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<\/p>\nThings got strange as he approached Whiterun.\u00a0 Well and truly strange.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
He was turning onto the roadway that led up to the city gates when the ground shook, enough to knock him sideways.\u00a0 There was a huge boom, like a crack of thunder.\u00a0 In the midst of the sound was a word, clear as any word could be.<\/p>\n
\u201cDOVAHKIIN!\u201d<\/p>\n
Dardeh felt the hair on the back of his neck rise. Dovahkiin<\/em>. That\u2019s what the dragon had called him. This huge sound, that shook the earth, this was calling to him<\/em>.<\/p>\n The horses at the Whiterun stables shied and reared and ran around in their enclosure.\u00a0 Dogs started barking.\u00a0 A large Nord with shaggy dark hair, dressed in heavy armor and fur and carrying a greatsword slung over his back, had been lumbering toward the gates just in front of Dardeh, but stopped and looked up toward the enormous mountain behind them.<\/p>\n \u201cHuh,\u201d he mumbled, as though he was mildly interested but not especially concerned.\u00a0 He turned further and looked Dardeh over.<\/p>\n Dardeh looked back, and smiled. The man was formidable: perhaps not quite as wide around as he was but taller, and the arms that swung that greatsword had to be solid muscle under that armor. He also had the bluest eyes Dardeh had ever seen; just like ice, they were. It was hard to look away from them.<\/p>\n Apparently the man was making the same sorts of judgments about Dardeh, if not for the same reasons.<\/p>\n \u201cYou look strong.\u00a0 Come to Jorrvaskr, and be a Companion,\u201d he rumbled, his voice nearly as deep as Dardeh\u2019s.\u00a0 Then he grinned and headed back toward the city.<\/p>\n Well now, Dardeh thought. I could certainly be convinced of that.\u00a0 Yes, I could. He watched the man\u2019s retreating form for a moment, then shook his head and turned to take his own look back at the mountain.\u00a0 What am I thinking?\u00a0 How foolish.\u00a0 And if I\u2019m not mistaken, I just got \u2013 summoned.<\/p>\n He shook his head as he rounded the corner to push open the city gates.\u00a0 Enough of this. I need food. And rest.\u00a0 And I need to start looking for my sister. <\/em>Then he stepped through the gates and groaned.\u00a0 After I talk to the Jarl again.\u00a0 He will need to know what happened. <\/em><\/p>\n Things continued to be strange all the way to Dragonsreach.\u00a0 One of the cityguards was arguing loudly with a pair of Redguard men.\u00a0 Alik\u2019r, if I\u2019m not mistaken, Dardeh thought, based on their armor.\u00a0 He had run across several groups of them in the past few months.\u00a0 They were highly trained swordsmen, assassins, some said.\u00a0 He would steer clear of them.<\/p>\n He had made it as far as the well in the marketplace when he heard something that caught his attention.<\/p>\n \u201cMister? Can you spare a coin?\u201d<\/p>\n It was a little girl\u2019s voice, and Dardeh looked around for its source.\u00a0 Just past the well, sitting on the ground outside the apothecary shop, surrounded by nightshade and dragon\u2019s tongue, was a brown-haired girl with the saddest face he\u2019d ever seen.\u00a0 He approached, and she looked up at him wistfully.<\/p>\n \u201cCould you spare a coin so I could buy some food? I\u2019m so hungry.\u201d<\/p>\n Dardeh was stunned.\u00a0 Here she sits, across from all the food stands, and she\u2019s hungry and nobody is helping her?\u00a0 Ma would have scooped her up, bundled her into the house and stuffed her full of the warmest food she could put together.<\/em><\/p>\n He reached into his pocket and pulled out several gold septims, then knelt down, closer to her level, to hand them to her.<\/p>\n \u201cHere you go, little one.\u00a0 This should at least buy you something to eat.\u00a0 Why are you begging?\u201d<\/p>\n She smiled up at him, her eyes shining. \u201cOh thank you! Divines bless your kind heart!\u201d\u00a0 Then her face fell. \u201cWell, it\u2019s what Brenuin said I should do after\u2026 after my mom\u2026after she died. I\u2019m all alone, and I don\u2019t know what else to do.\u201d<\/p>\n No. No, no, no.\u00a0 It\u2019s not fair that such a small child should be left alone like this.\u00a0 Like my sister was.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m so sorry,\u201d Dardeh murmured, reaching out to cup her face with his huge hand. His throat was tight. \u201cI know it\u2019s hard.\u00a0 I just lost my ma, too.\u00a0 We miss them, don\u2019t we?\u201d<\/p>\n The little girl nodded, her mouth trembling as she tried hard not to cry.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat\u2019s your name, sweetheart?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cLucia,\u201d she murmured.<\/p>\n Dardeh sighed.\u00a0 Damned war. Look at what it does to people.\u00a0 And I can\u2019t take her in, I have no place for a child out in Markarth and even if I did, who would allow such a thing, a grown man and a small child?<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cLucia, get yourself something to eat.\u00a0 I\u2019ll bring you more coins whenever I can, all right?\u201d<\/p>\n She threw her arms around his neck and gave him a huge hug.<\/p>\n \u201cThank you, Mister.\u00a0 You\u2019re the best!\u201d<\/p>\n Dardeh rose, and trudged up the stairs to Dragonsreach.\u00a0 He tried not to let anyone see him wiping his eyes.<\/p>\n Things got even stranger in Dragonsreach, where once again Dardeh felt as though events were rushing along like a river\u2019s flood, carrying him forward regardless of his own wishes.\u00a0 Balgruuf and his brother Hrongar both had words with Proventus Avenicci about what it meant to be Dragonborn, and whether Dardeh was Dragonborn, and what the thundering sound had meant. Balgruuf told him to go to High Hrothgar, near the summit of the Throat of the World, at once; the Graybeards \u2013 the monks who lived in seclusion high on the mountain \u2013 had called to him in that sound. He learned all about how Balgruuf had walked up the mountain once.\u00a0 Balgruuf liked that story and had clearly told it a hundred times.\u00a0 By the time they got to the end of that tale, Dardeh was trying not to squirm. My feet hurt. I want food. I need to get back to it.<\/em><\/p>\n And then Dardeh found that because he had slain the dragon he had been named Thane of Whiterun and given a special axe and a housecarl \u2013 a person specifically assigned to guard him and all he owned. \u00a0I wasn\u2019t the only one beating on the beast, he thought. Then he shook his head. I was, however, the guy who \u2026 absorbed it, afterwards. He met his new housecarl on his dazed path toward the door to leave.\u00a0 Lydia was a beautiful woman who looked like a capable warrior, dressed in steel armor, and she was clearly going to take her responsibilities very seriously as she blocked his way to the exit.<\/p>\n Dardeh stood staring at her, and ran his hand up over his braids.<\/p>\n \u201cListen, Lydia,\u201d he began. \u201cI \u2026 don\u2019t have a house for you to guard.\u00a0 Well, I do, but it\u2019s all the way out in Markarth, and I\u2019m probably going to leave it. It was my ma\u2019s and I don\u2019t really have anything in<\/em> it for you to guard. I don\u2019t know where I\u2019m going, and I don\u2019t\u2026\u201d\u00a0 He sighed.<\/p>\n \u201cYou don\u2019t need me to guard you,\u201d Lydia said, smiling.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s all right, my Thane.\u00a0 It will be an honor to serve you in whatever way you wish.\u201d<\/p>\n Dardeh knew that kind of smile.<\/p>\n Not going there, Lydia. Sorry.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cLook, Balgruuf gave me this axe and I have no place to store it.\u00a0 But it\u2019s the Axe of Whiterun. I can\u2019t just sell it; I\u2019d be dishonoring my position and the Jarl deserves more respect than that. Would you\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI am sworn to carry your burdens.\u201d She grinned at him.<\/p>\n Dardeh smiled.\u00a0 Lydia seemed to have a sense of humor, at least.<\/p>\n \u201cAll right.\u00a0 In that case, take this axe and see if you can help Balgruuf somehow. I\u2019m sure he\u2019ll be happy for some extra muscle with everything that\u2019s going on. I have a trip to make up the side of a very large mountain.\u201d<\/p>\n Lydia made her way toward the back of the keep, and Dardeh left, feeling slightly guilty about having rejected such a generous offer.\u00a0 Thane, is it? he thought, shaking his head.\u00a0 The Thanes he was aware of were in Markarth, and they all wore fancy clothing, took themselves entirely too seriously, and couldn\u2019t do a day of physical labor to save their lives. Thane. Well, if that and a day breaking rock will get me a bite to eat and a warm bed, I\u2019m all for it. <\/em><\/p>\n As he started down the steps toward the inn, he passed a man in Whiterun city guard armor going the other way.<\/p>\n \u201cDragonborn!\u00a0 It is an honor.\u201d<\/p>\n Dardeh whirled to look at him.\u00a0 It was the same man who had urged him to Shout, out by the western watchtower.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know how to respond to that, he thought.\u00a0 He nodded, and continued toward the inn.<\/p>\n It was dark out, now, and getting cold, but Dardeh had one more stop to make. At the foot of the long stairway from Whiterun to Dragonsreach, off to one side, was an enormous likeness of Talos, envisioned as he had been in his human life, armored and triumphant, one foot atop the neck of a slain dragon.\u00a0 Before it, resting at its base, was a shrine.\u00a0 It was a brave thing, Dardeh thought, for the Jarl of Whiterun to keep this statue on display, in such a prominent position, in a time when the worship of this particular god of the Nine had been outlawed.\u00a0 Many of these shrines existed in Skyrim, usually tucked away in secluded corners; there were, he had heard, more of these statues at wilderness shrines. Most cities, though, had removed them with the signing of the White-Gold Concordat \u2013 the treaty that ended the Great War — and the coming of the Thalmor, the elven supremacists who held that no man could be a god.\u00a0 Not Whiterun. Its Talos statue still held a place of prominence, in a carefully tended courtyard.<\/p>\n Dardeh touched the shrine, felt its soothing warmth flow through him.\u00a0 Then he knelt before the shrine and the statue, silently, for several long minutes.\u00a0 He heard people passing behind him, but none approached, all respectful of his meditation.\u00a0 \u201cTalos guide me,\u201d he whispered.\u00a0 For I need guidance tonight, more than I could ever have imagined.<\/em><\/p>\n ____<\/p>\n The Bannered Mare, as the inn was called, was noisy, warm, and full of the smells of burning wood, roast meat, and spilled mead.\u00a0 Now this is more like it, he thought, grinning.\u00a0 The bar was tended by an older woman who looked up at him and smiled as he approached.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat will it be? I have drink for the thirsty and food for the hungry.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBoth, if that\u2019s all right.\u201d\u00a0 Dardeh ordered up some venison stew and a full loaf of crusty bread, some butter, and a tankard of mead to wash it down and slid, gratefully, onto one of the bar stools.\u00a0 The food was good; warm and filling, and he was very hungry.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t more than a few minutes until he had eaten it all, drained his mead, and called the woman over for a refill.<\/p>\n \u201cI have a question for you,\u201d he said as she returned with his drink.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019ve been looking for someone for some time now, and people keep telling me to check in Whiterun.\u00a0 She\u2019s my sister. About my age, maybe a couple of years younger. \u00a0A Redguard girl, dark hair, a scar down the left side of her face. You wouldn\u2019t have seen anyone like that, would you?\u201d<\/p>\n The woman smiled.\u00a0 \u201cOh, you mean like her?\u201d and pointed across the room.<\/p>\n Dardeh nearly hurt his neck turning to look.\u00a0 On the other side of the firepit, dressed in a serving wench\u2019s outfit and carrying a tray, was a Redguard woman who looked about his own age.\u00a0 He looked back at the innkeeper, yelped \u201cThank you!\u201d and stood to approach the Redguard.<\/p>\n Dardeh\u2019s heart was threatening to pound its way out of his chest.\u00a0 Could this be her? Have I finally found her?<\/em><\/p>\n The girl was stunning.\u00a0 And she had a long, pale scar on the left side of her face. She looked at him and smiled.<\/p>\n \u201cHello, handsome. What can I get for you? Thirsty? Hungry? Both?\u201d<\/p>\n Dardeh felt certain he was blushing. Please don\u2019t tell me my sister just started flirting with me.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cI know this is going to sound odd but, well, I\u2019ve been looking for someone who matches your description and\u2026can I ask you what your name is?\u201d<\/p>\n A shadow passed across the girl\u2019s face, for just a moment, almost a look of fear, before she returned to smiling.\u00a0 \u201cSaadia,\u201d she said.\u00a0 \u201cMy name\u2019s Saadia.\u201d<\/p>\n Dardeh sighed.\u00a0 Another dead end.<\/p>\n \u201cAre you sure?\u201d<\/p>\n Again, she looked cautious, almost startled.<\/p>\n \u201cYes, of course I\u2019m sure. Who are you and why are you asking me this?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m sorry,\u201d Dardeh said.\u00a0 \u201cI know it must seem very strange.\u00a0 My name\u2019s Dardeh.\u00a0 I found out just a little while ago that I have a half-sister, and she has black hair and a scar on the left side of her face, and green eyes, and yours are\u2026 blue,\u201d he said, sighing, as he got close enough to look. \u201cI\u2019ve been looking for her and you\u2019re obviously not her if your name is Saadia.\u201d He grinned. \u201cAnd I sound like an idiot.\u201d<\/p>\n Saadia smiled at him.<\/p>\n \u201cNo, not at all.\u00a0 I\u2019m sorry to disappoint you.\u00a0 I work here at the inn and my family is \u2026 back in Hammerfell.\u201d\u00a0 She looked sad, for just a moment, but then smiled again. \u201cAre you sure I can\u2019t get you something?\u201d<\/p>\n Dardeh stretched.\u00a0 \u201cNo.\u00a0 Thanks, though. What I need more than anything else, I think, is a good night\u2019s sleep.\u201d\u00a0 He started toward the bar to rent a room but then turned back to Saadia.\u00a0 \u201cOn second thought, if you could fetch me another mead?\u00a0 I think I\u2019ll sit down here for a bit.\u201d<\/p>\n He found an empty chair at a table near the door, and sat there for some time, nursing the mead and contemplating his next move.\u00a0 He was warm, and feeling mellow, when the door opened just enough to admit a small figure, shivering from the cold.<\/p>\n \u201cLucia?\u201d he called to her.<\/p>\n She looked up and smiled at him.\u00a0 \u201cHello, Mister! Thanks again for the food.\u201d\u00a0 She moved closer to the fire and stood there, rubbing her hands together, shuddering and yawning, nearly asleep on her feet. He watched her for a moment, frowning. This just isn\u2019t right, he thought.<\/p>\n Dardeh stood and moved over to her.\u00a0 \u201cCome with me, Lucia,\u201d he said, taking her icy-cold hand, and pulling her to the bar.\u00a0 Saadia was rustling around behind it.<\/p>\n \u201cSaadia, I want to rent a room, please.\u00a0 And as many extra blankets as you can rustle up.\u201d<\/p>\n Saadia looked at him, looked at Lucia, and raised her eyebrow.\u00a0 \u201cUm\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n Dardeh snorted.\u00a0 \u201cFor her<\/em>, Saadia,\u201d he hissed. \u201cGood grief.\u00a0 I\u2019ll use my bedroll and camp out somewhere outside the walls.\u00a0 I\u2019m used to it. She\u2019s practically frozen.\u201d<\/p>\n Saadia called for Hulda, the innkeeper, who took Dardeh\u2019s money and led him upstairs, tsking disapprovingly.\u00a0 She\u2019d no sooner left the room when Saadia slipped in, carrying at least three blankets.<\/p>\n Lucia was yawning.<\/p>\n \u201cAll right, sweetie,\u201d Saadia told her.\u00a0 \u201cGet yourself into this bed and we\u2019ll tuck you in.\u201d<\/p>\n Lucia did as she was told, while Dardeh and Saadia got her situated, with two of the extra blankets over her.\u00a0 She was asleep before they\u2019d finished.<\/p>\n Dardeh reached for the third blanket, but Saadia shook her head.\u00a0 \u201cThis one\u2019s for you,\u201d she told him.\u00a0 \u201cYou can sleep out on the balcony.\u00a0 There are some chairs, but if you want to spread your bedroll out there I\u2019ll make sure nobody bothers you.\u201d<\/p>\n She smiled and left the room.<\/p>\n Dardeh smiled down at Lucia, who was already snoring softly.\u00a0 Well, I can\u2019t bring back her ma, but at least she\u2019ll have a good night\u2019s sleep in a warm bed.<\/p>\n He spread his bedroll out on the balcony and used the third blanket to cover it over.\u00a0 It only took a couple of moments before he was sound asleep, as well.<\/p>\n Things got strange as he approached Whiterun.\u00a0 Well and truly strange. He was turning onto the roadway that led up to the city gates when the ground shook, enough to knock him sideways.\u00a0 There was a huge boom, like a crack of thunder.\u00a0 In the midst of the sound was a word, clear as any … <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/baakay.com\/FanFic\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/2-1-7-2.png\")
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<\/p>\nPart I: Dardeh<\/a><\/div>\nPrevious<\/a> \/ Next<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"