Spur of the moment Skyrim fan fiction. Like any of my other stories, don't expect any new chapters. At least I managed to give this an ending. I'm not much, just a guard in the city of Whiterun. Once a week I file a report on any crime that I've stopped or caught to the Jarl. It doesn't pay as well I want, but it's good enough for me. My wife and child are happy, so I figure it's alright. The citizens of Whiterun are always happy too. The smiling faces on everyone almost make me glad that the incident all those years ago happened. Every day I stop by Carlotta Valentia's stand to buy some fruit for my morning meal, and every day I see little Mila running to and from the stand, smile on face, produce in hand. I'm satisfied. Sometimes I see the Thane, a man known all over Skyrim as the Dragonborn, around the city and I feel the tiniest little bit of envy for him. He has the life I used to have. So every once in a while, when I see him, I stop and tell him some words of wisdom: “I used to be an adventurer like you, then I took an arrow in the knee.†The first time, he smiled, as if in thanks. It made me happy. “This is a guy who cares about us,†I thought. The next time, he smiled wryly, in that “You don't have to tell me again,†way. I persisted though, hoping one day he'd heed my warning. Lately, he just Whirlwind Sprints past me, seeming to hope that I'll forget he was there if he moves fast enough, Shouts loud enough. But he has no idea what it was like. It was three years ago on the 30th of Frostfall. I was young and invincible. The snow had lightly dusted the Bee and Barb's doorstep and I knew that was the day I'd find my treasure. Marcurio, my hired companion, woke me up early like I'd asked him. The day had finally come. My partner was paid, my path was set out, and my blade was sharp as ever. Our destination was Mzulft, some Dwemer ruins near the outer mountains. As we set out, Macurio said to me, “Hey, let's get rich, got it?†“Understood,†I said in reply. And so we were off. Wolves, bears, and other creatures tried to take us down, but nothing kept us from reaching our destination. We even got caught up in a bandit raid. Killed 'em all, looted their corpses. And there we stood: Mzulft. I wondered aloud if the rumours were true. “Did the fabled Snow Elves, Falmer, still reside in these ruins?†“Only one way to find out,†Marcurio quickly replied. “Yeah, let's go.†With that, we were off. The first door was locked, but I managed to pick it fairly easily. From there my partner and I would pick up all the Dwemer metal we could find. Even 100 Dwarven metal ingots would be worth more than our combined weights in gold, after all. Further and further in we went, not a Falmer in sight. There were a ton of Dwemer machines running amok and trying to kill us, but nothing stopped us. That was right up until we got to the boiler rooms. We began encountering Falmer by the dozens. They didn't have much that I'd have wanted but Marcurio, being a mage, looted them for all the Falmer ears and Chaurus eggs they had on them. He said they'd be good for alchemy. I just took their gold, really. The end of our journey brought us to a small chamber leading to four jail cell looking rooms. There were four Falmer waiting for us, three with a sword and one with a bow, glowing as if enchanted. Greedy as I was, I was weighed down by all the metal that I was carrying. As the Falmer moved in, I began dropping my loot anywhere that I could to get ever so slight a speed boost. But I wasn't fast enough. The Falmer archer drew his bow and let it snap, striking me square in the right knee. I started to run away, but I didn't know how weak I was until I blacked out at the entrance to the room. When I came to, my partner and I were at the entrance. Marcurio explained that I after I blacked out he took out all the Falmer with his magic. From there, he dragged me back to entrance, discarding most of our hard earned Dwemer artifacts on the way out. After that he applied his strongest healing magic to my knee, but it never managed to heal all the way. To this day, it even hurts to get up in the morning, and I have to sleep in a bedroll to avoid falling out of bed. After a few days, I moved back to my hometown of Whiterun. Unwilling to completely give up my lifestyle, I took a job as a guard around town. That's how I met my wife. Some dirty thief pickpocketed her amulet of Mara, and I got it back for her. We were married the next month, and our child will be turning three this year. So then next time you see the Dragonborn, tell him to ask about my story next time I tell him those few, probably still annoying words: “I used to be an adventurer like you, then I took an arrow inthe knee.†END
