Once they entered the barrow they could both see a vast open expanse of a dome that formed the first chamber. They saw figures ahead, Rigmor thought, “A man and a women arguing with each other about someone else.”
Rigmor quietly approached the guardian then whispered, “Do you think their friendly? Do you think we can reason with them?” The guardian turned, looked her deeply in the eyes without saying a word and she knew her instinct for wanting to believe they didn’t have to be reduced to the way of the sword was fool hardy and unlikely.
The guardian walked forward, quietly but not trying to hide his presence either. Rigmor came up behind him and slide her bow off her shoulders just in case. The conversation between the two grew louder as they approached through the shadowed chamber. The women spoke, “What do you think he’s doing, running off while we were sleeping? He was suppose to be watching while we both rested.” The man replied to her, “I don’t know but I am not going to run off into this old burial vault looking for him, especially with all the old stories of this once being the home of one of the dragon priests and his followers.”
They heard the guardian approach, the man pulled his two-handed long sword off his back and the women slide her bow off and notched it with an arrow trying to pierce the dark. The man then saw them and said, “That’s close enough you two. If you want to stay alive, you better turn around now. This is your one and only warning.”
Rigmor watched to to see what the guardian would do but she had her bow notched and ready with an arrow pointed directly at the women’s heart. The guardian kept approaching but had not drawn his sword. Then the man said, “Okay, don’t say I didn’t warn you.” He ran at the guardian with his two-handed sword raised to strike. The women behind him had pulled back on her draw, getting ready to let lose an arrow but Rigmor was already in motion and let loose the arrow that flew across the chamber striking the women in the heart. She crumbled to the ground before she was able to suck in the next breath.
The guardian had waited until the man was almost upon him then with the speed of a doe running through the woods stepped aside knocked the man off balance and a flash of the guardian’s blade could be seen flashing across the man’s exposed neck. The man’s forward momentum kept him moving forward briefly, then he fell to the ground dead as his companion.
The sudden appearance of a bright light floating near the guardian and a spirit wolf that popped in as if out of thin air had not gone unnoticed by Rigmor and she asked, “Guardian, are these lights and that spirit wolf you’re doing? Are you some kind of mage or something?”
He turned while sliding his sword back in its scabbard, “I don’t know, there’s something about this place. Something is coming alive within me. I feel like my blood is boiling, like its on fire or something.” Rigmor thought a moment then said, “I’ve read about these Nordic barrows. Some of them, quite possibly this one were said to have been the homes of the great dragon priest and their followers of the first era. You think that might possibly be connected to what your sensing?” The guardian was silent a moment then said, “come on, we’ll never learn by standing here. Let’s put these two in rest on their sleeping furs then continue.”
Rigmor thought to herself, “Even through death, he shows respect for those he did battle with. This one is different, I need to learn more about who he is.”