Chapter 2: Death and Destruction
"We are young, we have heart
Born in this world as it all falls apart
We are strong, we don't belong
Born in this world as it all falls apart."
-Aron "Deuce" Erlichman
Whiterun was beautiful.
It was here, as she stepped into those gates, that she found she loved Nordic architecture.
As she walked, a man was talking to a woman about paying for swords for Imperial Soldiers, a man told her something about Ulfric, guards constantly nagged her, and others.
The city was full of life and people.
She didn't know who to talk to, but after a bit of walking she saw a man leaning against a building in iron armor. She decided to talk to him.
"Hello." Sapphire said.
"Well me, traveler. What brings you to Whiterun?"
"I seek the Jarl." She said.
"The Jarl! The Jarl's a busy man. Why would you disturb him?"
"Well, I have a message for him. Could you be so kind as to show me the way?"
"Well..." The man said. "I suppose. He's that way." The man said, pointing North. "Up the stairs, pass the preacher and up more stairs. You can't miss it."
"Thank you. May I get your name?"
"Jon Battle-Born. And you, m'lady?"
"Sapphire Valentinia. Good day, Jon." She said, and followed his directions. Sure enough, a man was preaching to no-one in particular about Talos. Right next to him, a large stone stairway leading to a beautiful large building. After heading up the stairs, the two guards at the giant wooden doors pushed them open for her.
And she stepped into Dragonsreach.
She didn't allow herself to enjoy the inside of the large building. She ran straight up to the Jarl's throne...
And was stopped by a Dunmer.
"What's the meaning of this interruption? Jarl Balgruuf is not receiving visitors."
"Gerdur sent me. Riverwood is in danger."
"As housecarl, my job is to deal with all dangers that threaten the Jarl or his people. So you have my attention. Now explain yourself."
Sapphire sighed, but obeyed.
"A... Dragon... Has destroyed Helgen."
"What?" She asked genuinely surprised. "You know about Helgen?"
Sapphire was conscious of the fact the the Jarl, who had been arguing with his steward, was now watching her quietly.
"The Jarl will want to speak to you personally. Approach."
She stepped up to the Jarl.
"So, you were at Helgen? You saw this... Dragon. With your own eyes?"
She decided there was three ways to take this. She decided that the one that didn't talk about her being a criminal in the Imperial's eyes, or talk about Ulfric.
"The dragon destroyed Helgen and I last saw it heading this way."
"By Ysmir, Irileth was right! What do you say now, Proventus? Shall we continue to trust in the strength of our walls? Against a dragon?"
"My lord," Said the housecarl. "We should sent troops to Riverwood at once. It's in the most immediate danger, if that dragon is lurking in the mountains-"
"The Jarl if Fallreath will view that as a provocation! He'll assume we're preparing to join Ulfric's side and attack him! We should not-"
"Enough!" The Jarl barked. The whole room went silent. "I'll not stand idly by while a dragon burns my hold and slaughters my people! Irileth, send a detachment to Riverwood at once."
"Yes, my Jarl." She said and hurried off.
"If you'll excuse me, I'll return to my duties." The steward, Proventus, said.
"That would be best." The Jarl said softly. Then he looked to Sapphire. "Well done. You sought me out on your own initiative. You've done Whiterun a service and I won't forget it. As a small token of my esteem, I'll order you a piece of steel armor. But there is another thing you could do for me. Suitable for someone of your... Particular talents, perhaps."
Sapphire raised an eyebrow.
"Come, let's go find Farengar, my court wizard. He's been looking into a matter related to these dragons and... Rumors of dragons."
He stood and lead her to a room on the right side of Dragonsreach. A Mage in blue robes stood, as if waiting for something impatiently.
"Farengar," The Jarl said to the Mage, apparently named Farengar. "I think I've found someone who can help you with you dragon project. Go ahead and fill her in with all the details."
"So the Jarl thinks you can be of use to me?" He asked, raising an eyebrow. "Oh, yes... He must be referring to my research into the dragons."
Okay. The man was showing off. Sapphire rolled her eyes.
"And yes, I could use someone to fetch something for me. Well, when I say fetch, I really mean delve into a dangerous ruin in search of an ancient stone tablet that may or may not actually be there."
Sapphire sighed. "Fine. Where am I going and what am I fetching?"
"Straight to the point, eh? No need for tedious hows and whys. I like that. Leave those details to your betters, am I right?"
"No. Now quit treating me like a child and tell me where to go before I slice your head off."
"I, uh... L-learned of a certain tablet said to be housed in Bleak Falls Barrow - a 'Dragonstone,' said to contain a map of dragon burial sites. Go to Bleak Falls Barrow, find this tablet, no doubt-"
"I get it. What's this Bleak Falls Barrow?"
"It's an old tomb, built by the ancient Nords, perhaps dating back to the Dragon War itself. Ah, maybe you just want to know how to get there."
Sapphire raised an eyebrow. iYou think?/i
"It's near Riverwood, a miserable little village a few miles south of here."
"Thank you." Sapphire said. Finally.
Sapphire finally arrived back in Riverwood. She'd sold her iron banded armor, gained the steel armor the Jarl ordered for her, sold the gold ring to Fralia Gray-Mane and bought a silver one, sold her wolf pelt and deer hide, along with a few leather strips, ran to Riverwood, uneventfully, and now here she was.
Fighting a bandit.
She had arrived at night, and heard Alvor's daughter yelling 'Leave me alone!'
She ran to investigate and saw Alvor get hacked in the stomach. She killed the woman easily, then stuck her sword through the Nan's face, who had been backing her up with a crossbow.
"These vampires are becoming a real menace." Said a Whiterun guard near her.
Vampires? So these were thralls. Not bandits. So that- Alvor!
She ran to find him on the ground near the woman, blood everywhere.
"Look out!" A guard shouted and shot his crossbow.
Straight at her face.
Sapphire ducked down and heard a grunt behind her. The guard had killed a vampire, and saved her life. The Vampire, who she recognized to be a Master Vampire, had almost killed her. She knelt down and felt Alvor's pulse.
Dead.
She hadn't known him well, but he seemed like a nice guy. She'd get revenge.
She searched the thralls and the vampire, gaining a silver jeweled ring, a nice amount of gold, more steel bolts for her crossbow, vampire dust, a book titled 'Ahzirr Traajijaleri', which she threw back down at the vampire she'd gotten it from.
Then a Bosmer walked up to her.
"You helped save us. It's sad that Alvor died, but he died protecting his family. Have this, as a token of my friendship, for helping fight off those... Things." And he gave her a book. 'Killing - Before you're killed.'
Sapphire woke up the next morning in the inn feeling well rested. She had rented a room after last night, and quickly left town when she woke. She followed the road, until it forked at the bridge. She turned left and hiked along the path. She was attacked by a wolf, but it was rather boring hike.
Until she saw the watchtower.
She saw two people guarding it, also. She couldn't be sure they weren't bandits, however, so she pulled her crossbow off of her back. Sapphire was never good at archery, but she was better with a crossbow than a longbow, short bow, or recurve bow.
Upon approaching, the shivering guard pulled out his great sword.
He had fur armor. Bandit. Damn.
Instantly, she fired and hit the poor fool. He died instantly.
"Hey!" Another bandit yelled, and aimed his bow.
Sapphire and the bandit both shot and missed. Shot and missed. Shot and missed. Of course, they both constantly moved. If Sapphire had stopped to put her crossbow up and get her sword out, she'd get shot. So they danced, until Sapphire got a lucky shot.
It hit him in the chest, he stumbled back, stunned, then his knees buckled. He was dead. She found 10 gold and 2 lockpicks in between the bodies. She took a coin purse from inside the tower and equipped her sword and shield. Upon climbing higher, she saw another bandit. They both waited for the first move.
Sapphire made it.
"Heeeeaaaaghh!" She said, charged, and swung. And sunk her steel sword into the female bandit's heart. She had 7 gold on her, and sapphire found 78 more in a chest near her. It also had 4 lockpicks and a magicka a potion.
Sapphire left the tower, rounded the corner, and gasped. Through the snowy blizzard, she saw the barrow. And it was spectacular. She waded through the snow to get closer, and eventually walked up the steps leading to the barrow.
"Ha! Found you!"
Huh!
Instantly, a bandit shot at her, and alerted the other two up there. Shit. She charged up the steps, shield in front. She slashed and bashed the first one down the steps, then the second, which was an Orc with a warhammer. The third, however, was an archer like the first. She ran up the stairs and grabbed him by the head.
"No!" He pleaded.
She threw him back down and let him get up. He pulled out a dagger and yelled. "You won't leave here alive!"
So she smashed him in the face three times with her shield, then swung it, the edge crushing and cutting his throat. He let out one last strangler scream as he fell, blood seeping from his mouth. She found 16 septims on his body, and went to search the others. The Orc had 9 gold and the first archer had 10. She ran up the remaining stairs and quietly pushed open the dark metal door.
The inside was mossy, crumbled, ruins.
But it was warm.
She crouched and crept over to the body of a bandit and looted 11 coins from him.
"...so we're just supposed to sit here..."
She could hear two other bandits on the far side of the room, but had trouble making their words out.
"...While Arvel..."
She crept closer.
"That Arvel wants to go on ahead, let him. Better than us risking our h-"
"Huh!?" The female bandit said looking straight at Sapphire.
Sapphire lunged up and charged. She cut the man down mid-run. The woman was an archer. Sapphire stumbled back as an arrow plunged into her shield. A good archer.
As the woman nocked another arrow, Sapphire ran her through the chest with her sword.
She found 3 gold on the male and 7 on the woman.
She wasted 2 lockpicks opening a chest, but got 60 gold and a potion from it.
Then she sat by their fire and nibbled on the last of her bread. She wouldn't get a real meal until Riverwood. Great. After eating the last half of her bread, she continued on.
She tripped over vines. A lot of vines. She found it annoying, but if someone was with her they might've laughed. The tomb was long, dark, twisted, foggy, crumbling, annoying. She killed a bandit, finished a trap puzzle (Snake, snake, dolphin). Found a soul gem, got 7 gold from a chest, got a book titled 'Thief' and grabbed a potion. Killed three skeevers, found her favorite poison (paralysis), found a scroll. Killed a GIANT spider, killed Arvel, took his journal and the golden claw. Found another soul gem, killed Draugr, killed more Draugr. She replaced her crappy Imperial sword with a crappy Ancient Nord Sword, killed even more Draugr and got some nice loot. Killed more Draugr, fought a restless Draugr Lich (Scary bastard, that one), mined iron, looted a chest, killed a Draugr, looted another chest (breaking 2 lockpicks), looted a skeleton, was frustrated and pissed the whole way through, killed a restless Draugr and looted one more chest...
Then things got interesting.
The room had a large double-wooden door. It opened to the Bleak Falls Sanctum.
Sapphire pushed the door open. Inside was a large brazier with a still lit fire. Must've been magic. She kept going through the tomb, almost dying and killing off many Draugr.
She took an arrow from a Draugr archer, in the left calf, cut the back end off, and pulled it through the other side. She screamed in pain all the while. Now she couldn't walk. She drank two healing potions, but passed out from pain. A few hours later, she woke, but stumbled through the rest of the sanctum. Eventually she came to a long room with pictures, elegant beautiful detailed pictures, drawn along the walls. More like carved. At the end of the hall was a strange circular door, with animals on it. And a claw mark in the center. She looked at the golden claw to see a bear, a moth... Or locust... A bug. And an owl. She moved the rings until the door matched, she put the claw in the center, and turned it. When she pulled it out, the rings turned to three owls, and the door slowly and noisily moved down.
She continued and came to a huge, spectacular cavern.
"Woah..." She breathed, right before taking ten bats to the face. "Agh! Ack! Ew!" She screamed. After getting over the flying rodents, she continued and saw a large...
Shrine...
It was beautiful. She crossed the bridge and went up to it.
Then, a large wall with strange runes, started calling to her.
"Hah, hu hwah, hah, hu hwah, hah, hu hwah, hah, hu hwah." One of the words was filled with blue energy. It looked like pure magical. Tendrils of it broke off and flew at her, more and more as she drew nearer. As she got up to the word, her vision got darkerand she instantly knew it was Ancient Dragon. She didn't know how she knew, she just did. She also recognized the word as... Fus. Force.
Then... It all stopped. All was calm. Vision returned.
Clunk.
The sound of a coffin opening behind her.
Shit.
She turned to see a Draugr climbing out. But she knew it wasn't a normal Draugr. It pulled out its ancient Nord battle axe, which glowed blue with frost, and looked straight at her.
"Fus... Ro Dah!"
Wait-
Fwoosh! A shockwave of energy hit her, but seemed to go around her like air. It only just stumbled her.
She charged and slashed, getting it on the head. It was a critical strike, but it still stood. She smashed it with her shield and swung again. And again. And again. Then, it fell over and she plunged her sword into its stomach.
She tried not to gag, but ended up retching. She strapped its battle axe to her back, put the ancient stone tablet in her book bag, and took 26 gold from the corpse. She saw a chest next to the coffin.
125 gold, a garnet, 3 lockpicks, novice robes of conjugation (FEMALES! Not from a dead male guy!), a soul gem, and a spell tome. She continued on a little, looting another two chests, and...
She saw the end. It opened up to a cave outside!
She was basically a walking pack mule by now, she probably couldn't fight if need be. Good thing she made it back to Riverwood uneventfully.
Then a courier ran up to her.
"I've been looking for you. Got something I'm supposed to deliver. Your hands only. Let's see here... Ah! A letter from the Jarl! Moving up in the world, eh? Well, looks like that's it. Got to go."
She took the letter and opened it, curious.
"iSapphire Valentinia,
Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Siddiger, and I have the honor to be the Jarl of the proud and ancient city of Falkreath.
The fame of your exploit in Whiterun has brought you to my attention. If you are interested in becoming a Thane of Falkreath hold, I invite you to speak to me next time you are in Falkreath. Aside from the honor that accrues to the title, my Thanes are entitled to a personal housecarl. I also can tell you privately that a choice of land in Falkreath would be available for your purchase should your services prove useful to me.
I look forward to meeting you in person.
I remain,
Jarl Siddiger of Falkreath./i"
Sapphire folded the note and put it away. Interesting. She'd definitely meet Siddiger some time. It was night time, and she decided to sleep at the inn until early morning. She woke at 5:13 AM. And set off for Whiterun.
As she walked through the forest, she heard a distant roar.
A familiar roar. A roar that made her body go rigid.
A powerful gust of wind sent her sprawling as a dragon flew overhead, towards Whiterun...
"Oh no." She whispered.
"Farengar!" Sapphire called, bursting through the Dragonsreach doors. Sapphire rand through Dragonsreach and turned to see Farengar talking to a woman.
"Farengar." She said again.
"Ah! The Dragonstone of Bleak Falls Barrow." He said, taking it. "Seems you are a cut above the usual brutes the Jarl sends my way."
"Okay. I got it for you. But I need to tell you somethin-"
"Here is where your job ends and mine begins. The work of the mind, sadly undervalued in Skyrim. My... Associate here will be pleased to see your handiwork. She discovered its location by means she has so far declined to share with me." Farengar turned to the hooded woman. "So your information was correct after all. And we have our friend here to thank for recovering it for us."
"You went into Bleak Falls Barrow and got that? Nice work." Sapphire recognized the voice... Though not sure where. "Farengar, send me a copy when you deciphered it."
"Yeah, yeah... Farengar!" Sapphire tried again.
"Farengar!" Irileth's voice. Great. More interruptions. "Farengar, you need to come at once. A dragon's been sighted nearby. You should come too."
"I tried to tell you." Sapphire said under her breath.
"A dragon! How exiting! Where was it seen? What was it doing?"
"I'd take this a bit more serious if I were you. If a dragon decides to attack Whiterun I don't know if we can stop it."
They followed Irileth to a further place in Dragonsreach, up stairs where the Jarl was waiting. A guard caught up with them too.
The Jarl looked to the Whiterun guard. "So, Irileth tells me you came from the western watchtower?"
"Yes, my lord."
"Tell him what you told me. About the dragon." Irileth said forcefully.
"Uh... That's right. We saw it coming from the south. It was fast... Faster than anything I've ever seen."
"What did it do?" The Jarl asked. "Is it attacking the watchtower?"
"No, my lord. It was just circling overhead when I left. I never ran so fast in my life... I thought it'd come after me for sure."
The Jarl nodded somberly. "Good work, son. We'll take it from here. Head down to the barracks for some food and rest. You've earned it." After the guard walked away, he turned to Irileth. "Irileth, you'd better get some guardsmen and get down there."
"I've already ordered my men to muster near the main gate."
"Good. Don't fail me." Then he looked to Sapphire. "There's no time to stand on ceremony, my friend. I need your help again. I want you to go with Irileth and help her fight this dragon. You survived Helgen, so you have more experience with dragons than anyone else here. But I haven't forgotten the service you did for me in retrieving the Dragonstone for Farengar. As a token of my esteem, I have instructed Proventus Avenicci that you are now permitted to purchase property in the city. And you will be entitled to a gift from my personal armory. An iron helmet of minor restoration. Come get it later."
Sapphire followed Irileth, as Farengar argued with the Jarl about going along with them. Sapphire and Irileth didn't wait, however. They knew the answer would be no.
Sapphire opened the doors of Dragonsreach with a sigh.
Great. Barely survived a few Draugr and off to fight a dragon.