Chapter 2
Bandits pour out of the entrance of Fort Greymoor with weapons drawn and fierce expressions. Erik cuts through them like paper. I'm so confused as to why he's so angry and acting like this. He's normally the calm and collected one.
We push past the entrance and into the middle of the Fort, slaying our enemies one by one. Things slow down and Erik and I are back to back, shield and sword at the ready. Our breathing heavy and our senses on high alert.
We're surrounded.
At least ten bandits encircle us. A mixture of Nords, Dark elves, and Orcs, all with snarls on their face. The archer and the drunk are standing on the top of the battlements looking down at us. The archer has his bow drawn and aimed at me and Erik. Erik moves to stand between me and the archers line of sight.
"Well this is just perfect." I hiss at Erik. "Out of all the times you choose to be reckless, it's before I get the chance to take your sweetroll" He doesn't say anything, but the grip on his shield and sword tighten.
"Oy! Here's the deal." The drunk Dark elf calls out. "Ya leave us the lass and we'll give ya a five second head start." He slurs, pointing at Erik. Erik tenses and a low animalistic growl emanates from the back of his throat. I can't help or stop the laugh that bursts through my mouth.
"I digress! You'd be better off taking him and letting me go." I proclaim. The Dark elf ignores me. I shrug and then lower my voice so only the men in front of me can hear me. "Either way, I'm going to slaughter you all." I growl. An Orc and a Wood elf exchange concerned glances.
"So, what do ya say, lad?" The Dark elf calls to Erik.
"Over my dead body." Erik shouts. The Dark elf laughs and pretends to wipe a tear.
"Ah well, I tried." He sighs. "Kill him! Try not to damage the girl." He shouts. The archer lets out a strangled yell and lets an arrow lose shooting one of his bandit buddies. Confused, everyone looks back up at the archer in time to see an arrow tip protruding from his chest. We watch as he falls forward and lands with a hard thud on the ground. Everyone exchanges bewildered expressions. Erik doesn't let this opportunity go to waste, he immediately begins hacking and slashing away. I follow his lead. More arrows are fired at the bandits. When I have a second, I follow the line of the shot and see the Imperial soldiers from earlier, helping us out. The one I gave an ale to, is on his knee pointing an arrow right at me. He lets it loose and before I can flinch, the arrow zips by me and hits it mark right in the heart. The Orc falls like a sack right behind me. I turn to the soldier with a grateful look. He winks at me and returns to shooting down the bandits. I too return to fighting.
With the Imperials' help, we finish them off in no time. I hunch over with my hands on my knees, trying to catch my bated breath. Erik rushes over to check on me.
"How's my favorite lass doing?" His tone soft and his expression amused. He reaches his hand out to touch me. I scoff at him and push hand away. Now standing to my full height and getting in his face. Much like the Nord woman from earlier, he has to look down at me.
"What in Oblivion were you thinking, Erik!" I shout at him and shove his shoulder. His amused expression rapidly fades. "You charge in here like a damn frost troll, with no plan of attack or escape." I continue. His expression sours, but he doesn't take his hazel eyes off of me. He watches me silently. "You big, stupid oaf! You could've gotten yourself hurt or worse!" He shifts his weight from one foot to the other, and runs a hand through his long, sweaty, strawberry blonde hair.
Someone behind me clears their throat. I turn and see two of the Imperial soldiers standing awkwardly behind us. I take a deep breath to calm myself before I speak.
"Thank you for your timely rescue. We greatly appreciate it." I give him my best warm smile. The younger Imperial blushes and looks away. The one that I gave an ale too speaks again.
"Oh it was nothing, lass. If anything you and your friend here helped us out. We were on our way here from Solitude. We got reports that one of our men had been captured by some bandits and was being held hostage here at Fort Greymoor. Herrit went inside the Fort to check the area." He explains as he rests his hands on the top of his longbow.
"That's a shame." I respond. "I hope your man is alive." He nods his thanks and turns his attention to Erik.
"Say, son. Why did you charge in here with just the two of you? That was reckless and you could've gotten this girl hurt." Erik doesn't respond with so much as a grunt. What is his damn problem? If he thinks I'm done with him, he is very wrong. I return my attention to the soldier, and before I could protest about my well-being. His soldier calls out to him.
"Sir!" The soldier Herrit, I think was his name, rushes from the Fort. "I found an Imperial soldier corpse in the Fort. It was him, sir." Herrit reports, his voice laced with sadness. The Soldier looks down with a grimace.
"Damn. We were too late." He puts his bow over his shoulder and turns to his men. "Let's head out. Nothing we can do now but return to Solitude and await further instructions." The men bow their head and pound their chest. He turns to me and Erik one last time. "You'd better take better care of this here lass, or someone else will do a better job for you." He stresses to Erik. Again before I can argue, he speaks. "And thank you for the drink, lass. I will always remember your kindness and your beauty." He says with a bow of his head. I refrain from rolling my eyes. Instead I offer him a tight-lipped smile. He turns on his heels and leads his men back to Solitude.
When they're out of sight, I turn to face Erik again but he's not behind me, instead, he's going and looting things from the bodies. I cross my arms and watch him travel from body to body examining different items and deeming them worthy of keeping or not. When he finishes, he walks over to me with a heavier backpack and new steel weapons. I narrow my eyes, my nostrils flared and my lips are pressed in a tight line. He stares at me with an expressionless face waiting for me to explode. But I don't. I relax and uncross my arms.
"Just… just tell me why, Erik." I say softly. His whole demeanor changes and he looks away. He sighs before he answers.
"I hate the way they spoke to you, Ellie. I just can't help it. You're not a piece of meat. You mean the world to me." He speaks softly. My anger fades and my heart melts. I groan.
"Erik, you can't fight every man that makes a rude comment or a smart remark towards me." I point out. He squeezes his eyes shut for moment, like he want's to say something but he's restraining himself. Instead he walk past me and towards the entrance of the Fort.
"Let's go, it's almost fully dark and I don't want to be caught out here in the middle of the night. There could be werewolves lurking about." He states. I snort at his comment, and begin to follow him.
"Those things are a myth, Erik. They aren't real." I argue. He glances sideways at me, that mischievous glint slowly returning to his eyes.
"You sure about that?" He challenges me. I hold his gaze, raising a brow at him.
"Yes."
A smile tugs at his lips, "We'll see." He murmurs. The sun was almost gone, just a few more minutes and it would be completely dark. I take out a torch and light it. Thankful that Whiterun wasn't much further. We could make out the outlines of Dragonsreach from the Fort.
The walk to the gates was a quiet one, thank the Gods. No skeevers, bandits, or wolves ready to attack us. The guards open the gates for us and we enter the quiet little town. Usually around this time, everyone closes up for the day and makes their way to the Bannered Mare for drinks and laughs. We head straight to the Inn to speak with Hulda.
I open the door and just as I expected, everyone is surrounded by the fire with a drink, laughing at something someone said. Mikael is in the corner singing Ragnar the Red, while looking the women up and down. I roll my eyes and smile, I missed his place. Hulda spots us immediately.
"Erik, Ellie!" She calls as she steps from behind the counter to greet us. She takes one look at our bloody armor and sighs. "You too have been busy. I'm sure Mralki will throw a fit when I write him and let him know how his kids showed up to my Inn a bloody mess." Mine and Erik's eyes bulge out from our head.
"Wait, please don't tell my father. I'll do anything, Hulda!" Erik begs with his hands up in surrender. Hulda let's out a long hearty laugh.
"Anything, eh?" She eyes Erik and smiles. "Then accept a discount on your room tonight, will you?" Erik gives her a warm smile. There are three kinds of people here in Skyrim. The evil people that prey on the innocent, the kind people that try to help others, and everyone else. Ms. Hulda is one of those kind people that tries to help people, Divine's bless her.
He sighs, giving in and smiling, "If you insist, Ms. Hulda."
"All but one of our rooms are booked for the night, will it be alright if you two share a room?" She asks as she walks back towards the counter.
"Yes ma'am, that's fine." I answer before Erik can spout any nonsense.
"Eleora, look at you! Even under all of that filth, you can see you've clearly grown to be quite the beauty. I'm sure you have many suitors jumping at the chance to be with you." She smiles as she looks me up and down.
"Between me, and Erik we actually do a pretty good job of running off said suitors." I smile triumphly. She laughs at my comment.
"Is that so?" She says as she chuckles and eyes Erik. I look at Erik too. Wait- is he blushing? "Erik you've grown at least three more inches and gained twenty pounds of muscle." She gushes, Erik's blush deepens. "I'm sure you have to beat the ladies away with a stick." She looks at me, "Do you help chase away his suitors too Ellie?" Erik snorts and looks away.
"No, If anything she helps them." He pouts quietly. Hulda's smile fades a bit.
"Well excuse me for wanting a sister." It's my turn to pout.
"Yeah." Erik says quietly as he looks away.
"Ah, I see." She says cryptically. Is there something going on here that I'm missing? "But enough of that, I'll show you to your rooms." She says as she grabs a key from behind the counter. She leads us up the stairs and opens the door for us. There's a large bed, that could fit two people easily. A chest, and closet for our equipment and supplies. A balcony that over looks the entire Inn, and wash basin in the corner. "It's yours for a day." She says as she hands Erik the key and exits the room to let us get comfortable. Erik and I set our weapons on the floor, and put away our belongings in the chest.
"Alright, I'm going to go downstairs and say "hi" to some familiar faces. I'll let you get cleaned up first." He tells me as he grabs a few gold coins from his pouch. "When you come down, I'll come get cleaned up." He's now standing at the door, his back facing me.
"Alright," I answer him. "I won't be long." I say as he walks out, shutting the door behind him. I begin to undress, stripping off my armor, and giving it a quick wipe down, then tucking it away in the corner. I strip out of my underclothes too, and stand completely naked in the room. I pour water from the large vase into the bowl and begin wiping myself down with a cloth. It felt good to wipe away all of the dirt, blood, and sweat from today. I unwrap my bandages and examine my arm, it's completely healed. For some unknown reason I've this uncanny ability to heal extremely quickly. Ever since I was little I would scrape my knee, nothing serious, and it be completely healed within a few hours. The only people that know are Mralki, and Erik. Just a barely noticeable scar is all that's left on my arm. When I'm done washing myself, I slip into my blue dress, and tighten the leather corset. I put my boots on and grab the coin pouch before letting my hair fall down my back in pretty curls. I catch a glimpse of myself on the shiny vase and I feel pretty.
I make my way downstairs and find Erik sitting on one of the benches near the fire, speaking with Sinmir, I only catch some of their conversation.
"The security in Whiterun is terrible. Shameful, is what it is." He takes a gulp of from his mug. Erik stares into the fire, a small smile tugs at the corners of his lips.
"Is that so?" He asks Sinmir. I could tell Erik is just messing with him. I've known him long enough to tell when he's being serious and when he isn't.
"The guards in the city are all lazy, and undisciplined. Things need to change." His voice booms. "Commander Caius." He snorts. "Walks around Dragonsreach like a preening rooster." He says leaning forward towards Erik. Erik raises his brows at Sinmir. "I could do his job blindfolded!" Sinmir pounds his chest and takes yet another drink. Erik chuckles softly and takes a drink of his mead too.
"Well, well, well…" My back stiffens at Mikael's too eager voice. "Look who's here. The most beautiful woman to ever walk Nirn!" Mikael says while swinging his arm around my shoulders. It takes every ounce of willpower to not roll my eyes, let alone punch him.
"Aww, what's wrong Mikael? Carlotta's still not giving you the time of day?" I ask annoyed, and cross my arms. His eyes trail up and down my body like a snake, and he smiles.
"Carlo-who-a?" He grins. This time I actually do roll my eyes and sigh. "How old are you now, Ellie?" He asks with a wolfish grin.
"Eighteen about to turn Nineteen." I answer him suspiciously. He bites his lip and his eyes glaze over.
"By the nine…" he whispers to himself. "Young enough to still be a virgin, old enough to become a wife." He says quietly, forgetting that I'm standing right next to him. "You are still a virgin, right? I can only imagine how tigh-" Mikael is pulled away from me before he can finish his sentence. A seething Erik now standing between me and the tipsy, flirtatious bard.
"I believe that's none of your damn business, Mikael." He says quietly. People glance at the commotion but don't care for long. This is just another typical night at the Bannered Mare. If at least two brawls didn't happen per a night, I'm sure that would concern them even more.
"Punch him in the face!" A voice that I'm pretty sure belongs to Carlotta yells out in the background.
"Ah," Mikael says when he recognizes who shoved him. "Erik the slayer." He says enunciating every syllable. "Erik the Brother." He says in a taunting tone as his eyes flicker towards me for a moment. I notice Erik's hands ball into fists. Mikael grins, and turns to start another song.
Erik sighs and turns to me. "Are you alright?" His expression softens and he gestures to the bench. I take a seat and he sits next to me.
"Of course I'm alright, you think a lousy bard is going to bother me? I can take care of myself, Erik." I say slightly annoyed. Erik doesn't say anything, instead he chugs the rest of his drink. I hear a blonde woman that's sitting in the corner at a table by herself, snort. I choose to ignore her.
"Saadia wake up, dear!" Hulda shouts to one of her new girls. A pretty Redguard woman perks up and answers.
"Yes mum." She says before making her way towards me and Erik. Her eyes land on Erik and her whole demeanor changes. Her hips sway a little more, and she smiles a flirtatious smirk at him. "What can I get you? Hungry, tired, or just plain thirsty?" She purrs. I try my best not to laugh.
"I need two mugs of mead." Erik responds to her nonchalantly. He doesn't seem to notice or pick up on her not so subtle flirting. This man is absolutely daft. Saadia nods and leaves to retrieve our drinks.
"How many drinks have you've had?" I ask Erik. He shrugs and crosses his arms, looking everywhere but me.
"I don't know maybe five or six." He says as his eyes land on the fire. "Hulda is being very generous." Is all he says. I look away and frown. Why is he being so distant? What's his problem? Saadia returns with our overflowing mugs of mead. She hands Erik his with a warm smile, and practically shoves mine to me. She spills a little mead on my dress. Before I can say anything, Erik grabs the rag from her apron and begins patting my leg. "You should be more careful." Erik says dryly. I look up at Saadia and my anger melts when I see her face. Her eyes are sad, and she just seems lonely. I can't help but feel sorry for her. Her eyes meet mine and something unreadable flickers in them.
I smile, "It's alright. I'm sure it was an accident." I say warmly. Erik hands her the rag and doesn't say anything else. Gosh he's in a crabby mood.
"If you need anything else, just let me know." She turns to help another patron.
"Seriously, Erik… what's your problem?" My tone sharp as a blade. When I look at him, his eyes are closed. The bastard is asleep. I elbow him and immediately regret it. He hasn't changed yet, his armor sends a dull pain up my elbow. Erik's lids fly open and his gaze falls upon me.
"Huh?" He says drowsily. I narrow my eyes at him.
"Go to the room, get cleaned up, and go to bed." I demand. He frowns at me and pouts.
"Why are you so mean to me, Ellie?" He whines like a child. I stare at him in disbelief, the idiot is drunk. I groan and massage my temples.
"Gods help me." I mumble to myself. "Come on, Erik. Let's go to the room." I say softly as I grab his arm and put it over my shoulder. Erik is one of the largest men I've ever met, and with his great size, comes a great weight. He groans and rests his hairy chin on my head. Really?
"My mead." He whines, now putting his full weight on me. My knees start shaking and I frown.
"I'll get it." My voice strained. With great difficulty I reach down and grab the mug. I hand it to a now happy Erik. Mikael sees me struggling and walks over to us, chuckling.
"Did you need help, lass?" He smirks at the image before him. Somehow Erik finds his balance and gets in Mikael's face.
"Don't touch me or her." He growls. That's it. I've had enough of this nonsense. My anger doubles my strength.
"Erik! Go to the fucking room and go to bed! I'll be there shortly." I bark. I turn to Mikael. "And you," I point, "leave me alone or so help me, I'll smash your teeth so far down your throat, the next time you take a shit, it'll be smiling at you!" Laughter erupts from somewhere in the Inn.. I'm still pretty sure it's Carlotta. Erik snorts at my threat to Mikael. His smile quickly disappears when my icy glare falls on him.
"That's a lot of tough talk from a wench like you." The Nord that snorted earlier speaks up. She doesn't look at me, instead she just take a sip from her mug. Erik's eyes widen and he takes a step back from me.
"What do you mean 'a wench like you?'" I say, keeping my tone even. I'm absolutely seething with rage now. I'm frustrated with Erik, and Mikael's unwanted advances towards me, now this lady? No, I'm not having it. Everyone in the bar stops what they're doing, all eyes on us. The woman let's out a melodic, hearty laugh.
"Aye lass, a wench like you. A bed warmer that's probably never held a weapon in her entire life." The woman explains. She's obviously new in town and didn't see me walk in earlier.
"It's your funeral," Erik chuckles. Mikael elbows Erik and joins in on the laughter.
"Would you like a coffin or a burial urn?" Mikael adds on to Erik's joke. They both laugh together. Oh, now they're friends?
"Oh please, this I have to see." The Nord says skeptically. She takes off her chest piece and her gauntlets. She throws her coin purse on the table. "One hundred septims says I can knock you on your ass and put you in your place." She bets, her face serious. I throw my coin pouch on the table. Of coarse, I don't have a hundred septims in there, but she doesn't know that.
"A hundred septims says I'll bring you down a notch or two." I cross my arms and give her an even glare.
"You're on." I roll my head until my neck pops. This is just what I need.
"Uthgerd the Unbroken." She says as she cracks her knuckles. "That's the name of the warrior that'll teach you to respect your superiors." I bring my fists up to my face and we begin to circle each other. Erik is leaning against a post, with his arms and legs crossed. A drunk grin on his face as his eyes follow me.
"We'll see." I mumble to myself. She comes at me with a powerful overhand punch with her left hand. I quickly dodge it by leaning to the right. Her swing causes her to fall forward a bit. I take the chance to give her a light punch on her face with my right fist. She shakes it off easily and swings her left elbow at my face. I jerk back my head just in time to avoid her blow. The Nord lets out a roar as she swings with her right hand in the same motion. I block it with my left forearm and punch her harder with my right hand. She stumbles back into the table. For a split second she stares at me dumbfounded. Surprised that I was holding my own, that's the moment she knew she made a terrible mistake. She wipes her bottom lip with her thumb and looks at it. Her eyes land on me again when she sees the blood. My hands are still up near my face. I sniff, waiting for her to make her next move. She launches herself at me, aiming to wrap her arms around my waist and tackle me. I plant my feet and catch her, wrapping my arms under her breast and pick her up. Using her momentum, I throw her back over my shoulder with a yell. We fall back on the hard wooden floor, I know it hurts her more than me. I quickly recover and I'm back on me feet in no time. She arches her back and rolls on the floor, her mouth in the shape of a "O" from the pain. She moves to her hands and knees, breathing hard.
"Quit playing with her, and finish her!" Sinmir cheers with a raised mug. There are hollers from the other patrons. I can even hear Erik's slurred cheers.
Uthgerd slowly stands up and faces me, a sneer on her face. I can see her attack coming from a mile away, I put all of my power into an uppercut and she falls back like a sack of flour. The crowd that gathered around us erupts in cheers. I check to see if Uthgerd is still breathing. She's fine. Hulda asks Saadia to get the Nord to her room. I take my winnings and look at Erik who has a crooked grin on his face. I can't be mad at him for long. Mikael starts to walk over to me, and stops in his tracks when I glare at him. After what he just saw, he raises his hands in surrender with an apologetic smile and quickly turns the other way.
"I knew you could do it, lass!" Erik chuckles. I look for my mead and notice that's it's empty. My shoulders droop.
"Erik…" I groan. He shrugs, clumsily standing from to his full height.
"Payback for the sweetroll." He declares. I shake my head with a grin, and help him up the stairs, and to our room. I close the door behind us.
Erik sheds his armor and wipes it down, stowing it away in the corner. He sloppily wipes himself down getting water all over the floor. I groan and bring a chair over. I usher him to sit down, thankfully he doesn't put up a fight. I gently wipe him down, making sure he's thoroughly clean. When I peek at his face his eyes are closed. I put a shirt on him and lead him to the bed. He falls asleep before I can take his boots off. I study him for a moment. He's calm and peaceful, when he's asleep he looks so young. I smile, happy that this day was coming to an end.
The gentle tunes of a lute from downstairs drifts through the doors. I open the doors to the balcony that overlooks the fireplace and sit in one of the chairs under the huge Elk head. I open a bottle of mead that Mralki had packed for Erik and I, and listen to the beautiful tune that Mikael plucks from the strings. Despite being a lousy man, he's a decent bard. I close my eyes and rest my head against the back of the chair, letting his tune carry me away.
Hey guys! Hope you're enjoying the story. I went back to chapter one and added more/cleaned it up a bit, if you wanna go back and check it out. Drop them reviews. PM me. Make a pizza. Like my story. Do whatever you want. Also if you want to see any particular quests in here, I'm sure I could find a way to fit them into the story. So if you want to read a certain quest, don't be afraid to let me know. Lol byeeee.