//------------------------------// // 4: Road to Riverwood // Story: Sonata's Crazy and Wacky Adventure in Skyrim // by Sonata Blaze //------------------------------// Somehow Sonata, Kree, Hadvar, and Captain Pelena managed to get inside the keep, where they could take a few moments to catch their breath before they decided what to do next. None of them bothered to say that they weren't scared, as they were all terrified by the fact that a dragon had swooped into the town and set everything on fire. While Sonata leaned against one of the stone support pillars, with Kree leaning on the other side of it, both Hadvar and Captain Pelena stayed near the table for a few moments. "Captain, was that really a dragon?" Hadvar asked, though it was clear that his nerves were shot if he was asking such a question, "The bringers of the End Times?" "It would seem so," Captain Pelena replied, before sighing and moving to a nearby wall, where she pulled weapons out of their holders and began to hand them out, "We had better take a look around and gather what weapons and armor we can, because once we start moving we won't be coming back for anything else." Hadvar nodded and accepted the iron axe that she handed him, before she moved to Kree and held out one of the imperial swords they had used at Fort Neugrad. Kree almost seemed surprised that she was begin given a weapon, but nodded her head in understanding and accepted the weapon from the Captain. She then turned to Sonata, who happened to be holding her arms tightly as she tried to get the images of the dragon burning people out of her head, before she sighed and embraced Sonata for a moment. "How are you holding up Sonata?" the Captain asked, just as she let go and started attaching her own sword to her belt. "Oh, just fine," Sonata weakly replied, before something occurred to her and made her look up at the Captain, "There wouldn't happen to be a bucket nearby would there?" "There's one right beside the bed behind you," the Captain answered, not really knowing what Sonata wanted with a bucket, before she ran over to it and hurled up her breakfast, "I thought you side you were fine?!" "I believe that's from the execution she witnessed," Kree commented, watching her friend for a few seconds, "This Equus you told me about this morning before our departure sounds like a peaceful place, which would explain quite a bit about our friend. It seems that she's actually never seen someone die before her eyes, but she has fought with magic before and picked up using a sword in a matter of hours." "She did have quite the trainer to get her that good at using a blade," the Captain told Kree, knowing just how good the argonian was with a blade, when she wanted to be that was, "No one else could have imparted that much information in a single day and actually have their students actually keep up with them the entire time." "I hate to break this up Captain," Hadvar said, having gone down the only available tunnel they had and returned, "but it seems some of the Stormcloaks are on the other side of the gate and are attempting to bust open the iron door so they can escape as well." Captain Pelena nodded and tapped her armor for a moment, indicating that she had the key to the door in question, before drawing her weapon and heading into the tunnel. Sonata, noticing that the group was getting out of the keep through the tunnel, sighed for a moment and then followed after Kree, reluctantly drawing her own sword. The four of them found a group of four armed Stormcloaks standing before a locked iron door, the same one that Hadvar had mentioned, and were completely unaware that they had company coming their way. Once the wooden gate was down Captain Pelena charged forward, causing one of their enemies to look their way before she stabbed him right in the gut, before she yanked her sword out and took his head clean off. Hadvar caught the hand of his attacker, before his weapon could even touch him, and swung his axe right at his enemy's wrist, taking it clean off in one motion before he spun the axe around and planted it in his opponent's head. Kree used her tail and knocked her opponent onto his back, before spinning her sword to face the ground and stabbed the soldier in the heart. Sonata, forcing herself to be ready for the conflict, charged into the room and rammed into the side of the remaining soldier, but she underestimated the force required to knock him onto his back and she was pushed onto the ground instead. Before she had a chance to get up and try something else, and before the soldier could hurt her, Kree's sword erupted from the soldier's chest, killing him almost instantly. "Has anyone ever told you how crazy you can be at times?" Kree asked, helping her friend onto her feet before collecting her weapon, making sure to wipe the blood from it. "Yeah, Adagio and Aria told me that all the time," Sonata replied, though the mention of her sisters made her sad for a moment, before she shook her head and regained her composure, "Look, that's dragon's still out there and he's making a mess of the keep, so we had better get going before he brings the entire place down on top of us." "Couldn't have said it any better myself," Kree chuckled, turning towards the open door that the Captain and Hadvar were waiting near, "Let's get out of here." The four of them ran down the set of stairs the rested behind the door, but when they entered the next corridor the ceiling shook and collapsed before their eyes, forcing them to enter the what appeared to be a storeroom. They found two soldiers discussing what all the noises were, but when they spotted the Captain they saluted her and immediately gathered their weapons, armor, and any potions that they had on hand. Once they were stocked up they returned to the corridor, now passed the blockade that the dragon had caused, and continued down another set of stairs, where Sonata's eyes widened as she realized that the next room was a torture chamber of sorts. The man in charge of the room seemed to ignore them, though his assistant seemed pleased to have new arrivals so he could heard about what was happening. "Don't you even know what's going on?" Hadvar nearly shouted at the torturer, who barely looked at him the entire time, "A dragon is attacking Helgen!" "A dragon? Please. Don't make up nonsense." the torturer replied, though he took a moment to think about something, "Although, come to think of it, I did hear some odd noises coming from over there." "Come with us." Hadvar told the man and his assistant, the latter of which sensed the urgency in his voice and immediately started gathering their things, "We need to get out of here, before that dragon brings the keep down on our heads!" "You have no authority over me, boy." the torturer spat, clearly ignoring the fact that a superior ranking officer of the Legion happened to be in the chamber as well. "He may not have authority over you, but I do." Captain Pelena replied, forcing the man to turn towards her and pale as he realized that she had been standing there the entire time, "My second-in-command told you to get moving, so I expect you to gather whatever you need and prepare to march with us. Move it soldier!" The torturer gulped and got moving almost immediately, tearing across the chamber to gather what he needed before nodding and falling in with the soldiers. Sonata noticed that he left a book on one of the tables, one titled The Book of the Dragonborn, and decided that she might as well take it with them. She had no idea who or what a Dragonborn was, but figured that they had to be somewhat important if they had their own book made for them. The group then moved into the open tunnel that Captain Pelena led them towards, where they eventually reached an area that had running water going through it. They rounded a corner and the Captain flipped a lever, lowering the bridge that allowed them to cross into what appeared to be an ordinary cave under the keep. "Never thought we'd have to use this escape tunnel," the torturer commented, turning to look back at the way they had came, no doubt wondering if he could make it to his chamber before they noticed he was gone, before the ceiling above the bridge shattered and destroyed the bridge, "and now there's no going back that way." The next area that the tunnel led them to happened to have a group of spiders, ones that Kree said were frostbite spiders, moving around in circles, but the moment they noticed that they had company they began to head towards the entrance to their area. Sonata watched as the entirety of her group charged forward and attacked the spiders, either cutting them into pieces or just outright killing them. She expected that much from soldiers of the Imperial Legion, but she was definitely impressed by how quickly Captain Pelena managed to take control over some leftover soldiers and mold them into an efficient fighting force. In what Sonata assumed was the final area of the cave system they seemed to be in they found a bear sleeping in the middle of the path, to which Hadvar told them that he'd rather not have to fight the creature. The group spoke among themselves for a few minutes, debating what they could do to the creature, before the bear stirred and rose to a standing position. Instead of attacking the group the bear turned towards the open passage they had been heading for and charged forward, disappearing before their very eyes. With the bear out of the way the soldiers began to move once more, eventually heading towards the same exit that Sonata figured that the bear had known about before hand. "I guess the dragon's constant shaking of the ceiling spooked off the bear," Kree commented, to which some of the soldiers chuckled just a tiny bit, before Hadvar raised his fist up. "Wait!" he called out, forcing everyone to brace themselves as the massive black dragon flew overhead, though it didn't even look towards the ground as it flew off into the distance, "Looks like he's gone for good this time. But I don't think we should stick around to see if he comes back." "I agree with you on that," Captain Pelena said, turning back to the soldiers for a moment, "Listen up men, we're going to be heading back to Solitude so we can inform them that there's a dragon on the loose, and that Ulfric Stormcloak is at large once more. We'll head down this road until we come to the fork, then we'll cut through Falkreath and make our way around to Markarth, where we should be able to get a carriage for the rest of the journey. Hadvar, I want you to take Sonata and Kree and head to Riverwood... and warn Jarl Balgruuf that he's got a dragon roaming the skies of his Hold." With their plans decided Captain Pelena bid farewell to the trio, telling them that she hoped to see them again in Solitude, before she and her company marched down the road. Hadvar sighed and followed after them, causing Kree and Sonata to follow, but when they reached the fork in the road they turned to the right and kept on going. After a few minutes they came to what Hadvar called the 'Guardian Stones' and said that there were thirteen of them scattered around Skyrim. Sonata gave them another glance before they moved on, though she decided to circle back and touch the Mage Stone, wondering if it could aid her in this world. A moment passed before she rejoined her companions, though she made sure to keep her eyes peeled for anything and anyone that wanted to hurt them. One such person happened to be someone standing on a path that led into the mountain side, though Hadvar told them not to worry about the person and they continued on the road. They also encountered a trio of wolves, to which they dealt with them in seconds, though Sonata used some of her fire magic to do her damage instead of the sword she carried. When they arrived outside Riverwood Sonata was pleased to find that it was a small village that had walls to protect its entrances, a mill, a smithy, a general goods store, and what she assumed was an inn. Before they entered the village Hadvar told them that the man who worked at the smithy happened to be his uncle Alvor, who would be able to assist them before they departed for Whiterun. The man working at the smithy looked up from his work as they entered the town, though Hadvar seemed glad to see him and they embraced the moment the man put down what he was working on. "Shor's bones, what happened to you, boy?" the man asked, looking over Hadvar for a moment, "Are you in some kind of trouble?" "Shh.. Uncle, please. Keep your voice down." Hadvar said, apparently worried that there might be some Stormcloak spies in the area, "I'm fine. But we should go inside to talk." "What's going on?" Alvor asked, before turning and seeing both Kree and Sonata standing behind him, "And who are these people?" "They're friends of mine." Hadvar told his uncle, glancing back at them for a moment, "Saved my life, and most of my comrades lives, in fact. Come on, I'll explain everything, but we need to go inside." "Come on inside." Alvor said, beckoning for them to follow him inside his house, "Sigrid will get you something to eat and you can tell us what happened." Sigrid was more than willing to let them join them for dinner, telling Sonata that they had spent a lot of time escaping Helgen before the dragon brought it down on their heads. As the meal was being prepared Hadvar explained what had happened, starting with how General Tullius had even captured Ulfric Stormcloak to begin with, something that he had been informed of with his captain. Then there was the wait at Fort Neugrad, where they all waited until morning to head to Helgen and began to execute the prisoners, but explained how the dragon interrupted them. He then told the tale about how they escaped from the fort, beckoning every now and then to either Kree or Sonata, before coming to the end and telling his uncle what Captain Pelena was doing. Once the tale was done, and the meal was over with, Alvor and Sigrid turned into the bed, wishing their guests goodnight before leaving them to their devices. "It's nice to be back in a friendly spot, huh?" Hadvar told Sonata and Kree, smiling to himself for a moment before turning back to them, "Listen, I'm going to lay up here for a while. You can make your own way to Whiterun from here, just by heading north." Sonata smiled as she and Kree moved into one of the beds in the basement, as it was the only one left, though she knew that they were safe for the moment. In the morning she and Kree would leave Riverwood and travel to Whiterun, where they could warn the Jarl about the dragon and figure out what they needed to do next. They would be heroes to the people of the Hold, she was sure of it, and that thought brought a grin to her face as she and Kree drifted off to sleep for the night.