Day Nine Part Two

I saw the dragon, a great brown monster. It wheeled about in the air and headed back towards us. I ran for cover behind a stone pillar. To reach it, I had to jump over a dead adventurer. I was not sure what worried me more, the dead man or the shard of pain that lanced through my leg when I landed.

"Hey, Lydia!" I yelled over the roar of the dragon. "I don't like the looks of this!"

"That's what I was going to say!" she replied from the top of the steps.

"I know!"

I looked back around the pillar in time to see the dragon stop and hover in the air, looking right at me. He breathed a torrent of ice and frost that the pillar blocks most of. I took the opportunity to swig a bottle of skooma then ditched the bottle in some weeds. It helped, a little.

The dragon flew off and I took the chance on limping around looking for a better place to fight from. We were trapped on some sort of high ledge, almost like a roost for the dragon. I saw another one of those word walls but that was the least of my concerns as the dragon returned. It hovered again but this time breathed down on Lydia. I managed to unleash three fiery arrows into the beast before it flew off. Lydia looked more pissed than injured, shaking off pieces of ice. I hopped back to the dead man and noticed he had two healing potions on him. I took those and got back behind the pillar just before another blast of ice hit me. I decided to stay where I was and pick at the creature slowly with my bow. I called to Lydia to join me. She waved me off to stay out there and draw the dragon's attention.

Even drawing back the bow was beginning to take its toll on my shoulders and elbows. One of my shots I saw plunge deep into its blue eye. It reared its head and circles back around, flying erratically. Instead of hovering, the dragon came crashing down, plowing a furrow into the stone and dirt. It nearly toppled me over and slid to a stop between me and Lydia.

It stood right next to my pillar but it could not get its slavering jaws between them to reach me, banging its long razor teeth against the stone. It was in a dying frenzy to kill me. We continued bristling its hide with arrows. At last it shrieked and falls over dead. I stepped out from behind the pillar in time to feel the dragon's soul release and soak into my being. This time I could actually taste it. It had the essences of metal and fish.

"A job well done, Dragonborn," Lydia said. "How exactly do you plan on controlling these mindless beasts?"

I sat on the dragon's skull to rest. "I haven't figured that out yet. They can't all be so single-minded on killing, can they?"

She shrugged, "Ask that man behind you."

I looked again at the long-dead adventurer. He was obviously not up to the job of dragon killer. I was distracted when I heard the faint chanting again and stepped up to the dragonwall. It burned the Word, 'Frost Breath' into my mind. I wondered if it would actually allow me to breathe like the dragon I just slew? I would decide to try later, when I was not suffering from this damn affliction. I found a treasure chest and an urn but neither had anything spectacular. At least I acquired another Word of power for the trouble. I clapped Lydia on the shoulder and we headed back down the stairs.

In order to get around the mountain, I had to backtrack almost all the way to the last bandit camp in the ruins. I spotted another faint trail leading into the mountains. I could barely make it over the rocks and the land was so steep I found myself having to almost leapfrog over some spots. I eventually got to more level ground but then I almost ran right into a group of four bandits walking along the same road single file. They did not look too tough and the skooma was still buzzing through my veins so I decided to take the fight to them. Also, I was anxious to try out the fury spell I had just read about.

I stopped Lydia and let the bandits get a little further ahead then focused my thoughts on creating the spell. It formed a green ball of mental energy in my palm and I aimed it at the middle of the line. As soon as it hit I tried a second one but I felt my magic reserve draw on empty. The bandits meanwhile were scattered. Two were fighting, one ran off into the woods, and the fourth spotted us and got his bow out. I unslung my own bow just as his arrow struck me in the leg, right near where I had just repaired. I returned fire as did Lydia and the archer collapsed. I knew these guys were worthless. Lydia and I charged forward to attack the two who were fighting but one went down with an axe to the face before we got there. My shoulders protested vehemently as I chopped down the other before he could finish whatever witty threat he was about to utter. I knew there was a fourth one nearby. I could hear him whimpering. I found him cowering behind some rocks. He was about to stand but I put him down with few quick strokes of my blade.

"I don't think he was going to give you any trouble," Lydia said, coming up behind me. "He would have run away."

"Run away and joined some other band of criminals," I said, cleaning my sword on his fur jacket. "As Thane and as future ruler of this land..."

"You will also need to learn compassion when dealing with people. Not everybody is a hardened criminal. Some youths merely get caught up in trouble and a little mercy..."

"Do not speak to me of mercy! Mercy is what keeps these bandits and thieves and mages running around unchecked doing whatever they want. It was not mercy that sent me here. It was not mercy that saved my head from the chopping block. There was no mercy when my brother was killed. It was not mercy that stopped the mages that killed him from doing it to someone else. It was this." I shoved my sword in front of Lydia. To her credit, she did not even flinch. "Cowards love mercy. Evil loves mercy. That is why I intend to make them all hate me."

"As you wish, my Thane." Lydia left me behind the rock with the cooling bandit.

I checked his pockets and found two septims. "Was it worth it?" I said then returned to the road.

The other bandits had little more than the first. Obviously they were as skillful at being bandits as they were fighters.

The road continued uphill into the frozen wastes that could only be the top of the mountain. The visible road came to an end at a dilapidated shrine. The totem in the middle denoted it as a shrine to Mara.

Lydia nodded her head towards it. "I hear if you accept a Divine's blessing, it will cure any disease you may have."

"Really? No harm in trying," I said and stepped towards the shrine.

"Watch out, though, Thane. Mara is the goddess of love. She may just find you...lacking."

"Do not confuse love with mercy, housecarl. And besides, Mara should know me by now. I've had many women moan my name to her."

Lydia shook her head, "Such a pig."

I reached out to the totem and heard a whisper in my ear.

"Do you accept the blessing of Mara?"

I looked over to make sure it's not Lydia then silently accepted. A weightlessness passed through me and at once my limbs were free of pain. I moved my arms in big circles and almost broke into a dance to feel my legs move without pain. I wondered if I could take this with me? It looked secured to the stone base pretty well, and Lydia already had a lot of carry. Perhaps I could have one made for my keep when I took over.

We took some time to eat a few apples and cheese sandwiches under the shelter of some trees then moved on. My pace was brisk now that I was unhindered by rockjoint and Lydia had a hard time keeping up. I forgot how much extra she was carrying, so I graciously slowed down.

At the top of a rise, I was well in the lead when I saw an odd shadow moving among the snow. I stopped to look up, thinking maybe another dragon was passing overhead. Suddenly I heard footsteps crunching towards me. The shadow materialized into a darkly clad figure brandishing two daggers and was nearly upon me. I managed to get my sword out in time to block his first swipe at me but his second dagger caught my arm above the gauntlet. An Argonian hissed at me from under his hood. Instead of hissing back, I let Shouted instead. He teetered back into the snow, but kept his thick tail underneath him for balance. He flung himself into the air and nearly landed on top of me. With my guard up, I managed to slap him on the snout with the flat of my sword then spun and caught him low in the legs. He tried to run at me again but Lydia arrived with her steel battleaxe and opened up his chest like a snakeskin basket.

I thanked her then helped myself to his stuff. I found more loot and another note from the Dark Brotherhood. What was it with these Argonian assassins? Did I anger some rich Argonian and he wanted me dead? Maybe it was someone's retaliation for how I treated that first lizard thief that I tossed into the river. I did not think anyone else had been there to witness that, not that he did not deserve what he got.

I spotted a small shrine not far away and went to investigate it. I could not tell who it was meant for but the offerings were substantial. I found gems, including a large diamond, a sword, and even a steel helmet that glowed faintly with a blue aura. I did not know what property it possessed but it was still an upgrade from the iron one I had found back in Helgen, and finally no more damn horns on my head. A chest next to it was easy enough to pick open but only contained a few more coins.

I failed to see a path but I could see smoke rising from someplace nearby so I picked my way carefully through the rocks alongside the mountain. At least I thought I was being careful. I leapt off of a rock but the snow beneath was softer and deeper than it looked. I fell through it awkwardly and come to a jarring stop that made my knees buckle. I worried that I did some permanent damage and just after getting relief from the Shrine of Mara. It turned out nothing was broken and Lydia, once she was done laughing, was able to pull me out.

It was getting late and I do not want to be out in the mountains at night. We scrambled the rest of the way down and I located the source of the smoke.
A small mining camp was set up. The only structure was a house, but despite my most charming smile they do not figure on sharing their roof or their beds. I settled for being allowed to set up a tent for the two of us outside among the other tents. We ate a dinner of chicken and potatoes and called it a night.