Chapter 12

Day 35

Two days the snow fell. On the third I was finally able to stretch my legs and walk around the city. It was much different than I remembered from the game. Then again, I had never really been around the city in the game. I hadn't even done the dark brotherhood quests that I had heard started with some kid here in the city. While going around and restocking on some things I learned that Ulfric moved a majority of the garrison that was in the city. Where to and what they where doing Ulfric was keeping it quiet. Maybe he didn't want it getting out should a spy hear it? I wondered if maybe he should leak out a false location to steer away any kind of suspicion?

As the hammer hit the anvil my body tensed and I snapped out of my thoughts.

"The name's Oengul. There something I can do for you?" The gruff old man didn't break a beat in his hammering but still turned his head to me periodically.

"I'm looking to make an order. Two things to be exact." I specified about the design of the sheathe that I had previously to conceal under my sleeve and how I would like the dagger to be made of steel and strengthened above regular standards.

"That's a hefty order. I assume you have the gold to pay for the materials I would need?" I handed him the purse he had asked for. "Good enough. I believe I can have it done for you within four days." He then stopped hammering and put that large piece of metal to rest in the hot forge. After writing something down on a piece of paper he turned back to his work. I smiled in content as I moved on and bought some extra food to last me some time. I had been confined to my room the past couple days but I found that it would prove more useful than walking around the inn and possibly being spied on. Maybe Ulfric was rubbing off on me more than I thought. He always thought there where spies in every little crack on the ground, or that's the way he came off as. He reminded me of a conspiracy theorist back in my old world.

The air was cold and was getting difficult to breathe in. I looked up and noticed that the sky was beginning to turn dark again, another snowfall was coming. I looked around and noticed the guard behind me a couple feet. It was the first time I noticed that I was being followed, had he been there the whole time? Ulfric did say that I was going to be monitored. Did he really think I might be part of the empire even though I had been running from them? I sighed heavily and decided to return to the inn and think about what I could do next.

The next day went by fast as I had woken up late and fallen back asleep when the sun set. I had spent the few hours that I was awake eating and contemplating. I had decided to not join the stormcloaks as it would risk being sent to the frontlines. I didn't want anything more to do with this war. Already it had caused me more trouble than I wanted and I was still no closer to any kind of answers to what was going on. I made the decision to get back on my original goal in finding out about these summoners and why I would have been brought here.

I woke on the fifth day with a tired groan. There seemed to be a lot of bustle around the inn that day. People where rushing around and yelling. Was someone drunk and trying to start a fight again? I brought myself out my bed, got dressed in my usual robes and opened the door a bit. Right as I opened the door someone went flying into it, sending me backwards and back on my bed.

"What the hell?!" I shouted, getting back to my feet as fast as I could. The man that was on the floor of my room was lying still, a liquid seeping onto the wooden floor. He had been stabbed! I looked out the door and noticed there where others fighting. It looked to me as if some of the dark elves had taken action against those whom had been harassing them. I got up and closed the door as fast as I could, turned to the wounded man and sat him up against the bottom of the bed. He was unconscious but still breathing. I tore off a part of his sleeve and pressed it into his wound. He didn't move but his face was contorted in pain.

After applying pressure to the wound I said a small prayer to Akatosh. I felt the familiar surge of power in my hands but heard no voice. Was he no longer talking to me? Had I done something? He still helped me heal the man so I figured I shouldn't be picky and just continued to hold my hands near the man's wound.

After the fighting seemed to subside when the guards burst into the inn, I opened the door and informed a guard of what happened. They took the man out of my room and brought him to the palace of kings where he would be questioned about the events of what happened after he healed. That's what they told me anyway.

After the events of the day I sat back in my chair while trying to eat the food I had ordered. I had heard about the racism that the stormcloaks had against those who weren't nords but it was bad enough for a small riot like this? There was news that the docks had also been set in an uproar. Argonians and dark elves had overpowered the guards, taken their weapons and sought revenge on the individuals who had hurt them. I wondered how Ulfric would react to this, would he make things worse for those that took matters into their own hands? Or would he ignore the whole thing and just concentrate on the war? Maybe he would just claim they where all spies and have them locked up or put to death. I had a hard time reading Ulfric in the few times I had seen him, he seemed to be an unstable kind of person.

After finishing my meal I retired to my room early. The blood had been cleaned from the floor and the inn had recovered pretty quickly from the violent acts that had taken place inside it. Was something like this normal for these people? I had to leave the city soon, there was too much chaos here and it made me even more on edge than I normally was.