The Bears Shortcoming

Chapter 20 - Armeir

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(((AIDENS POV))) (4E 202 13th First Seed)

It had been two months since I left Riften. It was definitely a good idea to get out a travel a bit. For a while it was painful, he was all I could think about, but as time went on I managed to go an hour without thinking about Ulfric, then two hours, then three.

I'd seen some of the most amazing things, in Whiterun hold I found a mudcrab carcass, it dosent sound too exciting, except it was the biggest mudcrab I'd ever seen in my entire life. Its pincers must have been twice the size of one of my legs and it's black beady eyes sent weird shivers down my back. I'm definitely glad it was dead when I found it.

I also visited Markarth for the first time. The people were a bit odd but the architecture was just breath-taking. Markarth was obviously an incredibly old city, but everything was so well maintained. There were huge rocks and boulders everywhere, colossal stone towers and houses that seemed to have sprouted out of the rocks themselves. And not to mention the beautiful waterfalls that fall effortlessly next to Understone Keep.

I read so many books on dwarven history whilst I was there, and I don't think I've ever climbed so many stairs in my entire life. One of the scholars in understone keep told me that there's an entire dwarven city beneath markarth, but I don't think I believe him.

But the best thing I saw whilst I was out wandering Skyrim, was the aurora that appeared on a clear night. I was lying outside on an uncomfortable bed roll after a long day of walking, getting ready to go to sleep, when I looked up into the sky and I saw it. Beautiful tendrils of pink and green shimmering amongst the stars in the endless granite sky, framed by the mountains that were dotted around Skyrim, there is no way to explain how wonderful it was. I saw the aurora a few more times after that night, but it still had the same effect on me each time, I could have stared at it forever.

It was on the 13th of First Seed, when my days of travelling Skyrim came to an end once more.

It was a hot day and I was riding my horse along a cobbled road in Haafingar, when I stumbled across a body covered in blood. I could see that flies were starting to hover around the body but there was no foul smell. I got off my horse and stalked towards the corpse slowly, it was a male. As I got closer I noticed he was an elf...a wood elf. It was so long since I had seen another of my brethren in Skyrim, I ran towards him and felt for a pulse or anything to tell me he was alive.

He's still breathing!

I pulled him off the side of the road and into the welcoming shade of a nearby tree. He was covered in blood and there was a gaping wound in his stomach. I fumbled around in my bag for a healing potion or something to help him. I found a small red bottle of ailment and I fed it to him slowly. No response. I used the last of my water to clean his wound and I ripped up a spare belted tunic I had to dress it with. It had started to get dark.

I pulled his lifeless body further into the forest where I lit a fire and sat restlessly with my bow in my hand, watching over the wood elf.

(4E 202 14th First Seed)

I woke up to the feeling of warm sunlight on my face, I opened my eyes wearily but I was greeted with the bright light of the morning sun that forced my eyes closed again. Everything seemed normal but something was off...

And then I remembered the wood elf I had been taking care of the previous night before.

Shit! I must have fallen asleep!

My eyes snapped open but instead of seeing the wood elf dying on the ground as he had been the previous night before, he was standing right in front of me, pointing a familiar looking bow and arrow directly at my face. My bow and my arrows.

"Isn't that my bow?" I grunted, my voice was still hoarse from just being woken up.

The wood elf's brow furrowed and he looked at me sternly, but I could tell he was scared.

"Tell me who you are and where I am or I'll shoot you" His voice was slightly high pitched and I could hear Valenwood in his voice, it reminded me of some of the wood elf boys back home.

"No you won't" I yawned "I saved your life. Give me my bow back"

I started to move towards him but instead of doing what I asked his stance stiffened and he made ready to shoot me.

"Okay, okay" I said wearily, I put my hands up and sat back down slowly. "My name is Aiden. I was travelling and I saw you dying, so I dragged you into the forest and gave you a healing potion. We're not far from the road you were on before. We're still in Haafingar"

The wood elf looked at me, slightly confused for a second, and then lowered my bow with a quiet sigh.

"I am sorry. Such kindness is usually unheard of in this cold land. My name is Armeir"

"Nice to meet you Armeir" I said, picking up my bow and arrows and slinging them onto my back. "Do you know what happened to you out there?"

"Bandits" he said, rubbing his side "You did a good job at healing me. I don't have any gold to pay you with, the bandits took everything I had, but if there's anything I can do-"

"So what brings you this far from home?" I asked curiously.

"I'm on my way to solitude. The capital city"

Solitude. I thought to myself. I'd heard many stories about the city but I'd never been there, not even on jobs for the guild.

"Mind if I join you?"

Armeir looked at me with curiosity running over his expression, I was expecting him to say no, but then his mouth curved into a smile and he started walking through the trees and onto the cobbled path outside of the forest.

"Let's go"