A DRAGON'S BEGINNING
THE MANY ADVENTURES OF ELSEBET KIND-HEART BOOK 1

CHAPTER 3
RIVERWOOD, THE HOME OF LIKE TEN PEOPLE

The sun beat down on the Elsebet and Hadvar as they exited the tunnels under Helgen. The sky was no longer grey, and there were no flames in the nearby town. Elsebet tipped her face to the sun, the light making her red hair brighter. Hadvar couldn't help but stare at it.

"You okay, there?" She asked him, making a grin appear on his face.

"Your hair is extremely red."

Her cheeks went red.

"It's not a bad thing. It's gorgeous."

Her face went redder as he pushed a strand of her hand behind her ear. His eyes widened and he pulled his hand back when he realised what he was doing. "Sorry!"

Her response died in her throat when she heard a roar in the distance, identical to the ones the dragon let out when it destroyed Helgen. Hadvar dragged her behind a rock as the dragon flew over their heads, towards a ruin visible in the distance. Hadvar stood up, watching the dragon go, a hand on his sword hilt, making sure it didn't come back.

He sighed when it disappeared on the horizon, then held out a hand to her. She grabbed it and he pulled her to her feet. He wiped his hands on his kilt and looked at their surroundings.

"We're near Riverwood," he said as he looked at the ruin in the distance. "My uncle is the blacksmith there. He'll help us."

The two set off down the goat trail in silence, though it wasn't awkward. They got to a main road and Hadvar led the way to Riverwood. The silence was broken several times over the couple of hours they walked, just talking about anything at all. Once Hadvar had stopped them when they got closer to the ruin she had seen from the cave, saying that he got nightmares when he was kid of draugr climbing down from Bleak Falls Barrow and eating him. She had winced when he said that.

When they finally got to Riverwood, the sun was hanging low in the sky. The quiet sound of metal being hit filled the air as the pair walked into the town. As they walked closer to the forge, the man that was banging against the anvil looked up, wiping his sweaty brow with the back of his hand. He paused when he saw the two sweaty and dirty people.

A grin appeared on Hadvar's face as they got closer to him. "Uncle Alvor!"

"Hadvar?" The man called, putting his hammer down and running over to where the pair were climbing up the stairs to his forge. "What are you doing here? Are you from leave from…" He saw the condition the two were in. "Shor's bones, what happened to you, boy? Are you in some kind of trouble?"

"Shh," Hadvar said. "Uncle, please. Keep your voice down. I'm fine. But we should go inside and talk."

He looked confused. "What's going on?" He looked at Elsebet. "And who's this?"

Hadvar's gaze moved to her as Alvor looked at his nephew. "She's a friend. Saved my life, in fact." The corner of his mouth turned up. "Come on, I'll explain everything but we need to go inside."

Alvor looked like he wanted to argue, but he nodded. "Okay, okay. Come inside, then. Sidgrid will get you something to eat, and you can tell me all about it."

He led them into his house, which was right next to the forge. It was warm and cozy, with a lot of stuff in it but it wasn't cramped. A woman was placed food on the table, and a girl—Daphne, she guessed, judging from what Hadvar had told her about his cousin—was playing with a doll on a bed in the corner.

"Sidgrid," Alvor told the woman, who had just placed a bowl of soup in the middle of the table. "We have company!"

Sidgrid almost dropped the soup when she saw who was with her husband "Hadvar! We've been so worried about you! Come, you two must be hungry. Sit down and I'll get you something to eat."

Elsebet opened her mouth to protest, but she stopped her with a look.

"Now, now. Any friend of Hadvar is a friend of mine. Come and eat, then afterwards I can draw you a bath. You look exhausted, it will do you some good."

She let out a weak smile. "Thank you."

Sidgrid waved a hand. "It's no trouble."

Elsebet sat down next to Hadvar as Daphne ran over to the table. She plopped herself down in between her parents and went for a piece of bread.

"Now then, boy, what's the big mystery? What are you doing here looking like you lost an argument with a cave bear?" Alvor asked, going back to why the pair were there.

They looked at each other before looking at Alvor and Sidgrid.

Hadvar sighed. "I don't know where to start. You know I was assigned to General Tullius's guard. We were stopped in Helgen when we were attacked by… a dragon."

Daphne dropped the piece of bread onto the floor, her mouth wide open, mimicking her mother.

Alvor laughed awkwardly, trying to rid the tension that filled the room. "A dragon? That's ridiculous. You aren't drunk, are you boy?"

Sidgrid slapped him on the arm, coming out of her stupor. "Husband. Let him tell his story."

Hadvar sighed. "Not much more to tell. The dragon flew over and just wrecked the whole place. Mass confusion. I don't know if anyone else got out alive. I doubt I'd have made it out if not for my friend here. I need to get back to Solitude and let them know what's happened. I thought you could help us out. Food, supplies, a place to stay."

"Of course! Any friend of Hadvar's is a friend of mine. I'd be glad to help however I can." He turned to Elsebet "Like I said, I'm glad to help however I can. But I need your help. We need your help. The Jarl needs to know if there's a dragon on the loose. Riverwood is defenceless… You need to get word to Jarl Balgruuf to send whatever soldiers he can. If you do this for me, I'll be in your debt."

Elsebet nodded. "Of course. I'll leave tomorrow, once I have some rest."

Sidgrid stood up. "Come, I'll draw a bath for you."

The next morning, Elsebet found herself refreshed as she exited Alvor and Sidgrid's house, breakfast filling her stomach and directions to Whiterun in her head. First off, though, she wanted to sell a couple things she took from Helgen, so Hadvar had pointed her to the Riverwood Traders, the only general goods store in the small town.

The air was cool, so she wrapped her red cloak around herself, pulling the hood over her head to keep the sun out of her eyes. Her hair had been braided by Daphne, who insisted on doing it when the older girl had started, and she had done a pretty good job of it.

She walked the short distance to the Riverwood Traders and entered the two-story building.

The first thing she heard was the sound of arguing.

"I said no! No adventures, no thief chasing!"

The man behind the counter was yelling at a woman who looked like him, maybe his sister. She was glaring back at him.

"Well, we have to do something!"

The man seemed to have seen Elsebet, for he turned away from the woman and smiled at her. "Sorry you had to see that. How can I help you?"

The red-haired Nord walked towards the counter, an eyebrow raised. "Did something happen?"

He looked nervous, and it was obvious in his stutter. "J-just a break in, is all. Only one thing was stolen; a solid-gold ornament, in the shape of a dragon claw." She shivered slightly. "Say, you look like an adventurer. I saw the thieves making their way to Bleak Falls Barrow, the ruin on the hill. If you can get it back for us, we'll be in your debt."

She didn't really like people being in her debt, but she liked helping people. She smiled at him. "Of course. I'd just like to sell a couple things beforehand, if that's okay."

He beamed. "Of course! What do you have to sell?"