Chapter 4.

The Golden Claw

Entering the ruins of Bleak Falls Barrow, the first thing I noticed was the quiet. While outside it was a small maelstrom of wind and snow, inside there was almost no noise. I was also impacted by the smell. Though the entrance was filled with snow tracked in, there seemed to be a staleness to the air, as if the stones themselves had stood quietly rotting for thousands of years. I also smelled smoke. That was more recent- judging by the firelight lighting on the opposite side of the room. The sound of people talking broke the stillness and left me clutching my sword. I didn´t want to kill the bandits- or even hurt them. If I could reason with them in any way, then I would much prefer it. Before I walked up to the bandits, I crept behind a crumbling column and listened to their conversation.

"Why are we even here, Thirvel?" a man with a pinched face complained. Another man, one with a thick black beard, glared at the first.

"You know why we are here. We stole the Golden Claw because of the rumors that it would unlock a treasure. Weren't you listening when we talked about our plan the first time?" The pinched-faced man replied "Yes, but I don't understand why we are here. It's still freezing out there, and all that we have is this dingy fire! There isn't even any proper food! Why don't we just go back to our camp while the boss takes care of the treasure?" This made the other two men glare back at him.

"Are you kiddin'? And have him steal all the loot? I don't think so." The argument commenced for a while as I thought about what I should do. Eventually, I figured that a simple approach would be the best one. I stood up and confidently walked out from behind the pillar.

The men sitting around the fire saw me, and two began to reach for weapons when I rose my hand up to calm them.

"I don't want to harm you. I just need to retrieve the claw that was stolen from Lucan. I overheard your conversation, and I know that you aren't happy with how this venture is going out. I'll give you a share of the treasure if you let me pass." I tried to keep my face as neutral as possible, though my voice still trembled a little at the end of my short speech. Two of the bandits, including the pinch-faced man, looked thoughtful, but the final bandit scowled. He wore robes, and he seemed more shrewd than the others.

"No. We're going to get that anyways. However, we can just kill you, and steal your stuff for ourselves!" Upon realizing what the robed man said, the other two unsheathed their weapons and grinned evilly at me. I sighed but unsheathed my own blade. After a few minutes, the three men were on the ground, unconsious. It hadn't been as much of a fight- there were fewer men than the guards outside, though the robed bandit gave me quite the shock- literally. He cast a spell, and sent a small jolt of electricity into my body, sending me temporarily rigid. With fewer bandits fighting me at the same time, I could also afford to be more careful. I used nonlethal attacks, smacking them with the flat of my blade and slamming my pommel into their heads to knock them unconscious. I was relieved that I had the chance to prevent bloodshed, though I needed to move quickly. There was no telling how long the bandits were going to stay unconscious. I yanked their gold pouches off, shoving them into my bag, and stopped at a small chest in the corner. I felt self-conscious, stealing from the men who I had beaten, but a quick reminder of what they did for a job hardened my resolve. Thieves were thieves after all. Their money would do much better to be with me, where I could still spend it in society.

Finally done with my looting, I stepped towards a weathered iron door that led deeper inside. I still hadn't seen the claw, so I assumed that it was deeper inside. I opened the door, walking into the darkness. When I encountered the first reDead, I almost died. I was a few rooms and corridors into the barrow when I came to a larger room with alcoves cut into the walls. The musty smell seemed much stronger here, and cobwebs and other signs of unuse filled the room. A dozen corpses and skeletons laid in the alcoves, with a few remaining empty. I thought nothing of it at first until I heard a groan come from behind me. Before I could react, a force like a punch impacted my side. It took a moment for my body to react, sending threads of pain into my body. My armor covered most of my body, but gaps still formed between the breastplate and the backplate. I stumbled forward in pain, gasping as pain filled my body. The knife came with me, and the creature that stabbed me was left without a weapon. I turned around, seeing the monster that had attacked me for the first time. It was a man, pale and emaciated. His body looked so old and frail that it looked impossible for him to be standing, much less be alive. He had a wispy brown beard and wore rusted, barbaric-looking armor. The worst part of him was his face, however. It was skeletal, with barely any flesh clinging to it. In the place of eyes, glowing balls of light filled the man's eye sockets. They glowed an eerie blue and sent a chill down my spine as they seemed to draw me in. The creature reminded me of a reDead, an undead creature that could freeze someone with only a scream. The reDead, or what looked remarkably like one, let out a scream of its own. An almost bestial, monstrous cry came from his mouth, but my blood didn't freeze in my veins like a reDead's scream would normally cause. The creature had no other weapons and lunged towards me, its rotting fingernails poised to flaw at my face.

I lurched out of the way, feeling another wave of pain fill me as the knife dug deeper into my side. The undead creature clearly wasn't as frail as it looked, and recovered quickly from its dive. Still, its rise gave me enough time to grab onto the knife handle. Just that slight motion sent jolts of pain through my side. I wasn't prepared in the slightest for the pain, but gritting my teeth, I yanked the dagger out of my side anyway. An explosion of pain filled my vision, and I collapsed from the overload of pain that came from my nerves. This worked to my advantage, as the undead creature lunged towards me once more. It overshot, missing me by a mile, and stumbled forward. I still laid on the ground, dazed with pain, but the clattering of its armor against stone brought me back to a semblance of wakedness. I rolled to the left, pain searing through me again as I dodged a kick from the creature. Standing up with difficulty- I clutched the dagger that I had pulled from myself, which was dripping with crimson. My blood. With another guttural roar, the creature threw a punch at me, which impacted my breastplate. I felt no pain, from the punch, though the impact jolted me, twisting new spikes of pain into my injured side. Ignoring my wound as best I could, I pulled back my hand, and plunged it into the chest of the dragur, piercing through the rusted armor that it wore. I expected the creature to fall, dead, but that was not the case. It walked into the dagger, ignoring it completely, and reached for my face, clawing toward my eyes. In a panic, I pushed it away, stepping back. Then, with all of my remaining strength, I swung the dagger, aiming a little higher than before. The blade, still dripping with my blood, cleaved through the monster's neck, beheading it. The rest of the body stood still, swaying for a moment, then collapsed next to its dismembered cranium. I still stood, panting, adrenaline, rushing through me. Then, I collapsed to the ground as well, falling only a few feet from the creature.

I still had enough sense to rifle through my backpack. Luckily, the red potion hadn't spilled, and the bottle hadn't broken. With a sense of urgency, I drank the liquid. It burned slightly on its way down and tasted like old mushrooms. Not bad as far as red potions went- at least this one didn't taste like dead fish, as the potions in Zora's Domain did. Soon after I drank the liquid, I felt the numb tingling that accompanied the healing process. As I rested, I watched the wound in my side shrink slightly, my blood flowing less freely. The potion couldn't heal it completely- I suspected it would take several days of rest at least to heal. In a moment of panic, I looked at the dagger that the monster attacked me with. It was made out of a dull iron and was still in decent condition, despite being several thousand years old. It didn't seem rusted, but it would almost certainly have infection spread in any wounds that it caused. I would need to carefully wash the wound- try to prevent infection. I sprinkled a little water from my waterskin onto my wound, gently washing it. Touching the stab wound made new pain spike through my body, but I persevered. I couldn't wrap a bandage around my wound, since I was wearing armor, but I did the best I could.

My wounds cleaned and my body rested, I stood back up and explored deeper into the barrow. I encountered more of the reDead-like monsters, but I defeated them much more easily when they lacked the power of surprise. I was stabbed in my right side, which meant that although I couldn't use my shield, my sword was still very much in action. The halls and rooms became colder and colder as I adventured further until I could see mist in the air. That was a good sign- if there is mist, there is likely water, which I needed more of. When I came to another room, in the catacombs of the barrow, I noticed something that no other rooms had. Icy webs strung across the room like party decorations, covering two archways and leaving only one entrance forward. My guard was up after defeating several other undead, so I came into the next room with the same caution. What I saw was terrifying. An enormous spider, larger than I was, was clicking its mandibles excitedly while crawling towards a form covered in webs. The form squirmed, and I realized with horror that it was a person stuck in the web! I had the urge to run into the room without thinking, but I carefully inspected the situation before approaching. The room was covered in more webs, with large pods lying randomly across the room- some broken, others whole. There seemed to only be two exits to the room, the one I was standing in, the other a web-covered doorway where the man was squirming and screaming at the spider. Prepared, I ran into the room, yelling to gain the spider's attention. I slashed my sword across the spider's back, creating a small gash in its abdomen. The spider, who seemed quite angry, returned the attack in kind, clacking its mandibles and trying to bite me. I dove out of the way of the pincers of the spider, coming back up with my sword drawn and attacking with a slash to a leg. My sword dug into the leg deeply but did not completely sever the hairy limb. Another lunge of the spider's mandibles impacted my chest as I was left open, but my armor blocked most of the damage. I grimaced in pain, then reached up and stabbed the spider in its ugly face. My sword did more damage that time. With a shriek of pain, the spider crawled back, out of range of my sword, then spit a glob of something at my face, splattering all over it.

My face burned with cold as if it was touching icy snow, and I was blinded. I swung my sword around wildly, hoping to hit something, but was left disappointed. A heavy weight landed on my chest, knocking me to the ground, and I was left breathless by the impact. My wound flared in pain with the impact, but my focus on the battle didn't waver. I pushed weakly at the spider, unsuccessfully pushing it off of me, and rolled to avoid another ferocious bite. It was awkward to attack with my sword, but I could still maneuver it enough to stab into the spider's face. I stabbed it again and again, only stopping when the spider, fell on top of me, knocking my breath out. With a burst of strength, I pushed at the spider, this time moving it off of me. Finally free of the spider's clutches, I wiped off the acid that was spat onto my face, which had cooled to an uncomfortably cold temperature. The sound of grunting and cursing brought my attention back to the man in the corner who had been trapped by the enormous spider.

"Damn Frostbite! Almost killed me!" he grumbled. When he saw me stirring, he sighed in relief. "Phew. I thought you died there, fighting that beast. Can you set me free?"

I looked him up and down. He wore hide armor, and his skin was a dusky gray, almost as silvery as my sword. His eyes were red and unsettling. They reminded me of the red eyes of the Shiekah from Hyrule. I hesitantly nodded, being cautious around the unknown man.

"I will set you free. But first, tell me, are you Arvel?" The man scowled at me and roughly answered my question. "Yea. What's it to you?"

"Well, I've got a quest of sorts to get something that you stole from Lucan. A golden claw? I'll need that before I let you go." Arvel's face widened in surprise, then cooled down to a business-like demeanor.

"Well, that isn't a great deal for me now, is it? I have it on good authority that the claw I have can unlock great power in the Sanctum of this Barrow, and I'll share it with you if you let me keep the claw." A glint in his eye told me that he was not being truthful, but I played along, pretending to be dumb. I cut the webs around his body off and stood back to let him get feeling back into his limbs. After a few moments, Arvel smiled wickedly. "You shouldn't have done that!" He whipped forward at blinding speed, a knife pointed at my throat, but I was expecting his betrayal. I stepped to the side and let him fall flat on his face, where I heard a crunch. I looked down at him, and I cursed. The fool had broken his neck when he fell! I was planning on sparing his life if he played nice, but it seemed that fate had other plans for him.

I searched Arvel's body, pocketing a few pieces of gear, some coins, and his journal that I would read later, but I didn't find the claw. After searching for a little while longer, I found that as well. He had concealed it inside a bundle of cloth, hidden inside of his tunic. Unwrapping the claw, I marveled at its craftsmanship. The claw was about three inches tall and was made of pure gold, with three inscriptions on its palm. My goal was complete, I took a step back to where I came from but hesitated. Maybe Arvel's words did have a small ring of truth. Against my better judgment, I followed my instincts to the tunnel that continued onward. After fighting more undead, avoiding traps, and investigating a few urns, I came to a room with a small stream running through. I stopped there, sticking a finger into it. It was cold and running quickly. Both were signs of it being clean. I refilled my waterskin, took a long drink, then went to finish cleaning my wound. Rolling around in the dirt had pushed dust into the cut, which I carefully scrubbed away. The healing potion's effects vanished long ago, so the only healing that would happen from then had to be my own.

When I finally came to the last room, I was tired, covered in dust, and limping from a bruise that had formed around my ankle- I had slammed it against a pile of rubble as I fought another one of the reDead-like monsters. The room was large and barreled, about 10 meters long. Across its walls were ancient carvings and words written in a language that I couldn't recognize. At set points in the room, carved columns stood, and at the end of the room stood a very strange stone door. I walked closer to investigate, and I saw concentric circles surrounding an imprint that looked like a claw. It took me a moment to realize that the golden claw would fit perfectly into the socket. I pushed it into the socket and turned it, but the socket didn't move all of the way. Taking the claw back out, I looked closely at the concentric circles. Three carvings stood out, a wolf, a moth, and a bear, all of which were in seemingly random order. Looking back down at the claw, I realized that similar carvings adorned its surface. I chuckled, thinking that it would be too easy, but it was. After pushing the rings into the right order, which took some doing, I inserted the claw again and twisted the socket freely to the right. This time, something happened. A loud "click" sounded from the door, and the room began to lightly rumble. The doorway sank into the ground, revealing a vast chamber just outside of the room I was standing in.

The sanctum of the Bleak Falls Barrow was enormous, with waterfalls of icy cold water splashing through holes in the ceiling. A stone brick path leading across a river to a curved wall at the far end of what would be more adequately called a man-made cave. My first steps echoed in the ample space, spreading the sounds of the living where there had been none for centuries. I cautiously made my way to the end of the room, passing over the crumbling stone bridge and to the platform next to the stone wall. Glyphs, or perhaps words in an ancient language were written across its surface, but many were almost completely worn down. Only one, glowing with a strange blue color, remained completely whole. As I got closer and closer to examine it, the word seemed to reach out to me. I extended my hand, and my fingers brushed the word

The word's glow poured into my hand, spreading up my arm and flowing across my whole body, seeping into it. I only had a moment to cry out in shock before it was done. The word no longer glowed on the wall, but the same word glowed in my mind. I could picture every detail and sharp edge of its design. I could even understand how it was spoken, though I didn't know how; Fus. The word stayed, almost glued to the forefront of my memory, then began to dissolve, fading to the back of my mind. I could still "feel" it as if it were an actual, tangible thing, yet I felt that I didn't understand what it was. I whispered the word, almost reverently to myself.

"Fus." Nothing happened. I didn't expect anything to happen, but it felt… odd, to say the word. It seemed harsh, cold. Whatever language the word came from, I wasn't sure if I wanted to hear it spoken in person. As I considered the word, a loud bang echoed in the sanctum, making me whirl around in surprise. A black coffin that I had passed was open, its lid had fallen onto the ground. My senses tingled, warning me of danger- of being watched. Then, slowly, almost complacently, a hulking body rose from the box. A gauntleted hand grasped the lip of the coffin, then another came. Soon, the helmeted head of an emaciated body poked out. The horns on its dark iron helm curved upwards, instead of to the side like the other helmets I had seen on the undead creatures. Its head twisted towards me, and the light in its eyes intensified, seeming to focus on me. It saw me, and I froze.

"Well, shit.", I complained.

This creature was different from the rest that I had fought. It wore black armor, with runic designs carved into its chest plate, and its eyes seemed to glow with more malevolence. It climbed out of the coffin, then drew a sword from its waist. I drew my sword, prepared for the creature to make the first move as we stared at each other. It swung first, slicing toward my neck. I bent backward, avoiding its blow, then stabbed at its chest. Sparks flew as my sword hit the ancient armor, but my blade didn't pierce the creature's chest. The impact of my sword still made the monster off-balance. Using this to my advantage, I lunged forward, aiming for its head with the tip of my blade. Moments before it slid into the creature's head, the undead man swept his sword up and to the side, diverting my sword into his shoulder. He let out a howl of pain, which sent a bone-chilling shiver down my spine. The creature looked back at me, its baleful eyes staring into my soul. Then, it strengthened its stance. It put a foot back, and one forward. Preparing for a lunge toward the creature, I was caught off-guard by what it did next. It shouted

"FUS", the sound of the monster's voice echoed throughout the cave. I felt a force impact me like a horse trying to run me over. I fell backward, landing on my back as the creature leaped forward for a finishing blow. My armor held, however. Instead of piercing through the steel, its blade was stopped by my chest plate, though my breath was knocked out by the impact.

Gasping, I grasped my sword tightly and slammed the pommel against the undead's head. The helmet reverberated, and it was stunned for long enough to let me roll to the side and get up. The creature stalked towards me, moving with an uncanny swiftness that no dead creature should have. It swung to attack my right side, and I instinctively raised my arm. I had forgotten about my injury, and my side blazed with pain as I stretched the wound. The sword clattered against my bracer, then slid the side, slicing into my upper forearm. A new cut appeared, blood welling and spilling from the wound. A strange freezing sensation also crept up my arm, making it stiffen. I did my best to ignore it, cleaving my sword down, and slicing the undead's entire arm off. It let loose another howl, making me feel the chill I had before. It clutched its stump, yet no blood fell, having dried long ago.

"Oblivion hin sil!", the creature screamed at me.

I froze. It should have occurred to me when it yelled the same word that I had learned, "Fus", but it was the first time that one of the undead creatures I had come across spoke. Maybe this one was more intelligent than the others. Either way, it was wounded and off-balance. Using the moment, I jumped forward, plowing my blade through its rusted armor, and into its gut. It fell to the ground but didn't stop twitching until I stabbed it in the head. The monsters only died if the head was damaged- this one was no different. The pale, glowing light in the corpse's eyes died, leaving me with only the light that seeped in through several cracks in the ceiling. The rush of the flowing river was now the only sound, except for my heart still beating wildly in my chest. I had done it! I managed to crack a weary smile at my victory, looking at my handiwork. There was no blood, no pleads for mercy in guttural tongues- it was much easier to slay these monsters than the monsters of my homeland, such as Moblins and Bublins.

As my breathing slowed, and my body relaxed, I felt all of my wounds come back to me. I also saw something that I hadn't before. The undead man's blade was glowing ever slightly with a pale blue glow. Stooping it down, it picked it up. The sword felt surprisingly durable, despite its decrepit-looking appearance. It was made of black, carbon-rich steel, with a blade that widened slightly at its tip. It wasn't a straight-edged sword like I was used to, instead boasting a normal cutting edge on one side, and the other slightly serrated. Its crossguard was also elaborate, cast to look like an animal with its mouth agape. What still stood out the most to me was its low glow. It was enchanted! I had a good amount of experience with enchanted items and weapons in my adventures. The Master Sword, Great Fairy Sword, and the magical masks that I had used all examples, one could say that I always had one around. Most enchanted items are rare and hard to get- but for some reason, I always received at least one special item during my adventures. Despite my previous experiences with getting magical items, I couldn't believe that I had come across another enchanted sword so quickly. Pouring over the rest of the corpse, I didn't find anything that could actually be used. Rusty armor, mouldering bones- nothing else of use. When I investigated the coffin, however, I found something interesting. A plaque of stone, carved with an intricate map on its surface. Seeing the map reminded me that I needed to buy one myself. The stone was about the size of a small book. Seeing as it was in the coffin of the undead monster, I figured that it was important. I stuffed it into my backpack- which was already full again with more coins, pieces of armor, and some small weapons. There was a chest sitting next to the coffin, in surprisingly good condition. Opening it, I was greeted with the glimmer of gold coins. Dozens of them. An actual smile crossed my face then, and I spoke aloud

"Well, I guess Arvel was right. There is some treasure here." My voice echoed in the space, the words echoing back into my ears, reminding me that I was alone.

Escaping Bleak Falls Barrow wasn't as difficult as I had expected. Instead of having to trek all the way back through the catacombs, there was a door hidden in plain sight. With the pull of a strange contraption, stone scraped against stone, and I was free in no time. The crisp, clean air of Skyrim filled my lungs after breathing in the stale air of the tomb. It felt wonderful. It took another hour or so to get back to Riverwood, but by the time I had rented a room and eaten a quick dinner, I was exhausted, hurting, and sore. Again, I didn't bother taking off my armor when I collapsed onto my bed, slipping into dreams almost immediately.

Translations:

Fus- Force

Oblivion hin sil!- Oblivion take your soul!