Chapter 88: Uttering Hills Cave
[15th – 17th of Morning Star 4E 202]
During our time in Windhelm, my housecarls and I had had various encounters with local citizens, and curiously many had mentioned stolen items, hinting that bandits might be located at a place called 'Uttering Hills Camp'. After we had decided to investigate, Jordis and had been ambushed by said bandits, but had been able to get free soon; I had managed to apply something I had experimented before – casting magic with my tail. During the attempt to get out from the cave, we had met Antonius again, who had been our backup together with my saber cats. We were now eager to find out how many bandits were around and how to capture them, but as we had also freed other captives and some of them were exhausted, we had suggested that those who needed rest might want to sit around a campfire in an anteroom and relax.
Two Dunmer, one Bosmer and the Argonian accepted that offer, and the rest of us followed the winding path ahead. Soon we heard voices, and when I cautiously looked around the last corner, I saw a large room with tables, benches, shelves, and some kind of bar. A male Nord played barkeeper and filled tankards from large barrels, and while mead or something else was served, some of the bandits talked a lot, so that I decided to listen in first, making sure, of course, that I could not be seen; the others stayed further behind.
"How long do you think the boss will need to interrogate the new prisoners?"
"Come on, you know that this can take hours. And you have seen that one of them is a young and pretty female Nord, right? Want to bet that he will take her first for a special ride?"
When I briefly turned around, I could see Jordis making a face, and I could not blame her for that.
"Guess you are right, and it's a pity that there is only one of them. But we can't complain; we've got proper food, lots of mead, and a good time."
"Yes, we can be glad that the boss is so smart."
"He sure is; so far he has only got prisoners who will not be missed much, and he's been very successful spreading the rumors about bandits with riches and lots of stolen stuff around here."
"Yeah, indeed, that has allowed us to rob quite a few people."
"But the Nord lass?"
"Come on, she is not from Windhelm; no problem."
"If the Stormcloaks finally decide to come here, we won't be able to hold out."
"I know that, but the boss has already started to scout for a different place, in a different hold; we won't be here for much longer."
"But what will we do with all of the prisoners?"
"Don't worry, that's easy. The boss hasn't decided yet, but he's likely just going to keep them down there, and once we are all gone, somebody's going to report to the guards about this place, and then, with us and the riches long gone, they can come and get the people out again. Maybe, if one of them has some special gifts, like cooking or so, we might keep them, but on the other hand, why risk getting our food poisoned."
"That's good to hear. I must go out now, though, to inspect the guards; see you later!"
We hurried to move back, and when the lone bandit passed, we were easily able to jump him and bind him without much noise. Meanwhile, the noise from the taproom or mess hall or whatever they called it increased, and I had a feeling that most of the bandits were more or less drunk already.
"What do we do now?" Jordis asked, still showing a grim face.
"We are not in a hurry, and I believe it best to wait until they are done with drinking. Once they are all down, it should not be too difficult to bind them all. We stay here for the night, and tomorrow morning we all get back to Windhelm, with our bound prisoners, and deliver them to the guards. There are enough witnesses here to get them properly sentenced, I should think. Jordis, can you please go down to the prison area again and get enough ropes? I think that I saw many ropes somewhere down there."
"Sure thing, my Thane."
We did as I had suggested. A few hours later all we could hear from the large room was snoring, and Antonius and Jordis expertly and quickly bound everybody. Once this was done, with most of the bandits still asleep, Jordis and the Khajiit carefully searched the whole cave to make sure that we had not missed anything or anybody. We paid specific attention to what we recognized to be the bandit chief's quarters, and we carefully checked the content of the chests and shelves in there. Once we were sure that we had everything under control, we assigned night guards, and the rest of us found a place to sleep.
After breakfast in the next morning we rounded up the prisoners, including those we had left bound in the prison area, had them all tied together with hands bound, and marched them out of the cave. We were of course not able to carry all of the loot we had found, but we took a few special items, in particular the ones we had been asked to look for. Then we carefully locked the door to the major storeroom, and some Stormcloak detachment could get the remaining loot at a later time. Sunshine greeted us outside, and we turned north.
It must have been an odd sight; we were a mixed group of people from various races, and we had a number of prisoners with us exceeding our own number. In total, there were more than twenty bandits and only eleven of us to guard them, not counting my saber cats. Just before noon we reached the city gate, and the two guards there gaped at us. One of them had seen me at the Palace, and he readily went off to get the dungeon master and some of his assistants. When they returned, the dungeon master rubbed his head:
"Let's see if we have enough cells for all of them. What are they guilty of?"
"They are all bandits, they have stolen lots of things, and they have kidnapped many citizens, like those around me here. We have enough eye witnesses around here to testify."
Jordis took over the task to explain more, and I was looking forward to spending the second half of the day in a quiet and relaxed way. Sure, we wanted to see those who had asked us to look for something or someone, but that could sure wait for tomorrow. However, my plans were forcefully changed by another event. The dungeon master and his assistants had taken over the prisoners and entered the city, while my housecarls and I followed more slowly. When we were also about to get into Windhelm, a loud noise was heard behind us, and even before I turned around to look I recognized is for what it was – a dragon approached. The flying beast approached from the southeast, and several guards had already noticed it. One of them blew a horn, and more soldiers stated to pour out from the barracks close to the stables. Of course we were going to help them, but first we needed to see where the dragon was going to attack. While we watched, I could not help myself and admired the big flying animal. This one had a reddish color, and it was slightly larger than other dragons we had seen before; I did not know, though, if the color had any significance. I vaguely recalled that there were normal dragons and elder dragons and maybe ancient dragons, but unless they introduced themselves, I had no way to distinguish them.
This one obviously decided that the group of soldiers near the stables was an inviting target, and the first big fireball cam out of the beast's muzzle; while the Nord Stormcloaks evaded that as quickly as they could, two soldiers kept their position and sent frost clouds back to the dragon. Ah, yes, those were probably Dunmer, and they were partially fire resistant, right? While my housecarls ran south, I prepared my crossbow, and from some distance I started to release bolts. My bolts were not enchanted in any way, but contrary to most of the arrows the soldiers sent up, they were fast and sturdy enough to hurt the dragon, and after the third or fourth bolt it seemed to recognize that new danger. The dragon turned around and faced me, but rather than sending a fireball my way, it used a dragon shout:
'FUS RO DAH!'
I could consider myself very fortunate that the beast had shouted from some distance, so that I was able to evade the shout mostly; it still blew me from the feet, but if I had been hit by the full blast, it might have killed me. The dragon followed up by flying in my direction and stretching out its claws, and I had to be careful and jump to the side again to make sure that they could not grab me. I had dropped my crossbow, though, and when the dragon passed me, I was able to land a hit with my large glass battleaxe. Before it could turn around, I picked abut the crossbow again and made sure that I had proper cover behind a large stone pillar on the bridge. Seconds later, when the dragon came back, it seemed to realize that and went back to blasting fire against everybody who showed themselves.
Fortunately, after some time some of the archers realized that hitting the dragon's chest did not achieve anything, as the scales there stopped every arrow, and they started to target the joints and wings. Not every arrow hit properly, but those which did so caused at least minor wounds. Aided by my bolts and spells from the few mages, the dragon was getting weaker, but not weak enough to be forced to crash land. A lone person had been approaching on the road from the farms and had seen the dragon too late; the beast was there in a few moments and crushed them to death before we could anything to prevent that. I shuddered, and the soldiers intensified their attacks. Eventually the bast was weakened enough and landed on the road; three soldiers attacked with their swords, but only one of them survived; the two others were killed by head and tail. That seemed to invigorate the dragon, and in no time it was back in the air.
The fight has been noticed in the city, and a larger detachment of Stormcloaks now came out to help. When they approached I quickly told the archers to aim at the beast's wings and joints while paying attention to fireballs from the dragon's muzzle, and when it passed close to us again, more than a dozen arrows were released, with maybe half of them being hits. This specific dragon was apparently very resilient, and while it shuddered for a few moments in mid flight, it continued to circle around us. What could I do? My 'KAAN' shout was almost certainly not going to have any effect, I was not capable of casting frost spells, and all I could do for now was using my crossbow as much as possible. On the roof of one of the barracks buildings further south, I saw a group of maybe half a dozen Dunmer mages standing in a circle and holding hands, and it looked like they were combing their magic. When the dragon passed close to them, a blueish aura started to shimmer, and a huge and dense frost ball hit the dragon right on the head. The effect was immediate and noticeable, and it almost appeared like the dragon stopped in midair. Wait, it actually did stop in mid air, and as it could thus not maintain flight, it crashed down, next to the bridge and on the snow covered ground. Its reactions were slower now, and while the archers continued to operate the bows, some brave soldiers once more approached from the sides and landed hits in the wings with their swords and axes. They had learned from the fate two of their comrades had met and kept their distance from head and tail, and the dragon had obvious problems adjusting to the attacks now hitting it from multiple sides. However, it could still throw fire, and a couple of Stormcloaks had to retreat with bad burns on their skin. A group of archers was next to me, and when he dragon turned its head in our direction, we quickly agreed to release arrows and bolts all at once. When the dragon mouth opened, maybe for another shout, my bolt and more than a dozen arrows hit all at once, and the dragon reared up and roared. The fight was not over yet, though, and for a moment the beast almost looked like it would leap into the air again. It sure tried, but crashed down again right away, directly on two soldiers who had not been able to jump to the side quickly enough. That made their comrades even more aggressive, and now everybody hit the dragon from all sides with everything they had. More than a dozen swords and axes cutting into the less resilient skin at wings and joints and more arrows hitting the same areas was too much; the dragon lifted its head for one more time and perished.
Almost everybody sat down now to calm down and rest for a few moments, and the mages went around to treat injuries. This dragon had been much stronger than the ones I had fought so far, and even with her two tough housecarls, Fiona might be in trouble if she encountered on of those. Here and now, we counted six people dead, one of them the lone person on the road, the other five being soldiers. There were a few serious and many smaller injuries, but the mages could handle that. Another detachment of soldiers came out the city now, with Jarl Ulfric leading them; apparently he wanted to see and appraise the situation with his own eyes.
The leader of the soldiers reported, and once he had listened, the Jarl also asked me for my opinion; I told him:
"Jarl Ulfric, this dragon was much stronger than the ones I encountered before, and it took a lot of warriors to bring it down. I do not know if there are any more like this around, though."
"Our arrows were not very effective, right?"
"No, not really. Steel arrows may cause some damage on wings and joints, but you'd need much higher quality arrows to pierce the armored skin on the chest, for instance."
"Or a crossbow like you have."
"True, yes."
"Where did you get this weapon?"
"Honestly, I found it. Bandits had killed a few soldiers from what I assume the Dawnguard, and one of them had the crossbow and a supply of bolts."
"The Dawnguard, really? Okay, I have heard about them as well, and they are rumored to have a fortification somewhere in the Rift. I have not really bothered to learn more about them, though. Unless what I heard about them is totally wrong, they focus on killing vampires and do not meddle in the Civil War. But now, let's make sure that everybody receives proper care, shall we?"
The Jarl personally walked around to make sure that all injuries were treated, and he gave orders to have the corpses transported to the Hall of the Dead in the city. He had one more question, though:
"What are we going to do with the big dragon corpse?"
"You could try to have people hack into it and see if either scales or bones or both could be retrieved. I do not know if any blacksmith can work with them, but weapons made of that material might be able to cause much more damage on dragons."
"That's a good point, and I will sure find out. Sadly, the best smith known in the province is in Whiterun, and it may need something like the special power of the Skyforge to take advantage of that material."
"You may be right, indeed."
Slowly most of us followed Ulfric back into the city, and I had no further wish for today than retreating to my room in the palace and getting to sleep; it had been one of those days again. I was happy that the day had ended like this. I had not planed on being captured myself, but fortunately my special skills had allowed us to escape, and with a big team effort we had managed to make all bandits prisoners.
Fortunately, I was able to sleep long and well, and on the next day I felt rested and ready for whatever the day might bring, and applying my restoration magic on myself helped to remove the last few reaming traces of stiffness from my muscles. While I sat down for breakfast with Antonius and Jordis, I decided that today we'd go around and return some of the special items which had been stolen by the bandits in Uttering Hills Cave, and of course my two housecarls would be with me.
Our first visit was to the Temple of Talos. In the large collection of loot at Uttering Hills Cave we had seen a few nicely crafted and decorated goblets, and I had taken three of them with me. When I showed them to Jora and Lortheim, they looked at me and said:
"Where did you get those from? They are indeed temple property and part of those which had been stolen!"
I explained and told them about our raid, and Jora asked:
"Do you know if there is a chance to also retrieve the other stolen items?"
"Priestess, we have only been able to take a small selection with us, and hold guards are, as far as I know, already getting the remaining items; the bandits had horded quite many wares. You may want to ask Jorleif and find out where the loot will be stored."
"You have our thanks, B'lushona."
Next stop was Brunwulf Free-Winter's house, southwest of the temple. We also told him about our success and suggested that he might also check with Jorleif to identify some of the stolen goods. From there we headed down to the docks and went on the pier where "The North Wind" was docked. I told Kjar, the captain, about our raid and said:
"We have taken about two dozens prisoners, and I suspect that the crew members you have been looking for are among them. Why don't you visit the dungeons and find out about that?"
"Fine work, lad, fine work indeed. I will look there indeed."
He had mentioned something about 'a year's worth of pay' as a reward, and he did ask:
"Now, if I do find them all there, where can I meet you again to pay up?"
"Jarl Ulfric was generous enough to provide a room for me and my housecarls in the palace; you can find me there or ask Jorleif, the Jarl՚s steward. However, I plan to travel back to Whiterun soon, maybe as early as tomorrow."
He nodded and replied:
"Then I'd better check out the prisoners today and see if I can find my deserted crew members there."
From the ship we went back to the main dock area. There we did not have to search long to meet Shavee, the female Argonian who had claimed that she was almost always happy. We greeted her, and after we had exchanged a few words on the weather and such, I told her:
"Shavee, I believe that we may have found your amulet."
"You have, really?"
I got it out and handed it over, and she replied:
"By the Nine, it is my amulet indeed! Bless you, my friend, you have renewed my hope."
She bowed to us and looked very happy, and she added:
"I don't have much to reward you with, but I learned a few things in my earlier life, when I had done some not so honorable things, that might help you survive. Let me show you."
I knelt down in front of her, understanding what she might want to do; apparently, she was going to aid or train one or two of my skills, and I was not going to refuse that. She placed both of her hand on my head and mumbled something, and although I could not fee a difference, I thanked her when she was done.
Now we headed back up into the city, and right on the stairs Torbjorn Shatter-Shield came down in the other direction. We stopped him, and I got the artifact out of my pack which I had found to be looking quite like the Nord had described it. He was speechless for a minute, and then he said:
"This is my family heirloom, all right! How did you managed to retrieve it?"
I briefly told him about our raid on the bandit lair, and he replied:
"This is great! How can I reward you?"
"The best way to reward me would me to make sure that the Argonians you employ are paid fairly; good pay for good work."
"Bold words, but true. Maybe I was being too harsh on them. By the honor of Clan Shatter-Shield, they will be paid fairly. You have my word; that's the least I can do."
We ate lunch in the palace today and spent the afternoon idling around, talking to Jorleif and Wuunferth and some other people. In late afternoon Jorleif approached us with a message from Jarl Ulfric:
"The Jarl knows that you will want to return to Whiterun soon, and he is going to write a message for Jarl Balgruuf the Greater; the letter will be ready before end of the day tomorrow; is that soon enough?"
"Of course it is, Jorleif" I replied. "I guess that we will start our journey back day after tomorrow then. By the way, I have lost track of time a little bit; which day is tomorrow?"
"Oh, tomorrow will be the 18th of Morning Star, a Sundas."
"Thank you, Jorleif; I will be looking forward to meeting Jarl Ulfric tomorrow afternoon or evening and then start traveling back to Whiterun on the day after, on Morndas."
So, tomorrow was going to be a Sundas, a Sunday; that was quite all right for me, and I decided that I'd spend a quiet day tomorrow, with some prayer and meditation; one day later we'd be on the road again, if Ulfric got his letter ready and unless something unexpected came up.
[Author's Notes: This story now has 160 reviews and more than 200 followers, which is much more than any of my earlier stories ever got. A big thank you to those readers who write reviews on a more or less regular basis! I greatly enjoy reading those, and they encourage me to keep on writing; I'd love to get a chance to read more feedback, including (constructive and polite) criticism. As a matter of fact, this story will end soon, in a few more chapters, but book B ('Balu in Skyrim – building and bonding') will pick up as second volume right after. Eventually, I hope that this is going to be a trilogy, but I am not sure how long my fantasy will be able to deliver.]
