"Those who shirk their duties will get an extra beating. Do I make myself clear? I don't want to hear another thing about adoptions for any of you either, you hear me? No one needs you. No one wants you. That's why you're here, understood?"

"Yes, Grelod." We all replied.

"Good. Now get to work and stop slouching around!"

This was a daily ritual for us children in Honorhall Orphanage. Get yelled at by Grelod while Constance Michel just watches or listens from the other room where all the food and drink was. There was a table large enough for me, Hroar, Samuel, Francis, and Runa. Besides Constance and Grelod, Runa was the only girl out of the seven of us in the hall. There was another boy, Aventus, but he ran away from here, from Riften even, to his home far to the north in the city called Windhelm to perform something called the Black Sacrament and summon someone called the Night Mother to have her send someone from a group called the Dark Brotherhood, who were supposedly assassins of great caliber, to get rid of Grelod the Kind, who was far from kind, forever, freeing us from her tyranny.

He did that a couple weeks ago, but nothing has happened so we gave up the idea of being free from Grelod and instead hoped she died from drinking too much one day or from old age. She was probably even older than Olaf One-Eye, one of the greatest warriors of Skyrim's long and magnificent history. He was famed then crowned for fighting a dragon named Numinex with the Thu'um and luring it to the cloud district of Whiterun where Dragon's Reach now resides, built in his honor. That would mean that she is centuries old and I can believe it with how grumpy she always is.

We all dispersed to our beds and made them as we always did in the mornings, then went to the table in the next room to receive our meals of a small glass of milk and plate of bread. This was our everyday meal where Grelod got meats and fruits and things such as that. Constance also could get that but she joined us in our bread and milk instead, probably to show us that she did care, but we didn't. We wanted to eat quickly to get away from Grelod as quickly as possible. I always felt bad for the person who was tasked with cleaning up everything as she also made the biggest mess for that person to clean. Grelod always noticed that I felt sorry so she always left the biggest mess for me when it was my day. Luckily I noticed she ate differently then compared to when she eats on days for the other children, and this was not a me day, which meant I would be outside all day which was fine with me because it allowed me to take out any anger or stress out on the wood that I needed to chop up for the fire.

This also allowed me another privilege that the other children didn't get, and that was seeing The Adventurer. I didn't know his name but he would come around every so often finding bounties from the Jarl or trading in armor and weapons to Balimund, the smith. He once got into a fight with a thief who tried to run off with jewels from the Temple of Mara. He took out a bow that was made of a black material that was glowing red through cracks in the black metal and fired a single arrow that ended up exploding in a great ball of light and incinerating the thief in their tracks. All that was left of the thief was his clothes, dagger and whatever else he was carrying with him. The guards paid no attention aside from congratulating and thanking him for doing that.

What surprised me most, however, was that they kept calling him "Dragonborn" or "Dovahkiin" as in someone with the blood of a dragon. The last person with the dragon blood was emperor Martin who saved all of Nirn from the daedric prince Molag Bal, the Prince of Destruction. Legend has it that Martin turned into the dragon Akatosh and turned Molag Bal into a 30-foot tall statue in the center of the Imperial City. This all happened at the end of the 3rd Era, about 201 years ago. The adventurer started appearing last year, late into Last Seed or early into Hearthfire while it was cooling down from the warmer times of Mid-Year and Sun's Height.

Every time he came, he had newer and tougher armor and weapons than the last time he was here. First, he showed up in leather armor that was all torn and rough and was bleeding heavily from a bear attack. His wood and iron shield was dented badly and the wood was rotten and missing in places where others were split and broken. The next time he came, he was in steel armor with a sword whose hilt glowed with some unknown light, as though it was powered by the sun itself. He said he had gotten it as a gift from the Daedric Prince Meridia, who was the prince of life and energy. He said he retrieved something called "Meridia's Beacon" and brought it to her shrine near Solitude.

After returning the beacon, he said he was brought up high into the air somehow and heard a voice from all directions while he was high up in the sky, higher even than High Hrothgar, the mountain that is said to have the first snowfall in all of Skyrim, even in all of Nirn because of how high it was. The top is said to house the Greybeards, masters of the Way of the Voice because their voices were too powerful for others to hear without killing them from the power of their voice. In order to get there, you have to climb the Seven Thousand Steps while fighting high winds and icy paths along with whatever else might be up there, like frost trolls or ice wolves or even mythical frost wraiths.

I thought about all this as I grabbed the ax so I could complete my chore and be able to help all the rest of us warm through the night since we don't have warm fur blankets like Grelod and Constance does. Again, Constance doesn't use the blankets, but she also can't give them to us because Grelod would kick her out onto the streets and she couldn't afford that nor did she want that since she was "our sun on a dark day." She suffered a lot and risked a lot during the day when Grelod turned her back to her for even a second. She would often help the other children with their chores when they needed it or it looked like they needed it. She also tried calming Grelod down during her tantrums because something happened that wasn't even that important.

Deep in thought, I nearly ended up toppling the massive stack of wood on top of myself because I wasn't paying attention. Luckily for me, I recovered quickly and caught the wood before it was too late. I pushed the wood back onto the pile and made sure it was stable before gathering my armful and brought it over to the pile of logs to chop. I knew it wouldn't be the easiest thing to do, but we would need quite the stockpile of wood if a harsh winter was coming like everyone was saying was coming. We all were hoping Grelod didn't find out my true age before one of the other boys were big enough to do my job because if she knew I was over sixteen she would kick me out and the others would freeze because they wouldn't be able to chop wood.

I am the oldest of the orphans by at least three years. I am an adult by our standards at seventeen years of age where the oldest child in the orphanage is fourteen-year-old Runa and she isn't able to swing an ax because it is too heavy for her. Nord tradition also states that women are to do house chores or help in the fields their father owns when they are below the age of sixteen years, but when they pass that age, they are allowed to explore as they want to. Many still stay home or close to it and help around the town and such where in other places, they are adventurers of great caliber or warriors in great armies.

Personally, I don't agree with Nord tradition and think young women should be able to do what they want and follow their passion even at a young age, but my ideas are not widely shared and Nords have been around since the landing of Ysgramor and the five hundred companions, who landed on Skyrim's icy shores and fought hard against the snow elves of legend to claim land for themselves. The elves of Skyrim were banned to underground and have not been heard of or from since. There have been stories of twisted, blind and corrupt elves deep in caves or dwemer ruins that are pure white like the falmer of legend, but many think of it as impossible as they were supposedly lost along with the dwemer when they disappeared without a trace.

Again getting lost in thought, I was startled when a man who was standing near me suddenly yelled "Dragonborn!" to anyone within earshot. It had been awhile since he was last here, a couple of months really. It was unusual for something like this to happen, so it wasn't a wonder when people were getting all kinds of excited to see the legend. Everyone who heard the man started running into each other trying to get to the market to see him and possibly hear of his new adventures. I personally was in no hurry. I just climbed up on top of the roof of the orphanage and jumped from roof to roof until I got to the other side of the market so that I could see him from the time he came to the time he left.

The gates opened only seconds after I had gotten to my waiting place and as they did, I saw him in a light brown chest plate matched with boots, greaves, and tassets of the same color and material. His head was covered by a helmet of a darker piece of the material and had horns that extended from his brows back, like those of a deer, but without the branching out and much thicker. His shield looked like a bone that was taken from the chest of some massive beast and was given a handle. His sword was of a similar material, but looked lighter yet stronger, and had the same dark material as the helmet making up the hilt, guard, and center of the blade.

He walked through the gates and you could feel his power emanating from within, like the deep thrum of a war drum. Everyone was silent in awe of this magnificent being in human form and just watched. He made his way into the tavern and everyone soon tried following but something stopped them. No one entered the tavern, but no one left either. I made my way over to the roof of the shop next to the tavern and jumped onto the second-floor balcony and made my way into the building, unsure of what I would find.

When I walked in, the heat from the massive fire burning down on the first floor in the hearth was amazing, and the smell of fresh, flowing mead was almost too much to take, but it smelled so sweet that I carried on. I walked through the hall with rooms on either side until I came to the stairs and climbed down into a miniature storage room. There were a few barrels with fruit and vegetables in them that made my mouth water, but I knew I was no thief. I moved past the barrels and came into the main hall, full of tables with chairs around them like they were expecting a party to be hosted there. The chairs were empty aside from a few that were taken by people enjoying their mead and food or the mercenary who was always sitting there doing nothing, waiting to be hired.

I could feel the dovahkiin's presence, but I couldn't see him so I started to wander around the room until I came across a man who emanated power but was not wearing the armor that the dovahkiin was wearing when he walked in. He was instead in a tight suit of black and red that had a slight glow to them of different colors. The headdress was deep red but glowed green, the boots were black but glowed gold and the main part of the suit was black as well and glowed red. It was obviously enchanted, but for what purpose, I didn't know. His sword also was not there, but he had a dagger of black in its sheath that looked ancient. I sat across from him, making sure to not disturb him and just watched.

Neither of us said anything for awhile, but then he spoke in a smooth, flowing voice, "You know who I am, don't you?"

I took a second before replying. "Yes I do, you're the dovahkiin, right?"

He looked up and watched me as I was him. "Yes, I am. I have seen you watching me from the rooftops, right?"

"Yes, that is also me."

"How did you get in here then?"

"I hopped from roof to roof until I got to the balcony upstairs. I don't normally do that but I wanted to see why no one came in here like they usually do."

"I guess you didn't hear it then. Have you heard of a thing called the Thu'um? Or Shout?"

"Yes, it is used by the Dragonborn of the past and also by the dragons, right?"

"That is exactly correct." He said as he looked at me with new interest. "How did you know that?"

"I'm really into old legends and I used to hear stories when we first found out that a new dovahkiin, you, had emerged after slaying a dragon in Whiterun."

"Interesting. Was this before or after I first came here?"

"This was before, so people were surprised you had shown up in as bad of a state as you were if you had supposedly slain a dragon and taken its soul."

"I didn't exactly have the upper hand there after fighting a couple of bandits. There was an orc with a battle ax that destroyed my shield and a swordsman who flayed my hamstring while I was trying to block the orc's swing. Then after that is when the bear attacked and sliced open my back as I tried to run away from it."

"Sounds dangerous, but amazing that you were able to do that."

"Others would have said that sounds like fun. It's good to know someone has a head on their shoulders. Where are your parents by the way? Shouldn't they have had an issue with you hopping rooftops and going into taverns?"

"Helgen."

"What about it?"

"They were killed by Alduin that day when you were supposed to be executed."

"So, you're an orphan?"

"One of the only survivors who wasn't drafted into the imperial army directly after."

"You look old enough, so how did you avoid the draft?"

"I lied about my age."

"Well, that makes sense. Why did you do that, though? You would have a warm bed, three hot meals a day and the ability to fight against what you think is wrong all with no major repercussions."

"I think the imperials are cowards, for one. Plus I don't like the idea of fighting in an army where you just grow close to people who will die soon and people always ready to cut your throat to get a promotion."

"That is a good point. Did you choose to come here?"

"Unfortunately yes. They gave me a choice of orphanages and Honorhall sounded like a good one due to the name and the fact it is run by a lady named Grelod the Kind. The complete opposite is true about that place."

"I know. Aventus told me."

"What do you mean he did? Are you an assassin?"

"No, I am the Dovahkiin, what I do otherwise is off the books. This sounded like a good opportunity for gold since I am trying to build a house out in Falkreath. It is hidden in the hills and surrounded by trees with a nice view of one of the many lakes in the area. It is truly beautiful."

"So how did you hear about Aventus?"

"A tavern owner told me about a boy in Windhelm doing something called The Black Sacrament. I decided to check it out, not knowing what the black sacrament was and it sounded bad. When I got there, he told me everything about Grelod, the hall and the other kids within, except for you. He didn't mention you."

"He didn't know me well as I was constantly busy with outside work and such. But back to the subject at hand. Why are you dressed like an assassin?"

"Isn't it obvious? I am here to kill Grelod."

When he said that, my heart started racing. I didn't know if it was fear or the fact we would finally be rid of the evil Grelod. "How do you plan on doing that?"

"Originally I was planning on just going straight in, using an invisibility potion, and shooting her with a bow from a dark area in the building. But now that you are here, I was wondering if you would help me find another way in or a better way to do it to where I wouldn't have to worry about being caught."

"I would be more than happy to do that for you. Shall we get started?"

"Not quite yet, I still have to pay for my food and drink as well as your room for the night."

"What do you mean?"

"Well I can't have it look like you did it, now could I?"

"You do have a point."

"By the way, how old are you, really?"

"I am seventeen."

"Interesting. Well, give me a second and I will meet you on the upper balcony."

We both got up and I went upstairs while the barkeep was paid and informed of my returning to stay in one of the rooms. He handed the barkeep a large sum of gold from what I could tell, but I kept moving upwards and through the hall again until I came to the door to the balcony when someone behind me started moving towards me. I turned around and saw that a man in a dark robe was approaching with an outstretched hand. He walked as though he had a limp and his hand was bony, like that of a dead person's. When I peered under his hood when he was close enough, his eyes were red like a dying coal and his teeth glowed with a ghostly white light and his fangs were much bigger than any other person's I had seen.

He started to move faster as he saw that I had seen what he is and I quickly opened the door and rushed out, closing it behind me and pushing against it to try and keep this vampire from getting through. We fought back and forth for a few minutes when suddenly, there was a flash outlining the door and I felt nothing pushing back on me. I slowly opened the door just enough to peer through and saw the Dovahkiin standing a few feet away from the door with a bow that looked of pure gold and glowing with a bright light and a quiver of the same material and glowing just as brilliantly on his back. I looked down and saw the vampire was now just a pile of ash, a robe and a single golden arrow with pure white fletching.

"Good thing I got here when I did. That vampire looked like he was in his final state."

"Yeah..good thing.." My heart was still racing with fear but was slowing down gradually. "Shall we get moving then, Dovahkiin?"

"Yes, so we shall. Lead the way."

I began jumping again from building roof to building roof until we reached the roof of Honorhall. I dropped down in the darkest spot of the area surrounding the building, where there was a single window overlooking Grelod's room. All that was in it was her bed, an end table with a candle and book on it, and a bear hide on the floor.

"This is Grelod's room. She will most likely be in here soon as it is getting late and she sleeps a lot. If you are going to lay a trap for her, here is the perfect place."

"Thank you for your assistance. Return to the tavern and let the keep know that you were sent to him by me and he will give you the key to your room and tell you which one it is. I have the room next to you and I will tell you in the morning how it went, alright?"

"Alright. Good luck to you, Dovahkiin!"

With that, I made my way back to the tavern, deciding to not use the rooftops or the balcony as there now was no one left around the tavern at this hour and I didn't want the keep to be suspicious of me if I just suddenly appeared again from the second floor.

I entered the tavern and walked up to the bar. The building was more empty than it was when I had left it, but that was to be expected since it was such a late hour. I told the keep I was sent by Dovahkiin and he gave me a gold key and told me my room was the third to the right. I asked him repeatedly what side the room was that he was going to use, but apparently, the keep wasn't allowed to tell others what another person's room was. So I decided to just head upstairs to my room and get ready for bed.

I hadn't been lying down for very long when I heard a slight knock on the door. Figuring it was the Dovahkiin back from his "nightly duties" I opened the door. Much to my dismay, the person was not, but instead was a woman dressed similarly to the Dovahkiin, but with all of her clothes black and a red mask covering her entire face but her eyes and the bridge of her nose. She didn't do anything but look at me and before I knew it, I was asleep.