Chapter 4

Bleak Falls Barrow

"You're welcome to stay here Illia," Rona said as she finished saddling the old brown horse. Bishop came out of the cottage with a bundle of supplies in his arms which he stuffed into the saddle bags on either side of the steed.

"I'd appreciate it if you could continue taking care of the place for me...treat it like your own home."

"That's very kind of you Rona. I'll admit I was a bit worried about what I'd do after you arrived, but you're being quite generous," Illia confided to her.

Rona looked out over the flourishing farmland once more. It was more beautiful than it ever had been in her memories. She looked up at Illia and smiled, "I'm more than happy to do this for you after you took care of my mother for all these years. I'll probably stop in periodically, at least until I go back to Cyrodiil. I'll be sending gold home as well which should pay for the upkeep around here and you're welcome to some of it for yourself. Think of it as a living stipend for maintaining the place."

"Oh no, please don't worry about paying me dear, getting to live here is enough for me," she looked around at the cottage and thought for a moment, "You know, I'm sure the house could use a bit of an upgrade. Would it be alright if I used the money to build onto it?"

"Sure," Rona shrugged, "Do whatever you like with it. I think it needs a new roof honestly."

Illia stepped forward and gave Rona a big hug, "Take care of yourself out there."

Rona smiled and hugged her back, "I will."

Bishop was staring at them with heavily lidded eyes, clearly unimpressed by their touching moment, "Ready to go Ladyship?"

"Almost! I have one more thing to grab!" She ran into the cottage and looked around the room. Her mother's urn was sitting on the table, most of her ashes had spilled and blown away with the wind the night before. Rona went back to collect them from the bush they'd fallen in.

She'd decided to honor her mother's last wish and take what was left with her. She placed the tiny urn into her pouch and gave the room one more once over. A bright red lute on the side of the bed caught her eye. She fingered the strings remembering all the songs her mother had taught her. It was the only thing they'd ever enjoyed about each other's company. She took it with her as she left.

Bishop looked over at her, scowling, "What...is that?"

"A lute!" Rona said cheerily.

"No I can see that it's a lute. Why do you have it?"

"So I can sing on the road! It's better with music."

"Nooo, no, no, no...no," he objected, "Look, the little bits of singing before, cute as it was, that's not gonna to be a regular thing."

"Oh yes it is," she argued back as she buckled it onto the top of their packs on the butt of the horse. Rona put a foot in one of the stirrups and pulled herself up onto the back of the horse before he could argue it any further.

Bishop grumbled then pulled on the reins steering the horse onto the dirt path which would lead them towards the road. Rona gave one last wave and goodbye to Illia before Bishop suddenly said, "Hold tight Ladyship," provocative undertones outlining each word.

Rona pursed her lips at him, "Must you always be so vulgar?"

He laughed and snapped the reins forcing the horse into a gallop which nearly threw her before she grabbed onto his waist to hang on.

She screamed at him, "You jerk!"

Rona clutched at his shirt and pulled herself forward wrapping her hands around his abdomen. She could feel his muscles flexing through his clothes and knew he was doing it on purpose just to annoy her.

They rode for about a mile before he slowed it down and gave her a chance to let go and catch her breath. She didn't even get a chance to tie her hair up and now it was a tangled mess. She nearly scolded him when he suddenly looked over his shoulder at her and sounding serious said, "Hey, we're going to have to go back around Helgen, it's the fastest route through to the Rift."

"Okay," she said as she pulled a red ribbon from her pouch.

"So that means we'll have to deal with the bandits again," he stated.

"So what's your plan?" she asked as she held the ribbon between her lips and ran her fingers through her tangled hair to pull it back.

"You've got magic right?"

"Uh huh," she confirmed as she finished tying her hair up, "but my expertise is in restoration. I know a tiny bit of alteration and illusion, my skills with destruction are very basic, like small flames and a few sparks, nothing great."

Bishop looked her over and said, "That'll be fine. We only need enough to distract them. One more thing Lightfoot."

"What?"

"I'll make you a deal-"

"If it's to never sing again, no deal," she interrupted.

He smiled then shook his head, "No, not that. We can go back to Riverwood or cut straight through to the Rift after Helgen."

"Um...okay?" she puzzled.

"What I'm trying to say is, your little task from the Jarl...I think we should take care of that first."

"But what about your wolf?"

Bishop clenched his teeth, "Karnwyr is strong. I know he can take care of himself for a while longer. But I heard that dragon yesterday, didn't you?"

She looked up at him wide eyed, "You heard it too?"

"Why do you think I pulled you inside? Because I cared about your crying fit? Pft."

She scoffed at him in disbelief, "Then why bother dragging me out of the rain at all?"

"I've already wasted three days on you woman and I've seen your skill in battle. You're no use to me if you get eaten by a dragon, still, what do you say? We make a trip up Bleak Falls Barrow, get your little magic stone or whatever it is and deliver it to the Jarl - oh, and I get a share of that pile of gold he gave you."

She narrowed her eyes up at him. What a sly dog. "Fine," she agreed.

He smiled back at her, "Perfect. Now here's the plan. We're going to stop off out of sight of Helgen, then you're going to sneak in and set a couple of pines on fire - on the opposite side from where we'll be going of course. Then you'll sneak back and we'll cut around the place with little problem."

"Why don't we just take them out?"

"NO," he practically shouted, "I mean...no. Look princess, you didn't get a good look before, being under me and all, but there were way too many of them to fight off, even with the two of us."

"I've taken out hordes of bandits on my own plenty of times before," she insisted.

His eyes flashed angrily and he firmly said, "No."

"Fiiine," she sighed crossing her arms. Bishop snapped the reins again forcing Rona to grab him around the waist again.

The plan went off without a hitch. Rona enveloped herself in a low level invisibility spell and snuck around the south side of the town where she set two trees on fire. As the bandits panicked and rushed to put the fire out she cloaked herself again and hurried back to the north side of the walls. Bishop was already there and pulled her up onto the saddle behind him. She drew her bow and steadied herself as he snapped the reins and sent their stallion rushing along the north wall.

There were a few stragglers on the walls which Rona easily picked off with her bow.

As they rounded the bend and got back onto the road they saw a small group of people ahead of them.

"Shit!" Bishop swore.

"More bandits?" Rona inquired.

"Hold tight Ladyship!"

She wrapped her arms tightly around him as Bishop pressed their steed to speed up. They came up on the group which scattered from the road, save for one solitary bandit who stood firmly in the middle of the road staring them down. Bishop pulled the reins forcing the horse to go around the man and everything seemed to move in slow motion as they passed around the blonde haired nord before them.

His eyes met with Rona's and his gaze was utterly chilling. He stared, fixated on her as they sped around him. He gave her the most sinister smile she'd ever seen. A chill ran up her spine. Something was utterly wrong with that man. She was grateful that Bishop didn't slow down.

They continued speeding along the path until they were in Riverwood where Bishop brought them to a trot.

They dismounted and Bishop pat the exhausted brown stallion, "Damn - this horse got a name? Hotfoot maybe?"

"Illia said his name's Whiskey...mother named him after her favorite drink," Rona said as she avoided his incredulous look.

"Whiskey huh?" Bishop admired the stallion. "Whelp, good enough for me. Thanks a lot Whiskey! Hey, what do you say we go grab ourselves a drink? Maybe see if Delphine ever schlepped back into town?"

Rona said, "Yes, please." Anything to get her mind off that creepy nord.

They padded up the steps to the Inn and Bishop burst inside bellowing over the bard's awful singing, "Orgnar! Get me a mug of Honningbrew and a glass of Alto for the lady will yah?"

Orgnar looked up from his busywork of cleaning mugs out with a rag and said in a blasé tone of voice, "Oh, s'just you two again."

Orgnar proceeded to slam two mugs onto the counter and poured Honningbrew in both as they sauntered up to the counter.

Bishop looked to the mugs and then back to Orgnar several times then said, "Wow, you really are going deaf, I said one Alto Wine for the lady."

"All out," said Orgnar indifferently.

Rona grabbed the mug and said, "It's fine, I enjoy mead just as well."

"You know you're not getting a tip for this, right?"

"You never tip."

"And I never will, now," Bishop remarked sarcastically. He took a few swigs and swirled the liquid in his mug, "So where's Delphine?"

"Why you askin'?"

"She's still not back huh? I knew you scared her off with your talk of dragons. Tsk tsk." He shook his head at Rona.

"I already told yah, she's gettin' supplies," Orgnar maintained, "Now, how long you planning on staying? Gonna get a room or not?"

"Nope, just stopping off before we move on again," said Bishop.

"Good," Orgnar sniffed and stepped away from the counter. Just then the door slammed open and three guards burst in, completely tripping over themselves.

Bishop laughed into his mug and Rona bit her lower lip nervously as Dagun, Talun and Sigrs all rushed up to her. She was not in the mood to discuss her trip home, but maintained an air of politeness all the same.

"Lady Rona!" they cried in unison.

She smiled feebly at them. Talun yanked his helmet off showing off his blonde hair which had matted down to his head under his helmet, "You're back already! How was your trip?"

"It-it was fine," she muttered.

Sigrs and Dagun both pulled their helmets off next.

"But what about your mother?" Dagun asked.

"Oh...well she," Rona mumbled as she ran a hand up and down her forearm looking away from them.

"She died," Bishop finished for her. She slowly turned to glare up at him. He shrugged, "What? No use beating around the bush princess," he pat her on the shoulder and started to walk away, "I'll let you catch up with your little fan club."

He winked and walked outside. The three guards each gave her their condolences as she reluctantly told them what had happened.

They were seated around the hearth fire as Sigrs told them about his Pa kicking off from a case of bone break fever. Dagun said, "Shut it, she don't want to hear about how painful a disease it is."

"Oh yeah...sorry Lady Rona," Sigrs apologized.

"It's fine," she lied. She was ready to leave. She really didn't want to think about her mother and was looking for a way out, "I do have to get going soon though."

"Oh yeah, where you headed next?" Dagun asked her.

"We're going up to Bleak Falls Barrow."

Sigrs gaped at her, "You're really going up to that old ruin? Whatever for?"

"Going at the Jarl's request," she said and started to stand up.

Talun grasped her hand and pounded his chest with the other, "I'll go with you my lady! I'll gladly protect you from the draugr in that dreaded tomb!"

Dagun smacked him on the head, "Don't be daft boy! You're stationed here in Riverwood and I'll not be having any deserters now!"

Rona chuckled, "It's alright, I've got Bishop with me, besides I'm a trained mercenary. I'm sure it's nothing I can't handle."

"Lady Rona, can I be honest with you?" Dagun looked up at her seriously, "I don't trust that ranger. Been hearing talk about him around town and none of it is good."

Her heart sank. "It's fine, really," she assured him, "Bishop's already saved me a few times. I'll be okay. It was good to see you all though, I'll stop by again soon."

She gave them a weak smile said goodbye and left. She found Bishop in his usual spot outside, holding up the wall of the inn.

"Already finished entertaining your fans?" he asked cocking his head at her.

She rolled her eyes at him, though his words had a tinge of truth to them. The guards were unusually fixated on her. Ignoring his comment, she walked over to their horse and made to climb up when Bishop said, "Nope, we're walking."

"Really?"

"Yup," he pointed up at the mountain ahead of them, "Whiskey here isn't made to climb steep cliff sides, so we're leaving him here with ol' Embry," he nodded to the red-faced man leaning against the railing and spoke louder, "who has promised not to run off with all our things in exchange for forty gold pieces and all the mead he can drink when we get back. Got that Embry?"

"Yeah I heard yah Bishop," Embry grumbled, "What am ah - *hic!* - gonna do with an old horse anyhow? 'Sides, you know where I live..."

"Great, glad we're clear on that."

As they left down the path alongside the river Rona looked over at Bishop quizzically. He met her gaze and said, "What?"

"You're really going to trust," she threw her hands up and gestured back, "HIM, with all our things?"

"Let me make something clear to you Lady Lightfoot, I don't trust anyone, not even the man pouring my drink. The only two things I trust anymore are myself, and my wolf. Got it?"

"Then why did you leave our only horse and supplies with...with that drunk?"

"Because I bribed him princess. People you don't trust you bribe. He's got no use for some old camping supplies and an old horse. He does have use for coin and drink though."

"Riiight," she drawled skeptically. She thought about what Dagun had said about Bishop and decided to confront him, "You know, the guards were saying that you can't be trusted."

"Of course they did," he said unfazed by this notion.

She looked at him bewildered, "And why shouldn't I trust you?"

He stopped and faced her. "I already told you princess, trust is for fools. The only person you can trust is yourself," he poked a finger to her nose, "Now quit worrying your pretty little head about these things. You and I have a deal, I help you with your fetch quest and then you help me find my wolf."

He started walking again and she followed by his side, keeping up with his pace. She looked at him and scoffed, "And what if I don't hold up my end of the bargain? That means you're trusting that I'll follow through."

Bishop rolled his eyes and said, "Oh please. I know you'll follow through."

Rona squinted at him, "How could you possibly know?"

"Because you're one of those types," he said waving a hand in the air.

"One of what..types?"

"You know, you've got this naive belief in honor and justice and all that other Companions crap. You're all noble about it, when you say something you mean it and you always keep your word even if it means fiery death by dragon in the end, am I right?" he smirked at her, "I'm right aren't I?"

She just blinked at him. Don't give him the satisfaction, don't reply to it, don't say anything. She quickened her pace so he'd stop looking at her expression.

He laughed loudly, "This again? That's fine princess. I could look at your ass aaall day."

She felt her cheeks burning red, though this time it was in anger and as they wound their way up the mountain path Rona was so distracted by her frustration that she nearly walked into a bandit trap, thankfully Bishop had been keeping an eye out and yanked her back.

"Watch yourself Lightfoot," he growled.

He looked up and down the tower ahead of them, "I count one at the entrance and one up top. I'll take out the guy up top while you pick off the one at the entrance. On my count."

They drew their bows and nocked their arrows, taking aim. Bishop counted, "One...two...three...shoot!"

They let their arrows fly and nearly hit their targets at the same time. As Rona went to stand though Bishop held out a hand to stop her. "Wait for it," he cautioned.

A shriek was heard from inside the tower and a bandit woman came running out, swinging a sword and screaming, "I'LL KILL YOU!" but Bishop was already on it. She only got several paces out of the entrance before Bishop pierced her heart with an arrow. He stowed his bow back, stood and cracked his knuckles, "And that's how it's done."

Rona shrugged, "I'll admit it, you're a good marksman."

"And I know how to pay attention to my surroundings too," he said mocking her.

She scowled at his back as he continued walking onward up the slope. As they reached the summit they caught sight of three more bandits and took them out quickly.

Rona looked up at the enormous doors in front of her then asked Bishop, "So...what exactly is this place?"

He cocked an eyebrow, "You've never heard of a barrow before?"

She shrugged, "We don't have anything like this in Cyrodiil."

"They're tombs, really old tombs that ancient nords used to bury their dead in. Be careful in their princess, the dead sometimes come alive in the form of draugr. Ever fought one before?"

"Never. But I've gone up against my fair share of the undead," she held up a hand, counting on her fingers, "reanimated skeletons, wraiths, zombies-"

"They're kind of like zombies," he interrupted, "walking around with the skin still stuck to 'em. They're not hard to take down, but they can overwhelm you with sheer numbers and some of them know how to shout, so be careful."

"Shout?"

"Yeah, like your dragon."

Rona looked after him bewildered as he pulled the enormous door ajar and slipped in. She followed after, sneaking along. They heard voices ahead and held still behind an enormous stone pillar to listen.

A woman argued, "So we're just supposed to sit here while Arvel runs off with that golden claw?"

"That dark elf wants to go on ahead, let him. Better than us risking our necks," replied a man.

"What if Arvel doesn't come back? I want me share from that claw!"

"Just shut it and keep an eye out for trouble."

Rona looked at Bishop, held a finger to her lips and drew her dagger from its sheath, then she pointed to him and tapped her bow. He looked at her quizzically as she whispered an incantation and vanished before him, only a blurred outline could be seen where she knelt.

She slipped around the pillar and Bishop getting the hint, finally, drew his bow and aimed for the male bandit. Rona snuck around behind the woman, yanked her backward with her hair, exposing her neck and quickly slit her throat. The man didn't even get a chance to react when an arrow pierced his skull.

Rona breathed and smiled at Bishop. "Nicely done," she said.

"Heh, yeah. We make a pretty good team," he agreed. "Now let's go find that claw, bet it's worth some money."

"We're here for the Dragonstone, remember?"

"Doesn't mean we can't pick up some loot along the way. If you see anything nice grab it, it sells for bundles at the markets. The caravans are privy to it as well."

Rona looked at him in disgust, "You'd rob a tomb?"

Bishop rolled his eyes, "Of course! People do it all the time. These places are so damn old nobody remembers who any of these dusty bones were anyways, except for the famous ones like Ysgramor."

They moved on into the tomb and Rona said, "That's probably why your dead keep coming back. Because you disturb their rest."

"You think? I always figured they just got bored of laying around all the time and wanted to get a stretch."

She laughed and shook her head. They didn't have to walk long before they heard the pleading cries of the dark elf in question. Arvel was wound up in a spider's web, begging for help. Bishop and Rona struggled, but ultimately managed to kill the giant frostbite spider that had wound the man up.

"You did it! You killed it! Now cut me down before anything else shows up!" he cried.

Bishop scolded him playfully, "Now, now. We heard your friends talking back there and we're interested in this golden claw of yours."

"Yes, the claw! I know how it works. The claw, the markings, the door in the Hall of Stories. I know how they all fit together! Help me down, and I'll show you!"

"Hand over the claw first," Bishop demanded.

Arvel was exasperated, "Does it look like I can move!? You have to cut me down first!"

Bishop looked over at Rona, "I say we just kill him and take it for ourselves."

Arvel screamed, "NO! NO! Don't do that! I BEG YOU!"

"Bishop, don't be cruel," Rona started cutting into the webbing to release the dunmer.

"Yes! Yes! Thank you m'lady! What a kind, good woman you are!"

The second he was down though he cackled loudly and drew his blade on them, "GET BACK!"

They both backed off as he laughed more then swiftly turned and ran down the passageway. "You fools! Why should I share the treasure with anyone!?"

Bishop scowled at her, "See? This is why you don't trust, anyone. Least of all a bandit."

"Who said anything about trusting him?" she countered coyly.

"Wha-?"

"Listen," she said in hushed tones.

They heard the draugr shuffling around and Arvel shouting some more down in the tombs.

Bishop gave her a wry look. "Huh...I get it. Wake the draugr with all his stomping around."

"And now we don't have to worry about waking them ourselves giving us easy pickings," she said smiling.

Bishop headed into the next room and said, "Smart thinking princess. Got to wonder how long he'll last though."

A thundering clang echoed throughout the tomb. "Guess that answers that question," Bishop mused.

They easily picked off the now wandering draugr and came upon a dead Arvel, impaled on a deadly wall trap. Rona cringed at the sight as Bishop picked through his pockets pulling out the claw and a journal.

"The ancient nords were really...disturbed weren't they?"

"Huh? Oh you mean this?" Bishop thumbed at the spiky wall trap, "Nah, they just wanted to make sure people had a hard time robbing their tombs. Speaking of," he peered down a hallway and laughed, "already got another one. Wait here a second."

He shot an arrow over the landing, triggering three enormous blades to start swinging back and forth. Bishop carefully timed each step as he walked down the hall grunting, "Now this is...how you get...a close shave!" He leapt forward and pulled a switch to stop them from moving. He held out a hand out to Rona and said, "My lady, after you."

Rona laughed and followed after him. The man was starting to grow on her, as frustrating as he could be sometimes, she enjoyed his sense of humor and she had to admit, they worked well together.

They walked on for another hour, taking out draugr and evading a slew of traps. They even trekked through a portion of the tomb that had branched off into a cavern until they finally reached a strange door with three rings and a round panel in the center. Different animal figures had been carved into the rings.

Bishop pulled the claw from his belt and held it up to a round piece in the center. "Looks like a perfect fit," he said.

"Wait," she grasped his hand to stop him from turning it. She pushed on one of the rings causing it move and change the animal symbol. "It's a puzzle."

"Huh...so what's the solution," he wondered fingering his chin with his free hand.

"You've never seen one like this before?"

"Ladyship I don't make it a habit to go around disturbing the dead if I can help it. Here hold this," he passed her the golden claw and pulled Arvel's journal from his pocket then scanned over it, "Fingers...trembling...blah blah, power of ancient nords...yup - key to Bleak Falls Barrow, got it. Hmm, okay here's something. When you have the golden claw, the solution is in the palm of your hands."

He looked at the claw then back at the journal, licking a finger and thumbing through the rest of its blank pages then tossed it over his shoulder and said, "Well that was useless. We know that thing is the key, but what's the solution? Look around, see if you can find anything on these walls."

Bishop started to feel around the walls, looking for a hidden crevice or switch.

Rona looked at the strange murals, pictures of dragons and nords, in battle, but in some images it looked as though they were communing with them. She ran her fingers over the palm of the claw as she studied the walls, to her surprise it was not smooth. She held it up for a closer look. It was carved with the same animal figures on the door.

"Bear...moth...owl...," she said aloud.

"What's that Lightfoot?" Bishop called over his shoulder as he kept feeling around the walls.

The answer was in the palm of the claw. She ran over to the door and started spinning the rings to match the claw. Bishop came over, "You found it?"

She held the claw up to his face. "The solution is in the palm of your hands!"

Bishop crossed his arms and groaned, "Well that's just stupid. That's a claw, not a hand."

Rona laughed and turned to press the claw into the center dial. She turned it and the door shook and started to slowly fall casting dust up into the air. It obviously hadn't been opened for centuries.

The two carefully tread inside the cavern beyond. Bats scattered and flew around them and high up into the room. A waterfall splashed by a bridge, which lead across a small creek. Beyond were steps leading up to a large stone mural and a coffin.

"Do you hear that?" Rona asked.

"Hear what?"

"That chanting."

Bishop cocked an eyebrow at her and shook his head, "You're hearing things princess."

As they approached the mural the chanting grew louder and louder, it reverberated throughout the cavern. She felt drawn to the strange mural which had a language she'd never seen etched into it.

One word in particular seemed to call to her. It spoke to her very soul and shone brightly among the rest.

Fus...

The word sounded in her mind. She touched it and stared deeply into the light it emitted which caused her vision to fade and blur. She realized the chanting had been so loud that she couldn't hear anything else. She shook her head trying to shake off the blurriness when the sound of Bishop's angry voice broke into her ears, "RONA! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!? MOVE IT!"

She spun around only to see Bishop's dagger scraping against a draugr's enormous broadsword. He was struggling to push back against the creature. Rona drew her bow and quickly nocked an arrow which she let fly into the draugr's head. It stumbled back giving Bishop a chance to stab it in the chest and kill it.

He turned on his toe and stormed right up to her shouting, "WHAT THE HELL IS YOUR PROBLEM? Didn't you hear anything I was saying!? That draugr nearly killed you! You need to start paying attention to your surroundings before you get us both killed!"

Rona cast her gaze away from him, "I'm sorry I just...you didn't see that word on the mural? Or hear those...voices?"

Bishop scoffed, "Obviously we need to get you out of this place. It's starting to play tricks on your mind."

He was rummaging around some treasure chests and stuffing his pockets with valuables. Rona stepped up to the coffin and looked down into it. A stone slab with the same markings as the mural lay inside. She picked it up and said, "Found what we were looking for."

Bishop turned to glare at her then stormed right past her up more stairs and grumbled, "Good, then we can get the hell out of here."

She followed him, keeping her distance. Her mind was swirling with strange thoughts. The word fus continued to reverberate within her.