Hey everybody. Thanks for all the awesome reviews! Alright, this chapter is all about what happens while on the journey (and some side quests) the Dragonborn and Lydia take while on their way to High Hrothgar…, now remember, Lydia has not been outside of Dragonsreach for a while now, so if you feel that I am talking about the scenery or something too much… there you go. As you can imagine, this could be fascinating… enjoy!
I trudged down the stairs, giving the Jarl one last menacing glare before we left. Why did I have to be his housecarl? Out of anyone in Tameriel, the gods chose him, a dark elf. And an annoying one at that.
As we set foot out of the gates of Whiterun, he looked at me, and chuckled.
"What?" I hissed through my teeth. We continued onward. He shook his head.
"Nothing, my dear friend, nothing." Duvaithor smirked with deep simplicity. I stopped, letting him roam in front of me. In a wave of anger, I began to unsheathe my sword from my hip. The heat of my fury fled, though as slow as it did, I still resisted my urge to mount his head on my wall. I stomped forward, grumbling to myself, wishing for sweet solitude in my room back at Dragonsreach.
"Lydia…" He rolled his tongue over my name. He cocked his head back, stopping slowly. With my right hand still on my hilt and the other into a tight ball, I glare at him.
"What?" I muttered, spitting each letter out. He mulled over what words he should say next, only seeming to annoy me further. Finally, the inspirational words came to him.
"Our next move is to go to High Hrothgar, but first, I promised Farkas and his shield siblings that I would do them a favor. You know Farkas and his twin Vilkas don't you?" I held up and irritable hand.
"Yes… I know who they are; I have helped the Companions myself a couple times with their tasks." I walked past him wanting nothing more than to shove him to the ground. I scanned the horizon, taking in each bitter cold moment. In the far distance, snow was accumulating on a large mountain. An elk ran free with a doe close behind, the two creatures glanced momentarily at me, seeming pleased with the fact that I did not have my weapon unsheathed. I smiled at them, seeing the strength of the elk and the swiftness of the doe, and the grace from both of the beings. For a moment I almost forgot about….oh yeah…
"Well, good, Aela needs us to take care of a bear down at honey brew meadery. Think you're up for the challenge?" he grins slowly. His white teeth sluggishly peaked through his dark grey lips. I squinted my eyes at him, wondering how he could be so thickheaded.
"Yes that I am, my thane…" I jeered. Duvaithor abruptly stepped closer to me, so close that his nose nearly touched mine. I sucked in my breath, expecting the unexpected. His twisted smile went sour as he stared me down. I miraculously managed not to blink as I gaped into his blinding white eyes. Was he even looking at me? It was hard to tell when he didn't have pupils or irises.
"Then I suggest we see how ready you are indeed, my housecarl…" Duvaithor said oozing with none other than self-righteous arrogance. I held back the urge to spit in his smug face.
"By all means, lead the way!" I said in a chirpy voice. Slowly we trudged onward. I knew this was going to be a test, an extremely easy one at that, but still. I had to kill this pest with style. Yes I was trying to impress him, only to wipe that stupid smug smirk off his arced face. We grew closer to the meadery. I scanned the horizon again, smiling to myself. What pure beauty. How long has it really been since I've been out here? Months? I let the sadness of isolation drain from me as we stopped suddenly. We were already standing in front of honey brew's door. I blinked. That was short. Had we already passed the farms? Whoa, I really needed to keep my head out of the clouds, especially while in the presences of Duvaithor. Did I really trust him? Hell no. Would I ever? Not very likely. Would I kill him? Yes, yes I will, er would…
"Prepare yourself," Duvaithor said seriously. I rolled my eyes haughtily and unsheathed my weapon, leaving my shield strapped to my back. He slowly shook his head disapprovingly. "Your arrogance will destroy you my friend, better to be safe than sorry, yes?" he
said genuinely. I huffed and chuckled under my breath. Duvaithor took out a long dagger and let his left hand spark up into flames. I stared at it for a couple moments. I wondered just how powerful that ball of flame would be.
"Oh, don't worry Lydia, you will be taking care of this one, all of this is just in case you fall and the beast has grown tired of your corpse." Duvaithor smiled rather chipper. I stared blankly at him. Was he actually serious? Minutes passed as I debated. If this all was only to have me killed… why would he have even wished for that? He didn't know me! I was nobody! Unless he usually played these sick little games. Could he have run with the dark brotherhood? My stomach suddenly churned with confliction. Lydia! This is only a bear! You could slay it in your sleep! I huffed deeply and shook off his remark.
"Well after you," I gestured for Duvaithor to open the door and enter. He arched his already curved eyebrows, while tilting his head. "Unless, you're scared?" I taunted. Duvaithor's teeth grinded harshly. Brutally, he clutched the door knob and swung it open, stepping forth into the meadery.
Nearly instantaneously, a giant bear lunged forward; heading straight for Duvaithor, and oddly, as well did a saber toothed cat. The scene happened too quick for him to do anything except stand there will they pounced.
"Duvaithor, LOOK OUT!" I screamed while tackling him. I landed a top him. He stared at me in utter disbelief as I lay sprawled on top of him. The hard metal of his iron armor felt cold under my recently scrapped hands. I shoved his face to the ground as I got up; fluently I snatched my shield from my back, smacking the large snowy cat away. The bear stood on his hind legs, ready to have his paw come crashing down on me. I veered left, cleanly slicing off his paw. The silver blade collided with his flesh and bone, causing a grinding feeling down my spine. The beast roared in pain as its front paw went flying. The saber cat hissed and came from my side. Just as I was reconsidering my tactics, Duvaithor finally showed up by my side, fighting it off me. The bear then goes after him, seeing a new threat.
As if we knew exactly what the other was doing, I skidded under Duvaithor's jump attack toward the bear as I took on the saber cat. After his jump attack, he shot flames from his left hand. I could feel the instant heat of the magic. The animal whimpered as the flames seared off part of his fur. I sliced and diced the saber cat's fur, trying to steer clear of its claws and fangs. To my side, Duvaithor gave a hiss as the bear's claw pierced him. I looked over to him, worried that he may fall. Yet he still fought onward. He had blinded the bear with his flames.
The sudden pain in my right arm overwhelmed me. I screamed as my sword fell to the ground. What the hell had happened? No time to investigate. The saber cat knew he had injured me severely.
"Lydia!" yelled Duvaithor as he held back the bear. In response, I bashed the saber cat in the head with my shield. I continued to do this for many more moments. I saber cat had grown weary and confused. With one last hefty bash, the creature crumbled to the blood soaked floor, its skull no doubt caved in.
Seconds later the bear also fell, taking a brutal stab to the throat. Duvaithor sheathed his dagger and turned to me. He looked at my arm with concern. I myself glanced down. Automatically, I wished I hadn't. A large saber cat tooth protruded out of my right arm. I winced as the overall pain hit me, my adrenalin subsided. Duvaithor gently grabbed my elbow and looked at the wound more carefully. I screwed up my face as it moved.
Duvaithor looked at me. "I'm going to have to take it out." I scowled at him, then at the large broken fang. I then scrunched up my eyebrows, wishing that this really hadn't happened. He unwrapped my gantlet, as the fang had gone through the stringed, unprotected part. "Hold still, this will hurt," he said half heartily as he cautiously gripped the fang. Gingerly he slid the fang out of my flesh. I blinked back tears as he did so. "There. Okay, now don't interrupt me. Alright?" he whispered. His left hand slowly crept up and dangled over her wound. She was about to ask what he was doing when the feel of a warm blanket snuck over her wound. She gasped as it dove into her flesh, circulating the warmth all over her arm. The sensation left once Duvaithor set his hand down, yet he still held her elbow, revealing my smoothed forearm.
I gazed at it with shock. "How?…" I asked. He smiled and looked up at me.
"Magic, my friend, magic." He wiggled his eyebrows up and down after he did that, nearly making me chuckle. Yet I held my ground. I took my arm away and looked down at the two animals. He followed my eyes. "You can fight Lydia, I'll give you that," he laughed. I shrugged. His face went serious. "You saved me, Lydia…" our eyes met. "I owe you. I really didn't think you would have, but… thanks…" he smiled. I widened my eyes at the sight. It was perhaps the most genuine smile he had ever given me.
So there you have it. This pretty much sets up a lot of other things that will happen in the near and or late future. Special thanks to ElfDavis! For editing and encouraging me, as always XD. And to mosleyset2 for listening to me talk about this. Well, hope you all keep with me and enjoy it. Byee.