The Gift of Akatosh - Part 3

Chapter 3, enjoy. Also, I have three options when it comes to who Martin will end up with. I'll dedicate a chapter to you if you guess any of the three. Also, if you have a suggestion for the pairing, let me know. But you'll have a hard time coming up with something even better than what I'm leaning toward.

They make their way through the village and then across a bridge. The path leads them through a copse of trees and when they round the final bend, they can see a big city on top of a hill surrounded by farms and a watchtower in the distance.

“I take it this is Whiterun?” Martin looks to Riku for confirmation.

“Yes, and the palace at the very top is called the Dragonsreach, it’s where we need to go to see the Jarl,” Riku says.

Martin nods and they continue walking past farms and what appears to be a meadery and soon they are walking over a drawbridge and towards a closed city gate with two guards standing at attention.

One of them walks forward and stops them.

“City’s closed,” he barks. “Official business only.”

“We have news from Helgen, about the attack,” Martin says and he guard blinks.

“Oh, well that is… I mean… You better go on in then,” he manages and then unlocks the gate and pushes it open for them.

Martin and Riku make their way through and the first thing that they see is a lady wearing a blacksmithing apron that is shouting at a bunch of soldiers. The soldiers are shouting back just as loud.

“What do you think that is all about?” Riku asks Martin.

“If my guess is right, they want her to make weapons for the war effort and she’s not comfortable handling such a big order all by herself.”

Riku nods and they continue past the shouting match and through a square with market stalls. Then up the stairs and past a tree that seems to be dying. Then up more stairs and soon they are standing in front of the doorway leading to Dragonsreach and the Jarl.

“Ready?” Martin asks.

“Not really,” Riku admits but pushes the door open anyway.

They walk in but before they manage more than ten steps, they are interrupted by a Dunmer woman with a sword in her hand.

“Halt!” she barks. “What is the meaning of this interruption?!”

Martin thinks for a few seconds before answering.

“Riverwood calls for help due to the dragon attacks and we also have news from Helgen,” he explains patiently to the woman.

“Well, in that case, the Jarl will want to speak with you, approach,” she says and sheats her sword.

Martin and Riku walk past two long tables and stop in front of a man sitting in a massive chair. There’s another man nearby, this one, Martin notices, of Imperial origin.

“Jarl Balgruuf?” Martin adressed the man in the chair.

“Yes,” he confirmed. “So, what is this about a dragon in Helgen?”

“I am still not sure why I ended up in Helgen,” Martin started explaining, “but soon after a dragon appeared. A black one with glowing red eyes. It destroyed Helgen and there is a big chance that Riverwood might be next. Gerdur, she runs the mill there, asked us to ask you for help in defending the village.”

“By Ysmir, Irileth was right,” Balgruuf exclaimed and then turned to said Dunmer woman.

“Send troops to Riverwood, immediately!” he ordered.

“Yes, my Jarl,” she nodded and was about to go and fulfill the order when the Imperial whose name Martin and Riku still didn’t know interrupted them.

“My Jarl, are you sure this decision is wise? The Jarl of Falkreath might see this as a provocation and assume we’re preparing to join the Stormcloaks in their rebellion against the empire.”

“At this point, the Stormcloaks might be a better choice than the empire…” muttered Martin. The only one who heard him was Riku who pressed close to him.

“No, Proventus,” the Jarl said firmly, “I won’t stand by and watch my people be slaughtered by a dragon! Send the troops, Irileth.”

The last part was directed at the woman who nodded and sprinted out of the hall to do her Jarl’s bidding.

“I shall return to my duties,” a fuming Proventus stated.

“That would be best,” Balgruuf nodded and the Imperial left their presence.

“So what happens now?” Martin asked. And though the question was directed to the Jarl in front of him, he was also asking somebody else. Hoping that the dragon god was listening and would shed some light on the whole situation. Because so far, it made little to no sense for him to be here. In Skyrim. And as much as he liked being alive and not dying a sacrificial death to stop Dagon from crossing over, he wanted things to make sense again. Like they did before Kvatch burned.

But the god remained silent.

“Well, you did me and Whiterun a service. And I reward those who help me and mine. More so those who do it of their own free will. So take this as a thank you.” He tossed a bag of coins to Martin who managed to catch it.

“There is something else though,” the Jarl continued after a short pause in which Martin pocketed the gold. “If you would be willing.”

“I’m not saying no, Jarl, but I would prefer to know what I’m getting myself into before I agree to anything,” answered Martin.

“Will it involve fighting?” Riku asked.

The Jarl startled. Looking as if he just saw the kid for the first time even though he was there all along.

“This might complicate things,” he admitted. “But since you haven’t completely denied me, how about we go see my court sorcerer and he can tell you more before you make your final decision.”

Martin agreed and they followed Balgruuf into a side chamber where a robed man was leaning over an enchanting table. Martin had never seen one before, only hearing about them. That was not surprising considering enchanting worked very differently back in Cyrodiil. Curious, he moved closer to the table and incidentally the man himself as well. Riku followed him.

But before they could get any closer, Balgruuf interrupted the silence with his booming voice.

“Farengar!”

The mage turned and looked slightly startled at the number of people in his study.

“What is it my Jarl?”

“These two might be willing to go on your quest, but they require more information. And considering one of them is a child, don’t be too hard on them if they decide to turn you down after you explain to them what needs to be done.”

And with that said, the Jarl left the study.

“So, what is it that you need us to do?” Martin asked.

“Hum, you’re different than the usual men the Jarl sends my way… But that is not the point. What I need is for someone to fetch something for me. Well, I say fetch but what I really mean is delving into an ancient ruin and finding an ancient stone tablet that may or may not be there. It is related to my research of dragons and dragon lore. It is located in Bleak Falls Barrow, the ruin is on top of a mountain west of Riverwood.”

“We will need to discuss this before we decide. So if you could give us several minutes?” Martin told Farengar after the mage explained what this quest was about.

“Very well, I need to get another book from the library anyway. I expect an answer when I return,” Farengar agreed and left the study.

“So what do you think,” Martin asked Riku.

“I don’t want to, but at the same time I feel like we need to do it…” Riku answered.

“True,” Martin nodded.

“Do you think that maybe the Aedra want us to do it?” Riku asked.

Martin’s hand went instinctively to the Dragon Amulet hidden under his tunic.

“You know something,” Riku stated when he saw this.

Chuckling weakly, Martin said: “Not really, I just know that Akatosh is involved somehow. Because this is all his fault anyway. I might tell you more when there’s no chance to be overheard.”

“We’ll need armor…” Riku said after a moment of silence.

“True, the last time I fought I was wearing a priest’s robes and it didn’t end all that well…”

“You were a priest?”

“I blame Akatosh,” Martin said and then he turned to the doorway and nodded to Farengar who finally returned.

“So,  are you going to do it or do I need to find somebody else?” the mage asked.

“Yes, but first we need to acquire some armor,” Martin said.

“Then why are you still here?” Farengar made a shooing motion with his hand.

Martin raised an eyebrow but lead Riku out of the room anyway.

“That was rude,” Riku said quietly, grabbing Martin’s hand again.

“True, but he’s a court wizard, they are a prickly sort. Not easy to get along with and always rather rude,” Martin smiled as they exited Dragonsreach.

“Are we going to buy armor from the lady blacksmith that was arguing with the Imperials?” Riku asked.

Before Martin could answer, he felt a presence in his mind. He smiled slightly. So Akatosh decided to show himself after all.

The dragon grumbled good-naturedly in his mind before answering.

“Before you go spending your gold, go outside the city and find the place where the stream leaves the walls. It’s the last gift I can give you for a while if I don’t want to upset the balance, but you’ve grown on me and I prefer you alive. There’s something for your young companion too. Good luck and I’ll talk to you as soon as the other Aedra allow me.”

The last part was muttered in a dark tone that very much said what the Dragon God thought of it.

Thank you, Martin smiled fondly. Akatosh was his source of hope during the time the Hero was gallivanting all over Cyrodiil fulfilling his tasks. And Martin loved it when the Dragon God had a few minutes every now and then to answer him.

Martin felt invisible fingers caress his cheek and his smile grew wider. And then the presence withdrew and they were alone again. Riku was looking at him weirdly but he simply couldn’t help it.

At this point, they walked past Warmaiden’s, the blacksmith shop, and toward the gate leading outside.

“I thought we were going to guy armor?” Riku asked confused as they exited the city.

“Do you want to know why I was just grinning?” Martin asked instead, looking for where the stream was leaving the city and finding it not far.

“Because you realized we were going to die on this mission and you lost it?” Riku suggested cheekily.

“No, because we have a guardian god.”

“An Aedra spoke to you?” Riku asked wide-eyed.

“Akatosh did,” Martin answered as they reached the correct place. He let go of Riku’s hand and went to the badly hidden chest that looked like it has seen better days. Martin wouldn’t have thought this was it if not for the small dragon engraving near the locking mechanism.

“What’s in there?” Riku came closer.

“Don’t know yet,” Martin said and then opened the chest.

Inside was a set of lightweight armor that seemed to be in Martin’s size. It was pitch black. Then there was a smaller set of black leather armor, this time with a few silver details. Both of the armors had a small dragon on the breastplate.

Riku looked at the dragon designs.

“Does this make us the Knights of Akatosh?” he asked.

“I’m sure he wouldn’t mind, but at the same time, I would prefer to keep the fact we have a god supporting us to this degree to ourselves for now. So if anyone asks, we are just devout followers and this is our way of expressing it.”

“Okay,” Riku nodded.

They put the armor on and Martin checked if there way anything else in the chest. And sure enough, there was a dagger and a short sword.

“Is that ebony?” Riku exclaimed.

“Looks like it,” Martin confirmed and then offered the dagger hilt-first to Riku.

“You need something to protect yourself if the enemy gets too close and I’m not able to help you,” Martin explained when Riku didn’t immediately take it.

“Alright.”

Martin sent another thank you to Akatosh and felt the god’s presence for a brief moment before it was gone again.

“Let’s go,” Martin said and they set off towards Riverwood where they would spend the night. Bleak Falls Barrow could wait until morning.