The Gate

  • A cold breeze woke Roggvir from a nod. Agitated he looked around. The torch opposite him was furiously blazing in the wind. It was the source of the only sound Roggvir could hear; the city was asleep. But not for long.

    He was leaning with his back against a parapet of the city walls, his hands folded against his belly. The sheath with his sword was laying next to him. A couple of meters away from him was Beruld, one of the other guards, clearly bored. It was a quiet night for the guards of Solitude. Well, for most of them. For Roggvir, the chaos was to begin at any time.

    His hand moved to his pocket, from wich he pull out the letter, for the millionth time this day. His eyes rapidly moved over the words. The words that no matter what would mean his doom.

    The instructions for opening the gate were grieved in his mind, and Roggvir believed he could open it in a split second. He clasped the keys on his belt. 

    How much did the man say again? An hour, four hours? He looked up to the sky, the moon shining her weak light.

    Roggvir stood up, and warmed his hands above the fire nearby.

    ''It's so quiet, i can almost hear the skeevers in the woods''

    Beruld joined him, in one hand a bottle of mead. He tried to hand it to Roggvir, but he refused. No time for getting drunk, enough time for that later. If he would make it. If, If, if....

    A sound. Just a dog? Maybe Noster Eagle-Eye doing his nocturnal food gathering?

    Captain Aldis, standing below them on the streets, had other suspicions. He pull his sword and made his way to the Blue Palace, ordering other guards to follow him on his way.

    Roggvir was not ignorant of Aldis's ability to hear everything in the city, and without a doubt he could tell that it was time. He turned his head to look at Beruld.

    ''Beruld, why don't you go home for now, i take it from here''

    ''Are you kidding? I want to see with who the Cap'n comes down to the Barracks in the morning! By Shor, maybe they finally catch Noster picking locks!''

    Roggvir shook his head. Beruld would be a unnecessary obstacle soon, but one that could cost Roggvir his head. He thought, looking for a solution to this matter, and could only find one way. 

    ''I'm sorry, Beruld''

    He punched him in the face, following the familiar sound of a jaw cracking. His bottle rolled out of his hand, and he collapsed as a burlap sack. Then Roggvir made sure he was tied up properly.

    He only just stood up, when the Planes of Oblivion themself broke loose.

    ''The high King is dead! It was Ulfric! He shouted him to pieces!''

    Sybille Stentor, court wizard of Solitude, ran through the streets, proclaiming the message.

    ''People, stay inside your houses! We deal with this!''

    Captain Aldis returned and formed a defensive line in front of the city gate, along with his men. He looked up to Roggvir.

    ''Make sure the gate is locked up tight!''

    How ironic, Roggvir thought bitter.

    ''Ready your bows, lads. Shoot when you see an ugly man appear!''

    This comment made the whole guard laugh.

    Great, the morale is high.

    It was not long before ''The ugly man'' appeared, and Ulfric didn't seem scared at all. To explain the situation, Ulfric was running right to about twenty men, al ready to fire their arrows. When he was nearly at the gate, the men firing their arrows, Ulfric shouted just three words.

    ''FUS! RO! DAH!''

    Aldis and his men flew through the air, pushed by the mysterious yet powerful power force that came out of Ulfric's mouth.

    Roggvir was so stunned by this, that he nearly forgot his task. He ran down the stairs, tripped on the go, and unlocked the gate, with an unnatural haste. Ulfric stopped when he reached Roggvir, nodded approvingly, and gave him another letter. Then he ran off, as the wind.

    Roggvir, full of adrenaline, opened the letter, only to find one word.

    RUN

    But it didn't came to running. Aldis slowly hobbled to Roggvir, immediatly realizing what happened.

    ''You've commited crimes to Skyrim and her People. What say you in your defence!''

    Roggvir could only think of two words:

    ''For Skyrim''