Rain fell on my face as I crossed the Bruma border leading to Skyrim. My brown curly hair was hanging in my face, soaked by the rain. As I strolled next to the trader's cart, We were stopped by imperial guards. I broke a sweat. This was the last thing I wanted to happen,
especially after what happened in Cyrodill.
'Shit, what am I going to do? I can't get caught... fuck!' I did the only thing I could think of. I put my hood over my head and hoped for the best. My hands were resting on my trusted sword Nightbane.
"Halt, Skyrim is at war state your business!"
The guard said as he stood firm, I inspected the situation as my green eyes scanned the surroundings.
Two guards behind me, another guard on the border post, he looked at us with his bow at the ready and two imperial soldiers and a captain in front of us. 'I'm fucked!'
"Open your barrels, trader! "A guard shouted from the back. I just decided to lay low and only speak when spoken to.
"O-of course, sir." The trader stumbled out, obviously scared for his life.
As the guards searched his cart and couldn't find anything, they told us to proceed. A brief moment of relief came over me as I took a few heavy steps thru the snow. But alas, that moment was short-lived as the Captain spoke up his hoarse Norse voice boulders.
"You Imperial take of your hood!"
I sighed while removing my hood. 'Fuck almost got away with it. I guess Akatosh left me.'
My curly brown hair waved slightly in the wind as I turned around to face the Captain. My green eyes were looking at the pavement as I tried to hide my features from the guards.
"Wait, I know you. You are Dracar Carvar. You are wanted for attempting to kill the emperor!"
Great, now I had two choices get caught or run. The Imperial soldiers already had their weapons drawn. 'Well, it's not the first time at the end of Imperial steel.' I chuckled as I pulled Nightbane from it.
The pummel was made from obsidian and had the face of a dragon; two small garnets served as the eyes of the dragon. The hilt's guard was the dragon's Wings. All along the sword were ancient runes, which lit up as I took a fighting stance.
"Ha, you have balls Imperial, not like the other Cyrodillic milk drinkers!" The captain boulders.
Two soldiers came at me. I managed to duck underneath the first swing, as the other guy was already on me. Then, I managed to swing Nightbane up just in time to save my side from a nasty cut.
'fuck I'm shit at magic, but I got to in this situation.' So I thought as I concentrated all my Magicka in my left palm. The only spell I knew was flames, so I aimed it at the snow beneath the soldiers. After all, I didn't want to kill them and fuck up my new start in Skyrim.
As the snow melted under the soldier's feet, they lost their footing and slid down the mountain. 'Great, that's two down!'
I immediately regretted my loss of focus as an arrow hit me in the side. I fell to my knees as I gritted my teeth in pain. The last thing I saw was the Captain walking up to me as he hit me in the side of the head with his pummel.
I slowly began to wake up. I grabbed my head as I felt my whole body rock. And I had the worst headache ever as a troll hit me with a tree after a heavy night drinking Cyrodillic ale.
"So you are finally awake."
As my eyes adjusted to the morning light, I saw an immense hulky blonde Nord sitting in front of me. His Bright blue eyes are inspecting me.
"What's the matter Khajit got your tongue, huh?"
I looked at him with an amused grin as I inspected the predicament we now found ourselves experiencing. We are chained in the back of a cart. There were four of us, me the blonde guy—a strange broad Nord with long blond hair, with a gag ball in his mouth. And a scrawny-looking guy next to me, which I only presumed was a thief.
"No, I just got the typical criminal treatment from the soldiers, haha, so where are we going, and who is that guy with the gag ball?" I said as I turned back to the blonde Nord.
"We are headed to Helgen, and watch your mouth imperial that is Ulfric Stormcloak, the true high king of Skyrim." The blonde Nord responded proudly.
"That's just my luck. If it weren't for you stupid Stormcloak's, I would be halfway in Cyrodill by now." Finally, the thief spoke up in a panicked state. "Now we are going to lose our heads!"
'Great, that is just my luck accused of trying to kill the emperor, and now I am heading to my final resting place. How could it come this far? Curse the divines!' I thought to myself.
"Calm down, thief. Where did you grow up? A Nord's last thoughts should be of home." Then, the tall blonde Nord spoke up.
"Rorickstead, I am from Rorickstead." The thief said with a sad tone in his voice. I almost felt bad for the guy. But then the Nord turned his attention to me again.
"Almost forgot what your name Imperial is. Mine is Ralof. It is bad we have to meet under these circumstances."
I thought for a moment to hide my real identity but decided against it. I mean, come on, what did I have to lose. We will probably die in a few hours.
"Yeah, it most certainly is. My name is Dracar Carver."
The Nord looked at me, his brow raised.
"You imperials and your fancy names, I never understood it, hahaha." Ralof laughed
Then the guard spoke up. "Silence in there!"
I looked to my left and saw the gate of the town coming up. As we rode through the gate, Ralof spotted a few individuals on horses. It looked like an Imperial general and Thalmor Justiciars.
"Look at that traitorous general Tullius and those Thalmor scum." As he spits towards the general direction of the Elves and Imperial General.
We passed an inn, and I saw a father move his kid inside. The kid murmured something about wanting to watch the soldiers. Then, as the townspeople gathered around, I heard the townspeople shouting mixed reactions.
"Death to the Stormcloak's!"
"You imperial bastard's!"
I guess Skyrim is as divided as what I heard when I was still in Cyrodill. The carts slowly stopped in front of a tower in the middle of the town. The executioner placed a chopping block in the middle of the Townsquare. A big hulking guy stood in front of it with a giant axe.
Suddenly the thief jumped off the cart, running and screaming.
"You'll never catch me, and I won't die today !"
As he ran, an archer shot him in the back of the head. The poor guy died instantly. 'I have seen enough killing and death for one lifetime. Maybe it's better this way, especially after what happened.' So I thought to myself as I gritted my teeth.
I was so lost in my thoughts that I didn't hear the imperial Captain shout my name.
"Dracar Carver, you scum, I'm glad we caught you after what you did in the imperial city!" The Captain yelled.
The first stormcloak soldier was called to the block and laid his head down on the chopping block. Then, he uttered just a few words of defiance.
"My ancestors smile upon me imperial. Can your ancestors say the same?" As he said that, his head got chopped off with the sound of bones breaking and tendons severing.
"Up next the imperial traitor!"
'guess that is my cue, finally peace.' So I thought but, then, as I moved to the chopping block, a deafening roar of an enormous creature could be heard.
"What is that sound!" an imperial soldier spoke up.
"Never mind that keep going!" The Captain shouted.
As the Captain forced me on my knees and my head rested on the chopping block, my eyes shot wide open. A dragon as black as the night's sky flew over the mountains. His roar was ear-deafening. But something strange happened within me. My heart rate increased, and my eyes got more focused as adrenaline shot thru my entire body. As the dragon landed on the tower, making the ground tremble. The executioner dropped to his knees. I rolled to the side to evade his giant axe.
His axe landed only inches away from my face cutting some curly locks.' great, I needed that haircut.' So I thought as I scrambled to my knees to cut my bounds on the axe.
The dragon roared once again. As I got myself loose, I covered my ears. I looked up at it, and it locked eyes with me. Suddenly I found myself looking at a dark open pit that was its mouth which abruptly lit up. "SHIT!" I yelled as I only just managed to evade its fiery onslaught. I took a quick look around, and my only way out was a guard tower right in front of me. Ralof stood at its entrance, yelling something. "In here, idiot!"
"Okay, Draco, this is no different than the trolls back home. Just run and don't look back." I didn't want to admit it, but I was scared shitless. A fucking dragon was attacking this village just as I was about to be beheaded.
'Can my luck get any better, fuck the divines!' I mentally screamed. As I bolted for the guard tower, I heard the dragon spew his breath again. I rolled to the side, just evading a fiery explosion as I stumbled to get back up and crawl in the door just in time. The dragon spewed more fire at the tower.
"Fuck fuck fuck fuck!" I panted heavily" it seemed like the bloody thing was hunting only me. I felt like a rabbit in a fox den!"
As I slapped a few fires that were forming on my ragged clothes. I took a look around the room and saw the stormcloak soldiers with their leader Ulfric standing in the middle.
"What should we do, Ulfric? we are trapped in here." Ralof spoke up in concern.
"Let's get to the top of this tower and scout a place for us to escape. Maybe we can jump on the roof of that inn." Ulfric spoke up. His voice was strong and demanding. I almost volunteered to go up the tower.
Two stormcloak soldiers moved up the stairs. I suddenly saw a few familiar things lying on a chest under the stairs. It was my sword Nightbane and my crimson archer armor. I proceeded to put my armor on, it won't help much against dragon breath, but it will do its thing against humans. I took a quick look in the chest and saw a cape laying there along with some potions perfect for the cold Skyrim nights. And these potions might come in handy when I get wounded or fatigued.
The two soldiers that went up the tower shouted down.
"It's safe to jump on the Inn, and the dragon is attacking the main keep!" I was the first one to move up the stairs, But as I did that. That bloody fucking dragon smashed his head straight through the wall. Spewing fire, I stumbled down a few steps. As I tried to regain my composure, my eyes widened. Luckily I held the cape in front of my face, and I was surprised. It protected me entirely from the dragon's flames.
'Glad I took a peek in that chest, or I would be more glaced than a sweet roll.' I broke a sweat while thinking of myself being baked alive. Luckily for me, the dragon moved on to its next victim, and I approached the ledge. Unfortunately, half of the roof was burned down and had caved in on itself. But luckily for me, there was a hole in the roof across from the tower.
The jump wasn't high, but my landing was not something to write home about. As soon as I landed, the floor caved in under me.
Everything around me was spinning as I opened my eyes. A horrible sight lay before me. A burning piece of wood impaled the boy who was so gleeful just moments ago.
His dad was on his knees, begging the divines for help as he holds his limp son's hand. I gritted my teeth as my fist clenched itself.' as if they care about us mortals, Fuck the divines, they are just as sick as the Deadra. And they get praised for it.'
I got up and grabbed the poor father by the wrist. Giving him an apologetic look as I thought of what to say to him. "Come on. I don't think your son would want you to die."
"I have nothing left to live for." The man said with tears in his eyes. I knew exactly what he felt like after Cyrodill. All I wanted was to die.
"Then avenge your son, live today, and kill that vile beast." I never spoke which such determination but something just snapped in me. I don't know if it is all the death and misery in this place. Or if it is the feeling of impending doom above our heads.
I saw hope returning to the poor man's face as he grabbed his axe from his side. "Come on. I know a way out of here."
I followed the man out of the Inferno. As we exited the building, we came across the imperial Captain. He only just evaded a breath attack from the dragon as he sought refuge behind a burning building.
He momentarily looked at us before shouting. "Take cover!" Instead, the dragon spewed another inferno, and the fire forced us to take refuge behind the same burning building.
"Prisoner, let's go. I think he flew off again." The Captain said as he moved to the next building evading falling debris. I followed reluctantly, but something told me this could turn out to be a good thing.
We managed to bop and weave our way thru the burning streets and buildings. As we had our backs turned against a wall, the dragon's face was above us, incinerating a poor imperial soldier.
"Come on, prisoner, we need to move!" The Captain yelled as he moved thru a burned-down house. It astonished me how fast this whole ordeal was going. We made our way to another courtyard where the keep stood. And I saw Ralof standing there.
"Hadvar, I see you are as lucky as always!" Ralof spoke up, "Dracar come with us. The Stormcloak's could use a guy like you."
"Ralof as ignorant and stupid as ever I see." Hadvar shot back.
"As much as I enjoy your petty discussion, there is still a dragon flying around us!" I yelled. Both of the Nords nodded and entered a different door.
I decided to follow Hadvar as he was the only chance I got redeeming myself. So we made our way to the keep, the long stairs winding down, and ended in a large circular room.
Hadvar moved to an iron gate but much to his demise, the gate was locked tight. "Fuck legate Rian had the key."
"I might know of a way we can get it open. Follow my lead." I told Hadvar.
I pushed Nightbane in between the gate and the lock, Hadvar did the same.
"Okay, and now I am going to push to the left. You push to the right." I explained to him as I began to push.
** Clank**
The locking mechanism sprung straight out of its socket as the gate slightly opened. Hadvar looked at me with a questionable look.
"What?" I said as I shrugged my shoulders. "It's open. That's what we wanted, right."
"It's not that it opened. Your methods are questionable. Why did you even choose my side?" He asked me as we made our way down another spiraling staircase.
"Well, I am not the guy you think I am. I didn't even commit the crimes I am accused of, well, sort of." So I said as I tried my hardest to shake the thoughts from my head.
"You and every other criminal out there Dracar, maybe the divines spared you for a reason back there." What he said repeats itself in the back of my mind.
'All this time, I cursed them, but what if all that happened is for a reason.' as I thought that, I noticed how ridiculous that sounded. I never was a religious man, and past occurrences didn't encourage spiritual practice. I hated the divines and all they stood for, all the pain they allowed.
"The divines are nothing but children playing with us like toys, and you'd be better of worshipping a Deadra at least that way. You know you are being deceived," I said as I gritted my teeth again.
Hadvar rose his brow at my remark as he looked quite puzzled. I guess he didn't know what to make of the situation. "Well, Dracar, whatever you think, I think it's no coincidence you are still alive."
I just shrugged it off as stupid superstition and kept on walking. Finally, we approached the end of the steps and heard voices on the other side of a door.
"Haha, those imperial soldiers went down so quick." The first voice said.
"Yeah, death to the empire!" The other one yelled.
A feeling of anger washed over me as I heard them laugh at their victims.' How can they enjoy Killing them so much, scum, scum, scum. They are no different as them!'
Before Hadvar could say anything, I drew my weapon and kicked open the door. The two stormcloak soldiers looked surprised at first. But quickly found their composure.
"Who are you state your business!" The first one spoke up, his hands tight on his battle-axe.
"Revenge." That was all I said as I closed in on the guy. Before he could even move, I was right in front of him. I thrust my pummel up with an ear-shattering crack it connected to his chin. The Stormcloak soldier fell to the ground. The other guy recovering from the shock charged at me, blade pointing straight at me.
I sidestepped and wrapped my Cloak around his sword. Now unarmed, the man began begging for his life. It fell on deaf ears as I thrust Nightbane in his chest, ending his pleas. Then, I moved to the other guy and ended his suffering with a swift thrust in the skull.
Hadvar moved from the entrance of the door to my side, and He gave me a shocked look." So why didn't you do that to my man at the border?"
My eyes went from the corpses to look Hadvar in the eye. "Cause I didn't want to kill your man."
"Well, I am glad you are on my side. But, unfortunately, it seems Ulfric's man infiltrated the castle's undercroft. So we have to fight our way out."
"So it seems," I said as I glanced over to the death Stormcloak's.
*You are still the same! that ruthless killer.* A little voice in my mind said.
I shook the thought from my head as me and Hadvar moved further down the undercroft. We came across a few imperial and stormcloak corpses.
Suddenly we came into a room that seemed like it was made to interrogate people—cages everywhere, flocks and torture banks. Two imperial soldiers stood guard at a hole in the wall, which led to a cave system. The soldiers drew their weapons as they saw me, nearly charging me.
"Hold soldier," Hadvar spoke up.
"Captain Hadvar! We held out and pushed them back in the cave." The first soldier spoke up. He was a broad imperial guy. Wearing the standard imperial leather armor. The other guy had iron-plated imperial armor. He seemed like he was an officer. The way he looked at me gave me chills and made me think back to that faithful night.
"Well, that is good. When we get back to Solitude, you both get a promotion. Now let's get out of this place." I listened on now, realizing what he was doing, smart. Making the most out of a dire situation and still motivating your man.
The rest of the journey through the cave was uneventful. Unfortunately, the stormcloak soldiers that retreated had fallen prey to a nest of frostbite spiders. Although poor guys, that is a painful death, lucky for us now, the spiders are occupied. And they didn't notice us sneak past them.
The exit was in sight. Now the only obstacle was a sleeping cave bear.
"We can sneak past it," Hadvar said
"We can kill it. There are four of us, and it is alone." The soldier said. The other guy just shrugged. Then they looked at me.
"We will sneak past it that way. We know for sure we will get out alive." So I said as I found that was the best solution.
Hadvar went first. Directly after him was the soldier, then me, and after that the officer. I didn't like it that the officer was behind me, as I get bad vibes from him. I looked behind me and didn't see the officer. I scanned the surroundings and saw him sitting on a ledge. My eyes turned wide as I saw glowing red eyes look back at me.
The officer grabbed a stone and, with pinpoint precision, hit the cave bear on the head. It woke up in an utter enraged state as it slapped the soldier down like he was nothing. "Hadvar, watch out!" I yelled as the bear charged Hadvar. He only just ducked under the bear's massive claws. I had my hand on Nightbane, ready to draw it. But my hand was stopped mid-draw.
The officer was suddenly in front of me, holding my hand down, preventing me from drawing my blade.
He pushed me down to the ground. I looked up to see that Hadvar was holding his own against the bear. "Great, now I only have to concentrate on you, vampire!" I yelled as I clenched my hand around Nightbane.
"Hahahaha, think you can take me on. I am from the Volkihar clan. A mere human can't win!" It laughed as it drew its dagger.
'Always the daggers vile creatures.' I thought as I readied Nightbane. The vampire closed in, moving around me like it was a sick deathly dance.
It then suddenly changed. I pulled up Nightbane to counter his dagger. But it had another trick up its sleeve as I was occupied with holding back his knife slashes. I saw a small blue light in his left hand. "Shit!" That was all I could say as the thunderbolt connected. The impact of the lightning bolt flew me across the floor right next to where Hadvar was fighting.
"You okay ?" He asked me as he evaded another paw slash from the bear.
"Hiring vampires in the legion now, are we, huh?" I remarked with an angry look.
I got up again and gave the vampire a vile look as I charged him. I knew it was stupid, but my hatred got the best of me. It evaded my first strike and charged another thunderbolt, this time it connected with the Cloak. Once again, the spell completely dissipated on the cape. I turned around, and I slashed it on its face leaving a deep gash. It shrieked awfully.
I took the time to concentrate my Magicka in my left hand, casting the flames spell at the vampire. It burned perfectly as it still shrieked from the nasty gash on its face. It finally fell to the ground and disintegrated into a pile of ash. I looked over at Hadvar, who had also killed his opponent. He made his way towards me. My breath was rigid as
I was now breathing heavily. Out of breath, I tried to keep standing as I used Nightbane to keep me upright. The electricity from the thunderbolt still coursing thru my body.
"You okay? That looked like a rough scuffle." Hadvar said as he looked at me in concern.
"I'm okay. Every fight with a vampire is a life-or-death situation. You either die or win." I said, still panting heavily as the memories from Cyrodill came back to me. I shook my head once again, wanting to forget it.
"Well, come on, Dracar, we need to warn Riverwood from that dragon!" Hadvar said that as he helped me get out of the cave, we saw the dragon fly towards the mountains.
"Damned beast!" Hadvar yelled.
In contrary to Hadvar, I was checking out the scene before me. There was a mountain in front of us, with a vast ancient Nordic ruin on top of it. After seeing that, my eyes fell on the massive lake in the middle of the mountain ranges. The skies looked ocean blue, and the weather was so clear. You could almost see the outskirts of a city that lay to the east of Riverwood.
I have never been to Skyrim now. I wish I came here sooner. However, my little moment of awe ended prematurely as Hadvar signaled me to keep going.
"You have a wonderful Homeland Hadvar. Now I get why your people are as proud as they are."
Hadvar turned around to look at me. He was saddened, As he spoke up. "That's why we must kill Ulfric Stormcloak and his followers. They will plunge Skyrim in chaos and demise."
I just nodded with a look of understanding, and we began to move down the mountain.
The trip down to Riverwood was relatively uneventful, apart from two wolves that attacked us a few hundred meters away from the village. Hadvar took his time not to stress my wound too much. Speaking of it still hurt like a bitch.
But finally, we managed to make it to the entrance gate.
"Halt, state your business in Riverwood." The guard stated firm.
"Sir, it's me Hadvar, my friend here needs a healer. And Helgen was attacked by a dragon. So we have to warn the jarl of Whiterun!"
Without saying another word, the guard proceeded to help Hadvar and bring me to a woman called Hilde. She was standing outside of her house. She had typical Nord female clothes, a long brown dress with faded white undertones. She was looking at the sky, her grey hair slightly waving in the wind.
"I saw a dragon, you wouldn't believe me, but I saw it truly. He flew right over bleak falls, Barrow!" She chanted as she pointed a finger to the mountain across the village.
"Hilde, we need you to help this man. He is severely wounded, and you are the only one that can heal here." Hadvar spoke up.
"Fine, bring him inside, but I'm telling you I'm not crazy. I saw a real dragon." The older woman said while she proceeded to go into her home.
Her home was nothing special, a fireplace embedded in the back wall, lighting up the whole room with an orange hue. It was cozy, a cozy home, with a few stools standing next to a table. Two beds in the back corner, two cabinets next to them, and chests in front of them. A cooking pot above the fire making beef stew.
"Okay, lay him down on the table," Hilde said as she made space for me to rest my head. Then, she removed my chest piece to look at the damage.
Her eyes widened in shock as she saw all the different scars on my muscular body. My whole chest was littered with stab scars, bite marks from wolves. Claw slashes from bears and a few odd puncture wounds. I saw a soft blue light emanate from the spot the vile vampire shocked me.
Along with a new tattoo, it looked like a thunderbolt seared itself on my chest. Hilde traced the scar with her finger and looked at me with a sad look.
"You are suffering from Aftershock, a magical after effect from being struck by lightning magic. The lightning Magicka is coursing through your body and needs to be extracted from your body. By a mage with great expertise."
'Great, that's just my luck. They say imperials are always lucky. Well, not this one.' I sighed as I was sulking in my mind.
"And where do I find such a mage?" I said as I stood up from the table. I was touching the painful scar ever so gently.
"The only mage I know of that has an expertise in magical after effects lives in Morthal," Hilde said as she handed me my chest piece. Then, she whispered something in my ear. "You'd best hurry. The effects from Aftershock can get quite severe quite fast."
She gave me a potion of numbing that lessened the effect so that I could at least function normally.
I simply nodded as I put my chest piece back on. "Thank you, Hilde, and I saw the dragon as well. You are not crazy." I ended with a wink.
Hadvar and I got back out onto the streets.
"There is still enough daylight left. We should get to Whiterun and warn the jarl," I said as I looked up at the position of the sun.
Hadvar looked at me with an expression that told me he wasn't going with me.
"I have to make sure general Tullius knows everything that happened, and I will ride towards Solitude, sorry Dracar." His expression was apologetic. I just shrugged.
"When I get rid of this Aftershock, I will join the legion and help you get rid of those stormcloak bastards," I said, confident as our hands connected in a powerful handshake.
Hadvar gave me a satchel with a few coins in it. "Here, use this to get some gear from the Riverwood trader right across the street."
I made my way over to the Riverwood Trader. As I opened the door, I saw what I presumed to be a couple arguing like crazy.
"Come on, Camilla, what am I supposed to do the claw is gone; the thief might be on his way back to Riften again." A lightly toned imperial man said he had brown eyes and short brown hair.
"Lucan, that claw is our most prized possession. We must get it back if you are too less of a man to do it, I will." An attractive imperial female said to the man. Long wavy brown hair flowed down her shoulders, her skin as fair as a virgin maiden. As I locked my eyes, I was met with eyes as blue as the oceans.
Then the man noticed me." Ah, a customer, forgive my sister here. We just lost something very dear to us."
"What is it that you lost?" I said as I quirked my eyebrow at the man.
"A claw, it is our family heirloom, and a thief just came in here and stole it," Lucan said while he stomped his fist on the counter. The few gold coins and weapons on it bounced.
"I'm sorry, I need to get to Whiterun to warn the jarl. But if I come across the thief, I will return your claw to you." So I said confidently as I saw the man's anger die down.
"Excuse my rudeness. Do you want to sell stuff or buy from me?" He said as he took his professional demeanor up again as he got behind the counter.
"I want to buy," I said as I took a look at what his wears were. He had a few potions laying around on the back shelf. Around the room lay a few weapons on display. I didn't quite need those as I had Nightbane.
I made up my mind and decided to go for some bread and a leather water bottle. Along with a few potions of instant health and stamina. With that all sorted out. I got out to the trader and saw Hadvar still standing there. He pointed to the direction where Whiterun was.
We said our goodbyes, and I made my way to the general direction of Whiterun. Luckily for me, signs pointed me in the right direction cause my sense of direction kind of sucked. So after crossing the bridge out of Riverwood, I followed the pathway that I thought led to Whiterun.
Two hours later, I found myself standing in front of the ancient ruin atop the mountain.
'How did I even get here!?' I thought while hitting my head with my hand.
"Well, I'm here now anyway. Let's explore." I said as I inspected the building. Its arches looked weathered and broken down as a few supporting struts lay broken on the ground.
I saw a few bandits patrolling the grounds. From my experience with bandits, I knew I couldn't just walk up to them without getting killed.
I crouched past the first guy, and I mainly chose light armor because it didn't make much noise. But still, that didn't take away how unlucky I am, as my sword scrapped past the stone—making a deafening screeching sound.
"Fuck!"
"You'd wish you never came here!" I heard a bandit yell.
As he came at me, his battle-axe swinging, I evaded his first slash and made quick work of him. Then I slashed my sword slashed across his stomach, and he fell to the floor.
The next guy came charging at me with a sword and a shield. Our blades connected as we stood in a stalemate, both not giving way. He smashed his shield in my face, which made me stumble back a bit.
Then I heard a high-pitched whistle sound as an arrow flew straight past my nose, grazing it a bit.
"Shit, there is an archer as well," I said to myself as I charged the shield guy again.
This time I am prepared. I kicked his shield to the side as this left him open for attack. I slashed swift and precise. My ears heard a thud as his head made contact with the ground.
I heard the whistle of the arrow again as I rolled on the ground, grabbing the shield in the process. I saw the guy standing there and threw my shield at him, and it connected successfully with his face.
The guy stumbled back a bit as this gave me the chance to open the gap as I slashed stabbed him in the chest, ending the battle.
I panted heavily as I grabbed the shield from the ground and strapped it to my back. The bow also was handy. It was a simple hunting bow, but it did the trick.
I strapped the quiver to my right side as Nightbane was already on the left.
I strolled up the stairs, still tired from my fight with the bandits. And came across a large ornate door. It was hard to open, but I still managed to open it just enough to fit through the door.
When I came in, I was greeted with a vast room everywhere lay debris. And it was lit with a few braziers. Their light made the room seem even more extensive and scary.
"God, I hate crypts!" I said a bit loud as a skeever heard me and came charging at me.
I readied the bow and took a shot. It hit the vile rodent straight in between the eyes. I took a moment to look around for more of those pesky skeevers. Then, at the back of the room, I saw a brighter light. It was a fire, and around it stood two bandits.
I readied my bow and aimed. It hit the first guy straight in the abdomen. I didn't like merciless killing, but it was them or me. And besides, if they live, they end up robbing and Killing innocent travelers, and that's not what I want.
"I'm sorry.." I murmured as I shot the second arrow in rapid succession to the first. It hit the second guy in the back.
"Arghh!"
He kept on whimpering as I moved closer to him. Finally, he looked at me with pleading eyes.
"Please, I want to live. Sorry for stealing the claw. Arvel is further in the dungeon. He has the claw."
I looked at him with pity as I knew the arrow had punctured his stomach. And he would soon die of internal bleeding.
"I shot the arrow in your vital organs, and I'm afraid you aren't going to make it." I looked at him apologetically as the words left my mouth.
"I see. Can I ask a favor from you? When you strike me down, let me hold my weapon, or else I won't go to Sovngarde." The Nord asked me as he began to spit some blood.
"Fine." I gave him his weapon as I ended his life with a swift strike to the head.
'I begin to respect these Nords more and more. They are brave, willing to fight for what they want, and very hardy. I wish I had these qualities. Sadly I'm an unlucky Imperial. You could almost say doom struck.' So I thought as I kicked a rock away from my feet.
I was thinking back again to the events in Cyrodill.
*Walking down a rainy street, my mind hazy and eyesight cloudy. **kill kill kill** a voice in my head repeated that word every so often as my body seemed to move of its own accord. I suddenly turned around, and thru my cloudy eyesight, I could make out a door coming closer and closer. I opened the door, and the vision went black. The next thing I remember was sitting in a field covered in blood and gore. Visions of screams flashing thru my mind.*
I shook the thoughts away. * Murderer* a voice in my head chanted.
Paying my final respects to the guy I just killed, I moved on to a set of stairs I saw earlier. The hallways seemed very dimly lit, so I cast a mage light spell. As the magic kept hovering around me everywhere, I moved to it was perfect.
"Yeah, flames and mage light are the only two spells an adventurer needs haha, I guess I'm ready to be grand head mage at the mage college in winter hold." I laughed as I proceeded to follow the winding pathways.
After half an hour or so, I became pretty bored." So when is something interesting going to happen?"
I cut the next corner, and I got my excitement. A few meters down a flight of stairs stood a bandit outlaw. He spotted me.
'Kind of easy with the bright light hanging above me. It is like a roll of cheese in a skeever nest, ends bad for the cheese.' as I cursed myself for being so stupid.
The bandit charged me his axe headed for my head. I rolled under him.
"Can't we just talk this through?" I suggested as I evaded another axe slash.
"Die Imperial!" He just screamed as he slashed his axe again. This time it connected with my shield.
As I pushed him back, he fell down the small flight of stairs. I quickly followed as the guy was still laying on the floor. I swung my sword at where he was lying down.
He rolled out of the way and slashed at my feet. A small jolt of pain shot thru my leg.
'Shit, he grazed my leg. I need to get serious now.' So I thought as I brought my shield up and shield bashed him.
The bandit stumbled backward against a lever it clicked, and a hail of poisonous darts flew at him.
I crouched just in time with the shield in front of me, shielding me from the darts.
I slowly put down my shield and saw the bandit, he was twitching, and foam started to form in the corners of his mouth.
I slightly flinched at the sight. "Damn, nobody deserves that kind of death, yikes!"
Now finally, I get the chance to inspect the room I was in. In front of me, there was a locked gate and the lever of death. Probably the lever served as the opener. There had to be a puzzle somewhere or a secret lever.
Then my eyes fell upon the upper part of the wall in front of me, large human faces with symbols in their mouth. There were only two, and the first one had a snake on it. Right next to it was a spot where one of the heads should be. And the third one had a Dolphin on it.
"Now, where can I put that combination in?" I said as I looked around. Next to me were sizeable ornate triangle pillars. The symbols resembled those on the wall.
The first one is already positioned on the snake. The second had the image of a bird, and the third one as well.
"Well, I'd better put the last one on a dolphin and then search this room for the second symbol."
I began to scan the room for a face with a symbol on it. Suddenly something caught my eye. It was a pile of rubble in the corner. I made my way over to it and then began to remove the stones.
Underneath, I saw the snake symbol. 'Maybe luck is with me today!' I thought as I made my way towards the sliding pillars. I put the middle one and proceeded towards the lever. I slowly pulled it down, readying my shield as I heard ancient mechanisms turning.
"By Nocturnal, it opened!" I almost yelled as I was very relieved I didn't turn out like the bandit.
I shook the ecstasy from my mind, as I didn't know if there was a time limit on the gate opening. I quickly moved past it and saw a table in front of me, a chest stood atop it and what I presumed was a pouch of gold next to it.
In the chest, I found two healing potions and a few ancient arrows. The arrows were in pristine condition, very sharp and unbroken or bend.
A spiral staircase let me down to another burial place with a few crypts. There were three skeever's I made short work of them.
On the table in the room, I saw a scroll of fireball. "I may need this later on. Best take it with me." So I said as I snatched it off the table and put it in my belt.
Nothing special happened for the next few corridors as I kept on walking. Ever so often, I cast my mage light until I came across another open room. It seemed littered with spider silk.
"Oh no, I fucking hate spiders," I complained as I grinned at the thought of them. Just hearing their eight legs scuttle send shivers down my spine.
I almost fell over as I heard a voice began to scream. "Is someone coming? Is that you, Harknir? Bjorn? Soling?"
It came from a man who was hanging stuck in a wall of spider silk. 'Well, this doesn't look good.' So I thought as I spoke up.
"They are dead, and I found their bodies." So I lied to him as I found that the best thing I could do.
"No, that can't be. You killed them, didn't you!" The man yelled.
As the man was yelling at me, cursing me, I felt a shiver crawl up my spine as I heard that awful sound of spider legs crawling.
My mouth dropped wide open as a giant spider the size of a fucking cart came down from the ceiling.
"Nope.. nope! Nope! nope!" I yelled as I ran out of the room.
"Hey, what are you doing? Where are you going! Don't leave me here with that thing!" The man screamingly pleaded.
As I heard his pleas, I cursed myself for being a savior.' well, I could just let him hang there. He is a bandit, after all.' I thought
"AHHHH...NO! NO!" the man yelled. I once again cursed myself as I ran into the room again.
"I have to be quick. These things don't know mercy," I said to no one in particular as I jumped on its colossal thorax. Then with Nightbane in hand, I sliced two legs off as it fell. Finally, I slit its thorax open.
One last screech left the beast as it died.
"Fuck.. I am so lucky today, goddamn!" I yelled as I panted heavily, my heart rate at an inhuman speed.
'I'd rather have that bloody dragon than spiders, jeez!' I thought as I caught my breath. Then, finally, the man spoke up as he wiggled against the silk.
"Will you cut me down now, please!"
I made my way over towards the man. It was a Dunmer man and judging by his outfit. He looked like your typical thief.
"Why should I? You think I killed your friends." I asked him as an idea came to mind. The man seemed to think of something as he spoke up.
"I... I have this golden, and it leads to something old and powerful! We can take its riches together!"
"Fine, but hand me the golden claw first.' I said as I didn't trust the Dunmer. He glared at me.
"Does it look like I can give you the claw now!" He said, irritated.
"Fine, I will cut you down," I said as I unsheathed Nightbane, slicing the Dunmer free from the spider silk.
"Now the claw please?" I said as I extended my hand.
"Haha, you idiot, do you think I am going to share the riches with you!" He yelled as he took off.
'Dracar, you truly are an idiot!' I mentally scolded myself as I went in for the pursuit.
"Damn, that guy is fast!" I said as I cut another corner following the crazy fast Dunmer.
I followed him in a big opening where a lot of corpses were laid on display. 'I don't have a good feeling about this!' So I thought, moments later, my feeling was confirmed as three corpses stood up and chased after me.
I saw a pressure plate on the ground and jumped over it just in time. When I looked back, the first corpse triggered the plate.
A huge wooden gate with spikes slammed in two corpses, killing them luckily.
"I fucking hate reanimated corpses vampires are number one, after that spiders and after that these fucks!" I yelled as I was still following that fucking Dunmer.
I cut the next corner and halted immediately as I saw four corpses standing in the hallway.
I immediately crouched and thought of how to get out of this.
"The other one is still behind me, and I can't get thru them. What do I do?" I said as It seemed I was out of options. Then I put my hand on the ground, and it was soaked in some kind of liquid.
"Hmm, lamp oil strange, uhm that burns!" I said excitedly as I concentrated my Magicka in my left hand and burned the oil.
The oil in the ground exploded in a fiery Inferno. The corpses fell faster than I could say, sweetroll. The other Draugr left behind finally caught up to me, as I was stuck behind an Inferno and an undead stinking corpse. I drew Nightbane preparing to fight.
The corpse charged me. I evaded and kicked the corpse in the back, sending it into the Inferno.
As the fire died down, I sprinted again, hoping to catch the bastard Dunmer.
As I cut another corner, three swinging axes came down on me. I evaded the first one, and as I rolled past the second. Unfortunately, the third one grazed my shoulder. "Fuck.. how many traps do you need? These old Nords were genius trap designers."
I found myself in another room filled with reanimated grandpa's. And that bloody Dunmer was struggling with one of the corpses.
"It truly is a lucky day!" I said to myself as I charged the corpse closest to me. I caught it by surprise as I stabbed it in its chest.
The bloody thing turned around with my sword still in its back. 'Okay, note to self, decapitate them!' I cursed myself as I ducked from a sword slash. I rolled to its back, pulling Nightbane from its back. Standing up, I swung the sword as hard as I could. It severed the corpse's head rolling towards the Dunmer.
Which just killed the corpse he fought, noticing me. He bolted up a set of stairs. But unlucky for him, a corpse stood up there, and it thrust its sword in the poor Dunmer's chest. As he collapsed on the ground spitting blood, I felt pity for him. The corpse had no interest in the Dunmer anymore, not even finishing him off.
After noticing me, the corpse charged at me, but when going down the stairs, the Dunmer sliced the corpse's feet, severing several joints. The corpse lay on the ground pulling itself towards me with its arms.
"Damn, they are truly terrifying, what determination, holy shit." I cursed as I was morbidly appalled at the horrific display before me.
Before the thing could move closer, I ended its reanimated life by bashing in its skull. Then I went to the Dunmer to release him from his misery.
He gurgled up blood as he pointed at his pocket. I searched it and found a small journal. The golden claw had symbols of a dragonfly, a bear, and an owl in that order. The characters were edged on the backside.
"I'm sorry, may you rest in peace," I said as I ended his life with a swift slash to his head.
The rest of the crypt was a walk in the park. However, I did learn something. In the journal of the Dunmer, which was called Arvel the swift. "Makes sense he was pretty fast, however not fast enough." I chuckled as I made light of the situation. I did that a lot, or else I would have gone insane. "Especially after Cyrodill..." I murmured, but anyway, the corpses were called Draugr.
'Fitting name, though.' I thought as I entered a room thru a wooden door. It was different than the others. It was completely lit up and had stories depicted in wall paintings of Norse worshipping dragons.
"Strange folk those words, why would you worship an overgrown lizard," I said to myself as I closed in on the wall at the end of the room.
There were three spirals, all with the same symbols on the claw, and I aligned them accordingly. The old mechanism squeaked and cracked as the spirals slowly descended into the ground.
"Impressive." I just said as my admiration for Nord's ingenuity grew.
'You know, besides the death corpses bandits and huge spiders. Crypts and dungeons are pretty interesting. Maybe I will become an archeologist when I finally settle down somewhere.' A small smile graced my lips as I began to think about a peaceful future. But, alas, it didn't last long as a voice in my head spoke a few words ruining the whole moment.
** You will never change you are a murderer!**
All that was left of my excitement quickly faded. I just decided to proceed further.
After two corners, the tiny winding corridors opened up into a vast cavern. Bioluminescent mushrooms were hanging on the wall giving the cavern a strange, almost magical blue hue. I walked further and heard water streaming searching for the source. I was dumbfounded as the cavern opened up even more enormous. There was a massive structure in the middle it had strange words on it, and two dragon heads stood proudly on the top of the design.
A waterfall was streaming behind the structure, explaining the water streaming. Natural light shone from a hole in the ceiling on the strange wall with words that gave the cavern a surreal look.
I walked across a small bridge leading over the stream made by the waterfall. The words seemed to speak to me, as I could hear a particular phrase over and over again.
It drew me closer as I inspected the wall. The word got louder and louder as my vision clouded. It felt like I was pushed forward by an unknown word. I then and touched the wall, and I felt a strong power forcing itself in my mind.
**Fus**
The sound of something massive falling on stone made me snap out of it and turn around.
"Great, another Draugr," I said as the undead abomination made its way towards me. But this one felt different, so I drew my shield as well, just a safety precaution.
It swung its axe at my side, forcing me to sidestep and drop my shielding. At that moment, the Draugr shouted at me.
It came out more like a gurgle than words, but I felt the words. It was a strange sensation.
**fus ro!**
A shockwave came from its mouth as it hit me in the chest. I was being pushed back a few meters—my back connected to the wall of words.
"Seems I was right about you, any more tricks before I cut you down for good!" I yelled back, knowing I wouldn't get a reaction. But hey, at least I felt like a total badass.
The Draugr shouted again, and I raised my shield this time. My shield softened the blow. But I didn't get any rest as its axe connected on the shield. I returned its force to the Draugr with a shield bash. As it stumbled back, I saw an opening. And swung Nightbane as hard as I could, the sword connected with its chest slicing thru its armor and abdomen.
I cut the undead bastard in two, as his torso lay lifeless to the left and the lower part of his body to the right.
Catching my breath, this time, it went faster than expected. As I took a look in the Draugr's crypt, a stone with strange edgings on it lay in there.
I lifted it out of the crypt and lay it down on the table next to me. Inspecting it, I saw what looked like a map of Skyrim, with a few markings on them indicating places of interest.
"Best take this with me. It looks important. Now let's get out of here." I said. Scanning the cavern, I saw a path leading up and behind the wall structure.
The path led to a dead-end. I found myself staring at a strange stone pillar with a wooden stick wedged in between two spikes.
"Well, what is the worst thing that could happen? Let's pull the stick out. I am here for adventure after all!" I said as I yanked it. To my surprise, it had a chain connected to it.
The sounds of mechanisms turning filled the air. I turned around, and my jaw dropped open.
A fucking solid piece of the cave descended in the ground, a gust of wind blew my curly hair from my face as I just stood there gawking.
"Well, this turned out better than expected, I know one thing for sure. Want to hide something in your home? Summon ancient Nord architects!"
I made my way out. The cave led out to the lake I saw close to Riverwood. The sun was setting behind the Skyrim mountains, leaving a golden glow over the landscape.
It was beautiful, but I had a job to do.
"Damn, it's getting dark. Best return to Riverwood. Find a place to sleep." I murmured to myself as I made my way towards the lake. And after a few minutes walking along its banks, it turned to a river and.
I saw the outskirts of Riverwood on the other side of the river. I picked up my pace as I craved a warm meal and a cozy bed after the long day.
Ten more minutes passed as I finally reached the bridge leading to the other side. By now, it was dark, and I saw the sign of the sleeping giant inn.
"Ah finally, but should I first go to Lucan to deliver the claw. No, that can wait till the morning." So I pondered as I was fatigued and made my way into the inn.
'ah, warmth, this feels soo good!' I thought to myself as the warm air flew in my face.
The inn was warm and cozy, and a few tables were scattered along randomly. In the middle of the room, a fire was burning, giving the inn its warmth. And the orange glow gave the inn a warm and cozy atmosphere.
There were a few patrons in the inn, a big orc that seemed like he was a soldier. So was the only one that stood out. The rest were typical townfolk.
The barkeeper noticed me and spoke up as he motioned me to take a seat.
"Good evening, welcome to sleeping giant inn. Do you want something to drink? Something to eat? Or both?"
A soft smile crossed my lips as I made my way towards the counter. 'It's been a long time since someone welcomed me with open arms.' So I thought as I took a seat next to the orc.
"I would like to have both and a place to stay for the night I had a rough day," I said as the exhaustion finally hit me.
"Is that so? What have you been up to, traveler?" The barkeeper asked me as he rummaged thru his cabinet for a clean mug.
"Well, first of all, I was in Helgen. I don't know if you heard what happened there?" I asked him.
"Helgen!... You are lucky to be alive, friend! I heard that place was attacked by a dragon. Strange times we live in!" The barkeeper almost yelled as he gave me a mug filled with ale and a plate of beef stew.
I took a sip of my ale and a few spoons full of beef stew and continued.
"Yeah, I don't know how still. All I know is I am lucky I did. But anyway, after escaping that hell! I came here and was actually on my way to Whiterun... but somewhere, I made the wrong turn and ended up at that huge ruin on the mountain." So I told the man as I took another few bites of the stew, which was delicious, by the way.
"Don't tell me you went in Bleak Falls Barrow? You did, didn't you? Are you crazy! That place is filled with Draugr!" The Nord barkeeper yelled thru the inn.
I took a look around, and every patron in the inn was listening to my story with interest.
"Great," I said to myself.
"Well, I noticed, they aren't very talkative, are they?" I jokingly said.
Half the patrons laughed as the other half just shook their heads in disapproval.
"So what happened? Continue!" The barkeeper chirped.
'probably excited cause nothing happens here.' So I thought to myself, I took a big gulp of my ale and continued with my story.
"Well, I fought my way thru a few bandits as I made my way deeper into the crypts. After a while, I came across a man caught in a huge spider web... My worst fear, a huge spider came down the ceiling! Lucky for me, it had its attention to the caught guy. And I could slay it easily..." I said as I took a small break to eat some more.
"After that, I solved a few puzzles and came into a huge cavern. There I fought an ancient Draugr who could shout it knocked me into the wall." As I continued with the story, I saw the orc eyeing me up and down. He slid a note towards me as he motioned to a table in the corner.
He moved towards the quiet table.
I finished my story, intrigued about what the orc could possibly want. So I picked up the note and started reading.
*You seem like a capable man. I want to ask you something.*
'Strange guy, he could have said something, well anyway, let us hear him out..' I thought to myself as I made my way over to him. Before I could say anything, he spoke up.
"Have you heard of the dawnguard?"
( So guys/girls... How did I do? This is my first fanfiction, and at the same time, I'm practicing my writing skills! And don't worry, Serana will be added in chapter two or three! I am not sure yet.
Anyway, thanks for reading my story. I appreciate it a lot! And if you got any good feedback or anything, don't be afraid to leave a reply:)
Till next time much love from me and have a nice day evening night or whatever!)