I, along with Sven, the Companions, and a host of Whiterun soldiers have slain the dragon that threatened Whiterun. I have been named Thane of the city and have been assigned a most formidable shield maiden named Lydia as my personal housecarl. Together with she and Sven, we have been recruited to join the Companions by Harbinger Kodlak himself. My friends and I find ourselves at war with a shadow cult called the Silver Hand.
My friends and I stand at the back of the training grounds behind Jorrvaskr, about to be sworn in by Kodlak and the Circle. We are made to understand that we are to defend the helpless, to always be noble and honorable, and to above all, stand with our shield-siblings for their safety, love, and honor to the Companions. We swear this oath with full hearts, Sven and I having all ready bled with these warriors. Lydia swears blindly, following me in all things as my housecarl.
"Now that you three are Companions, you will be given all the necessary gear, bearing our sigil, and will be recognized as being with us," Kodlak tells us, and the three of us stand silent. "Aela will bring you to our master smith, Eorlund Gray-Mane. Master Eorlund will see to your outfitting."
"Yes, Harbinger," I state my understanding and wait for Aela, our sponsoring member of the Circle, to lead the way. We follow the fire-haired maiden up a set of stone steps next to Jorrvaskr, where the most impressive forge I have laid eyes upon stands, worked by an aging bear of a man.
"Eorlund," Aela addresses the man with friendly familiarity, "I bring you three new recruits."
The master smith, Eorlund, turns to us and assesses us with cold, calculating eyes. He approaches us and asks to take our chest pieces. He paints the golden icon of Wuuthrad, the battleaxe of Ysgramor, onto the chests of our armors, and our weapons and shields are replaced with Skyforge works. Other than the branding, we are given no new armor as we are only Whelps, and not full members of the Circle.
"Now that you three have been materially inducted, we must go to Kodlak for assignment," Aela tells us and leads us from the Skyforge to the training yard. There, we find Kodlak giving pointers to other Whelps you must not currently have assignments.
"Ah, good!" Kodlak bellows upon seeing us with fresh Wuuthrads adorning our chests. "Are you three prepared for your first mission as Companions?"
"We are, Harbinger," I reply for our group. Only yesterday did we defeat a dragon, and today we begin our time as Companions. Where this road will lead us, I have not the slightest idea.
"Lady Aela will accompany you as your senior Shield Sister. Every Companion mission must be lead by a member of the Circle. As your sponsor, Lady Aela will be your mentor," Kodlak informs us. "You four will go retrieve a fragment of Wuuthrad believed by some scholars of Ysgramor to be in a tomb nearby. This is the tomb of one of Ysgramor's captains. Be respectful and also on your guard. If we know of it, so do the Silver Hand, I am sure. Talos guide you, Companions."
With our mission firmly in mind, we three new bloods follow Aela out of the walls of Whiterun and down to the stables. We four take mounts that collectively belong to the Companions. Together we take a calm pace down the cobbled roads of Whiterun Hold, passing the open, tall grassed plains and the rich wildlife that makes it the hunting capital of Skyrim.
Dusk falls upon us and Aela decides we shall make camp. We dismount some yards off of the main road. We each get a tent that we arrange in a square so we can see what is behind the other, should someone or something try to attack us.
Aela quickly lights a fire and we make our evening provisions. "You three handled a full day in the saddle well," Aela praises us. "Farkas's first Whelps did not do so well," she says with light laughter. "He complained to me for three days about how much they complained."
"I am happy that we are agreeable to you," I chuckle in response. "Lydia, as a Whiterun veteran, I am not surprised you are a skilled rider. Sven, on the other hand, I did not expect you to take to horse so well."
Sven slowly moves, resting his head against the saddle as he lies down. "I do not take well to the saddle. My ass hurts terribly, but nobody likes a moaner," Sven tells us and we can't help but to laugh at the poor young man's expense.
For a good part of the evening, we sit around the fire in comfortable silence and occasionally speak. Around midnight, however, Aela stops mid sentence and I see her entire body freeze. She has the face of the storied huntress she is. I slowly reach for my weapon, as do the others.
Aela slowly rises to her haunches and grabs her bow. She motions for us to stay put as she slinks off into the tall grass around us.
"Form up on me," I order Sven and Lydia, who are armed and have their shields, though we all are wearing only our gambesons for armor. We are not dressed for a proper fight, and with Aela's reaction, I am sure that is what we have. The three of us are back-to-back-to-back with the light of the fire, moon, and stars to illuminate any attackers. We wait patiently, and then finally I see the glint of firelight caught by metal. "Make ready," I growl, and I see the first man.
Our ambushers make themselves known as they rush our little camp from all sides. We hold our tight little formation as they throw themselves at us. The first man comes at me with a high strike. I easily block with my shield and send his sword offline, allowing me to stab him in his belly. The second man charges me with a battleaxe. He has momentum from the sheer weight of it, but can do little to control it. He swings and I easily side step it. I bash him with my shield, knocking him to the ground where I slit his throat.
"Come on!" I urge the third man who has a dagger and a sword. "Come on!" I urge him again. I know better than to leave my shield-siblings like I know he wants me to. I do not have to give my ground because a hand within a wolf gauntlet grabs his jaw, and another wraps around his chin. Aela snaps his neck and lets him crumple to the ground. I can tell by the arrows missing from her quiver that she did not leave us to die.
Aela and I are now free to help Sven and Lydia. Sven, being the least experienced of us with a blade, is handling himself but still could use aid. Aela takes care of the Redguard with two war axes with an arrow to the knee. Sven quickly finishes the Nord who was taken off guard by Aela's arrow. Lydia waits for Sven to finish his opponents, and our camp is free of activity.
"Was this the Silver Hand?" Sven asks as he looks at the fresh carcasses.
"See all the silver swords? They knew we'd be on our way to the Cairn. They were hoping to meet us here. I think we should keep moving," Aela suggests, packing up her part of camp.
"Are we still in danger here?" Sven asks.
"I doubt we are here," I reply. "There are surely more Silver Hand at the Cairn with possibly more on the way." I sigh as I tie my bedroll to the back of my horse's saddle. "I know we're tired, but we need to get the fragments first."
"Are we at least close?" Sven asks, obviously tired.
"I've heard tales of the Cairn," Lydia speaks up. "I've been passed it, but never ventured too close. We are but a few hours' ride. We should be there by dawn break."
"She is right," Aela confirms. "We can sleep all we want once we have the fragments." After a short time, we were again in the saddle and crossing the plains, making sure to avoid the open road.
Lydia's guess was not far off as our party crests the top of the barrow mound. We make our way down the smart flight of stone spiral steps down into the exterior chamber. The double doors that lead into the chamber proper are solid, heavy iron doors to deter animals or lone grave robbers. Sven and I work together to push the tomb doors open. Once Lydia and Aela are inside, Sven and I enter, the doors closing behind us.
The interior of the barrow is absolute darkness. We draw weapons, unsure of what to do in the lack of light. The only thing I can see are the glowing, silver eyes of our leader, Aela. It isn't long before she lights a torch and the room we are in is graced with a warm glow.
"I do not think the Silver Hand have made it in yet," Aela says as she lights another torch and hands it to Sven. "Let us get in and out fairly quickly. The Hand may not yet be here, but we must watch for the crypt guardians, the Draugr."
"Oh, we are familiar with the Draugr," Sven says in open distaste. "Let us get this over with."
"Agreed," Aela says, leading the way, torch in one hand and dagger in the left. We move at a decent speed, but are careful to not wake the Draugr. When the hand comes through, they may not be as careful as we.
The cairn is long, but quiet. The ancient Nords were masterful in their construction of chambers such as these. With the exception of we four, there is no life in the chambers. The Draugr see to the death of any animal or robber that would be foolish enough to enter. Traps lay all about, which Aela is more than suited to disarm.
Finally, we enter the main hall with little issues. The main hall is enormous, Aela and Sven's torches doing little to light more than a few feet in front of our faces. We move at the slowest pace we have traveled since working together, but with good reason. We can just make out the silhouettes of sarcophaguses lining both walls. There must be thirty Draugr in this chamber.
After what feels like hours of tiptoeing and trying not to walk into anything or wake anything up, we reach the offering table that stands in front of an ancient Nord word wall, inscribed with the ancient tongue of the dragon. We find the shard of Wuuthrad and look to make our exit when we hear voices and see the orange flicker of torch light. By the amount of voices and light, the Silver Hand have found us, and are in some number.
"These damned fools are going to wake the Draugr," Aela growls, placing her torch on a nearby wall sconce and grabbing her bow. Lydia draws hers as well. The two climb onto the sarcophagus of the captain the cairn was built for. As soon as the first Hand makes himself visible, he is met with an arrow to the chest from Aela. Lydia drops the second while Aela draws again.
Sven and I move to the front of the sarcophagus with weapons drawn and shields raised, ready to defend our Shield Sisters. The Silver Hand rush in, screaming with a fury. They make it half way through the main crypt when the sarcophaguses begin to crack open and the Draugr begin to wake. The Silver Hand stop their charge and form a shield circle, a schiltron, and allow the Draugr to throw themselves against it. Aela and Lydia continue to shoot at any Draugr that approach our party, and Sven and I cut down any that get close enough to be within reach of our blades.
The Draugr do not last long, but have done considerable damage to the Silver Hand. The Silver Hand look confident as they stride towards us, but we see the walking reanimated corpses at company strength marching in from the hallway. Their stench is hidden by those already slain, and by the time they are heard, the Silver Hand are already set upon from behind. Most of the remaining Silver Hand fight with the Draugr while a few Silver Hand assail us. We strike them down and make our way out with Aela at the head, leaving the Silver Hand to their fate at the hands of the Draugr.
With the blessing of Talos we four make it out of Dustman's Cairn and back out to the fresh air of Whiterun's plains. "Come on," Aela urges as we follow her back to where we hid the horses. "Just a little further and we can rest," she promises.
"I am so tired," Sven mumbles as he stumbles along, trying to keep up.
"I know, brother, but we must continue but a bit further," I cheer on my Shield Brother as we reach the horses. I help my exhausted friend into his saddle and then get up into my own. We go only out of horizon's view of the cairn and dismount. Sven nearly falls out of the saddle. Lydia is visibly tired, but in considerably better shape than Sven.
"Now… we can rest," Aela tells us joyfully as she runs her fingers over the shard of metal in her hand. "A job most well done, Companions. We shall sleep under the tired leaves our bones and we will return to the safety of Jorrvaskr, much to the glory of us all."