Hey guys! M.A. Cunningham here and I wanted to have my take on Skyrim's fanfiction since I really enjoy the game. Here's my first chapter at hopefully a great story. Tell me what you think.
The full, white moon stared at the camp of bandits huddled around a campfire. The team of five members- two women, and three men- laughed and roared at the day they had. A good day. There was nothing like robbing ten people in the span of a day of all their possessions. Even better, they mercilessly sliced every one of their necks as the three bandits raped the women they found within those travelers. A good day.
They amassed a total of 1,500 Septums, a pouch full of jewelry, a couple decent weapons, and a barrel full of mead from a carriage. Oh, how they drank and sang about their exploits of that day as the aurora above them danced to their songs. They played games in their drunken states, tossing a knife around to see who would get hurt, or tossing a bottle poison around to see who would crack it upon themselves. The fools would also break each other's bones so that they can watch as the wounds healed with a Healing spell. Risky games, but none of those was their favorite as the knife game.
The dark, wiry haired girl of the bandits took out a small iron dagger that glowed a dim orange and gave it to one of the male bandits. The male turned and got a relatively flat rock, slightly bigger than his outstretched hand and sang.
"Oh, there was once a Nord and Argonian who traveled to our land, our land named Skyrim," he sang, thrusting the knife between the spaces of his fingers. "Every city and farm and small village they went, was a victim of attack, burning and pillage!" The man quickened his pace, the blade's enchantment leaving streaks of orange and red as it glided across the air.
The other four bandits sang along, clapping their hands and hooting as their comrade continued singing.
"The coin is the treasure that sang to them as the pair went along and chopped everymen. From up Dawnstar they were known and were legends told down in the City of Stone. The river stained red and they painted the walls as the two never thought that they'd ever fall. But soon there were hunters after them and the two ran away to escape their end."
The man quickened his pace even more, his blade had blurred as it shuffled across his hand. Small sparks flew where its tip landed and the bandits stared in amazement.
"They couldn't run forever and they couldn't fight, until at the end of a fateful night. The hunters cornered them and a battle was had. Hours later, the pair's heads were stuffed in two bags!" And with the final word, the man slammed the tip of the blade down, aiming for the space in between his fingers. He didn't hit his target but his finger.
The dagger cut right through his finger, even through the bone. It's enchantment proved useful, however, as it catered the wound immediately after it was made.
"Damn this blade!" The bandit yelled. He grabbed his wrist and stared at the wound in sorrow.
The other four members of the gang watched and laughed hysterically at the man's misfortune and pain.
"Looks like Nocturnal wasn't in the mood to give you any luck," the pale, blonde women screamed. The others laughed at her remark. The injured man, whose pain took over his drink, grudgingly trekked into the plains surrounding them as his "friends" cooed and berated him, making sounds reminiscent of a toddler in tears. The man kept walking, until the fire was but an ember in the distance.
"Damn you, Boethiah," he cursed. "Damn you, Sanguine. You may be enjoying and drinking to my suffering as I speak." He sat down on the plains of Whiterun and inspected his hand, purple from the wound. "Oh, Talos, please heal me." Suddenly, he heard the snap of a twig and the footfall of a creature, a very large one.
"Aira? Toling? Is that you?" he cried. Silence. "Guys, this isn't funny." No response. He stood up and looked around. He saw nothing out of the ordinary. There was that fallen tree log, a boulder there, a patch of tall grass there and some bushes of lavender there. Yet, he felt… watched. He felt the little hairs on the back of his neck stiffen. He started a brisk walk towards camp when he heard a sound to his right. He turned his head and the last thing he saw was the yellow eye of the beast, the last thing he felt was its claws dig into his torso and its jaws sink into his neck, the last thing he heard was its monstrous roar and the last thing he yelled was 'Ah!'
The attack wasn't without notice. Of course, the rest of the bandits stood up immediately at the sound of the beast's roar and the yelp of their comrade. They brandished their weapons and made a slow jog towards the location of the sound. To their horror, they saw a huge creature in black fur munch on the flesh of their fallen companion.
"W-Were- Werewolf!" The dark woman cried.
At the cry of the woman, the beast turned its head towards them and howled into the moon. Three members of the outlaws dropped their weapons and ran in separate directions, leaving the dark-skinned, wiry haired woman alone with the beast, holding only a war axe. She stood frozen in fear, looking at the beast as it stepped towards her slowly, savoring the kill it would make. She raised her axe and tried bringing it down upon the creature, but it slashed at her arm with its large claws, tearing the weapon from her grasp.
The beast then picked her up- its claws on opposite sides of her head- and the two stared into each other's eyes until the wolf man threw its jaws onto her neck, severing the connection between her body and head with one bite. Her body slumped to the ground, painting the lush, green grass a crimson red. The beast howled into the moon once more and its eyes adjusted to find the heat of its prey. The three bandits were shown in separate places, and the beast took off in a sprint.
The first bandit, a Breton male, was crouching under a dirt overhang, praying to Stendarr for mercy. The wolf walked and slowly peeked around at its prey. It eyed him and then slashed its claws across the man's chest, shredding his armor into useless pieces of leather.
The second bandit, the pale blonde-haired woman, was hiding behind a boulder, looking for any signs of the beast's location. She too, was taken by surprise as the beast leapt over the boulder in one jump and bit onto the woman's arm. It shook its head violently, tugging at the woman's arm and body until the arm ripped free and the woman was thrown off to the side. The bandit woman lied on her back as the beast walked up to her, looked dead at her and beastly guttered with a hoarse voice, "Nocturnal has no care for you." The woman's eyes widened as the beast lifted its hind leg and brought it down on the woman's head.
The final one, openly called to the beast. He wasn't afraid anymore, he said. He said he'd face the creature face to face. The beast ran up to the man and saw he held up a war axe in his right hand and the enchanted dagger in his left. He looked at the werewolf, its jaws dripping blood and its hands a dark crimson. The stench of acrid blood was in the air. The bandit held a fighting stance to the werewolf, showing no fear, yet no courage either.
The wolf walked up to the man and stared him down on its hind legs. It towered over him by two feet. They did nothing but breathe. What felt like hours, were only seconds as the wolf turned around and walked away. The bandit sighed a sigh of relief, thankful that he stood up to the foul creature. Then, the beast suddenly turned around, threw its claw at the man and knocked him into the air as the back of the claw hit the man in the chest. He flew a good five feet into the air and landed fifteen away.
The wolf man was soon on him again. Grabbing hold of the leather straps on his armor, the best dragged the defenseless marauder back to the camp site. The wolf then picked up the man over his head and slammed him down into a barrel of mead, destroying it and covering the man and the surrounding terrain in mead. The bandit scrambled to his feet and when he did, he saw the wolf crouched over the flat rock used in the knife game.
His eyes widened as he saw the rock- also soaked in mead- be slashed at by the claws of the wolf. A spark jumped from the stone, landed on the mead-drenched terrain and transformed into a fiery serpent. The flames traveled through the grass quickly, until they latched onto the bandit. He flailed his arms around wildly, desperately trying to get the flames off.
The beast only watched the flame eat at the bandit until what was once a body fell. The flames of its creation delighted the creature. It turned away and gave a loud, victorious howl before running into the tundra.
Anji woke up to the song of birds chirping and the fresh feeling of the cool Skyrim air hit her face. She couldn't get over the small nip in the air. It felt so fresh and great, contrasting the heat and dryness of the sun. Better yet, the clouds partially hid the sun today. Ah Skyrim, the weather is better here than it is in Cyrodiil, she thought. The worst thing about moving to Skyrim, though, was that in Cryodiil, she was a royal guard. Guarding the life of the Emperor and the Elder Council was her daily duties. In Skyrim, however, she was only guarding a city.
She was actually captain of the guards in the Hold in Whiterun. Although it didn't make it much better. The most action she'd see would be a drunken bar fight or a pair of Whiterun's opposing clans fight each other. One day, she thought a giant would lead its herd through the city, but it only looked before going on its way.
Eh, at least she saw a bit more action than in Cyrodiil. Who would dare attack the Emperor when his guards were around? It even paid well, so that was a welcome treat. Within a month, she was able to take land in the Hold and have her home fully furnished.
She got out of bed, donned her city armor, and went downstairs to eat a small breakfast but a guard rushed into her home.
"Anji, hurry up and finish whatever you're doing! Today is a special day for us," he cried.
"Why? It's not the burning of Olaf One-Eye today is it?"
"No, even better! Today, there's been a slaughter of bandits outside of town!"
"So? It's just a bunch of low-lives."
"Oh, trust me," the guard said, "It's a special one. It's just outside the city too. Maybe a minute's walk."
She smelled the bodies before she even saw the camp. The stench was horrific and when she saw the corpses a bit later, she was put in a stupor from dread. Anji has seen many wildlife attacks but never any this terrible. Could they be related to the return of the Dragons? After all, there was recently an attack on Helgen earlier that week… but… No, the ground would've been torn up. Saber cat? No, if it was a cat, the bandits would've scared it off or even killed it. Troll? The trolls almost never hunt at night so that is out of the question. What in Oblivion slaughtered- no. Slaughter is too weak of a word for what she was seeing.
Whatever it was, it did more than just kill a few bandits. It dismembered, hunted and even incinerated these people. No, they weren't facing any ordinary creature of Whiterun. This one was agile enough to sneak up on the marauders, strong enough to bite the head off one of them, and cunning enough to set his kill to light.
One of the eight hold guards examining the area held up a small clump of black hair taken from the wounds of one of the dead women.
"What do you make of this, Captain?" She went up to the guard and examined the hair- running it through her fingers, feeling the texture and eyeing the color. It was laced in blood in a few small places.
"I don't know what it is. It looks too dark to be wolf and too thick to be from any of the bandits." She put it in a small pouch taken from her pocket and put it away. "We can ask Arcadia in town. She can tell us what creature this is from."
After a bit more searching for clues, the wind of Skyrim picked up and blew through the land.
"Should we continue the search, captain?"
Anji looked around. There didn't seem to be anything of use, especially if it was an animal attack. "No," she said. "We won't find anything of use. We can just ask Arcadia what attacked these degenerates and we can follow up with that." She eyed the burnt man. "Make sure these bodies are cleared away as soon as possible. The last thing we need is some damn saber cat or a pack of wolves getting too near the city and its roads." The guards stood still, still shocked from what they've discovered. "Now, men!" Her guards sprinted into action.
'Yes, ma'am, I'll contact Andurs so he can do a death ritual for them. May Arkay watch over them in the afterlife."
They marched in unison, Anji leading. "Look forward to long nights, men. I want spotters on every tower we have. I want patrols sent out to every corner outside the city, units inside the walls and small detachments to our smaller towns. We can not risk this thing killing our people. No one walks alone tonight. If you need to relieve yourself of shit, you have someone watch you. Do I make myself clear, men?"
"Yes, ma'am," they yelled.
She took a small look behind her, at the scene of a terrible act. If she didn't stop the creature soon, she thought, it might travel into the city if it became bold enough.
When she came into the outside fortress of the city, she instantly heard a roar up from the skies. A roar she never heard before. It was something big. She ran to the tallest archery tower they had and saw a great winged serpent flying by the Western watchtower of the city. Flames were soon apparent and commotion was only growing higher. The people of Whiterun fled indoors as the guards came pouring out of the front gate.
Just then, a man-whom she's never seen before- ran out of the gates of the city straight to the tower. He wasn't a civilian, he didn't look local. He wasn't a guard, for she would've recognized him. Besides, he wasn't wearing the Hold Guard's armor. The armor he wore was mysterious. It had these teeth or bones strutting out of his shoulder blades and was an odd color. Strange.
The strange man-an obvious Nord, judging by his braided hair and the build of his shoulders-ran towards the tower under siege and Anji quickly garrisoned her squad and followed the man.
"Halt!" The captain of the guard yelled. The Nord man never looked back, but ran at a surprisingly fast pace without stopping.
When they arrived at the watchtower, they saw it in ruin. The tower still stood but it was broken in half. Only four floors were left out of the original eight. The dragon somehow wasn't there. In its place, it left ten guards dead and another dying of blood loss.
"It flew into the mountains," he said, clutching his bloodied side. "Hurry, run! Run while you have the chance!" The injured man looked towards the mountains as a roar let out. "There it is! Run! Run you bastards! You shall all die!"
The Nord stranger raised his hands and within his palms, was a yellow glow. He raised his hands towards the injured guard and the group watched as a bright ring of light swirled around the guard, effectively closing the man's wounds.
"Get inside and stay down," the Nord said. The guard got up and limped away inside the tower as told to do.
Anji just watched in amazement. The dragon then flew over them, shooting a ball of flames at the group. They quickly dispersed as the flame hit the ground in a large explosion. Anji and the guards raised the bows they had and shot several arrows at the creature, effectively missing as the dragon made loops in the air. The Nordic man ran inside the tower.
What is he doing, she asked herself. The dragon did a dive, picked up a guard within its talons, and landed on top of the tower. It raised the claw clutching the guard and it gave what sounded as a laugh. It then threw the man into the air and caught him with its mouth. It shook its head until the body ripped in half before spitting out what it had in its mouth. It took flight again.
The guards kept attacking the winged creature with a fury and now vengeance. The dragon did nothing but notice the feeble attempts the humans did. The creature landed on the earth with a loud thud and blew fire into the area, burning three guards alive. It then turned around and prompted to swiped at the burning men with its tail, sending them flying off into the tundra. It took flight again, when a loud, thunderous call was made.
"Dovah! Hiu jot daar jul, nuz ni zu? Zu'u dovahkiin!" The Nordic was at the peak of tower, standing off its edge as he yelled at the dragon in some ancient language.
The dragon looked at the Nord and held its place in the air in front of him. It also talked in the strange language.
"Dovahkiin, hin grah voth fin dov ko Solsthiem ofen hiu lot do zin." Anji and the remaining guards stared in amazement, curiosity and a bit of horror as the tow-a human and dragon-made verbal contact. The dragon continued, "Mu fent dreh grah ahrk siiv wo se dov los pruzaan!"
The dragon began its ascent into the heavens until the Nordic man shouted, "Gol hah dov!" A green orb flew out of the Nord's mouth and struck the dragon, and it stopped. "Golt," the Nord said, pointing at the ground, and the dragon landed.
The guards were awe struck. A human they've never heard of before had not only verbalized with a dragon, but commanded it to land too!
The Nord looked down at the dragon and then at the standing guards. "Well attack it!" He yelled. Anji and the guards were brought back into the situation they were in and started attacking the dragon. The dragon put up no resistance. The Nord backed up and ran off the edge of the tower, a purple-ish arrow in hand, and dived upon the head of the dragon. Gravity multiplied the man's weight, pinning the dragon down to the floor, and drove the arrow into the skull of the dragon, killing it instantly. Everyone backed off immediately.
They were struck with mystique but also fear and wonder at what they just witnessed before their eyes! Now that same human has slain a dragon, Anji thought. The Nord leapt off the dead dragon and stood watching the corpse as it slowly brightened, scales dissolved off the body and a strange white light trail flew from the dragon to the Nord. All the guards but Anji gasped.
"It can't be…," one of the guards muttered.
"Is that you…? Dragonborn…?" Another guard dropped his weapon at astonishment.
The next moment, the light circled the Nord referred to as 'Dragonborn' and the dead dragon's body turned into a skeleton without a trace of meat, skin, scale, or blood. Anji looked at the guards who were astonished and only looked at the Nord in confusion.
"Dragonborn? What in oblivion is a Dragonborn?" She felt stupid for asking it.
The guards gasped even louder at Anji's missing knowledge. The Nord turned around and looked at her with his grey eyes.
"Yes," he started. "That's me. I am Dragonborn. Any other questions? No? Good."
Good? Bad? Eh? Tell me how i did in the reviews or even PM me. Constructive criticism always recommended and appreciated. Thanks guys.