8 Riften-To Windhelm

Day 64

The trek to Windhelm was long and strenuous. We had to stop many times due to nervous breakdowns or people being too tired to continue on. Out of an entire city, only around twenty survived. The idea scared me more than anything I've encountered so far in Skyrim, a whole city overrun in minutes. As I helped guard the weary, I thought about this threat. It's almost similar to the oblivion crisis that occured many years ago in this world but instead of it happening in one region, it's happening all over Tamriel. Either this was a coordinated attack by a large group or there's a powerful being pulling the strings. I had believed that the biggest threat to Tamriel would have been the Aldmeri Dominion, I now wish that had been the case.

"Jarl Laila!" We were just a few miles away from Windhelm when one of the people we sent to scout ahead came rushing back. "Windhelm is under siege!" The scout's news crushed us, things just keep going from bad to worse.

"By whom?" She responded with rage. Her frustration at the situation showing.

"The undead! There seems to be hundreds around the castle!" His face was filled with terror. He must have been lucky to escape unnoticed. Mjoll must have thought the same thing and drew her axe.

"All those able to wield a blade, take one from the cart!" Luckily we where able to take a lot of supplies from Fort Greenwall. Weapons, food, clothes, we even found a cart to be able to carry it all. No horse though so everyone has been taking turns pulling and pushing.

"How does it look?" The Jarl asked.

"They've closed the gates and are fighting on the docks." The scout reported then drew his own sword.

"It looks like you where spotted." A few of the creatures could be seen coming down the road, they looked a little faster than before. How was that even possible? If they could evolve or become sentient then there would truly be no hope. I held my sword tightly and hefted up a shield.

"Is there no place nearby we can go?" I asked, watching the creatures stumble forward at a worrisome pace.

"Fort Amol is nearby, last I knew it had been abandoned by Ulfric's men." The jarl responded, now calm enough to sort out her thoughts.

"Any danger?"

"None that had been reported, they had left it when Ulfric called for more soldiers to Windhelm." Laila turned and ordered some to help with the cart. "We need to get across the marsh to Fort Amol!"

"You two, with me!" I pointed to two who had been under my command at Fort Greenwall. "We'll take care of the ones on the road." I gave Zaynabi and Kharjo a reassuring smile then lead the way down the road. There where five undead shambling towards us. It seemed like they where trying to run! If they could run then we all where in more danger than before. Fear hit me hard as I watched the gray-skinned monsters advance on us. "Aim for the head! Keep them at a distance!" I ordered then moved in. Two fell before me as I swung, When my blade reached a third one it stuck fast into the creature's neck. It fell but I had to struggle to pull my sword free. Another one was advanced at an alarming rate as I struggled with the sword. Cursing I left it and pushed my shield into the creature, making it fall backwards. It had been lighter than I had thought which caused me to stumble over it and hit the ground hard. The heavy metal of my armor clanged loudly against the few cobble stones in the main road. My back ached as my ears rang loudly. I focused my vision in time to see the creature begin to crawl it's way towards me, It's lifeless eyes pitch black, gray skin made lighter by the sun. It's jaws snapped open and shut as it stretched it's bony hands out to me.

A blade sunk deep into it's neck as it was just about to reach me. One of my men helped me to my feet and led the way to my sword. The other man wrangled it free and handed it to me.

"T-thank you, let's get back to the others." I stammered, fear heavy in my heart. We made our way back to the spot where we left the others and followed the cart tracks while keeping a lookout for any others following behind us but it seems like we had a small reprieve.

It took some time but we where able to catch up with everyone and help them move the cart along to the fort that lay just up the hill. Mjoll took a few people to scout it out to make sure it was safe. She returned with some good news and we moved up into Fort Amol. The walls around us seemed sturdy and there where wooden supports around the more broken areas of the castle. The only weak point I could notice was a hole that had once been in the wall. Luckily it was replaced by a wooden one but it was weaker than the stone around it. It seemed to me that the gate and the hole would be the points we would need to concentrate the defense on. Mjoll and the Jarl saw the same problem and gave out orders. The others in the group where happy just to be able to sit down again and rest.

"If Windhelm falls, then where else can we go?" I said to myself as I stood at the top of the tower. The surrounding area was shrouded in darkness as the sun had set. I could make out the trees, rocks, and some foliage on the ground. I had helped unload the cart and was exhausted along with the others after the long ordeal. The events lately make the days go by fast. It was hard to tell the time when your fighting for your life constantly. "I've been here two months now." My mind drifted over my time since waking up naked in some ruin. I wanted to believe I had come a long way in just a short time but there where so many questions I still had. Now there where even more things to worry about than the regular dangers of Tamriel, I seem to have found myself in the middle of another crisis. I prayed to Akatosh, hoping to receive some answers but there was silence. Had I imagined the voice I heard so long ago? I still feel some power when I ask for a blessing but when I pray normally I get nothing. Do I have to not be selfish?

I groaned and sat down in a nearby chair. The night air helped to calm my mind but it was still cold and made my body ache more. What could I do? I was confused and felt hopeless. I was no where close to finding my way back home or who even brought me here. I had more immediate worries however, this undead invasion of Tamriel.

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Day 70

In the game I had known Laila Law-Giver as an oblivious leader who cared about her city. It seems that the game was somewhat right, the betrayal of Maven Black-Briar was a rather large surprise to her. But when the stormcloaks retook Riften, Laila did what she could to right her previous wrongs as Jarl. She purged the city of the thieves guild and ran the remnants of Maven's family out of Riften. Her leadership skills seem to have grown over the course of the war and it shows even in this dark and desperate time.

Within a couple of days, Laila Law-giver had organized the survivors and pulled everyone together to turn Fort Amol into a haven. She had set up her quarters in the forts prison area where she also holds council with the new leaders that she had chosen. Mjoll was made general of the jarl's forces, I was named captain under her command. Though Zaynabi knew little of magic, the jarl had seen her casting a few spells in the defense of Riften. She asked the Khajiit to be her new court mage, which shocked many, Zaynabi included. But both the jarl and Zaynabi were confident that this might help to remove negative opinions of Khajiit during this trying time. No one showed disapproval of this choice as there was little opportunity for anyone to have that luxury. We were thankful to have leaders and people who could help put things back in order. The survivors of Riften needed guidance and hope where there seemed to be none.

Though everyone was pitching in to help reinforce the forts defenses and make it more livable, people began to spiral downward. We had yet to see anymore undead roaming the area and this small amount of peace was giving people time to reflect on the recent strings of disastrous events.

"Farian!" I shouted the teen's name as I walked up the stairs to the wall. The young man was dozing off in a chair while on duty. At the sound of my voice he stood up so fast he nearly fell over the wall! Luckily I had been close enough to help him regain his balance before pitching over the edge.

"W-whoa!" He cleared his throat then surveyed the surroundings. "N-nothing to report sir!"

I sighed and placed a hand on his shoulder. He was fifteen, seven years younger than I was. It was strange, in my opinion, having someone so young be given a weapon and tasked with defending the wall. I had set him on watch duty in hopes of keeping him busy from dwelling on the loss of his home and both parents. If I had been given a choice I wouldn't of given him a weapon to begin with but during this time of crisis, everyone needed to do something. It was also commonplace for younger men and woman to learn how to defend themselves in this world, just foreign to me.

"Your relieved. Go find another to take your watch for now. You should try and get some rest." Dark circles had formed under his eyes from lack of sleep. It looked as though my idea of trying to keep him occupied had failed.

"With all due respect sir. I don't think I could sleep even if I wanted to." He tried to smile reassuringly but he yawned right afterwards. It was almost comical as his helmet fell over his eyes after the yawn. We had found spare supplies and armor in the barracks from when Ulfric had soldiers stationed here, however most of the gear was large and meant for bigger people. His torso piece was held tightly to his body by a belt and his leather helmet was two times too big.

"You need to try anyway. Send your replacement to me when you find someone." I wasn't used to giving orders and it felt strange to have someone calling me sir and reporting to me. I had to step up though as we all needed to do something to help us survive. I had been chosen in this role and I needed to see it through, not like I could really run away at this point like I had done before. There was so much going on in this world right now that made the roads and land more dangerous than they already where. I realize how much I have emphasized this as I'm reading over my journal, but it really is hard to wrap my head around it still.

"I sure as hell picked a terrible time to show up here." I joked to myself as Farian walked down the steps, grumbling to himself. I looked out over the land that surrounded the fort. The sun was shining high, leaving little shadows from the trees. "Not many places for someone or something to be hiding." I noted to myself, I could hear the jarl gathering people together in the courtyard area. She was looking for volunteers to go out with a few guards to cut wood and scavenge for supplies. What we had would last us only a week at this rate and we needed to act fast in order to stock up. Winter season was coming soon and it would make things even more difficult than they already were.

Watching people volunteer to go out reminded me of when we had recruited for armed forces just the other day. Farian had been among the first to volunteer into the Jarl's forces. Five where under my command as captain of the guard while the remaining ten served as Mjoll's soldiers.

Smoke in the distance stole me away from my thoughts, I thought about the direction we had come just a few days before. That was the direction of the main road that lead to Windhelm!

"Jarl Laila!" I turned and shouted into the small courtyard. "Smoke from the north!" She was able to make it up the steps within seconds, her gaze was held onto the smoke that rose into the bright sky. Fear showed in her eyes as she turned to me.

"Mjoll!" She shouted and turned to the courtyard. Mjoll came out of the barracks and raised her head to look at the Jarl. "Take your men and head to the main road, scout the area and return as soon as you can!"

"It will be done!" Mjoll gathered her "soldiers" and headed out the main gate.

"Darius!" I stood at attention as she turned to me, "assign two of your guards to the wall and one to the tower. I want eyes on every shadow and crevice." I bowed my head and ran down into the barracks. I relayed the orders, having Farian and another guard named Shavari on standby to take shifts with those on the wall.

After setting up the shifts and checking in with everyone, I reported to the jarl who had gone into the meeting room just inside the doors of what used to be the fort prison. Laila Law-Giver was checking her map and browsing through some papers she had begun to write in the past few days.

"Do you think it's Windhelm?" I asked the question that must have been on her mind.

"I believe so. If it is then we'll need to fortify ourselves faster than we had planned to. When Mjoll returns and gives her report I'll need you to go out with another guard and protect the volunteers who will be gathering supplies." She only looked up from her papers momentarily to make sure I understood her orders then returned to the sheets.

"I'll make sure it will be done." I replied and bowed my head, I had noticed only few interactions and customs to the jarls in the game so I had to go with what came naturally or what I had seen others do. It still came off as slightly awkward and alien to my body.

Zaynabi entered the room, reading another arcane book that had been salvaged from Riften. She had been trying to learn different schools of magic in order to make up for the lack of a court mage. Her focus lately had been restoration magic. "Any luck yet?" I asked as the Khajiit walked over to the table.

"My labors have been fruitful, I hope to master this spell by the end of the day. Is something going on?" She must have been downstairs reading for some time.

"Smoke was seen to the North. We believe it's Windhelm." Jarl Laila said as she wrote down a few things on another piece of paper. I felt slightly awkward standing there as they both worked on their own tasks. I was about to go check on the wall when when a brown-furred Khajiit hastily burst through the door.

"Windhelm is in ruins! There's hardly a building standing!" Shavari tried to catch her breath after she shouted the devastating news. The jarl dropped her quill and papers, her hands shaking noticeably. Zaynabi also looked up from her book, fear plastered on her face.

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Day 76

Our footsteps on dirt and stone resounded in the courtyard. When we stopped to look around; destroyed buildings, fallen corpses, scorched walls and upturned earth. The ruins of Windhelm had been scattered about the frozen lake and surrounding land. In the two days we had been searching through the ruins we had found just two survivors. They had been too shaken to even speak, it had been hard enough to move them from where they lay in the fetal position. Mjoll recounted that she had to knock them out in order to get them to stop screaming.

Today however my group had been taken off guard duty and sent to recover any kind of supplies we could find. Farian and his sister Ryona where young yet they handled seeing this destruction well enough, they had witnessed Riften overrun after all. They moved rubble away from a doorway then drew their blades. Shavari was a brown Khajiit with a large black spot around her right eye, She had volunteered into the jarl's service after the events in Riften. She moved into the building after the siblings had removed the debris, an arrow notched and ready.

I motioned for Farian and Ryona to follow in after her while I stayed near the doorway to keep watch. Hundreds of undead had lay siege to the castle. It had been going well for Ulfric until we believe the masters of the undead arrived and wielded their magic. If they were able to amass such an army we all felt that it wasn't impossible for them to level a city the size of Windhelm. As I looked out over what remained of Windhelm my body began to shake. The thought of anyone having that much power scared me beyond anything that I had seen so far in this world.

"Nothing in here either." Shavari reported as the group came out of the home. There had been a few buildings that stood but so far we had yet to find any new survivors or even salvageable supplies such as food or weapons. It was so different from my time there and the emptiness filled me with more dread than when I had believed myself a prisoner.

"This place is like a graveyard."Ryona said quietly. Her long brown hair fell in front of her face as she tried looking around. It took her a few tries to try and move it out of the way so she could see better. Normally I'd have found the action funny but i needed everyone on the look out for undead or their masters.

"We have trouble!" Shadr, a young redguard stable-man, came running up to us.

"Report." I ordered the others to stop moving and come closer together.

"Marsh-Walker and I ended up in the graveyard. The graves and the Hall of the Dead are empty!" The man had to catch his breath before being able to finish. "Marsh-Walker is waiting just outside the tombs."

"Lead the way then." The news unsettled all of us and I wondered what these necromancer's end goal was. Did they attack the city just to take the corpses from the city's graves? I also noticed that there weren't any bodies in the streets. There weren't even any under rubble. It's as if the necromancers had searched through to reanimate corpses. The lack of blood around the area also made me rule out the undead consuming the corpses. Maybe they attacked the city to add to their ranks? There could be any number of reasons but it ultimately didn't change anything.

We turned the last corner after the flight of steps and met with the heavily armored argonian. He had scavenged a steel helmet from the smithy and it covered most of his features but you could still make out the large scar that ran from his face to the base of his neck. Marsh-Walker was the oldest of everyone in my group and seemed to have traveled much more than Shadr. Marsh-Walker claims that he traveled to and from different lands before settling in Skyrim. The dark green argonian never gave his reasons for why he chose Skyrim or what adventures he had but his skill was unquestionable and we all looked to him for guidance.

"You've finally arrived. I had feared that Shadr might have gotten distracted." He joked before drawing his sword and leading the way inside. Shadr cast his gaze to the ground and followed after.

"Farian, with me. Ryona and Shavari, you two go in with them." Farian and I watched the entrance as the others would explore the Hall of the Dead.

"Do you think Ulfric survived?" The teen asked out loud as we waited outside the entrance.

"I'm not sure. We still haven't been able to calm down the two we found." I sighed heavily as I looked around. There must have been many bodies around at one point. All of them now part of the horde that was last seen marching West. Mjoll had seen the mass of undead leaving the city and reported before she couldn't believe their numbers, that they continued to pour through the remnants of the gates without end.

"I'm no stormcloak but I really hope he did. He could help us all survive. I would prefer if the dragonborn showed up to save us though." My curiosity got the better of me when he mentioned the dragonborn. I had seen them once before, adorned in full armor and mysterious. I had only watched through a wall of flame when she saved Kharjo and I from the dragon.

"What do you know about the dragonborn? I haven't heard anything in my travels." I still needed to keep to my story that I had just recently arrived to Skyrim. It wasn't really a lie but not the full truth.

"Well, I've never actually met her but I hear she saved us from the dragons and even stopped the war from escalating for a time." So the dragonborn was a female for sure and I hadn't misheard Kharjo.

"Is the dragonborn a Khajiit?" I adjusted the grip on my sword and shield, still keeping on guard and listening out for anything inside the Hall of the Dead.

"Yeah. They say she really cares about the Khajiit race and even holds dragons in really high regards. She prefers not to kill them but knows that she can't change their nature."

"For someone who has never met her, you really know a lot about her."

"Well she came to Riften for a time and Mjoll told me all about her. They had adventured together for a small time before the dragonborn needed to go off on her own." That made sense. I hadn't yet really been able to sit down and talk with Mjoll about anything. So far all I knew of her was her skill with a blade and the few times we had fought together. When Laila Law-Giver held "council" I was rarely needed as most of the decisions where left to Mjoll, Zaynabi and her. New Riften, as we have now taken to calling Fort Amol, has just recently started to come together. We have set up regular shifts for my group as guards and Mjoll sends escorts with the volunteers who cut wood and gather food from the woods.

"She sounds very noble." I said with a smile. "Maybe she's out there now, trying to find a way to end this." I sent a prayer to Akatosh, hoping I was right. We could use some good news, even it was just knowing that the dragonborn was alive and fighting these things like us.

"Maybe, but I feel like she's done a lot for Skyrim. I wonder if she gets tired of helping everyone all the time." I personally wondered the same thing. What exactly had the dragonborn in this world done? In the game there where so many things that you could do and be a part of. Had the dragonborn joined the dark brotherhood? Was she a werewolf? A daedric worshiping cannibal?

"Darius!" I jumped as Marsh-Walker came out of the hall. Though the helmet covered most of his features I could tell that his face looked grim. Ryona, Shavari, and Shadr all had similar looks on their faces. "You should see this."

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Day 78

"Move! We need to get this gate repaired!" Mjoll shouted as she drew her ax and charged at the line of undead. They swarmed out of the forest around New Riften. We had defended against wave after wave until one of their masters had arrived. He blasted our gate open and we would have all died if the dragonborn hadn't arrived. With her help we had pushed them back and slain the necromancer.

"With Mjoll! Defend the workers!" I shouted as loud as I could over the fighting and shouting. Mjoll and her group where in the middle of the horde of undead just outside our gates. The dragonborn at their side, slicing down one after another with her daedric blades. My own sword bit through the neck of one of the pale creatures. Marsh-Walker cut down two more behind me. The other four under my command where near the gates as the volunteers, who normally went out to gather supplies, worked on repairing the gates enough to be able to close them again.

"Their breaking through!" Marsh-Walker pointed to a group of undead heading to the gates. The other four where preoccupied holding off a large group.

"I'll handle them!" Zaynabi charged from behind the gate. She held a book in one hand and in her other there looked to be a small flame floating. Zaynabi closed her eyes a moment before channeling the flame to extend to the oncoming undead. The book in her other hand began to flip through pages on it's own, sparks flying off the pages as though it where on fire. The bodies where soon charred and fell over as they tried to step forward.

She had come a long way with her studying of the arcane, I hadn't any idea that she could wield such power. I turned my attention back to the creatures that shambled towards Marsh-Walker and I. We dispatched them with ease and retreated back to the gate where the volunteers had just finished their hasty repairs.

"Everyone fall back! Back into the gates!" I shouted and waved my arms towards Mjoll. "Marsh-Walker, Shavari, with me!" I signaled for the others to guard the gates and headed towards Mjoll and her group. We fought our way through the creatures and began fighting back to back with the lead group. The dragonborn covered us as we made our way back to the gate.

"Fus...RO-Dah!" She shouted and sent many of them flying backwards and through the air. She cut two others with her blades before running back with us.

"Close the gates!" I shouted and helped the volunteers to shut the gates closed. "Shavari! You and Shadr keep a lookout on the tower. I want to know if another one of those necromancers comes. Marsh-walker, take the siblings to the wall. Don't use all our arrows but keep them off the gate as best you can." I sheathed my blade, propped my shield up by the blacksmith and walked over to the jarl whom was talking to the armored Khajiit who had come to our rescue. I arrived just as she removed her dragon priest mask, under the cowl was the face of a young khajiit who bore black lines down her face with brown fur underneath. She looked around New Riften and hooked the mask to her belt. Her green eyes seemed to shine as she observed everyone working.

"So. This was Fort Amol?" She asked the jarl, ignoring all others around her.

"It was, yes. We have taken to calling it New Riften." She turned around to ask Mjoll to check the supplies they had stored up.

"New Riften. A little small to be a town but I'm guessing you had plans to expand the fort before these things appeared?" She motioned with an armored claw towards the undead that was just beyond the gate.

"We had been stocking up on wood to build an outer layer of walls but had little luck when Darius returned from the ruins of Windhelm." The jarl motioned for me to join them as they spoke. "This man is Darius. He was made captain of our guard after the fall of Riften." I bowed my head in respect to both the jarl and dragonborn. "Darius this is Kiera, the dragonborn who saved us all from Alduin."

"It's nice to finally meet you. You saved the caravan I had been traveling with some time ago. You have saved us yet again."

"You where travelling with Ahkari's caravan? I haven't seen them for some time. Do you know if they are alive?" She crossed her arms, looking at me accusingly. Did she think I did something to them? When Farian had told me that she was protective of her kind, he wasn't kidding!

"Kharjo should be in the barracks, I believe Zaynabu is headed there now as well to check on him. You could ask them." I turned the the jarl and bowed my head. "After seeing those crystals in Windhelm. I have no doubts that they are connected to all this. I still can't figure out what they are for though and Zaynabi couldn't figure it out with the sample I brought back." I had originally been against bringing a piece of those strange crystals back but Marsh-Walker had insisted.

"Crystal? Maybe I should ask Zaynabi more about this when I see her." The dragonborn walked by us and into the barracks area, slamming the door shut behind her. The dragonborn could basically do anything they wanted to in the game. Is the same said for this world? She had saved everyone after all. Maybe Farian was right though, that the dragonborn just wanted to stop fighting for once.

"We're lucky to have her here with us. It greatly increases our chance for survival." The jarl said before turning to get a report from Mjoll. A week's worth of supplies for us had been stashed away, only a week. This was not going to end well if we couldn't beat back the undead around us.

"There's got to be something else going on. How did this even happen?" I had been asking myself this question since we had been able to actually sit for a few moments. What was happening to Tamriel? I made my way up the steps and onto the walls where Marsh-Walker, Ryona, and Farian where firing arrows into the mass of undead that rammed themselves against the gate. "Save what arrows we have left. Help the others secure the wooden addition and the gate. Then try and get some rest." I sat down on a wooden chair that had been placed on the wall and sighed. My normally heavy armor felt even more so. Farian and Ryona left to follow my orders while Marsh-Walker stayed behind. The argonian removed his helmet and sat on a piece of rubble near the chair.

"Things could be worse." He stated while looking out over the forest around us. Pale bodies lay in pools of green ooze while others that still continued to come out of the shadows. There seemed to be no end to them and all I could do in response to what he said was laugh.

"How so? Even with the dragonborn our chances of getting out of this are-"

"We could be dead already." He said, interrupting my pessimist statement. "If you, Mjoll and the others hadn't retaken fort Greenwall. We wouldn't of had anywhere to go after fleeing from Riften. We might not have even fled at all. When those things began climbing out of the water, we were ready to give up right there. But then Mjoll arrived and we all got a second wind."

"But if we had been there before we might have-"

"No, I don't believe It would have made a difference. We all would have felt that hopeless feeling and given in. We all would have been trapped in our own city, it's walls no longer a feeling of safety but of a prison." He stared out over the tree line and past the undead. "We'll make it. I know it to be true." He turned and smiled before getting up to go follow my orders.

"Maybe you should be captain, not me." I muttered as I looked down at my armored feet. What was I even doing here? No matter how far I had come from when I first woke up, there was no chance of survival anymore. "Akatosh. I pray and ask for the strength to protect everyone here. I ask for guidance, what should I do? How can we survive this?" This time instead of the silence I had lately become used to, there was a continuous banging sound. Not from hammers but from a drum. I stood and looked around, no one was making that sound with what they where doing. I looked around and then saw it. Out in the distance I could see a light shining from the shadows of the trees. Then without warning something flashed next to me. It flew past my face, close enough that I could hear the hum of the gem that centered the hilt. It flew past my head and into the tower behind me. Others had noticed and looked up in shock. There, sticking out of the stone was a blade that I recognized from the game. It was one you received at the end of a quest for a daedric prince. The one that hated undead, I couldn't remember her name but the sword I knew as it was one I had been fond of in the game. The blade shone brightly, even in the light of the sun. Dawnbreaker the sword was called, the bane of the undead.