Ch. 5
Fayre drank the content of the bowl after Jivete added that powder to it. After that, she instantly collapsed to the floor and I jumped to her aid. My wound didn't matter, the pain didn't matter, and it did hurt quite a lot. The girl was worried for our wellbeing, and the witch makes her drink some weird poison. What the hell is wrong with this Dunmer? –"Adstan, your friend will be ok. I can't say the same about you if you ever disobey me again. It's my last warning"-. And like that, she leaves the tent.
I take Fayre with the little force my injury allows me to do and place her head next to me. My wound opens once again, and it stained her green dress, I guess she'll have to deal with it once she wakes up. Right now… right now I need to protect her and Astrid from the current circumstances… but I'm not sure yet whether what happened at the castle has an actual reason to it… or…
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Beer, cigarettes and music. What could be better? Friends playing on my console while I tune my electric guitar. Our band is finally back for a run after a year of hiatus and it makes me quite happy. They're playing Skyrim again, such boring bastards. I like it too, but I can't understand the vice of playing the same game over and over and over again. It gets monotonous.
-"Hey Hunter, you up for a smoke?"- One of my friends ask. Not quite the ordinary smoke, but weed it is what he's offering. –"Nah, you know I don't do that kind of stuff."- I dryly reply. My guitar makes an annoying sound while I say this. I can't stand the smell, or how stupid that thing turns my friends after a couple of smokes. It never did anything to me either and I've tried it a few times. In conclusion, I find it to be a very boring social activity. I finish tuning my instrument and call out for my bandmates to start our practice session before they get high –"Guys, first guitar's done. Let's start with practice, leave that rubbish for later."- I say. They all let out a sigh and look at me like saying "such a boring dude", for all I care. I roll my eyes.
We play covers from different bands, specially rock and punk. I was never made for singing but I do play the guitar quite well if I can say so myself. That's why I'm first guitarist. We play Back in Black from AC/DC first.
Peter, our newest singer -joined two years ago- sings very well for a boring looking guy, we nicknamed him the "nerd guy" the moment he joined our group of friends. Known by hanging out with girls, I thought he strike for the same team, but I got to see quite compromising sites on his mobile once and none of them had a male star to give my theory a boost. Thanks heavens, though. I never had the courage or the interest to ask him directly.
We start our rehearsal but Peter's voice isn't as good as it usually is –"Hey, Pete, you alright?"- I ask. He nods in agreement but looks at his hands with an awkward face. He's caressing his thumb, that looks very swallowed. I don't pay much attention to it since he's just a singer, it shouldn't prevent him from singing well, but for some reason it bothers him a lot and we decide to stop mid rehearsal because nerd boy couldn't sing. I let a sigh go, what a waste of my time.
While I play videogames I can hear my friends start making a fuzz over something. I don't care, but they're being quite loud, so I quit the game and go check what the fuzz is all about. They're pushing Peter who's blushing -red as hell- and looking tormented. –"What the hell is going on here, I can't concentrate on my playing!"- I scream, half annoyed, half jesting… okay, more annoyed than anything. Peter looks at me with pleading eyes. The guys are looking at something on his device. I take it from one of my friend's hand and see a cute girl standing next to my nerd friend. A picture of two happy looking people.
The girl has green eyes and light brown hair, her skin is pale and she's shorter -by much- than Peter. I put on an evilish smile and look right at Peter, who's very annoyed now. –"Is she your girlfriend? She's cute! Why were you hiding her? We thought you liked dudes!"- I say bursting out laughing. I can see Peter go pale –"She's nowhere near being my girlfriend, she is my best friend, now can you give me the bloody mobile back, please?"- I smile again, now more mischievously than before –"Is that so? Then introduce her to us, I'd love to be her friend"- I say, emphasising the word "friend". He lets a sigh go and lower his sight to check on his thumb. –"I don't have time for this, I told her I was going to her place for a gaming session."- He says, making a face that showed how his wound hurts. –"Oh so the chick plays videogames? You ought to introduce her to us, mate! We want to be her best friends too!"- One of my friends says while laughing. Peter looks at the ceiling and sighs. –"She's not the friendly type of girl, specially with idiots."- He says, anger on his eyes. I nod, maybe we're being assholes to the poor guy, but he looks for it by being so serious. The dude has an outstanding voice but again, he doesn't quite fit with us "idiots". I wonder how did he meet such a beautiful girl. Okay, he's not hideous, but… I laugh at my thoughts. When did I become such a narcissist?
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Fayre has been out for a day now. We haven't moved from our camp because I'm recovering from my wounds and Fayre is unconscious. Jivete and Nikaia don't seem to be bothered by the fact we're not moving, they're quite relaxed, I dare say. I look at Fayre's long hair. It's messy and some of her locks have mud on them. I start cleaning it out of boredom and notice how fayre she actually is. Now I get why Jivete gave her that name, it suits her well. I take a closer look at her face, she's pale, obviously! The girl was drugged and has been out for a whole day, of course she's not precisely blushing! But it doesn't make her look any less beautiful. Her long hair is curly, and it looks golden under the sunlight. I feel awkward. What the hell Adstan? This is not the time to stare. I sigh and lean on my back while I stare at the clouds. Today is a nice day. Suddenly, the thought of what happened back at the castle strikes me.
I pushed Fayre and Astrid out of the door and closed it on their faces. Fayre was going to say something, but I didn't let her finish. It would only make my task harder. I turned around and found Jivete handing me my sword. I took it and my wound hurt, I didn't mind the pain, we didn't have time for that.
–"Now listen to me, Adstan. This task ahead is very important. We're going to get paid very well for this and we need the extra coin since we're too many on the group. No questions, just do as I tell you, understood?"- Jivete said. I nodded in agreement. No questions asked, it didn't matter, I fully trusted the people that saved me from dying about half a year ago already. I will be forever grateful and for that, they may use me as their tool, their sword, their bodyguard and protector. As they told me, I would do.
We sneaked our way into the castle. A few guards noticed us trespassing, but it wasn't hard for Nikaia to take them out of our way. I too, had to get rid of some of them. We kept going until we found ourselves in a big, luxurious looking bedchamber. Two old people were sleeping on the bed and I noticed Jivete getting closer to the man while Nikaia was pouring something onto the woman's glass placed next to the bed. I could see Jivete taking her dagger out when I reacted -not intentionally- and stopped her from killing the old sleeping man. She then, in one move, pushed me to the ground and hurt my side with the same dagger she was holding. I let out a scream of pain, waking the old couple up. The woman started screaming while the old man rushed to a desk, where a bell was waiting to be played. He was going to alert the guards we were there. I tried to stand up but the wound Jivete gave me was bleeding heavily. I could see how the man was inches apart from the desk when Jivete jumped over him, cutting his throat from behind with her already scarlet tainted dagger. In that moment everything appeared to be in slow motion. I could hear the woman cry at her husband's assassination and at the same time I could see how Nikaia slowly got closer to her until she reached her, and, in one move, she broke the woman's neck.
I felt the blood leaving my body and I was about to pass out, but something stronger than the blood loss and the pain made me stand up, everything went from slow to fast motion in a matter of seconds. The guards entered the room in a rush, at the same time I could see Jivete throwing something at the deceased couple's corpses and leaving after Nikaia, who jumped out of a window. I decided to follow them. I fell on my back, crawled into the forest and I passed out. After that, all I could remember was a big, loud noise that woke me up and a big, furry, brown creature getting close to me. I couldn't move, I couldn't see well, everything was dark and blurry…
-"And then I woke up in camp…"- I whisper. I look at my wound, it's closing. I sigh. There must be an explanation to what happened back there, Jivete trusted me and I couldn't do something as simple as watching out for enemies while they did their job. But… what kind of job is the one that makes you kill for money? No, there must be something more into it… Jivete and Nikaia would never hurt anyone without a reason. I trust them, I was in their way even though I knew it was an important task on their hands… there must be- I feel dizzy. I put one hand on my forehead and notice how everything starts spinning around. Bloody hell curse the day I messed with Fayre for fainting out of everything!
The next day, Fayre finally woke up. She was paler than ever and had no recollection of what happened two days ago... Why would Jivete do something like that to Fayre? What could her motives have been?
A week later I was finally able to walk. We were about to leave the place we were camping at, when a messenger came with a letter for Jivete. –"It took me a while to find you! It's from someone who was in Helgen and saw what happened… I- I didn't read it! That's what they told me to say!"- The thin man said. Jivete took the letter from the guy's hands and started reading it in silence. I take a quick look at Fayre, who's having an apparently fun conversation with Astrid and then I go back to Jivete, whose face changed from serious to anger in a second. –"I don't know why you think this is for me, it clearly says it's meant for the young woman who almost touched a dragon here, idiot!"- She states. The man opens his eyes in disbelief –"Excuse me ma'am I didn't mean to… The person who gave this letter to me, told me to give it to the Dunmer of the group, they never mentioned any name!"- He says, putting his hands together in a submissive gest. Jivete then, proceeds to rip the letter in pieces and throwing them at the scared looking man's face. –"We're leaving! You better move or we'll leave you kids here, you listen!?"- Jivete screams. I pack up my things and take my sword as the poor little man leaves to find his next destination.
We walk as always: Jivete goes first, then Nikaia, next comes Fayre, Astrid and I follow her, and finally, Vyell. Who's been absent lately. I look back at him and notice he was walking and reading a book at the same time. He's going to bump into a stone and fall right to his face, I think. I laugh at the mere thought –"What's so funny?"- I hear a voice say. I look at Astrid, who was examining the landscape for clues. I smile –"Nothing."- I say. In that moment, I hear Fayre let out a sigh and notice she's giving me an angry look. She doesn't like the way I treat Astrid, but I don't particularly think I treat her bad. It's just how I am.
-"Fayre, have you thought about what happened back in Helgen?"- I hear Jivete ask. I could see how she jumped at the sudden question. We all stop. Astrid put on a concerned look and bites her nail. –"Dii sos fraan hi, Dovahkiin"- She answers. I can see how Astrid's face becomes the epitome of surprise. Jivete's stare is a confused one –"Di what? What language is that girl, for Sithis!"- She exclaims. Fayre's sight goes down –"I don't know… I never understood what it means but… It stuck on my brain. I can't stop repeating it over and over…" Fayre shyly replies. –"My blood feels you…"- Astrid interrupted. "My blood feels you, dragonborn. That's what I heard. It was meant for you, Fayre. The dragon- it was… looking right at you when it said that."- She states.
Dragonborn? I remember, time before even Astrid appeared near Ivarstead, a bard sang about the dragonborn's coming. The song talked about a hero who would end the evil of "all skyrim's foes", that we would know the dragonborn was coming. Jivete was happily drinking with Vyell and Nikaia when this happened, and I decided to ask the innkeeper -an argonian with a very short temper- about the bard's song. She told me there was once a Breton who fought a dragon named Alduin, an evil dragon, defeated him and lived to tell the tale. But that was two centuries ago and it was probably nonsense. Legends told by the greybeards to keep on living at peace at the top of their mountain.
And now here I was listening to an amnesiac girl talk about how a dragon talked to her, and another one claiming to understand the language it was spoken in. Are the legends true? What does this mean? Vyell was caressing his beard. I look at him intrigued by the recent events but all he does is stare at Astrid and Fayre. –"You understood what the dragon told Fayre, Astrid?"- Nikaia asks, since Jivete couldn't close her mouth from the amusement. Astrid nods and Fayre puts one arm over her shoulders to encourage her. –"I honestly heard it talk just like you just talked to me, it made no difference… I didn't notice it spoke in a different language…"- She replied.
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In my sleep I can hear the mobile phone ringing. I don't want to pick it up, but it's so insistent, it forces me to wake up. –"Yeah?"- I tiredly say. At the other end of the line I can hear an exasperated voice, screaming something I couldn't quite understand because the person was talking way too fast. –"Ok, now repeat it slower and clearer, please."- I say. –"Damnit Hunter, Peter fucking disappeared! It's all over the bloody news, man! Get out of your bed and turn on the TV!"- The person replies. I look at the device's screen and notice it was Jason, one of my bandmates and friend. I do as he tells me and see the reporter talking and a picture of the nerd guy with the word "MISSING" written down it as background. I raise the volume and notice they were interviewing the girl I saw in his picture a few days ago. The title reads "Keira Arkwright – friend". She was crying, her eyes look emerald and even though she handles herself well, you could tell she was very affected by the loss of her friend. I wonder, did he tell us the truth? Damn him for making a girl cry. I hate it. I don't know this girl and probably never will, but I honestly cannot stand a girl crying. Why couldn't he take better care of himself? Plus, we lack a singer thanks to his disappearance. I guess I'll have to go out look for him now. If he's not dead yet, I'll kill him.
