Fjrgeir, Ralof, and Hadvar continued their decent into the depths of the keep. They met minimal resistance until they reached the torture room. The soldiers in blue, who, Fjrgeir found out, were called Stormcloaks, were fighting some Imperial soldiers. Ralof and Hadvar went to go fight for their side. Fjrgeir wanted to stop them, but the soldiers were hell bent on fighting each other, there was no way they would talk this out.
Fjrgeir hung back near the entrance to the room to avoid the fighting. The two opposing sides fought until it was only Ralof and Hadvar left. The two Nords nodded a silent truce and waited for Fjrgeir to join them. The trio continued on their decent into the depths of the keep.
They thought that they had managed to avoid the rest of the soldiers that had fled into the keep until they walked straight into a room that was full of Imperial soldiers. All the soldiers saw Fjrgeir and Ralof and readied themselves to attack.
Fjrgeir drew fire into his hands. The delicate flames licked at his palms before they suddenly grew and began encompassing the Nord's arms as he feed the spell more magicka. Once he though the spell was strong enough, Fjrgeir launched the spell at some of the approaching Imperial soldiers. The flames hit the soldier in the centre of the group and exploded, engulfing the surrounding soldiers. Screams of agony filled the expansive room.
Ralof had launched himself into battle with a burly Imperial soldier who wielded a large two handed battle-axe. The soldier rushed at Ralof, the axe high above his head, ready to swing it down and rend the Stormcloak in two. Ralof rolled out of the axes path and swung his small axe into the soldier's leg. The axe's blade sunk into the flesh of the soldier's calf, slicing though the tough leather greaves. The Imperial stumbled, the large battle-axe imbedding itself into the moss covered stonework. Ralof lifted up his axe and imbedded it into the soldier's head, slicing straight into the man's non helmeted head. As Ralof tore the axe free the soldier's body crumpled to the group.
Hadvar hung at the back of the room. He knew if he went out into the open he would be thought a traitor and his fellow 'brothers-in-arms' would most likely attack him. Ralof and Fjrgeir had already cut their way through five soldiers, but there were still ten more in the room. Hadvar knew that neither Fjrgeir or Ralof would be able to fight off all the soldiers. There were just too many for them to take on. As Hadvar deliberated joining the fray, he almost missed the smudge of blue-grey that rushed past him. Hadvar went to call out, but thought against drawing attention to himself. The blue-grey smudge obliterated its way through the countless soldiers.
Ralof had pitted himself against another giant of a man, who, this time wielded a large steel war-hammer. A war-hammer that Ralof wanted. He fought viciously against the large Imperial soldier, ignorant of the quickly dwindling number of enemy soldiers.
Fjrgeir burnt another soldier to a crisp. He then turned to the last remaining group of Imperial soldiers. Ralof must be cutting through the soldiers! Fjrgeir thought as he summoned fire into his hands once again. He launched a large fireball at the group, one of the soldiers managed to dive out of the blast radius, and thus saved himself from being burnt alive. Fjrgeir went to summon another fireball, but found his magicka empty. Oh shit. Fear ran rampant through Fjrgeir as the final soldier began to come closer to him. Of all the times to run out of magicka! Fjrgeir looked around for a weapon to use, when he remembered the unfamiliar weight of a sword on his hip. He fumbled for the hilt as he tried to draw it. The soldier seemed to notice that Fjrgeir was reaching for a sword and decided to press his attack. Fjrgeir grabbed hold of the sword's hilt and pulled it from his belt just as the soldier began to quickly close the distance between them. Fjrgeir raised the sword, in what he hoped was a solid enough guard. His breathing hitched as the soldier, now almost right in front of him, raised his sword and swung towards Fjrgeir. He watched the soldier swing his sword down at him. There was the slightest clang of metal as the soldier's sword hit Fjrgeir's guard, and then the soldier was gone.
Fjrgeir blinked.
Where the soldier had been, was now a large splatter of blood. A few chunks of skin, bones, and organs littering the red paste. Fjrgeir's mind spun as he tried to understand what just happened. I didn't use a spell. Not that I know a spell that can turn someone into paste. He only became aware of the person standing in front of him, when the person grabbed the sword from Fjrgeir's grip.
"Wow. You weren't kidding, you can't use a sword to save yourself. That guard was so weak I think even a mudcrab would be able to break through it."
"Ano?" Fjrgeir asked the dark elf that was now holding the sword he had been holding.
"Yep, that's me" the Dunmer said as it looked over the pitch black sword in his hands.
"Why are you here?!" came another voice. It was Hadvar.
"Well, in my hurry to leave this burning town, I forgot that I gave my sword to Fredrick here" Ano said as he jerked a thumb at the extremely confused Nord next to him.
"Fjrgeir" the confused Nord said.
"Huh?"
"Fjrgeir. My name is Fjrgeir. Not Fredrick. I don't even know of a single person named Fredrick."
"Oh. Well, in my hurry to leave this burning town, I forgot that I gave my sword to Fjrgeir here" Ano said answering Hadvar's original question.
"I thought you were leaving Helgen?" Ralof said as he approached them.
"I did leave. I was about a hundred metres down the road when I realised I had left my sword behind" Ano said as he strapped the sword onto his belt.
"Wait? So you got out, but came back into a burning town for a sword?" Fjrgeir asked. He was astonished how simple minded the Dunmer was at times.
"This sword is very precious to me. And since there is only one in the world, I can't easily replace it" Ano said as he seemed to pet the sheathed blade. The group just stared at him a little dumbfounded.
"Well, ah, thank you for taking care of that soldier" Fjrgeir said as he gestured to the red paste beside him.
"Your welcome" Ano said with a little bow. "And your welcome for all the other I took care of as well." Fjrgeir glanced around the room and noticed similar splatters of gore.
"How did you do that anyway? I don't know any spells that can obliterate someone like that" Fjrgeir asked.
"Just one of the perks of being me" Ano said with a noncommittal shrug.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Ralof asked. Ano just smiled a very toothy smile. They realised he wasn't going to tell them.
"So, anyway am I back in your good graces?" Ano said as he turned to Fjrgeir. "Do you still want me to escort you to the College?" Fjrgeir considered Ano for a moment. When he realised that travelling with Ano was safe, if he didn't piss the mer off. He wanted the mer to escort him.
"Yeah, that would be great thanks" Fjrgeir said. Travelling with the Dunmer would also allow him to study how the mer fought, and might be able to work out how he turned people to gory paste.
"Are you sure it's wise to bring him with us?" Hadvar said, voicing his concern.
"Well, he can definitely fight well… that's for damn sure" Ralof said as he eyed the gory paste then he turned to Ano, "just as long as you fight with us," And we don't piss you off somehow.
"As I said to Frodo-"
"Fjrgeir" Interjected Fjrgeir.
"-Fjrgeir back in Bruma that I would protect him while we head to the College, so of course I'm going to fight with you" Ano continued. The two soldiers silently nodded in agreeance to travel together.
"So shall we finally get out of this burning town, and out of the way of a rather angry looking black dragon?" Ano asked but he didn't wait for a reply as he skipped towards the exit through the splatters of gore. The three Nords just watched the mer with trepidation and followed, skirting around the gore.
######
When they finally emerged out of the creature infested cave, there was a bear! A bear! Under the gods-damn town, Fjrgeir took a deep breath of fresh air. The northerly breeze kept the smell of the death and destruction above from the air. The other two Nords sighed with relief as well while the insane Dunmer stood nearby, studying the sky. Suddenly a fear inducing roar ripped through the valley.
"Quick hide!" Ralof yelled and scrambled behind one of the nearby rocks. Hadvar and Fjrgeir followed suit. Ano just continued to look at the sky. The idiot is going to get us killed! Ralof thought as he contemplated in dragging the mer behind cover. Just as he was about to grab the mer the large black dragon swooped overhead. Ralof decided to stay behind cover. The dragon did not bank round to eat them, it continued to fly north flying off over the mountain range behind Riverwood and towards the Whiterun plains.
The three Nord climbed out of cover and grouped near Ano, when the dragon could no longer be seen.
"Why didn't you get behind cover?!" Ralof growled at the mer.
"Hmm? What? Sorry I was watching the dragon" the mer replied.
"You should have got behind cover! The dragon could have spotted you and attacked us!" Ano gave a noncommittal shrug in response.
"Well, isn't it my job to protect you? I would have fought it off."
"But you wouldn't have been able to kill it! Only the Dragonborn can kill dragons."
"I'm pretty sure I would be able to manage."
"What by trying to kill it with your stick?" Fjrgeir added.
"If I had to, yes. Although, I would probably try with Umbra first."
"Umbra?" Fjrgeir asked. He had heard the name before, somewhere.
"Yeah, Umbra" Ano said as he drew his sword.
"Wait, that sword is Umbra? The one that was enchanted by the ancient witch Naenra Waerr?" Fjrgeir asked eagerly.
"The one and the same. Actually thinking about it, I probably shouldn't have given him to you, considering he can warp the minds of his wielders. Oh well, you seem fine enough" Ano said with a shrug.
"I can't believe it! I got to hold Umbra!" Fjrgeir said giddily.
"I thought you didn't care for swords?" Ano asked as he sheathed Umbra.
"I can't wield them to save myself, but Umbra is an exception. It's beautiful workmanship, its magic based history, and its soul trap enchantment. I swear the enchantment on Umbra is stronger than most soul trap spells. And when used in conjunction with Azura's Star, it can become even more deadly!"
"I swear Umbra is blushing with all this praise your giving him" Ano said, blinking in surprise at Fjrgeir's reaction to Umbra.
"Do you think I could run some magic based tests on it?"
"No. Not unless you want to lose your mind, and most likely end up killing everyone you care about, and those you don't care about. Plus, he's picky. He was upset when I lent him to you. His exact words were 'You are giving me to this whelp that doesn't even know which end to hold me by'."
"You talk to your sword, and it talks back?" Hadvar asked in disbelief.
"That I do, and yes he does" Ano answered matter-of-factly.
"There have been many people who thought that Naenra Waerr gave the sword a conscience, that was one of the reasons she was executed" Fjrgeir piped in.
"First dragons, people being killed by cheese, people being turned to gory paste and now sentient swords. Can this day possibly get any weirder?" Ralof asked in exasperation,
"I'm pretty sure I could manage…" Ano started.
"NO!" all three Nords yelled. Ano blinked in surprise but didn't speak again.
The sun had sunk low in the sky. Dusk was slowly creeping across the land. Fjrgeir was the one next to speak.
"Perhaps we should make camp just down the road a little, then we can carry on in the morning." There was a silent nod of agreeance and they set off down path into the cover of trees.
