He set out early the next morning, just in time for the sun to start peering over the land in the east. He reckoned that if he spent most of the day riding with relative speed and staying on the road, that he should reach Windhelm at the end of the day. Though he wasn't really in a hurry, he wanted to make good use of his time instead of loitering about, at least not until he reached his destination. Shuddering slightly as he stepped into the chill morning air, he very much hoped his current enchanted master robes and cloak were enough to keep him from freezing his backside off in Eastmarch. He had many times wondered how on Mundus the nords could live in this chilly climate.
Untying his poor horse from the tree he wondered if the beast had gotten anything to eat since last evening, and was just about to grab something out of his bag when his gaze fell on the ground below his feet. He frowned in confusion. Hadn't there been grass here before? Upon further investigation, he noticed there was grass, green and thick, though closest to the tree in the shape of a clumsy circle with the same radius ad the horse's rope, the ground was more or less bare all the way into the stem. Gaping, he looked up at the animal who gave him a curious stare, huffing patiently as the elf trembled with laughter. It was a miracle the beast could even move.
He picked up the speed only after exiting Riverwood as to not disturb any of the inhabitants, and began thinking of what he should do once he came to Windhelm. He remembered the note mentioned a ship, so he decided the docks would be his first stop. It had been a while since he had visited the city, months at least as the mer disliked it greatly. Though, change had reached Windhelm as well. Following the end of the civil war, he wondered how the dunmer were holding up. If the new jarl had given them the right to live and roam the streets as they had the moral right to do, or, gods forbid, if they were still living in that slum of a district. It seemed very unlikely that would be the case, with the Empire being a much more open nation than that of the Stormcloaks. He guessed their tolerance and reputation was what had led them to their victory. Zekk had not interfered, nor had he ever wanted to. He preferred to stay as far away from political troubles as he could, and besides, it seemed to have worked out the way he hoped it would anyway. The Empire won their Skyrim in the end, which was the best alternative for everyone.
An hour passed as he rode down the different variables of the road, and he could begin to spot the city of Whiterun far ahead, rising up on a hill in the middle of plain and rocky fields with its wall built sturdily around the city on the height. It was still a far distance away, and he could see the road running past where the ground lifted upwards towards the hold capital, the road he would have to follow, going south and then turning east by the edge of the great mountain. The whole trip to that very edge didn't take more than 30 minutes, and he soon found himself riding east, already seeing change in the scenery far ahead as he advanced up the road. He saw the ruins of a large fort built into the stretched far at each side of the river. The elf hoped that whatever lead of thugs and bandits he had chased from the He slowed down a good deal when passing the great stone structure, cautiously listening for any sign of life inside the walls. But the watchtower lay silent, and there was no fire to warm the broken cooking stand just outside the reinforced door, only the ever-flowing water running down the stream.
The river came to a halt however, where the water suddenly fell downwards in a roaring waterfall, perfectly along the road the mer was traveling. Looking down to where the water violently splashed against a cover of sharp rocks in white foam, he felt a slight nausea at the sight of the steep cliff edge merely yards away. Keeping the slow pace, he steered the horse as close to the opposite side of the road as he could hoping there was no one around to see him as he practically pushed himself against the wall. Narrowing his eyes he turned his gaze forward to again inspect his surroundings, and to admire the view. Concealed behind a slight tint of blue, the high mountain tops stretched like a band of sharp teeth along the border of Skyrim's east region, carefully wrapping it in a protected valley. Where there weren't cliffs and rocks covering the ground, high pine trees were scattered like moss upon the hills and peaks below.
The road came to a turn, and then continued down the hill. His gaze traveled across the world in hope to see Windhelm, but the city still lay behind a mountain and enough trees to hide it from his view. Wondering what time it was, he heard his own stomach growl. The sun stood high in the sky, or, as high as it could manage to climb here in the north part of the continent, and he decided upon seeing how the road leveled with the river once again, that it was time for a break.
Reaching the water, he dismounted his horse that neighed happily at the sight of the grass growing on the shore. Throwing the light bag off his shoulders he opened it, carefully dragging out a small sack out of it. A traveler couldn't manage bringing full meals on their journeys, so he had to sate his appetite with a loaf of bread and cheese, washed down with some cheap mead. Though, since everything appears tastier when you're hungry, the meal was a pleasurable one and Zekk noted his increase in strength almost immediately, taking another sip from the brown bottle.
As he was leaning his weight on one of the small old wall-like railings that lined parts of the road's edge, just having finished his adventurer's feast, his right ear twitched slightly upon catching a sound of something. The elf turned his head toward the noise, body slightly tensed now that he listened for whatever had caused the sound. A moment passed, and then he heard it once more. It sounded like a voice, yes, it was most definitely a woman's voice, shouting and yelling something beyond comprehension.
Curious to what was happening and worried whether the person was okay, he rose and ran up the hill to where the road turned when suddenly someone ran into him. The collision had such force that he was knocked to the ground. His lungs emptied as his back smashed hard against the rocks beneath him and the weight of the person falling on top of him doubling the impact. The figure quickly rose to her feet screaming "Watch out!" and Zekk became aware of two wolves sprinting towards where he was lying. Drawing his dagger he lashed out his arm, burying the metal in the chest of the first one as it was jumping to bite him in the neck and then shoving it aside. Pushing himself off the ground, he dodged the other animal by mere inches as it flung past him. Worried it might attack the woman he quickly spun around, but she was nowhere to be seen. Instead the wolf stopped abruptly, angered by the elf avoiding its attack. Feeling a tingling heat in his chest, he allowed the energy to flow through his left arm and soon a bright burning fire was licking the tips of his fingers. He threw the hand forward, igniting the wolf, sending it whining and turning in pain as the fire burned its skin. Sensing the opportunity, Zekk kicked the beast to the ground and snapped its neck with a firm stomp. Seeing it twitch one last time after completely stopping to move, he dragged the burning carcass off the road and into the dirt where the fire couldn't reach the grass.
He heard a noise behind him, but upon turning around he saw nothing. That was, until a something hit his head which forced him to look upwards and thus noticing the woman high up in one of the pine trees, struggling with her dress that had gotten itself stuck on a branch. She was swearing and grunting as she climbed down. When she finally took a leap from the lowest branch and landed on the ground her hair was covered in branches and dirt and the dark green dress was ripped at the edge.
"Damned creatures!" the girl exclaimed in anger, breathing heavily as she leaned to place her hands on her knees, obviously exhausted. Zekk sheathed his blade and inspected her. She was of human kind, seemingly young though he wasn't sure he could tell whether or not she was Imperial, Breton, or Nord… Then again she was quite tall, so maybe it was one of the latter. He had no idea, really. Humans all looked the same to him. She finally looked up at him and to the mer's surprise with an annoyed frown on her face rather than one of gratitude. "What?" she spit out. He realized he had been staring at her for a while and took a step forward as to approach her.
"Are you-"
"Yes, yes, I'm fine" she interrupted, waving one arm in the air as to dismiss the topic completely which stunned the mer a little. He shrugged it off however, simply muttering a "sorry for saving your life" before turning to walk back down the hill, not noticing the woman's face turning red as she looked up again.
"I'm sorry" she said with a sigh, voice filled with genuine guilt, and the elf lifted an eyebrow at her as she straightened back up.
Seeing the girl's current state he realized she probably didn't mean to appear so rude towards him. He kept his face straight however, giving her a stern look as he turned around expectantly and crossed his arms.
"I should thank you", she admitted and Zekk smiled in return, eyes turning friendly again.
"What were you doing out here on foot anyway?" was the reply. The woman shook her head.
"I'm not" she pointed down of the road. "The wolves came running at me when I was riding my carriage." And she sighed once more. "…which I'm not sure how much of the stuff were kept intact because it fell when the horse ran away." When the elf responded only with confused silence, she explained further, "I'm a merchant. Or…" There was a pause, and she grimaced, "… Apprentice."
"Apprentice?" the elf echoed, not aware there was such a thing as merchants hiring apprentices. What would they do, learn how to sell a vase? What scholarship was there in that? But then again, perhaps that was just another Skyrim thing he didn't understand.
"Yes well, they like to call me that anyway." A frown lingered on her face for a couple of seconds, appearing stuck on the thought of whoever 'they' were as her head was turned away from him. He patiently waited for her to continue. "I'm delivering stuff to Whiterun, to the inn there", her voice was more solid now and no longer disturbed by her heavy breathing. "And I'm already late, now I've got to fix this as well."
There was another pause as the young woman rubbed her forehead. Zekk pitied the girl. From what he could see she looked no older than twenty which wasn't far from himself. He couldn't help to think she acted younger than she looked, however. Even if he didn't know her it was obvious he'd help her in regards of the situation. "I could lend you a hand."
She looked up in surprise. "You'd do that? I mean- thank you, but-", she trailed off, and something that would resemble a laugh escaped her lips "- if it wasn't for you I'd surely be dead."
The elf noticed his lips turning to a smirk. "You sure about that? You were up in that tree in an instant."
"Oh and look how that turned out", she snorted and gestured at her dress. "Don't look at me like that!" She had noticed the elf raising an eyebrow at her sudden care for her clothes. "It was my favourite."
They both started walking down the road.
"How far is it?" the dunmer proceeded to ask as they advanced around the edge of the cliff.
"As far as I can run", she chucked, and then added; "Not far. Just down this hill and you should see it just about-"
The young woman stopped suddenly, and then leapt into a run. Startled, the elf followed her worried she might get in trouble. Though, when he looked ahead on the road he noticed the carriage. She approached it, ranting "no, no, no, no…" as she walked around it. It lay tipped to the side with its contents of food and supplies scattered in the dirt of the road, boxes and all. "Look at this! She will have my head when she sees this." She grunted, hands covering her face in despair.
Apart from ruined vegetables and broken bottles, Zekk noticed blood upon the gravel road. Curious and alerted, he took a few steps around the carriage to notice a dagger and the carcass of another wolf. The dagger was a plain steel one, and it was covered in the blood of the beast.
"Is this yours?" Zekk asked the girl, who looked up at him dumbstruck for a moment before realizing what he was talking about.
"Oh, thank the gods!" She flung up and rushed over to where he was, diving for the dagger. The elf had to back a step to avoid getting pushed again. The girl grabbed the blade firmly and pressed its flat side gently against her chest, not minding the blood smearing all over the fabric of her dress. He was a great deal surprised. A wolf may not seem like a difficult foe compared to all the monsters and creatures of Tamriel, but they could easily tear off the flesh from unaware travelers in a single bite, if not less. She'd obviously got some skill with a weapon, and he hadn't expected that from her role as a traveling merchant. Well, he thought. Everyone's got hidden talents.
After a while, the girl rose to her feet, having calmed herself to melancholic silence. The mer almost wondered if she had been praying, sitting hunched over with the weapon like that. Maybe it had belonged to a loved one.
"As you could see, I managed to kill one", she tucked the dagger under the belt on her dress. "…until I noticed the others. Then my horse ran away, and the carriage flipped, and I ran away…" She waved her arm in a continuous gesture as to recite the more recent events.
"So the horse ran loose", he began, puckering his lips ever so slightly as he considered the matter. "It can't be that far away. Believe me. And about this" he started, slowly pacing around the carriage inspecting it carefully. ", much of the food might be ruined, and the carriage is flipped but it's certainly not broken."
After all, it wasn't. Or, it didn't look like it to him. And he didn't like when people worried over something that could be fixed. "We just need to lift it up. No use crying over spilled mead."
"This is a lot of spilled mead." She mumbled in response. "And wine, and ale, and oh those rare bottles of Argonian ale Hulda told me to be so careful about!" she suddenly cried and knelt down to pick up the shards of the dark bottle. "Only one remaining. She is really going to have my head now."
"Hulda you say?" asked the elf, recognizing the name "I know her. She knows of me, anyway" he added with a snicker. The woman looked up at him with a sarcastic look on her face.
"What are you, a nobleman or something?" she said with a mocking smirk.
The elf smiled kindly, looking back down on the ground. "Not really." He said, no intention of boasting about him being Dragonborn to whoever he met. "Just tell her you met me and I'm sure she'll overlook it."
The woman still looked puzzled, however. "Well what's your name, then?" she asked and he immediately realized he hadn't even bothered to ask her himself.
"Zekk", he told her, plain and simple.
"Only Zekk?"
At that he nodded, and she accepted his answer with standing up and putting her hands to her sides.
"Well then, Zekk. I'm Linnéa", the woman smiled, then changed into a serious face once more. "Could you help me lift this?"
Understanding she meant the carriage, he gladly walked over to it. After a few tries they managed to get the whole wooden build on its wheels, most of the food washed as clean as they could manage in the nearby crystal-clear river, and picking up the shards of bottles to stack the glass pieces in a basket. Zekk also managed to find Linnéa's lost horse, also brown, while she was lifting the stacked crates and boxes into the cart. When everything was about done, the sun had already crept lower in the sky but he reckoned it was long until evening yet. The woman thanked him once more, and stepped up to take a seat on the front of the carriage.
"You're heading that way?" she asked as the elf began turning around to walk up the hill.
"Only to get my horse", he explained, stopping.
"Well, get up!" she insisted. Upon seeing him hesitate, she gave him a look that straight out said 'are you serious'. At that, he agreed with a guilty smile and the girl seemed pleased to see him climb up to the seats beside her. "It's the least I can do, you know."
She took the reins and set the horse walking. The carriage wasn't exactly comfortable to sit in, Zekk realized and he wondered how the woman could stand it for so long.
"Are you always this helpful to complete strangers?" she asked once they started climbing the height. The elf only shook his shoulders. He didn't consider himself to be all good, reflecting back on all the choices in his life but he always felt compelled to help someone who needed it. If he could lend the help and they deserved it, wasn't it the obvious alternative? Even small things could make someone's day, and his as well.
He was actually surprised to see both his horse and his bag still near the stone structure when they finally reached the top and he hopped off the carriage as it was still moving, raising an arm to wave at the girl grinning as she drove away.
"It was nice meeting you, Zekk!" she shouted after him and he grinned in return, and then grabbed his bag to throw it over his back again, watching she turned and vanished behind the cliffs and pine trees. The elf sighed as the sound of wheels against rock faded.
So that was that.