Chapter Nine: Rude Jokes and Golden Killers
The sun had started to reach its peak as the Khajiit and Nord decided to take a break. For the past few hours they had been following the same river that passed through Riverwood, but now they were almost at the lake that fed it. Hulgar slid out of his horse's sadle and lead it over to a tree that stood next to the river. He tied it to a low hanging branch, looking back at Anjaarra who still sat up on her horse, looking down into the river's slow swirling waters. He had no idea what she was thinking of and it was hard to tell with her stoic face.
"We're going to take a break here for about an hour before we continue on. Feel free to eat or, um, do whatever you have to do." He said quietly to Anjaarra, receiving only a solemn nod from the cat-woman. He couldn't help but wonder and even somewhat worry for her. "What's wrong?" He asked her. Her head snapped towards him, her orange eyes blinking away the tears that once stood in them. It looked like she was about to say something but she only shook her head.
"Nothing… I'm fine." Her voice had quivered slightly with choked up tears but Hulgar didn't say anything. He only sighed softly and walked over to the river bank. The cat-woman got off of her horse and tied her it up next to the Nord's, both of them starting to graze quietly at the green grass. Anjaarra patted the thick neck of her horse before looking over at Hulgar. He was sitting on a large rock beside the river, a bottle of ale in one hand and what looked to be strips of smoked venison in the other. Her stomach grumbled at the sight of the food, her hands instinctively pulling the knapsack off of her horse's saddle and pulling out an apple. Even though it was just a simple apple, her mouth watered and she had to lick her lips to keep from drooling.
With a quick bite, her teeth sank into the crisp flesh of the apple, pulling the fruit into her greedy mouth and chewing the sweet chunk quickly. A loud purr rumbled out of her neck, her stomach grumbling for more. She took another quick bite, chewing it a little slower. Her tail flicked happily behind her, the purr stayed loud and steady.
Hulgar looked over at the purring Khajiit, a small smile playing with his lips. He took a long drink out of the ale bottle before turning his head to look at the woman fully. She was still wearing her leather armor but that didn't block away her beauty. Hulgar had stopped trying to block away those thoughts an hour ago; they just kept filtering into his mind no matter what he thought or said to himself. A part of him wanted to praise her and officially thank her for saving him. If it wasn't for her, he'd probably would be dead or being tortured by the Thalmor.
A shiver shook his body at the thought of those golden devils touching him again. He hated they way they had beaten him and then asked their questions. Just thinking of them made the fury in his heart stir and his hands twitched to grab his weapons and find the closest Thalmor so he could hack them apart. But he shook his head to stop thinking of that sort of nonesense. He could get himself killed like that. His best bet would be to stay low and to try and get out of Skyrim as fast as he could. But where to go, he had no idea…
"So, have you figured out where we're going now?" The purring voice of Anjaarra asked. Hulgar snapped out of thoughts and looked at the Khajiit who stood off to his side. He looked at her face before shaking his head.
"No, not yet…" He told her. She huffed with impatience and shook her head with frustration.
"I'd wish that you'd hurry up and figure something out. I hate feeling like an animal on the run." She said as she turned away from the Nord.
"You are an animal on the run." Hulgar said. He stopped but not soon enough. Anjaarra paused in midstep before slowly looking back at the Nord.
"W-what'd you say?" She stammered. Hulgar cleared his vioce and put down the jerky and ale before standing up.
"Anjaarra, I meant that as a joke. Don't take it personal." He told her, not really knowing what else to say. She glared at him, her ears folding back slightly.
"Yeah, I'll try not to. Because walking carpets like me don't have feelings, is that it?" She glared harder at him before scoffing and looking away towards her horse. Hulgar looked at her before walking towards her.
"Anjaarra, wait." He started but she didn't hear any of it. She quickly untied her horse and mounted it. Before Hulgar could get close enough to stop her, she kicked her horse into a gallop, riding back towards Riverwood. The Nord watched her retreating back, sighing angrily.
"Great… Now what do I do?" He grumbled to himself. He glared down at the ground before looking back at her now dwindling backside. A part of him wanted to follow her and tell her that he was sorry but the other part of him told him not to. People had already seen his face in Riverwood and if he went there again, they'd surely recongize him and it'd make it all the more easier for the Thalmor. With a tremendous sigh, he sat back down on the rock next to the river, putting his elbows on his knees and hiding his face in his hands.
Nothing ever goes as I plan it, he thought. Everything's a complete mess… He looked up from his hands and looked up at the almost perfect sky, glaring at how it seemed like nothing could taint the perfect, cloudlessness of the sky. His mind wandered towards the mighty Talos, who was probably looking down at the conflicted Nord and laughing at him. His life had always been a joke, a bard's tale that was both sad and twisted. With a pang of remorse and sorrow, he turned his dark plum eyes back down into the swirling waters of the river, thinking back into a different time that had been twisted by fate…
The sun had not yet risen above the trees but Hulgar could hear her in the other room, giggling and talking quietly. He had been pretending to sleep for the past hour just so he could listen to her. Once the sun came up, she barely spoke and she never smiled. But now, with the moons still up, she wouldn't stop talking until the last second.
With a smile, he slowly sat up in his bed, glancing through the open doorway into the living space. The fire was already lit in the hearth that sat in the center of the room. And there she was. His sister was about twelve then, and she seemed to be talking to her stuffed kitten that he had gotten her when she was young. He smiled wider as she stroked its ears and sang a lullaby to it.
Hulgar remembered this day quite well. It was the day that his life had been torn apart. The day that his heart burned in anger for the golden beasts that called themselves superior. It was the day that they killed his sister.
His sister was still sitting by the burning firepit, singing the lullaby to her stuffed kitten when a sudden crash came from the front of the house. Hulgar had stood up from his bed when he saw Thalmor soldiers kick down the door and storm into the house. His sister had started to scream as a soldier ran towards her and grabbed her by the arm, yanking her to her feet.
"Hey! Don't touch her!" Hulgar shouted at them, quickly running out of his room at them. One of the Thalmor that had stormed into the house pulled out an elven made sword and pointed the tip at his chest.
"Halt citizen." The Thalmor said coolly, a sadistic smirk crossing the golden lips. "We have word that this child communicates with the blasphemous god, Talos." The golden skinned elf seemed to spit out the name of the man-god like it was a poison on his tongue. "And for that, she must be dealt with the most harshest of punishments. Death."
Hulgar stared at the blade that was pointed at his chest before looking at his young sister in the arms of one of the soldiers. A knife of the same make of the sword was held against her neck, pricks of blood starting to well up around the blade. Her eyes were full of fear as she stared at her brother, tears welling up in her wide blue eyes. They both held a long stare before Hulgar turned to the Thalmor who held the sword at his chest.
"Over my dead body!" He shouted out at the tyrant. His large hands quickly grabbed the slender wrist of the elf, twisting it hard before hearing a loud crack. The Thalmor screamed out in pain as Hulgar scooped up the sword and quickly slashed a gash in the chest of the soldier holding the knife to his sister. She screamed in panic as the knife slid against her neck but no blood followed, the Thalmor that had been holding her stumbling back and grabbing at the gaping wound in his chest.
"Run, Sotte, run!" Hulgar shouted at his sister as a soldier lunged at her. The soldier was intercepted with the elven sword slashing through his gut, his body crumbling into halves onto the floor. Sotte gave another scream before she ran into Hulgar's room, taking cover under his bed after slamming his door and locking it.
Hulgar couldn't risk a look to make sure his sister was safe for more Justiciars seem to flood into the house through the broken door. Scooping up a dropped elven mace, the Nord stood in a battle stance. The weapons were raised high as two Thalmor lunged at him at opposite sides. He dodged the soldier on his right before holding the mace down low to trip the lunging soldier from his left. A quick slash from his sword cut a deep gash through the falling Thalmor's neck. A sudden flash of pain surged through his right calf as an arrow pierced his brown cloth pants and through his flesh. He screamed out in pain before slashing out blindly at a Thalmor, hitting the elf in the chest by sheer luck. But it wasn't enough to hold them all back.
As they swarmed into the house, he tried to fight them off but they kicked the sword and mace out of his hands. The arrow that had pierced had been dipped in a paralysis poison for his body was slow at cooperating to his overactive brain's commands. He tried to grab for the weapons as two Thalmor grabbed him and pinned him against the far wall as a Thalmor general walked into the struggling Nord's home. Hulgar tried to scream out at him as the elf leisurely strolled over to the locked door, kicking it down with one quick hit with his boot. A yelp was heard when the door hit the wooden floor, another Thalmor swarming into the bedroom to grab at Hulgar's sister.
He tried to scream out her name but nothing came out of his swelling throat, it becoming increasingly hard to breathe as the soldiers dragged his sister into the living room. He let out another noiseless scream as the Thalmor general grabbed the young girl by the hair and lifted her into the air. Tears of fear and pain flooded down her face as the golden elf raised an elven greatsword in his other hand.
"Today, we purge this tainted world of another traitor. Today, we will bathe in the blood of the unholy in hopes of finding the rest of these scum sucking bastards." The general said, his voice crisp and elegant, but it oozed with satanic evil as he thrust his sword into the gi-…
A scream from down the road snapped Hulgar out of nightmarish reverie. He looked up and down the road towards where Anjaarra had left him. Another scream pierced the otherwise quiet air, the cat-woman's distress present in the scream. Without another moment's hesitation, Hulgar quickly grabbed his knapsack and ran to his horse. He didn't care if he lost more time in his race away from the Thalmor; he wasn't going to stand around and let another person get hurt when he could prevent it.
