There was a large group of soldiers lining up near the border. The three adventurers faded into the back of the ranks. Tava took account of all the soldiers. They weren't dressed in Imperial red. The soldiers instead wore fur dyed in blue, their shields adorned by bears.
"Wait," Tava looked around curiously, "Are these those Stormcloak rebels? The resistance movement in Skyrim. Pushing them to the brink of civil war." she asked, concern sneaking out in her voice.
"That would be these Stormcloaks my mischievous friend." Oleg jolly answered. "But do not worry. I've been far from home too long to take any sides in the matter. The Stormcloaks aren't picky with the company that travels with them." he eased the concern of Tava, then he pointed to a well dressed man standing at the head of the rebel column, "That's Ulfric Stormcloak himself." this fact put Tava back on edge. She turned to Indy and whispered low enough to hide her voice from the humorous wildman.
"I don't like this. I don't belong in the spotlight. Political struggles aren't the realm of thieves."
" After all this I think you can give up on your 'marks of a good thief'." Indy joked. A simple childish turn up of her nose was all Indy got in response. The two were interrupted by Oleg's booming voice,
"Come my friends. The rebels are moving out." he waved them over to the marching soldiers. The trio fell in behind, keeping a low profile. The force marched across the border emerging from a gray mountain pass onto the white open tundra of Skyrim. Indy was back to where he started. As they trudged along Oleg asked Indy an unusual question,
"That whip you carry, few are trained in that art. Who taught you my friend? The Khajiit?" Indy was surprised Oleg neglected to mention his strange dress and odd hat.
"Oh, I'm actually self taught. As evident by this." Indy tapped the scar on his chin. Oleg raised his eyebrow in appreciation.
"Hmm. That is quite a trick. The whip is not a..." Oleg's dissertation was cut short by yells from the column's front.
"AMBUSH!"
"Imperials, watch out!"
"Protect Ulfric!" were some of the discernible shouts in the crowd. Tava let out an exhausted sigh as she pulled her dagger out and snapped invisible. Oleg turned to his friends, his ax in hand, shield raised.
"Stay with me friends! Where is the thief?" Oleg looked around confused.
"Oh she's somewhere around here." Indy witted as he drew out his machete. Indy did his best to stay on Oleg's heels. The old frontier warrior found a group of Imperials. With one motion of his mighty arm Oleg smashed his shield against the skull of an Imperial. A sword from the left came in. Oleg caught it in the nook of his ax and a swift motion disarmed the soldier. The swordless soldier was quickly ended by an overhead chop. Indy locked swords with a soldier. They exchanged blows and parries, but Indy wasn't the superior swordsman. A lucky shot on the soldier's part knocked Indy to the ground. His machete skid across the cold stone road. The enemy soldier's sword point etched at Indy's throat. Then, the soldier fell with a thud, revealing the sleek, black figure that was Tava, bloody dagger in hand. She then stopped a charging soldier with a blast of lightning. He twitched to the ground. Indy took Tava's extended hand and pulled himself up.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. I won't always be here to save you Indiana." Tava laughed at the beaten professor. A mighty warrior yell from Oleg drew attention to a soldier sneaking up on the thief. Oleg threw his shield like a Frisbee, cracking the soldier in the back. One came at the warrior. Oleg pulled him up in one hand by his throat and tossed him into his fellow Legionaries. Oleg spun around and caught one more soldier with his bloodied hatchet. Indy grabbed his whip, back in his comfort zone, a snap created a wide space between Indy and the enemy. A Legionarie with shield raised went towards Indy. A quick crack pulled the shield down and stumbled the soldier into Indy's waiting fist. Then Indy tripped up a soldier who fell to the ground, causing those behind him to trip over him. Tava appeared from thin air to electrocute the pile of soldiers, then vanished back again. A large group of Legionaries charged towards Indy, more than he could take. He drew his revolver and aimed it toward the mob. His shot rang out of the barrel. It struck one soldier and frightened the others with his 'unknown magic'. Then he ran away, through a crowd of Stormcloaks. He took shelter behind a snow bank. Indy peeked over to see the battle continue. Tava snapped next to him, Indy still wasn't used to that.
"So, who's winning?" she asked.
"Right now, Oleg." Indy answered humorously. The woodsman was unstoppable on the field. Tava pulled a bow off her back she had grabbed from the field and drew back an arrow. The bolt rang true striking a soldier in the chest. Indy took the bow,
"Let me see that. Used to be a decent shot with this back in the Scouts." he pulled an arrow out of a nearby dead soldier and leveled the bow down the field. The string wobbled as the arrow flew into the air. Indy didn't see where it landed, but he heard a shout ring out above the rest of the battle chatter.
"Ow! My knee!" Indy's face turned red.
"Okay, my aim isn't what it used to be." he said sheepishly as Tava jerked the bow back from Indiana. A Legionarie sneaked up on the two prone heroes. He didn't notice the branch snap under his feet. Tava's delicate hearing caught it and she rolled over on her back to see the stealthy soldier. She pulled a dagger from her boot and with a artful throw, implanted it in the soldier's neck. Indy noticed the commotion and started to get up. An Imperial stumbled back into Indiana. Indy caught him and turned the dazed soldier around to award him with a left hook to the jaw.
"Indy, this isn't our fight. Time to go!" Tava yelled across the field. Indy saw that the Stormcloaks they were traveling with were losing this fight, so did Oleg. After deflecting with his shield the wild man shouted to Indiana.
"My friend. I fear we are on the losing side of this fight. Leave now, no need for us all to be killed today." the jolly tone still emanated from his voice. Indy turned and escaped with Tava in his grip. He didn't like leaving the helpful man behind, but he was ready to get away from this land and back to Sweden. Unknown to Indy, Oleg would later end up on a wagon with other captured Stormcloaks. Indy and Tava ran across the empty snow lands. Tava stopped and pointed at a cave to hide in.
"I don't think so. Not trying that again." a chuckle accompanied his half smile. They ran some more until a mountain blocked their path. A quick look behind them showed they had escaped the battle.
"Well we are safe. Where's this temple then Mr. Academic?" Tava asked as they caught their breath. Indy took a seat on a nearby stump as he dug through his satchel. He pulled out old books, tattered papers, and handwritten notes and searched furiously through them. He unfolded a map and studied over it. Pushing his hat up on his brow as he tried to make heads or tails of it.
"What's the name of this mountain?" he asked. Tava looked up the imposing mountain, littered with snow and rock.
"Think that's the Throat of the World. Tallest mountain I ever encountered." With that answer, Indy looked back down at the map.
"Good. Then according to this the entrance to this long lost temple should be near the northern base of this mountain." Indy drew an imaginary line with his finer on the map.
"Well, perfect. We are on the south side, that means we've got to walk all the way around." Tava was tiring of this adventure.
"We could climb over it." Indy suggested knowing that would get shot down.
"Like Oblivion we are. Just kill me with that metal thing on your hip now." she yelled in quiet anger. This caused Indy to laugh. He pulled out his Smith & Wesson, flipped open the load gate and inspected the cylinder.
"You're out of luck. I fired my last shot back there in the ambush." he joked at the boiling thief. She pushed her way past the laughing professor and started the trek around the mountain.
"We don't even have our horses any more. Left those back in Orsinium. There's a bloodstain on my coat. My feet are killing me..." Her tired rantings dribbled into her native tongue. Indy couldn't help but keep laughing at her. The trip around the Throat of the World was littered with more snow, trees, and rocks. Not too many dangerous people or animals. Indy lost his gaze in the expansive woods surrounding the mountain's base.
"The woods are lovely, dark and deep. But I have promises to keep. And miles to go before I sleep." Indy recited a Frost poem. Tava took a moment from her rantings to stare profoundly at Indy, taking in his artistic outburst.
"That was... that was actually beautiful. Where did you hear that?"
"One of my colleagues at Barnett, the English professor, recommended this book to me. That was the one poem I liked in it." Indy explained.
"Hmm, I'll have to remember that one." Tava took a liking to the poem stanza.
Before they realized the two had made it to Throat of the World's northern slope. Indy started looking around the base, scouring for the lost entrance. There was a Nordic totem statue protruding through the snow. Indy gave it a push, nothing clicked. He tried to twist it, it gave a little, but ice around it's base was thick.
"Come over here. See if that hog sticker of yours can chip off this ice." Indy ordered as he started to dig away the deep snow. Tava walked over with a confused look.
"My hog sticker?" Indy hung his head down.
"I forgot, your dagger. It's an off color term for a knife." Understanding now, Tava pulled her dagger from under her cloak and jabbed the ice off of the old totem. The leather gloves on Indy's hands were soaked wet from digging away the snow. The nip of the cold started to sting his fingers. Tava carved off the last piece of ice and the totem shifted to life. Indy stood back up and man handled the totem to turn, "Give me a hand." With the two working the totem began to spin on it's own power. Indy raised his arm in a protective manner in front of Tava as they backed up from the whirling totem. A circle of ground around the statue started to descend into the ground creating steps.
"I may not be a tomb raider like you, but I'm guessing those lead to our lost temple?" Tava sarcastically stated. Indy shot back with,
"Don't fall behind sweetheart." He started down the narrow tunnel of stairs. He pulled a torch from the wall and stuck the end in Tava's face, "Can I get a light?" she used a jolt of electricity to ignite the torch.
"My father taught me that spell after he used it to become one of Tamriel's best mages and I'm using it to light torches." Indy could hear the cynical disappointment in her voice.
"Well, the way you electrified those soldiers back there was noteworthy." Indy replied humorously. This was only answered by an eye roll. The stone walls were covered in moss and water trickling down the staircase from the snow melting into the ground. They traveled deep into the ground, so deep they lost sight of the daylight above them. The stairs finally ended in a doorway. Indy wandered around the dark room until he found a large brazier. He dip his torch into the petrol, igniting the lamp. The fire spread across a channel of braziers, illuminating a grand chamber. "We found it. The heart of stone."
