Elder Scroll series 1. Prologue

Prologue

The caravan driver nervously tugged on his collar as he tried to keep the horses on the trail. The horses knew where they were going; they had done this trail countless times. But the increase in crime and violence on the path to Dawnstar had the shorty stubby man concerned. He had a bad feeling he was going to be the next victim on a rapidly growing list.

He wasn't even a dwarf or a gnome of any sort; he was just an unfortunately short man. Besides those races all had long since become extinct. No, he just came from a long line of short men, the same lineage that had been driving the caravan of goods all around the country for over a century now.

But now that civil war had broken out, patrols had lessened on the trails and bandits had taken full advantage of it. The poor man had heard stories of other merchants who had been raided and killed on this trail in the past few months, but if he had tried an alternative route to Dawnstar it would've taken him an additional two weeks to get around the mountains. And again that pesky civil war was raising prices across the board, so if he didn't turn a profit soon his wife and children would go hungry back in their small hamlet village.

So here he was trapped in the prison of his work as he anxiously clutched the rope tethered to his two horses who trudged along slowly. The hard splintered wood of the caravan was beginning to wear on his bottom and the cold night bit at his exposed skin, a rough spin tunic not covering nearly enough flesh. He longed to escape.

As he looked around at the dark forest, every shadow looked like a threat, every bush a monster. The forest the trail ran through was a beautiful lush pine forest during the day but the night always cast a shadow on everything. And man was always going to fear what it couldn't see in the dark.

Suddenly there was a rush of air as an arrow skimmed the hair just above his ear and the caravan driver's eyes widened in shock. The sounds of rabid men exploded around him and the horses grew frightened and broke into a run. Clinging onto his small hand rail the caravan driver hung on for dear life as he listened to the hoots and howls of bandits around him. A barricade suddenly came into view and the horses slipped trying to stop and turn around. The whole caravan overturned, sending the poor driver flying into the dirt.

He awoke moments later, mud in his eye and coughing up dirt. As his vision corrected itself once he rubbed the mud from his eye he saw the bandits raiding his poor destroyed caravan and cutting up his horses into meat. With a slight whimper he tried to crawl away, praying to any of the nine gods that he'd see his wife and child again.

"Well well well, what do you we have here?" the poor short stubby man's heart stopped as he looked upwards to see a bandit dressed in fur armor look down at him with a wry grin. Reaching down the bandit with a crude Mohawk and war paint picked the caravan driver up by the collar with one hand and held him in place. The driver squirmed and the bandit laughed crudely revealing his missing teeth.

"Don't suppose you have gold in your pockets do ya?" the bandit asked as he raised the short man up to eye level. The man wheezed and sweat poured off his face.

"Please… I have a son…"

"Oh you have a son do ya? Well we'll make sure to send him your hide!" the bandit yelled as he threw the driver off to the side. The driver rolled onto his back and looked around as five more bandits closed in around him.

The bandit leader howled and yelled, "It's play time boys!" The poor driver let out a scream as the bandits rushed in, crude weapons drawn. His thoughts went to Rorikstead, his home where his wife and son were waiting for him. But where he'd never return to.

Suddenly an arrow landed beside the drivers head, stopping all the bandits in their tracks. They looked around for a moment, none of them had bows drawn. So where did the arrow come from? They all wondered as they looked up to the trees. Silence blanketed the forest once again.

A dark figure dropped down in front of one of the bandits surrounding the driver and sliced him from shoulder to hip with a two handed great sword. The bandit gurgled and collapsed backwards and the other four charged in. A small glimmer could be seen as the mysterious figure smiled and he quickly ducked down as two arrows were let loose behind him. They soared past the figure and hit two of the bandits making them stumble back in pain. The other bandits paused for a moment, not sure what else was hiding in the bushes.

The bandit leader growled and yelled at the others, "Come on you morons attack him!" But just as he said that he heard a low growl behind himself, and he slowly turned to acknowledge it. The other bandits closed in on the dark figure but stopped as they heard their leader scream. Everyone turned to see what the commotion was and the dark figure grinned as they all watched the bandit leader soar through the air. Three large claw marks were etched in the bandit's leader skin reaching from his face down to his legs and in his place now stood an armored frost troll.

"Atta' boy Frosty!" the dark figure yelled, and he charged forward at the other bandits. He slashed at one bandit, but this one was fast enough to block the attack. The man quickly slashed the opposite way and the bandit boldly parried the attack. With an eager grin the bandit swiped out with his crude iron axe, but the dark attacker leaned back to dodge it. Using one hand he rested on the ground for balance the man back flipped while kicking upwards, hitting the bandit in the chin making him fall backwards.

He was rather deft for someone using such a heavy blade but as the other two bandits closed in on him he found he needed a plan. However as one bandit ran in with a mace held high a feline figure dropped down in front of him and bashed him with a large ebony shield. The bandit collapsed to the ground, and the dark figure grinned as he blocked an attack from the third bandit.

As the feline figure quickly stabbed a katana into the down bandit he asked with his thick Khajiit accent, "What would you do without me my friend?"

The man chuckled as he held the other bandit at bay and pushing his sword forward breaking the power struggle he replied, "Oh I don't know. Probably just take care of all these guys by myself like I used to." The bandit stumbled backwards and tried to find his footing, but the man charged forward faster than the bandit could have anticipated.

As the man slashed at the bandit's throat the Khajit countered, "Ah but then you would not have the wonderful pleasure of my company." The bandit's head fell to the ground followed shortly after by its body. The man shook his shoulders to free tension as he turned back to his Khajiit companion.

"Well, define pleasure Kharjo," the man shot back, drawing a laugh from the Khajiit. They both turned to look at the third bandit they were fighting as he screamed and charged them. The two exchanged quick looks and then back stepping away they let the armored frost troll run through them at the bandit. His screams of valor changed to screams of terror as the troll closed in on him.

"Easy enough," the dark armored figure stated as his smile faded. He turned to look at the other two bandits who had been hit with arrows earlier, and now had bows drawn and pointed at the trio. Looking around quickly he realized they were the only two left besides the poor bandit now being beat to death by his frost troll.

"Yeah really don't have time for this," the figure said, and he let out a quick low whistle. Suddenly there was a large gust of wind, and the flapping of wings could be heard. The two looked around suspiciously, not sure what was coming. Ignoring what had just happened, the two prepared to fire when a set of claws suddenly swooped in and picked both them up in a heartbeat. All was heard were passing screams as the blur flew them off to their doom.

"Well that takes care of that," the Khajiit stated as he walked up beside his friend. The armored frost troll, blood staining his fur, walked up beside them as well and waited for orders. Just as the driver couldn't be more amazed the gust of wind returned and down from the sky descended a dragon. Only the dragon's scales and skin seemed to be decaying, and its horns curved backwards and then upwards.

"Nice job, Durnevhiir," the man remarked.

In a low deep grumble Durnevhiir replied, "It was an amusing distraction. But we need to press onward do we not?" The man nodded, and he sheathed his long great sword across his back. For the first time the driver got a good look at his heroes and noticed what an odd bunch they were.

The dragon, Durnevhiir, appeared to be already dead, rotting at the core but still as capable and strong as ever. Then the frost troll, Frosty was what the man had called him, was armored clad around the head and arms and peculiarly seemed tame now that the battle was over. There was also the Khajit, Kharjo, whose grey hair and blue eyes went well with his ebony armor that had a blue trim. On his back was a bow and he carried a Blade's katana and a large black shield made of ebony.

Lastly there was the man who seemed to be leading them. He was wearing a green tunic with a brown scarf that trailed over his shoulder. Underneath there was chainmail and over top were several bandoliers and pouches. He had almost no hair, it was seemingly shaved off and a teal tattoo of archaic design marked his left eye. His great sword was of an old Nordic design, the blade curved and then narrowed again until it curved into the large point on the end. But most interestingly of all it glowed with the power of fire.

"Alright, let's keep moving," the man instructed, but the poor short driver yelled,

"Wait!"

Everyone turned to acknowledge him, and then he continued, "Please don't leave me here! Take me with you, at least as far as Dawnstar!" The man shared looks with Kharjo and Durnevhiir for a few moments, debating mentally what to do.

Kharjo finally shrugged his shoulders and stated, "It's on the way." The man looked down to the ground for a few moments, and then sighing he let out a smile.

Waving his hand the man said, "Come on." The driver eagerly stood up and chased after the group.

The group traveled through the night on foot as Durnevhiir kept watch over head and the man took the lead.

After a few hours passed the man walked up beside Kharjo and asked, "So what's going on here? Who are you guys?"

Kharjo smiled and asked, "Ah so you would like to hear a story? I warn you it's not a short one." The driver looked forward at the leaders back as he pressed forward.

A few moments passed, and he responded, "I think we have time. And who is he?" Kharjo's grin grew, and as he looked forward to their leader.

"That is a question I still do not know the full answer to. But listen up and listen well little man. For what I do know that man may be the last hope for all of Skyrim."


	2. Chapter 1 - The Man Who Forgot His Name

Chapter 1 – The Man who Forgot his Name

Deep in the mountains, in a cave which looked like any other, a curious young man awoke. If a bandit or an adventurer passing by had happened upon him, it would have just looked like any other citizen of Skyrim had fallen unconscious. It was far from the truth.

As the man woke up, his face pressed firmly against the stone floor from its own weight, everything was a blur. There were a few torches that lit up his surroundings enabling him to see but he had no idea where he was. While he sat up slowly he realized he had no idea who he was either.

There was no name he could muster, nothing he could recall. As he stood to his feet and his brain kicked into gear, he realized he could walk.

"Okay, so I can do that," the young man said, and then startled himself as he realized he was talking. His voice was a little gravelly but he coughed a couple times and then spoke again, his voice was actually smoother and a little deeper. He looked around nervously and curiously, not sure what to do.

Deducing he was in a cave, he managed to realize he still had common sense. He then freaked himself out that he knew what common sense was but he quickly got over it. Looking at his feet, he seemed to be wearing fur moccasins. On his wrists there were leather guards. A look to his torso revealed he was wearing nothing except for a kilt to cover his upper legs, but on his shoulders there was more fur padding which kept him a little warm.

Not warm where it mattered however, as a cold wind blew in through what must have been the cave's entrance, and his kilt did not adequately protect what mattered. The young man shivered and then looked for a heat source. Seeing a path that led further into the cave, he followed it.

Torches continued to line the walls and he got warmer as he turned left at sudden twist in the tunnel. He walked into what was a large room that must have been excavated and was filled with stone furniture. There were large stone tables and chairs and a large fire place with a rotisserie stick placed in it. He turned to look at a stone throne that overlooked it all, with Nordic runes etched in the sides.

He felt the runes with his fingers, a familiar feeling passing over him. It was like he could read it but at the same time he had no idea what it meant. Vertigo suddenly swept over the man and he had to put a hand to his face.

Sitting down in the throne, the man's world began to return to normal. He once again looked over the room and tried to deduce what was happening. He knew things, that much he could know. But what he knew, he didn't know. That thought process made his head hurt, so he gave it up. All he could do was hope that maybe if he hung around, he could get some answers.

"Aye, who's this then?" yelled a voice from across the room. The man snapped to and he looked up to see a bandit in loincloth standing at the opposite end of the room, having just exited a nearby room.

"Grab some weapons boys!" the bandit yelled back into the room he had come from and the man realized instead of answers he was going to get a bunch of angry bandits.

"Whoa, hey now there guys, no need to bring out the shiny stuff," the young man said as he started to stand up. He looked back to his right, to the tunnel where he had come from. Maybe he could escape. Even if it was into the cold, it would be better than this.

He looked back to the bandit and saw two others emerge, one of them throwing a two handed great sword to their comrade. One had a bow drawn with an arrow nocked and pointed at the man. Running for the exit might be a mistake, he didn't know if he could make it. Talking might be his best move.

"Now gentlemen, I'm sure we can come to a-" the man started to say, but was cut off.

"Let's make him squeal!" one of the bandits cheered excitedly.

Well there went that idea.

The arrow was fired at the man and he found himself diving out of the way in the nick of time. He landed into a roll, and deftly got to his feet. The one with the great sword charged in at him and he braced himself to move. As the bandit swung in something took over inside the man. The man leaned back and dodged the attack. Then pushing forward he shot a palm underneath the bandit's chin stunning him. Turning his back to the bandit he squeezed in close to him and grabbed his forearm.

Jerking the bandit's arm up he forced the bandit to throw the sword upwards. The man reached up and grabbed the sword, spinning it in his hands. Pivoting away from the bandit the man then kept spinning the sword in his hands until he stabilized his grip on it and brought it back into a fighting stance. After a moment of staring down the awe-struck bandits, he paused.

"Ummm…how did I do that?" the man asked himself in confusion. It must have been muscle memory he realized but he had no memory. So how could he have had that?

The bandit he had disarmed wasted no time, and drew a short sword he had sheathed from his waist. Before the young man could think about what to do, his opponent burst into movement. The bandit's sword came swishing in from the side and he parried it and knocked it back. Recoiling, the bandit stepped backwards but found his footing and lunged in again. The man sidestepped it and swung out with the butt end of the sword. He hit the bandit in the temple and knocked him over, then prepared as the other two charged in.

They both had drawn swords and the young man reversed his grip on the sword reflexively. He didn't know what he was doing, but it was working. The two bandits worked as a team, one slashing horizontally, the other vertically, trying to get the young man to fall into one of their swings. However with pin point timing the man swung up and blocked the vertical swing and then brought his sword down into a low arc and parried the horizontal attack. The two bandits stumbled as their momentum was shattered and stepping forward the young man slashed at a bandit.

Blood sprayed from his torso as the bandit fell over. The blood had no shock on the young man, he felt like he was used to seeing it. Then the bandit he had hit in the temple lunged low at the young man. With a quick look the young man could see the bandit's poor balance, and his body took over. As the bandit charged in, the young man front flipped forward with an agility he didn't know he had. He landed from the flip on top of the bandit, one foot firmly planted on top of the bandit's head. He stomped and rode the bandit into the ground hard, and then the man stabbed down hard into the bandit's back. A shrill cry emerged from the bandit's lips as the life pooled out of him.

The young man could hardly believe what he was doing. How was he so capable? Did he have practice? This all ran through the young man's head as he stood on top his victim, when he looked to his side and saw the last bandit had redrawn his bow and was taking aim at him. He wasted no time and fired the arrow, and the young man leaned off to the side and dodged it. He then stepped off the corpse and ran at the bandit, making him panic. The bandit nocked another arrow and fired it, but the man deflected it off to the side with sword. With a last desperate gulp the bandit launched one last arrow as the man was upon him. It was point blank, there was no way it could miss.

But the young man grabbed the arrow mid-air. The bandit gaped, and suddenly the man was upon him and thrust the arrow into the bandit's gut. He stuttered backwards in shock and pain, and looked up at the man in confusion.

"You fight like a monster…who are you?" the bandit asked in agony.

He didn't know why or how, but a name came to the young man. It sounded like his name. It felt right.

"My name's Arian," he said. "And as you can tell, I'm a bit of a badass."

With a last swing Arian ended the bandit's agony by decapitating him. The head rolled around the floor and Arian watched it for a few moments. Then blowing a sigh he put a hand behind his head and looked around.

Noting the damage he had done, he commented to himself, "Wow, I am a bit of a badass."

Arian stepped over the bodies, the great sword still in his right hand. He walked over the rooms they had come from and checked inside. There were eight wooden beds and chests at the beds ends inside, and he reasoned this must have been where the bandits lived. Arian walked over and checked the chests for anything he could use. As guilty as he felt for looting, they tried to kill him so he really didn't feel all that guilty.

Walking out of that room, Arian saw one other little cubby and went to see what was inside. There he saw a bigger room with a much nicer bed and more ornaments. On the wall was a Horker head, and there were soul gems on the bedside table. Again, Arian didn't know how he knew what those were, he just did.

Shrugging it off, Arian realized whoever was in charge of the bandits probably lived in this room. Looking to the bedside table, he saw there was a gold amulet connected to a large gold chain. With a whistle he picked it up and looked at it.

"This will probably set me up for a little while," Arian said as he thought about the gold he could get for selling it. Then he saw a fur cloak on the ground, and guessing it was cold outside decided it might be nice to take with him.

Not long after Arian had the cloak hung over his shoulders, covering his torso and a bit of his upper legs. Walking back through the mess hall where the three raider corpses still were he decided it was time to see what the outside world was like. Plus he didn't want to be there when the other bandits got back.

Walking back the way he had come from he felt the nip of the cold wind and saw the blinding light that led to the exit. Sucking in his trepidation, Arian continued forward and emerged out onto the side of the mountain.

There was a blizzard whipping snow in Arian's face, trying to blind him. But through the trees and the snow Arian could make out an ocean off in the distance with cascading ice blocks that seemed to stretch for miles. The snow shone brilliantly, drifting off the cliffs before him. He couldn't help but be taken aback at the majesty of the landscape before him.

However those cliffs were awfully steep and Arian wasn't sure if he could tackle them. Turning around, he looked up the side of the mountain he was on and saw there was a trail, albeit a hazardous one, that he could take up. Maybe from higher ground he could a better idea of where to go next, Arian reasoned.

Steeling his resolve, Arian pulled the fur cloak tighter to his chest and began to climb. The wind bit at his legs and he began to lose feeling in them. More than once he reached a steep rock face that he'd need to climb. At the first one which was about twice his size he spent more time then he would have like to spend standing still planning his ascent. Hand over hand, foot over foot, Arian made his way up the steep terrain, grunting and feeling his hands blister and under the pressure of the rocks.

Taking more energy than he could have imagined, Arian stopped and fell onto his back upon reaching the top as he panted for air. It was tempting to stay there for a while but a determined voice in his head forced him to get up and keep going. He came across two more steep rock faces like that as he hiked up the trail. The second one seemed easier and although his muscles strained he felt as if his body was lighter.

Then at the third one, one that was well over four times his height, once he got halfway up his hand slipped. Arian fell backwards unable to maintain his gripping with just one hand. He hit the snow with a soft thud, the white powder cushioning his fall. Much to his dismay he continued to roll however, tumbling over top of himself down the trail he had just walked up.

As he finally rolled to a stop Arian didn't know which limb of his body was where. He groaned disheartened, sad at the progress he had lost. A look back up saw that he was almost at the top of the mountain or at least at a plateau. He sighed and let the snow gather on his body. A warm feeling overcame him and he smiled contently.

"Maybe…I'll just lie here a while…" Arian said as he looked up at the white powder descending upon him. He didn't know where he came from or who he was really. But the icy cold of Skyrim's winter had bested him regardless. It was okay to die like this.

"Oye, there he is!" shouted a voice, snapping Arian back into reality. Sitting up, he looked down the trail he ascended to see five bandits running towards him. One was adorned in pale green armor from neck to toe and he had pale green skin with tusks that protruded from his mouth. He had one yellow eye and another eye that was scarred over. He gave Arian a look that reeked of murder.

An orc, he realized. And an angry one at that. He must have been the bandit chief, the way he commanded the other bandits to chase him. Arian knew he had two choices. Get stabbed to death by pointy objects, or run and try to keep living for a little bit longer. His will to live was renewed, and he scrambled to his feet.

Arian looked at the ascent he had previously failed, and gritted his teeth. He reached up and grabbed the first handle he could. Using that he propelled himself up fast, and clung to the highest protruding rock he could. It was a mad scramble to get up high but the shouting of the bandits was getting closer and closer. One fired an arrow at him and it bounced off the cliff wall just a few inches below his feet.

He reached the top and tried to grab the ledge but slipped. This time his second hand held and he dangled helplessly for a moment. But he was an easy target there and the bandits were almost at the foot of that cliff. Again an arrow soared his way and Arian had to lean his head off to the side to avoid a hole in the head. Using all the strength he could muster in his upper torso, Arian swung himself and reached again for the ledge.

His hand gripped a rock tightly just over the ledge. Arian grunted as he felt the rock dig into his skin. But it was enough of a handle for Arian to climb upwards and finally Arian was able to scale the side of the mountain. There was little time to celebrate however as more arrows flew his way. Breaking out into a run, Arian dashed across the plateau off the mountain.

There were trees and hills on top of the mountain but Arian could see no more cliff faces so he figured he must have been at the top. He ran for a minute then saw the edge of the mountain he was standing on. Covering his eyes to block out the snow, he tried to look for a way down to get away from the bandits. But the storm was worse than ever there, and Arian could only see a white mist in front of him. He had no idea how high up he was from the ground there.

Suddenly an arrow whizzed past his ear and Arian spun around. The bandits were fast and had caught up to him. Arian cursed his luck and drew the great sword he had stolen from his back. Sure, he had kicked the crap out of the three bandits. But here there were five and that bandit chief looked ugly and tough.

"So, you kill my men, steal my possessions and expect to get away? Tough chance little man," the orc said as he approached Arian. His voice was deep and rash. Arian stared the orc down, his grip around the hilt of the sword tightening.

"Hey, you're missing something. I also rubbed my balls on your throne too!" Arian proclaimed, making the orc growl.

"I am Unalock, bandit king of the north! Who are you to defile my home?" Unalock asked.

"The name's Arian," Arian said, feeling more confident in saying his own name out loud. "And it's kind of tough to be king of seven people. Or should we make that four?"

"Kill him and bring me his heart!" Unalock yelled.

Another arrow flew Arian's way, but Arian brought up his sword and let it bounce off of the blunt side. The other two bandits ran at Arian and Arian charged back. The first one to reach Arian swung wildly with a one-handed axe. Arian ducked and then spun with a wild swing. A trail of blood sprayed the ground as the bandit collapsed.

The second bandit swung with a mace upon reaching Arian. Arian planted his hand on the ground and spun flipped backwards to avoid the swing. Landing deftly, Arian charged forward and swung again, but the bandit blocked it with a large copper shield. The hit still made the bandit recoil and Arian charged forward. As he barely dodged another arrow, Arian realized he needed to do something about that archer.

Instead of attacking the bandit with the mace and shield, Arian reached forward and grabbed the large copper disk from his hand. The bandit was startled by the strategy and did little to resist as Arian tore it from his hands. Arian then flung wildly with the shield and hit the bandit in the face with the broad side, knocking him off his feet. Just before the archer could fire another arrow, Arian threw the shield like a discus at the attacker. It hit him in the chest and sent him into a sprawl on his back as he fell over winded.

Arian grinned, but suddenly he heard Unalock yell, "Enough!" Turning to face the orc he barely blocked an attack from a curved, green great sword. The sword was as large as his and Unalock swung it with such force that Arian went sliding backwards atop the snow. He was now closer to the side of the mountain then he would have liked but he didn't have time to do anything about it. Arian barely had a moment to think when Unalock was upon him again, swinging down on him. In the nick of time Arian lifted his sword up and blocked he ferocious attacker but he felt his knee buckle as the power of Unalock's sword.

It was like a mountain was pushing down on top of him and Arian needed a desperate out. Gambling with his life, Arian switched to one hand holding the sword and reached for some snow. Grabbing a large clump with his hand Arian tossed it up and threw it in Unalock's face. It stunned him for a moment and that was all Arian needed. Arian was able to push Unalock's attack upwards, sending Unalock into a prone position.

Then with a powerful swing Arian punched Unalock in the face. Unalock stumbled backwards in shock, rubbing the remaining snow off his face. Arian back stepped slightly, trying to create some space between him and his mighty opponent.

Although Arian didn't pay it much mind, in the distance he heard a strange sound, like the beating of wings.

"You…you have a death wish," Unalock stated.

"If I did I wouldn't be fighting you, would I?" Arian answered with a small smirk.

The sound of the flapping wings and rushing wings seemed closer now, and it began to pique Arian's interest. Even in the middle of this battle, Arian was beginning to wonder what it was.

"I will tear out your heart and eat it!" Unalock said, but the last few words of his threat were drowned out by a roar. It was a large, inhuman roar that came from behind Unalock and he turned around to look in surprise. For a moment the snow let up just enough for the two to see what was coming.

It had large bat like wings. Large claw-like talons extended were at the end of its powerful legs. At the front of its pointed, horned snout were a set of razor sharp teeth. Its eyes were as red as blood, and everything about its large grey-scaled, intimidating, spiked body shook Arian to his core.

A dragon.

Unalock shrieked a high pitch scream, something unfitting the warrior Arian had just crossed swords with. He turned and ran in Arian's direction trying to get away from the dragon that was barreling down before them. Arian thought to run too, even though the only way he could run from the dragon was off the side of the mountain. Just as he spun around, the force of nature that was the dragon was already upon them.

With a mighty thrash of its jaws it scooped up Unalock in its mouth. In a bloody crunch Unalock's life was taken. Arian heard the snap of the dragon's mouth and he could assume Unalock was dead. He tried to run, and felt a mighty gust of wind blow over head as the dragon flew over top of him. For a moment he thought he might be safe, the dragon satisfied with its meal.

But then suddenly the dragon's tail swooped in and hit Arian in the back as it flew past. Arian was hit off his feet and propelled forward. The force of the hit sent Arian flying forward, and for a moment he felt completely weightless as he flew over the side of the mountain. He looked up and saw the dragon fly away into the distance, and then looked down at where he was going to crash.

"This was not a great start to my day," Arian commented to himself mid-air.

Arian hit the side of the mountain and lost himself amid a flurry of snow and rocks.


	3. Chapter 2 - The Hermit

Chapter 2 – The Hermit

The next few moments were a blur to Arian. He felt like his body was breaking over and over again each time in a new way as he crashed into the ground. His world was flipping over top of itself, one minute he'd see snow, the next the sky, then snow again.

Arian had no idea when he was going to stop falling. That didn't really matter too much to him, he just wanted the pain to go away. There was again a weightless feeling and Arian knew he was going over another cliff face. Only this descent lasted a long time and the wind rustled through his hair as he limply fell.

Then with a hard grotesque sound like an egg being shattered, Arian's world went dark.

He still felt awake but could see nothing, really feel nothing. A warm tingling in his head was all he really knew. It was a strange sensation, followed by a cradling sensation. It was like he was being rocked back and forth in the arms of a large woman. Or like was drifting along a river in a boat while lying down.

Color came back to him in spots. It was like he was seeing polka dots wave in and out of his vision. Then they seemed to blend together into a fuzzy image. Squinting, Arian could see a large form walking forward with his back to Arian. He was holding Arian's leg up and dragging him along he realized. Who this stranger was and what he or she was going to do him worried Arian but there was no strength in his body to even muster a word. He closed his eyes and let himself crawl back into darkness.

Arian had a strange dream.

He was standing on a misty plain, watching fog roll over the rocks and the hills. There was no sun but in the sky dark colors rolled across it illuminating the valley. Arian looked around but his sight couldn't penetrate the fog that permeated around him. He was adorned in the clothes he had fallen off the mountain in he realized, and looking at his arms he saw snow still covered them.

"What in the-" Arian asked in confusion. It was like he knew he was in a dream. He knew his body was still being dragged across the snow but it was like his subconscious was there standing in the lush green grass.

A large booming sound erupted from behind Arian. Arian turned his head slowly to see what was coming as the booming grew louder and louder. The sight sent shivers for his spine. According to his memory, Arian had really only been a person for a couple of hours and now his short life was taking a turn for the weird.

Looking back at him through the fog, Arian could see a pair of large ominous red eyes. Behind them Arian could see the silhouette of a monster much larger than the dragon that had nearly killed him on the mountain. And that dragon was big.

"Mortal…it is not yet your time," said a voice coming from the monster that was so deep and terrifying, it made Arian's knees buckle for a moment. But a strength surged through his body and he was able to stand tall. He wasn't sure what courage had overtaken him but he wasn't about to back down to whatever this monster was.

It seemed to read Arian's mind as it continued, "It doesn't matter how tall you stand, all men will fall. All of Skyrim will fall. All of Tamriel will fall. You will help me bring about it."

"Yeah? It's going to take a lot of convincing for that to happen," Arian retorted, his voice and tone not even quivering.

"It shall be fate. You will bring me the soul of the Dragonborn. I will devour it. Then nothing will stop my conquest. Dragons will once again rule over man," the voice stated. It said it with such force and conviction, there was no way to argue with it.

"We'll see," Arian responded. A moment passed where the voice said nothing. Then with a terrible roar jaws shot forth through the fog. Just before they clenched around Arian's entire body, he woke up.

He bolted upright, or tried to, but it felt like his body would snap in two if he got any further then two inches off the ground. Arian let himself fall back down and he realized he was lying on something soft and plush. His head was nestled in a pillow and a blanket was strewn over his body. He could feel bandages all over his body constricting his movements but they were probably keeping him alive so he wasn't about to complain.

As his vision began to return in pieces, he looked around his new location. He looked to be in a wood cabin of some sort, the walls and floor made from oak wood. There was a small candle sitting on the table beside his bed with a couple of books to compliment it. Shelves hung from the wall with an assortment of things on display such as a sabre cat skull that seemed to stare at Arian. On the opposite end of the cabin there was small kitchen with a big black pot hanging over a small fire pit. Next to it was a large cabinet presumably filled with cooking supplies and a table with two chairs.

To his left was a window, and through the darkness of the night Arian could see a blizzard. Just thinking about it made him feel cold and Arian curled up tighter in his blanket. He seemed safe and taken care of, whoever had found him made sure he hadn't died a crumpled wreck on the side of the mountain. But where was he? Arian still didn't even know that in the larger sense, let alone wherever this cabin was.

However the aches throughout his body told him he wasn't going anywhere anytime soon. So for now it would have to remain a mystery. As the blanket lulled him into a comfortable warm embrace, and Arian knew this tingling sensation didn't mean he was dying, Arian wasn't opposed to falling back asleep.

Arian didn't know how long he slept for. This time there were no dreams of terrifying dragons or misty plains. However, in the middle of the darkness at some point in his rest, a small light shone in. In it there was something silhouetted, a dainty figure. As the light got brighter, so did the figure, and Arian was able to see it was a young woman standing in front of him. He was able to begin to make out her features, her shoulder-length straight red hair, her cute small nose and her amazing green eyes. His heart skipped a beat as she looked at him, and a familiar feeling washed over him.

"Who…are you?" he asked.

She looked at him and smiled, she was wearing a white and green dress that fell down just past her knees. Clasping her hands together with a twinkle in her eye, she seemed to look through Arian's whole being.

"Do…do I know you?" Arian continued to question.

Finally she spoke, "You do. I am both very close and very far."

"I feel like you're the piece, that I'm missing," Arian remarked, the words not even making sense to him. This girl was someone important Arian knew but he didn't know who she was. How could he, he still didn't comprehend who he was.

"We will meet again someday," the girl said, her voice gentle and quiet. "Then we'll be together again. Just like we were always meant to be."

Then she turned and walked back into the light.

"Wait, no! Come back!" Arian yelled. He tried to run towards her, but his feet didn't seem to take him anywhere. Outstretching a hand he tried to reach for her, but she kept getting further and further away.

"Who are you? Who am I?" Arian shouted after her.

She stopped walking and looked back at him, smile still on her face.

For a moment, Arian thought he'd get the answers to his questions.

But suddenly the door to cabin flung open with a loud bang, forcing Arian's eyes open. A harsh wind blew in as the blizzard continued outside, but daylight snuck in through the door as well, signifying there had been at least some passage of time. Arian groaned as he realized he was back to reality. Even though he didn't remember anything, he was pretty sure his dreams were never that lucid. Or strange.

Then he realized the door didn't open by itself, and Arian turned to see who had entered. Standing in the doorway was that same large figure who had dragged him before and he was a giant of a man. A large scraggily grey beard fell down from his chin which complimented a large bushel of unkempt grey hair that fell down past his shoulder. Despite his hair's grey tone he didn't look that old, his eyes still seemed young and full of life. He was wearing what looked like a whole bear and as he took off that fur coat he revealed another one, and then another underneath that one.

When he walked the whole cabin seemed to creak and moan in protest of him. He hung up all his jackets on a coat rack by the door, revealing his short sleeved tunic and suspender pants. On his belt there was a small mace which he place down by the door.

As he walked over to his kitchen he opened his cabinet while grumbling, "Damn winter. All the food goes south except sabre cats. And sabre cats aren't good for cooking, too meaty." His voice was full of grit and sounded tired.

Arian just watched the large man in silence, not sure what to say. The man pulled out what looked like a large cabbage from the cabinet, and sat down on a chair by the table. It looked like the chair would shatter under the man's tremendous weight but surprisingly it preserved and held him. He took a big bite out of the cabbage and chewed it like a horse as he stared off in the distance. Then for the first time since he entered he looked over at Arian and noticed he was awake.

"Ah, so you're not dead," the large man said, bits of cabbage falling out of his mouth.

"Yeah, doesn't really feel like it though," Arian responded.

"Don't blame ya. I saw you fall down the mountain. It looked like quite the tumble," the man said as he put his cabbage down on the table. He stood up and walked over to the cabinet and began to rifle through it.

"How long have I been here for?" Arian asked.

Not turning away from the cabinet, the man responded, "A few days. I gave you a few healing potions when I first dragged you here so you wouldn't die. I'd say now though you could probably stand to have some more."

Finding what he was looking for, the man brought out a round glass vial with a pink liquid inside. Arian eyed it fearfully, he wasn't sure for a moment what it was. Then like almost everything else he had remembered, it came to him suddenly that it was a healing potion.

"Why did you save me?" Arian asked as the man approached him.

"I couldn't just leave you to die in the snow. Would have weighed too heavily on an already burdened conscience," he responded, and then forcefully he took Arian's mouth and opened it. Arian grunted in surprise, but it turned into a gurgle as the healing potion was poured down his throat. Once the vial was emptied, the man let go of Arian's mouth and Arian coughed to get breath back.

"There. Now your body will heal a bit quicker. We give it a few days and you can be out of my hair," the man said as he walked back to the cabinet.

"Thanks," Arian was finally able to sputter out. "My name is Arian."

The man paused for a moment, seemingly hesitating about something.

"I'm Reundelf. And you are welcome," he responded, and then he put away the glass vial.

Arian felt a new surge of strength, no doubt because of the healing potion and he was able to sit up. He turned to look at the blizzard outside which obstructed his view of seeing anymore of the wilderness. There was still that burning question he had to ask.

"So, where am I?" Arian asked.

"In my hut. We're just a few miles north of Whiterun," Reundelf responded.

"Whiterun?" Arian said out loud. This one wasn't coming back to him. It didn't have any familiar connotations to him.

"Aye…" Reundelf responded slowly, Arian's confusion confusing him. "In the Whiterun region."

Arian still gave him a blank stare.

"In Skyrim?"

Arian looked down at the blanket. Skyrim? Where in the heck was Skyrim?

"I…I don't know where that is," Arian muttered, almost ashamed to admit it.

"You don't know where Skyrim is? Do you know where Tamriel is?" Reundelf asked disbelievingly.

"I don't really know anything beyond a few minutes before I fell off that mountain," Arian explained.

Reundelf pulled the chair over beside the bed as Arian told him about the events that had led him to being in the hut. It felt weird to say out loud like he was able to sum up his whole life in less than two minutes. Once Arian finished, Reundelf nodded slowly, digesting the information.

"So, you have no idea where you came from or who you are, but you expect me to believe you were able to fight off a group of bandits?" Reundelf asked.

"I don't know how I did it. It's like muscle reflex I didn't know I had took over," Arian responded.

"And there was a dragon at the top of the mountain?"

Arian nodded awkwardly, getting the impression Reundelf didn't believe him. Reundelf looked at him skeptically for another few moments but then stood up.

"Bah, I'll believe you. You seem honest enough and I can smell through a lie. They said a dragon destroyed Helgen, so it's not unbelievable," Reundelf said. "And I get the impression you're not from Skyrim."

"Well…thanks. For not letting me die and letting me stay here a little while," Arian responded.

"You are welcome. But you cannot stay long. I have already put myself at much risk for you," Reundelf said as he walked back over to the black pot.

"What do you mean?"

Reundelf inspected his black pot, and then smelled it quickly. He immediately winced and gagged as he stepped away from it. Arian continued to stare at him with interest to what Reundelf's cryptic words meant. Picking the pot up with both hands, he walked over to the door and awkwardly opened it. With a heave he dumped the contents of the pot onto the snow in front of the house and then visibly relaxed as the pot lost a considerable amount of weight.

"I used to be a vampire hunter. One of the best. But I've made a couple of enemies and it wasn't safe for me to be near other people," Reundelf explained.

"So that was…what?" Arian asked, motioning to the cauldron.

"A means of keeping them off my scent. Which raises the issue of you being here," Reundelf continued.

"What do you mean?"

"You're a fresh scent, something new in the area the vampires might be able to pick up, even despite my means of crippling them. So they might be able to find me," Reundelf explained while putting the cauldron back down.

Arian looked blankly down at his sheets, not sure what to think.

"I'll give you three more days, then you need to leave," Reundelf concluded as he put his jacket back on.

"I understand. You've done so much for me already I'd be a dick to ask for more," Arian said with a small smile.

Reundelf returned the smile with a gentle little grin, a smile that seemed like it had been lost behind his beard for years. He then opened his door again and said, "Good lad. I'm going to see if I can find any better meat for dinner, I'll be back soon."

As the wooden door shut Arian fell back into bed and stared at the ceiling. He was starting to feel a little spryer and thought he could attempt to walk but didn't want to risk it. There were three days before he had to leave, so that was going to give Arian time to think and contemplate his next move.

Arian knew two things. For starters, he knew he needed to avoid dragons. Since that nightmare and his encounter on the mountain he had the sinking suspicion dragons had it out for him. Secondly he needed to find out if that girl in his dreams was real or not and if she was he had to find her.

However he needed resources to go about doing this. That meant he would have to hunt down some form of work to make enough gold to be able to freely travel around Skyrim and invest in hunting and camping supplies. His first goal would be Whiterun, the city Reundelf mentioned. Maybe he could kill two birds with one stone by searching for the girl and a job there.

Over the next few days, Arian continued to heal as Reundelf explained the current social status of Skyrim to Arian. Arian learned about a civil war that was taking place between the Imperial army from the continent's capital, Cyrodil, and the domestic race the Nords. The Nords were led by an upstart named Ulfric who claimed to be the High King. This was causing most of the turmoil in Skyrim, explaining he rampant bandits and crime.

Arian also had a lot of time to read and Reundelf had a surprisingly big collection of books. There he read about the races that inhabited Skyrim, the regions and the holds of Skyrim, and of the Daedric and Aedric gods. One thing he noticed however, was Reundelf's large collection of books about vampires.

There were details about how vampires came to be, their strengths and weaknesses and their presence throughout history in Tamriel. Most notably, Arian read about the Dawnguard. It was an awesome sounding organization and Arian wanted to know more.

"The Dawnguard?" Reundelf questioned when Arian asked.

"Yeah, whatever happened to them?"

"I guess they just weren't really needed anymore," Reundelf shrugged. "Vampires became scattered and unorganized, and so did the hunters. I always worked independently because I could without the fear of vampires gaining up on me."

"So what changed?" Arian asked.

"Well…they started gaining up on me I suppose. They took note of me and decided I was a threat," Reundelf explained while spinning a log over a fire that had a stripped wolf corpse tied to it. "A Vigiliant of Stendar, Isran I believe, said he would turn to the order for help, but they wouldn't listen. So here I am."

On the third day, Arian tried to start walking. However the moment he got out of the bed he fell face first into the wood floor. It took all of his effort to drag him and his bruised chin back up to his bed. While he rubbed that and his ego, Reundelf walked into the hut and looked stunned. He tried to absently mind grabbed a chair but missed it with the swipe of his hand and almost fell as he tried to sit.

Arian noticed the movement and looked at Reudnelf concerned but with a shake of his head Reundelf managed to arrange himself properly to sit on the chair. Reundelf let out a sigh and Jet raised an eyebrow in curiosity.

"What's up?"

"I…I wandered down south… by the Western Tower near Whiterun," Reundelf started. "It was destroyed, burned to the ground. By a dragon."

"Told you they were real," Arian commented.

"Aye but that was just the start of it," Reundelf stated, making Arian shut up quickly. "There was a battle between the Whiterun guard and the dragon, and it looked like the dragon would kill them all one by one."

"But then in the last desperate moments it was slain by a warrior, he wasn't a Whiterun guard is all I know. He then…absorbed the dragon's essence. Power flowed from the dragon into him as the dragon's skin burned away like ash. I've never seen anything like."

"Power…flowed?" Arian asked disbelievingly.

"He…he ate the dragon's soul. He must have been a, the, dragonborn," Reundelf reasoned. The term rang a bell in Arian's head from the books he had read. Dragonborn were supposed to be capable of killing dragons for good and eating their souls.

"Really? You think he was a dragonborn?" Arian questioned, to which Reundelf nodded. Arian didn't know what to say. He knew this was a big deal, but he didn't really feel like he comprehended what a big deal this must have meant for the world at large. Arian barely knew his own place in this world he had woken up in, he didn't want to think about the place of the dragon born.

After a moment's pause Reundelf slapped his knees and stood up saying, "Well we can't spend all day pondering the fate of the world. You need to leave by tomorrow morning."

"Ah…about that," Arian said while putting a hand behind his head. "I don't think I'll be ready."

"What do you mean?" Reundelf asked, a grim tone sneaking into his voice.

"I tried walking earlier and I got the black and blue mark on my chin to prove it. I need one more day," Arian explained.

Reundelf judged Arian sternly for a moment and let out a low sigh. Grabbing his cauldron, which had been brewing more of the vampire repellant, Reundelf said, "Fine. But the next morning you're gone at first light. Even if I have to pick you up and throw you."

"Fair enough," Arian responded.

Arian spent the whole next day practicing standing. He received a few more bruises while attempting it but he was stubborn and persisted. By mid-day he could stand for at least five minutes without being sore. At the end of the day he could walk around the hut and was able to actually sit at Reundelf's table with him to enjoy one last meal.

The two sat there eating brown beans from wooden bowls and talking about Arian's future plans. Reundelf recommended going to see a Jarl's Steward or a local tavern for some work, they had bounties or other odd jobs Arian could chase after.

"But if you're smart, you'll travel in groups," Reundelf commented. "What with the dragon attacks, bandits and wildlife that'll tear you limb from limb, you won't be safe on your own."

Arian mewled over the idea while he chewed on his food. He could join a mercenary group, or maybe a guard patrol or something. But he wanted to be able to stay on the move to find the girl he was looking for, so there'd have to be a compromise there.

"Well I'm sure I'll figure it out," Arian replied. "Thanks Reundelf, I couldn't have done this-" Reundelf suddenly raised a hand and stopped Arian mid-sentence. Arian looked at Reundelf in confusion and followed Reundelf's eyes to the window. A tense moment past as Reundelf stared at the window in a mix of terror and anxiety.

"Gods curse me. They're here," Reundelf muttered. Arian's bewildernment only grew and he narrowed his eyes.

In the dark of the woods a small spark emerged. Then three others followed. Arian stood up from his chair, preparing himself for whatever was coming next. Guilt washed over him like a cold wave. They were coming for Reundelf. Arian had lingered for too long and now Reundelf would pay the price.

"Get down!" Reundelf shouted and the two dove as arrows with points on fire shattered through the window. Arian heard one whiz by his head when he crashed into the ground. Reundelf shook the whole shack when his stomach hit the floor and Arian was just grateful the giant hadn't landed on him.

Looking up, Arian saw the arrow hit a self on the wall. It was the one holding the sabre cat skull which was now split in half from the arrow. The fire from the arrow spread into the wooden wall and Arian looked over to where the other arrows hit and watched as the flames grew. Arian looked back over his shoulder and saw another volley of arrows fly through the window, while he heard the thumps of the arrows hit the outside of the cabin.

Sweat began to fell down Arian's face as the fire began to engulf the house. The wood underneath him already was already beginning to feel hot but Arian was weary to stand because he didn't want to get pegged by an arrow. Then suddenly he heard a large crack above his head and Arian turned to see what had caused it. Above him one of the hut's support beams splintered in several places under the pressure of the blaze. He rolled over onto his back but before Arian could even try to scramble to freedom the beam snapped and fell. It landed directly on top of him and pinned Arian to the floor.

"Oh crap…this is heavy," Arian commented in between exasperated wheezes. The fire was now attacking him like little bee stings on his face and the sweat poured down his face. In his obscured position he could Reundelf stand up, the large man's body bobbing up and down as he coughed from the smoke inhalation.

Reundelf began to make his way to the door and Arian yelled, "Reundelf, help!" Reundelf turned to look at Arian scornfully and Arian could feel his heart fall into his stomach.

"You did this. You brought the bastards to my door. So you can die here!" Reundelf shouted. He then turned and ran for the door and Arian looked up hopelessly. He tried to lift the large beam off his chest but it was too heavy for him. Arian let out an exhale, taking a break from pushing but then strained and tried again.

He could feel the beam shift, but only a little. Then he couldn't push anymore and let the beam fall back to where it was, further pinning him. The roar of the inferno engulfing the house overwhelmed him and the heat was too much for him to bear.

From the cold of Skyrim's tundra to the oven of hermit's hut, Arian was wondering what would happen next to him. If he even survived this encounter that was. But he thought about Reundelf's accusations, the anger in his voice when he left Arian to die, and Arian couldn't give up yet. He needed to make amends, needed to earn Reundelf's forgiveness no matter what it took. Reundelf had been kind to him, and Arian knew in his heart he had to repay that.

Inhaling deeply and ignoring the smoke, Arian strained with all his might and pushed against the beam. It shifted again only slightly but then Arian dug deep. Mustering all the strength he had in his body and combining it with the will to live he found on the mountain, Arian pushed the beam. With a mighty heave he threw the beam off of himself.

Arian allowed himself one moment to take a breather and relish in his victory as he fell back onto his back. But his smile was short lived as he looked up and saw another beam, a bigger one, had splintered and was about to fall. He quickly somersaulted forward and managed to escape the entrapment of another beam. Not taking any more chances Arian ran to the door. He managed to jump through it as the house finally gave in under its own weight.

He landed on his belly in the snow but considering how hot it had been in the house the chill of the white fluff was a welcome relief. Just to give himself more distance from the house Arian jumped to his feet and moved away from it but he couldn't resist a look back at his home for the past few days. The fire was beginning to extinguish itself from contact with the snow but Reundelf's hut was in ruins. The roof had caved in and the walls looked like they were ready to fall over.

Arian breathed a heavy sigh and shut his eyes in shame. If he hadn't been so weak and fought through the pain of trying to walk like he had lifted that beam, he could have left before. Then Reundelf would still have a home.

Then suddenly he heard a sick maniacal laugh a small distance away. His first concern was the vampires were nearby and then the more immediate concern became Reundelf's life. Arian wasted no more time and ran to where he heard the sound. As he grew closer he could see the glimpse of a few figures through the trees and slowed his run down while taking cover behind the trees. If he wanted to have any chance of taking on vampires without a weapon he'd need the element of surprise.

Hidden behind a tree only a few feet away from the scene, Arian cautiously popped his head around the corner. In a small clearing he saw three vampires with four presumably vampire corpses on the ground judging by the similar attire, and in one of the still standing vampire's hands was Reundelf. The giant of a man was only being held up by one hand, the vampire seemingly lifting Reundelf off the ground with great ease. That vampire had pale white skin while the other two were the shade of ebony of dark elves, if their pointed ears weren't enough to give it away. What caught Arian off guard were the vampire's disturbing yellow eyes that glowed in the night.

"I will congratulate you Reundelf. You were a fighter until the very end," the vampire who held Reundelf up stated. "Lord Harkon will be pleased to hear of your demise."

Through gasps of air, Reundelf retorted, "You must be Groatian. Shame I never got to you."

"Yes, a pity," Groatian responded, sounding a little bemused. "Though I imagine the outcome of that encounter wouldn't have been dramatically different. I mean even in your prime you stood no match for a vampire of my strength."

Arian meanwhile scanned his enemies looking at their weapons to see what he could use. He counted two daggers on one, a short sword on the other, but the leader Groatian carried no visible weapon.

"Strength isn't the desire to stomp out smaller creatures," Reundelf responded. "It's the desire to defend them." This stopped Arian from scheming for a moment, the profoundness of Reundelf's words hitting Arian in the chest. He couldn't pin down what it was, but that resonated with Arian in a way he didn't quite understand.

"Well you're the one about to die so I don't think you're in a position to tell me what strength is," Groatian said. Then Groatian opened his mouth and Arian could see the fangs protrude out from his mouth. It was now or never.

Scooping up a handful of snow, Arian leapt out from behind cover and threw it at Groatian. The force enough was to surprise Groatian and Arian took that moment to run at the first vampire. Groatian turned to look at the attack and he dropped Reundelf to the ground.

"Kill him," he commanded and the other two vampires charged at Arian. Arian had read that vampires were fast but he hadn't anticipated their level of speed. His only hope was to act as fast as possible and deal damage quickly. The vampire with two daggers swung out at Arian as he approached and Arian quickly ducked low underneath the attack as he stopped in his tracks. Arian then jumped backward and avoided another attack from the vampire as the vampire swung vertically with one dagger.

He barely dodged that attack and could do little as the vampire came in for a third swing with the other hand. The attack would have cut Arian's jugular wide open but Arian brought up a hand and blocked the attack at the vampire's wrist with his forearm. The vampire struggled for a moment, but Arian's strength held true and with his free hand he punched the vampire across the face. Then using his blocking arm he grabbed the wrist of the hand he had just blocked and forcefully stabbed the dagger back into the vampire's chest. The vampire hissed in response and Arian kicked the fiend in the stomach knocking him back.

Arian only had a moment to contemplate his next move as the other vampire with the short sword swung in. There was a moment where Arian thought he'd lose his nose from the attack as the vampire's sword swung down in front of him. He barely dodged the attack but he managed to move quickly in response. Arian dropped his shoulder and charged forward at the vampire while he was still prone. The vampire recoiled in response and Arian reached down and grabbed the hilt of the short sword. Spinning with a mighty tug he pulled the sword from the vampire's hand and then pivoted back in the other direction. There wasn't time for the vampire to react and Arian's swing with the sword decapitated him.

The first vampire had pulled the dagger from his chest and was charging back at Arian even as blood squirted out. Arian spun the short sword around in his hand, getting a feel for it. While he still didn't know where he learned to fight like that, he could tell already he felt more comfortable using a great sword instead of a short one. However he was able to make due as the vampire charged him and Arian parried a jab with the dagger that would have badly stuck him. The vampire swung wildly with his second dagger, rage fueling its movements. Arian managed to back step away but swung upward with the sword. His sword connected with vampire's attacking arm and he sliced it clean off. Howling wildly the vampire recoiled in shock as blood shot out of its stump. Arian then lunged forward and stabbed the sword in the vampire's chest, leaving it there as the vampire fell backwards into the snow.

Arian had barely broken a sweat and he looked up from his last dead opponent up at Groatian, who was now keeping Reundelf on his knees and holding him with a choke hold. Reundelf and Groatian seemed to both be taken aback at Arian's fighting prowess, who stood there slightly covered in the vampire's blood.

"Let him go and I won't do the same to you," Arian offered.

Groatian laughed, almost maniacally, and barked at Arian, "You are overly confident you fool. Those were lesser vampires, mere cogs in the machine compared to me."

"Yeah that won't stop me from smacking your face into looking like an ass. Let him go now. Last chance," Arian deadpanned back.

"Did he tell you how many vampires he's killed? How many of my kind he vanquished before retiring to hide in cowardice?" Groatian asked. He was obviously playing for time but Arian was also using the time to look for options to save Reundelf.

"Oh I'm sure you've killed your fair share of just about everyone else. What makes vampires so special?" Arian shot back. His eyes darted down for a second, looking down towards the daggers in the vampire's hands.

"We are the chosen of Malog Bal!' the vampire yelled indignantly at the question. _Good, I pissed him off_, Arian thought to himself as let smirked slightly.

"We are the ones who will usher in an age without the sun in his name! We will-" Arian rolled forward suddenly over top of the vampire's corpse and grabbed the dagger out of his hands. Groatian was too caught up in his moment of anger he couldn't react fast enough as Arian finished his roll and threw the dagger. The dagger hit Groatian right between the eyes, making Groatian stumble backwards and release Reundelf from his grip. Reundelf let his body slump forward and he coughed for air.

Arian ran to Reundelf's side to try and help him to his feet but Reundelf angrily slapped away Arian's hand. Taken slightly aback Arian gave Reundelf room to breathe as he shakily stood up. Groatian had collapsed onto his back, blood trickling from the knife wound in his head.

"Yeah you were tough bananas weren't you?" Arian asked the corpse, and Reundelf shot him an angry look.

"You don't get to make jokes," Reundelf angrily stated. Arian eyes went down to the snow, and Reundelf continued to glare angrily at him.

"I lost my home because of you. I never want to see you again," Reundelf said and then he turned and walked away. Arian watched Reundelf leave, feeling as guilty as ever.

However he took solace in the fact that despite the odds Reundelf was alive. The vampires would have to try again and next time Reundelf probably would be better prepared Arian reasoned. Guilt wasn't going anywhere anytime soon, but there wasn't anything Arian could do about it. It was time to take solace in the little victories, Arian thought to himself. Because it would be a long time before he found whatever it was he was looking for.

Despite the bitter parting, Arian would always think in a way that Reundelf the hermit had taught him that.


	4. Chapter 3 - Dog Days

Chapter 3 – Dog Days (or Arian and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day)

It didn't take long for Arian to realize he had no sense of direction. The night Reundelf's hut burned down he wandered through the woods, trying to find a road or a path. Whiterun was to the south, but he had no idea where south was when the sun was down. He thought maybe he could follow the moon, but it was a new moon. So that threw him for a loop.

As day began to break, he found himself back at the burned down hut. It brought up some mixed feelings in Arian. It was where he had gained a new sense of resolve to move forward, but the guilt for being responsible still weighed heavily upon him.

However once the sun rose over the horizon, Arian was finally able to use as a means of moving south. Using the shadows of the trees from the sunlight that poked through, he managed to find direction. He spent the day wandering south, looking up every hour or so at the sun to make sure he was still going the right direction. He wandered through the dense woods that surrounded Reundelf's house as the day progressed on, and much to his embarrassment and frustration he couldn't seem to find a main trail or path to follow that could take him to civilization. Reundelf had hid himself well in the boonies of Skyrim.

Further embarrassment stemmed from the fact that Reundelf had told Arian he could make the walk to Whiterun in less than a day. And yet he was stuck wandering the forest. Arian decided his first purchase when he reached civilization would be a map.

As the sun began to set and the rumbling in his stomach was too much to bare, he began to look for food. Initially he found only mushrooms and some plants, but Arian had a desire for meat. At one point as he turned around a tree Arian saw a deer nibbling on some grass it had dug up hidden in the snow. He still had no weapons or means to catch it, so Arian quietly looked around for a sharp stick or anything he thought he could use to kill the deer. Finding a rock the size of his fist Arian carefully picked it up so as not to make any sound. The deer remained oblivious to Arian's presence and so Arian took aim.

The marksmanship that had been on show just the previous night when he threw the knife between Groatian's eyes was not present that day however as Arian missed his throw terribly, bouncing the rock off a nearby tree. The sound startled the deer and it took off in a panic, leaving Arian to bemoan his poor throwing arm. He walked over and picked the rock back up, hoping he might be able to find a better use for it later.

When it was too dark to go any further and fatigue having taken its toll on Arian, he stopped walking and took a seat next to a tree. He laid his back against the large tree and stared upwards at the night sky and watched the stars through the breaks in the trees twinkle and dance in the cloudless night. Arian let out a little sigh and shut his eyes, intent on getting some rest. He'd have to continue his journey to Whiterun the next day.

Despite his poor sense of direction, Arian realized he had a great sense for incoming danger as his eyes bolted open in the middle of the night. There was no sound that stirred him, just an eerie calm that had fallen over his surroundings. It didn't feel right and so Arian cautiously stood up and tried zero in on any noise he could. He looked around but all he could see was the darkness of the forest around him.

Finally he heard a low growl behind him and Arian slowly turned to face it. Across from him were two feral, savage looking wolves. They both snarled and gritted their teeth at Arian seemingly read to pounce. Arian felt his grip tighten around the rock, disappointed he didn't have a better weapon to fight these beasts with.

One of the wolves howled and its companion dashed at Arian. Arian spread out his stance and got ready for the wolf. The beast jumped and opened its jaw in an attempt to rip out Arian's throat. At the last moment Arian side stepped the wolf and swung his hand with the rock in it at the beasts head. He clubbed it in the side by its ear, making the wolf whimper and collapse upon hitting the ground. A bit of the wolf's blood now coated Arian's knuckle but he didn't have time to think about it.

The other wolf was circling around to Arian's side and Arian braced himself as the wolf suddenly pivoted and lunged at him. Arian swung his arm in a low arc that extended upwards and as the wolf neared Arian struck it under the chin, forcing its mouth to clench shut in a sickening noise. Arian then pivoted and circled himself to be standing beside the wolf.

He dropped the rock he was holding and Arian wrapped his arms around the wolf's neck. The wolf struggled and tried to break free, his strong torso wrestling against the muscles in Arian's arms. In an attempt to wrangle the monster Arian jumped upwards and then spread his feet out so he landed on his butt. The weight of Arian dropping to the ground brought the wolf down onto its side in a heap. It continued to try and break free but the wolf could no longer get its feet firmly planted and it just thrashed its jaws wildly. Arian struggled to keep the wolf down but he looked over and saw its companion returning to its feet so he knew he needed to end the wolf fast.

Gritting his teeth, Arian used one hand and grabbed onto the wolf's lower jaw and then with his other he grabbed the wolf's upper jaw. Tugging both in opposite directions with all the strength he could muster in his body, Arian let out quick breaths of exertion as the wolf struggled against him. Then with a grunt he pulled through and there was sickening crunch as the wolf let out a last feeble whimper. Arian dropped the wolf's limp head to the ground that it hit with a soft thud and then he stood up and wiped some sweat from his brow.

He then turned to face the other wolf who was still snarling at him with its ears pointed backwards. However it started sniffing the air and then its ears propped upwards and it turned and fled from the scene. Arian relaxed his body for a moment, confused as to why the wolf would retreat.

Then like a box of rocks was being shaken violently, Arian heard another growl coming from his side. Arian looked over but with a fierce roar a sabre cat was pouncing at him with its claws extended. Arian yelped in surprise and fell backwards as the large cat landed over top of him. His back to the ground and the sabre cat over top of him, Arian didn't have a chance to weigh his options.

The sabre cat attacked with its mouth and Arian ducked his head off to the side to avoid having his face ripped off by the animal. Another attack came in and Arian barely dodged it again. There was no time to try and stop the next attack, so as the cat's jaws almost closed in around him Arian shot his arms upwards and grabbed the sabre cat's protruding fangs. They were slippery and Arian felt his hands bleed as they gripped around the sharp long teeth, but keeping his arms extended he was able to keep the sabre cat's head at bay.

It thrashed wildly on top of Arian and Arian looked around for a weapon or anything he could use to fight the beast. There was nothing in sight, but Arian looked at a nearby tree and noticed he could probably climb the tree and gain some distance. Arian threw the sabre cat by the fangs off of him, sending the cat tumbling off to the side. He scrambled to his feet and ran to the tree but the sabre cat wasn't far behind. Arian leapt into the air and reached for the nearest branch which was eight feet off the ground, just as the sabre cat lunged again at him. Its claws just missed his feet as Arian grabbed the branch and swung himself upwards onto it.

He gave himself a moment to pant but the sabre cat was suddenly in the air again leaping up at him with a roar and Arian found himself jumping further up the tree to get away. The sabre cat landed on its feet and Arian was finally far enough up the tree to get away. Arian let out a sigh and tried to catch his breath as he sat down on the branch. Looking down, he saw the sabre cat hadn't given up its vendetta yet but instead it circled the tree below waiting for him to come down.

"Let's see who can wait longer," Arian commented as he relaxed his back to the tree.

As day broke, Arian was starting to get the feeling the sabre cat could wait longer. It was still circling him, despite the break it had taken to eat the wolf's remains. Arian was starting to get impatient and wanted to move on but he couldn't see any feasible way he could take the sabre cat in a fight without a weapon. He even considered trying to leap from tree to tree but the branches of all the surrounding trees looked brittle and wouldn't be able to support his weight.

"Stupid cat," Arian said as he looked down at the cat. He was hungry, he hadn't slept in what felt like days, and his butt was getting very sore sitting in the tree.

Suddenly there was a large roar heard in the distance and it struck a familiar chord with Arian. Standing up, he heard the roar again and looked to where it was coming from. The trees of the forest still obscured his vision and so Arian looked up and saw the branches above him were likely climbable. He shrugged his shoulders, anywhere was better than fifteen feet below where the sabre cat was waiting for him.

Taking more time than he did when the sabre cat was on his butt, Arian carefully scaled the tree to get to the top. Passing through a thicket of leaves that obscured his vision, Arian came through the other side of them to see the top of the forest. He wasn't actually too far from the forest's edge and off in the distance the snow faded and there were grassy hills, and further on there were many majestic mountains. Closer to the forest there was a windmill that's blades were spinning so it was most likely that people were there and Arian reasoned it'd make the most sense to head that way.

However a huge dissuading factor for that argument was the dragon circling around it. This time Arian got a better look at the monster as it would occasionally stop flying and breathe fire down to the ground, likely attacking people there. Its large bat like wings intimated Arian, and its reptilian head and claws made Arian feel like it could tear him apart with a thought.

Arian considered finding another way out of the forest to somewhere where there preferably wasn't a dragon. However the dragon suddenly lurched mid-air like it had been struck by something. It seemed to struggle to regain its balance but once it had it flew away from the windmill. Right towards Arian.

Panic setting in, Arian considered climbing back down so as not to be seen by the dragon. But then right as it reached the edge of the forest a stream of lightning from the ground followed and hit it in the tail. The dragon lurched again and let out a roar and it began to descend rapidly. It was on a collision course with the ground but did so in Arian's general direction. As it hit the trees the sound of bark snapping echoed throughout the sky as the forest crumpled around the dragon. Arian looked around for options as the trail of destruction kept heading towards him and Arian had little doubt it would reach him.

Not seeing many options, Arian gripped the tree tightly and braced himself. The dragon's body was slowing but it still reached the tree and knocked it over from the base and Arian felt the whole tree rock as it began to fall over. Holding on tight, Arian fell with the tree doing his best to keep his balance as it was earth bound. Just before the tree hit the ground Arian leapt from it and rolled upon landing, managing to brace his fall just enough.

He shakily stood up and looked around, nervous the sabre cat was still around. A quick glance to where the dragon had slid to a stop revealed however Arian was no longer the centre of the sabre cat's ire. The dragon lay motionless for many moments and the sabre cat was clawing and scratching at the dragon's side, trying to cause some sort of physical pain. Arian saw an opportunity to leave and get away safely but his eyes couldn't leave the large dragon.

With an unexpected sure of speed the dragon's head suddenly thrashed around and it grabbed the sabre cat in its jaws. The sabre cat roared in protest and the dragon flung the animal from its mouth. It hit a tree with a hard thud and a disgusting crack, then fell to the ground and lay motionless. Arian remained still hoping the dragon hadn't seen him.

The dragon managed to return to its feet, planting them on the ground while using the little forearms from its wings as support for its front. It seemed to shudder as if it was shaking off the fall. Its large stomach inflated and deflated as it breathed, a large ungodly sound that made Arian's skin crawl. Then the dragon turned its head to look around and saw Arian standing still. Its eye focused on Arian, the slit narrowing upon seeing him.

"Well, shit," Arian muttered.

The dragon roared and turned its full body towards Arian. Arian immediately turned tail and ran. He could hear the large dragon roar again and start charging towards him. Arian ducked and weaved in and out of trees as he ran away from the dragon, hoping maybe they'd slow him down. However there were large repeated crashing sounds and Arian looked over his head to see the dragon was just knocking the trees over with its head as it charged him.

Arian took solace in the fact that it wasn't taking to the sky to hunt him down and he continued to run desperately away from the dragon. Then the crashing sound stopped and Arian heard the dragon seemingly mutter something in a language Arian had never heard before. Again checking over his shoulder, Arian saw the dragon had stopped chasing him. Instead the dragon had opened its mouth and from a pillar of flame was heading Arian's way.

"Whoa!" Arian yelled as he dove off to the side to avoid being hit. Arian landed on his stomach but quickly planted his hands and stood back up as the dragon continued to chase Arian with its fire breath. Arian ran away from the inferno that was beginning to engulf the forest and moved around the dragon's side.

His best bet was to stay away from the dragon's mouth, so he dashed around the dragon's side to avoid the flames. Just as he thought he was safely away from the dragon's fire breath for the moment the dragon suddenly spun and Arian was caught unawares as the dragon's tail came swooping in at him. It hit Arian in the torso and sent him flying backwards and he crashed into the snow with a rough tumble.

The hit took the wind out of Arian's lungs and as he struggled to sit up he saw the dragon approaching him. Arian could feel his hands searching his surroundings for something useful he could use to fight the dragon, but there was nothing to be found.

Then suddenly from the dragon's left charged in a man with dark skin, a Redguard Arian knew, and he was duel wielding axes. The dragon was caught unawares as the man jumped in the air and swung at the dragon with one axe and hit it across the side of the face. He then landed, spun and swung again with the other axe and connected in the same spot as before. The dragon lurched in surprise but then lashed out at the man with its jaws to which the man quickly side stepped.

He swung again and hit the other side of the dragon's face but the dragon this time threw its head into the Redguard, sending him off his feet. One of the axes went flying from his grip and landed near Arian and Arian eyed it with interest. Just then the dragon seemed to mumble again, preparing another wave of fire breath but it received a lightning bolt in the side, which made the whole dragon's body shake from the force. Arian looked to the source and saw another, skinnier man standing there in a dark purple robe, lightning crackling from the man's hands.

With a growl the dragon finished its incantation and fired a wave of fire breath at the man which seemingly consumed him. Then as the fire breath faded, the man was fine, having held up a ward spell powerful enough to deflect the dragon's fire breath. He then cast another lightning bolt and the dragon's whole upper body went upwards in shock and pain as it roared. When it landed it swung its tail wildly and the wizard took the hit with a hard thud.

Arian was worried the force of the attack would have been enough to break the smaller man but he stood up seemingly uninjured. The wizard cast a quickly healing incantation on himself and then went and stood beside his comrade who was still on the ground. Another wave of fire breath came in and it looked like it was taking all the wizard's energy to hold up a ward spell to keep him and his friend safe.

Arian's eyes darted around, looking for a way to help the two who had saved his life. His eyes went to the axe that was still on the ground and he ran for it. Picking it up, Arian then deked behind a tree to hide for a moment. With a peek around the corner, he saw the dragon hadn't noticed him yet. Its attention still on the two, Arian maneuvered his way through the trees and snuck around behind the dragon. Now to the dragon's side Arian took a deep calming breath and then charged in.

The dragon still hadn't noticed Arian as the wizard's ward was about to fade and then him and his comrade would be finished. Just then Arian leapt into the air and landing on the dragon's wing Arian used it as a spring board and jumped towards the dragon's head. The shock of this made the dragon cease its fire and careen its head around to address Arian but Arian grabbed onto one of the spikes on the dragon's neck and held on. Arian held on tight as the dragon tried to turn itself properly to face him, but Arian was far enough up the dragon's neck that it was too awkward of an angle for the dragon to properly reach him. In Arian's other hand was the axe and with a hard swing he chopped into the dragon's neck.

Penetrating its scales, the axe drew blood from the dragon. The dragon roar and tried to shrug Arian off, but Arian wasn't letting go. He swung in again at the same spot making the cut even deeper and the dragon continued to roar. It breathed fire up in the air in protest as Arian hacked it again. After a fourth hit, the dragon seemed to be growing more sluggish from the punishment he was taking, and its neck relaxed enough for Arian to gain a better grip on it.

Giving up on taking out Arian, the dragon focused its attention on at least trying to kill the wizard and the warrior who had done so much preliminary damage to it. Arian heard it muttering again to breathe fire and he knew he couldn't let that happen to these two after they saved him. They weren't going to be Reundelf again. Taking a leap of faith, Arian stood up on the dragon's neck and balanced himself precariously. With a calming deep breath Arian leapt up high into the air with the axe over his head, gripping it in both of his hands.

Just before the dragon could attack, Arian landed and swung downwards with the axe using all the force he could muster. The axe cut deep into the dragon's head, lodging itself in the dragon's brain. The dragon hissed as a puff of smoke escaped its lungs. It thrashed around for another moment but then the dragon crumpled on top of itself. The one powerful, lucky hit was enough for Arian to claim his first dragon kill. Arian panted in exhaustion, and as he removed the axe the dragon twitched uncontrollably, making Arian lose his balance and fall off the dragon. Considering the grace he had just shown in the fight, this was an embarrassing turn of events.

The wizard and the warrior were back on their feet then, looking at Arian in awe. Arian sat back up from the snow and rubbed the back of his neck in pain but then he looked at the two as they approached him.

"Here's your axe back," Arian commented and he casually tossed the axe to the Redguard. He caught it easily, but still stared at Arian in a mixture of shock and distrust.

"Well…who needs a dragonborn?" the wizard asked with a laugh. "Apparently anyone can kill a dragon!"

"It wasn't exactly easy," Arian replied, feeling offended.

"Oh don't get me wrong, I am grateful," the wizard corrected. "We had been chasing the beast for hours. Thank goodness someone got the killing blow after all our hard work."

Arian's eyebrows narrowed with dislike. Everything this wizard seemed to say was a back-handed insult. Theron took a glance around at the trees the dragon had lit on fire and raising his palm he started to cast an ice spell to put out the flames.

"Where are my manners, I am Theron," the wizard said with a low bow, still using one outstretched hand to extinguish the fire. "And this is my muscle for hire, Perrion." The Redguard grunted in response and Arian stood up hesitantly.

"I'm Arian," he said, and then looked at the dragon. "Why were the two of you chasing this thing around?"

"To study it you see," Theron explained as he walked over to the dragon's head. Resting a hand on it he elaborated, "We wanted to see if one could be killed without the dragonborn's help. Now that we know, there are further experiments to conduct."

"Like what?" Arian asked as he crossed his arms, intrigued.

"Oh, you wouldn't understand," Theron said casually. "It's above the head of the like of you."

Arian wanted to argue but then he realized he didn't even know where he was. As much as he hated to admit it, at this moment he had no idea what was even going on so Theron pretty much had him pegged.

"Well…can you guys at least point me in the direction out of this forest? I'm kind of backwards now," Arian asked, rue he was to request help from this arrogant jerk.

"Certainly," Theron said. "Simply follow the dragon's trail of debris to the windmill. From there you should be able to know where to go, yes?" Theron motioned to the very obvious path of destruction the dragon had left making Arian feel even more stupid.

"Thanks," Arian said as he walked by the two to walk down the dragon's trail.

"May we meet again," Theron said with another low bow.

As Arian walked past Perrion, Perrion suddenly raised an axe and stopped Arian in his tracks.

"If we meet again, I'll end you for stealing my kill," Perrion said in a low growl.

Arian raised an eyebrow, but then pushed Perrion aside and kept walking. Perrion made a noise like an angry dog but Theron stopped him.

"Enough Perrion. Help me start to dismember this behemoth," Theron ordered and Arian walked away more confused than before. But after a spending almost two days in the forest, he was more eager to leave then to ask questions.

It took Arian fifteen minutes to get out of the forest following the trench the dragon had created. He was just happy to finally have a walking path to go on. Once he reached the edge of the forest, Arian felt more overwhelmed then when he had initially peeked out over top of the forest. There was suddenly a huge open world in front of him filled with green grass, large mountains, and settlements Arian could see all over the field. In the distance he saw a large city surrounded by wooden walls with a large hall on top of a hill. Whiterun, he realized.

"Wow," was all Arian could say, his breath taken away. For the first time since he gazed out over the ocean when he left that cave he felt like was a part of the world again.

With a look to his left Arian saw the windmill that the dragon had been attacking. The area around was still ablaze and he could see a couple people trying to put out the fire. A farm house and small field of crops were on fire, and Arian could see the people there ill-equipped to deal with the fire.

Letting out a little sigh, Arian commented, "You think I'd be done with fire." He ran over to the scene, where he saw a bald older man dashing back and forth from the fire to a well with a bucket, scooping up water. There was also a middle-aged woman with grey hair using a blanket to try and damper the fire spreading around the field of crops.

"Hey! How can I help?" Arian called as he neared them. The old man was refilling at the well and gave Arian a wry look, confused as Arian approached.

"What?" the man asked, confused.

"How can I help? I've seen fire ruin enough things, let me help at least fix one of its messes," Arian explained. The man stared confused Arian for a few moments but then he reached down and grabbed a blanket he had laying there.

"Here, help my wife save some of the crops!" he said as he tossed Arian the blanket. "A house we can rebuild, crops can't be!" Arian nodded and ran towards the woman with the blanket. She was swatting at the flames trying to smother them and Arian ran to another side of the field and began doing the same on the opposite side.

The heat had nothing on the inferno Arian got caught in when he was trapped in Reundelf's hut, but it was still making him sweat. After Arian managed to put out the fire in one area he strategically made his way over to another to try and cut the fire off at the knees. He was able to work harder and faster than the woman, who was struggling to put one fire. Arian noticed how fatigued she was starting to seem and got the impression she was about to faint.

Running over to he called, "Hey, don't push yourself!" He got to her just in time, right before she fell in the fire. Holding her up, Arian lightly patted her on the cheek to try and wake her back up. Her eyes slowly reopened and she looked at Arian in confusion, the black-out taking a toll on her.

"Are you okay? Can you stand?" Arian asked and she feebly nodded in response. Helping her back to her feet, Arian took a moment to make sure she actually could stand before backing up a step.

"Listen, go over to the well and see if you can help your husband. I got this," Arian instructed and he went back to putting out the fire. She seemed hesitant at first, but eventually she made her way back over to the well as Arian continued to extinguish the flames.

What felt like an hour later Arian had managed to put out the fires in the field. The old man had managed to put out the house as well seemingly saving most of it, and now Arian sat in the field catching his breath. Wolves, sabre cats, a dragon, and a fire. It had been an exhausting day.

"How many of the crops look saveable?" the old man asked as he approached Arian. Arian looked around at the field and shrugged his shoulders.

"I'm no farmer so I can't say for sure. Half maybe?" Arian guessed.

"Well, I'll count our blessings," the old man commented and then he extended a hand for Arian to take. "My name is Olarg. And my wife is Isaldi."

"Arian," Arian replied as he took the man's hand and stood up. "So how's the house?"

"Well, we'll have to get some gold to repair it. Luckily the dragon didn't get to the windmill where we keep our wheat and hay, no thanks to that wizard and his grunt. They seemed keener on studying the damn thing," Olarg commented.

"Yeah I ran into them in the forest. They weren't exactly grateful that I took care of the dragon for them," Arian said.

"You killed the dragon?" Olarg asked, impressed. "Are you the dragonborn?"

"No. Well, at least I don't think so," Arian answered with an honest shrug. "I'm pretty sure I didn't eat its soul."

"Looks like we owe you more than the just the field," Olarg commented but Arian shook his hands in protest.

"Hey I was just happy to help. I've had a rough couple of days and it feels good to add something to the win column," Arian replied.

"At least let us cook you dinner," Olarg insisted. "Then if you're interested I can give you a ride to Whiterun tomorrow morn."

Arian looked over his shoulder where Whiterun was located and contemplated the offer. He was getting awfully tired of walking and his stomach hadn't stopped rumbling from the day before.

"You know what, sure," Arian said. "I'll take you up on that." Then Arian looked at the windmill and field, and despite everything he had been through he didn't quite feel like he was quite ready to relax yet. Clasping his hands together he asked, "Is there any more work I can do to maybe earn a bit of gold?"

Olarg managed a little laugh as he looked at Arian. Shaking his head he said, "You know what son, I like you."

Arian spent the remainder of the afternoon helping Olarg shovel wheat from the windmill onto a carriage and he helped to dismember parts of the farmhouse that would need to be replaced with better wood. Farming work was tougher then he thought it'd be, but considering there was no immediate danger to his person he was considerably more relaxed doing it. Throughout the day he talked to Olarg and Isaldi, learning more about who they were.

They had five children but had lost three to differing reasons. The oldest had left to fight in the imperial army but he had died in an early skirmish while the youngest daughter had died of the plague. The second youngest had died when he was a toddler, having gotten too close to the forest and was snatched by a sabre cat. As for the other two, one was living in Whiterun, a young woman now named Ysolda who had dreams of being a merchant. The other was named Onmund, and he had left to study magic at the College of Winterhold.

The loss of all the children had left the two in dire straits Arian learned, as they were now forced to do all the farm work themselves. Olarg had explained they wanted to hire a few farm hands to help but they weren't making enough gold to do so. They especially wouldn't now after losing half their crop. Arian thought about it, and if he could ever save up enough gold he'd want to hire some farm hands for them. That was still off in the future however and Arian did his best to stay rooted in the present.

As dinner rolled around as the sun was setting, Isaldi cooked the remains of some cattle meat. The three sat around the table in the farm house staying in the living room. There was a fireplace across the door where Isaldi had cooked, and chests and other possessions lined the wall opposite the stair case leading to upstairs. The second floor wasn't being used at the moment however, as Olarg was worried putting too much stress on it made cause some of the damage wood to give way. So many of their things from upstairs, including their bed, were now downstairs by the stair case.

Arian was gorging himself on the cattle, some vegetables, and a little bit of wine the two had been saving. He was cramming food in his mouth so rapidly Olarg and Isaldi were taken a bit aback. Arian would jump from a mouth full of stack to sticking a giant leaf of cabbage in his face and swallowing it down with a drink of wine in the span of about ten seconds.

"Careful now, we can't have our hero choke on us," Isaldi said smiling.

Arian took a moment to swallow his food properly and then grabbed a breath of air.

"Sorry, I'm just really hungry," Arian commented with a sheepish laugh.

"Evidently," Olarg responded laughing. "Thank you truly for all your help today Arian. I don't know how we would've managed."

"It's no problem, I was happy to…to help," Arian managed to say through a yawn. Looking down at his plate, he still had half his meal left, but he was suddenly extremely tired.

"Maybe it's time for me to hit the hay," Arian commented.

"Wait before you do that, we have something for you," Olarg said. Arian looked at the two curiously for a moment as Olarg stood up and walked over to a chest sitting in the corner of the room. Quickly blowing the dust off, Olarg grabbed a key that was hitched to his belt and unlocked the chest. Arian watched as Olarg pulled a large great sword from the chest, an old Nordic blade that sharped into a deadly point at the end. Runes were etched into the blade from a language Arian couldn't read.

"We'd like you to have this," Isaldi said. "As a thank you for everything you did for us today."

"It was our son's sword," Olarg explained. "He had it when he died in battle and the Imperial army sent it back with his body."

"I…I can't accept this," Arian refused. "This is something really valuable to you guys, and we pretty much just met this afternoon."

"I know, but it's not getting any use here," Olarg argued. "I'm too old to fight with it, and Onmund is too busy learning magic."

"I can't," Arian simply said. "It wouldn't feel right."

"There aren't too many good people left in Skyrim," Isaldi said, and Arian looked over to her and saw tears welling up in her eyes. "Our son was one of them. But he's gone, and here you are, a good person who helped an old weary couple get through their day with little thought to yourself. Please, take his sword."

Arian looked from her to Olarg and then to the sword. That sword had belonged to someone else, and Arian just felt wrong taking it. Isaldi's words did strike Arian though, and he was touched that they felt like he was as good as their son. Maybe by using the sword, with time, Arian could make the memory of a good man proud.

"Okay, I will," Arian said. "But only because you two are more stubborn then a dragon." The last statement drew a laugh from Olarg and Isaldi, and Arian reached forward and took the great sword from Olarg's hands. It had a nice weight and balance to it, and Arian wished he had had a weapon like this when battling all the wild animals the night before. They wouldn't have stood a chance.

"We've set up a little cot for you in the windmill," Isaldi said. "It should be warm enough in there."

Arian stood up from the table yawning and rubbed his eyes as he said, "Thanks you guys. I really appreciate it."

"After everything today, we still feel indebted you," Olarg stated. "Now get some rest, I'll wake you in the morning when it's time to leave."

Arian nodded in understanding and walked out of the farm house, sword in hand. He made his way over to the windmill but paused once and looked up at the sky. While he may have been able to see the stars from the forest, now he could see the aurora borealis gleaming across the Skyrim night sky. Arian took a moment to take it all in and then continued to walk over to the windmill.

The cot Olarg and Isaldi had set up was a nice touch but the large pile of wheat and hay looked infinitely more comfortable in Arian's current state of mind. Letting himself fall backwards into it, Arian couldn't even feel the prickliness of the pile, it felt like he was lying on a cloud. As Arian drifted into sleep, he thought about everything that had happened in the last few days since Reundelf's hut.

From scrounging to survive, fighting for his life and working on a farm. _Just the dog days of life_, Arian thought to himself with a little smile as his eyes closed for the night. He was finally able to enjoy a good night of sleep.


	5. Chapter 4 - The Redguard Woman

Chapter 4 – The Redguard Woman

Arian sat in the back of the carriage, his hands resting behind his head as he stared up at the blue sky. Occasionally they'd go over a large rock on the path and Arian would wince as he was thrown upwards, but otherwise he was content to let Olarg take the wheel as the horse driven carriage made its way to Whiterun.

"Don't get too comfortable," Olarg instructed as Arian let a piece of wheat hang from his mouth. "Bandits are notorious for picking on unsuspecting drivers."

"We're not exactly unsuspecting," Arian replied, and reaching down he rested a hand on his new sword. "I'll take care of anything coming our way."

Looking back up at the blue sky, Arian contemplated what to do when he reached Whiterun. He could talk to someone at a tavern, see if they had ever heard of the red-headed mystery girl from his dream. If not, he could see if there was a bounty or anything else he could go after for some gold. There were lots of options, and Arian admitted it was challenging trying to narrow down what he wanted to do first.

As he considered these options, Arian let his mind wander and before he knew it they were arriving at the Whiterun stables. Arian sat up and looked around at all the people gathered around in the area as the carriage made its way up the hill leading to Whiterun. He was taken aback at how much was going on, this being the first time in his memory he had seen so many people.

There were Khajit camping around the outside of Whiterun selling their goods, the stables where farm hands were helping to sell and rear in horses. Out by the farms were workers like Olarg and Isaldi, but in greater numbers tending greater fields. Guards wearing face-covering helmets in tan armor were walking up and down the pathway, and were standing on stonewalls that surrounded the city and walkway into.

Arian stared in wonderment, and as the two crossed over a drawbridge, Arian leapt out of the back of the carriage to walk alongside it. He grabbed the sword and sheathed it across his back, using the new sheathe Olarg had given him. As they approached the front doors, the guard promptly stopped them.

"What's your business in Whiterun today?" the guard asked, his voice think with a Nordic accent.

"Fire at my farm yesterday," Olarg explained. I'm here to trade my goods for some building supplies."

The guard nodded, and then looked to Arian and questioned, "And what about you?" Olarg looked down to Arian as well, and Arian suddenly realized he never really decided what he was going to do first in Whiterun.

"Um… I'm here to explore the city," Arian answered apprehensively. "I've never been here before so I want to look around."

Arian said it far more suspiciously than he had intended, and the guard didn't take his gaze off of him. Arian couldn't see the guard's eyes, but it was a fair bet he was being judged pretty harshly underneath that helmet.

"Very well. But no funny business in the city," the guard said. Arian smiled in understanding, and then the guard motioned for them to continue into Whiterun.

Arian let out a little sigh of relief, worried they wouldn't let him in the city for a moment. But then as they walked through the front doors, his concerns were washed away as he took in the sights and sounds that were Whiterun. It was a city made of stone roads and wooden buildings, clearly built from nothing in the prairies of Skyrim. However due to its location at the heart of the province, it was the trade capital and blossomed quickly into the large city now before Arian.

Across the entrance bridge to Arian's right there was a blacksmith, a Redguard woman, working hard at forging steel. To his left a guard tower and a hill leading up to residences. Down the path, Arian saw shops, a couple of inns, and a plaza where merchants were waiting at their stalls to sell their goods. People were walking to and fro in all directions around the city, and Arian could hear chatter about varying subjects as he and Olarg made their way through to the plaza. Some were discussing dragons, others the civil war. No one seemed to really talk about the vampire threat, which disconcerted Arian because he knew how real it was.

Olarg stopped his carriage then, just outside a shop called Belethor's General Goods. Olarg jumped down from his carriage then and Arian moved along the side of it to properly address the old man.

"Well Arian, I guess this is where we part ways," Olarg stated, and Arian felt a tinge of sadness at the prospect. He was getting used to travel in company, and didn't much like the prospect of being on his own again. Olarg then reached out and beckoned for Arian's hand. Arian extended it, expecting to shake with Olarg, but Olarg instead dropped a pouch which jingled as it landed in Arian's hand. Just by feeling it, Arian could tell it was filled with gold.

"This is for helping yesterday," Olarg explained. "It won't be enough to buy you any new equipment, but you'll be able to buy some food for your travels."

"I…thanks Olarg, I appreciate it," Arian said, warm fuzzy feelings enveloping him.

"Just promise you'll come back to visit sometime," Olarg said. "And while you're here, look up our daughter Ysolda. She'd be happy to lend you a hand as well."

"I will," Arian responded, and before he could say more Olarg wrapped his arms around Arian and hugged him. Arian chuckled and hugged him back. The two then said their farewells and Olarg walked into Belethor's General Goods while Arian walked out into the middle of the plaza and looked around aimlessly.

Arian really had no idea what to do next. He looked from the merchants, to the guards patrolling the streets, to the taverns that surrounded him. His apparent confusion was obvious, as a blonde man in iron armor leaning against one of the supporting posts of Belethor's General Goods addressed him.

"You look lost traveller. Can I help you find something?" Arian turned around and looked at him.

Scratching the back of his head, Arian admitted, "Um yeah. I'm looking for work I guess."

"Well then traveler, your best bet is probably The Bannered Mare," the man explained. "The inn keep can give you a bounty to go hunt."

"Thanks," Arian said. "What's your name?"

"Jon Battle-Born, of the Battle-Born clan," the man said.

"Thanks Jon. I'm Arian," Arian added with a smile, and then he turned to walk away, when Jon called after him.

"Just a warning traveller, you might want to watch where you stick your nose in this city," Jon said, and Arian turned around in confusion to look at him.

"Between my family's conflict with the Gray-Manes and all the other secrets in this city, a traveller would be wise to stay out of conflicts that don't concern him," Jon finished. Arian raised an eyebrow in curiosity, not fully sure he understood what Jon meant. With a resigned shrug he turned and walked up the staircase leading into The Bannered Mare.

Upon entering, Arian looked around at the dim lighting of the tavern. A controlled fire in the middle did most of the work, but little lanterns hanging from the roof lit up small areas and created bigger shadows. There was a man banging on a pair of drums he carried in his other hand and sang a song, though Arian wished he wouldn't his voice was atrocious. There were a few men and women in armor sitting around the fire, mostly in silence as they drank, but a couple were talking.

To the right of the entrance was the bar itself, and standing there was an older woman wiping down the wood with a little cloth. Arian could see a staircase in the back that must have led upstairs, as well as a back room, but Arian figured the older woman at the bar must have been the inn keep.

As he walked over, she asked, "What can I do for you?"

Arian pondered the question, not sure where to begin. She gave him an incredulous look, like he was wasting her time, and once Arian noticed he decided to pick his first inquiry more quickly.

"I'm looking for any work that can be had. A bounty or anything like that," Arian stated. The woman raised an eyebrow and looked past Arian at the other warriors sitting around the fire.

"Whiterun doesn't really need any more fighters. I can give you a bounty, but you might be making more enemies than you think," she explained. Arian took a look around and examined the other people in the inn, and sized them up compared to the bandits and vampires he had fought. Then he remembered he had managed to kill a dragon, and shrugged it off.

"I think I'll be alright," Arian said with a dismissive wave.

"Alright traveller," the older woman started to say as she reached underneath the bar, grabbing a slip of parchment.

"Arian. My name is Arian," Arian said, not fond of being called traveller. The woman stood up with the parchment with a raised eyebrow, and then she passed Arian the page.

"I'm Hulda. A pleasure to meet you," Hulda responded. "Take that to the Jarl's steward, Proventus Avenicci with proof if you kill her."

"Thanks Hulda," Arian said with a smile. Hulda managed a smile and scratched the back of her head.

"You're welcome Arian. It's not often we get bounty hunters with manners," she concluded, and Arian turned and walked away.

However he wasn't quite out of earshot as she muttered to herself, "Or a man who looks half as delicious as you. If I was twenty years younger…"

A little shudder went up Arian's back, because although he was flattered to hear that she was quite a bit older then him. Arian looked at the bounty then as he walked back to the entrance of the inn, intent on getting some gold fast. A problem arose however when the bounty read, 'Bandit chief wanted dead or alive. Found at Valtheim Towers.'

Arian had no idea where that was, meaning he still needed a map. As this thought crossed his mind, he heard a bit of commotion in a room to the left of The Bannered Mare's entrance. It caught his attention, but a look around the inn showed none of the other warriors seemed to care. Not entirely sure why he was doing it, Arian wandered over to the room to see what was going on. He grew apprehensive as he neared, and opt to take a look from a distance what was going on.

Arian stood about a little ways from the door, just enough to hear the conversation in the room. Inside it was what looked like a kitchen, a large black pot sitting over a fire with some kind of stew inside and fresh vegetables and meat lined the walls. A staircase to the back led upstairs to presumably more rooms. In there were two women, one a middle-aged Imperial from what Arian could figure, and the other was a young Redguard woman who must have been about Arian's age.

The Redguard woman stood there looking aghast at the Nord, a bowl with overturned stew at her feet on the floor which must have been the source of the commotion. The Imperial woman was reaching out with a hand on the Redguard woman's shoulder, trying to visibly calm her down.

"Are-are you sure? They were here?" the Redguard woman asked.

"Yes, Saadia. They were asking for a Redguard girl about your age, claiming you were a fugitive. I told them I had never seen or heard about anyone like that here in Whiterun, but they didn't believe me," the other woman explained.

Saadia, Arian deduced, seemed panicked and frenzied at this as she said, "This can't be. How did they find me?"

"I don't know, but I'll do everything I can to keep them off your trail," the Imperial continued. "I didn't help smuggle you in for nothing, I know you're innocent."

"Thank you Carlotta. You have been a true friend to me," Saadia said, tears forming in her eyes. "But you have to take care of your daughter first, don't let anything happen to little Mila because of me."

Carlotta smiled, but then turned to leave the room. Arian realized it was super obvious he had been eavesdropping, and immediately pretended to be dancing to whatever awful song the bard was playing then. Once Carlotta had walked past not noticing Arian, Arian looked back to Saadia, who sat on a little stool, weeping in her hands.

He felt bad for her, and wanted to do something to help. Arian seemed to have an innate need to help people he didn't quite understand, but considering all it had done for him with Olarg and Isaldi, he figured it was no bad thing. It didn't hurt either that Saadia was easy on the eyes too. Arian hadn't had much of chance to see a lot of woman around his age, and Saadia was a good looking, well-proportioned girl. Her short hair cat framed her face beautifully, and Arian couldn't help but be attracted to her.

However at the moment all he wanted was for her to stop crying, and so Arian decided to walk into the kitchen.

"Hi," Arian said as he walked in. Saadia looked up between sobs and saw Arian, who stood there with his hands awkwardly at his sides.

"I couldn't help but overhear. Is there anything I can do to help?" Arian offered with a smile.

She looked up at Arian in confusion for many moments, but then a radiant smile popped on her face and she wiped the tears from her eyes.

"You…you want to help me?" she asked.

"Well, sure," Arian said, grabbing a little stool across the way from her. "Sounds like you're in trouble, and maybe I can do something about it."

Saadia's smile was overwhelming, and Arian couldn't help but feel like he was doing the right thing. Once she got her crying a little more under control, wiping away a few more tears and taking a few deep breaths, she looked more seriously at Arian.

"That's so kind of you," she stated. "I will do what I can to reward you for your kindness."

"The best reward for a good deed is the deed itself," Arian said, even though the prospect of a reward made this all the more enticing. He could use whatever he could get his hands on.

"I have people here call me Saadia, even though that's not my real name. I'll have to ask you call me that as well for the time being, at least until its safe," Saadia started in a lower tone. She leaned forward while saying this, and Arian did likewise to hear her better.

"My real name is Iman, and back in Hammerfell I was a noblewoman of the House Suda. However I have had to renounce that name after I spoke out publicly against the Aldemeri Dominion," Saadia continued. Arian nodded in understanding, while staying in Reundelf's hut he had read about them. They were an empire from the Summerset Isles run by high elves who called themselves Thalmor and had a presence in Skyrim at the time. To Arian's knowledge, most of Tamriel had taken a knee to their power, so Saadia's claim of speaking out against them wouldn't work out well for her.

"I had to flee soon after, because they hired Alik'r assassins to kill me. Carlotta was sympathetic to my cause and helped me set up a fake identity here in Whiterun, but the assassins have followed me to Skyrim," Saadia continued. "They've been searching here for months, but it sounds like they've finally pinned down my location to Whiterun. They're not allowed into the city's having snuck into the provinces themselves, but that won't stop them forever."

"So what do you need from me?" Arian asked, keen on figuring out how to win this beautiful girl's affections. To him, it was like she was a princess and he the noble knight could save her. Arian knew that was romanticizing it, but he was enjoying the fantasy.

"I need you to kill them," Saadia finished. Arian was taken slightly aback at this. This bold request was not fitting the image of the fair maiden in front of him. Arian had no problem killing people deserved it, but it didn't seem right coming from her lips.

"Umm…I'm not sure," Arian responded. "Like, couldn't we help you escape to somewhere else or something?"

Saadia for a split moment seemed severely put out at Arian's reluctance to her initial request. But then her expression changed to helplessness as she looked to her knees.

"I've finally built a life here, I don't want to have to abandon another one," Saadia lamented. "What kind of life is that? Always running, creating a new identity wherever you go?" Arian let that sink in and understood what she meant. For some reason he was still apprehensive, as killing for her just seemed wrong.

"I don't have much money to reward you with," Saadia continued, but then she gently placed her hand on Arian's legs. "But…maybe there is another way I can repay you?" Then she moved leg higher up Arian's thigh, and Arian felt a warm sensation run up his body.

"Ummm….ummm…" Arian stuttered, his face turning red at the prospect. Saadia smirked a little then, her hand running up ever so slightly higher Arian's thigh. By this point Arian's brain was a brick of cheese melting on a hot summer day.

"Duh duh duh…I'll do it. I'll kill the bad men," was all Arian could muster,

"So where can I find these assassins?" Arian asked. Saadia stood up and walked over to a chest lying in the corner of the room. She opened it and pulled out a large parchment, a map of Skyrim.

"I've known of their presence in Skyrim for a while, and I've narrowed their location a cave called the Swindler's Den," Saadia explained as she handed Arian the map. Arian was a bit confused that she already knew the location, something seemingly off about it.

But then Saadia leaned forward and whispered, "The sooner they're dead, the sooner I'll grant you your reward."

That reset Arian's thought process to kill all of the assassins mode, and soon after Arian was leaving The Bannered Mare. It was mid-day, Arian quickly dashed to one of the merchants and used the money Olarg had gave him to buy rations for his journey. What felt like only moments later he had started his walk out of Whiterun. Before leaving the main gates he took a look at the map Saadia had given him, and made note of the red X she had drawn onto it. Putting that away in his pack, Arian steeled himself for the walk. At least this time he had a better idea of where he was going.

The sun set as Arian walked along the road leading west out of Whiterun. Swindler's Den was supposed to be located just a few kilometres outside of the city. As Arian walked along the road, he was grateful that the greater Whiterun area was a safer passage than the forest he had been walking through a couple nights before. Guards patrolled up and down the trail, and Arian took solace that no wolves or sabre cats had picked a fight with him yet.

A short time later after the sun had set, Arian was still on the move towards Swindlers Den. He hadn't stopped to eat yet, thought of Saadia carrying him every step of the way. The rock road had since changed into a dirt one, a sign that Arian was no longer on a policed road and grew more cautious. His trail had led him over hills and plateaus, where sharp jagged rocks poked out. A couple of times Arian heard growling noises peaking stirring from behind the crevices in the boulders, and Arian would grip the hilt of his sword in preparation. Each time whatever animal was hunting him would back off.

Finally having followed what he believed to be the right trail, Arian stopped in his tracks and pulled out the map. It was in this moment Arian lamented having not brought a torch with him because he could barely read said map. To make matters worse, there weren't any other markings or anything he could really use to identify if it was the right area. Arian grumbled and put the map away, not seeing any caves in his immediate vicinity. He continued along the road for a few more minutes, keeping his eyes peeled for anything that could look like the Swindlers Den.

At one point Arian was between two hills, both marked by large jagged rocks. Letting out a sigh Arian scratched the back of his head while he stopped walking. It felt like he had gone too far north, so Arian pulled the map out again. Taking a quick glance up, Arian saw a large mountain ahead of him to the north. Down at the map, Arian saw that mountain at the very least was on the map. From what he could tell Arian may have been near the Swindler's Den, but by what he could read the entrance should have been right beside him. It was nowhere to be seen, leading Arian to believe he was reading it wrong. It was made all the more difficult by the dark shroud of night, as it made every crack and crevice look like a possible cave entrance. It turned his search into looking for a needle in a hay stack.

"Man…what am I doing?" Arian asked himself. His stomach began to rumble, and Arian questioned how badly he wanted to do this for Saadia. It still felt like he didn't know her full story and he was being led along. Reaching into his pack Arian brought out a piece of bread and took a bite as he contemplated is life decisions.

Then he heard a scratching noise come from his right, so Arian turned to see what it was. Between two large jagged rocks there was a small crack that Arian could see a little behind. Something moved quickly past it then, creating a shadow that alarmed Arian. It may be a wolf, Arian figured, and that wasn't too concerning considering he had killed one before with his bare hands.

However that shadow was followed by a large roar and the pattering sound of four large feet running across the ground. The sound went from behind the rocks to further up the trail, when suddenly from a large crevice in the rocks emerged a large bear. Arian let go off the hilt of his sword, not sure it would be enough to take a bear. Roaring again, the bear charged at Arian. There was no way to outrun it, so Arian would have to out maneuver it.

A look to his left revealed a crevice a few feet off the ground just large enough for him to fit through, and so Arian jumped for it. He heard the snapping of the bear's jaws behind him, an attack that would have easily snapped his ankle in half. Arian expected to land on the side of the hill as he came through the other side of the crevice. To his surprise, he fell down into darkness.

Arian hit rock floor with a hard thud. It was a jarring landing, and the only thing that snapped Arian to reality was the roar of the bear behind him. He looked back up to where he had fallen from, only to realize he couldn't see it. Wherever he was, it was too dark. Much to his relief the bear sound didn't follow him, so the crevice wasn't quite big enough for the bear to follow after. Arian shakily stood up and rubbed his arms and legs, trying to get the shock out of his system.

He considered his options for a few moments, trying to decide what to do when he was able to hear the sound of running water. Arian followed the noise until his feet began to feel damp, and he knelt down. Placing his hand in the water, he realized it was a small stream. It seemed to be running from where Arian had just jumped, and Arian figured his best course might be to go where it was flowing to.

So Arian walked in darkness for several minutes, his hands outstretched in front of him blindly searching for a wall face so he wouldn't crash into it. Arian started to consider this plan a bad one, when suddenly the sound of rushing water picked up substantially, echoing louder and louder off the cave walls. Arian found himself trying to walk more cautiously, getting ready for when the water would begin to flow more heavily.

Much to his clumsy dismay, Arian's foot failed to touch down where he planned right when there was sudden drop in the water, and he fell over top of himself unexpectedly into chest high water. The water was picking up momentum and Arian was tumbling in the water as it carried him into deeper and deeper water. Arian barely managed to get his head above the water where he gasped for air and he tried to slow his descent but the water was flowing too quickly.

The roar of the water and the darkness greatly disoriented Arian and he did his best to try and figure out which part of his body was where when things started getting brighter in the tunnel. Arian turned to see the source of the light, and could see an opening in the tunnel he was in. Letting out a little sigh of relief, Arian was grateful that he'd finally be able to see what he was doing. But then as the tunnel opened, Arian's eyes widened to see the tunnel opened to a drop.

"My luck," Arian muttered, and he let out an unwilling scream as he fell down the water fall into a pool of water twenty feet below. In his descent he saw he was in a cave that had torches illuminating the whole area, revealing the dark greyish blue of the walls. That was all Arian had time to process, as he hit the water with a splash. He was lucky the pool was deep enough to take his impact, as he came very close to hitting his head on a rock and ending it all there.

The water flowed less quickly there, and Arian managed to swim to the edge of the pool and drag himself onto the rocks. He fell onto his stomach and shut his eyes, trying to get water out of everywhere it had seeped into. Coughing the water out of his lungs he put his hands to the ground and got on all fours.

Just as he opened his eyes, he looked up the point of a sword. Standing in front of him, clad in chainmail armor and telltale turbans, were four Redguard soldiers who seemed unimpressed with Arian.

"Uh…don't suppose you guys wouldn't mind talking this out huh?" Arian asked.

In the next few moments the Alik'r warriors were walking Arian through the cave. Walking with one in front, one on either side and one in the back, Arian was pretty much boxed in. They had taken away his great sword and held a blade to his back to keep him in line. Arian figured his best chance of getting through this would be to play along, and strike when they had taken him to their leader. This was overlooking the fact that he was unarmed, but Arian was trying to think positive.

The cave system they led him through was reinforced by support beams in a couple places, and Arian made note of the scaffolding that had been constructed in large open sections of the cave. Whoever had built all this had the intention of staying, Arian realized, which made him confused as to why the Alik'r assassins would go through all this trouble if they just wanted to kill one woman.

Arian was led into a large room, with a slope that curved upwards. Tables and maps were everywhere to be seen, leaving Arian believe to he was in some kind of war room. Additionally there were even more Redguard warriors in there, scimitars strapped to their sides. Arian's eyes darted around the room, trying to think up a strategy he could use to fight. There wasn't a lot of time to consider it as the Redguard in front of Arian stopped walking mid-way up the slope, making Arian bump into him in surprise.

"Kematu, sir! We caught an intruder," one Redguard soldier said, and Arian looked past the man in front of him to see a taller Redguard soldier turn to address him. The Redguard in front of Arian moved out of the way over to a table as the taller one, Kematu, walked closer to inspect Arian.

"Well, what do we have here?" Kematu asked, his voice deep and menacing. "What were you doing lurking in this cave? Hunting the bandits we had already evicted?"

"Sure, let's go with that," Arian answered with a coy smile. Kematu eyed him suspiciously for several moments, and then shook his head.

"Did Iman send you to kill us?" Kematu asked.

"Can you read minds?" Arian asked back, perplexed as to how Kematu could know that.

"No. But you just told me regardless," Kematu replied with a smile. Arian's eyes went down as he realized his own stupidity.

"You do realize she's lying to you?" Kematu questioned as he walked away. "What did she tell you, that we were Alik'r assassins sent to kill you?"

Arian's confused silence answered for him, and Kematu grabbed a bottle of alto wine from a nearby table. Taking a drink Kematu stated, "That woman has been using everyone she came across since first coming to Skyrim. Her real story paints her in a much more negative light."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Arian asked, anger seeping in. Saadia, that beautiful woman a liar? Arian didn't believe it for a second and it frustrated him to hear her accused as such.

"Iman was a Redguard noble, that was no lie," Kematu explained. "However what really happened is she sold secrets to Aldmeri kingdom which led to the fall of the city Taneth in our war with them.

"Since then we've been hunting her down to bring her back, not for a price, but so she can see justice in our homeland of Hammerfell," Kematu finished.

Arian let the story sink in, trying to digest it all. It was entirely possible, Saadia may have been using Arian as a means to an end. If that were true, Arian should have just sold her out to the Redguard warriors for trying to use him.

The thought of Saadia's warm smile and the idea of her hand running up and down his leg changed his mind though. There was no way she was lying. These men must have been doing it to use him to get to her. And that wasn't going to happen.

"Well, even if I did believe you, I would still kick your asses for sounding like pompous assholes," Arian commented.

Kematu managed a little chuckle and shook his head in disappointment. Placing the Alto wine back down, he then asked, "What did she promise you that you're so captivated by her? Gold?"

Then cocking his head to the side, Kematu judgementally questioned, "Or did she offer you lust?"

Arian said nothing, and Kematu nodded in understanding.

"That explains much. She is a beautiful woman, and a night with her would surely be apt reward for a hero like yourself," Kematu commented. "However, once we have our hands on her, all she will be is a pretty little corpse. More than we can say for you."

This angered Arian enough into action. Arian spun and slapped the scimitar digging into his back away, so fast the Redguard using it didn't have to react. All around him Redguard stood up from their tables and all drew their scimitars in preparation. His sword was strapped across that Redguard's back, and he lunged forward with a free hand and grabbed his neck.

Arian than stepped to the side and threw the man by the neck down past him, sending his face into the floor. With a spin Arian used his other hand and grabbed his great sword from the Redguard's back as the man fell. Coming out of his spin Arian brought his sword up and parried a vertical swing from the Redguard on his left. The Redguard was caught off guard and Arian quickly recoiled his arm and then swung out wildly and slashed the soldier across his throat.

That one fell over dead with a blood splatter as the one to Arian's other side charged in. He swung horizontally, and Arian instinctively spun and ducked low. Arian dodged the attack by doing so and then he tucked his sword into his side. With a quick lunge forward Arian impaled the man on his sword, but only for a brief moment as Arian extracted it and then hit the man with the butt of his sword across the Redguard's face. The Redguard tumbled over, and Arian looked back up at Kematu as he stabbed down into the first Redguard's back, who still hadn't got off the floor yet.

Blood from the Redguard's smeared Arian's skin as that last Redguard twitched on the ground. The other six Redguard in the room were now assembled on the ridge in front of Arian beside Kematu. Kematu had grown serious now, and eyed Arian with distaste.

"Kill him," the leader commanded, and they charged Arian with their scimitars ready. Arian lifted his sword up and held it by his right shoulder in a fighting stance as they ran in. Six against one? Arian felt confident.

He back stepped down the slope and let the Redguard warriors surround him in a circle. One from Arian's right ran in and hacked at him, and Arian blocked the blow. As he held that sword in place one from Arian's left swung in with his sword raised above his head. Still holding that first sword in place Arian kicked upwards into the second Redguard's face and knocked him back.

Arian then dropped his shoulder and charged forward at the first Redguard soldier dodging two attacks on either side of him in the process. The Redguard stumbled backwards and as Arian broke their circle he spun and swung his sword out wide. He slashed two Redguard soldiers across the chest. Then Arian reversed his on the sword and stabbed backwards. It impaled the Redguard behind him who had attempted to charge in.

This left three Redguard soldiers, one with a broken nose from Arian's kick, who were now apprehensive over fighting Arian. They all waited to charge in, hoping Arian would give them an opportunity. He didn't.

Arian slashed out wide at the Redguard on the left, forcing him to bring up his scimitar to block the attack. He blocked Arian's swing but the hit made him stutter backwards. Arian then swung his sword diagonally in the other direction so fast the Redguard couldn't prepare. Blood spurted out from the Redguard's chest as Arian slashed him, and then Arian used his momentum from the swing and held his sword behind his back and blocked an attack from behind.

The Redguard who attempted to sneak up on Arian recoiled in surprise, not expecting Arian to block his attack in such a manner. Arian then pivoted his foot and quickly turned, bringing his sword down low in the process. With a quick bound Arian leapt past the stunned Redguard and swung his mighty great sword. That Redguard fell to the floor in two pieces, disconnected at the waist. Finally the last Redguard dropped his sword and fell to his knees in surrender.

"Please, one woman isn't worth dying over!" the Redguard pleaded. Arian looked to him, kind of surprised that this was happening, but also glad there was one less life he had to take. But then to Arian's shock the Redguard's head was suddenly removed from his body with the swing of a scimitar. Kematu was standing behind the headless corpse, holding duel scimitars and staring intently at Arian.

"I have no need for cowards in my ranks," Kematu explained, his smile well gone from earlier. "Now, one last chance to surrender and I'll make your death as quick as his."

"Like hell," Arian responded, and he charged at Kematu. Kematu held on scimitar low and the other high in a fighting posture Arian knew he had never seen before.

Arian hacked horizontally at the Kematu, and Kematu took one quick side step and swatted his low sword at Arian's weapon. The scimitar impacted the great sword and knocked it off to the side making Arian stutter, and then Kematu swung downward with the higher blade. Barely able to do so, Arian spun off to the side and avoided the attack, but tripped over his own two feet.

Kematu was there and attacked Arian with both blades, swinging his swords in a criss-cross pattern. Arian blocked the attack by having one hand on the hilt of his sword and the other along the blade, giving him enough support to not be taken by Kematu's strength. Kematu seemed to expect the strong block as he barely recoiled, and rather as his swords scraped against Arian's he let them go down low and then he suddenly stabbed forward at Arian.

Like swinging a golf club Arian swung his sword in a low arc and knocked the scimitars off to the side and saved himself form getting skewered. Again Kematu rolled with his momentum and he spun in a full circle and swung at Arian with both blades. Arian just managed to block that attack but the force was more than he could handle and he felt himself stuttering backwards. Once Arian was able to get his feet properly on the ground, he looked to Kematu who was swinging his swords in different angles at Arian.

He managed to hold his sword at just enough of an angle to block both attacks, but the awkwardness of it gave him fortitude and he again found himself scrambling to stay upright as he fell backwards. That became difficult as his back was against cavern wall then, and he was still crouched over trying to stand back up. Kematu made his life even more difficult by swinging downwards with both blades, and Arian was just able to block the blow, holding his sword over his head. As the blades connected Kemtau pushed down firmly, pressing his advantage against Arian.

"Well then…this is awkward," Arian stated as he strained against Kematu's swords.

"If Iman sent you to kill us, that must mean we were close to finding her. She's in Whiterun, isn't she?" Kematu asked, his devilish smile returning. Arian grimaced, giving Kematu all the information he needed.

"What name is she going as now? Lendora? Saadia? Just so once I sneak into the city, I'll have an easier time ending her pitiful life," Kematu continued. Arian's head went to thoughts of Saadia, and the image of her had been polluted by Kematu's story. Regardless, he wasn't about to let this jerk be the one to end him.

"It's just a shame she tricked such a capable warrior like yourself. You have such potential, but let that devil whore use like a dumb pack mule," Kematu finished.

"Shut!" Arian started as he let go off his sword with one of his hands. Using that hand he punched forward as hard as he could and hit Kematu right in the groin.

"Up!" Kematu lurched forward in shock and pain, the pressure of blades easing considerably. Arian used that to punch them away with his great sword as Arian stood up. Arian then took a step past Kematu and beat him in the back of the head with the pommel of his sword. Kematu stumbled towards the wall, unable to process what was happening to him. The Redguard warrior just managed to spin around to properly face Arian as he shot a palm into the Kematu's face.

Arian palm thrust Kematu's with such force and power the once formidable warrior's head caved in a bloody explosion as it hit the wall. Kematu crumpled into a lifeless form, and Arian stood there panting and staring at his bloody hand in a mix of awe and disgust. He had no idea he was so strong, and was taken a bit aback at his own actions.

After spending a bit of time in the cave resting, washing the blood off himself and eating the meal he had bought earlier in Whiterun, Arian found the cave's proper entrance and left. It was still night but Arian was intent on returning to the city to get answers from Saadia. His reward didn't even really matter to him anymore. For all he knew the Redguard's had been telling the truth, and if so he had just murdered a bunch of innocent people. That wasn't something he was going to stand for.

Upon returning to Whiterun, Arian instantly made his way back to The Bannered Mare. The sun had just poked up over the horizon, and the people of Whiterun were all beginning their daily routines. A couple of people who claimed to be from the Clouds District, a supposedly nicer part of the city, all gave Arian trouble for smelling so bad, but Arian ignored them and pushed on. He needed answers.

Barging in the Bannered Mare, Arian saw Hulda walking around and cleaning the front of the inn. She was startled by Arian's entrance and she found herself grasping her chest. Exasperated she said, "Oh my, have you killed that bounty already?"

Arian had completely forgotten he had even taken the bounty. The events of the prior day seemed like a lifetime ago after what he had been through with the Redguard warriors.

"No, not yet. Where's Saadia?" Arian asked.

"Saadia? She's in her room upstairs from the kitchen," Hulda answered, perplexed by the question. Arian nodded in thanks and proceeded to where she had specified.

"Wait! She's probably not even-" Arian didn't hear the end of the statement as he rushed up the stairs to Saadia's room. Not even bothering to knock, Arian opened the door to address Saadia and realized Hulda was going to say Saadia's probably not even decent.

Saadia stood with her back to Arian as she pulled on her dress, her top exposed. She looked over her shoulder in surprise, and then smiled upon seeing Arian. Arian's face flushed red and he looked away while Saadia finished pulling her dress on.

"No need to be so bashful," Saadia stated. "You may be seeing more of that in a few moments anyway." Arian let that thought sink in for a few moments, but then he quickly shook his head as he remembered what he needed to say.

"Are the Redguards dead?" she asked walking over to him.

"Yeah, but they told me something interesting," Arian responded standing tall as she neared him.

"What's that?" Saadia questioned, standing only a few inches away from Arian seductively.

"Did you sell out Hammerfell to the Aldmeri?" Arian asked, crossing his arms. Arian intently studied Saadia's face for several moments as her eyes went to the floor.

"Don't you trust me?" she asked, looking up at Arian sadly. Her face retained the smoulder it still had from a few moments before, and Arian realized she was still trying to seduce him.

"Answer the question. Those weren't assassins here to kill you, were they?" Arian pressed on. Saadia's little frown then turned into an evil little smile and she remained silent. Arian felt rage set into his body as the image of the Redguards he murdered took forefront in his mind.

"Were they!?" Arian shouted at her. Saadia did not give up her stance, rather she eyed Arian from head to toe with an almost renewed interest.

"Well…how else was I supposed to get away without telling a little white lie?" Saadia asked. "What does it matter? Dead is dead." She then reached up to stroke his face but Arian harshly grabbed her wrist before she could do so.

Saadia almost seemed impressed, and took all of Arian's willpower to not strike her. Her eyes seemed to be egging him on, daring him to do it. With an exasperated sigh he let her hand go and turned to walk away.

"You don't want your reward?" she asked as Arian started to walk down the stairs.

"Keep it," Arian responded. "The only person who can please you is yourself."

Arian didn't turn to see Saadia's appalled reaction to that comment, but Arian knew he would take little satisfaction in it anyway. He walked into the Bannered Mare's lobby and stood there for a few moments. Hulda looked at him concerned, his expression clearly one of distraught. Before she could ask any questions, Arian left the inn.

He spent the rest of that day buying supplies in Whiterun. There was still a little gold left from what Olarg had gave him, and Arian didn't have much desire to go out gallivanting after the bounty right away. With his money he bought more food and some cooking supplies, not too keen on just eating bread all the time. Arian also weighed how much he wanted new armor. He spent a lot of time at Warmaiden's the local blacksmith, trying to decide if he wanted a grey set of iron armor. It would protect his torso better and maybe free him up to take a couple of hits in battle. However he decided to wait and make the purchase when he had a little more gold.

By the end of the day, as the sun was setting, Arian sat on the steps leading up to the Bannered Mare. He had considered renting a room there for the night, but the thought of seeing Saadia again made him sick. So Arian sat on the stairs thinking about what he could do for accommodations that night seeing as The Bannered Mare was Whiterun's only inn.

"Hello?" asked a gentle voice. Arian looked up, and in front of him stood a young woman with short red hair in a blue dress. She was quite pretty, gentle features marking her face, but there was a hardness there that must have come from years of hard work.

"Uh, hi," Arian responded.

"Are you Arian?" she asked, and Arian nodded.

"I'm Ysolda. My father Olarg said to keep an eye out for you," she explained and Arian recalled that Olarg had said she lived in Whiterun.

"Oh, hi! It's nice to meet you," Arian said standing up. He extended a hand and she shook it gently. Her hands were rough but her touch was soft, and Arian felt a few butterflies in his stomach. She motioned for him to sit back down, and so the two of them sat on the steps outside of the inn.

Ysolda explained to Arian that she wanted to be a merchant and that Hulda had said she would give her the inn one day. She also had spent a lot of time with the Khajit, studying their merchant ways. Arian didn't want to say anything, and was actually perfectly happy to let her speak, but she pried and Arian eventually told her what had happened with Saadia and the Redguards.

"I'm more ashamed than anything else," Arian said at the end of his story. "I can't believe I let myself get used like that."

"Skyrim has a lot of people who are just out to use you," Ysolda responded. She didn't seem to be judging him at all for his decision making skills, making Arian feel relieved. "You have to be careful who you trust."

"Well, I'm getting the feeling you can't trust anyone," Arian lamented. Ysolda gave Arian a sad look, but then she smiled and put a hand on his knee.

"I feel like I can trust you," she said, and Arian looked to her.

"You just met me," he responded with a chuckle.

"Yes, but my father told me what you did for them. How you saved their farm. And you were willing to take a stranger at their word because you thought it was the right thing to do" Ysolda countered. "You have good inside you. My father could see that from the little time he spent with you."

Arian smiled and looked to the ground as he said, "Thanks."

Ysolda then looked away and muttered under breath unintentionally loud enough for Arian to hear, "He did not mention how attractive you were." Arian's eyebrows raised in surprise.

Then clearing her throat Ysolda asked, "Do you have anywhere to stay tonight?" Arian shook his head and she stood up offering him a hand.

"Stay with me. It's the least I can do for saving my parents farm," Ysolda offered. Arian looked into her eyes for many moments, captivated.

"Sure, why not?" Arian answered, and she led him back to her house. Located behind the Bannered Mare was Ysolda's house, one of Whiterun's smaller buildings. As Arian entered he saw she had to use her space consciously, the kitchen and living room pretty much the same room.

"Make yourself at home," Ysolda stated as she walked over to a cabinet. Arian nodded and then realized how badly he wanted to sleep. It had been almost forty-eight hours since the last time he slept, and a good night's sleep in a good bed could put his head in a better place. Then Arian realized there was a slight problem with that idea, noticing there was only one bed.

"Um, where do I sleep?" Arian asked, looking at the other side of the rom from where Ysolda was standing.

"In the bed," she answered from behind Arian's back.

"Yeah but there's only one," Arian argued, and he turned to face her.

"I'm aware," Ysolda responded.

So much for a good night's sleep, Arian realized. But that didn't really matter. At the end of the day, he still got his reward.


	6. Chapter 5 - How to Train Your Troll

Chapter 5 – How to Train your Troll

Arian waited in a nearby set of bushes. He had found Valtheim Towers, where the bounty report had said the bandit chief would be. Crouched over in a set of firms, Arian didn't realize he wasn't actually well hidden. The hilt of his great sword stuck up high from the bushes, and the top of his head peeked up over the tip of the branches.

He wasn't too worried about that however. Arian was too busy keeping his eye on the bandits in the stone towers. Valtheim Towers were two towers that sat on opposing edges of a river, with a stone bridge connecting them. The bridge sat about middle of the way up the tower near him, still another good twenty to thirty feet high above that. They must have been built as a set of guard towers, but these bandits had control of them at the moment. Arian counted five bandits in total, one in front of the entrance to the tower on his side of the river, one up high in that tower with a bow in arrow, one across the river in a similar position, and two on the bridge.

The bounty report Arian had been given gave no indication of who the bandit chief was in the group, but Arian figured it was one of bandits on the bridge, a large orc woman. She wore heavy steel plate armor and had large wooden shield studded with steel. At her side was a large golden mace, dwarven make from what Arian could tell. She would be a tough opponent to take out.

There was solace that Arian did not get terribly lost trying to find the towers. Between the map Saadia had given him and Ysolda's directions, Arian had managed to get to the towers in just a couple hours of travelling.

Thoughts of Ysolda sent Arian's head back to the night prior. Arian had lost track of how long the two spent embracing each other in her bed, he only knew it felt like forever. He was happy to discover that action was also muscle memory to him, because no amateur could make a woman moan the way Ysolda did. Arian couldn't help but have a little smirk on his face as he hid in the bushes while remembering the night before and that morning.

The sun had just been creeping over the horizon and a little light started to illuminate Ysolda's home. Arian woke up after the best rest of his life, his left arm cradling Ysolda as he spooned her. They were both still naked, and Arian took the chance to admire her form in that moment. He grinned, but realized if he wanted to claim that bounty he'd need to get up and find where Valtheim Towers was located.

Moving slowly and carefully as to not wake her, Arian stood up from the bed and moved to where his clothes had been tossed to on the floor. He gingerly started putting them on, but a yawning Ysolda made him turn around. She was one her back with her hands up by her head as she stretched. As her eyes opened, she beamed at him, and Arian couldn't resist a little smile himself.

"Hey you, go back to sleep," Arian said, but Ysolda shook her head.

"Can't, I have to keep working at my trade," she responded, and then her expression turned to one of sheer satisfaction. "You were incredible."

"Thanks," Arian responded with a blush. "You were pretty amazing yourself."

She looked apprehensive for a moment then, and she said, "I don't want you thinking I jump into bed with guys I just meet. That's never happened to me before." Arian strapped on his wrist guards and looked at her curiously.

"It's just…well you saved my parents farm, you're better looking than over half of the men in Skyrim, and then to top it off last night you looked like a sad puppy after what happened with the Redguards. You were pretty much irresistible, and I was lucky I already knew you were a good guy," Ysolda elaborated. Arian nodded in understanding, and then he moved to sit by the foot of her bed.

"I don't usually do things like this either…that I know of…and I don't want you thinking I was taking advantage of you. But for starters, you beautiful," Arian said, making Ysolda blush and look away. "And you listened when I needed someone to. So thank you." Arian also knew part of the reason was that Saadia had promised him that, but ulterior motives had soured that option for Arian. So when it was offered like that by Ysolda, Arian didn't have too much to think about.

Ysolda moved to sit up, the blanket drooping down covering her bottom but leaving her top exposed. She smiled at him and put a hand on his leg.

"I could go for one more round, if you're interested," Ysolda commented, and Arian laughed and looked down.

"Oh I would love to," Arian answered. "But I shouldn't. I have a bounty I want to go collect, and with my sense of direction I should get going."

"Do you have a map?" Ysolda asked, cocking her head to the side.

"Yeah, for all the good it does me," Arian responded.

"Here, show it to me," Ysolda offered. Arian stood up and grabbed the map from his pack and passed it to her. He also showed her the bounty, and Ysolda took a few moments to look at the map and marked it where Arian could find Valtheim Towers. After a quick explanation of how to find it, Arian nodded and stood up.

"Thanks, I owe you now," Arian remarked. Ysolda shrugged her shoulders and stood up, letting the blanket completely fall off.

"Well, then come back once you're done. Maybe we can do that again," Ysolda offered. Arian took one look at the red head in front of him, and he shrugged his shoulders.

"I wouldn't argue with that," Arian responded, but then his cheeks turned red. "Or since you saved me some time, maybe we can do it now as well."

Ysolda grinned and pulled him in for a kiss. The two embraced, and Arian realized what a waste of time it had been to put on his clothes. Regardless, it was worth it.

Arian then realized as he snapped back to the present he had been sitting in the bush remembering that fondly for a few minutes, and the bandit by the entrance seemed to have notice him. A Redguard woman, she was reaching for her axe as she walked over to Arian, and Arian grabbed the hilt of his sword. He may have lost the element of surprise, but he sure wasn't about to lose the fight.

"Hey, I think we have an intruder!" the bandit called, and with that Arian leaped forward from the bushes at bandit. There were a few feet between them and it gave her time to swing her axe out at Arian. Arian ducked low and then swung upwards with great sword quickly. A trail of blood followed the slash and the bandit fell backwards with a shriek.

Arian took a moment to look up and noticed that the other bandits were mobilizing against him. He'd have to move fast if he wanted to reduce their numbers. He burst into the tower's entrance and looked around. The interior was built with wooden scaffolding and had stairs leading up through it. Arian dashed up the stairs, not paying any mind to the chests and shelves that marked the walls.

At one point Arian saw a way out to the bridge, but a plan was fast formulating in his head. Arian continued to run up the tower, hearing the bandits yell out in confusion. None of them seemed to know where he was, and that was exactly what he needed for his plan to work. The top of the tower was still twenty feet away, so Arian ran as fast as his legs could take him. Arian finally reached the top of the tower, and saw the archer, a young Breton male up there. He was scanning the bridge trying to get eyes on Arian, but as Arian neared the bandit turned to see he was approaching.

Faster than Arian would have expected, the bandit nocked and fired an arrow. Arian leaned to the side as he ran at the archer, dodging the arrow. Just before Arian reached the bandit the bandit swung out wildly with the bow. Arian swung upwards with his sword and snapped the bow in half, stunning the archer and making his arms go out wide. Then pivoting on his foot Arian spun around and kicked the bandit in the chest.

He hit the bandit with enough force that the bandit went stumbling backwards and fell off the edge of the tower towards the bridge. In a daring and possibly stupid move Arian followed the bandit and jumped off the edge. The two bandits on the bridge looked up in shock as Arian descended with the bandit, the two fast dropping. With a hard thud and crack the bandit hit the bridge and died almost instantly. Arian then landed on top of the bandit and used his body to brace his fall. Upon landing Arian immediately rolled forward and then stood up. Between the bandit's body and the roll, Arian had managed to absorb enough of the force of the drop. His knees were still quite shaky from it regardless.

A bandit, a Khajit warrior, stood between Arian and the bandit chief, and he ran at Arian with abandon. Arian's whole body was feeling the impact of the fall and the Khajit charging at him seemed intent on taking advantage of that. The Khajit swung at Arian with a dagger in his left hand, and as Arian dodged it Arian found himself stumbling backwards to avoid the sword in the Khajit's right hand. Arian knew the bandit was going to continue to pushing his advantage and he had to turn the fight back to his terms.

The Khajit swung at Arian with the dagger again and as he did Arian quickly swung his sword. Using the superior reach of his sword Arian managed to get his blade underneath the dagger's reach and cut off the Khajit's hand. With a scream the Khajit dropped his sword and fell to his knees, grasping at his severed limb. Arian didn't have time to deal with the now handicapped bandit and he quickly beat the Khajit across the side of the head with his sword, knocking the Khajit off the bridge into the river below.

"You are a fine warrior," the bandit chief commented, her voice extremely low for a woman's. "I shall enjoy making you pay for what you did to my people."

"Well," Arian said, his voice even shaky from the fall. "I'm going to making you pay for my livelihood once I collect the bounty." Arian charged at the bandit chief then and swung downwards at her. She raised her shield and deflected Arian's blow easily enough, and with a push she knocked Arian back. Arian struggled to keep his footing, but then found himself blocking an attack from the bandit chief's mace. He used the broadside of his sword to do so, but then to his surprise he got hit in the head by the bandit chief's shield.

The bash made Arian fall onto his back in shock. There was no time to lie around as the bandit chief swung down with her mace, not leaving Arian a lot of room to maneuver on the narrow bridge. Arian curved his body to the side and let the mace hit the ground, but then he found himself scrambling to bring his sword up. She pushed down hard with her shield and Arian held her at bay with his sword, but the bandit chief was strong and had the advantageous position on him.

Arian saw her lifting her mace into the air, and if Arian moved himself at all to dodge or block the attack he would be susceptible to the shield. His feet were still free he realized. Arian quickly wrapped his feet around legs and twisted. The bandit chief yelped as she lost her balance and fell to the side. Relived from the power of her shield Arian sat up as the bandit chief struggled to not fall off the side of the bridge, her top half already careening over the edge.

She had dropped her shield and mace, and was flailing her arms wildly to try and maintain balance. Arian stood up and cracked his neck then considered his next course of action. He could let the bandit chief fall and die, but he also had the option of bringing her in alive. After what had happened with the Redguards, Arian appreciated the option and decided he had enough of an edge he could take her hostage.

Just as Arian reached to help her up however, he received an arrow in the leg. Blinding shearing pain shot through Arian's body, and for a moment all he could see were white lights. Arian stumbled and began to fall forward. Looking to his side, Arian realized he had forgotten about the fifth bandit, another archer. Unable to control his balance Arian fell forward off the bridge as the bandit chief tumbled downward as well.

The two hit the river with a splash, the water just deep enough so Arian didn't hit the hard rocks on the bottom. The surge of water disoriented Arian and he couldn't see, hear or breathe properly. Arian managed to get his head above water where he gasped for air, and he realized he was still moving. Looking around, Arian saw he was floating down stream, but was grateful that he was still alive. His sword was nowhere to be seen however, much to his dismay.

Despite the pain in his leg, a red stream flowing from it in the water, Arian figured he could swim to shore. He'd have to rely on his arms to get him there, so Arian started the best doggie paddle he could muster. Suddenly then the bandit chief burst out of the water beside him and tackled him. Arian couldn't do much in response as the bandit chief forced his head underwater.

Arian tried to push back and escape, his limbs flailing wildly underwater, but as water filled his lungs and blood fled from his body Arian felt all his strength leaving him. Then Arian realized he was moving faster and faster downstream, and the bandit chief stopped applying pressure to him. He realized they must have been heading towards a waterfall, but there was no way he'd be able to get away in his condition.

Reaching out, Arian grabbed the bandit chief by the foot as she tried to swim away. There was a chance she would drag him out with her, but before that could happen they picked up even more speed. The last thing Arian remembered before going over the edge of the waterfall was the image of Ysolda sitting half-naked on the bed.

He wasn't entirely sure when he reawakened, all Arian knew was he came to on the edge of a small island. Now he could add drowning to the list of things he miraculously survived, Arian realized with a small smile. Coughing, Arian spat out the water in his throat as he out his hands to the ground and tried to stand. The second his knees started to support him he crumpled back into the dirt, the arrow still in his leg.

_Right_, Arian thought to himself, _that was a thing that happened_. Grimacing in pain Arian managed to spin around onto his back. Arian propped himself up using his arms, and Arian took a better look around the island. His pack and sword had washed up beside him luckily, which was a godsend if there ever was one. With a look to the east Arian saw the waterfall, and then the river split into two pathways around the island. The mainland was across from Arian, but the river spanning between them was only about fifteen feet wide. That would be easily traversable, if it wasn't for Arian's leg.

Then looking to his left, Arian saw the mangled corpse of the bandit chief he had been fighting, having washed up on shore further down then him. She almost seemed like she had been folded in half, the nice steel armor she was wearing cracked and crumpling all up and down her back. Her spine must have snapped in the fall from the way she fell, Arian realized. Once he figured a way back to Whiterun, he'd have to find a way to deliver her body for the bounty.

Thinking about the bounty, Arian's memory flashed back again to earlier that morning. When leaving Whiterun in the early morning hours before anyone else was wandering the streets, Arian was passing by the inn, The Bannered Mare, when he noticed three well-armed men standing outside. Their arms were crossed and they glared at Arian, making Arian wonder what their beef was. If it was something to do with that Saadia and the Redguards mess, he'd deserve every bit of malice they wanted to dish out.

However they made no move to stop him, so with a shrug of his shoulders Arian turned to the front gates of Whiterun to keep moving. But in front of him was a dark elf with a Mohawk hair cut, staring Arian down intently with blood red eyes. He was wearing leather armor, and had a bow strapped across his back. For a man trying to look fearsome, Arian compared him to just any other bully.

"I heard you're the one who took the bounty posted in the inn," the dark elf growled.

"Yeah that would be me," Arian responded, returning the stare.

"I don't think you quite understand the folly of your actions traveller," the dark elf continued. "You see, me and my comrades over there are Whiterun's unofficial bounty hunters. Anything that comes through this city we take and collect the bounty together. It's how we make a living."

"Well I'm sure you boys can sit one of these out," Arian responded, smiling smarmily. "There's got to be plenty of low lives to go around." The dark elf stared at Arian intently, judging every inch of him.

"You walk out that door, we'll make you pay," the dark elf threatened. "Either you, or that bitch you shared the bed with last night."

Finally the dark elf had Arian's full attention. The dark elf's expression warmed upon seeing the grimace he had just inflicted on Arian.

"We'll make that whore pay like you never-" the dark elf's words were cut off as Arian punched him in the face in fury. He fell backwards, and Arian stood angrily over top of him, wanting to unleash a beating unlike any other. Behind Arian he could hear weapons being drawn, and it was a fair assumption the other men were moving to attack him.

"Hey, what's all this now?" called a Whiterun guard as he walked over. The men stopped their movements and Arian looked to the guard. On the ground the dark elf was wiping blood away from underneath his nose, and Arian shot him a menacing look before taking his leave.

Passing by the guard, Arian mentioned, "These men were threatening Ysolda and I may have lost my temper. You might want to keep an eye on her."

The guard nodded, and Arian kept moving. He didn't have time to waste on that trash.

Thinking back on those events, Arian seemed to have it right. Sitting down stranded on the island, Arian really did have bigger issues to deal with. He scratched the back of his head and looked around, trying to consider his options. With a glance down at his leg, Arian realized that the arrow was probably the first thing he'd have to deal with. It had since snapped on both sides, and it was now just a segment of the shaft firmly rooted in his leg.

He was no medical expert, but Arian assumed the arrow hadn't a punctured in major arteries, so if he pulled it out he shouldn't puncture it. If it had gone through muscle or bone though, he could be in serious trouble. Luckily Arian remembered he had been smart enough to buy one of those pink healing potions. He wasn't too sure how they worked, but Arian figured maybe it could speed up the healing process.

Reaching into his pack, Arian found the small glass vial containing the potion and counted himself extremely lucky that it hadn't been punctured or broken in the fall. Holding the bottle in one hand, and grabbing a piece of the shaft in the other, Arian got himself ready for the unpleasant the experience was about to be. Not hesitating anymore, Arian drank the bottle while pulling out the shaft, blood spurting out after it.

Arian nearly gagged on the potion from wanting to scream in pain as the shaft left his leg. But Arian was too stubborn and he forced the healing formula down his throat, and the moment the bottle was emptied and the shaft out of his leg he threw both to the side and fell onto his back. For a minute Arian blacked out from the pain, and then he felt sweat beat down his brow in a rapid fury. His body seemed to be at war with itself, the healing potion combating infection and trying to heal his leg simultaneously.

Upon coming to Arian sat back up, still in tremendous pain, but with a calmer head than before. He would be stuck there for a little while he figured, and he checked his bag to see if any of his food had survived the water adventure. Sadly not, so Arian sighed and leaned forward on his knees.

After many minutes of silent contemplation, only the sound of rushing water accompanying him, Arian heard a strange noise coming from behind him. Careening his head to look over his shoulder, Arian took a better look at the island behind him and saw it was a covered in trees. It was a like a little forest was on this small island, and Arian reasoned it was fair to think wildlife could easily live in it.

Again he heard the noise, and recognized as more of a growl. It was a noise Arian was growing to steadily hate after everything he had been through. Arian reached for his sword, but he could barely lift it. His strength hadn't returned yet, meaning he was pretty much to dinner to any wild animal that wanted it.

"If you're a sabre cat, I kindly ask you to leave me alone," Arian shouted into the forest behind him. Naturally there was no response and Arian waited to see what was coming towards him. He could hear the sound of crumpling leaves as something walked towards Arian.

Then a form came into view, obscured by the trees but visible enough for Arian to see it wasn't on four legs. Walking like a person but hunched over considerably, it lumbered through the trees towards Arian. It was heavy but not fat, ripped and muscular. Arian considered it might have been a person for a moment, but then saw it was covered in white fur. Growling as it walked, it neared Arian and he got a better view. He didn't feel any better than if it had been a sabre cat.

It was a frost troll, its protruding fangs sticking from its mouth and beady black eyes staring at Arian. Arian mustered all the strength he could to pick up his sword, for what little good it would do him. He had read that their weakness was fire, but Arian had no means of making it nor was he was mage. If that frost troll was going to kill him, there would be little Arian could do.

However it just stared at Arian for a few moments. It seemed to be surveying Arian, analyzing him. Then it turned and walked back the way it came, leaving Arian dumbfounded. For a few seconds, the frost troll actually seemed to possess intelligence in the way it looked at Arian. Arian dismissed that idea quickly, as it was far more likely that it simply wasn't hungry. After all, it had left behind the bandit chief's body as well.

Frost trolls were known to be very dumb animals, not possessing much in terms of higher brain function beyond what meal to eat next. They also had a regenerative ability, able to heal very quickly unless having been recently burned by fire.

Arian shrugged his shoulders and counted himself lucky. He could only hope his leg would heal fast enough that he'd be able to swim across the river. There was a good chance Arian would have to leave behind the bandit chief's body to get away safely. It would mean forfeiting the bounty, but Arian chose that over forfeiting his life. A couple of minutes passed as Arian thought about Ysolda and some other possible job opportunities he could pursue, when he heard a roar from inside the forest.

It must have been the frost troll, Arian realized, and hesitantly he turned to look. The noise came from deeper in the forest and Arian heard it again accompanied by the squeal of what sounded like an elk. Arian eyes were fixated on the forest for several minutes, nervous as to what the frost troll was doing. Then it wandered back into view, carrying behind it a large elk carcass. The gruesome smell of blood coated the air and stung Arian's nostrils, and the frost troll dragged the limp elk's body across the ground. It was still bleeding from the neck where the frost troll must have clawed at it, and then the frost troll dropped the body very close to Arian.

Arian was uncomfortably close to the frost troll now, and its odour was overwhelmingly bad. Mixed that with the smell of the dead elk and Arian almost vomited. The frost troll stared at Arian for several seconds, and then it turned its head to look at elk. Then it looked back to Arian, and then to the elk again, almost as if it was motioning for Arian to acknowledge the elk. The whole thing felt surreal, but Arian decided to play along and he looked from the troll to the elk.

The frost troll let out a little grunt and started to hop up and down. Completely confused, Arian looked back and forth between the frost troll and the elk, not sure what to do. Then unexpectedly, the frost troll dug it's claw into the elf's torso, causing blood to spew out. It dug its other claw into the elk torso and then with little breaths of air the frost troll tore the elk in two. If the smell was bad before it was even worse then, and Arian gagged uncontrollably.

With a couple more rapid breaths of air, almost like it was giggling to itself, the frost troll dragged the half with the deer's head off to the side. It sat down awkwardly and began gorging itself on the corpse, leaving Arian to stare at it in sheer wonderment.

"This is so far the weirdest thing yet," Arian commented to himself. Had this frost troll killed an elk to share with Arian for food? It was sure what it looked like, but there was also a good chance it had just split the elk in half to store food for later. Then the frost troll looked up from the piece of elk it was eating and glared at Arian. The two shared an expression of confusion, and then the troll let out a low short roar. It motioned its head from the elk carcass beside Arian to Arian again, leaving Arian at his first conclusion. This frost troll had killed the elf for Arian to eat.

With a resigned sigh, Arian reached into his pack and grabbed some of the cooking supplies he had bought the day before. There was no desire to eat it raw, so as long as Arian was stuck there with a surprisingly intelligent troll, Arian was going to have a decent meal.

He was surprised to find out he was a shockingly good cooker with the limited supplies he had. Assembling a couple of nearby rocks Arian made a make-shift fire pit and cooked a chunk of elk-meat over top of it. While the fire was going the frost troll seemed to grow more and more agitated, so as soon as he didn't need it anymore Arian put out the fire and the frost troll went back to being docile. Then once he had finished eating, the frost troll wandered back over and grabbed the elk carcass. It had already stripped its half dry, and then proceeded to eat the remainder of Arian's half as well.

The weird thing Arian noticed about the troll beside its intelligence, was that it seemed content. Arian could swear its lips were curling upwards in silent joy as it sat near Arian. It was like it just happy to have someone else around, and Arian was completely bewildered to discover this animal that most would consider feral seemed to have a measure of human emotion.

The sun was starting to set, and the healing potion had done its job well enough that Arian was able to stand at long last. He wanted to try and return to Whiterun that night, with the bandit chief's body if he was able to, but he still wasn't sure if he could make the trip. The frost troll finished eating the other half of the elk and tossed it aside as Arian stood there weighing his options. For the first time noticed Arian noticed the frost troll had a distinguishing brown patch of fur on its chest in the shape of a triangle, large enough that Arian would be able to recognize this frost troll easily. It wandered over to him, but Arian grabbed the hilt of his sword and it immediately backed off.

Arian eyed the troll curiously for a moment, as an insane idea popped in his head. If this frost troll was docile and wanted companionship, maybe he could use it. He needed to be sure though. Hesitantly, Arian let go of the hilt. The frost troll stared at Arian blankly for a few moments like it was processing the situation as well. Then it slowly continued to meander over to Arian. Arian's muscles tensed as he prepared to defend himself if necessary.

When it was only a foot away from Arian the troll stopped and waited, breathing heavy raspy breaths. It stood a half a foot shorter than Arian, but he knew the frost troll could tear him in half just as easily as it did that elk. Taking a leap of faith, Arian extended a hand forward. The frost troll let Arian rest his hand on its forehead, and it a rumble emerged from its gut. It wasn't a growl like the ones Arian had come to dread, but rather it was more like a purr.

Arian then ever so carefully rubbed the troll's forehead, petting the strange creature. It responded warmly with more purrs, making Arian smile and chuckle. He had to be sure he could trust the frost troll to listen to him, so removing his hand Arian backed up and pointed at the frost troll.

"Stay," Arian commanded, his voice stern. The frost troll stood still and watched Arian as he continued walking backwards. Arian then ran into the forest out of sight of the troll and waited there for several minutes. Once he had given it what he thought was enough time, Arian walked back to where he had left the frost troll and saw it was still there waiting for him.

"This is freaking awesome," Arian said excitedly. "Follow." Arian then walked into the forest, and much to his joy the troll walked behind him, following him every step of the way. Eventually leading the troll back to the bandit chief's body, Arian turned and pet its head, rewarding it for its obedience. Despite everything he had read about trolls and his better instincts, Arian decided this frost troll was going to be his new pet.

There was the greater mystery of why this troll was so intelligent and so friendly, but Arian was so ecstatic at the idea of a frost troll as a pet he barely paid it any mind. He would have to figure out what to do when he went to cities, but Arian knew he would figure out a pretty good system for it.

"Your new name is going to be…Frosty," Arian proclaimed, lack of originality not bothering him. "From now on, you will answer to Frosty. Understand?"

The frost troll seemed to hop happily in response, making Arian laugh. That was probably as good an answer as he was going to get. Arian then looked to the bandit chief, and he realized he now had an easy way to transport the bounty back to Whiterun.

Arian stripped the bandit chief of some of her armor to make her lighter, and packed some away that he thought he might be able to sell. Then he pulled out rope he had purchased the day before and heaving the bandit chief up he strapped her to Frosty's back. Arian then nuzzled Frosty to reward him, to which it grunted uncomfortably. Frosty clearly didn't appreciate the added weight, but it made no other movement to complain.

The sun was almost set at that point and the two new best friends traveled across the river and then set about returning to Whiterun. Things were difficult when they reached the large hill they needed to climb to return the distance Arian fallen down the waterfall, with Arian needing to take several breaks. His ankle wasn't completely healed yet, and it was aching to walk on.

Frosty was patient however and waited for Arian every time. Arian wasn't sure he'd ever get used to the idea of traveling with a troll, but at least the bandits wouldn't dare mess with him anymore. Not with a frost troll at his side.

It took the two several hours to journey to Whiterun, and Arian took the two mainly off trail to get there. His main concern was getting back to see Ysolda, and he didn't really want to have to deal with any guards on the trail asking questions about his new friend. As they grew closer and closer to the city, Whiterun's high walls easily visible, Arian heard a commotion that concerned him.

People nearby were shouting, and he could hear the sounds of a panicked woman. Arian ordered Frosty to wait and went to check out the situation, but quickly removed the bandit chief from its back in case he needed Frosty to be mobile later. Frosty remained where it was, but it let out a little moan in protest as Arian ran as fast he could. His ankle was still sore but the woman had sounded familiar and alarmed Arian, so he pushed through the pain.

In the dark of night Arian was barely able to make out what he was seeing, but as he reached a hill Arian was able to tell the commotion was coming from the other side of it. He fell to his stomach and started to crawl closer and closer to the scene to find out what was happening, and as he reached the top of the hill he looked down to see a group of men. They were in a natural bowl of sorts, hills surrounding them and making it so guards couldn't easily see them unless they were doing what Arian had done.

Two men were standing around and watching, while another two were holding a woman between them as she struggled to break free. It was Ysolda, Arian instantly recognized from her voice, and the voice of a dark elf standing there set fury into Arian's eyes. He had thought they were shouting empty threats at him, Arian had no idea they actually planned on following through.

"You got no one to blame for this but yourself," the dark elf said. "If you hadn't involved yourself with that troublemaker we wouldn't have to do this to teach him a lesson."

"Go to hell!" Ysolda shouted as she tried to break free. The dark elf laughed and drew a knife as he walked over to her. The other men chuckled as he neared, and Ysolda went silent and watched in terror.

"You dropped your linens quickly enough for a stranger. Let's see how fast I can make them drop," the dark elf stated.

Ysolda screamed in response, and Arian could watch no more. Standing up and ignoring the pain in his foot, Arian roared in anger and ran down the hill. The men turned to see Arian, and the dark elf backed up in shock.

"Kill 'em!" the dark elf shouted, and the two men let go of Ysolda, and the three lackeys charged Arian. Arian unsheathed his sword, and as he ran down the hill he had the higher ground on the three charging. They ran at him in a horizontal line, hoping to surround Arian.

So in response Arian jumped up into the air, gaining surprising height and the three men stopped and tried to prepare their weapons accordingly. Arian was high enough that when he kicked out he hit the man in the middle in the chin. The man fell backwards as momentum carried Arian past him, and he landed with a pivot. Bringing his sword up Arian impaled down quickly, ending the life of the first man.

The other two charged in and one slashed at Arian with a short sword. Arian easily parried the blow, making that warrior stumble backwards. Arian then ducked low, dodging an axe that the other man swung in with. Letting go of his sword with one hand Arian stepped forward and punched that man across the face with such force he went spinning away.

Grabbing his sword firmly with both hands again, Arian spun and slashed out as the man with the short sword as he attempted to attack with a vertical swing. Arian's attack easily knocked the man's away, and then Arian rushed in and kneed the man in the groin. He keeled over in shock, and Arian heard the warrior with the axe charge in again.

Arian stepped around behind the short sword warrior as the man with the axe swung in. Grabbing the keeling over man, Arian grabbed him by his back collar and lifted his upper body, using him like a human shield. The warrior with the axe had no time to stop his swing, and his axe entered his friend's brain. He was so shocked at what he had just done, the man with the axe was unprepared as Arian kicked the now brain dead warrior at him.

Instinctively he caught his friend, and then received Arian's sword through his chest. Arian stabbed through the two warriors, using all the strength he could muster. Arian withdrew the blade and let the two men fall to the ground. Arian took a brief moment to catch his breath, in his rage he had exerted more energy than he to give. Then checking around, Arian looked for the dark elf and Ysolda.

"Stay back!" the dark elf shouted from behind Arian. Arian spun around to see the dark elf holding Ysolda with a dagger to her throat on top of the hill Arian had come from. The dark elf must have navigated around him while he busy taking out the muscle of the operations. This dark elf was clearly just a coward.

"One step closer, and I'll end her life!" the dark elf shouted. Ysolda had tears streaming from her eyes, and Arian tried to think of a way to save her that didn't let this piece of garbage get away. Unlike with Reundelf, he didn't have a dagger handy to throw in this guy's head.

"Frosty, come!" Arian shouted, drawing an incredulous look from the dark elf.

Knowing he had to distract from what he just did, Arian asked, "So what, you think you're going to just walk away from this? Assaulting a helpless woman and attempted murder? What will the guard have to think of that?" Arian hoped if his first plan didn't work, then maybe there was a chance a nearby guard could hear the shout match and investigate.

"The only criminal I see here is you, traveller!" the dark elf retorted. "Me and my men were stopping this thief from running away with our gold, while you ran in and killed three innocent people!"

"So that's how you're going to play it? Your word against ours?" Arian questioned, kind of in disbelief.

"Our word is better any day than the word of some stranger and his whore!" the dark elf insulted. Before Arian had to stall anymore, the dark elf gurgled out blood. Ysolda cautiously looked over her shoulder as the dark elf dropped the knife.

The dark elf was slowly going limp as standing behind him with its teeth firmly planted in its neck, was Frosty. Ysolda screamed and moved away as Frosty jerked its head backwards, taking the dark elf off his feet. He still had enough function to scream as Frosty let go of the dark elf and tossed him, making him crash into a roll. Before he could move, Frosty was there standing over top of him.

Arian ran over to Ysolda and caught her as she began to stumble. The two could hear the dark elf screaming as the frost troll mauled him, until only helpless gurgles remained. Ysolda was still panicking and tried to move, but Arian held her in place.

"Its okay, the big guy's with me," Arian explained. Ysolda looked at him in complete and utter confusion, and Arian conceded, "I'll have to explain that one later."

"Hey, what's going on over there?" a guard shouted from just over one of the hills. Arian could see the growing light of a torch nearing, and telling Ysolda to wait for a moment he ran over to Frosty.

"Frosty, go hide! I'll come find you in the morning, I promise!" Arian whispered. Frosty looked up from his mangled play thing, and then nodded and walked away.

Walking back over to the Ysolda, the guard was already there. She explained the group abducted her with ill-intent, and that Arian had saved her. When examining the bodies, the guard questioned what had happened to the dark elf to mangle him so.

"Some…heroic troll came out of nowhere and saved us. I'd give him the key to the city if I were you," Arian chipped in. Behind the mask Arian had no idea what the guard's expression was, but Arian really hoped the guard bought the story.

Sighing, the guard asked, "Alright, is there anything else I should know?" Arian thought about it for a few moments and then remembered one crucial detail.

"I don't suppose you could help me carry a bounty back into the city?"

Well after midnight, Arian and Ysolda were back in her house in Whiterun. Arian had woken up a grumpy steward, and gotten his reward, and was now content to be with Ysolda. She was tending to Arian's ankle injury, while he explained everything that had happened that day.

"Is it the best idea to have a frost troll as a pet?" she asked in all seriousness.

"Well, it's worked out so far," Arian responded with a laugh. Ysolda took no comfort in that, and as she finished bandaging Arian's ankle she pushed it off her leg. Arian was taken aback at the action, and then moved in closer to her.

"What's wrong?" Arian asked.

"I was almost raped tonight Arian," Ysolda answered, looking at the floor. "What those men would have done to me…"

"Hey, hey it's okay. They didn't, I stopped them," Arian said with a calming voice.

Ysolda started to cry as she said, "And it's because the first time in my life I have a one-night stand."

Arian put an arm around her, and pulled her in for a hug, trying to ease her pain.

"I don't think it was a one-night stand Ysolda," Arian retorted. "I do actually care about you quite a bit."

Ysolda looked up to Arian, her face scorn red from the tears.

"You do?"

"Yeah, I know we just met, but I feel like there can be something special here," Arian replied. She stared at him for many seconds, looking like a lost little girl. But then she kissed him hungrily. Arian wasn't prepared, but then she stuck her tongue in his mouth and he didn't have much of a choice.

She started to fumble with his clothes, taking them off, and Arian took a minute to ask, "Wait, are you sure about this? Like all things considered…"

"Please. I need this," Ysolda said. And then she started slipping off her dress.

The moment he could see her breasts, Arian shrugged his shoulders and remarked, "Well, I won't argue with that."

Arian woke up before dawn the next morning, his sleep troubled. Lying next him again was a naked Ysolda, and she was still as beautiful as the morning before. But Arian couldn't think straight at the moment. Everyone had warned him that getting close to people could be cause for concerns in his line of work.

If Arian kept hunting wanted men and women and getting into battles, then he was constantly painting Ysolda a target. As much as he did care for her and wanted to be there with her, Arian couldn't stand the thought of more nights like that one where she would be in danger because of him.

Getting up silently, even quieter than the night before, Arian got dressed. Finding some parchment and ink, Arian left a note explaining why he had to leave, and why he wouldn't be returning to Whiterun for a long time. He added at the end that maybe one day he'd come back and they could see each other again, but the two of them could never truly be together.

Arian left the city as the sun rose. He wasn't sure where he'd go next, or what he'd do. Whiterun was a beautiful city, but Arian knew as much as he wanted it to be it couldn't be home for him. He gave it one last look before he walked away.

"Frosty! Come!" Arian shouted once he was near where the fighting happened the night before.

Frosty did not arrive for several minutes, and Arian was worried he had lost another great part of his life too quickly. Sighing and adjusting his sword on his back, Arian prepared himself to journey to the east. But then Arian heard a roar coming from behind him, and turning around he saw Frosty in the distance running towards him.

Arian walked to his pet frost troll and met him the middle. Frosty was bouncing up and down like it did when it was happy, and chuckling Arian pet his friend on the forehead. At least with his new best friend at his side, Arian would never have to be alone again.


	7. Chapter 6 - The Wrath of the Thrall

Chapter 6 – The Wrath of the Thrall

Arian felt bad about how he left things with Ysolda. Considering they had slept together, twice, he owed her a little bit more than just a note. But Arian had known in his gut she wasn't safe around him, and to Arian it made more sense to rip that bandage off as quickly as possible.

At least Frosty, his bizarrely intelligent and faithful frost troll, was travelling beside him. The two journeyed east, Arian planning on visiting the city of Windhelm for work. There was no guarantee there'd be any there, but Arian figured the Stormcloak capital would be so busy waging war that they'd have no time to deal with bounties. Leaving plenty for Arian to scoop up.

On the second day of their traveling, once they had passed Valtheim Towers where the bodies of the bandits Arian had slain earlier were still lingering, Arian took Frosty off the main trail. The last thing he wanted were for patrolling guards to see him with a frost troll without a leash of some sort. Arian was worried that a guard's first instinct would be to attack his hairy friend and Frosty probably wouldn't leave any prisoners.

Once they were off trail Arian decided he should keep working at training Frosty. Frosty had managed to come to his rescue when the thugs had kidnapped Ysolda, so that gave Arian the idea that Frosty had a sense for combat. That could prove invaluable so Arian found a nice secluded section of the woods to test out his theory.

"Frosty, you wait here," Arian said, and he pointed to the ground. "Then when I give the signal, umm…ka-kaw….then I want you to go to that tree, then right fifty paces." Arian made sure to point this all out to Frosty, and Frosty stared at Arian in what was possibly confusion. It could be hard to read what those beady black eyes were thinking.

Taking the chance, Arian ran to hide where he wanted Frosty to find him. He waited a moment, and noticed he didn't actually hear anything beyond the ambience of the forest. Was Frosty staying quiet on purpose?

Then cupping his hands over his mouth Arian made the awkward 'ka-kaw' noise. Arian tensed as he waited for a minute, anxious to know if Frosty had understood him. As another minute passed, Arian was starting to wonder if Frosty had just fallen asleep standing up. It wouldn't be the first time in their travels.

Arian took a step away from the tree he was hiding behind to look for Frosty, when much to his surprise Frosty was standing right in front of him. With a yelp Arian fell backwards, startled at how quiet and sneaky his large frost troll friend had been. Frosty hopped up and down on the spot, laughing its low quiet rumble.

"Ha ha, very funny," Arian commented as he stood, smiling sheepishly. "You think you're so clever, don't you?" Frosty kept laughing as it kept nodding its head.

"You're a stinker," Arian remarked as he ruffled the hair on top of Frosty's head. They were suddenly interrupted by a large booming sound in the distance. Both Arian and Frosty looked to the source.

"Come on boy, er, girl, er…what are you?" Arian asked. He realized he had never confirmed Frosty's gender. Frosty stared at him blankly, and Arian shrugged his shoulders helplessly. He didn't really want to check Frosty's fine plumbing, so that question would have to wait.

The two started to run to where the sound came from, and as they grew closer the commotion grew louder and louder. They slowed to a walk as they neared, and Arian could see ahead there was a break in the forest. Arian fell to his stomach and ordered Frosty to wait as he went to inspect what was happening.

It sounded like a large battle was taking place, and as Arian reached the edge of the forest, his suspicions were confirmed. The conflict was taking place in a large low valley in the middle of the forest. Down the hill from Arian were two armies that were interlocked in fierce combat, and all around them was the forest. From what Arian could tell, it was the Imperial army battling the Stormcloaks. The red clashing against the blue as warriors from both sides duked it out painted a tapestry for Arian.

On either end of the valley were generals, sitting stoically on horses shouting commands at their respective armies. The Imperial general was marked by a helmet that curved forward with a large black trim of bristle along the top. As for the Stormcloak one, he wore the top of a bear's head for a helmet, no doubt a trophy for his actions. It must have been a skirmish between the two factions, but likely an unplanned one as they didn't seem to be fighting over anything of interest.

Arian watched the battle with interest, unable to take his eyes off the conflict. In one section of the battle, there was an Imperial warrior locked in a sword fight with a Redguard Stormcloak. The two were trading blows, side stepping around each other and aiming for vulnerable spots in the others armor. They danced for several moments, and just before they charged in again an arrow suddenly entered the Imperial's back and he fell to one knee. A Stormcloak archer nodded to his comrade, who then proceeded to behead his enemy in gory fashion.

In another area, an Imperial covered head to toe in large steel plate armor was battling a quick Khajiit Stormcloak who only wore light leather armor. The Imperial swung a heavy mace cumbersomely, and the Khajiit was easily able to side step every attack and stabbed at the big man with a dagger, leaving little nicks and dents in the armor. Then as the large Imperial swung in the Khajiit easily ducked underneath the attack and then lunged forward and thrust his dagger into the tender spot just underneath the man's armpit. Just as the Khajiit thought he had victory, the large man suddenly reached out and grabbed the Khajiit using his free arm. The Khajiit struggled for a few moments, but then the Imperial slammed the Khajiit into the ground and promptly curb stomped him.

Then Arian's eyes went to another scene, where a dark elf Imperial with two swords was fighting off three Stormcloak warriors. They'd swing in at the dark elf, and the dark elf would nimbly block the attacks and dodge all three warriors. He had a cocky grin on his face, and the three Stormcloak warriors were growing more and more frustrated. One charged in, and the dark elf parried his attack and then lunged and stabbed the man through the chest. The second warrior charged in as the third warrior went to flank the dark elf, and the dark elf turned his body to balance the two. Both warriors charged in, and with an incredible display of swordsman ship the dark elf fought them both off. Just then the warrior on the dark elf's left seemed to gain the upper hand, so the dark elf quickly focused his attention on him. He managed to disarm and then slash the warrior, but then the dark elf was helpless as the third Stormcloak warrior ran the dark elf through from behind.

Snapping himself from his daze, Arian shook his head. He wasn't even sure how long he had been watching the battle for, all he knew was that it was probably too long. The last thing he wanted was for either army to see him, so Arian started crawling away, but took one last look back at the battle. The Stormcloaks were starting to lose, their numbers dwindling and their forces beginning to pull back. Their general was looking around in confusion, as if something was supposed to be going differently than it was.

Arian considered for a moment going down there and helping the losing side. It was in his nature to help people, and right now it looked like the Stormcloaks needed his help. However he knew that helping the Stormcloaks would make him an enemy to the entire Imperial army, and that wasn't something Arian could afford to do. It still bothered him, so with a heavy heart Arian sighed and walked away.

Frosty was waiting exactly where Arian had left him, and Arian gave him a pet. As if he could sense his friend was troubled, Frosty let out a little moan and moved closer to Arian. Arian managed a little chuckle, blown away that this frost troll could show intelligence and compassion.

"Thanks buddy," Arian said. "I'll be okay."

Then there was a sickening scream that didn't come from the battle, and Arian's glanced that way. Frosty seemed to grow agitated, and Arian felt a knot in his stomach tighten uncontrollably. Carefully the two navigated over to the scene, and the sound of another clash grew nearer and nearer. They took cover behind a tree and inspected the scene, Arian not sure what other madness could be taking place.

The horror unfolding here put the other battle to shame. There were ten Stormcloak warriors remaining, originally there must have been twenty, but their remains were scattered all over the forest. The survivors looked terrified as they nervously clutched their weapons and tried to band together. Suddenly there was a black blur and one Stormcloak was dragged away screaming, a trail of blood falling where he had once been. The others gasped and nervously turned to where their comrade had been, not sure what to think.

Only one warrior seemed to keep his wits, an Argonian. He was brandishing a sword and shield and held them with purpose, preparing himself for whatever attack came his way. This was a fight Arian knew he could help with, but he wanted to know what horrors were attacking these man before running in blind.

Just then there was another black blur that charged at the Argonian. Arian was about to shout to warn the warrior, when the Argonian moved into action. With quick and cunning reflexes, the Argonian shield bashed at the black blur. The blur stopped in its tracks and solidified into a form all could see as it fell backwards from the hit. Arian looked at it to see its deformed nose and black leather robes. The same as the vampires that had attacked Reundelf.

Finally knowing what he was up against, Arian instructed Frosty to wait for his signal and then he charged into the fray. The vampire that had been knocked down quickly sprung to his feet. He shared a quick stare with the Argonian and hissed, and then dashed towards another Stormcloak turning into that black blur again. The vampire grabbed another Stormcloak and there was another spray of blood as the Argonian turned to the scene.

"Fight me damn you!" the Argonian yelled, unaware of another black blur dashing in at him from behind. Just before it reached him Arian slashed down, and that vampire howled as it arm went flying off. That vampire crashed into the Argonian's back, making the Argonian stumble forward in surprise. Arian quickly grabbed the newly crippled vampire by the collar of his robes and threw him into the ground. The Argonian turned as Arian stabbed down into the undead monster, it letting out a last defiant scream.

Arian then turned to the Argonian and asked, "You alright? What's happening here?"

"I am fine, thanks to you. We were on our way to flank the Imperials when these beasts came out of nowhere," the Argonian explained. "My name is Ratar, and I would be honored in your aid defeating these monsters."

"I'm Arian. And it would be my absolute pleasure," Arian responded. Just as he finished saying that, there were three black blurs that darted through the battlefield, not attacking anyone but circling the survivors. Arian, Ratar and the remaining Stormcloaks quickly gathered together in a small group, trying to cover all sides.

Arian could tell that was what the vampires wanted, to trap them all at once. He wasn't sure what strategy they were playing at, but it wasn't going to work. Then suddenly all the blurs stopped, and Arian could see surrounding them were three vampires, none of them with weapons. These ones were more animalistic than the ones Arian had fought to save Reundelf. Their hands were more like claws, their teeth more like fangs. Arian stared into one's beady yellow eyes as they glowed.

"Surrender now, and you will live to see a few more days," one vampire offered. "Not many more, but past today."

"Yeah, I have a counter offer," Arian stated. "Ka-kaw!"

The vampire stared at him confused, and Arian grinned as his plan came to fruition. There was a sudden roar from behind the vampire, and the vampire turned to see Frosty standing behind him. He was visibly just as confused as Arian was earlier at how eerily quiet the large frost troll could be. Frosty grabbed the vampire by the arm, digging its claws into the vampire, and Frosty tossed him into a nearby tree.

Arian used the shock as a chance to attack an unprepared vampire. Dashing at the monster, Arian swung downwards quickly. The vampire came to fast enough to dodge out of the way of the attack. Arian thought to swing again, but the vampire reacted faster and lunged forward at Arian fangs bared. Pivoting quickly Arian dodged the attack and swung outwards wildly with the broadside of his sword. The attack hit the vampire in the back and his lunge turned into a tumble as he crashed face first into the ground.

Arian then spun around and jumped into the air, stabbing downwards upon the downed vampire. The vampire just managed to roll out of the way and Arian's sword stabbed down into the ground harmlessly. Back on its feet, the vampire slashed at Arian with its claw, making Arian let go off his sword and dodge the attack. The vampire was fast and attempted a second attack, but Arian just managed to dodge the attempt by ducking low.

He then jumped backwards as the vampire continued to assault him. Planting his feet firmly, Arian got ready as the vampire lunged in with its fangs, going for Arian's throat. As it did, Arian leaned to the side and dodged the attack, and then reached up and grabbed the vampire by the neck. Unprepared, the vampire was helpless as Arian slammed the vampires head into his knee, making it recoil backwards in shock.

Just as the vampire recovered, it turned to receive a debilitating punch in the face from Arian making it stutter backwards more. Arian didn't relent and punched the vampire again, making it stutter backwards even more. Then Arian kicked it in the chest hard, sending it backwards into a tree, and once again beside his sword, Arian then swept low and kicked his sword high upwards. Then with a dexterity Arian didn't even know he possessed, Arian suddenly jumped and kicked his sword in the hilt, sending it flying towards the vampire. The vampire was helpless as Arian's sword impaled it into the tree.

Arian took a moment to catch his breath and commented to himself, "Damn I'm cool." He was consistently impressed with his fighting prowess, not truly knowing what he was capable of. With a look to the others, Arian managed to gather what had happened with the rest of the battle. Frosty was bleeding in a couple of places, but the vampire Frosty had been fighting was considerably less recognizable. The third vampire had managed to kill two more Stormcloaks, but Ratar had managed to kill it, his sword stained with its blood.

"Thank you, we could not have done this without you," Ratar stated, to which Arian nodded. Frosty was sitting by its kill, playing with the remains of the vampire. The remaining Stormcloaks were perturbed by Frosty's presence, but Ratar didn't seem to mind.

"You should rethink joining that battle, there are only six of you left and I'm not sure what good you'll be able to do," Arian suggested.

"It is our duty to liberate Skyrim from the Imperial bastards," Ratar firmly argued. "No matter the cost."

Before Arian could argue more, the sound of clapping caught everyone's attention. They looked around as it seemed to echo in all directions, and Arian gripped the hilt of his sword carefully. If it was the Imperials, then Arian would have to accept the fact that he was pretty much an honorary Stormcloak. If it was more vampires, he would be ready.

"Well, well. That was an impressive showing. Three of my elite dead just like that," said a deep, menacing voice. The voice seemed to be coming from every direction, and Arian grew more and more uneasy. Then suddenly the source of the voice came into view.

Floating several feet in the air, arms crossed wearing red and black armor with a flowing cape, was a pale faced man with trim black hair. His eyes were yellow like the others and he had maintained goatee. He seemed bemused at the scene, and Arian readied himself for anything.

"Allow me to introduce myself. I am Lord Harkon, king of the vampires," the vampire said.

"King of the vampires?" Ratar asked. "Your kind are savages, you have no king!"

"Um, let's maybe not piss off the floating vampire?" Arian whispered, this newcomer actually making him nervous.

"Savages?" Harkon questioned. "No. You are all sheep, while we are lions. We are the apex predator while you are simply the prey."

Harkon then looked to Frosty, who was back on its feet and growling at him.

"How intriguing," Harkon stated. "We will have to study this smart beast. Now as for the rest of you, if you surrender now I promise you I will make you comfortable before the end. If you do not, I can't guarantee your living arrangements, or if you'll even leave these woods."

They were going to take them to eat later, Arian realized. It was a sick and terrifying thought, but Arian wasn't about to surrender. He was sure whatever this Harkon threw his way, he could handle it. Not to Arian's surprise, most of the remaining Stormcloaks felt differently. They quickly threw their weapons to the ground and kneeled, much to Harkon's amusement.

"Cowards!" Ratar yelled. "I will never give in to you!" Arian stepped forward and nodded.

"Yeah, what he said!" Frosty roared and ran to Arian's side, standing defiantly in front of Harkon.

"Well, I suppose we don't need all of you alive. Demontor will take care of you," Harkon stated.

_Who?_ Arian thought to himself, when suddenly the ground began to shake. Arian and Ratar shared a quick confused expression, and then they looked forward as through the fog of trees emerged a large figure clad in armor. Standing at least seven feet tall, Demontor wore heavy and huge black ebony armor that jutted out in all directions. His shoulders, elbows and knees curved into large spikes, his gauntlets were razor sharp, and two abnormally large horns poked out from his helmet.

In his hand he carried a large battle hammer. In a normal man's hands it would have been enormous, but in his it almost looked like a plaything. The head of the hammer was covered in spikes with one spike poking straight up from the top, and there was a red gem in its center on both flat sides. It glowed green, and Arian was blown away just by looking at it.

"Impressed?" Harkon asked, judging Arian and Ratar's expressions. "It is the daedric war hammer Volendrung. We claimed it as a prize from the orcs long ago.

"Now Demontor, leave the troll alive. It doesn't matter what happens to the other two," Harkon commanded. Demontor nodded, his large armor clunking as he did so, and Arian and Ratar hastily readied their weapons. Arian had never seen an opponent like this before, but he didn't intend to go down easily.

Arian charged in at Demontor and swung in quickly hoping to score a fast hit. However faster than anything that large should have been capable of doing, Demontor blocked the attack. Demontor held Arian at bay with ease using the hilt of his hammer, and Arian tried desperately hard to push against the titan's strength.

Then relenting his attack Arian stepped back and swung again at Demontor, aiming low to try and take out the monster's legs. Like a flash of lightning Demontor swung his hammer in a low arc and hit Arian's sword. Arian could do nothing as his sword went flying from his grasp, flying and pinning itself into a tree. Arian stared at his sword in bewilderment, and then as he looked back to Demontor there was no way he was fast enough to block what happened next.

He took the full force of the hammer to his chest, sending Arian off his feet and flying backwards. Arian crashed and rolled to a stop. His ribs felt crushed, like gravel. All of his energy was gone. It was a miracle he was even breathing. _How could something that big move that fast?_ Arian thought to himself, as he just managed to roll his head to watch the fight.

Frosty had charged in next, roaring in fury at what Demontor had done to Arian. The frost troll swung at Demontor, which Demontor blocked with Volendrung. As Frosty battered at the hammer, the troll seemed to get more and more tired. Then Demontor lunged forward and grabbed Frosty by the neck. The large man thrust Frosty into the ground, but instead of killing the troll, Demontor simply laid his hammer on the troll's chest.

Arian helplessly watched as his best friend moaned and seemed to get weaker and weaker. He then saw a green energy flowing from Frosty into the hammer, and Arian realized there was an enchantment on it. Little good that knowledge did him now as he couldn't move.

Ratar was there next and he swung wildly at Demontor. His hammer otherwise occupied, Demontor let Ratar's sword hit him, but each hit bounced harmlessly off the giant's armor. Ratar kept trying and Demontor only watched for several moments as Ratar searched desperately for a weakness in the large black armor.

Demontor raised a fist slowly, and as it looked like he was about punch downwards Ratar raised his shield. In a terrifying blur of speed Demontor punched down and shattered Ratar's shield. Ratar crumpled downwards in shock, groaning in pain.

"Good luck besting Demontor with a shattered arm," Harkon mocked. Ratar would not give up, and Arian admired his courage. Ratar swung relentlessly with his good arm, striking hits on Demontor's armor. However it still had no effect, and Ratar was helpless mid-swing as Demontor grabbed his arm. Ratar's eyes went wide as Demontor lifted him into the air, squeezing Ratar's arm.

Ratar screamed as there was sickening crack and he dropped his sword. Finally the Argonian warrior seemed defeated, and his head slumped over. There was nothing more they could do. For the first time Arian could remember, he had truly lost.

Demontor looked to his master, and Harkon seemed to ponder for a moment what to do next. He looked from Demontor to the frost troll, and then to Arian, and then at the Stormcloak soldiers. Nodding as if he was content with his thought process, Harkon started to float away.

"We'll take them prisoner. But kill that one. Make sure it is an example for the rest," Harkon instructed as he drifted away.

Demontor nodded, and then looked to Ratar. Ratar stared at the giant in horror, and could do nothing as Demontor grabbed Ratar by the head and shoulder. Arian watched from the ground, and he could even make a sound as his world began to fade to black. The last image he saw would be burned in his mind forever, as Demontor ripped Ratar's head off with his bare hands. Arian lost consciousness at the site of Demontor holding Ratar's head, the Argonian's spinal cord still attached and dangling downwards.

Arian only remembered bits and pieces of the next few days. Occasionally he would awaken from the throbbing in his chest to see himself trapped in a wooden cage. He was part of some convoy in a series of cages that were being taken somewhere. Arian had no way to know.

In the cage in front of him were some of the Stormcloak soldiers. They looked terrified and malnourished, as he expected he was. Behind him was Frosty. They had bound Frosty in something his friend couldn't escape from, and it broke Arian's heart to see Frosty look so defeated.

As the days passed like a blur, Arian felt the temperature grow colder, but he felt a burning in his chest from the pain. If he didn't receive some medical attention soon or a potion, he wasn't sure he was going to recover from that injury.

Was this how Arian was going to die? Arian grew scared at the thought. Would he never see Ysolda again? Frosty? And worst of all, Arian grew scared he'd never find that red-haired girl in the green dress. He would never feel complete. That to Arian was almost a fate worse than death.

At one point, Arian felt himself being shifted from the wagon he was being carried on to the sensation of being on water. Groaning, Arian dragged himself to the edge of his cage to get a better look at where he was heading. There was a heavy fog on the water, but as it started to clear he could hear the terrified murmurs of the Stormcloak soldiers.

Just ahead of them was a large castle on an island. Its towers poked high into the sky, razor sharp rocks guarded the side of the island. Ahead of them was a bridge with gargoyles lining the sides. Arian had no idea where he was or what he was looking at, but as he felt himself get carried from the boat back to land, he saw Harkon walking by his cage.

"Welcome to Castle Volkihar," Harkon said. "This will be where you die."


	8. Chapter 7 - Escape from Castle Volkihar

Chapter 7 – Escape from Castle Volkihar

Arian was more awake in those few moments then he had been in the whole travel to Castle Volkihar. Despite the agony it caused him Arian shuffled his way over to the edge of his cage and stared out through the cracks. He watched as they were transported over the bridge towards the castle, the ice waters of Skyrim's north surrounding them.

Captured by vampires and taken back to their lair. That was pretty much the end of the line, Arian reasoned to himself. Everything he had been through, and this was where he was going to die. Despite the pain in his stomach from his shattered ribs, Arian managed a sigh.

As they were carried through the front gates of the caste, the moan of the front doors opening, Arian could hear the sound of excited chatter. The front entrance way was marked by more gargoyles, and Arian noticed another vampire, an older looking one, standing in front of an arch that no doubt led to the rest of the castle.

"Lord Harkon, I see your personal hunt was successful," the old vampire said, bowing low.

"Indeed it was," Harkon replied. "While the foolish mortals wage war over the meaningless crown of Skyrim, they were helpless to notice our presence."

Harkon and the old vampire walked down the row of cages, and Arian crawled away from the side of the cage. The last thing he wanted was to draw unwanted attention to himself.

"As I thought, the warriors in the Stormcloaks are largely untrained and undisciplined. Savages who believe they are righteous," Harkon explained as they strolled by the cage containing the five Stormcloak warriors. "However the Imperials are soft. They may be better trained, but many are weak in comparison to the Nords they're battling."

"So my lord, no worthy thralls?" the old vampire asked.

"I did not say that," Harkon quickly retorted.

Arian saw Harkon stop walking at his cage and Arian grimaced.

"This one killed one of my elite all on his own. He may be a worthy successor to Demontor. Or at least a good bodyguard as a thrall," Harkon said as he smiled at Arian.

They were planning on turning him into a mindless slave, Arian realized. That fate seemed even worse than death. However Arian was in no condition to escape. He'd have to find a way to buy some time.

Seeing Harkon and the old vampire were both watching him intently, Arian formulated a quick plan. He clutched his ribs and let out a little moan, putting on his best 'I'm in pain face,' which admittedly wasn't hard seeing as Arian was in a lot of pain.

"Hm…Demontor may have hit him a little too hard," Harkon commented. "If we put him through the thrall transformation now he'll never survive."

"Why don't we put him the dungeon for the time being? We can let him heal there," the old vampire suggested. "Since our cells are so full, he can stay with a Khajiit warrior we captured. Another possible thrall candidate."

"Very well," Harkon concluded.

The two then kept walking, and Arian breathed a quick sigh of relief. Maybe with a little time and healing, Arian could find a way out of there. However panic set in as he looked to Harkon to see the two had stopped outside of Frosty's cage. Frosty grew more restless, trying futilely to break out of the bonds that strapped the troll in place.

"Sir, why a frost troll? Their blood does little for us," the old vampire asked.

"This one possesses an intelligence I've never seen before," Harkon explained. "I want it trained to fight for us. Do whatever you can to break its spirit, but make sure you do not kill it."

That thought sent shivers down Arian's spine. If they did anything to change or hurt his best friend, Arian would never stop until he killed every vampire he could find.

"Very well sir," the old vampire conceded with a bow. "And as for the other men you captured?"

"To the feeding chambers," Harkon instructed. "They will last us until the next hunting party returns."

Shouts of outrage emerged from the Stormcloak cage, and Arian turned to look at them. Their reactions were mixing from terror to fury as they banged on the sides of their cage. Harkon grinned evilly then and walked over to them.

"Be silent you fools," Harkon said calmly. It had no effect on the panicked soldiers, and Harkon only continued to grin at them.

"I said, be silent!" Harkon suddenly shouted, quieting the Stormcloak soldiers instantly. "It is a gift you have lived this long. I could have left you to die in the forest, like your Argonian friend."

Arian's mind raced back to Ratar, whom he had watched Demontor kill violently. An anger swelled inside Arian, but he supressed it quickly. Ratar and all the others these bastards killed would be avenged, Arian told himself, just not yet.

"Take them away," Harkon ordered. Arian felt his cage begin to move, and as they were dragged into the next room Arian's eyes widened in shock.

It was a large candle lit room with an eerie gold glow. They emerged onto a balcony with two staircases that cascaded down from the right and left sides downwards. Across from them was another balcony that revealed another large section of the castle, and to its left was another staircase that led further in. Red banners hung down from the walls, and filling the large room itself were long tables.

Sitting all along were vampires who were sitting and talking with one another, or they were eating. Arian's stomach churned at the sight of them. He also saw several dogs which were unlike any others he had seen before. Their snouts rounded more at the front and they were pitch black with red glowing eyes. It was almost like they emanated darkness, and Arian saw one was staring straight up at him.

Then suddenly Arian felt himself sliding towards the front of the cage and he grunted uncomfortably. It sent pain reverberating through his whole body, and Arian winced and tried his best to not shout out in agony. He realized they were being taken down the stairs, and not very gently either. Each step caused him further pain and he bounced up and down. Once they reached the bottom, Arian was grateful the ride smoothed out considerably.

He heard a clunk noise, and then looked to see that he had been separated from the Stormcloak soldiers. There was a second noise, and Arian glanced backwards to see Frosty being taken in a different direction as well. With a grimace, Arian promised himself he would find a way out of imprisonment and he would save his best friend. He just needed time to heal.

Arian's mind ran through scenarios of how he'd tackle escaping the castle, and he didn't process much of where he was being taken. After another uncomfortable ride down a set of stairs, Arian snapped to and realized he was in a dungeon of some sort. Arian nervously glanced around, noting torture devices with fresh blood still on them.

"Here's your new home, meat," the vampire who had been pulling Arian along said. Arian looked up and saw a jail cell open in front of him, and his cage was pressed firmly against it. Then the side facing the cell was pulled upwards, and Arian realized he was meant to crawl in. For a few seconds Arian felt a surge of indignation, reluctant to follow the vampire's wishes.

"Get in there or you'll have more than a few broken ribs," the vampire snarled. Arian grunted in response and reluctantly crawled into the cell. The jail cell was quickly slammed shut behind him, and Arian looked back at the vampire who was already walking away with the cage.

Arian took a moment to register the surroundings of the dungeon. It was made entirely of brick, and very few torches illuminated the darkness. There was a strange humidity to it, and Arian wasn't sure if it was from the ocean surrounding the castle or the constant blood that was likely shed there. In his cell in particular there was no cot or anything to sleep on, just the cold brick floor. It was then Arian finally noticed his curious cell mate who was sitting in the darkness of the corner.

Eyes shut, he was a Khajiit sitting in the corner with his knees tucked in close to his chest. He was wearing steel plate armor, and judging from his face Arian figured the Khajiit likely had grey-coloured fur. His ears in feline form poked up from the top of his head. Arian looked at him for a few moments, not sure what his attitude would be regarding strangers. Suddenly the Khajiit's eyes opened, and there were two piercing blue cat eyes staring at Arian.

"So they have captured another candidate like myself," the Khajiit muttered. "You'll have to forgive me for not sounding more excited. These vampires are capable of breaking more than bones."

His Khajiit accent was thick, every word was rolled and Arian could hear a purr that the Khajiit had to push past to speak.

"Kharjo, do not be so rude," said another Khajiit voice. Arian turned to look to the source, and in a cell next to them were three more Khajiit. The one who had spoken was a black-furred Khajiit, a woman, who was wearing a dress and leaning on the bars staring at Arian and Kharjo.

"My apologies, Ahkari," Kharjo said, not taking his eyes off of Arian. "I just don't see the point in being friends with man I will eventually have to kill."

"What?" Arian asked, bewildered by what he had just heard.

"The vampires did not tell you? They keep the potential thralls in a cell together," Kharjo explained. "What they consider meat, they keep in there." Kharjo motioned to Ahkari's cell in that moment, and Arian felt a twinge of horror.

"But…why would they make us kill each other?" Arian questioned. Kharjo finally took his eyes off Arian and looked to the side, reflecting on what was about to be said.

"Have you seen the large black armored man? Demontor I believe he is called?" Kharjo asked, and Arian nodded in response. "They want another thrall like him. He is unstoppable, but was once just a great warrior before he was a thrall."

Ahkari continued, "He is no ordinary thrall. The transformation from man to thrall is normally a painless one, albeit one that would take away much of the warrior's fighting intelligence. What they did to Demontor was something different, it required incredible strength for the man he used to be to survive the process."

"So it is likely they plan on having us fight once you're back to full strength, to see who is strong enough to reach the same results as Demontor," Kharjo finished.

Arian looked to the floor and considered his options for several moments. These vampires were monsters, no question about that. If he managed to escape Castle Volkihar, Arian hoped he would never see another one as long as he lived.

"Well, Kharjo," Arian started. "I'm not going to fight you. We're going to find a way out of here. I promise."

Kharjo eyed Arian curiously for a few moments, and despite Arian's weak sprawled out posture on the floor, he must have managed to show enough strength in what he said to impress the Khajiit. Kharjo then stood up and walked over to Arian, offering him a hand.

"Here, let me tend to your wound. They will bring health potions I have no doubt, but I can help make you more comfortable at least," Kharjo said. Arian stared at Kharjo in surprise for a second, but then took his hand. Arian winced in pain as he tried to stand, and Kharjo used his other hand to help prop Arian up slightly, and then with an arm around Kharjo's shoulder he limped feebly over to the corner Kharjo had been waiting in earlier.

"What is your name?" Kharjo asked as he helped Arian back down to the floor.

"Arian," Arian responded as he sat down, trying to find a comfortable position.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, friend Arian," Kharjo stated with a small smile.

It was a short time later that the vampires finally brought Arian some health potions. The damage in Arian's ribs were extensive, so all parties knew it would take a couple of days of health potions for Arian to heal. In the meantime, Kharjo and Arian were well fed with hearty meals, no doubt to keep their strength up for the inevitable battle. Ahkari on the other hand wasn't treated so nicely, only fed tiny scraps to ensure her survival. Arian and Kharjo would regularly pass her chunks of their meal to ensure she wasn't going hungry.

As the days passed, Arian found it hard to sleep or rest on the cold stone floor. However exhaustion had found its way to kick in, and over the passage of time Arian managed to make himself somewhat comfortable. To make things easier and ignore the situation, Arian told Kharjo and Ahkari his story. He explained his lack of memory and his goals of trying to work up some money to go hunting for his past life, while filling them with details of Reundelf's hut, the Redguard woman, and his best friend the frost troll.

"That is quite the tale," Kharjo stated after Arian had finished telling the story. Arian was now able to sit upright comfortably, the healing potions having stitched up the worst of the damage. He was still sore however and was in no condition to be fighting, but at least he could have a conversation without feeling like a castle was sitting on his chest.

"So, what's your story?" Arian asked Kharjo and Ahkari. Their expressions saddened, and Kharjo closed his eyes and looked to the floor. Arian looked from him to Ahkari, who sighed and scratched behind her ear.

"We were part of a caravan, traveling from Elsweyr. We were ambushed on the road by a group of vampires and brought here. Kharjo is a fine warrior, but he couldn't protect all of us and we were forced to submit," Ahkari explained. "There were two other in our company, Zaynabi and Dro'marash. But…they have already been taken away."

Arian looked from Ahkari to Kharjo, and this seemed to weigh most heavily on him.

"I could not protect them," Kharjo muttered under his breath.

"Kharjo, I have said before it is not your fault," Ahkari said softly to Kharjo.

Kharjo's whipped up suddenly staring hard at Ahkari as he yelled, "I was meant to protect all of you! That was my duty! And I failed!"

His fangs were showing as yelled, spit flying from his mouth. Arian could feel his fury sitting across the cell from him, and it reminded Arian of how he felt when he realized Saadia was lying to him. He had killed all those Redguard soldiers for nothing, lives that didn't need to be ended were because of him.

"We can't save everyone Kharjo," Arian commented. Kharjo looked to him next, anger still on his face.

"Believe me, I wish we could," Arian continued, not backing down from Kharjo's gaze.

They were suddenly interrupted by the sound of footsteps walking into the dungeon, and all three sets of eyes turned to see what was going on. In the dungeon walked a group of vampires, Harkon at the helm. Arian felt his hand grip into a fist unexpectedly, the sheer sight of Harkon enough to put him on edge. They walked over to Arian and Kharjo's cell first, inspecting them for several moments.

"I would say give it another day for him to heal, and then we'll test the two against each other," Harkon instructed. Then Harkon turned to look at Ahkari, who shrunk into a croner in fear.

"Oh and bring her up. Khajiits have a funny aftertaste but the Stormcloak's are all used up," Harkon stated, and then he turned to leave. Kharjo and Arian's eyes widened at Harkon's statement as the vampire opened Ahkari's cell.

"No! Stay away from her!" Kharjo shouted as he stood to his feet. Ahkari trembled in fear as three vampires surrounded her, and Kharjo ran to the side of the cell, trying to reach through the bars futilely to stop them.

"Ahkari! Ahkari! Come here!" Kharjo yelled desperately. The vampire forcibly picked her up and started dragging out of her cell, Kharjo moving along the sides of the bars to try and stop them.

"You bastards! Bring her back! Bring her back now!" Kharjo continued to scream as she was pulled away.

Ahkari managed one wayward look back at Kharjo and Arian, tears were streaming out of hers eyes.

"Ahkari! No!" Kharjo yelled as she was taken from sight. "You savages! Animals! Monsters! I will not stop until every one of you is dead! Dead! I will tear out your throats! Massacre you and everything you and your terrible kind stands for! You hear me!? You vampire fucks!"

Kharjo yelled until there was no more air in his lungs, and then it was if the world came crashing down on top of him. He fell to his knees and sobbed uncontrollably for many minutes. Arian watched in a mix of horror and sadness. There was no idea of what to say, how to comfort someone who had just lost his while purpose in life.

After a long time had passed, Kharjo returned to his corner and buried his head in his knees, not saying a word to Arian. Arian would stare at Kharjo for many minutes, trying to say something, but knowing there was nothing to say. Then Arian knew the only way to make things right would be to escape, and he still had every intention of doing so. It may have been too late to save Ahkari, but Arian could still save Kharjo Arian took a sharp inhale of breath, and still felt a sharp wince of pain upon doing so.

It wasn't going to be easy to escape like this, but Arian suddenly realized that maybe his injury was his best advantage in escaping. If they thought he was weak, they wouldn't think he was a threat. And if he waited too long, the vampires would come back down in another group like they just had, and there would be no way Arian could overpower that many. But if Arian was smart, he could overtake at least one.

Standing up was still hard, but Arian managed to stagger to his feet and he walked to the prison door. Kharjo looked up at him in confusion, his blood red eyes and wet cheeks marking his face. Arian turned around and pressed a finger against his lips, signaling silence from Kharjo.

"Guard! Guard!" Arian yelled. "The Khajiit, he's going to kill me and himself! Guard!" Arian yelled panicky. Kharjo gave Arian an expression of bewilderment and many moments passed where no one was coming. Arian grew worried no one way buying it or that there were no guards nearby, but then as the footsteps of one lone vampire entered the dungeon Kharjo clued in to the plan.

Kharjo quickly leapt to his feet and ran at Arian, and Arian grimaced at what would have to happen next. Grabbing Arian by the collar Kharjo slammed him into the side of the cell, causing a loud ringing as Arian hit the bars.

"Not so rough," Arian wheezed out, and Kharjo managed a quick apologetic look.

The walking sound turned into running, and Kharjo returned to his fierce look, baring his teeth at Arian. Once the vampire entered into view, he hurried to the cell, and quickly fumbled to open it. Arian considered it very luck that the one vampire who came to address this was the one dumb enough to believe what was happening.

Once the vampire had opened the cell he moved to stop the two from brawling. However with lightning like agility Kharjo moved from Arian to the vampire letting out a roar like a jungle cat while doing so. The vampire was about to scream for help, when Kharjo firmly clasped a hand around the vampires mouth to stop him from crying out.

Kharjo knocked the vampire to the floor and sat over top of him. He held one hand over the vampire's mouth and the other went around the vampire's throat. The vampire kicked and tried to scream for several moments, and Arian watched nervously as he saw Kharjo's more feral side show. Suddenly Kharjo lunged down fangs bared and wrapped his mouth around the vampires neck. With a quick jerk of Kharjo's head and a sickening crack, the vampire was motionless.

A couple of seconds passed where Kharjo continued to sit on top of the vampire, and then he stood up and spat out some blood. Arian looked at him with wide eyes, and Kharjo spat out a second wad of blood and wiped his teeth clean from the vampire's blood.

"Last thing I'd want is to become one of them," Kharjo explained. Arian looked down at the dead vampire for a couple of moments and nodded in understanding, still scared but understanding.

"Come, let's finish the rest of these bastards," Kharjo said as he started to leave the cell, but Arian snapped out of his horror for a moment and caught Kharjo by the arm.

"Hold on a minute, let's think this through," Arian stated. Kharjo looked at him in anger and Arian realized he would have to win the Khajiit over.

"Look, there's about a hundred vampires in this castle and only two of us," Arian explained. "If we want to honour anything we've lost we need to escape now to fight another day. We'll need to bring the vampires down another way."

"After all these bastards have taken from me, you expect me to sit idly by while they feast on my friend?!" Kharjo hissed at Arian. For a few moments, Arian grew worried he'd see the wrong end of Kharjo's fangs like that vampire just had.

"Listen, I want these vampires dead too. But we can't do it alone and we'll die if we try. We'll need reinforcements," Arian explained.

"None of Skyrim takes this threat seriously," Kharjo argued. "Where are we going to possibly find reinforcements?" Arian thought about it for a few moments, considering his options. Kharjo had a point, no one else in Skyrim seemed to care even the slightest about the vampire threat. Then Arian remembered what Reundelf had told him.

"There's the Dawnguard," Arian stated. Kharjo raised an eyebrow, so Arian continued, "We have to find a man named Isran. He's a Vigilant of Stendarr but he was also against the vampires, maybe with him we could reform the Dawnguard."

Kharjo looked from Arian to the exit of the prison, weighing those options. Kharjo's knuckles cracked as he curled them tightly, clearly not enjoying the idea of putting off his revenge.

"These animals deserve to die," Kharjo commented angrily. "But you are right. When the time is right we will kill them all."

Arian nodded, and the two moved to leave the dungeon. They moved silently and carefully through the dungeon, and walked up a set of stairs that led out of it. The stairs curled upwards and at the top there was a door. Taking a quick moment, Arian paused and tried to catch his breath, his wounded ribs making things difficult.

"How do we do this?" Kharjo asked, and Arian put some thought to it.

"Do you think they'd still have our equipment?" Arian questioned.

"Yes, I saw them wheel our equipment way, I don't think far from here," Kharjo said as he thought about it.

"Okay, I think we should get our equipment and then jump from the nearest window into the ocean," Arian suggested. "Because otherwise the only way out is through a horde of vampires we won't be able to take." Kharjo once again seemed apprehensive, only this time it didn't seem like it was out of anger.

"What?" Arian questioned confused.

"Khajiits are not overly fond of swimming," Kharjo admitted.

"Oh, don't be a baby," Arian dismissed. Just before he opened the door Arian thought about his plan for a moment and realized there was a critical part missing.

"On second thought, you find the equipment and I'll meet you there," Arian said, and Kharjo gave him a quick confused look. "I have to find my troll."

The two then carefully opened the door, and scanned the hallway for vampires. There were none in the immediate vicinity, and so the two broke off into separate paths. The halls were made of the same brick as the dungeon, but these were kept in much better condition and illuminated much better. Arian moved as quickly and silently as his busted ribs would allow. Every corner he had to take caution there were no vampires looking for him, but much to his amazement there were none wandering the halls everywhere he looked.

Arian checked several rooms, but none led him to Frosty. Then as Arian reached a large hallway with several branching paths, he heard a commotion coming from somewhere nearby. Slowing down his search, Arian looked and saw a nearby balcony. As he approached it, Arian realized it was actually the balcony that was across the way from where they had entered Castle Volkihar. In it, he could hear Harkon talking, so cautiously Arian neared the balcony to see what was happening.

In the middle of the large feast hall, all of the vampires must have gathered. Harkon stood in the middle, his back currently to Arian. Standing in front of him was what appeared to be a young woman. She looked no older than Arian with black hair that was braided along the side. She was wearing the same red and black armor as many other vampires, and the tell-tale golden glow in her eyes sold the deal of her real identity. However there was softness to her that wasn't readily apparent in other vampires, a beauty Arian hadn't seen before. Strapped across her back was a large scroll with golden edges, but Arian wasn't really staring at that.

"Oh Serana, if only your traitorous mother could be here to see this," Harkon said. "I wonder if she will ever return to us like you have."

"I don't know father," Serana responded, crossing her arms. "She never told me where she went."

Serana looked up towards the balcony, trying to avert her gaze from her father. By sheer chance, her eyes met Arian's for a moment. Arian felt completely panicked she'd give him away, but to Arian's surprise she looked back to her father and kept talking. This made Arian realize he was a pretty easy target, and he needed to keep looking for Frosty.

Arian quickly moved away from the balcony, and decided to check a hall to his right. He ran into it and searched room after room for Frosty. There wouldn't be much more time until the vampires returned to whatever it as they were supposed to be doing Arian knew, and for a couple of seconds Arian considered abandoning his search for his best friend. The odds were they either converted Frosty to their side already, or they had kill the troll in frustration. That thought made Arian sick, when suddenly he heard a curious noise from further down the hall. It sounded like a bit of a struggle, and Arian could hear snarls and roars.

Following it, Arian found a doorway into another room. Opening it, Arian found what looked like a kennel. There were several cages and stacks of hay lying around, however what caught Arian off guard was that all over the floor there more of the dark hounds he had seen when first brought into the castle. They were lying motionless, presumably dead, and there was a vampire torn in two on the floor. Standing right across from Arian was Frosty, who had chains wrapped around its wrists but bound to nothing, and the troll was just sniffing the air.

"Did you…did you do this Frosty?" Arian asked in amazement. Frosty nodded its head and jumped up and down in excitement.

"Holy smokes you have good timing," Arian commented. "Come on buddy, let's get out of here."

Frosty ran to Arian's side and nuzzled him with the top of its head. Arian laughed helplessly and pet his friend, happy to see him too. He then led Frosty out of the room and back the way they came from. Arian was worried it'd be harder to move with a frost troll in tow, but he had forgotten how effectively quiet Frosty could be. As they made their way past the balcony Arian had almost been spotted at earlier, Arian heard the commotion grow louder and it sounded like people were starting to disperse from that room.

That meant they were running low on time, and Arian hurried his pace despite the pain to find Kharjo. Frosty and Arian then passed the dungeon Arian had escaped from earlier, and started checking around to see if Kharjo was nearby. They followed that hall until they reached a branching path, leading straight left and right, and in front of them was a window large enough to jump out of. Arian checked the window quickly and he saw the cold ocean crashing against the rocks. It was about fifty feet down and was going to be very risky, but with the vampires conglomerating so close to the only exit that would be their best chance.

Suddenly Arian could hear Kharjo whispering to him from his right, and Arian pulled away from the window to see Kharjo poking his head out from a room. Frosty growled for a moment and Kharjo looked terrified in response, but Arian placed a hand on Frosty's head to calm him.

"Easy boy," Arian said to Frosty softly. "Wait here." Arian then moved to Kharjo, and Kharjo was still staring at Frosty in shock.

"You weren't kidding," Kharjo commented. "You actually have a frost troll."

"Yeah my life is crazy," Arian responded with a small smile. "Now where's the equipment?"

Kharjo led Arian into the room, and Arian saw an assortment of swords, axes and hammers. There were several bows and arrows lying around, but Arian hunted for the great sword Olarg and Isaldi had gifted to him. Kharjo was brandishing a curved sword and a bow, his old supplies, but Arian was unable to find the sword after a solid minute of looking. Arian was about to curse his luck when suddenly he lifted a tarp that was resting over a wooden crate, he found his sword. Breathing a sigh of relief Arian strapped it across his back and followed Kharjo out of the room.

They both looked to Frosty who let out a roar as the troll stared down the hall Arian and it had come from. Arian and Kharjo ran to Frosty's side to see vampires were quickly coming, unsheathing weapons and preparing attacks.

"I'll hold them off!" Kharjo yelled as he readied an arrow on his bow. "Get your troll out that window!"

Arian nodded as Kharjo let an arrow fly. It hit the first vampire charging them between the eyes, dropping him like a brick. Grabbing Frosty by the arm, Arian led the troll backwards towards the window, and motioned for it to jump. Frosty looked outside the window, and then glanced at Arian and rapidly shook its head.

"Frosty, you have to do it," Arian said sternly as Kharjo fired another arrow. "Even the cat is going to do it so you have to as well." Frosty grunted reluctantly, but then it moved to position itself better on the windowsill. After a moment of hesitation where Kharjo fired another arrow, Frosty jumped from the window. Arian watched troll roar in terror as it plummeted towards the water, which it hit with a splash. Relieved that Frosty avoided the rocks, Arian waited for a few moments until he saw Frosty resurface.

Frosty was swimming like a panicked seal, but Arian's best friend was still alive so he could breathe easy. Kharjo fired another arrow then, and Arian turned to the Khajiit and grabbed him by the shoulder.

"Your turn!" Arian shouted.

"You go! I'll follow!" Kharjo barked as he readied another arrow. The vampires were closing in, and worst of all Arian saw Demontor at the back of the pack.

"Not without you!" Arian stated firmly. He knew full well that Kharjo would stay and fight until he died, and Arian wasn't about to let that happen. Ha had said it himself, you can't save everyone, but Arian was hell bent on saving Kharjo.

Kharjo looked reluctantly at Arian for several seconds, until he hissed and sheathed his bow. Arian followed him to the window, and the Khajiit looked down in cautiously at the water. With a whimper Kharjo jumped forward, plummeting down towards the water. Arian followed, getting himself ready on the windowsill. He looked back quickly, seeing the vampires almost upon him, and Arian leapt forward.

He felt the rush of air as he fell towards the water, and Arian did everything he could to brace himself for the icy embrace that was coming. Arian hit the water with a thud, and much to his dismay he felt one of his ribs break again. The pain went surging through his whole body, and mixed with the shock of the water Arian blacked out.

To his surprise his eyes opened to see grey sky. Arian gagged and coughed up water as he reawakened, having swallowed a bit too much of it. He continued to look upwards, but his view of the grey sky was suddenly blocked out by a concerned Kharjo and concerned Frosty. The image startled Arian and he sat up in surprise, making Kharjo and Frosty back up to give him some room. However the pain his stomach had returned in full force, and Arian instantly fell back down to his back.

"That was weird to wake up to," Arian commented as he rubbed the back of his forehead.

"I am just glad you are alive, friend," Kharjo responded. "Your frost troll carried you to shore. I will admit, I have never seen such commitment from such a normally savage beast. This one impresses me." While saying that Kharjo rubbed Frosty's head, making Frosty nuzzle up closer to the Khajiit.

"I'm glad to see you two are getting along," Arian said with a smile. He sat up more carefully and looked at Castle Volkihar. There was no sign of pursuit coming, so either the vampires thought they were dead or they never mattered enough.

"So what now?" Kharjo asked, and he and Frosty both looked to Arian.

"Now, we help reform the Dawnguard," Arian answered resolutely. Arian may have had other things he needed to accomplish in his life, but the vampire threat had to be stopped. He had seen it ruin too many lives already in the short memory he had, and Arian's burning desire to pay it back out ruled all others.

As he stared at Castle Volkihar, Arian knew the next time he'd be back he would help burn the castle to the ground.


	9. Chapter 8 - A Night in Solitude

Chapter 8 – A Night in Solitude

Arian, Kharjo and Frosty travelled throughout the early morning hours shortly after their escape, determined to make as much distance as possible between them and Castle Volkihar. They had been lucky with their escape, and they had no way to know if the vampires would chase them or not. While Arian and Kharjo had agreed to hunt down Isran together, Kharjo reluctantly agreed that Arian needed a night of rest first. The break in Arian's ribs slowed their process exponentially, and they would need healing potions and a good night sleep for Arian to get back to fighting strength. Despite Kharjo's burning desire to enact revenge on the vampires, he knew he couldn't do it alone.

They traveled around the side of a large mountain that marked the edge of the ocean. Kharjo knew there was a city nearby, and had told Arian it was his best bet to get supplies. As the sun began to rise, Kharjo grew more comfortable around Frosty's presence. A frost troll for a pet was a bizarre thing but the longer Kharjo traveled with the strange creature the more his appreciation clearly grew for it.

It was mid-day when the group traveled underneath a large shadow, making Arian look up in curiosity. The shadow was caused by a large land bridge between two mountains, and the further along they travelled Arian began to realize that sitting on top of it was the large city Kharjo had spoken of.

"Solitude was built on top of two mountains?" Arian asked, amazed at what he was seeing.

"Indeed," Kharjo responded. "It is probably the most defensible city in all of Skyrim. And the seat of Imperial power."

Arian let out a whistle in amazement, and then looked forward to see they were nearing docks. Putting some thought to it, Arian turned to acknowledge Frosty.

"Okay buddy, we'll need you to wait here. We'll back to find you tomorrow, I promise," Arian explained to the troll. Frosty whimpered lowly, looking to the ground. With a little chuckle Arian gave Frosty a rub behind the ears.

"We'll see you soon," Arian said, and with that Frosty turned and began to walk away.

"That is wise. I don't think a frost troll's presence in the city is attention we want," Kharjo commented with a nod.

"My thoughts exactly," Arian agreed. "Come on, let's get in there."

After walking up the stairs at the docks and hiking the mountain trail past a nearby farm, Arian and Kharjo reached the front gate of Solitude. Upon walking through Arian was taken in by the sights and sounds of Solitude, and again he whistled. It was similar to Whiterun in design, large wooden buildings, but there were thirty-foot high stone walls, and staircases that led to other levels of the city. People were wandering about, and everyone seemed to be doing something important, except for the poor beggars on the street. Solitude had been built into two mountains, and the large scale and design of everything reflected that.

"You should see Elsweyr," Kharjo commented, seeing Arian's face. "Lush jungles, vast canyons. You would be whistling until you no longer had a voice." Arian laughed in response to that, and the two men traveled further into the city.

They spent the remainder of that day shopping for supplies. The vampires had never taken away Kharjo's gold pouch, and he had accumulated enough that he could lend Arian some much needed aid. Their first purchases were several health potions, a couple to heal Arian and a few more since Arian seemed to take a beating often. They then bought several arrows for Kharjo, and then Arian looked at his choices for armor.

It was a tempting thought for Arian to go with a heavier armor, his iron armor having long since seemed mostly useless. However the steel armor at the shop made Arian feel like his mobility would be hampered too much. Then Arian saw a set of light green armor that had chainmail underneath it. It also came with a brown cloak that could be worn over top. Arian judged it for a few moments, and then decided it would be perfect.

"Are you sure my friend?" Kharjo asked. "It would not protect you from half the things in Skyrim."

"Well I'll just have to be quick enough that those things can't catch me," Arian responded with a grin. Kharjo laughed helplessly and paid the blacksmith, and Arian quickly changed into his new garments. By that point in time the sun was starting to set in Solitude.

"We should keep moving," Kharjo stated. "If we are to find this Isran we'll need to find the Vigilantes of Stendarr base."

Arian looked to the front of Solitude, and the pain in his ribs made that option seem undesirable at the moment. A look to the immediate right of Solitude's entrance from where he was standing revealed an inn, and Arian admitted the idea of a cozy bed after all the nights spent on a rocky floor was considerably more appealing.

"How about we take one night off? Rest up at the inn and then hit the Isran hunt hard tomorrow," Arian suggested instead.

Kharjo's eyebrows narrowed and he crossed his arms while looking at Arian.

"We need to find Isran now. Those vampires have to pay," Kharjo sharply argued.

"Look, I'm not disagreeing with you," Arian said, growing a little nervous. "But I don't think I can do a night of travelling. I still need to rest my ribs."

"Maybe you're a little slower, but you seem to be walking just fine now," Kharjo said, pointing a finger at Arian.

"I'm sorry Kharjo, just…one night. Please?" Arian pleaded. Kharjo stared intensely at Arian for several moments and then finally let out a growl and kept walking forward.

"Fine. I need a drink anyway," Kharjo stated as he walked towards the inn. Arian let out a little breath of air, relieved that things hadn't turned ugly there.

The two walked into the inn called The Winking Skeever, and Arian was automatically impressed with how much nicer it was in there as opposed to The Bannered Mare. Chandeliers hung down from the ceiling illuminating the room, and the walls were decorated with paintings and the heads of animals. Arian took a moment to take it all in, but Kharjo stormed over to the bar.

"A drink. Whatever is strong," Kharjo said to the barmaid. Then Kharjo looked to his right, Arian having sneaked in beside him. Arian was smiling at Kharjo awkwardly, hoping Kharjo would pay for his drink.

With a sigh, Kharjo added, "Make that two." The barmaid nodded and started preparing their drinks as Arian sat more comfortably at the bar. The stench of drink was powerful in The Winking Skeever, and Arian looked around at their surroundings.

There were many other tables filled with people sitting around drinking, sharing a laugh with one another, or talking somberly. Of particular interest there was one table filled with Imperial soldiers, and they were easily the most rambunctious ones in the inn. They spoke loudly of how they were going to kill the Stormcloaks, of how easy it would be. Arian wasn't very impressed with what he saw there, thinking they were too cocky for their own good. They should try fighting him, Arian thought to himself.

Kharjo and Arian sat mostly in silence, each taking their beverage without saying much of a word to one another. Arian tried to start a conversation several times, but with each passing moment Kharjo either seemed to grow more agitated or sadder. Then with a final swing of his drink, Kharjo slammed is mug on the bar, alarming Arian.

"Another," Kharjo hissed. He shot a side wards glance at Arian, and then added, "Bah, two more."

Arian grew a little more uncomfortable, feeling like he was an inconvenience to Kharjo then. The moment the second drinks were down Kharjo began to down it, and Arian tried to ignore how frustrated his companion was seeming to get. He looked back to the Imperial soldiers again, and saw one had broken away from the rest. He was a bearded man, wearing a bright red cloak like more Imperials did. His seemed to be more regal however, with shoulder pads and less exposed chainmail.

He was accosting the barmaids walking around however, making sexist remarks at them as they walked by. Asking them to "join the Captain in his bed that night." Arian wanted to do something, but if the man actually was some sort of Captain, Arian was worried about what kind of punishment that might bring down upon him.

Kharjo suddenly slammed his second drink down, startling Arian again. Arian cautiously looked over at his Khajiit ally for a few moments, and he was panting heavily staring down at the wood of the bar.

"They're all dead…all dead because I couldn't protect them," Kharjo muttered to himself. Arian wondered how much the drink was affecting Kharjo's sudden self-loathing, or how much it was bringing it to the surface.

"I should have died there with them. That was where I belonged," Kharjo continued to say, covering his eyes with his hand. "But you wouldn't let me."

Those last words came out like a threatening hiss, and Arian figured maybe it was time to say something to try and quell the situation. Before he could Kharjo looked at Arian imposingly, his animalistic qualities blaring through.

"You should have let me die, Arian. Or at the least I should be there killing all those damn vampires with my bare hands! But no, here I am paying for your armor and your drink!" Kharjo accused. He stopped ranting for a moment, staring at Arian, waiting for Arian to say something.

"We…drink to their memory?" Arian offered, raising his mug.

Kharjo suddenly slapped the mug out of Arian's hand, making most of the chatter in the bar go quiet as everyone turned to look. The mug hit the floor with a hard thud, spilling the remainder of Arian's beverage.

"I should be killing to their memory!" Kharjo shouted. He then stood from his seat and started walking away. Everyone continued to look at the scene for another second, but then dismissed it as a drunken feud and returned to their conversations.

"Kharjo, wait! I'm sorry-"Arian tried to say as the Khajiit stormed towards the exit.

"I'm done with you," Kharjo sharply responded. The doors of the bar slammed shut as Kharjo left, and Arian slumped over in his seat and sighed. Arian felt stupid for letting himself think he had made a new ally. When was he ever that lucky?

"Want another to replace that one, hun? It'll be on the house," the bar maiden said. Arian looked to her for a moment, and feeling lonely he nodded.

As Arian solemnly drank, he began to feel the effects of the liquor more profusely. The noise of the bar started to become a hum in his ears, the more he looked around the more colours started to swirl together. He stopped thinking about the confrontation with Kharjo altogether. Instead his mind began to try focusing on little things in the bar, a certain animal trophy on the wall or the way a torch light would flicker.

Arian had no recollection of what being drunk was like so to be hit so heavily with the sensation disoriented Arian in a way he had no means to cope with. After focusing on things he tried to focus on people instead. Arian stared at people with a slack jaw, trying to determine what kind of person they were by looking at them. A couple who noticed Arian was staring at them shot Arian dirty looks, and Arian would have to pick a new target to stare at.

Then Arian went back to the Imperial captain, who was still being a pig. Arian glowered at the man, who seemed to revel in his own disgusting nature, and Arian seriously considered going over there and teaching him a lesson. His mind had changed significantly, what was the worst that could happen from giving a stern lecture to an Imperial captain?

The captain then grabbed a bar maiden who was walking by and tried to force her into sitting on his lap, and she slapped at him to try and get away. This only made him laugh as he held her in place, and Arian had enough of the man. Standing up but stumbling immediately, Arian tried to storm his way over to the captain.

His first setback was immediately running into support beam, causing a loud thump. A few people turned and laughed, and Arian dazedly backed away from the post and stared at incredulously for a few moments. It should have hurt a lot more, and Arian knew that, but Arian didn't seem to mind.

"My god… I'm invincible," Arian remarked to himself, drunk logic setting in.

To Arian, nothing made more sense in that moment then strolling over and telling that obnoxious captain what for. Swelling up with all the pride he could muster, Arian waltzed over to the captain and stood over top of him for several seconds until he realized the captain wasn't paying any attention. The captain was too busy playing with the poor bar maiden, so with over-the-top bravado Arian cleared his voice. The captain finally looked to Arian then, and let the bar maiden go who stormed off in an angry huff.

"Can I help you with something?" the captain asked indignantly, angry anyone would try and spoil his fun.

"You…you should leave the pretty ladies alone!" Arian proclaimed, his words slurring together horribly. The captain raised an eyebrow, and several of the guards began chuckling as they watched Arian try to stand up to their captain. Arian wasn't aware that he was barely standing straight, in his mind he stood tall and heroic.

"And who are you to tell me what to do?" the captain questioned, standing up to regard Arian.

"I am…the guy who's going to kick your ass!" Arian shouted, and for the third time that night all eyes in the inn were on Arian as he swung a punch. The rapid motion was such a blur for Arian, he didn't even register that his fist flew harmlessly past the captain's head. It suddenly felt like there was a hard weight upon the top of Arian's head, and he went crumpling towards the ground as all the colors of the bar finally mixed into one black mass.

Arian awakened some time later, with a headache that could have killed a lesser man. Groaning, Arian tried to put a hand to his forehead to block out all light, but with a clunk sound he realized he couldn't move his arm very far at all. This forced Arian to fight through his hangover and get a proper judge of his surroundings.

All around him were dark green bricks as he was trapped in a round room. Ahead of Arian were prison bars, and wrapped his wrists were cuffs with chains that bound him to the wall. Arian groaned, unable to believe that so soon after escaping Castle Volkihar dungeon, he was stuck in Solitude's prison.

"God damn I have the worst luck," Arian muttered to himself.

Arian sat there for several minutes, contemplating what his next plan of action would have to be. Would he attempt to escape Solitude's prison, and risk the ire of the entire hold's guard? Or should he just wait out and carry out whatever sentence they had in store for him? To the best of Arian's memory he was locked away for trying to teach a captain a lesson in manners, so he figured worst-case scenario he'd be locked away for a few days.

However that meant he'd be unlikely to ever come across Kharjo again. There was also Frosty, how long could the frost troll wait before leaving Arian's side forever? Arian looked to the ground in shame of his drunken misdemeanour, considering the options.

Suddenly a shadow was cast over Arian. Arian looked up the prison bars, where his only light source was now being blocked out by a figure with pointy ears standing in front of it. His hangover affected his vision, but once the figure spoke Arian instantly recognized who it was.

"My friend, you cannot hold your liquor," Kharjo stated.

"Kharjo?" Arian asked bewildered. "What…what are you doing here?"

"I had a crisis of conscience," Kharjo explained, leaning one arm against the bar as he pressed his forehead into it. "But as I come back to find you, I saw the prison guards hauling your drunk ass away."

Arian tried to scratch the back of his head, but the chains once again stopped him.

"Yeah, in a life filled with low moments, that's a pretty notable one," Arian admitted.

Kharjo then pulled back from the bars, and started fumbling through pouches along his belt as he said, "Hang tight, I will have you out of here in a moment."

Quickly checking the perimeter before proceeding, Kharjo nimbly picked the lock to the jail cell. He had a speed and grace Arian was envious of, even considering Arian's own impressive ability. With the gate open Kharjo rushed in and picked the locks on Arian's cuffs freeing him. Arian took a moment to realize how good the relief was around his wrists felt, but then stood up to acknowledge Kharjo.

"Thanks Kharjo, sorry if I was a jerk earlier with the gold and stuff," Arian said, but Kharjo looked from Arian to outside the cell.

"Apologies will wait my friend. We need to get your equipment, and then get out," Kharjo instructed.

Arian looked down and realized Kharjo was right, he wasn't wearing his brand new green armor yet. Instead he was wearing a brown rough spin tunic with no shoes, making the stone floor even colder. Nodding in agreement, Arian followed Kharjo's lead as Kharjo quickly dashed to the entrance of the cell.

"We'll have to be fast if we want any chance of getting out," Kharjo said, but as he did Arian ran face first into the wall beside Kharjo. It caused a loud thump noise, and Kharjo looked to Arian in surprise.

"That wall jumped out of nowhere," Arian grunted as he rubbed his nose in pain. "Sorry Kharjo, I think I must still be a little drunk."

Kharjo sighed, and then scanned the perimeter outside the cell.

"Very well. I will move first, and then when I signal you follow," Kharjo ordered. Arian nodded again in agreement, and then Kharjo dashed from the gate of the cell to a stairwell nearby. Kharjo was out of sight for a moment as he crept up the first two stairs, but then he came back down and waved for Arian to follow.

As Arian clumsily followed, trying desperately hard to be silent, he took in the Solitude prison. He had been put in a cell on the lower floor of a two-leveled square shaped prison. There were cells all around the bottom floor, and from his location Arian couldn't see over top of the guard rail on the upper level. Torches kept the area mostly lit, but there was still enough darkness to make the prison intimidating.

A few prisoners who saw Kharjo and Arian flee quietly tried to get their attention, hoping they would be freed as well. However Arian and Kharjo had enough to worry about with a very hung over Arian to even think about taking on another prisoner.

The duo made their way up the stairs of the prison, Arian following Kharjo at a safe distance. Suddenly Kharjo stopped moving and held up a hand to stop Arian, making Arian stumble over a step in surprise. Kharjo silently hissed at Arian, making Arian blush and remain as still as possible as Kharjo looked forward. Then without warning Kharjo bolted forward and Arian peeked ahead to see what the Khajiit was up to.

Arian managed to see just in time as Kharjo wrapped his arm around the neck of an unsuspecting guard. The guard struggled and tried to cry out but Kharjo applied more pressure and ensured the guard couldn't make a noise. As the man lost strength Kharjo dragged him backwards into a nearby room out of Arian's line of sight, but the sound of a thwack told Arian the guard would no longer be conscience.

Kharjo then bade Arian to follow him into the room, and Arian obliged quickly. Inside the room there were several large chests filled with supplies, and Arian quickly reasoned they belonged to the prisoners. After scavenging for several minutes as Kharjo kept a vigilant look-out, Arian managed to find and equip his previous armor and sword.

"Talk about déjà vu," Arian commented quietly, and Kharjo managed a small chuckle. Arian knew the two had to keep moving, but there was a burning question on his mind. If the two were caught leaving, Arian may never have a chance to find out the answer.

"Kharjo," Arian said, addressing the Khajiit's full attention. "What did you mean when you said you had a crisis of conscience?"

Kharjo stared hard at Arian for several moments, and Arian could tell the Khajiit wanted to continue forward and not waste more time. However Arian stood strong, wanting to know what made his ally tick.

"I asked myself what my brothers and sisters would have wanted," Kharjo finally said reluctantly. "Would they want revenge? No, but I sure do so that doesn't matter. What they would want however, is that I wasn't alone." Kharjo turned to more properly look at Arian.

"You gave me that chance unconditionally. Sure, we saved each other from Castle Volkihar, but afterwards nothing would have stopped you from walking away, finding your own path. But you chose to walk one with me under no pretense, and because of that joining you would make my friends proud," Kharjo finished. Then with a toothy smile he added, "Khajiit guards your back."

Arian smiled, honored that he could have made such a difference in someone's life. Then suddenly that smile dissipated as a guard walked up behind Kharjo with a raised hammer. Arian's startled expression tipped Kharjo off, and Kharjo spun and grabbed the hammer's hilt as it was swung down upon him. Using that man's momentum, Kharjo flipped him forward with a mighty heave, and that guard went crashing forward landing on his back.

The guard groaned in pain, but the Kharjo bent low and punched the guard in the neck and knocked him out completely. Arian was taken aback at how efficient Kharjo was, still in shock by the Khajiit's fighting prowess and speed.

"Holy crap you're good," Arian commented.

"I've already knocked out most of the guard," Kharjo added. "We should be on a clear run to the exit."

Arian nodded, and the two left the room and kept moving. They continued with the same strategy as before, however they grew more relaxed as more time was spent walking over the bodies of unconscious guards Kharjo had already taken care of. As they neared the exit, Arian allowed himself to think they'd get out scot free. Then they saw the huge Redguard man standing in their way.

Standing at least six foot five tall, the large man had a cornrow haircut and was wearing a big chainmail chest plate. Strapped across his back was an extremely large headsman axe, and Arian wasn't even sure if the Redguard would be able to swing that axe in the hallway. He had little doubt the Redguard could swing it though, he had large rippling biceps that struck fear into him.

"You two really thought you could escape the Castle Dour prison?" the Redguard asked, his voice deep and rough. "This is my prison. No one escapes."

Kharjo backed up and whispered quietly to Arian, "I don't think we'll have a choice, we may have to kill this one."

Arian thought about it as he looked at the giant of a man reach for his axe. If they killed this man here, the Solitude guard and by extension the Imperial army would never stop hunting them. The option of serving a sentence was even less appealing however, so Arian tried to think of a desperate third plan. Just as the Redguard began to unsheathe the axe and Kharjo gripped the hilt of his blade, it came to Arian.

He would never really be sure if this plan came from the remnants of the alcohol still making him drunk or if it was actually his own ingenuity. But even before Arian spoke he knew the plan was going to sound slightly crazy.

"Wait!" Arian shouted, making them both stop. "Mister giant scary Redguard man, what's your name?"

The Redguard eyed Arian suspiciously for a few moments, and then muttered, "Ahtar."

"Alright Ahtar, I'll make you a deal," Arian said, trying to keep Kharjo and the prison guard from murdering each other. "I think we all know how the two-on-one fight would end."

Ahtar grunted at this, not seemingly convinced. There was a moment of hesitation however, and Arian knew the Redguard acknowledged there was a good chance he'd lose that fight.

"So what I propose is you let us go, and we won't tell everyone in Skyrim how one Khajiit managed to break out a prisoner and dispatch your entire guard with his bare hands-with ease," Arian offered. Kharjo eased at this proposition, realizing there was an intelligence to Arian's plan.

However Ahtar shook his head in response and said, "My honor demands I try to stop you from escaping this prison. I'd rather die than just let you walk out."

That was going to make things more difficult, Arian knew. Then Arian's plan became even more desperate and he said, "Alright, well then how about we sweeten the deal for you?"

Again Ahtar stopped moving and addressed this strange man in front of him cautiously as Kharjo looked at Arian skeptically.

"To defend your honor, we'll fight you. But only a fist fight. No weapons, no murdering but a fight that will go until the other surrenders. If we win, we leave and don't tell anyone what happened here. If you win, we both stay in your jail no questions asked," Arian stated.

"Arian!" Kharjo hissed. "What are you thinking?"

"Trust me on this one," Arian assured, and then he looked to the Redguard who was mulling it over in his head.

"Well…" Ahtar said as he looked at the two. "I guess we can try that." For a man who had just made a big deal out of honor, Ahtar seemed like a more cowardly man then he let on. "But only if I fight one of you. Two is not fair."

The ludicrousness of what was unfolding was not lost on Arian. He knew that a prison guard agreeing to a fist fight for a prisoner's freedom, but only fighting one of them so it was fair, was a pretty ridiculous scenario. Arian counted himself very lucky that Ahtar had no intention of dying.

"Alright," Arian agreed. "You can fight my friend Kharjo here." Kharjo's ears went straight back in shock as he looked at Arian in fear. It wasn't an emotion Arian was used to seeing in the Khajiit, and it startled him.

"I can't take a man of that size," Kharjo whispered. "Why don't you fight him?"

"Do you expect me in my condition to even be able to throw a punch?" Arian countered, swaying a little as he did. "I'm too hung over to fight this guy."

Kharjo let out a little whimper and sighed. Releasing his grip on the blade, Kharjo did his best to stand tall.

"I will fight you for your honor and our freedom," Kharjo stated.

Ahtar then openly laughed, clearly not imposed by Kharjo in the slightest. Kharjo grew visibly more nervous, and shared a look with Arian. Arian did his best to give him a reassuring look, but it didn't seem to help much.

"Very well, cat man," Ahtar said as he stopped chuckling. "I will fight you."

A few minutes later they were all down in the lower level where Arian had been kept earlier. Many of the prisoners stood at the edge of their cells and watched intently as Kharjo and Ahtar both stripped their armor to be bare chested. Down to only tunic pants and bare feet, the two circled each other. Kharjo looked ganglier then Arian had expected, the Khajiit's grey fur covering his slender form. Ahtar on the other hand looked even more imposing with the armor off, giant abs and a barrel chest striking Arian's nerves.

"Alright, the rules are fight until one of you surrenders, or you know can't speak any more," Arian stated, walking between them. He looked to both contestants, and both Ahtar and Kharjo nodded. Apprehensive that his plan was going to turn out awfully, Arian walked over to Kharjo's side.

"Sorry to put you in this situation," Arian said to Kharjo.

"I only hope your faith in me is not unfounded," Kharjo replied, and then he walked forward to address Ahtar. Ahtar smirked and edged closer to Kharjo in response. Leaning back against the wall of the prison, Arian crossed his arms and dammed his hangover. He knew it should have been him fighting the Redguard.

Kharjo and Ahtar began to circle each other, both trying to judge the other's movements. While Ahtar grinned, Kharjo narrowed his eyebrows in anticipation. Then suddenly Ahtar dashed forward and punched at Kharjo. Quickly leaning to the side Kharjo dodged the swing, and then Kharjo jabbed forward and hit Ahtar in the chin.

Ahtar recoiled in surprise, and Kharjo followed up with two more quick jabs hitting Ahtar in the chest and cheek. Then before Ahtar could think to respond Kharjo leapt up in the air with a spin and kicked, hitting Ahtar in face. The large man fell to one knee in surprising pain as Kharjo landed. The Khajiit quickly readjusted himself into a fighting pose as Ahtar stood back up and spat out a wad of blood.

No longer grinning, Ahtar charged forward at Kharjo again. Kharjo got ready to lean or counter a punch, but instead Ahtar dropped a shoulder and plowed into Kharjo, taking Kharjo off his feet. Arian grimaced as Ahtar tackled the Khajiit into the ground. In a full mount positon Ahtar let out two powerful punches into Kharjo, and to his credit Kharjo managed to bring up his arms and protect his face from the scarring hits.

Then suddenly Ahtar grabbed both of Kharjo's arms and spread them out wide. Kharjo wasn't sure what was coming with neither of their arms free, when Ahtar suddenly and violently head-butt the Khajiit. Arian gasped in shock, and Kharjo's head slumped backwards towards the ground. In a daze, Kharjo tried to regain some sense of balance, when suddenly Ahtar punched down hard and hit him in the face.

The hit took the air out of Kharjo's lungs, but it realigned him to the fight that was occurring. Ahtar attempted a second brutal punch, but Kharjo nimbly swerved his head to the side and let Ahtar hit the stone floor beneath them. It sounded like bone broke as Ahtar's fist slammed into the ground and the giant man let out a roar of pain. Kharjo used the moment to his advantage by wrapping his hands around Ahtar's neck and tearing the large man off of him.

Kharjo quickly rolled to his feet as Ahtar tumbled off of him. Ahtar growled as he cradled his broken hand and stood up, and Kharjo began to hop back and forth on his feet, anticipating a charge. Ahtar did exactly as the Khajiit predicted and ran at Kharjo liked a maddened rhino. As Ahtar neared Kharjo swept low and kicked at Ahtar's feet, sending the large man air born. With a crash onto his stomach, Ahtar remained still for many moments, and Arian was starting to think maybe the Redguard was unconscious.

Cautiously Kharjo neared the Redguard, checking to see if he had been knocked out. Then suddenly Ahtar grabbed Kharjo by the ankle and swung the Khajiit like he was a toy into the ground. Stunned by the hit, Kharjo could only roll onto his back as Ahtar once again crawled on top of him. This time Ahtar wrapped his good hand tightly around Kharjo's lungs with the intention to squeeze the life out of the Khajiit. Kharjo gasped for air and tried to remove Ahtar's hand, but strength was fast fading.

Arian moved to intervene, prepared to declare Ahtar the winner. He knew it would mean it would mean a life in prison, but he couldn't watch Kharjo die. Then suddenly with a burst of strength and speed Kharjo reached up and grabbed Ahtar's elbow with both his hands. Ahtar's eyes went wide in confusion, but a look down to Kharjo revealed it was the Khajiit's turn to smile. Twisting his hands and yanking backwards with his arms, Kharjo snapped Ahtar's arm in two different places.

Ahtar screamed in pain and Arian almost threw up in shock as Ahtar's arm turned to jelly. No longer able to keep a grip around Kharjo's neck Ahtar sat up, but then he received a punch in the face from Kharjo. The large man fell off Kharjo and rolled onto his side as he winced in pain. One hand and the other arm were broken, leaving Ahtar to squirm in pain futilely breathing heavily and rapidly to try and keep the pain under control.

Kharjo stood up slowly and panted. Rubbing his neck where he was being choked, Kharjo walked over to Arian, who was still flabbergasted at what had just happened. Kharjo kneeled down and started to put his armor back on as Arian just stared at his Khajiit friend.

"No one ever said we couldn't fight dirty," Kharjo commented with a wry smile as he started to put his chest piece back on. Arian was still speechless, but he couldn't help but laugh at that statement. It was an infectious laugh, Kharjo soon joining him, and then surprisingly Ahtar did the same. The two friends looked down to Ahtar, who was having a rough time standing up without using his arms, but he was laughing all the same.

"That was a good fight Khajiit. You surprised me," Ahtar admitted. Kharjo nodded in acknowledgement, accepting the compliment.

"You two are free to go, I'll make sure the statement says you served your time," Ahtar said to Arian. "If either of you ever need a hand, come find me. It would be an honor to fight at the Khajiit's side." Confused by how the Redguard's brain worked, Arian looked to Kharjo skeptically. However Kharjo was smiling in return.

"It would be an honor to fight at yours," Kharjo replied. With a shrug of his shoulders, Arian gave up on trying to figure out the thought process. Arian supposed honor just wasn't a concept h was familiar with.

Morning was breaking in Solitude as Arian and Kharjo left the city. They made sure to sneak out, just in case there were any guards who had seen Arian locked up still patrolling the city. The last thing they wanted was any more trouble.

Out of the city, the two quickly reunited with Frosty, who had a large pile of fish waiting for them. The frost troll must have been fishing the whole day they were gone, Arian realized, and once again he was blown away by the troll's intelligence.

As the three made distance between themselves and Solitude, walking along a mountain trail that led towards a small hamlet down the road, Arian turned to Kharjo and asked, "So, you think your caravan would have been okay with you traveling alongside me?"

Kharjo nodded and responded, "Yes. I mean they would have disappointed I picked company that can seem mostly brain dead sometimes." The little jab at Arian's thought process made Arian chuckle, knowing full-well he deserved it.

"But they would be happy I have at least found a friend to walk beside," Kharjo finished. Arian smiled in response, and together the three continued down the trail.


	10. Chapter 9 - Hall of the Dammed

Chapter 9 – Hall of the Dammed

The trio traveled throughout the following day, stopping twice to eat some of the fish Frosty had caught for them. Arian's ribs were finally healed thanks to health potions, and the clear air of Skyrim had relieved him of his hangover. Feeling recharged, Arian had a renewed determination to find Isran and help restore the Dawnguard.

They had initially walked down to a small hamlet west of Solitude, and upon talking to villagers there had corrected their course to the east. Arian remembered that Reundelf had told him Isran was a Vigilant of Stendarr, and so they had asked directions to where their base may be located. After being told that it could be found between Morthal and Dawnstar, names which meant nothing to Arian, Kharjo led the group east through a series of bogs.

It was a tough walk, their progress slowed by muddy terrain and being forced to navigate around bodies of water too large to wade through. On their travels they saw lots of wildlife, including deer, bears and mudcrabs. When once Arian may have been nervous to encounter such animals, Frosty's presence was enough to ward even the biggest of alpha predators.

During the walk, Kharjo and Arian spoke of Kharjo's life before coming to Skyrim with the caravan. Arian learned that Kharjo had originally trained to be a knight in Tamriel, actually intending to serve in the Imperial army there. However his father grew ill in his absence, and Kharjo had been forced to return to Elsweyr to take care of their family's farm there.

After his father passed, and his mother shortly after from grief, Kharjo had joined a caravan travelling to Skyrim to make a life there. Ahkari had actually saved Kharjo from a prison in Cyrodiil back in Kharjo's training days after Kharjo had too much to drink one night, and as such he owed her the debt of his company on their caravan. Elsweyr had become a hard place to make a living, the great war with the Thalmor affecting their economy dramatically.

"Aye, and since then I had traveled with the caravan for many seasons in Skyrim," Kharjo explained. "Once we had raised enough money here in Skyrim we planned on traveling to Hammerfell and working there for another few seasons. Then we were going to return to Elsweyr and open an exotic goods shop."

"Wow, so you had been with them for a while," Arian commented. "I'm sorry, it must have been hard to lose them like that."

Kharjo nodded solemnly and replied, "It was. They were like family to me after all we had been through."

Then a small smile returned to Kharjo's face and he added, "But, at least I am still not alone."

"Neither of us are," Arian responded. And then Frosty made a grunt noise and hopped up and down.

"We at least have Frosty," Arian joked, and Kharjo laughed as Frosty continued to hop up and down excitedly.

After the sun set that night, the three continued to travel, eventually reaching the city of Morthal. A city built into a lake, Morthal seemed like a bit of a ghetto to Arian. The buildings weren't in great condition and it was difficult to walk without losing one's shoe in muddy terrain. However the people were nice to the duo there, everyone smiling and saying hello to Arian and Kharjo.

Frosty was once again forced to wait outside the city, however the troll seemed to be getting used to the idea. Once Arian and Kharjo had left the troll, Arian glanced backwards to see Frosty jump into a puddle and begin to thrash around. Arian could have sworn the troll was giggling.

The two agreed it would be a good idea to actually get a good night's rest after the shenanigans in Solitude, so they walked into the Moorside Inn, Morthal's local inn. Upon walking in, Arian quickly took in the scenery. As opposed to the Bannered Mare in Whiterun and the Winking Skeever in Solitude, the Moorside Inn seemed more bare-bones and lacking in character.

All around the four-walled inn were tables that a few patrons were using, and in the middle was a large rectangular fire-pit that was being used to cook meals. Behind the bar was a staircase leading downwards, presumably to the inn's cellar. There were only four rooms in the inn, and none were particularly decorated.

Arian and Kharjo walked over to the bar, intent on getting a couple of drinks and asking for a couple rooms. Kharjo's funds were beginning to run out, but luckily a night at an inn was cheap so they'd have enough to make it at least until they found the Vigilants of Stendarr. From what they had been told they should only have been a day's walk away from reaching their hall.

Their map spread across the bar, Arian said, "So, I think they said we could find them here." Arian pointed to the map, indicating a location to their east and north. Kharjo shook his head however and motioned to a more southern location.

"No, I believe we'll have better luck down there. Up north it'd be too cold, only fishermen would want to live that far," Kharjo argued. The inn keeper, a Redguard woman who introduced herself as Jonna, had been listening in on their conversation and moved closer to address the two.

"What are you two looking for?" she asked, cleaning a mug in her hands.

"Maybe you can help us settle a debate," Kharjo said, putting an arm on the bar as he inched closer to Jonna. Arian noticed Kharjo's ears perk up ever so slightly, and his eyebrows seemed to rise. Was he trying to be seductive? Arian asked himself. Maybe ten years earlier Jonna would have been attractive, but she was looking old. Not frail however, she looked strong from enduring Skyrim winters. However the concept still bewildered Arian.

"My friend and I are trying to find the Hall of the Vigilants," Kharjo explained. "Maybe you can point us in the right direction." Kharjo seemed to be rolling his tongue even more than usual. Perhaps the strangest part to Arian was it seemed to be working, Jonna leaned in closer to Kharjo. Arian didn't know if Kharjo was attractive or not, because for starters he was a cat person and secondly Arian was straight. However Jonna must have thought so.

"So you boys haven't heard huh?" Jonna said, looking more at Kharjo then Arian. Arian raised an eyebrow and was suddenly more into the conversation.

"Heard what?" Arian questioned.

"The Hall of Vigilants has been burned down. It's completely destroyed," Jonna explained. Kharjo snapped out his flirty mode for a moment and shared a concerned look with Arian.

"What happened?" Kharjo asked.

Jonna shrugged her shoulders and answered, "Don't know. The rumor is it was vampires, but the guy who found the Hall said it was such a gruesome scene he threw up for days just thinking about."

Arian looked to the bar and the map. Suddenly where the hall was didn't seem very important anymore.

"Were…were there any survivors? A man named Isran maybe?" Arian implored, hoping to on a chance that he was still alive.

"I have no idea," Jonna honestly replied. "Maybe, but no one has gone back to check."

Jonna then left them to keep working, and Arian and Kharjo both slumped in their chairs. For a few minutes neither of them said anything. Arian contemplated other options. Maybe they could go to the Imperials, or the Stormcloaks, for help to fight the vampires. Odds were they were too busy with their war to pay attention however, so Arian considered maybe one of the guilds in Skyrim could help them. It still seemed like a long shot to Arian though, so with a defeated sigh he took a drink of his mead.

"We'll…we'll stay here tonight and think of something in the morning," Arian muttered, to which Kharjo nodded slowly.

As the night passed on and more drink was in their bellies, the two friends remained mostly in silence. However once Jonna returned to them, Kharjo's flirting returned. Watching Kharjo play the game, Arian wondered if that was how most people actually did it. When he had Ysolda, it just kind of happened.

At one point Jonna left again to attend to some other business, so Arian leaned over to his Khajiit friend and asked, "Isn't she…I don't know, a little old? Why her?"

Kharjo grabbed his mug, but before he took a drink his words were muffled into the cup just loud enough for Arian to hear, "One less room to pay for."

Then with a wink Kharjo proceeded to drink, leaving Arian sitting there a little dumbfounded. Kharjo finished his drink and then slammed the mug down on the bar, laughing at Arian's surprise at the reasoning.

"It's what the mead is for," Kharjo elaborated. "A trick I learned when I first came to Skyrim, helped me avoid a few cold nights in the winter."

Arian shrugged his shoulders and conceded the point. It wasn't like they had a lot of gold to begin with, being a frivolous spender had its benefits. This unfortunately meant Arian had to watch Kharjo and Jonna flirt for the remainder of the evening as Kharjo continued to put away drinks. Arian had stopped after one, his intoxication the night before already getting him in enough trouble.

It was around midnight that Jonna had forgone her duties altogether to just chat with Kharjo. She was sitting in the Khajiit's lap as he regaled her with tales from Elsweyr, and Arian simply sighed and looked to the bar's entrance. His room had already been paid for, and Kharjo's seemed like it soon would be, so Arian considered just hitting the hay.

However, Arian thought about Frosty who must have been out in the dark. The thought of Frosty alone inspired Arian to go take a walk and visit his troll friend. Frosty had never abandoned Arian to bed a woman. Dropping off his potions and other valuables in his room before departing, Arian grabbed his sword knowing there was a good chance there would be wildlife outside looking to disembowel him.

Arian walked out of Morthal, heading back the way he and Kharjo had entered the city from. Calling for Frosty, Arian tried to see in the dark of the night but found it quite difficult. The moons were covered by clouds, and Arian struggled to see his friend. Though suddenly Arian heard a sharp panting behind him, and nearly jumped out of his skin thinking it was a bear.

Much to his relief, Frosty started giggling again. Arian caught his breath, putting his hands on his knees and bending over, and then he couldn't help but laugh.

"You are a troublemaker," Arian commented to Frosty. "But that's why we're such good friends."

Arian started to pet Frosty on the top of the head, who had ceased laughing and was now letting out a purr sound.

"Trouble seems to follow us wherever we go," Arian remarked quietly. He stood there for another few moments tenderly petting his troll, when suddenly he heard what sounded like running nearby. The splashing sound of water was repeating quickly somewhere in their area, leaving Arian to assume that at least two people were in a rush.

"Hurry! Movarth didn't call this meeting so we could be late!" one man hissed to another.

"Movarth and his vampires can wait! It's the other company he's expecting that has me scared," another man shot back. Their voices and the sounds of their footsteps disappeared suddenly, leaving Arian to digest what he had just heard.

Vampires. Arian kneeled down low, and Frosty followed suit. Arian listened intently where the sound was coming from, and pin-pointed it to being just south of his location.

"Speaking of trouble," Arian muttered to himself. Arian beckoned Frosty to follow quietly, and the two made their way over to where the two men had been running, finding the location of where their voices had vanished.

Coming across a large rock-face, Arian inspected it, and even in the dark of night Arian found there was a cave. Leaning down and feeling the ground, Arian felt wet-imprints in the ground of boots leading further into the cave.

For a moment Arian considered going back and getting Kharjo. However Arian wanted to know what those vampires were talking about, and was worried he'd lose that opportunity if he wasted too much time. Swallowing any trepidation, Arian led Frosty into the cave.

After travelling a short distance into the cave, torches began to illuminate the hallway and Arian was finally able to see where he was going. This cave looked more refined than the Swindler's Den. It was less of a temporary hideout and felt more like a home to Arian, due to the small bedrooms he came across that were hidden in nooks and crannies in the cave.

Arian was on his guard, not sure when there would be a guard or some sort of patrol wandering through the cave, but for the first few minutes of exploring there was nothing. Then the cave started to branch into an upper and lower path, the upper supported by a constructed pathway. Arian quickly examined both, and then he and Frosty picked the lower path. The upper path ran alongside the lower one, and Arian hugged the wall moving slowly, in case anyone appeared unexpectedly.

The trail led around a curve to the right, and as they etched around the wall Arian stopped abruptly upon seeing the large cavern the tunnel opened into. Arian quickly caught his breath, the air in his lungs escaping upon what he saw.

In the cave in front of them was a huge open room, in the middle a giant banquet table with an assortment of human limbs on it. It was like back in Castle Volkihar, and Arian's stomach churned at the thought. Walking around the table with trays of food and wine were mindless humans. There were no expressions they carried, it was like nobody was home.

Sitting at the table were at least twenty vampires. They were all dining and chatting, having a nice meeting by the looks of it. At the head of the table was a well groomed vampire, much like Harkon. He was wearing dark robes and had longer shoulder length hair as opposed to Harkon's shorter trimmed hair, but he wore a similar goatee.

Suddenly one vampire stood up and said, "A toast to our host, Movarth!" All the vampires in the room raised their wine in unison, and the one at the head of table, Movarth, Arian now realized, nodded his head in appreciation. However, what caught Arian off guard was the vampire who said that looked very familiar.

Squinting his eyes, Arian examined the vampire very closely. As the vampire sat back down, Arian took in the vampire's facial features, trying to place a name or location to his face. That was when Arian noticed the thick red mark right between the vampire's eyes, a slit that looked just large enough for a dagger.

"Groatian?!" Arian whispered to himself. It was the vampire he had killed to save Reundelf, or so he thought. Arian firmly remembered throwing the dagger between the monster's eyes and dropping him. How could he still be alive?

Arian looked to his side then and saw a torch was illuminating the wall beside him, and he realized in that moment they were very exposed to the vampires seeing them. Grabbing the torch and extinguishing it before anyone could notice, Arian crouched down low. He instructed Frosty to do likewise, and the amazingly quiet frost troll followed suit.

Movarth stood up then, properly addressing all the vampires in the room.

"We have gathered here today, master vampires from all corners of Skyrim, to discuss the ongoing machinations of Lord Harkon," Movarth explained, although Arian had a feeling everyone already knew that. "And to discuss the role's we can all play to help those plans along, under the pretense that certain demands by us are met. Groatian is here today as an emissary from Lord Harkon to take in our demands and vows of servitude, as well as explain to us how far along Lord Harkon's plot really is."

Then with a snicker, Movarth added, "And maybe he'll tell us where he got that new beauty mark."

The banquet table erupted into laughter, and Groatian shook his head and sighed. He was clearly embarrassed by the new mark making Arian smirk. Even though he wanted to leave the vampire more than embarrassed, he considered himself personally responsible for that one.

Groatian stood up next as Movarth took his seat, and then said to the crowd, "I assure you all, I will one day find the mortal who did this to me, and I'll leave him with more than just a beauty mark.

"Regardless, in terms of Lord Harkon's ground operations, we are continuing to hunt down notable vampire slayers in the province. The only ones to elude our capture are Reundelf, and those who are joining the Dawnguard."

Arian's ears perked up at this. The Dawnguard still existed? He was more than a little confused, but at least it meant he and Kharjo still had an objective to follow.

"However the Dawnguard are hardly a threat," Groatian said with a grin. "We know their location, we know their strengths and weaknesses, so we are simply biding our time until we finish them off."

There was a pause in the room, and Groatian looked over to Movarth.

"For the next order of business…well we are still one guest short," Groatian said, and Arian could detect a nervous tone in his voice.

Suddenly the whole cavern began to shake wildly, stones and dust falling from the ceiling. The vampires all seemed to grow extremely nervous, and Arian fought to keep his balance. He heard Frosty begin to whimper, a sound Arian had never heard the troll make before. Arian put a hand on the troll's head to calm it, but it seemed to do little good.

The shaking was followed by a thunderous booming sound, and Arian followed Movarth and Groatian's eyes to a large hole in the wall behind them. From the darkness of the whole appeared two large blood red eyes, and as they grew closer Arian felt a wave of pain surge through his brain. He gasped in shock and held his forehead. Those eyes were intimately familiar for a reason he didn't understand.

Then through the hole came a large reptilian snout, and many of the vampires chatted nervously. The whole of the head was revealed, and it was spiky angular dragon head that was a black as death, and then two massive claws gripped around the edges of the hole. It breathed through its snout, little puffs of dark cloud being released.

"Little vampires," the dragon said. "I have come to your, soiree, now do not waste my time."

That voice. It was the same one from one of Arian's visions when he had fallen off the mountain. It was deep, menacing, and it chilled Arian to his very core. This dragon had told him that his destiny was to destroy the Dragonborn, but at the time Arian put no thought to it. He assumed it all had just been a bad hallucination. Arian was no longer so sure.

"W-we appreciate your attendance, great Alduin,"Movarth said, bowing low. "I assure you, we would not ask you here unless speaking to you was not of the utmost importance."

Alduin growled deeply, discontent with the whole situation.

"Very well. Speak," Alduin commanded.

Movarth cleared his throat to speak, swallowing his trepidation. Then he seemed to realize he had nothing to say, so he gestured to Groatian. Groatian sighed and stood up, positioning himself to speak to everyone in the room.

"As all are aware, Harkon has plans for the domination of Tamriel," Groatian explained, his voice far shakier then before. "However, it wasn't until recently that he has had the means to do so."

Arian pushed past the now throbbing headache he had from Alduin's presence to focus on what was being said. It was luck that drove him to be there, but Arian was going to find out what the vampires were planning and stop it. Especially if that meant what Groatian had just said.

"Harkon has been searching for Auriel's Bow, an ancient artifact. It is prophesized that with the blood of a daughter of Cold Harbour, Auriel's Bow can blot out the sun," Groatian continued. "However with the disappearances of Valerica and Serana, his wife and daughter, along with that of the Elder Scrolls needed to find the bow, Harkon's plans had hit a dead end.

"Now that Serana has returned with an Elder Scroll, we are searching desperately across every corner of the world for Valerica, because we believe she will have the second one we need. As for the third, our sources indicate its hidden somewhere in Skyrim," Groatian explained.

One vampire asked, "And what then? What happens after Harkon uses this bow?"

"Once the sun is no longer in our way, then we will be able to conquer this world with ease," Groatian answered, confident in that plan.

Arian contemplated what he was hearing. Was that possible? Blocking out the sun? He didn't know anything about this bow or Elder Scrolls, but an eternal night would make for some pretty unstoppable vampires. Then Groatian grew nervous again and turned to Alduin.

"However, our numbers are limited," Groatian started, doing his best to stand tall in front of the giant dragon. "And we are aware you have plans to…ahem…devour the world. We are here to propose a treaty."

"What does your kind have to possibly offer mine?" Alduin asked indignantly inching forward ever so slightly. It looked like with even the slightest movement the large dragon could swallow Groatian whole.

"There are…a few things," Groatian said. "For starters, a peace signing between vampires and dragons will cease unnecessary hostilities and result in less losses for both sides."

"Is that all?" Alduin questioned mockingly.

"No-I mean, no your grace," Groatian stammered. "We are aware the third scroll possesses secrets that may hurt your intentions. It contains knowledge of your first…defeat."

"I was not defeated," Alduin stated firmly. "I was only delayed. This world will be destroyed."

"Of course…but if the Dragon Born was to find this scroll…you would be delayed again," Groatian explained hesitantly.

Alduin said nothing, he only stared at Groatian.

"So, once we find the scroll and have used it to find Auriel's Bow, we will deliver it to you for safe keeping," Groatian continued.

A few more tensely quiet moments passed, and Alduin finally asked, "And what would you need of me? Once this world is yours it will not stop me from destroying it."

"We wouldn't imagine so," Groatian quickly said. "However we know of your…tastes in the afterlife. All we ask is that the vampires are spared."

Then Alduin laughed. It was a deep, terrifying laugh. Arian clutched Frosty nervously, feeling like he should run for the hills. He couldn't though, Arian needed to know what was going to happen if he wanted any chance of preventing it.

"Well, that is quite the offer. Especially considering vampires don't have souls," Alduin remarked. "However, I believe I can find room in my new world for you, if you grant me this boon."

There was a collective sigh of relief in the banquet hall, even Arian found himself a little relieved for reasons he didn't understand. Suddenly, Alduin turned his head and looked straight in Arian's direction. Arian froze, Alduin's red piercing eyes on him.

"Do not think I don't see you," Alduin said, drawing confusion from everyone in the room. Groatian and Movarth both followed Alduin's eye line, intent on seeing what was happening.

"Frosty, run for the exit. Find Kharjo," Arian whispered to his troll. "Go, now!" Frosty hesitantly turned and ran back to the exit, as Arian made a daring play and stepped out into the light.

"Well now everyone can see me," Arian commented. Somehow, Arian knew he wasn't going to get out of that cave alive. But he could give Frosty a chance to make a break for it. The vampires all scrambled to their feet, grabbing weapons. Groatian scowled furiously and pointed at Arian.

"You! You're the one who did this to me!" Groatian yelled, his finger pointing to the dagger mark in his brow.

"Yep. Do you want another one to go with it?" Arian offered as he folded his arms. It was like in the vision he had, somehow his smart mouth was amplified around Alduin and Arian didn't know why. Groatian growled, and Movarth was about to bark orders, but Alduin spoke again.

"So, you've chosen to entangle yourself with the affairs of the vampires," Alduin noted. "A brash decision, but ultimately pointless. In the end you will serve my needs."

"Yeah…I don't think so," Arian shot back. "Whatever it is you're expecting me to do I'd forget it. Because it isn't happening."

Alduin laughed again, and it took all of Arian's will power to not be visibly unnerved.

"Well, you continue to be so bold. But it's not like you have a choice. You gave up the chance to make one in your past life," Alduin teased, and then his head pulled back into the hole. His claws followed shortly after, but Arian only stared ahead dumbfounded.

Past life? Arian wondered. Then suddenly there was no time for pondering as a fireball whizzed past Arian's head. The vampires were charging him now, and Arian had no choice but to turn tail and run. Five vampires, maybe he could beat that. Twenty however was going to be a bit much.

Running back the way he had come from, Arian dashed as quickly as he could. The shouts of vampires behind him were getting closer and closer, but Arian pushed through and kept running. Foot past foot, leg's pumping furiously, Arian mustered all the strength he could to run as fast as possible.

A few arrows flew harmlessly past his head or landed at his feet, but Arian ignored them and kept moving. Suddenly he saw the darkness of the cave's exit and knew he was close. Maybe in the dark of night he could lose them, but Arian realized vampires could see better then him in the dark and he'd be easy to track in the muddy terrain. He was going to be in trouble.

Just as he set his foot on the ground outside, he received a sharp hot forceful push in the back which sent him forward off his feet. Someone casting magic finally had decent aim. Arian crashed into mud, at least he hoped it was, and then turned onto his back to sit up. However he was greeted by a woman vampire hissing and jumping on top of him, keeping Arian pinned to the ground.

The vampire had him in a mounted position, and Arian couldn't hope to grab his sword from his back. Lunging downward, the vampire attempted to slice Arian's jugular wide open with her claws. Arian quickly grabbed the wrist of the attacking hand and diverted it, sending it harmlessly into the mud beside Arian's head. Arian then quickly thrust his arm up into the vampire's neck and rolled her onto her back.

Arian spun to get on top, grabbing his sword with his other hand. He held the vampire at bay with the arm bar, when she suddenly got a hand free and swatted at Arian. The attack cut Arian's neck, making him wince and stand up. The vampire thought she had an advantageous position on him then, when Arian swung low with his sword and decapitated her on the ground.

Her body went limp as her head rolled away, and Arian shakily stood back up while feeling the blood trickle from his neck. It wasn't a deep cut, but it stung like nothing Arian had ever felt before in his life. Arian then took the chance to look around and saw the vampires now had him surrounded completely. Their yellow eyes glowed in the dark of the night, as they all stared at him with their bared fangs.

"Well…you beat two of my men before," Groatian stated. "How do you feel about trying twenty?"

"Ummm…how about we let bygones be bygones?" Arian offered. He brought his sword into a low fighting positon. If he was going to die, he was going to die fighting.

However before Arian could think there was a gust of air from behind him, and with a sharp pinching sensation in his shoulders he was airborne. Groatian could be heard cursing from the ground and arrows shot past Arian's feet. Arian wasn't even sure what to think, the ground was suddenly very far from his feet. Looking up Arian tried to discover his rescuer, but it was too dark. All he could tell was it was some monstrous figure.

There was light beneath Arian, and he realized they were passing over Morthal. Then they started to go lower and lower, until Arian's feet were almost touching the roof of the Moorside Inn. The grip around Arian's shoulders was released and he felt instant relief, until the figure that had been carrying him landed on just a few feet away from him on the roof.

It had greyish skin and jagged wings, long scrawny wings. It was wearing a type of leather over top of its breasts and had loincloth covering its lower regions. Its face was curved downwards and it had pitch-black eyes. Then to make things even more terrifying for Arian, it started to transform. A dark shroud covered it as its wings retracted. For a few moments Arian only stared intently, until the shroud faded away and revealed it was the vampire from Castle Volkihar, Serana.

"You," Arian said. "What…what are you doing?"

"Saving your life," Serana responded, crossing her arms. "Maybe some gratitude would be nice."

"I-uh-well-thanks," Arian stumbled out. Serana smiled a little, amused by Arian's confusion.

"We don't have much time, so I need you to listen closely," Serana instructed. Arian wasn't even sure what was happening, or if he could even trust this mystery woman. She did just save his life, so Arian figured maybe he owed her at least a minute of time.

"I saw you back at Castle Volkihar before you escaped. Seeing you here now, I can guess you aren't friendly with the vampires," Serana guessed. "This might confuse you, but I want to see my father stopped as much as anybody. To do that, I need to beat him to the Auriel's Bow, and therefore the Elder Scrolls."

"Wait hold on," Arian interrupted. "You're his daughter, why do you want to kill Harkon. And secondly, why should I trust Harkon's daughter?" Arian questioned. Serana stared at Arian hard for several moments, her piercing yellow eyes striking him.

"Because he needs to be stopped. The world is for more than just vampires," Serana argued.

"Well then, I never thought I'd hear that from a vampire," Arian commented with a snarky tone. Everything he had been through, he made it a general rule to not trust vampires. Arian was also trying quite hard to not fall once again for a pretty face, which Serana had.

Then Serana looked to the side then and put her weight on one foot as she leaned awkwardly. Biting her thumb's nail she hesitated for a few moments.

"I didn't always used to be a vampire," she countered finally. "I still remember what it's like to be human."

There was a long silent pause as Arian stared at the mysterious vampire in front of him. He didn't want to trust her. Everything her kind had done to him and the people around him sent impulses of hate up and down his body. However, Arian had two factors to consider. For starters, Harkon's daughter as an ally could be invaluable for numerous reasons. There was also that native need in Arian to trust people. He wanted to genuinely believe people were good, and Serana was doing her best to appeal to that. Arian just hoped she wasn't abusing it.

"Alright," Arian finally said. "What do you need?"

Serana smiled weakly, and then kept going.

"Harkon doesn't know that I still have my Elder Scroll, and when he finds out he's going to send everyone after me. So to stand a chance, I need to find the Dawnguard."

"Wow, that's actually what we're already trying to do too," Arian chipped in.

"Excellent," Serana stated with a small grin. "I need your help to join though. They're not just going to let a vampire into their ranks."

"What do you need?"

"For us to read the Elder Scrolls, we'll need a Moth Priest," Serana explained. "They're the only ones who can interpret the scroll without going mad. Normally they're in Cyrodill, but Harkon's forces captured one near here.

"If we can go save him and deliver him to the Dawnguard to read the scrolls, then we stand a chance of beating Harkon to the bow," Serana finished.

Arian mewled over the plan for a couple of seconds. He'd have to be on his guard the whole time, the plan could just be one giant set-up for a trap to recapture him and Kharjo. However the idea made sense, so Arian would go with it for the time being. After Arian agreed to it, Serana explained where to find the Moth Priest, and instructed Arian to mark down a cave on his map to the east of them.

"Wait, you're not coming with us?" Arian asked.

"I think it'd be better for everyone involved if I wait it out," Serana answered. "I heard your Khajiit friend isn't too fond of vampires, so I'll meet you there and help from the shadows."

That made it sound like even more of a trap, but Arian reluctantly agreed.

"Thank you," Serana said, starting to act a bit shy. "This…this will….thanks."

Then a dark shroud covered Serana once again, her wings sprouting from her back. In just a few moments she had become the giant monstrous vampire again and was flying away into the night sky. Arian watched her for a few moments, and then blew out a little sigh.

Was there such a thing as a good night's rest, or was this how all of Arian's night were going to be?

Arian heard a familiar noise to his side, and walking over to the edge of the rooftop, on the side of the building facing away from the main street of Morthal, was Frosty. The troll was bouncing up and down excitedly upon seeing Arian, and Arian grew infinitely more relieved that Frosty had made it away from the vampires okay.

This made Arian realize a problem however. How in the world was he supposed to get down?

Chuckling to himself helplessly, Arian knew that this was just his luck.


	11. Story Update!

Hi all, writer of The Adventures of Arian here. I know it's been a while since I posted a chapter so I thought I'd give you all a update.

First of all, I'd like to thank all of you for taking the time to read about the adventures of the titular hero. Arian has grown on me more than I thought he would, and I often find myself thinking of new ways to torture the poor guy. But if even the small number of you who do read this hadn't taken the time to do so, I don't know if Arians story would have developed into the fun adventure it has become. So thank you.

Secondly, the story has been on hiatus for a while now because I've been busy trying to catch up with myself. Initially I wrote the first five chapters and then posted them weekly, but over time I started scrambling to keep up. So I have been working quietly on the story in my free time, preparing chapters so I can post them on a weekly basis again. I can't guarantee when that will be, but I'm aiming to have it done soon.

I promise the next chapter to come out will be worth the wait, as it will be action packed and will feature the return of a villain we haven't seen in a while! So get excited for that.

Thank you guys for your patience, I promise Arian and his hang of misfits will be back in action soon!


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