BALLAD OF THE DOVAKHIIN
Early morning, outside the gates of Whiterun. Jarl Balgruf stood overlooking the plains of his hold. Next to him stood Irileth. And the two of them stood in complete silence, reflecting on the past days events. It was only when the rooster crowed and hailed the coming of the new day that either of them spoke.
"I trust your wisdom my Jarl." Irileth sounded very much as if she was trying to reassure herself.
Jarl Balgruf didn't respond, but instead turned his gaze towards the mountain in the distance. The throat of the world stood tall, easily dwarfing the mountains in the distance. The peak, ever shrouded by the clouds, taunted his gaze.
"She volunteered herself Irileth. It is fate."
At that moment the city gates opened, and out came Redguard, followed closely by Twilight. She was clad in a similarly light outfit: Purple apprentice robes, with leather gauntlets and leather boots to help protect her limbs. Both Balgruf and Irileth were surprised and frowned at the sight of a sword around her belt. Twilight was surprised to see both of them, and she smiled the warmest smile either of them had ever seen. Jarl Balgruf called Twilight over to have a private word, while Irileth growled and marched over to Redguard, who to his credit, did not falter under the piercing red eyes of the dark elf. Acting on Instinct the Redguard rested his left hand upon the steel sword sheathed in his belt. Irileth came within inches of his face.
"You let so much as a scratch happen to that girl and I'll have your head sitting on a pike."
Redguard paused for a moment before giving a slight smile. "Protective are we?"
Irileth stormed past him and took one last look at Twilight before walking through the gates.
"Where did Irileth go?" Twilight asked when the Redguard approached.
"To attend to matters of the hold I would Imagine. She told me to let you know that she'll deeply miss you."
Twilight raised an eyebrow at him. Taken slightly aback by Twilight's skepticism, Redguard turned his attention to Balgruf who regarded him carefully, scratching the side of his beard.
"Twilight, may I have a word with the Dragonborn in private." Redguard sighed deeply trying to hide his irritation. Twilight nodded, before walking off down the path towards the stables. When Balgruf was sure she was out of earshot he turned to the Redguard.
"Dragonborn, have you felt anything...odd...about Twilight."
Redguard didn't respond at first. He briefly considered telling him about Twilight's true nature, but thought better of it. Instead he recalled the uncomfortable and admittedly frightening situation back at Dragon's reach. Being surrounded by a mob and being torn apart by their desperation affected him more than it probably should have. At the time, it felt only natural that he would protect her, it was only after the fact that he noticed something beyond a man's instinct to protect a woman.
"I may have."
Jarl Balgruff nodded thoughtfully.
"An aura of peace? A desire to protect? Dragonborn, she has been like a daughter to me, and I have known her for the entire length of the week. Powerful magic surrounds her Dragonborn, it doesn't take years of study in the arcane arts to figure it out."
Jarl Balgruff looked over his shoulder at Twilight, who was busy attempting to communicate with the horses tied to a fence.
"Take care of her." He said finally, before heading back inside the city.
Redguard watched the gates close on the Jarl of Whiterun, before heading down the path towards Twilight.
"Come on!" She pleaded, leaning over the fence and trying to look into the horse's eyes.
"Is there any bit of sentient thought in that oversized head of yours!"
The horse merely chewed its oats and ignored Twilight. She gave up and turned to see Redguard heading her way.
"What did he say?" Twilight asked, not expecting a serious answer.
Redguard hesitated for only a fraction of a second, but long enough for Twilight to notice.
"He's going to miss you too."
-----------
Twilight Sparkle would not stop talking, and for the most part Redguard didn't mind. She needed to vent her excitement in any way possible. He remembered how he felt when he had started his own wanderings all those years ago: Fearful, lonely and desperate. Time had forged him into the man he was today, it was a dark time for him and only time would tell how the trials of Tamriel would forge the woman...or mare...at his side. Redguard pondered the Jarl's words: "Take care of her." He shook his head, knowing full well that she would have to learn quickly on how to survive, with or without him.
"So. We made quite a team back there. You know...fighting the Dragon and all..."
Redguard barely glanced over at Twilight and nodded ever so slightly.
"I guess we did."
Twilight grinned, and waited for him to say more, but when he said nothing else she simply stopped walking, slumped her shoulders and sighed deeply.
"Not much for small talk are you Mr. Redguard."
Twilight thought she heard Redguard chuckle, and she resumed walking at a hurried pace to catch up with him.
"Look. You can tell me your real name you know. You don't have to keep putting up with the name Redguard. I mean, it sounds like a normal name where I come from, but that's the title of your race. Do you have another name I can call you?" Twilight couldn't see his face from where she was walking. Was he annoyed behind that hood? Trying not to laugh? She had half a mind to walk right in front of him and force him to talk, but from what she has seen so far, she might get bowled over.
To her surprise, he stopped walking and turned to her.
"Do you want to know the truth Twilight?"
The question was direct and Twilight couldn't help but cringe. There was no signs of hostility or sarcasm in the way he spoke but she felt intimidated all the same.
"Um. I would like too…if it's not too much to ask…"
Redguard took a good look at Twilight. He didn't smile at her, or give any indication that he was offended, instead he just looked at her plainly.
"I don't remember."
Twilight tilted her head confused.
"What do you mean you don't remember? How can somepo…er I mean someone not remember their own name?"
Redguard grinned again.
"You know what? I ask myself that question more often then I should. Lets keep walking, I guess I can afford a little story telling."
Twilight agreed and the two of them walked down the stone path, the sun still high in the air. It was a little while before Redguard spoke again.
"My childhood was rather…less than ideal. The earliest memory I have is of a prison. I was called Prisoner, Trash, Child…. " He looked at her and smirked. "…but mainly Redguard. Not once did any of my captives decide to name me, or reveal that I had a name. The high elves that held me captive were rather…cruel in that respect. After I broke out…" Redguard paused as if deliberating something. "…I kinda just, stuck with any name they gave me." He finished quickly, his eyes fixed dead ahead. He flinched when he felt a hand rest on his shoulder.
He turned to see Twilight smiling at him softly. "I'm sorry. I didn't realize that was the case. If your okay with the name Redguard, then I have no problem with that."
Redguard locked eyes with Twilight, the words of the jarl echoing around his head. 'Take care of her.'
Twilight let her hand fall and the two of them continued to walk. It was a while before either of them spoke again.
-----
The sun had lowered a good distance since their earlier conversation. Twilight walked with a skip in her step, which for some reason, annoyed Redguard.
"Twilight you should really stay focused. Skyrim is a dangerous place."
"I am focused!" She said cheerily continuing to skip lightly across the road. If that wasn't enough. She started to hum a tune that was unfamiliar to Redguard.
"Winter wrap up, winter wrap up..."
Redguard shook his head, here they were walking through on the most dangerous regions in all of Tamriel and here was his Housecarl, skipping next to him. He looked up ahead and saw a structure of some sort. He saw the trail of smoke rising from the base as well as two bodies hanging from the stone bridge. One larger than the other. His eyes widened, his body tensed and he grabbed Twilight's arm.
"Hey what's the big idea?" She exclaimed, trying to fight his grip. Redguard's eyes were focused and Twilight followed his gaze to a trail of smoke rising from one of the towers. It looked like a campfire. Redguard looked to the right and saw only unscalable cliff. On his left was a raging stream. There was no other way to go but forward. He breathed deeply.
"Oh!" Twilight clapped her hands excitedly and dug into her bag with a free hand. She pulled out a map Farengar had given her marking some of the more notable landmarks of skyrim. "Valthiem Towers. That has to be it. We're making great progress!"
She folded up her map and put it back into the bag. She made to move forward, but was held back as Redguard squeezed her arm tighter.
"Listen Twilight, I need you to stay close to me. Do not speak, and keep your eyes on our flanks." There was a strong sense of urgency in Redguards voice that caused Twilight's mood to deflate. She nodded once and Redguard let go. She noticed his left hand was resting on the steel sword at his hip. Twilight felt her heart race as she followed Redguard down the stone road.
"Hold it!"
A woman wearing fur armor, and armed with an iron sword attached around her hip approached them. The woman's eyes darted between Twilight and Redguard.
"This is a toll road see! You'll have to hand over...say...200 gold to use our road."
Twilight gave a sigh of relief. 200 Gold sounded very high, but she had earned about that much in the week she had been working for the Jarl. Perhaps if Redguard and her split the costs they could...
"How about you let me through and I don't kill you?"
Twilight turned to Redguard a look of shock on her face, unable to believe what she had just heard. Redguard however, looked at the woman with cold contempt on his face. The woman laughed a sickening laugh, and approached both of them, drawing her sword.
"Hah! Tough talk for someone about to have their guts spilled!"
She charged. Everything seemed to move in slow motion for Twilight. She froze on the spot eyes fixed on the cold steel coming directly at her and her companion. For a moment Redguard seemed frozen as well, but just as the woman was about to reach striking distance, He extended his left hand and shot a stream of fire directly into her face.
The woman screamed in agony and dropped her weapon to clutch at her face. She fell to the ground and tried to crawl away from Redguard's persistent flames. Seconds later, Redguard released the spell, drew his steel sword and impaled her through chest, he twisted it for good measure, before ripping it out and silencing the suffering bandit. Twilight watched all this in a state of shock only to be shaken back to her senses by an arrow whizzing by her head.
"Into the Tower!" Redguard yelled, as he grabbed Twilights arm and pulled her to the open doors.
"You're going to pay for that!" They heard from the top of the tower, as a second arrow over shot them by several feet.
Redguard threw Twilight in and shut the door behind them.
"Y...You killed her! You Killed HER!" She screamed hysterically as she grabbed at her hair.
"She would have killed both of us. Whether or not we had the Gold!"
Redguard replied urgently as he barricaded the door. He turned his attention the stone stairs above him, hearing movement and loud voices getting closer.. He swore under his breath. He moved to Twilight and pulled her up from her panicked position on the floor. She resisted and thrashed about hitting him in the nose several times. After finally getting a good grip on her arms he pinned them to her side.
"FOCUS Twilight! I need you to draw your sword and protect yourself!"
At that moment A large Breton in full steel armor appeared at the top of the stone stairs. To Redguard's horror the man was carrying a war hammer. What was even scarier was that he seemed to know how to use it.
"Die!" He yelled before jumping off the top of the stairs, hammer coming down on both of them.
Thinking quickly, Redguard pushed Twilight to the opposite end of the room against a bookshelf while he himself jumped to the door. The hammer smashing the stone where both of them had once stood. Immediately the bandit turned towards Redguard, whom he must have deemed a greater threat, and swung his war hammer wildly. Redguard ducked and dived, swearing as he felt himself backing against a corner. But before the armored man could deliver the finishing blow, a purple glow enveloped him, the armored man looked around confused before finding himself blasted through both the makeshift barricade AND the door, smashing the man against the cracked stone mountainside. The armored bandit lay at the base of the mountain writhing in pain.
"I'm sorry!" Twilight yelled at the top of her lungs. "I'm so, so sorry!"
Twilight leaned against the bookshelf looking at the destruction of the door and the man that was yelling out in pain outside the tower. Redguard approached her cautiously, before looking back up the stone steps.
"Stay here." He said, Twilight only nodded in response.
Redguard moved up the stairs, sticking to the wall and holding his steel sword with his right hand. He came to an archway that opened into palisade steps. He listened. No one was coming down the palisade. He cautiously peaked his head by and immediately withdrew as an arrow sailed into the doorway.
"Shit!" He swore out loud. Staying here would eventually get himself and Twilight Killed. If they tried to make a run for it the archers would surely pick them off. There was only one choice to make. He had to chance it. Taking one last look at Twilight, he stuck his head out. An arrow sailed by, without any hesitation, he charged up the wooden palisade steps. He could hear yells coming from the opposite end of the river, but he ignored them. His priority was the archer that was on top of their tower. Luckily he didn't have to go far. Dodging another arrow and running into the archway on the second floor, he ran headlong into the archer. He had dropped his bow and was now wielding a war axe in his right hand, and a leather shield on his left. He swung, just as Redguard stepped into the archway. Ducking, he severed the archers leg in two with a well executed slice. and The yelling bandit collapsed on the floor. Redguard quickly ended his life with a stab through the heart. Without skipping a beat, he grabbed the leather shield and rushed out to the bridge.
It was stupid. He knew it. But he had to risk it. If the bandits crossed that bridge, Twilight would be in danger and unable to do anything in her current state of shock.
He forced his body to pump more adrenaline through his veins, an ability he had learned in his younger days.
He ducked, narrowly dodging one arrow and blocking another with the leather shield. Another fearless bandit ran forward to meet him at the center of the bridge. It was an orc, lightly clad and wielding axes. He jumped into the air, bringing both weapons down upon redguard and roaring in fury. Redguard grit his teeth in pain as the two axes connected with his shield. He staggered back and narrowly avoided the second attack by his opponents rush. The third attack however, was an unsuspecting kick and it connected fully with Redguard's gut.
His breath left him for a moment, and he doubled over as the orc took his time placing his blade on either side of his neck.
"Look me in the eyes. I want to see the fear in your eyes." He snarled, giving Redguard an evil smile. Redguard obliged and just when the orc was about to finnish him off…
"FUS!"
The Thun rocked the ruins and the orc was knocked off balance. Immediately, Redguard roared, knocked both the Orc's axes away, before stabbing him in the gut, drawing it out and finally decapitating him in one spinning motion. He panted. The last of his adrenaline draining from him. He started to run towards the opposite end of the bridge.
He didn't get far.
An arrow impaled itself into his shoulder, fired by one of the archers sitting on the other top of the other towers. He yelled out in pain and collapsed to the ground. He tried to bring his shield up but found out it was useless. His arm had broken from the impact of the Orcs' charge. They continued firing arrows and he caught another one in the calf before he was able to drag himself behind a pillar.
"Sitting Duck." He swore to himself. It was only a matter of time before they could get a firing angle on him. Another arrow pinged itself off of the stone pillar as he racked his brain for a way out.
----
Redguards yell of pain, snapped Twilight out of her panicked state. She was still quivering, but at least she had the good sense to move. She crept up the stairs slowly and peaked out of the stone archway. There she saw him. Redguard pinned behind a small pillar, trying his best to make himself as small of a target as possible. She wanted to help. But she was scared. She was so scared. What could she do?
Twilight slid to the bottom of the door arch as she searched desperately for a way to help her friend. Her eyes set upon the two human corpses hanging by their necks below the bridge. Her eyes focused on the smaller of the two…a child…The wind blew and the body turned,
"No…" Her lips moved, but no sound came out. Her eyes shut, not wanting to see the lifeless face of the child she knew.
"It hurts miss mage…"
The child that was reunited with his father.
"Papa!"
Something broke inside Twilight. Her eyes shot open and all she could see was light.
-----
Redguard wasn't exactly sure what happened next. One moment the bandits were firing arrows down around him, the next they were gone, along with a quarter of the tower. Bits of stone rained down around him and he lifted his shield up with his good arm to block any incoming debris.
Looking back at the tower where Twilight was being housed, he saw no sign of her. With a groan he pushed himself up, and discarding his shield, limped back to find his housecarl.
"Twilight?" He called out. He stumbled forward, but recovered before he could fall flat on his face.
He gave a muffled yell as he yanked the arrows from his calf and shoulder, and healing himself with his spell. Limping down the wooden palisade and moved beyond the archway.
There was no sign of her. He limped back down the stone steps and leaned against the wall for support. Hearing voices beyond the destroyed doorway, he turned the corner.
"Twilight..."
She didn't hear him. She was too preoccupied with the guard she had pommelled into the mountain. He was still alive and doubled over, his war hammer laying in two pieces next to him. Twilight stood over him, her Iron sword drawn.
"S…Say you're sorry…" She said shakily, her hand barely being able to keep a grip on her blade.
At first, the bandit was confused, but then his confusion turned to laughter, or at least he tried to laugh as he was forced to cough up the blood that had made its way into his throat.
Twilight's grip on the sword seemed to be faltering.
"Say your s....sorry..." Her voice was even shakier and Redguard could see her shoulders move up and down. She was sobbing silently. This time the bandit could speak. He only said one word.
"Never."
Twilight raised her sword. "I'm wa..warning you! Say your sorry!" She said louder
This time the bandit laughed fully. "What are you waiting for? Do it!"
Twilight hesitated and she lowered her sword, turning away she finally let the tears flow. This was a mistake.
"TWILIGHT!" Redguard lunged for her, but tripped over his still healing leg. The bandit stumbled to his full height and drew an Iron Dagger hidden in his boot. He reached but didn't get very far. Twilight spun and without hesitation impaled the man in his gut. The bandit's face was frozen in shock, even as he slumped to the ground dead, sword still protruding from his abdomen.
Redguard was similarly surprised. As for Twilight, that was it. That was the final straw. She collapsed on the ground, wailing. Her sobs reverberating in the darkness that was now descending upon both of them.
------
They took shelter in the cove of an old ruin. It only had one entrance so it was easily defendable, and after Redguard had set up a roaring fire the cold ruin became alive with warmth. A stripped rabbit sat impaled on a stick, being roasted by the flames. He turned the meal over and looked at Twilight sitting across from him. Since she had stopped crying, they had said nothing to each other. Redguard had more or less recovered from his wounds earlier thanks to his healing spells. Twilight however, could not recover from the wound deep inside her. Redguard wondered if she ever would.
He remembered his first kill…In fact he remembered a lot of things he would rather forget…But this wasn't about him. He cut off a piece of cooked flesh with his knife and moved over to sit next to Twilight. He handed the meet to her.
"Eat it." He said softly. "You need to recover your strength."
Twilight paused for a moment before cautiously biting into it. In a matter of moment she had the entire strip in her mouth. She chewed with a pained expression on her face, before swallowing. Redguard saw her visibly suppress a gag. For a while they sat in silence, eating what was left of the rabbit. They bit into fruits, and Redguard noticed how Twilight savored the taste of her apple a lot more than that of the rabbit. The fire began to die down, and Redguard tossed another log into the fire to keep it going. He looked once more at Twilight and sighed as her expression still remained stoic.
"I think its time I was completely honest with you."
If Twilight was listening, she didn't show any signs of it. Redguard didn't mind, what he had to say wasn't easy for him to say. He fixated his stare on the fire. Listening to it crackle.
"The first time I ever killed someone…was when I was much younger than I am now…perhaps a decade ago."
Redguard felt movement where Twilight was sitting, but didn't dare face her, lest he lose the courage to say what he had to say.
"I killed a high elf…I didn't really know his name…but he was the only one to offer me any sort of kindness during my imprisonment. One day he let his guard down, I saw an opportunity to escape and I did, at the cost of his life."
Redguard cleared his throat.
"Afterwards…I became no different than the people we fought today. I stole…murdered in cold blood…rich, poor, young, old, it didn't matter. It only stopped after I was caught, and I was on my way to the executioners block."
Redguard shook his head.
"I had never been so scared in my life. The only thing that saved me was the mercy of a legionnaire captain. I forget his name. Instead of killing me right then, he let me go with nothing more than a tunic. He said I would die of starvation, or be mauled by the beasts of Cyrodil. But in reality he had given me a chance to live. To redeem myself. Since then I've been wandering. And…I've never stopped wandering…"
He turned to face Twilight, and was surprised to find her staring at him with the same stoic expression she wore staring into the fire.
"That's who I was Twilight…And I just wanted to let you know…You are a better person than I am. You…" He hesitated. "...killed to save yourself. I've killed and never thought twice."
Twilight's expression didn't change. Redguard lowered his head and sighed deeply. Picking himself up he lay down on the other side of the ruin.
"I'll take you back to White Run in the morning. Try to get some rest." He whispered before closing his eyes. He heard movement and suddenly felt a weight on his chest, He jolted awake only to find Twilight curled up into a ball next to him, laying her head on his chest. Without anything to say, and not knowing how to react. He just lay there.
"Can we burry Beirand and his papa tomorrow?"
Twilights voice surprised Redguard. He raised a hand and cautiously stroked her hair in an attempt to comfort her.
"Yeah….sure…"