Lorkhan's Eclipse [A Skyrim Fanfiction]

14. Fate Unwritten

Skies aren't meant to look like this.

Impossibly dark clouds swirl around a brilliant, pale blue beacon that warms my face the same way a summer sun might. Ethereal auroras dance around the vortex in a chaos of twilight shades, keeping the place perpetually lingering on the border between day and night.

How did I get here?

I remember the draugr, dragging me into that massive cavern, throwing me down beside another dark stone sarcophagus. I remember the stone slab covering the inhabitant moving, grating as it slowly rose from its deathbed, the way the soulless eyes looked down at me. I remember skeletal hands with putrefied flesh hanging from the bones, wrapping around my throat as it lifted me up, its fetid mouth shaping itself as I felt... something being drawn from me. I remember trying to fight, but it was crushing my throat with both hands and my strength was failing, as if the thing was sucking my life force out of me.

I realise now, it probably was.

I'm lying on the ground at the top of a long flight of wide stone steps. Statues line the walkway, all of them facing me as I slowly rise to my feet. I expect to feel pain, if not from my body then at least from my throat - I vaguely recall something snapping in the draugr's grip, a sharp pain that stabbed into my skull as the rest of my body stopped responding. I run my hand over the back of my neck, feeling my spine intact. There aren't even any tender parts, any bruises or welts where I know the thing held me. I look down at myself, expecting to see any of the nicks or cuts I got during the adventure through the Barrow, but everything looks... cleaned. Uninjured, fresh, healthy.

What happened to the others? Killian, Hadvar, Hjeralt, Ralof? Do they know yet? Did they find another way past the trap, into the massive chamber? Did they kill the bastard who did this?

As my thoughts linger on Killian, I feel an ache in my chest. I remember him telling me about how we wound up in Skyrim, and now I think of him finding my body in front of the draugr's coffin. Will he be alright without me? God, he kept thinking everything was a game, will this snap him out of it?

If I wait here long enough, will he join me?

My throat is tight, vision blurring as I feel the telltale burning in my eyes. My legs weaken, and I sit on the top step, burying my face in my hands as I sob. The air here isn't cold, and as I eventually let the sobbing fade, I look up to see the sky has turned to fiery shades of yellow, gold, orange and red - like the sky at sunset on a cloudy day.

Eventually, I find the strength to find my feet again. I try to remember what Hadvar and Ralof said about Sovngarde, because although I can't be certain I'm fairly sure that's where I am. I never gave much thought to what would happen for us if we died in Skyrim, but I guess knowing that we end up in the Nord afterlife is... well, maybe that's a comfort. I wouldn't have to twist my mind learning about another world again.

The steps lead down to a lush valley with rocky hills and abundant flowers, the pathway at the steps' base weaving through the grassy fields. In the distance, though not too far off, a massive hall looms over the edge of what looks like an endless sea. I turn to look back behind me, and see only a plain stone wall. No going back.

I guess that makes sense.

I start down the steps, descending into the valley. Maybe if I do this without looking back, without thinking of what I'm leaving behind, maybe it'll be easier. I don't think I have much of a choice, anyway. I reach the bottom of the steps and, one last time, turn to look back. The sheer stone wall rises high, too high to even consider climbing, with the auroras seemingly appearing from behind it. At second glance, I realise all of the statues have turned, are still watching me - they faced me when I was at the top, but they continue to face me even after I've walked past them. Despite the eeriness of moving statues, I don't feel worried by this. I get the sense that they're guardians, watching over the entrance to make sure people enter the right way or something.