There was a large fortified watchtower ahead of them, attached to a very high bridge spanning the White River. \u201cWe\u2019re getting fairly close to Whiterun,\u201d he told her.\u00a0 Dag smiled.\u00a0 She was ready to be in civilization again, she realized.<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
As they started to pass by the front of the tower, a tough-looking woman stepped out from the doorway and blocked their path.<\/p>\n
\u201cStop right there,\u201d she said, drawing her sword.\u00a0 \u201cThis here is a toll road.\u00a0 You\u2019re going to have to pay, say two hundred septims to use it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dag sighed.\u00a0 Yet another shakedown.\u00a0 She pulled one of her swords, and behind her heard Roggi\u2019s slide out of its sheath.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, it\u2019s not a toll road,\u201d Dag said. \u201cHow about you let us by, and I won\u2019t kill you?\u201d<\/p>\n
The woman wasn\u2019t having any of that.\u00a0 She sneered at Dag.\u00a0 \u201cHow about I take that money off your corpse, instead?\u201d and lunged at them.<\/p>\n
\u201cOh, so you want to go, eh?\u201d Roggi yelled from behind her, rushing forward with his greatsword before him.\u00a0 The bandit blocked his first two blows.<\/p>\n
Dag heard an impact behind her. An arrow was lodged firmly in the dirt.\u00a0 Looking up, she spied an archer, across the river but higher than them, taking aim at her again.\u00a0 Dag pulled her own bow and fired. It was a fairly long shot to make, but she got lucky; the arrow found its mark and the bandit dropped.\u00a0 She heard a shout and turned in time to see Roggi make a forward thrust that caught the first bandit by surprise; he pulled his sword out of her body and stared down at her as she gurgled to her end.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was unfortunate that had to happen,\u201d he said sadly.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was unfortunate it had to happen to us,\u201d Dag snorted.\u00a0 \u201cThey attacked first. We did what had to be done.\u201d<\/p>\n
Shouts erupted from above them, in the direction of the bridge.\u00a0 \u201cGreat,\u201d Dag muttered. \u201cMore company.\u201d<\/p>\n
They moved into the tower and crept slowly up the stairs, the sounds of footfall getting ever closer.\u00a0 Roggi tapped her on the back and pushed past her, drawing his bow.\u00a0 She tried to object, but he was already out the door at the level of the bridge, firing, before she could do anything.\u00a0 She stepped out behind him just in time to see a body somersaulting into the river far below.<\/p>\n
Dag pulled her swords and crept up into the top level of the tower.\u00a0 \u201cYou picked a bad time to get lost, friend,\u201d she heard a deep, raspy voice challenge from above.\u00a0 Great. She grimaced. An orc.\u00a0 Orcs tended to be tough fighters because of their size and stamina. As he barreled down the stairs into her, she stepped back for just enough room to execute a dual sword attack; he couldn\u2019t stop his momentum and walked into it, then dropped like a rock. \u201cThank you for making that easy,\u201d she told him.<\/p>\n
Roggi stuck his head into the area.\u00a0 \u201cI think that\u2019s all,\u201d he said.\u00a0 \u201cI got two more trying to run across the bridge.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd I got this lovely,\u201d Dag said, poking the orc\u2019s body with her foot.<\/p>\n
Roggi grunted, glaring at the corpse.\u00a0 \u201cBandits and thieves,\u201d he growled. \u201cThey\u2019re the lowest of the low, preying on their own countrymen for profit.\u201d\u00a0 His face was curled into a sneer of disgust. \u00a0Dag looked at that sneer, uncomfortable. Yes, bandits were the worst. They violated people, tortured or killed them, sometimes burned their homes, took their wealth, left orphans in their wake. \u00a0She frowned. \u00a0But thieves? People who just\u2026liberated items? That was getting a little too close to home.<\/p>\n
They crossed the bridge, checking the bodies along it to make sure they were truly just bodies, and not bandits waiting for a chance to attack from the rear.<\/p>\n
\u201cLet me check the top really quick,\u201d she said, and walked up the last set of steps.\u00a0 There was nothing but a table and chair there; the perfect lookout, from which she could see far down the road both to the east and the west.\u00a0 Lying on the table, though, was an interesting bow.\u00a0 She picked it up; it was heavy and solid and hummed with some sort of magic.\u00a0 She grinned and bounced back outside to find Roggi.<\/p>\n
\u201cLook what I found!\u201d she said, handing the bow to him.\u00a0 \u201cI think you should have this.\u00a0 I hate to admit it but I think you\u2019re a better shot than I am.\u00a0 You could put this to good use.\u201d<\/p>\n
Roggi examined it, then fitted an arrow to the string and fired it back across the river at a tree on the far side of the road, a very long shot.\u00a0 The arrow buried itself as easily as though the tree was soft flesh.\u00a0 \u201cIt is nice,\u201d he said, nodding, \u201cmuch better than my old hunting bow. If you don\u2019t mind, I think I will keep it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAbsolutely,\u201d she said, smiling.\u00a0 \u201cYou have more than earned it.\u201d\u00a0 She stretched.\u00a0 \u201cLet\u2019s get going.\u00a0 I\u2019d really like to get to Whiterun before dark.\u201d They stopped only long enough to retrieve as many arrows as they could from the bodies and from the ground where various shots had missed their marks.\u00a0 The arrow Roggi had sunk into the tree stayed, though; it was not going to be removed, try as they might to wiggle it free.\u00a0 That was a good bow.<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
They had walked some time west from the tower, and around one last corner of rocky outcroppings from the base of the mountain, when the road opened up to an amazing vista.\u00a0 Dag stood and took in the view, in awe.\u00a0 An enormous plain stretched as far as she could see out to the west and north. It was largely treeless but covered with shrubs and grasses; she could just catch the movement of game animals, especially over the river banks.\u00a0 The road crossed the river one more time, at the foot of the hill they were on, and continued on toward the city. She could make out farms, with their windmills turning slowly. It was beautiful.<\/p>\n
Most impressive, though, was a structure perched atop a hill in the center, a good long walk away from them.\u00a0 As large as it looked from their vantage point, it had to be huge.\u00a0 She pointed.\u00a0 \u201cWow.\u201d<\/p>\n
Roggi grinned.\u00a0 \u201cThat\u2019s Whiterun.\u00a0 The big castle you can see is Dragonsreach. I haven\u2019t been here in years.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWell let\u2019s move, then,\u201d Dag said, smiling at him.\u00a0 \u201cI could really go for a mead, how about you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou won\u2019t have to work too hard to convince me,\u201d he said, giving her shoulders a quick squeeze that caught her off-guard but felt good anyway.<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
Roggi eyed the sign for the Honningbrew Meadery as they passed it farther down the road.\u00a0 They might well have stopped there, but just outside its doors there was a confrontation happening.\u00a0 Two Redguard men, Alik\u2019r mercenaries judging by their armor and glinting scimitars, were menacing a single, unarmed Redguard woman.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know what you want, but you\u2019ve got the wrong person!\u201d the woman said.\u00a0 \u201cLeave me alone!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can\u2019t fool us,\u201d one of the men told her.\u00a0 \u201cCome along quietly.\u201d<\/p>\n
The other man peered at her and then turned to his fellow.\u00a0 \u201cBrother, I think she\u2019s telling the truth.\u00a0 She doesn\u2019t have the scar.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dag froze, and Roggi looked at her, startled.\u00a0 They were looking for a Redguard woman with a scar.\u00a0 Nobody had any reason to be looking for Dagnell, but it would be hard to convince them of that if they were not even sure what the woman they sought looked like.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot me,\u201d she whispered to Roggi.\u00a0 \u201cBut let\u2019s get out of here.\u201d\u00a0 He nodded, stepped between Dag and the two mercenaries, and hurried her down the road toward the walled city.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat isn\u2019t good,\u201d he murmured once they were far enough past the meadery.\u00a0 \u201cI wonder what\u2019s going on.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dag shook her head. \u201cI don\u2019t know, but it sure isn\u2019t me they\u2019re looking for. I\u2019d be willing to bet that nobody back home even noticed I\u2019m gone, and I haven\u2019t done anything that anyone would be upset about.\u201d\u00a0 Until just recently, she thought; but she couldn\u2019t imagine Haelga hiring two Alik\u2019r to hunt her down near Whiterun, of all places, over a few coins. \u201cStill. I\u2019m glad you\u2019re with me.\u201d<\/p>\n
The gate to Whiterun was closed and guarded.\u00a0 One of the guards stepped forward and said \u201cHalt.\u00a0 City\u2019s closed with the dragons about. Official business only.\u201d Dag had to fight to keep her mouth closed.\u00a0 Again? Brynjolf couldn\u2019t possibly have goons in Whiterun, too, could he?<\/p>\n
\u201cWell what good are walls if they don\u2019t protect people?\u201d Roggi asked, stepping forward.<\/p>\n
The guard blinked and looked confused.\u00a0 \u201cAll right,\u201d he said, opening the gate.\u00a0 \u201cBut we\u2019ll be watching you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dag and Roggi walked through the gate into the city.\u00a0 She waited until the doors closed before turning to him. \u201cNicely done! Dragons about, though?\u201d she said. \u201cI thought that was just an old legend, like all the others.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI have no idea,\u201d he said, chuckling.\u00a0 \u201cSuperstitious nonsense.\u00a0 Those old mounds that are supposed to be dragon burials? There\u2019s one near Kynesgrove.\u00a0 Kjeld always says \u2018It hasn\u2019t moved since Ysgramor\u2019s time and it\u2019s not going to start now,\u2019 and I agree with him. Those guards do seem awfully antsy, though.\u201d<\/p>\n
They travelled south for the rest of the day, in relative peace and quiet aside from the inevitable wolves; even those, though, were fairly few. The only real challenge they faced, surprisingly enough, was a single bear that came barreling up the banks from the riverside.\u00a0 Both Dag and Roggi slowed it down with arrows; … <\/p>\n