Child (Book 2)

Chapter 4

The farther up the mountain we go, the deeper the snow gets. Eventually the snow falls in thick, blinding sheets.
"Do you think we should try and find some shelter?" Marcurio shouts over the wind. Before I can respond to his utterly thoughtless question, an arrow lodges itself deep in his shoulder and he cries out in pain. Despite his injury, he quickly casts a ward in front of us, guarding both of us from further attacks long enough to see the silhouette of a man standing in front of us.
I pull out my greatsword and dash towards the man. Marcurio shouts me, asking me to stay behind the ward, but what good would that do? Once I'm close to the man I can see he's only armed with a bow, and slashing his stomach open is rather easy although the smell of his blood makes me sick.
Now I can see that this man was likely living in a small tower ahead of me that I couldn't see before; he's likely a bandit. I rush towards the tower and step inside. I'm instantly warmer, but only because of the fire another bandit has made. Before he can notice me or stand up, I force my sword through his back and chest. I'm feeling very sick now.
I walk slowly up the stairs so I don't alert any other bandits that may be here. The mid level of the tower is empty, but the top is definitely not. The last bandit takes me by surprise, and he's about to remove my head with his axe before his own is pierced by a large, sharp spike of solid ice. His body tumbles off the edge of the tower, and I lean over the edge to see Marcurio smirking up at me as he holds his bleeding shoulder with the arrow in it. I roll my eyes at him and walk back down the stairs to meet him.
"As I was saying, we should find some shelter until the storm lets up." He says, falling into a chair on the bottom floor of the tower.
"Let me help you with your shoulder." I say quietly, reaching for his shoulder and the arrow.
"Uh— no. I can handle it..." He stutters. His hands shake as he pinches the arrow. He pulls it slightly and cries out in pain, instantly letting go. He breathes heavily for a moment and attempts it again. He pulls it longer this time, but all that results is sweat on his forehead and tears in his dark eyes.
"Marc, just let me do it." I say as I quickly grab his shoulder and the arrow.
"Nova, no, please-" he manages to say before I'm yanking the arrow out and he's screaming. As soon as the arrow is out I clamp one hand over his mouth and the other on his shoulder, immediately healing it. He groans into my palm for a few minutes before collapsing into the floor. His wound is healed, but he's unconscious. I laugh to myself. I'll have to tell him later that his little scrape was nothing compared to my own.
I pull his limp body over to one of the bed rolls the bandits had set up around the fire and let him rest while I sit leaned against the wall to watch the storm rage outside. I suppose we'll have to stay here tonight.

~

The next morning when we emerge from the tower, the sun shines down on us and the only sign of the storm is the deep snow that lays before us.
"Well.. I guess we'd better get moving." I say as I step down into the snow, sinking as deep as my knees. I trudge through it for a few steps before I realize he's not following me. He steps in behind me slowly, awkwardly, takes a few steps, then trips and falls directly on top of me. I land under him in the snow and laugh as soon as I see the expression of utter shock on his face.
"Don't look at me like that, you should've worn something warmer than your flimsy robes!" I giggle. My smile quickly fades as I catch his scent, feel the warmth of his blood. I feel a growl lodge in the back of my throat as I flail beneath him, fighting against the Wolf.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry—" He says, carefully trying to get up. "I still don't know how anyone lives in this sort of weather. Are you alright?" He asks. I cover my nose and mouth, blocking out his scent as I struggle to calm myself down.
"I'm fine." I tell him as the tension eases and I stand up.
"Nova, your eyes, they were—"
"I'm fine. Let's go." I insist, pulling him to his feet. How Vilkas lives with this, how he slept next to me while I was still human, I have no idea.

~

In front of us lies the ribcage of the ancient beast known as Bleak Falls Barrow. Walking among the tall stone spikes are three bandits, just like the ones we killed at the tower.
"Alright, what's the plan?" Marcurio whispers, crouched and shivering next to me in the snow.
"No plan." I say quickly.
"Wha— Nova! Come back!" He hisses as I run ahead of him, charging straight at the bandits.
I feel the guilt seep in as I kill the first, and luckily for me Marcurio has already killed the other two for me. I sheath my sword, and walk to the door of the barrow. It's large and stone, and it takes both of us to shove it open. As we're pushing it closed again, I get one last glimpse of sunlight before it flickers away, possibly to never be seen again.