The Will of Mara - Chapter 4

The light from the sun was starting to fade as Drogon and Vigilance entered the province of Whiteshore, he decided to travel to the Nightgate Inn and stay there for the night. The small building was atop a steep hill, and with beautiful views of the Lake Torgrim if you got the right room. Drogon tied his piebald mare to a post just outside the inn and went inside with Vigilance at his heel. He gave the innkeep his gold and went to his room. He removed his armour, setting it down on the chair and sank down onto the soft bed. It had been a long day and they had covered many miles. He allowed himself a few minutes of being comfortable before going out and leading his horse into the stable and removing it's tack. He made sure she had plenty of hay to lie down in and keep warm in, he filled the water-bucket and went back inside to enjoy a hot meal. Tomorrow he would get to Winterhold and embark on his new story, leaving Whiterun behind and looking forward to his new snowy and cold story. He set down his wooden plate and walked back into his room, Vigilance lay asleep on the fur rug on the floor, his back rising and falling as he breathed gently. Drogon smiled and went inside the fur blankets and went into a deep sleep.

The morning that followed was crisp and fresh, snow had fallen overnight and it left a white covering for the already beautiful landscape around them. Drogon awoke feeling refreshed, he donned his armour and woke up Vigilance. He left quietly and tacked his mare, and rode out onto the snowy path and rejoined the road to Winterhold.

At midday he paused at the roadside to rest for a few minutes, he dismounted and pulled some bread out from one of his saddle sacks. He tied the mare to a tree and sat on a rock nearby, he gave Vigilance some of his bread. He heard his horse shuffling behind him, at first he decided to ignore it, but he heard the reins snap taut and the mare began to make frightened whinnies. He stood up and looked around, where he had stopped, mountains rose on either side of the path. His reptile eyes scanned over the rocks, looking for movement. Behind him, three bandits appeared. These were no ordinary bandits, they were armoured in fine steel armour, complete with steel swords, which meant one thing. Mercenaries. He frowned and looked to his warhound, who was already at his side, his lips curled back over his sharp teeth, the fur on his neck raised and a loud, dangerous growl echoed out of his throat. Drogon looked back at the three men approaching him, he frowned and pulled his sword, the Dawnbreaker, from its hilt. White flames flickered around the metal, in his other hand he wielded a Nordic war-axe. He looked down at his hound, “Vigilance, attack!” he shouted as he ran towards the trio of men out to kill him, Vigilance ran beside him. He started to run at them, he allowed his anger to consume him, he felt the fire at the back of his throat, “Yol!Toor! Shul!” he bellowed at them, fire blasted out of his oesophagus and enclosed over the first two men, setting them alight through the spaces in their armour. Painful screams erupted from them, the third however came running through the flames straight at him, his broadsword raised as he shouted at him. Drogon raised his war axe and blocked his attack, with his sword he swung round and sliced him where his chest plate ends and his hip is exposed. The man hissed in pain as he lowered his sword ready to swing to the side but Drogon was faster, he blasted him with his ice magic, the man covered his eyes as Vigilance jumped up and took the man's wrist between his sharp teeth. As he landed, the mercenary's bracer came away with Vigilance, he dropped it and went for the man again, jumping up at him, knocking him down onto the ground so that Drogon could go for the kill. Dawnbreaker cut through his armour easily and sank into the man's flesh. Drogon looked up, the other two had rolled in the snow to stop the fire from burning them too much. He sneered and ran towards them, they just managed to get to their feet and gather a defence stance before he got to them, Drogon shoved over the closest man. Vigilance ran ahead of Drogon, going straight for the remaining standing man. As he jumped, the man thrust his fist forward and hit Vigilance on the side of his skull, he whined as he flopped to the ground unconscious. The man then turned to Drogon, pointing to him as he bent down to pick up his sword.

“I'm going to make a jacket out of you argonian!” he yelled, Drogon laughed.

“Come then!” he shouted back as Drogon went for him, roaring as he did so. He raised his sword to meet the mercenary's, his axe swinging low to hit his stomach, splitting the armour where it hit. Drogon ducked to avoid a deadly swing and shoved his sword through the broken steel, the man fell to his knees, blood spilling out over his lips. Drogon relaxed and jogged over to his war hound, checking him over, making sure that there wasn't too much damage to him.

Above Drogon and Vigilance in the mountain's many hiding places, a Redguard man named Racanna watched the events below. The three men he had hired to kill the Argonian were doing an awful job, instead of even attempting to be stealthy, they had just marched upon him. Did they honestly think they could take on an not only the dragonborn, but a well seasoned fighter that has a warhound and dabbles in magic, without any kind of tactic? He shook his head and pulled his bow from it's sheathe, he looked down, the Argonian had apparently forgotten that there was one man left to fight and had gone to check on the state of his warhound. The last man had got up and quietly got his dead friend's weapon, Racanna drew his bow, aligned his arrow. He wasn't taking any chances, Drogon's head came into view, Racanna pulled the arrow back until the bow felt like the string might snap. As he fired the arrow, the wounded mercenary walked into view, it hit him square in the temple and killed him instantly. He sighed as Drogon turned and looked at Racanna straight in the eye. He exhaled and deflated, this meant trouble.

Drogon turned as he heard the last man approaching, as he turned an arrow hit him in the side of the head. He watched, stunned as the men fell to the side. He looked up to where the arrow would have been fired from and spotted a Redgaurd man in the rocky outcrop above them. He watched the man as he swiftly came down the snowy hill, he looked at the Argonian.

“It looked like you could have used some help” the man muttered as he got closer, “that's quite some talent you have there” he said as he scanned over the ground and looked briefly at the disappointing, dead mercenaries.

“Where are you heading?” he asked, turning his attention to Drogon. Drogon looked at him with his green eyes.

“Likewise, that was quite a shot, I am heading to the Winterhold College for Mages” he replied, “why did you do that?” He asked as he nudged the most recently felled man with his boot, the Redgaurd man shrugged.

“I saw that you were in a bit of trouble, so I helped out” he lied, his true intention was to kill the man he was now speaking to. “Do you mind if I come with you to Winterhold?” Racanna asked, he had business in Winterhold to settle, somethiWng about illegal necromancy experiments, he may as well go with company, even if he has intentions to kill him when he is done. “I am enrolling there as a mage too and I could use the company” he said, keeping up his lie. Drogon eyed him up and nodded.

“Very well, Winterhold is not very far now, just over that pass” he said, nodding in the direction of Winterhold. Racanna nodded.

“It's a date” Racanna chuckled as he starting walking down the path. Drogon rolled his eyes and carried Vigilance and hog-tied him to the rump of his horse, he mounted and caught up with the strange Redgaurd man. He didn't know whether to trust this man, he had spent many year roaming Skyrim, and never had a person fought for him if it didn't cost him later. He frowned, best to keep his distance from this man, he seemed dangerous and untrustworthy. He looked down the path, keeping his eyes on the environment around him in case he was preparing an ambush further on down the road.

Continued in Chapter 5