Still in the prologue, aren't we? And we'll stay there for a momen't too. About five more chapters to meeting the Companions. I find this chap stupid and lifeless, but well. It turned that way, and it will probably stay so.

The things I hate: hasn't played Skyrim today, and is being problematic. But is it just me, or the chapters started to get longer and more personalised? :D

Diamond1502 - thank you for your kind words!

And just so you know. Yes, I'd totally eat in that situation. Eating calms me up greatly.

We headed out to the kitchen, not meeting anyone in the process. Of course that doesn't mea that we get there without problems, since the dragon decided it a good time to ruin the passage of the fort, but that wasn't as stressing as a people trying to downright kill me.

And there were no shortage of them, it would seem. We sneaked as silently as we possibly could behind the barrels, cautious not to allarm them. I corrected my grip on my new dagger - the waraxe proved to be too heavy - and followed Raloff, approaching the Imperials.

It looked like I wasn't the only one unable to get things right, since this time it was his turn to fail. He stumbled upon iron pot and fallen on the floor, making unbearably much noise. The guard turned around... and met my knife in his eye. I pushed harder, making his scull crack under pressure, his pained scream filling the room. I got my hands slippery with the spilled eye, brain and blood, but didn't cared at the moment, feeling sharp pain filling my right side. I stepped forward, hearing death howl just behind me and knowing that Raloff helped me out once again.

I let him take care of the archer while I was looking for some water to wash my hands. Finding a bucket, I let out a contended sight.

"Grab anything what can be of use, lass, and get going!" he called behind me.

"Wait a moment, I've got to eat!" I objected. He watched me for a moment, then nodded.

"I didn't thought that you have a stomach for this, but fine. I haven't had much to eat myself lately." then added: "Just be silent. We don't want more Imperials walking on us without weapons in our hands."

I nodded silently, already grabbing a piece of roasted beef and a leaf of bread.

"And while you are at it, you may want to check these barrels for potions. Looks like you might need them."

I was ready to answer something along the lines 'I will manage', when I realized, that he was telling the truth. The pain in my side didn't lessen an one bit, and looking down, I saw a trickle of blood running down my leg.

"Now, don't faint on me again, lass" he warned me.

"I won't." I assured him faintly, rushing toward the barrels.

While still sickening, a feeling of a soft flesh giving way to my knife stopped making my hands halt. Especially in the prison, where I was perfectly content to end the torturer's life. The man was pain in ass and I had to be patched up greatly by Raloff afterwards, but I was sure he deserved every unit of pain I managed to give him.

"Hey, lass. I found some lockpicks, if you are any good with them." my friend called across the room.

"I'm not, but I can try! Get them over there." I answered, taking a closer look on the lock of the prison cage. I actually lockpicked only one lock ever, and it was my diary's primitive lock, but hey, it couldn't be so different!

To my sheer suprise, it wasn't. It had only two flaps, and even if i broke a fragile lockpick two or three times, it was actually quite easy to open, especially when I noticed the place that was worn with the key's usage.

I dragged the body out of the cage and took care of it's clothing. I knew that it was quite valuable, and light to carry, so I forced myself not to think about how wrong it was to loot bodies. And failed, as usual.

"You ready, lass?" Raloff asked, slowly walking out of the prison.

"As much as I'll ever be." I admitted grimly.

"Good, you first then." he commanded.

"What!"

"You heard me, lass. I've got to favor my knee for a moment untill the potion will heal it completely. You go first and make sure it's safe." seeing that I was ready to protest, he added with a sigh: "See, lass, we don't have time for this. We can die every moment."

I had to agree with him, hoping that nothing dangerous will cross my patch. Oh, how little I had known.

I *knew* that something will go wrong. I had that feeling in my gut. And I wasn't mistaken.

I couldn't hear heavy Imperial boots, so I continued without concern. After the simple, careless turn around the corner, I was confronted with my worst nightmare.

That bloody spider cave. How could I forget?

It was already too late. Overgrown arachnids saw my movements with their countless eyes and began to get close to me. Too close. The cracking sound of their thin legs' movements made me panic, as well as the sight of the poison, dripping freely from their overgrown fangs. The only way go get rid of them in-game was a fire spell...

Wait, a fire spell? I've always got it at the start, so I should be able to cast it. Everyone would. But how do you cast a spell in the first place?

I forced myself to think, my back glued to the wall. I still had a few moments. There was once a book in Morrowind. That one in the Mage Guild questline. How it was, again? "Believe, feel, that the sky is green, that fishes can fly, that the water is air that you can breathe as it fills your lungs?" Now, girl, try! Your left hand starts a fire, a big, nice, hot fire that can burn big, bad spiders! Oh, come on, air molecules colliding with each other, growing warmer and warmer...

The spider nipped at my leg.

...a godsdamned deodorant firethrower!

When I oppened my eyes again I couldn't actually ever imagine being that much suprised in my life. The whole bunch of spiders laid at my feet, turned into the ashes. Now, thinking of that, deodorant flamethrower was the closest thing I've ever seen to that fire spell. Maybe that was it. Or something else. Or...

"Good job, lass. I knew you're going to make it." I felt Raloff hand on my shoulder.

"Y-you knew!" I screamed in uttermost shock.

"Shh, girl. Not so loud." he reprimanded me. "No, I didn't. But I knew that you could manage, no matter which noble family you dragged your sorry ass from ."

"Excuse me?" I stared at him "Where did you get that idea from?"

"Well, lass, isn't it obvious? With your soft skin, undamaged hands and a great distaste of blood, did you really think you could hide it? If you were cooking your own meals, you would have to skin an animal once or twice, after all." looking at expression on my face, he assured me "Don't worry, lass, your secret is safe with me."

"No, it's not..."

"Now, lass, I don't want to hear another word. But I believed that you wanted to get rich. Grab a bottle and gather that spider venom. It's valuable thing around there."