Chapter Text
17th of Last Seed, 4E 201.
Slowly amber eyes blinked open. A deep breath was taken. She was in irons. 'Well isn't that fantastic,' she thought.
"Hey, you. You're finally awake," a dirty-looking Nord said. "How did you end up in this mess?"
Katla sighed. "Damn Khajiit," she swore. "I got framed for theft."
Rashall had disappeared somewhere, and he had come back with soldiers after him. Sometimes she wondered why she kept travelling with him. Most people would not choose to put their trust in a Khajiit, especially one like Rashall, but Katla wasn't most people. They had met several years earlier. Along the road between Riften and Windhelm. She had just passed him by, two travellers passing each other on the road. Until Katla felt his hands in her pockets. She had tackled him to the ground roughly and pulled her large battle axe.
"Hey, sweetheart I meant nothin’ by it. Ya're sucha lovely lady. I just couldn’ help meself," Rashall said.
Katla looked at him. "Yeah, that might work on the tavern wrenches but I'm not desperate," she said. "You can take those honeyed words to Oblivion." She raised her axe ready to strike when a band of bandits appeared over a hill. An arrow bounced off her armour and she stepped over the Khajiit. He may be a thief, but these guys killed people. She had figured the thief would be happy enough to stay alive. She didn't think he would bother her anymore. Her axe glinted in the sun as she swung it. Blood splattered across the ground as the axe separated the head from the body of the first bandit. The fight was quick and effortless. Then as Katla was about to put her axe away she heard a groan right next to her left ear. As she turned around she saw the Khajiit standing by her side. He had a dagger stuck between the shoulder blades of another bandit that had somehow snuck up behind her.
"Thank you," Katla said calmly. She studied the thief for a moment as the bandit collapsed next to them. "Are you up for earning some coin? I could use an extra set of hands."
Rashall had grinned. "Beats gettin me head chopped off," he had said.
To begin with, their relationship had been purely professional. Katla travelled to gather materials to further her skills as a Blacksmith. She went all over Tamriel to learn and trade secrets with other Masters. Only a few weeks after they had joined up Rashall had refused payment.
"Ya've grown on me girl," he said. "As long as we share loot…"
"You're suggesting a partnership instead," Katla said.
"Somethin like that," Rashall said with a shrug.
Katla shook her head and laughed. "Sounds good to me, sneak thief," she said teasingly.
Travelling with Rashall had always been a good time. He was a reliable companion. Even though sometimes things went awry. Like right now when she was sitting in the back of a carriage on the way to her execution.
Rashall wouldn't let her die. She knew he would find a way to save her. He always cleaned up his messes.
"How about you?" Katla asked. She looked around. "By the look of it you are Stormcloaks. I take it the War isn’t going great.”
“Yeah, these guys are Stormcloaks but you and I aren't. We don’t belong here,” a ragged-looking man exclaimed.
Katla shook her head. “I’m no fan of the Thalmor,” she said. “I don’t agree with the Stormcloaks' methods, but I have nothing against them.” She looked at the man that had first spoken to her. “You look familiar,” she said. “From Riverwood are you?”
The Nord nodded. “I am, lass,” he gave her a sharper look. “I’m Ralof. You from around there too?”
“Family farm called Sunweaver Farm. It was destroyed in a skirmish many years ago. These days there is nothing left. Brother joined the Stormcloaks and got himself killed,” Katla said.
“Oh, you’re the daughter that left, Katla right?” Ralof said.
Katla nodded. She studied the man next to her. “Then we have Jarl Ulfric Stormcloak,” she said. “Take joy in the fact that we will most likely not die today Jarl of Windhelm.”
“You sound certain,” Ralof said.
“I have my reasons. My friend would never let me get killed. Even if that means he has to kill every Imperial in Helgen,” Katla said.
“That’s some Khajiit you have there,” Ralof said. “Are you certain?”
Katla nodded. “He has his ways,” she said.
“I hope you are right,” Ralof said as the carriages rolled into Helgen.
“General Tullius, sir! The headsman is waiting!” a soldier called as they passed the gates.
“Shor, Mara, Dibella, Kynareth, Akatosh. Divines, please help me,” the ragged-looking man pleaded.
“Look at him, General Tullius, the Military Governor,” Ralof said acidly. “See he even has those elven bastards with him. I bet they had something to do with this.” He was silent for a moment before he turned to Katla “You know I used to be sweet on a girl from here.”
Katla smiled softly. She gazed over his shoulder and gave a small nod. Rashall was standing in the shadow of a guard tower. “Looks like the gods are watching over us,” she said softly.
Ralof’s eyes widened. “Sounds good,” he said.
“Quiet back there,” the Imperial soldier driving the carriage called.
People moved inside as the carriages got closer. Parents forced their children into their houses. They didn’t want them to see the executions.
Katla shook her head. That was probably for the best either way. Even if they weren’t going to get killed, someone was.
“Get these prisoners out of the carts,” a soldier called out as the carts stopped. “Move it!”
Katla waited for her turn before setting her feet on the ground. She could see Rashall moving up behind the executioner out of the corner of her eye.
“Step towards the block when we call your name. One at a time,” the Imperial Captain said.
“Empire loves their damn lists,” Ralof said irritably.
“You don’t say,” Katla murmured.
“Ulfric Stormcloak,” they called out. “Jarl of Windhelm.”
“It has been an honour, Jarl Ulfric,” Ralof said.
Ulfric moved over to the execution grounds. His eyes narrowed as he saw something moving in the shadows. Could the woman be right? Was there a man over there?
“Ralof of Riverwood,” the imperials called and Ralof walked after Ulfric. “Lokir of Rorikstead.”
“No, I'm not a rebel. You can't do this!” Lokir shouted before he took off running.
Katla shook her head. He would have had a better chance of surviving if he had stayed put. Now he was a pincushion. Running really was not an option.
“Wait,” the imperial looked at his list and then back at Katla. “You there step forward. Who are you?”
“Katla of Sunweaver Farm,” Katla responded.
“You picked a bad time to come home to Skyrim, kinsman,” the imperial said. “Captain. What should we do? She's not on the list.”
“Forget the list,” the Captain said. “She goes to the block.”
Katla sighed. Lokir was right about one thing. Their supposed crimes didn’t fit the punishment. Either way, she wasn’t about to complain. That would just make things harder for Rashall. She did as she was told and followed the Captain over to the others.
“Ulfric Stormcloak. Some here in Helgen call you a hero,” General Tullius said. “But a hero doesn't use a power like The Voice to murder his king and usurp his throne.” He crossed his arms. “You started this war, plunged Skyrim into chaos, and now the Empire is going to put you down, and restore the peace.”
Katla wanted to grimace. It wasn’t that easy. Killing Ulfric wasn’t the answer. The people of Skyrim didn’t want the Empire. Her head rose as a strange roar tore through the air.
“What was that?”
“It's nothing. Carry on,” General Tullius said dismissively.
“Yes, General Tullius,” the Captain said. “Give them their last rites." She had turned to the local priestess.
As the priestess started talking the Stormcloak soldiers got restless. One man just told them to stuff it. The talk of the Thalmor Eight Divines irritated him. “For the love of Talos let’s just get this over with.” He walked forward and knelt down. The axe swung and his head rolled.
“Next is the Nord woman from Sunweaver. Get over here,” the Captain called.
Katla walked forward and knelt down. ‘Any time now would be good, Rashall,’ she thought. Her head touched wet blood and she grimaced.
The executioner raised his axe.
Katla’s eyes widened as a dragon landed on the nearby guard tower. It roared and she pushed herself away from the block so the axe that came sailing towards her would miss. The sky darkened. A ball of fire hit the ground only a few meters away. Rashall reached her and cut off her bindings. “Here,” he handed her a battle axe.
“Thanks, you mangy cat,” Katla said irritably. “Did you have to wait until the last second? That could have ended badly.”
Rashall looked sheepish. “I just kind of… Well, it would've been epic if…” He sighed. “Ya know I don really have a good excuse.” He looked around. “The way I took in is destroyed. I know another way out though.”
“Let’s get there and get out,” Katla said. “If legends are to be believed that is the World-Eater Alduin. I’d rather not fight him.”
Rashall nodded swiftly then he led the way between houses, through tight spaces, over burning logs, under the Dragon’s wings and past many Imperials and Stormcloaks. They headed down into the Helgen dungeons. They moved as quickly as they could and avoided anyone else in there. Until they reached the torture room. Katla disliked torture so those men didn’t make it as the two companions passed through.
“There's a bear over there?” Rashall said softly.
“Let’s not mess with her if we can avoid it,” Katla responded. They had already killed some spiders as the dungeons turned into a cave system. She didn’t feel like killing an innocent bear. She just wanted somewhere safe to stay. They snuck by and headed outside.
“This is better,” Katla said. She looked up at the sky. “Here comes the dragon,” she whispered.
They pulled back as the dragon flew overhead.
“Our things are over here,” Rashall said.
“I want to go by the house before we continue just to see that everything is still there,” Katla said as they started heading down the road.
“Sounds good,” Rashall said. “We can drop some things off.” He looked around. “Then what do we do?”
“Head over to Whiterun. That dragon was heading in that direction. They need to be warned,” Katla said.
Rashall nodded slowly. “Ya don think the Imperials will deal with that?” he asked.
Katla shrugged. “The Jarl is neutral,” she said. “He is trying his best to not join the conflict as far as I know. You know as well as I do that the Stormcloaks are just going to head back to friendly territory, and the Imperials will go back to Solitude and then maybe write a missive.” She rolled her eyes. “It’s going to take weeks before Whiterun gets any news.”
Rashall groaned. He had not missed the political climate of Skyrim. The mess created by the Stormcloaks and the Imperials was just ridiculous.
“I’ll check on our neighbours,” Rashall said as they reached Pinewatch just south of their house. Bandits lived in there, but Rashall had early on struck a deal with them that kept Lakeview Manor safe. The bandits looked after the manor while they were not around in exchange for quite a large sum of gold.
Katla continued up to the house. Everything looked mostly the way they left them. At some point, a giant must have attacked, but the bandits had quite obviously killed it before it had killed their cow. “Hello Gertie, girl,” she said as she reached the pen. “How are you doing?”
Gertie mooed in response. She followed Katla with her gaze as the Nord walked over to the front door and unlocked it.
It was dusty. Katla looked around. They would have to clean before they could do anything else. “Oh, well,” she breathed. It wasn’t that much of a surprise. Houses did collect dust after all.
When Rashall joined her, she had already wiped down most surfaces. “How are the neighbours doing?” she asked.
“Disagreeing with each other,” Rashall said. “I made sure none of 'em would break their promise to us, but I really don care about the rest. If they kill each other that’s up to 'em.” He grabbed a broom and started swiping. “We don have any food here,” he pointed out.
“We can fish,” Katla responded. “While we get cleaned up. I really want a bath.” She brushed dried blood from her neck. “Especially after this morning,” she said.
“Yeah, I can understand that,” Rashall said.
They finished cleaning the house and then they headed down to Lake Illinata. Katla started washing while Rashall sat down to fish. He caught a pair of fat salmons and headed back up to the house. He would rinse them and start cooking them before getting cleaned up himself. Katla took over the cooking as she got back to the house.
They had left potatoes in the ground outside and a few were still edible. She cleaned them off and cut them into slices. She would fry them off in some butter. She was glad they had packed well before leaving Cheydinhal. They still had quite a few good things with them. She rummaged through the packs and got some vegetables and garlic among other things.
“It smells good,” Rashall said as he came back. “We’ll eat and then we should wash our clothes. I don think I have anything clean, and the stuff that's been lying around here'll be musty.”
Katla nodded. “Sounds like a plan,” she said as she looked around. “We probably should try not to be away for several years at a time,” she said. “It makes quite a mess.”
“Do ya have anything else ya wanna do in some other part of the world?” Rashall asked. “By now we have been everywhere in Tamriel. There really isn’t all that much more to see.”
Katla chuckled. She knew he hadn’t been that happy during parts of their journey. Especially when they had gone by Elsweyr. He didn’t like his homeland. It was too hot and too sandy.
They settled down to eat sometime later. They had been on the road for a long time. Just getting a chance to sit by a table and eat was nice. Unfortunately, they wouldn’t get to stay. It would have been nice to get a longer rest. Now she could only really afford to stay one extra day to let her clothes dry after they cleaned them.
After dinner, it was back down to the lake with all their clothes. To someone passing by it might have looked strange. A Nord and a Khajiit naked and cleaning clothes together. Most people would have things to say about that. Katla and Rashall didn’t care. It was the easiest way to get everything done at once.
As evening fell, Lakeview Manor was filled with drying clothes. Rashall and Katla were sitting by a burning fire just relaxing.
“Please say ya’ll look over our gear tomorrow,” Rashall said.
“I’ll manage a quick fix at least,” Katla responded. She stretched slowly. “It’s good to be home.”
“Yeah, I’m just worried ma associates have messed up completely while I've been gone,” Rashall said. “I’m gonna have to check on ‘em soon.”
“Just be careful,” Katla said.
Rashall sighed. “Let’s head to bed,” he said. “We should get up early tomorrow. Gertie needs milking. I’ll go hunting while ya fix our gear. We need some meat.”
“Sounds good,” Katla said as she stood up. She headed upstairs to her bed and laid down. A sigh left her lips. It was good being home.
19th of Last Seed, 4E 201.
After a day of relative leisure, Katla and Rashall headed towards Riverwood following the White River. If they were to follow the road it would take them by the village either way. It would just be faster going by the river.
Riverwood was a bustling town. As they passed by the local trader they could hear Lucan and Camilla arguing. Bandits had been by and stolen some kind of gold claw. Rashall and Katla didn’t pay them much mind. They had more important things to deal with.
Wolves attacked them as they left Riverwood behind. Rashall scared them off. He had coated a dagger in a poison that induced fear just so they could deal with animals without killing them.
“This brings back memories,” Katla said as they looked out over the fields around Whiterun. Somehow she had done her best to avoid the city for the past couple of years. She just hadn’t felt like going there. Her family had moved into town after their farm had been destroyed. It hadn’t gone well for them.
Katla had refused to help them. Her parents had thought she would just provide them with everything they needed. She didn’t work that way. At least her brother had tried. She had given him some gold to get the hell out of Whiterun. Then he joined the Stormcloaks and got himself killed. She didn’t know anything else about her family. She had left Skyrim with Rashall after that.
The guards seemed hostile as they got closer to the city.
“I’ll stay out here,” Rashall said. “I see a couple of friends over there I wanna talk to.” He pointed to a caravan of Khajiit.
Katla nodded. She knew how hostile people could be to Khajiit. It was understandable that he didn’t want to go into the city.
The guards stopped Katla at the gate telling her that only official business was allowed in the city.
“I was at Helgen when the Dragon attacked,” Katla told them.
“You better head up to Dragonsreach and talk to the Jarl then,” the guard said. He opened the gate for her and moved aside. “You better hurry.”
Katla sighed. She wasn’t looking forward to walking through Whiterun.
“Katla?”
The warrior turned slightly. “Adrianne? Is that you?” she asked. She walked over to her childhood friend and hugged her.
“It’s been forever. Where have you been? Everyone thought you had died,” Adrianne said.
“I left. I couldn’t handle how my parents reacted after the farm burned,” Katla said.
“But you continued on as a Blacksmith?” Adrianne asked.
“I did. I wasn’t about to let Freja’s teachings go to waste,” Katla said. “I see you followed that path too.”
Adrianne and Katla had both apprenticed under Freja Tall-Shield once upon a time. Only one of them could take over the shop and everyone had thought Katla was the one that would. Instead, she had disappeared.
“Yeah,” Adrianne looked back at her forge. “I have missed you.”
Katla smiled sadly. “I have missed you too Anne. I’m back. Hopefully, we can meet more often now. I live in Falkreath Hold only a few hours from Riverwood,” she said.
"What brings you here?" Adrianne asked. "As I understand it, the Jarl closed the gate to outsiders."
"I was at Helgen when the dragon attacked," Katla said.
"Oh, so you are heading up to Dragonsreach?" Adrianne asked. She paused for a moment. "Balgruuf is Jarl now," she said. "He has been the Jarl for quite some time. He came back from service when his father died. He… He asked for you, but there was nothing we could tell him other than that Viktor had joined the Stormcloaks and you were gone."
Katla smiled softly. Balgruuf had promised her he would return when he had gone off to serve the Legion. It would seem like he had, but she had not stayed." I see," she said calmly.
"Father is up there. He is an advisor. He'll recognize you," Adrianne said. "Good luck."
"Thank you, Anne," Katla said simply before walking through the city. It felt strange to be back in Whiterun. She used to travel these streets with her father. Her mother would gossip with the other women. Everything changed when the Farm burned. No one had died, but their livelihood was gone. She had been the only one with a different career path. She would have happily helped rebuild the farm, but her parents hadn't wanted that. They had grown tired of farm life. Her mother figured that they could make it in the city. It turned out they couldn't after several hundred gold Septims had gone down the drain, Katla had stopped giving her parents money. She was not going to live her life supporting her parents when all they did was shop and drink. She had always wondered where the hardworking people she had grown up with had gone. Freja had supported her decision and sent her off to a colleague in Windhelm. Katla had worked there for another few years before she met Rashall and left Skyrim altogether. Her eyes travelled towards the great hall overlooking the city.
Dragonsreach was old. They said it had once been built to trap a dragon. If that was the case, then why was most of it made out of wood? Katla had never understood that. She reached the big front doors and walked inside. As she headed up the stairs and across the hall, a dark elf made her way towards her.
"What's the meaning of this interruption? Jarl Balgruuf is not receiving visitors," the Dunmer said suspiciously.
"I come from Helgen. I was there when the dragon attacked," Katla responded. She was starting to get tired of repeating herself.
"Well, that explains why the guards let you in," the Dunmer said while sheathing her weapon. "Come on then, the Jarl will want to speak to you personally." She headed back to her position next to Balgruuf.
As Katla approached she could hear that Proventus, Adrianne's father, was arguing with Balgruuf. He was pleading with the Jarl to not do anything rash.
Jarl Balgruuf turned his head to Katla. "Who is this then?" he asked.
Katla raised an eyebrow. "You mean you don't recognize me Balgruuf. I was the sun on the mountaintops and the moon in the glade. So beautiful yet mysterious. If I don't remember it wrong," she said. "Fourteen years it has been, fourteen long eventful years." She shook her head. "You haven’t changed much. Still willing to throw yourself into danger."
Balgruuf seemed frozen in his throne. He didn’t know what to say.
"Heard your brother joined the Stormcloaks."
Katla turned slightly to see Hrongar, Balgruuf's younger brother who was standing behind her. His hand was resting on his axe.
"Viktor joined them, yes, and he got himself killed serving them," Katla said.
"And you just up and disappeared," Hrongar said. “Didn’t you go to Windhelm?”
“To learn from another Master,” Katla said. “Freja wanted me to go.” Her eyes narrowed. “Are you accusing me of something, Hrongar?”
“Please calm down,” Balgruuf said. “Katla why are you here? The guards let you in and Irileth allowed you forward.”
“I was at Helgen. A dragon attacked and rained fire down upon the city. Closing your gates isn’t going to protect you if it attacks here. Your city is built out of wood, Balgruuf. It will burn to the ground if a dragon attacks,” Katla said calmly. “Last I saw the dragon was headed in this general direction.”
“By Ysmir, Irileth was right!” Balgruuf said. He rose from his throne slowly. "What do you say now, Proventus?” he asked. “Shall we continue to trust in the strength of our walls? Against a dragon?”
“My lord, we should send troops to Riverwood at once. It's in the most immediate danger. If that dragon is lurking in the mountains…” Irileth said.
“The Jarl of Falkreath will view that as a provocation! He'll assume we're preparing to join Ulfric's side and attack him,” Proventus said.
“I can carry a message to the Jarl. I am his Thane after all,” Katla said. She wasn’t but they didn’t need to know about Rashall right now. He had helped the Jarl with some tricky business a while back and earned the title. Actually, if she recalled she had been busy learning from a smith in Bravil at the time.
“I see. That would be good,” Proventus said as he calmed down considerably.
"If that is dealt with then Irileth; send a detachment to Riverwood at once," Balgruuf ordered. "I will not sit idly by while dragons burn my hold and slaughter my people." He walked up to Katla. "Would you mind helping me with something? For old times' sake if nothing else," he said.
Katla shrugged. "I have nothing else to do," she said. "What do you need?"
"Farengar my court wizard has been looking into Dragons lately. He tells me he could use some help fetching an ancient stone tablet of some kind," Balgruuf said. They walked into one of the side rooms where a busy-looking wizard was pouring over some old tomes.
"Farengar I have found someone who can help with that dragon tablet of yours," Balgruuf said loudly.
"Ah really," Farengar looked up as Balgruuf left them to return to his other duties. "So the Jarl thinks you can be of use to me? Oh yes, he must be referring to my research into the dragons," he said.
"I would assume so," Katla said.
"Hmm, Yes, I could use someone to fetch something for me. Well, when I say fetch, I really mean delve into a dangerous ruin in search of an ancient stone tablet that may or may not actually be there," Farengar said.
"I see, that shouldn't be a problem," Katla said. "Where do you need me to go?"
"Straight to the point, eh? No need for tedious hows and whys. I like that. Leave those details to your betters, am I right?" Farengar said.
Katla raised an eyebrow. "The ‘why’ is because Balgruuf asked me to do it and the ‘how’ I should be able to figure out. It can't be that complicated," she said. She didn’t like this man's attitude. He assumed her intelligence simply because she chose not to ask tedious questions that would most likely lead to nowhere. "Now how about you tell me where I need to go to fetch this thing you are too busy to obtain yourself."
Farengar looked somewhat confused for a moment before he simply shrugged it off. "I have tracked the tablet to Bleak Falls Barrow just north of Riverwood," he said.
"Good, then I'll get going and leave you to your research," Katla said. She left the wizard and headed down the stairs where she had to avoid bumping into a boy of about nine years old.
"Oh, great. Another wanderer here to lick my father's boots," the boy said as he saw her.
Katla didn't say anything, but she wondered how a child of Balgruuf's could be so rude without the man giving him a whooping. Not that she condoned hitting children. It was just that she remembered the Jarl's father and his response to comments like the one she had just received.
Instead of grabbing the rude brat by the ear and teaching him a lesson, she left Dragonsreach. She had a tomb to delve into. That was always fun.
Outside the city, the warrior joined up with the thief.
"How did it go?" Rashall asked.
"Better than expected," Katla answered. "Looks like my parents died off at some point."
"At least ya don have to deal with ‘em again then," Rashall said.
"What about you?" Katla asked. "How did your little chat with the caravan go?"
Rashall huffed. "Somethin's goin’ on in Riften. I really should get over there and check on it. They aren't speakin’ to the caravans no more, and I checked with my contact here. Things are goin’ badly for the guild," he said.
"Well, I need to go tomb raiding," Katla said. "Balgruuf asked me to fetch something dragon-related. In Bleak Falls Barrow. If I hurry I can get that over with today."
"Let's deal with that first then," Rashall said. "One more day isn't gonna make that much of a difference to the guild. Most of ‘em don even know I'm back in the country yet."
With that, the two of them went back the way they had come that morning. They headed up in the mountains north of Riverwood and found a decent amount of bandits by the barrow. None survived the encounter with the two seasoned adventures. Heavy iron doors sealed the barrow from both weather and wind.
Katla walked up to them and pushed. The screech as the doors gave way and opened was deafening. As good as the doors had been at keeping things out they had not been able to keep the ceiling from caving in. Rubble and water covered the floor.
A few dead bandits lay strewn around together with some skeevers, and further in the bandits seemed to have made some kind of makeshift camp.
Rashall sprinted ahead. Hidden in the shadows he slit the throats of a pair of bandits that were standing by their little camp talking.
"They mentioned a golden claw," Rashall said as he fell in next to Katla again.
"If we find it, we might as well bring it back to Lucan," Katla said.
Spiderwebs filled the corridor as they continued. The roots of trees had broken through the stone and slithered over the ground and through steps in sets of stairs. Several times they came across dead skeevers, and every time they did, Rashall bent down and cut off their tails.
"Do you have to do that?" Katla asked. Dead skeever did not smell fantastic and he was collecting a lot of it.
"They make decent poison," Rashall defended himself.
Katla just sighed. She knew there was no point in arguing with him when it came to alchemy. She was just glad that potions of health did not contain something as disgusting as dead animal parts.
Eventually, they caught up to a bandit and Katla readied her bow. She was about to shoot the man in the back when he pulled a lever and darts shot out of the walls killing him.
"Well, I can't say I expected that," Rashall said.
They entered the room and looked around. To their right was a set of stairs and to their left were carvings of animals.
Two eagles and a whale.
Rashall walked over to the carvings. "These can be spun around," he said. "They have three different animals on them."
"Let me guess," Katla said. "An eagle. A whale and a snake."
"Yepp."
"Snake. Snake. Whale."
"Combination huh," Rashall said as he spun the pillars around.
"Yes and he must have been blind because it is depicted opposite the entrance," Katla said as she pointed.
Rashall turned around and looked. He snorted out a laugh. Sometimes one had to wonder about the intelligence of some people.
Katla walked up and pulled the lever and the gate in front of her opened. She shook her head and sighed as she walked through it. A spiralling wooden staircase took them down further underground. Skeevers came running at them from nowhere. Neither Katla nor Rashall bothered using any weapons. Skeever skulls weren't that thick. It was quite easy to just grab them and bash their heads against a wall.
More spiderwebs greeted them and as they walked someone started calling out. They hadn't been stealthy since this was a barrow and they were most likely just going to kill anything they ran across, so it wasn't strange that the man who called out had heard them.
"Wanna bet there are spiders down here?" Rashall asked as they rounded a corner.
"Not with those odds," Katla said as she gestured towards thick chunks of web blocking a doorway. She watched as Rashall cut through the web and then they moved into the next room.
"And here comes the spider," Rashall said. He moved forward. His blade drawn and his reflexes so quick that the spider didn’t even have time to react before it lay dead.
In the webbing covering the next doorway hung a man.
"Now, that's what I'd call a sticky situation," Rashall said as he approached the man.
"Yeah great. Could you cut me down before anything else shows up?" the Dunmer responded.
Rashall shrugged. "Sure why not," he said. He sliced through the web and the Dunmer dropped down on the ground. "I'm not sharing this treasure with anyone. Suck it losers," he called before running off.
Katla and Rashall were hot on his heels. Not because they cared all that much about the treasure, but rather because they knew how stupid it was to just run through old tombs. They wanted to see what would happen to him.
Turns out running both attracted mummified Nords also known as draugr and didn't allow you to notice the apparent trap that…
A heavy iron grid filled with spikes slammed into the bandit as he stepped on a pressure plate on the ground. His body stuck to the spikes and blood dragged along the ground as the trap reset.
Katla moved into the room and chopped the heads of the pair of draugr that had awakened. Then she bent down and picked up a golden claw off the ground. "I guess this is the claw then." She weighed it in her hand. "It's not solid gold, but I would guess the mix has quite a lot of gold in it," she said. She threw it over to Rashall.
"Yeah it's definitely valuable," Rashall said. "I understand why Camilla and Lucan were upset it was taken. It's probably worth more than most of their stock."
"At least they will get it back," Katla said.
"You mean we shouldn't keep it," Rashall said. He studied the claw. "It's probably one of a kind."
"Rashall please," Katla said. "I don't care if there is no other artefact like it. We will return it. What are we supposed to do with a golden claw?"
Rashall sighed. Katla knew he liked to just gather things. He guessed he would just have to live without this one. Or go back and fetch it in a month or two. Katla wouldn't care then.
They continued further into the crypt. Draugr rose from their resting places to attack them as they passed. Rashall's sword moved swiftly as he cut them down. Most didn’t even get up before he had rendered them useless.
The sound of running water reached their ears moments before they reached a small stream. A coffin opened and a draugr stepped out.
Katla's battle-axe was soon buried in his chest. She kicked him off and walked over to a gate. She opened it up, and they followed the stream until it reached a drop. A small tunnel brought them down to the bottom of the chasm.
Katla drew her bow again as she waited for Rashall to turn off a trap. He was better at avoiding the swinging blades blocking them than she was. She walked into the room as the blades disappeared and lifted her bow. Arrows flew and hit several jars filled with some kind of burning substance. The floor lit up and draugr walked to their death across the flames.
"Hand me the claw," Katla said as they reached another hindrance in their path. A strange-looking door stood before them circles upon circles. In the centre sat a mark that looked a lot like the claw would fit perfectly. Above them in the circles were carvings. Much like the pillars, earlier these could be turned.
"Order?" Rashall asked as he touched the rings.
"From the centre owl, moth and bear," Katla said. She waited for Rashall to change the circles and then she pushed the claw into the centre. She turned it. The circles spun and the door lowered.
They walked through the doorway and into a large cave. Bats flew out around them as they approached.
A strange chanting pulled Katla towards a large monument of some kind. A dragon head crowned a wall filled with symbols. Katla reached out for one of the words. "Fus," she whispered. It seemed important somehow, but she wasn't sure why. She was pulled out of her confusion by Rashall.
"Draugr!"
Katla turned around and caught a sword against her gauntlet. She grimaced as the blade cut through the metal and into her arm. She raised a leg and kicked the undead back before reaching for her battle axe. A powerful wave accompanied by words hit her and she lost her weapon. She dodged as the draugr tried to hit her again. Behind the draugr, Rashall moved up with his sword drawn. He stabbed his blade straight through the draugr’s chest and twisted the blade.
Katla backed off and grabbed her axe off the ground. She swung it in a big arch and chopped the draugr’s head off.
“We should take a look at that wound of yours as soon as possible,” Rashall said.
“Let’s get out of here first,” Katla said. She bent down over the coffin the draugr had risen from and picked up an old stone tablet. “I guess this is what Farengar wanted,” she said before leading the way out of the cave.
“That’s a view,” Rashall said as they stepped out to the chilly night air. "It took all day.”
Before them lay Lake Illinata. The moons reflected on the clear surface. Out of view from where they were standing on the other side of the lake lay Lakeview Manor. It would take them hours to get around the lake to go home. With Katla's arm wounded, she shouldn’t swim across.
Rashall helped her get her gauntlet off and then he looked at the cut. “At least it ain't deep,” he said. He pulled a vial out of his pouch and cleaned the wound before he bandaged it up. “We’ll have to stick to this side of the Lake tonight. I’ll get us some fish to eat. Can ya get out of the armour on yar own?”
“Yes, I’m fine,” Katla said. “It doesn’t hurt that much. I can get this off myself.” she started pulling at the straps and it didn’t take long for her to get the chest plate off. She would have to make some kind of quick fix on her broken gauntlet. Maybe Adrianne could deal with that when she got back to Whiterun.
Once out of her armour, Katla got a fire going. She could see Rashall out in the water. For some reason, he preferred to go swimming to catch fish. Once he returned she went down to the water and rinsed off. She couldn’t get her left arm wet but apart from that, she was now a little cleaner.
Rashall watched Katla from his position by the fire. She was probably the sturdiest woman he'd ever come across. Wounds didn't bother her. She could easily carry him for miles and had done so in the past. But she was also very considerate. He was a Khajiit so his nose was rather sensitive, one of the reasons Khajiit actually chose to stay out of cities. Katla washed herself on a regular basis. That was more than you could say for most humans.
"What are you thinking about?" Katla asked when she returned.
"How much I don look forward to Riften's stench," Rashall responded. "Ya've spoiled me. Ya're too cleanly."
Katla snorted. "Better than getting that parasite they had over on Betony," she said. "I mean they had to seal the island."
Rashall nodded. He agreed. He was glad they hadn't gotten out there before that order was given. He had heard that Khajiit that got the parasite had to shave off all their fur. He shuddered at the mere thought of such a disgrace. He finished cooking the fish and they ate before calling it a night.
20th of Last Seed, 4E 201.
They passed by Riverwood early the following morning and dropped off the golden claw. Lucan was overjoyed to have it back, and just a little relieved that he could now stop his sister from running off and getting herself killed by bandits.
By midday, Rashall and Katla were back outside Whiterun. This time Rashall went with Katla as she headed into the city.
Katla waved at Adrianne as they passed by her forge and they went up the street and through the town’s square.
"Me fingers twitch, Katla," Rashall said as they passed a preacher. He was screaming about Talos and making the otherwise pleasant little garden outside the Temple to Kyne rather horrible.
"I know dear," Katla said. As much as she disliked the banning of Talos worship, men like this preacher highly irritated her as well. "Let's just pass by for now," she said. "And you can't kill him." She knew that he would do something no matter what she said, but there were more options in his arsenal than death.
They walked up the stairs to Dragonsreach and headed inside. This time Irileth didn't approach Katla. Instead, they headed straight over to Farengar. He wasn't alone when they reached him. The two adventures stayed back.
The woman that was speaking with Farengar seemed very eager to gain information about the dragons. She was pressing him saying that the dragons had arrived and they didn’t have any time to waste. She looked up and noticed Katla and Rashall. "It looks like you have visitors," she told Farengar.
"Hmm?" Farengar looked up from his books and saw Katla. "Ah, yes, the Jarl's protege! Back from Bleak Falls Barrow?" he said. "You didn't die, it seems."
Katla gave him a blank look. She did not like the man. "I have the stone," she said. Rashall pulled it out of her pack, and she unwrapped the cloth she had placed it on to protect it. "Here you go."
"Ah! The Dragonstone of Bleak Falls Barrow!" Farengar exclaimed. "Seems you are a cut above the usual brutes the Jarl sends my way. My... associate here will be pleased to see your handiwork. She discovered its location, by means, she has so far declined to share with me."
Katla almost rolled her eyes. She would happily leave this man to his insane research and just walk away.
"So your information was correct after all," Farengar told his associate. "And we have our friend here to thank for recovering it for us."
"You went into Bleak Falls Barrow and got that?" the unnamed woman said. "Nice work." Then she turned to Farengar. "Just send me a copy when you've deciphered it," she told him.
Katla and Rashall turned to leave when Irileth came running. "Farengar! Farengar, you need to come at once," she called. "A dragon's been sighted nearby." She noticed Katla and Rashall as she was about to run back "You might as well come, too," she said.
Katla and Rashall exchanged a look. They weighed their options and decided that it was probably better to get involved. As they walked up the stairs to Balgruuf's war room, Irileth berated Farengar for not taking the threat seriously enough.
When they reached the top of the stairs they could hear Balgruuf. "So, Irileth tells me you came from the western watchtower?" he asked a guard.
"Yes, my lord," the guard responded.
"Tell him what you told me about the dragon," Irileth said as she walked up to stand next to the Jarl.
"Uh... that's right," the guard said as he collected himself. "We saw it coming from the south. It was fast... faster than anything I've ever seen."
"What did it do?" Balgruuf asked. "Is it attacking the watchtower?"
"No, my lord. It was just circling overhead when I left," the guard responded. "I never ran so fast in my life... I thought it would come after me for sure."
"Good work, son. We'll take it from here. Head down to the barracks for some food and rest. You've earned it," Balgruuf said. "Irileth, you'd better gather some guardsmen and get down there." He looked worried which wasn't surprising since there was apparently a dragon just outside his city.
"I've already ordered my men to muster near the main gate," Irileth said.
"Good. Don't fail me," Balgruuf said then he turned to Katla. "I hate to ask for your help in this Katla. It…" he paused for a moment, "it would break my heart if you were to be harmed by this beast, but I am running out of options. You have always been crafty. Please help me defend my city."
“It’s worth a try,” Katla said. “Come on, let's get out there and see what we can do," she told Rashall. She led the way as they headed off. In the distance, they could hear how Balgruuf forbade Farengar from following them. As far as Katla was concerned, that was probably for the best. Sometimes enthusiastic researchers could be a big hindrance in the field.
Katla looked over her shoulder at Rashall as they headed out of Dragonsreach. "Got anything you think could knock down a dragon?" she asked.
Rashall shrugged. "I've got some stuff that could give a giant major problems. Do ya think that's good enough?" he asked.
They joined up with Irileth and her guards by the gates to the city before heading off towards the guard tower. Katla grabbed her bow and knocked an arrow on the string. She turned to Rashall who coated the arrow with a slimy substance before she took aim at the dragon.
The arrow sailed towards the dragon and buried itself in the beast's side. At first, nothing seemed to happen. Rashall prepared another arrow and Katla fired that one as well.
Then the dragon dropped out of the air. It crashed into the ground with a heavy thud.
Katla and Rashall rushed forward and Katla's heavy battle-axe swung in a wide arch. She buried it deep in the dragon's neck. As she did so Rashall jumped over the dragon. He grabbed his sword and stabbed the dragon's stomach or at least where he thought the stomach was.
The dragon twitched once. Then it lay still. Katla and Rashall started heading back towards Irileth when one of the guards called out. They turned around just in time to see how the dragon was glowing. The light gathered and shot off towards Katla who took half a step back. That word, the one she had read the day before, came back to her. Fus. It could push things away from her.
"What happened?" Rashall asked. "Are ya okay?" He walked up to Katla and grabbed her shoulders.
"I'm fine," Katla said. "I'm not sure what happened." She grabbed his shoulder and turned away from everyone. "Fus," she shouted and a wave of power left her.
"Well that's certainly somethin’," Rashall said.
"You are Dragonborn," one of the guards said.
Katla sighed. It might have been nice to be normal. Nice but boring.