Eriah stumbled through the swamp near Solitude. Her Elvish warhammer was hanging limply in her hand. Blood was running down her lacerated arm and the warhammer's head was also covered in it. She was dressed only in the outfit she wore under her Blades armor. The Dragonborn was heaving from her injuries. Aside from the lacerated arm, she also had cuts and bruises elsewhere on her body and her sword arm was dislocated. Her mind was trying to process how she had ended up like this. Sometime after joining the Stormcloaks, Eriah was in Windhelm when she heard rumors that a boy named Aventus Aretino was trying to call the Dark Brotherhood, an organization of assassins for hire. Eriah decided to investigate and stumbled upon the boy in his home while he performed the Black Sacrament. Aventus believed she was with the Brotherhood and didn't pay any attention when she said she wasn't with them. He spoke of how his mother died and how he was shipped off to Riften where Honorhall Orphanage was located. It turned out the headmistress of the orphanage, Grelod the Kind, was an evil witch who stomped on her charges' dreams of adoption. Eriah, being the compassionate soul she was, knew this couldn't go on. She wrestled with taking Grelod's life but she ended up slaying her in her sleep. It was only through fervent prayers before the statue of Talos that she remembered that life was fleeting and Grelod really had no right to torment the children. Eriah had returned to Whiterun and that was the end of it.
That is, until she woke up in the abandoned shack all the way in Haafingar Hold with the leader of the Dark Brotherhood, Astrid, and three other prisoners. Astrid explained that the Dragonborn had stolen the contract the Aretino boy had meant for them while telling her she had talent and that Grelod had it coming. She presented Eriah with a test concerning the other three prisoners. One of them had a contract out on them and it was up to the Dragonborn to kill whoever she thought was marked for death. She then gave back her warhammer. Eriah's anger festered. She had no intention of joining the Dark Brotherhood and attacked Astrid. The battle was quite arduous. The Dragonborn felt really off her game and figured that the only way she could've been spirited out of Whiterun all the way to some shack in the middle of nowhere was if she had been put under by some poison. It was in that fight that Eriah sustained her injuries. Fortunately, Talos smiled on her and gave her victory. Eriah slew Astrid and she freed the others. After that, she fished the key from Astrid's body and escaped the shack. That's when she saw Solitude in the distance. She started jogging through the swamp, hoping for some help.
That brought her up to speed. Eriah managed to reach the main road leading to Solitude. Her injuries were paining her so much and she was so focused on getting to the city that she didn't notice an Imperial patrol coming her way. Eriah saw them and froze. She didn't have anything on her that revealed her association with the Stormcloaks but she hadn't forgotten Helgen. The patrol saw her and came a halt. "By the Eight." the leader said. Eriah gripped her warhammer in her left hand, cursing the fact that Astrid had dislocated her dominant arm. She couldn't wield the weapon with just one hand. Several legionnaires broke from the patrol to go help but she got into a defensive stance. "Don't get any closer." she snapped before a shot of pain brought her to one knee. "Wait...I know you." came a voice. She looked up to see a familiar face but she couldn't quite place him. "Sir, let me try." he said. "How?" his commander asked. "I met her once. Suffice to say I didn't think I'd see her again at the time." he responded. "Very well, Hadvar. I'll leave it to you." the captain said. "Hadvar?" Eriah thought, scowling in pain. The Nord Legionnaire slowly came to kneel in front of her. "Never thought we'd meet again." he said. The Dragonborn studied his face and then flashed back to Helgen. There had been a Nord Legionnaire there that sympathized with her plight at the time. That's when she remembered. "You're the Legionnaire who took my name. The one from Helgen." she grunted. "Yes. What happened to you?" Hadvar asked.
Eriah flinched as he brushed his fingers along her dislocated arm, yelling in pain when he reached her shoulder. Breaking out into a sweat, she relinquished her hold on her weapon to grab at her arm and jerk away from him. One of Hadvar's fellow soldiers came closer with the torch he had and they saw the extent of her injuries. "Great Stendarr." the captain said. Hadvar stood up and faced him. "Permission to take this woman to Castle Dour and see to her injuries, sir?" he asked. "Yes. Do so and see if you can't get her to tell you how she came by such injuries." he said. "Yes, sir." Hadvar said. He picked up Eriah's warhammer and hooked it to his back. "Nice and easy now." he said, gently taking by her left arm. As much as Eriah didn't want him touching her, she didn't have much of a choice. She couldn't go on much longer on her own and as long as these Imperials didn't know she was with the Stormcloaks, they wouldn't have an excuse to finish what Alduin had interrupted back then. Harvar wrapped her left arm around his neck and pulled her to her feet, his arm going around her waist.
"What's your name?" Hadvar asked once they were out of earshot of the patrol. "You don't remember?" Eriah asked through her pain. "I had thought you died in Helgen. I punished myself everyday for losing track of you in the mayhem and for the longest time, I thought I had your innocent blood on my hands. Now that I've seen that you survived, I want to know your name." he said. Eriah cocked an eyebrow in spite of herself. But she recalled that Hadvar had been sympathetic for an Imperial lapdog. He was on the wrong side but he truly believed she didn't deserve the block. "It's Eriah Quintence." she said after a moment. "Beautiful name. I'm Hadvar of Riverwood. I don't know if you remember me." he said with a smile in his voice. "I never forget a face. You were the only one who thought I shouldn't have been executed. You're a man of honor." she said. "I apologize on behalf of the Imperial Legion. My former commander was a bit...overzealous since we had Ulfric Stormcloak in our custody." Hadvar said. Eriah's left hand clenched a bit and she was grateful he couldn't see the scowl on her face. Her loyalty to the Jarl of Windhelm was sealed tight with her service. "How did this happen, Eriah?" he then asked. "Worry about that later. I can barely concentrate for the pain." she snapped as her dislocated arm swung uselessly at her side. They reached the gates of Solitude. A guard saw them and came running to them. "Open the gate. This woman has been injured." Hadvar ordered. "Yes, sir." the guard said. He pulled the gate open and the two entered Solitude. Hadvar got her up to Castle Dour and into the building.
He stood by as Eriah's wounds were looked after by the mages. Her warhammer had been taken to get cleaned and polished, courtesy of her Legionnaire escort. When they had the worst of the lacerations healed and bandaged, attention was turned to her dislocated shoulder. "Hadvar, do you think you could help with this?" one of the healers said. Eriah's face was pale but Hadvar sat down on the bed beside her and looked at her. "Are you ready for this, Eriah?" he asked. Knowing that she had no choice if she ever wanted to wield her hammer again, Eriah slowly nodded. Hadvar gave her a kind smile before he took a length of cloth. "I need you to bite down on this so that when we set your shoulder, you won't bite your tongue." he explained. The Dragonborn sighed before opening her mouth. Hadvar tied it around her head and she bit down onto the section between her jaws. She was helped into a lying position on her stomach. The healer instructed the Legionnaire to hold her down. "Easy does it." Hadvar said in a low voice when Eriah's breathing started to pick up in anticipation. The healer took her right arm and with little warning, yanked it hard. Eriah screamed past the gag as her shoulder cracked back into place.
Tears streamed down her face as Hadvar got her into an upright position and her arm was bound tightly to her side, her forearm bent at the elbow across her chest. "You did wonderfully, Eriah." the Nord Legionnaire said, keeping her still as her arm was bound and untying the gag. Eriah let out choked sobs as the pain swept over her like the waves of the Sea of Ghosts hitting the shore near Windhelm. She leaned against Hadvar as a mage cast a numbing spell to quell the pain somewhat. When they were done, Hadvar helped the Dragonborn lie back on the bed. "I'll stay here and watch her." he told the mages who bowed and left them. Eriah's brown eyes were shut tight as she tried to get her emotions under control but her arm was in a lot of agony. Hadvar just rubbed her back calmly. The Dragonborn cried it out for a bit and not once did he did leave.
After a bit, she started to calm as the pain turned into a dull roar. She was sweating like crazy from the relocation and she slowly opened her eyes when she felt Hadvar wipe her brow. "Are you okay?" he asked. Sighing a little as she adjusted herself on the bed, the Dragonborn brushed her hair from her face. "Hurts like Oblivion." she said, quietly. "It will pass. Dislocation is preferable to a broken arm." Hadvar said. Eriah started to sit up but his hand on her shoulder kept her down. "Why would you help me?" she asked. "To make up for Helgen and because I want to show my people that the Empire still has Skyrim's best interests at heart." he replied. The young woman turned her face away from his. "The Dragonborn would disagree." she said. Hadvar cocked an eyebrow. "The Dragonborn really exists?" he asked. "Naturally. Why else would the Greybeards call for her? I'm sure you heard it just like everyone else in the province." Eriah said, keeping her gaze to the wall on the opposite side of the room. "So it's a woman. I wonder what's she's like." the Legionnaire mused. She didn't feel like revealing her identity as the Dragonborn to the young man. She didn't want the Legion finding out and imprisoning her here in Castle Dour. She knew that if they broadcast to the Stormcloaks that their trump card was in Legion custody, it could compromise all the progress Ulfric had made. Eriah refused to allow it.
"You said the Dragonborn would disagree. What do you know of her?" Hadvar then asked. "I met her a couple times in Whiterun where I live. She's a good woman and as you probably surmised from my previous statement, she threw her lot in with the Stormcloaks." Eriah replied, weaving her story as easily as if she wasn't what she was. "But why? The Empire was ruled by Dragonborn Emperors up until the Oblivion Crisis. Why would she throw her lot in with a bunch of rebels?" the Legionnaire pressed. "That was then, Hadvar. In these times, the Dragonborn has but one destiny and that is to overthrow Alduin. The Septim Dynasty ended with the Oblivion Crisis and never again will a Dragonborn ever sit on the throne. She joined the Stormcloaks because she believes the Aldmeri Dominion has no right dictating to us Nords how we can live and because she sees what you don't. The Empire is failing, Hadvar. The Great War forced them to cut Hammerfell off because the Redguards refused to go along with the treaty. It won't be long before Black Marsh, Morrowind, and High Rock join Skyrim in throwing the elves out and I'd wager that eventually, the Bosmer and the Khajiit will come to their senses as well. The Empire will fall one way or another unless we put the elves back in their place. They may be a long-lived people, the Altmer, but they are not our overlords. Otherwise...they're no different than Alduin and the Dragon Cult." Eriah said.
Hadvar looked at her and saw the hard-set of her jaw. "You sympathize with the Stormcloaks and the Dragonborn, don't you?" he asked, gently. She finally looked at him, her brown eyes flashing. "Why should I throw my lot in with an Empire that saw fit to execute me for being in the wrong place at the wrong time? No, Hadvar. I've seen the true face of the Empire in Helgen after living in Cyrodiil all my life in denial of how weak it's grown since the Great War. There's no future for the Empire here. Even if they manage to stop Ulfric Stormcloak in this war, that won't stop someone else from taking up his mantle. We're Nords. We are a proud, stubborn people. You're a Nord as well and yet you sided with an dying Empire." she replied. Hadvar broke from her gaze, looking down at his hands. "That is your right, Eriah. You're not wrong but the rebellion is short-sighted. If the Empire stands a chance at defeating the Aldmeri Dominion, we need Skyrim." he said.
The Dragonborn just sighed. "I tire of talking about this. I think your commander wanted you to find out about how I got into this mess." she said. That broke the tension that had settled over them. "Yes. I don't know why, however." Hadvar replied. "It's quite a tale and I'm pretty sure your commanders would be glad to know I killed the leader of the Dark Brotherhood." Eriah began. That got the Legionnaire's attention and he listened carefully as Eriah explained how she wound up in that mess. The Dragonborn left out how she was brought to the Brotherhood's attention in the first place but gave him enough information to satisfy his commander's curiosity. "This is great news! We must see Commander Maro of the Penitus Oculatus in Dragon Bridge. He's been after the Brotherhood for a long time." the Legionnaire said. Eriah took a deep breath as her arm throbbed. She felt she needed to finished what she started with Astrid and be the one to destroy the remnants of the assassins. Still, she could use some back up. A dislocated arm wouldn't take long to recover from.