Michael Wilson

Rose turned then and spoke to the adventurer, “let’s get her settled carefully and securely into the boat and be on our way. Please be careful with her, there are some furs in the boat you can use to wrap her up a bit to keep her warm. It will be cooler once we’re out on the lake until we get to my camping site.”

They both boarded the boat and set out for the camp located further away from the hunter camp, near to the fort that had sunk and close to a cavern of some type. She told him that this site was chosen because of its location. It would keep most people from being too curious and it was convenient for her with its location so close to the water, good hunting nearby and the mountains rising behind them.

The huntress then asked the adventurer, “Would you please place her down in my lean-to? It will protect her from the elements, and I can hang some furs over the front at night to keep her warm and give us both some privacy when I need it to work on her recovery.”

He nodded, turned towards the lean-to, bent carefully down on one knee. He then set her down onto the soft furs, reached out and touched her on her cheek, and whispered, “Sleep gently and may the healing winds of blessings of Kynareth touch you.” She moaned briefly then a gentle warm breeze blew over them at the campsite.

“Kynareth, the goddess of the heavens, the winds, the sea, the elements, and the unseen spirits of the air”, the huntress thought quietly to herself, “She sensed the blessing of the goddess Kynareth, it was one of the nine and the first who sided with the original intent of some of them to support humanity in a positive gesture of good will.”

She turned then as she bent over the injured girl. She worked the armor loose and gently examined the obvious areas of injury. She then said to him, “Oh my, she’s injured bad. There’s a cut from the sword that made its way through her armor. It will take time, and I’ll need some help.”

She paused then asked, “We, I, and the girl, will need some help until she recovers. Will you, can you stay? At least until she is healthy enough to sit up on her own and help take care of her needs?”

All conversation paused, she stood up and walked over to a stump that had been set down near the fire. She looked first at the injured girl, then up at this person who had dropped everything to help her and waited.

You could hear the soft moaning of the injured girl, her raspy breathing, the hissing of the sap being boiled in some of the wood laid out for the fire. The sound of waves lapping onto the shoreline where they were camped, the creaking of the wood of the boat they had taken to arrive here were all swirling sounds around them.

 He stood there a moment, his eyes closed briefly, as if listening for some inner guidance to respond. He opened his eyes turned his head towards her then said, “Of course I will stay and help, what is it you need? What can I do for the both of you?”

She responded, “Can you travel back to Riverwood and get some clean bandages, more clean furs, or blankets, and maybe a healing spell if they have one? We need all the help we can get right now to get her on her way to recovery. “

She continued, “You can go to the Riverwood Trading Store and ask either Luken or his sister Camilla. They will sell you what you need. Please don’t tell them anything though about why we need them. I don’t want to endanger them; they are good people.”

His lips formed into a slight smile, “Of course, I will be careful as to not bring any unwarranted attention. I would not want any harm to happen either to them, or anyone else in the town. It will be okay.”

She chuckled lightly at his warm response, “Be careful as the Thalmor may still be either in the town of Riverwood or nearby. Make sure you have some sort of Alibi concerning what you’re up to. We don’t need them sniffing around the hunter’s camp or scouting the fringes of the lake.”

He said, “Of course, I’ll get going right away. Do you want me to use the boat or leave it here for you?” She said, “No, take it with you. I need you back here as quickly as you can with those bandages and blankets. I will stay here and care for our girl.”

The ascent to the top of the ridge where the road winded down from the crossroads was just ahead. He thought, “She’ll likely stop there to scout ahead. I know I would.”

They arrived at the edge of the woods. There they halted, standing still in a cluster of trees and tall grasses swaying from the breezes often flowing through these mountains.

As they stood there amongst the dense hardwoods, pines, and rich soils he closed his eyes briefly, quietly thinking, “The deep scents of the woodlands were alive here. All the distinctive smells of this area filled one’s soul with a sort of renewal and energy.”

The huntress turned towards him, spoke softly, “Let me scout ahead a bit to make sure the way is clear. Wait here, and I’ll give you a signal once I have assured there are no more of them around.” He nodded his agreement and waited there as he watched her slide out of the Shadows.

She made her way down the road towards the three standing stones, below them and along the White River was the hunter’s camp where her boat was expected to be.

He could see her pause near the three stones, where she would be able to look in both directions, up towards where he stood in the deep shadows of the woodlands and down the road towards Riverwood where they had last seen the Thalmor from on top the rise.

It wasn’t long after that the huntress signaled to him that it was clear to bring her to where she stood next to the standing stones. These stones were also known as the stones of fate. There were thirteen in all, according to lore each one would grant a powerful blessing. Each blessing type varied due to the nature of the stone and its ties to either the Aedra or Daedra.

It was a legend of the Nords, the most populous people living in Skyrim, that these stones would allow heroes of old to rewrite their fates.

He walked close to the edge of shadows alongside the road as a precaution as he made his way down to the huntress who stood near the stones. Once there he could see the hunter’s camp located below them. The White River was flowing gently by this hunter’s camp located near the beginning of what would become lake LLinalta, the source of the river.

The huntress turned towards him and spoke, “How’s our girl doing? My boat is right down there. Let’s get her to it. The quicker we can get all of us to my camp. The quicker were able to save her, get her recovering enough to be back on her feet again. Maybe, we’ll discover a bit from her about her story.”

The adventurer responded, “She’s holding up, I think this is one strong girl. However, I agree, we need to get her to your camp and see what can be done to save her.”

The huntress nodded her agreement, she turned and walked down to the hunter’s camp where there was one person who came forward quick to speak with her. “Rose, are you crazy? What are you doing bringing this girl into our camp and who is this? Can we trust him?”

Rose responded to the hunter, “Hedren, I am not going to let Thalmor have this girl, I don’t care what the cost is to me. I plan on taking her to my camp anyway, so we’ll be far enough away soon, and you’ll be safe.”

Hedren went quiet for a moment losing some of the initial bluster he showed then asked, “What about him? You still didn’t answer my question.” Rose responded, “You know Hedren, sometimes, you just must trust another person without always expecting the worst from them. He has carried her all the way here without a single complaint. How many people do you know would do that for a couple of total strangers?”

Hedren responded, “Okay, but you better get her secured in the boat and be on your way. You know where to find me. I’ll be headed into Riverwood in the morning to help Alvor with the smithy work that has been picked up if you need me for anything.”

They arrived at the spot where the injured girl lied crumpled in the thick grasses with pieces of tree branches all around her from when she fell through the trees.

He didn’t say anything but turned and bent to his knees before the crumpled form. He reached out to gently touch her face to see what he could determine with his own senses.  Something happens, upon his fingers touching her skin, he sensed a connection to this girl and felt something pass between them with his initial touch.

He thought briefly, “That was odd, I’ve never felt anything like that before, it was like our souls leaped out to touch each other. It was as if there was a testing of trust between us.” He then inspected her to ensure there were no broken bones, carefully extended his reach under her and lifted her into his arms.

When he lifted her up, she leaned towards him as if to say, “I am safe now. She appeared to sense something from him that she felt comfortable with and had not felt for a long time now.”

The huntress turned, looked briefly at them,

then began to lead them away towards the camp and her boat. He followed not far behind her, and looked first at the huntress, then at the person leaning into him as he followed not far behind. He thought, “Strange events are a foot here, two people in one day, separated only by moments, that I felt such a deep connection to.” He mused, “There’s something so familiar though with this girl I carry, hmm!”

The Huntress came to the top of a rise that overlooked the road leading down towards Riverwood. She raised her hand to gesture for silence. As the adventurer arrived at the place she stood. She said, “Look below, Thalmor soldiers! If you come closer to the edge and where I stand you can see them as they make their way into Riverwood.

The adventurer made his way carefully to the edge, still holding the injured girl who leaned into him. Down below, he could see the Thalmor and Dominion regulars making their way slowly towards Riverwood. He thought to himself, “They must be giving up the hunt for the day and going into Riverwood for the evening.

Behind him, the huntress quietly said, “Come on, we’ll need to take another way up past the old mine. I think we can still make it into the hunter’s camp and my boat if were quiet enough.” He carefully stepped back, turned slowly, and followed her further up the trail past Embershard mine.

They made their way up past the old mine. He thought briefly, “Lucky today, no one on guard duty currently if the stories of the bandits are actually true!”

He began his walk down towards the town of Riverwood. He knew he wasn’t far now keeping his senses high for any movement coming from behind him or up towards the mine. As he neared a bend in the road where the ridge on the right side rose up towards a cliff face, he heard a running movement, and his hand went to his sword. He did not pull it but watched with his senses alert. He saw a huntress coming towards him from the general area of the base of the cliff line.

As she neared him, she called out, “Help, could you please provide some assistance.” He stopped and relaxed his grip on the handle of his sword. She came to a stop up the hillside a little and waited. He thought to himself, “She’s trying to demonstrate she meant no harm but taking a neutral position. I’ll go up and speak to her, she seemed generally concerned about something.”

He closed the distance between them and came close enough for them to find out why she sounded so urgent about something. As he neared her, he had noticed she was attractive, had auburn hair, pretty eyes that sparkled with intelligence and wit.” He thought to himself, “she was also in good shape from her days spent in the woods for he had noticed her huntress outfit.  

He mused, “there something else here, a sense of connection to her, he sensed she felt it too.” He smiled inwardly, “you know, there are times when you just connect without words ever being spoken to someone.” As they met there in the foothills of the mountains, she greeted him and began to talk.

“Please, I don’t know who you are or what your purpose is for this day, but I really could use your help.” Their eyes met briefly, then she continued, “I was doing some hunting for small game, when I heard what sounded like a small clash coming from up on that ridge.” She pointed upwards towards the upper ridge that could be seen above them. “

She paused a moment, then continued, “She was in a fight. She lost her balance when one of them struck her. She saved herself by allowing herself to fall. This likely cushioned her because of the trees and the thick blanket of grasses that grow close to the cliffsides. Would you please follow me and lend a hand, I can’t do this on my own?”

She paused and waited for my response, “Who was she in a fight with?” Her eyes glinted with consideration at that moment, but she must have determined something about him and said, “The Thalmor, I know what you’re likely thinking, do I really want to get myself involved with a Thalmor incident?”

He thought a moment but before being able to respond she blurted out with her eyes beginning to pool with tears, “Please, she will likely die without our help. I have a small camp out on the lake, if I can get your help to get her there, we might be able to save her.”

At that point he committed then told her, “Let’s go, lead me to where she is.” She responded, “I can’t tell you how much this means to me. I don’t know why, but I feel something is important about this girl. That we need to do all we can to save her if we can?”

He turned then, walked down the road a bit more than saw the ancient stone structure that stood out up the mountain. He thought to himself, “Supposedly, one of the great burial borrows of dragon priest who used to serve the dragons long ago.”

His eyes closed, his thoughts continued, “Many believed the dead still served their ancient masters; both priests and dragons alike in those places.” There was a sudden whisper in that ancient tongue, “Fus” he thought he heard. It stirred his blood and sent a wave of belonging through him. He paused then thought, “I should be continuing my way back to Riverwood. The old abandoned mine had rumors that bandits were using it to collect the treasures they had gotten from travelers who had come along this road and been unfortunate enough to become their next victim.

He thought to himself as he continued his walk towards the three standing stones, “What were the Thalmor doing in Riverwood area? What has happened to bring them so far south from their embassy north of Solitude, the capital hold of Skyrim?” He mused as he came upon the three standing stones; Thief, Mage, and Warrior and absently rested his hand on the Warrior Stone.

The stone began to vibrate upon his touch. There was a bright light that formed within its core that then shot to the heavens cracking with the power of something hidden within it. He was not totally surprised by this considering the Nords believe their fates could be changed by using one of the thirteen known standing stones found throughout Skyrim.

He stepped onto the road from the stone that had been formed when the three standing stones were created. Walked to just before Embershard Mine and saw the old Barrow far across the White River standing there outlining the sky with its carved statues from ancient times.

He turned, closed his eyes briefly and felt the hum of the stone. He felt it every time he was in the vicinity of this barrow, as if something inside it was calling out to him in some ancient tongue. He stood there with the winds blowing down, the water racing away towards Riverwood and beyond, and the barrow behind him.

He thought to himself, “It is said that it was once home of one of the ancient Dragon Priest that existed in the first era of that age, when Dragons still dotted the sky. They were said to have been sealed away for using the sacred fires of the priests of Kyne. It was also thought, that only one with voice of a Dragon could truly slay a Dragon Priest. “

He paused then, let the wind chill his exposed facial skin, thought, “A person speaking in the tongue of the ancient Dragons, it was supposedly something that had been done a long time ago, but it sounded like nonsense. I mean a human who can speak with the power of the Dragons of old, imagine that!”

He considered which way to go and decided, “I think I’ll go down past the standing stones.” He mused, “Yes, the Thief, Mage, and Warrior stones.” He considered, “That way I can enjoy the waterfalls along the White River before arriving back in Riverwood.”

As he continued to walk down the road, he came upon some Thalmor who appeared to be searching for something or someone. He saw an Imperial scout with his two dogs with them. He considered this a moment, “Must have been assigned that thankless duty by some thoughtless commander. The Thalmor would of course use him and the dogs to assist them, but respect them, treat them as equals. No, he thought, they were no different than the Nords who cried out for a land free of any other races.”

He thought it odd though, “no one appeared to be doing anything other than meandering along the road.” He considered this, “What were they waiting for, were they actively hunting someone down?” He had decided to pass them quietly unless stopped or they asked him a question.

As he walked past them, one of them called out with a harsh tone to the other regular soldiers and Imperial scout, “What do you mean, you can’t find her? Must I do everything myself?” He continued passing the small company, he thought, “The one on the horse giving strong commands must be a Justiciar” Then one of the regular Dominion noticed him and said, “Move along, this is none of your business.”

He stopped briefly and stood there, listening to see if anything else was going to be said. He never turned around to face them. In a few short minutes, he continued walking on his way as if he was not concerned with what they were doing.

He could sense they were watching him carefully as he passed them, stood briefly, then continued towards wherever his destination was.