Bleak Falls Barrow

"Looks like the dragon craze is over."

I said as I gazed upon the village of Riverwood. Last time I was here, there were a lot of people. Some wanted to see the dragon with their eyes, and some wanted to run away from it. But this time the village was calm.

There were a lot of guards though. Must be because the village is too close to the dragon attack and also the dragons attacks weren't exactly rare at this point.

Every month or so, there would be news about the dragon attacks on some villages. But the situation was not completely out of control.

I feel like they have some sort of plan by not attacking much more frequently but I don't know why. And the civil war was not making things any better.

Skirmishes were reduced between the two groups because of the dragons but the war was still going strong.

Amidst my musings, I reached the smithy. Familiar man was working on crafting blades.

I watched as he looked pretty focused and I didn't want to disturb him. Luckily I didn't have to wait for long as he finished his work around thirty minutes later.

"How long are you going to watch from there?" Alvor said.

"I didn't want to disturb you." I shrugged.

"If only more customers were like you." He sighed. "Come on in. Sigrid must have finished cooking." Then he threw his hammer on the anvil and beckoned me inside.

I did as he asked and we sat at the table. "So? What brings you here Alaric?"

"I need to get to Bleak Falls Barrow."

"Bleak Falls Barrow? Why do you want to go there? Don't you know that place is filled with draugr?"

"Actually, all the tombs are filled with draugr. I am no stranger to them at this point. And I was tasked by the Jarl to go there and bring back something."

"What have you been up to this year, boy? You sound like you have grown up."

"Well, I joined the Companions, and have been doing some odd jobs here and there."

"Companions? Haha well done! I was a little bit suspicious when you asked me about the College but it looks like you were actually a true son of Skyrim after all! All we need is our steel. Let those cowards use their light show."

I lifted my finger to clarify the situation and say that I was using magic while being a Companion but then gave up on saying anything. "Haha thanks… anyways, about the Barrow?"

"You see that mountain over there?"

"Yes."

"Right on top of that. If you follow the road going West instead of East while going to Whiterun, you can get there in a few days with a horse."

"That's it?"

"What? You were expecting something?"

"I mean, if it was that close by and you all knew about it, why nobody has sacked the tomb yet?"

"Didn't you listen to me boy? The tomb is filled with draugr. But they don't attack us if we don't bother them. Why poke the hornet's rest? I would try to persuade you against going there but since it is a task from the Jarl, there is nothing I can say anymore."

"Oh I see. Well it was good to see you Alvor, Sigrid, but I have to go. I can't keep the Jarl waiting." I bid my farewell to the family and got on my horse.

On the way to the mountain peak, I was attacked by more Ice Wraiths than I could count. The climate was too cold, the road appeared to be made up of ice, so the mountain was home to a colony of Ice Wraiths.

Once I climbed enough, I could finally see the Barrow more clearly.

It screamed 'don't approach, I'm dangerous' from the outside. The building were humongous and had an eerie vibe to them.

But as I got closer, I could make out human voices.

'Wasn't this place supposed to be empty of living?'

I hid behind a rock and observed what was going on and to my surprise there really were some people there.

They were dressed in fur cloaks and armors and from the look of it they had a few enchanted gears. There was even an archer situated on the highest platform as a lookout.

"The dark elf wants to go on ahead, let him. Better than us risking our necks."

They were gathered around a bonfire as they chatted leisurely.

"What if Arvel doesn't come back? I want my share from that claw!" The archer shouted from high up.

"Just shut it and keep an eye out for trouble!"

"As if there would be anyone coming here to make trouble! We are literally at the highest peak of a mountain, went through hordes of ice wraiths and packs of ice wolves!"

"Quit lollygagging!"

"Yeah, whatever!"

So, another comrade of theirs named Arvel, a dunmer, went inside the Barrow. And a claw? A claw of what?

Well, gotta take care of these guys. I carefully approached under the platform, from the blindspot where the arched couldn't see me. And with a Magicka Burst, I jumped, landing right next to him.

"Wha-!" He was about to continue if not for my blade that cut his throat. With a gurgle he fell down while clutching his neck.

"Hey! What happened!"

It looks like I was not fast enough and bandits below heard the archer's shout.

I didn't mind that, why? Because I am quite talented in the Way of the Voice. I readied my voice and shouted; "Nothing! It is okay! There are no problems here!" There was a silence for a few moments. Probably because they returned to what they were doing.

"Bastard! Who the fuck are you?!" Huh, they were not as stupid as I thought.

"We are under attack!" They prepared themselves for the incoming combat.

But, I didn't mind that either, why? It is because I was quite talented in the Way of the Voice, of course. So, I readied my Voice and shouted once more; "Fus Ro!"

Them huddling around the bonfire worked in my favor as they all were thrown around from the force.

While they were trying to regain their balance, if they can of course because I am sure quite a few of then broke quite a few bones from the impact, I started finishing them off with a quick slash to the throat.

In no time, all seven bandits in the camp were either dead or seconds away from death.

So, I turned my sight to the open ajar doors of the Barrow. They looked quite heavy. They must have all pushed with all their might just to get it open slightly.

I entered the Barrow after making sure I got rid of all of them and found the stairs leading down the depths of the Barrow.

The inside was in ruins, cave-ins were everywhere. So, I treaded carefully while minding my steps. Who knew where the traps could be.

As I went deeper and deeper into the Barrow, spider webs here and there became more frequent until they encompassed the whole room.

"Is...is someone coming?!" I heard a shout coming from the end of the room where a man was trapped in the spider webs right at the entrance of a corridor.

I was about to reply when suddenly a huge shadow loomed over the middle of the room. I looked up to see the most terrifying thing I saw until now. It was a huge Frostbite spider, unlike anything I saw before. It's size was comparable enough to the mammoths. I felt all the hair on my body standing as I shuddered a bit.

"No. Not again! Ah, kill it. Kill it! Get me out of here!" No need to say it twice.

"Hiiieeeekkkk!" With a manly shout, I pumped Goldbrand with magicka and unleashed it onto the spider.

The spider shrieked from the sudden assault and its fur started catching fire.

"Yol!" But I threw another gout of fire to burn it quicker. In a few moments later, the spider ceased moving but I threw another Fire Breath just to be sure.

"Stop! Stop! It is dead!" The dunmer trapped in webs shouted from across the room. But how can a newbie to dungeon delving know what a veteran like me thinks? You have to be sure that you have killed your foe.

When all that remained of the spider was charred spider remains, I breathed a sigh of relief and finally approached the guy. It was a tough battle indeed.

"Uhhhh you, uhhh you did it. You killed it. Now, can I ask you to cut me down? I am quite trapped here as you can see. And if you are looking to ransack the Barrow, I have the claw, I can help you."

"What does a claw have to do with the Barrow?"

"Ah, you came here without knowing that? There are locked doors inside ancient tombs of Nords which can only be opened with a corresponding claw that fits the slot and they all require some sort of puzzle to be solved to be opened. I have the claw and I know the puzzle, I can help you!"

"Well, in that case, welcome aboard."

I cut the threads binding the dunmer and the mer fell down after being set free.

"Thank you, thank you."

"Now, let's go."

Then we set off to the depths of the tomb. But I didn't forget to keep an eye on the dunmer. After he was a bandit. And they are not exactly a bunch known as trustworthy.

The only reason he didn't stab me in the back yet was probably he was scared of me after seeing what became of the spider. But, as I said, it doesn't hurt to be sure. Let's scare him more.

"You are Arvel right?"

"Ah? Ah yes. I am Arvel indeed. How do you know that if I may ask?" He was quite careful while he was talking to me.

"Well, your friends outside were talking about a dark elf named Arvel entering the ruins and whatnot."

His smiling expression twitched a little bit when I said 'you friends outside! which meant 'I know you are a bandit' and he knew what I knew about him. But, I still pushed further.

"If you are wondering about your friends, they are dead."

"Dead?! All of them?!"

"Yep. Some with mutilated bodies, and for some, you won't even be able to find their remains."

"P-please don't kill me! I just joined their group! I don't even know them well! I haven't hurt anyone!"

"Relax, I am not gonna kill ya, but if you do stab me in the back, I'm just gonna hurt ya. Really, really, bad."

"I swear on Lady Azura that I will never ever betray you!"

"Hmm, good. Name is Alaric. Hoping for a jolly cooperation with you my friend."

"Likewise, likewise, hehe"

With my lead, we continued delving deeper into the tomb. And as usual, draugr started appearing as we reached a certain threshold.

That meant, things were finally getting serious. It was mostly me dealing with them but I made sure that there were one or two draugr that 'accidentally' slipped my guard and attacked Arvel.

He was not that good with a blade but a draugr or two, he could barely handle. I thought that he was hiding his strength so that he could stab me in the back at most opportune moment but, no. If I hadn't intervened at the last second, he would have taken a sword in the heart. That made me lower my guard a little bit more around the guy.

As we continued our way, we finally made it to a hall, Hall of Stories, according to Arvel.

There were murals depicting stories of ancient Nords on the walls. And they were quite varied too. Some depicted bears, some foxes, and some dragons but what they had in common was the people in those murals looked like they were worshipping those animal figures.

"Now, this is where we are going yo use the claw." Arvel said as he proceeded to take out a golden claw from his backpack.

Right at the end of the hall was a door that had three animal figures on top of it. If you pushed them sideways a little bit, you could change the figures. And there was a compartment with three little holes. And as I looked at the golden claw that Arvel had in his hands, they looked like they were a perfect fit to those holes.

'So, the claw goes there, but need to have the correct combination of figures in order to unlock the door? Is that how it works?'

It was as I thought. Arvel first set the correct figures in order, then proceeded to put the claw into the compartment and with a rumble, the door opened.

"So, that's how these doors work, huh? I didn't know about this before. Good to know.

"You've came across doors like these?"

"Yeah, I did. I opened them too. But not the way you did."

"Huh? But they are impossible to open without a claw?"

"Nah, they are not. Watch closely." I said as I pushed Arvel to the side.

The door was just beginning to open as it took time, since it was an old architecture.

And under Arvel's curious gaze;

"Open sesame, Fus Ro!"

*Boom!

The door was destroyed into pieces. Meanwhile Arvel put his hand in front of his face to shield himself from the debris.

"See? Not that hard. Now, let's go."

"No, no, please, I swear I will be a good man from now on! Please let me go! I don't want to go!" His shouts fell into deaf ears as I grabbed him from his collar and dragged him inside.

As we ascended the stairs, we ended up in a humongous cave.

The view was, breathtaking. Moonlight shone down from the cracks between the rocks giving the place a sort of holy vibe. A river was going across right in the middle of the cave and a bridge was built right on top of it.

Across the bridge was an old tomb and right behind it was a word wall.

As soon as we approached it, the tomb was opened and a Deathlord arose from its grave.

I knew that there would be a Deathlord, I fought against them multiple times before, heck I even fought two of them at once. But this guy, he gave me the chills.

I could feel all the hair on my body stand on end.

"Prepare for combat." I threw Arvel down and grabbed Goldbrand.

The empty eye sockets of the Deathlord lit up with an eerie glow as he gazed upon me, then his mouth opened.

I knew that a shout was coming and I especially knew that I couldn't allow him to do so.

"Fus!"

And I burst forward. The Deathlord dodged my Shout and blocked my blade with his shield. Then he swung the huge war-axe in his other hand towards me.

I ducked under the blow and blocked a kick from the Deathlord with my sword. The force behind the kick propelled me backwards right in front where Arvel was trying to escape from.

I cushioned my crash with Magicka Burst and looked Arvel right in the eyes.

"Uhhh can I please just go? I don't want anything, I won't tell a soul anything, and you will never see me anymore!" His eyes were starting to water as he pleaded.

"No."

"How black my heart, roasting fiercely?! Gaaaahhhh Dumac take you!" And when he heard my denial of his chances of escape, he gathered his courage and rushed towards the Deathlord.

"huh He's got a bit of courage at least." The reason why I was so harsh on the guy was because he was a bandit. Who knew how many innocents he has hurt before. If he doesn't die here, he has a surprise coming for him later. Hehe.

The I rushed towards the Deathlord too. Arvel wouldn't even be able to take one of his blows. And it was exactly so. He tried to block a swing but he was thrown away towards me.

I dodged sideways and we locked eyes once more. Tears were dripping like waterfall and he was uttering curses upon curses either on me or the Deathlord but I couldn't ponder on that any longer as I reached the Deathlord.

I pumped Goldbrand with magicka and releases an arc of fire. As he blocked it, I kicked the ground and appeared behind the Deathlord.

{Wuld!}

Just as I was about to sever his neck, he disappeared. It was a shout I didn't know. And I didn't have any time to comprehend what it meant as he used my tactic against me as he appeared right behind me.

Thanks to my Domain, I could feel what was happening in my reach so sneak attacks were pretty useless. If not for that he could have finished me off.

I propelled myself forward and grabbed Arvel who was trying to escape once more.

"No!"

I grabbed his collar and threw him towards the Deathlord, me following right behind him.

Arvel blocked another attack and he was again thrown back like a shooting star but he gave me enough time to exploit the opening.

"Yol!"

{Fus!}

He dispersed my fire with force but I was right in front of him my blade inches away from his neck.

{Wuld!}

That damn shout again!

He disappeared once more, appearing a few meters away.

'Is he gonna escape everytime?'

I rushed back towards Arvel and yanked him towards the Deathlord once again as I chugged a few magicka potions.

While I was drinking my second potion, Arvel was thrown at my feet once again.

"Pleaseee no moree uwaaaahhh" He was still crying and he looked miserable from the dirt and grime that was mixed with tears and snot.

"Come on, you can do it. Plus ultra." But I threw him again.

After I finished my third potion, I was back to full magicka. But then, something strange occured.

"Filthy fetcher! Azura curse you! Haaaaaaaaahhh!"

Arvel was wrapped up in flames. My first thought was that he got caught up in flames but no, the flames didn't hurt him, instead they looked like they were protecting him.

"Haaaaaaahhhh!"

And he became faster too. He was dodging the Deathlord's attack and counter-attacking, even if he couldn't even chip his armor, but it was thought that counted.

"Haaaaaaaaaahhhh!"

And why are you still shouting?!

He was continuously shouting while fighting the Deathlord. I guess he needed some sort of outlet to keep him motivation going but he was completely disregarding the importance of his breathing in a battle.

"Haaaaaaaaahhhh!"

Okay, I heard enough. Then I joined the fray to not miss this chance. I didn't know how long he could keep this up.

{Wuld!}

As soon as I approached, the Deathlord distanced itself away from me, but Arvel right on his tail.

"Haaaaaaaahhh!"

I couldn't shout if I didn't want to target Arvel too, so I followed once more. Arvel was quite useful at the moment and I didn't want to let go of this chance.

So I snuck behind the Deathlord and finally managed to land a blow. Fiery enchant on my blade working wonders on the enchanted armor of the Deathlord.

{Wuld!}

He disappeared once more but we followed him once again.

"Haaaaaaaaahhhhhh!"

Then Arvel threw a large ball of fire that exploded right in the face of the Deathlord.

'I'm starting to like this guy.'

And with Arvel in front and me in the back, we pinchered the Deathlord. Arvel was blocked with the shield and he tried ducking under my blow but he couldn't. At the last moment, I burst my arms with magicka that resulted in a near instant slash which severed his neck.

Then the glow in his eyes dimmed until it was no more. Even until the end, I didn't know what made this Deathlord much more dangerous than the rest, it couldn't be the shout it repetitively used and I'm glad that I didn't find out about it.

"Haaaaa-aaaa-aa-h" Then, Arvel fell face down and didn't move an inch.

I checked for his pulse and he was fine.

"Now, the Dragonstone and the word wall."

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I'm thinking of keeping Arvel, what do you think?

And also I would appreciate it if you could give me some feedback and/or reviews if you like the story.