The Wandering Mage

Disclaimer: I do not own Elder Scrolls, only my OCs

Summary: Captured by Imperials, Wagon-bound to Helgen for execution is where our protagonist's story begins. Once the Black Dragon gives him a chance at freedom, he sets off towards Riverwood with his… Two companions? One of whom has a hero complex and stick in a very uncomfortable place. Not a Dragonborn POV story, more than one hero. no/slash.

"If you choose magic you will never be able to return to the life you once lived. Your world may be more ... exciting ... but it will also be more dangerous. Less reliable. And once you begin to walk the path of magic, you can never step off of it." -Neil Gaiman

-CHAPTER START-

'I knew I should have chosen Valenwood instead of skyrim as a tourist destination…' was what was going through our hero's mind, slightly changing each time the thought repeated, the last repetition being more along the lines of 'fucking tundra, next time It's an option between lush forests and hamlets villages, I'll pay someone to slap me if I start acting stupidly.'

The man was dressed in little more than rags, his travelling clothes having been taken when he was captured crossing the border. Alongside him were Stormcloak prisoners of war that were caught in an ambush not too long before him, hence why they were sharing a wagon. The Imperial soldiers he was found by showed themselves to be deaf to his reasoning that he was just crossing the border and wasn't a Stormcloak, and captured him. Not wanting to become an outlaw, the man complied, not realizing they were heading straight to Helgen to be executed because of a high value target until it was too late. No trial, no conviction, just an outright death penalty for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. His only chance was to try and explain himself to whomever was in charge at Helgen and hope they believed him, otherwise he would wind up with about 22 inches off the top. All in all, he was thinking he was done for.

The man's shaggy hair was clumped and tangled from lack of care, and his brown eyes were bloodshot with dark circles under them. The Stormcloak next to him, a red haired nord by the name of Gunjar, kept muttering obscenities at the imperial carriage driver and his guard every so often, but otherwise the final stretch of this trip was passing in silence, the prisoners lost to their thoughts and the soldiers content to leave them like that.

In the cart a short distance behind them was the high value target they wished to execute so badly, one Ulfric Stormcloak, Jarl of Windhelm and leader of the Stormcloak rebellion. He could see the two others in the cart that were like him, just caught in the aftermath of the ambush. One of them had been asleep the last time he looked, but appeared the be awake now, a buff nord with long blond locks. The other, a black haired individual who was a caught horse thief, he'd been able to hear the complaints and pleas of ever since he'd been captured.

His cart suddenly stopped, and he turned back to look and see that they had arrived at the front gates of Helgen, and two more Imperials were opening the gate to let them through. The wagon continued onwards once the gate was fully open, rolling into the small Imperial outpost town. The brown haired individual spotted the flags of the legion waving in the wind in front of an archer tower. A child was watching the carriage roll by, interested in the soldier's goings on. Once a ways past he heard the child question the man next to him "Who are they, daddy? Where are they going?"

The man responded seriously, "you need to go inside little cub."

"Why, I want to watch the soldiers…" the child whined.

"Inside the house. Now."

They continued along, citizens of the town watching them, some with wariness, some with sadness, some of the nosier ones just with interest as to who exactly was getting executed. They finally pulled to a stop and were instructed to get off the wagon. He jumped off the back, landing in a slight crouch, and moved to join the line of soldiers awaiting their entrance to Sovngarde. The thief tried to make a run for it, getting multiple arrows in the back for his troubles. He wound up directly to the right of the sleeper, who watched him with the same eyes everyone else here had; Sad, determined eyes ready to face whatever came.

Tullius stepped in front of Ulfric, who was gagged for a reason unknown to the man. He glared at him, before motioning to the captain and a man holding a sheet of parchment. The man began speaking in a blank tone, calling down the different stormcloaks by name, until he got to the brown haired man. He then stated, "You from Daggerfall, Breton? Fleeing from some court intrigue?"

"Actually I'm fro-" he began but was cut off by the captain.

"To the block, Prisoner, now." the captain said in a no-nonsense tone.

"But I'm trying to tell you all I'm not a Stormcloak! I'm from Cyrodil for Shor's sake! I just came here to learn more magic from the college! I'm a mage!"

The captain ground her teeth and said. "You were captured at the Stormcloak rendezvous outside Darkwater Crossing. Allowing you to live is a situational risk I will not take. Now TO THE BLOCK!" suddenly a noise was heard in the distance, like a great roar.

The man slumped and began shuffling towards the executioner's block. Hadvar gave him a sympathetic look and said, "We shall make sure your body is returned to your family, what is your name so we may track down any relatives?"

"Magnus Brynjar, my family owns a general store in the Imperial city…" he said defeatedly. He stopped in front and began toning out the priestess as she delivered his last rites. He came out of his morbid musing when he heard the same noise again, but much closer this time, and clearly a distinctive roar. He heard General Tullius speaking to Ulfric, well ranting might've been a better description. "You started this war, plunged Skyrim into chaos. Now the empire is going to put you down, and restore the peace!"

The noise rang out a third time, sounding as though it were just out of their view. Hadvar asked, "General, what was that?"

"It's nothing. Carry on." Tullius said dismissively.

The priestess was still carrying on, until she was interrupted by a Stormcloak shouting from the line. "For the love of Talos, shut up and get this over with."

Magnus glared at the man, and replied. "Some of us want our last rites, fool. Silence and let the priestess speak."

The sister cleared her throat and continued speaking, finishing the last of the last rites. Magnus was pushed forward by the captain, and shoved roughly to the ground, biting his tongue as his chin made contact with the wood. As he was staring at the guardsman's shoes, he heard a fourth roar, sounding for all the world as though it was right on top of him. He heard Tullius shout out. "What in Oblivion is that?!" he rolled off the block and got on his knees, seeing a behemoth black beast on top of one of the archer towers he'd spotted earlier. The beast let out a bellow that Magnus could barely make out, he barely understood. "Do-Vah-Strun!" Magnus felt a power in the air and saw the sky changing colors, fiery red clouds covering it, and out of the blue, flaming boulders came pouring out of the clouds, crashing into the ground around Helgen, creating a picture of utter chaos and discord.

He heard distantly one of the nords speak to the man that was next to him in the line-up. "Kinsman, Move! The gods won't give us another chance!" Magnus also took this as his chance, and taking a stand, made to follow them into the building they were rushing into. He made it in just as they were about to close the door, the Stormcloak holding it only stopped by him forcing it back open with his shoulder. The man gave him a peeved look, then shoved the door closed behind him.

He saw one of the two blond nords, the Stormcloak, speaking frantically to Ulfric, "Jarl Ulfric, what is that thing? Could the legends be true?"

Ulfric deadpanned. "Legends don't burn down villages." he took stock of the men in the room, then stated, "we need to move, now!"

Magnus stopped them by saying, "wait, get these bindings off me and the other guy! We're dead if we go out there with these on!" Ulfric nodded to Ralof, then took the rest of the rebels and made his way back outside. A loud crash echoed from upstairs, causing them all to look around warily to make sure the building wasn't collapsing, then Ralof took a dagger and cut his blond friend loose, then motioned Magnus over and did the same for him. Now free, Magnus rubbed his wrists, which had pink lines of rope burn cut into them, and asked. "Where to now?"

"We need to find some way out of here." the unknown blond said.

"We should make for the keep, there must be a secret exit for the Imperials to use." Ralof guessed.

"As good a plan as any." with that they went back to the front door and tried to open it, only to find it was now blocked by some debris, and stuck. "Shit." Magnus said, and Ralof nodded along. The unnamed man, though, was already looking up the stairs, and called for them. Going up, they saw a giant hole had been blown in the side of the tower, and if they jumped they could land on the second floor of a burning building next to them. Not much of an improvement, but it was all they had at that point in time.

The nameless man jumped first as it was him that helped point it out, landing with a thud and quickly moving out of the flaming interior. Ralof went next, not sticking his landing and being forced to roll, came up coughing and rushed outside as well. Magnus jumped through next, the building now well and truly an inferno inside, only to have the floor break underneath him, no longer capable of supporting him. He landed on the bottom floor, which was almost completely on fire, save for the small area that had been snuffed out by the section of floor that he fell with. He quickly used the Frostbite spell, and cleared a path to the front door to meet up with his companions, who were about to rush in to help him.

The three looked back at the burning building as it collapsed in on itself mere moments after Magnus was outside, and shared an uneasy chuckle before moving on. They moved in line towards the keep, staying as far away from any Imperials as possible. Their luck held until they spotted the creature land in front of the boy Magnus had seen earlier, who was kneeling in front of his father's body with tears running down his face, not listening to Hadvar calling him over to them. The blond nord chose this moment to run in front of the beast as it roared out. "Toor-Shul." the man grabbed the boy without stopping his mad dash, just barely getting them both out of the blast of fire that burned the boy's father to a crisp in an instant. Magnus motioned for him to keep moving to the keep, got a nod in return, and moved through an archway with Ralof.

The man rejoined them just as they were about to open a door into the keep, having just argued with Hadvar, a conversation where he tried to convince Magnus to go with him instead of Ralof, to which he retorted, "hmm… go with the man whose been by my side for this fucked up attack, or go with the one who was about to allow me to be executed. Sorry Hadvar, no contest there!" the Imperial just huffed and ran off through a different door.

Once inside the keep, they found the body of the red haired rebel Magnus had shared a wagon with, Gunjar, and were forced to loot his body for gear. Magnus got the pants and shoes, and the other nord got the shirt, gloves, and axe. The man said. "Now we need to find a way out of here, any-" he was interrupted by the sound of a gate opening, and Ralof shouting out "Imperials!"

The trio stared down the three enemies who had entered the room, the captain with them making the first move in charging Ralof, who expertly parried his first blow. The other two took their queue, and charged at them, Magnus quickly putting his down with two firebolts, the most advanced spell he had mastered, an apprentice level one. He turned to see the other auxiliary get beheaded by the nameless man's iron axe. Ralof was in a stalemate with his foe, both enemies blocking every blow unleashed. Magnus broke the tie by blasting the captain in the face with frostbite, freezing his head solid, and after a moment he toppled over, dead. They looted their new source of gear, Ralof grabbing an extra blade, and Magnus grabbing an Imperial tunic and a pair of bracers.

"Think the other Stormcloaks will try to kill me for wearing this?" he asked wearily.

Ralof looked at him and said, "best not get separated from us." while looking at the other guy, who was hopping on one foot attempting to fit in a pair of leggings.

"Nord, what is your name, I didn't catch it when we were in the Line-up." Magnus questioned. "I heard Ralof from the carts when he introduced himself as we were pretty close, but I never heard you say anything."

"I'm Sigurd, Sigurd Asmund." the man grunted, now having moved onto boots. Once he was fully outfitted as well. The trio stalked through the halls, slaying their way through any Imperials they found, and actually grouping up with another Stormcloak they saved as he was about to be killed in an unfair two versus one fight. Numbered four, they made their way into the depths of the keep, occasionally feeling the building shake from the creature Ralof had identified as a dragon even as deep down as they were. Eventually they came into a new area, and Ralof whispered, "by the nine…" for they had just found the interrogation room, referred to in other terms as the torture chamber. It appeared a battle had already taken place here, as besides a wounded Imperial sat against the wall, slowly bleeding out from a stab wound to the chest, there were four other corpses in the room: a mage in a cage, two rebels, and the interrogator himself. Magnus saw a knapsack on the table and grabbed it, searching the inside before putting the leather strap over his shoulder so he would be able to store more things.

Sigurd found a book on the table interesting, and pocketed it, along with grabbing a shield from inside a sideroom. Magnus found a lockpick on the table the knapsack was on, and chose to try his hand at picking the lock on the mages cage. He found himself a dab hand at lockpicking, and opened the door easily, appropriating the man's hood and robes for himself. They were clearly novice level, lacking many of the enchantments more skilled mages put on their robes, but they were far more suited to him than the armor he was wearing before, and also less likely to get him killed by any rebels they came across.

They put the interrogator's assistant out of his misery, and went through a side passage that led downstairs. They found more legionnaires, the group of four ending the two of them quickly, and found a bridge to cross. At this point, they had left the keep, and were in an underground cave. The bridge was being guarded by men with bows, so Ralof motioned for them to keep down and try to stay out of sight until close. Magnus completely ignored that, and fired a firebolt at the one furthest away, his aim proving true and striking the man dead in the face, killing him instantly. The one closest was alerted to their presence, but the one shot he got off impacted Sigurd's shield, as he'd moved in front of Ralof and blocked it at the last second. The duo of blonde's strapped the quivers of iron arrows to their backs, along with the longbows, and they continued on their way.

The quad of men followed a stream up until it let them into a Frostbite spider nest, where Magnus was forced to halt their advance by applying a continuous stream of flames while Sigurd and Ralof shot them with bows, they passed through unharmed, and walked into a large open cavern where the four saw a bear sleeping at the other end of it.

"Tread softly, I'd rather not tangle with her right now." Ralof muttered. "Just take it nice and slow, and watch where you step… if you feel you have to, blast it from a distance."

At this Sigurd got out his bow and took aim, figuring he could sell the pelt in a nearby town. The bear took the shot like it was nothing, got up and began charging him, causing Magnus to also begin shooting it with firebolts. It took a combination of Magnus, Sigurd, and Ralof all shooting the beast for it to collapse not ten feet shy of them, looking like a burnt pincushion as nearly all their combined remaining arrows were spent on it.

The pelt was slightly singed, but Sigurd figured it was still alright to sell, so he skinned the bear, and took its claws as well as a trophy. After that last obstacle, the four were finally outside, just in time to watch the black dragon flying away from Helgen, presumably having levelled the town. Thereafter, they watched to make sure it hadn't seen them, then the fourth member of their party bid them farewell, choosing instead to head up to windhelm to rejoin the fighters, while Ralof wished to visit his sister in Riverwood before returning, and inviting his two companions to join him, offering food and ale to his fellow survivors as enticement. So off they went, traipsing down the road following Ralof.

They stopped for a moment at a trio of stones overlooking a large river. Ralof called them standing stones, and said there were more like them across Skyrim. Sigurd and Magnus both stepped forward, feeling compelled to the stones. Sigurd stopped in front of the one Ralof called the Warrior Stone, while Magnus stepped in front of the Mage Stone. They placed their hands on them at the exact same time, and a glow erupted from both stones, covering them for a moment before disappearing.

When asking Ralof what happened, he just shrugged his shoulders and said wryly, "I do not know, I am not the mage of our group, and have no knowledge of how ancient magic stones work." Magnus just grumbled and stated that he would look into it at some point.

They were also waylaid by two bandits who, upon a moment of reflection, they realized were guardian the entrance to the place Ralof called 'Embershard Mine'. The Stormcloak suggested they clear out the bandits inside so no one from riverwood would get harmed by them, to which Sigurd happily agreed to help him do. They both turned to Magnus, who gave it a moment of debate before saying. "Sure, if nothing else I'm sure there'll be something useful in here once we've gotten rid of the highwaymen."

On their little excursion, Magnus found a spell tome for a spell he already knew how to use, clairvoyance, though he still snagged it to sell, along with three gems and a coin pouch they split. By the time they exited the cave they had about 70 gold each on them, and maybe 200 gold each worth of gear they could sell. Sigurd had also relinquished his iron axe for a steel battleaxe their bandit chief was wielding, while their resident Stormcloak took a hunting bow one of them used. Magnus kept the gems for himself since they got upgrades for gear, and they continued on their path to Riverwood.

Finally, the three arrived at the small riverside hamlet, passing by an old lady arguing with her son about spotting a dragon. After correcting the young lad by agreeing with the woman, they passed by the blacksmith shop and walked over a small bridge to the lumber mill, where Ralof snuck up behind a woman who was watching the lake, and picked her up in a great bear hug.

"Hello Gerdur!" he greeted joyfully, causing her to relax in his arms.

"Brother! It's been ages since you last came down from windhelm, it's so good to see you! What are you doing here, though? Last we heard, Ulfric had been captured, we were so worried about you. And who are these new friends of yours?"

"It is a… very long story. These two have fought by my side today, and saved my life multiple times. Is there a safe place to speak, there's no telling when news of Helgen will reach the Imperials."

A man and a boy approach from the side of the mill. "Ralof, what are you doing here…" the man said softly, but a smile grew on his face, while the boy ran up to him and said excitedly. "Uncle Ralof! can I see your axe? How many Imperials have you killed? Do you really know Ulfric Stormcloak?"

Gerdur commanded, "Frodnar, this isn't the time for games, go watch the south road for Imperials, warn us if any Imperial soldiers appear."

"But I wanna stay and talk with uncle…" he withered under her glare and despondently walked off.

Ralof called out to him, "You're growing up too fast Frodnar, you're almost a man grown already! It won't be long until you join me in the fight." this brightened the boy's expression, and put a pep in his step.

"Now, what's going on Ralof, the three of you look like death warmed over."

Ralof looked like he was struggling to put what happened into words, so Magnus spoke. "We were all about to get executed by Imperials. A dragon of all things saved us by attacking, and as far as we know, levelling Helgen. We barely escaped with our lives, and Ralof offered us sanctuary here for the night, madam. Last we saw the dragon was flying...this way in all honesty. It must have just missed you." Ralof was nodding along as he spoke, and interjected once Magnus was done.

"The Imperial cowards were going to execute two who weren't even Stormcloaks just because they were THERE! That would be these two. They weren't even going to try any of us… the bastards were just going to kill us all for treason. HA, more like fighting for your freedom, but I don't think those dogs would understand that."

Gerdur, though, was hung up on part of Magnus' story. "A real, live...dragon." she muttered in awe and fear.

All three of them nodded seriously, Sigurd speaking up. "We could feel it tearing apart Helgen even underground as we escaped through a cave system. We saw it burn through nearly 3 dozen Imperials. It was a dragon alright, and if it hadn't shown up, we would all be dead."

"By the gods." she murmured.

"Well this has all been very fun conversation, but I am starving. Being under the care of the legion since my entrance into Skyrim will do that. Would you happen to have any food and drink you would willingly part with, Gerdur?" Magnus pressed, a stomach growling coming from Sigurd proving his point further about their state.

"You saved my brother's life. For all of you, of course I do. But after you have had your fill, I have a request to ask. Someone needs to go to Whiterun and tell the Jarl about… all of this. A dragon that could come back and attack Riverwood, Helgen, all of it. He needs to be made aware of it, otherwise a dragon attacking Riverwood would destroy it without even a token resistance, as we don't have guards stationed here at the moment."

Sigurd said immediately. "I will do it, it's the least I can do for you sharing you food as you are." Ralof looked to Magnus, asking with a look whether he was going or not.

Magnus debated it in his head for a few moments, before sighing and saying, "I'm headed to Winterhold for the college soon after this, but I guess Whiterun isn't too far out of my way, I'll go as well." Sigurd smiled at that, and they went towards Gerdur's house for a nice meal, grabbing Frodnar and Hod on the way. After they were done, Sigurd and Magnus went to the local general store to sell the spare items they had kept.

Inside they heard a man arguing with a woman.

"No! You will not go there, I forbid it!." he said furiously.

"They stole from us, you're just going to let them get away with it?!" the woman asked incredulously.

"Bleak Falls Barrow is a dangerous place, I'm sure they'll get theirs one way or another, we will just have to live without the claw." they turned away and saw they had customers, and both of them blushed at being caught arguing.

"Welcome friends, to the Riverwood Trader. I am Lucan, this is my sister Carmilla. Looking for anything in particular?" Lucan asked.

"Looking to sell some items we came into." Magnus stated plainly.

"Alright let's see what you got." they laid all the items they weren't using on the table, and came out with around 200 gold each, putting Magnus at around 500 coins he was toting in his knapsack. Seeing this, Lucan grinned.

"Tell me friends, I notice you are just carrying around your coin in that knapsack or just your pockets in your friends case. But I...I have a bargain for you. I got these off a mage my last visit up north, take a look." with that he pulled out six coin pouches and sat them on the table.

Magnus stared for a moment, then deadpanned. "They're coin pouches."

"Not just any coin sack, my friends," Lucan began charismatically. "But enchanted coin purses. Enchanted in that they have expanded space inside. Now, they only downside to this is the Mages up north are still working on ways to make this work on bigger items, but these pouches will allow any budding adventurer to store any amount of coin in them, the pouch never getting heavier. I also know that some people use them for carrying other valuables, such as gems… or lockpicks for opening locked chests in those old nordic ruins you all are so fond of." he smiled disarmingly at them, then continued. "I would sell you two these at a only a miniscule hundred gold apiece, and you would never have to worry about storing money again."

Magnus gave it some thought, on one hand he might not necessarily need it, but he had a vision of himself having to tote a chest full of gold whenever he wanted to make an expensive purchase, and instantly spent 300 gold buying 3 of them. Sigurd, however, said. "I have an offer for you, Lucan," the shopkeeper looked interested at that. "As you've probably guessed, we heard about your… difficulties with a thief stealing something from you, what if I offered to bring it back, that is… if you agree to give me the other 3 of those at either a reduced price, or free altogether."

Lucan debated it "hmm, the main value of the claw was decoration...though it is solid gold… maybe… yes, alright. Ok, if you return the claw to me or my sister, then we'll give you one of these pouches for free, but the other two will be at normal price if you want more than one."

Sigurd looked as though he wanted to haggle more, but simply shrugged and said. "A fair deal. Alright, I shall go to Bleak Falls Barrow as soon as I have reported to the Jarl of Whiterun. Make sure to keep them on hold, as I will be back for them." with that they turned and left the store, beginning the tread to Whiterun. They encountered a few nuisances along the way, a pack of wolves and a few Mudcrab, but the journey seemed fairly smooth up until they came around a bend and saw a group of fighters combatting a giant in a field up ahead. Sigurd charged forward, armor clinking, drawing his sword as he rushed to their aid. Magnus groaned and chased after his overeager companion, firebolts ready in each hand.

When they arrived, the giant looked to be on its last legs, but still it swung its hammer at a red haired woman with claw marks painted onto her face as a war-paint. The woman hopped over the club, putting a hand on the shaft to ensure she had enough lift to get over it. She came down moving, slashing her dagger at the giants ankle, cutting its achilles tendon and sending it into a kneel. A big broad shouldered nord in steel armor charged at the behemoth with a greatsword, but was sent sprawling by a surprise backhand from the downed monster. Sigurd chose that moment to enter the fray, swinging the blade downwards as though performing an execution, and severing the giants arm, a thud marking it hitting the ground.

The giant roared out its pain, and was silenced soon after by the redhead shooting an arrow that hit dead center on its forehead, killing it instantly. She walked over to Sigurd smiling.

"Well fought," she began. "You would make an admirable shield-brother, friend."

Smiling confusedly, he replied. "thanks...I think. Question, though, what is a shield-brother?"

"An outsider, eh. Never heard of the companions? We're an order of warriors established in Whiterun, we are brothers and sisters in honor."

Sigurd got stars in his eyes, and exclaimed. "That sounds cool! Can I join you?"

Aela replied. "That's not for me to decide. Head over to Jorrvaskur, our mead hall. Ask to speak to Kodlak Whitemane, he'll judge your worthiness. Should you choose to go, good luck." she walked off, rejoining her fellow companions, and set off towards skyrim, whilst Sigurd bounded over to him and said excitedly. "So, you gonna try to join as well? I think this is a fantastic opportunity."

"I'm a mage, Sigurd, not a warrior or brawler. Just as soon as I've gotten you to Whiterun I'm off to the College of Winterhold to join them." he explained, causing Sigurd's face to fall.

"That's a shame, you're a fair travelling companion, I wouldn't mind continuing travelling with you for awhile, but if we must be separated, then let it be as friends." he grinned.

"Uhh...sure. Friends." Magnus smiled back awkwardly.

The duo continued on their way to the city, until they reached the main gates, where two guards stood before the closed wooden doors. "Halt citizen. City's closed with dragon's about, official business only." one of them stepped forward and said.

"My friend here has news from Helgen about the dragon attack, he requires an audience with the Jarl." their eyes widened under their helmets.

"...very well, but stay out of trouble, we'll be watching." he said, and went to help his fellow guard push open the gate, allowing Sigurd entrance to the city.

He turned to stare at Magnus sorrowfully, and spoke. "I suppose this is goodbye for now, friend. I shall come visit you if I find myself near winterhold in the future. It was a pleasure travelling with you."

"It was an experience travelling with you, Sigurd, one I'm not likely to forget anytime soon. Stay safe, what with dragons about and you about to go dungeon crawling." Magnus said lightheartedly.

"I shall, goodbye friend."

"See you, Sigurd."

With that, the battle axe wielder strolled off into the city, while Magnus turned around and began the trek back down to the main road.

Internally, Magnus was actually happier than sad, and thought. 'Thank the gods, if I got involved in one more dangerous situation because of him… first Embershard, then he tries to get me to go into a ruin that's probably full of bandits or worse, THEN ropes me into helping him fight a giant. My life expectancy was going down more and more every hour I spent with him.'

He reached the main road quickly, and set off towards Winterhold. He walked at a quick pace, trying to cover some ground before nightfall, as it was already afternoon. He had just passed whitewatch tower as the sun was setting, and chose to set up camp near because he figured the guards outpost would serve as a deterrent for bandits and the like. He ate some of the food he had leftover from Gerdurs, and slept like a stone until the sun rose.

-LINE BREAK-

His first encounter with a foe happened fairly soon after he set out for the second day of his travels. Magnus saw a ruined keep in the distance, labelled on the map he had purchased from Lucan while he was tallying up the sale price for their items, as Fellglow Keep. Magnus saw other mages guarding the place, and was going to attempt to sneak around the castle to avoid confrontation when one spotted him and opened fire on him with a sparks spell. This quickly devolved into chaos, as the enemies allies came over and also began firing on Magnus forcing him to take cover behind a boulder as their spells splashed against the rock.

Magnus had taken out two of them with Lucky firebolts, but the remaining four were constantly bombarding his cover. The good news is that none of them seemed incredibly powerful, as the most dangerous spell sent at him was an ice spike, any explosive spells and he would've been done for since he couldn't leave this spot, but the sheer volume of the spells was a nuisance. Finally he'd had enough, and firebolt in each hand, roared and ran out of his cover firing bolt after bolt at his enemies, killing one instantly and wounding another two. He was slightly frozen when his last standing foe turned a frostbite spell on him, but he was ended quickly by one last firebolt. He finished off the wounded with a steel dagger he'd found on his body, and set about stripping them of any useful items.

One loot session later, a slightly richer Magnus was sat in front of a door debating whether or not to go into the keep and finish off these mages. He eventually decided against it, as there were probably more skilled mages in similar numbers inside, and he struggled against these enemies. So he passed on with what he had already acquired, and continued along the trail.

His next place of interest was a cave he spotted when it was nearing nightfall. Magnus thought about sleeping in the cave for the night, but that idea was quashed when he heard the grunting of what sounded like beasts inside, and sensible chose to keep walking. He wound up camping a good distance from there, having chosen a small nook between two large rocks as his campsite as it offered protection from the harsher northern elements. His sleep did not come easily that night, with the beginnings of a heavy snow on the howling wind he had to continually wake to stoke the fire, or risk freezing.

The next day he was up and moving as soon as he saw the sun rising, wanting to reach his destination as soon as possible. He made a detour nevertheless, when he spotted Windhelm nearly straight ahead of him on the road, and chose to explore there for a day or two before moving onto Winterhold. Approaching the main gate, he heard two guards muttering about Aventus Aretino performing some kind of ritual in the city, and decided to check that out, and possibly take notes on what the ritual was if it proved to be useful.

His first steps into Windhelm did not warm him to the cold city. He saw a few nords ganging up on a dark elf, and harassing her, even accusing her of working for the empire, along with the rest of her race in the city.

"You live here in our city, eat our food, drink our ale, and what do you contribute!" the man said angrily.

"We work just as hard as anyone else in the city, and you know it." the woman rebutted.

"I haven't seen not one dark elf in Stormcloak colors."

"We are not involving ourselves in the war." she defended.

"Maybe they're Imperials spies, Rolff." one of the drunkards friends said.

"I think you may be right… maybe we should gather some of the boys and go to the grey quarter and check the loyalty of these elves, huh. I bet you're all working for the Thalmor, waitin' for your chance."

"...I won't even dignify that with a response. You should both sober up before you start spouting more conspiracy theories."

"We'll see. We got ways of making people tell the truth, elf…" at this she stiffened, but the nords simply walked off. The elf followed their movements for a moment, then turned to stare at Magnus.

"Do you hate us, too? Come to mock the dark elves slumming in the grey quarter?" she asked angrily, but with a defeated tone.

"Not particularly, I'm just headed to the mages college and Windhelm was right in front of me, so…" he said honestly.

"Well you're in the wrong place then. I'm sure if you give it some time the people here will hate you for magic just as much as they hate us Dark Elves, and even Argonians. Windhelm is little more than a cesspit of bigotry and racism." she said bitterly.

"From what I've seen so far, seems to hold up, but I'm still gonna explore for a day or so before moving on." Magnus agreed.

"If you wish to, I won't stop you, but watch yourself. The streets aren't safe nowadays."

"Cryptic statement, but thank you nonetheless, miss…"

'Suveris Atheron."

"Thank you miss Suveris." with that she retreated down an alley, presumably one that led to the grey quarter he heard about. 'Streets aren't safe nowadays, wonder what that's about?' Magnus thought to himself. He chose to do a quick tour of the city, and turned down a side alley to the left of Candlehearth Hall, and found a group of people standing around a body in a graveyard. Now this in itself is odd, as most bodies are put into open graves, but this one was just sat on top of a flat, rectangular stone. What really made it looked like something was off, was the entire area was absolutely covered in blood, on the ground around the body, the stone, there was even a trail of blood leading off into the distance Magnus noticed.

He walked up to the closest guard and asked. "What happened here?"

The woman replied with. "The butcher struck again… he's killed Susanna from Candlehearth this time. Gods I just spoke to her not two days ago." she said sadly.

"Butcher?" Magnus asked.

"A murdered has been stalking the streets. He mainly targets women, and when he strikes… he doesn't kill them, he mutilates them. The guards can't even properly investigate this, as thin as we're stretched nowadays by the war."

'Fuck… Sigurd's changed me for the worse.' he thought before blurting. "How about I help you investigate? At the worst, I wouldn't do any harm, and at best I could catch this guy myself. What have you got to lose."

"Well, I can't condone a civilian investigating a murder. You'll have to speak to Jorlief, Jarl Ulfric's steward. If he gives you the OK, then I have no problems accepting the help."

"Alright, be back in a bit then." he stated blithely, walking off towards the Palace of the Kings, cursing Sigurd internally. He was let in much easier than he expected to be, considering the leader of the rebellion resided in the palace. He sought out Ulfric first, to greet him once again after Helgen, but saw he was busy talking to a Stormcloak officer, so went to look for Jorleif instead. He found the man asleep in a bare kitchen of all places, on a mat behind some crates. He woke him up with a few shoulder shakes, and asked. "You are Jorlief, yes? I think you are, but I want to be sure."

"Huh...yes, yes I am Jorlief, steward of Jarl Ulfric. Can I help you with...something?" he yawned out.

"I'm here to request permission to investigate the latest murder from your resident serial killer. I want to help solve it."

The man's eyes widened, and he suddenly looked much more awake. "Well, I will never turn down aid, especially when our guards are unable to solve this themselves, as spread out as they are. I accept your offer, please aid us."

"Alright, I'm going back to the crime scene, if you require something, ask for Magnus Brynjar.

"Understood, if you need something, as well, you need only ask me and I will do it if the request is within my power and reason." the man began stretching as Magnus walked out, and he heard Jorlief's joints popping and cringed slightly.

He went back to the crime scene, and informed the guard that he got permission, and she responded with. "Fantastic! I shall go over the crime scene, while you interview the witnesses and see if they know anything useful."

The priest in charge of Windhelm's hall of the dead had little useful to say besides the victim's coin purse was still full, the same with Calixto, a local antique store owner. Silda the unseen as the woman was called, hadn't even made it to the area before the killer was gone. Magnus went back to the guard, who had given up on the crime scene and was about to leave the area, stating that she couldn't find anything of use.

Magnus saw two trails he could follow, though. One was the Priestess of Arkay, who was having the body moved to the hall of the dead for an autopsy, so given some time he could come back and interview her again. Another was a much more literal trail, and one of blood at that. He Followed it to a house in what he assumed was the upper class of Windhelm, where he was thwarted by a locked door. He asked a guard nearby who lived there and was told that was Hjerim, and until recently it belonged to Friga Shatter-Shield, another murder victim.

The sleuth decided to go see if he could get a way in from Jorleif, if not he would have to attempt to pick the lock. Reentering the Palace of the kings once more, he was accosted by none other than Ulfric Stormcloak.

"Well if it isn't my fellow brother in binds!" he boomed heartily. "I hear from Ralof you all had quite the adventure escaping from Helgen."

"Yea it was a tough sit-wait Ralof's here? I left him in Riverwood to take Sigurd to Whiterun like two days ago? How did he get here before me?" Magnus asked bemusedly.

Ulfric simply laughed and replied. "Perhaps he is just more fleet-of-foot than you, friend. He arrived last night, and reported to me before going to the local barracks."

"Guess so, I was not expecting that. Anyway, how are you Jarl Ulfric?"

"Just Ulfric, please! I don't need bootlickers or acolytes, just friends and allies. I am doing well, and you? What brings you to Windhelm, I saw you earlier but I was too busy then to entertain guests."

"I'm attempting to solve your murder problem, actually. I was just about to go ask Jorleif for a key to Hjerim, there's a blood trail leading there." Magnus explained.

"Well I can save you some trouble there. Jorleif would not have that key yet, It is more than likely in the hands of the Shatter-Shields still, I would go to their home and ask them for it, I'm sure they will be amenable when they hear you are pursuing Justice for their kin."

"Thanks for the advice Ulfric. I'll go there immediately." he turned around and was about to leave when Ulfric put a hand on his shoulder.

"Wait… while I have you here, I wonder, would you be interested in joining Ralof and myself and other like minds in the Stormcloaks?" Ulfric asked eagerly.

"...Sorry Ulfric, I only recently arrived to Skyrim, I don't want to get involved in the war just yet, maybe another time. I still haven't been able to get to Winterhold, and the reason I came to Skyrim in the first place was for the college. Ask me again once time has passed and I've a better feel for where I stand." Ulfric's eyes dimmed a bit, but he nodded nonetheless.

"Very well. until that day, Talos guide you, friend."

He was forced to ask the same guard as before which house belonged to the Shatter-Shields, but found it once it was pointed out to him. The door was unlocked, but he knocked before entering anyway, as a courtesy. The house was empty, save for a sight that greatly saddened Magnus. He stood in an entryway to a sitting room, staring at the sight that Tova Shatter-Shield made. Her eyes looked dead, staring into the fireplace, but seeing something entirely different. He walked towards the grieving mother, and cleared his throat, causing her to flinch slightly.

"Who are you?" she asked quickly. "I am in no mood for visitors at the moment, I do apologize, but please leave, I am in no state for company."

"I need the key to Hjerim." Magnus blurted, then cursed himself.

Tova's red rimmed eyes narrowed. "Why?" she gritted out.

"I'm tracking the killer, he struck again last night and left a trail of blood leading towards Hjerim. I could just pick the lock and get in, but the key would make my job much simpler. I'm doing this to find the bastard that killed your daughter, so they can be brought to justice." he stressed.

She stared at him for a moment, before reaching into the folds of her clothes, and pulling out the key, handing it to him shakily. She spoke softly, but with a fire that had been missing until now. "If you find him… make sure he suffers like Friga did. He deserves no less." she growled.

Magnus simply grinned and said. "It will be done, then when I'm done with them, I'll take whoever it is to Jorleif for delivery." She just turned back to the fireplace and continued her staring into space, remembering better times.

He went back to Friga's old house, and unlocked the door. It opened with a squeak, obviously in need of oiling. The interior was dark and bare, looking mostly abandoned. Yet, there was fairly fresh food and drink on the lone table in the main hall. Magnus also found a bloody chest in the main area, which contained a plethora of 'beware the butcher' notices and a journal from the killer himself. The upstairs proved to be mostly empty, along with the last room that was downstairs. One thing that was grating on Magnus' nerves, though, was the fact that one of the wardrobes in the back room on the bottom floor was nailed to the wall, and trying to move it proved fruitless. He was about to give up, and kicked the open wardrobe angrily, which caused the back to give slightly.

Curious, he pushed the back inwards further, which revealed a secret room devoted to necromantic rituals. He found a second journal detailing the ritual the killer was attempting to undertake, and numerous amounts of body parts stored in the room to prepare for the ritual. Leaving the room to go inform Jorleif that it was a mage he was hunting, he also spotted a glint of some metal underneath a pile of those warnings, and pulled a strange amulet out of a cubby in the open cupboard.

He ran back to the palace, the sun beginning to set behind him, and raced inside to ask jorleif about local mages practiced in necromancy. His only reply was a stern face, and a muttered "Wuunferth, our court mage."

He then looked at Magnus, and said. "Thank you Magnus Brynjar, you have done Windhelm a service we shall not soon forget. We shall handle it from here. Take this as a reward." Jorleif said, handing him a pouch full of gold, he later found out when he counted it was 250 gold.

He strolled back to Candlehearth Hall with light steps, whistling a tune. He decided to rent a room for the night, and sleep in an actual bed for the first time since he entered skyrim! He went to sleep quickly, and slept heavily.

-LINE BREAK-

"DO-VAH-KIIN!" an almighty heralding that shook the ground they walked on, vibrated their very bones, causing buildings to tremble with its power, roused Magnus from his sleep, causing him to literally jump out of bed and land on the floor painfully.

"What in oblivion?!" Magnus shouted to the empty room. He stood up quickly, and still cursing, made his way to the front of the tavern. He angrily asked the barkeep. "What in the name of Akatosh was that!"

She looked at him, skin pale and mouth slightly open. "They Greybeards… They've summoned the Dragonborn to High Hrothgar…"

-CHAPTER END-

-Extra Scene-

Sigurd had finally finished off the last bandit, and strolled over the wooden chest to claim his loot. When he passed by Valtheim towers, he was not expecting to get accosted by a random woman, let alone two random bandits who demanded he pay a toll. Naturally he refused, and well… they took exception to that. He was forced to cut his way through an entire bandit camp, finishing the job by beheading their chief.

Opening the chest, he found a steel sword, which he was going to leave their as his battle axe suited him much more, a good amount of gold, a soul gem, and… a white sphere? He put his hand on the beacon, about to pick it up, when "A NEW HAND TOUCHES THE BEACON!" he tore his hand away from the sphere like it was fire, putting both his hands over his ears and screaming out "BY THE GODS! MY EARS!"

"Listen, hear me and obey!" the ethereal voice said.

"What?" Sigurd shouted.

"Return my beacon to Mount Kilkreath, go to my shrine and cleanse the darkness that dwells within it, I shall make you the instrument of my cleansing light."

"...What?" Sigurd shouted once again.

-Extra scene end-

Hope y'all enjoyed that, just recently started another playthrough of skyrim… I swear I've put like 2k+ hours into that game across a few different systems. Started playing, got my mused hooked on writing a Skyrim story, this is what's come of it so far. R&R pls, see y'all on whatever chapter of whatever I release next

Doh-Vah-Struun= dragon storm

OC Dragonborn: Sigurd asmund.

OC Mage: Magnus Brynjar.