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The Line Begins to Blur	By : VirusVescichetta Category: +A through F > Elder Scrolls - Skyrim Views: 61884 -:- Recommendations : 2 -:- Currently Reading : 2
Disclaimer: Look at the URL. Now back to the disclaimer. Now the URL. Back to the disclaimer. Sadly, I don't own Skyrim or make money off it, but you can now read a story that's written as though I did. And yes, I just wasted a mod's valuable time.

Chapter List
- 19
- 20
- 21
When the door to my roam creaking open woke me I turned further into my blankets and withheld my groan. After almost a week of living in Whiterun I was starting to grow annoyed that someone opening the door to my room in my own house still disturbed my rest. I should have been used to it. I knew it was just my sister coming in to make sure I hadn't vanished in the middle of the night.
"You need to relax. I already told you, I'm not going anywhere," I grumbled and sat up. "If I were going to leave, it'd be as silently as when I left Black Marsh."
"I came to tell you breakfast is almost ready," Keesara said with a frown. "It's been hours since sunrise. You didn't wake up when I checked on you earlier."
I stared at her blankly for a second. "Oh. Well, that's fantastic. I guess I'm just getting used to being able to sleep," my chuckle was cut off by a yawn I couldn't help but stretch my back and neck, eliciting a couple cracks and pops. It felt good to really rest. "I'll be down in a minute; I just have to get dressed. Is Lydia awake?"
"Yes. She seemed surprised you hadn't woken up yet when I had breakfast started," she commented on her way out.
I tossed my blanket off and got out of bed, distantly noting that I had neglected to put my newly-read spellbook away the night before. The boards under my feet were warm from the fire used to cook breakfast. I strolled over to the window and threw the shutters open. It was somewhat surprising to see the sun almost a third of the way to its zenith. I usually rose with it.
My tail cracked quietly when I stretched it on my way back to the bed. It had gotten bent under me somewhat in my sleep. The long appendage was very often a literal pain in the ass. I picked up the spellbook and flipped through it one last time. It had contained instructions on casting an ice spike spell. From the short amount I had practised with it I knew that it was a bit more magically taxing than the similar fire spell but it seemed to penetrate better.
The book dropped into its open drawer in the bedside table with a dull thud. I pulled my newly made hardened leather pants on and was thankful for the cotton lining keeping the backs of its rivets from my scales. I snatched up my vest and chain from their place on a chest at the foot of my bed. I marvelled at the weight of the mail shirt. It felt like only a fraction of what a steel set of similar chain would weigh. The ease of movement afforded by such light armour had inspired me to spend the extra money and fashion plate armour to wear over the chain, though that I left behind when I exited my room.
My steel plated boots echoed throughout the second floor on my way to the stairs. When I walked downstairs I was greeted with the smell of cooked pork fat and salt. "My Thane! It is unusual of you to sleep so late," Lydia remarked as I came into view of the table.
"I guess it is," I smiled at her. She was wearing plain civilian clothes, as she had been since our return to Whiterun. I made a mental note to ask her after breakfast if she intended to join me when I left. "Thanks for waking me up, Kees," I gave my sister's head an affectionate pat as I strode past her and lamented the lack of hair or feathers to ruffle.
"Stop calling me that," she gave me a mild glare as I sat down to my food.
I put on a thoughtful expression for a moment. "...Nah. I like bugging you too much," I shook my head. "I'm also a pretty big fan of being able to eat breakfast everyday, though, so thank you for that," I added with a wide grin and started into my food. The eggs and cured pork were a nice meal to wake up to. Nearly a week of living with my sister had a couple perks. Apparently she enjoyed cooking.
"At least you show some level of gratitude, I guess," Keesara sighed dramatically and returned to her meal. I could see the faint touch of a smile she had been trying to hide pulling at her lips.
"You said you were planning on looking for work today, didn't you?" Lydia asked as we ate.
I downed a mouthful of water and nodded. "Yeah, I was going to see about talking to the Companions. I remember Aela extending something like an invitation when we met. I was going to ask you to join me."
To my surprise, Lydia shook her head. "I think I've had enough adventure with you to last me for a while, my Thane," she said with a smile. "I was going to return to guard duty to help pay for the debt and keep your home safe."
I did my best to hide my disappointment that I wouldn't be travelling with my housecarl for a bit but I understood. Getting thrown off a bridge by a dragon was bound to leave anyone a touch shaken. I was impressed by how well she had handled it.
"So what am I supposed to do while you gallivant around with a bunch of humans? Sit on my hands and wait for you to come home with me?" my sister frowned at me across the table.
"No, you're supposed to find a job and earn your keep for living under my roof," I smirked at her horrified expression. "Oh, don't give me that look. You said you've worked hard your whole life tending to the Hist. Maybe we'll find work for you as a gardener. Or a field hand."
"The temple of Kynareth may need help taking care of the Gildergreen," Lydia suggested. "The tree in the middle of town," she answered my curious look.
"I guess that's better than having to work on a farm," Keesara said begrudgingly.
"Except for all the humans around, it'll be just like back home," I assured her with a chuckle. "Anyways, I should probably get going before the sun sets on me," I stood from the table and headed to the door.
I had just stepped outside when Lydia's hand on my shoulder drew my attention. I turned to ask her what she wanted when she made it clear by pulling me down and pressing her lips to mine. It took a little less than a second for me to drop my hands to her waist and return the kiss. My sister was just inside but she was handily distracted with cleaning up after breakfast. "You're terribly cruel, you know that?" I chuckled when she pulled away.
"How could I possibly be cruel to you, my Prince?" she asked innocently, an amused smile playing on her lips.
I took another glance at the door to make sure Keesara wouldn't be appearing any second before slipping an arm around Lydia's back and ducking down to lock our lips in a hungry kiss. She let out a startled gasp followed by a pleased moan. I pressed her against the wall of the house and was thankful for the lack of people walking around nearby. I could feel as well as hear her fingers digging into the links of my chainmail as my tongue pushed its way into her mouth.
Days of sexual frustration brought on by my housecarl's constant teasing threatened to overwhelm my better judgement and I drew away from her before I got carried away. When I stepped back my hand dragged reluctantly off her hip. "You just have this habit of getting under my scales, I guess," I finally answered her question with a casual shrug.
She shot me a raised eyebrow and a subtle smirk. "If that is how you treat me when I get under your scales I don't see much reason why I should stop," she sounded terribly pleased.
I shook my head and started down the path towards Jorrvaskr. "I'm leaving before I'm arrested for public indecency," I announced. "If all goes well I may be back to whisk you off on another adventure."
"Good luck, my Prince. Try not to fall into anyone's bed on the way," she called back.
I spun to make some clever remark but was cut short by the door closing. I frowned and continued on my way. It wasn't my fault females kept approaching me. I was starting to think my fortunes with the women of Skyrim were proving detrimental. Lydia had been doing an admirable job of keeping me distracted whenever I wasn't working on equipment or buying supplies and my sister had kept me from spending any time alone with my housecarl. I just hoped she was feeling as frustrated as I was; I could at least feel a little vindicated in that.
I didn't run into anyone I knew on the way to Jorrvaskr and for that I was somewhat thankful. Despite my distraction with Lydia I was more interested in getting back to work than anything else. I was itching to get back out and find some trouble to get into.
When I reached the home of the Companions I found Aela outside speaking with someone I at first mistook for Farkas, the man I had met when I had first been to the mead hall. They looked nearly identical, the only marked difference being that this man's hair was only about half the length of the other's.
"Kailev-Tel? It's been a long time," Aela said with a smile as I approached. I noticed that she was without the painted marks on her face. I didn't mind the unobstructed view of her somewhat savage beauty.
"It certainly has been. I have to admit I'm kind of surprised you remember me," I returned her smile.
"You aren't a face someone's likely to forget," the woman remarked.
"I'll try to take that as a compliment," I deadpanned and extended my hand to the man. "Kailev-Tel, in case you hadn't already gathered."
He shook my hand with a firm grip. "Vilkas. I believe your name has come up at one time or another."
"Is that so? I can only hope it wasn't anything too awful," I chuckled.
"I'm sure it wasn't too disparaging," Aela assured me. "Was there something we could help you with?"
"I came to see about joining up, actually," I explained. "If you'd be willing to have me."
"We don't take on just any traveller who comes along," Vilkas interjected.
"I've seen him fight a giant and win. I'd like to see what Kodlak has to say about him," his compatriot defended.
The man gave me a light frown before relenting with a nod. "Fair enough. He would know better than I," he agreed.
Aela bade me to follow her and headed inside Jorrvaskr. Vilkas said something about training grounds and went elsewhere. The female Companion leading me gave me something of a brief tour as we went. The ground floor was mostly one big open space dominated in the centre by a huge fire pit surrounded by tables on three sides. The hall glowed with the light of the fire keeping the place warm. About half a dozen people were scattered around the tables, eating and conversing idly.
We went down a set of stairs at the southern end of the building into a basement. It was cooler than the main hall, but far from frigid. It seemed being underground kept the place at a fairly neutral temperature year-round. Across from the stair's entrance to the hallway I found us in was what Aela told me was a communal bedroom, like a barracks. I gathered that were I inducted into the Companions I'd be able to sleep there. I doubted I'd see much use of it, considering my home in Whiterun.
We walked to the far end of the hallway, to a small room that looked like something akin to a study. Farkas and another man I didn't recognize were talking about something, though I didn't catch any words when we entered. I presumed the second man to be Kodlak. "We'll speak of this another time, Farkas. For now it seems we have a guest to welcome," he said and stood from the table.
Despite his advanced age, it was obvious at once that this man was a fighter. His broad shoulders were kept rigidly square.
"Kodlak, this is Kailev-Tel. He wishes to join us and become a Companion," Aela introduced me.
His eyes flickered across me and I felt compelled to stand to my full height so I could hold his gaze. His lips twitched in a smile. "He certainly looks like he could fit the part," he chuckled. "I don't believe I've ever seen an Argonian ask to join us, though. What brings you here, lad?" he caught me a little off-guard with the word. I couldn't recall a time in my life someone had referred to me with "lad". It sounded oddly human.
"Truth be told, I've an itch for some adventure," I replied with an easy shrug. "That and I find myself in need of paying work and have heard it said that you supply that."
Kodlak's perceptive eyes bore into me for a moment before giving a short nod to the man beside him. "Farkas, I want you to take our potential recruit to the training grounds and test him."
"If that's your wish," the other man responded with a nod. I followed him out, leaving Aela to talk with Kodlak. "...Truth be told, it's strange to see an Argonian wish to join our ranks," Farkas spoke after a moment. "I've never even seen one besides you in Whiterun, actually."
I chuckled quietly and gave a lackadaisical shrug. "I hope I can live up to your expectations."
"Kodlak is a better judge of character than I am. If he approves of you, that's good enough for me," he said simply. That he could inspire such loyalty in his fellows instilled a desire to get to know Kodlak. He had reminded me somewhat of the uncle I was supposed to replace.
When we reached the training grounds I was given a blade and was reminded of the fact that I had left mine at my house. "I'll admit I wasn't expecting a fight to get in," I scratched my neck with an embarrassed laugh. "I suppose I haven't had enough trouble being accosted in the street to warrant carrying a sword all the time."
I hefted the sword in my hand, getting used to the weight. It was plain steel, kept relatively dull for the sake of training, I vaguely hoped. I didn't really want my first proper impression to the Companions to be killing one of their members.
"I'm hoping the fact that you aren't carrying a blade doesn't speak of your skill with one," Farkas smirked as he raised his sword.
I returned the equivalent to his smirk. "Did you ever think that maybe I don't carry a sword at all times because I don't need one?"
"That reminds me; no magic."
"You're no fun," I sighed and stepped forward to give a quick slash that the man easily blocked. I hadn't expected to gain much ground, but then I wasn't trying to kill the man. He twisted around my guard for a second but I just as simply turned my sword and stopped him short. My fist caught across his jaw and sent him stumbling.
Farkas shook his head, rubbed his jaw and smiled. "That was a good hit," he laughed.
"I strive to impress," I grinned. We were back at each other a moment later, our swords clashing together violently. The ringing of steel on steel soon drew a number of spectators as we fought. Every so often a spark would spit from the meeting of our blades.
The fight reminded me of my many duels in Black Marsh. I was bitterly amused that for all my training in proper swordplay it was useless on the roads of Tamriel. No bandit or mercenary was going to fight with a sabre in a controlled ring. Even here the sword wasn't designed for the required finesse.
A stiff blow to my stomach drew me from my thoughts and made me aware of the gauntlets I hadn't noticed before on my opponent's arm. He was in close enough for me to feed him a hard counter in his exposed ribs. We separated enough for me to take a swing with my sword. He deflected it but retreated nonetheless. "Alright, that's enough," he panted. I was similarly winded but my lips held a smile through my heavy breaths.
"So, do I get a pass?" I laughed and handed him my sword.
"That depends," he shrugged and stepped back.
"On what?"
"How well you do without a sword," I heard a voice beside me and stumbled from the force of a fist connecting with the side of my head.
I mentally applauded Vilkas for attacking me when I was unprepared, despite the ringing in my ears. I deflected his follow up punch off my shoulder and returned a similar jab that he caught against his forearm. My tail whipped into his open stomach and sent him staggering back with a rough exhalation. I took the opportunity while he was stunned to crack my forehead into the bridge of his nose.
His fist slammed into the bottom of my jaw at the same time. We staggered away from each other. We regarded each other for a moment while we rubbed our respective injuries. "I gotta be honest, I'm used to people being down by now," I chuckled.
"You're used to fighting weaklings?"
A smirk pulled at my lips. "I am. It's shocking how soft most of you humans are."
To my surprise, Vilkas seemed amused by my comment. "I have to admit, it's been a while since I've seen someone besides my brother hit as hard as you."
"I strive to impress," I said before we returned to our fight.
After several minutes of exchanging blows we began to gather a crowd. Cheers called out for Vilkas, and part of me wondered whether it was my race or my novelty that spurred them on. My experiences in Whiterun made me think it to be the latter.
The fight was fairly even, though it was obvious I was less injured by his strikes than he was by mine. "Enough," he called after recovering from what had to be the tenth blow I'd landed to his side with my tail. "That tail of yours is a nightmare," he shook his head and pressed a hand to his injured stomach.
"You think so?" I chuckled and curved the appendage around to my front. "I'm really quite fond of it. You've made it very sore, by the way."
"Not half as sore as it's made him, I'll wager," Farkas laughed as he strode over.
I saw Kodlak following behind him with an entertained smile. "That was quite the fight. It's been a long while since I saw someone give Vilkas such exercise. Consider yourself a member of the Companions." He turned and regarded the younger man beside him. "Farkas, why don't you take our new recruit on that job we were just discussing?"
"Aye, that sounds like a good test of his skills," Farkas nodded and beckoned me to follow him.
"Kodlak...can we speak again, in private?" I heard Vilkas ask of the older Companion as we left. We were out of earshot before I heard any more.
I didn't think anything of it. "So, what's the plan?" I asked the man leading me towards the gates. I noticed that he had geared up for something while I was fighting Vilkas. He wore simple but obviously effective steel plate mail and had a large greatsword slung over his shoulder.
"We're going to an old hole about half a day's travel northeast called Shimmermist Grotto. Apparently it's become infested with some Falmer so we get the wondrous job of clearing it out," he explained.
"And could you explain what Falmar are to the clueless foreigner?" I asked as we entered the market.
"They're like Cyrodiil's goblins, from what I've heard," he offered.
I raised my hand in something akin to a wave to Carlotta as I passed her stall. She gave me a smile and returned the wave. "That doesn't sound so bad. They're only really bad in groups, and even then they aren't too tough," I shrugged. "I'll take a pack of goblins over a troll or two any day."
"I wouldn't expect a nest of Falmer to be much trouble for us," Farkas agreed and I vaguely noted passing the trail to Ysolda's house as we exited the bustling marketplace. "Even still, it'll take a couple of us to do it and I'd like to see you in a real fight."
"I'll try not to disappoint," I said and shot him a smirk. "I'm going to need to grab my equipment from my house, though," I said as I headed towards the building we were passing by. "You can keep going, if you want. I can catch..."
I was cut off by my door opening before my hand could reach the handle. Lydia stood in the doorway, still clothed in her civilian attire. It struck me that I had completely forgotten she was technically my servant. "Company, my Thane?" she asked with a polite nod to Farkas.
"Unfortunately not. I was just stopping in..." I trailed off as she handed me my pack. My the hilt of my sword and my gauntlets stuck out from the top. "Ah, perfect. Oh, by the way, this is Farkas, from the Companions. Farkas, this is my housecarl, Lydia," I introduced them and set to set to equipping my plate armour. It was made from light steel and linking aureate chains of the same material as my mail shirt.
"You're a Thane?" the man beside me asked.
I looked up from tightening the leather straps at my side. "You didn't know I'm a Thane?" I stared blankly at him for a moment. "I guess that's what I get for never being around."
"You also weren't wearing your badge," Lydia remarked as she tied it around my arm while I was distracted.
"You know, you didn't have to put it on me. I could have done that myself," I frowned at the woman and pulled my gauntlets on.
She drew back and gave me a curt nod. "Forgive me, my Thane. I will be certain to keep my hands to myself from now on."
My frown dropped from my face. "I never said I wanted you to stop. Just pointing out that I'm capable," I shrugged. "Speaking of capable, you sure you don't want to come along?"
"It is my duty to keep your home safe in your absence. Besides, somebody has to make sure your sister does not bankrupt you."
"Glad I can count on you," I grinned and turned to Farkas. "Shall we?"
He led me out of the city and we struck out across the plain around the north end of the city. We chatted idly as we walked. I learned that he and his brother had been raised in the Companions by Kodlak for the majority of their lives. I explained my habits of random travel and mercenary work, though only vaguely. I skipped over the part about being Dragonborn.
The trip was relaxingly dull for the hours it took. I could see various animals such as deer and wolves across the open, slightly hilly field. They paid us no mind, content to let us carry on our business in peace so long as we extended the same courtesy. I expected a dragon to swoop down upon us at any given time and almost felt disappointed when we came into view of the cave without any such incident.
The first thing I noticed about the cave were the totems scattered around its entrance. Skulls and bones of assorted shapes and sizes hung from posts and even the rock of the hill the cave burrowed into. Upon closer inspection I noticed that most of the bones were humanoid ribs. "Ha. Human bones. How welcoming," I chuckled and flicked one of the sun-bleached ribs hanging by the entrance.
"It almost makes you think they don't want anyone coming to visit," Farkas returned my amusement. We made our way into the murky gloom of the cave. Just inside was a large pool of water with a stone bridge arching over it. To the side was a waterfall feeding the pool from some underground spring.
When the only illumination around us became the glowing mushrooms dotting the floor and walls my companion deemed it necessary to light a torch. "Won't that light draw attention?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Falmer are blind. They'll still be able to smell the fire, but since our job here is to kill all the vermin anyway, it shouldn't cause much trouble," he said as he lit a second torch to hand to me.
"Wouldn't want to be too sneaky with blind enemies. It'd probably take all the fun out of it," I shrugged as I took the burning stick.
The corridors of the cave were winding and ran deep into the ground. The numerous totems and partial skeletons we passed as we travelled reinforced our purpose. I was surprised at how many people had apparently died to these Falmer in such an out of the way place.
We finally came upon a pair standing by what looked like a hut made of some hard, ridged material. Their heads snapped into the air and when they turned I noticed in the flickering light of our torches that they wore helmets that covered them down to their noses. Their armour and weapons looked to be of the same material as the small building they were crouched in front of.
Farkas nodded to me to move up and deal with them alone. I grinned, handed him my torch and crept forwards with my hand on the hilt of my sword. They began to shuffle towards him, sniffing the air and making guttural noises somewhere growling and hissing. I held perfectly still as they walked past, not even daring to draw breath for several seconds. The instant they looked ready to charge at whatever it was they sensed my blade slipped from its sheath with a harsh whisper.
The first I slew with a clean slice across the back of its neck. Its head dropped like a stone and a gush of blood leapt from the various veins and arteries now open to the air. The other Falmer shrieked and spun towards me, swinging an axe that looked like some insect's claw strapped to a long, thick bone I guessed to be a femur. I hopped back to avoid the wild swing, then shot forward and sunk my blade into a gap in its makeshift armour. I twisted my sword and my body and threw the wretched thing to the dirt next to its fallen brethren. When it didn't immediately rise I felt it safe enough to sheathe my blade.
"That was quick. I'm impressed," Farkas complimented as he approached me with my torch held out.
I gave a careless shrug and took the torch. "These things aren't too bad. I've certainly fought worse," I said as we carried on. The small living space was scattered with remnants of what I assumed made up a Falmer's diet. There was odd, sickly looking fungus and scraps of insect among gnawed bones.
"They aren't too dangerous when you catch a couple of them off-guard," Farkas agreed. "When a farmstead has a whole tribe descend on them, though, the result isn't pretty."
"Which would be why we're clearing out the buggers. Gotcha," I nodded. I hadn't heard any news of an attack like that recently, but then I supposed my ears weren't turned to anything that didn't involve dragons or people I got into fights with. It occurred to me that I would make a terrible governor.

It felt like hours later when we found a massive gateway made of some dull, off-gold colour. "I don't know who made this, but they had the same obsession with needlessly huge doors that your ancestors seem to have," I frowned and stepped forward to push one of said doors open. "Seriously, what needs to be big enough to walk through these?"
The answer to my rhetorical question stood at the far end of a large room. A falmer wearing heavy, chitinous armour stood at a table scattered with various things I didn't immediately notice. Behind it was a giant golem wrought of the same material as the doors. The thing looked like it could take on a dragon and walk away without much trouble. "Holy shit!" I cursed aloud, which likely wasn't the brightest course of action.
Both the Falmer and the giant's attention snapped to us. The latter stood to its full height and stared us down with the stern frown making up its face. "Looks like that got their attention," Farkas chuckled as he walked up beside me.
"Why does everything in Skyrim want to kill me?" I shouted as the golem charged at us.
Farkas and I split apart and moved to opposite sides of the room. "Maybe it's just angry about your comments on its home," I heard him call with an amused tone. He seemed to be taking the literal killing machine and its blind, screeching master in stride. It made me confident I'd be happy in the Companions.
"You may have a point," I laughed as we circled the golem. I saw the Falmer readying a spell and moving towards Farkas. "I suppose if someone kicked in my door and started making fun of it, I'd be pretty pissed, too. Watch out for the little one, by the way!"
He didn't answer but I heard his angry shout as he engaged the Falmer on the other side of the giant currently stalking towards me. "Of course it picked me," I mumbled and drew my sword, not that I had much confidence it would be too effective. "How do I kill you, anyway?"
It didn't answer, not that I had expected it to. It looked much too disgruntled with my existence. I hopped out of the way of the massive hammer terminating its right arm. It bounced off the metallic floor and I was shocked that neither it nor the hammer were damaged. Whoever had built the place had known something of metallurgy. I fired a shot of flame from my empty palm and watched it burst harmlessly on the giant's shoulder.
I considered calling to Farkas, but I judged by the yells and cracks of lightning magic that he was occupied. Seeing little other immediate option, I decided to try my luck at actually engaging the beast.
"Wuld!" my Voice carried me to its flank. I spun around and slashed my sword across the back of its knee. The blade rung in my hands and nearly numbed them from the force of impacting on its thick armour but the gear I saw flying from the joint gave me some satisfaction.
The giant spun at the waist drove the axe making up its left arm into my ribs. I flew through the air as far as the wall where I impacted and dropped back to the ground. "Okay, that could've gone better," I wheezed and pressed a hand to my side. My armour was remarkably undamaged, unlike the bones beneath it. I didn't give what would've happened to me without it much thought. Its long strides carried it over to me before I could get back to my feet. I kicked off the wall and rolled under it, avoiding the crushing hammer hurtling into the spot I had occupied.
I looked up to see the golem's crotch directly above me. At the joint of its hip was a small gap in its armour that I hastily drove my sword into. Something grabbed the blade and tore it from my grasp. The sound of snapping metal and grinding gears sounded for a second before my sword exploded out the giant's side. A torrent of steam blasted from where my sword had driven into it and I raised my arms to keep the scalding vapour from burning my face. I rolled away as quickly as I could, shaking my scorched hands as I stood.
My eyes flicked over to Farkas, the dead Falmer at his feet. He looked uninjured. "That was pretty impressive," he chuckled and hefted his greatsword across his shoulder. "I've never seen someone kill a Centurion like that."
"I haven't met anything yet that deals well with a sword shoved in its groin," I shrugged and set to healing my scalded hands. "Think that's everything?"
"I hope so," he nodded. "We must have killed a dozen of those little bastards. Loreius will be happy to hear that they won't be troubling his farm."
I returned his nod and walked over to the fallen metal giant. The side of its chest was blown and bent open. I gripped the jagged metal edge, ignoring the way it bit into my scales as I pried the metal apart. "What are you doing?" Farkas asked as he approached.
"I was just curious," I grunted just before the metal plate snapped I stumbled back a couple paces and tossed the broken sheet aside. Inside the golem's chest was what looked like something from the room of one of my tutors. It was a gyroscope with a glowing orb in the centre and I guessed it to be the Centurion's power source. "I wanted to see how it worked. I've never seen something like this before," I clarified and inspected the shattered gears and pipes. It was an absolute mess, but it made pulling the strange device out a simple matter without anything holding it too firmly in place.
I tucked it into my pack and moved to inspect the Falmer's living space. "Find anything valuable?" Farkas called after me as he began heading towards a tunnel dug at the back of the room.
I found something akin to a chest made of the same chitinous black material of everything else the Falmer owned. I assumed it to be the carapace of the insects Farkas and I had run into earlier in the caves. Inside the box were the personal effects of a number of apparent victims of the tribe. I was unsurprised to find gold and various bits of jewellery among them, though I couldn't imagine what use all of it had to the Falmer. I supposed they simply liked to hoard things, similarly to Cyrodiil's goblin tribes.
"Here," I called. Farkas turned and I tossed a leather pouch I had filled with roughly half the loot to him.
"Thanks," he said and hefted the small bag. "I'm surprised they had so much."
"Same, but I'm not going to argue about it," I said as I jogged over to him. I noticed that the Falmer he had fought had a steel sword clutched in its dead grip. We made our way out of the caves. The tunnel at the back of the room led us back to the entrance of the cave, or at least to the small pool I had seen earlier. We had come out behind the waterfall and I pondered for the first time if the Falmer were the ones who had dug the place out.
We were faced with dusk when we exited the hole, the bright colours of sunset stretching across the hilly plain between us and Whiterun. We were also face-to-face with what I could only assume was a gang of bandits. "See? Told you I saw someone go down there," one of them remarked to the man at the front of the group.
"So you did. They look like they had a bit more success down there than Hjalmar and Ivar did, too," the man I presumed to be their chief gave us a quick once-over. "You're being robbed. If you hand over whatever valuables you've got without any fuss we might let you go quietly."
My eyes flicked between the gang. There were six of them, four males and two females. I counted two wielding swords, one with an axe and another with a mace. The latter two had shields. The chief had a greatsword across his shoulder to rival Farkas's. The last one was unarmed and unarmoured and I assumed her to be a mage.
"So, what's the plan?" I asked and turned to my companion. He responded by drawing his blade. "Yeah, that's what I was thinking, too," I nodded with a chuckle and returned to facing the bandits. My pack slipped off my shoulders and I knocked it away with my tail. I didn't want it close enough by to damage in the melee.
"That's a real shame," the chief sighed morosely. "Well, you heard the plan. Kill 'em!"
"Wuld!" my Voice cut in immediately and I skidded to a stop just behind the main group of three. Flames burst from my palms and crashed against a hastily erected ward conjured by the mage. The second it held out against the onslaught of my flames was enough for her allies to clear away, but the instant her shield fell my flames engulfed her. She held her arms up and stumbled back with a shriek of pain as her sleeves caught fire. I conjured a spell for a fire bolt to my hand and darted towards her. The spell fired the second before my fist impacted with her cheek. Ash and bits of bone leapt from the charred wound in her skull from the blow and I briefly lamented not noticing if she had been attractive before having half her head blown away.
A pained shout drew my attention to Farkas's fight. I saw his sword slam into the shield of the axe-wielding female and send her tumbling. The strength behind his blows was incredible. He handily defended himself against the two people attacking him, but I could tell he was hard-pressed to gain an edge in the fight. The other two joining in were likely to be too much for him on his own, but before I could lend him any aid I was handily distracted by a swinging greatsword.
I glanced back at Farkas and saw a sword catch him in the back. He spun and hacked down the attacker with a brutal downward slash to his collarbone. That, unfortunately, opened his guard to a blow from the one he had been previously engaging.
He fell with a pained bark and his sword slipped from his hand. I cursed and moved to aid him but felt it more compelling to deal with the bandit chief's greatsword bearing down on me. The blade dug into the ground my feet had occupied a moment before. I couldn't help but feel that I didn't have time to deal with him. A poorly-aimed spike of ice carved into the iron armour covering his shoulder. I grit my teeth at my unpractised aim and fired another that he deflected with his sword. A third in as many seconds carved into his wrist and he stumbled back from the weight of his sword falling.
"Wuld!" I Shouted the instant he was out of the way. He was crippled and could be dealt with later.
I pivoted on my heel to catch a sword slashing towards Farkas against my forearm. My armour dented and I was fairly sure my arm was broken, but the blade was stopped dead. I flicked my comrade's fallen greatsword with my tail into my outstretched palm and swung it with one arm to crash into my foe's side. The blade didn't cut deep but he was thrown back from the strike. I continued the swing to throw the long sword over my shoulder and stop another attack coming at my back.
Lightning flew from my palm and enveloped the head of the woman on the other end of the mace that was caught against Farkas's sword. She shrieked in pain and raised her shield to take the brunt of the blow, though that didn't fair well for the arm on the other side. The bandit darted away and I took the opportunity kick the greatsword up with my shoulder so I could grab the bound portion of the blade with my free hand.
I twisted to hack the sword into my third opponent's clavicle. His axe slammed into my stomach a moment before the blade hit. His armour, a set of rough, studded leather, didn't survive the force behind my swing as well as my steel plate and elven chain lasted against the blunt head of his axe.
I felt the greatsword bind in his ribs and spine and turned to regard Farkas. He was running a longsword through the woman I had shocked and I figured he had recovered. I released the greatsword's hilt to free my hands so I could charge a shot of flame between them. The fire bolt impacted in the first man's face and his skin, hair and flesh scorched away in an instant. A charred skull stood staring at me for a fraction of a second before the body collapsed.
A sharp grunt alerted me to the chief's oncoming blade. I was then entirely certain that at least one of the bones in my forearm was snapped. The thin steel plate across the back of my arm fractured in half and flew away from my gauntlet. My shoulder and neck were fairly sore from the attack as well. I was thankful for my elven chain stopping the dull steel blade, though I noticed a few rings soaring away from the shirt. It was a good thing I had manufactured spares.
I spun and slammed my palm into the bandit chief's face, pressing the centre against his eye so my fingers could lace into his dirty hair and get a strong grip. The stream of flames took just under two seconds to burn through his head and leap out the back of his skull. His brain was gone before he had the thought to scream.
"You alright?" I heard Farkas ask as he wrenched his sword from the corpse it was caught in.
"All things considered," I grunted and tore away what remained of my gauntlet. It hadn't lasted long but I felt it had done its job. I didn't know if my Histskin would regrow my limbs and didn't care to find out. I flexed my hand and winced at the throb of pain that raced through the limb. It was a shame that I had exhausted my magical reserves. There was no way I could conjure enough of a healing spell to even lessen the swelling. "How about you? The hit you took in the back looked pretty bad."
He shrugged and shook his head. "Not really. He just caught me in a bad spot and my sword slipped." His lips perked up in a smirk. "Good to see that you can use a real sword."
"I don't know that I've ever used a greatsword in a real fight before. I forgot how damn heavy they are when you're swinging them around," I rolled my strained shoulder. The pain in my possibly broken arm had reduced to a dull ache.
"It's a good thing you've got the strength to do it."
"I still don't think I'm as strong as you are. You were throwing them around with that thing," I gestured to the sword.
We started back towards Whiterun while Farkas's face split into a grin."My Shield-Brothers have always said that I've got the strength of Ysgramor, and my brother Vilkas has his smarts." I pondered on whether or not that was a backhanded compliment the whole way back.

A/N: I'm actually fairly happy with how most of this chapter turned out, even if I'm not so pleased about it taking a month to grind out. You all really must be more diligent in incessantly badgering me into action. After all, fan fiction authors are powered by feedback; that's just science. As always, tell me what you liked or didn't or whatever and I'll be happy to answer any questions or concerns you may have.
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The Line Begins to Blur