the helpless Dragonborn.

Raxogar looked up at the sky through his one open eye. Unable to move, he felt death’s cold hands grasping him, pulling him below the earth. As he closed his eye and accepted his fate, he thought he could hear angels singing to him from the other side. However, it was neither an angel nor singing that was calling to him.

After she was release from Mondaresh’s grip, Ellana had crawled over to her still unconscious mother. Unable to rouse her, Ellana grabbed her underneath the shoulders and dragged her beneath the nearby wagon. From there she cowered as she watched the fight ensue between the two Dragonborn. She watched as her saviour was beaten mercilessly to the edge of death by his larger opponent.

When Mondaresh retrieved his sword, Ellana knew the end was nigh. If the blue Dragonborn perished then surely she and her mother would also die at this monster’s hand. Without thinking, Ellana screamed at the top of her lungs.

“Get up!” she cried.

Raxogar’s head flopped to the side from which the voice came. With immense effort he opened his one good eye. Though he couldn’t understand what was being said to him, he could see the little girl crying desperately ay him. As he saw her pleading he tried to raise his arm and reach for her, but could only summon the strength to raise the palm of his hand an inch off the ground.

Ellana continued to scream at Raxogar to get up, tears now streaming down her face. As Mondaresh moved over him, Ellana looked down onto the ground beside her to where her mother had dropped her father’s sword. As Mondaresh raised his own blade above the blue Dragonborn, Ellana grabbed the sword and sprang forth from beneath the wagon. Knowing she would not make it to the pair in time, she hurled the blade towards Raxogar.

Whether by skill, luck, or divine intervention, the blade’s handle fell on top of Raxogar’s outstretched hand. As soon as the weapon touched his skin, Raxogar felt a surge of energy flow through him. He felt a searing pain across him as his broken bones mended and his lacerations closed. As he turned his head to look up at his brother, he felt the sword pull his arm from the ground and parry Mondaresh’s death blow.

Stunned by this turn, Mondaresh paused in confusion. This was the only opening Raxogar needed. He deftly kicked him in the stomach, forcing him a few paces backwards. With a dexterity he had never known before, Raxogar flipped off of his back and onto his feet. He stared at his bewildered opponent, not with anger or hate, but with a calm resolve permeating through every fibre of his being.

Still shocked but his adversary’s revival, Mondaresh roared and swung his blade at Raxogar. Raxogar calmly dodged and parried his blows with perfect efficiency. Strike after strike, Mondaresh grew angrier and more desperate. After attempting a particularly wild swing which Raxogar swayed out the way of, Mondaresh over balanced and fell face first onto the ground.

Spitting dirt out of his mouth he snarled at Raxogar. “What is this trickery? You were dead. How can you still be fighting?”

With a calm resolve Raxogar pointed the tip of his sword towards his brother. “Dead or not, I vowed that I would stop you.”

Mondaresh snarled once again. Dropping all pretences, he jumped up and charged at Raxogar. In a blink of an eye it was over – Raxogar parried his brother’s blade and plunged his own into Mondaresh’s chest. For a brief moment there was a look of surprise on Mondaresh’s face before it slackened and his body fell to the ground, Raxogar’s sword still protruding from his chest.

Raxogar looked down at his brother. Whilst he felt sorry for him, he knew in his heart he had done the right thing in ending it there. He stared down at his hands which were covered in his brother’s blood. They felt strong and with purpose. His mind was now clear as to his path. He would no longer fight out of fear or anger. He would fight to protect.

To be continued…