Mostly original character. Much like in-game fiction type rather than a regular fanfic. You will see someone you are familiar with though, I promise!
Warning: no lore-friendliness guaranteed.
Eliath sidled her way through the woods, keeping herself underneath the shadow of trees cast against the light of Masser and Secunda. She held her steps time to time, listening and peeking around to make sure nobody was tailing her. It was a risky movement that she snuck out from the barracks in Mournhold as an Ordinator trainee, yet it was her weekly routine for almost a year. The senior trainees were allowed to leave the barracks at night and holidays, with reporting their whereabouts, but it was what Eliath could not afford to do.
She was here in the woods to meet with her Ashlander lover Kanrud. It was pure insanity for an honored Indoril offspring to date an Ashlander, which she had always been knowing at the very beginning of their relationship. But the young mer was charming and suave, and deeply in love with her, so as she to him. How could she resist such a passionate affection? The feeling of guilty raised only for a split moment the first time they kissed, and sank into Oblivion when Kanrud told her that he loved her by heart and soul.
It was also a taboo to date a house Dunmer in Ashlander tribes, at least for the one Kanrud belonged to. They were very cautious and always covered their trials about the clandestine love affair. They were not able to meet every night, but she managed to sneak out as much as she could to hold hands with her lover just for a couple of hours, having a little chat, or even more.
However, today's meeting was going to be intense, because she realized it reached to the point that they should make a decision soon. She took a piece of paper from her pocket and opened it up under the moonlight. It was a letter from her father, Sedriar Indoril, a loyal senior officer of House Indoril, a candidate for next council. In the letter, he talked about how much he was proud of her being an Ordinator and honored that his daughter was going to be a Servant of The Temple; he encouraged her to compete for the premier position of Hands of Almalexia. All of these sounded promising, other than the last issue Sedriar talked about in the letter, that he endorsed a marriage between her and a promising talented acolyte of The Temple, Alvis Terrlam. He said that he was not forcing or pressuring her to nod on the wedding, but Eliath was acutely aware that it was everyone around he wanted to see, other than herself. And even she was not marrying Alvis; it was utterly impossible to obtain the blessing from her family for marrying Kanrud. She could be exiled from House Indoril and forbidden stepping into Mournhold forever, and never able to see her beloved father anymore.
The mere thoughts of all of the consequence of her disparate love were like a thorn buried in her heart. Although she had learned that Sedriar was her adoptive father since a young age, it never changed how much she awed and loved him, and she bared the fact in her heart that he treated her as his own daughter.
"You are a grown woman, my Eliath." The day she left for Ordinator training, Sedriar told her, with his palm on her shoulder, "I am so proud of you. You are going to be a member of the distinguished service for The Temple. It has always been my dream."
"Mine too." She hesitated a bit when she said this. She thought she wanted it so devastated, yet it felt somehow odd when she spoke out about it, "And I won't disappoint you, father."
"I have faith in you, my daughter. And…" Sedriar paused, and smiled, "my heart is filled with delight as I think about Ornird and his wife. I am sure they would be proud of you as much as I do."
Ornird Aesil, the name Eliath had been hearing since she was a kid, the man who sired her, tied in blood. She learned that he was a junior officer of House Indoril; he braved the fierce final battle against their enemies, Dwemer and the Sixth House, and fought till his death in glory. She never knew that mer, but she knew she had met him in her cradle, so as her mother. She honored the imbued memory of her parents.
But at this moment, what should she do? She was staring at the figure moving towards her, knowing it was her beloved one, but barely felt any joy or excitement. The family had always been a burden on her shoulder. She had been pushed it aside for too long.
"My love, dear Eliath." The sweet lips of Kanrud touched hers. Her frayed nerve relaxed for the moment. She held his hands and kept kissing him, wishing they would never have to apart or hide like this.
"I am so happy to see you. I started to worry about you, love." Eliath said.
"Sorry I'm late, but I didn't mean to be. I think my tribe seems a little...aware of, or at least suspecting that I have some secret. I have to be very cautious." Kanrud held her in his arms, "Worry none. I prayed to Azura every day, and I know she will bless our love."
"I hope so," Eliath said, hesitating if she should discuss the matter regarding the letter. But before she made her mind, Kanrud took off the sheaf on his back and started to unpack them.
"I want to show you something!" He said, eyes shining, "Do you remember the scrolls and rune stones I brought you last time? I found more of them!"
"They are not rune stones. I sense the magic in the stones though, but not sure what it is." Still kept her mind on the letter, she didn't change the topic though, "Let me see what you've got."
"I have no talent for magic. What a shame! I would like to be a shaman or a healer, but I can master axes and blades much easier than dealing with tomes and spells." Kanrud handed Eliath his new findings, "You, on the contrary, you do have a natural magic trait. I wonder why is that. Were your blood parents mages or something?"
"My late mother had a talent for magic. I was told that she was an excellent healer of House Indoril."
"And why do you even want to be an Ordinator? I've seen how you could master Destruction and Alteration, and the enchanted dagger you gifted me was a masterpiece! You could easily be a great sorceress."
"I was very inclined to magic when I was younger, but soon found out that it was frowned upon in House Indoril, especially within families of high-rank officers and councilors. Indoril is a great house of warriors, and we believe learning magic is effeminate, even cowardly. Recovery Magic is a different story though, but it is not what I am gifted. Besides, it is a great honor to serve as an Ordinator in House Indoril. Everyone I know would sacrifice their life to be in my position."
"But do you heartily believe all of these?" Kanrud asked.
Eliath paused examining the two stone figurines carved with odd symbols in her hands, eyeing the Ashlander, "Who am I to judge my House tradition? Would you challenge your Ashkhan or question the wisdom of the Wise Woman? Would you disobey them merely because you don't like what they said?"
"Don't be mad at me. I apologize for what I said." Kanrud smiled, scratching his head, "I just…I wouldn't do that of course, but I'm saying…see, we are already in this situation that…."
Eliath sighed, set down the figurines, and grabbed a hand of Kanrud's, holding it in between her palms. Her tone turned softened and tender.
"I didn't mean to be mad at you, my love, not at all. I'm so sorry, actually I… " As the topic was shifting to what she was preparing to talk about today, Eliath took a deep breath and was about to say something about the letter. However, she heard Kanrud exclaimed, abrupt what she was about to say.
"Watch out!" He pointed at the figurines sitting right next to her feet.
Instinctively, Eliath hopped back, together with Kanrud. She saw the symbols on them was gleaming and flickering with magmatic colors. It looked like two pocket-size volcanos were about to erupt from the odd figurines. She bent over, holding her magic wards up, trying to touch them. They were not as scorching as they seemed to like, though she could felt the warmth and some magical lurking inside the stones.
All in a sudden, she captured a slight sense of being, like a spirit, or something not belonged to the mortal world. It even felt like some divine power as she was familiar with in the Tribunal Temple.
She tried to concentrate, following the magic power and started to run after it. Kanrud silently followed her steps. Blurrily, she saw a shade lurking in the tuft around the narrow path. She had a grasp of the sense drawing near but never managed to get quite there.
"Did you see or feel it?" She asked Kanrud; the latter said nothing.
"Something is going on here." She muttered.
All in a sudden her heart started to race. She could barely hold her feet to the ground. She stumbled a few steps, barely steadied herself with the help with Kanrud.
"Are you alright?"
She didn't reply, mouth wide open with aghast. The vague shade that she was chasing, or being chased, all in a sudden turned into a shimmering figure, and in a split second started to fade into the darkness of woods. She began to hear some whispers, sounds like her name, and something else that she could not tell apart. When she tried to make it clear, the whisper was gone, leaving only the chattering of birds and the rustle of leaves.
"What was that…" Eliath breathed heavily, holding Kanrud's hand, almost squishing it.
"Take it easy, Eliath. Everything is alright." Kanrud muttered.
"It was a ghost...or something like that."
"You've dealt with ghosts before. They were no match to your magic."
"No, it was not just some ordinary ghost…it felt like…I don't know." She shook her head, "It felt somehow familiar, and oddly…close to me."
"What do you mean by close…and that was…"Kanrud rushed to a trench, barely being able to be seen under the grassy area,
"You found something?"
"I know this place! It is where I found all of the scrolls, stones with symbols and figurines, and even more. Look, I marked this pit."
Eliath tracked her way to the pit that Kanrud mentioned. It was dark, so she cast a light spell. To her disappointed, she found nothing intriguing in the pit other than an empty chest.
"I took everything I could find here." Kanrud said, "I marked it because I thought if I can explore around this area and find more of these things."
Eliath focused her light on the chest, barely hearing what Kanrud's words.
"There is a symbol on the bottom of the chest. Could you help me to lift it out from the pit?"
It was not an easy job as the chest was half way sank into the sediment. Eliath used a feather spell, and Kanrud dug with his axe until he was covered with mud and dust. It was not the best tool for digging, but better than struggling to pull it from above.
After clearing out the reside at the bottom of the chest, Eliath recognized the heraldic symbol carving on it. He eyes opened wide.
"By the Three!" She gasped, "Do you recognize this heraldic symbol, Kanrud?"
Kanrud nodded, and grinned.
"You are going to say something, aren't you? My devoted Ordinator." He hissed, teasing her.
"Come on!" Eliath laughed, pushing him without any strength, and was effortlessly pulled over into the arms of her lover.
"It's alright; nobody knows what we found here tonight. We can just put this evil thing back into the pit, together with whatever you found here. Well, I mean, if you want to keep them I don't mind. Just tame them with you and never have me see it."
"Evil? Ha, I knew you have some speech to present." Kanrud said.
"No, YOU have a speech." Eliath giggled, "You know I don't care to hear about all the Ashlander tales and teachings, but it's alright, I will listen to you, only because you are saying it."
"How interesting you said that!" Kanrud said, "I happen to read some books recently, something that you house Dunmer would find extremely heretic, even unbearable to hear."
"About what?"
"About this symbol. How was it used to represent loyalty and wisdom in Resdayn, yet had been driven off from our land."
-tbc-