I, Draugr Chapter 6 (Patreon)

“Leonidas?” I perk up as the door to the room is slowly pushed open after a faint series of knocks, startling me out of my thoughts.

Aurelia steps in, her large armor and sword having been forgone for a civilian attire of white upper robes and dark blue leather pants with high boots.

Her long hair were held up in a ponytail, and she looked like she came straight out of a bath.

Damn is she breathtaking. “Yes?” I thought she had wanted to run some errands, or have I been here for longer than I presume?

A frown soon crosses her face as she steps into the room, gaze falling towards the table before me, which I dragged in here from the living room.

I needed it, and I didn’t feel like spending time in the large living room. I’ve never been one to like large homes, as I get satisfied with few things.

Yet, the Jarl went and gave me and Aurelia this large home with four rooms, a backyard and an enormous living room. It makes me uncomfortable.

And I can tell the why he gave us such a large home without blinking. Because we are valuable- Or well, Aurelia is, unless me blowin’ a Dragons’ guts out makes me ‘important’ or valuable in his eyes.

If it were anyone else, he’d have rented a good room at one of the good inns in Whiterun for a week or two. But because Aurelia is the Dragonborn, he swiftly made sure to please her greatly by giving her a home free of charge.

“You’ve been in here since we left Dragonsreach.” I hum and lean back on my chair with a low sigh. “And the Sun has just started setting.” Well, damn…

I look towards the window and notice that yes, it’s slowly getting darker. I can see well in the dark, so I don’t take particular notice of changes in brightness if I am not paying attention.

“Guess one doesn’t notice the passage of time when they can’t get tired.” Though I do feel a bit… mentally weary, I guess.

I can’t sleep, can’t eat, can’t drink… I can feel nothing. All my senses are gone besides sight and hearing.

This shit is going to tear me apart in time. I can feel it.

My words make the worry in Aurelia’s eyes grow more noticeable, and I’d smile if I could. “Frowning will ruin your pretty face.” And there she goes, blushing cutely.

Her flushed cheeks puff up and she cutely stomps her foot on the ground while glaring my way, making me enjoy the view even more, “You are so insufferable at times!” And we just recently met.

If she didn’t already have white hair, I bet she’d only last a week before sporting some.

“And you can be very cute at times.” I shrug without care, and I am glad that Aurelia has no sword within arms reach or anything to throw at me, because she looks ready to do exactly that.

Scoffing and relaxing her posture, the adorable woman approaches the table with a large map on it, “What have you been doing?” She asks, staring both at the map and at the paper copy of the Dragon Tablet.

Something Farengar did not ask us to fetch… Maybe because he was hollering obscenities my way thirty seconds after our meeting.

My people skills are just wonderful, ain’t they?

“Planning, and putting my knowledge to use.” I’ve played the damn game millions of time, cleared all missions, crafted everything and even collected one of every damn item in the game.

Modded it, completed it. Rinse and repeat a billion times over. I know the map by memory, and the fact that this world even has more Dragon Priests than normal tickles my completionism desires.

“Planning?” Aurelia parrots as she leans against the table, making her curves stand out as her robes. “For what?”

I take a slight second to admire the view before answering, “Helping you.” She startles and blinks before turning my way with wide eyes. “Each square on the Map is a possible Word Wall location. Each triangle a Dragon Priest location, and each circle a Dragon Mound location.” I list off with a drawl, resting my bony chin on my knuckles as I stare at her.

“Dragons do not truly die once their mortal body is slain. Their Souls linger… Until someone like you walks on by and gobbles it up, that is.” I have hopes that just visiting a Dragon Mound will let her gain some strength by devouring the Soul of the deceased Dragon laying there.

This obviously wasn’t possible in the game… But this isn’t the game.

“I…” Aurelia falters, a flush coming back to color her pale cheeks as her eyes dart between me and the large map on the table. “You spent all this time doing this for me?”

I shrug, “And other things. But… Yes. The stronger you are, the more assured I am of your survival, and that is the one thing I care the most about right now.” The most important things right now is gaining Souls for myself and making Aurelia stronger.

I do not know how things will escalate from this point on. Or how Alduin himself will escalate. What I can do is simply prepare and hope for the best.

So I can’t waste time on useless stuff like going to places where I know some good items were in the game. I cannot hope that the places I know where I can get Daedric Quests for those artifacts are the same.

It’s not the game anymore.

The Dwemer Forge, the Eye of Magnus, Wuuthrad, Oghma Infinium, and so much more. I cannot rely on my knowledge, yet not doing so feels like a waste.

“You…” Gulping, Aurelia shyly turns away from me, the flush having gone up to cover her ears too now. She’s so fucking cute. “You’re so kind to me…”

I chuckle softly and shake my head, then decide not to bully her a bit more right now.

Thus, Aurelia swiftly recovers herself with a dignified cough, yet the dark flush remains and she keeps throwing glances my way as she turns back to the map. “W-What about the crosses?”

“Remember what I asked from the Jarl?” She pauses, flush fading as she narrows her eyes in thought.

Then she perks up a few seconds later, “About if there were things he needed help getting taken care of?” I nod.

Making ourselves more useful in his eyes will simply be better for us in the long run. We’ll become less of ‘tools to keep the city’ safe to ‘people the Jarl can trust and confide in’, which is important.

As tools can be discarded, but as a good Nord, the Jarl is one who gives trust and never betrays those close to him.

Hence, I plan on making use of that in order to get benefits. What those are, I do not know, but at least they will be there.

“There are quite a few things close to each other up North…” The woman leaning against the table muses absentmindedly, brushing a strand of her long hair behind her ear in a way that captivates my gaze.

If I had a body, I’d try my best to woo her. But alas…

“It’ll be our first destination, as I know you’d want to go there quite a bit.” My words earn me a curious gaze, and I chuckle softly, “The Jarl has received reports that a large group of Necromancers have made the ruins of Korvanjund their base. We can stop by the Dragon Mound on our way there, killing two birds with one stone.”

Her gaze instantly grows chilly, and she swiftly nods without thinking twice about it. She really hates Necromancers a lot, huh? Wonder why.

“What about this spot?” She points to a marked spot close to the ruins we will go to, and I instantly shake my head.

“Absolutely not.” She jolts lightly at my harsh refusal. “We are most definitely not strong enough to handle the Dragon Priest Krosis, plus he is a Frost Mage like myself, hence I wouldn’t be of much help unless I can overpower him or hit him directly with my Magic Missile.” To not talk about the chance of there being a Dragon with the fucker too.

Aurelia bites her lower lip as if she wanted to argue, clearly not liking the fact of leaving such a powerful undead be, but alas… “You know quite a lot…” She muses while eyeing me curiously.

I shrug, having expected such a question to be asked by her, “I may be an outsider, but when it comes to Skyrim, then I might as well be the one that knows the most about it.” And I gotta get my knowledge up on this new Skyrim too.

Mainly about the Guilds and how they work, as they might be useful assets in the future.

After all…

[Magistone Staff – Great Quality]

The wood comes from the corpse of a Hist, and the Magicka Stone is of Medium Grade, making the staff capable of enhancing Spells launched through it by a large fifty percent!

The Merchant Guild can sell such good stuff.

A fifty percent increase to Spells launched through the staff, just from a Medium Grade Magicka Stone. That’s fucking insane, and something I need to make use off.

In fact, I am quite sure Aurelia’s armor makes use of a Magicka Stone too, as I believe there is one lodged in the center of her chest-plate.

“When should we move out?” Aurelia asks, clearly eager to go and root out those Necromancers.

“We can go out as soon as tomorrow morning. The faster we take care of these things, the better.” After all, if we find out that she can absorb the Souls near the Dragon Mounds, then we’ll have quite a lot of places to visit.

Aurelia nods and pulls back from the table, the hesitates lightly, “Please, try to take a rest.” I’d smile if I could. She really is sweet.

I lean back and watch her go, then sigh and turn to stare out the window to my far left.

So much to plan, so much to account, so much to do and prepare for, all just to survive. I may have died once, and I may be treating like a joke, but I’d rather not die again.

I shake my head and stand, pulling my hood over my head before stepping outside of the room, then out of my home and into the darkening streets.

The quiet bustle of the city fills my ‘ears’ as I start walking in a random direction, my gaze locked on the distant sky.

This is my new home, and I’d rather not be a coward and let Aurelia handle everything by herself. Plus, I consider her a good friend, hence I’d rather not leave her alone.

Though… How did I get here? Especially in a skeleton?

I do not believe in chances, or in this being some random bullshit. This place should be a game, and I hope this isn’t some higher being looking for amusement situation.

Not that I can do anything about it even if it were.

A sound of dissatisfaction leaves me as I cross my hands behind my back.

That unfortunately has to be the only way I found myself here, as I doubt the Daedric Princes would have done such a thing. Or could have done it.

The Divines are too weak at the moment, so it’s neither them.

So none of the Divines, or none of the Daedric Princes could have done-

No.

My steps slowly come to a halt as realization fills me.

There is a Daedric Prince who might be capable of doing such a thing… But could she?

A Daedric Prince whose existence was so terrifying and powerful Hermaeus Mora himself did everything in his power to erase her existence, even from himself.

It has to be her. She has to be the only one capable of pulling such a feat of bringing my Soul from another Reality to this one.

The Forgotten Prince, the Fate-Changer… Ithelia.

Sigh… I have so many fucking questions.

….

“I hope you didn’t beat anyone up through the night.” Aurelia flatly states as we exit our home, her arms bringing her large greatsword on her back.

I let out a chuckle at her accusation, “I assure you that I did nothing this time. I merely watched a brawl go down at an inn a few streets that way.” And man, was it a chaotic brawl. I wonder if these things are common for Nords.

Aurelia blinks at my words, “And you didn’t start it?” What kind of animal do you take me for- Actually, never mind.

“Well… Kinda?” Her gaze narrows, and I raise my hands in surrender, “I didn’t start it per se… I was just the reason it started.”

“Apparently one of the Guards that fought the Dragon with us was off duty and spending time at the Inn, and this drunk Bosmer said something about me that made the guy body slam the Bosmer through a table. Twisted the poor fucker like a twig.”

Like, he straight up lifted the elf high in the air, then bodily put him through the table he was sitting at and into the ground.

The fucker did not twitch after, and I do not know if he died or not.

“Seems like you have quite the reputation now.” The woman beside me giggles softly, quite amused at what happened last night.

I shrug, “Majority of Nords respect strength, magic or not. And they give even more respect when one willingly fights an opponent they are outmatched against, like we did with the Dragon.” The dead are sacred for them, that much is clear and obvious.

They are simple-minded people. They cherish life, yet welcome death with open arms and with weapons in hand.

Something I find admirable.

“I would never be able to do such a thing…” Aurelia muses softly to herself.

I pull the staff she gifted me closer to me, then pause when a familiar voice calls out to us, bringing us to a stop.

Turning my head, my gaze falls on the approaching form of Aela, “You two going out?” She calls out, having seemingly ran all the way here.

“Yeah.” I nod, having already an inkling on the why she is here, “A request from the Jarl to clear out Necromancers from a Nordic Ruin up north. Why?”

She flinches and clicks her tongue, “A Dragon was sighted in that direction, around Shearpoint’s area, just an hour ago. As big as the one we fought, but with dark red scales.” Shearpoint… Where Krosis resides.

It’s a mountain, so it has an open view of the surroundings, and especially the road that needs to be taken to go for High Hrothgar.

I fear they have already started laying in ambush, it seems. Fucking Graybeards.

“Aela.” The redhead perks up when I call out to her, “Do you have ways to send out signals high into the sky?” Her brows furrow in confusion, but she nods nonetheless.

“Keep them on hand then. If a Dragon attacks, send the signal out.” Hopefully we won’t be inside the Ruins and miss it at the time.

“What if the Dragon attacks you guys?”

I shrug and turn around, “Worst case scenario, I’ll just cover Aurelia’s retreat.”

Going down while throwing hands with a Dragon is one hell of a way to go out. Sure as hell beats my previous lame ass death.

Still, I wonder if a Dragon’s scale color signifies something or-

A gauntlet-clad hand suddenly grips my robe and yanks at it roughly, forcing me out of my thought and to look into Aurelia’s very irate gaze, “Don’t you dare throw your life away from me!”

I blink at her, her furious words washing over my ‘ears’ with no effect as I tilt my head, “What life?” She flinches violently at my question.

Raising my gloved hand, I gently pry my robes free from her grip, “I appreciate your words, but please understand how valuable your life is.”

“Without you, this world is fucked.”

Luckily Aela has left, having probably not wanted any part in the ‘lovers spat’, as I heard her mutter. Still, I am glad that she informed us of the Dragon sighting.

Aurelia’s fists tremble by her side, teeth visibly gritted and face scrunched up in a heavy frown, “I’m not… that important.”

…

I raise the staff and bonk her on the head with it without a word, making her yelp and hold the top of her head while pouting angrily at me.

“You say something like that again, and I’m going to bend you over and spank you until your pretty ass turns purple.” She flushes darkly and pales at the same time.

Then she starts stammering over her words as I resume my walk.

Sometimes, it’s just too easy-

…

Why do I feel like I am in danger?

I turn my head to look behind me, and see Aurelia run towards me. Greatsword in hand, teary eyes and flushed cheeks.

Huh…

“Don’t you run away, you damn pervert!”

I am totally not running away.

Nuh-uh.

It’s just a strategic retreat.

She’s right fucking behind me!

A hand grabs my cloak from behind me, and I might or might have not released a high-pitched girlish scream that could be heard across the whole of Whiterun.

Needless to say that I ended up with a cracked skull.

Literally.

A.N. Short chappy to set up the next one.

Toodles!