Chapter 24

Day 70

In the game I had known Laila Law-Giver as an oblivious leader who cared about her city. It seems that the game was somewhat right, the betrayal of Maven Black-Briar was a rather large surprise to her. But when the stormcloaks retook Riften, Laila did what she could to right her previous wrongs as Jarl. She purged the city of the thieves guild and ran the remnants of Maven's family out of Riften. Her leadership skills seem to have grown over the course of the war and it shows even in this dark and desperate time.

Within a couple of days, Laila Law-giver had organized the survivors and pulled everyone together to turn Fort Amol into a haven. She had set up her quarters in the forts prison area where she also holds council with the new leaders that she had chosen. Mjoll was made general of the jarl's forces, I was named captain under her command. Though Zaynabi knew little of magic, the jarl had seen her casting a few spells in the defense of Riften. She asked the Khajiit to be her new court mage. Zaynabi was very surprised by this offer and accepted in hopes of changing the nord's minds about other races. No one showed disapproval of this choice as there was little opportunity for anyone to have that luxury. We where thankful to have leaders and people who could help put things back in order. The survivors of Riften needed guidance and hope where there seemed to be none.

Though everyone was pitching in to help reinforce the forts defenses and make it more liveable, people began to spiral downward. We had yet to see anymore undead roaming the area and this small amount of peace was giving people time to reflect on the recent strings of disastrous events.

"Farian!" I shouted the teen's name as I walked up the stairs to the wall. The young man was dozing off in a chair while on duty. At the sound of my voice he stood up so fast he nearly fell over the wall! Luckily I had been close enough to help him regain his balance before pitching over the edge.

"W-whoa!" He cleared his throat then surveyed the surroundings. "N-nothing to report sir!"

I sighed and placed a hand on his shoulder. He was fifteen, seven years younger than I was. It was strange having someone so young be given a weapon and tasked with defending the wall. I had set him on watch duty in hopes of keeping him busy from dwelling on the loss of his home and both parents. If I had been given a choice I wouldn't of given him a weapon to begin with but during this time of crisis, everyone needed to do something.

"Your relieved. Go find another to take your watch for now. You should try and get some rest." Dark circles had formed under his eyes from lack of sleep. It looked as though my idea of trying to keep him occupied had failed.

"With all due respect sir. I don't think I could sleep even if I wanted to." He tried to smile reassuringly but he yawned right afterwards. It was almost comical as his helmet fell over his eyes after the yawn. We had found spare supplies and armor in the barracks from when Ulfric had soldiers stationed here. Most of the gear was large and meant for bigger people. His torso piece was held tightly to his body by a belt and his leather helmet was three times too big.

"You need to try anyway. Send your replacement to me when you find someone." I wasn't used to giving orders and it felt strange to have someone calling me sir and reporting me. I had to step up though as we all needed to do something to help us survive. I had been chosen in this role and I needed to see it through. Not like I could really run away at this point like I had done before. There was so much going on in this world right now that made the roads and land more dangerous than they already where.

"I sure as hell picked a terrible time to show up here." I joked to myself as Farian walked down the steps, grumbling to himself. I look out over the land that surrounded the fort. The sun was shining high, leaving little shadows from the trees. "Not much places for someone or something to be hiding." I noted to myself. I could hear the jarl gathering people together in the courtyard area. She was looking for volunteers to go out with a few guards to cut wood and scavenge for supplies. What we had would last us only a week at this rate and we needed to act fast in order to stock up. Winter season was coming soon and it would make things even more difficult than they already where.

Watching people volunteer to go out reminded me of when we had recruited for armed forces just the other day. Farian had been among the first to volunteer into the Jarl's forces. Five where under my command as captain of the guard while the remaining ten served as Mjoll's soldiers.

Smoke in the distance stole me away from my thoughts. I thought about the way we had come just a few days before. That was the direction of the main road that lead to Windhelm!

"Jarl Laila!" I turned and shouted into the small courtyard. "Smoke from the north!" She was able to make it up the steps within seconds. Her gaze was held onto the smoke that rose into the bright sky. Fear showed in her eyes as she turned to me.

"Mjoll!" She shouted and turned to the courtyard. Mjoll came out of the barracks and raised her head to look at the Jarl. "Take your men and head to the main road, scout the area and return as soon as you can!"

"It will be done!" Mjoll gathered her "soldiers" and headed out the main gate.

"Darius!" I stood at attention as she turned to me. "Assign two of your guards to the wall and one to the tower. I want eyes on every shadow and crevice." I bowed my head and ran down into the barracks. I relayed the orders and had Farian and another guard named Shavari on standby to take shifts with those on the wall.

After setting up the shifts and checking in with everyone, I reported to the jarl who had gone into the meeting room just inside the doors of what used to be the fort prison. Laila Law-Giver was checking her map and browsing through some papers she had begun to write in the past few days.

"Do you think it's Windhelm?" I asked the question that must have been on her mind.

"I believe so. If it is then we'll need to fortify ourselves faster than we had planned to. When Mjoll returns and gives her report I'll need you to go out with another guard and protect the volunteers who will be gathering supplies." She didn't look up from her papers as she spoke then looked up to make sure I understood.

"I'll make sure it will be done." I replied and bowed my head. Though I found myself in this position only recently I believed I was getting used to serving under a jarl and showing the respect deserving of the position. I had noticed only few interactions and customs to the jarls in the game so I had to go with what came naturally or what I had seen others do.

Zaynabi entered the room, reading another arcane book that had been salvaged from Riften. She had been trying to learn different schools of magic in order to make up for the lack of a court mage. Her focus lately had been restoration magic. "Any luck yet?" I asked as the Khajiit walked over to the table.

"My labors have been fruitful. I hope to master this spell by the end of the day. Is something going on?" She must have been downstairs reading for some time.

"Smoke was seen to the North. We believe it's Windhelm." Jarl Laila said as she wrote down a few things on another piece of paper. I felt slightly awkward standing there as they both worked on their own tasks. I was about to go check on the wall when when a brown-furred Khajiit hastily burst through the door.

"Windhelm is in ruins! There's hardly a building standing!" Shavari tried to catch her breath after she shouted the devastating news. The jarl dropped her quill and papers, her hands shaking noticeably. Zaynabi also looked up from her book, fear plastered on her face.