Bleak Falls Barrow

Aela and Skjor were sitting in the hall of Jorrvaskr and discussing how to improve Marcus's training. He had already been gone for about an hour when Aela asked. "I wonder what's keeping him so long in Dragonsreach?"

"I'll go and check what's happening." Aela stood up and walked out of Jorrvaskr. Skjor let out a grunt but didn't stop her. Once she was gone, Vilkas sat next to Skjor. "Aela's showing a lot of interest in Marcus. Aren't you worried he might steal her away?"

Skjor looked at him with fierce eyes. "If he touches her, I will kill him! No matter how important he is!"

"Important, you say?" Vilkas asked with a raised eyebrow. He was the smartest Companion other than the Harbinger. Kodlak was old and wise with years of experience behind his back, but Vilkas wasn't that far behind. Skjor realized that he had said something that he shouldn't have said, especially in front of the smarter twin, and turned around, not answering his next question. Knowing that he won't get an answer, Vilkas didn't push it any further. It's not wise to offend the oldest Companion, bar the Harbinger.

Vilkas pulled out a contract that he had received earlier this morning and played with it in his hands. "We received a request to deal with an ownerless and aggressive mammoth to the south of Whiterun. I wonder if you will be interested in dealing with it, or should I offer it to my brother."

The ferocious grin on Skjor's face was all that he needed for an answer. The old Companion stood up and quickly left Jorrvaskr. He didn't ask where exactly or how far away from Whiterun is this mammoth. He didn't need to since he could find it on his own. It was more fun that way.

After Skjor left, Vilkas walked down the stairs and made his way towards Kodlak. The old man was sitting in his room and reading a book. Seeing Vilkas at the door, he asked. "Here for our daily chat?" Kodlak was grooming Vilka to take his spot as the next Harbinger. He had a head on his shoulders, and he actually used it, unlike the rest of the Companions.

"Yes, but I want to discuss something specific. About Marcus." Vilkas said and sat next to him. Kodlak closed his book and asked. "What about him? Are you scared we will run out of septims with the way he is drinking potions?"

"No, we never lacked gold. We fight for honor and pride, but that always brought us plenty of septims. I'm worried that Aela and Skjor are showing an awful amount of interest in him. When I asked Skjor about him, he called him important." Vilkas explained.

"That's obvious." Kodlak said, and seeing the questioning look of Vilkas, he continued. "When was the last time one of the Companions personally brought someone to Jorrvaskr?"

"Never." Vilkas answered, and Kodlak smiled. "Exactly. Those we meet and deem worthy, we tell them to come here if they want to join us, we don't bring them here personally. We give them a choice. The only exceptions are people like you and your brother, who were raised in Jorrvaskr, and people like Aela, who was trained from a young age specifically to join the Companions due to her linage."

"Why do you think they brought him them?" Vilkas asked.

"Only Aela and Skjor know the answer to that. You told me even they were surprised when they learned that he can drink potions without any side effects, so that's not the reason they brought him here. If I hadn't met Marcus, I would have wagered that he is from one of the old Nordic clans and has a special bloodline, but I doubt that. He is too well mannered to be one of them." Kodlak answered.

"So, you don't think he is a threat to the Companions?" Vilkas asked.

"Hardly. I don't even remember how many times he thanked me just for giving him a roof over his head for his stay in Whiterun. He is good-natured that much I'm certain." Kodlak said. "Now, I have a personal request from you..."

After exiting the building, Aela wondered why she cared about what's happening with Marcus. 'It's because he is Hiricine's future prey, right? Right?' She shook her head and spotted a guard nearby.

"Aey." Alea called out to him.

"Good day, Companion." The guard recognized her and greeted her with a smile.

"Earlier, Marcus went to visit the Jarl, but he still hasn't returned. He... needs to continue his training. I wonder if you know when he will be done?" Aela asked. Most of the guards already knew who Marcus is after the Jarl informed them that he can freely enter Whiterun.

"The young Nord? He already left for Riverwood." The guard answered.

'Marcus left for Riverwood? Why didn't he inform me?' Aela though, and her heart twisted into a knot. 'Is it because of yesterday? Did I do something wrong? Was it wrong to bring him to a task so soon?'

"Do you know why he left for Riverwood?" Aela asked with a small quiver in her voice.

"The Jarl gave him and a guard a task to complete. Not sure exactly what it is." The guard said.

"I see..." Aela said with relief. At least she knew that he hadn't ran away. Hopefully, it won't be a hard task, and he will be back soon. She knew how exhausted Marcus was, considering he had barely slept. "That's good to know."

"Glad to be of help, Companion." The guard said with a cheerful tone and looked down sheepishly. "I was wondering if you would like to have a drink with me when my shift ends." The guard didn't receive a response and looked up, only to see that Aela was already nowhere to be seen.

Meanwhile, Marcus was riding on a horse with no name. On each side of the horse, there were two large bundles of arrows wrapped with ropes. Marcus had never ridden one before, so he was sitting behind Lydia with his hands loosely around her waist. She was a tall, almost as tall as him, good looking Nord with long dark hair.

Lydia mostly stayed quiet since she realized Marcus wasn't in the mood for talking, but he did learn from her that Whiterun had one of the best, if not the best, cavalry in Skyrim. Apparently, the city bred hands down the best horses in the entire kingdom.

Marcus's body was brimming with energy, but his mind, not so much. Every now and then, his thoughts would drift to the events from yesterday. He would shake his head and look around, trying to distract himself with the scenery leading to Riverwood. One thing he realized is that he had saved an hour or two of traveling by falling down the waterfall.

They were climbing the hill when Marcus suddenly asked. "Hey, Lydia. How does Whiterun deal with bandits?"

"We eliminate them!" Lydia answered with venom. "They are a plight that needs to be removed from Skyrim. Usually, the Jarl would send us to patrol around the hold and deal with them, but due to the ongoing civil war, we've been mostly stuck guarding Whiterun."

"I see." Marcus said. "And do you ever capture them to put them in prison?"

"Divines, no. That would be pointless. That would mean that the Jarl would have to waste valuable recourses, which could be spent on people that actually need them." Lydia answered. Marcus didn't respond anymore, and they soon reached Riverwood an hour or so before noon.

They got off the horse, and Lydia said. "I need to quickly distribute the arrows to the guards, and we can make our way to Bleak Falls Barrow afterward."

"Okay, I guess I will check up on Alvor and his family. I'll meet you back at the gate." Marcus informed her.

"That's fine with me. Just don't waste too much time, I would like to deal with this by the end of today." Lydia said while unpacking the arrows.

Marcus reached the blacksmith's home when he heard shouting from the Riverwood Trader.

"Fine then, you pathetic fool!" In a moment, Camilla left the building and slammed the door shut.

"Marcus!" Camilla exclaimed when she spotted him staring at her weirdly. With a hop in her step, she reached him and gave him a kiss on his cheek. "Thank you for saving me and Riverwood!"

"How did I do that?" Marcus asked in bewilderment. He hadn't been anywhere near the town to protect it.

"Well, later the day I met you, I went to Alvor's house to see if you would be interested in telling me a story or two, but the blacksmith informed me you have left for Whiterun. The next day, lo and behold, a whole squad of Whiterun guards came to protect Riverwood. When I asked them why, they said a young Nord by the name of Marcus had asked the Jarl for guards to be sent to Riverwood." Camilla chirped happily.

"I still don't understand how I protected Riverwood." Marcus said.

"Last night, a large number of bandits attacked us! The guards managed to deal with most of them, but a few survived and escaped towards Bleak Falls Barrow. One Dark Elf even managed to sneak into our store and stole our family heirloom, a small golden claw. He ran off saying how with it, he would be able to unlock the secrets of Bleak Falls Barrow." Camilla informed him, and Marcus let a sigh of relief. "It's good to know no one was hurt."

"You said he escaped towards Bleak Falls Barrow? I'm actually going there on a task from the Jarl. If the Dark Elf is still around, I will retrieve your family heirloom." Marcus told her.

"Really? You are such a gallant hero!" Camilla chirped and kissed his cheek.

"I just want to check on Alvor and his family, before going to the ruin with one of the guards." Marcus said and turned around with Camilla latched onto his arm. Daphne, Alvor's daughter, was in front of them and looking at them mischievously.

"Da! Camilla's boyfriend is back!" Daphne shouted.

Alvor walked out of his smithy and looked Marcus up and down. He frowned, displeased that he wasn't wearing the armor he gave him, but he didn't reprimand him. If it wasn't for Marcus, their town would have suffered by the bandit attack.

"Good to see you, Marcus." Alvor greeted him, and his eyes spotted the gash on his left arm. The place where the bandit had punctured his armor. Before Marcus could respond to him, Alvor said. "Give me your armor. I will patch it up for you."

"Yes, Marcus. Give him your armor." Camilla said while already helping him remove it. After spotting the scars that he had piled up, she said. "You don't play around, do you, Marcus?"

"I wish I was." Marcus said, and Camilla started bugging him to tell stories of his adventures. Thankfully, at that moment, Sigrid exited the house and thanked Marcus for getting the Jarl to send guards to Riverwood.

Deep down, he wanted someone to tell him that the death of others was bad, that it wasn't right. But so far, everyone had thanked him and praised him for what he has done. Being praised was something that everyone enjoyed, Marcus included, but being praised for killing others was something he didn't know how to take. He shook his head and tried to focus on something else.

Shortly, Alvor was done with his armor, and once he put it on, he made his way towards where Lydia was waiting for him. Camilla pouted that he didn't tell her any stories, but she released him when Marcus told her that he will be back when he deals with the task from the Jarl. He met up with Lydia, and the two started their trek towards Bleak Falls Barrow.

On the way, Lydia told him. "Our primary objective is the task of Farengar, but if we spot any of the bandits that had attacked Riverwood, we will take them down. However, we wouldn't go out of our way to search for them. Farengar deemed the item as something important for dealing with the Dragon, and he needs it as soon as possible."

"That's fine with me." Marcus said. He was still trying to cope and adapt to this world, so he didn't want to go out of his way just to kill others. Not now, at least.

30 minutes of hiking the mountain leading to Bleak Falls Barrow later, they reached a point where the ground was covered by snow. Marcus felt the cold wind brushing his face, but it didn't bother him that much. At least not as much as it should have. He felt like there was a small fire burning inside him that heated his body, and made sure that he wouldn't be uncomfortable in this cold environment. Marcus looked towards Lydia, who didn't look like she minded the freezing temperature. 'Hadvar and Ralof said that Nords are resistant to the cold. Maybe they have the same fire burning inside of them, and maybe I truly am a Nord.'

Shortly, the spotted a stone watchtower in the distance. "Be on your guard. The bandits could have taken residence there." Lydia said, but Marcus didn't need to be told that. His bow was in his hands ever since they started their trek. He felt more comfortable and confident while holding it.

Lydia was correct. As soon as they neared the watchtower, someone spoke from inside it. "Lookie here, boys.' A bandit walked out from it. "Dem guards send a search party for us. Only two of them and one looks like a wench. We might get to have some fun after all." He said while staring at Lydia with a predatory grin, looking like a sabre cat ready to pounce on her. Lydia wasn't scared of that, however. She had been trained on how to use a weapon ever since she was a small child. She also knew those type of people were nothing like the mighty beast, they were only big pussies.

Two more bandits walked out behind him, and Lydia was already dashing in their direction. Marcus had frozen for a moment, but seeing her already moving in on them, he pulled the arrow that was notched on his bow. He couldn't let her get hurt fighting them.

The bandits weren't prepared for the mad dash of the Nord woman, nor were they prepared for the archer that accurately shot one of them in the head. Before they can process what's happening, Lydia was already on top of them. She bashed one of them with her shield and stabbed him in the chest with her sword. The bandit didn't even know what hit him as life left his body.

The other bandit was snapped out of his stupor and used his axe to swipe in her direction. Marcus was terrified of seeing that. He was in the middle of notching another arrow and didn't have time to shoot him. But Lydia didn't need his assistance. In one quick motion, she twirled in place like a ballerina, dodged the attack, and lopped his head with her sword.

"Let's quickly check if there are any more of them here, and continue our journey after that." Just as she finished saying that, they heard someone run out from another exit of the tower. He was already running down the hill as fast as his legs could carry him.

Marcus took aim, and time slowed down to a crawl. He was able to judge exactly where the bandit would be and released the arrow. The arrow him in the back of his neck, and the bandit fell, rolling down the hill.

"Good shot." Lydia praised him. "We still have to check the tower." Lydia entered, and Marcus followed after her. His bow wouldn't be of much use inside, so he pulled out his sword and dagger.

The watchtower was mostly empty inside since it was abandoned a long time ago. On the second floor, they found one bandit sleeping, and Lydia killed him in his sleep. There was nothing left of value there, so they left and continued their journey.

Marcus tried his best to not think about the death of the people he killed by placing on the back of his mind. He distracted himself by thinking about the Dragon and how much death it could cause if he didn't find a way to deal with it. He focused on the object that Farengar had sent them after and how much it could help them.

About an hour later, they saw large stone steps leading towards Bleak Falls Barrow. Marcus marveled at the architecture of the ruin. 'How did they even build this? Most of the buildings I've seen are made of wood, and some of them are made of stone, but this is something else! The stone towers look like they've stacked stone bricks, but this place looks polished as if it was carved out of the mountain. But how did they make the archways? Maybe magic? If magic can accomplish this, why have I seen only one person using it? I have to ask Farengar more about this, maybe he could teach me as well.'

The two were vigilant as they climbed the stairs, but they didn't spot anyone. Shortly, they reached two stone doors, the entrance to Bleak Falls Barrow.

"I'll open the door. You guard me in case there is someone behind them." Marcus notched an arrow as Lydia pulled one of the stone doors open. She was right to be careful as the second the door was opened, two bandits were already sprinting towards them. Lydia dodge, by rolling out of the way, while Marcus shot one of them in the face. He didn't have time to pull out another arrow, so he dropped the bow on the ground, and quickly tried unsheathing his sword. He was too late, however. The bandit was already in front of him and taking a large swing with his battleaxe.

Time slowed down to a crawl as he watched the weapon coming towards him. Marcus wasn't sure what he was supposed to do in this situation. Parrying it was out of the question. He didn't have a weapon drawn, and he didn't think he had the strength to even parry it. Dodging it also wasn't a choice since he didn't have enough practice to do it. His only option was forward and to try and barrel into the bandit.

Marcus lunged towards the bandit, but he wasn't fast enough. The handle of the weapon smacked him in the face, and Marcus fell on the ground from the hit. The bandit raised his weapon over his head, ready to strike him down, but Lydia had already recovered. With a stab of her sword, she took care of the bandit.

Quickly, she pulled Marcus on his feet. "Two more are coming. Get a hold of yourself." He faintly heard her, but the world was spinning in his eyes. After warning him, Lydia turned around, ready to face the two that were rushing towards them. She was not as skilled as the older Companions, but she was far better than the youngsters there. Her steel armor and her weapons were of high-quality, so she could easily take the two bandits on her own. She couldn't deal with them at the same time, however, and if one of them ran past her towards Marcus, the young Nord could end up in a bad situation. And that's exactly what happened.

One of the bandits attacked her, but the other sprinted towards Marcus. Still dizzy from the hit to the head, he tried moving away, but only stumbled in the process. He fell on the ground as the swing of a pickaxe passed above his head. Marcus tried getting up, but with the world spinning around him, that wasn't an easy task. He stumbled yet again as he tried to get up. This time, he wasn't as lucky, and the bandit lodged the pickaxe in his left thigh. His armor did little to stop the attack, but it was enough to not snap his bone in two.

"FUCK!" The pain snapped him out from his dizziness. Marcus grabbed the dagger hanging from his waist as the bandit was trying to remove his weapon. He could only reach the bandit's arms from his position, so Marcus stabbed him twice before the bandit let go of his weapon.

At that point, Lydia had already dealt with the other one and was already behind the bandit. With a swipe of her sword, she killed the last bandit.

"Marcus!" Lydia knelt down next to him. 'Damn it. This isn't good. An injury like this will take a long time to heal.'

"Potion." Marcus said through gritted teeth. Lydia wasn't stupid. She knew that he needed a potion, but she had to remove the weapon first. The bandit had almost managed to pull it out, so she didn't have much trouble removing it. She took one of the potions that Faregar gave Marcus and poured it in his mouth.

"What in Oblivion?" Lydia exclaimed as the wound visibly healed in front of her. 'This shouldn't be possible!'

"Fucking 'ell." Marcus cursed. His armor was just fixed by Alvor, and now it was ruined again. He pulled out a Stamina potion and gulped it down. "Let's go and find this stupid shit." He said angrily. His body was brimming with energy, but he wanted nothing more than to lay down and sleep for a week straight.

Lydia stared at him in surprise for a moment but followed him inside the cavern. Inside, they found a body of a bandit surrounded by what appeared to be 5 rats as large as a cat. "What are those?" Marcus asked.

"Skeevers. Nasty little buggers. Easy to handle as long as you are not surrounded by a swarm of them." Lydia informed him.

"Let's hope that doesn't happen to us." Marcus said as they passed a campfire lit by the bandits. There was a tunnel ahead of them, but it was as dark as the night there. Lydia grabbed a torch from nearby and lit it up. She took the lead as they entered deeper inside Bleak Falls Barrow.

The ruin had been abandoned for a long time, judging by the number of vines and cobwebs they encountered. As they were getting deeper and deeper, they found a brazier or two that had been lit up from time to time. Someone had passed before them, so the two were vigilant as they slowly walked.

Thankfully, they didn't encounter any enemies, and they reached a room with a lever in the middle and an iron gate blocking their way. Above, there were three signs. The left was a snake, the middle was missing, and the right was a dolphin. On the ground, there was another snake sign. To the left of them, there were three large stones with signs. From left to right, they were arranged snake, snake, and dolphin.

"This is a trap room. I've read about them in books about Nordic ruins." Lydia said.

"This seems like it should be the correct pattern." Marcus said as he observed the stones to the left. "What do you think?"

"I'm not sure. I've never been to a Nordic ruin before. It could be, but it could be the other way around." Lydia said.

"Might as well give it a try. There are no bodies here so someone might have passed earlier. I'll pull the lever, but just to be safe, go out of the room." Marcus told her.

"Are you crazy?" Lydia asked as she brought the torch she was holding above the iron gate. "Look. There are small openings here. Enough for arrows to be released from them."

"We won't know if this is the correct patter unless we try!" Marcus raised his voice. He wanted to be out of here as soon as possible. The last day wasn't kind to him. In fact, ever since he arrived in Skyrim, he hasn't had a peaceful day. "I don't know if you noticed, but I heal fast. So, walk outside the room, let me pull the lever, and if something happens, give me a Health potion."

"Fine." Lydia begrudgingly walked out. Once she left the room, Marcus pulled the lever and crouched down with his hands covering his face. The iron gate raised itself, and no arrows came his way.

"Well, this just proves that someone had passed by here." Lydia said. Marcus didn't respond, and the two walked deeper inside the ruin. They walked down a set of wooden stairs and passed by a few burned corpses of Skeevers. They were nearing a cavern filled with webs when they heard. "Is... is someone coming? Is that you Harknir? Bjorn? Soling?"

Both of them tensed up, ready for another fight. Slowly they entered the cavern filled with webs and what appeared to be large egg sacks. At the other end, they saw a Dark Elf covered with webs. Before they could question the Elf, a massive Frostbite Spider fell from the ceiling. Lydia and Marcus froze, seeing the monstrosity. The spider didn't see them, however. Its head was badly burned. Its eyes were nothing but a liquid puddle, and its mandibles were roasted.

"No. Not again. Help!" The Elf screamed, and the spider turned towards him. "Don't let it get me. Help!"

In that split moment, Marcus and Lydia made their minds on how to deal with it. "I'll distract it." They said at the same time. "No, leave it to me. You are better with a sword." Marcus pushed her to the side and aimed with his bow. Hearing their voices the spider turned towards them.

"Come here, you ugly shit." Marcus taunted the spider and shot his arrow. It lodged itself in the spider's head, but it wasn't enough to kill it. The spider let out a weird sound and jumped towards Marcus. It was far faster than he anticipated, and it reached him in a second. The spider pushed Marcus to the ground and chomped with his burned mandibles. He raised his hands to protect himself on instinct. The spider's mandibles were burned, but it was enough to destroy his bow and crush the bones in his arms. At least his actions stopped it from crushing his head.

Seeing the spider on top of Marcus, Lydia lunged at it faster than she had ever done before. She stabbed it with her sword, and stabbed, and stabbed, and stabbed. "Die! Die! Die!" The spider fell on top of Marcus, but Lydia continued stabbing it over and over.

"Lydia, it's death! Please, help me get it away." Marcus pleaded through gritted teeth. Lydia snapped out of her frenzy, and with all the strength she could muster, she pushed the spider away from him.

"I'm so sorry!" Lydia knelt down next to him.

"Potion, please." Lydia pulled out another potion from his pouch and poured it down his mouth. Again, she watched in astonishment as his arms fixed themselves in a minute. His bow was broken, and his armor around his arms was in a bad state, but he was alive, that was the most important thing.

"You did it. You killed it. Now cut me down before anything else shows up." The Elf pleaded. Lydia snapped her head towards him with anger in her eyes. "You want out? Fine. I will help you."

"Oh, thank the Three! I thought I was going to die here." The elf exclaimed in happiness.

"You will die here." Lydia said as she reached him.

"What are..." With a quick stab, she pierced his head.

Marcus had already stood up and walked away from the spider. He didn't want to be anywhere near that monster. He reached Lydia and asked. "Can you please check his body for a golden claw?" This was the first Elf they had encountered, and he remembered Camilla's request.

"What? Why?" Lydia asked in surprise. Looting bandits was not something that she enjoyed doing. They never had anything special on them. Marcus explained the request from Camilla and gave an excuse that his hands were still recovering. They were already fine, but he didn't want to be touching someone's dead body.

Lydia cut the Elf's body from the webs and found a leather bag tied to his waist. Inside there was a journal and a golden claw. Lydia didn't like reading the journals of bandits, but on a whim, she opened it and found something interesting written inside it.

"We might need the claw." Lydia told Marcus and informed him of what was written in the journal. "Good thing your little lover made that request."

"She is not my lover." Marcus protested, but Lydia was already walking ahead, deeper inside the ruin. "Whatever you say."

They entered a room that was lit up by braziers. "Be on your guard. Someone must have lit them up."

Marcus unsheathed his sword and dagger and followed her. They entered another room that was filled with dead bodies. Spotting them, Lydia froze in place. "I think I might know who, or what lit them up." She whispered, trying to keep her voice low. However, the dead bodies heard her. A few of them got up from their resting place and moved towards them. They had rusty armor and weapons that were on the verge of breaking down. Their bodies were thin and decayed, but they were still able to move.

"Draugr." Lydia hissed and lunged towards them. As pale as Marcus as from seeing the dead walking, he couldn't let her deal with them on her own. Thankfully, they were slow, and even with his lack of skill of using a sword, he was able to decapitate them without much problem.

Slowly and on guard, they continued deeper inside the ruin. They passed hall after hall filled with Draugr. One of them even had a usable bow, but it was still in very bad shape. On the way, they dealt with more than 20 of the living dead before they reached a cave lit up by glowing mushrooms and a river flowing through it. They took a small break there, drank some water from the river, ate some food which Lydia had brought with her, and had some small talk while resting. Marcus mostly asked about Lydia's childhood and the time she had spent with the guards while avoiding any questions about his own life.

After their much-needed rest, they continued exploring the ruin. They dealt with more than a dozen Draugr as they entered deeper and deeper before they reached a hall with carvings on its walls. At the end of the hall, there was a large door with three movable circles with animal symbols on them and a place in which the golden claw perfectly fit.

"I think this is the Hall of Stories that was in the Dark Elf's journal." Lydia said as they reached the door.

"Does it say how to open the door?" Marcus asked. Lydia pulled out the journal before answering. "When you have the golden call, the solution is in the palm of your hands."

Marcus took out the golden claw with the intent of placing it on the door when he spotted the symbols on it. "I think we have to arrange the symbols to be the same as the claw."

They arranged the symbols and used the claw like a key. Behind the door, there was a large cavern with a raised platform at the end. The moment the door opened for them a bunch of bats flew away from there, but Marcus wasn't paying attention to that. There was a voice in the cavern. A voice that was calling out to him, beckoning him to go where it is. On instinct, he started walking mechanically towards the voice without paying attention to anything that was happening around him. Lydia had to grab his arm and pull him backward to snap him out of his daze.

"Are you listening to me?" Marcus barely heard her question. He shook his head. "I'm sorry. The voice is too loud. It's calling for me. I need to go where it is!" Marcus turned around to walk towards it, but Lydia didn't let go of his hand.

"What voice? What are you talking about?" Lydia asked in confusion. She couldn't hear anything.

"I need to go to the voice. Let me go." Marcus protested and tried breaking her grasp.

"This could be a trap, Marcus!" Lydia said, and Marcus finally snapped out it. He still heard the voice, and he wanted to go to it as soon as possible, but Lydia wasn't wrong. It could very well be a trap. "It might be a trap, but I need to check it out. It could also be the item we are looking for."

"Fine, but we have to be careful." Lydia finally relented. They slowly reached the platform which had a chest, a stone coffin, and a stone wall with carved text that Lydia had never seen before. The moment they stepped on the platform, Marcus couldn't resist anymore and sprinted towards the wall before Lydia could stop him. The voice was coming from there. One of the words was shining as bright as a star, and he placed his hand on top of it. Marcus's vision turned blurry once he touched the word, and he collapsed on his knees.

'Fus. Fus. Fus. Fus. Fus.' The voice boomed inside his head, and the word engraved itself into his soul. Marcus knew that the word meant Force, but how he understood that he didn't know.

"Marcus!" Moments later, he heard Lydia shouting his name while shaking him. Slowly he stood up with her help. "I'm fine. I'm fine." He said.

"What is..." Lydia was about to question him, but they heard the coffin behind them blow up. A Draugr, far larger than the ones they had killed, stepped out of it. Its armor, although rusty, was in a far better condition than the other. In its hands, it held a shield and a sword with a faint blue aura around it.

Marcus and Lydia's teamwork was pretty good after going through Bleak Falls Barrow together. The two of them got into a battle-ready position without any words shared between them. Marcus had his sword and dagger in his hands since he learned that arrows don't work that well against Draugr. No matter how many arrows he shot the Draugr with, they will not die unless their head leaves their body.

Since Lydia carried a shield, she was the first to try and approach the Draugr. However, she certainly didn't expect what happened afterward. The Draugr opened his mouth and shouted. "FUS!" A shockwave erupted from his mouth and hit Lydia, sending her flying towards the stone wall.

"Lydia!" Marcus called out to her. He wanted to go and check on her but didn't have to luxury to do it. The Draugr was already moving towards him. Unlike the other Draugr, who were slow and moved like robots, this one was fast and had fluid movements.

Marcus dodged a swipe and felt the chilly aura of the blade. He struck with his own sword, but the Draugr blocked it with his shield. The two entangled into a dance of swords. Strike, dodge. Strike, block.

Marcus was keeping up with the undead while trying to keep it away from Lydia, but the Draugr was more skilled with the blade than him. It was only a matter of time before he made a mistake. And a mistake he did. Marcus stepped a bit further on one of his strikes, and he got closer than he should have to the undead. The Draugr capitalized on that and bashed him with his shield. The undead had a strength that didn't match his appearance, and Marcus was sent flying from the attack.

The Draugr rushed towards Marcus and was ready to impale him with his sword when a wild Lydia appeared. She lunged into the undead and bashed it with her shield, pushing it onto the ground. Marcus got up on his feet, and the two jumped towards the Draugr ready to turn him into mince dead flesh. But the undead wasn't ready to die a second time. It opened its mouth. "FUS!"

Both of them were thrown away by the shockwave, but luckily they didn't hit into a wall. The three of them got up at the same time and prepared for round two. This time it was a two on one, and they had the advantage. With Lydia taking the front and the attention of the Draugr, Marcus managed to sneak an attack and chop off one of its legs. The undead fell on the ground, and from there, they managed to slowly, but surely kill it. They took their time, careful not to be sent flying by another shockwave, but that never happened.

The two dropped on their buttocks and stared at each other for a moment with a glint in their eyes, happy that the had survived yet another monstrosity. Until Lydia punched him in the face. "You idiot!"

Marcus fell onto the ground, and Lydia jumped on top of him. "We could have both died there!" She shouted and punched him once more before pulling his head up and smacking her lips against his. She held the kiss for about a minute before releasing him.

Lydia stared at his flushed face before laughing. "This is an adventure I will tell all the guards about! They would never believe that just the two of us went through a Nordic ruin on our own!" She smacked her lips against his once more, before helping him up his feet.

After the adrenaline from his body left him, Marcus was more than confused at what happened, but he didn't question her. He didn't know what the kiss meant, but he sure as hell enjoyed it.

"Let's hope the stupid Dragonstone or whatever is in here." Lydia walked up to the chest and opened it. There was a one-handed axe that had seen better days, a purple crystal, and a bunch of gold inside. "Damn it!" Lydia cursed out, thinking they would have to backtrack and search for the stone somewhere else.

Marcus, who was standing next to her, spotted something in the coffin out of the corner of his eye. There was a stone with carvings similar to the ones on the stone wall. He picked it up and turned it around. On its other side there was another carving that looked like a map. "I think this might be it." Marcus told Lydia.

"It's the closest thing to the item Farengar described to us, so it better be it. I want to get out of this place already." Lydia said as she pocketed the gold and purple crystal in the leather bag they got from the Dark Elf. She then grabbed the axe from the chest and the sword of the Draugr. "Two enchanted weapons. I'll be damned. They look a bit rusty, but with a bit of polishing that could be fixed. Those things are mighty expensive. We got a good haul. Now we only have to get out of here."

"Do you think those stairs could lead us out?" Marcus asked looking at the stairs leading to a place above the platform.

"We could check. Let's just hope we don't find any more enemies." After a small break to catch their breath, they walked up the steps. They reached a dead end but there was a small platform with a handle next to it. Marcus pulled the handle before Lydia could stop him and a stone wall opened up. It led to another cavern, but both of them smelled the fresh air coming from its end.

A few minutes later, the two finally exited Bleak Falls Barrow as the sun was running away from the moons. They found themselves on a high cliff staring at a lake. There was no clear path down, so they had to carefully go down the cliff while helping each other. By the time they reached Riverwood, the two moons had already chased the sun away. Both of them were dead ass tired and wanted nothing more than to have a good night's rest.

"I'll quickly check if Camilla and her brother are sleeping." Marcus told Lydia.

"Hah, yeah right. You just want to spend the night with your little lover. Can't blame you, though, not after what we went through." Lydia shrugged her shoulders. "If you need a room in the inn, tell one of the guards to get you one. And make sure you are ready to leave for Whiterun tomorrow morning." With that, Lydia made her way towards the Sleeping Giant.

Marcus was just about to knock on the door of the Riverwood Trader when it burst open. Camilla came out and hugged him. "Marcus! You came back."

"Yeah, I'm back, and I got the claw with me." Marcus said and presented the golden claw to her.

"That's fantastic! Come, my brother would be happy to reward you." Camilla ushered him inside the wooden building. Her brother was checking up on the shelves in his shop when the two entered. "Brother! You didn't believe me, but I told you he will bring our family heirloom back! Look!"

"Divines! He really did." Lucas exclaimed seeing the golden claw. He ducked behind the wooden counter and shortly stood up with a pouch in his hand. "Here, take this as a reward. You have no idea how much this claw means to us."

"Thank you." Marcus accepted the pouch with gold and was about to leave the store, but Camilla stopped him. "My brother rewarded you, but I haven't! I'm pretty good with a needle. Let me check your size, and I will make you some darn good linen clothes."

Camilla led him to her room and discreetly locked the door without Marcus noticing. He was too exhausted to care what she is doing and wanted to be done as soon as possible. Camilla helped him remove his armor and picked a tape measure that she had in her room. Marcus was left only in his loincloth as she slowly measured his size. She took her time and made sure to caress his body as much as she could. Marcus might have been too exhausted to react, but his body did it on his own. In a matter of minutes, a tent had formed from his loincloth.

"My, my. Someone seems to be excited." Camilla said as her hand caressed his thigh, coming dangerously close to his manhood. She stepped back and stared at him with a devilish smile. Her dress fell off her body and left her naked. "You are not the only one."

Marcus stared at her naked figure for a moment. 'Fuck it, I need this.' He thought and stepped towards her. He smacked his lips against her and his hands grabbed her ass. He picked her up and carried her to the bed in the room.