A/N: Well here is the second chapter, I hope you enjoy. Leave a review if you have anything to suggest, or to just say good job... Or bad job depending on how much you liked the story.
The Dragonborn's Blight Ch.2
"Harken Now Sons Of Snow"
Aeden grunted as he shifted the strange woman from the woods in his arms. He was carrying her through the keep to one of the spare bedrooms for guests. His brother Fergus walked beside him, toting the woman's equally strange belongings. A shield that was made of huge bones and a sword that was also made of bone but was pitch black; and a leather pack of some sort that could not be opened. Curiosity burned inside Aeden as he thought of the mysterious woman.
When he reached the door he stepped to the side and signaled for Fergus to open it for him.
"Taking her to bed so soon brother? You really must learn to restrain yourself, take it slooow." He said opening the door and chuckling.
"I promise, I will break your jaw if you make one more joke." Aeden growled.
His brother merely laughed and went to place the woman's belongings on the table opposite the bed. Aeden stepped to the large bed, bending over he gingerly placed the woman on it. Standing up straight again he looked down and found himself entranced by her. Without the pain or look of anger distorting her features, she was even more beautiful. Her black hair framed her face perfectly. And even with her pale skin he could make out several scars on her face; the most apparent being one that came down the right side of her lips.
"Who are you?" He asked aloud, not expecting any answer.
"It is a fair question brother, one I anticipate being answered." Fergus said stepping beside him.
Aeden almost sighed a breath of relief at hearing a normal statement from his brother. He almost jumped though as the door to the room snapped open with a bang. The resident healer and nurse, Matilda, walked quickly to the bed and began shooing Aeden and Fergus out of her way.
"Move move move, I must attend to my patient." The fifty-something year old said in a motherly tone. Aeden watched as she grabbed the woman's head and turned it this way and that.
"Hmm, no sign of concussion or head injury. Your father said you all found her out in the woods. Tell me, did she exhibit any outward symptoms of anything?" She asked crisply without turning her head, expecting an immediate answer.
Aeden scratched the back of his head for a second, trying to remember any details of his encounter.
"Well, I remember that she had a bit of drunken gait, she also held her head some as well. I can't really remember anything else." He said.
Matilda hummed in acknowledgement before she moved her hands to the straps of the woman's chest piece and lifted it off. Aeden immediately turned around before he saw anything he shouldn't. Fergus did the same, and the two shared a look when they both heard armour clanging on the stone floor.
"Oh would you two grow up, she's wearing a tunic. I need you two to
get this armour out of my way." She demanded.
They shared one more look, and turned around. The woman did indeed wear a tunic underneath, and they set about doing as they were told; not wanting to risk the wrath of Matilda. Kneeling down to pick up the shoulder pieces he noticed something glinting near her neck. Looking more closely it was just poking out of her shirt, he reached for it and pulled it out and held the item in his hand. It was an amulet of some sort, it was bronze coloured and had a tinge of green to it; suggesting it's age. Aeden had never seen the symbol before, to him it looked like an upside down battle axe with intricate carvings. He turned it over in his hand, looking for a name or anything that could tell him about her.
"What's that you got there?" Fergus asked looking over his shoulder.
"Seems to be an amulet of some sort. But I've never seen anything like it, I was honestly hoping it would shine some light on whoever she is." He answered.
"Well whatever it is put it back." Matilda scolded. "It isn't yours to fiddle with." She said while taking off the woman's boots.
Aeden and his brother both rolled their eyes and he placed the amulet back down.
"As it stands I need to find Oriana and Oren, I leave for Ostagar before nightfall; so I plan on spending as much time with my wife and son as I can. Brother, Matilda." He said with a nod to each as he exited the room.
Aeden watched him go and felt a sense of melancholy fall upon himself. His father and brother were leaving to go fight Darkspawn. And he would be stuck in the keep, watching over the lands with his mother. Aeden dropped his head and sighed. In his heart he wanted nothing more than to go and fight with Fergus and his father, but he also knew that someone had to keep things managed.
"I believe I will leave as well, Matilda. I must find my father, Arl Howe has most likely arrived by now and I must be there to greet him. Do keep us informed about our strange guest." He said with a bow to the old woman.
Matilda glanced at him out of the corner of her eye while she continued to examine the woman and titled her head in acknowledgement. Aeden turned and left the woman to her work. He closed the door behind him and made his way to the main hall, hoping that the rest of his day would be ordinary without any extra suprises.
**TDB**TDB**TDB**TDB**
Stava slowly opened her eyes and found herself in the middle of a hall of some sort. The hall was strange in that nothing matched or even made sense being there. A row boat made of rocks, entire dining sets somehow stuck to the wall. There were paintings of abstract shapes and colours she didn't even know existed. There was an incredibly strange one with 5 various dogs sitting around a table, with mugs of mead and stacks of gold I front of them.
Stava looked away and to her left and saw a door. Or at least she thought it was a door, it was average sized but it seemed to be made of...
"Cheese?" She said incredulously.
"Did somebody say CHEESE!?"
Stava's eyes widened. She knew that voice, she would know it anywhere. And that terrified her. She slowly forced herself to turn around, and that's when she saw him.
"Sheogorath." She said quietly.
"Hello!" He hollered from his throne, waving his hand back and forth rapidly.
Stava's breath hitched in her throat as she fell to her knees. She felt her whole world crash down around her as she realized that she was in The Shimmering Isles, Sheogorath's throne room no less.
"No, no no no! Am I dead? I'm dead aren't I? And You were the one to win my soul? Tsun you lied to me! You said I would go to Sovngarde!" She bellowed in despair.
"What are you goin on about lass? You aren't dead, though if you don't make some serious changes to your lifestyle you might be. Hahaha!" He laughed.
"Wait," she said. "I'm not dead?" She got off her knees and slowly approached the prince of madness.
"Well ofcourse you aren't dead, you ninny. If you were I wouldn't be offering you pea soup. Which by the way you better eat it before it eats you!" He yelled holding out a bowl towards her.
Waves of immense relief passed over Stava at hearing those words. But it was momentary as she soon realized that she was still in Shimmering Isles, with Sheogorath. She didn't hate Sheogorath, she was just very wary of a completely unpredictable God-like being of infinite power. Who had an obsession with cheese no less.
"How did I get here if I'm not dead? The last thing I remember is defeating Alduin and the next thing I know, Tsun..."
"Sent you to a lost mortal plane of existence on a mission to save it from an evil that you don't even know and wasn't even informed of by aforementioned God of Trials?" He interjected.
"Well, yes." She said dumbfounded, trying to understand everything that had been happening. She had been sent to a new mortal plane, had woken up in a forest of some sort and met some locals. And then passed out.
"Oh gods, what has Tsun gotten me into?" She asked aloud, forgetting she wasn't alone.
"You mean besides another fight against an unstoppable evil that will destroy all of the mortal beings of this plane? Well, there was that time he got you to fight that big scary world ending dragon. Haha." He laughed.
Stava suppressed a groan, the last thing she needed was to upset the mad God.
"And currently he has also gotten you in the middle of a power play involving betrayal, scheming and murder with just a pinch of pillaging. Ah, how I love you mortals and your pathetic ambitions for power." He said with a happy sigh.
Stava furrowed her brow at that.
"Wait, what do you mean?" She asked, trying to figure out what he meant.
"What? You don't remember? Well those people you passed out on took you back to their castle to nurse you back to health. Which honestly is a bit of a surprise, I thought you would have been imprisoned; talk about ruining the dynamic." He huffed, crossing his arms.
"No no not that, I meant the betrayal and murder part." She said trying steer the conversation back in the right direction.
"Oh that? Well your asleep in a bed in said castle that is now being pillaged by traitors that are burning the whole place down; and killing everyone that isn't one of them." He replied somewhat jovial.
"Wait so I'm in a bed? Then is this real, or just happening in my head?" She asked confused.
"Well ofcourse it's all happening inside your head. That doesn't mean it can't be real. Honestly, you'd think that for someone who pranced about in a dead emperors head would be able to accept the situation." He spoke while shaking his head.
She suddenly heard screaming and a loud bang that sounded an awful lot like a door.
"Well I better let you go, wouldn't want you to miss out on all the fun! Oh, and should you find any exotic cheeses, YOU HAD BETTER SHARE THEM OR I'LL TEAR YOUR SKIN FROM YOUR FLESH AND USE IT AS A BLANKET! Ta-ta." He said politely with a wiggle of his fingers.
**TDB**TDB**TDB**TDB**
The hushed, frightened voice of a women was the first thing to reach her senses. The smell of smoke came next, along with screaming and yelling. Her eyes fluttered open and she scanned the room with blurry sight. In the far corner to her right she saw what she assumed to be someone huddled. Across the room she saw her weapon and armor stacked on a table. She groaned as she sat up on the bed, rubbing the blurryness from her eyes.
"Shor's bones, don't you people know how to be quiet when you die?" She asked morbidly to the cowering woman, and boy she observed; in the corner. She was relieved though, being able to speak normal again.
Suddenly there was a loud aggressive banging on the door, ruining her moment of relief.
"We know your in there! Open the door you Antivan whore, and maybe we'll spare your son of watching us have some fun with you!" He yelled cruelly.
Stava narrowed her eyes at that. She stepped out of bed and walked to the table where her sword was. As the door sounded like it was about to be forced open, she turned around and shushed the wimpering woman. Stava unsheathed her blackened Dragonbone sword, she closed her eyes and breathed slowly.
One bang. Two bangs. Three bangs. And the door was flung open, revealing three men in what looked like a standard leather armour. They all had their swords in hand and sinister looks in their eyes.
"Oh? Look what we have here mates, two whores in one room! What luck we must have eh?" The lead one jested.
Stava kept silent, deciding it would be easier for them to attack first and her counter; her lack of armour keeping her cautious.
"Why don't you drop the nasty looking blade and wait on the bed; while Me and my men deal with the Antivan slime." He snarled.
She stayed her ground, and held eye contact with the pathetic man. Her face clear of emotions, her breath was steady. Blood was soon to be spilt. The man scowled as she just stood there, he walked forward, his arm raised to strike her. When he swung though, his fist hit nothing but air. Stava slid forward on her knee, bringing her sword across his midsection. Before he even fell over she was already moving, running the next man through with her blade. Not wanting to lose her momentum, she pushed forward, pulling her sword from his corpse and easily parrying the panicked strike from the last man; and decapitating him with a quick slash.
All three bodies seemed to hit the ground at once as Stava closed the door and turned and walked to the woman in the corner. She flinched and held her son closer to her, sounds of fear escaping her.
"Be quiet woman, I am not going to harm either of you." She said, offering the woman her hand.
She looked at the hand for a moment before reaching for it with her own shaky hand. Stava pulled her up onto her feet and watching take several shaky breaths.
"Gracias, stranger. My name is Oriana, and I apologize for my current disposition. I am just so scared for my son." She said, holding him against her.
Stava nodded. "Who are these men?" She asked.
"They are the dogs of Howe, that honor-less traitor." She spat in disgust.
"I see." Stava said. "Now I know exactly who I need to kill."
She then turned to the table with her armour and began the process of putting each piece on. She felt better and more like herself with each piece she strapped on. Her heart fluttered with excitement at the thought of battle, her Nord blood craving the sensation. When she secured her gauntlets she picked up her shield and made her way out of the room. Stopping at the door she turned to the woman and her child.
"Stay here, you'll be safe. I'll make sure that no one can enter through this door." She said quickly.
Without waiting for an answer she walked out the door and closed it. Putting her hand on the wooden door she closed her eyes and channeled her magicka. She felt the essence of the wood, everything that it what it was. And she willed it to change, she poured magicka into the spell; forcing the wood to obey her commands. When Stava opened her eyes, she smiled, the wood had changed to stone and blended with the wall.
Knowing that the woman and her son would be safe, Stava walked away and through the halls of the castle. Questions of where she was and what was going on were buried under her battle lust. Turning a corner she spotted a group of at least six men; one of them pointed to her and alerted his comrades. Stava smiled like a mad woman.
'I am in for one fun night.' She thought jovially.
"FUS!" She shouted running into battle.
