Chapter X: Bleak Falls (Part 1)

The following morning we moved out as quickly as possible, I didn't want to tempt Delphine to possibly follow us up the mountain and prove to be a further annoyance.

As we start walking up the mountain next to Riverwood, Davos asks "What was that all about boss?"

I sigh "That 'innkeeper'" I say with audible quotations "Is someone very dangerous. Having her snooping around our business is never a good thing."

"Just how dangerous are we talking here?"

"The 'it's safer if you are not aware' kind of dangerous" I answer.

We start slowly marching up the snowy mountain paths, thankfully they are wide enough not to be problematic for my companions. I could always just levitate if there was some kind of problem but they could easily die while climbing as I don't know how to levitate others yet.

A bit further down the path, Durrak asks "What exactly are we looking for in there Reyvin?"

"Loot" I deadpan.

He rolls his eyes and just stares at me.

"Heh" I give him a smug smile.

"As fun as this is boss, what are we really here for?" Davos snarks.

"Tsk, you both have no respect for proper suspense." I see Durrak get actually annoyed now so I stop playing around "We are here for the dragonstone. An ancient map that marks the burial grounds of dragons all across Skyrim."

My Orc friend seems confused "What would you need dead dragons for?"

I blink, giving him the 'really?' look.

He nods "Yeah, I seriously see no reason for anyone to touch dragon corpses."

He turns to Davos who simply shrugs "Eh, don't look at me. I go where I am paid to go. He can play with whoever's bones he likes."

I take a moment to think of an answer that is beyond fucking with Delphine, and after a bit more walking say "Dragon bones can be used in creating durable artifacts and the like, and I wouldn't be surprised if they were very useful alchemy reagents. Also, do remember that dragons were all beings of great power, and researching their remains can give great insight into different aspects of magic."

"How does that even work? You look at someone's corpse and suddenly you can magic better?" Durrak snarks.

"You know my shouting Durrak?"

He nods.

"How do you think it works?"

He shrugs "Iunno, some kind of spell you cast through your mouth or something?"

I shake my head "Nope! I literally command the world to do something with my voice and soul and it obeys."

"One of your family having the power to command the world itself. What a scary thought" Davos adds, seemingly finding the idea both funny and scary.

Durrak, still not being all that quick on the uptake asks "What exactly does that have to do with dragons?"

"You don't even know that much mate?" I ask, seriously surprised.

"Nope." he says with a popped 'p'.

I sigh and prepare a mini-lecture "So, basically shouting is using the language of dragons to produce effects, you following so far?"

He nods and I continue "Alright, now imagine a race of creatures who use it on instinct since birth." He gets a bit of a horrified look on his face but I go on "They were all so powerful they were able to blow up entire mountains by speaking... In truth, most of their fights were more akin to debates than actual battle."

"The reason I want to search through their remains is that there might be some remnants of their power still holding onto the mortal plain, and I could forge an artifact to strengthen my thu'um from them."

Durrak is deep in thought for a bit but then nods "Eh, that makes quite a bit of sense actually. I thought you were doing it just because you could"

Well, he isn't exactly wrong... but they don't need to know that.

"Think you could get me some for my armor?" He asks.

"Sure, you are helping me get the map after all."

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We continue our trek up the mountain, the snow making moving around so annoying that I decided to simply levitate over it after it got sufficiently annoying.

The jealous look Davos gave me was food for the soul. Heh, imagine being such a peasant that you had to walk.

it took us until noon to reach the great barrow, and what a sight it was.

Carved into the mountain rock was a great platform, great arches making it look more imposing and monolithic.

The barrow itself seemed larger than even the college from our angle, but I knew that wasn't true as it was mostly just a couple of dug out caves made to look imposing by the large exterior.

What did surprise me was the presence of fires on top of the platform, with leather tents making a makeshift wall to protect whoever was camping out here from the harsh cold.

I point this all out to my companions and they both stop.

Davos goes to scout the place out and returns soon with news "It appears to be bandits boss."

"You sure it isn't some kind of archeological expedition?"

He shakes his head "Nah, I listened in on their conversations and apparently they raided Rorikstead recently and are camping out here in hopes of hiding from Whiterun's guard. Some kind of raider clan from what I eavesdropped."

"Numbers?" I ask.

"About three dozen, maybe less."

"Equipment?"

"Usual bandit fare, there is only a couple with better gear and what looks to be a hedge mage among them, but that is it."

I think about the situation, we could get rid of them rather easily or we could sneak by...

I am broken out of my thoughts by Durrak saying "If they raided a village, Balgruuf is sure to be giving out quite the reward for their heads."

Kowabunga it is.

"Say no more." I exclaim and they both give me very judgmental looks.

Davos blinks "Zero hesitation."

Durrak shakes his head, almost as if his child just did something terrible .

"Oh fuck off both of you." They burst into laughter.

Once they stop with their fit of childish giggling we get to planning our next moves.

Durrak naturally suggested we just charge in for which I almost slapped him, seriously even I could die to getting surrounded by them.

Davos said he wasn't paid to plan battles the absolute smartass.

Finally it was my turn "I could just go full magic artillery on them?"

They both look at me with different expressions, Davos seems to agree that that would be the easiest path while Durrak looks like I kicked his puppy.

Almost as if negotiating with a child I say "I will let you fight the draugr lord one on one if you don't complain."

And like I just gave him candy his mood shifts... orcs.

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(A bandit's pov)

"Think that the guard will be able to track us all the way up here?" I ask one of my clan-brothers.

He laughs "Oh please, the incompetent idiots can't track down a giant much less our clan." the grey bearded old man shakes his head "Remember young'un, we have been doing this for generations, there is no way for them to catch even a whiff of us."

"I hope you are right old man." I say and get back to my guard duty. Why we would even need lookouts on an abandoned mountaintop I really don't understand, but if I doze off the chief will have my hide so staring at the snow it is.

Oh lookie here more snow! How surprising, I look to the left and you guessed it... fucking snow, then there is that sorcerer looking guy just floating above it.... wait what?!

I clear my eyes just in case I am seeing things, but no there he stands in the middle of the field just looking at me with burning eyes. For some reason I start shaking in my boots, I can't even more.

I slap my cheeks and yell "Boss! There is someone approaching!"

The chief rushes out of his tent, still wearing our clan's heirloom armor "What is it brat?"

I point a shaky finger at the figure who is just slowly walking on the snow... without leaving tracks.

"What the fuck..." the chief whispers out "Hey Jeff, come here." he calls our only mage.

Jeff runs up "What is it boss?" the chief merely points below.

Jeff grows pale for, he starts shaking visibly making everyone tense.

"What is going on Jeff?" our leader asks with annoyance in his voice.

"R-r-r-RUN!" he shouts.

But it was already too late...

The figure floats into the air and throws a massive fireball at our position. The last thing I see is a sea of red.

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(Reyvin's pov)

What kind of dumbfuck gathers everyone important at one spot when they see a possibly hostile mage approach... seriously does no one respect sound logic in these lands?

The moment I blow up the presumed leader and their mage the entire campsite starts shifting with panicked raiders running around like headless chickens.

What follows is the most gruesome game of whack-a-mole I ever witnessed... The fact that I feel absolutely nothing while killing effectively defenseless fools scares me for a moment, but such is the world I find myself in and mercy is a luxury only the truly strong may posess.

Besides, they would all get executed if I captured them, so this is much less work for everyone involved.

The cleanup takes us less than ten minutes, so many lives lost just because I wanted some more reputation among the holds. I really do need god, don't I?

My ponderings on morality are stopped by a cough I hear from the direction of my first attack. I turn abruptly to see the leader, charred and boiled skin probably fused to his armor, trying to get up.

I let him do so out of pure curiosity. He slowly, torturously pulls himself from the ground and picks up his blade.

I just stand there patiently and wait for him to do anything. One of his eyes seems to have popped and he is frantically looking around for any of his men, I watch as despair enters his remaining eye. Then he turns to glare at me.

He stares for a long moment before gurgling out in a pained voice "You... have... doomed my clan. All.... the... children... will starve now."

Is he really trying to get my sympathy? How shameless can you be?

I openly laugh at him, but there is no humor in my voice "You expect me to care you absolute idiot? Oh woe is Skyrim! A clan of raiders has died out... whatever shall we do?"

Honestly, if said children seek out help in the holds they would probably be taken in. I will not feel responsible if someone dies out of pride or stupidity.

He glares at me and smashes his hand onto his chest. His armor explodes brightly with green runes. I sense a great amount of power rush into him from our surroundings.

Almost like a man possessed he charges at me with such a great speed I don't have the time to cast a spell.

A crossbow bolt hits his back but he completely ignores it, probably completely berserk if his bloodshot eye was any indication.

I summon my staff and deflect his greatsword... or I try to.

Such is his new strength that he launches me into one of the pillars to the side. I hit my back on it, but my body is far above a normal human so I shrug it off and jump back into the fight.

He rushes me again, this time trying to tackle me. Thinking quickly I manage to dodge to the side, once more abusing my telekinetic abilities... probably should specialize a spell for that when my life isn't in immediate danger.

As I dodge his blow I deliver a wide slash to his side, cutting deep into his stomach but the maddened raider simply ignores it and charges at me again.

I notice Durrak rushing from the other side of the platform, but by the time he gets here the fight will have already finished. I jerk my head back to my attacker just in time to duck under a wide swing and take a chunk out of his leg.

A small part of him seems to recognize that he cannot continue like this so he simply throws himself at me like a beast, trying to take me with him.

His lunge is fast, too fast for me to completely dodge. I throw myself to the side and feel the tip of the greatsword pierce my shoulder and force me against the wall of the barrow.

The berserk Nord looses the bloodshot look and lets out pained breaths while trying to glare me to the death.

He probably cannot see the smile on my face as I say "You should have gone for the head."

And promptly blow his head off with a point blank fire spear.

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