Hello all! I recently bought Skyrim Legendary Edition for PC and been modding the hell out of it! Got me back in the mood and reminded me for my love for Derkeethus and ive seen a lack there of stories with him. Made me quite upset. So i thought I'd thought I'd do him some justice.
DL The Gold Titan
Chapter 1: Knight in Shining Armor
'Waking up I felt more sore than usual. My tent didn't have nearly enough room for me to move around so i crawled out. Outside was soundless. The moon still shown even though the sun brightened the sky. The air was crisp and chill. I love the weather when it is a cool fresh feeling. Looking around i saw no one else was up. Moving over near the river bank I stretched my muscles to be rid of the kinks and knots I felt throughout my body. Mining was tough yesterday. As if it wasn't hard enough, we had a cave in and lost about half of the mine. We had to attempt to try and clear it out. We were at work with that for the whole day and evening. We barely dug a quarter of the way through. When we were finally let off we all went to bed exhausted.
Yawning out the rest of my tiredness I peered out across the river. The water was calm and soothing and gave me an idea. Our fish supply was dwindling because of the unexpected extra work and no time to fish. Thinking it was a good idea to restock I grabbed my fishing pole and net. I also thought it wise to bring one of my pickaxes along in case I ran into any wild animals.
The water was much too calm here so I headed up stream. The water was faster and surely bigger fish were roaming in there. The waterfall that lead past Dark Water Crossing was much too rapid for my lines and branches got stuck there all the time. I climbed over rocks and traveled passed quite a few trees to reach my spot. The river was at a quickened pace but not too fast as to drift the fish away. Casting my line out I sat and waited.
I had caught two fish so far. One I was extremely proud of. A three footer that had lots of meat on it. We might even have that for dinner. Smiling at my luck so far I casted out for at least two more then i would head back to the Crossing...
*grrr...ooooowllll* ...'
...
That's what happened before my capture. Those vile grotesque creatures captured me. I was stupid to try and venture off alone. Especially near their cave. But what I don't understand is why they had ventured outside. Or as to why they kept me alive.
Now I'm in this small water cell. This felt like my tent. Barely any room. I swam within my confinement cell for days now.
On day one I freaked out and tried escaping but the Falmer that captured me snorted and shouted at me. When they got fed up they shot an arrow into my shoulder. Days two through five I spent soaking the wound and addressing it the best Icould. On day eight they started dropping in parts of food. I didn't care what it might be, I ate it. I had to keep up what little of my strength up somehow.
Now I don't know what day it is. It was the same routine everyday. Wake up, get food, eat, then spend my time trying to amuse myself. I didn't have to worry about falling asleep in the water. Us argonians have a liking to water and can breathe it so there were no worries there. But I still had no idea as to why they hadn't killed me...
Bored of swimming and of trying to play mind games I listened to their scuffling and their grunts from above. I peered through the trapdoor that was placed above my cell. Sometimes they would grace me with their ugly mugs over the opening and cackle. "Yeah keep laughing you ugly bastards!"
...
SHUCK!
"Gaaalggghh!"
SHUCK!
"What in Oblivion...?"
This was an unusual sound.
SHUCK!
That was a bow! But it didn't sound like their makeshift bows. This release sounded so defined, so slick and quick. I heard bodies dropping like flies and equipment smacking the floor.
"Ugh!"
What's this? Oh no! No no no no no! Don't die! Please get me out of here!
"Die you filthy creature!"
It was a woman. The sound of a charus squealing in pain and it's shell snapping alerted the others. Oh gods. "They are coming!"
A sword was unsheathed and clanging sounds were heard. Falmer shrieks echoed from above and charuses were snapping. I looked above for any move motion through the trapdoor opening. Nothing had appeared but the sounds were still heard all around. Each second getting closer.
I jumped suddenly at a Falmer that fell on top of the opening. His back flat and squirming. He was screeching but I couldn't see why. The yelling got more and more desperate and I finally saw why. A gold sword was slowly sinking through his chest causing great agony. Still sinking through it sliced through it's back then it twisted ending it's life. Blood trickled down the blade and corpse into my cell. One drop even landed on me making me blink and hiss.
The body was kicked away and above the crate opening stood a gold helmet held a placid face on it. The armor tried to frame curves on the person. If I hadn't heard her voice I wouldn't have known it was a woman. Blood was splattered all over the golden armor. The Gold Titan just stared down at me. There was no noise. Not even my breathing was heard. She didn't move. No indication there was even a body in there.
I could feel my throat constrict. It dried when I had attempted to speak, "...Please.."
At that the Gold Titan left me. My heart sank as the shining form walked away. I sat down and put my head in my clawed hands. I scratched my scales in frustration. Why did she leave? What had I done? My thoughts went to maybe she was biased to Argonians. Maybe my scaly kind disgusted her and she could care less. Either way, my chance for escape was gone.
...
Lost in my own despair of self pity I didn't notice the sound of chains chiming or metal groaning. When the gate slammed up top of the ceiling I jerked up from my position and turned around swiftly. There in the opening walked down the Gold Knight. Her armor clomped with each step showing how heavy it was. Her sword and shield were tucked away. There was more blood on her than when she stood over the trapdoor. I don't know why but it made her look majestic in a way. Or maybe it was valiant.
I was stuck to the spot. Paralyzed, unmoving, just watching my savior trot down the stairs. "Are you ok?"
Her voice. It didn't fit the armor at all. The bulking gold chunks harbored this woman with such a soothing voice.
She was now a stair above me and yet she was my height. Such a small thing to be as ferocious as the warrior I watched earlier. I gulped back whatever feeling I had and sighed, releasing a breathe I didn'tknow I was holding. "Yess. I am alright...you left earlier..."
She clearly didn't hear the last part for she was rummaging through her pack for something. Lifting her hand from it she held out a loaf of bread. "Eat. You must be starving."
I took it weakly but I was then overcome with the strongest sensation to devour it. I lunged my teeth into the crust and chewed away. This wasn't nearly as much as what the Falmer fed me. My stomach gurgled almost painfully as each gulp helped the food to travel down my throat. Once it was gone I looked up at my savior. She had her arms crossed but I couldn't tell what she was thinking. The helmet was still on and it covered her whole face replacing it with it's plain design of indifference.
"There you must have been locked up here for quite a while to have eaten that so fast."
She then reached around and handed over some other fruits and such. But then she put forward something I wasn't expecting. In her hand was a Glass sword and bow with a quiver full of arrows. Touching it I felt a sense of dread. "What is this...?"
"The entrance was blocked by magic. We can't go back through there. We'll have to move forward into the cave and hope for an exit."
"What you didn't slaughter the rest?! How did you come back so quickly without drawing their attention?"
A small giggle escaped the gold woman. It was soft and it actually set me at ease. It sounded like a flutter of a flute. "I snuck back. Just because I wear huge armor doesn't mean I don't know how to maneuver in it without making noise."
I felt my face get hot with embarrassment for doubting her. Thank the gods I don't have fleshy skin to show my blush. I took hold of the bow and sword equipping it to my side. She offered me some leather armor for better protection but I declined. If we were to survive I would need to be quick and nimble. My clothes would be fine.
Her hand snuck out then. "My names Leira."
I gently took it and shook firmly. "Derkeethus."
We left my cell along with my fear and torment behind. I could feel myself lighter like something was lifted off of my chest. Walking deeper into the cave the dense air began making me sweat even in my light clothes. I could only imagine how she was fairing in her gold slabs of metal. She also wasn't making a sound while i was already heaving for air from the walking trek.
The stones that surrounded us started dripping water. Small droplets would land and splatter on us. It would barely make a noise when hitting me but it echoed when spitting on her. Yet she remained stoic, focused, condensed.
Rounding a corner she held up a hand to tell me to wait. She lifted a Dwarven bow and slung back the string as far as she could. Time seemed to pass by so slowly. When her fingers released the arrow it shot out in the straightest line I've ever witnessed. Through the darkness it flew until it hit it's mark. A loose lantern fell onto the floor spreading it's flame. More Falmer were seen and some even caught fire and died. The fire attracted the rest to it's heat. At that Leira shot down two more. Three Falmer had sensed us and began sprinting in our direction. Leira unsheathed her golden blade and shield and charged at the one. I myself had to muster courage and attack the second. I used my pickaxe and hooked it's head on the pointed pic. Leira made quick work of her first kill and shield slammed the other. Once I plucked my pic out of it's head I walked over.
She nodded. "Nicework." Then we moved on.
The Falmer were many but with us both we took care of each one that came near us. Leira was a graceful figure. She twirled around her enemies and catching them off guard. Even though she did close combat she was a strategist planning out each and every move ahead. She saved me from more than just the cell. One too many Falmer snuck across my back but she would be there to kill them always before even a hand was placed on me.
The cave opened up to the outside but the walls were too tall and slippery to climb. Stone steps were leading up onto the mountain. The wind was blowing hard. I had a hard time keeping my footing.
"Are you ok?"
Looking up Leira was peering down at me. The light from the outside graced me with the sight of her eyes. The lightest shade of purple shone through the slits in her helmet. They looked straight into me. Searching for an answer.
"Uhm... I am fine."
"Do you need a rest perhaps? I understand if you do. You've been malnourished for days."
I looked at her as she stepped down. I shook my head, "No no. Really I'm alright."
Her eyes shifted then.
"Then let us continue." she said almost playfully.
