Fighting Fate

12-Missing

The few things that I enjoyed about fighting was that I could put in all my rage about losing my family and probably never seeing them again into it. A skeleton broke into pieces as the blade of my steel sword hit its body. 

“Now you’ll pay!” Lydia hollered, beheading a draugr. One let out a very garbled shout and we both hit the ground. 

“Frick!” I holler in rage, trying to get back up. I had learned a few shouts at this point and was starting to use them, at the expense of having a very dry and itchy throat afterwards. 

“Fus ro dah!” I hollered at the group of draugr and skeletons headed towards us. The skeletons fell apart and the draugrs fell over. I hacked at the draugr, letting out angry sounds. Lydia used a staff of flame we had found in a burrow recently. Apparently some bandits had gotten ahold of it at some point. 

We continued down a path full of traps. I was never more grateful for steel plate armor than I was then. We continued to a pathway where a waterfall and a wall were nearby. 

“Skyrim is for the Nords!” Lydia hollers as she cuts down a skeleton. “Oops, sorry, Severine.” 

“I’ll ignore that for now.” We continue until we reach the wall. The chanting in my ears gets louder as the word of power materializes in the wall and the bright swirling wind dances around me. It always gives me this feeling of being overwhelmed when it does that. The wind recedes and I turn to see Lydia. 

“I wonder where the tomb is.” She speaks. I shrug and we cross a bridge. I wonder if this was a settlement or something of that nature at one point. Probably. I should have paid more attention to my tutors. We find a hallway with bars in front of it and three spinning rock things. We pass by them and barely manage to slide under the barred door as it opens. We narrowly avoid a few traps and we are faced with a whole group of draugr. 

“Fucking Oblivion.” I curse under my breath. “You take the ones on the left, I’ll take the ones on the right. Lydia nods and we fight them. I use my steel shield to block the blows and manage to kill a few of the skeletons. The draugrs nearly overwhelm me until I shout at them and they fall to the ground. I take out a few more skeletons until we reach what looks like a narrow hall. 

We enter the hall to be surrounded by draugrs. Annoyed, I shout at them as Lydia uses the staff of flames to set them ablaze. Finally, we’re at the Windcaller’s tomb. It is a splendid room, decorated with stone dragons and fancy vessels. According to legend, he had been defeated by the Dwemer and the Chimer before they became the Dunmer. 

There was a small forked thing on top of a tomb. There was a piece of paper there but no horn. I almost want to scream and break everything in the room. After all those conjurers and skeletons and draugrs and spiders, this is what I get? I swear when I find whoever stole it, I will beat them bloody and offer them up to the wolves. I read the contents of the note. 

“I need to speak to you. Urgently. Rent the attic room at the Sleeping Giant Inn in Riverwood and I’ll meet you.” 

“What is it, my Thane?” Lydia asked me. 

“We’re going to have to go back to Riverwood.” I sighed. Maybe Hadvar would be there.  But whenever I was able to get the horn, I’d have to pay the Greybeards a visit. Not that I minded. They were the least annoying group of people that I would have to deal with. 

“Is the person who has the horn there?” She asked. 

“Probably. We should pay them a visit. I hope they have the horn. I’m tired of fighting.” I sighed. “I know, I sound like a coward.” 

“I don’t think you’re a coward, my Thane. You are very brave.” Lydia spoke, her voice softening. “You are a daughter of Skyrim at heart.” 

“Partially.” I shrug. “The man who raised me and loved me as a daughter was not my real father. He was a Stormcloak Nord.” 

“Wow.” Lydia’s eyes widened. “What happened to him?” 

“My mother said he died in a skirmish with the Forsworn a little after they took Markarth.” I shrug. The timeline never fully added up to me but I’m not questioning that. My grandfather always loved me and the boys the same but he always had a face whenever I was asking about him. 

“At least you’ll be able to see him in Sovngarde.” Lydia tried to reassure me. Now off to Riverwood, we go.