Skyrim: The Last Son of Akatosh

Lun had to wait until everything was ready before heading to Riften, so he stayed inside the guards' base, looking at a map of Skyrim.

As he examined the map of Skyrim, he noticed something strange. The map displayed the nine holds along with their cities and towns, but what was odd was that there were more towns than Lun remembered.

'Port of Fjord? This is strange. Winterhold never had a fishing village. Why does it exist? Was it a mod I installed?'

He noticed there were more towns that didn't exist before, which irritated him greatly, as he had no idea how many other things had changed.

'This is getting more and more annoying.'

He set the map aside just as Hraldir arrived.

"Lun, everything is ready for us to leave."

They left the guards' base and headed toward a small stable nearby.

A horse was prepared with everything necessary for the journey to Riften.

"Do you know how to ride a horse?" Hraldir asked him.

Lun just looked at him.

"I'll take that as a no," Hraldir guessed.

He lifted Lun and placed him on the horse before mounting it himself.

"Hold on tight."

Following Hraldir's advice, the boy held onto the horse's saddle as they set out on their way.

They left Ivarstead at a steady pace. Crossing the bridge, Lun saw fish in the river, which impressed him as it was completely different from seeing them through a screen.

As they rode, Lun admired the trees filled with orange and yellow leaves, giving the impression of perpetual autumn.

"How long will it take to get to Riften?" Lun asked while taking in the scenery.

"Probably about four hours," Hraldir replied, looking ahead.

'And to think it only took a few minutes in the game if I didn't get distracted along the way.'

They passed near a cave by the roadside where no bears could be seen, which both annoyed and pleased Lun. Annoyed because a bear always appeared for him in the game, and pleased because they wouldn't have to stop because of one.

The journey was relatively peaceful, with no wild animals attacking them.

After about an hour, they could see a fortress on the other side of the river.

"That's an abandoned fortress. It's called Treva's Watch. From what I know, a family has recently started living there."

'A family?'

Lun vaguely remembered something like that in the game, but he couldn't recall it clearly.

Setting that thought aside, he focused on observing the fortress.

It was quite large, imposing, and had a gloomy touch, as if it were still abandoned. The tower of the fortress was much taller than Lun remembered, as was the rest of it.

'I don't think it'll be as easy to infiltrate as it was in the game.'

As the journey dragged on, Lun found it unbearable. Despite being over 30 years old mentally, his body wasn't, so he fell asleep. Hraldir carefully held him to ensure he wouldn't fall off the horse.

--

--

[Lun's POV]

I felt once again as if I were in water, much like what I had experienced before, so I quickly stood up.

I coughed a bit and looked around. I was in what seemed to be a sea, floating with my arms and legs.

I looked up at the sky, where thousands of stars sparkled, this time in various shades of color.

I looked at the water, and the stars were reflected in it.

"So this is why it felt like I could touch them."

A part of the water didn't reflect the stars, so I swam toward it until I could touch that area.

I got out of the water and stood on what seemed like sand. It was pitch black, almost invisible except for the light from the stars.

I observed the stars closely; they seemed to form very familiar shapes.

"They're skills."

One side of the sky was green, another red, and the last blue.

"The Thief, the Warrior, and the Mage. I'm sure the only place in Skyrim where this could be seen was Sovngarde, apart from the skill's menu."

I couldn't see the constellations representing the skills, which only made me wonder more about what I was witnessing.

I closed my eyes, and upon opening them, I saw a massive walled city.

"Wow."

"You're finally awake," Hraldir said, looking ahead. "Welcome to Riften, the capital of the Rift."

I could see Riften's docks, where a large ship was unloading goods.

"We're almost there."

I held onto the saddle to keep myself from falling.

As we got closer, I noticed part of the wall protruding outward, as if it were some sort of house.

The horse's pace slowed until it stopped in front of the place.

"Who are you? Identify yourself."

A group of guards waited, gripping their weapons cautiously.

"Don't worry," Hraldir whispered in my ear.

"I'm Hraldir, a guard from Ivarstead. I've come to deliver a child to the Honorhall Orphanage."

I saw him pull a letter from his clothing.

"And a letter from Captain Veylan of the Ivarstead Guard, addressed to Jarl Laila Law-Giver."

He handed the letter to the guards, who skimmed through it.

"Very well. You may enter. Leave the horse and proceed, but the boy will have to wait before entering Honorhall Orphanage. You'll need the Jarl's permission first."

What they said piqued my interest, as none of this was mentioned when entering Honorhall Orphanage in the game, aside from Aventus Aretino's note about being sent there.

'Perhaps Ulfric or his steward requested Aventus be sent to Grelod.'

While I was lost in thought, Hraldir lifted me off the horse and set me down.

"Well, you heard them. We'll need to enter and speak with the Jarl."

We walked along the path until we reached the gate, guarded by two sentries who opened it.

We entered Riften, and the first thing I saw was an enormous city.

The layout was very similar to the game, but much larger.

There were many people in the plaza, some walking around and others manning the stalls.

'This is incredible. The Thieves Guild could steal plenty here.'

"What do you think?" Hraldir asked.

"Impressive. I've never seen anything like this before."

"Well, this is what you'll see from now on, every time you leave Honorhall. Now, I need to go speak with the Jarl."

We went to the main entrance of the castle where the Jarl lived, and it looked imposing.

"Wait here while I speak with the Jarl," Hraldir said.

I stayed outside while Hraldir entered the Jarl's castle.

"Now, what do I do?"

I sat down next to the entrance and started practicing Restoration Magic to have something to do besides figuring out if it took me the same amount of time to regenerate my magic or if it was faster this time.

"This is going to be very boring."

I kept doing the same thing, waiting for time to pass faster.