//------------------------------// // 21: Shadows of Riften // Story: Sonata's Crazy and Wacky Adventure in Skyrim // by Sonata Blaze //------------------------------// Sonata yawned as she pulled herself out of the bed that she had become used to sleeping in every night, as she found it was much better than sleeping on the ground all the time. Starswirl had, after a week or two of attempts, managed to persuade her to try the spare bed that he kept in his tower, which had been built outside the small settlement that rested near the beach that the Siren's called home. Sonata had asked why there was a spare bed in the tower, when she had never seen her friend with anypony else, though he admitted that his apprentice was away on business for a few months. Something about seeking an artifact that the two of them could study upon his return to the tower, though Sonata really didn't remember much about what artifact that happened to be. It wasn't until Sonata turned to look at the cave she spent most of her time in, which was increasingly less with the more time she spent with Starswirl, that she realized that she was dreaming of her past once more, because she was looking at her cave when she had decorated it like an actual home and not her secret resting area. She let out another yawn as she touched the floor and trotted over to where she kept her food, though some of them were pieces that Starswirl had introduced to her, as she had been unaware that ponies were beginning to develop sweets. Her sisters, Adagio and Aria, didn't understand why she was so fascinated with the ponies and their culture, but they allowed her to do her own thing because she was, after all, their Queen and chose what to do at any given time. She didn't tell them that she had seen them donning their own pony forms occasionally, when they believed that she was sleeping and needed something to pass the time until she woke up, but she figured they would eventually tell her the reason behind their actions. "I see that your up earlier than usual," a voice said, to which she turned and watched Starswirl enter her cave, though she had quickly discovered that he had no intention on telling others about the cave, "I take it your eager to continue practicing those wind stars that you've begun to develop?" She had almost forgotten that they would be practicing magic that day, though they would be focusing on the wind stars that she would one day use to great effect. As she opened her mouth to reply to her friend she felt something shaking her and someone else calling her name repeatedly, though all of it caused her to black out for a moment. --------- When Sonata opened her eyes again she found that she was resting in what she assumed was an infirmary for soldiers that hurt themselves while they were either practicing or injured in battle with an enemy. She figured that it would be empty, considering that she and her friends had stopped the vampires from sacking Solitude, though she expected more to be there considering that a dragon had burned the docks before she had destroyed it. Her eyes widened as she remembered the Felblood Dragon, Grul's dark creation that was created with the purpose of destroying Solitude, and the sickening fact that her enemy had come to watch her fight the dragon. Just thinking about the orc made her recall something that she had missed when she had approached him and his lieutenants, something that she had felt when he stopped beside her and told her to eliminate the threats that were plaguing her life. For that brief moment she had felt Grul's energy, as it had been the first time she had been able to be in the same vicinity as the orc, but she immediately knew that she was outclassed. She needed her full power if she wanted to save Skyrim from that orc, but at the moment she had no idea how she was supposed to restore her pendant and recover her true potential. She cleared her head of her enemy as the door opened, to reveal Kree walking in and stopping in surprise as she noticed that Sonata had woken from her rest. "Oh Sonata, thank the Divines that your okay," Kree said, giving Sonata a quick hug before pulling back, "How do you feel?" "Fine actually, considering what I did yesterday..." Sonata replied, though she stopped when she noticed that it might not have been yesterday when the fight occurred, "Kree... how long was I out?" "Two whole days," Kree answered, sighing as she took a seat near the bed, "Our friends have been busy cleaning up the mess that the dragon created when it arrived, though we all have been talking about how something doesn't add up. That elf you killed in the Embassy, Rulindil I believe, the way you mentioned what had happened up there made it seem like he believed that the dragon was coming to destroy you and the city. Yet, once you were finished with it, you turned to the east and found Lord Grul standing there, watching the entire fight as if he was a puppet master who was watching his puppets dance for him. What I don't understand is why he didn't capture you when he had the chance... not that I wanted him to take you away from us Sonata. I mean, none of this actually adds up anymore; he sends orcs to capture you, but then when he has the chance to actually do so he chooses to walk away... I can't wrap my head around it." Sonata could see that this had been eating at Kree the entire time she was unconscious, though as she remembered Grul's last words to her she had to wonder what his true motives were. "We know he's after the Queen, that much is for sure," Sonata eventually said, again making it sound like the Queen was someone else in case someone was listening in on the conversation, "but he wants me to eliminate the dragons, the vampires, and the person who sent those cultists after me... though how he found out about that I will never know. Its like this is a chess game to him... and I am merely a pawn in the grand scheme of things." "Well, we don't have much choice in the matter." a voice said, to which Saerza walked into the room and closed the door behind her, "There are reports of a dragon attacking Rorikstead yesterday, as well as a group of vampires heading towards Riften to either burn it to the ground, take control of it, or search for someone specific. We'll have to deal with these threats before taking Grul out, as much as the thought annoys me at the moment." "Wait... Riften..." Kree commented, before her eyes lit up as she turned back to Sonata, "Delphine managed to figure out that one of her friends, another of the Blades, was supposed to be hiding out in Riften and that it might be in our best interests to go recruit him." "Then assemble everyone and get us a carriage," Sonata said, sighing as she gently pulled herself from the bed, surprised by how tired her body actually felt at the moment, "we've got an ally to save... though I pray that he hasn't been found yet." Finding the rest of their group had taken a few minutes, as Lydia was sitting outside the room the entire time and Lorthan was merely upstairs looking a bookshelf as if he was trying to decide what to read while he waited for Sonata to recover. Once they had been informed that Sonata was well again, and they were resuming their quest, they departed from where they had been waiting, Castle Dour, and walked out to where the carriages were. During that short walk Kree explained that Delphine had gone back to her inn in Riverwood, as staying so close to the Embassy put her at risk of being discovered by the Thalmor. Once they reached the carriage they all piled in and they told the driver where they wanted to go, to which the horses started pulling them towards their destination. Sonata managed to get a decent rest during their uneventful journey from Solitude to Riften, as everything that might hinder them had either been destroyed prior to their arrival or were too scared to approach them. When they arrived at their destination she stretched her arms for a few seconds, feeling better now that she was back at half her usual power and knowing that it would be enough to deal with anything sort of Grul or his lieutenants. As the five of them approached the gate one of the guards tried to make them pay up to open the gate, but Sonata saw right through his trick and soon they had gained entrance to the city. As they walked into the city, and began to look around, one of the men standing outside one of the houses asked them what they were doing in Riften, though by his tone Sonata knew that he wanted them gone before they caused problems. He proved to be no help in their mission to find where Esbern, the Blade that Kree had told Sonata about before their departure, was located, so they moved into the marketplace. Before they actually entered the circle area Sonata spotted someone standing at a stand that she knew had something to hide, so she determined that it might be in their best interest not to make contact with the man at all. Kree, once again, had the best solution to their problem, as she entered the city's inn, the Bee and Barb, and asked one of the owners if they knew anything, to which she was pointed at the Ratway beneath the city. Before they even got to the entrance of the Ratway, however, Sonata noticed a pair of nords that were taking turns pounding on some metal at a nearby forge, though she was sure that they were twins despite the fact one had warpaint on and the other didn't. She knew that they were here for something important, but she needed to see who they were before she moved into the Ratway to find the missing Blade. When she asked them who they were, on the other hand, she had no idea what she was getting herself into as they finished what they were working on and turned to face her. "I am Gol," the twin without the warpaint explained, flexing his muscles for a moment. "And I am Mez," the warpaint wearing twin followed up, as if this was something they practiced in their spare time. "And we're here to pump," they said in unison, clapping their hands before pointing at the group, "you up!" Sonata had to admit that she had no idea what they were referring to by 'pumping them up', but she did detect that they had a Hans and Franz thing going on at the moment. "But in all seriousness, we are traveling blacksmiths," Gol explained, indicating the metal they had been working with, which Sonata noticed had an ebony black color to it. "And we teach the smiths of Skyrim how to work with ebony," Mez finished, drawing forth an ebony sword from the forge, checking it for flaws while he spoke, "Ah, perfection once more." "We are traveling to avoid someone who wants to use our skills to slaughter the people of Skyrim," Gol continued, as if he wasn't bothered by his brother finishing his statement, "Perhaps you have heard of him in your travels? He's an orc by the name of Lord Grul." "He's our enemy," Sonata told the two nords, hoping that they might turn out to be allies, "He keeps sending orcs to test me and hinder my progress in saving this world from the dragons... and I guess from the vampires as well." "He's one smart orc, sending his peons to deliver message for him," Mez commented, crushing his fist for a moment to indicate that he wished he could do the same to Grul, "I'd love to get my hands on him and tear him to pieces..." "Attention imbeciles of Riften," a voice loudly said, one that sounded like an orc speaking, "me and my associates have come to pillage your city and kill everyone that calls this place home. Surrender and die!" Sonata growled and walked to the entrance they had taken to get into the city, wondering how she and her friends had missed a group of orcs approaching the city. She spotted a group of ten orcs walking towards the marketplace, though she noticed that the guards that stood by the door had been taken down by the invaders. Something flashed by her and raced towards the orcs, though it took her a moment to realize that both Gol and Mez had thrown themselves at the orcs with nothing more than the weapons they had been working on. The ebony weapons they had constructed made short work of four of the orcs in a matter of seconds, though Sonata took a chance and appeared next to them before she conjured lightning and blew one of the orcs backwards. The twins smiled and the three of them attacked the invaders, though when Sonata noticed some of them trying to flee she caught them with her magic and pulled them back into the city, where the twins slashed them to pieces. Once the fight was over Sonata turned to her latest allies and decided that they couldn't be too bad if they wanted to see Lord Grul toppled from where he was standing. "I'm here for someone that those orcs likely came to kill," Sonata explained, turning off her magic as the twins faced her, "Once we've rescued him from the city we'll be returning to a small settlement near Whiterun... and it would be nice to have the two of you along for the journey." "Allow us to take their armor while you find who you came here for," Gol exclaimed, pulling some of the helmets off of the dead and inspecting them, "We will be waiting here, gathering resources for the fight with Lord Grul." "Ebony is much better than orcish, but we can work wonders with this," Mez said, picking up some pieces and smiling for a few seconds, "Oh yes, we can do great things with all of this." Sonata smiled and returned to her friends, before they ventured into the Ratway and began the journey to find the missing Blade that could tell them how to stop the dragons. Traversing the Ratway was easier than what Sonata was expecting, because Lorthan was able to lead them with his vampire abilities, and they happened to take out two thieves that were planning on doing something stupid that would likely endanger the entire city. They also found a couple of skeevers and a poor man that wanted to fight them, but they quickly moved through them before they found the entrance to the Ragged Flagon. Kree and Lorthan asked the people around the Flagon where they could find Esbern, not mentioning him by name in case they were being followed, before they were directed into another area. Said area was actually void of enemies, which made sense to Sonata considering that one of the Thalmor had been sending his friends to their deaths and they had to recover from that ordeal, before they came to a dead end that had a few doors. Sonata frowned when she spotted an iron door that was definitely out of place, though she patiently knocked on the metal and spoke to the person behind the door. In the end Esbern was willing to join them, after Sonata told him that a black dragon, who she learned was called Alduin, had returned and was bringing his brothers back for another war. Once she discovered that the World Eater, as Alduin was also known as, had returned with the goal to burn the world to the ground she knew that she had to stop him first. The unfortunate part was that she was sure that she was going to have to deal with Lord Grul at some point, so she had no idea if she'd be able to take the World Eater out first or if she was going to have to take her annoying enemy out. When they returned to the surface, and had gathered their latest allies Gol and Mez, they left the city and prepared to head back to Riverwood, only to find another of the vampires that Sonata had met in the marsh, Alva if she recalled correctly, running up the hill to speak with them. "Lorthan... Sonata Dusk... I come baring bad news," the vampire said, huffing and puffing as if she had ran all the way from the marsh to Riften, "Lady Vespula... has betrayed us! Master Vighar and Lord Movarth are dead by her hands... and she's joined forces with Lord Harkon, who has joined in an unholy union with the enemy, Lord Grul. The Council of Three has been broken..." Sonata moaned, as she knew that she was getting further away from saving the world every time Lord Harkon made a move against her or against the people of Skyrim. Maybe she could afford to take Harkon out first, though she would have to speak with her friends before they suddenly changed direction and embarked on a new quest.