Because the trip was partially at night, Marcurio and I took turns sleeping. I had thought about buying a horse, but Marcurio didn't ride. There would come a time when that would be a problem, as I liked moving fast. We arrived in Markarth late in the afternoon and headed to the Silverblood Inn, the Inn Keeper was the person I needed to speak with about the vampires.
Knowing that money talked, I rented two room's and asked the Inn Keeper for the information with another gold piece in my hand. He was hesitant at first but another gold piece got his vocal cords moving. Getting the information on a Master vampire, Marcurio and I sat down for an early dinner to discuss what we would be doing.
"You have potions of disease cure? If not I have a couple, I can give you one". I asked him as we sat down at a table.
"Oh yes, I have a few myself. Do you think we would need more than two each?", before I answered him the Inn keepers daughter asked us if we wished to order anything. We both ordered dinner and an ale, I also ordered a honey nut treat.
"No, one each should be enough, unless we run into more vampires elsewhere." I paused for a minute, " That's generally why I carry two or more, but the symptoms are obvious and if you catch it early enough, a potion or blessing from one of the Divines works as a cure also, as long as you don't allow it to get to far along."
"You've caught vampirism before?" he asked with an odd look on his face.
" Actually, no I haven't. I had this necklass made year's ago, it makes me almost immune to diseases. I'm not the best at enchanting, but I can make you one also, if you like."
" I would really appreciate that, I like ale to much to want to have to rely on blood to live". We both laughed at that. " I take it you have been to Markarth before?". I snorted and gave a brief laugh.
" Oh yes, I spent almost a year in this very Inn, during the Great War." I took a sip of my ale and motioned for another.
" Really, I don't think I would want to spend that much time in this stoney place, though I find the Dwemer very interesting".
" Trust me, this was not the place I really wanted to be for that much time either. On the night before I was supposed to lead some of the Reachmen to join with other's to fight the Dominion, I made the mistake of getting just drunk enough." I winced when I remembered just how drunk I had been. " I left here with a friend, but didn't even make it far out the door. He tripped over a loose cobble and fell into me. I staggered sideways and fell exactly the wrong way off the little bridge outside the door. With him landing on top of me, I ended up with my right leg broken in two places. The healers did the best at magical healing they could, but I still needed to stay off of my feet to let the bone knit properly."
"So you missed the whole of the war, staying here in Markarth?' He sounded very unsure.
" Oh no, only the first year, though it took another for my leg to fully heal. Well at least enough for me to spend half the day fighting on it. I spent time recruiting and finding good sources of supplies. Those were thing's I could do from the back of a horse or mostly anyway." I took another sip of my ale." I might have been the wrong person to try recruiting in Skyrim, at least while the Empire was fighting the Thalmor. Some Nord's make no distinctions between one Altmer and another. I got nasty looks then and I get them now. "
"It was not a good time, but I worked at it and found good friends and allies. Marcurio, you have to understand, I might not have believed in what the Thalmor stood for or still stand for, for that matter, but I didn't and still don't wish to fight my own people. Not everyone in the Armies of the Aldemeri Dominion believe in what the Thalmor want. Some are poor farmer's son's who just want adventure and don't realize what it is they are fighting for, until after they have taken the oath. Not everyone wanted to hear what I had to say and while I did end up fighting on the front lines, I was never happy about it. Their is nothing like looking across the battlefield and taking aim against someone that previously fought along side you."
Macrcurio nodded. " I can understand that, I know it's not the same, but I have had to kill vampires that were previously friends or just someone I knew. They at least had turned into monsters, I can only imagine how hard it is to kill someone that was a friend and is now an enemy just because of different points of view."
"Sometimes it isn't even that simple, as I said some are simple farm kid's that wanted adventure and don't even realize what it is they were fighting for until it was to late."
"But that is one of my trips through Markarth." I got up and told Marcurio I would see him in the morning, I wanted to talk a walk before going to bed. I walked out of the Inn and headed to the right, to were I knew the smithy was. Walking up the stairs and around behind it, I watched the moon rise and thought of the friends long since dead that had walked these streets.
Bjorn, the tallest and widest man I have ever met, he was taller than I by a head. I shook my head as I remembered walking on this very bridge with him on our way to the Silverblood Inn. We were to pick up the last two member's of our little group. It wasn't hard to find them as they were rolling out the door as we walked up to it. Two Breton's, brothers and they were best out in the wild's, fighting what ever it was you pointed them at. Left in civilized company to long, they generally pounded on each other, I would have hated to have been their mother. Talin was a mage of no small skill, Kalin carried a shield and axe.
I would have to tell Marcurio about them, he would be interested in Talin's view on some magic. I left the bridge and walked on the upper balconies, til I was at the highest watch balcony. The guard asked me if I needed anything and I told him no, just walking and taking in the view. I leaned against the guard rail and looked down on the road out.
I saw the ghostly echo's of the four of us as we walked the road out. Bjorn with that huge Glass battleaxe across his back. It didn't look huge on his back though, I laughed inwardly, I had seen him use it with one hand. Kalin and Talin, pushing and shoving each other as they talked about the bar maids. and I walking beside Bjorn, Elven great sword and an ebony bow across my back, I really miss that bow. We where headed to an Ancient Nord Barrow, Bjorn had heard bandit's were using as headquarters for their raids.
My Elven sword broke in half on that little trip, but I got Kruziik Dilon then. She's a beaut of a sword. When we got to the Barrow, the bandit's were having their way with a young Nord girl, I think that enraged the three men more than it did myself and I was mad enough, magic was oozing from my hands. All the bandit's outside were dead in a matter of minutes. I healed the girls wounds and put her to sleep, after we cleared out the first room, Bjorn went back out got her and the brothers made her a bed from all their sleeping gear. I spread mine over her to keep her warm, wishing I could heal the wound's to her mind as easily as those to body. Bjorn put his big hand on my shoulder and squeezed, I looked up at him then kissed his hand. I told the men that she would sleep the clock around, then wake, hopefully we would be back by then.
We made our way through the Barrow room by room, showing no mercy to the bandit's with in. We looted the bandit's as we went, taking only the really light stuff, leaving the rest in small piles for when we came back. In a large room we saw, what we guessed was the bandit leader, messing with a claw and door. We didn't get four step's in the room when the large door disapeared into the floor and the bandit went through. We followed him, but as nothing seemed to want to stop him he made good time, we on the other hand had to kill a few Draugr along the way. We got to the last room as a draugr raised out of a crypt in the center of the room, as several other draugr were also raising out of their crypt's.
We got set to have a fight, Bjorn smiled with all teeth showing, which for him meant he was thrilled. The brothers smacked their fists together. I pulled my bow and started firing arrows at the closest draugr. One thing I noticed about Nord's, they don't stay dead long, always seem to want to wonder around. I shot arrow after arrow until the draugr got to close and then I dropped my bow, meaning to pick it up after the fight was over. I took a quick look around and noticed that the Bandit was dead. Bjorn was fighting the same Draugr, he seemed much tougher than the others.
I finished fighting the one in front of me and then looked around for more. Talin was bent over his brother using a healing spell, Bjorn was still fighting the big Draugr so I went to help him. As I made a second swing at him he turned and slammed his sword into mind, breaking it. I readied a sun bound spell and then flung it at the big Draugr, it burst into flame and Bjorn cut it's head off.
I bent over and grabbed the sword he had been carrying, Bjorn asked if it was any good. I laughed and said it had cut mine in half, so it had to be, at the very least, better than the one I had. We looked around the room and looted some of the precious gem's and other artifact's of worth. Talin said that Kalin was still a little addled from the blow he had taken, as he wasn't all that good with wound's to the head. I walked over and delved him and found out that other than some minor brusing his head was fine, he would just be addled for a bit. We left the way we had come and picked up the bundles of loot we had made, along with the Nord girl.
As the changing of the guard intterupted my thought's, I remembered that it hadn't been til we were well on our way back to Markarth that I had remembered I hadn't picked up my bow. I felt slightly depressed as I walked back to my room. I didn't like Markarth all that much, the memories were to good and depressing at the same time, to want to relive them. Only one place in Skyrim was worse, I hadn't entered or been to the house in a very long time. I laid down on the bed and fell asleep, I dreamed of Bjorn, who I was sure was drinking and eating in Sovngarde.
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