A shot a Skyrim fanfiction by this loser named nachosforever.
Please tell me what to do better. This note is short because then you might actually finish it.(I know how it goes)
I own nothing pertaining to Skyrim and its characters and truly question if I actually own anything.
Cold was cold, being born into it or being a nord did not make it warm, just less cold. However if one did not skimp on a good pair of boots for your feet with some layers of clothing and good food you could curb the overwhelming cold of Skyrim's Northern provinces.
The recently good weather a merely modest covering of snow helped soften the journey.
Stay away from the roads, filled with brigands having a field day with the civil war and you could travel in relative safety if you knew how to keep your head down. Even now the smell of blood floated on the air. Near ten years of training with the circle member Aela kept Jen well within the category of those who knew how to travel safely through the wilderness.
But to think on the companions would not do at such a time, past failures should not be dwelled on.
To these thoughts Jen trekked north towards the serpent stone. Holding dim hopes that this quest would not turn out like so many before. Her pace is slower than she could go without tiring for the sake of not running into some threat headfirst.
Jen stopped for a moment to throw back her hood off her helmet and pulled her blue scarf down to breathe the crisp air, her exhalation turning to frost.
So she turned her thoughts from herself and to her surroundings, thankful for the war paint under her eyes preventing snow blindness in the bright sun.
Jen pulled her short bow from its perch under her snow wolf fur cloak after maneuvering the shield on her back so it was out of the way and unclosing her quiver on her thigh to ready herself for the sake of something to do.
Peering through the gaps in the trees she could see the mountain ahead of her where she planned on climbing up halfway and surveying the area she could see before resting for the night in a place that should be safe from most dangers.
The mountain dwarfed most in the area and while most of that was from its proximity it did indeed have quite the presence that prevented her from seeing a great deal beyond it, especially through all the damned trees.
Now her hatred of trees might seem odd but Jen was confidant in her ability to hightail it away from anything she didn't feel like it was convenient to fight, IF she could see it coming.
Which the Talos damned trees prevented meaning that if something got the drop on her it would be a shorter than preferred window for decision making.
A quiet while later Jen had made her way to the bottom of the mountain and started up the slope, traveling almost along its rather shallow side.
She stopped for a tense moment when the smell of brimstone seemed to tweak her nose for a moment.
Now she was sure she would attract any dragons due to being a white spec on the white ground from the sky but she didn't have an army of Imperials near this time….
Or the captured Stormcloaks…
And their booming jarl…
The sounds of their screams as she lay on the chopping block…
The clash of frantic Stormcloaks and Imperials trying to escape the fiery storm…
The panicked townsfolk storming towards the gates…
That dragons ungodly screams echoing across the mountainside…
She was snapped from her recollection by two distinct sounds rolling across the mountain range.
The first a deep shriek of a woman in trouble;
The second the roar of a dragon.
A quiet violent shaking took her for a moment.
Her hands were not bound this time.
Down the mountain she took off running towards the sounds.
She kept her breath steady as she moved with all possible swiftness around the mountain since she saw no reason to show up for a rescue out of breath.
While she had a number of options her first objective was to get the dragon to target her which she could accomplish from her approaching position.
The Greybeards had a point in using the thu'um but she'd be a milk-drinker if she didn't use everything in her arsenal. So at the top of her lounges she screamed.
"FUS!"
Jen rocked backwards and the snow shook off the trees in front of her and she had little doubt she was heard after what came next.
"FUS!"
The great beast came around the mountain at a speed disturbing for something of its size and seemed to fly on wing aided by magic. A maw filled with unnaturally ordered teeth came forward first roaring in response to the challenge. Its eyes locked onto her in a frighteningly short time and she realized only now she might want the strap to the shield on her back on a single shoulder to bring it out if the dragon decided to get close and personal.
Fortunately for her it opted for fire first.
Ducking to the left in a roll with her bow first she came up and half readied an arrow. A quick glance showing the fire barely caught on a few branches alight but had forged a trench in the snow.
Already it was rounding and she pulled her bow taunt and took aim at its eye in hopes of driving it away and lacking a desire to try testing its armored hide. Unfortunately the monsters yellow orbs while easy to spot on its brownish-red body were not any easier to hit than a far off rider at full gallop and the arrow flew over its target by a small margin, not that it helped.
Again the dragon dived and she tossed her bow to the side behind a tree with all due haste and braced herself for a foolish decision. The great beast came in and readied to burn her to the planes of Oblivion as she gathered all her breath into her Thu'um.
"FUS RO DAH"
The wave of force rocketed forward and slammed into the dragon face first throwing it off balance and down to the earth, the magic keeping it aloft forgotten. At the same time Jen was tossed back with incredible force with her feet leaving the ground and her shoulder slamming into a tree before she began to sickeningly spin through the air, hitting the ground with her shield and sliding back through the snow before her already hurt arm slammed into another tree and brought her to a stop.
Down the dragon tumbled to the ground the impact jerking the injured Jen and alerting her to the fact her arm was quite likely dislocated and broken. She felt her vision turn red and breath grow heavy as she readied to charge forth once more, growling as she pulled herself upwards the pain in her arm all but forgotten.
Till that is she heard a commotion to her left and saw a person in what looked to be robes of the college draped with furs charging forth at full sprint with two green translucent war axes dancing with lightning in their grasp and a mask of bone covering their face. Their sprint slowed to a swift jog as they brought one of the axes in front of them and a blasted the dragon with a bolt of lightning that belonged in the sky burning it along its neck from its right eye as it just began recovering from its crash towards Nirn.
Reeling from the blast it brought forth a great stream of fire towards the stranger whose arms flew up as a shimmering shield formed to hold off the onslaught and lasting through it. The instant the fires stopped another bolt flew from the strangers axes, but it seems speed took precedence here and the bolt struck only its membrane.
Without ceremony the dragon took to the sky screaming what Jen was sure from her study were curses upon the mortals that had bested it and took off with its all too quick speed to flee the battle.
The stranger made their way back to her putting the axes handle first into two respective straps as they pulled the bone mask to the top of their head revealing a wizened old orc with blue war paint.
"My name is Mahruk the Arch-mage of the College of Winterhold, and I would request you allow me lead you to my student where I will see to the health of both of you. If you need I would carry you there."
A quick look of shock surely crossed her face before she took to responding to his question and holding her questions for later. She had not heard of many orcs practicing magic let alone of this one taking the head of the College of Winterhold. Whatever the circumstance he was due respect for his position and Jen already had a healthy appreciation for the battle prowess of orcs.
"No sir I think I will be fine holding myself up, tis' not my first blooding and worse has befallen me though I would ask for help resetting my arm"
"Then let us get your arm reset"
A short gasp of pain later accompanied by a sick snap and the orc asked of her.
"Now might I ask we make all haste towards my student, she fell down a short cliff and clipped her head before your scream and I made sure only that she would survive before heading to your aid."
"Surely you could have left me to fend for myself and insured her safety."
"Indeed I performed a quick healing spell and a barrier that would last long enough for its purpose, now let us make our way."
Gathering her intact bow from beneath the tree smashed by the dragon's crash and the arrows that remained intact after falling out of her quiver she fell into step beside him and risked the question.
"From where do you come, I have not heard any news of an orc leading the college"
"I suppose that would be because we tend to keep to ourselves, however to answer your question I was once a member of the imperial battle-mages, or rather what is left of them."
A tense moment passed before he guessed at her reason for silence.
"No I bear no ill will towards you for wishing to join the Stormcloaks those days are past me and we get a few heading up this way to prove themselves and sometimes they are wounded in their travels, which does bring a little income to the colleges healers."
"I thank you for your consideration, and am glad you could find bounty bringing others good will" she said tensely the pain in her arm coming back with the thrill of the battle dying off.
"I must say you will surely be a fine addition to their ranks and must wonder why you need to prove yourself"
"They see it as more of a test of loyalty for me since I have not always been the most helpful of individuals"
"Why do you go to them then, loyalty to skyrim?"
"No, a desire to help people."
"I doubt the civil war helps many and surely you could join some other organization more suited to such a desire, such as the companions." this time she tensed at the words not the pain and her breath audibly caught. He shot a quick glance at her and waited for some explanation.
"Well it helps the Stormcloaks, and I have run many of my options to the ground." She creaked out.
"HAHA" he boomed the matter lost "A sad thing but at least you have foun-" The howl of a wolf cut him off from the rest of his sentence
"Ma'am?"
Drawing her sword with her good right arm "go on I can hold my own here."
Down came the mask and out came the axes and the Arch-mage took off with a sprint.
A short time later she heard the crack of his lightning bolts and the whimpering of wolves fleeing into the wilderness.
Jen continued on ready to fight if they came her way till she came to a rocky creek with a small cliff a man and a half tall opposite where she was and the Arch-mage kneeling over the unconscious body of a altmer woman in college mages robes with a wrapped item the size of a long sword next to her who from the small pool on the ground had hit her head, his student from the looks of things. On either side of the two sat a wolf with a well roasted head just outside the boundaries of a runic circle and several prints leading away and around.
The orcs face formed a quick smile when he saw her.
"if you do not mind I do not think the Thalmor would like if this master smith died under my care, even if she does not get out much for travel, especially since she has yet to make her quarterly report to them, it is doubtful I am supposed to know that last part"
Hey hey if you guess the dragonborn right you get a cookie with milk, if you're a milkdrinker and guess wrong you get a cookie without milk.
First fic so be constructive and I will try to respond.
From the pleas of other writers I hear betas are nice, but if they are so important why aren't they called alphas- they seem to do a pretty important job.