I woke with a splitting headache, nothing new right? And there across from me sat Ralof, giving me that goofy grin and going through the whole spiel about thinking I would never wake. This time I almost wish I hadn't, almost. I gave him the same stupid responses again, but I was thinking very hard..
Why had I went to my restart point, I know I didn't die, not unless some massive spell took everyone in the Inn. So what is it I was doing...Oh drinking contest, but why would that cause me to be put back to my resurrect point? I have gotten drunk before, so it wasn't just that. The man looked pretty normal, but was he? Could it have been the man, I really don't see how... So maybe timing, If I got drunk at that time, with that man, something else I was supposed to do would not get done in the time it was supposed to get done.
Yes, that had to be it, so I guess next time I saw...Sam, yes that was his name, I would have to pass on the drinking contest... well at least for a while. So follow the well-remembered path to the same point in time playing at the Inn in Whiterun. I groaned, really this would get tedious if I had to go through watching the ax swing down to take off my head... of course, seeing the dragon land and use his voice magic was almost worth it, It was long ago, the last time dragons freely flew across the land.
Little things changed, some because I tried to change them, I really did try and keep the Witch from being killed by the bandits, but that wasn't to be. Some because, that is the way of the world, random events happen. I was disappointed that we did not get to fight the Winged Twilight, it meant I would not get the staff from the mage.
I went through all the motions till that last day, then I thought things through. I told Sam no, that I wasn't interested in a drinking contest at this time, maybe later, he really was a good looking man. The next morning I went to the Drunken Huntsman and asked after a good bow. As we went over the draw on a couple that would suit my smaller size, I heard a deep gravely voice and turned to see a very tall and Handsome Nord man, he made Ralof look plain in comparison. We settled on a price then I headed up to speak with the court wizard, but he had nothing, said that he had sent out sets of guards to check out two of the mounds that were close by, but that they would not be back for a couple days.
I told him I planned on a trip to Riften, but I should be back about the same time, if he had the directions to a Dragon Mound along the way, I would check it out for him. He smiled and handed me a hand-drawn map with some marks on it and said I could check out any or all of them along the way and any observations I made would valuable to him.
So it being early in the day we headed out. We made it as far as Valtheim Towers where we were stopped by a bandit asking for money for a toll... I refused to pay the toll and we had to fight not only her but a half dozen of her fellows, had I known that I might have paid the toll... maybe. We dispatched the bandits with a running battle, Tex was a very good tank. It was a very awkward angle to slice down at him, his only trouble was mages and archers and he tended to close in before they even knew he was there. Obren uses his bow to good effect and then closed in with his sword, though he seemed reluctant to do so. It didn't take long to deal with the last of the bandits, which my Flame Atronach took care of. We spent the night in the Tower, after looting the bandits and hiding the bulkier items in some rocks under the tower.
It wasn't even dawn yet when we left the tower and started for Darkwater Crossing, I knew the area would have some herbs that I couldn't find in other places. I picked herbs along the way and didn't rush, I really felt that the court wizard was the key to my needing to be in Whiterun. We were near Darkwater crossing, I could see the smoke from their fires from the curve in the road and I was sure I was seeing thatch from their roof's. At the last bridge, I paused to take in the view and it was a grand one, then Tex started growling and I looked to the other side of the bridge.
Wolves and a rather large pack of them. I cast a mage armor spell and then a Flame Atronach. Then grabbing my new bow, I started shooting arrows into the wolf pack, taking out the largest of the wolves first. As the wolves got closer, I switched to my ax and buckler... knowing I would need to summon again soon. I heard the sound of a roar that I had just recently heard, Dragon... I looked up but saw nothing, so I knew it had to be behind me, not where I wanted it. I dropped my buckler and started casting a flame spell, hoping that the wolves would back away.
As I drew even with the end of the bridge, I felt the stinging pain of an arrow hit my shoulder. I was stunned for half a second and then I really was stunned as the paralytic on the arrow took effect, I could not move. I looked within the area that I could see and only saw shadows, no person, but I felt the ground shake and the gust of air and sting of sand as the dragon landed behind me, I felt helpless as I saw the shadow of the creature. I saw and heard more than felt as the dragon grabbed me in his maw and clamped his mouth shut around my body, the world blurred by as he shook me like a dog with a bone. He tossed me aside as he went after something else, I knew it wasn't Tex as I could hear him barking in the distance.
For a minute I thought it was Obren that the dragon was after, but then I saw him in the tree's, drawing his bow and aiming... but not at the dragon... as the arrow hit me I knew no more....
This time when I woke to Ralof's smiling face, I didn't have quite the headache, my chest hurt as if it had been crushed, which rightly it had. I made the same remarks, but instead of looking around again, I looked down at my feet. So, betrayal... that wasn't a first either, but I would have to do something about it, getting killed by someone that you expected to watch your back, is never a pretty thing. I had an idea, but it would take some maneuvering, I had a little bit of time to plan.
~~~~~
Pain exploded inside my chest and caused me to wake with a start. For one brief second, I thought someone had stabbed me with a knife. There was no one in the room and with the door shut, I was not hit with an arrow or dart. I laid back down and thought for a second and realized I had been dreaming about a dragon again, only this time it had tried to take a bit out of me. I closed my eyes and slowed my breath till I fell back into a restless sleep.
When I dressed the next morning I noticed bruising along my ribs, If I didn't know better I would say that a dragon had tried to take a chunk out of my hide. I sat back down and had to do some serious thinking. After a bit of contemplation, I decided to make a visit to the shrine of Azura, perhaps she would answer my questions if she had an answer.
Why had I went to my restart point, I know I didn't die, not unless some massive spell took everyone in the Inn. So what is it I was doing...Oh drinking contest, but why would that cause me to be put back to my resurrect point? I have gotten drunk before, so it wasn't just that. The man looked pretty normal, but was he? Could it have been the man, I really don't see how... So maybe timing, If I got drunk at that time, with that man, something else I was supposed to do would not get done in the time it was supposed to get done.
Yes, that had to be it, so I guess next time I saw...Sam, yes that was his name, I would have to pass on the drinking contest... well at least for a while. So follow the well-remembered path to the same point in time playing at the Inn in Whiterun. I groaned, really this would get tedious if I had to go through watching the ax swing down to take off my head... of course, seeing the dragon land and use his voice magic was almost worth it, It was long ago, the last time dragons freely flew across the land.
Little things changed, some because I tried to change them, I really did try and keep the Witch from being killed by the bandits, but that wasn't to be. Some because, that is the way of the world, random events happen. I was disappointed that we did not get to fight the Winged Twilight, it meant I would not get the staff from the mage.
I went through all the motions till that last day, then I thought things through. I told Sam no, that I wasn't interested in a drinking contest at this time, maybe later, he really was a good looking man. The next morning I went to the Drunken Huntsman and asked after a good bow. As we went over the draw on a couple that would suit my smaller size, I heard a deep gravely voice and turned to see a very tall and Handsome Nord man, he made Ralof look plain in comparison. We settled on a price then I headed up to speak with the court wizard, but he had nothing, said that he had sent out sets of guards to check out two of the mounds that were close by, but that they would not be back for a couple days.
I told him I planned on a trip to Riften, but I should be back about the same time, if he had the directions to a Dragon Mound along the way, I would check it out for him. He smiled and handed me a hand-drawn map with some marks on it and said I could check out any or all of them along the way and any observations I made would valuable to him.
So it being early in the day we headed out. We made it as far as Valtheim Towers where we were stopped by a bandit asking for money for a toll... I refused to pay the toll and we had to fight not only her but a half dozen of her fellows, had I known that I might have paid the toll... maybe. We dispatched the bandits with a running battle, Tex was a very good tank. It was a very awkward angle to slice down at him, his only trouble was mages and archers and he tended to close in before they even knew he was there. Obren uses his bow to good effect and then closed in with his sword, though he seemed reluctant to do so. It didn't take long to deal with the last of the bandits, which my Flame Atronach took care of. We spent the night in the Tower, after looting the bandits and hiding the bulkier items in some rocks under the tower.
It wasn't even dawn yet when we left the tower and started for Darkwater Crossing, I knew the area would have some herbs that I couldn't find in other places. I picked herbs along the way and didn't rush, I really felt that the court wizard was the key to my needing to be in Whiterun. We were near Darkwater crossing, I could see the smoke from their fires from the curve in the road and I was sure I was seeing thatch from their roof's. At the last bridge, I paused to take in the view and it was a grand one, then Tex started growling and I looked to the other side of the bridge.
Wolves and a rather large pack of them. I cast a mage armor spell and then a Flame Atronach. Then grabbing my new bow, I started shooting arrows into the wolf pack, taking out the largest of the wolves first. As the wolves got closer, I switched to my ax and buckler... knowing I would need to summon again soon. I heard the sound of a roar that I had just recently heard, Dragon... I looked up but saw nothing, so I knew it had to be behind me, not where I wanted it. I dropped my buckler and started casting a flame spell, hoping that the wolves would back away.
As I drew even with the end of the bridge, I felt the stinging pain of an arrow hit my shoulder. I was stunned for half a second and then I really was stunned as the paralytic on the arrow took effect, I could not move. I looked within the area that I could see and only saw shadows, no person, but I felt the ground shake and the gust of air and sting of sand as the dragon landed behind me, I felt helpless as I saw the shadow of the creature. I saw and heard more than felt as the dragon grabbed me in his maw and clamped his mouth shut around my body, the world blurred by as he shook me like a dog with a bone. He tossed me aside as he went after something else, I knew it wasn't Tex as I could hear him barking in the distance.
For a minute I thought it was Obren that the dragon was after, but then I saw him in the tree's, drawing his bow and aiming... but not at the dragon... as the arrow hit me I knew no more....
This time when I woke to Ralof's smiling face, I didn't have quite the headache, my chest hurt as if it had been crushed, which rightly it had. I made the same remarks, but instead of looking around again, I looked down at my feet. So, betrayal... that wasn't a first either, but I would have to do something about it, getting killed by someone that you expected to watch your back, is never a pretty thing. I had an idea, but it would take some maneuvering, I had a little bit of time to plan.
~~~~~
Pain exploded inside my chest and caused me to wake with a start. For one brief second, I thought someone had stabbed me with a knife. There was no one in the room and with the door shut, I was not hit with an arrow or dart. I laid back down and thought for a second and realized I had been dreaming about a dragon again, only this time it had tried to take a bit out of me. I closed my eyes and slowed my breath till I fell back into a restless sleep.
When I dressed the next morning I noticed bruising along my ribs, If I didn't know better I would say that a dragon had tried to take a chunk out of my hide. I sat back down and had to do some serious thinking. After a bit of contemplation, I decided to make a visit to the shrine of Azura, perhaps she would answer my questions if she had an answer.
No comments:
Post a Comment