Chapter 3: The Road to Riverwood
POV – Sam
"He's still doing it, isn't he?" Dean sighed, looking grumpy as they continued down the mountain path from Helgen to Riverwood.
Sam bit back a smile. "Yup."
"Dude can't make up his mind apparently."
"He can probably see how lost we are and is keeping in sight so that we know which way to go to get to Riverwood," Sam said reasonably.
Even though he had said that they should split up, Ralof the Stormcloak rebel hadn't gone on that far ahead of them down the path. In fact, the guy kept stopping and looking back at them as if making sure that they were still behind him.
Dean scowled before letting out a sigh. "C'mon, Sammy. We might as well catch up with him. Perhaps he can tell us more about this crazy messed up world we're now in."
Sam nodded, lengthening his stride accordingly with his brother's as they moved to catch up with Ralof. The rebel saw their change in pace and stopped, waiting for them on the path.
"Mind if we tag along?" Dean asked sarcastically.
Sam wanted to jab his elbow into Dean's side, but Ralof didn't appear to take any offense. It was entirely possible that sarcasm was lost on the man. Still, Dean didn't need to be rude and alienate their only "friend" in this world so far.
"Not at all," Ralof smiled. "We appear to be heading in the same direction anyway and you looked lost. Are you new to this region?"
"You could say that," Sam said. "We're not from here."
"From this area in particular or Skyrim in general?" Ralof asked, curious.
"The later," Dean grunted. "We're as lost as you can get."
"Then by all means," Ralof smiled, "I would be happy to have your company. As I said earlier, my sister, Gerdur, should be able to offer you some help. We can help you regain your bearings from there."
"Thank you," Sam said, bowing his head gratefully. Dean merely nodded.
"We'd better get going then," Ralof said, looking to the sky, "if we want to make it there by nightfall."
"Lead the way," Dean said, waving a hand forward.
The three of them made their way down the mountain path in silence for a time before Sam's curiosity got the better of him.
"Ralof, why were you being executed?"
Ralof glanced up at him, his eyebrows raised in disbelief.
"Seriously, you don't know? That was Ulfric Stormcloak himself."
"Oh, right. Ulfric Stormcloak…" Sam nodded, but cast a confused look over at his brother. Dean mimed being gagged and Sam shot him a deadpan expression. He knew that the gagged man from their cart when they'd awoken in this world had been called Ulfric Stormcloak, but he didn't know what that meant. It wasn't like he knew who the man was.
"Right," Ralof said, not seeing the silent exchange between the brothers, but appeared to realize that, as outsiders, Sam and Dean must not know who Ulfric was. "The leader of our fight against the Empire. I forget that most people don't know what he looks like, except for those Imperial wanted posters."
"Right," Sam said, nodding to show that he was following Ralof so far, but honestly the information wasn't anything new to them, so Sam rephrased his question. "How did you end up as Imperial prisoners?"
"I was assigned to Ulfric's guard," Ralof said, his posture straightening with pride. "We were on our way to Darkwater Crossing, in the south of Eastmarch. The Imperials were waiting for us. As pretty an ambush as I ever saw. We were outnumbered five to one, at least. Ulfric ordered us to stop fighting. Didn't want us all to die for nothing, I guess. I thought they were taking us south to Cyrodiil. Parade us in front of the Emperor. But then we stopped in Helgen and you know the rest."
Sam nodded again. Ulfric sounded like a good leader even if by surrendering all of his men would have died anyway at the execution if the dragon hadn't shown up. Speaking of the dragon…
"Was the dragon on your side?" Sam found himself asking. He regretted it instantly. Dean was staring at him as if he'd sprouted a third eye in the middle of his forehead. "It's a perfectly legit question," he hissed defensively. "People have summoned worse creatures to take out their enemies."
Before Dean could respond, Ralof let out a loud laugh.
"What? Oh, hardly! I don't think even Ulfric could pull a dragon out of his pocket." Sam ignored Dean's I-told-you-so glance. "Lucky for us it attacked when it did, eh? I wasn't looking forward to getting a shave from the Imperial headsman."
At least the rebel wasn't making fun of him.
"Really, dude?" Dean asked. "Did that dragon look like the kind of creature that could be controlled? Couldn't you feel the powerful mojo emanating off that thing when we were standing under its wing?"
"Shut up, Jerk," Sam scowled. "Didn't it hurt your brain to use a word as big as 'emanate?'"
"Oh bite me, Bitch," Dean scoffed before turning his attention back to Ralof who was watching their exchange with amused interest. "So, you really think we should join up with Ulfric Stormcloak?"
"Damn right," Ralof nodded. "You don't have to be a Nord to fight for Skyrim's freedom. You should come to Windhelm with me and join the fight to free Skyrim. You've seen the true face of the Empire here today. If anyone will know what the coming of the dragon means, it's Ulfric."
"You think Ulfric knows where that dragon came from?" Sam asked.
"Well… maybe not," Ralof admitted. "Dragons haven't been seen in Skyrim for an age or more. But wherever that dragon came from, and whatever it wants, Ulfric will get to the bottom of it. You can count on that. Besides, you have your own score to settle with the Empire now. And with that dragon."
Sam and Dean shared a look. Whatever was going on, maybe their arrival in this world had something to do with the appearance of that dragon. Their coming had certainly coincided with it at any rate.
"We'll have to think about it," Dean said at last.
"Yeah, sure, I understand," Ralof nodded. "No need to decide now. But I know that after you think about what you saw today, you'll realize that Skyrim deserves to be free."
Sam and Dean nodded neutrally. Sam wasn't sure about joining any rebellion, but he figured that as a pretty high ranking guy, Jarl Ulfric should more than likely have access to books and information that could help him and Dean find a way back home.
The three of them continued to travel down the road some more in silence for about another hour, until their dirt mountain path intersected with a cobbled road much like the one that had taken them to Helgen. In fact, if the signpost next to this new road was any indication to Sam, it could very well be the same path. Two of the three signs on the post pointed back up the mountain towards Helgen and some place called Falkreath, and the other pointed down the mountain to Riverwood.
"At least we know we're heading in the right direction," Sam said, pointing the sign out to Dean.
"Fantastic," Dean muttered, appraising the continuing downward slope of the road as they continued on.
"See that ruin up there?" Ralof suddenly asked after the path came out of a particularly thick cluster of trees along the road, revealing that they were now beside a cliff and a winding river below. But Ralof wasn't indicating the river. Instead, he was pointing up at the mountains on the other side where a large looming series of ruined black structures could clearly be seen in the late afternoon sun. It seemed to take up half of the mountainside. "Bleak Falls Barrow. I never understood how my sister could stand living in the shadow of that place. I guess you get used to it."
Sam eyed the ruins curiously, but noticed Dean frowning up at them.
"They certainly look creepy," Dean muttered before continuing down the path, which now started to wind steeply down the mountain for a while.
At the end of one of the last bends down the cliffside on a jutting outcrop of rock, were three large stone markers of some kind positioned in a semicircle. Sam approached them with great interest when he noticed the carvings on them.
"These are the Guardian Stones," Ralof informed him, "three of the thirteen ancient standing stones that dot Skyrim's landscape. Go ahead, see for yourself."
Sam ignored Dean as he rolled his eyes when he moved to do just that. He examined the first stone on his left and examined its etchings. He wasn't sure how, but he understood the writing on the stone like he'd understood the writing in that magic book he'd looked at back in the dungeons in Helgen.
"Thief Stone?" Sam mused, looking at the etching of a cloaked man holding daggers. "This stone blesses thieves to help them with their stealth."
Dean laughed. "Seriously? They have guardians for thieves?"
"I guess so," Sam mused, moving on to the next stone. "This one is the Mage Stone and blesses its users to help them with their magic." Sam couldn't help himself and stood closer to the stone to get a better look at the etching of a man in flowing robes wielding a staff.
While Sam was looking at the Mage Stone, Dean looked at the last stone, the Warrior Stone, that had an etching of a large muscular man wielding a shield and battle-axe. He too could read the glyphs on the stone for some reason that he wasn't willing to contemplate at the moment. According to the glyphs, the Warrior Stone blessed warriors and aided them with their fighting ability.
At the same time, Sam and Dean brushed their hands over the ruins on the stones and they suddenly started to glow upon contact.
"Mage and Warrior. Good! Those stars will guide you two to honor and glory," Ralof told them.
Sam and Dean stood back from the two stones and stared in startled amazement as the glowing inner light in the rock revealed constellation outlines beneath the etchings of the mage and warrior drawings on the stones. Then two bright beams of light shot up into the sky from the stones.
"That normal?" Dean muttered when the glowing faded and the bright beams of light vanished.
"Well Ralof isn't freaking out, so I guess so," Sam said nervously.
"Whatever. Lets get out of here," Dean sighed. "The sun's setting now and it's going to be dark within an hour."
"You are right," Ralof nodded. "But don't worry. We are nearly there."
"Woo hoo," Dean said dourly. "Come on, Sam. Someone more than likely saw the light show and I don't fancy being arrested by those soldier dudes again."
"Indeed not," Ralof said grimly. "This isn't Stormcloak territory. If we're ahead of the news from Helgen we should be fine as long as we don't do anything stupid. If we run into any imperials, just let me do the talking, all right?"
They picked up the pace after that. Thankfully the road was no longer winding down the mountainside and was now level and gradually progressing relatively down hill and straight alongside the river. They thought that they were making some really good progress when they suddenly heard the howl of wolves from relatively nearby at around sundown.
"Perfect," Dean growled as he unsheathed the sword he'd gotten off the female captain back in Helgen. Ralof pulled out an axe and a mace. Sam moved to pull out the sword he'd picked up from an Imperial soldier as well, but hesitated. That was when the wolves came upon them. There were only three, but these wolves were bigger than any Sam had seen. They were Black Dog big. Dean and Ralof were dealing with the first two wolves, but the third one was smart and seemed to have noticed that Sam had yet to draw a weapon. It charged with a snarling growl and lunged for him. Sam quickly dodged to the side and instinctively threw his hands up, red flames shooting out of his hands again like it did back with the spiders in the cave. The wolf yipped and yowled in pain, thrashing about with its fur on fire before it finally succumbed and died under the torrent of flames that Sam kept pushing on it.
"Anybody want a hot dog?" he asked shakily after closing his fists and ending the fire spell.
"Dude," Dean huffed, wrinkling his nose at the smell of brunt fur and flesh. "I almost feel sorry for it. It's burnt to a crisp."
"Dead is dead, my friend, and we are alive. That is all that matters," Ralof sighed; pulling his axe out of the wolf he'd just killed. "But a wolf burnt that badly has no salvageable pelt or meat."
"Pelt? Meat?" Sam repeated, feeling a little ill. "You want to skin these things?"
"Fur pelts can be tanned and made into shoes, clothes, armor and weapon materials," Ralof shrugged, pulling out a dagger. "And the meat is food. Both are tradable for good coin, which you'll need more of to get by in this land."
"Fair enough," Dean sighed, pulling out his own knife – curiously not the dagger he got off "Captain Bitch" – and helped Ralof skin the two remaining bloodied wolf carcasses. "Can we get a little light here, Sammy?"
Sam looked down at his hands for a moment, willing them to catch on fire on purpose this time, rather then as a reaction to getting attacked. With just the thought of fire he was able to light his hands aflame again and held them above Dean and Ralof so that they could see what they were doing in the rapidly darkening evening.
Once they'd skinned the wolves and collected some of the meat from the carcasses, night had fallen and they moved on.
"I'm glad you decided to come with me. We're almost to Riverwood," Ralof reassured them when they saw that the trees began to thin up ahead. There was a full moon out and the stars were bright and numerous in the sky so Sam ended the fire spell on his hands, feeling a bit exhausted as he did so.
"Good," Sam grunted.
"You alright?" Dean asked worriedly.
"Just tired," Sam said, smiling wearily. "I think constantly using that fire spell wore me out."
Thankfully they ran into no further trouble the rest of their way to Riverwood. Riverwood was a village by the river with a tall wall of rock encircling it on the mountain side.
"Looks like nobody knows what's happened yet. Come on. Gerdur's probably working in her lumber mill," Ralof said as he entered through the gate and took an immediate left along the wall and towards the mill over the river that Dean and Sam had seen from further back down the path.
"A dragon! I saw a dragon!" they heard an old woman proclaime from the main street. Sam and Dean stopped just inside the village gate and looked at her. She was looking up at the sky, pointing over the roofs of the buildings on the opposite side of the street at the mountains. She was speaking to a young man in a nice looking yellow jerkin, tan slacks and well polished leather boots as he was approaching the porch she was standing on. His clothes were nothing expensive, but were of a finer quality compared to the rags that Sam and Dean had been wearing when they'd awoken in Skyrim.
"What? What is it now, mother?" the man asked.
"It was as big as the mountain, and black as night. It flew right over the barrow just as the sun was setting," his mother informed him.
"Dragons, now, is it? Please, mother. If you keep on like this everyone in town will think you're crazy," the man said, climbing the steps quickly and steered her by her elbow to the door of the house.
Sam and Dean traded a concerned look. The dragon might still be lurking in the area it seemed if it had only made its way over this village as the sun was setting.
"C'mon, Sammy," Dean said softly. "We'd best not lose Ralof."
Sam nodded and they hurried down to the mill along the path that their rebel companion had taken. There were fewer lit torches in this area, so it was harder to see things down this way in comparison to the main street. In the mill there was a large muscular man working in a rough jerkin as he moved large trunks of felled trees with only his bare hands. Ralof wasn't there however, so they ducked out and rounded the back of the building where they were now able to hear voices speaking.
"Gerdur!" they heard Ralof say.
"Brother! But is it safe for you to be here?" a woman's voice answered.
Sam rolled his eyes when he saw Dean perk up a little. His brother was such a womanizer.
"Gerdur…" Ralof sighed.
"We heard that Ulfric had been captured."
"Gerdur, I'm fine. At least now I am."
It was at that moment that Sam and Dean made their way into view of the pair. Gerdur was a woman around Dean's age with long blond hair pulled back away from her pretty heartshpaed face. She wore a dusty green dress over a white bodice and petticoat. She eyed the Winchester brothers nervously for a moment, noting the Imperial armor that Sam was wearing.
"It's alright, Gerdur. They were with me in Helgen. I may not have made it out of there if it weren't for them," Ralof informed her. "They are a bit lost, however, and could use some of your help."
"New to Skyrim?" Gerdur asked.
"Yes," Sam cut in before his brother could start flirting. "Do you have any supplies we could take?"
"Of course. It is the least I can do if what Ralof said is true. Here's a key to the house," Gerdur said, handing Sam a key. "Stay as long as you like. If there's anything else you need, just let me know. But what's this all about? What are you three doing here?"
"A dragon attacked Helgen and destroyed it," Dean reported. "The three of us escaped together.
"A dragon? In Helgen?" Gerdur said in wide-eyed amazement. "It can't be… although… it would explain what I saw earlier… flying down the valley from the south… I thought I must have just been seeing things…"
"That dragon flew off this way. You must have seen it," Sam said, thinking of the old woman whose son had hurried her inside when she'd started talking about the dragon.
"You're right, I saw it. But… how's that possible?" Gerdur asked. "Dragons don't exist… they're just stories from long ago… I don't know why… but I actually believe you. You've got the look of someone who's just seen a dragon. Things just go from bad to worse. First the war, now dragons… what's this world coming to? The Jarl needs to know if there's a dragon on the loose. Riverwood is defenseless. We need to get word to Jarl Balgruuf in Whiterun to send whatever troops he can. If you'll do that for me, I'll be in your debt."
"Of course," Dean said. "We could do that."
Sam shot him a look, but Dean only had eyes for the pretty woman who was smiling greatfully at him.
"Is there somewhere we can talk?" Ralof asked. "There's no telling when the news from Helgen will reach the Imperials."
"You're right. Follow me," Gerdur nodded before turning her head towards the mill. "Hod! Come here a minute. I need your help with something."
"What is it woman? Is Sven drunk on the job again?" a booming voice asked.
"Hod, just come here."
A minute later the large hulk of a man from inside the mill appeared atop the stairs entering the mill on the back side. He started in surprise when he saw the Stormcloak rebel.
"Ralof!" he cried. "What are you doing here? Ah! I'll be right down."
As Hod disappeared from sight, a small boy came running over to them with a dog at his heels.
"Uncle Ralof! Did you really see a dragon? Can I see your axe? How many Imperials have you killed? Do you really know Ulfric Stormcloak?"
"Hush, Frodnar," Gerdur said, hurrying over to intercept the boy. "This is no time for your games. Go and watch the south road. Come find us if you see any Imperial soldiers coming."
"Aww, Mama," the boy whined. "I want to stay and talk with Uncle Ralof!"
Sam had to smother a laugh when he saw Dean's smile drop a few degrees. It appeared Gerdur was a mother and not only that, he was pretty sure that Hod was her husband. Dean must have come to the same conclusion too because he didn't even try to flirt with the woman after that.
Gerdur led them to her house, cooked the wolf meat for a late dinner, and Hod helped them settle and bed down for the night. Before going to sleep, Sam and Dean had talked with Ralof and Hod about what they should do and where they should go next. In the end, it had been decided that because Whiterun was a big city, it couldn't hurt to head that way. Such a well populated city should have a city or archives of some kind that could help them discover more about the world they were in and hopefully a way back home to their world. It didn't hurt that in going there, it allowed them to fulfill their promise to Gerdur to warn the city's Jarl about the dragon.
The next morning the brothers were treated to a home cooked meal and given supplies for their journey to Whiterun.
"I told you my sister would help us out," Ralof said, grinning at them as they stood just inside the door before the brothers left. "I hope to see you in Windhelm. Good luck."
"Thank you," Sam said. "How do we get to Whiterun from here?"
"Just head north – you can't miss it. It's the capital of Whiterun Hold," Ralof told them. "Before you leave Riverwood, you might want to visit the trader down the street and trade those wolf pelts for some coin. I know Gerdur gave you some, but in the city, things can get expensive."
"Sounds good," Dean nodded.
"Thank her and Hod for us?" Sam requested as they began to head out the door.
"Of course. Safe travels, my friends. I hope you find what you're looking for," Ralof told them.