14.

Lydia found him much later in the evening. She heard from Carlotta that J'Ziir actually accompanied Sura on the plains and she figured they would stay at least couple of hours, maybe even longer. So, she waited by the Market, talked with Yosolda, listened to her plans and hopes for the future. How she was someday going to buy the Inn from Hulda and how she would she would change it, add couple more rooms to the back and hire a better bard than Mikael.

Eventually, Lydia began to worry. The sun was starting to set but there was no sign of them. The main gate of the city was clearly visible from the Market and she was sure neither of them had slipped inside without her noticing. She waited around for another hour and then she decided to go after them. She didn't worry about her Thane, he seemed perfectly capable of taking care of himself. But she always accompanied Sura to the plains and not knowing where she was made her heart feel heavy in her chest. She grabbed her gear, her trusty sword, and her iron shield and left Whiterun at sundown.

At the stables, she stopped and gazed over the plains. She saw only guards on their patrols and she stopped one to ask had he seen the Dragonborn. After a while, he nodded and told her he'd seen him and the young Khajiit girl heading toward the Meadery and then up the mountain road. Lydia glanced up the road that led to Riverwood and saw no movement there. Still, if they headed that they, maybe she would come across them. She passed the Meadery and began to stroll up the rocky road, humming the familiar tune of "Ragnar the Red" as she went.

At first, she saw his arm. She was about to walk past him because a random arm peeking out of the bush indicated only that someone had a little too much to drink and passed out before reaching home. But then, as she slowed down, she saw his upper body, his tall, pointy ears and all at once she recognized him. She froze. The happy tune died on her lips. He lay there, next to a huge rock, partly covered by the leaves and the branches of a nearby bush. Within those few, fleeting seconds, Lydia imagined the worst. Sura was taken, dead. She would find her somewhere down the road, laying on her back, broken and mutilated, covered with blood, cuts all over her body. She shook her head, forced the violent images out of there and stumbled down the hill to where the unconscious man was lying.

"J'Ziir!" she breathed as she reached him. His body was warm and he was still breathing and her initial fear subsided. He was still alive, but barely. A jagged, bloodied dagger was stuck to his shoulder with a paper attached to it. "J'Ziir! Wake up! What happened to you?"

He mumbled something, words she could not understand. He was heavy and so she had no chance of getting him up on his feet and back to the Reach. She rummaged through her pockets and was relieved to find one small, red vial. Sura always insisted she carried it, just in case. And if this wasn't an emergency, then she didn't know what was.

She popped the cork open, tilted his head back and poured the liquid down his throat. He coughed and began to trash around and Lydia was relieved to see the potion worked.

"Raji…," he muttered between his coughs. "The Jarl...Orc…"

"J'Ziir, it's me!" Lydia tried to help him up.

"Took her…they took her!" he continued his ramblings and pressed his hand against his shoulder. With one swift pull, he yanked the dagger loose and grabbed the note in his trembling hand. He read it. It was shaking but now his arm shook with pure anger. The pain subsided, it was tolerable now.

"Get back to the city," he told Lydia and handed the note to her. "Tell the Jarl or whoever cares. Just get someone and come after me."

"What? But you can barely walk!" Lydia glared at him. "You need to see a healer, a priest…"

"She doesn't have much time!" J'Ziir pushed her aside and took a few faltering steps. "Go! I'll be fine!"

Lydia hesitated for a moment. She didn't understand the situation but eventually, she nodded, turned on her heels and began running towards the city. Halfway there she heard a loud, piercing whistle and a sturdy, brown mare galloped past her. She glanced behind her shoulder and saw him grab the reins and get on. She ran in her heavy armor. Sweat poured down her back but she didn't care. J'Ziir's words scared her beyond anything. "They took her." Who did and why? Where? All these questions popped in and out of her head as she rushed through the gates, up the stone stairs, and towards the Dragonsreach.

The Jarl was having a meeting with his Stewart as Lydia pashed in the door and hurried up the last steps. She could barely talk and before she could say anything, she bent over, leaned on her legs and took a few, deep breaths.

"Lydia" Jarl Balgruuf faced her. "What is happening? Why are you in such a hurry?"

"J'Ziir is hurt…I mean, the Dragonborn!" Lydia explained. She noticed the crumpled note in her hand and she handed it over to the Jarl. "He and Sura went to the plains, but something happened and he just told me to come and get help…and…"

"What is this?" Jarl Balgruuf rolled out the message that was wrinkled and barely readable smeared with bloodstains. As he made out the words, his face grew pale, he took a step back and sank to his chair.

"What is it?" Lydia panted. "What did it say?"

"Proventus," the Jarl turned to his steward. "Send someone to the Companions. I think we need their help."

Proventus nodded and dismissed himself. The Jarl crumbed the note in his hand and cursed to himself.

"My Jarl?" Lydia begged for information. "Please..."

"Sura...has been taken," the Jarl uttered and covered his eyes. "They demand 5000 gold coins for her. By the Gods..."

"Taken?" Lydia repeated and remembered J'Ziir's word "they took her". "By who? Why?"

"This shouldn't be happening," the Jarl murmured. "Our land shouldn't be this dangerous! How can this happen right on our doorstep?"

"What are we going to do?" Lydia stepped closer. "We can't just leave her!"

"Of course we can't and we won't," Jarl Balgruuf assured her.

Lydia couldn't stay still. She walked back and forth, back and forth. J'Ziir went after her, but maybe it was only because he felt he owed her. And he wasn't doing so well, one vial of the potion wouldn't be able to heal him completely. Lydia glanced the Jarl who sat in his chair, his forehead covered in deep wrinkles. What was it that he said? This shouldn't be happening. Lydia had always tried to keep Sura safe, but she had to admit that she dodged the headman's ax today. They could be both be dead she followed Sura to the plains today.

"Why wouldn't it happen?" J'Ziir's voice suddenly spoke inside her head. "Has the Jarl tried to make the roads safe for travelers? Do you know just how many bandit groups are out there? Do you know what they are capable of? Not just robbing and blackmailing...they do worse things than that. Especially to women."

"Be quiet!" she whispered to it. He chuckled and said no more. She tried not to think about it, but he was right. She couldn't bear to think what could happen to her dear friend. To her huge relief, her mood thoughts were interrupted. The door to the Dragonsreach swung open and the twin brothers, Vilkas and Farkas entered the reach. The Jarl lifted his gaze and stood up as he greeted them.

"What's happened?" Vilkas asked. "You summoned us for help."

"Sura has been taken," Jarl Balgruuf simply said. "I know she often visits Jorrvaskr and that most of you are fond of her. Apparently, she went to the plains, met with ill company and was…taken against her will."

"Why was she alone?" Vilkas asked. His voice was calm, but his eyes burned. "No one went with her?"

"The Dragonborn accompanied her," Lydia intervened. "But he was outnumbered and badly beaten. Despite all that, he went after them and ordered me here. I think he needs help. He wasn't doing so well."

"They are waiting for the payment in Mistwatch," the Jarl continued.

"That's in Eastmarch," Farkas nodded. "I know the place. Old, abandoned fort. No wonder the bandits favor it. It will take some time and effort to get there and get her out alive."

"How can you even be sure she's still alive?" once again J'Ziir's voice spoke inside Lydia's head. Why, oh why did he have to embody all her worst fears. "Maybe they are expecting the gold. Maybe. But in the meantime, they are going use her for their amusement. And when they get tired of her they might simply kill her."

"I'm coming with you!" Lydia looked at the brothers. "I'll meet you at the stables."

Her life was filled with pain.

She didn't want to see anything so she closed her eyes. She didn't want to hear anything so she tried to block her ears as well. She wanted to be invisible so she curled up in the darkest corner, pulled her legs against her chest and wrapped her arms around herself.

She could feel the sticky blood between her thighs and her whole body was aching and throbbing. Every movement caused pain. She was broken and shattered, smashed to pieces. Her left eye was swelled up and she couldn't see anything with it. Not that she wanted to.

She felt the cold stone floor against her bare skin. There were some dirty straws in the floor but as soon as they had thrown her in the cell, she had crawled to the farthest corner and only wanted to be alone. To die.

She heard their voices - his voice.

His laughter.

She hated it. She feared it. She loathed it. If she had any energy left, any will to fight she would have tried to claw his eyes out. Like she had tried when the Orc grabbed her, tore her clothes off and took what he wanted. She managed to rip three deep gashes in his face but he had only laughed and then knocked her out with his big fist. And when she came to her senses he had already done what he wanted and tossed her to another man.

She had lost the sense of time she didn't know was it night or day. But it didn't matter to her. Not anymore. All she wanted was to die. To leave this place, leave this world. Shivers ran down her spine when she listened to his steps. Was he coming closer? Was he going to hurt her again? Please...not again...not again...

She squeezed her eyes shut and hugged herself tighter. Her claws dig into her flesh but she didn't feel the pain. She only wished that he wouldn't come to her, that he would stay away, that somehow he wouldn't see her or be interested in her.

As she listened to his steps, she didn't hear the calming, gentle voice in her ear. But as his steps faded away, the voice became a little louder, not much but enough so that she could hear.

"They are coming to for you."

It was a woman's voice. And it was so familiar, so tender and so soft that tears pushed through her closed eyelids. She knew that voice, she had heard it many, many times before.

"Ma?"

The voice didn't have a face but she could remember her touch. Even her laughter. And her mother's arms that wrapped around her, comforting and protecting.

"Just a little longer, my dear. Wait just a little while. Soon you'll be safe."

She wanted to trust in her words, she wanted to believe that what she said was true. That someone was coming and would eventually take her away from this place. That someone would release her from this pain and agony.

"If he comes again and hurts me, I don't think I can take it. I don't think I can survive it…"

Like a warm spring wind sometimes turns back into brutally cold winter, the voice faded and was gone. Her hands began to tremble and she curled her tail around her legs. No, she prayed. Not him! But she could clearly hear his steps now. His steps that were coming closer and closer and closer. And when his big hand pulled the cell door open, she uttered a desperate cry and tried to get away from him. But her body was weak, it was cold and stiff and rigid. Every move made her groan.

"Hey little fleabag," the Orc laughed mockingly. "Got enough sleep? Ready for another round?"

"No!" she hissed and swung her other hand at him. "Don't touch me! Get away!"

"That's not very nice," the Orc grabbed her hand and pulled her closer so that her arm almost got dislodged. She cried out in pain but she couldn't match his strength and power. He seized her tail, wrapped it around his hand and she screamed the whole time. Finally, he pulled her out of the cell and with her last strength she dug her nails to the floors. White scratch marks were left in the stone as she was pulled towards the sarcastic laughter that echoed through the fort.