The South Road

I open my eyes as the first rays of light peep through the cracks in the cabin walls. 

I bathe and eat a good meal; I will probably need all the energy I can get. 

Packing up my meager belongings and arming myself I head out the door to take my leave of Gilfre and the Mill.

Gilfre bids me well and tells me I am welcome to return anytime. I accept her offer, provided of course I am still alive then. I say my goodbyes and head up the south road. 

It had to be the south road; my instinct tells me Whiterun is where I need to be.

I follow the plan and walk up the road, my friendly revelers now gone, past the bridge then along the river bank.

As I continue on I am forced into the water by the steep rocky bank, the current is strong here but I swim ahead regardless. 

Then my heart starts to sink, a waterfall and no way over or around!

I am forced back towards the bridge by the current. Things have gotten off to a bad start. 

A thought flashes through my head, something about ‘a battle plan not surviving the first contact with the enemy’. Was I a soldier? Maybe my father taught me that? That will have to wait for later, right now I need to get past that fortification without being seen.

I return to the bridge and sneak up the road hugging the growth alongside trying to stay out of sight. 

My heart is pounding in my ears but I need to stay calm and take my time, I can do this, there is enough cover to get past. It seems like ages but eventually I am past the tower.

Letting out a huge sigh of relief I take cover amongst some bushes and survey the road ahead, it looks clear but I am not taking any chances. I continue on, staying hidden as much as possible and around midday I come to a crossroads. 

My mouth goes dry, are there any bandits waiting for me here? I draw my sword and move closer. 

Nothing happens, the silence is intense! My palms sweating so much I almost drop my sword. I wait coiled like a snake ready to strike, but still nothing! 

I start to relax and read the road signs.

I am on track so to speak.

I seek out some shaded cover and sit down for a small meal and rest, it may still be a long way still to go, there is no distance markings on these signs.

Rested I head off again still keeping to the road edge as much as possible. 

I come to an area that leads down to the river again and it looks like it has seen some use. Should I follow it? It might lead to a shelter I could use if I needed to spend the night out in the wilds. I follow the track and just ahead I see a pool in the river with what seems like a shelter of some kind.

I slowly inch forward, staying to the left bank of the pool and work my way closer. I don’t see any movement or anything else. I move closer, I see a skeleton of some large animal lying next to a fallen tree, but what’s next to it? Alarm bells start ringing in my ears; I should just run from this place now! 

I don’t, instead I foolishly go closer until I can see exactly what it is.

A woman savaged by what or whom I don’t know. A troll skull lying next to her sends a cold shudder through me, I am not strong enough to deal with whatever did this. 

I need to get out of here now! 

I want to leave but I can’t just leave this poor womans body as it is. Having no other choice I quickly search her body for anything that might tell me who she is and where she came from. At least I could let her kin know what happened to her; sadly I find nothing. 

I hurriedly take my leave from this place.

I get back to the relative safety of the road and continue on, berating myself for my stupidity, I could have been that’s things next victim!

After a few hours I come across another cross roads, my stress levels rise again, maybe this is the one the bandits are waiting in ambush at for some poor sap like me to come along and blunder into. 

I draw my sword and get ready for the attack….nothing, I wait….still nothing. My nerves are shot; I can’t keep this up much longer. 

I am indeed a plaything of those cruel Daedra gods I read about last night.

I read the road signs and at least I am still heading towards Whitrun.

I take another rest and slake my thirst on some mead; I feel the alcohol course through my veins and feel much better. There is still enough daylight left to keep moving so I rise and do just that.

Not long after the cross roads I come to a bend in the road and just past the bend stands an ancient Nord Tower, not good! 

I creep closer, taking cover behind a log and survey the area.

I can’t see much so I creep closer doing my best to stay hidden, my senses on edge straining for some sound or some sight of movement. 

This could really be the end of me if I make one tiny mistake; on one side of the road is a steep slope I can’t climb and the other side a huge drop off to the river, no choice but to go forwards. I inch closer catching sight of a sentry guarding the entrance, thankfully they don’t see me. I back up a bit till I am out of sight.

Having no other choice but to pass in front of the tower I take some time to study it. I notice a bridge spanning the river connecting this tower to another one, things just got twice as bad! On the bridge I see a guard patrolling up and down. I don’t see anybody else but these towers could be crammed full of bandits!

I mull over ideas about how I am going to do this. 

Should I wait for nightfall and try and sneak past in the dark, it would be harder for them to spot me but it would also be harder for me to spot them! I might just sneak right into one of them standing in the road. I decide I can’t risk the night. 

It has to be daylight then, but I can’t sneak past the guard at the entrance as she is right on the road. I wrack my brain for ideas, coming up short I decide to literally make a run for it and hope that the gods favour me now.

Securing all my equipment I sneak up as close as possible, the guard spots me! 

I jump up and run as fast as my legs can carry me past the tower. As I pass the guard I see a look of confusion on her face, she expected me to run at her and attack! She is caught on the back foot as I rush past. Putting some distance between us I risk another glance, the guard is rooted to the spot not knowing what is going on, are there more attackers? Is this a diversion? I don’t care what she is thinking I keep on going until my lungs are bursting and I am well past the tower.

I collapse in a heap, gulping air down into my lungs, desperately watching for some pursuit but none comes, my gamble paid off. 

I made it!

Catching my breath I move on putting as much distance between me and those towers as possible. 

Not long afterwards I see in the distance my goal, well what I at least think is my goal seeing as I can’t remember any of this place.