Tales of Valenwood/ The Dragonborn Princess ch. 16

Rienna woke with a start from her sleep to the sound of something metal clattering loudly on the ground. Rubbing her eyes, she saw the Dunmer elf hastily picking up a silver bowl with red apples scattered about. When he saw he woke Rienna, he hastily muttered, “Apologies. You slept for a whole day anyway so… wakey, wakey dear.”

Rienna sat up straight on the bed, her head pounding. She asked him, “Did I really sleep for a whole day?”

The elf nodded, “Yep, more than that actually. A whole twenty six hours. You must have been tired. The name is Athis by the way.” Some of his bruises turned an ugly color, and his blackened left eye was swollen shut.

“I’m Rienna.” She replied, yawning. She stretched, groaning, and her very stiff back made several popping sounds. Her stomach growled so loudly with hunger that Athis threw her a shiny red apple, which she caught with one hand. Without thinking she bit into the apples juicy flesh, savoring its sweet taste. Athis left her alone in the sleeping quarters while she devoured her apple to the core. Throwing it away, she dressed in her full set of armor, clipping her weapons to her body. She decided that she was going to handle that thing Farkas told her to do first, and then head out to Bleak Falls Barrow to find this supposed Dragonstone. On her way out, she met up with Eorlund, who supplied her with a fresh quiver of steel arrows and sharpened her sword. The Imperial captains’ sword still wasn’t very good, but it was better than before thanks to Eorlund’s skills.

Finding Nazeem in the city of Whiterun was easy. She approached a tall, kind-faced Nord woman by the name of Ysolda, asking her if she knows the man she was looking for. “Of course,” Ysolda replied, her kind face shadowed with a grudge, “Everyone knows that pompous fool. He’s over there –the one with the fine ol’ set of robes and the ruby ring on his finger.”

Nazeem the Redgaurd, an ebony skinned man who stood straight and haughtily – was speaking to a pretty woman behind the vegetable stall accompanied with her daughter. The woman and girl looked annoyed as he said in a sly, sniffy voice, “You know, if you bought from my farm, your vegetables would be a lot fresher.”

“I do what is within my means, Nazeem. ” The woman said. The Redguard chucked, tsking and shaking his head. Rienna approached him, tapping him on the shoulder. He turned around snappishly saying, “Do you go to the Cloud District very often? Oh what am I saying of course you don't.”

No wonder someone wanted Nazeem to be taught a lesson -he was impolite and so full of himself. Rienna raised her fists and set her feet apart, declaring, “I've been sent to resolve a dispute.”

The man opened his dark eyes wide, staring her incredulously. He opened and closed his mouth, and Rienna bid her time as he said, “Do you know who I am, elf? I am Nazeem, much to important to bother myself of you any further.”

Rienna, without any warning, decked Nazeem in the mouth hard, splitting his lip and drawing blood. He grunted in surprise and pain, holding his lips. The shock was replaced with fury as he yelled, “I don't have to take that from you!”

He raised his fists and threw a punch at Rienna, however he left his ribs open for Rienna to strike. She pummeled his left rib twice in reception, granting raspy yelps of pain  as she knocked all the wind out of him. By now her actions drew attention from the townsfolk of Whiterun. The bosmer elf behind the meat stand said, “Ten gold on the lady!”

Another citizen –a muscular, blonde bearded man in Imperial armor sang out, “I'll take that bet! Come on, she doesn’t look so tough!”

Nazeem fell to his knees, groaning in pain still. He was about to stand back again, but then Rienna kicked him in the chest, sending him to fall flat on his back in a winded out whine. “Alright! I give in… just p-please stop hurting me.” He said, clutching his chest where Rienna kicked him. Taking out her frustrations out on Nazeem felt good.

“You know what you have to do.” Rienna demanded, and his eyes were wide as he said, “Yes, fine. I’ll take care of it. You tell your client to back off, and I’ll get it done. Just leave me alone!”

“Have a good day, sir.” Rienna said, and then turned her back on the Nazeem fellow she just pummeled. Behind her, the Bosmer elf told the blonde haired man, “You owe me twenty gold Idolaf.”

Rienna decided she will pick up whatever payment Farkas had for her later, and set out to Bleak Falls Barrow. From the information she had gathered, Bleak Falls Barrow was ancient Nord ruin shadowing the town of Riverwood south in the mountains. Tombs such as that often housed the undead, so Rienna knew that she had to be properly armed. She bought a few alchemy ingredients from the shop Arcadia’s Cauldron and brewed her some healing potions before setting out –she wasn’t nearly as good as an alchemist as her brother Cogan was, but at the very least she could make that one basic potion.
She set off on her journey alone, taking about an hour to reach the town of Riverwood. She thought of knocking on the blacksmiths door and have that promised drink with Hadvar, but instead she decided she will have to do the job for Jarl Balgruuf and his court wizard. She saw the crumbling ruins of Bleak Falls Barrow and sauntered her way up the path that led to it. Patrolling the road about three quarters on the way up was a bandit in raggedy fur armor and carrying a rusted iron sword for a weapon. He drew it, saying, and “Look at what we have here. Took the wrong road?”

Rienna drew her bow and notched it. The bandit roared a battle cry and attacked, but Rienna put a steel arrow through the man’s eye before he got too close. After she felled her enemy, Rienna rummaged through his pockets and found a few gold coins. There was no shame in taking a dead man’s coin off of his body, especially if that said man tried to kill you, Rienna thought as she added the coins to her purse.

Rienna continued her journey again and made her way up the broken stone steps that led to the entrance wide and tall entrance of the tomb. She took down three more bandits with her bow –two archers on above her with swift flying arrows, and then cut down a battle-axe wielding bandit with her sword. She replenished her arrow supply from the archers’ quivers and then quietly she opened the vast door that led inside Bleak Falls Barrow, sneaking inside as quietly as possible. She decided on using a niggling approach upon voyaging through this dark and foreboding place; it might do her some good. There was no sense in making a whole lot of noise in a place like this; she will stick to her shadows.
Inside the ancient Nord tomb, the air was dank and smelling of death. A dull orange light cast on the dusty stone walls as she gingerly stepped over a few rotting corpses of some type of rat creature, and another dead bandit who looked as though he got into a fight with the whole pack of them and lost. Rienna heard voices and smelled something foul cooking –a few steps ahead she spotted two more bandits in deep conversation.

“That bloody elf should have been back by now.” The female bandit said restlessly, pacing the floor around the campfire, “Arvel better not have banked on us. We deserve a cut from whatever riches that Golden Claw of his possessed, for bringing him this far.”

“Arvel ain’t that stupid. If he was clever enough to steal it from that general good store owner in Riverwood, then he knows to pay us. Now stop worrying and keep watch on the entrance like he told us to do.” Her companion replied. Rienna drew her bow and aimed at the woman’s chest. The bandit had no clue that Rienna was lurking in the shadows, and let out a flabbergasted, gurgling gasp as Rienna’s arrow tore through her collarbone. Her companion immediately drew his axe, yelling into the shadows in a frightened voice, “Whose there? Show yourself!”

Rienna pulled the string of her bow again, her arrow piercing through his arm. The bandit let out an agonized cry of pain as he horrifyingly gasped at the arrow sticking out of his bicep –unable to defend himself, Rienna charged in with her sword, slicing her blade across the man’s neck. Some of his spurting blood splashed on her face, and with disgust she wiped it off as he fell at her feet. After they were dead, Rienna looted their chest by the campfire, with contained a few gold, a handful of lock picks and dully glinting red garnet. She continued her expedition in the chilly, grimy crypt, rummaging through a few burial urns for gold. Her coin purse began to grow in size as she ventured through the old ruins.  Rienna brushed her way through cobwebs and dust, crouching low towards the ground to keep her footsteps quiet.

She made it into a chamber where there was another bandit holding a torch. Canopying the high roof of the chamber there was certain strange runes of a snake, a whale and a hawk as well as pillars on the left wall bearing the same symbols, but the man had not yet took heed of them. He had not noticed Rienna, so she stayed hidden in the shadows. The man was walking up to a lever in the middle of the ground that appeared to be able to open  sturdy gate. He pulled the lever but little did he know that it activated a booby trap -the moment he pulled the level a rain of poisoned arrows killed him.
Rienna stood up straight and walked towards the dead body of the man who fell at the works of the booby trap -the dead flesh on his body was immediately starting to rot due to the poison. She will have to find a way a open the gate to proceed any further, but if she pulled at the lever, she will be caught in the arrows as well. She pondered the situation for a moment, wondering if the runes on the pillars and walls had something to do with the lever -was it a puzzle? She trotted over to the pillars slowly, afraid that if she was to do anything to them she will set off another trap, but then found that she could turn them on its stand. Yes, Rienna thought victoriously, it was some kind of puzzle and if she got it right, she'll be able to pull the lever and open the gate without setting poisoned arrows on herself. She looked up at the runes high into the ceiling -from left to right, the runes were snake, then hawk, then whale. The pillars on the ground were in a different order, so she manipulated them until they matched with the ones high on the ceiling. She then took a deep breath, praying to the gods that her assumption was right, and then pulled. She heard something click, and suddenly the gate opened before her. With a smug smile, she made her way through. If her father could see her now, adventuring through a Nord crypt, he would laugh and smile, saying something like, “That's my girl.”

She rummaged through the chest she found behind it, pocketed her treasures and then descended down a winding staircase. She began to notice cobwebs growing thicker as she stepped lightly on the ground and found a passageway that was so riddled with sticky, strong web that she had to tear it down with her sword because she could not do it with her mere hands.

“Henrir? Messlia? Is that you?” said a desperate, panicky voice. Rienna peeked her head around the bend and saw a Dunmer elf trapped in a mass of web. He struggled against it, but he could not move. He spotted Rienna, frantically warning, “Watch out, it’s still here somewhere!”

Just as Rienna was about to open her mouth and reply, she heard a snap above her head. Rienna gave a scared start as suddenly the biggest, most fearsome looking spider she has ever a seen descended from a cavernous ceiling. In landed on the cobwebbed ground, spitting venom from its deadly looking pinchers –it was wounded, Rienna noted. The creature should have had eight, spindly and hairy legs, but it only had seven. Rienna gulped as she stared at her reflection in its many eyes; the disgusting animal spit a nasty green liquid at her that burned like an icy bite when it came in contact with her skin. She sucked her teeth in pain, but had to dodge as suddenly the giant spider lunged at her, looking to ensnare her in its pincers. She rolled out of the way where the Dunmer was struggling against the web he was trapped in, and the man belted in out a terrified voice, “Keep that thing away from me!”

Rienna grunted as the giant spider struck her arm with its thorny foot, slicing her skin above her shoulder. It hissed at her, the venom oozing from its pinchers as it tried to bite her head off. The spider pushed her down on the ground with another swipe of its leg and she hurriedly grabbed its venom coated pincers to keep the violently hissing spider from tearing at her face., She cried out in a sudden surge of strength as she kicked the spiders abdomen as hard as she could. It squealed and reared slightly, enough for Rienna to snake her way out from underneath the spider's hairy belly. Rienna got back on her feet and drew her sword. “Let's dance you ugly fucker!” she screamed, charging in with her blade.

The spider reared on its hind legs, screeching at her. Rienna piked her sword through the abdomen the spider exposed, releasing a smelly stream of green blood. The spider howled in pain, its many legs curling around Rienna's arm and scratching her with its thorned feet. Rienna pulled her sword out, and another gush of blood poured out the spiders wound.

The venom on her skin was sizzling away at her flesh and seeping deep into her veins, freezing her blood. This made her limbs feel as heavy as stones, but she knew it would wear off soon. The spiders at the underground caves in Helgen -though not nearly as gigantic as the one she battled now- had the same effect of venom. She watched as the spider crumpled on the ground as it let out agonizing dying screams... to relieve it of its misery, Rienna shoved her blade through the biggest of the hideous creature's many eyes. It finally emitted its last groan and died; the elf trapped in the webs let out a pained sigh of relief.

“Good you killed it. Now get me down from here before anything else shows up.” he said, trying to pull out his webbed arm.

“Tell me about the Golden Claw.” she demanded, crossing her arms to show that she wasn't going to help him until she had the information she wanted.

“Yes, the claw!” he replied hastily, though Rienna noted there was a shadow of deceit in his eyes, “The claw, the markings, the door in the Hall of Stories, I know how they all work! Let me down and I'll show you. You won't believe the power the Nords have hidden there.”

What power? Could the 'power' that the Dunmer elf spoke of be the Dragonstone she was looking for? Rienna stared at him mistrustfully, but she guessed she would find out for herself. She pointed her sword at the elf's throat, saying, “Hand over the claw first! I hear you stole it from a shop owner, well I'm taking it back!”

The Dunmer elf irritatingly rolled his red yes, “Does it look like I can move? You'll have to cut me down first.”

Rienna hesitated, but then relented. She began to slice away at the web -they were as thick as rope- and the entire web began to tremble as the elf proclaimed, “That's it! I can feel it coming loose.”

Rienna wiped her sword across the web above his head as suddenly he came tumbling down. He grunted, pulling some sticky webs away from his body. Rienna was about to demanded he give her the Claw, but then suddenly the elf gave her a cunning smile as he ran away from her.

“Wait!” Rienna yelled, running after him. The elf was fast she noted, and he maniacally laughed behind her, “It's my riches! My power! I'm not sharing it with anybody else fool!”


Rienna seethed in frustration, pulling out her bow. She aimed at the elf's back, racing her legs to keep from losing sight of her target. Her father taught her how to be a good ranger, so doing such was easy -however before she could release the arrow, an axe came out of nowhere, slicing off the elf's head with such force that it bounced off the left wall. Blood squirted from his severed neck, and then the elf’s body fell. Rienna then found her new target, and to her horror she saw that it was an undead.

The undead creature -once a man or an elf but cursed with undeath for all eternity- locked its glowing blue eyes at her, snarling in an inhumane way that sent chills run up Rienna's spine. The glowing eyes were as lifeless as the decaying gray flesh that stretched across its skeleton, glaring at her with its horribly gaunt face. Rienna knew that the Nords called the living undead in their country 'dragur' though she has personally never seen one before. The sight of this unnatural thing filled her heart with fear and dread and knotted up her stomach. It stank terribly of rotten meat and it made her want to throw up.  This dragur came about with the use of powerful necromancy, an evil magic that her people greatly feared. Once one dies, dead they should stay. Her fathers voice suddenly came to mind as she recollected a distant memory, ‘Fear is good, little flower. Fear drives the will to survive.’

Two more dragurs crawled out of burial slots embedded in the walls. They drew old, dusty swords and approached her slowly, with a limping, hobbling gait. Though the unnatural power they wielded behind their weapons were great, they were very slow and easy to kill. Rienna cut them down one by one, and then fumbled through the elf’s dead body to look for the Golden Claw. When she found it, she was amazed by its beauty. The ornament was made of solid gold and shaped into a dragons claw –on the palm of the claw there were three symbols embedded there: bear, moth and owl. There was something about the claw’s nails that were carved to almost make it look like a key, so Rienna figured the artifact was highly important in order to get out of this tomb. She put the claw in her backpack and continued her expedition.

Rienna encountered many more of those undead dragur throughout the tomb. Some were stronger and harder to kill than others, but Rienna had the advantage over the fact they were almost deaf. She sneaked past most of them, cutting them down as they still laid resting in their burial slots. She was beginning to get over her fear of these monsters, Rienna thought, albeit the fact they smelled worse than an overflowing chamber pot. She grumbled at the fact that she was probably going to come out of this tomb smelling just like them.

She pulled a chain that opened a gate deeper into the cave, and to her astonishment, it must have been the Hall of Stories that the elf had talked about. The walls were carved with beautifully sad stories of war, despair and love. Rienna was observing a picture of a man draped in wolf skins, standing on the massive skull of a dragon and bearing daggers in each hand. Rienna’s fingers caressed the stonework, admiring its beauty. The Nords were certainly adept at construction and stonework: the tomb was centuries old yet still was sturdy. then she had to tear her eyes away from it as she beheld the grand door that guarded whatever was on the other end. Rienna felt as though she had enough action for today: she just wanted to get the Dragonstone and be on her way.

The door was of solid stone, and three wheels bearing the exact same marks on the claws surrounded a three-pronged key hole. Out of curiosity, Rienna placed the claw inside the key hole, finding that it fit perfectly. Rienna then used the same method she used on the pillars further back into the tomb: she matched the wheels with the order of symbols that was on the claw, and then with ginger hands she turned the claw in its keyhole. There was a loud groaning sound as suddenly the door –which sounded as though it hasn’t been used for ages- folded down in a shower of century’s old dust. As it opened, a continuous blast of bitter cold air hit her face.

Behind the door of the hall of stories was a cavern that spoke of nothing but forebodingness. There was a freshwater stream underneath a bridge, but other than that  It sent an uneasy feeling rumbling deep in her belly, especially as a swarm of black bats flew over her head. Rienna squealed in fright, thinking it as something else, but then the bat colony made her notice something of a completely different nature.

It was a large wall engraved with runes of a kind she has never seen before. It was about ten feet high, nestled on top of a stone platform. Something about it  was paralyzing, hypnotizing, and it pulled to her. Inside her head she heard a strange chanting that filled her with an utterly remarkable, insanely terrifying, painful not to her body per say... but to her very essence itself feeling that confused her to no end. The chanting inside her head- she didn’t know if she was going crazy or if there was something magical about the wall that pulled her to it- belted out in a familiar word she swore she heard before: ‘Dovakiin, Dovakiin, Dovakiin…’

The closer she got to the wall, the more she noticed that there was a particular rune on the wall glowing. Suddenly the rune derived a kind of magic that enveloped Rienna in what felt like pure, raw power. She screamed in pain as the magic coursed through her system like scorching hot fire, pulsing through her very veins like it was replacing her own blood. Rienna held herself around the middle, breathing heavily. What was happening to her?

Her head was pulsing with agony, her vision was blurry, but she felt as though every nerve in her body was alive in a way that has never been done before. She took several deep breaths to calm the strange sensation –there was no doubt that wall and its magic did something to her that she did not yet know of.

There was a tumbling crack behind her, and the crypt in front of the wall opened to reveal a snarling dragur…bigger and tougher looking than the others she faced. It wielded a menacing looking battle axe that was dripping with and icy cold enchantment. It swung the axe at her in a vicious swipe but she managed to barely dodge the heinous blow despite the fact her head was still pounding. Rienna, to her utter relief, spotted a heavy looking slab of stone tied to the dragurs hip; it was carved with a map, and Rienna knew that it was exactly what she was looking for.

The dragur opened its rotten mouth, revealing rows of blackened, green teeth as it said in a deafeningly loud voice, “FUS!”

Whatever magic it performed, Rienna felt an unseen force suddenly push her back. It was as though she was running rearward when she tried every effort not to fall -her ears were ringing from the immensely loud way the dragur shouted. The dragur raised his axe again, coming at her, but Rienna bolted out of the way, running to the other side of the cavern. She hurriedly pulled out her bow and proceeding to rain arrows on her enemy -deciding that attacking from a distance was the best defense for her. The dragur roared as one of her arrows pierced its leg, but then it started to limp towards her angrily, once again shouting, “FUS!”

Rienna was almost knocked back again, but she kept her feet firmly on the ground. The dragur now was close enough to strike her, but Rienna hurriedly used her bow to stop the attack. The dragur's old steel collided with her ebony bow, and with all her strength she pushed the stinking creature back, drawing another arrow of her quiver. She let it go as soon as she notched it, and it pierced the dragurs chest.. The dragur screamed in agony -Rienna took the opportunity to draw her sword and charge at it. She pierced her sword through the dragurs breastbone, filling her ears with a crunching noise that sounded like crumpling paper, and then finally the dragur fell at her feet, its glowing blue eyes going out in total darkness.

Rienna doubled over, exhausted. She grabbed the heavy Dragonstone off the body of the dragur, looted the chest in front of the magic wall, and then found a shortcut that led out of the tomb. Rienna was highly relieved to smell fresh air at last.