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Forged In Fire	By : prongsdeer Category: +A through F > Elder Scrolls - Skyrim Views: 2249 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Skyrim, nor the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
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Adara was glad Ralof didn't come with her after all. The road from Riverwood to Whiterun wasn't long, but she ran into Imperial soldiers more than once. As no one recognized her, no one tried to stop her; she only seemed a peaceful traveller to them.
She could see the towering palace of the city from far away. It was built from a tree – not any tree but from Eldergleam. During the first eras, these trees could be found all over Skyrim, and they were famous of they couldn't be destroyed by fire. By now, only a few remained in the north, and one in the middle of Whiterun.
Adara barely stepped on the road with her horse that led straight to the city, when she saw the dragon again – the same dragon with the great, black wings, flying across the sky above Whiterun. But it didn't stop, and disappeared sooner than anyone had time to process what they just saw. She picked up her pace and reached the gates soon.
Whiterun was surrounded by stone walls, but they weren't as high as they were in most of the big cities. The gates were open, but three guards were standing there; one of them a dark elf. It seemed she was concerned, while the other two soldiers stared blankly at each other.
Getting off her horse, she was just about to walk inside the city, the reins in her hand, but one of the soldiers stopped here. "Halt! What do you want here?"
"I have information about the dragon's attack."
"You've seen it," the woman said, stepping forward quickly. "But… attack? What attack?"
Adara let out a short breath, and felt as tears filled her eyes. "The beast burned Helgen down to the ground. I don't know if there are any more survivors, but Riverwood is defenceless, too."
She saw as fear appeared in the depth of the elf's eyes, but her face remained straight, just like her voice. She ordered to the soldiers to close the gates and don't let anyone in, before turned back to Adara, "Follow me. You can leave your horse in the barn right there."
The first thing Adara noticed as she finally had a closer look at Whiterun was that how open this city was. The walls indeed short, the streets wide and filled with people, children playing and running around everywhere, and only a few guards here and there. It was also clear that no one knew about the dragon, nor Helgen.
"I'm Irileth," the Dunmer woman said suddenly, pulling Adara's attention away from the streets. "I'm the housecarl of Jarl Balgruuf. You need to tell him what you saw in Helgen."
It sounded more like a command, and Adara didn't want to argue. She followed the housecarl through the streets, up to several stone steps until they reached the wooden palace. Just as the city itself, the palace was wide open and filled with people as well. No wonder why citizens loved their Jarl so much.
"Wait here," Irileth commanded and already walked away, leaving Adara in the middle of the hall. She couldn't move a muscle anyway after her eyes fell on the huge dragon skull up on the wall, above the Jarl's throne. She stared the black holes where the beast's eyes lied once. Even like this, when it was no more than bones, it looked frightening.
Irileth returned soon with the Jarl Balgruuf next to him. He sat down on his throne and the housecarl motioned to Adara she could walk closer. She bowed in front of him, and when she looked up again, she saw worry in his light blue eyes.
"So, is it true? You saw this dragon with your own eyes?"
Thousands of pictures flashed before her eyes again. The dragon, Helgen, everything on fire, the Stormcloaks, the Imperials, her head on a pike…
"Yes, I had a great view while the Imperials tried to chop my head off," it blurted out of her and she swallowed hard, already regretting her choice of words.
Jarl Balgruuf let out a short chuckle, but his small blue eyes remained serious. "You're certainly… forthright about your criminal past…" he started, but Adara cut him off.
"I am no criminal. My only sin was that I was in the wrong place at the wrong time."
"Watch your tongue, girl! You're speaking to the Jarl of Whiterun," Irileth said, but Balgruuf waved his hand.
"It is none of my concern who the Imperials want to execute. Especially now," he said, and Adara gave a nod in answer, while Irileth still watched her with narrowed eyes. When the Jarl spoke up again, his voice came out like a whisper. "It is true, then."
"Yes. It is true. I am not sure if there is anything left of Helgen."
The Jarl gave a quick nod, then stood up from his throne. "Irileth, send some soldiers to Riverwood at once. Order them to stay there until we don't say them they can come back. As for you," he stopped and took a deep breath, "You take three of your best soldiers, a healer, and search for survivors in Helgen. Now."
"Yes, my Jarl," Irileth nodded and hurried out immediately. Balgruuf sat down again; he looked troubled. They exchanged a small glance with his steward, before the Jarl looked back at Adara once again.
"You lived in Helgen?"
Adara only nodded in answer. Of course, it was the first time in twelve years she saw the little town, yet she still felt it was her true home. Balgruuf stood up again, and now walked down on the few stairs, stopping close to her. "You did us a great service, Adara. You can stay in the palace as long as you want. Jorlief will show you your room," he nodded at his steward who bowed his head, then looked back at the girl. "If there is anything I can do for you…"
"Can I see your mage? I need to send a letter."
The Jarl nodded immediately. "Of course. Jorlief will show you the way."
The steward escorted Adara up to the tower, where she got a nice room, then he show her the way to the mage's chamber. She stopped in front of the door with a smile, then knocked once and twice after Jorlief left. Then she heard the familiar voice,
"Come in."
Farengar was lost in his maps. He didn't even look up when Adara stepped in and closed the door behind herself; only her voice made him to stop reading the ancient runes on the margins. "This isn't a nice way to welcome and old friend."
She could see in his eyes that first, he didn't recognized her. Then his friendly brown eyes softened, and suddenly, he looked years younger. "Adara?"
He stepped out from behind his desk and they hugged each other. "It's good to see you, Farengar."
Farengar was the only nord in the college next to Adara and Tolfdir, and the only one who was at least close to her age; even though he was still ten years older than the girl. But he left five years ago, and they didn't see each other ever since then.
"What are you doing here?" he asked once they pulled back, a smile still on his face.
Adara heaved a sigh and looked around the bright room. Her eyes stopped on a book up on his desk; it was leather-bound with nothing but a silver dragon on the cover. The Book of the Dragonborn, she recognized it immediately, as she had reread it more than once in the College. "Are you still studying dragons?" she asked with a smile.
The mage let out a short chuckle. No one has seen dragons in centuries, still, he chose them as his major field of research. Almost everyone thought he was stupid to waste his time for something like this, even at the College. But Farengar was relentless. "I am."
"Then I think I have some interesting news for you."
After they sat down across each other, Adara told him everything; every little detail from the moment the Imperials set their feet into the Frozen Heart. Farengar didn't interrupt, but silently listened everything she had to say. She could tell he believed every of her words. After she finished, the mage stood up and walked to the window, scanning the landscape of Whiterun. His eyes told that even though he was worried, he wasn't so surprised. Moments later, when he was still speechless, Adara felt the urge to shout at him to finally say something – but she knew he believed her, and for now, that was more than enough.
Farengar turned around and gave a short nod. "I need to write to a friend of mine. We… yes, we need to do something until it is not too late," he sat back down at his desk and free some space, unfolded and empty parchment, giving another to Adara. "And you should write to the Arch Mage."
Adara nodded. "That's why I came here in the first place."
But as she raised her wounded hands up, she couldn't held the quill properly. She growled in pain, making Farengar to look up.
"Let me help with that," he said and took the dirty pieces of cloth off Adara's hands after she reached her arms out. She winced in pain and seeing the deep cuts on both of her palms. Farengar walked to the corner of his room and poured some water in a bowl, before went back to her. "Healing spells were never your strength."
"I can't be perfect in everything, can I," Adara said jokingly while her friend cleaned her wounds up, making him laugh, but they both knew it was only a half joke – Adara was indeed incredibly good at every spells she had ever tried so far.
The wounds started to bleed again, but after Farengar held his palms over hers, the warm yellow glows closed them soon. Only red scars remained now. "Wait a second," he said and stood up again, disappeared in his bedroom for a minute before returned with some herbs.
"This will prevent the scarring. Hopefully," he said, applying the green salves on her wounds, then new, fresh bandages.
She thanked to him, and was happy that the pain disappeared.
It was hard to put into words everything that happened in the past few days. For long minutes, the little piece of parchment remained empty, as Adara was unable to find the right words. Then finally, when Farengar long finished his own, short letter, Adara scribbled down what happened to her. She almost folded the parchment, but then took the quill between her fingers again.
"I do not wish to go back to the College. You know I wanted to leave for a very long time. I am safe now, in Whiterun, so please, do not try take me back. I hope we will meet again soon."
Unable to reread it, she quickly rolled the parchment up and sealed it, before she gave it to Farengar.
"So who is that friend of yours? Another dragon enthusiast?"
Farengar smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes. "I would not say that."
Adara followed him as he walked out of his chamber; it lead straight up to the tower where he kept his ravens. She walked to the cold stone corridor – she could see the whole city from here. Maybe she only had this strong feeling again because she spent so much time at the cold and empty Winterhold, but Whiterun looked beautifully open and friendly.
"What are you going to do now?" Farengar asked once he sent the ravens on their way. "I assume you are not going to go back to Winterhold."
"I want to sleep," Adara chuckled as it blurted out of her, but that was the truth; she felt herself more tired than ever before. Farengar smiled too, but the same, worrying expression remained on the depth of his brown eyes. "No, I won't go back to the College. I want to learn to fight. But I'm not sure where I should start."
Farengar examined her face for a while in silence before he said, "Maybe you should go to the Jorrvaskr."
Adara's eyes fell on the long building under them. The Jorrvaskr was actually built from a longboat – the roof is the ship itself, and everything else was made around it.
"The Companions? They are looking for experienced, great warriors, not someone who doesn't even know how to hold a sword."
"Not nowadays, they don't," Farengar replied, turning to face with the girl. "The war took away the best warriors. The Companions complains about that they don't have enough men and women in their halls for ages now. Maybe you should try it. You have potential – I saw what you could do with a bow and an arrow."
Adara smiled. Archery was the only thing that the mages let her to learn that was other than magic. After weeks of begging, of course… But now, she had no bow, or anything. All of her belongings were in her small room at the College.
"I don't know. Maybe I'll try it. But not today – I'm exhausted."
They went back to Farengar's room, but before Adara could left, he put a small bag into her palm which she assumed was full of gold. "Farengar, I can't take this…"
"Yes, you can. You have no money, and you won't have anything until you figure out what you want to do. Take it," he said, pushing her hand away from himself. "Maybe you should buy a nice bow."
Adara retuned his smile. "Thank you. I really appreciate it. If there's anything I can help you with… with the whole dragon business maybe…"
"I will tell you first."
Adara went back to the room that the Jarl's steward prepared for her. It was big and richly decorated – something that they probably only gave to the noble guests. On the small table she found some bread, cheese, fruits, and wine, but her legs carried her straight to the bed. She fall asleep short minutes after she pulled the blankets on her tired body, and in her dreams, she saw the same, black dragon again.
When she woke up long hours later, the city was noisy and crowded again. She must have been slept deeply, Adara thought as she noticed someone put a bowl of fresh water on the nightstand next to her bed, but she didn't notice as someone came in. She walked to the window; it was a sunny day again, probably sometime around midday.
She took the bandages off her hands and she was happy to see they were fully healed. Only a thin, white scar remained on both of her palms, but she knew without Farengar's help it could have been much worse.
She washed her face and ate some fruits before left the chamber. She was actually glad she didn't meet anyone she knew in her way out of the palace; she didn't want to answer unnecessary questions. After she walked down on the many stairs and reached the heart of the city, she caught little bits and pieces of the citizens' conversations about Helgen, about the dragon. Some people were sceptical, but most of them sounded scared.
Adara stopped next to the blooming Eldergleam tree; the sweet scent filled her nose while she looked up at the Jorrvaskr. She had read so many stories about the Companions, and never thought of she could became one of them. One part of her told her that she was just wasting he time, they were never take her in…
But in the other hand, she had nothing to lose.
She took a deep breath and walked up to the long building and hurried in, before she could change her mind. There was the longest table Adara had ever seen, full of food and drinks. For a few seconds, it seemed no one noticed her. Everyone were minding their own business, talking, drinking, eating, and laughing, and she had no idea who should she go to. She cleared her throat and looked around again, before walked to a woman who looked the most sober of all. She must been in her early thirties, her shoulder length ginger hair shined on the fire's light.
"I'm sorry… uh… who's in charge in here?"
The woman looked up at Adara with her bright green eyes. She didn't stood up though, but leaned back on her chair. "Why?"
As she spoke up, Adara realized the noise around them died away. She looked around again to see everyone in the hall turned to them. She licked her lips and turned back to the woman,
"A friend of mine said you're looking for new recruits. I just thought… well, I thought I could join."
Adara heard a loud laugh from her left; as she turned to the direction of it, she saw a muscular, half naked, blond man. "A mage? As a companion? Very funny, girl."
Suddenly, she regretted it deeply she didn't buy some new clothes to herself instead of her mages robes. She opened her mouth to say something, but the redhead woman cut her off,
"But you aren't a mage, are you? You seem too young to be one."
There was it; her perfect excuse. But then again, it wouldn't be a good first impression to lie…
"I am a mage," she started, and the blonde man snorted, but Adara went on. "But I want to fight. I thought I came to the right place."
"We're not taking in children and mages. Have you ever fought before?" another woman with short, black hair asked across the room.
Adara swallowed hard. "Yes," she said, thinking back at Helgen. "And I'm not a child!"
"How is she, fifteen?" she heard laughs and murmurs again, and honestly started to regret she came here.
"I can't use a sword, but I'm good with bows and arrows," she said quietly, clinging to his last hope, and that finally made the redhead woman stood up.
"Is that so?" she reached down and raised her bow up. "Why don't you show us something, then?"
Adara took the bow from her; then she walked across the room and opened the door. She walked back to the middle of the room where the fire was, and waved to Adara.
"See that pigeon over there?" she pointed the bird at the top of the stone wall. Adara needed to narrow her eyes to see something – she couldn't even tell for sure if it was really a bird from so far away. "If you can shoot it, you're in."
Adara looked up at the young woman; she had a devilish smile on her face. It was impossible, and both of them knew it.
"You can try… three times. Let's hope it won't fly away."
Adara sighed and walked back to the chair, but pulled out only one arrow from the quiver.
In the moment she aimed, the bird raised up from its place –
but Adara was quick and her shot was perfect. The pigeon fell on the ground, and they couldn't believe their eyes.
"Did you used magic?" the black haired woman asked.
Adara furrowed her eyebrows angrily. "No, I didn't!"
"Of course you did! You couldn't even see that fucking bird! And I saw it was flying away – well, moving, really. You probably did something…"
"Are you jealous, Njada?"
A tall, dark haired man walked closer, and amused expression on his face. His deep brown eyes were friendly, his face young under his short beard. Adara couldn't avoid the fact how charming he was.
The woman whom he called Njada snorted. "Jealous. Of the witch? Please, Farkas…"
"Then sit down and leave her alone," he cut her off again, his voice a bit colder than before. "I will escort her to Kodlak. He's the one who decide who we take in, or did you forget about that?"
Suddenly, his face was strict, and by the silence that settled in the room, Adara figured it out it couldn't mean any good. Still, when he walked to her, he had a friendly smile on his lips again. "Come with me."
They walked through the long room and down to the basement, and only when the young man shut the door after them, they stopped to talk. In the dim light, his eyes seemed black.
"What's your name?"
"Adara."
"I'm Farkas," he nodded, and Adara almost asked back whether if she heard it right or not – she never heard a name like that. "That was quite an impressive move you did up there with the bow."
She smiled up at him. "Thank you. And for believing me, too."
"I wasn't sure, to be honest," he answered, crossing his arms across his chest.
"Why did you help me, then?" Adara asked with a frown.
Farkas looked deeply into her dark blue eyes, then shrugged. "I don't know. I like your spirit."
Adara didn't really know what he liked about her spirit, but didn't ask further questions as he started to walk deeper in the long, dark corridor. Not knowing what she should say, she told the first thing that came into her mind,
"It seemed the others were afraid of you."
Farkas laughed. "Nah, they don't. I'm just here for a really long time, and I guess they respect me enough to not mess with me."
"Long time? You're aren't that old."
"Neither you are, and you're a mage," Farkas said, looking down at her from the corner of his eyes with a smirk, then stopped with a frown. "How old are you?"
"I'm 22," she answered, then added after a little pause. "So you learn to fight here?"
Farkas chuckled. "You can put two and two together very quickly, aren't you? Yes, I've been here all of my life."
Adara nodded with a soft smile. "So… Kodlak is in charge in here?"
"No one is in charge of the Companions."
"I know," Adara replied. "No leader since Ysgamor. But you do have a Harbinger, right? Someone who advise you, and someone you respect above the others."
"You are well educated."
"I just read a lot."
Farkas smiled again. "Take an advice: don't be a know-it-all. The others won't like you."
Adara rolled her eyes. "I think they already hate me."
"Don't take it to your heart. They're just… we don't trust easily," he started, and as Adara just looked at him with curious eyes, he went on. "You saw the people up there? That's all. That's the Companionship. It's not just the war – I guess people don't like to fight for Skyrim anymore."
He trailed away for a bit, before they started to walk again. Farkas stopped in front of a door and said, "Wait a second. I'll talk to Kodlak."
Adara had no time to get lost in her thoughts; Farkas already returned back a half minute later. He stopped close to her and leaned down, his voice barely more than a whisper. "Don't be scared. He isn't that bad," he winked and straightened up. "My brother is in there too. I'd be more afraid of him than Kodlak, to be honest."
"Thanks," she swallowed hard. "Now I feel myself much better."
Farkas grinned. "It'll be fine. Just don't lie to them, no matter what. He will know," he said meaningfully, giving a reassuring smile to her.
Slowly, Adara walked into the big room; Farkas following her closely, before sat down on a chair in the corner. In the middle, there was a small, round table; two men were sitting across each other.
"Come closer to us," the older man said – Kodlak, definitely. His grey beard and hair, his blue eyes, his pale skin made him look cold, but his warm, friendly voice show that he wasn't that he seemed to be first. "Farkas told me you wish to join us. How are you in a battle, girl?"
Don't lie, Farkas' words echoed in her head. She couldn't, even if she wanted to – it felt like the old man could look into the depths of her soul. "I have much to learn."
"That's the spirit," he said with a smile, and Adara felt as weight lifted off her shoulders, until Farkas' brother spoke up. He has the same, deep brown eyes, his hair lighter, and longer than Farkas'. He didn't get that naturally playful smile on his face - he seemed serious and suspicious.
"You're not truly considering accepting her, are you?"
Adara heard a growl and saw Farkas burying his face into his palm, before his brother went on. "Look at her, master. I'm sure she's too weak to even hold a sword, yet alone…"
"I'm nobody's master, Vilkas," Kodlak cut him off, but his voice wasn't rude. "And don't forget where you came from. When you first stepped into these halls, you couldn't raise the sword from the ground either."
Farkas snorted in the background, and Vilkas shot an angry look at him before he turned back, "I was five years old."
"Age does not matter," Kodlak said slowly. "What is matter, is their heart. And their spirit," he looked at Adara again. "You have a strong spirit."
The girl exchanged a quick glance with Farkas who smiled, even though she still wasn't sure if she understand this whole situation around her "strong spirit".
"Why do you wish to join us?"
"I want to learn to fight," Adara said honestly, but she knew it won't be enough.
Kodlak nodded. "Why?"
She looked around the tree men. Was she ready to tell the truth? No, she was not. But again, looking into the Harbinger's deep eyes, she couldn't lie. "I have nothing, and I have no one. My family were murdered when I was a kid, and now my hometown is lying in ruins. I've been hiding in all my life, not even knowing from who. I don't want to hide anymore. I want to be able to protect myself and those who need it."
She sensed as Farkas shifted in his chair, but they didn't say a word. Silence settled in the room, and Kodlak didn't look away from Adara's dark blue eyes, even for a second. She couldn't read anything from his face.
Then, after long seconds of silence that felt like forever, he spoke up slowly, "Do you want to join us so you can fight for Skyrim, or you could get revenge on your family's murderer?"
"To fight for Skyrim," Adara said in a heartbeat. She didn't want to lie; she just deeply believed that was the truth. Kodlak examined her face for a couple seconds longer before he stood up.
"Farkas will train you. A month from today, we will have your first… test," he said, and Adara smiled happily. "In the meantime, you have a month to decide if you really want this."
"Thank you," she chirped, her eyes gleaming, and she couldn't believe it was really happening.
She walked out with Farkas in her heels, still grinning.
"Now, what did I tell you?"
Adara turned around immediately and Farkas was quick enough to halt so he wouldn't bump into her, but it was unnecessary, as she wrapped her arms around him to close him into a tight hug. "Thank you, thank you!"
"Oh. A hugger," he said with an amused voice and patted the girl's back gently, so she pulled back, blushing in embarrassment.
"Sorry. Why do I feel you're the only nice person to me here? Your brother hates me too!"
Farkas shook his head. "He doesn't. He's just an asshole."
Adara laughed and even though she still wasn't sure the others will accept her, she was excited and full of hope. Farkas show her around the Jorrvaskr, then they stopped in front of the sleeping quarters.
"Your training starts tomorrow morning. Not too early though, I hate to wake up too early," he said, before ran his dark eyes down on her. "You need some new clothes too, you can't fight in these."
Just as these words fell from his lips, the redhead woman walked down to the basement. "Aela! Come here please," he snapped his fingers together, motioning to the woman to come closer.
But her green eyes fell on Adara first, as she walked closer with her light steps. "I'm not your dog, Farkas."
"I said please."
Aela rolled her eyes. "What do you want?"
"Would you please give Adara some clothes that doesn't look like a nightgown? I can't train her in these…"
Adara looked up at Farkas with narrowed eyes, but he merely grinned in response. Aela smiled down at her and said yes; she still couldn't tell that smile was friendly or not.
"Great! See ya later. I have some things to do."
Aela rolled her eyes again and motioned Adara to follow her. "He spends almost every of his nights at brothels. He's never going to grow up."
"He seems nice to me."
"Oh, there is nothing wrong with his heart," Aela waved her hand. "On the contrary, his heart is too big sometimes. I know he seems like a tough man, but deep down, he's a kid."
"Not like his brother, I guess."
Aela smiled. "You met Vilkas. He may seem a little unfriendly, but he is the more reasonable one."
They walked into Aela's room; it wasn't big, but it was richly decorated. Adara still felt herself a little awkward in her presence, and as she sensed this, she poured a goblet of wine for her.
"I know it was impossible. Shoot that pigeon," she started after they both took a sip from their wine. "I didn't tell you to do it because I wanted to see you to fail. I wanted to see you to try. Many people give up when they see the task is too hard. We cannot do that. Our duty is to protect the people in Skyrim. No matter what."
Adara nodded with a small smile. She wasn't sure she was ready for that. Everything happened fast, so fast, she had no choice but go with the flow. And somehow, she liked it, even though she was afraid.
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Forged In Fire