Traveling through The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim

Honda Tadakatsu saluted respectfully and then yanked the ropes that bound me.

"Wait! I mean no harm! I'm here to discuss cooperation!"

The crow witch laughed loudly, and the sound was as noisy and unpleasant as a crow. The tattoo on her face was distorted into a dazzling pattern.

"We will not cooperate with the Nords! You all deserve to die!"

I wanted to argue again, but Honda Tadakatsu attacked me on the back of the head. My eyes went black and I knew nothing.

When I woke up, I was lying face down on the ground. I was still dizzy from the blow to my head. It was like I was sitting in a small boat, tossed by the wind and waves. Everything around me was spinning and my stomach was churning. The restraints on my hands had been untied, but my arms were still numb. It seemed that I had not been unconscious for too long. I closed my eyes for several minutes before I felt everything stabilized. A childish voice came from the corner, and the accent was very similar to Honda Tadakatsu.

"Are you awake?"

She was a little girl of about twelve or thirteen years old, wearing the same khaki animal skin clothes as the other Forsworn. She was huddled on the side with her knees hugged. When she saw me open my eyes, she pointed to the side.

"There's some barbecue over there. They just delivered it. You can eat it. I'm full."

I looked in the direction of her finger. It was a leg, a human leg! Although it had been roasted and deformed, the joints and the foot were unmistakable! Who could eat this?

"I'm not hungry. Are you also a Forsworn? Why are you being held here by them?"

"My name is Helgi. I was imprisoned here by my sister. She is learning how to transform into a black-winged witch. When she finds a way, she will sacrifice me to the Raven God."

"Are you just waiting to die here?"

"Yes! If my sister transforms into a black-winged witch, she can become the new female leader. With a female leader, our tribe will not be bullied."

"So your sister doesn't know how to transform into a crow ghost... er... a black-winged witch?"

"My mother knows. She was our female leader, but she was killed by soldiers. My mother also said that my spirituality is higher than that of my sister, but my sister said that I am too young and it would be more appropriate for her to be the female leader. So I am the sacrifice. The Crow God likes sacrifices with high spirituality."

Is this little girl mentally ill? Isn't it obvious that the elder sister wants to kill the younger sister who is more talented and seize the power that does not belong to her! If the old patriarch were alive, he would definitely sacrifice the elder sister and turn her into a crow ghost. No, no, I am mentally ill too. Why must such an innocent little girl become a crow ghost?

"Mom didn't teach us the method of transformation, so my sister is doing her own research. She will send the test subjects here to live with me. Look, this is Quincy. He is a bard who can sing a very nice song. His legs are very thin and there is not much meat..."

The girl was talking to herself and touching a head in the corner. There were several heads lined up at the foot of the wall, which made my scalp tingle.

"This is Una. Her legs have a lot of fat and are greasy to eat. This is Ginnel. She is Una's daughter. Today's legs are hers. They are very tender. You really should try them. Tomorrow we will eat your legs. Can you tell me your name? So I can introduce you to them."

"Does anyone else know the ritual of transformation? I don't think your sister is reliable."

This unfortunate child brought up the nausea that I had suppressed with great difficulty. I didn't want to continue to dwell on the issue of the taste of human flesh, nor did I want to be introduced to the former owners of that row of heads.

"Well... Aunt Annis must know. When my mother transformed, she and Aunt Lilac were both sacrifices, but the Crow God didn't want her and chose Aunt Lilac. Later, she left the tribe, and none of us knew where she went."

Wait! Annis, Helgi, these two names sound so familiar.

I know! In the game, west of Creekwood, in the woods across the river, there is a shabby little house with no door and a roof full of holes. The owner of the house is an old woman named Annis. When the Dragonborn passes by here, she will talk about how she is just a lonely, poor old woman. But this old woman is not simple. If the Dragonborn pries open the secret compartment in the house and enters the cellar, she will find an unsent letter, which is written to a person named Helgi. It turns out that Annis wants to form a witch group with Helgi and another witch, and from the letter, it can be learned that Helgi is only very talented, but has not officially started magic training. Annis, whose secret is discovered by the Dragonborn, will tear off her disguise and try to kill people, but her skills are not enough in front of the cancer of Skyrim.

I used to think that the Helgi mentioned in the letter was the little girl who was burned to death in Mosal City. Now it seems that the silly girl in front of me is the one. The two just happened to have the same name. Since I guessed Annis's identity, I proposed that if I could escape from the fortress, I could take Helgi to her aunt. But this little girl was either too brainwashed by the bloody culture of the Forsworn or was locked up stupid. She kept squatting on the ground facing those heads, talking some irrelevant nonsense, and once again suggested that I taste human flesh.

By the way, human flesh is an alchemical material in the game, which can be used to make a paralysis potion. I collected a lot of it while playing the game. In order to find out its properties, I even ate all the alchemical materials in the game, whether it was human heart and flesh, or even eagle feathers or snow mouse tails. Now I feel sick when I think about it. Now Helgi is crazy and stupid, and I will be cut into pieces by her sister tomorrow, so I have to think of a way.

There was no sunlight in the dungeon, and I was unconscious for an unknown amount of time. However, it was already afternoon when we arrived at the Sunshine Garden Fortress. After so much time, it was probably around 4 or 5 in the afternoon. I sat cross-legged and began to meditate. Looking at the current situation, I could only wait until tomorrow when the Forsworn came to take me out for torture, and then find a chance to escape. I could summon a ghost wolf to draw fire, and the rest depended on luck.

Meditation is easy to say, but the most important thing is to have no distractions. But now I have not only distractions in my mind, but also a lot of them. On the one hand, I am worried about my own situation, and on the other hand, I am also anxious about the future of Falkreath. The alliance failed, and we can only face the attack of the Empire alone. I don’t know if the plan I discussed with Danger before can be carried out. In any case, I just hope that Lund can live up to my trust and stop Rigel with Eric, and don’t let him put himself in danger. I am so confused!

I can't panic, I can't panic. I have to find a way to calm myself down. As long as I am still alive, I can't give up! People must help themselves before others can help them, and then God can help them. Since I regard the ghost wolf as a life-saving straw, I might as well get familiar with this summoning magic now, so as not to get nervous and pronounce the wrong words tomorrow. As I silently recited the spell over and over in my mind, I slowly calmed down. The power of Aetheris was like a cool autumn breeze, gently blowing past, forgetting everything. I couldn't help but recite it out loud, and a translucent, pearly white wolf-shaped phantom slowly condensed beside me. This magical creation stared at Helgi vigilantly, and after confirming that she was not an enemy, it shook its body gently and lay quietly beside my legs.

"You're a mage? Do you actually know Aunt Annis?"

Helgi reached out her hand and wanted to touch the ghost wolf, but was scared away by the wolf's bared teeth. But she still looked at me expectantly. It turned out that this girl was not really crazy, but she just didn't believe what I said. I don't know what kind of experience made a little girl in junior high school so wary, but she was just a child after all. With only a low-level summoning spell, she mistook an archer like me for a wizard. Or maybe she actually hoped that what I said was true, and was just waiting for a reason to convince herself. After all, she was the ultimate target, and those test subjects who were cruelly killed showed her their miserable fate over and over again.

"To be precise, I don't know her, but I do know a wizard who calls himself Annis, who lives in seclusion on the north shore of Lake Irinata. I'm not lying. You and I are both lambs to be slaughtered now, and we should trust each other."

Helgi nodded, "So, can you tell me your name?"

Uh... this girl is not stupid at all, on the contrary, she is very smart. She gave me a slap in the face without making any sound, but it was loud and clear.

"I am Locker of Loristed, Knight of the Bloody Throne, Horsekeeper to the Lord of Falkreath."

Helgi straightened his body and bowed slightly, "Helgi of the Snake Cliff Ridge Tribe, the youngest daughter of the female leader of Xinanmeng, greets the Knight."

The ghost wolf looked at us puzzledly, as if saying "You humans are all sick in the brains". Then with a crackling sound and a flash of lightning, it disappeared.