Michelle was gagging, vigorously trying to rub her skin raw with a cloth that Valdras handed her. He had accepted her phobia with staying clean by now, and kept a few extra rags with him at all times.
They had found another one of the infamous black books, and she had insisted on coming with. Her "insistence" came in the form of wrapping herself around him from behind when he opened the book.
Not that he minded that part, they had shared more than one night tangled up in each other's warm embrace. But those times where in a locked, and secured room…in a secured town with guards. Not in the realm of a malevolent daedric prince.
Valdras was furious, staring down at her. She was still beautiful, even dry heaving. Her long blonde hair was swept up in an intricate bun, and a few curls had managed to escape. She was not a Nord, although he had first met her on the back of a cart headed to Helgen for their timely executions. She had been wearing some sort of torn up foreign fabric, a line of black streaking her cheeks from her eyes.
The Imperial soldiers had found her off the side of the road in the woods, wandering around, ranting about being lost. They thought she was crazy, and the captain took one look at her, branding her a prostitute. They hit the poor girl over the head and loaded her in the cart.
She was around the height of a Breton, but looked nothing like the race. She was foreign, and completely unknown to magic. At first, he wanted nothing to do with her, especially after she clung to him on the way to Riverwood, and then to Whiterun. "Bad luck" was the impression he got, and he had more than enough of it already.
When he returned from his journey to the Throat of the World, she was desperately trying to eek out a living by working at the Drunken Huntsman, living in a dingy section of the attic upstairs. Elrindir had taken pity on her after he found her curled up, frozen, alone on his doorstep.
When she begged Valdras to take her to the college of Winterhold, he finally broke down and agreed.
They were unable to help her at the college, though. Her "home", appeared to be a separate, inaccessable realm.
She managed to stand up, wearily. He grabbed her arm to steady her.
"What in Azura's name were you thinking!"
She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and looked around. Her deep blue eyes scanning the room. "I was bored."
He sneered. She would get him killed eventually.
"If I had known I was going to get molested by an octopus on the way here, I would have reconsidered."
"This is extremely dangerous and not a joke, woman. I can't protect you here as well as I'd like." What was an octopus?
She smiled and hooked her arm in his. "I have faith."
He rolled his eyes, and started moving forward. Within the time she had been with him, he had trained her with basic combat technics. She had absolutely no endurance or skill in the beginning, and he often wondered how she had managed to stay alive as long as she had.
She had gained some in the past five years, but was still a novice at best. She took out her bow and readied and arrow as they crept through the nightmarish realm. Valdras was a spellsword by nature, a fire spell in his left hand, and a daedric sword in the right.
Hermaeus Mora had tricked him into a contract of ridding the daedric prince of his original champion, who no longer served a purpose; he chose to rebel, seeking his own return to dominating Solstheim once more.
Miraak was definitely a very real, and very dangerous threat. He was also the very first Dragonborn.
Michelle had thankfully already encountered a Lurker before, so he was saved her typical, panicked screaming. The Seeker proved a bit more difficult, and she had accidently stepped in a black pool, while trying to dodge one of its attacks. They took a small break while she recovered from hyperventilating.
His mother would not be happy when he brought this woman back with him to Blacklight. The thought put a smile on his face.
They continued through the narrow corridors, avoiding confrontations where they could. Eventually, they came across a large, open spaced room, with no walls. You could see the black sea of Apocrypha surrounding them, and large tendrils lazily reaching upwards towards the greenish black sky. In the middle was a large book on a platform. They quietly made their way towards the book, scanning the room for any slight movement.
Nothing.
The book, The Hidden Twilight, laid before them. He proceeded to decipher what information he could gather, and then wait for the book to teleport them back to their room at Raven Rock, which was the typical routine.
Suddenly Michelle went rigid, and increased pressure on his arm. He slowly turned around. Before them, on the other side of a large, black pool, was the First Dragonborn.
The eery mask glistened in the geen glow that permiated throughout the realm. He was the height of a typical Nord, but slightly less bulky. His specialty was brain, not brawn.
"Was my initial warning not enough, Laat Dovahkiin."
Valdras said nothing, he was busy thinking of a strategy to the million out comes that may come to pass in the next few seconds. Michelle, on the other hand, never was able to shut her mouth.
"Hey, jerk, get lost and go do something constructive, like get a life."
He should have bought that silence spell from Drevis.
An awkwardness arose around the trio.
"She is not of here. Her fate is not tied to ours, can you not feel it?"
Valdras' eyes grew an even darker red, and his right hand itched for his sword.
The pool, which had been stagnant, started to form small ripples...which morphed into erratic waves that splashed over the edges. A giant, sickly white hand, slowly etched its way through the viscous liquid.
Michelle screamed. The Lurker, which was almost fully materialized, was about the size of a mammoth. Its breath steamed, as the black soup dripped from its skin.
Miraak had already turned away from them, heading towards the hallway from which they had entered the room, obviously disinterested in the results of this confrontation. That pompous, milk drinking…
Valdras pulled Michelle to the side as the Lurker's massive hand crashed down where they were standing. He let a fire bolt go, and the beast roared. This was going to be a close fight.
The Lurker swiped in the air, making contact with Michelle and sending her, skidding, across the floor. It raised its giant arms up, readying a powerful attack. Valdras scrambled, yelling for Michelle to move. She laid there on her side, eyes wide, terrified and stunned. He readied a massive fire spell; he would knock it off balance.
Suddenly a loud sound ripped through the air, and felt like a knife stabbing his ears. He saw the Lurker's head mysteriously spasm to the side, and black liquid spray out the end, all over Michelle.
She blinked.
It crumpled up, slipping back into the pool it from where it had arose. He looked up, and on the opposite side of pedastal where the book was, stood a being, holding something in front of its face. A small stream of smoke coming out of the end.
It slowly lowered the item down. He could see it was a woman, but something was entirely wrong about her. She reminded him of-
"Michelle?"
Except she looked nothing like Michelle. She was about a foot taller, not as tall as a Nord, but maybe his height or a bit more. Her green eyes were intense, and she had dark brown hair, with gold stripes, in a loose braid running down her left shoulder. She was wearing clothes he had never seen; some sort of blue colored pant, with a shirt that was missing most of its material. Around her waste was another shirt, knotted by the sleeves.
The woman headed towards them.
"Michelle, Michelle! Oh my God, you're alive!"
He observed this woman with keen interest. She was obviously familiar with his…companion.
He really needed to go talk to Maramal in Riften.
Michelle finally blinked a few more times. She started to viciously try and wipe the black blood splattered on her face. She looked up at the woman.
"Andy! Oh my God, it's you!"
They embraced, the black oil staining the other woman's white garment.
"How did you get here? How long have you been here?"
Valdras stood up, throwing a panicked glance towards the hallway Miraak disappeared in. He grabbed Michelle by her arm, "we need to leave, now".
The woman's green eyes glanced nervously at Michelle in a questioning manner, as Valdras pulled her off the floor.
He flipped to the section he needed to read to get them back home. He looked at the other woman with worried eyes.
"I can only take one at a time. I am also…unable to return to this very location."
Andy scanned the book. He was going to tell her not to waste her time. He was an accomplished mage in his own right, and even he had problems with some of these texts.
"This passage illustrates the formation of an exit, and the linguistic necessities to engage its creation. You two proceed, and I will follow."
Valdras simply stared.
"Shut up Andy, don't be ridiculous!" Michelle shouted in a panic. Tears were streaming down her cheeks.
Andy gave Valdras a knowing glance. She picked up her rifle, loaded another bullet in the chamber, and stepped back.
The last thing he remembered was holding a frantic, screaming Michelle as dark tendrils wrapped around them.