![\"\"](\"https:\/\/baakay.com\/FanFic\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/2-1-9-1.png\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
It was nearly sunset by the time Dardeh reached the base of the mountain and walked into Ivarstead. Klimmek was standing outside near the inn, talking to Gwilin, a cheerful Bosmer man who worked in the lumber mill that was Ivarstead\u2019s primary business.\u00a0 Klimmek was pleased to know the supplies had been safely delivered; he thanked Dardeh heartily, smiled, and gave him a sack of coin. \u201cMy legs aren\u2019t what they used to be. You saved me a lot of trouble.\u00a0 Take it,\u201d he said, and turned to walk away.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll right, and thank\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
A fireball hit the ground just in front of them.\u00a0 Dardeh pushed Klimmek out of the way and rolled. Gwilin ran, evaporating into who knew where. Klimmek bolted for the corner of the nearest building; and Dardeh stood, slamming on his helmet, just in time to watch the town guards start firing at the assailants.\u00a0 One of the guards howled in pain as a fireball grazed him. One of the attackers was looking around, scanning the area; and when he spotted Dardeh he started running toward him.<\/p>\n
There were two of them, wearing strange brown robes and masks that looked vaguely like skulls of some horned animal, yelling about the \u201cfalse Dragonborn\u201d and shooting fire at everyone.\u00a0 Dardeh shot a glance at the roofs of Ivarstead\u2019s buildings.\u00a0 All thatch, and the buildings are wood, he thought.\u00a0 If they hit one of them there will be nothing left of it.\u00a0 He drew his swords and ran forward, ducking the flames, and started swinging at the first of the attackers while the guards continued shooting the other.<\/p>\n
The man began gathering flames in his hand, ready to fire at Dardeh again.\u00a0 Oh, no you don\u2019t, he thought; this has to stop.<\/p>\n
\u201cFUS-RO!\u201d<\/p>\n
The man fell, landing on his back a dozen feet down the road. Dardeh rushed forward and finished him off with his swords, the final blow a backhanded slash from his right scimitar that severed the man\u2019s head.\u00a0 Dardeh watched, stunned, for what felt like an eternity but was likely just a few seconds, as the head rolled downhill toward the river. He shuddered.\u00a0 I can\u2019t believe I just did that.<\/em><\/p>\n The second assailant was falling, clutching the arrow in his throat, as Dardeh looked up.\u00a0 Thank the gods for the guards, he thought.\u00a0 I don\u2019t think I could have taken them both.<\/p>\n There was a note on the body before him.\u00a0 These people had been ordered to travel from Solstheim to Windhelm, specifically to hunt down the Dragonborn.\u00a0 Miraak would be pleased.<\/p>\n \u201cHow do they even know about me? Or what I am?\u201d he muttered.\u00a0 \u201cI just barely found out myself.\u201d\u00a0 He stood, and dropped the note on the ground.\u00a0 Could they have heard the Graybeards\u2019 summons all the way out in Solstheim?\u00a0 It had to be. So they knew there was a Dragonborn, if not what person it was.<\/p>\n So I\u2019m to be some sort of target now because I can Shout a word in dragon tongue. Just as though I made some sort of decision to do that. Very good, I needed something extra to worry about. \u00a0At least these two are dead and can\u2019t tell anyone else what I look like.<\/em><\/p>\n By the Nine, all I want to do is find my sister and go back to mining.\u00a0 Could I please just do that?\u00a0 Have I done something bad, that the gods are punishing me, and that\u2019s why my life isn\u2019t my own anymore? Ever since I came back across the border into Skyrim\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n I don\u2019t know what this is, he thought. But right now it doesn\u2019t matter. I don\u2019t think I should stay here overnight in case there are more of them coming. I\u2019ll leave and draw them away. He looked down at the body again, feeling a bit sick. I seem to be getting better with practice.\u00a0 Maybe I should just go back to the mine. I\u2019m surely not going to Solstheim.<\/em><\/p>\n He sighed and shook his head.\u00a0 I can\u2019t do that. They\u2019re expecting me, back up at High Hrothgar, and I told them I would do this thing. I\u2019m going to head out to Whiterun and then I\u2019ll go get this horn.<\/em><\/p>\n The southern route around the mountain back toward Helgen wound through a cold, high, narrow pass.\u00a0 The moons were out, close enough to full to light his way through the cliffs, and he made good time.<\/p>\n About halfway up the rise, he met a farmer and his wife trudging toward Ivarstead, heads down, silent, looking cold in their thin garments.\u00a0 The man looked up and met Dardeh\u2019s eyes.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are dragons about, traveler,\u201d he said, his voice quavering. \u201cBe careful.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI know. I was at Helgen.\u201d<\/p>\n The man swallowed hard.\u00a0 \u201cIt destroyed everything.\u00a0 We barely have enough gold to get by.\u201d\u00a0 He looked at his wife, even the dark not able to disguise the distress on his face.<\/p>\n He\u2019s ashamed, Dardeh thought.\u00a0 Look at him, he\u2019s lost everything through no fault of his own and he can\u2019t take care of his wife any longer. And he\u2019s ashamed of that.<\/p>\n Dardeh reached into his purse and pulled out a few gold coins.\u00a0 \u201cHere,\u201d he said, sliding them into the man\u2019s hand.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s not much, but if you can make it to Ivarstead it will get you a warm bed.\u201d<\/p>\n The man nodded.\u00a0 \u201cThank you, stranger.\u00a0 Keep an eye on the sky and keep safe.\u201d<\/p>\n Dardeh watched their retreating forms for a few moments, then turned and trudged onward toward Helgen. Is this what the dragons mean? Will everyone lose their homes?<\/em><\/p>\n Am I supposed to fix this? By myself?<\/em><\/p>\n It was mid-afternoon by the time he reached Whiterun and stepped through the gates.\u00a0 He needed directions, he needed supplies, and he needed a few quiet moments with a tankard of mead, in which to ponder everything that was going on.\u00a0 It was busy; the blacksmith was having a lively conversation with a man in Imperial armor, and the two Alik\u2019r he had seen earlier were still hanging about just inside the gate.\u00a0 One of them stepped up to Dardeh.<\/p>\n \u201cYou there. We\u2019re looking for someone, and have reason to believe she\u2019s in Whiterun.\u00a0 She\u2019s a Redguard, like us, a fugitive from Hammerfell, and we\u2019re willing to pay for information on her whereabouts.\u201d<\/p>\n Dardeh peered at him. \u201cWhy are you looking for her?\u201d And why aren\u2019t you doing it yourself? The city is right in front of you.<\/em> And, he thought, thinking of the Alik\u2019r he\u2019d seen in Hammerfell, are you just normal fighters or are you assassins?<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s none of your concern.\u00a0 All you need to know is that we are paying well.\u00a0 If you\u2019re not interested, simply walk away; we will find someone who is. We are not welcome here, so we will be in Rorikstead.\u00a0 If you learn anything, come find us there.\u201d<\/p>\n They turned and walked out the gate, and Dardeh stared.\u00a0 A Redguard woman, is it?\u00a0 he thought. There\u2019s one right here. I don\u2019t like it. This just really doesn\u2019t feel right. Is she a fugitive because she did something wrong, or a \u201cfugitive\u201d like I was a \u201cprisoner\u201d at Helgen, just in the wrong place at the wrong time?<\/p>\n He made his way to the Bannered Mare and sat down to rest his feet.\u00a0 As he had expected, Saadia scurried to his table to take his order.<\/p>\n He lowered his voice, \u201cdid you know that there are some Alik\u2019r bounty hunters looking for a Redguard woman?\u201d<\/p>\n Her eyes widened.\u00a0 \u201cAre you sure?\u00a0 Oh no.\u00a0 They\u2019ve found me?\u00a0 I need your help, please. Come with me, I need to speak to you privately.\u201d\u00a0 She tugged on his hand.\u00a0 \u201cPlease.\u201d<\/p>\n Dardeh stood and followed her across the inn and up the stairs, to a small room across from the one he had rented for Lucia.\u00a0 As soon as he stepped through the doorway, Saadia turned on him, pulling a knife.<\/p>\n \u201cWhoa there!\u201d he said, putting his hands up.\u00a0 \u201cDon\u2019t wave that thing around, you might hurt someone.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAre you working with them?\u00a0 What did they offer you, gold?\u00a0 So much as try to lay a hand on me and you\u2019ll lose fingers, do you understand?\u201d\u00a0 She looked wild-eyed, frightened, but determined.<\/p>\n \u201cCalm down. I\u2019m not working with anyone, or I\u2019d have taken you the other night.\u201d Her eyes flickered, recognizing the truth of that statement. \u201cIs this why you were acting so oddly when I told you I was looking for a Redguard woman?\u201d<\/p>\n She nodded. \u201cWhen you asked me if Saadia was my real name I nearly died.\u00a0 My real name is Iman.\u00a0 I am a noble of House Suda in Hammerfell.\u00a0 Those men are assassins, employed by the Aldmeri Dominion.\u00a0 I spoke out against the Empire, and they\u2019ve been after me ever since.\u00a0 Treason, they say. Please, can you help me? They\u2019re led by a man named Kematu.\u00a0 If you get rid of him, the rest will scatter.\u00a0 I don\u2019t have anyone else I can trust, Dardeh.\u00a0 Please.\u201d<\/p>\n Dardeh looked at her face. She\u2019s clearly telling me true this time. And she\u2019s afraid, but she\u2019s strong. She\u2019s just not in a position to do anything about this herself.\u00a0 Treason, is it? That\u2019s serious and I could get myself into a real mess if I get involved.<\/em> He sighed. Ma would scoot her into the house and help her. I know she would. She wouldn\u2019t even ask questions. I don\u2019t know why she trusts me. She just met me. But I can\u2019t just walk away.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ll see what I can do.\u00a0 You need to stay put, though; the men who talked to me are heading to Rorikstead and I\u2019m sure they\u2019ll find you if you leave Whiterun.\u201d<\/p>\n After he had eaten and resupplied Dardeh made camp outside Whiterun, and sat by the fire, contemplating his next move.\u00a0 One of the Alik\u2019r had been captured, and imprisoned in Whiterun, and Dardeh had gotten Kematu\u2019s location from him.\u00a0 But Kematu was hardly alone.\u00a0 He had a good number of tough Alik\u2019r fighters with him.<\/p>\n I can\u2019t just abandon Saadia like that, he thought. I can\u2019t take them all on by myself, either. \u00a0One or two, maybe. It was ridiculous. He could fight a dragon, but not common bandits?\u00a0 No, they aren\u2019t common, you fool, he scolded himself. They\u2019re Alik\u2019r and they\u2019ve spent their lives learning how to do what you\u2019ve just barely practiced.\u00a0 A Shout is handy, but you can hide from a dragon in places it can\u2019t go. An Alik\u2019r can follow you, at much closer range. You have to get Kematu out in the open, by himself.<\/p>\n Dardeh packed up and left for Ustengrav the next morning, having gotten very little sleep.\u00a0 He\u2019d spent most of the night working out a plan that might possibly work. Why is it, he had wondered, that I feel compelled to take care of this?\u00a0 She\u2019s a kinsman \u2013 sort of.\u00a0 She helped me with Lucia.\u00a0 That was kind.\u00a0 But I\u2019m not obligated, or anything.\u00a0 It\u2019s not as though she turned out to be my sister.<\/p>\n However, he thought as he trudged his way up through a pass north of Whiterun into the cold and the snow, I really am tired of hearing people tell us who we can worship, what we can say, and what we can think.\u00a0 And killing us if we don\u2019t agree. And assuming that waving a few coins in front of someone\u2019s nose is the way to get anything you want. I don\u2019t know whether Saadia \u2013 Iman \u2013 really did something that\u2019s treasonous or not.\u00a0 I don\u2019t think I care.\u00a0 These people, the ones who think they are better than the rest of us. They need to leave us alone.<\/p>\n He laughed at himself.\u00a0 I sound like I belong with the Stormcloaks.\u00a0 \u2018Skyrim belongs to the Nords!\u2019 He shook his head. \u201cNot a chance.\u201d<\/p>\n Off in the distance, to his left, he heard the hollow sound of a dragon roaring.\u00a0 He stared into the sky for a long while, but didn\u2019t see anything that looked even remotely like a dragon.<\/p>\n \u201cNah.\u00a0 Skyrim belongs to whoever manages to survive all of this,\u201d he muttered to himself.\u00a0 \u201cAnd it looks like I\u2019m going to have to do a lot of the work to make it happen.\u201d\u00a0 He started climbing again.<\/p>\n Why me?<\/em><\/p>\n It was nearly sunset by the time Dardeh reached the base of the mountain and walked into Ivarstead. Klimmek was standing outside near the inn, talking to Gwilin, a cheerful Bosmer man who worked in the lumber mill that was Ivarstead\u2019s primary business.\u00a0 Klimmek was pleased to know the supplies had been safely delivered; he … <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/baakay.com\/FanFic\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/2-1-9-2.png\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/baakay.com\/FanFic\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/2-1-9-3.png\")
<\/p>\nPart I: Dardeh<\/a><\/div>\nPrevious<\/a> \/ Next<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"