Chapter 13

Tirdas, the 26th of Second Seed, Year 202 of the 4th Era

When they returned to Riverwood, Daenerys set aside being the Dragonborn to spend the night with Gerdur and Hod. While there was much that she couldn't tell Gerdur, they talked long into the night about people. Gerdur told of the little rumors and stories in Riverwood. How Faendal was still pining for Camilla, but Sven had moved on to someone else. Delphine had been gone for some time. The new tavern maid, Saara, flirted with everyone, but apparently had eyes for Orgnar. Daenerys talked about how Faralda still hid her scars behind her facepaint, but had come out of her shell. Fultheim was drinking less, but sometimes he would still drink himself stupid at night. She talked about taking Sofija under her wing, and about the secret love drama between Jon Battle-born and Olfina Grey-mane. Despite not sharing her worries about fighting dragons, dealing with daedra, or being a werewolf, she felt better for talking with Gerdur. Her heart felt lighter as she left Riverwood behind.

She felt nostalgic as they left Riverwood for Helgen. Nine months ago, she had followed Ralof down this path from Helgen to Riverwood. She had been so confused back then. Ralof could have easily abandoned her, but he had protected her during the chaos of the dragon attack and their subsequent escape through the dungeons beneath Helgen. He had given her a home with Gerdur before going off to rejoin the Stormcloaks. She offered a small silent prayer to Talos that he was safe.

Early afternoon they reached the Embershard mine. Daenerys found it sad that the mine was still occupied by bandits despite being such a short journey from Riverwood. Her scouts easily ambushed the one sentry that the bandits had posted outside. She joined her troops and stormed the mines. It wasn't much of a fight, but she almost lost a man when he took an arrow to the gut. She was able to heal him, but it had been a close thing.

The next day they encountered more bandits at Helgen. One of them died, but the rest quickly surrendered when they realized just how badly outnumbered they were. That left her in the difficult position of having to pass judgment on them. She separated the four who surrendered and had them interrogated separately as to their crimes. Their stories were mostly consistent in the basics. They had been peasants in Falkreath, but they had been driven off their lands from the dragon attack. Jarl Siddgeir wasn't known for his kindness to refugees, so they had decided to shelter in the ruins of Helgen. After that their stories differed. Two claimed that they were living off the land, but hadn't robbed anyone. The third admitted to robbing a few passing merchants, but they hadn't killed anyone. The fourth also admitted to robbing passing merchants, but their dead fifth member had done all the killing.

Daenerys decided to use this as a training opportunity for Sofija. "So, what do you make of their stories? What is the truth of it, and what should we do with them?"

"They're bandits," declared Sofija. "The two who admitted it wouldn't have done so if they weren't. That means the other two are liars. They also killed at least some of the people they robbed. The last one, Harald, wouldn't have blamed the dead one for murder otherwise."

"Yes," agreed Daenerys. That much was clear from their words, but she had also watched how they acted. "So, what should we do with them?"

"Like I said, they're bandits." Sofija shrugged. "We execute them. The same that we did for the bandits at Fort Greymoor and Silent Moons, and the poachers at Halted Stream Camp."

"Is it the same?" Daenerys looked around Helgen. Most of the buildings were burnt out shells, but she still remembered being taken here and strapped down to the chopping block. Instead of the blow of the axe, she'd felt the hot breath of a dragon. While the Imperials had planned to execute her for the wrong reasons, she had more than earned death. She couldn't explain now why she had burned down King's Landing, but the gods had given her a second chance for reasons of their own. "The bandits at Fort Greymoor didn't just steal. They enslaved, crippled, and repeatedly raped two women. We had two witnesses who confirmed their crimes. The bandits at Silent Moons died in combat. None surrendered. The poacher who survived, Elolir, I turned over to Jarl Balgruuf for judgment, but I paid his fine. He's one of our scouts now."

Sofija frowned. "They must have killed at least a few merchants."

"Probably," agreed Daenerys. "However, we don't know whether they are all equally guilty. I'm fairly certain they weren't raping women as two of them are women. More importantly, did you look at them? How well fed are they? How did they act?"

Sofija frowned. "They don't look well-fed, but they aren't starving either. They didn't have to turn to banditry. There is plenty of game in the woods. As for how they acted, the one who accused the dead man of the murders reeked of guilt. The others were shifty. Are you saying we should turn them over to Jarl Siddgeir in Falkreath to be judged?"

"No," Daenerys shook her head. "Falkreath is too far out of our way and what I've heard of Jarl Siddgeir doesn't impress me, even if he did send a letter inviting me to visit. No, I'm thinking of something else. Let's talk to Fultheim. I'll need his agreement."

.oOo.

Some hours later Daenerys gathered her troops to observe. She held a two-handed axe in hand to pass judgment, but she was hoping it wouldn't be necessary. The four prisoners were bound and chained and being held in front of a chopping block. Not the same one she had been bent over. That one had burned to ash. This chopping block was just a charred beam from one of the houses. Daenerys had moved the amulet of Talos that she usually wore beneath her armor and placed it on top of her armor where everyone could see it around her neck.

"Timo, Marja, Reeta, Harald, I have listened to your stories. You have all committed banditry and are at least accomplices to murder. I'm here to pass judgment on your crimes."

The two women, Marja and Reeta slumped over and started crying, but Timo and Harald stood tall and unblinking.

"I find you guilty and sentence you to death. If necessary, I stand ready to carry out your sentence. However, you were also driven from your homes. You were desperate, and I'm in doubt that you all participated equally. So, I will offer you a chance to earn your redemption, by joining the Dragonguard instead. Understand that this is a lifetime commitment. You will swear to me, to Talos, and all the gods to serve."

"I'll serve!" agreed Timo shortly followed by Harald. Marja also agreed after a short pause.

Reeta kept crying. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, but I'm not a warrior. I'm not strong. If I was strong, I wouldn't be here. I can't. I can't fight dragons."

Daenerys stepped forward and tilted Reeta's head up. She was a blonde woman that Daenerys judged to be in her twenties and was the wife of Timo. "You'll be trained. I won't throw you into the dragon's mouth as bait, but I won't budge either. Your oath or death. It's your choice."

Reeta kept sobbing, but she nodded her head. "I'll swear."

"Very well. All of you listen well. We'll go over the wording until you get it right, and then I'll take your oath." Daenerys coached them through the oath. It took a while, but they all memorized it. "Very well, give your oath."

The four of them stood side by side and recited. "Dragons gather, and now my watch begins. It shall not end until my death. I will take no spouse. I will father (bear) no children. I will hold no lands. I will claim no titles. When dragons fly overhead, I guard. When dragons roar, I stand. When dragons attack, I charge. I am the shield and the sword that guards the realms of men. I pledge my life and honor to the Dragonguard, for this day and all days to come."

Daenerys watched as the oath was made. She'd modeled it on what she remembered of the Night Watch oath, but she changed for the circumstances. She found it surprising that all four of them seemed to take comfort in the oath instead of fear. Even Reeta seemed proud at the end.

"May Talos judge your oaths. Welcome to the Dragonguard," she announced, and cheers broke out.

Even though there were several more hours of daylight, they camped in Helgen that night and celebrated. Daenerys was a little annoyed that they couldn't dye armor black for her new recruits, but they were able to tattoo the dragon in flight on the back of their hands to mark them.

.oOo.

From Helgen they followed the Imperial road south as it climbed higher into the foothills of the Throat of the World. While their destination was High Hrothgar and the Greybeards was at the summit, they had to circle around to Ivarstead on the southeast side of the mountain. That was where the Seven Thousand Steps, the path to the summit started. This road was supposed to be a major trade route between the Rift and the rest of Skyrim, but they encountered only a few merchants. The few they did encounter warned them that caravans were unsafe. Some also mentioned a dragon hunting the mountain passes near Ivarstead.

Daenerys stayed with the caravan and set her scouts to exploring ahead. In addition to dragons, they were looking for Orphan Rock. It was a known hagraven nest and Danica Pure-Spring, the high priestess of Kynareth in Whiterun, had asked Daenerys if she would retrieve a special spriggan-slaying dagger from the hagravens who lived there. The High Priestess wanted the dagger as part of her plan to restore the dying Gildergreen tree in Whiterun. It was one of the many quests and favors that people had asked of her. Most of the time she just ignored the requests. While she was the Dragonborn, it wasn't her responsibility to fix all of Skyrim's problems. However, she had listened to Danica Pure-Spring because of her position. If it hadn't been on her way, she would have politely refused. However, Orphan Rock just happened to lie on her path, so it did her no harm to try and obtain the dagger. The High Priestess no doubt expected her to kill the hagravens and claim the dagger. While capable of speech and adept at magic, hagravens were regarded as monsters by most Nords. The creatures were half-human with bird claws for hands and feet and a few feathers sprouting from their arms. They could obviously be reasoned with as they often aided the Forsworn, but that wasn't a mark in their favor. Still, Daenerys planned to approach under a white flag and at least attempting to talk to them because they might know where to find the Glenmoril witches. She hoped it was possible to simply buy a spriggan-slaying dagger. She might even pay for other enchantments – provided it was possible to reason with them.

Sadly, her plan to talk instead of fight never got a chance. While looking for Orphan Rock, Jenassa stepped on a Frost Rune and was blasted by it. The explosion alerted the hagraven and her coven of followers who immediately started throwing spells at her scouting party. Fortunately, Aela had been with the scouts. Aela turned werewolf and tore apart the coven with her claws. Jenassa survived thanks to some quick healing potions.

Daenerys made sure to praise her scouts. While not getting a chance to talk to the hagravens about the Glenmoril witches was a disappointment, her follower's lives took priority. Besides, her scouts had found several skeletons and corpses at Orphan Rock confirming the bad reputation that hagravens and their followers had was well-deserved. They had also found a named dagger called Nettlebane. Faralda confirmed that it was enchanted against spriggans, just as Danica Pure-Spring had requested. Nettlebane joined Azura's Star and the black soul gem holding Grandfather's soul in their secure fire-proof chest. It would be some time before she could either return it to the high priestess or visit Eldergleam Sanctuary to harvest the sap that would be required to restore the Gildergreen tree in Whiterun.

After another uneventful day of travel, they had a peaceful encounter that did involve talking. Her scouts encountered some Stormcloak scouts. They even managed to avoid shooting each other immediately. Once they identified each other the Stormcloaks agreed to let her forces pass as long as they stuck close to the road for the next few leagues. Reading between the lines it was clear that the Stormcloaks had a camp somewhere close by. That evening when the Dragonguard camped for the night, their commander paid her a visit under a flag of truce.

Thorygg Sun-Killer looked to be in his mid-thirties and was a ruggedly handsome Nord. He wore custom armor with spikes on his boots and gauntlets. Given that she wore her own custom dragon armor for their meeting, she couldn't really judge him for his spikes even if they were a bit unusual. He was a civilized guest. They shared a meal and a bottle of wine in her tent. He asked more questions than he had information, but he did share that they had seen a dragon in the sky about every other week. That was one reason his men camped in the forest. He seemed to be up on current events as he was aware of the Dragonguard and even had been expecting her to pass by sometime soon. Daenerys was upfront about the Imperials in her party, but Thorygg had no issues with the Dragonguard being neutral in the Stormcloak Rebellion. Apparently, they moved their camp around quite a bit and would be long gone from their current encampment before the Imperials with her had a chance to report. He was also interested in her suggestion for ending the war peacefully.

"Well, I wish you luck with that, Dragonborn. I wouldn't mind a peaceful solution. We're not doing much fighting now, just hiding out in the woods. I haven't received orders in weeks. However, are you aware of the Stormcloak oath?"

"No, I'm not." Daenerys took a sip of wine. This sounded like an oversight on her part. "What is this oath?"

"Every Stormcloak takes an oath to Ulfric Stormcloak as the Jarl of Windhelm and the true High King of Skyrim. Now, even if you can get the Imperials to agree to your little compromise of Skyrim rejoining the Empire in return for our right to worship as we please, I don't see them being at all eager to accept Ulfric as High King. I also don't see him willing to step aside for peace. Do you?"

"No," admitted Daenerys. "Even if he has never been elected by the moot." After meeting with the man, she doubted he would step aside even if the moot elected someone else. He would probably just challenge whoever was elected to a duel.

"While your dream of a peaceful solution is a pleasant one, Dragonborn, I don't see this ending in anything but blood. Right now, both sides are posturing, but it won't last. Sooner or later someone will take a step too far and then blood will flow."

"Only the Thalmor gain when men war against men."

Thorygg shrugged. "Perhaps, but the Empire will not stand so long as it continues to bow to the Aldmeri Dominion. If things continue as they are now, the Empire will simply drag Skyrim down with it. While severing ties will hurt the Empire, it may be better for Skyrim in the long run."

"And let the Aldmeri Dominon take over Tamriel piece by piece?"

"That didn't work so well for them in Hammerfell now did it? The Redguards kicked their asses out and are doing just fine on their own."

Daenerys sipped her wine. She didn't agree, but Thorygg had some valid points. She also respected that he backed his points up with logic. "Well, at least we both agree on who the true enemy is."

Thorygg smiled back. "That we do. Perhaps we might agree on other things as well." His eyes lingered over hers.

Their conversation continued for a bit longer, with Thorygg's hints becoming more bold as the evening progressed. However, he did nothing more than hint and was gracious when he took his leave. The discussion with Sofija afterward was interesting.

.oOo.

The road continued south and generally uphill. Daenerys stayed with the caravan. With a dragon hunting the passes, she didn't dare stray. She continued sending out scouting parties, but she kept her best archers with the main caravan. Her scouts encountered some wolves, but the main caravan didn't encounter anything worse than a frostbite spider that was easily dispatched. Daenerys spent the time planning with her advisors and having long talks with Sofija. She also practiced her magic.

After joining the Companions, she had focused on gaining at least a basic competency in hand-to-hand combat. She couldn't spar and march, but she could meditate and walk. She had learned Firebolt by combining Fus and Yol, and she wanted to take that to the next step. Her goal was a spell like Fireball that flew out and then exploded. She thought that combining Toor, Inferno, and Fus, Force, would do the trick, but as she meditated on the Words, she realized it simply wouldn't work. Toor, Inferno, by its nature was fire burning out of control, unrestrained. Combining it with Fus, Force, wouldn't result in a fireball, but a wave of fire in front of her. That didn't seem all that useful. Fus and Toor just did not fit together well. She tried to add Ro, Balance, to the mix, but that didn't work either. However, Yol-Fus-Ro, Fire-Force-Balance, fit better. Not as good as Yol-Toor-Shul, but still a good fit. She could even guess at the result, the spell would work like Firebolt, but would have spin on it. That would make it more accurate and improve the range. After discussing her findings with Faralda, she decided to try to create the spell. While adding a longer-range fire spell to her arsenal might prove useful, she was more interested in determining if her intuition about the effect of spells based on Words would prove correct.

Three days after her meeting with the Stormcloak leader her meditation was interrupted by a barking dog. Startled she stumbled but caught herself before Sofija reached out to grab her. "I'm fine."

"If you say so," agreed Sofija. "I don't know how you meditate and walk."

Daenerys shrugged. "Honestly, it works better for me than sitting and meditating." She glanced over at the dog that had barked at her. It was a typical Skyrim canine, shaggy, lanky, and huge. The Nords bred them to hunt wolves and the dog stood taller than her waist and probably weighed more than she did without armor. It had gray-brown fur and deep soulful brown eyes. "Since when did we have a dog?"

Sofija shrugged. "It's a stray. It's been walking up and down the caravan for a while now begging for scraps."

"Hmm." Daenerys wondered if she should have acquired a few dogs. They wouldn't do much good fighting a dragon, but they would help detect intruders and would certainly spot any more Khajiit pretending to be housecats.

{You are exactly what I was looking for.}

Daenerys halted in her tracks and stared at the dog. She heard him bark, but she had clearly understood him. He spoke to her – in Valyrian! "Sofija? Did that dog just talk?"

The dog barked again. {Skyrim is now host to giant, flying lizards, and two-legged cat-men, and you're surprised by me? Yes. I just talked, and I am continuing to do so.}

"Lady Targaryen? Are you feeling well?" Sofija was clearly confused by the question.

{Don't bother. She can't understand me. As far as she's concerned I'm just going bark, bark, bark.} The dog walked up to her wagging its tail.

Daenerys started walking again as the caravan was still marching down the road and she didn't want to stop the march, but she felt unsteady. Despite what the dog claimed dragons were perfectly normal for Targaryens, and Khajiit were just one of the many intelligent races in Tamriel. Talking dogs were not normal. Was she losing her mind? It was in her blood. Targaryens were known for their bouts of insanity as much as their dragons. Her own father was called the Mad King. She'd lost her mind once and burned King's Landing to the ground. She had seen a lot of strange things since coming to Skyrim. A talking dog would not be the strangest, but Sofija couldn't hear him!

Sofija gently touched her shoulder. "My liege?"

"Walk with me, Sofija." She stepped off the imperial road. The few trees were middle-sized pines along with a few larger stumps. Someone had logged this section of the road, but that had been a few years ago. She walked over to a nearby stump and sat down. "Be wary of the… canine. It's not a dog."

{Wrong. I'm a dog. Just not your everyday dog.}

"Obviously not since you're talking to me in Valyrian." Either that or she'd gone mad. Daenerys felt like grabbing her mace, but with her forces marching right behind her she didn't want to draw any more attention to the scene than she already had.

The dog dipped its head down and hunched its shoulders in a shrug. {Is that what you hear? I just speak so that you can understand me.}

Sofija held out her hand and conjured a sword. "I don't know what is going on here, but you're right that the dog is acting strangely."

{Well, she isn't as dumb as she looks. Could you tell her to put the glowing sword away? Getting stabbed really hurts. We're just talking here.} The dog sat down but continued to stare at her and his tail kept wagging.

Daenerys let out a sigh of relief. If Sofija thought the dog was behaving strangely, then she wasn't going mad. "Sofija put the sword away. For now. Are there any intelligent dogs in Tamriel, like the Khajiit are intelligent cats?"

Sofija shook her head. "There are many beast races Khajiit, Argonians, Dreugh, Giants, Goblins, and others, but the closest thing to a canine race would be werewolves."

{Wrong again. I already told you. I'm a dog.}

"Fine. Well, would you please include Sofija. I don't want to play translator."

The dog gave a very human shake of his head. {No, sorry. I'm sure she's good with that magic sword, but she just doesn't have that special something, but you do. You see, my name is Barbas, and I have a problem I think you can help sort out.}

"So, the dog says his name is Barbas, and he wants help with a problem... You know what, I'll just talk to the dog and fill you in later."

Sofija nodded. "Yes, that might be best."

{Does that mean you'll help me with my problem?} asked Barbas thumping his tail against the ground.

Daenerys sighed. "You and everyone else in Tamriel wants my help. What is it you want?"

{My master and I had a bit of a falling out. We got into an argument and it got rather... heated. He's kicked me out until I find someone who can settle our disagreement. That's where you come in.}

"You just want me to talk to your master? That's new. First time anyone ever wanted me to simply mediate a dispute. However, I'm a little busy. I'm not going halfway across Tamriel."

{I know, I know... Wars to fight, dragons to confront, bandits to crush, but that's the best part. My master is at Haemar's Shame. It's a little cave not far from here. At the rate you're going you should be there by nightfall. It's a cave just a little bit off the road. Of course, you might want to do something about the vampires.}

"Vampires?" asked Daenerys.

"What vampires?" asked Sofija.

The dog barked loudly. {Yes, vampires. So, will you help?}

"Is your master a vampire?" asked Daenerys suspiciously.

"No, no, my master is definitely not a vampire. My master is Clavicus Vile, Daedric prince of wishes. As you can imagine, he's quite the important person."