I didn't mention this in the previous chapter, but I am including hints of various mods I'm using in this story. I won't be mentioning them directly, but perhaps you could guess what they are! ;)
Chapter Two
The next day Erik and Alinja wondered to the major trading city of Whiterun. Mralki and Erik had come here to fit and buy armour but she had stayed behind (to her surprise, they ended up buying her armour too). This was her first look at a major city.
"Gods above…" the smaller nord breathed, "so this is what a real city looks like."
"My exact reaction when I first saw Whiterun." Erik replied gazing at the wooden buildings and stone steps. "But seeing this place for a second time, really makes you wonder about the other major cities." He glanced at Alinja. "We should make our way to Solitude or even Haafingar."
"Yeah," she replied, "but we should find work here first. We need some more experience before we set out for such a challenge."
"What challenge?" Erik inquired. "Haafingar has only got bears at the most."
"There's got to be a few forest trolls there too at least."
"What, are you scared?"
Alinja narrowed her eyes at him as they climbed the steps behind the small circle of a market. "Scared? No, I think I'm being smart. We have to pace ourselves instead of just rushing into the first job some guy hands us that requires us to clear out mountains of bandits and trolls and Gods know what."
"I know your family's honor is important to you, but we can't afford it!"
The two nords looked to their left and saw a redguard couple quarreling.
"It took me weeks to find that thieves' den. I can't stop now, and I can't get the sword on my own." The redguard man replied to his wife.
"So you're willing to starve your wife and daughter to reclaim some rusty old sword?" His wife folded her arms and turned her back to him.
"I just need to hire one, maybe two good men. You won't starve." The man tried to reassure his wife by placing his hands on her shoulders.
"I'll put it plainly." She said sharply, brushing off his advances. "You can claim your sword, or you can keep your wife. If you set foot outside the gate, I won't be here when you return." And with that she stormed away, leaving her husband staring after her.
"Saffir! Wait…I…" Defeated, he sighed and turned the opposite direction towards the eavesdropping nords, scratching his half shaved head.
Alinja looked at Erik, his expression read: Why not? They strode over to the brooding man.
"Well met, redguard." Alinja greeted.
"Huh? Oh, hello." The man greeted back. "Can I help you with something?"
"What were you two arguing about?" Erik asked rather straightforwardly.
"Erik!" Alinja punched him in the shoulder. "Please excuse my friend's manors. But we did hear you and your wife arguing about something. Is everything alight?"
The man sighed and shook his head slightly. "My Saffir doesn't like that I've been spending so much time looking for my father's old sword. He fed his entire family with the gold he made using that weapon. I'm not about to let it gather dust in some thief's trophy room."
"Do you need any help retrieving it?" Erik offered, having half a mind to brace himself from another punch from his friend, thankfully, he didn't receive one.
"I tracked it to a group of bandits nearby. But I'm no fool. I'd need the Whiterun guards or maybe hire the Companions to get it." He looked at the two nords dressed in iron armour. "I don't know why I'm saying this, but if you find it in your travels, I'd be grateful to you. Here, I'll mark out the den on your map." Marking their map to place called Redoran's Retreat, he then walked past them and headed down the stairs into the market.
Alinja turned to face Erik. "Bandits?"
"Are you angry?" He asked, but grinned when he saw the adventurous glint in her eyes.
"I think if we can pull this off, we will be able to make our way to Solitude with the experience we need." She said, the excitement rising.
"What happened to being smart?"
"Of course we need to be smart." She replied. "We should scout out the area and mark out our escape roots and any other potential dangers like traps and wild animals."
"Right, then." Erik's grin grew with confidence, but then shrunk slightly. "But what if we don't pull this off?"
That thought had been playing in the back of her mind. What if there were too many bandits for the two of them to handle. She tossed another thought. But if they pulled this off they would gain new confidence that could be used on their way to Solitude.
"Let's take a chance." She said quietly, gazing up at Erik who nodded with anticipation.
They set out straight away, following their map they came to a short hill with a roughly made wooden door cut into it at the bottom. A few barrels and wooden crates were lying outside the entrance. An unused bear trap was sitting on top of one of the crates, while a few handpicked ingredients such as tundra cotton and snowberries sat upon some of the barrels. Erik and Alinja crouched behind a few dry, grey rocks and scanned to see any potential dangers that could possibly catch them off guard.
"I'm not seeing anything dangerous right now." Erik commented, shifting his weight so he was leaning on one knee.
"You're right." Alinja replied, standing slowly. "I think it's clear for now. Come on."
The two cautiously approached the wooden door, peering through its glassless windows. Inside looked dark and neither could make out any shapes in the darkness. Crouching, Alinja pushed against the door, wincing as it creaked open. They snuck in and hurriedly shut the door behind them. Once inside, they could see that this was an old mining tunnel as short, unstable, wooden beams uncertainly kept the ceiling up. A small lantern rested on a barrel that faintly lit an entrance leading deeper into the mine. Alinja drew her sword, Erik copied. They snuck to the lantern and peaked around the corner. The tunnel ran deeper and veered off to the right, blocking any further sight for the two companions.
"Come on." Alinja whispered and lead Erik into the darkness of the tunnel.
"It's so dark down here." Erik said, straining his eyes to see better in the dim light. "I wonder how deep this cave goes."
"Shh." Alinja hushed and stopped suddenly, causing Erik to almost canyon into her.
"Hey, warn me next time you're going to stop suddenly like that!" He whispered angrily.
"Shut up for a second." Alinja replied. "I think I hear someone."
They moved as quietly as possible, following the tunnel until they came to a small chamber with spiky rocks jutting out of the ground and attaching themselves to the ceiling. They glanced around the room. A makeshift wooden deck was built in the far right corner with a table and two bedrolls. Barrels and crates decorated the place with a few pickaxes resting next to iron ore veins.
"Ruff, ruff!"
Alinja jumped violently making Erik tense. A dog walked out of another entrance on the left side of the cave, followed by an imperial-looking bandit.
"Told him to just hand over the gold, but did he listen? Oh, no…they always have to fight back…" the bandit was muttering angrily to himself.
"Ruff, ruff!" The dog barked again, looking up at its master.
"Stupid dog…" he groaned and went to lean on the wall next to the deck.
"So our challenge is a dog and one bandit." Alinja whispered to Erik who grunted an agreement. "Let's go." She stood with Erik at her back.
The dog suddenly growled and looked towards the two intruders. It barred its teeth and barked viciously.
The bandit suddenly snapped into action, spotting Alinja and Erik. He drew his iron axe and rolled his shoulder back. "Lookee here," he smirked evilly, "looks like we've got ourselves some heroes!"
"You've got that right." Alinja snapped back. "We're looking for a sword."
"You must be delusional, missy," the bandit hissed, "'cause there's no way you're gettin' your hands on our stuff."
"Look," Erik said, sharply, "give us the sword or die. Your choice."
"Gar-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!" The bandit tossed his head back and laughed. "Heh, you'll be so much easier to rob when you're dead!" He lunged forward, axe raised high above his head.
Alinja braced herself for impact and successfully countered his attack. She kicked him back and he staggered. The dog suddenly leaped forward, but Erik was quick and imbedded his sword into its gut. The bandit growled through his teeth and swung his axe at Erik this time, but Alinja threw herself in the path of the attack and blocked again. She lifted her sword and crashed towards his neck, but it was the bandit's turn to block. She pushed him back and used her iron-gloved hand to back hand him across the face, distracting him for a few seconds and that was all she needed. Using the same hand, she balled it into a fist and punched him as hard as she could in the cheekbone. He grunted and fell off his feet.
"Well, well, well. What do we have here?"
Alinja and Erik spun around to face a new face. A large orc clasped his hands together, rubbing them as if about to dive into a good meal. He wore steel-plated armour along with steel plated boots and gauntlets. A Nordic carved helmet rested on his head and a sharp steel sword and steel mace swung from his waist. The sheer sight of this brute sent a shiver down Alinja's spine.
"Chief…" the bandit coughed, struggled to his feet and stumbled over to his leader. "These two intruded. Said theys was lookin' for a sword." He pointed at Erik. "He threatened to kill if we didn't hand it over, but I said to him, I said—"
"Yes, yes," the orc bandit chief interrupted, "don't worry, I'll handle this for you."
"O-okay, Chief," the bandit stuttered lamely, "th-thanks Chief. If you need help—hargh!"
Without warning and with surprising speed, the orc pulled his mace out and with a single blow, smashed his underling's face in. Bone cracked and his eye disappeared into his skull, the brown liquid of the iris running down his face along with the red of his blood mixed in with dirt and shattered bone.
Alinja almost shrieked at the gruesome sight and gripped her sword tightly. This was going to be one hundred times more difficult that the fight with the Sabre Cat. Erik must have sensed her fear and seen her shaking because he stepped beside her.
"We're not afraid of you." He said in a strangely calm voice that actually seemed to scare Alinja. It was so menacing.
"Aha-ha-ha-ha-ha-HAR!" The orc laughed roughly, with his hands on his belly. "Oh, kid you should be." The tone of his voice changed and his eyes glinted with evil. "Look at you. Shoddy iron armor and weapons. You are amateurs. You don't know what kind of dangers there are in the world." He chuckled and drew his sword as well, wielding two weapons. "But no worries, I'll make sure you won't see them."
Alinja growled and launched herself at the orc, hitting him on his steel chest plate. He laughed and swung his mace at her side. Thankfully her armour received most of the blow, but she was flung to the other side of the room.
"Hey!" Erik shouted. "Leave her alone!" He sprang forward with his sword held high. His attack managed to stagger the orc back a few steps.
The chief recovered quickly and swiftly swung his mace at Erik's chest who fell backwards. The breath was knocked out of him. He looked down at his chest and saw a dent cracked the centre of his armour. He groaned and tried to gasp for air. His opponent strolled over to him and crouched next to him and admired his steel sword.
"Hargh!" Alinja jumped up and crashed the hilt of her sword onto the bandit chief's back.
"Horr!" He grunted angrily and got to his feet and faced her. "You wait your turn." He shoved her hard and she fell back, hitting her head on a rock, and groaned with pain.
He turned and crouched again next to Erik. "Listen here" he leaned closer, his voice whispering, "I won't kill you right now. I want you to watch as I, hm, how should I put this? Make your little girlfriend over there a woman." He roared with laughter, as he stuck his sword into Erik's arm. Ignoring the cries of pain, he walked over to where Alinja struggling to her feet. He gripped her around the neck, lifting her off her feet and pushed her against the wall. She struggled against his iron grip. "Hold still, honey, this will only take a few minutes." He gripped his mace and slowly slid it between her legs. "I'll just cut away this unwanted material…"
"N-no…" Alinja choked and struggled harder. "Leave me…alone, you…b-bastard…!"
"Heh, heh, heh," he chuckled, "I like 'em feisty!" He reached for the straps of her iron armour and cut them off. Her chest plate fell to the floor, leaving her in her undergarments. He threw her to the floor. He stood over her and began to undo the straps on his plate armoured breeches. "This'll be fun…"
"Yeaargh!" A shout from behind turned his attention behind him. Erik tackled the orc to the ground.
He cried out it surprise and anger. He kicked Erik off and smashed him across the face with a steel plated hand. Erik crumpled to the ground. The chief barred his teeth and raised his mace above his head. Erik cringed, waiting for impact.
"Erik!" Alinja screamed and drove her iron sword into the back of the orc's head, the tip covered in thick red blood. She left it in his head and waited for him to slump loosely to the ground. They both panted and looked at each other.
Alinja dropped to her knees. "Erik…" the wound in his arm was bleeding profoundly. "Hold on." She got up, clutching her bruised side she searched for her pack. She reached inside and pulled out a healing potion. She raced back to Erik's side. "Drink it."
"No, you're hurt." Erik moved his mouth away from the bottle. "You should drink first."
"Don't be stupid." She dismissed. She forced the bottle to his lips and he finally drank. The colour returned to his face and the wound on his arm knitted together and faded to a strong pink colour.
"Your turn." Erik said and looked in her pack. "Was…was that the last potion?"
"Maybe…" Alinja trailed off.
"Alinja!" Erik cried. "You're still hurt. Don't act so recklessly. Think of yourself this more often."
"Pfft." Alinja smiled. "It doesn't matter now." She stared at Erik. "Thanks. You saved me."
"Then I'm sorry." Erik cracked a smile. "You said you didn't like being saved."
"I know…" She looked down. "But I was in a really bad situation that would have gotten a whole lot worse if you didn't tackle that guy like you did." She chuckled. "It was a good tackle."
"I'm just glad you're okay…I…" he paused.
"What?"
"I'm just really glad you're o-okay." He clenched his jaw. "When he said what he'd do to you…I…damn…"
Alinja reached around his neck and hugged him. He wrapped his arms around her waist and hugged her back, holding her tightly as if she would fade away if he let go.
"Hey, Erik," Alinja whispered.
"Yeah?"
"Promise me we'll be always be together. Promise me we'll be friends forever and in the next life. Always…"
Erik held her closer. "I promise."
**Dedicated to L.O'Reilly. The best music teacher I could have asked for. One day, you'll teach me again. May you rest in peace.**
