So, you don't actually know how to use that sword do you." It was a statement of fact on Lydia's part. Not really a question.
Jon looked to her as they rode along the Imperial road towards Ivarstead. He said, "If I had a dagger in my hand, I would have disassembled those men. But why in the Oblivion would I give them that reach advantage when they can pull any number of literal magic tricks out of their asses. Get up close to take them, and boom, foot wide hole in my chest that I only survive with immediate medical attention. I may 'have the strength of ten men," but if my brain dies, I die. If I don't have any lungs to breath with, my brain dies before I can fully regrow them. My kind Isn't invincible despite many of their thoughts on the matter."
Lydia asked, "Your kind being dragons? They say Dragonborn are literal dragons in the form of man. Not just a man with the soul of one. Oh, and I know a basic healing spell by the way, for you and me. All Housecarls are expected to learn one."
Jon had another moment of body horror. What in the Oblivion and nine circles of hell had happened to him. He said, "Thanks for letting me know. And no, Augment. It's what I was before I ate that soul, where I got ten men's worth of strength. The former Patriarch of my house was an Arch-Alchemist. He could create life, and he created me and others. It didn't end well. I've been at war for eight years against my own house and people for their wickedness, and if I truly am a dragon now, then the war simply continues. The Khan tried to conquer Earth, the Worm Nirn. I won't stand for it."
Lydia had been briefed on the origin of her Thane, that he was a visitor from another world as a necessity so she could take an informed Oath. She took everything her Thane was saying in stride. Lydia said, "I was going to ask if you regretted being blessed, as many heroes, Great and otherwise, are reluctant ones. But I can see you don't. Your War against your own house, was it Great?"
Jon understood what she meant in the context. He replied, "Almost. Didn't match previous two Great Wars, but it was bloody and dirty. 499 augments, officers of auxiliary legions, took half of Earth before being pushed back to Kabul, the capital of their Terran Empire. 30 million people died, most civilians, who knows how many more from societal disruptions. Global trade damn near halted. Famines went wild, so did disease in refugee camps. Even the United States instituted rationing on certain goods, despite not being officially involved. The fallout will last for decades, and only lead to more conflict. And they thought themselves and their goals superior." Jon spit.
Lydia paled at the numbers she heard. She said, "You do not fight war like we do, do you? There is only so fast an army can butcher. Even the Great War never came close to such a toll. I don't know if there are enough people to reach such a toll. And you had two other Great Wars previously that exceeded it? How long did they last?"
Jon said, "World War One, which was originally known as the Great War, lasted four years and killed 40 million, some battles costing millions in a day. That was the war which introduced machine guns and gas warfare. World War Two kicked off 20 years later, lasted six, killed 70 million, and introduced the world to tanks and mechanized warfare. Oh, and it ended with two nuclear weapons detonating. Global peace was mostly stable after Korea until the house of Noonien-Signh came along."
Lydia almost didn't want to ask, but she wanted to know. She was an expert on idle talk, and this talk was idle and not in equal measure. What kind of battles did her Thane fight and survive? He certainly seemed willing to talk about it. She asked, "Machine guns? Gas warfare? Tanks? Nuclear weapons?"
Jon winced slightly. She needed to know these things if she was going to fight at his side. She had a right to know who and what she fights for, the horrors he and others are capable of inflicting upon their fellow man. He said, "Machine guns. A metal staff with moving parts that shoots small bits of metal faster than sound, at hundreds of rounds per minute and man portable. Gas. Poison which invades the very air its released into, and slowly kills any who touch it with no cure for it, blanketed over entire cities or battlefields. Tanks. Armored carriage made of steel, which operate under their own power and shoot explosive shells nearly as wide as a man. Nuclear weapon. A single device which can obliterate an entire city in one drop. We also have planes which fly higher and faster than even dragons, would destroy them with prejudice, and rain total unanswered death on any below. We also have fleets of steel ships that only a single small one of the type would rule these oceans based on what I've seen so far. These are the types of wars I fought and weapons I used. Thankfully the Gas and Nuclear weapons stayed out of things, mostly. Either my opponents were smart enough to realized that they couldn't rule an empire of ash, or I was there directly preventing them from getting and using them. It was kind of my unit's specialty. Stop the literal super-villain from getting a doomsday device, and kill them in the process. We did that so much we called ourselves the Avengers, after fictional heroes. Heh, I was literally a super-hero. Even more so now."
Lydia softly whispered, "By the Divines. We have artifacts and people capable of great destruction, but they are few and far between. With the numbers you speak of, its as if every warrior holds ancient power in their hands."
Jon replied, "Not ancient. We didn't have magic. We built tools. Technology. Nearly every advancement in the history of Earth was made in service to more efficiently killing ones enemies. Such are the man made horrors of industrial war, just barely within your comprehension."
Lydia kept her low tone, "You're right. Just barely. I'm sorry if this talk has upset you, my Thane.
Jon said, "It's alright. I came to terms with it. I had people that helped me. My kind were wicked. My bothers and sisters wicked. They were war criminals, every one, and so was I when I did nothing to stop them from massacring a village of innocent people. But I still had a future that they didn't, that their arrogance would not allow them to have. I met my President one time, Clinton, a couple years after I defected. They forced me on leave and voluntook me to D.C. My unit had already done good work, so the president wanted to meet the Augment that joined his front-line team in an inherited proxy war against Khan. He gave me citizenship papers, and told me I was protected under US law from any legal actions by foreign courts for war crimes that I technically did commit, up to and including an invasion of the Hague to prevent it. He also gave me an any and all pardon in the US legal system to prevent action being taken against me there. A fresh start for my service. He then offered any posting in any place I wanted after the war, and I said NASA."
Lydia broke up the exposition, "NASA?"
Jon continued the exposition, "National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Imagine if you could put a man on one of your moons, we did that."
Lydia said, "By the Divines, by the heavens, in fact! Why would you want to serve there and do something crazy like that?"
Jon said, "Because I was going much further than the moon. I had, have, an equation for matter anti-matter reactions in my head which could theoretically propel a ship faster than light, as well as open the door to transportation and matter replication technology. Came up with it as a kid. I wanted to trek to the stars and seek out new life and civilization, to solve Earths impending resource crisis, to explore and make my mark on history. I wanted to be the one Augment in history that actually did something good, that fulfilled our purpose to take humanity to the next step and beyond. Then, later in the war, once I saw something strange, I wanted to go out and find the fucking spoon head aliens that were egging things along towards Earth's destruction, and I wanted to put my fucking boot though their skulls for daring to interfere with our internal affairs."
Lydia said, "Invaders from another world. That is something I do comprehend. The Oblivion Crisis is still within living memory for some. Dagon's armies swept from Oblivion and pillaged the continent. He was going to combine Oblivion with Mundus, and rule over it all. It was only thanks to the Hero of Kvatch and the last Septim Emperor that we were saved. People everywhere made it a hard fight for Dagon's forces, especially the Argonians, but the Hero was the first to storm through the gates of Oblivion to close them, showing everyone how. He was looking for Martin Septim on the dying orders of the Emperor. The Hero, later Champion, was rumored to be in bandit leather, prison rags, and barefoot with a rusty iron sword. Martin Septim later sacrificed himself to become the Avatar of Akatosh, and permanently sealed the Dragonfires against the Planes of Oblivion, preventing Princes from taking mortal form and sending armies forth. His dragon-form statue in the Imperial City is also his grave and corpse."
Jon nodded, "The Jarl said that I wasn't the biggest fish to walk in this pond. You people fought these threats with bows and rusty fucking swords, barefoot. Our people only have fictional stories about such feats, and even then its completely outlandish."
"Are you sure they are just stories?" Lydia asked.
Jon replied, "If magic were at any point real in Human history, you can be sure the US government would have found, experimented on, and weaponized it. Augments would have weaponized it, and I would have been sent to stop them. There's no evidence to support much of Human myth, and can be explained by other means. The only paranormal thing I ever saw was an alien talking to an Augment though a scope, and then beaming away in the flash of light, no doubt to their ship in the heavens. It looked exactly how I imagined transportation technology worked, I saw the man get dissembled bit by bit and shot up towards the sky in a snap of a second. I was on recon only to track the Augment's movements, or I would have shot that alien bastard and his proxy dead right there. Only me and the President and a few others knew about what I had seen. When it became clear we weren't alone, my spot at NASA was guaranteed, and I had just looked at personal reports for a research team a couple weeks before being sent here, somehow. Flash of light and that was it."
Lydia asked, "Was it the same kind of flash as the alien?"
Jon shook his head, "No, I would have felt it if it did what it did to that alien. It was just a flash as I was about to breach the perimeter and go ape-shit on Khan's final keep, and then there I was waking up in the prison cart. As I told the Jarl, its pointless to speculate now. I'm going after the Worm. The Eugenics wars were over. If they couldn't finish them without me at that point, then Earth deserves what it gets at the hands of alien masters."
Lydia asked, "Did you leave anyone behind? Your unit?"
Jon paused a moment, "They died on me three months back. Dirty bomb in a population center went off in our faces and they were toast, survived the whole fucking war up until that point. We weren't fast enough. Got a half a block away from the building and boom. Final acts of terrorism from a failed state, army, and species. I died before being revived. I'm was an Augment, so I was back up in a week once they got me going again. I got captain's bars, and lone wolfed the last leg of of the wars. Nothing but targeted assassinations on remaining HVTs, Augment or otherwise. Headhunter, I was."
Lydia had to know, "What did you see when you died?"
Jon said, "Valhalla. Norse warrior afterlife. I saw the Hall of the Slain and smelled the mead in the air. We almost always invoked Valhalla before entering battle, so I know they were going there too. It was cadence, not real religion, so imagine my surprise. I guess that would be the second paranormal thing I've ever seen before coming here. Then I saw Sovngarde next to the Fists on the Whiterun plains, before the dragon soul revived and remade me."
Lydia said, "My condolences for your unit. While I am personally glad you are here, I know it can't be easy to be twice ripped from an honored afterlife with your brothers-in-arms. Much has been taken from you. Hopes, dreams, friends, final peace, and it speaks to your inner strength that you keep charging forward."
Jon said, "It's the only thing I can do, apparently. Battle to battle, war to war. I survive as my ancestors have done since pre-history. We were supposed to be so much more than petty super-soldiers. At least here the air doesn't stink of pollution, and I have a true fresh start without preconceptions. This place is what I make it, rather than trying to move past things unforgivable. Plus, I wanted to seek out new life, explore, and here I am on an alien word containing wonders only thought of in my wildest imagination."
Lydia smiled, "And women, apparently. I heard about a duel in Riverwood for the hand of a Lady, in addition to a dragon-slayer and taming an unbroken beast."
Jon laughed, "Yeah, lost one to a dastardly bard with impeccable footwork. I had an epiphany about womanizing people, then I died again and that went out the window. The day is starting to get long, know anywhere good to rest? I'd like to make camp early and drill."
Lydia said with a smile, "Certainly, Jon. I would be happy to show you how to actually use that sword like an adult. Valtheim Towers are just up ahead. I heard bandits took it and they charge a toll. As far as bandits go, they seemed pretty honest. If you paid the toll, they let you pass without incident. However, the roads are not bandit's to toll, and the Jarl does not charge those who pass though his lands for the right."
Jon said, "Meaning those bandits are now dead for committing crimes against Skyrim and her people. Excellent. They'd probably have their tolls on them, maybe even some good loot. Any more intel?"
Lydia shook her head, "No, unfortunately. I haven't actually left the city, let alone the hold, in a while. I'm just relaying the rumor. I got good at rumor scraping over the years."
Jon said, "To catch word of any bastards with burned eyes hanging about."
Lydia nodded, "Many nights at the inn, market, Dragonsreach, the Wind Park, anywhere where people would gossip or exchange word since I was 12. it was a skill that came in handy on the guard, to be able to listen quietly."
Jon nodded and they left their horses around the bend to the towers. They were Whiterun stock, and needn't be tied to contain them. Just as Jon and Lydia were about to peak around to begin observations, a cart driver carrying 3 passengers came rolling around on the opposite side of the Imperial road. The diver eyed the wizard and shield-maiden with a moments suspicion before turning his attention back to the road. They were too clean and well kept to be bandits like what was just behind him.
The driver was about to warn the travelers of the bandits, as it was obvious they didn't trust the road ahead. As they shouldn't. Jon ran over quickly and hopped on the foot step of the cart with some panache beside the driver. The move scared the two women in the cart, and the manish Orsimer's eyes began turning red.
Jon quickly honeyed his tongue. He said, "Keep driving. Ladies, gentleman, Just want to talk to the cart driver a moment. I'm a Thane of the hold, you see."
The diver was relieved, "Oh, tank tee Devines. A real Tane wit his armared Huscurl. Nea sum gol robba wit a mahnsurvunt. Eye spied four bandets me Tane. Two on te rode two on te two towas. But nea doubt moar in te towas. Eye suspuct abeat a doezen all in all. Been tru tess parts a lut miTane. Faces change untall te dunt."
Jon nodded, "Thank you fair driver. Keep going down aways before you stop so they suspect no folly. When I'm done, I'll return what was just stolen from you."
Jon Saw every occupant of the car eagerly nod their heads. Was it really stolen when you calculated it into your cost of travel? It was when bandits were the ones taking it. Jon jumped back down and ran back to Lydia, who held her position, already making observations.
Jon kneeled down beside her and said, "Here, take this cloak. Cammo. I should have gotten you a bow and some arrows too. Here take my Iron one, and I have 5 arrows left, take the quiver too. I have a cast so I don't need it. You a good shot at all?"
Lydia thought about it for a moment while fiddling with her gear, "All guard have to qualify in archery. I could peg the ones on the road at a standstill, easily. The towers will be a little tougher with the height and I am not as practiced in moving targets."
Jon asked, "But can you do it? If you got closer. You have the cammo and you're quiet as hell in that plate."
Lydia nodded. Jon said, "Okay, hold this side of the road. Get as close as you need though the wood cover. I'm going towards the river, and I'll pick the one on the farthest tower off. Wait till he drops, then drop your target. Let them come to you, pick your shots, and be ready to switch at a moment. I'll be covering you with my bow. I'm pretty fast so between the two of us we should be able to kill them before the get on us. If we're lucky, the idiots all charge and we catch them in a cross fire, but that's if you have ammo left. If they wait the siege, bust in and hack and slash but wait on me for that."
Lydia nodded and they both took their positions. The cloak she wore was of Elven make, and it blended near perfectly with the surrounding colors. She kept a keen eye on her target, bit also at her Thanes quarry. Them dropping was the signal, and she strung her new bow back and hit her's square in the eye. The bandits on the road were of course gnawing cheese, both figuratively and literally. Her Thanes tactical acumen was sound, and his hearing good to time their shots to the ups and downs of the bandits conversation from where he is.
Lydia did the thing she knew her Thane would do, what he would want her too, and what she was trained to do. She moved to the next target, waiting for his signal. When it arrived, she took down the bandit still alive. Four were now felled, three arrows remained, and she waited before moving up.
Lydia saw her Thane on the other side of the road though the forest. He signaled for her to wait and took a casual kneel while he simply observed the tower. He was waiting to see if alarm was raised, or if anyone would even come out to check. She also saw him gnawing on several slices of cheese himself. She supposed if one had the strength of ten men, one would have the appetite to match.
No bandit presented themselves outside of the tower after more than ten minutes. They didn't have any kind of a check in period a position like this should have. These went even amateurs. They were drug addled criminals.
Jon ran over the Imperial Road and to his Housecarls position. He said, "Alright, fuck this and these dumb assholes. Time to knock on their door. I'm going hit their door with a rock, and let them raise the alarm. I'd rather shoot a bunch of bandits in the open field than try to fight all of them in the tower. So whoever they send out, drop them. I'll take the next, we do that until you run out. Then I just shoot them myself until they stay in cover, then we storm them.
Lydia nodded, and she kept her position camouflaged in the woods close to the door. Her shield, was laying against the tree next to her to pick up at a moments notice to transition to close quarters. Jon hit the door with a stones throw, and the first bandit to come out with steel drawn died to her arrow, not even seeing his doom approach. The next was lost to Jon's own ethereal arrow. A third had just stepped over the bodies when Lydia's next to last arrow found him.
The alarm was fully raised, and the next bandit that came out was wearing steel, shield up and eyes alert. It did nothing to protect him when Jon's arrow expertly obliterated his kneecap. Lydia's last arrow found a bandit behind him in the tower, and Jon's next finished off the heavily armored bandit.
Two more bandits were running across the bridge over the wide river, oblivious to how many of their comrades were dead. They to died quickly to Jon's arrow fire. One was hit in the head, and for the other the shot was slightly low. The arrow penetrated though their arm, deep into the bandit's chest cavity. The force of hit knocked them squarely of the bridge, tumbling into the river almost 100 feet below.
Jon ran back over the Lydia. He said, "Draw steel, one more bandit left by the driver's estimate. Assume nothing, however, except that the towers aren't clear until they're clear, and your intel is wrong. Facts of life, they are."
Lydia nodded again at the sound words of her Thane. She wasn't offended that he pointed that out, as he assumes nothing and he is Thane, but she was trained by the guard of Whiterun, and they're the best in all of Skyrim. They both took slow steps towards the tower, wary of any bandit that might have intelligence. None presented themselves when they got to the door, and checked the first tower. None presented themselves in the second tower either. The towers were almost clear.
The only thing that presented itself in the second tower was proof of the Bandits heinousness. In a large cage at the bottom of the isolated tower sat two people covered in dirty rags and crying. The male Bosmer and female Nord cradled each other when Jon and Lydia came down the steps with fear and pain in their eyes.
Jon contemptuously ripped the door off of another slave pen. He said, "I am Thane Jon, of house Noonien-Signh, this is my Housecarl Lydia. You are safe now, and I'm going to arrange for you both to be taken to Whiterun."
Their tears went from fearful to joyous in an instant. Jon gave them both red and green portions, copying what the woman in the mine did. Lydia escorted the victims to the door of the tower, and they both spit on the dead bandits as they passed. Jon looted the towers to completion. He took all of the weapons, armor, and arrows. He took, their food, alchemy ingredients, their books that he could now read, and most importantly their coin and treasure. He had to pick a few locks to get it all, but they had nearly three thousand Septims from their scam and a hand full of gems.
When he came out of the towers, Lydia was running her healing spell over the people they had rescued. Jon said, "Wait here, keep doing what you're doing. I'm going for the driver.
Jon spent a couple minutes jogging to the cart. He jumped back onto the cart with a flair and said, "Driver, ladies, gentleman. The Two Towers are clear, what exactly did they take from you?"
The Orsimer in fine clothes said, "Keep it, most of it. Consider it a reward fair, since I wont have to pay that scum anymore. There was a gem I would like back though. The bastards made it a full stick up and took it. Cant do much when I'm surrounded and outnumbered except die and take everyone else with me.
Jon pulled out all of the gems he had taken, and the Orsimer picked out his large, flawless, violet gem. Jon noticed a flawless ruby as well in his dragon eyes. The Orsimer said, "Ladies, my loves, I was going to have this gem cut in two, set, and propose to you both with it. Now's a good time, since I just got it back. Would you both marry me?"
As the women began cooing and showering their strong husband with kisses the driver said, "Aye, miTane. Keep et. Eye aredeh be chargin moar, so eye keep mi own coin aht lest. Nah eye cane lowah te coin ahn get maor passengaes on tis rute. Eye'll mahk it bahk right ahn fast."
Jon nodded. She said, "Thanks. I also have two people that need a ride. Slaves just freed. You going to Whiterun?
The Driver said, "Soulatude actally. Passen tru Whiterun toh to top fo te neyeght toh. Eye'll tak em, miTane. On mi Honur."
Jon nodded again and said, "Take word to the Jarl that this place is cleared, and a good place to spot into the Rift, If you could. It's Whiterun hold if my memory of the map is correct. Tell them you have word from Thane Jon, and they'll probably take you right to him. Also, at least take this 30 coin. A room, a meal, and some mead on me."
The driver nodded, "Oh corse miTane. Alwahs wahnted to meat ah Jarl, ahn alwahs happeh foh free food ahn drank. Bless ye, bless ye. Toh manah merchunts, nea enough oh u goat thah titel."
The driver turned his cart around, and then again when the picked up the victims of the bandits. His other passengers immediately began sharing their food and clothes with them. The people of these lands were decent, Jon thought. No matter how many bandits and evils there were, there were more willing to do the right thing. Just like home in many cases.
Jon and Lydia carried the near naked bodies of the bandits into the forests beside and around the towers, an offering for the scavengers. The gods of the forest were ancient, Jon imagined. Eldritch, unknowable, older than even the dragons. They required blood every so often. Demanded it. Probably not, Jon thought. Fuck, probably.
Jon said, "Let's retreat off the main road, to the second tower."
Lydia didn't know why she was aroused by that. Her Thane was handsome, but she had so far never been aroused at something he's said or done. She asked, "Did you give those people anything?"
Jon smelled it in the air. He slowly said, "Yes? I have the Orsimer his gem back, and the Driver 30 piece for taking word to the Jarl for me."
Lydia asked again, "Did one of them bless you?"
Jon said slowly again, almost understanding, "Twicess."
Lydia jerked slightly. She got control of her self and said, "The gift of charity. It is an important blessing in our society, freely given to all those who give. Its why you'll see so much charity. Your words are now more honeyed then the already are for a time, by divine providence. Doubly so. The driver would have taken the word to the Jarl for nothing."
Jon didn't know what to do. She didn't know ASL, and he needed to ask. Would being quiet help? He whispered, "How long?"
Lydia couldn't stop herself from moaning, the ecstasy burrowing into her mind. She collected herself again and said, "An hour or so, maybe two, who knows with you specifically.
Jon quickly nodded with a thumbs up, and said not another word for the rest of the night. In a few hours their stew was ready, and they spent that time practicing proper sword work. Jon wondered all the while if this blessing would also make is so called Thu'um more powerful. Wait, that fucking woman in the mine. What in the Oblivion did she do?