"I won't do it right now. I plan to deliver that sword for Sergius then return to the College to learn more and become stronger. I'm not gonna go into it blind. But when I know more I'll go to Whiterun and ask the jarl for men to retake the fort and then I'm gonna do it."

"...I suppose that's not inherently doomed."

"Yeah. So I'll leave tomorrow, with an Ethereal Horse I should be back within a week and a half if no more Daedric Princes try to mess with me, and then I'll... study a lot."

Onmund snorts. "—are you planning to do anything about Meridia?"

"No. Going to a temple across Skyrim to fight off a deep darkness that's probably a powerful necromancer or vampire is not my idea of a good time."

The next morning, however, the snowstorm is still going strong. His College robes and spells would definitely not be enough to ride in it.

Hm. Alright. He supposes he may as well stay in and study.

The snowstorm doesn't abate by the next morning. Or the next. Or the next. Or the next.

...this is getting ridiculous. How long can a snowstorm last?

"Up to a few weeks," says Tolfdir absentmindedly. "The autumn snowstorm tends to be pretty long."

Man, what the fuck. It's no wonder you can barely find couriers from Winterhold. He still hasn't managed to send Ysolda her ring back. He might need to make that delivery personally.

And he still hasn't delivered that gods damned enchanted sword.

You know what, fuck it. He will find the thickest fur coat and boots and gloves he can, he's sure Winterhold will have those, and use Wolfskin on top of that, and hope he doesn't die of hypothermia. He is delivering that sword.

This was a terrible idea.

It's cold, it's unreasonably cold, he's in as many layers as he physically can be in while still being able to ride a horse and it's still cold, the only bits of his skin showing are around his eyes and he has Wolfskin up and he has Soothe up and it's still really fucking cold.

But he can't go back. He just can't. If he goes back he will be unable to go again, even after the snowstorm is done he will be too traumatised by the cold but most importantly he just cannot go back. He will deliver this stupid sword.

He stops three times a day, dismisses his horse, and summons a Flame Atronach. Then he just hangs out around it plus around some fire he conjures to heat back up. That's how he's doing this. He rides until he can't ride and then he summons a Daedroth made of fire and he survives.

With all the stops it takes a full week. He doesn't stop at Dawnstar because the detour would be too long, so Stonehills is the first settlement he sees after leaving Winterhold and he wants to cry. He speeds up, heedless of the wind, and when he gets to the town and sees the huge campire right in the middle of it he dismisses his horse, runs up to it, and sits down in front of it to bask in its warmth.

It's better than a Flame Atronach. Or at least, it's better than a Flame Atronach Ruby can summon.

"Hey, uh, do you want to come to the inn instead?" asks someone.

Who is, now that Ruby's paying attention, the only someone around. The village was entirely empty and in hindsight it's obvious that everyone would be inside.

"Yeah. Thanks." He gets up to follow them.

"Yeah, no problem. It's up that hill." They point and start leading the way. "You on your way to Dawnstar or Mortal?"

He shakes his head. "Neither. I'm here to deliver an enchanted sword to someone named Gretolde."

"...Gretolde ordered an enchanted sword from the College?"

Oh right there's that confusion again: why would someone from a tiny mining village want an enchanted sword? "That's the name I was given."

"Strange."

"Is she very unlikely to order a sword?"

"I mean, yeah, why would anyone who's not a warrior or an adventurer want a sword? And she has a child, so she wouldn't be going out adventuring."

"Hmm. Well, I guess I'll ask her?"

"Yeah. I can point you to her house, but uh, in the morning, yeah?"