"I came to Skyrim because of the heavy Dwemer presence here. Despite all we know about them, there is still so much to be learned. One particular Dwemer ruin that interests me is Dumzbthyr. Dwemeri is a fiddly language, with many words having different meanings. It roughly translates to 'Bound Ghosts,'" Lucien prattled on, responding to a question from Rendarion.
As they walked, Teryn hung back, walking beside the goat. They had set out not long after introductions, and Rendarion was eager not to waste any daylight. Teryn sensed that Rendarion wanted to avoid discussing the previous night's events. Fortunately, Lucien seemed oblivious to the tension.
"Well, I hope your father is successful in finding the location for you," Rendarion muttered. "I can't say that I would want to risk going into any Dwarven ruins for any reason."
"Oh, I know the traps and automatons can be dangerous, but if you are cautious enough and know what to look for, they are easy to avoid."
"Have you ever been in a Dwemer ruin?" Teryn asked, quickening his pace to join the conversation.
"No, well... No. I haven't. What I have seen is from the Great Museum within the capital itself, and of course, what I have read in books. In fact, now that I think about it, one of the most learned scholars on Dwemeri is said to live in Skyrim. Maybe we can find him."
"Don't know about going all the way out to the Reach," Rendarion said. "The Forsworn are out there. They're merciless savages who attack anyone on the roads."
"Oh, I'm sure there are ways to get past them. Otherwise, how would all the traders get around?" Lucien said with enthusiasm.
"Numbers make up the difference." Teryn brushed a few stray snowflakes off his sleeves. Despite the encroaching spring, snow continued to fall from the sky. Winter lingered longer in the northern parts of Skyrim due to their proximity to the sea. It was a change from Morrowind, where he hailed from and where snow was rare.
For the next hour, they traveled in companionable silence. On occasion, the goat trotted ahead of them, disappearing from sight for a few minutes until they caught up to find her grazing on early blooming flowers. She only ran to catch up when they got too far ahead. At the end of the hour, Lucien shifted his pack around, sweat dripping down his face.
"I say, do you think we could stop for a rest? This pack is terribly heavy."
Rendarion frowned at him. "We haven't been walking two hours. Daylight only lasts for so long, and I want to make it halfway to the Eastmarch-Riften border before we make camp."
Teryn narrowed his eyes. "Eastmarch butts up against Whiterun hold. If Whiterun is our destination, why are we heading towards Riften?" He avoided mentioning Rendarion's affiliation with the Stormcloaks, but alarm bells were ringing in his mind.
"I know where I'm going. I tried to explain earlier that I am going down through Riften and heading into Falkreath hold to do some trading at Helgen."
Teryn knew a lie when he heard one. He stopped dead in his tracks, catching hold of Lucien's sleeve, forcing the Imperial to stop with a sound of surprise.
Rendarion paused, looking at the two of them, suspicion etched on his face. Teryn noticed the subtle flex of the boy's hand, ready to reach for his sword. It was a familiar reflex.
Drawing magicka into his hands, though not yet igniting it into anything harmful, Teryn said, "Alright, meat puppet. I'm going to give you one chance to tell the truth. No fancy lies. I'm not dumb. I know you're a Stormcloak. Are you trying to use us as some sort of cover?"
"He's a Stormcloak? Oh my," Lucien said.
"Does being a Stormcloak mean that I am unable to engage in private trade? My father taught me blacksmithing at a young age, and I've traded many of my creations over the years," Rendarion said, his hand lifting towards his sword.
Teryn knew one of his fireballs would hit the lesser mer before he even drew it. The question now was if Rendarion wore anything enchanted to protect against magic. Not that it mattered. Teryn didn't plan to let up until the boy was a pile of ash on the ground.
"Look, whatever his intentions are, I don't think they are ill-intended." Lucien stepped between the two, hands outstretched in a placating manner. "I mean if he intended us any harm, wouldn't it have happened already? I've shared everything about my family in the last little bit, and he's not said anything incriminating. Maybe he really is going to Helgen for trade."
"Look, I didn't want to travel with anyone. In fact, it was my commanding officer who made the suggestion because the roads are dangerous. I know I am taking the long way, and my reasons are my own. I'm not going to force either of you to come," Rendarion dropped his hand.
Lucien relaxed at the surrender from Rendarion and then turned his gaze to Teryn. "See, we can come to a mutual understanding—"
The she-goat let out a high-pitched bleat of warning just as Teryn let loose his charged-up fireball.
Bone-jarring thunder shook the air as the sound of a thousand mirrors shattering came from behind Rendarion. Frost bolted past him, running back down the road from where they came. His ears rang, and the ground rolled beneath his feet as he tried to regain his bearings, disbelieving that the dunmer had attacked him.
Lucien waved his arms, his mouth moving, but all Rendarion heard was a high-pitched whine. Another fireball charged past him, slamming into the ground somewhere behind him. Either Teryn had bad aim or...
"Behind you!" Lucien's voice finally broke through.
Rendarion sensed it then - the static charge of magicka in the air and the frantic pounding of feet as attackers sought cover from Teryn's barrage of fireballs. In those few moments, everything slowed.
Rendarion spun on the balls of his feet, his bow swung off his back and an arrow notched. It took only a moment to realize that a group of bandits had sneaked up on them from the tree line while they argued. Rendarion released his held breath the same time he let fly his arrow, catching one of the fleeing bandits in the back of the head.
"Stendarr take you!" an orc snarled on his left, charging from behind the cover of trees.
Rendarion dropped his bow, barely drawing his sword in time to block the wild swipe of the orc's war axe. Sparks flew off the weapons as the two clashed. The orc held the upper hand in strength, while Rendarion had an advantage in speed. The two combatants engaged in a violent dance of sword and axe.
"Can't we talk this out?" Lucien shouted from the left.
Rendarion caught a brief glimpse of him showering a charging bandit with a frost attack. He dodged a slash meant to take his head off, moving into the orc's guard and stabbing at the exposed flesh of the orc's side. His blade slid in before catching on bone. The bandit grunted and tried to lift his axe for another swing at Ren's head.
Ren drew the skinning knife he kept on him and slashed it across the orc's wrist at an awkward angle. Though not a clean cut, it sufficed to make the bandit drop his weapon. Ren pulled his sword free and smashed it against the orc's temple, caving in his head.
Breathing heavily, Ren's gaze swept the area to see what remained of the other bandits. Three charred bodies smoked on the ground. The bandit that faced off Lucien slept an eternal frozen sleep. The Imperial sat on the ground, head in his hands not too far from the corpse. Not far from him stood Teryn, a flame atronach floating beside him, the dunmer's arms crossed over his broad chest.
"Everyone in one piece?" Rendarion asked.
Lucien lifted his head, looking about as if seeing the world for the first time. "Yes, I think so. My, that was scary, wasn't it? Bandits so close to the road? Are there no patrols?"
"We are stretched thin with the civil war," Rendarion replied, wiping his blade on the pants leg of the orc and sheathing it. "Most of the time, the bandits line the roads to shake down merchants and travelers for protection money. It's rare that they attack like this. They must have been desperate."
Teryn stepped over to the frozen bandit, patting down her body.
"What are you doing?" Lucien sounded uneasy.
"Seeing if there's anything valuable or worth taking. Bandits don't usually keep much on them, but anything may come in handy out here," Teryn explained.
Rendarion hated looting from the dead, but he started to search the orc at his feet, unable to deny the logic of Teryn's statement. All he managed to find were a couple of vials of health potions, a few lockpicks, and five septims. He added the small stash to his own person.
"Don't think those are going to have anything worth salvaging on them," he nodded towards the two charred bandits, thankful the wind was blowing their stench away.
"Well, that was all good fun, but I think we should get going. What if more of them show up?" Lucien said, taking to his feet and rubbing his hands together.
Rendarion and Teryn locked eyes. The unsettling realization that Rendarion had thought, for a sheer moment, that the dunmer intended to kill him made the idea of traveling with him further all the more awkward. He rubbed at the back of his neck.
"Thank you for saving me. Had you not shot that fireball, things may not have turned out as they did."
"I don't trust what you say, s'wit, but if anyone is going to be eliciting a scream from you, it will be me."
A chill ran down Rendarion's spine. He did not know whether to perceive those words as a threat or if they held an entirely different meaning. He cleared his throat.
"I understand if neither of you wants to travel further with me. At least let me escort both of you as far as Ivarstead. From there, we can part ways if you want. It has an inn, so you can wait a day or two before taking off again. That way, you can be sure I'm not traveling with you for nefarious reasons."
Teryn's expression told Rendarion that he did not trust anything he said. It was Lucien, though, who spoke up with more enthusiasm.
"I have no problem with you being a Stormcloak. I mean, it's not ideal to me, personally, but I would love to get a sense of your reasons for being in the cloaks, have you tell me more about things from your perspective." Lucien pulled his pack back on. "I say a good resting point will be Ivarstead. We can decide from there whether to continue traveling or not."
Both looked to Teryn for his opinion. The dunmer stared at Rendarion coldly for so long that Rendarion started to think he wanted to part ways right then and there.
"I've got my eye on you," Teryn said, grabbing his own pack off the ground and starting down the path.
Lucien gave Rendarion an uneasy smile before starting after him. Rendarion let out the breath he held. Frost poked her head out from behind a tree, chewing on something. He clicked his tongue for her and went after the others.