- 26th of Second Seed, 4E 202 -
We've arrived in Ivarstead. It took a full day to get here, and Kharjo and I are both ready for a bed.
We located a trail on the north side of the great mountain just an hour or so after leaving Whiterun this morning. I had no idea if this was the trail to follow, but it led towards the mountain so I decided to check it out.
The trail was old and not all that worn. Not a lot of travelers had been using it from the looks of it. But it was enough of a trail to follow, and within a short time we were climbing steeply up the side of the mountain.
It was disconcertingly quiet on the trail. It seemed all I could hear was the sound of our own footsteps on the snow. We kept a good pace, but still a cautious one. I fully expected to run into trouble at any moment.
But the trail just climbed and climbed up through the snow, and we saw nothing. Eventually, though, the trail broke from the snowy landscape and started downhill. We finally saw some signs of life .. some mountain goats and some butterflies, and the snow gave way to lush grass and brush.
Then I could see the trail merge with another, larger trail up ahead. We crouched and proceeded slowly, since bandits often like to prowl the areas where trails meet. But the area was clear of bandits and thieves.
By now it was around mid-day, so we stopped and had our lunch. Our vantage point stretched far to the east, across Windhelm and beyond to the shores of the sea. It was beautiful, and it reminded me of life a year ago .. when I would carelessly explore the mountains around Helgen and see similar such views. I do miss those days. I miss my father greatly. I don't write much about him because I don't know what to say. His memories are locked in my heart, and turning to the key to them is too painful still.
We broke from lunch and started up the trail again. But almost immediately we had to stop and hide. In the trees ahead I could make out what looked to be an ice wraith. As I watched it slither off another one appeared, and then another. It seemed there were three of them, and their paths were continuously crossing with ours. We would have to find another way.
The only other way to go was to our right, through the trees. So we started off, keeping a close eye on the wraiths.
It took some time but we were finally out of their sight and over a ridge. Ahead of us was a waterfall, with another in the distance. Two rives led away from these falls and joined together.
Kharjo and I hiked down the mountainside to the water's edge, and across the river we spotted a trail. It was likely the same trail that we had been following, as it continued off in the distance and climbed up the mountain again. The problem is that we also spotted a troll on the other side of the river.
The other problem was the river itself. It was deep and swift, and likely freezing cold. I was sure we could swim it, but we would have to remove our armor first and leave it behind. Considering there was a troll on the other side of the river. I also knew we couldn't just leave our armor behind. I scanned up and down the river for some way across but there was nothing. We would have to go back and find a way around the ice wraiths.
But I also knew we would still have to deal with the troll. So we took some additional time to watch him and scan the area around him. It appeared as if there was a side trail that lead up and around his position, so if we could just get past the wraiths we could avoid the troll as well.
We snuck back to our original position on the trail, and then watched the pattern of the wraiths. We needed to devise a plan that would allow us to slip between them without being seen. It looked like the best way to do this was to use a ridgeline to the left of the trail. Timing would be critical, though.
We waited a few more minutes to make sure we had the timing down, and then .. we ran. We ran as fast as we could to the ridgeline. One of the ice wraiths was ahead of us just a bit, and another was coming down the hill behind us. We were trapped between them but there was no other way.
By some deserved luck we made it off the ridge without being spotted. We were out of breath and shaking from the adrenaline. But we were safe and undetected.
As we headed up the trail we noticed the troll and a man were fighting just up the side trail we had planned to use to avoid the troll. That plan was now a bust, but the good news was that the troll was distracted. I paused momentarily, considering if we should come to the man's aid or not. But I couldn't tell if he was a bandit or not, so I wasn't going to risk it.
We headed upstream a ways and found a place to cross that was shallow enough. I looked back in time to see the man fall to the troll. We had no time to waste.
I crashed into the watter and Kharjo followed. We hit the trail on the others side and kept running until we were a hundred paces further. Just ahead was Ivarstead, which is where we will spend the night tonight.
