A.N: Greetings people, and welcome once again to A skeleton's Guide to not Dying again, this chapter was supposed to be done and released a month ago, but between a seasonal flu and straight up bad mood brought on by a failed Anatomy and Histology Exam (passed the former, fucked up the latter) this thing ended up in the backburner for a while.

Yet here we are, with the proof that this thing is too nestled in my mind for me to abandon it, have a good read people, and as usual, here is the link to the Discord Server

Discord: XwHhX4mGjQ

Chapter 7

I ran as fast as I could towards Whiterun, the earth below my feet compacting hard with bursts of Alterations, giving me an edge to be just that bit faster, that bit quieter as I ran through the hilly, disjointed ground, the air behind me pushing me even further, the most basic use of destruction magic turned into a new way for me to accelerate, speeding further and further, turning what should have been a half-day worth of travel into barely an hour of running and making me half blind by all the pop-up windows appearing before my eyes, dismissing them immediately as they came.

In the end, I managed to arrive there before the sun had hit midday, yet the effort left me without breath and with no magic in my tank.

I entered Whiterun without any trouble from the guards, simply showing them my apprentice mark, one of the few perks gained by being the apprentice and assistant of the court wizard.

I looked around the city, the people going around like nothing had happened, unaware that doom had come to Skyrim.

I quickly made my way towards the keep, trying to avoid as many people as I could to not waste time, thankfully managing to reach Farengar's Chamber with little to no trouble.

I entered the room abruptly, a ray of frost almost hitting me in the face if I hadn't managed to duck, courtesy of a pissed off, flustered and half naked Farengar, who was just a minute ago enjoying the pleasurable company of his mistress, who was, dress wise at least, even in a worse state than he was.

"WHAT, FOR THE LOVE OF MAGNUS, DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING?" Screamed Farengar, its face deep red with embarrassment.

"Oh, oh shit I'm so sorry" I said, quickly turning back and slamming the door behind me just as soon as Farengar prepared to launch another spell. 'Welp, I'm going to die, goodbye life, I hardly knew ye' I thought, hearing the door creak and rattle from the spell's force, before being forced open once again.

"I hope you have a good reason for why you interrupted me" Farengar hissed, throwing the door wide open not a second later, a black robe made of mist clinging to his form and covering his body, quickly slamming the door closed to cover whoever was in bed with him.

"Dragons, I saw a Dragon while finishing the task and coming down from the throat of the world." I said quickly, trying to get him to focus on something else.

"…You are lucky that that is a good reason" he snarled, walking back to his room to get properly dressed, 'Oh thank god, I still live' I thought with a sigh, happy to have avoided the almost inevitable fight.

I spent the next few minutes toying with my magic, Summoning and un-summoning small shards of Ice, trying to shape them into a small snowman, with little success, when he burst out from the room, a stack of Scrolls floating behind him with the slightest sound of moving wind.

"Have you talked about the dragon to the Jarl?"

"No, but considering the ruckus the thing caused and that it was flying pretty low, I can't imagine that news hasn't reached him, even rumours, at the very least"

"…Very well, come with me, I'll need you to bring a letter to an associate of mine, and I need you to be discrete about it," he said, opening the door to his laboratory, closing it behind me with a slam.

"Wouldn't it be easier to send it by courier? You'd think that someone who, by profession, is hired to deliver letters would be more inconspicuous than a man in heavy armour, who cannot and will not remove his helmet, doing the same." I said confused, wondering as to why I was the one that needed to do that.

"Don't be daft Arthur, Couriers take days, if not weeks to deliver a letter, that and the amount of times a missive is misplaced is simply ridiculous, nay, its better if you go, its faster and safer, and most importantly, cheaper." he said with a sardonic smirk, before passing me a scroll, bound tight with a strip of leather and a weirdly shaped wax seal, and a small Septim with the face of the emperor scratched away.

"Here, keep it safe, you'll need to go to Riverwood and take this to the Sleeping Giant Inn and speak to the owner, tell her that I'm calling in that favour and hand her the coin, she'll understand." he said, shooing me off the room.

"Well… Fuck, and here I thought I could relax here and just wait for the Dragonborn." I muttered with a sigh, as I went back to my room, grabbing the few things I had left behind in my hurry, like my staff 'Why do I always forget about you?' I mused, strapping it and its holster in my back, the straps tying themselves with the barest whiff of magic, the enchantments thankfully working as they should, sparing me the hassle of doing it manually.

I quickly doubled back, heading towards the stables to, hopefully, get a carriage, or if luck was not on my side a horse or a mule, while I could probably just run the distance, it would be more inconspicuous for me to just go at it the normal way.

I quickly reached the stables, finding that luck for once shined on me, since the usual transport carriage hadn't left for the day.

And so, a dozen septims short, I made my way down to Riverwood.

Riverwood, about an Hour later

Riverwood looked… remarkably like it did in the game, just a simple village with houses of thick wood and cobblestone, the entrance a simple gate in the middle of a wooden wall that hugged the sides till it met the river offering a little protection from the animals coming from the front, while the river, with it's depth and strangely fast currents, offered protection from the sides.

I didn't explore much, for it was late in the day and with dusk fast approaching the locals would surely be wary of a masked man in amour.

Thankfully the inn was right beside the town's entrance, and so, with a sigh, I entered the inn.

It was a comely place, a big fire pit laid with cobblestones stood in the centre, taking a bit of the hall but giving it back its warmth, to the sides stood the tables, almost empty of customers except for a bard fixing his lyre, and another man working something on an alchemy station near the bar, behind which a burly man writing one thing or the other in a booklet stood.

'Well, seems familiar enough at least' I thought as I approached the bar, drawing the attention of the barkeeper with a wave of my hand.

"Greetings Barkeep, I have been told to relay a letter to the owner of this place, may I know where she is?" I asked, receiving a grunt and a tap on my shoulder for an answer.

"Behind you" an amused voice replied behind my shoulders, making me turn around in surprise 'when did she get behind me' I thought with a startle.

"Well?" She asked, probably amused at my surprise given the small smile on her face.

"Ah-Errr… Yes, here" I mumbled, fumbling in my bag for the letter, passing her the coin that Farengar gave me as assurance, watching her unfold it and giving me the time to take her fully in.

She looked… dignified, Her blonde hair kept in a chignon suited perfectly her face, lean from the years and the training she had, showing the wrinkles of youth now past, her brows furrowed as she read on, fixing her wary green eyes on the paper held in her strong, thin, hands.

"From Farengar, he says he's calling in the favour you owe him" I said after a moment, watching her pale and swear under her breath as she read the letter, eyes flicking upwards as she crumpled the letter in her hands, muttering curses under her breath as she grabbed my hand, dragging me towards one of the free rooms, closing the door behind her with a slam.

"Helmet Off, now" she said, watching me like a hawk as I started to undo my helmet's straps, revealing to her my skeletal face, quickly followed by a slew of curses as she took a few steps backward, before steadying herself and starting to truly observe me.

"Uh, Farengar had told me to expect something strange, he should have warned me more." She said massaging her chin as she really took me in for what was probably the first time.

"So, is it true then? You saw the dragon that destroyed Helgen?" She asked, her eyes focusing on mine with a fervour bordering on the fanatic, as if my next words would change her life forever.

"Well, I saw a dragon that's for sure, the fact that Helgen was destroyed is news to me however, I only saw it passing over a mountain, to disappear towards north-west of here" I said, putting my helmet back on and tightening its straps, watching her mull over the news.

"I see… very well, did you come here with a cart or an Horse?" she asked, already fluttering around the room, taking out a light armour and a cloak from under the bed, shoving a couple of booklets into a bag before she turned towards me, a raised eyebrow as if to say 'Well? Go on.'

"A cart, why?"

"Wanted to know how many supplies I could carry with me, go back to the cart, I'll be with you shortly" she said, shoving me out of the room to prepare, drawing the eyes of the other people in the room, giving them a shrug as if to say 'the hell do I know', then I greeted the barkeeper again and went out of the inn, and headed back towards the cart.

The night had already set outside, the talk taking a bit longer than I expected, or noticed and so I had to pay the cart driver a bit extra for the wait, 'still, 40 septims is fucking theft, would have been cheaper to rent a horse would have got some training for the riding skill too.' I thought, grumbling a bit at the price, playing with my magic a bit to pass time, summoning and de-summoning the blade he had gained by joining in a covenant with Azura, a simple Arming sword, its blade slightly longer than usual, but otherwise simple enough, with a straight cross guard with no frills or ornaments and a pommel shaped like an upside down teardrop, perfect for hitting someone on the head with.

Really, the only thing separating it from a normal sword would be its colour.

It was a pitch black, with splashes of dark blues and purples fluttering within, small blotches of white twinkling, moving through it as if in dance, it was like someone had taken a piece of the night sky and had it take the semblance of a sword.

Conjuration 5/100 - 9/100

+800 XP

"Alright, That's it! You either stop using magic or you can find another man to drive you to Whiterun!" shouted the cart owner, looking put off by my small display of magic, and knowing that dragging whatever thing Delphine was bringing with her would be a hassle and a half, I decided to wait instead, reading the blacksmithing book Eorlund had given me to pass the time.

It took a surprisingly long time for delphine to get here, enough time for me to finish the book and gain another level in the Blacksmithing Skill thanks to the book.

"You took your sweet time." I said, looking towards her and at the heavy backpack and cloak she had on.

"I had to pick up something, we are going to need this for sure." she said, passing the backpack to me as she jumped onto the cart, meanwhile I stumbled, feeling the weight of the thing in my hands

"The hell did you bring with you? A brick?" I asked, peeking inside the bag, blanching as I did so, knowing that I was fucked beyond every recognition.

It was a stone tablet, conic in shape with a finely carved, flat face, depicting a rustic map of Skyrim, with weird circles and markings carved on it, depicting what I knew to be dragon burial sites.

"That is the Dragonstone, If the bloody things are returning, we are going to need it".

And so, just like that, my chances of relying on future knowledge went out of the window and into the drain.