Skyrim's Saviors

35: Red Meridwulf

Taaren leads us to a secret, hidden tunnel that leads out of Silver Hand territory. We travel on foot for what feels like ages before we finally arrive at Whiterun's gates. Safi pulls a guard aside and tells him to get the Companions here ASAP. She doesn't think I will be able to walk into the city on my own two feet, and I am beginning to wonder how long it'll be before I black out from stress.

I am sure my red hair is turning white with the grief and stress I've gone through the past couple weeks. I'm honestly not sure how long I've been in Silver Hand custody. Far, far too long for it to be healthy.

We sit down just inside the gates of the city, and wait while the guards get word to the remaining Companions. I sit wholly still and stare at the ground. The cobblestones beneath me are awash in bright sunlight, and as I stare at them, memories flit about my mind like birds on skooma.

Suddenly, I am no longer here, but in Solitude with my brother, Juinare. Juinare and I are young, playing in the streets with our friends Imarea and a boy Imperial whose name I cannot recall.

Imarea and Juinare climb on top of the wall along the path leading up to the Castle Dour, and they laugh and laugh as they race along the edge of the stone structure. I watch them, patiently awaiting their return to the ground to keep playing with me.

But then, the sky darkens. There is fire in the streets and buildings all around us. Flaming rocks and arrows strike the ground at my feet, and I am yelling for Juinare. But amidst the chaos, I cannot find him.

Where is my brother? Where is my brother, where is my brother?!

That's all I can think of as I run through the streets and desperately try to find somewhere safe from the rebels' onslaught of chaos. I race through the streets of Solitude until I reach the staircase that winds down and out of the city. Blood smears the tiles of stone in here. The scent of it lingers thick in the air, and the tang of steel and sweat and fear and death lingers all around me, wrapping me up in its tight cocoon.

I run down the stairs, and then I slip and fall the rest of the way down them, becoming soaked in blood. Is it Imarea's blood? Is it Juinare's? Whose is it?

Then, I see the Imperial boy we played with. He is dead, his eyes staring sightless at the sky, so smeared with fire and smoke and ash that I cannot see the sun beyond. Or is it night time? I cannot tell.

The rebels have attacked. They've killed countless innocents. Or so they'd have you believe. The Thalmor orchestrated this attack today, something I'd learn about later on. The attack that separated me from my brother. The attack that killed my friend.

And that would have worked if people thought the Thalmor weren't lying the whole time. But since it is obvious that they concocted this story of the rebels attacking Solitude, no one believed them.

Or at least, many of us didn't believe them.

Suddenly, I am awoken by hands gently touching my face. Someone pulls me close to them and then I realize it is a hug, and it is Aela that is hugging me. She holds me close for a while, crying into my hair. I let loose my tears I'd been building up for so long, especially after Farkas's death.

Aela cries with me. Then, the sky opens up, and I think the gods themselves are weeping over his loss. It's just like when I thought I'd lost my brother. Maybe I did lose him. I just don't know. But it feels like I've lost everything.

I can only imagine how Vilkas feels now.