-Chapter 14-

My eyes fluttered, each time my eyes opened, a bright light flooded into view. I seemed to be lying on a stone bed with a few blankets to soften it a little. I was lying on my side and I could sense someone standing in front of me.

"She's waking up!" a voice called.

"Thank you, Acolyte." Said a soft, female voice.

My body then started to tingle; the light got brighter and was tinted orange. I could hear a soft melody of chimes that were quiet, but just loud enough to make me relax. It made me feel at peace with myself, like everything was ok.

Then it stopped. I heard a little movement from beside of me.

The light wasn't tinted orange anymore and the chimes had stopped. My wound started to throb and then I had a severe headache. I attempted to open my eyes again, I managed to make out the outline of a woman, she had her yellow hood up and she seemed to be wearing a long, orange robe. Her face seemed to glow and her eyes seemed to shine in the light.

"Hello there." Her voice was soft and caring. She smiled to reveal bright, white teeth which were lined perfectly. A little bit of her blonde, glowing hair flowed out from her hood. "I'm Danica Pure-Spring, the priestess of Kynareth and you are in the Temple of Kynareth, in Whiterun." My eyes started to adjust to the bright lights in the temple. Stained glass windows were making magnificent colours and the floor glistened and looked like it was made of polished glass with lots of different colours. "You seemed to go into a coma, but you're a fighter. You were in Cidhna mine right? The guard who was assaulted survived and told the jailers to release you. You were in a bad way so you were took to the doctor in Markarth and then sent here to see if we could heal you." She smiled wider. "Introduce yourself, Acolyte." She stood up from her seat in front of me and Acolyte sat where Danica had been sitting.

"Hey there." Acolyte giggled in a soft voice. His eyes implied that he had not slept in days. "I'm Acolyte Jenssen."

"Acolyte has been tending you for most of the time you have been here." Danica said softly. "I can imagine he's relieved you're even awake."

"Yes, I am." He smiled and ran his hand through his long, black hair. "It was difficult. You're temperature was off the scale and your wound wasn't healing but after a while you started to improve." He stood up from his chair. "I'm sorry, but you'll have to stay here for a couple more days until you get back up to full strength. Most adventurers are out the door as soon as they wake up, but it's not good for you." He added. "So you'll have to stay in Whiterun for a couple of days." He extended his arm and opened his hand. "Do you think you can get up?"

I looked at his hand. Then back into his brown eyes. "I think so." I grasped his hand and he helped me sit upright. "Thank you."

He laughed. "No problem! If you should thank anyone, it should be Kynareth!" He looked towards Danica who was standing patiently with her hands behind her back. She was still smiling as I turned to her.

"Nevertheless, I would like to say thank you to you too, Danica."

"No problem. But I need to treat the other patients so I think I will say goodbye for now." At this, she spun around and made her way to one of the other beds which seemed to occupy a guard who was coughing loudly.

"Do you have any questions?" Acolyte asked.

"I've never been to Whiterun, so where actually am I?"

"Central Skyrim. East from Markarth."

"What can you tell me about Whiterun?"

"There's quite a lot. The city is ruled by the Jarl up in Dragonsreach and then there's Jorrvaskr, mead hall of the Companions. Earlund Grey-Mane lives here, the best Blacksmith in all of Skyrim and there is clan Grey-Mane and clan Battle-Born. I could show you around if you want?"

"It's fine and I'm guessing you have people to tend to." I managed to stand, I was a bit unsteady at first but after a couple of seconds I could stand normally.

"That's correct." Acolyte sighed. "Too many travellers getting injured nowadays."

"I'll be fine; you go and attend the people who need you." I smiled. It had felt like I hadn't smiled in years. Just then, I noticed that I was wearing an ice-white gown. It flowed around my ankles and it seemed to sparkle in the light. "Where's my equiptment?" I asked worriedly.

Acolyte smiled. "It has all been collected for you to use again."

I breathed a sigh of relief. Grimsever was ok, thank the Divines.

"I wouldn't recommend wearing your armour at the moment as it seems too heavy with your stability. So I will collect your tunic that was among your equipment." Acolyte disappeared into a room and reappeared a moment later, holding my tunic. "Here you are." He handed me the clothes and I nodded to show my gratitude and at this Acolyte turned around and made his way to where Danica stood. She was observing an injured guard and she seemed to be chanting or praying, she had her arms outstretched and her palms face-up and was murmuring something. When Acolyte stood beside her she lowered her arms and they exchanged words whilst observing the man, worry flooded their faces.

"Better leave them to it." I muttered to myself. I changed and then left to explore Whiterun. I opened the heavy, wooden door of the temple and walked onto the cobbled stone. The sky was blue and the sun shined across the hold. I had to squint as I looked left, towards a magnificent tree. Its leaves were scattered with different colours and they swayed gently in the light breeze. The trunk was a rich brown and bright purple and yellow flowers grew at the feet of the tree. The tree seemed to hum softly and sing its own tune. I spotted a bench below the outstretching branches and decided to sit on it.

"Good morning." A guard in yellow mumbled. He held a shield that was made from iron and wood. The wood was painted yellow; it had obviously been painted in a hurry and a bear's head was painted black on the front. The guard wore a helmet that covered his face; you could only see his eyes in the slits.

"Good morning." I replied as I rested on the bench. My legs were still incredibly weak.

The tree whistled quietly and swayed in the wind, a leaf fell on my shoulder. I looked around to see people living their lives. A Nord woman holding a basket of flowers strolled past and a Redguard man with dreadlocks and an iron sword strapped to his belt made his way down a staircase which seemed to lead to the stalls that sell various trinkets. I thought that because of the yells of the shopkeepers that were all about their special deals for the day. I sat there till it got dark.

I could have sat there all day.