R.I.P. Lydia
?Look, a cave.? she said, her torch sputtering in the torrential rain ?I wonder what?s inside it??
?We don?t have time Lydia.? I turned to find her staring into the caves gaping maw ?We need to keep moving, Riften is just over that ridge.?
?We?ve had time before.? she quipped ?Think of the wonders we?ve found in caves, of the monstrosities we?ve destroyed, the countless relics we?ve recovered. Is it really not worth the effort?? she turned to face me and as I stared into her blue eyes I could not help but relent.
?Fine.? I drew my sword, she hers, and we both entered the cave. The wind was whipping at my ears, the pouring rain had created tiny rivers that were now slithering their way further into the depths. I saw a light and motioned for Lydia to crouch down.
There was a small camp fire, and a dead bandit lying next to it. ?Told you, nothing here but a dead thief.? No sooner had I began basking in the glory of being right, did a bear roar and rear back on its hind legs. The concussion of the roar knocked me onto my back, my sword slid five or so feet away and I was left defenseless. Before I could reach for it Lydia sprung to my aid, slashing the beasts throat and shoving her blade deep in its chest. It heaved one final time, and then crumpled lifeless onto the floor.
?Saved your life again, my Thane.?
It was Volksygge, the ancient tomb of an unknown evil. The nature of this memory makes me smile with it?s seeming quaintness. We were still clad in steel, wielding iron swords, and completely unaware of what we were doing. I had just acquired Lydia from the Jarl of Whiterun, she had little respect for me, and even less patience.
?Watch out for the pressure plate.? she mumbled, not even looking me in the eyes when I peeked back at her over my shoulder.
?I saw it.?
?Yeah, sure.?
It had been a fairly mundane excursion up until that point, a few draugr here and there, one or two well hidden traps, nothing we couldn?t handle. But as we entered the final chamber, I could sense a great presence. Something was drawing breath, causing the stale musty air to mix and swirl. Lydia knocked an arrow, I drank a philter of health, and we moved forward, up a great old staircase.
The glowing blue eyes of a draugr peered forth from the darkness. I raised my blade to charge it, but the beast knocked my sword from my hands with its voice. I fell to my knees, hardly able to see let alone think, only coming to just as the creature was about to deal its final death blow.
The Draugr Lord raised its ancient greatsword, eyes gleaming with an unmentionable and irrational hatred of all living things, and moved to kill. Just as the blade was lowering upon my head, a second blade ripped through the draugrs chest, sending a torrent of sand across the room.
I laid there, dumbfounded, as Lydia sheathed her blade and moved to lift me up.
?Saved your life, little Thane.?
?That you did.? I responded, a smile upon my face, as Lydia lifted me up from the cave floor. ?Well, we?ve killed the caves lone inhabitant, let?s get moving.?
?No, there?s something else, I can feel the wind rushing somewhere.? She began moving around the cave, her ebony boots clanging with each step ?Here!? she shouted at me, motioning for me to come closer ?There?s another part to the cave.?
So we moved inward, killing a few more bears, and eventually finding another corridor.
?A dwemer chest! I told you this was no ordinary cave.? Lydia bolted over to it, her eyes gleaming with the possibility of loot.
?It?s locked, can you pick it??
?Probably.? I crouched down and began working the pick into the lock. After a few attempts the lock sprung open. I began pulling the loot out of the chest, nothing more than a few potions some gold. I noticed a book at the bottom and grabbed it. When I pulled on it, something seemed to catch it.
?Watch out!? I heard the sound of darts flying forth, that sickening whooshing noise that often accompanies a foolish death. Lydia flung herself in front of the darts, blocking them with her shield, and pulled me away from the chest.
No sooner had the whooshing died down when the grating sound of stone upon stone filled the freezing air. Two doors on either side of the room opened and two figures stepped out.
?Falmer!? Lydia screamed, pulling her sword out of it?s scabbard and charging, she took the one on the left, I took the right. We dispensed of them easily.
?Falmer, by Mara, you know what that means Madanoch.? she used my name, which meant she was deathly serious. ?Remember Chillwind Depths? All of those travelers and townspeople? We must clear these caves.?
I hesitated, something was tugging at my resolve, I wanted to tell her to be quiet and leave these damp caves behind.
But I relented once more to those beautiful eyes.
?Very well.?
She smiled ?Thank you, my Thane.?
I smiled back, but was stricken by a very real fear.
It was some months ago that I learned she was far from invincible. We were wiser then, wearing exquisite Dwarven Armor, wielding enchanted weapons, and carrying a surplus of healing tonics. We had been sent out to find the shrine of Peryite, and were maneuvering around the base of the mountains when we saw the smoke.
Lydia moved forward while I covered her with my bow, she waved at me to come closer and I walked over, greeted by the smell of burning flesh.
?Bandits.? Lydia murmured ?Gods damn the bastards.?
They had stripped, robbed, bound and butchered several travelers. Killing everyone down to the horse.
?We need to find these monsters and bring them to justice.?
?Lydia, they could be anywher-? before I could finish, an arrow slammed right into Lydias left thigh, sending her screaming unto the ground.
I turned on my heel to find the aggressors, three bandits two with bows one with a mace, standing atop a nearby hill.
I charged them without even thinking, I used my voice to send the first flying over the side of a chasm; he plunged to his death with a breathless whimper.
The second, knocking an arrow as I met him, was sliced nearly in half by my sword, his top hit the ground before his bottom. I used my shield to bash the third as he was reaching for a dagger, and sent my sword right into his chest before he could recover.
I descended the hill immediately, the gurgling moans of the third bandit chasing me as I did.
To my surprise I found Lydia had already removed the arrow, dressed the wound, and was now alternating between swigs of a healing potion and a bottle of Nordic mead.
I reached down to pull her to her feet, but instead she pulled me down into the snow with her.
I looked flabbergasted into her eyes and was met with a smile.
She didn?t say a word, she simply parted her lips and kissed me.
We made love for the first time that day, in the blood tainted snow at the base of Peryites shrine.
We married some time after, true to her character it was blunt and unorthodox, she simply waved down a traveling priestess of Mara, paid ten Septims, and had the ceremony done in the shadow of a dilapidated tower.
?No reason to thank me my love, you have better judgment than I do, when it comes to these things.?
?Most things you mean.? she joked, and I laughed, the echoes traveling down throughout the cave. The echoes of my laugh were returned by the screeching of Falmer.
?Well, they certainly know we?re here now.? Lydia mocked.
It made no difference though, with my whispered aura I could sense the Falmer before they were even near us. We dispatched of the first dozen or so silently, with arrows and muffled backstabs.
After making our way further down, a strange light caught my eye. It was a ghost, beckoning me to its side. As I drew near it vanished, leaving a wispy trail of smoke that led me to a small diary.
?Refugees.? I placed the tattered diary back down by its former owner ?They got suckered into coming here, and I guess they became Falmer food.?
?Gah, I despise these things. We must cleanse this cave.?
?I know my dear. I know.?
By now the nagging had become almost physical, the voice that had once whispered in my head was now howling. We had to leave this place, but I knew she would not consent until every last Falmer lay dead at her feet.
So we moved onward, the mangled remains of those poor villagers we discovered in Chillwind Depths popping in and out of focus within my minds eye.
?Falmer, up ahead, three, two on a ridge, one on the ground.? I was using my whispered aura to sense the Falmer, and I moved forward with Lydia covering my back with her bow.
I killed the Falmer on the ground with ease, my blade meeting him just below his jaw, the second fell to Lydias arrow, and I rushed the third with my shield raised. I knocked him on his back and thrust my sword deep into his lower stomach, and to my surprise he began laughing. I stumbled back, blade dripping his foul blood, he continued cackling, and pointed behind me.
I looked back to find my dearest Lydia with a Falmer sword jutting out of her back, between a soft spot in her armor. The beast was gnawing on her neck, preventing her from screaming.
I could not tell you how I felled that monster. I can only tell you that I found Lydia already perished. Her eyes, her phenomenally azure eyes, were fixated upon my face.
I have never known such rage. Not when the Imperials threatened to behead me for crimes even I was unaware of, not when my fellow Companions berated me and called me ?welp?, not even when Sheogorath, in all of his madness, confounded my mind with riddles and nonsensical gibberish. Nothing compared to the white hot fury I felt in those moments.
I charged forth, blatantly disregarding the noise I was making, and found the final chamber populated by several Falmer. I felled a few with my sword, and sent the rest fleeing from my voice. I found the few remaining, including their captain, huddled in a hut.
I sliced the first from the crown of his skull to the end of his loins, bashed the second with my shield, froze the third solid with my voice, and broiled the leader alive with my magicka. I stopped periodically to bask in his pitiful, tortured, screams.
After the last finally drew no more breath I was left with a terrible hollowness.
I trudged reluctantly, tears streaming down my face, to find my dearly beloved.
I could not carry her to town, her armor was too heavy. To strip her naked would have been to subject her to the leering lecherous view of every guardsman and wretch of Riften.
No. This would be her tomb. This hellish, fetid sewer, symbol of all that was wrong with Skyrim, with Tamriel, would be her resting place.
I carried her to a pedestal, laid her down, and went about arranging a small shrine to her. While searching through her satchel I found something that shook me to tears.
A well worn copy of the tale of Fjori and Holgeir.
I can not forgive this world. The same world that looks to me to save it from its own machinations. The same world that is filled with creatures and beasts such as these souless Falmer. I can not forgive the world that took my housecarl. My beloved. My Lydia.
