Skyrim: Rise of the Dragonborn

Chapter 12: Bleak Falls Barrow

After continuing in silence for an hour or so, Beric looked up from the snow that they both crunched through. He saw strange stone structures peeking from behind the rocks above them.

"Looks like we're getting close," Beric pointed up.

"Yeah," Drake grunted with his arms folded, "I don't know any fool who would want to hold up here. It's freezing up here. They must all be full blooded nords,"

"Probably," Beric nodded noticing his breath visibly rise in front of him, "Have you noticed any scouts?"

"No. You?" Drake asked as Beric shook his head, "Well, either they are more foolish than we thought, or we'll be seeing some soon," Drake said as they rounded a corner on the road. Both Drake and Beric immediately crouched behind a large rock when they saw a stone tower at another bend in the road that led up to the top of the mountain.

"Looks like you were right," Beric smirked as he observed the tower.

"I'm counting three," Drake whispered, "There's two at the entrance, and there's one at the top of the tower," he said pointing up to the top, "He has a bow,"

"Great, he'll see us coming,"

"Most likely. There also might be more in the tower," Drake said looking up to the sky, "It'll be dark soon and it looks like we're going to have some cloud cover," he mused observing the thick clouds that assembled as the light from the sun faded from the sky, "If it's still snowing, then we might have enough cover to sneak up on them,"

"Can't we just sneak past them?"

"Well, we could, but the entrance is most likely up there," Drake said pointing up to the structures above them, "If we end up openly engaging up there, then these guys will be rushing up to help the bandits up there. We'll be fighting on two sides. That's never good,"

"Hmm," Beric nodded, "So what's the plan then?"

"...Let me think about it. We shouldn't make a move 'til nightfall anyway," Drake whispered as he scrutinized the lay of the land around them, "Start preparing yourself to fight. It should be completely dark soon, and I'll have a plan by then,"

"Alright," Beric said as he relaxed behind the rock that hid them from view. He started to recall the sword techniques that Drake had shown him. He began to think about the techniques and how he would have to use them in the near future.

It wasn't long before the sky was a dark and hazy gray with large billowing clouds that opened their reserve of snow down onto the mountainside. The snow was so thick that Beric could barely see the tower.

"Looks like luck is on our side," Beric whispered.

"Don't jinx us," Drake muttered rubbing his shoulders.

"Do you have a plan?"

"Of sorts. It looks like there's a lower spot down there," Drake said pointing to their left, "It goes all the way to the tower. I was thinking that one of us could approach from there and the other could approach from uphill," he said pointing up the mountain to their right, "There's only one of them outside the tower. All of them including the archer have gone inside, so that one shouldn't be too much trouble if we take him out quickly,"

"Understood,"

"So, you're going to take the lower part and sneak up under that small bridge that leads to the tower and I'll come in from up there. We'll both sneak up on him and then one of us will take him out, depending on who can do it the easiest. We'll then try to sneak out way into the tower if he goes quietly,"