Olbert pushed the heavy gate door aside, and set foot inside the city. He sighed with relief, and Meeko began to wag his tail.
"We made it, Meeko." Olbert said "Whiterun at last. Now, let's see about getting us some dinner shall we?"
The shops were still open, although the shopkeepers were all getting ready to close down. Olbert went into the General Goods store to sell some of the things he had taken from the bandits. The shopkeeper, Belethor, didn't raise an eyebrow at anything Olbert sold, even the bloody wolf pelts didn't seem to faze him.
"Strange little man he was" Olbert remarked as he and Meeko left the shop.
After exiting the shop, the both of them headed toward the Bannered Mare Inn for some dinner and a bed. When Olbert pushed the front door opened, he immediately smelled cooking meat and his stomach gave a growl of desire. Olbert walked over to one of the seats facing the fire pit, and sat down. One of the staff members, a Redguard woman called Saadia, came over and took Olbert's order of venison steak and mead. He settled in to wait for his meal, when a commotion caught his attention.
"I told you, leave me alone Mikael!" A woman said.
She was talking to a skinny blonde man, who was standing over her shoulder and leaning close to her. He was carrying a lute, and Olbert figured he must be the local bard.
"Ah Carlotta, you fiery thing" the bard said "I know how intimidating a talented bard like myself must seem, but really there's no need to be shy. I think you'll find me to be sweet, caring, and…compassionate" he said with a wink.
The woman just groaned and put a hand to her forehead.
"Now really," the bard continued "Let me buy you a drink. I know for a fact that Hulda has some wonderful Argonian Ale up in the back room. I could share the bottle with you. It would be a great way to start a lovely night together."
"Mikael, I'm not going to say it again, leave me alone right now or you'll regret it."
Mikael scowled at her. "Why are you being so unreasonable? Ive been nothing but kind to-"
"Enough." Olbert said from his seat. "The lady has asked you to leave her alone. If you're smart, you'll respect her wishes."
The bard turned to look at Olbert and smirked. "Yeah? And what if I don't" he asked.
"Then I'll make you very, very sorry." Olbert said as he stood up.
Meeko growled and stared at Mikael, teeth bared. The bard walked over to Olbert and stared him in the face.
"I don't have to take that from you, nor will I. You act tough, but I bet when it comes down to it you're nothing but a weak boned milk drinker!"
With that, the bard took a swing at Olbert, but Olbert caught his hand. With his free hand, Olbert slugged Mikael in the stomach, and then threw him over the bar. Mikael lay in a heap for a second, before slowly getting to his feet.
"Now then," Olbert said as he turned to sit back down "I think that matter is-"
His words were cut short by a bottle Mikael had thrown. It smashed into the back of Olbert's head and shattered, drenching him in mead.
Olbert slowly turned to face Mikael again. The bard paled as Olbert angrily strode over to him.
"Now, uh," he stammered "Let's not do anything- urk!"
His words were cut off by Olbert's hand closing around his throat. With one smooth motion, Olbert lifted the bard off the ground and slammed him up against the wall. Olbert then slugged the bard in the stomach twice with all the force he could gather, before driving his knee into the bard's groin, then letting him drop. Mikael slid to the floor, and curled up in a ball, whimpering quietly.
Olbert sat back down and looked over at the woman Mikael had been harassing.
"I think he'll leave you alone after this" Olbert said, and grinned.
The lady smiled back at him gratefully, and shot Mikael a final look of disgust before standing up. She turned to her daughter, who was sitting a few seats away.
"Come on Mila, I think it's time we went to bed"
The both of them exited the inn, and the door slammed shut behind them.
Olbert resumed sitting by the fire, and a woman in the far corner caught his eye. She was wearing a set of heavy steel plated armor. She nodded her approval before returning to her drink. Olbert chuckled.
"The bard must not be very popular" he mused to himself.
Shortly after that, his food arrived. Saadia had also been kind enough bring some scraps of raw meat out for Meeko. He scarfed them down greedily, and then began sniffing around the inn for more bits of food.
After finishing his meal, Olbert walked over to the innkeeper, Hulda, and gave her some gold for a room. He headed upstairs, shut the bedroom door and lay down to sleep.
His dreams troubled him that night. He dreamt of fire, a wall of flame that consumed the whole of Skyrim. He could hear the screams as thousands of people burned, and he could also hear laughter. Deep booming laughter that resonated in his very bones.
He woke with a start, and sat up. By the light coming in from the window, the sun had just risen. Olbert pulled his boots on, and opened the bedroom door. Hulda was already up, cooking breakfast for the inn goers. Olbert gave her a few more coins in exchange for a slice of fresh apple pie and a jug of water. After finishing his breakfast he headed outside.
The dawn air was cold and crisp. It woke Olbert up quickly and thoughorly, and he grinned at the rising sun.
"Today feels like a great day for adventure, doesn't it boy?"
Meeko barked an agreement, and began chasing a blue butterfly that had been fluttering near his nose. Olbert chuckled at the dog, and began to make his way toward the city gates.
As he opened them and stepped outside, a scowl crossed his face. Walking down the road nearby were three High Elves, no doubt members of the Aldmeri Dominion, a group that believed all of the elven races were superior the humans of Tamriel.
The elves walked up to Olbert, and one of them turned to speak to him.
"Out of our way, Nord. We have important business in the city."
"Important, huh?" Olbert replied "I didn't realize strutting around and feeling smug were important duties of the Dominion."
"You hold your tongue in my presence, boy." The elf replied. "You are in the presence of a Thalmor Justicar. I have the power to ruin your life if you so much as look at me wrong."
Olbert scoffed, one hand dropping down to the axe on his belt.
"You elves are not as mighty as you claim to be" he said "In fact; your 'dominion' is a poor joke, and an unfunny one at that."
The elf snarled at him.
"I don't like your tone, boy." He hissed "In fact, I am now quite sure you are a heretic, and you are under arrest for violation of the White-Gold Concordat!"
With that, all three of the elves drew their weapons and charged at Olbert. He swiftly sidestepped the first attacker, and brought his axe down onto the back of the elf's skull. The elf crumpled to the ground, blood oozing from the hole in his head.
"Should've worn a helmet" Olbert remarked as he raised his shield to block a blow from another warrior.
Olbert deflected the sword blow, and then rammed his shoulder into the elf's chest. The elf stumbled back a step, and Olbert quickly closed the gap. He swung his axe up toward the elf's face, but the elf dodged the blow. The other remaining soldier slammed Olbert's back with his mace. Olbert's armor cushioned the blow, but it still made him lose his balance and he dropped to one knee. Before the elf could hit him again, he was knocked aside by Meeko, who threw himself into the elf, and they both tumbled to the ground.
Olbert quickly got back to his feet in time to deflect another sword blow from the other warrior. As the attacker's sword bounced off his shield, Olbert swept the elf's legs, and the elf landed on his back. Before he could react, Olbert's axe cleaved his head in half, spilling blood all over the ground.
Olbert whirled to face the last attacker in time to see him kick Meeko away. The dog yelped as he was thrown, and he landed a short distance away. Meeko quickly got to his feet unhurt, but obviously winded. The elf raised his mace to strike the dog down, when Olbert's hand closed around his wrist.
"I really, really think you're going to wish you hadn't done that" Olbert said as he spun the elf around and rammed his shield into his stomach.
The elf let up a choked gasp, and Olbert swung his axe up into the elf's face. The force of the blow sent the elf into the air, and he landed in a heap. Meeko ran up to the still breathing soldier, and promptly ripped his throat out with a snarl. The elf twitched once and lay still.
Olbert sheathed his axe and gave Meeko a pat on the head
"We're getting good at this, eh boy?"
Meeko barked and wagged his tail in agreement.
Olbert then began the task of stripping the armor off the corpses, and searching them for valuables. Eleven armor was hard to come by in Skyrim, and it usually sold for a very high price.
"The good thing about this fancy Elven stuff" Olbert said as he gathered up what he could "Is that it's light, and easy to carry."
Olbert stood up with his haul, leaving the naked corpses of the elves where they lay. He turned and headed back to the city gates and pushed them open.
The blacksmith, Adrienne, raised a skeptical eyebrow as Olbert showed her the armor he wished to sell.
"I really shouldn't take this" She said "This is Thalmor armor, which means it probably came from a corpse. The bloodstains might also indicate that"
"Where it came from shouldn't matter" Olbert replied "This armor could be easily cleaned and refitted for sale. Think of the money you could make"
That swayed Adrienne's mind, and she took the armor from him.
"Well, I don't have quite the gold on hand to pay you the full value of this set. Perhaps I could trade some supplies for it instead?"
Olbert accepted the deal, and Adrienne gave him several steel ingots, as well as some iron and leather, in exchange for the elven armor.
"Do you mind if I use your forge?" Olbert asked her "This iron armor is in desperate need of replacement"
Adrienne agreed, and Olbert then spent the next two hours hammering out a set of fine steel armor. When he was finished he pulled the set on, and grinned.
"nothing like fine steel to defend yourself with." He remarked.
Olbert also set out to make himself a new axe and shield. Once he was finished he hefted the new weapon, testing its weight. It felt good in his hands, and he grinned.
"Come on, Meeko. Let's go and find somewhere to test our new gear out."