I opened the door and stepped outside, breathing deep from the crisp air. It was simply beautiful. It had rained last night, and the world had a freshly-washed look to it. In the distance, the mountains towered, permanently capped with snow. It would not snow here on the plains for another 2 months; enough time to bring in the harvest, and store enough for the winter. Then my son and I would make the long journey to Whiterun to sell the rest of our vegetables and buy any supplies that we needed, and could afford. It was about a two day journey by cart, bumping and uncomfortable and getting more dangerous by the day. Several dragon sightings had been made around the area, though thankfully so far I couldn't confirm them myself. I feared the day a shadow would swoop over our farm and breathe unholy terror on our lives.
I shook my head and smiled; that was a worry for another day, and all I needed to do for the moment was breathe the air and watch the birds soaring in the blue sky above me. The only thing that would have made this morning more perfect was having my father's hunting bow back. He had been hunting some deer when I was younger, and saw a cave he thought he might explore; he had heard stories that a small amount of gold, or useful tools, could be found in caves if you dared to have a look. Unfortunately the bear that called the cave home had objected to having my father disturb its sleep. My father escaped, but the bow was dropped and he didn't dare risk getting it back. I had volunteered, saying I would gladly brave the bear to retrieve it, but he had forbidden me. He was right to do so; what chance would a fourteen year old girl have had against a full grown cave bear? The loss had upset me though; my father had been teaching me to shoot, and had promised that when I was ready, the bow would pass to me. It was a family heirloom, and had carvings of all the game that had been shot by my ancestors with the bow. Father had passed several winters ago and I didn't dare risk a journey to the cave; I had my own boy to care for, and the farm to look after. Still, I often though about that bow, and how much I should like to see it again.
I was thinking these thoughts when I noticed a man standing a little ways down the road. He had a distant look on his face, and seemed to just be standing there. From the way he was dressed, he looked to be an adventurer; solid looking armour, a helmet decorated with horns, and an impressive looking sword at his side.
"Hello?" I said tentatively. "Can I help you?"
The man continued to stand there, placidly staring into the distance.
"Excuse me? Sir?" There was still no reaction, just him standing there patiently. It unnerved me slightly. Unable to move my glance from the unsettling figure, I slowly walked backwards inside, closing the door quietly.
"Ma?" said my son, from his bed in the corner. "Is everything okay?"
"Yes, Nori, everything is fine. Come on now, get dressed and come to the table to eat your porridge. We should be able to pick the cabbages today."
He's a good lad, Nori, and has been a fantastic help around the farm since his dad died. It was hard on both of us, but we've pulled together and do what we can. At least the bandits who killed my husband got the justice they had deserved; the guards had made short work of the criminals. I had thanked them profusely, through my raw tears. "Disrespect the law, and you disrespect me," answered the captain gruffly with a curt nod. I said many prayers to Stendarr in the following months, thanking him for the swift justice that had done a little to temper my sorrow.
After breakfast my son and I ventured outside. I saw quickly that the adventurer was still standing near the road and staring vacantly.
"Ma, who's that?" asked Nori.
"I don't know son." I put a hand protectively on his shoulder. "Just ignore him, and let's get on with our work." We went over to the small vegetable patch we have; the slugs had been driven off with a simple spell performed by a travelling mage, for a small fee, and now our cabbages were fat and ready for picking. At least, they had been yesterday. This morning there was nothing but some scattered leaves on the ground to show where the cabbages had once been.
"What the…" I stopped dead in my tracks, dumbfounded. During the night, someone had picked every one of our cabbages. I had a built a fence of stick bundles to keep wild animals out, but it was harder to keep out thieves who were determined to steal.
"Ma!" cried Nori, distressed and angry. "The cabbages!"
"I know son," I said, fighting back my own anger. Were bandits set to plague our life yet again? "Nothing we can do about it now. And see here, we still have the potatoes and the leeks. Let's weed and water, and after lunch we'll replant more seeds. They'll grow again before winter."
He grumbled a bit, but set about his chores with a disgruntled frown. I kept an eye on the stranger, who still hadn't moved.
I was dealing with a particularly tough weed, when I saw movement from the corner of my eye. The stranger was heading towards us! My heart beat faster for a moment, frightened of what he might do. Nori was made of stronger stuff, however. He walked right up to the stranger, and seemed to size him up.
"You don't scare me," he said bravely. "Even if you are my elder."
The stranger stopped to look at him for a moment, but didn't respond. He looked away, towards me, and headed in my direction. I kept right on hoeing, hoping that he might keep walking, but he didn't. He walked right into my vegetable patch, right up to me. Eventually I couldn't pretend he wasn't there; I stopped my work and leant on my hoe.
"It's just me to look after the farm now," I said, looking to strike up a conversation. "It's been in my family for generations. Just like the bow my father lost."
I don't know what made me say it. Maybe it's because I was thinking about it just this morning, or because this man looked like he could get things done.
"Your father lost his bow?" asked the adventurer.
"He was hunting a bear," I reply. "He escaped, but dropped his bow. I think it's up in Dripstone Cave. I can't leave the farm to get it."
"I can help you with that," answered the adventurer.
"Thank you!" I gush. "I can't pay much of a reward, but I'd love to get my father's bow back again."
The adventurer broke away from me then, and started heading away from the farm. Then he turned back, as if forgetting something. As he came near, I asked "Have you found my fathers bow yet?" I knew he hadn't; he hadn't even left my sight in the ten seconds since we talked. But I was so excited, so hopeful, that I couldn't help but ask. He ignored me however, and kept walking. I watched him until he disappeared from sight, then went back to my gardening.
A week passed. I had almost forgotten about my little visit from the adventurer. We had replanted the cabbages, and were tending the leeks, which were coming along nicely. There had been no further sign of bandits, which set my mind at ease. I was just weeding around the potatoes when I heard my son's voice. "Ma, he's back!"
I looked up quickly; there was the adventurer! I almost didn't recognise him; he was wearing slightly different armour, and his new helmet didn't have horns. Still, as he got closer there was no mistaking his silent, sturdy figure.
"Have you found my father's bow yet?" I asked breathlessly as he got nearer.
"I found the bow. The bear is dead."
"Oh, thank you, thank you so much!" I said, taking the bow and tucking it out of sight in my dress. "My father would be pleased to know it's home. Here's you reward; it's not much, but you earned it!" I handed over ten gold pieces, a meagre sum for man such as him, but I couldn't let him leave without showing my gratitude. The adventurer accepted the coins wordlessly, and turned away from me. As he walked past, I chirped "Lovely day we're having!" He didn't respond, just walked past me further into my garden. I went back to my hoeing, until I heard a sound like a crisp stick of leek being broken. I looked up, and saw the adventurer had plucked one of my leeks from the earth! He was moving on to the next one, and as I watched in shock, he picked it. Suddenly I realised who had stolen the cabbages on the night the adventurer had appeared. I couldn't believe the nerve of the man; he had stayed at the scene of the crime, then acted as though nothing had happened. He continued down the row of leeks, picking the remaining bunches. My blood was boiling; I gritted my teeth together, raised my hoe, and cried "Stop that right now!" He didn't pay me much mind, even as I swung the tool down on the back of his helmet.
At least, I was aiming for his helmet; somehow the blade of my hoe slipped into the gap between his helmet and armour. I felt the blade chop into his neck, the meaty thunk and unnatural resistance horrifying me. I gasped and let go of the handle as he fell to his knees and slowly collapsed face first into the dirt.
"Ma?" said Nori, coming over. "Is he… is he dead?"
"Yes child, I think so." I answered, stunned. I couldn't believe what I had done. Suddenly, my brain sped into action.
"Nori," I said. "It was an accident, and mama didn't mean to. This bad man was stealing our vegetables, but no one can know what I've done. Do you understand?"
He looked at me for a few moments, and nodded. "Go and fetch me a shovel, there's a good boy." As Nori ran off I bent down and started searching the adventurer's pockets; I found the ten gold I had given him, and a small fortune more. There were potions, gems, armour, weapons… I honestly don't know how he carried it all. There were some very odd items he carried with him as well; cups and plates, an empty book, several hundred keys and a collection of forks. I think the man must have had some kind of hoarding condition, it took me a while to strip him of everything valuable. Wordlessly Nori handed me a strong, broad shovel and I began to dig a deep hole in the soft earth of the vegetable patch. Nori, bless him, had placed one of the too-large helmets on his head and was swinging a dagger around at invisible enemies. I told him to be careful and carried on with my grim task. Eventually I had a deep enough hole, and rolled the adventurer into it, along with some of his more useless items.. I said a few quiet words to Arkay, before slowly filling the hole back in. After I replanted some gourds onto the site, it just looked like a freshly turned garden. Nori and I gathered up all the loot and carried it inside. The sun was going down, and I thought I heard the piercing roar of a dragon in the distance.
A few weeks later, our cart rolled into Whiterun, Nori and I perched at the front. A guard barked at me to stop lollygagging, an act which I have never been accused of in my life. Another guard taunted me, asking if someone had stolen my sweet roll. Honestly! The guards in the country near my farm are not nearly as rude as the ones here. I was happy to hurry past them and get to the business of selling of my load. This time it was far more than the usual wagon full of cabbages and potatoes. I had passed by The Drunken Huntsman countless times, but this was the first time I had a reason to go in. The shop keeper was nice enough, for a dark elf, and he was certainly happy to buy many of the weapons I had found on the adventurer. Unfortunately he ran out of money before I was able to finish selling everything, so I had to go across to the blacksmiths. She asked me if I was looking to protect myself, or deal some damage, which was presumptuous as I wished to do neither, but as she bought the rest of the armour and weapons I don't feel that I can complain. Our adventurer had certainly been carrying an awful lot. All the other things, potions and gems and even a heavy dragon scale, I was able to sell at that dreadful corner store. I bought myself a drink at the pub across the way, as Nori raced through the streets with the other various urchins, playing whatever game they could come up with.
I felt the satisfying weight of the gold clinking in my coin purse. Combined with the money I got from selling the farm, we should easily be able to afford to start a new life somewhere else. The dragon problem in Skyrim seems to only be getting worse; we saw three in the distance as we made our way from the farm to Whiterun. With no signs that the problem will ever get better, I think our time in this country is over. I hear Cyrodiil is quite a nice place, no matter what those Stormcloaks say. I'm not one for politics, and I will gladly bow down and kiss the Emperor's boots if he wants, so long as my cabbages will be safe from vagrant thieves who call themselves 'adventurers'.