-Are we there yet? –
I adjusted myself on my saddle, she has been asking me this question for some time. She was wearing a big black cloak, both to hide her identity and shield herself from the sun. Now that she is away from Lucius she has relaxed a bit, well, maybe this is prime time to get some information out of her.
-Do you not know the roads here? Were you not born in Skyrim? – I asked her
-I was born in Cyrodil actually, in the town of Bruma –
-So is this the first time you’ve been to Skyrim? –
-Yes, as you know I am here to escape the authorities that were chasing me in Kvatch. Ended up finding you bastards and now I am here asking you if we still have a long way to go, or if we are arriving soon. So? Which is it? –
I lowered my hat back down into my face and started chewing on a grass stem. She noticed I was deliberately ignoring her so she stopped pestering me for a while. I have all the patience in the world, if I want to know about her past I will get her to open up, I just need a bit of time.
I was in no particular hurry; dragons are not known to be impatient creatures. The legends about them always sated that they would slumber for many days before attacking again. Truly regal creatures. Destroy everything they can find then sleep it off in their caves and mountains.
The path was quiet, it was a lovely sunny day, and truly a blessed relief from the horrible weather we’ve been having lately.
-Lovely day isn’t it? – I asked her
She stared at me with a drop of anger. Oh yeah! She is a vampire…
-My bad, do you want something to drink – I said while offering her a bit a bottle of mead that I picked from my saddle’s pouch.
She scowled at me again, oh yeah, vampire… still, vampires can drink and eat normally can’t they? Well, at least she did, a bit…
-I don’t suppose you will try and make conversation will you? – I asked her, ready to give up on insisting for her attention
-I would like to know something from you, I want to know more about your boss, he is different than normal humans. He is too old to be a regular man, but he is neither a vampire nor a werewolf, I would have smelled it if he was. I don’t think I should be keeping this to myself, but I saw something – she said, beginning to shift on her saddle after finishing her sentence
-What did the mask look like? –
-What? I did not mention a mask! How did you… -
-Took a guess, the way you two have been acting lately, I figured you witnessed one of his episodes – I said
-So this is common? –
-Not common, it’s very rare really, but this has happened before. So, describe the mask so I may understand the situation better –
-Well, it was black, seemly made of smoke. When it appeared the room was filled with a strong spiritual pressure, and I felt like I was being stabbed. His eyes turned blood red when the mask appeared, well, his one of them did, the mask only covered half his face and the eye that got covered turned red. It had razor sharp teeth, and it kept spreading over to the rest of his face over time, eventually he tore it out, when he did the pressure in the room was relieved –
-Hmm, sounds like you had a run in with Wrath. I suspected that much, out of all of them Wrath is the one who usually takes prevalence in times of crisis. I have no idea the situation the two of you managed to find yourselves in, but if you managed to wake up Wrath, then fuck, I don’t even want to know, just be thankful that it was only half the mask – I said
She was quiet again, probably thinking about how to kill Wrath, useless, if she thinks Wrath is the biggest of her worries then she is in for a big surprise. And I don’t feel like spoiling it for her.
The road began to feel exceptionally quiet again. So peaceful…
-Hey, stop right there! Get of that horse right now! –
I raised the tip of my hat to see ahead in the road. There were bandits blocking our path. Five of them were on foot blocking the road. Out of those five, three were wearing heavy armor, two had shields and the last one had a large war hammer, presumably their leader. The rest of them had simple axes and swords. Wait, I can hear something else. Oh yes, a couple of archers, hidden in the bushes prepared to fire if we move the wrong way. One of them is sick, or on skooma, he is wheezing, and it sounds like he is scratching himself.
-Hum, If you idiots think we will give you anything you will be very sorry – said Ruby, ugh, so much violence. Lets try to solve this peacefully.
-I am sorry for my companion’s behavior, we are in a bit of a hurry. If you don’t mind, what is the toll for this road these days? We will happily pay it to get to our destination faster – I said while reaching for my coin purse.
-HA, you think we will settle for a mere toll? – Said the one in the front with the war hammer, a big Orc, probably their chief – Rich travelers like yourselves have too much good stuff to pass buy, we will be taking all that you have, so either you strip down to your loincloths and give us everything, or we kill you and take it anyway! –
I sighed and put my coin purse back into my saddle’s pouch. Looks like we will have to do this the hard way, still maybe I can still work this out.
-How about this? We go back the way we came and use another road, it will delay us a bit, but then there will be no bloodshed – I said with a supplicant look on my face
-What? No! If you turn back we will shoot you in the back, looks like the only way here is to strip down and give us all that you have! –
I took a while to think about that, but then discarded the thought; we would make a dreadful impression on the Whiterun court if arrived naked…
-Stay on your horse Ruby; I will try to make it quick –
I dismounted the horse and pulled out my blackjack, I never carried a dagger, and the blackjack is an excellent non-lethal substitute.
Once I got out of the saddle one of the archers immediately fired upon me, luckily it was the skooma user, so he missed the shot by a few feet. This gave me time to prepare for the second shot. This one was much more accurate, the archer took his time, prepared, and used the surprise from the first shot to hit his target, what he did not count in his thought process was his opponent.
I had already predicted the second shot as quick follow up, so I managed to raise my blackjack in time to block the arrow. Seeing as they missed their target both the archers began to fumble over the next arrow. When they had finally drawn their strings and started aiming at me I was no longer there. In their eyes I had vanished, but in my point of view I had used my flash step to appear behind the healthier one, knocking him out. When the skooma user looked in my direction I had already vanished again, reappearing in front of him, using my blackjack to strike him in the throat, knocking him out of breath.
The archers were out now, good, no casualties so far. Now I go for the melee fighters. Two of them wore a light set of studded leather and wielded iron swords. The heavily armored ones had iron armor, banded iron shields and steel war axes, probably pillaged. And finally there was the chief, wearing a full set of steel armor and wielding a massive Nordic quicksilver war hammer.
-Lets go then… -
I unsheathed my twin scimitars and charged them. My first targets were the lightly armored ones, they moved fast, but none of them were at my level. As soon as they walked into melee range I used the hilt of my scimitar to knock out the first one, and then cut the second one’s heel, making it impossible for him to stand. The others were more careful; they noticed the difference between us. The two with shields now formed a shield wall, with their boss behind it. They quickly opened the wall and the boss came in for a quick hit, realizing he missed he withdrew back into the protective barrier behind his companions.
The look on his face was one of confusion, probably because he no longer held his war hammer, now in my hands, and also because he was holding a live bomb. He began to toss it away, but it went of on his hands. I never carried lethal bombs though; the one on his hands was a fuse shell, filled with akaviri black powder and coal dust. It created an explosive shockwave, knocking out the shield wielders and throwing the chief back, and yet he still managed to get up. He quickly scoured the floor and grabbed his companion’s steel axes.
-You can still give up, you don’t look like you can continue this any longer – I said, hoping he would be reasonable.
-To oblivion with you! I am going to rip you apart! – He shouted as he charged me
I sighed, and with a couple of quick movements I cut both the tendons on his arms and heels, making it impossible for him to walk or swing his axes.
-Ruby, lets continue our journey shall we? – I said
-You’re just going to let them live? I thought you were part of the brotherhood? – Exclaimed Ruby
-There is enough bloodshed behind Shade’s orders, besides, Sithis did not speak the names of these bandits, they don’t deserve death –
Much to her objection, we moved on, leaving the bandits behind. Soon she decided to ask me how was I moving so fast.
-Because I saw Shade do the exact same thing, but I figured he was using the voice, since he whispered something before moving, but you can’t use magic can you? What was that? – She asked
-Well, that was a flash step, or shun-po as my master used to call it in his language. He is akavir you see, a master of many techniques that do not involve magic, but rely solely on the harmony of your flesh –
-So your technique is superior to Shade’s? And I thought the beast folk devoured all of the men of akavir –
-In some ways yes, Lucius does not have the adequate body to do something like that, you see, he is different, as I am sure you noticed before. The condition that plagues his flesh is not a particularly common one; in fact, he is the first case I have ever seen. And no, those were only tales to scare the children at night. Actually, the Tsaesci in fact wiped out their nation, but there are still some nomads left, and they carry the teachings of their ancients –
-Putting the pieces together the only option is vampire, but I have already noticed he is not one, still, he has a peculiar type of energy. One that worries me, scares me even –
-I feel like it would be an affront to Lucius if I told you what he is, ask him, but I can give you insight on my techniques, and how that differs from his –
-Pray tell then – she said
-As I said before, the shunpo requires no magika; it is an advanced technique involving footwork. It concentrates all the vital energy of your body into your feet for a split second, allowing you to move at lighting speeds. There are other techniques involving the shunpo, even a style of fighting that revolves around that, but it is long lost these days, only she knows how to use it – I said, slightly distant, maybe revealing too much information
-Who is “she” I have heard Lucius mention that before, along with that vampire Edward. What are you hiding from me? – She asked with a threatening tone
-That is a question best left unanswered; ask Lucius if you must know –
-I am tired of these secrets; I need to know what is going on god dammit, come on, please? Don’t leave me hanging… -
-Shut up Ruby, I am bored with you now. Besides, Whiterun is on the horizon, and I would advise us to be quiet from now on, I don’t want to attract attention while on the city, and I also do not want to become dragon food –
We arrived at the city stables and paid the servant there to take care of our horses. Once we were at the city gates the guard asked us what was our business in the city. I told him we were here on official business, the jarl’s steward called us. He quickly fumbled over his bag and picked up a small piece of paper.
-Captain Lucius Capran? – The guard asked
-I am his lieutenant actually, Lieutenant Brennan, and this the new recruit, we are here to deal with the dragon trouble –
-I wish you good luck then traveler, I count myself lucky to stay out of this, my cousin will be joining you I heard. Please, don’t let him die –
-No worries my friend, this dragon will plague you city no more –
We proceeded to make our way to Dragonsreach, passing through a lively market square, bustling with commerce, and a dead tree, filled with a certain fateful beauty. As we passed by the tree a wailing priest grabbed our attention. He was a thin man, wearing simple monk vestments. He was shouting about Talos, proclaiming that the stormcloaks were the true heirs of Skyrim, and that the empire was in the hands of the Thalmor. The fool, proclaiming such violent words, it was because of people like him that this pointless conflict continues.
Few people were paying attention to his words, he seemed unsatisfied about that, so he did the worst thing he could possibly do. He reached out and grabbed Ruby’s hood, pulling it down and revealing her face to the sunlight.
-Do you not agree with me?! Is Talos not divine?! Don’t the Stormcloaks deserve their rightful place as the true rulers of SKYRIM?! – He shouted, a bit of spit coming out from his mouth and landing on Ruby’s flawless face
She seemed shocked at first, then her face turned to anger. She grabbed his wrists in her hands and I swear I could her the sounds of bone cracking under her grip. Her eyes were a flash of rage, a dark profound killer’s intent.
-Touch me again, you dirty fucking peasant, and I will gut you in the middle of the town square, and strangle you with your own intestines – she said, while grinding her teeth
I advanced and grabbed her shoulder, holding her back before she assaulted the priest any more. The man quickly backed of and held his broken wrist in his hands, noticing the imperial emblem on our cloaks he quickly got up again and started screaming.
-You see?! You see how the empire treats its people?! This is the kind of treatment we can expect in their hands?! – He shouted while pointing in our direction
I had to hold her back, she was quite strong, and when she began to reach for her dagger I had to paralyze her arm by pinching a pressure point in her shoulder. We were beginning to draw the attention of a crowd, dammit, exactly what I wanted to avoid. I quickly put the hood back on her head and we proceeded up the stairs towards Dragonsreach before causing too much chaos with the citizens, particularly the Grey-Manes.
Eventually we did reach the keep, with a small mob following us closely, but the guard captain arrived in time to keep them of our backs. Once we were inside Dragonsreach Proventus himself greeted us. He came saying that we were a welcome help in these times of crisis, but he also questioned us about the captain’s whereabouts.
-I assure you, if Lucius was not absolutely sure of our abilities he would have not sent us, don’t worry, we have a trick up our sleeve – I said with a smile
The steward led us to the main hall, where we had the opportunity to speak with the jarl and his housecarl Irileth, a shifty dark elf, who kept her eyes on Ruby at all times.
-I would love to know how do you plan on taking on the dragon? Why do the two of you think you can make a better job than the Whiterun guard? – Asked Irileth, with a tone of arrogance in her voice
-My apologies to you lady Irileth, but with all due respect, your guards are not monster hunters, we are. We are experienced on taking creatures like these, but we don’t work for free – I stated bluntly
-How dare you insult our forces and make demands like that? Do you have any idea of whom you’re speaking to? –
-My employer – I said
-Irileth please! Leave our guests alone, he meant no disrespect. I can assure you Lieutenant, we have the agreed amount, and you will receive it as soon as the dragon lies dead – said the jarl, with a firm tone in his voice that made everyone stay quiet and listen to him – now that we finished such a delicious feast I imagine you two are tired from the road, we will provide lodgings for both of you here in the keep, I presume that you two can stay in the same room? –
-No – said Ruby
-Yes – I said, while signaling her to shut up
She looked at me with a fearsome scowl, but I ignored her and allowed the servants to show us to our room. Once we were settled we sent them away and sat down to rest. Ruby quickly grabbed her pouch and took one of the vials from the inside, the blood potion, of course. After downing the flask she went into the other room to take a bath.
I went to the balcony to appreciate the fresh air. The moons were beautiful, Secunda was just below Masser, and the stars were casting their light on the cloudless sky. Absolute tranquility, I sat down in a chair nearby and poured myself a cup of mead. This was a good night, tomorrow, we will face fire…
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