Chapter 4 - Krums tale

Deep in a unknown Forest a female Dragonborn holding her infant child is running through the undergrowth she is dressed in a brown hooded cloak that just about reveals the front of the face she looks scared and panicked and continuously looks back as if she is being chased the scales are bright red and sweaty as if she has been running for some time. From a distance you hear a roar and someone shouts "she came this way, after her!" After hearing this the panicked Dragonborn find a large tree surrounded by bushes and height a child deep into the bushes "you must stay here no matter what comes by, stay hidden i will find you later" she says kissing him on the forehead and then continuing to run through the forest again purposely making noises I step in a large twigs. The young child Dragonborn is extremely scared and confused, he has no idea what's going on but follows his mothers command and stays hidden deep in the bush. The child is still very small and is dressed in nothing more than rags, his scales are a similar red colour to his mother's but he seems to have a black tinge across each scale as if burned in a naturally. As the child is hiding 6 large Dragonborn soldiers racing through the forest they stop close to the large tree where the child is hidden and begin to look around one looks to the bushes where the charge is hiding and takes a step towards it just as his foot hits the ground they all hear a loud snap from a branch in the direction that the mother ran "over there, go" one says as they all rush off in that direction the young child too scared to move simple closes his eyes with tears running down his cheeks after a few minutes the child he is a blood curdling scream coming from the direction his mother ran, the child keeps his eyes closed and after a while falls asleep in the bush.

Hours later the child Wakes, it is now later in the day and the sun is beginning to go down there's nothing more than small beams of light coming through the trees the young Dragonborn takes his first few steps out of the bush and starts to look around he can see no signs of anyone so begins to walk in the direction his mother ran , after a while of walking around not knowing where he is he finally comes to a small opening in the woods and they're lying in the centre is a pile of rags slumped in the middle of the floor. The boy cautiously approaches the rags and as he gets closer he begins to realise that lying lifeless is a small pool of blood is his mother he tries to wake his mother shaking her shoulders and crying out loud but after a few minutes begins to cry realising his mother is not waking up the boy lies down with his mother and begins to close his eyes has the sunny setting the boy his the sound of running footsteps coming his way in a panic the boy jumps up and runs to the trees Edge and hides amongst some shrubbery looking out to his mother lays, a few moments later a black scaled Dragonborn soldier comes into the clearing his armour seems much more Regal then that of any soldier the boy has seen before shiny with a gold pattern embedded in the metal, the Dragonborn approaches his mother's body and kneels down as the soldier looks at the body a tear drops from him onto her shortly after that he is joined by three more blacks scale Dragonborn soldiers the Soldiers by the same crest but there, does not seem as decorative. The first Dragonborn stands up wipes the tears from his eyes and turns to the others "search the area, in that direction I'm sure she would have heard on him along her route, no go and find my son" he says. The young Dragonborn still hidden in the bushes he's confused and not knowing who the Black Dragonborn was stays hidden until they have gone as soon as he feels it is clear the child begins to run through the forest away from the soldiers and from his mother.

Over the next 2 years the young Dragonborn child wonders the huge foraging for food when he can and taking shelter amongst the trees he avoids all contact with any people or beings he comes across and over this time has become more animalistic then humanoid. After a few days of very limited foraging and unsuccessful hunts the boy is beginning to feel extremely tired and hungry he uses the last of his e energy to travel through the forest hoping he'll able to forage a little more in a different area after a few hours of travelling he begins to smell and mouth watering sent familiar to what he remembers when he was younger he follows is nose and it leads him to a small opening in the trees where some creature has set up a small camp, the child sees a small fire burning away but cannot see anyone in the area, although scared his stomach rumbles reminding him of his hunger he looks around again then enters the camp site and looks around for food, after a minute of looking the young Dragonborn he is unable to find food but does notice bread crumbs between the grass near to the fire and begins pick them up and eat rapidly, suddenly a deep voice from behind him says "if you need food young one, ill happily share", in a panic the young Dragonborn turn around to see a large human Barbarian, he has a thick black beard and long dark hair, dressed in animal skins and holding a large sack with a oversized battleaxe on his back. He is standing over the child smiling, the young Dragonborn falls back and holds his arms infront of his face as if protecting himself. The barbarian looks confused and leans down to the child "i mean you no harm, come, sit" he says taking a seat round the fire, pulls some bread from his bag and breaks a large piece off offering it to the child. Looking at the bread the childs stomach rumbles loudly again and after a few moments he takes the bread and sits opposite the barbarian by the fire and begins to eat, the barbarian looks the child up and down then pulls out a large cloak and rips a hole in the center "here take this" he says throwing the cloak at the boy "put your head through the hole the poncho should keep you warm, now where are your parents? and why are you all the way out here?" the child looks up at the man and looks sad then gently shakes his head "no parents huh, so you survived on your own, your a strong kid, you got a name?" he says, the child looks up at him unable to speak and shakes his head the barbarian looks at the boy "so no parents, no name and alone in the woods that's a tough way to live kid I'll tell you what how about joining me it won't be easy I live a hard life travelling the land taking on tasks that most would run from but I get paid well and I eat well I'm with you helping me you will get You get an equal share" he says. The boy looks back and thinks for a few seconds he then looks at the bread in his hands and the poncho he is wearing then looks back at the barbarian and smiles. " I'll take that as a yes then" the barbarian says with a chuckle "my names Koval, as you have no name ill shall give you one" he then thinks for a minute "KRUM, i name you Krum" the young boy looks back with a smile and nods then repeats back " k.. k.. kr...krum"

13 years later, krum has grown and now looks like a young and strong dragonborn fighter dressed in furs and holding an axe in each hand, he and Koval appear to be fighting they attack each other shouting with passion with each attack both of them exchanging punches and swiping at each other with their blades after a few exchanges Krum drops one of his axes and heaves a heavy punch to the stomach of Koval pushing him back. Koval takes a knee and drops his axe "thats enough" he says he then looks up at Krum and smiles "i guess todays the day you beat me, i have nothing left to teach you" Krum holds out his hand an helps Koval to his feet smiling at him "now i think your ready maybe we can take on a quest we can complete together what do you think" he says, Krum looks back with a large grin on his face "Krum not let you down" he says to Koval.

A few days later Krum and Koval are locked in battle with an exceptionally large owlbear they are both attacking it as the owlbear rages towards them both Krum and Koval get some blows onto the owlbear but the owlbear is still attacking strong and both Krum and Koval are looking worn and out of breath the owlbear goes for a powerful swipe with its claws and both warriors jump back avoiding the blow, as the land Krum slips and begins to stumble back, seeing this the owlbear goes for a heavy attack on Krum. Just as the blow was going to land Koval jumps in between them, taking the full claw across his body tearing through his cloths and flesh when taking the blow, Koval then manages to use a dagger to cut one of the owlbears eyes as he falls to the floor infront of krum. The owlbear backs off a little, screeching in pain, krum looks at Koval as he is smiling up at krum "take this.... its my final gift to you.... my boy." he hand krum his large battleaxe and lets out his final breath. A tear runs down krums face then as it reaches the bottom of his cheek it begins to evaporate as his scales flair up bright red giving of heat, he stands and his muscles bulge as his rage builds up, he lifts the large Battleaxe and lets out a deafening roar of both anger and pain. He then charges at the owlbear, The owlbear stands tall on his back feet screeching towards Krum, Krum runs at the owlbear and launches himself up in the air towards it, raising his axe then in one brutal hit he plunges the axe deep into the owlbears chest and with a mighty roar lets out a scorching breath of fire directly into the owlbears face engulfing the entire head in flames, until it falls back to the ground heavily burned and dead. Krum pulls the axe out of its chest and beins to calm down with tears running down his face once again. He puts the axe on his back and heads back to Koval, picking him up with both arms then carrying him to the top of the nearest hill, after a short time foraging Krum then begins to build a small wooden platform filled with dry twigs and kinderlin. Krum then lays kovals body on top and he places both his old axes in a cross ontop his body then pours a small waterskin of oil over him. Krum then steps back standing over the platform until the sun begins to set, just befor its dark krum lights the platform on fire cremating Koval and after watching him burn away for sevral hours Krum turns picks up his axe and puts it on his back and begins to walk back a nearby town and as he turns away he says "Thankyou... Father".