AN: I've been trying to make a point to update at least once a week, so you can generally expect to get a new chapter every weekend. Don't hold me to it though!
It was very late when we arrived in Falkreath. We decided that we would rent a room and take a couple of hours to rest from the trip, and then go speak with the Jarl in the morning.
The room we rented only had one bed, but we were both so tired that we didn't care about sharing. I was dead to the world as soon as my head hit the pillow.
The stench of smoke filled the air, while everything was bathed in a violent red and orange hue. Soon, I saw a familiar farm engulfed in flames. I could see the bandits all around the cabin. The harder I ran, the farther the farm became. I opened my mouth to scream, but nothing came out. The smoke began to fill my lungs, before I choked. As I stumbled, gasping for air, the farm drifted away while tears made their way down my face.
I was soundly asleep when I felt a small movement to my right. The fidgeting began to get worse, and as I opened my mouth to tell Isabelle to stop moving, she let out the most pained scream I have ever heard.
I jumped and reached to wake her up, when her blue eyes popped open and she bolted out of the bed and scrambled onto the floor. I jumped out of bed when I saw her trembling with tears running down her face.
I slid onto the floor beside her and slung an arm around her shoulder. As she continued to cry, I kept reassuring her that the nightmare was just that; a nightmare. I held her for a couple of minutes before she pulled herself together. She looked embarrassed about her outburst.
"Do you want to talk about it?" I asked, not entirely sure about what to do in this situation.
"No! I mean no, I'm fine. Like you said it was just a stupid nightmare." she said with a trembling voice.
She looked to the window and said, "Sorry about this. We might as well get going and speak with the Jarl. It's already morning."
I could tell she was avoiding any questions, but I let it slide. We had things to do.
I can't believe I just embarrassed myself like that! I thought as Vilkas and I walked towards the Jarl's longhouse. Hopefully we could finish this job and I could shake this terrible feeling.
We were told by the Jarl that there was a bandit clan that was moving around the Falkreath area attacking the farms, just like Aela said. After he was done telling us about the bandits, we went on our way to eradicate the low-lives.
We just began to walk in the forests around Falkreath hoping to catch some trace of the clan. After a while of unsuccessful searching, we stopped to rest in a small clearing in the forest.
"Out with it Vilkas." I knew he wanted to say something; he had been looking at me funny all day. I waited for his reply as I took a seat on the hard ground.
"Are you sure you're alright? You've looked like you have seen a ghost all day." he said, sounding genuinely worried.
I figure it won't hurt to tell him why I've been so antsy. I can trust him. I picked up a small twig off the ground and began to tear it into small pieces as I began to tell him of the dream. After I had finished, he had only one question.
"What is the farm in your dream?" He said sounding confused.
I face palmed. I forgot to tell him that I came from one of these farms.
"Vilkas, this is where I'm from. I lived on a farm near here, and the farm in my dream was my family's. I'm scared. I was always there to protect it, but I just ran off!" I finally let out the thoughts that had been tumbling around in my head since I took the job.
I continued, "My father is an ex-Stormcloak, but he was shot in the knee with an arrow, so he isn't as handy with a sword as he used to be. My mother knows how to brew potions, but she isn't exactly a fighter." I said with a sick feeling.
Without a word, Vilkas stood up from our resting spot, and began to gather our things. I looked at him in confusion, which prompted him to speak.
"Are you going to lead the way, or do I have to guess where the farm is?" he said in that arrogant voice of his.
Deciding that my family was more important, I didn't comment on his snark.
I rose from my seat on the ground, and began to walk to the trees straight behind Vilkas. The ground crunched every step we took, due to the the dead leaves underneath the thick canopy of trees. Light filtered through the forest, and you could hear birds singing, and the occasional clash of deer antlers. Everything was as it should be in this part of the forest.
About thirty minutes into the walk, Vilkas stopped in his tracks. He had an odd look on his face, that I couldn't place.
"What is it?" I anxiously asked.
"Smoke." he said simply.
At that I began at a full sprint in the direction of the farm. I had the same sinking feeling that I had had all day, but worse. I began to see familiar trees and rock formations and knew that I was close. The tang of the smoke was pervading the air all around me.
As I busted through the trees, and into the clearing of my family's home, I just stood in shocked silence.
The entire farm looked as if the sun itself had touched down. Everything was blackened and scorched. As my senses came back to me, I began to scramble as fast as I could towards the wreckage. I readied a frost spell and began to put out any fires that I came across.
I heard Vilkas' heavy footfalls behind me. I ignored him, more worried about my parents, and made my way to the blackened stone cottage.
The closer I got, the harder it became to pretend that they would have survived a raid like this. In my heart, I knew. I just stared at the door, until Vilkas reached me. Behind that door, my parents dead bodies laid, never to move again.
Vilkas reached for the handle of the door and I watched as he recoiled from the heated metal. I numbly coated my hand in a frost spell and grabbed the handle and turned.
As we entered the small cottage, I could see the extent of the damage. Furniture that wasn't burned into oblivion, was shredded and destroyed. There was still a small fire burning in the corner.
My heart began to beat a little bit faster when I didn't come across any burnt corpses.
The cellar! At the revelation, I dropped to the floor and snatched back a tattered rug against the wall, to reveal the trap door to the cellar. When I tried to pull it, I could feel resistance against the other side.
I began to cry out of relief. "Daddy! It's me Isabelle, please open the hatch!"
I could hear the lock turn, and the small door swung open. At the sight of my parents' soot covered faces, The dam broke. While I was blubbering like a little baby, Vilkas was helping my parents out of the cellar.
One minute I was crying my eyes out, then the next I was wrapped in the familiar arms of my father, while my mother cried with me.
As we sat together on the burnt floor, all I could think was They're alive!
AN: Thanks for reading! Please review, and thank you for taking the time to read my story!