Chapter One
The Dragonborn opened her eyes, wondering for a moment where she was. The sun was shining on her face and she smiled at the warmth. That's right, she had barely made it to her bed in her Lakeview Manor before passing out the night before.
It was late in the day already, but Juniper made no move to get up yet. Her latest adventure had been rather demanding of her, but the way the sun gleamed off the Deathbrand Armor as it hung in her bedroom... well who else was waking up to such a sight?
Juniper smirked and whispered her telekinesis spell to open the rest of the curtains in her room and smiled as a breeze flowed in. The cold air was one of her favorite things about Skyrim, she always hated sleeping through the hot nights of Cyrodil but as a slave you suffered through much.
How humorous her life was, that she had run to Skyrim as a slave and was captured and sentenced to death, but now here she woke in one of her houses across the country. The country that scorned her for being Altmer, but declared her Dragonborn. She had helped the rebellion against her own race, having no love for those who had enslaved her, and she had fought back the dragon threat.
Now? Well, now she spent her time looking for pirate treasure apparently. She eyed the Deathbrand armor and enjoyed the way it glinted in the light. It was on display next to the Ancient Falmer Armor she had fought so desperately for and both tempted her now. Nah, she didn't need an adventure today. Today she should help Rayya with the chores before there wasn't anymore sun.
Juniper washed her face and then put on some clothes she could do work in. When she came out to the main hall of her house, she saw breakfast had been waiting for her for quite some time. She greedily ate the cold porridge and when she was done she went to the kitchen looking for something else to eat. It seemed like ages since she had enjoyed a meal and now she was shoveling enough for three down her gullet.
As she sat back in a chair in front of the fire, she realized that had probably been a mistake. She was just beginning to convince herself she had earned the right to take a nap right after breakfast when she heard the shouting.
Juniper ran through the hall and grabbed her bow off the table. Without bothering with her armor, she hurried outside to see her Redguard housecarl being outnumbered by bandits.
Juniper was livid as she raised her bow. By the gods how she hated bandits. With three shots, three men went down but she had counted five. Juniper looked about her, daring the others to appear. She was about to use her whisper when suddenly arms wrapped around her from behind. As she struggled, she saw Rayya had been caught as well, but it was all to be momentary.
With as much strength as she could muster, she bashed her head backwards into the man's nose and as he fell she realized how grateful she was that he wasn't wearing a helmet. Ass. It was one thing to attack an unarmored Dragonborn, but to be half dressed yourself? "I have no time for amateurs," Juniper snarled as she picked up the woodcutter's axe near her and sunk into his head.
Juniper looked to Rayya and saw the man holding a knife to her throat.
"Just let her go if your qualm is with me!" Juniper yelled. Could she slow down time enough to stop him? Could she shout true enough to not hurt her friend as well? As she doubted herself the man was winning.
"I'll let her go and you'll let me go?" The man asked and Juniper saw that he was shaking and it was causing a fine cut to appear on Rayya's neck.
Juniper nodded, "On my honor."
The man seemed to think about it for only a moment before pushing Rayya to the ground and running away. Rayya stood up, holding a hand to the cut on her throat as Juniper went and picked up her bow and arrows. She watched him run for a little while longer down the length of the arrow.
"On your honor?" Rayya asked sarcastically, sounding rather ungrateful for someone who had just been saved.
Juniper let the arrow loose and smirked as it peirced the man's calf. "Do you think I have any left?"
It was a nice walk down to where the man lay groaning. Rayya had stayed behind and went straight to her wood cutting. Good lass. Juniper had grabbed her daggers but remained unarmored, she didn't want her prey getting away after all.
Crouching down beside the man as he crawled, Juniper looked him up and down. He wore leather armor and appeared to only have a daggar on him. How could anyone dream of attacking her home with such little protection? It had crossed her mind that someone may have sent them but now she wondered if this was just a random attack. Still, it paid to be careful.
"Who sent you?" She asked, standing up so as to look down at her prey.
The man rolled onto his back with a groan, "It was just a raid. Same as any other. We heard there were women in this house and so we came to plunder." He spit at her feet. "Found nothing here worth anythin.'"
She merely raised an eyebrow at him, "My would be rapist dares to mock me while at my feet?" Raising her bow, she shook her head. "Such a waste."
A crow flew overhead as she let loose the arrow and Juniper raised her face to the sky. Should she have let him go? Should she have let Skyrim's wild claim him? What was to stop him from healing and gaining some smarts to come back in the night? What was to stop him from going to the family down the road and taking their daughters?
The wilds of Skyrim had claim these men, and her name was Juniper the last Dragonborn. She sighed against the breeze, any victory felt good big or small and the best thing to follow it was another victory. Maybe she would put her Dragonscale on and do a little adventuring after all today.
After healing Rayya and then eating a bit to restore her energy and then packing some of the food along with some drink, oh and making sure she had some gold on her and her good daggers, her bow, her lucky charm, her sack... the list was long but by now Juniper had done this a few times.
She had consulted her books and her maps and her and Rayya had noted the sort of armor the bandits were wearing, and together they believed their attackers had come from a pass to the north just across the river.
They said goodbye and once again Juniper was apologizing for leaving without doing any work on the manor but Rayya was used to it and waved her off.
The journey was passing without much excitement, until Juniper had crossed the river. It was dark and she heard a rustle deeper in the woods. Crouching down out sight, Juniper took out her bow. Out into her sight, walked an oblivious male all dressed in armor. He carried a large battle axe and made a lot of noise as he walked. And he was huge. Juniper relied on her stealth ad archery more than anything, this guy obviously relied on his muscles.
He stopped suddenly, and looked into the darkness where she crouched with an arrow pointed at his head. When he took a step towards her, Juniper stood up and let herself be seen. It was then, in the light of the moon, that she could see the tusks protruding past his helmet.
"Orsimer," she snarled at him. She saw that he wore dragonplate armor, but it was worn and old looking. This piqued her interest but she made herself remain intimidating. Or at least tried to as the orc raised his ebony battle axe.
"Elf." The Orc grumbled back and Juniper smirked, of course any distinction of her race was irrelevant; elves were all the same filth to an orc.
The two remained at a silent impasse before at last he spoke, "Where are you headed this night?"
Juniper frowned before deciding to risk it, "I'm looking for a group of bandits." Her arrow never faltered as she spoke. "I killed fiver earlier today and now I seek the rest."
The Orc lowered his axe, "These bandits... they have wronged me as well. Let me go with you and then maybe afterwards we could spar?"
Smirking, Juniper lowered her bow at last. "Do you know where they might be?"
"Aye," he nodded and moved over on the path so she could join him as evidently he was not one for stealth like her. "I heard they were staying in the Brittleshin Pass."
Juniper had to smile knowing that her and Rayya had come up with the same answer, and if a third party came to the same conclusion then they must be on the right path.
They walked in silence for a while and just as the cave was coming into view and Juniper was getting the urge to crouch out of sight, the orc spoke up again.
"What is your name, Elf?" It came out in a low growl and she realized he was probably trying to whisper.
"Juniper," She whispered with a cringe, she hated introducing herself to anyone.
"Your parents gave you a pet name?" The Orc asked and Juniper stopped in her tracks to give him a glare.
"Can this conversation wait until we're not sneaking in the dark?" She hissed at him and the orc nodded.
She was walking ahead of him, giving into her urge to be sneaky and crouched down to the ground. No one guarding the front. If she'd said it before she'd say it again, amateurs.
"Forgive me, Juniper. You are a great warrior." The words were grumbled and at first Juniper didn't realized what she had heard. It wasn't until the edges of her world were growing dark that she realized it was the orc who spoke. Oh, she was in terrible trouble.
When she woke up, Juniper realized she wasn't in a cave somewhere. She was naked and tied to a shrine and the floor was made of the lost pages of a million books.
"No," She whispered and began to struggle but as she moved, the ropes that bound her turned to the dark whips of Hermaeus Mora that bit into her flesh until she ceased.
Slumping against the shrine, she looked up and saw the orc approaching her. He still had his dragonplate armor but had removed his helmet to reveal a stoic face and black dreads down the middle of his head.
Juniper opened her mouth to shout but more whips wrapped around her and squeezed her mouth shut until she was sure she would suffocate. Screaming silently, she watch the orc look away and she tried to curse him.
Damn him! Damn him for looking from me, this is his trap! She screamed her thoughts to the Daedric Prince. Why Hermaeus Mora? After all that I've done?
Laughter filled the air, a deep and dark laughter that made the whips squeeze around her terribly.
"All that you've done, slave?" The voice of Hermaeus Mora spoke soft and low. "You took my power and left me. You have never served anyone but yourself, you think you more powerful than ME?"
Juniper hung her head and fought back a sob against the pain, "No master. No."
"But you do. You think yourself worthy of being a god. My servant has watched you in battle and reported to me your... less than modest nature. I seek a new hero, an obedient dragonborn." At these words, the orc came to stand before her.
"You would never be dragonborn," Juniper growled as the whips tugged and twisted into her skin. "I have killed all the dragons. The title is worthless now!"
The orc crouched before her, "It's your dragon souls I want, not the title."
Suddenly the pain was unbearable as the whips forced her mouth to open, she felt like her skin would rip in two. Worse was the pain as every dragon soul she ever earned was ripped from her own and as they were torn away she could see the orc before fill with her power.
Juniper tried to thrash, she tried to scream but the she was held in place and forced to watch her very essence be torn from her. Until, at last, it was over and the whips no longer held her and she could slump to the floor.
Blood was streaming down her arms and she shivered against the sudden chill about her, but the orc stood and looked about him in wonder.
"You coward. You vile little beast!" Juniper shouted at him and before she could think twice about it, she was on her feet and running at him. She'd tear his throat out with her teeth if she had to. He took everything that was hers.
The orc easily caught her around the neck with one hand and raised her off the ground. Juniper gasped for air and kicked at him, but he quickly dropped her on his own. He had a stunned look on his face and Juniper gasped when she saw it as well. The souls he had just tried to steal were flowing back to her and she felt the warmth of them return.
"No! What is this?" The voice of Hermaeus Mora shouted.
Juniper looked about her and realized the walls were closing in on them.
"No!" She shouted to the sky and from her a force came that ripped through the air around them. The force whipped around her and she felt herself being lifted from the ground and pulled towards a bright and powerful light. And then she hit the ground with a hard thud and saw a shadow against the blue sky before once again passing out.