Roughly half an hour later, Aela and Sotek came upstairs to be greeted by a horrendous racket of cheering and singing. Farkas, who was half drunk, saw them before anyone else did. He shouted out to Sotek, waving at him; beckoning the Argonian to draw near.
“There he is! The one and only Dragonborn. Come my friend and drink to our victory”.
Kodlak made a beeline towards them. Before they could say anything, he took hold of both of their shoulders, preventing the pair from fleeing.
“Don’t bother with what you’re going to say, I heard the bed smash. We’ll sort it out later; I’ve a plan! Enjoy your victory Sotek, Aela. Damn you both did well out there. Were there really two dragons?”
Sotek answered half-heartedly as he was too preoccupied with freeing himself from Kodlak’s grasp and working out what the dreaded ‘plan’ was.
“Yes there was but we made it”.
Aela held Sotek tightly and smugly added to his pitiful account.
“Yes there was? Is that it? Oh, you don’t half play things down you silly snake. The first dragon was a green one; he wasn’t that tough but the second one that we fought at the peak? He was a tough bastard. The Whelps will know what to expect now though”.
She broke away from Sotek and playfully nudged Kodlak with her shoulder like a cub hounding its father.
“I’ve apologized to Sotek. I need to apologise to you now; I’m sorry for earlier Harbinger”.
Kodlak raised his eyebrows in surprise. He was about to humbly accept Aela’s seemingly sincere apology but she snuffed out the genuine regret she had in an instant.
“Mind you it was me so what do you expect? What the hell is all the racket for?”
Kodlak smiled at Aela’s bravado and pointed to Farkas.
“Farkas has been working on this for well over half an hour. His singings terrible so watch your ears”.
Farkas snatched two tankards from the table and filled them with mead, spilling it on the table top. With the beverage dripping on the floor, he handed them over to Aela and Sotek. The two Companions had hardly the time to breathe when both Farkas and Vilkas shouted out along with the Whelps.
“Down in one; down in one”. Fists and tankards banged on the tables, almost bullying them into drinking.
Both Aela and Sotek looked at each other and laughed then they promptly started downing the drink. Sotek finished his first while Aela rushed as fast as she could as mead dribbled down her chin. As soon as they both finished Farkas gave them another one to drink.
“You haven’t been drinking so you need to catch up”.
Aela peered in the flagon and sighed. She looked at Sotek then signalled him to wait.
“Right, on the count of five; Farkas count”.
Farkas Stood as straight as he could manage then preceded to count.
“One...” Instantly Aela began guzzling the mead as quick as she could, catching Sotek by surprise. As he started drinking a few seconds after her, the Huntress managed to beat him, although she did spill almost a quarter of the mead down her shirt.
“Yes I won!! Looser!” The next second her face turned to one of an almost goofy expression. Her mouth slowly opened wide and her eyes turned misty and empty.
Aela let out a loud burp which echoed around the hall despite the volume of the chattering and laughing. Farkas and Vilkas cheered at her noisy feat while Tilma slapped the top of the table in disgust. Aela looked at Sotek with a face torn between shock and jubilant embarrassment.
“You’ve turned me into an animal”.
Grinning back at her, Sotek came up to her and cuddled her from behind, whispering in her ear as he did so.
“You are an animal Aela. My she-wolf”.
She smiled warmly, safe and secure in her mates arms.
Vilkas was determined to separate the two Companions. He called them over to him as he pulled out two chairs either side of where he was sitting.
“Here! Aela, Sotek sit like two good little puppies. We have a new song for the hall”.
The Huntress scowled at Vilkas for his jibbing but despite that, she still sat down next to him. However his plan was foiled when she pulled out a chair beside her for Sotek. They both turned to Vilkas questioningly, wondering what he had meant by a new song when in fact it was Farkas who took to the floor.
The Nord stood up and rested his foot on his own seat as he leaned on his knee before proceeding to sing the song which he had been working on so feverishly.
“On one cold, dark, moon filled night;
Sotek led his pack to a fight.
Across the plains to the mountainside,
Where hovering above a beast did hide”.
“A fireball struck; lighting up the sky.
The dragon didn’t know that it was destined to die.
Arrows tore in its side,
Causing it with the ground to collide”.
“The dragon roared, but he roared louder.
His voice boomed like pure thunder.
His axe did strike the final blow.
Now the dragon’s bones are all that’s left to show”.
Aela tried desperately to keep a straight face. As her eyes fell upon the Harbinger who himself was covering his ears with his hands, she chuckled before leaning over to Sotek so she could whisper in his ear. “Do you think Farkas would notice if we disappeared?”
Sotek quietly laughed before pointing to Kodlak.
“Farkas probably wouldn’t but the Harbinger certainly would. We’re in enough trouble”.
Oblivious to everyone’s plight at the racket he was making, Farkas carried on singing.
“Up the track the Alpha’s tread,
Aela followed where Sotek led”.
“At the top all seemed clear,
But no one knew what was really near.
All of a sudden with an almighty crash!
A dragon of dragons with intent to smash”.
“Its target a lizard; seemingly easy prey.
But he stared in its eyes and said ‘no way’.
Without using any weapon he just thumped it on the nose.
Aela shouted, ‘With your axe you fool that’s how it goes’”.
“Arrows flew all as one,
And the dragon erupted like a blazing sun.
The dragon was a giant like none we ever saw.
But its fate too was sealed just like the one before”.
“So when out on the plains you tread
Watch the sky’s above and ahead...
And if you hear those beating wings in the sky
Just remember this..... Even great dragons die”.
Sotek chuckled while he clapped sympathetically. Aela however couldn’t contain herself. Tears fell down her face as she laughed hysterically. Gasping for breath, she tried to call out to Farkas.
“That sounded bloody awful”.
Farkas looked at her with a massive smile beaming across his face. He seemed unhurt by her comment and in actual fact he openly admitted it. Grinning from ear to ear he enthusiastically yelled back at her.
“I know; it’s terrible!!! You want to hear it again?”
Kodlak desperately called out and waved at Farkas’s chair in the hope that he would sit down.
“No!!! Please no; three times is enough”.
Aela laughed as she spoke loudly. Her eyes shone wildly as she cried out with joy.
“He sung that three times? By the Nines I’m glad we stayed downstairs”.
Kodlak nodded to her, half wishing he stayed downstairs as well. He decided there and then that Aela’s howling wasn’t half as bad to put up with than Farkas’s singing.
“Three times”. His face said it all.
Once the hall quietened down, the Harbinger pulled Aela and Sotek aside.
“How did it really go?” He asked.
Aela spoke first, relaying the events as she saw them.
“When the second dragon landed it came out from nowhere, the Whelps were initially heading down the hill. They soon joined the fray though with Farkas and Vilkas. Towards the end of the fight, the dragon; the second one, tried to cake us in flames. That was when the Whelps ran. They disappeared down the mountainside like a pack of rats”.
Sotek interrupted her, preventing the Huntress from making the situation worse than what it needed to be.
“Hang on Aela; you dived for cover as well. Remember Harbinger; that was a big bloody dragon, and it had total surprise on us”.
“Had surprise?” Aela stated angrily. “You bloody surprised it by hitting it. What the hell were you thinking? You punched it! He did you know; full in the nose... wallop”.
Sotek sighed and shamefully nodded.
“Well he made me jump. It was a reflex action. I can’t help that; can I?”
Ignoring the fact of what he did, he steered the conversation back to the Whelps.
“Yes Harbinger Aela’s right. The whelps did run but then I can’t hold that against anyone. What matters to me is if they come back! The Whelps did; all of them. Next time they won’t be so afraid. They know what to expect and they will stand, you can count on that”.
Kodlak seemed pleased with their accomplishment and he happily expressed his pride in both them and the Whelps.
“Well I have to admit I was worried, but you pulled it off. Well done again Sotek; you handled the Whelps masterfully. All they have talked about is the dragon fight. I’m as proud of them as I am of you; all of you”.
He sat down at a small table and requested that the two Companions, Aela and Sotek joined him. Before he spoke he threw a pouch of gold on the table. It landed heavily with a loud ‘chinking’ sound.
“Now this bed situation”.
Aela went to speak but he held his hand up, cutting her off.
“I don’t want to hear it Aela. I’m not being funny with you both; I really don’t want to know. I feel that your needs are somewhat different to ours. As I don’t exactly know of your needs you two can sort it out. Here’s a bag of two hundred gold. Sotek, add to it as you will. I require you two to sort out by any means... by any legal means... to sort out two beds; one for Sotek and one for Aela. Two hundred septims; two beds. Oh yes... leave me out of it”.
Then the Harbinger gave Aela a smile and went off to the main table.
Aela sat there perplexed. She watched the Harbinger walk away as she muttered under her breath.
“Well that was easy. Either he’s chuffed we killed those dragons or he’s getting used to having us destroying things”.
“He means it though. It’s up to us to sort this out. I wonder...” Sotek stated as he leaned back in his chair.
“So what are you going to do about our beds?” Aela asked. “How about straw in the corner?”
Sotek laughed at her suggestion.
“Can you imagine his face if we did? He’ll be making us eat out of dog bowls. We have two choices Aela. Either Red and Scarface stay out on the plains or we get stronger beds”.
Aela sighed as she cast a forlorn look at the Undercroft stairwell.
“We should keep them out of Jorrvaskr; we are getting careless”.
Sotek readily agreed but the renegade in him refused to let things fade so easily.
“Ok but I’ll sort out stronger beds as well. I’ve had an idea I want to try out for Sca... ermm me. Let me try it for myself then, if you like it, we’ll do the same for you”.
Aela eagerly nodded although she was clueless to Sotek’s plan.
“Ok but let me help”
Smiling, Sotek pulled Aela’s head forwards so he could give her a peck on the lips. He nodded at her but then his next words confused her entirely.
“I need to send a message to Falkreath. We are going to need some stone”.
“Huh? Stone?” Aela asked.
She blankly stared at him but he simply smiled back at her.
“Yep, trust me; we need stone”.
Comments
Fixed the errors....
The poem is pretty good and with the right person could probably sound good too, but having Farkas's VA sing that in my head is murderous.
This has to be one of my favourite chapters. It's the fact that Farkas is so aware that he can't sing. Kodlak's reaction to him wanting to sing again is so funny.