Part VIII: Bleak Falls Barrow

Hordes of undead, blood-thirsty bandits, and giant flesh-eating spiders.
By the nine, I hate this country.
I heard the phrase, “No good deed goes unpunished,” but I thought it was a metaphor. It turned out to be true as our “reward” for warning the Jarl of Whiterun that dragon was on the loose was to infiltrate an old Nordic ruin and look for some ancient artifact that no one could give a skeever’s ass about. We had to go down there anyway to get some golden claw back so it all worked out nicely but still, if I never go underground again, it would be too soon.
I made it clear we weren’t sleeping in this place. I didn’t care how long it took. Not that we could tell what time it was.
If I ever had any doubts about bringing Khash along, it was squashed after this. She swore more than I did, but it was preferable to panic and screaming. Even when we were ambushed by a giant spider, she held her own.
Turned out the golden claw was the key to getting into the deepest rooms. I didn’t know how the thief knew about it, or how survived as long as he did, but he wasn’t our problem anymore.
There was another word wall down there. I asked Khash if she could hear the voices and she looked at me like I was crazy.
Maybe I am going crazy. Hearing voices coming from walls can’t be a good sign.
Either way, we survived and we got what we came for. I would call that a win.
It was dark by the time we got out. Thankfully there was a river nearby and I didn’t hesitate to wash the dirt and blood off. I had Khash keep an eye out for mudcrabs. I had a bad experience with one that grabbed my tail and I’ve been wary of the little bastards ever since.
When we were looking for a place to sleep for the night, we came across a cabin in the woods. Just looking at the place it was obvious someone lived here. But we were tired and hungry. We figured we’d take our chances.
There was no one home but we did find a trap door by the bed. I had Khash wait outside and signal me if anyone was coming.
I expected a panic room but instead, it was an enchanter’s lab. There were no clues who it belonged to, but the hagraven feathers and note to someone named Helgi—a name I’m sure I heard somewhere—told enough. Someone was training to become a hagraven.
We weren’t sleeping there tonight.
When I came out, Khash already had her bow drawn. It was no hagraven but still a mage who should be taken seriously.
I whispered, “How many?”
“Just the one. She knows we’re here.”
“Good for her. When I signal you, fire an arrow out the window then make for the river, got it?”
The plan went off perfectly. The moment Khash distracted the old woman outside, I fired a fear spell. She must not expected a mage because anyone else would have put up wards for that kind of thing. Still, it saved us a job and a half as one well-placed arrow ending the fight.
The cabin was ours. The note mentioned a sister who was coming by so we agreed that it would be better to continue through the night into Riverwood.
I’m so tired.

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Khash the Argonian was created by the talented RabbittWinri. https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/40122