C49 Nord's Ark

Reaching the gates of Whiterun, I see a guard coming to me.

—

"Halt! City's closed with the dragons about. Official business only."

'That voice—is identical.'

Nodding to him, I take a letter from my inner chest pocket, "I've news from Helgen about the dragon attack and a request from Riverwood's Mill owner, Gerdur."

Holding out the letter, I say, "Either make sure this letter gets to the Jarl or let me speak to him."

He takes the letter and reads it to make sure it's genuine.

Seemingly satisfied, he hands it back, "I'll have you escorted directly to the Jarl. This shouldn't be delayed further than it already has."

He signals another guard over, "Take this man to see the Jarl. It's urgent, so no lollygagging like last time!"

"Yes, Sir!" the new guard then turns to me, "Follow me. I'll get you there in no time."

And that's exactly what I do; follow—and ask a few questions along the way, so I know where to go and what to do once I'm done.

'This is much more realistic; urgent news equals higher priority.'

Whiterun's much bigger than in the game but still easy to get a hold of compared to a place like New York, so getting lost isn't going to happen.

Climbing the stairs to Dragonsreach, I make sure I'm not looking terrible.

There were plenty of streams to eat Mudcrabs and bathe in, so I'm clean and fed, but that doesn't do anything for the sorry state of my gear.

'And my eyebags. I don't think I've slept for a few days; it's hard to tell as I don't really get tired, but my body does. I only used to sleep as a hobby before.'

—

Upon entering, we ascended the stairs and approached the Jarl.

Irileth stopped us but wasn't too stuck-up as a guard was there as my escort.

I was eventually allowed to see Balgruuf and explain everything to him.

He was skeptical like a competent ruler should be, but I provided good information, and he could see that.

After Aventus was done being—Aventus—Balgruuf took me to see his court wizard.

When we arrived, he said, "Once you're done speaking with Farengar, I'll have someone show you some armor to chose from and replace what you have now. I can tell you've been busy."

"That I have; I'd be grateful to get something better," I thank him with a smile, but in my head, 'Few ever caught on, but I can tell; you're not as good as you appear.'

After he leaves, I think, 'Eh; but, neither am I,' and turn to Farengar.

He talks about his research and Bleak Falls Barrow while I keep my game face on.

But once he starts talking about a stone, I ask, "Do you happen to know what this stone looks like?"

"Um, records say it should be about the size of a breastplate with five sides. Why—"

"Like this one?" I gently pull it out of my pack and unwrap it.

"Oh, you-yes, this is it! You're certainly different than the usual brutes; they would never think to wrap it."

I shrug and tug at a few holes in my armor, "I ran into some bandits on my way here; found this on them when I was done 'dealing' with them."

"I thought it looked important, so I took it with me. I only remembered that they were coming from the direction of Bleak Falls when you mentioned a stone."

He didn't bother looking away from it, "Hmm, it's fortunate that you were victorious, or we may never have found this."

Then he wrote something on a piece of paper and handed it to me, still not removing his eyes.

"Here, have this and give it to whoever takes you to get your new armor; they'll know to reward you something extra for completing this task, even if it was by chance."

I nod and leave him to his business, "Good luck with whatever it is you need that for."

Irileth never came with news of a dragon attack, so I just went and got my new armor.

I picked some heavier leather armor that had steel studs in it. I wasn't too picky, as I'll be getting rid of it soon enough.

—

After leaving Dragonsreach, I went to one of the shops and sold some loot for funds.

Then I went and bought new weapons from Adrianne.

A steel sword and war axe, the same as I had before but made with better steel.

Satisfied, I booked a room for two days at an inn, as I had a feeling I'd be sleeping for a while.

— — —

'Jorrvaskr... the Nord's version of Noah's Ark—but—upside down.'

I'm by the Gildergreen sitting on a bench while looking at the Companion's HQ, a longboat that got so drunk it turned into a mead hall.

Just beside it is the Skyforge.

"We are but maggots, writhing in the filth of our own corruption! While you—"

Of course, the ever-present preacher is here too.

Standing up, I check my pack, which is somehow completely unscathed after everything, 'I wonder if that thief survived?'

I may or may not have thrown a thief out of my window when they woke me up last night.

'He could've gotten unlucky and fallen on his head,' I look at the temple of Kynareth, where plenty of healers make their residence.

Turning back, I make my way up the stairs to Jorrvaskr; no one tries stopping me as it would be hard to get contracts if they didn't let people in.

Upon entering, the first thing I hear is, "Those two at it again?"

'Hmm—so there's no dragon, but I still arrive at the Companions just as those two fight. Interesting.'

I watch the fight for a while, but before it's over, I feel a tap on my shoulder; it's Farkas.

"You've come as you said; do you have a purpose or are you here for coin?"

"Coin?" I keep watching the fight, "Hmm, no. I just figured I've spent enough time out there alone and wouldn't mind having a Shield-Brother or two."

The fight ended, so I look at him, "I thought the Companions would be the best place to find that, so—here I am."

Giving my shoulder a hard shove, he laughs and says, "Good! Follow me; Kodlak will want to see you. He's are Harbinger, and no one will accept you unless he does."

He leads me downstairs to the barracks as we make small talk.

"Don't worry too much, Ria's already given everyone an earful about your handling of that giant, so I doubt you'll need to go through the hassle normal whelps do."

"That's nice; I'd prefer to jump straight to the normal stuff, as it's what I've been doing for the most part already."

— —

"You ready?"

I glance at Farkas, "Yeah. I guess I'm not starting out with the easy stuff, huh."

"Haha! Well, that's what you wanted, and we always aim to please."

Talking to Kodlak wasn't hard.

He actually seemed like a guy I could have a beer with, even if he's so young, 'Sometimes I forget how old I really am...'

Vilkas didn't give me any trouble either, as it seems his brother, Farkas, already mentioned me at some point.

I was about to be shown where I could bunk when Skjor and a scholarly-looking dude came in to talk with Kodlak.

The guy was a bit loopy, but he eventually got the point across that he knew where a piece of Wuuthrad, a badass battleaxe, was and only wanted some Septims for the info.

Which he got—after everything of use was wrung out of him; nonviolently, of course.

After he left, Farkas and I were sent to see if it was true; the mission doubled as a test for me.

Which is where we are now; Dustman's Cairn, an old Nordic ruin.

Entering, we saw that others have been here recently, though there's no sight of them.

Descending into the catacombs, we run into a few draugr that didn't wake up for the people already here.

With both of us, it didn't take long for them to be taken care of; neither of us got so much as a scratch.

It doesn't take long, and we enter a large room with a closed gate and lever within a side room; there's also an old enchanting table that's only functional because of its magic acting as a preservant.

We search the entire room, finding nothing, then I say, "We must need to pull that lever, but I doubt it'd be that easy."

Farkas nods and looks around the lever until he finds a gate hidden in a crack on the ceiling, "Yeah, there's a gate up here. It'll probably close after the lever's pulled; something similar has happened in other ruins the Companions have searched."

I walk over and examine it.

After a moment, I pull something out of my pack, which is much lighter now that I had Jorrvaskr to leave my loot.

I pulled out what looked like a crowbar with a wedge on the end; it's something I MacGyvered back in Bleak Falls to open stuff or keep something from closing.

Wedging the end in the crack, I put tension on it while pushing off the wall, "Okay—pull that lever and then run out as fast as you can."

He goes to the lever but looks at me, "You've done this before, right."

"—Yeah, works like a charm," I lie.

Taking a deep breath, he pulls it and then runs out just in time for me to push off the wall to get away from the gate.

It wasn't a very good hold, and I had to let the bar get crushed by the gate when it fell.

As we get off the floor, I say, "Well—hopefully, we don't run into any more of these gates."

He's about to say something but looks at the other gate that's now open.

"We have company."

Half a dozen people rush out from the entrance; they attack once they notice Farkas.

"It's time to die, dog!"

Neither of us responds and starts fighting them; they're better than bandits and faster than draugr.

'But,' I parry a blade and send it in the air, 'it's still not enough.'

Slicing his throat, I dodge a second's axe and then put my own in his shoulder as a greatsword goes over my head.

I kick the second into one of Farkas's enemies and then turn to my third.

She tries for my head again, but I catch it with my axe and then close in and pierce a gap in her chest armor.

Looking at Farkas, I throw my axe past the side of his head, where it finds itself in the last one's nasal cavity.

Farkas isn't a pushover and already took care of the other three.

We look at the mess and then at each other, "Ha—hahaha..."

—

After them, we made our way down the ruin.

We fought through two more smaller groups of people and a dozen draugr before making it to another area of the site.

It was filled with even more people, which we picked off, and twice as many draugr, which acted as a nice reprieve since they were easier to deal with.

"So, these aren't your standard graverobbers, are they?" I ask.

He stays silent for a while before answering, "No. They're called the Silver Hand, and they don't like the Companions—especially the inner circle—and I'm guessing you know why."

I give him a lite smile, "As I said, I've been around."

—

We eventually made it to a room with a big door that was locked.

The key was in a not-so-hidden, clearly visible, large chest that wasn't even booby-trapped.

All it took was melting the lock as I've done before, and voila, "I've got the key."

"You're a mage?"

"No, I've just picked up a few things that come in handing every now and then, like getting this key."

Farkas thinks a moment and then nods, "Makes sense. Knowing a healing spell could come in handy."

Unlocking the door and entering, we go through a small cave system until we renter the ruin and wind up at the end, a large chamber with sarcophagi lining the walls and where the fragment is.

I notice the attraction to the word wall behind the display but ignore it and face Farkas, "I think we both know what's going to happen once we take that."

He eyes all the sarcophagi, "Yeah—you take care of the fragment, and I'll take care of the draugr."

Turning to me with a smirk, he says, "My 'other' side has been itching to come out."

I chuckle and wave him off, "Yeah, yeah. Go on and have fun; I'll take care of this."

He goes to a corner and starts taking off his gear while I get ready to wrap the fragment and put it in my pack.

"Alright, I'm turning!"

Hearing him, I take the piece and wrap it up.

I put it in my pack just in time for the dead to wake up and Farkas to get his wolf on.

I just sit on the side of the table and watch him tear apart draugr after draugr with claws twice the size of a human head.

He's about seven feet tall and has black fur; also, his eyes glow.

It doesn't take long, and the strongest draugr emerges from slumber.

'He actually looks like a fun opponent.'

But it gets ripped limb from limb in fifteen seconds.

After they're all in pieces, Furry Farkas looks at me.

"Umm, well—I'll just loot everything while you wait to turn back."

He hum-growls in agreement and sits in the corner by his armor.

— —

//Note//

I'm feelin it.

The urge.

My fingers twitch at the idea of booting up Skyrim...

"Oh, Great Author God, give me strength, for I draw ever closer to falling into the pits of temptation!"

— —

I know I'm not describing everything, but honestly, everyone already knows what these places look like, and on top of that, they all look the same.

I've been trying to give only enough description so that it'll bring back any memories readers have of the missions and locations.

I suppose that if you haven't played Skyrim, then it would be a bit troublesome but how these places look other than being dark, cold, and full of zombies holds no significance.

—

Am I being lazy?

Yes!

But who the fuck—do you think I'm being paid for this shit!?

Go buy a fucking book instead of reading FREE amateur work on an app.

—

Did I sound angry?

Don't worry, I'm not.

I'm also being pragmatic by not going into full detail and letting readers use some imagination to fill in the blanks.

Since I'm not doing this full time and can't put a ton of effort into this, I think it's better to not describe things most readers already know.

That way, I can move the story along at a better pace even with a slower release schedule.

— —

Will Aela be a 'thing' with the MC?

No.

She's hot, but her attitude always rubbed me the wrong way for some reason.

It got to the point where it trumped her attractiveness.

—

Actually—I don't really hold that much 'attraction,' or whatever you want to call it, to any Skyrim character.

You see—I didn't always have a pc that could run good graphics, so for the most time when I played Skyrim, I was stuck with beastly-looking NPCs.

...

— —

Vampires!

Yes.

I haven't forgotten, how could I?

I have plans, but they won't come for a while yet.

Right now, it's furry time.

— —

On a side note.

EVERY time I try typing "me," I end up typing "my."

Does this happen to anyone else?

I don't get it.

Without Grammarly underlining it, this novel would be riddled with misplaced mys and no mes.

— —