Sotek set a fast pace, almost as if he was scurrying like a small lizard would when it ran between rocks that provided cover. Except, Sotek wasn’t a small lizard, and he certainly wasn’t looking for somewhere to hide. He had spotted a small pond and quickly moved towards it in the hope of finding prey.
He was rewarded for his efforts with three mud crabs that crawled lazily along the edge of the water. He cast his bound bow spell then started shooting at one. Farkas watched as Soteks second shot sent the mudcrab sprawl along the ground. Farkas drew his sword and shield then engaged the second mudcrab while Sotek took care of the remaining crustacean.
Afterwards Sotek collected the legs and stored them in his pack. He noticed Farkas watch him with a bewildered look, so he casually explained his actions.
“Arcadia asked me to get some bits for her. I’ll just gather some plants now; it won’t slow us down”.
Farkas laughed as he pointed to the remains of the crabs.
“I wondered what you were doing. I thought you were just venting your anger. It did seem a little weird. Taking out your frustrations on a few crabs. Though you were in a crabby mood. Ha-ha”.
Sotek shook his head and groaned.
“Farkas, that’s terrible. No, but Ebony’s right, I need to exercise more control. Which way now? Ice Brain”. Sotek stated with a grin.
Farkas rolled his eyes and muttered under his breath.
“I thought it was funny. Bet Vilkas will.” He pointed up the mountainside towards a small valley. “We’re heading over there. We’ll be there in a pinch”.
Huffing quietly, Sotek decided to ignore Farkas’s attempts at humour. Instead, he took a few moments to look around and admire the scenery.
“I always thought it was a dead end”.
Farkas started laughing.
“Dead end he says, yea right. Come on you, you’re hopeless. How in Oblivion do you manage to make your way around Skyrim?”
This time it was Soteks turn to laugh. He pulled out his leather map of Skyrim which he made shortly after arriving at High Hrothgar on his initial visit to the Greybeards. Farkas wondered what it was until Sotek opened it out. On it was all the places he had been, Valtheim towers where Vilkas first explained about Aela. The lake where they and the Harbinger camped overnight where Scarface and Red caught fish by standing in the stream. Amongst the markings were also various caves and mines which Sotek had come across. Farkas even recognised the mountain on it where they killed the two dragons. The one spot Sotek found himself staring at was a small rock in the plains. Farkas pointed at it.
“What’s that?”
Sotek sighed as he packed the map away.
“That’s Red’s… Let’s get moving, else we’ll never get there”. With that Sotek led the way as he hurried off, leaving Farkas temporarily behind.
The Nord quickly caught up which was noted by a low grunt from Sotek, acknowledging that Farkas was now with him once more. Neither spoke, due to Farkas having no idea what to say and Sotek who didn’t want to talk, he was happy in his own bleak Aela wanting world. When they neared the end of the valley however Sotek found a welcome distraction from his feelings. He turned to Farkas and broke the awkward silence.
“There’s a bear nearby. It’s close”.
Having no idea that anything whatso ever was indeed nearby, Farkas looked around in surprise.
“Really? Where?”
Sotek stared at him in disbelief.
“Now you’re mocking me”.
“No I’m not. Where is it?” He stated as he spun around in a multitude of directions, seemingly to Sotek, all at once.
Sotek pointed further down a second pathway that led to an old massive ruin. The stone structures reminded him of Bleak Falls Barrow.
“Down there, it’s coming closer”.
Sotek summoned his bow then hid in some shrubs as he prepared to ambush the bear. Farkas on the other hand, stood his ground as he drew his sword and shield. Moments later, the bear broke through the treeline. It stopped, feeling somewhat surprised to find itself confronted by the form of Farkas but as he was the only intruder it could detect, it regained its composure and charged towards Farkas growling out as it ran towards him.
Sotek opened fire, shooting off arrow after arrow. The first one struck it in the shoulder, just slowing it down a fraction. It then turned towards Sotek, but he just fired off a second time. This time however he missed, but Sotek just aimed again then fired another arrow. Farkas charged at it slamming his sword in its side, causing it to crumple to the ground where the two Companions easily finished it off.
As Sotek started skinning it and restocking their meat supplies, Farkas grinned wildly.
“Aela would have killed that in two shots”.
The fact that this was true, failed to deter Sotek in any way. With a big grin on his face, which looked more like a snarl, Sotek pointed to the path where the bear came from.
“Yes, but she would have smelt it as well”.
Once Sotek stored the skin on his pack they resumed their journey, although there was one factor with the bear episode which Sotek was curious about.
“Last year, when you and Aela took me to the Ember Shaft Mines. You said that you could smell that bandit near the entrance. How come you couldn’t smell the bear? It’s sent was much stronger than the bandits”.
Farkas came to a stop as he cast his mind back.
“That was a year ago? Bloody hell, a lot has happened since you joined us. You and Aela...”
Sotek’s face cringed as he painfully groaned.
“Do we have to talk about this?”
Farkas held his hands up defensively.
“All I was going to say was this. You and Aela, you both have a strong connection with your wolf side. You both change what? Two, three times a week? The last time me and Vilkas changed was when we all rescued Aela from the Silver Hands. Every few weeks we feel more and more distant”.
At that moment Sotek could have kicked himself.
“Oh yes, you’re seeking a cure. I kind of forgot about that”. As they talked, Farkas led them up the mountain trail. Soon they started the climb on the steps that would take them to the altar. Each step forced them to concentrate as the stairwell was little more than tiny ledges carved out of the rock. The fact that the whole pathway was laden with icy deposits just increased the treacherous nature of their climb.
When they neared the top, Sotek smelt something else on the wind. This time however, it was no bear that he had sensed. This was big, very big, covered in scales and breathed fire. Sotek grabbed Farkas’s arm, bringing his progression to a stop, and whispered.
“Dragon”.
The Argonian took the lead as he conjured up his bow. He stealthily climbed the last few steps then discreetly stuck his head over a rock to scout out the landscape. True enough just behind the altar was a word wall, but in front of the altar was a dragon.
“Farkas, he’s a biggie. You up for this?”
Farkas, still having no clue as to the size of the adversary they faced, due to Sotek blocking his way, stepped back slightly as he wondered about the last dragon they killed.
“It’s not as big as the last one, is it?”
Sotek smiled back at him.
“No, but I can’t tank it, not in this armour. So you have to. Go get it”.
Farkas stared at Soteks bow for a few seconds and gulped.
“Ok but don’t shoot me, aim for the dragon”. Moments later he started laughing. “Second thoughts, aim for me, it’ll be safer”.
Sotek growled at him.
“Oh, ha ha, very funny. Go, charge it”.
Farkas drew his sword then screamed out as he ran around the corner straight into the skeletal remains of the dragon. Sotek had guessed it was dead for about two weeks. Farkas stopped mid charge as he looked upon the remains, then lowered his sword. He turned back to see Sotek sitting on a rock laughing at him. “Oh, very clever you ain’t you”.
Chuckling to himself, Sotek walked past him and examined the remains. He found a few scales and a bone which he stored in his pack. There was also a chest by the altar but that had been broken into. Unlike Sotek and Aela though, the chest was forced open rather than lock picked. Sotek shook his head in dismay then he walked towards the word wall.
“Let’s see if Farengar was right”. True enough, as he approached the word wall, a single word lit up in bright blue then it trailed off towards Sotek as he absorbed the knowledge. After giving himself a few seconds to digest the new shout, he slowly turned back to Farkas who was still examining the dragon remains.
“Freeze”.
Farkas instantly stopped moving as he ever so slowly turned towards Sotek and whispered.
“What now? Dragon?”
Sotek cast a puzzled look at Farkas as Farkas himself looked quite alarmed.
“What? No, the last word for my frost breath. Diin, it means freeze”.
Farkas glanced at the word wall, quite unsure as to how to react. “Great, where’s Aela when you need her?”
Sotek chuckled as he headed back down the pathway.
“Why do you need Aela?”
Farkas gave Sotek a friendly punch in the arm as he muttered back.
“So she could shoot your ass, that’s why”.
Sotek started laughing at him.
“That’s not nice”. Soon enough they were once again at the bottom of the stairway. Sotek pointed across the valley as he shouted. “Look out! Dead bear, kill it”. He then broke into a run as Farkas drew his sword and gave chase.
As Sotek ran down the valley and entered the plains, he froze as his eyes cast across the rolling grassland. Not too far away he spotted Sabre chasing a deer. Sam and Sabre ran towards it but then paused every so often to try to shoot it, but then they would have to run after it again. Sotek laughed at the pair of them as Farkas shook his head.
“Now that’s painful to watch”.
Sotek openly agreed.
“Yes, try to keep up”. Moments later he changed form, then with a howling roar, Scarface joined the chase.
Sabre screamed as he lost his footing when the behemoth known as Scarface shot past him. Scarface’s claws tore up the dirt as he rapidly closed in on the hapless deer who up to now was rather enjoying the chase. Now however the chase turned quite deadly. In actual fact the chase was nothing less than fatal. Just a single swipe was enough to send the deer crashing to the ground. Within moments Scarface leapt on the deer and tore out its throat with its fangs. The werewolf’s intentions were to just aid in the kill, but the taste of fresh blood was far more than he could stand.
Farkas, Sam and Sabre could do nothing but look on and wait while Scarface systematically tore the deer apart as he ravenously fed.
Once he had his fill, Sotek changed back. His face dripped with blood as he looked sheepishly at the others. Farkas, in jest, pointed to the pile of bloodied flesh and fur.
“Sooo, is it dead?”
Sam wouldn’t come near it, but Sabre gave the remains or rather what was left of the remains a slight tap with his foot. Unlike Farkas however, he was rather annoyed.
“We were gonna skin that”.
Farkas burst out laughing.
“Skin it? Aww to Oblivion with you. You two Whelps couldn’t even catch it”.
Sotek sighed. He pondered on the situation for a mere moment then nodded to himself. He slid the bearskin he had obtained from earlier and threw it at Sabre’s feet.
“I tell you what, take this. Now we won’t tell anyone that we killed the bear, and you don’t tell anyone about this deer. The Harbinger wouldn’t be happy that Scarface couldn’t hold back”.
As he cast a look towards Whiterun, another idea entered his head.
“Farkas, you up for a trip to High Hrothgar?”
Farkas stared at the mountain beyond Whiterun.
“What in the divine’s names do you want to go there again for? We only just got back from that place”.
Sotek pointed to the top of the mountain as he explained.
“You remember Paarthurnax said he could help me meditate on a shout to make it stronger?”
For Farkas, the gold coin dropped. You could almost hear it clang as it hit the floor in Farkas’s mind.
“Ahh, you want to see if your frost shout can become even more powerful. Yea why not. We’ll go to Whiterun and hire two horses. Sabre, tell the Harbinger we’re going to High Hrothgar, to see Paarthurnax. We’ll be back in a few days”. By the time they arrived at the stables, evening set in. Farkas wrapped a fur around himself as they both set off along the northern path towards Ivarstead.
Despite himself Farkas couldn’t help but comment on Scarface and his recent feeding frenzy.
“When was the last time that Scarface went out?”
Sotek shook his head in response.
“Too long. Aela, she’s going to have the same problem”.
Farkas sighed as he pointed out a small fact.
“No, she won’t, she’ll be worse. Red’s legs lame, she can’t hunt”.
Sotek huffed as he scrutinized the landscape.
“Where the hell is she?”
At that precise moment, the Harbinger was answering that very question.
“He’s gone where?”
Sam stepped back in surprise from the Harbingers outburst.
“To High Hrothgar with Farkas, he’s seeing that Parrthingy guy about his shouts”.
Kodlak groaned as he held his head in his hands.
“But that’s where Aela’s gone... Oh I do hope Farkas and Vilkas can stop them from fighting”.
Upon hearing the Harbinger’s outburst, Tilma entered the hall. She shook her head as she watched the scene before her eyes.
“Kodlak, what have you gone and done this time?”
