Author's Note- Here's my next chapter in Endurance of The Dragonheart. I hope you guys like it, and you should expect to see more soon. And the character Rayne Dragonheart, sent to me by Listenerrayne, is included in another story, called Rayne the Listener, written by, well, Listenerrayne, obviously. Check it out, it's very good.
Thrynn thought he saw something move in the distance, causing him to stand and take a closer look, but not too far from the cave. When he realized there was nothing, he went back to keeping watch. Nothing would usually happen during that time, just a few rabbits, or a deer passing by, but that's really it. The sun would be rising soon, which meant Rayne would wake up soon, as well. Thrynn got no sleep that night. But he's used to it, so it didn't really bother him.
Just as the sun rose, Thrynn was off to hunt for breakfast. Not too much later, Rayne woke up, pushing herself up to a standing position, and looked around. Thrynn was nowhere to be seen. She stepped out of the cave, but he still wasn't there. So she retreated back to the cave.
After some time, Rayne got bored, and decided to climb a tree to pass the time. She looked for the biggest one she could find, which wasn't far from the cave itself. She hauled herself up to the first branch, her leg hurting ,then began to climb even higher. The branches got thinner at some points, but she wasn't bothered by it. Satisfied when she was fifteen feet or so off the ground, she sat on a branch, letting the morning sun warm her skin in this cold air. Her lungs chilled when she inhaled, and she closed her eyes, thinking of when she would climb trees as a child, and fall out of them. Then her thoughts made their way to the memory of Astrid's death, her skin burnt, and how Shadowmere had died just a few nights ago, how Thrynn had saved her, and brought her nearly to full health.
Tears began to roll down Raynes face, and she wiped them away, pushing the memory to the back of her mind. She descended the tree and dropped from the lowest branch, favoring her left leg where it had broken. She looked around to see if Thrynn had come back, but there were still no signs of him. She walked back to the cave, knowing he would be alright. She knew...
Thrynn took the iron arrow out of the deer's neck, sheathing it, and picking the deer up, carrying it over his shoulder, back to the cave, not too far from where he was. He moved quickly, hoping to avoid any bandits in the area. Which there seldom would be, but now, they're seeming to show up a lot more often. It's began to bother Thrynn, more than it should, but he tries to push it off the best he could.
Thrynn lay down the dead deer in front of Rayne, sitting on the floor, who looked up at Thrynn. "About time you got back," She said,"was startin' to worry." Thrynn just laughed and sat down in front of Rayne, the deer between them.
"You ever skinned an animal before?" Thrynn tossed an iron dagger back and forth, from hand to hand.
"Um, no, I haven't, actuallly." She kept her eyes on the dagger, as if it would thrust at her at any second, flying out of Thrynn's hands. But it didn't, of course.
Thrynn gave her an odd look before quickly impaling the deer with the knife, making Rayne jump. He laughed, loudly, and she kicked him with her free foot.
"That's not funny!" She said, trying to hold back a smile. Thrynn laughed even harder, then Rayne couldn't help but laugh, too.
Thrynn had then taught Rayne how to skin an animal, and she had performed with suprising ease. Probably due to the fact that she was a natural killer. Thrynn then showed her the "proper" way to hang up an animal skin. Now that, she faltered with.
"It'll take some time, but I'm sure you'll get it." Thrynn said, watching as she fumbled with a rope-like material.
When she finally hung it up, which took maybe fifteen minutes, her and Thrynn went to hunt for a few hours, Thrynn showing her how to make traps, and Rayne showing Thrynn how to throw a knife with perfect accuracy. During the rest of the time, they shared tips on hunting and killing, all the while bagging some game for dinner.
Thrynn went to Riverwood later to get some supplies, such as arrows, some cheese and bread, and a few bottles of mead. But on his way back, he was stopped by a courier, with a letter. But he said nothing, just looked at Thrynn, and handed him the letter quickly. Thrynn accepted it, and slipped it into his pocket, saving it for when he got back.
Thrynn set the stuff down on an animal skin, then wrapped it up and stored it in the corner. He sat down on a tree stump and pulled out the letter, opened it, and read it.
Thrynn,
You haven't much, time, friend. We will find you, and kill your little friend as well. We know where you are. Do not be suprised when one of you finds the other dead, with a knife rammed into her throat. Do not worry, your death will be quick, but her's, well, lets just say that she's owed a great deal of pain. And tell your friend-The Darb Brotherhood has lost a sister, and they're angry. Tell her she'll be expecting company, soon.
Good luck, Thrynn. Bye-Bye, now.
See you soon...
Thrynn closed the letter, turned to the fire, and threw it in. Then he started to gather his stuff. Rayne looked at him in dumbfoundment.
"What are you doing?" She said, confused.
"Get your stuff, we're leaving. Quickly now. Take only what you need, leave what you don't." Rayne quickly followed the order and began to get her things that were most important. She grabbed a few scraps of food and slipped them into the animal skin pocket mounted on her fur armor. She sheathed her daggers, and mounted her arrows onto her back, her bow in hand. Thrynn took some food as well, along with his iron war axe, and a bow and some arrows.
"So, where are wo going?" Rayne loooked over to Thrynn, who was walking out of the cave.
"There is a large town just north of here."
"Whiterun?" Rayne said.
"Yeah. We'll stay there for a night, then get going on our way to Windhelm." Thrynn walked with a fast pace, which Rayne matched.
"What's at Windhelm?" Rayne looked over to Thrynn.
"There's a man there, Gjalund Salt-Sage, who will take us to Solsthiem. You know it?"
"Yeah, I've heard of it, but... What's going on?" Rayne looked at Thrynn with intrigue.
"We're being chased by a group of bandits-" Rayne cut him off. "Bandits don't seem so bad." She said.
"No, these aren't just any ordinary bandits. They've killed hundreds over their groups lifetime. And there's one more thing."
Rayne looked over ot Thrynn. He looked as if he was battling whether or not to tell her. "One more what?" She said.
"In the letter," Thrynn began, "it also mentioned the Dark Brotherhood, and that they have 'lost a sister.'" Rayne stopped walking, and froze where she stood. She couldn't speak, her throat welling. She knew what this meant.
She was out of the Dark Brotherhood.
"It also said that you should expect company..." Thrynn stopped walking and turned around to see Rayne standing still, staring at the ground. "Rayne, are you okay?" He said, walking up to her. She looked up to him, and tried to speak.
"They've gotten rid of me," She began, "I can't fucking believe it..." She looked up at Thrynn, a look of shock on her face. "Thrynn, I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have-" Thrynn cut her off. "Do not worry, it is fine."
"No, it's not 'FINE', damnit!" She exhaled and put a hand up, signaling for Thrynn to be silent. A few people in Riverwood were starting to look at them.
"Rayne, we need to go, now." He said, firmly. She looked at him and nodded, and they were off for Whiterun.
The two of them stayed in the Bannered Mare, and got some clothes from Belethor's General Goods. Thrynn got some Hide boots, and a Belted Tunic. Rayne had to get the same, because that was all the clothes that the breton had. So Rayne had to wear a men's belted tunic. Which she didn't mind. To her, it was quite comfortable.
The two of them shared the room, because there was only one. Thrynn let Rayne get the bed, he needed to keep watch just in case their pursuers showed up. Rayen fell right asleep, and mumbled word's that Thrynn still didn't understand. But Thrynn pushed it off and sat on the balcony just outside of the room that gave him the perfect view of the front door, and the rest of the Inn. He set his bow down next to him, with the arrows, as well. He then uncorked a bottle of mead (just one) and downed it before setting the now empty bottle down.
Later that night, Thrynn went downstairs to speak with some of the citizens in the Inn, who were either joyful, or drunk off their ass. Thrynn didn't mind talking to them, really. He listened to the bard play a few songs, spoke with the new commander of the guard, Sinmir, who proved to be a good friend. He had another mead, and downed it within seconds, followd by Sinmir looking at him in awe.
"In all my years", he said, "I've never seen a man drink a mead that fast." Thrynn just laughed and set the empty bottle down.
The next morning, Thrynn and Rayne were off for Windhelm. They hired a cairrage to Windhelm, and Rayne paid the man extra to take a shortcut that the bandits wouldn't know about. Of course, she didn't mention the bandits. That would be to was suprised at the shortcut Rayne took them on. It made the trick a lot quicker than he had expected.
When the two arrived at Windhelm, they got out of the cart and made their way to the Windhelm gates. Thrynn took the lead, and lead Rayne through Windhelm, passing by a small house which Rayne kept her eyes on as they passed by it. Aventus... She thougth to herself. She turned her gaze foward and kept walking, following Thrynn.
"The dock's aren't much farher from here." Thrynn said. Rayne just nodded and kept pace with Thrynn.
The docks were smaller than Rayne had expected. What she didn't expect, however, was to see argonains out her encounters with people, some say that Windhelm was a "nord-only" town, or something like that. And none of the argonians looked happy, they had glum looks on their faces. Rayne guessed that this town is segregated.
Thrynn spoke with Gjalund Salt-Sage, told them about their situation, and paid Gjalund a large sum of gold. Then Thrynn and Rayne got aboard and Gjalund set them off... With himself on board, of course.
Furan, a dark elf, watched from a distance as Thrynn and Rayne got onto the boat with some ships captain. Furan clenched his jaw, knowing that this chase is becoming more difficult by the second. But, there is a way he could catch them. It'll cost a lot of gold. And resources. But it'll be totally worth it in the end.
The Blood Horkers.
Author's Note-Thank yo guys 'n' gals for reading this, and remember to check out the story mentioned above. Favorite and follow! Thanks