Daughter to Dragons- a Skyrim inspired fantasy

Chapter Five

Chapter Five

“You are waging a war against the Thalmor?”  I hadn’t meant for my tone to be so skeptical, but I just found it odd that a self-proclaimed craven was fighting against the people that had a bounty on his head.  I paused for a second.  That sounded quite familiar.  The only difference was that I wasn’t a craven.  I had killed more than a fair share of Thalmor agents over the years.

“Don’t sound so surprised, my lady.  It is possible for a craven to find some courage.”  He reached over to a bottle of wine.  Yanking the cork out with his teeth, he poured the bottle down his throat.  When he was finished, he wiped away a bit of red liquid from his mouth and offered the bottle to me.  I shook my head and he shrugged, taking another drink.  “I got tired of living in fear, so I joined up with some fellow Thalmor haters and started learning how to kill them.”

“I need to get to Windhelm,” I blurted out.  Getting there was my main priority.  “I have news for High King Ulfric Stormcloak from the Imperial City concerning the Thalmor.  We were en route to Windhelm when your men captured us.”

“We?”

“My friend and I.  Your men captured him with me.  Where is he?”

He shrugged.  “Don’t know, don’t care.  You’re the only one I care about, my lady.”

My lip curled up at his words.  Had he always been this disgusting man?  I doubted my father would have saved him if that was the case.  “Look, just give me all my stuff back and send us on our way.  You’re fighting the Thalmor, I’m fighting the Thalmor.  You’re letting them win if you’re keeping me from getting to Ulfric.”

He pursed his lips.  My words seemed to have gotten through to him.  He clapped his hands together.  “Fine, I’ll let you go.  But I need you to do one thing for me.”

“If it involves crawling into that bed with you, you can just kill me here and now.”

He gave me a little pout.  “If that’s the case then I have another task for you, my lady.  I’m not sure if you are aware, but we are in the Reach, on the far side of Skyrim.”  My jaw dropped.  How could we have gotten so far away from Helgen in such a short time?  “It’s true, my lady.  Few Thalmor agents and spies brave these hills nowadays.”

“Because of the Forsworn.”

He nodded.  “Right.  The Thalmor are arrogant, not foolish.  They know better than to lurk in the mountains of the Reach, especially these days.”

Ever since the civil war was won and Skyrim became a free nation, we lost all of the Imperial soldiers and guards.  Now the guards that would be patrolling the Reach for Forsworn, were now spread throughout the land.  The Forsworn were running rampant.  A few daring tribes had even tried to take back Markarth over the past couple of years.  None succeeded, but more were rallying to their cause.

There have been a few groups of Redguards coming from Hammerfell to aid the Reach as a gesture of friendship since they were the only two nations that successfully drove out the Empire and the Thalmor.  Well, Skyrim was in the process of driving out the Thalmor.  With the help of Hammerfell, the Reach could become secure again.  But too few troops were crossing now.  The trouble with High Rock was the cause of that.

I groaned, rubbing my fingers through my hair.  “What do you need me to do?”

“My men have captured Forsworn scouts and raiders within a league of my camps.  I have reason to suspect that the Forsworn mean to attack my camp.”  He took another sip of the wine.  “They probably want this cave for themselves.  After I had it cleared out and set up, it makes for a mighty fine base of operations.  No doubt the Forsworn want it for themselves.”