Arc 2—When Darkness Falls—Chapter 3:

Climbing mountains in Skyrim is difficult and dangerous. In addition to the ever-present danger of slipping and falling, there can be massive avalanches of snow, rockslides, hypothermia, getting lost in blizzards, running into—well, let me tell you about that.

The dragon had been seen taking off from and landing on a mountain to the southeast of Falkreath, so the jarl sent a young man with us as our guide to help find it. Filborn said he'd climbed the mountain with his grandfather a few years before the dragons returned, so, before we left town, he drew out a map of the route by which the old man had taken him. We were about three-fourths of the way up to the top the mountain and I was beginning to believe Filborn was confused on exactly which mountain he'd climbed when we finally came upon the narrow cavern he'd described before we sent him back to Falkreath.

"I think it's actually a crevice in the rock rather than a real cavern, because it's really narrow in spots and the ceiling is ice rather than rock. Gramps told me it was a glacier overhead, but I'm not sure if he was right."

"Filborn, why did your grandpa climb the mountain?"

"He'd go up there and gather rock warbler eggs. They're hard to find around here, but some of the birds nest up on top of the mountain. People in Windhelm consider them real delicacies, so Gramps would go up there in the spring and then in the summer and bring back a whole sackful each time. He always enjoyed the trip to Windhelm to sell them, too, since he always enjoyed seeing the lady who bought them. Course, I guess Gramps is dead now; he went out one day and never came home."

The young man had been a little confused on how far up the mountain it was, but there stood the cave, just as he'd said.

"See, told you," quipped Lydia with a grin.

"Sorry I doubted him. And you, of course. How'd you know he wasn't confused?"

"He did it with his grandpa, which showed the old man trusted the boy to be able to make the climb. It was an important milestone in the boy's life, so he wouldn't forget it. You know, like your first kiss, your first romp in the sack—or at least the first one with someone who knows what they're doing—or the first time you see your thane stark nak—"

"Lydia!"

Having seen how red I'd turned, she laughed. "Some things, Thane, you just never forget. Even if you want to. Or not," she giggled. "So, do you want to go first?"

We entered the narrow cavern entrance, being as quiet as we could as we moved along.

The roof was covered by glacial-like ice as Filborn had told us. It was strange seeing the sunlight filtering dimly through untold feet of ice above, causing the roof of the cave, far overhead, to practically glow. Still, it was quite dark on the cavern floor, so despite the risks it entailed, we needed a light to avoid stumbling through the darkness and making even more noise to advertise our presence.

"Do you want me to light a torch, Thane? Or do you want to do your poppy-finger trick?"

I never wanted to become a mage, and definitely never meant to join the mages' college; I went there for help in finding an Elder Scroll to use in taking down Alduin and, the next thing I know, I'm enrolled, helping them, and learning magic tricks. Unfortunately, as a Nord, I wasn't naturally blessed with magical ability, so everything came hard to me. I'd learn a new spell but it wouldn't be useful due to my inability to cast it without concentrating long and hard—and exclusively—on it. That included even the simplest of spells like candlelight.

It had taken lots and lots of practice, and some very special help, but I finally got to the point I could do it without even really concentrating too hard. After I'd mastered it, Lydia would often give me a chance to do it. I wasn't sure if it was because she proud of me or trying to keep me in practice so I wouldn't forget it again, though I had a good suspicion. There in the cavern, I made the motions for the power symbol and then snapped my finger as I said the command words. At once, we were bathed in a gentle glow. I raised my hand and the little light rose above us and was soon moving forward with us.

We'd traveled a short distance through the meandering crevice when we encountered a horrible smell.

"Ugh! Watch your step, Lydia. I think there are fresh feces, and lots of them, just ahead."

"Fresh, Thane?" whispered Lydia, almost gagging. "Are you kidding me? I really don't think fresh and that smell have anything at all to do with each other! The utter stupidity of our language sometimes surprises me, though I'm not sure why since we see examples every day. So, what do you think? Bear? Or a whole clan of bears?"

"I think it's called a sleuth of bears."

"See! Where'd they come up with such a stupid name?"

"Don't ask me, I didn't come up with it. As for your question, it may be a whole bunch of really sick bears."

"Would that be a sleuth of sick bears? And I think you might be one to have figured that out."

Even before I had a chance to respond to her jibe, I gagged. "Oh! By the Nine! It's getting worse."

My little flicker chose that moment to expire so I gave the command as I popped my fingers again—

"Look out!"

Lydia's cry as the new candlelight came into being caused me to bring my shield up just in time for it to block a huge, hairy paw that might have taken my head off. As it was, it drove me backward a couple of feet, right into Lydia, who helped brace me to keep me from falling. Another blow rained in, but I blocked it, too, as I drew Bloodthorn from its sheath; there wasn't room in the crevice to be sure I'd have room to fight with my sword.

Even with the horrible smell of the excrement, I suddenly realized the even fouler stench I'd detected just seconds before had been something completely different. Fetid breath laced with the putrid smell of decaying flesh washed across me as I tried to focus on my opponent, who continued taking swings at me. With the candle spell hanging relatively low since I hadn't had time to adjust its height, I believed for a moment, as Lydia had suggested, that it was a great big bear, but the smell, the rapidity of the blows, and the glimpses I could get in the faint light made me soon realize it was something else entirely. Something far more deadly!

Aerica is gripping my arm and Aern is biting his bottom lip as I pause to look at my kids. Andres' eyes are rather wide, too. I smile at my grandson while giving my twins comforting pats.

"This isn't too scary, is it? I can skip ahead if you want."

"What was it?" the kids demand.

I wink at Andres before turning back to the page and continuing to read.

"Lydia, quick! Light that torch! I think this is a troll!"

"You're just now figuring that out, Thane? Gods! How would you survive without me?" She was almost laughing at me as I bashed my shield forward against the creature, driving it against the sidewall, and then ripping upward with Bloodthorn.

Three or four cuts were enough to cause it to slump to the ground. I breathed a sigh of relief as Lydia's torch caught just as my candlelight faded again. I was about to tell her to move closer so I could look at the troll at my feet when a roar startled me. Still, my shield was up and ready when another troll stepped into the glow of our light. Having just fought one, I had a battle plan that allowed me to finish this new troll off quickly. It was soon on the ground next to its fellow.

Lydia held the torch up high so I could look at the trolls and to give us a little more time if another were to approach. "Thane, can we get out of here? This smell is killing me. And please don't tell me you're going to burn these like that one out in the forest? That smell may have been almost as bad as this."

"No, I think the book that said they could regenerate even from the dead was wrong, so no troll burning. In here, we'd suffocate from the smoke if the smell of trolls and troll poop didn't kill us first."

"You saw that in a book? Where?" She looked quite skeptical.

Having finished with the trolls, we moved forward as I answered. "I think that book was in the library at the mage college."

"Well, who wrote it? I want to send that author a piece of my mind."

"I don't remember the author's name, or even the name of the book. A Monster Manual, maybe?"

She shook her head. "Thane, what is it with you and stupid names today?"

We found the trolls' lair in a small alcove, so, holding our noses, we gave it a quick search. There were lots of bones, including some human bones we had to ignore, but we finally came upon a couple of things that might have value back in town. I was packing them into a sack when Lydia called, "Thane, I think you should see this."

It looked like a regular burlap sack to me, but she had a sad look as she showed me what looked like green speckled and white flakes of some type of material. I wasn't sure what it was at first, but Lydia seemed to know.

She stirred around in the bag for a moment before reaching in and pulling out a larger piece that even I recognized as part of a rock warbler eggshell. Pointing to a nearby skull, she said, "I'm not sure but I think we may have found what's left of Filborn's grandpa."

~ESV~

We finally exited the cavern and took to a clump of trees where we practically gulped in the fresh, cold air. Lydia had me sit down with my back against a tree while she took large handfuls of snow to my armor and boots, trying to get as much of the foul waste and smell off of me as possible.

"You don't want the dragon to smell you before we even get close to it," she said. When she was done, I made her rest while I did the same for her. My task was easier since it was mostly her boots that were soiled. Then, I cleaned my dagger, shield, and gauntlets. Afterward, we moved a short distance and had a bit to eat.

From there, it was still a long and winding way up the mountain to the dragon's roost. We moved slowly and kept low to avoid noise and, we hoped, to keep from being spotted. As we neared the fairly level area near the top, where Filborn believed the dragon to have its lair, our bows were in hand and each of us had an arrow nocked, ready to be drawn and fired. We'd already worked out a preliminary plan of attack, so we hoped we'd have a little time to refine it before hells broke loose.

We were surprised to actually hear the beast before we saw it. There were a series of loud crunching noises, the source of which became clear once we finally peeked over the edge of the little plain. The dragon, sitting atop a rock well back in the flat area, had a foot on the remains of the body of a horse; the sound was that of the horse's bones being crushed by the dragon's teeth and jaws. All-in-all, it was a hideous sight with blood, body parts, and equine wastes scattered all around it.

I heard Lydia gulp almost soundlessly as she saw it, and I grinned to myself that my reaction hadn't been quite as severe. Studying the terrain and the dragon's position, I made a little diagram in the snow between us, refining our initial battle plan. Once things got really going, it would be a matter of action and reaction, but I'd worked with Lydia long enough to know that she would make the right choice and I hoped that I would, too.

I moved a few feet down the incline and started trekking south, to our right, keeping low, well below the dragon's line of sight. When I had gone as far as I could before the slope became too steep, I figured I should be near the best point for my approach. I looked over to Lydia; she gave me the thumbs-up that the dragon hadn't moved. Moving up to the rim of the rise, I peeked over it to see that I was still a few yards off from the spot I'd hoped to be, but it didn't matter. In addition to being out of cover, I was out of time.

The dragon had one big bite left of the horse.

Now, if you've ever attacked a dragon, you know there aren't any really good times to do it, but what are probably the best times when you absolutely must are when it's asleep or right after it's had a big meal. I waited until it took the bite, signaled to Lydia, and let my arrow fly.

The arrow struck the dragon hard in the throat, causing it to practically choke on the last of the horse. With my bow in hand, I drew again and let another arrow fly as I jumped up and ran, arcing to the north but then directly at the dragon, screaming as I went.

As hoped, my yelling attracted its attention. The dragon's head swung toward me as it started to disengage itself from the rock on which it was sunning itself. Spitting horse flesh and assorted bits out as best as it could, it prepared to take to the sky.

Being Dragonborn, I'm blessed with some of the same shouts cherished by the greatest of the flying beasts, so I used one to try to knock the dragon off its perch and off balance, hoping to keep it from taking wing. The shout had been particularly effective against Alduin the World Eater, and here it proved its worth once more. The beast rolled to its side, exposing its belly to anyone who happened to be off to the north.

That someone was Lydia, who fired one arrow and then another as I closed. Both went just to the right of the rock as we'd planned, sinking deep into the dragon's weakest point; being off balance, it didn't even see their source, allowing Lydia to prepare to fire again as it staggered to its feet.

Ducking under its head and using the edge of my shield to slam into it, my sword slashed against the dragon's neck as it tried to shoot fire at me. The jet of flame was far weaker than it had probably intended, but I still felt the warmth as it shot past me without being directly exposed in the flames.

The beast tried to spin its body to the side, away from me, which, unfortunately, put me between Lydia's arrows and the dragon. Its front clawed foot shot forward at me as the dragon gulped, preparing to shoot more flames at me. I bashed my shield against the claw, preventing the creature from hitting me with it, but one of its nails hooked just over the top of my shield.

I pause in my reading of the story and turn to the kids.

"The dragon was going to EEEAT MEEEE!"

I follow with my attempt at a scary laugh that turns out even cornier than I'd believed possible, but my little girl frowns at me, much like Lucia had often done when she was that age.

Aerica says, "Daddy! The dragon was big and mean and really could have eaten you all up. After all, it did just eat a horse and you're not nearly that big."

I briefly wonder if I've given too much detail. I'm about to tell her it's okay when Aern speaks up.

"Oh, silly! He's here so the dragon didn't eat him!"

My girl looks at her twin and makes a stern face at him. "I know that. But it could have!"

Andres rolls his eyes and Aern's about to tangle with his sister when I interrupt. "Say! Speaking of eating, do you guys want to go get a snack?"

All three excitedly say, "No! What happened?"

I felt myself being dragged forward and off balance as the dragon jerked its foot and my shield back toward itself. I did the only thing I could do—I surprised it and let the shield go. It went spinning away and, with, the dragon pulling backward, this reversed the situation. It was a big creature so I wouldn't say it was off balance, but it was pretty surprised, if only for an instant. I used that moment to strike a second and then third blow with my sword, while drawing my dagger with my left hand to bring as much damage to bear on it as possible.

I didn't get to use it, though. A loud "thwack!" drew my attention as the beast stopped moving, falling forward with an arrow in its eye that had driven directly into its brain. Moments later, a rush of wind and heat swept over me as I absorbed the beast's soul.

Lydia was standing nearby when I came out of that drug-like reverie. "Lydia! That was incredible! That was probably the best shot I've ever seen. How on Nirn did you do that?"

She looked down, sheepishly. "Thane, it had its mouth open, so I was, uh, shooting for the roof of its mouth. It moved and I missed what I was aiming for, but I got really lucky."

~ESV~

Lydia and I spent the next three weeks traveling through three more holds in the process of tracking down and killing two more dragons. At inns where we spent our nights, I usually told the story of how "Eagle-eye" Lydia had killed the dragon. Other patrons almost always bought us dinner and drinks, making our trip a bit more fun and definitely more profitable, and for three weeks my companion seemed to almost enjoy her newfound fame.

All through our trip, Lydia and I frequently talked about Lucia, hoping she was having a happy time staying with our friends. We sent a couple of letters along the way, but had no idea at the time if they would arrive before we got home. By the time our tour was over, we were really looking forward to getting back home to see her.

When we finally made it back to Whiterun, it was after dark. I knew Warmaiden's would be closed, but I hoped we'd arrived before Adrianne and Ulf had put my girl to bed. Lydia and I both really wanted to surprise her.

It was I who got the surprise, though. We approached the city gate to find it partly open and several guards milling around outside. They stopped us, claiming 'no entry,' but we identified ourselves and, when they recognized us, they allowed us to pass.

Inside the gate, there were more guards holding back a gathering crowd from The Drunken Huntsman and homes down the street. My eyes soon set on what the people had gathered to see.

It was like a battlefield in front of Warmaiden's and the barracks. There were several bodies and some piles of what looked like ash, but my eyes were drawn to the girl on her knees and bent over one of the bodies. In the dim light that I supplemented with a finger snap, I recognized the dress before the girl; it was my Lucia, and she was bent, crying, over Adrianne's lifeless body.

A few feet away, I saw Ulfberth War-Bear, his arm stretched out toward his wife, with a dark streak of blood on the pavestones where it looked like he tried to crawl to her. His fingers had been just inches from his beloved when he died.

Grasping my girl, I felt her struggle against me for a moment before she turned to see it was me.

She shouted, "Papa!" as she threw her arms around me.

I held her tight but no tighter than she held me as she cried. I tried to comfort her, but she kept repeating "Miss Adrianne, Mister War-Bear," over and over between her sobs. With comforting arms around her as I patted her back and tried to soothe her, I finally caught the eye of Commander Caius, the captain of the guard. I motioned to him. He nodded and put up a finger as he finished speaking with someone else.

"Lydia, please take Lucia home. I'll be there in a few minutes, sweetheart. Go with Lydia, okay?"

"Okay, Pa," she said through her sniffles.

When I saw them enter our house safely, I went to the commander rather than waiting for him. "Caius, what happened here? What caused this?"

"A vampire attack. Third one in the last two weeks here in Whiterun. War-Bear and the Ladysmith came out to help fight them; they fought together and got one before the others killed them."

"Vampires? Here?"

"Yeah, Dragonborn. We're hearing of increasing numbers of vampire attacks all across Skyrim. No one seems to know why."

My heart felt crushed. Once again, my procrastination had led to death and destruction. This time, though, it hit far too close to home; two of my best friends in the world were dead, possibly because of me. It was then, at that exact moment, that I decided that would be the last time that happened.

I looked at Caius and slowly shook my head. "I don't know why either, Commander...but I just might know someone who does."

Author's Note:

Thanks to everyone reading this story. Thanks to all who have commented, followed, or favorited it, too; if you're enjoying it and this chapter in particular, please take a moment to let me know. Thanks!