Chapter Five

The sound of thunder echoed down from the mountains, contradicting the clear skies that Noren and Inigo walked beneath. The pair need only look to the Northwest to see the clouds rolling down toward them at a slow, deliberate pace. The Altmer guessed that it would probably start to rain before the day was done. Taking his eyes from the sky, he looked back down to the book he carried. It lay open in his hands, his thumbs holding the pages to keep the wind from turning them before he wished. Inigo followed a few steps behind. The khajiit shook his head, not sure why his friend was so enthralled by the tome.

“How can you know where you are going with your face buried in those pages? You could trip in a rabbit burrow like that. They are hard to spot at the best of times. More so if you aren’t even looking for them.”

“If that happens, I will live with the consequences of my foolish ways.” Noren smirked, turning to the next page. “I don’t want to waste the dry weather and good daylight. If I wait until we find a place to camp, it may be too dark for me to read anything.”

“Can’t it wait until we reach the city? I know you are a man hungry for knowledge, but is it really worth putting your life at risk?”

Noren actually laughed at this. “At the worst, I would twist an ankle. I hardly consider that life threatening.”

Inigo returned the expression. “Maybe so, but I still think your study might be more enjoyable if you were not also trying to walk the whole time.”

“Fine, you win. Just stop nagging me, for Julianos’ sake.” He placed a spare bit of leather into the pages to mark his place. “You are the polar opposite of my parents. They scolded me if I even threatened to stop studying.”

“Then if I ever meet them, remind me to inform them of the unhealthy habit they gave you. Reading is good, but not at the cost of situational awareness. It is important to know your surroundings, and how they are changing.”

As if agreeing with Inigo’s words, another low rumble of thunder came down from the mountain storm. Noren placed the book back into the safety of his bag. “Thank you for coming with me. I know we left our work in Riften hanging, but when I saw that request from Whiterun’s court wizard, I couldn’t ignore the possibilities. He might be able to teach me more about magic. It will be interesting to see how magical instruction varies from my lessons in Summerset.”

“I feel the greatest benefit you may find is a slight reduction in the standard superiority complex.”

“Only slight?” Noren chuckled.

“Magic users are universally self assured. No offence…” 

“None taken. I think I might be the exception to that rule.” 

Inigo nodded. “You suffer from a deplorable lack of self-esteem, my friend. It is something I suggest you work on.”

The white river rumbled by beside them as they made their way toward the borders of Whiterun Hold. The path was beginning to slope upward, a sharp bend waiting for them just ahead. The sound of the waterfall made the both of them stop to take in the majesty of the scene. Inigo let a smile overtake his features. “This land is incessantly beautiful.”

Noran was forced to nod in agreement. He had never seen a country quite like Skyrim. “It does have a certain wild charm. I am still fond of Summerset. I think that is just natural for people to hold onto their homeland.” He turned to his friend. “Do you not miss Elsweyr sometimes?”

The khajiit pondered the question. “I suppose I do occasionally. However, I can find all of the things that I miss here in Skyrim. If I wish for tree climbing, I have the rift. And if it is adventure that I seek, I think we can both agree that there is more than enough of that to go around. I am sure that events worthy of telling over a drink are waiting for us just around the next corner.”

As if by some prophecy, they caught sight of a pair of broken down towers looming over them from the top of the falls. Noren could tell that they had been part of the ancient nordic defenses for the hold. An outpost for one of the larger cities, like Bromjunaar? He might have thought them a fine chance to rest, were it not for the tell tale smell of a campfire wafting down to them. Someone else had already taken up residence. “Do you think we could sneak by? I guess it would depend on where they have their lookouts set.”

Inigo squinted through the trees to try and learn more. “It is hard to say. If there are not too many of them, I think so. But, we might have some trouble if it doesn’t darken up soon. There is not much brush near the towers and I am sure that shadows will be at a premium as well.”

Noren silently cursed himself for not finishing the book he had been reading earlier. He had been studying a spell that would have been perfect for this precise situation. It had been an illusion charm, meant to silence the sound of even the most tumultuous armors when cast correctly. While he had expected it to be useful while doing work for Brynjolf and his comrades, the idea of being able to sneak by an entire camp of highwaymen certainly had its own appeal. Nonetheless, even if he had learned all he could from the book, there was more to casting a spell than memorization.

“There is a third option.” Inigo offered. “We could try walking past them.” 

Noren did a double take, sure that this must be one of his friend’s strange jokes. “Are you insane? They would shoot us before we could even try to defend ourselves.”

“You really think so? If you were in their place, trying to hold up a pair of adventurers with both sharp blades and dangerous magic, that it would end well for you?”

There was logic in this. Even without being armed as his friend was, the robes he wore had already been noticed a few times on their journey. Each time they were seen, someone asked him if he was from the college of Winterhold. And while this was not the case, their would be robbers would not have any means of disproving it. “Okay, you’ve convinced me. How do you want to play this?”

“We will approach them casually, making sure to avoid making any aggressive moves unless we are forced to. I’ll have my hand on my sword, and I think you should be ready with some of your flames for good measure. If they have any sense of self preservation, they will back off and let us go on our way.”

“And if they don’t?”

Inigo gave a devilish grin. “Then there will be a few less bandits on the road by the time we are finished with them.”

After a few more moments of discussion, the men resumed their trip along the road. The old stones grew taller and taller as they approached. A narrow bridge stretched between the towers, giving what must be a wonderful view both toward the bulk of Whiterun, and to the road along which they had come. In retrospect, Soren thought it strange that they had not been seen already by one of the tower’s inhabitants. As the road crested the slope, they found themselves face to face with only one bandit.

The woman wore rough fur armor, a simple blade of steel hanging from her hip. She tended to a small fire. Above this boiled some sort of stew in a cooking pot, suspended over the flames by a rusty chain. Inigo tried his best to keep the saliva from revealing how hungry he was as they came ever closer to her. She noticed them, bringing her hand to the hilt of her own weapon.

“Halt! This here’s a toll road, see?” She looked them both over, as if sizing up how much coin they might have on their persons. “You’ll have to pay us, say… 200 gold to use our road.”

“Is that so?” Noren held his hands out before him, almost as if inviting her to come closer. Inigo drew his sword, the Ebony glinting like a shard of midnight. The woman looked to the cat, turning back just in time to see two balls of fire spring to life in Noren’s palms. “To me, it seems like a compromise is in order. You let us pass at no charge, and we don’t need to make your last moments unpleasant. Agreed?”

She took half a step back, eyeing the wizard with a mixture of fear and hesitation. “You know… The more I think about it… That seems fair.” She put her sword on the ground, motioning them on. “Just get out of here before the others see you.”

He let the flames fade back into the nothingness that they emerged from. “Thank you for your cooperation. Come, my friend. Let us leave this lady to her culinary delights.” He walked with a deliberate swagger, despite his inward desire to scream at how crazy the situation was. They waited until they had gotten at least seventy paces away from the tower, picking up their pace to avoid finding themselves being fired on from behind. Noren finally allowed himself to breathe as they passed the little hill which bore the Ritual stone at its top. “I cannot believe that worked!”

Inigo laughed. “You should have seen yourself! You almost had me scared with the face you had. That poor bandit was about to soil herself standing before you. I think your time amongst the Thieves Guild is giving you even more new skills than you realized.”

“I thought for sure that I was going to slip up and get us killed.”

“Have a little more faith in me. I wouldn’t have let her kill you. I am as surprised as you that it went so well though. I thought for sure your baby face wouldn’t be cut out for the task. I was mainly hoping the threat of fighting a wizard would prove deterrent enough to keep us out of combat.”

Noren looked offended. “Baby face?”

“You have to admit that you look unnaturally youthful. Even among your own kind, I have rarely seen someone who looked as ageless as you do.”

“I’m ninety-one years old, Inigo…”

“And you don’t look a day over 54, my friend.” The khajiit giggled to himself. “Among your people, you are only just an adult at this point.”

The altmer grumbled to himself, inadvertently confirming the claim of his childishness in behaviour at least. “I shouldn’t have to defend my maturity from someone half my age.”

“Awww, do not act like that, Noren. You know I am only teasing you! Hehe!” All it took was for him to see the cat’s face, and Noren broke into a smile of his own. As the days went by, he found himself being ever more thankful that he had found Inigo. He was such good company, and quite good in a fight. He was most definitely changing his view on the khajiit people. He had always been taught that they were barely more than savages. Then again, according to some of his brethren, all races apart from the altmer were savages. Regardless of how his teachers might have tried to instil their doctrine upon him, Noren was glad that he had been given the opportunity to know the truth for himself.

“Is there anything you want to do while we are in Whiterun? I’ve never spent time there myself. I hear that their court wizard is impressive enough. I also heard that there are a few other competent magicians who call the city their home.”

Inigo shrugged. “I don’t know much about the magical side of things. I will tell you that the Bannered Mare is as nice a place to grab a meal and a drink as the Bee and Barb. Perhaps even a bit nicer.” He put an ear back. “Do not tell Keerava I said that. I myself am looking forward to stopping in at the Drunken Huntsman while we are there. Elrindir runs a fine establishment. I try to pick up as many of his arrows as I can when I am in the neighborhood.” 

“Is there an alchemist in Whiterun?”

Inigo nodded. “I believe her name is Arcadia. She seemed kind enough the few times I have dealt with her. Do you have a need for some potions?”

Noren nodded. “Well, more in need of some equipment and ingredients so I can make my own. Potion making was about the only magic I have been good at my whole life. I think the Gardening background is what helped that. I want to keep those skills sharp. You never know when some home brewed potions could come in handy.”

“You have a knack for keeping your marketable skills hidden, my friend. I am sure that you could make decent money as a potion maker. You are quite multi talented!” He took up the lead. The sun warmed them as they began a gradual descent toward the city of Whiterun, which stood proud out of the landscape before them.

“You know Inigo, I have always wondered,” Noren frowned at the city, “if the companions raised Jorrvaskr so long before the city was made around it, why is it that Dragonsreach was made on the highest bluff? I would have thought Ysgramor’s men would have claimed the high ground for their hall, rather than stay low to the ground like it sits now.”

Inigo opened his mouth, closing it soon after when he couldn’t think of an answer that made sense. “That is actually a good point. While I do not pretend to know anything about strategic fortifications, I too would have chosen the top of the hill. Maybe someone in the companions knows more about it.”

Noren pushed the question out of his mind in favor of going over the request for the job they were planning on taking. Farengar Secret-Fire, the court wizard of Jarl Balgruuf, had sent it out. Apparently the man was in need of a set of books. The titles were said to be extremely rare and valuable. Were it not a matter of his lack of familiarity with some of the locations mentioned in the request, he might have just begun the search without stopping off in the city. However, he did not enjoy the thought of heading into the Reach blindly looking when he could get more information about the job on the way.

The sound of a blacksmith’s hammer greeted them as they entered the city gates. He was surprised to see the street so full for the time of day, thinking that by this point most would have finished their shopping. The narrow road was packed from side to side, looking no less cluttered as it sloped up toward the height of the plains district. He vaguely caught the conversation between the blacksmith and one of her clients. It seemed as if he had some unrealistic expectations about how much work she could get done within a certain amount of time. He only just managed to catch the sounds of them coming to some sort of arrangement as they closed in on the market and the well.

“I must say, these fruits and vegetables are looking a bit disappointing, Carlotta.” A redguard man was inspecting the woman’s wares, clearly gaining some form of pleasure from criticising her produce. She looked as though the words were not the first source of irritation she had dealt with that day, perfectly read to fire back at him.

“These are the best I can do Nazeem. It’s been harder and harder to get shipments with the war going on.”

“If you were getting your produce from my farm, it would be twice as fresh.”

“I’ll keep that in mind. Now, if you aren’t going to buy anything, have a nice day. I have a hungry daughter to feed, so selling my goods is really the only thing I care about.”

Inigo watched the man as they passed, the hackles on his neck raising the longer he looked. “I see he is as pleasant a man to meet as ever. I have always had the good fortune to avoid a direct encounter.”

Noren was compelled to agree. However, he couldn’t allow the local fop to distract him from their mission. Turning to the north, he made his way up the steps toward the wind district. He hoped that Nazeem was not representative of the welcome he would receive at the hands of the court wizard.