Katastrophe
King of Tales
Part XIV - More Than a Wolf
It sounds to Ri’saad as though your path is set.” It was still early in the morning and two friends were standing on the edge of their camp, overlooking the planes of Whiterun. Irvine had woken early and sobered up, deciding to stop and tell Ri’saad of all that had happened and all that he planned to do. “It is not for one such as me to judge your actions, but I believe your journey will lead to the answers you seek.” Irvine had told his friend that he planned to head west, back to Rorikstead, where he would turn in the woman at the Bannered Mare. He would then head south, back to Falkreath and collect his old bounty and to see just exactly what the Jarl desired from him. From there, he hoped to head to Windhelm and discover more about why he was under attack from a group of assassins. Ri’saad turned back to Irvine, his expression far more solemn than the Redguard had ever seen it. “Stay off the roads and do not linger, my friend. If word has reached Falkreath, word has reached them. They will be after you and watching the roads as before. You cannot lose them - only put distance.” Irvine nodded and the two exchanged a hearty handshake before Irvine headed off into the planes from the back of their camp.
The trip to Rorikstead proved to be far less eventful then the previous venture. There was a brief instance where the massive shadow of a dragon flew over the landscape and Irvine took over amongst some rocks, but thankfully the beast flew off with a series of roars. Assassins on the roads and the dragons in the wilderness. The hunting had been good, although it primarily consisted of wolves. He came across a pair of dead sabre cats that he didn’t hesitate to skin, but thankfully no living ones were spotted. There had been a skeleton clutching a lockbox containing jewelry but no other living person was spotted for the entire journey and he took that as a good thing. When Rorikstead finally came back into view, he wasn’t surprised to see it almost exactly as how he had left it. It wasn’t until he walked into the Frostfruit Inn and saw the two Alik’r sitting there that Ri’saad’s worst began to set in. Was it right to just turn this woman in based on the word of two men that he had originally seen harassing a woman in the wild? How could he be sure that they weren’t lying? He had taken many lives in the past few days for his own profit, but to sell someone out was too much.
“Have you any news for us, brother?” one asked, leaning forward in his chair to hear what Irvine had to say. He simply shook his head.
“I came only to inform you that I will not be in Whiterun for a few days,” he said, trying his best to sound disappointed. “I didn’t want you sitting around all that time expecting me.” The two warriors turned and shared a disappointed frown before the first looked back, nodding.
“We understand. Thank you for your notice, but we have orders to wait here, should see flee.” With that, the conversation was over and they both turned back to their book and their meal. Irvine turned towards the bar and breathed a sigh of relief before approaching the old man, Mralki. He ordered a meal and started conversation with the old man while it was cooking.
“It’s been awhile since I’ve been here,” he said, not sure exactly where to start. “How is your son, Erik?”
“He’s just fine,” replied Mralki. Irvine had the feeling he sensed where this was going.
“Still dreaming of adventures?” At this, Mralki paused his cooking and came back to the counter, his eyes cold as ever.
“Look, friend, we’ve been over this before: unless you’re willing to prepare Erik for adventure, he stays put. He's asked every passer-by to try and convince me and none have.” With that, Irvine set a large bag of coins on the table and Mralki eyed them with bot eagerness and suspicion.
“In this bag is over 600 gold septims,” Irvine began, pushing the bag a bit closer to Mralki. “You will use this coin to buy equipment for your son from someone in the village, and he will accompany me on my journey back to Falkreath, where I will instruct him. Beyond that, whether to return to to carry on, is his decision. Do we have an agreement?” Mralki considered this for awhile, taking the bag and letting the coins jingle loudly before he finally nodded, agreeing to the terms. While Mralki went out to buy the necessary items, Irvine at his meal in peace. When Mralki returned, he gave the equipment to Irvine who took it out to the fields where Irvine was working.
“Oh, Irvine!” Erik called out, waving energtically and rushing over to him. “It’s been a long time! How have you been?” he asked, then began to eye all of the armor piled in Irvine’s arms. “What’s all this?”
“This is for you,” he said, pushing the equipment on to Erik who stared at the pile with disbelief. “I convinced your father to let you adventure, as you wanted, but under the condition you follow me to Falkreath in order to gain some experience outside of Rorikstead. From there, you can decide what you want to do.” Erik’s excitement was unimaginable and it as all Irvine could do to calm him and direct him to the inn to change and prepare. Awhile later, Erik emerged, glad in iron armor and ready to go, the biggest smile Irvine had ever seen plastered across his face.
“So Falkreath, huh?” Erik asked as they set off down the road. Irvine nodded in response, his eyes scanning the roadside ahead, just in case. He knew he couldn’t yet bring Erik through the wilderness and was taking a risk for them both just by bringing him along but Irvine felt as though he might need his company. If he were being honest with himself, he simply wanted someone to bounce ideas off of as he went. “What’s there in Falkreath?”
“I got a letter from the Jarl the other day,” he began, still focused on the road ahead. “It says he has a job for me, but I’m not sure what it is. I also have a bounty collect from about a week ago.” This last part didn’t seem to settle well with Erik, but he didn’t say anything about it, so Irvine continued. “I need to tell you some things, Erik, because both myself and your father have some concerns about your ability to adapt out here. I want to tell you a story, if that’s alright with you?” Erik nodded, and Irvine continued. “I was raised as a hunter. My father and I spent my whole life living off the land. We weren’t adventurers, by any means. He passed away, and I came to Skyrim.”
“I’m sorry for your loss,” said Erik, his eyes fixated on Irvine rather than the road ahead.
“Don’t be,” he continued with a shrug. “I’ve moved on. I’ve moved so far on, in fact, that I’ve realized something - something I don’t think you quite understand.” Irvine had seen something further up the road, but Erik didn’t. He wanted it to stay that way. “The life you’re choosing, that of an adventurer, it’s more difficult then you think. It’s not all travels and heroics - there’s a lot of death and, if you aim to survive, a lot of killing.” Irvine stopped and Erik did too, the two locking eyes. “Do you have what it takes to kill someone, Erik?”
“Alright, drop your valuables!” An Argonian that Irvine had spied hiding in the shadow of a bluff ahead emerged, sword drain. Irvine had thought it was incredibly foolish upon the thief’s part to try and rob two people at the same time, but apparently he didn’t think so. Irvine looked at Erik and found him only shifting his gaze from Irvine to the bandit and then back again. “I won’t ask again! Drop ‘em!”
“Well, Erik?” Irvine asked, motioning to the thief. “Can you?” Mistaking that as his cue, the bandit lunged at Erik, his sword clashing against Erik’s breastplate as he turned, luckily saving his life. The young man stumbled back and Erik raised his arm, the next blow sliding off his bracer. Erik quickly drew his own sword and lunged forward but the lizard leapt to the side, his tail sweeping out to trip the Nord. As Erik fellt face first into the dirt, the image of Irvine became visible to the lizard, bow notched, and then red as his arrow struck the thief in one of his eyes. He let out a blood curdling scream and ripped the arrow out by the shaft, tossing it to the side. The skin around his eye seemed to ooze, the puss crawling into the wound, sealing it. Irvine notched another arrow, casting a glance at Erik who was crawling across his belly to reach his sword. The thief ignored Irvine and quickly ran over, kicking Erik onto his back. He spun his sword round, ready to plunge it into Erik’s head, when Irvine’s second arrow pierced his hand, causing him to drop the sword. Erik grabbed the thief’s sword and plunged it through the Argonian’s chest. He yelled and screamed, thrashing his claws at Erik before his body finally went limp, Erik pushing him aside and scrambling to his feet. He ran off to the side of the road and threw up.
“I’ve never even killed a wolf,” he said, wiping trickles of vomit from his lips with the back of his hand. “I’ve never even killed a wolf.” Irvine came up behind him and patted him on the back gently.
“Come on - we need to keep moving.” After allowing the young man a few more moments to lose his lunch, the two continued, although slowly, down the road. It wasn’t until they had ascended the path that lead through the mountain range that Irvine began to head off the path.
“Where are we going?” Erik asked, standing back on the road. Irvine waved him to follow.
“To see an old friend of mine,” he told him, turning back to continue walking. As they rounded a small hill, a familiar shack came in to view, smoke steadily rising from the fire pit. “Ivy? Are you here?” he called out, walking slowly to allow Erik to keep up. A familiar tan face appeared in the window of the hut, her blonde hair bobbing with her excitement as she ran out, throwing her arms around Irvine.
“Oh, Cub!” she exclaimed, giving him a hug before stepping back to look at him. “Well, you’re not much of a Cub anymore, are you?” She laughed before turning her attention to Erik. “You have a friend now?” She smiled, offering her hand to the young man. “My name’s Ivy, and you are?” Before Erik could reply, Irvine answered for him.
“This is Cabbage,” he said, extending a hand to show he meant Erik. “He’s a farmer turned adventurer.” Ivy laughed, nodding.
“Ah, I see. Well, it’s a pleasure to meet you... Cabbage.” Erik sputtered before giving up, shuffling off to the side. “What brings you back here, Cub?” Irvine paused before unloading his furs and handing them to Erik, pointing to the tanning rack.
“Do me a favor and tan these for their leather, we’ll need them.” Erik nodded and did as he was instructed allowing the two hunters to sit by the far on some chopped tree logs. “I’m here for many reasons, Ivy. The first is Cabbage. He’s a good lad with a fire to travel, but he isn’t ready.”
“I could have told you that,” she replied, disappointed. “Why the hell would you bring him out here then?”
“If I didn’t set him on the road and prepare him myself, he’d do it anyways and would die not ten minutes outside his town.” Ivy turned to watch Erik at the rack, considering what Irvine had said before turning back and nodding. “I also needed the extra sword arm.”
“Why? You’re a capable hunter,” she said, confused. For a moment, he debated whether or not to tell her what was going on but figured she’d pick up on it anyways.
“A few days ago I was attacked by an assassin. She was carrying this,” he produced the assassin’s note and handed it to her. Ivy read it once, twice and her eyes went wide.
“But who-”
“I don’t know,” he said, cutting her off. “I have a well-connected friend who promised to look into it, but I fear it may not be enough, as does he. I need to resolve this on my own.”
“So then why here? Why Falkreath? Why him?” she pointed to Erik who was struggling on the rack, but no one offered any assistance.
“I’m multi-tasking,” he said, shrugging. “I’m showing Cabbage how ill prepared he is, I’m answer the Jarl of Falkreath’s letter, collecting my bounty, and then I’m headed to Windhelm.”
“Windhelm?” she asked, puzzled. “Why the hell would you travel all the way to the heart of the rebellion?”
“I’ve heard of a boy who’s trying to contact the Dark Brotherhood up there,” he said. Judging by her expression, he was obviously losing her. “I plan to set a trap for them and figure this out for myself.” Ivy was silent for a good while, considering his plan. Finally, she shook her head.
“I don’t like it, Cub. It’s dangerous,” she said, reaching over to put a hand on his shoulder.
“So is walking the streets until this is dealt with,” he replied, patting her hand. “That is where I need a favor from you. When I get to Falkreath, I’m going to give Erik some proper equipment and see what the Jarl wants. I want him to take this road back home, to Rorikstead. I want you to follow him and see him there safely.”
“Aye, I can do at least that,” she answered, standing. “Hey Cabbage! Come and eat!” Erik looked up and dropped what he was doing, the three of them preparing a meal of rabbit and wine. When they were done, night was falling and Irvine requested that the two be allowed to stay at Hunter’s Rest for the night, a request that Ivy was more than willing to fulfill. Irvine instructed Erik to continue his work on the leather and when he was finally done, the three settled into bed for the night.