Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Camilla Valerius was a hard woman to impress. When she first saw the man, she had been in a very heated argument with her brother, Lucan, over the theft of their family relic, The Golden Claw. He had casually strolled in, but stopped short when he realized he was interrupting their discussion. He had the common looks of a Nord : long dirty blond hair, blue eyes, strong and stout body. He was wearing common iron armor and carried a sword. He looked young, in his early twenties. Camilla found him unimpressive. Her brother begged to differ.
Lucan did not hesitate to task the man, whose name they did not even know, with the recovery of the Claw. Camilla was furious. She wanted to follow him, if only to make sure he'd not simply take the relic and sell it somewhere. He looked the type; already, he and her brother had negotiated some wares with questionable origins and it wouldn't take much for her to simply label him as a thief.
Her brother forbade her to accompany him, and they got into arguing again, under the curious stares of the stranger. Lucan seemed to think her defenseless. Camilla wanted to prove him wrong. She also longed for adventure – if only she could leave the little village, just for a few days… But her brother's tone was final. She had accompanied the man to the outskirts of Riverwood, born him farewell and returned furiously to the Trader.
Months passed. The man did not come back. With every passing day, her relationship with Lucan grew tenser, and eventually, the last straw came. They had been at it again, yelling at each other. She accused him of being naïve, tipping a stranger off a treasure and expecting him to return it. He had replied by saying the man had "seemed trustworthy".
It was so absurd she had bolted out furiously, kicking the door- which slammed right into a surprised blonde who had been about to open it from the other side. It was the man, and in his hands…the Golden Claw. She had apologized and led him inside, blushing furiously as he placed the family heirloom on the counter. Lucan sent her an I-told-you-so glare. Then he paid the man about four times what the claw was actually worth.
The blonde returned often. He had, it seemed, dealings with Delphine, the owner of the Sleeping Giant Inn. Every time he came, he dropped off the most unearthly goods. From giants' toes to intricately carved bowls and dishes, the man seemed to come across everything. He was no doubt an adventurer. Her brother seemed happy to purchase everything he offered, even the things she was positive they would not be able to find a buyer for. When questioned about it, Lucan said the man was "too important of a costumer to anger". It was true, too. His findings brought them quite a lot of profit.
He often had some very appealing items, and Camilla began to look forward to his visits. She loved when he brought circlets, rings and necklaces, many of which held magical properties. Rubies, sapphires and emeralds, such rare stones, became a common sight to her pleased eyes. Once he had brought in a torchbug in a jar, which she had loved so much, she had talked her brother into keeping.
One normal morning, Camilla opened the shop to find a surprising sight. She examined the door locks, but whoever had broken in was an expert lock picker, because no traces had been left. She double checked the money and the goods, but nothing had been taken. The one thing that gave away the fact that someone had been there was the counter. There, lay the Golden Claw, and next to it… an iron replica.
Or at least, that's what she thought it was. It had the same design, except for the symbols on the underside. While the Golden one had a Bear, a Moth and an Owl, the iron similar had a Dragon, a Hawk and a Wolf. If that was supposed to mean something, she had no idea. She had shown it to her brother, whom, while pleasantly surprised, had ordered the changing of the locks, in order to avoid, as he had so eloquently put it, "Thieves with bad intentions".
Coincidence or not, the man had appeared on the shop one day later. As he walked in, he stumbled in a basket and held on the counter to break his fall, slamming both claws to the ground. Camilla bent over and picked up both relics, not without catching the man's slight smirk when he noticed how she placed the iron copy next to the original golden one. He and Lucan had negotiated eagerly, in special over some bizarre item the man had called a "Falmer's ear". She honestly hoped that was a metaphoric name and not the literal thing.
She followed him out when he left and stopped him by grabbing his arm.
"It was you, was it not?" she asked, making sure she was out of Lucan's hearing range.
"I beg your pardon?", he replied innocently.
"You know what I am talking about. The iron claw replica. It was you who put it there."
His lips twitched in a bemused smirk.
"The replica? Oh no, dear, that is not a replica." He lowered his voice to a conspiring whisper. "There are ten claws, each unique. Do you not know what they are for?"
His tone was teasing. She did not in fact know what the use of the claw was, besides garnishing, but she was not about to reveal that to the smug stranger.
"Of course I do!"
"Good! I assume you already made the preparations, then?"
"What preparations?"
"For when the undead army of draugrs come fetch them!"
"What?!"
He burst out laughing, and she realized she had fallen for his trick.
"By the Nine, you win! What are them for?"
He put on an absolutely serious face.
"Each one of those claws is the key to ancient Nordic puzzle doors, that lead into treasure and danger filled dark tombs and dungeons."
She snorted.
"Stop teasing me. Be honest now, what are they for?"
His only reply was a mischievous wink. Before she could say anything else, however, Lucan came out after her, and she was left to wave him goodbye as he walked away.
Months passed before she saw him again. She woke up one morning to find, next to the two claws, a new, coral toned one. She ran her hands through it, feeling the rough texture. The symbols engraved were a Snake, a Wolf and a Moth. She waited for the man that day, but he did not come. Her brother ordered the change of the locks for even stronger ones. He was there again a couple weeks later, casually exchanging goods with her brother as usual. He did not speak to her.
She was no longer surprised when she woke up in the morning and found an extra claw. What did shock her, however, were their augmenting values. After the coral, the next claw was Ivory, and then, another red, but, this time, pure Ruby. Then came the Sapphire and Emerald one. Her brother gave up on changing the locks. He began to call it "the Dragon Claw miracle".
At the same time, the man stopped coming altogether. Delphine, she had heard, passed the Inn to Orgnar and moved away to Divines-know-where, and so it seemed the blonde adventurer had no more reasons to spend time in the little village... besides, of course, sneaking into their shop and placing increasingly valuable relics on the counter. She found himself missing the man and his oddities. Her brother found himself missing their income.
After the emerald claw, came a magnificent glass one. She had no idea glass could be bent and forged that way. Then, the pitch black ebony claw. She counted nine of them .The stranger had said there were ten. She had no idea how could they get any more valuable, but inconspicuously, she ordered them on the counter, leaving an empty space for when the last one appeared.
It came on a cold morning. She opened the shop as usual and what she saw almost gave her a heart attack. There were her nine claws – Iron, Gold, Coral, Ivory, Ruby, Sapphire, Emerald, Glass, Ebony. And next to them, a Diamond one. It was beautiful. The pure stone caught the light and released rainbows. Camilla realized that claw alone was probably worth more than their whole business.
Her brother's mood, already lifted by the invaluable treasure, got even better when the man entered their shop in his usual causal way. The blonde seemed especially generous, selling his possessions for less than half their actual price. Even so, he walked away with his satchel full.
Camilla stopped him once again, this time dragging him to a place they could not be interrupted.
"Alright," she said, going straight to the point, "Explain. Why were you gone for so long? Why are you doing this? That Diamond Claw alone would have been enough to feed you well for the rest of your life. Where did you even get that?"
He smiled.
"It is such a wild tale, you would not believe me if I told you. I have trouble believing it myself!"
She sighed, realizing he wouldn't say anything useful. Her brother would give her a serious verbal lashing if he knew she was questioning their costumer like that, but she needed to know something, if only his name.
"Fine!" she exclaimed irritably, "But at least tell me your name!"
He said nothing.
"Come on now, Dragon-boy", At that, he narrowed his eyes slightly, but she continued regardless.
"You have impressed me once, I will give you that, but nothing you say or do will repeat that feat. Stop being such a pain and tell who you are."
His smile cracked into a wild, maniac grin.
"Do you not know that yet?" was his only, mysterious reply. Then he rudely turned his back on her and walked away, leaving a flabbergasted Camilla Valerius staring.
She did not sleep well that night. Thoughts of his cryptic reply left her wondering who exactly the blonde could be. She finally fell into a slumber, only to wake at sunrise. She got up and proceeded to her usual routine – changing her clothes, brushing her hair. As she turned the doorknob to the corridor, something caught her eye.
She walked back to the cupboard, where a shiny something laid. She held it up. The object was smooth, oval shaped, as big as her closed fist, and as heavy as an iron ingot. Its hue was dark blue, almost purple, getting lighter or darker depending on how it caught the light. It was beautiful, she reckoned. But what exactly was it? Not a stone, she knew for sure; it almost looked like…
And then it all fell into place. The man, the dragon claws, and now that. She felt stupid for not realizing it sooner and for a moment, all she could do was stand there, gaping at her discovery and at what she had in hands. What had she called him? Dragon-boy.
Dragon-boy indeed, or rather, Dragonborn.
Camilla Valerius carefully stored the gifted dragon scale. For what had to be the first time, she was honestly, completely impressed.
I don't know what prompted me to write this, really.
Thanks for reading!