The Barbarian

This book is unique, because it was hand-written by a Blade and never copied. The only copy can be found in Sky Haven Inner Sanctum.

Known Locations

 * Sky Haven Inner Sanctum

Content
He slices through his opponent. The blood spatters fall to the ground, leaving a meter long trail of blood. The poor victim falls to the ground. His hand falls open, his weapon slips out of his palm. He is defenseless. The barbarian steps to his victim. Slowly, for he has no haste. He sets his right foot between the legs of the man, his left foot at the right side of the hip. Slowly he lifts up his right foot and puts it on top of the stomach of the defenseless civilian. The battle-axe is lifted up gently, higher and higher. He sees the fear in the eyes of his victim. The sound of creaking bone fills the skies. The huge axe in the skull of the lifeless man, the handle of the axe pointing toward the brute. He looks satisfied. His posture is great and dominant. A grin forms on his face, while watching the blood slowly dripping down from the face. Now the moment comes, his favorite moment, when he has to lift his axe again. His hands slowly move toward the handle of his axe. His fingers surround it one by one. With a short, strong motion he lifts up his battle-axe. A short fountain of blood leaves the head of the opponent. The stream of blood flowing from the big gash down to the ground multiplies extremely. The barbarian continues to watch, still standing tall over his victim, with his right foot on the stomach of the now dead enemy. His face still maintaining that disturbing grin. His axe now kept over his shoulder. His face still looking down. Watching at the stream of blood. Watching at the pool of blood slowly growing and mixing with the sands.

While he is looking down, he feels danger coming closer. For the first time while standing over the body, he moves his head. He turns it to the right. There, a man! He can't see the face, the light behind him is to bright. The man casts a big shadow over him. He has his hand on the handle of his sheathed sword. He starts to move slowly. The light slowly reveals more of his face. His armor slowly catches light. What is that insignia on his chest plate? Imperial? No. He is a Blade! The Blade slowly moves in a circle, maintaining distance. The barbarian start to move in the opposite direction, in the same circle as his new opponent. They move at the same speed, both slowly - steady. Suddenly the Blade stops moving. With a sudden, fast movement he unsheathes his sword - an Akaviri Katana! The brute starts to charge, thinking this is the right moment. His target not yet in a steady stance for battle. He holds his battle-axe to the right of him, the metal behind him. He starts his swing, which will most definitely be a perfect blow, probably slicing the Blade in two pieces. The Blade sheathes his sword and at the same time throws himself to his right toward the ground, making a roll over his back. With his right hand on the ground, his face pointing up toward the barbarian, his left leg stretched behind him, the Blade is well and living. He keeps this position for a while, watching his attacker recover from the missing blow. When the big man with his big axe is recovered and facing him, the Blade slowly stands up and gets himself in the right position. The brute doesn't look happy. He seems to think twice about his next movement and he slowly moves around. The Blade knows it is his move now, his opponent might wait indefinitely before striking again. He starts to move, not in a straight line, but a little to the left of his target. The barbarian lifts up is battle-axe toward the right shoulder. He swings with his massive axe from behind his right shoulder toward his left foot. The Blade, anticipating this move, pushes his feet into the ground. His left arm swings to the left while he pushes himself to the right. In a fluid motion, his right hand finds the handle of his still sheathed Akaviri Katana. The Blade jumps to the right of his target, dodging the metal from the axe with great precision. Most people would get a heart attack when their head would be so close to the gigantic battle-axe, moving with a crushing force. But not this man. He takes out his Akaviri Katana and slices deep into the flesh of the barbarian, creating a long cut diagonally across the stomach and chest. The move was executed perfectly. The Blade walks away from the bleeding man, who has his back toward the Blade. He is vulnerable, maybe not for long, but the Blade wouldn't need that anyway. He gives the barbarian another chance. The barbarian turns around. Something is not right. He slowly looks down to see what's wrong. He sees the large deep cut across his chest. The red juice drips from the perfectly smooth edges of the cut. It seems like seconds pass before the pain kicks in. He slowly lifts his head again. A sign of admiration forms on his face. He increases the grip on his battle-axe. He starts to run to the Blade. It seems like he is capable of completely ignoring the bleeding wound and the excruciating pain. He swings his axe, lift it up and swings again. But he misses his target again and again, leaving a trail of blood everywhere he goes. With another powerful swing, the metal of his axe hits the ground hard. The barbarian tries to life it up, but his first try fails. When he tries again with more strength, a jolt of pain goes through him. This time he can't ignore it and he screams. The Blade is simply watching from a distance. The barbarian roars. He gathers all his strength. He starts to charge toward the Blade. He lifts his heavy axe over his head. The Blade knows there are multiple options to exploit this mistake of the barbarian. He chooses the more risky option. He stand still, his feet next to each other. His weapon in his right hand, the sword pointing a little toward the ground. His left hand besides him - open, relaxed. He knows that if he is too early or too late, this could be fatal. The brute comes closer with a great momentum. The axe starts to swing, over his head and back toward the ground. The Blade increases the grip on his sword with his right hand. The tip of the sword is lifted up with a fast, short motion, now pointing toward the horizon. The bleeding brute comes closer. The Blade's eyes are as concentrated as they can be. Looking - almost staring - directly at the barbarian, which is currently swinging his axe to crush his skull and probably even his spine. There is no space for fear in his facial expression. Not many people will see such a look and from those people who will, almost non will live to tell. Not even an Altmer can match such a straight face, especially while in combat. The Blade puts his sword in front of him. His left hand moves slowly closer to his sword. With a very fast, fluid motion, he bring his right hand closer toward his stomach, his left hand at the back end of the handle, while quickly stepping forward with his right foot. With a great force, multiplied by the speed and weight of the barbarian, the sword goes throw the chest plate into the stomach and coming out of it at the other end. Both feet of the Blade move back for a while, stopping the weight and momentum of his attacker. The battle-axe falls into the ground behind him, with the handle pointing toward the Blade. It barely missed the left leg of the Blade. The brute seems to recover from the surprise and the excruciating pain. He lifts up his arms to strike and crush his opponent's skull. The Blade almost saw it to late. With great speed he takes his sword out and takes a step back, dodging the incoming blow of the barbarian's fists. The Blade swings his sword to the right, over his shoulder, gracefully over his head and decapitates the barbarian with an incredible speed. The head falls to the ground. The body falls on it's knees. The body bounces a little and starts to fall forward. The Blade takes a step to the left to give the body some space. The body hits the floor at the same moment the Blade sheathes his sword. The Blade looks down for a second at the lifeless body of his defeated opponent. In his thoughts he thanks the Gods for his victory. He then turns around and moves away from the body. He keeps walking and doesn't look back. For him there is no need to be glorified by the blood of his opponent, to watch it flow out of the body. There is no need to see the fear in his opponents eyes right before he takes their lives.

The Blade, as all the others, is a disciplined soldier. Skilled in the art of fighting. Strong and fast simultaneously. They fight with grace and respect. They never doubt their cause. They are bound by their oath, their oath to serve and protect. And so they will, ‘till the very end and beyond. It might be important to know your enemy. But always remember, it is far more important to know yourself!