The merchant caravan had finally made it to the Pale Pass.
The imperial soldiers manning the gate stopped the convoy to inspect the goods.
Alotius walked forward to talk with them while Septimus began looking around.
“Hello there!” Septimus waved to a guard on top of the walls.
“Mind if I climb up there to take a look?”
The guard dressed in light imperial armour looked down at him from the wall, spotting the bow on Septimus’s back.
He said.
“There are no weapons allowed up here!”
Septimus put down his bow and quiver.
The guard waved him up.
“Come on up, careful on the ladder!”
After a quick climb, Septimus finally took his first look at the lands of Skyrim.
It was breathtaking; the road beyond the pass continued with a downward incline, the path fading from view as it got covered by snow.
All that was missing was the aurora typical of the night sky.
Septimus turned to the guard manning the wall.
“How come it’s snowing?
We’re in the middle of summer?”
The guard answered without looking at him.
“This is Skyrim, lad; it’s always snowing.”
“Fair enough.” Septimus stood on the top of the wall next to the guard, staring into the distance.
As he watched, the mountain fog and clouds rolled in, forming a white wall that cut off his view.
‘I’m finally here, good old Skyrim.’ Septimus mused.
‘At first I was going to follow Alotius all the way to Markarth and go from there, but now, after seeing how dangerous a single troll can be and how careless his group is, I changed my mind.’
Septimus was interrupted by noise coming from below him.
Looking down, he could see that the inspection had finished and the gate was opening.
He climbed back down to rejoin the caravan, spotting Alotius returning from his talk with the guards.
Septimus motioned him over.
“What’s up, friend?
I saw you climbing up on the wall; did you spot something?”
Septimus shook his head.
“No, there’s almost no visibility; all I can tell you is to get ready for snow; the path is covered by it”
“Hmm, yes, I expected it; it’s Skyrim after all!”
“True, what’s Skyrim without snow, right?
But that’s not why I wanted to talk, Alotius.” Septimus walked up to the cart.
Alotius climbed up and took his seat; Septimus followed behind him.
“It’s like this, my friend.
Now that we have arrived in Skyrim.
Septimus hesitated for a moment.
“I decided to leave the caravan. New chapters come out on g.com first.
I wanted to thank you for all your help these few days.”
“You’re leaving already?” Alotius asked, surprised.
“Not yet.
I saw on the map that the path will split, one way leading to Falkreath, the other heading towards Markarth.
I will take my leave then.”
Alotius nodded.
“I see, that’s fine.
You did your job well enough.
But what if I offer you pay for the rest of the journey?
Would you consider staying then?
Losing three men left us a bit shorthanded.”
“I’m sorry, Alotius, I already decided.
If I were to give you a reason, it is that journeying to Markarth with this group feels too dangerous to me.
You too should be careful, maybe even reconsider!”
“I know you think so, Septimus, but you worry too much.
I’ve been a merchant for close to a decade, and large caravans like ours rarely get attacked by bandits and the like; it’s not worth the risk for them!” Alotius said confidently.
‘But they don’t care about the risk; you’re talking about mad cannibals, not destitute farmers acting as bandits.’ Septimus chose not to continue on this subject; he had done his part, warned them several times of the dangers, and it was their choice to make.
“So where are you headed next then?” Alotius asked, changing the subject.
“Pull out the map for a second and I’ll show you.”
Alotius did so and held the map out between them.
“We are here, correct?” Septimus pointed at where he knew the Pale Pass was on the map.
“That’s right, and you were saying that you want to split up here.” Alotius tapped the map where the straight road turned into a T junction.
“Yes, I will enter Falkreath, get some supplies, then head for the lake.
From there, I will follow the shoreline to Riverwood, and from there to Whiterun.”
“Hmm, if you are headed to Lake Ilinalta, why not stay with us longer?
We also pass right by it”.
Septimus shook his head.
“Well, truth be told, my friend, I don’t have all I would need to survive in Skyrim; I plan to buy what I need from Falkreath, then cut through the cliffs here”.
He pointed to the map.
“It should cut down the travel time to the lake by a day or so.”
Alotius seemed convinced.
“Alright then, if you are certain, I will not stop you; the contract stays the same until you decide to leave; you keep doing your job while the food’s on me!”
====================
The journey had slowed down significantly since entering Skyrim; not only was the road covered in snow, making travel difficult, but the freezing winds had also picked up.
Septimus stood towards the back of the caravan, his leather cloak finally being put to good use.
‘Damn it, I was expecting the Skyrim weather to be bad, but it’s even worse than I thought.
It’s good that I bought this back in Cyrodiil; it really helps with the snow coming almost horizontally due to the strong winds!’
“Hang on, lads!
We’re entering the forest today, no more dealing with this cursed weather!” Septimus heard someone shout from the front.
And they were right; as the caravan finally entered the forest, it was like the whole world changed: the snow lessened, the path cleared, and the carriages picked up speed again.
‘The roads are in a good state, all things considered; the weather turned much fairer, similar to Cyrodiil, just a lot chillier’
And so two more days passed, and it was finally time for Septimus to bid farewell to the men that kept him company for over half a month. This story is hosted at g.com.
Hearing that he was leaving, everyone, even the taciturn orc, wished him well.
Carrying his backpack, bow, and quiver full of arrows, Septimus stood to the side, exchanging farewells.
Alotius was the last one to approach him.
“Have a safe journey, Septimus; may the gods watch over you!”
“May they watch over you too, Alotius; I wish you a safe journey and enough septims to drown in!”
Alotius erupted with laughter.
“HA, that would be an end worthy of the greatest merchants.
Here, take this, my friend.
I know I said you wouldn’t get paid, but this is a little something from me personally; use it to buy a helmet to cover your head, otherwise your ears will fall off in this cursed cold!”
Septimus accepted the bag of coins; it was lighter than his own.
“Thank you, Alotius.
May we meet again; I will invite you to share a good Nordern mead then!”
With that said, Septimus gave a last wave and turned around, starting on the road to Falkreath; it was about half a day’s journey away.
====================
A few hours into his solo journey, Septimus realized how quiet everything was; he already missed the sounds of chatter, the wooden cartwheels rolling on the stone roads.
All he had accompanying him was the sound of his footsteps and the white mist of his breath.
‘I’m almost at Falkreath now, I think.
It’s hard to tell when surrounded by all these trees; I just hope nothing will happen until I make it there’
Suddenly there was a low growl coming from the side, somewhere inside the woodline.
‘Fuck me, I jinxed it!’ Septimus didn’t panic much; he quickly held out his bow in his left hand and pulled out two arrows with his right.
One of the arrows went on the string; the other was held in his left hand together with the bow.
Fully tense, Septimus kept a very close eye on the brush, waiting for something to come out charging at him.
Thankfully, he did not have to wait for long; there was fast movement coming from the brush.
A large gray wolf charged out, almost leaping at him.
Septimus felt the adrenaline fill his body; he pulled on the string and let loose the arrow.
It flew true and struck deep into the wolf’s collarbone, but it was not enough to stop it.
Before he could fire a second arrow, the wolf was upon him.
Seeing it open its large maw to bite down on him, he bashed out with his bow.
Feeling something enter its mouth, the wolf bit down hard on the bow’s limbs, but its large body had too much momentum; it crashed hard into Septimus and knocked him down.
“You mutt, get off me!” Septimus raged, trying to push the wolf off; the beast barely noticed, trying its best to gut him.
Unable to push the wolf off, he changed his grip on his arrow, holding it tight in his fist, he then plunged it tip first into the wolf’s eye.
With a yelp, the wounded beast let go and turned to run into the forest.
With an arrow stuck in its collarbone and another in its eye, it moved slowly enough for Septimus to rise into a crouch, knock another arrow, and land it straight into the wolf’s turned back.
With a final pained yelp, the wolf dropped onto the road, a puddle of blood already forming under it.
Breathing heavily, Septimus got up and cautiously walked over to the fallen wolf.
Looking down at it, he let out a sharp breath.
“To think my first kill would be a wolf…” Groaning at the pain in his back from when he crashed into the stone road, Septimus looked to the path ahead.
‘The first of many, hopefully’