- Middas, 4th of Sun's Dusk, 4E 201 -
I'm the happiest nord in all of Skyrim right now. I'm sitting at a table at the Winking Skeever as I write this. That's right, the Winking Skeever ... the inn in Solitude. I made it out of Morthal .. finally. Thank the gods I made it out.
I journeyed all morning yesterday through the dangerous swamps. I count my blessings as this time I encountered but a few mudcrabs and no spiders .. or worse. By noon I had reached the Karth River. It was a welcome sight because it meant I had reached the edge of the swamps. Just upstream was the dragon bridge, and the road to Solitude.
With sun on my back and the birds in my ear I hiked up into the mountains. It was a gorgeous day. In an hour's time I had reached the dragon bridge, and the village just beyond it. As I continued up the road toward Solitude I felt a wave of relief wash over me. It was as if I had awoken from my nightmare.
But I wasn't out of the woods yet .. as they say. Just outside the village I ran into a strange man with a bad temperament. He wasted no time in readying his shield and some sort of magic in his other hand. It was obvious this fetcher intended to fight, so I considered my options.
My first instinct was to bait him into using his magika. Although he had a shield he hadn't drawn a weapon, so I determined his magic must be more dangerous. Also, I didn't see a sword or mace or anything on him, which meant he probably only carried a dagger. A dagger against my heavy armor would likely be fairly ineffective.
We danced with each other for a few moments before he loosed his first spell at me. Ice. My confidence grew. Not only does my shield carry a partial resistance to magic, my nord blood carries a significant resistance to frost. Perhaps this fool was unaware of this, but anyone in Skyrim should know this of nords. I'm guessing he simply didn't know any other useful spells. Pity for him.
After a few minutes of dancing and dodging I decided it was time to close and bring the fight to him. I had to sidestep a few more spikes of ice but then I was on top of him. My first blow was a heavy one, but he caught it with his shield. My second he caught as well, after which he began assaulting me with a steady spray of freezing pain. I panicked for a moment. Pain does that to you. But I reassured myself that my partial resistance would buy me the time I needed.
As I closed in on him I got a grand idea. You see, the place where we were fighting was right at the edge of a huge cliff. My attacker had made a critical mistake and placed his back to the cliff edge. Now, as I pushed forward to strike him, he retreated backwards and focused his attention on blasting me with magic. I decided to take advantage of this.
Calmly and with great confidence I pushed forward through the blizzard of ice, closing the distance bit by bit, as he closed the distance between him and the cliff. Before he knew it he was at the edge, and realized his blunder. But it was too late. With a single shove of my shield he stumbled backwards ... over the edge of the cliff and to his death.
Now you might think that this is where I gave a great yell and celebrated my thoughtful kill, but there wasn't time. I jest not, but the moment the man's body disappeared from my sight a pair of very large spider legs took his place. As it turns out, a giant frostbite spider had observed our fight from afar and came to join the festivities.
I spun around with my shield still raised as the cruel beast leapt on me. A week ago a spider just this size turned me out in the swamps near Morthal. I wasn't about to let that happen again and spend another week recovering in a bed.
I probably should have just used my voice to send the spider fleeing, but I was so close to the cliff still. I figured I might be able to deal the spider the same fate as my previous assailant. The only trouble was the size of this spider. My first shove with the shield barely seemed to move the spider, and I felt panic seeping into my veins. I shoved again and still the spider clung to the craggy rocks. He bit me a second time and I could feel my life ebbing from me. It was now or never. With all my effort I shoved a third time.
For a moment it seemed I had failed. The spider slid backwards on the rock a bit, but did not fall from the cliff. I winced and awaited his final bite and the end of my life. But as luck would have it the spider couldn't attack me. He had slid just far enough that it was taking all of his effort just to cling to the rocks. Better yet, after just a few more seconds he began sliding backwards. With great satisfaction I watched him struggle, and then slip from the cliff.
He fell quite a long ways but amazingly enough he survived. I had no intention of leaving the creature alive, though. I pulled my bow from my back and put a third of my arrows into him. The way the spider crumpled with the impact of my final arrow made me smile inside my helmet.
I continued on to Solitude after that. I sold the staff I had found and got nearly three hundred gold for it. Not as much as I had expected, but still a good bit. Then I got a meal and spent the night at the local inn. Now it's early morning and I'm about to head out and look for my victims from yesterday. I hope I can reach them before someone else does.