Chapter Three
To The Falls
Vithar ran, booted feet pounding the dirt as he heard the flap of ebony wings die away. He half expected to turn around and face the red-eyed legend just before getting snapped up in the beast's great jaws. To his surprise…he turned and saw the dragon as it flew higher into the sky, right above his head and over the mountains, into the horizon.
The stress of the day slowly began to creep up on Vithar as he slowed his pace down from a full-blown sprint into a slight jog, the adrenaline dying out in his veins. His whole body hurt, aching from the escape. His heart hurt as well. Perhaps it was better for his father to have died beforehand. He wouldn't have seen Vithar being carried home for an execution.
Speaking of execution, where in Oblivion did Ulfric and Ralof go? He looked around, finding himself on a cobblestone path that led by a stream. The mountains that the dragon flew over were just ahead of him, and he saw what looked to be like ruins of some sort. Vithar shuddered, "Damn Ancient Nordic ruins. Always full of Draugr…"
After the image of crawling Draugr faded from his mind, he continued on, walking along the trail until he came across three old Guardian stones. He stepped onto the pedestal, looking at all three of the stones. As his fingers grazed each of the worn stones, strange powers began flowing through his body, and he began to think of which one would aid him. Vithar paused for a moment, and placed both hands on the Thief stone, overwhelmed by the feeling of larceny coursing through his entire being. Images of Vithar sneaking through a barrow, polished bow in hand, as he took out each Draugr silently flickered in his mind before fading away.
"Thief, eh? It's never too late to take charge of your own fate, you know."
The voice startled Vithar, and he drew his steel dagger, only to find a blood-covered Ralof laughing slightly as he stood by a tree, "Calm down, soldier. It's just me."
Vithar sighed as he replaced his dagger, "I see you managed to escape with your life. What of the others?"
Ralof shook his head, "Only Jarl Ulfric and I managed to escape. Hadvar and another Imperial came in and slaughtered the others. I swear, if I see him again…anyways, Jarl Ulfric is now en route to Windhelm, and I'm to warn the Jarl of Whiterun about this incident."
"I'll go with you," Vithar nodded, stepping off the pedestal and joining Ralof, who cringed at the sight of his borrowed armor. Vithar furrowed his brow, and took one look at his armor, and that of Ralof's, and laughed.
"Sorry…had to peel it off a dead Imperial," Vithar smiled and Ralof grimaced.
"At least it's something other than ragged clothes. Tell you what, follow me to Riverwood and I'll get you set up with something more…appropriate," Ralof began to walk, and Vithar kept by him.
After ten minutes of walking and conversing, Riverwood was now in sight. Ralof took in a deep breath and sighed in content, "Ah home. Windhelm may be my post now, but there's nothing like Riverwood."
As they walked into the small town, a mill-worker shouted from the top of the mill, "Is that you, Ralof?"
Ralof smiled and waved, "Gerdur! I'm home again."
In a moment's notice, Ralof was tackled by a Nord woman who bore a great resemblance to him, giving him a tight hug. She pulled away, "We heard some Stormcloaks were taken to Helgen…was that your group?"
Ralof nodded slowly, "Yes. Can we go and speak in private? I have much to discuss, but none of it should be made public. My friend will be joining us."
Gerdur took one look at Vithar and furrowed her brow, "An Imperial?"
Ralof shook his head, "No. This lucky bastard managed to escape on his own. Took down an Imperial to take his armor in the process."
Vithar sputtered, trying to explain that wasn't exactly how it happened, but Gerdur smiled warmly at him, "Any friend to Ralof is a friend to me. Follow me. I'll get my husband."
As the three of them walked, Ralof turned to Vithar and explained, "Gerdur is my sister. She works the mill here. You're in good hands."
The three stood on a clearing just behind the mill, after Gerdur yelled at Hod to join them. Ralof chuckled, muttering a few words under his breath. Vithar didn't catch what he said, instead looking at the ruins on the mountain, but Gerdur smiled while scolding her brother.
Vithar turned to face the two siblings, brother and sister smiling warmly as the sister's husband walked up, dusting his rough hands on his apron. As they began to discuss the events at Helgen, Vithar thought of Riften, where he had recently crossed through just days ago. Could his little sister have been there, right under his nose? Then there was his younger brother, living near Solitude. Hopefully he was safe.
"Vithar?" Gerdur interrupted his thoughts, and Vithar's eyes focused again on the present moment. She smiled and went to hug him softly, breaking away after an awkward moment, "Thank you for keeping Ralof safe."
Vithar shrugged, "Well, I didn't do too much to help. I kind of left him out there."
Ralof laughed, "Damn right you did!"
"If you need anything, just ask," Hod approached him, hand extended.
Vithar took it in a firm shake, "I'll just take some supplies and directions to Solitude and I'm set."
"You…aren't joining the Imperials, are you?" Gerdur asked in warning, and Vithar shook his head.
"No, I have to find my brother," he said wistfully. "Father died before the dragon attack. I need answers."
Vithar entered the trading post and immediately felt the need to leave. Two Imperials were currently in the middle of an argument, the man leaning on the wooden counter while the woman stomped away to a nearby table.
"Look here, Camilla," the male sighed, scratching his black goatee. "You aren't going after those thieves. Do you hear me?"
The woman, Camilla, raised a hand to silence him, "I'm a grown woman, Lucan. I don't need your permission. Are you seriously going to just let them have the claw?"
Lucan grumbled under his breath, and then he saw Vithar. A shade of pink flushed his tan skin as he cleared his throat, "Ah…a customer. Sorry…about that. What can I help you with?"
Vithar furrowed his brow, "You were just robbed? Of what?"
Camilla leaned forward, "Lucan left his golden claw out and didn't think it was going to get stolen."
Vithar faced her, "Where do you think these thieves went?"
Lucan cleared his throat again, "The thieves went up to the Barrow. I had to stop chasing after them because my sister would have been seriously injured."
"You took off crying after they entered the Barrow," Camilla scowled. "Something about Draugr being bad for business, but you were scared."
Vithar snorted in laughter, but straightened up after seeing Lucan's glare. He shrugged, "Well, I hate the Barrow too, but I can get the claw for you."
Lucan's face lightened up, "Great! I have a shipment of gold coming in. It's yours if you get my claw back."
Vithar nodded, and made to leave before Camilla stepped in, crossing her arms over her dress, "And I suppose you'll need an escort?"
The Nord smiled, and Lucan growled, "Oh…by the Eight, just get out of here! Only to the edge of town though. If you take a step over that bridge, Camilla…"
But the closing of the store door answered him instead. He ran his hands over his face, "That sister will be the death of me…"
Camilla had told him how the thieves only took that claw, which puzzled Vithar greatly as he marched up the mountain to the Barrow, bow in hand. He saw a watchtower up ahead, and reminded himself to take a right at the tower.
Bleak Falls Barrow sure looked a lot more intimidating from a distance, Vithar thought to himself as he saw the towers rising up into the cloudy midday sky. Here, it just looked like a simple ruin. A ruin with plenty of Draugr and bandits.
He began walking up the stairs before a dark-headed bandit, dressed in a simple fur kilt and shoes, drew his dagger out, "You're in the wrong place, friend."
Vithar looked around, and shrugged, "I'm not so sure. Not a lot of people march up to a ruin like this unless they're after one thing."
The bandit growled, "Ah, a smartass. I'll make your death quick!"
An arrow to the face was the reply Vithar sent, and the bandit collapsed to the snow. Soon, iron arrows began flying, and Vithar bounded up the stairs, sending his steel arrows in response. Three bandits charged at him, and three bandits all received arrows to different parts of their now-lifeless bodies. Blood pooled at his feet as Vithar gripped a pillar, flickering memories of the Great War flowing like bitter wine over his mind.
Shaking his head in a vain attempt to forget, he briskly walked to the entrance and pushed the door open.
Vithar felt the tug of the Thief stone and realized that he now held the ability to sneak more effectively, as he crouched in the darkness, let the bowstring free, steel arrow singing as it impaled the last bandit in the neck. He had nearly walked in on the two right at the entrance, but thanks to some last minute ideas, he scrambled up a broken pillar and crouched, taking sharp aim. His old habits were coming back, almost overwhelming the veteran.
He marched his way down the hallway and through a partly-collapsed section of the ruin, arrow nocked to the string just in case. What he wasn't thrilled about seeing was the thick, white gossamer strings of spiders wrapped around the hallway.
"Oh for the love of Talos, not spiders," he sighed as he brushed some of the web from a doorway, hearing a panicked voice beyond the opening.
"Hello…is anyone there? Please! Don't let it eat me!" came the sound of a frantic accented voice. Vithar raised an eyebrow as he managed to cut through the thicker strands with his dagger, and stepped into a wide chamber room where several egg sacs dotted the walls and corners. In the doorway leading further into the chamber was a trapped Dunmer, dressed like a bandit, who struggled to escape. He saw Vithar and exclaimed, "Oh thank you Azura…holy shit!"
A giant, bleeding Frostbite Spider dropped from the webbed ceiling, blood oozing from its eyes. The spider was blind, Vithar noted with a smirk, drawing his bow and arrow. This battle wouldn't be so bad.
"Are you dumb, Nord?!" the Dunmer exclaimed. "It's a fucking spider! It'll kill us both!"
"Yeah, well I've seen worse," Vithar muttered. Try facing a dragon, Dark Elf.
He looked around, seeing a few thick strands of webbing, and got an idea. He ran to it, throwing his bow and unsheathing his dagger as he cut through the strands. The spider whirled around, running straight to the source of the disturbance. But Vithar wasn't there, instead jumping to the left and scrambling away. He snatched up his bow and managed to shoot two arrows at two of the spider's legs, causing it to crumple to the right. The spider let out a hiss and struggled to turn to where the pain came from.
However, Vithar was once again gone, this time climbing up a broken part of the wall just behind the spider's back. Arrow drawn, he shot at the spider's left side, while the Dunmer screamed, "For the love of Azura, get me out of here now!"
Another leg gave out, and the spider collapsed onto its underbelly, unable to see or move. Its injuries were just too great. As the spider struggled to get up, Vithar jumped onto its back, having retrieved an ancient sword from a dead corpse nearby. With a howl of pure adrenaline, Vithar buried the sword hilt-deep into the top of the spider's giant head.
A few twitches and the Frostbite Spider was no more. Vithar jumped off the spider's corpse, brushing off the green blood that spurted from the spider's head. He picked up the bow that he cast aside and replaced it on his back as he turned to face the Elf.
"You know of the claw?" Vithar asked. The Elf nodded, hide helmet bobbing with him. Vithar held out a hand, "Give it to me and I'll think about letting you free."
"Dense Nord," the Dark Elf rolled his eyes. "I can't move. Maybe…maybe if you cut me down first I can show you the secret to this Barrow?"
Vithar thought for a moment, and went back to the spider's corpse, pulling out the sword embedded in its skull with a sickening schluk that echoed throughout the room. The Dark Elf panicked, but Vithar began to cut the web asunder.
Soon, the Dark Elf collapsed to his knees, brushing himself free of the webs. He took one look at the Nord in blood-covered Imperial armor, and gave a slight smile before taking off into the ruins.
"I'll be damned before you take the claw from me!" he shouted as he took off.
"The Gods hate me," Vithar sighed before casting the green-coated blade aside, chasing after the thief.
Sorry about the delay in updates there. For a while I couldn't update anything. As an apology, here's the next chapter. I finished it earlier than I planned, which is awesome because I've been super busy today. I'll get the next one up soon, if any glitches don't happen again.
I tried to shorten the whole quest to fit into one chapter, but seeing as how it would have been one huge chapter again, I had no choice but to split it. Sorry about that, but I'm sure none of you guys like a chapter that's over 5000 words long. I tend to get wordy, which is a bad thing sometimes, so I'll try to watch my word count.
In the meanwhile, thanks for reading, and be sure to leave a review! ShoutFinder has been graciously helping me, so thanks again Shout. I can only grow better as a writer when I know what works and what doesn't work, so let me know what's on your mind!
