Skyrim RP series...Danifae (Chapter 14) Frost

  • The group of Stormcloak soldiers sat round the campfire, huddled in their tents, waiting for the snowstorm to subside. It had grown too dark and too hard to see to travel any further and the horses, even the hardy northern steeds, found it difficult to make much progress in this weather. They had started out that morning in fine weather but the stormclouds had gathered thick and grey later in the day and now it was a whiteout. So the leader had reluctantly called a halt and camped underneath a large overhang of rock. The horses were sheltering underneath it with warm blankets and the large grey one called Frost was hard to see but his presence seemed to be able to calm the others.

     

     

    Two of the soldiers, dressed in their warm furs, had removed their helmets when they got inside the tent. One of them, a tall man with a thick beard, sat across the campfire from the other one, a small figure with pointed ears, large green eyes and brown hair, tied in a ponytail. She scratched at the furs she was wearing and said 'This itches so much. I've never worn fur armour that itches as bad as this! And it's too big for me, with the helmet!'

    The big Nord man laughed and handed her a bowl of soup. 'Here, this'll take your mind off it. We don't have many folk your size in the Stormcloak army so it was the best we could find at short notice. Mind the fleas don't jump into the bowl!' he said with a grin. Danifae was tall for a Bosmer but she was still small compared to the other Nords around her

     

     

    Danifae took the bowl and started eating quickly. 'Fleas are fine as they contain protein, so if they do jump into the soup I'd eat them too! At least it'd reduce the itching!'

    Ralof made a grimace. 'You can't be serious about eating fleas!'

    Danifae looked up, with a gleam in her eye 'You have no idea what things I had to eat when I was living in the wilderness. You take what Kynareth provides and make the most of it'

    Ralof was looking decidely pale and decided not to try the soup in the pot. He had some mead instead.

    'Not hungry Ralof?' asked Danifae

    'I'll stick to warming myself with mead for now' he replied.

     

     

    Danifae went back to finishing her bowl of soup and thought back on her friends back in Windhelm. She had gone down to the dungeon to see them before she left and told them where she was going. As promised, the Jarl had given them a bigger, more comfortable cell to share together and they had been well fed and were being well looked after. They even had some dice and cards to keep them entertained, although Larkspur seemed to have the view that having Lydia and Zora beside him was all the entertainment he needed. Having a pack of cards thrown at him by Zora didn't really change his view on that fact one bit.

     

    If only this storm hadn't hit when they were on their way to Korvanjund, they could have been in and out of the ruins by now and on their way back with the Jagged Crown. And her friends could have been freed and by her side again. She finished her soup and threw her bowl down in frustration.

     

    Ralof looked up from his mead bottle, startled. 'Woah, what's that bowl ever done to you. Bad flea?'

     

    Danifae shook her head and paced about the tent 'It wouldn't surprise me if this snowstorm was sent by the damn Thalmor to slow our progress!  I'm worried in case the Imperials get there first!'

     

    Ralof got up and handed her a mead bottle. 'Look, I doubt even the Thalmor can control the weather. And if the snowstorm can slow us hardy Nords down, I doubt the Imperials will fare any better. When I scouted the place yesterday, it appeared there was no-one else there. I came back to Windhelm to report as fast as I could. The weather was fine yesterday and I made good time. And Windhelm is closer to Korvanjund than Solitude. Now try and get some sleep and stop worrying!'

     

    Danifae thought back to yesterday, when she had been hauled in front of Jarl Ulfric in chains. Ralof had finally been the one to help her convince the Jarl that her intentions were genuine and he had agreed to let her come along on this mission 'to test her prowess' as General Galmar had said it. She had been dressed in a Stormcloak uniform as a disguise, despite it being too large for her and the helmet kept slipping down her face so she could barely see out of the eye sockets.

    'Did you go inside?' she asked Ralof

    'What? No I didn't. I didn't see any tracks in the snow at the ruins. The place looked undisturbed and I thought it more prudent to get back to the Jarl as quickly as possible.' He had went a bit red in the face at this.

    'So you didn't check inside? They could have arrived earler and a snowstorm could have covered their tracks!'

    'Look, all I know is that I had to report on the situation as I saw it. I made a decision and stuck to it. This is what being a leader entails'

    Danifae could relate to that. She had led her friends into trouble in Windhelm and so now she was going to rectify that

     

     

    She finally stopped her pacing, sat down and drank the mead. It helped calm her down and also helped to mitigate the nightmares she'd had since her escape. Always the same ones with her torture in the prison cell and Ancano's face looming in her mind when she was snatched away from her parents. But she was beginning to remember things and discover things and bit by bit the reasons why were gradually being revealed.

    She went to her bedroll, sipping the mead, and lay down. The honey soothed her whirling mind and finally she drifted off into a restful sleep...

     

     

    The sound of roaring and shouting roused her from her slumber. She fumbled around for a moment, trying to remember where she was. Then she jumped up out of bed, gathering up her mace and bow, which she always kept close to hand. She stumbled over something in the dimness of the tent and it clattered into the corner. Rubbing her sore foot and a cry of 'Gods damn it!' she limped outside to find the camp in an uproar. There was the sound of a dragon flying overhead and the horses were whinnying and running about in fright. In their panic they were causing damage to the camp and to the people, who were desperately trying to find some cover from the dragon's frost breath. She heard a familiar voice roaring over the clamour, trying to calm things down. It was General Galmar. His big frame was unmistakable in the pale light from the campfire and so was his voice. Danifae quickly noted that the horses were causing too much panic and confusion in the camp so she quickly whistled for Frost, who came cantering over to her. She mounted him and drew her bow, ready to fire at the dragon overhead. It was using its frost attack on the Stormcloak soldiers below and despite them being Nords with their cold resistance, several had fallen! However the dragon had also been peppered with arrows  and Danifae galloped round about it as it flew overhead, firing as fast as she could. She got in several good shots into its scaly white hide and it fell from the sky and landed in the camp, where it destroyed several tents with its tail. However, now was their chance! She shouted over to General Galmar, who had been able to rally his troops. 'General, it's down. Now's our chance to kill it!'

     

     

    Galmar gave out a mighty battlecry and charged at the dragon, along with several troops. They surrounded the beast and started hitting it. As there were so many people running about, and fearful of hitting one of the soldiers with her arrows, Danifae jumped off Frost and joined in with her mace of burning. The dragon had by this time knocked over several soldiers with its tail and she shouted at the men to attack its wings and neck. Galmar and Ralof set about it with mighty swings of their weapons and Danifae attacked its wing. It was clumsy on the ground but nevertheless it was still a formidable opponent, using its teeth, tail and frost breath. Several soldiers didn't dodge its attacks in time and got injured. The dragon swung its head towards Danifae, who was furiously attacking its side with her mace. She heard an intake of breath and felt someone push her to the side. The frost attack caught her on her left arm and she felt an intense cold and her arm going numb. She managed to scramble to her feet and saw Galmar, his mighty battleaxe jammed in the dragon's mouth. It couldn't open its mouth wide enough to dislodge the axe and it shook its head. Galmar shouted 'Chew on that you big bastard!'

     

    Danifae scrambled up and with several mighty blows from her mace and help from the remaining soldiers the beast finally died. Danifae dropped her mace and went down on one knee, holding her numb arm. Galmar was finally able to tug his battleaxe free from the beast's maw and called for aid for the wounded. He knelt down beside Danifae but she told him to get back. Looking in confusion at her, she told him to stand back and wait for her to absorb the soul. Galmar ordered his troops to get back and form a perimeter. Then a glow emanated from the dragon and Danifae felt a shiver run down her spine, as it always did when she absorbed a dragon soul. The beast was reduced to nothing but bones and she finally got up, still holding her numb arm. The troops were staring at her with awe and even Galmar was wide-eyed at what he had just witnessed.

    'You truly are Dragonborn!' he said

    'Believe me, I was just as shocked as you are when I found out. The dragon won't rise again, as I have its soul'

    Galmar quickly composed himself and rallied the troops to help the wounded. The camp had been destroyed and thankfully the blizzard had stopped during the night. Ralof came out of the darkness and noticed she was holding her arm. 'Are you alright? That was quite a fight'

    'I'll be fine in a few minutes. Worry about the other wounded'

    'Yes you're right'. He started dealing out some healing potions and Danifae tried some healing spells, but she wasn't the best at healing and whether or not it was due to the fight, the cold and her numb arm, she was quickly drained of her resources.

     

     

    In all, from the twenty troops who had started out, most of them were injured, though half only had cuts and bruises. However of the other half who were injured, some couldn't walk unaided. General Galmar issued orders to build some sleighs to pull the injured back to Windhelm. The horses had scattered but Danifae gave a sharp whistle and Frost came out of the darkness with some of the other horses following behind.

    'You're full of surprises, lass' he said with a wide grin

    'Frost and I have an understanding. When I whistle like that, he will come to me'

     

     

    Quickly, they tethered the horses to the sleighs and Galmar was about to head back. But Danifae protested.

    'General, we've come too far to turn back now!'

    'Look lass, the injured troops need shelter and warmth to heal. The camp has been destroyed and I'm not going on to Korvanjund until I get them safely back to Windhelm!'

    Danifae nodded her head in understanding 'Yes I know. But I feel fine and I'm heading to the ruins with anyone that will come with me. I'm worried that something is afoot though'. In truth she still had the numbness in her arm but didn't mention this

    Galmar was getting rather restless. He wanted to get the injured soldiers back as quickly as possible. 'Afoot? What do you mean?'

    Danifae tensed then decided to vent the thoughts that she had had. 'I think the Thalmor are behind the dragon attack. It just seems too much of a coincidence that first there's the blizzard then a Frost Dragon attacks us when we're trying to get to Korvanjund for the Jagged Crown!'

    Galmar rolled his eyes. 'Look la..Danifae. The Thalmor are behind a lot of things going on right now, but do you really think they're behind the change of weather and the dragon? I think your hatred for them has clouded your judgement'

    By this time Ralof came up and said 'She mentioned something similar to me too. General, why don't we both go to Korvanjund and try to get the crown back for Jarl Ulfric. If we bring it back the people will rally round him and it'll bolster morale for the coming battles. You have enough horses to pull the sleighs back to Windhelm and we'll take anyone who wants to come along'

    Galmar thought for a moment then nodded his acceptance. 'I don't have time to argue with you. I'll lead the injured back to Windhelm and then come back as quickly as possible'. He looked round at the able soldiers. 'Five of you can volunteer to go with Ralof and Danifae. I need the rest of you to ride the horses pulling the sleighs'

    Five of the soldiers immediately stepped forward, three men and two women. They nodded acceptance at Ralof and Danifae and she smiled at them and thanked them. General Galmar said a gruff 'Farewell for now' and rode off with he rest of the troops, pulling the sleighs, which were loaded with the injured and warm blankets

     

     

    One of the volunteers, Gina, a girl with long red hair, asked Ralof what to do. He told everyone to gather up what remained of the supplies in the ruined camp. Danifae went to her flattened tent and gathered up what she could, including her hide shield. She placed it on her arm, despite the numbness, which started to worry her. Her arm should have been back to normal by now but she tried not to show what she felt. As she left the tent, she noticed something lying in the corner. On closer inspection, she saw that it was her too big helmet, which had been squashed flat by the dragon's foot. That was what she had stumbled over when she had jumped up from her bedroll. With a wry smile she said to the helmet 'Well, I won't be wearing you again thankfully!' She drew a fur helmet from her pack and pulled it down over the tips of her ears. 'Much better!'

    She went outside and saw the others were ready to mount up. She got on Frost and together, the seven comrades headed towards Korvanjund, the last known resting place of King Borgas and the Jagged Crown...

     

     

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Comments

4 Comments   |   GailOlm and 3 others like this.
  • Karver the Lorc
    Karver the Lorc   ·  July 17, 2018
    Heh. Of course Bosmer would eat fleas. Valuable proteins, hehehehe. 
    And yeah. Isn't Dani pushing it? Thalmor controlling weather AND dragons? Seems far fetched even for paranoid Blades.
    • HaggisHunter
      HaggisHunter
      Karver the Lorc
      Karver the Lorc
      Karver the Lorc
      Heh. Of course Bosmer would eat fleas. Valuable proteins, hehehehe. 
      And yeah. Isn't Dani pushing it? Thalmor controlling weather AND dragons? Seems far fetched even for paranoid Blades.
        ·  July 17, 2018
      Yeah she's willing to blame the Thalmor for all the troubles at the moment, in her anger and frustration... ;)
  • Caladran
    Caladran   ·  July 12, 2017
    Nice chapter! Ralof and fleas made me laugh. ^^

    You had this line twice "General Galmar issued orders to build some sleighs to pull the injured back to Windhelm"
    • HaggisHunter
      HaggisHunter
      Caladran
      Caladran
      Caladran
      Nice chapter! Ralof and fleas made me laugh. ^^

      You had this line twice "General Galmar issued orders to build some sleighs to pull the injured back to Windhelm"
        ·  July 13, 2017
      Well spotted. I'm glad someone is paying attention. ;) It's been corrected now.
      I try to include some humour in the chapters, as Danifae has been through some dark times and will likely have more to come