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Commander Shepard sighed and reflected on how she’d come to find herself wearing oversized armor, leading a few of her crewmembers (one of them in his underwear) and five horses. She couldn’t decide what was the worst. The strange anomaly they’d flown through in space that’d felt like it was yanking her stomach out of her throat, the crash-landing that they’d all miraculously survived with minimal injuries, the long trek to find something resembling civilization, or the haggling.
She decided it was the haggling –
“What do you mean you don’t take credits?” Garrus had asked.
The merchant’s face had twisted in irritation.
“If you want horses, you need gold,” he’d said, as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. “I don’t deal in play money.”
“Gold?” Garrus’s frustration had risen over the merchant’s. “Why would you care about that?”
“Gold. A malleable metallic element. I believe it has value in primitive civilizations,” Mordin had offered.
Garrus only looked confused. “But why? What’s it good for?”
“It’s shiny,” Liara had explained.
She’d stepped in front of Garrus and smiled at the merchant. “I’m afraid we do not have any gold. Would you be willing to barter instead?”
The merchant had narrowed his eyes and looked them over one by one, before settling his gaze on Shepard. “That armor looks expensive.”
In that moment, Shepard had considered the merchant. The armor was standard issue, and she had no clue how much it’d cost or whether it’d have any value here, but they did need horses. “It is.”
“Five horses for the full set,” the merchant declared.
Here was where Shepard thought she might have made a different choice and spared herself some dignity. Perhaps demonstrated the power of a blaster and offered that instead. But she wasn’t sure whether a blaster might turn this world on its head, and she was tired and wanted to go home.
“Deal,” she’d said.
Garrus gaped. “You’ll have nothing to wear!”
Thane shrugged. “We need the horses.”
Garrus frowned. “Then she can wear my armor!”
– now they had the horses, and a defined destination, at least. Winterhold to the north. Where the mages were. When the group had explained where they were from, they’d received only blank looks and a directive to try at the College of Winterhold.
Shepard had no concept of what a “mage” was or how one might help, but it was their only lead. The only thing more pressing than getting to Winterhold was getting Garrus some clothes.
“What else can we barter?” Liara wondered out loud.
Garrus crossed his arms. “I’m fine.”
Shepard was pointedly not looking at Garrus. She kept her eyes fixed in front of her and headed straight for the edge of town. “We’ll find something to sell on our way to the next town,” she said.
“That is good,” Mordin said. “I believe Winterhold will be cold.”
-
Riding a horse was uncomfortable in armor that didn’t fit her, but Mordin was worse off.
“How do you stay atop this thing?!” he asked, hugging the horse’s neck for dear life.
Shepard sighed.
“What’s that over there?” Garrus asked, pointing off into the distance.
Shepard looked and saw a large, cat-like beast prowling toward them.
“Trouble,” Thane said.
Suddenly, a shadow fell over them and they heard a loud roar.
“What is that?" Garrus asked, now pointing upward.
Shepard didn’t know. It was some kind of gigantic flying lizard, and it was heading for the cat-beast. It roared again, and then dove.
“I guess they’re fighting?” Garrus asked. “Although that flying lizard is certain to win.”
“It is not,” Thane replied. “The cat-beast will win.”
“I’ll bet you a hundred credits,” Garrus said.
“I would also like to place the same bet,” Mordin said. “Surely the flying lizard must win – look! It has just breathed fire!”
“I’ll take both bets,” Thane said, as he watched the fight.
“I shall broker this bet,” Liara announced. “The odds are 2:1 in the flying-lizard’s favor. Shepard, would you care to wager?”
Shepard shook her head. This was nonsense – she thought they really should be on their way. Especially if one of the combatants decided to target them; she wasn’t sure of her blaster’s efficacy against either.
The flying lizard sprayed fire over the ground where the cat-beast stood, and Shepard thought that certainly meant it was over.
But the cat-beast emerged unscathed. It gave a roar of its own and pounced upward onto the dragon, mouth wide and fangs gleaming.
It came down on the dragon’s neck, locking onto it with its jaws and then twisting.
The dragon’s wings beat furiously, and it rose in the air, the cat-beast still stuck to its neck. The cat-beast wrenched at the dragon’s neck with its jaws, and the dragon screamed.
The sound pierced Shepard’s ears, and she covered them out of instinct.
Wailing, the dragon plunged to the ground, taking the cat-beast with it. The cat-beast fell a little away from the dragon, but it regained its footing faster than the dragon could rise, and it pounced for the neck again.
The dragon beat its wings but didn’t rise as the cat-beast gave a vicious snap at its neck.
Then the dragon went still.
The cat-beast licked its paws, and then looked at the small party that had been watching it.
“We should go,” Shepard said.
Mordin nodded, “Agreed.”
“I can’t believe that flying lizard didn’t win,” Garrus said.
Thane grinned. “You both owe me one hundred credits.”