This is purely for disclaimer purposes, as I wrote in the prologue and the 1st chapter, I do not own any part of the Elder Scrolls video game series. Also using inspiration from popular Xbox ONE "mods," this story is written purely for fun.
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My eyes flashed open, my mind still fuzzy as my self-waking spell I cast woke me on time, about an hour before dawn. Since I was still laying naked, next to my new slave, I needed to get my armor on, and the rest of my equipment ready. One may have thought that I should have a horse for carrying most of what I used for when I needed it, but too often, I found them all too easily killed by bandits, or predators in general when traveling the wilderness. Or if not killed, then frightened off. As I said to Carlotta, the world is a dangerous place. The fastest way for a sellsword dependent on their horse to become hindered in a bad way, is for said horse to be killed. Of course, I could stash all of it with the spell my shaman taught me, but I also couldn't keep it personally on me, if I don't trust the wilderness to a horse. So, I pack light instead.
But, next to me was a large, decently muscular nord man who could carry all of the food for Uthgerd and I. Also, if Mikael proved himself a well-behaved slave, then he could have more "rewarding" time from myself, and Uthgerd, assuming she would also enjoy it, of course.
"Wake up Slave!" I lightly scratched him with one of my claws.
"Ah!!" He said in shocked surprise, rather than pain.
"I concede that you have had, and still do, have a life outside of my presence. BUT, when you ARE in my presence, your concerns are to thought of, only AFTER mine. My concern right now, is that you can serve me, and fighting companion, by carrying our food and possibly whatever valuable items that Uthgerd and I find in the ruins of Bleakfalls. I understand that even if you are a nord, that you're a bard, and not suited to exploring ruins. So, you will carry what we want, until we arrive at the ruins, have I made myself clear?"
"Uh, Mistress?" He cautiously tried.
"Yes," I confirmed "that is the ONLY way you are to address me when you are my presence, until I tell you otherwise. Ask your question."
"Uh... Mistress, may I know what you will do with me when we arrive at Bleakfalls?"
"I haven't decided yet. I give you leave to dress and eat a breakfast for the morning, but then you WILL meet me outside the Bannered Mare when you are finished. Understand me?"
"Yes, Mistress."
"Good. Get to it. NOW."
He hastened to grab his clothes from the room's floor as I dressed in my ebony suit. Again, I had no care at all for his embarrassment at his seeing my nakedness while dressing, and made no attempt to hurry or hide my intimate parts.
Soon, Mikael, Uthgerd and I were all standing outside the tavern. Uthgerd was wearing the same steel plate she wore last night, of course, but she also kept an unusual shield clipped to the left side of her waist. I was in my ebony, with my daedric bow hanging on my right thigh, my black glass sword in its sheath on my left.
"You're taking him along?" Uthgerd was confused. "You know he's just a bard, not a fighter right?"
"Yes." I replied "But after I saw how he talked with Carlotta last night, I felt a sense of sisterly camaraderie for her. So, I've taken it upon myself to 'help' Mikael here understand women better. Since he has apparently often thought of himself as Mistress Dibella's 'gift' to women, it has occurred to me that perhaps he should understand that a more meaningful 'gift' is in 'servitude.'"
Then I quickly turned to Mikael, "Isn't that right, 'SLAVE?!'"
"Er... y-y-yes, Mistress." He answered timidly.
"Good!!" Uthgerd laughed loudly, clearly enjoying this "With your permission, 'Mistress' Scarlet, maybe I could participate in his 'training...'"
"Oh," I grinned broadly "but of course, 'Mistress' Uthgerd..."
Then after we had our fill of laughter much to my slave's discomfort, I spoke again.
"Please, lead the way, fellow 'Mistress.'"
"Thank you..." Uthgerd smiled as she obviously enjoyed the idea of what I was suggesting "The marketplace has a nice selection for extra supplies that your slave can carry easily, such as the food, lockpicks and soul gems. You're probably going to want to be the one to carry the climbing rope and spikes. I believe I may know of a shortcut to Bleakfalls, that would take us faster than the main road, but the trail is steep there."
"Alright," I said as we started browsing through the stalls who were opening earliest "what about this shortcut then?"
"Oh," Uthgerd explained "all the best sellswords look for ways to get to our clients' targets quickly. Whether they are a bunch of farmers asking about getting rid of a bandits harassing their rural community, or perhaps the guard wanting some extra help in tracking an escaped criminal, it's essential that you know the layout of the land. The shortcut is a trail that the frost trolls made as they come down to look for deer, or other prey in the fields. The mountains are lower there than the Throat of the World, but cold enough for them to be comfortable there."
"I've faced off with some of Cyrodiil's forest trolls, they seemed worse than bears."
"Yes, trolls are worse, because they're just about as strong, but they can stand on their hind legs all the time, so they're faster. They also recover their health and stamina faster than any bear would. But- uh... how good are you with Destruction magic anyway?"
I thought about it. I was fairly certain that I may have mastered my skill with Alteration, and knew a good variety of Destruction spells, but figured that I there were still more I could learn. I knew about four Restoration based spells too.
"I know quite a few in Destruction, though I think I haven't mastered it like I have in Alteration. I don't know many Restoration spells, though one of those I have is Grand Healing."
"Ah your style is that of a spellsword then?"
"Yeah." I answered, buying a few strips of a darkly colored jerky. The wood elf said it was "horker," though I hadn't ever heard of them before entering Skyrim. "Trolls are weaker to fire than the average beast, correct?"
"Yes. We shouldn't have a problem if your flame is 'hot,' and you can 'keep it up.'"
I answered Uthgerd's comment with turning around to face empty air, and created from my hand, a constant, concentrated stream of fire pointing into the sky. It resembled the dragon's that I saw yesterday afternoon, except that this was in miniature.
"That'd probably do it." Uthgerd said with real admiration. "Along with some swings from my big axe if they can still get too close. You might want to be careful with your magic here though. Most people in Skyrim are distrustful of magic in general."
I extinguished it with a puff, and a pout, but I had to admit she might have been right. Soon, we had the extra supplies we needed, and left the city gate by seven. Uthgerd led me and my 'slave' past a battle-scarred watchtower in the field an hour's walk out from Whiterun. It had definitely seen better days, but still looked strong.
As Uthgerd said, the barely noticeable trail was steep. A simple, slight, depression in the slope of the low mountains' sides, with the shape of a switchback. Even with the thin layer of new snow on the rising flanks, we could see trolls' prints, and I noticed the subtle stench in my nostrils, but none were visible now. They may have seen us, but trolls don't usually seem to have the patience for ambush tactics like lions had in Cyrodiil. Still, we were watchful.
After another hour of climbing though, I found the reason. Apparently frost trolls(or these, anyway), seemed more nocturnal than their forest cousins. I saw three of them, all sleeping in a couple sheltering overhangs of the rock. I wanted VERY much to kill them and take the heads in for what I expected would be a nice bounty, but I had to be pragmatic, especially if Mikael was hopeless at fighting.
I also kept an eye out for any path that Carlotta's man might have used for his mine, but didn't see any connecting with our trail. However, I did see a particularly craggy area further off on our right, maybe 600 feet away, that had some poles standing a bit askew. They might've been old snags stripped bare by the wind, or they might've been old mine timbers. I couldn't tell from here, but I clearly saw there was no easy way to go get a closer look, and I certainly didn't want Mikael to know what I was looking for. Not that I didn't trust him to follow MY orders about MYself, but I didn't trust him completely in regards to Carlotta.
A few hours later, the trail had leveled out, connecting with a much wider one on the plateaued top of the mountain. The snow was deeper, the wind, a continual blowing of whitish cold, skidding eddies through the drifts, and against our faces. I had heard that nords had a stronger resistance to the cold than the other races, but I didn't ever really see it until the snow-blanketed city of Bruma. As for myself, most argonians, our reptilian natures meant we slowed down and got tired more often in the cold, though strangely, I barely noticed it in myself. I had first noticed, and thought about it in Bruma, but I had no idea exactly what it might mean.
I had learned from the Captain of the Count's guard there, that just before the Oblivion Crisis, the Fighter's Guild had an argonian member who seemed acclimated to the cold, but he still needed special clothes treated with Dragons Tongue flower extract, and a resist cold enchantment. I had wondered why he would have gone to that length just to live in Bruma, when his climate would have been warmer some other place, but that was around 200 years ago, so it's not like I could ask him.
