"Behind you!" Aela called, firing arrow after arrow.
The roar of the giants echoed through the hinterlands, the thundering of their footsteps surrounding them.
"Vilkas, Farkas, we need to retreat!"
"We can take them!"
"Farkas, you ice-brain! Get back here!"
Farkas charged at the nearest giant, taking his greatsword and slashing at the giant's heels. He grinned when he heard the snapping of tendons and the giant crashing to the ground.
"Look out!"
Farkas ducked as another giant swung his club at him.
"Vilkas, behind you!"
Vilkas barely managed to block the giant's club, sending him flying across the field.
"Vilkas!"
Farkas and Aela ran to his side, trying to protect him as the giants advanced. They thought they were done for until a strange cloaked figure appeared, searing the giants with an ethereal flame that burned even in the rain. They watched as the giants fell, one by one, to the figure's fire- their bodies burned to a crisp.
"Your friend needs healing." the figure- a woman- said, turning to them.
Farkas and Aela looked at each other, then up at the strange woman as she knelt beside Vilkas and started to heal his wounds with magik. When he coughed and opened his eyes, the woman stood and left, heading in the direction of Riverwood.
"What happened?"
"A strange woman saved your life." Aela explained, no longer able to see where the woman had gone. "She saved all of our lives."
Farkas woke with a start, finding himself drenched in sweat. It was that dream again of the day he nearly lost his brother, the day that he met the strange woman who saved their lives.
The strange woman had come to their aid when they thought death was upon them, setting the giants aflame. She had saved Aela and Farkas' lives, then healed Vilkas' wounds- saving his- before she disappeared into the rain.
But that was weeks ago.
Farkas decided to go for a walk, wanting to let the cool air calm his nerves. The fresh scent of lavender, mountain flowers, and tundra cotton surrounded him as he walked through Wind District and down into the Plains District. It was still the early hours of the morning and no one was up yet, but he noticed Arcadia standing outside of her shop talking to a strange cloaked figure.
He sniffed the air, trying to identify who the stranger was, noticed that she smelled of apples.
As the stranger left Arcadia's shop and made their way to the gates of the city, Farkas stopped at the city's well and watched her disappear.
"Good morning, Farkas!"
Farkas turned and nodded to Arcadia. "Good morning. A bit early for visitors, isn't it?"
Arcadia smiled. "A very dear friend of mine just needed a few things."
"Never seen them around before."
Arcadia sighed. "She prefers a life of seclusion. I usually visit her, but lately I've been feeling my age catching up with me so she decided to come to me instead."
"That was kind of her."
Arcadia smiled. "It's a shame she prefers to be alone. She used to be quite sociable."
Farkas waved to her as she returned to her shop and he looked towards the gates, wondering who the strange woman was that smelled so deliciously of apples.
"Farkas, there you are."
Farkas looked up from his training to see his brother joining him. "Were you looking for me?"
"I was. We received a request from Riverwood. There's a bear that's been terrorizing the town. They need someone to take care of it."
"Why not send one of the whelps?"
"Because I know you've been itching for a fight and there aren't any bandits at the moment."
Farkas sighed, sheathing his greatsword. "Fine. I'll head out now."
"Oh, and Arcadia was looking for you. Something about needing a favour?"
Farkas nodded, going inside to gather his things together before heading out.
"You asked to see me, Arcadia?"
Arcadia looked up as Farkas came into her shop. "Oh, yes. Do forgive me, but it would seem that I forgot to give Cyrena a few things before she left this morning." She brought over a satchel and looked at him. "I heard you were going to Riverwood, so I was hoping you could be a dear and take this to her?"
"Sure."
"Oh, and here." She held out a pouch of coins for him.
"Don't worry about paying me, Arcadia." Farkas said, shaking his head. "I owed you a favour."
"Oh, well then thank you, Farkas. Do be careful along the road?"
"I will."
Farkas left the shop and headed towards the city gates. 'So her name is Cyrena, huh?'
The trip to Riverwood took practically no time at all. Farkas asked the guards stationed there where the bear was, then asked where he could find a woman named Cyrena.
"Cyrena?"
The guards looked at each other.
"You must mean the Ember Witch."
"She's got a cabin just west of the mill. She's not too keen on visitors, though."
Farkas thanked them and went to take care of the bear before finding his way to Cyrena's cabin.
The bear was easy work, for him at least, and he made his way back to town. He followed a game trail west of the mill until he spotted a large cabin nestled at the centre of a grove of apple trees. There was an animal pen where a cow and some chickens lived, a garden of vegetables next to the pen and another garden of herbs on the north side of the cabin. Farkas smiled, noticing the scent of these apples was the same he had picked up from this Cyrena woman.
As he approached the cabin, he felt the hairs on his neck stand up and stopped, scanned the area. He drew his greatsword, readying himself for another fight.
"Who are you?"
"I'm searching for a woman called 'Cyrena'. Are you she?"
"I am. Now again I will ask, who are you?"
"My name is Farkas. I'm a member of the Companions. I came to deliver a satchel to you as a favour to Arcadia."
"Oh?"
Farkas noted that whoever this Cyrena was seemed puzzled for a moment.
"Oh, the rest of the ingredients I asked for. Of course."
Farkas watched as she stepped out of the shadows and gestured for him to follow.
"Come inside."
Farkas sheathed his greatsword and stepped into her cabin, being greeted with the scents of fresh baked bread and pie as well as the various herbs that lined her walls and shelves.
"Would you like something to drink? Or perhaps to eat?" Cyrena asked, taking the satchel from him.
Farkas cleared his throat, finding himself blushing when he finally got a good look at her, and nodded. "Sure."
"Have a seat, then." Cyrena gestured to one of the seats at the table.
Farkas watched as she moved around the room and took a seat. When she handed him a tankard of mead, he took it with a thanks. He took a sip, noting that it was a spiced mead he had never tried before, and looked at her over the brim of the tankard, taking in every stunning detail.
Cyrena was a tall woman, slender, with mahogany brown hair streaked with wheat blond strands. She wore a ruby red top with golden collar, clay brown leggings and boots, and a pair of fang earrings dangled against her neck. Her lips were as red as the top she wore, her eyes colored red with black kohl lining them. A scar decorated her left eye. But what really caught his attention was how enchantingly pale yellow her eyes were.
Cyrena felt him watching her as he drank the mead she had poured for him, but it didn't bother her. She had been watching him as well, seeing before her a tall, well-built man with long black hair kept partially tied back. He had silvery-blue eyes encircled with a dark war paint and a gruff beard, a few scars to show he had seen plenty of battle. He wore steel armour and carried a steel greatsword at his back.
"I should head back to Whiterun." Farkas said, breaking the silence.
Cyrena nodded, standing with him. "You have my gratitude for bringing the satchel to me."
Farkas nodded, stepping out of her cabin. "I owed Arcadia a favour, one I find myself rather lucky to have fulfilled."
Cyrena smiled at that, leaning against the doorway. "Have a safe journey back."
Farkas bowed his head, raising a hand in farewell as he turned back towards the trail he had taken to reach her cabin.
"Say hello to that fiery red head woman and your brother for me." Cyrena called.
Farkas turned back at that, but Cyrena had already closed the door. 'Was she the one who saved us that day?'