Sixth Tale, Part One: Outlander

"The sound has grown as I draw closer, the creaking grind of massive gears and hum of magic batteries. What little sleep I find is plagued with dreams of my coming end. But as the miles of caverns and tunnels draw to a close I remind myself that I chose this, and for whom I chose it..."

-Lord Vexus Alperidion-

The village of Gandosa was mostly still, the barest hints of early risers waking in the twilight of morning. A few houses still leaked narrow trails of smoke from the previous night's warming fires. The growing orange of the coming dawn drowned out the stars slowly.

Talsi Reloth sat and watched the rising sun much the same as she had every morning for her entire life. From her vantage on the edge of the cliff she could see the entire village. The fourteen year old Dunmer sat with her legs cross over each other and her hands resting on her knees. The position coupled with the morning's calm helped to calm her mind. And with the calm came the visions.

"Another refugee? Gods really have abandoned your people, Dark Elf."

Talsi knew little about the art of prophecy, just enough to know it was rare. And she knew her visions were of that nature. This one as with many of the others seemed to be of her own future, while others were of people and places old enough to have faded into legends. It was how she knew she would not always be in that village, which was as close to a blessing as she was likely to get. The man's face was too dim to make out in the swirl of the "dream" but his words still came through.

"I'm sorry. We'll make sure your remains are returned to Morrowind."

And then she was moving, being led to something in a line with others. It was an execution block she could see now, still warm with blood. She was being led to her death...

Talsi banished the vision with a grimace, unclenching fists she hadn't even been aware of making. Little crescents of blood stood out on her palms where the nails had dug in. She wasn't sure how long she just sat there stairing at the blood. The image of the bloody block was so fresh in her mind she could still smell the copper and salt of it.

After a while her heart slowed back to a normal pace and she wrapped her hands with some spare cloth from the pack beside her. It wasn't the first time such a thing had happened while she was seeing things. Often the more intense visions left marks like that. Packing a few things up the cliff was far less trouble than climbing back down with bloody hands. Not that she would be missed if she fell.

The other villagers had lost interest in her as soon as they figured out her visions couldn't help them make money or put food on the table. Then she became just another orphan to them, if a little stranger than the other couple dozen that lived within the village. The whole of Morrowind had more than its share of broken families and lost children these days. If she ever had a family of her own they had died or left before she was old enough to remember them.

More of Gandosa was waking now. Temple preists were putting out the night lamps, miners were heading for another day's work and merchants opened stalls to cry goods. Her time for seeing had passed for now. With the rising sounds of life bellow she almost didn't hear the soft foot steps of someone coming from behind her back.

"Hello there!" It was a girl's voice, happy and almost bird like in refused to turn her head to look at the stranger. Instead she just nodded her head and kept her silence. If being ignored bothered the stranger she didn't show it. The girl sat down next to her and let her feet dangle over the lip of the cliff.

From the corner of her eye she could see the stranger was not a Dunmer. Her blonde hair and pale skin looked more suited to a grassy medow than an ash stained cliff. Finally Talsi looked at her and saw her for what she was. An Altmer girl, likely a few years younger than her. When the girl's large green eyes settled on hers she found herself looking away again.

"Outlander," Talsi said by way of greeting. The word came to her naturally even though she had never had cause to use it before that day. Visiters usually didn't come this far into Morrowind's mainland. The girl tilted her head at the term, her feet still swinging in the wind.

"What's that mean?"

"Someone not from here," Talsi sighed in annoyance. It didn't look like she was going to be able to force her to leave by being rude.

"Why don't you just use their names?" She asked happily.

"Why are you here?" She didn't bother answering the girl's question.

"My name's Nessa!" This was going nowhere fast. They sat in silence for a while, the Altmer girl still smiling at the village below and Talsi trying to decide between leaving herself or demanding the other leave.

"Talsi," She returned when it became clear Nessa wouldn't be leaving. The strange little girl nodded her head and offered a hand, which went unshaken as Talsi stood up. She packed up her things and was a good way down the cliff when Nessa called down to her.

"Have a good day Talsi!" A single pale hand waved down at her. "I'll see you later!"

That girl must be touched in the head, she decided.

-( )-

Talsi pulled herself over the final ledge of the cliff face with practised ease. Even in the dark of night she had memorized the path enough to manage the climb. And when she was over it and on her feet she looked up... and found the blasted Altmer girl! It almost looked as though she had been waiting there since she had left yesterday.

"Hello Talsi," Nessa greeted her with a wave. She must have left at some point as two rather out of place looking leather chairs had been brought up and set at the edge of the cliff. Nessa sat on one and gestured to the other. "I thought you could use a place to sit, the rocks looked lumpy."

It took her a moment to get her temper under control, and resist the urge to shout. This was her time her place, and no stranger was going to ruin it. Talsi ignored the chairs and the girl, taking her usual position on the ground and folding her legs. Before she could even begin to clear her mind Nessa spoke up once again.

"What are you doing?" Talsi felt her brow twitch.

"Having a vision," She answered with her eyes still closed, it didn't really matter if Nessa understood or not. "If you're going to stay please shut up," Instead of an answer the girl was silent, a good sign. If hurt feelings were the worst her unwanted guest got she was damn lucky.

Talsi drew in a deep breath, feeling her lungs fill fully. Even on a good day her mind usually didn't find the right state for seeing for an hour or more. With the unexpected spectator it would probably take far longer. But almost the moment she let out her breath the world vanished and was replaced by something new.

"All who seek knowledge find me sooner or later,"

She stood before a twisting mass of tentacles and eyes, bathed in shadowy smoke and green light. All around her pages of books unread by mortal eyes swirled in the wind. The alter upon which she stood was sitting in the center of an infinite abyss.

"Who are you?" She heard herself speak, as though from a great distance.

"I am Hermaeus Mora, and this is," The monsterous thing suddenly stopped cold.

"Hello uncle Hermy," Talsi turned and found herself looking at that same strange girl who had turned up on her cliff. She was older now, how much so she couldn't say. But she looked calm and confident in the face of the thing above them. She joined Talsi on the alter and gave her an adult version of the grin she'd seen before.

"Nessa," The thing sounded almost like it was bracing itself. "How in the world... why... Is she with you?" It was clearly troubled.

"Yes uncle," Nessa laughed happily. "My friend wanted some help with a problem so I brought her here."

"Let's get this over with," The massive eye rolled. "What do you want now?"

"It's about your friend, Miraak was his name I think"

And then as suddenly as it had come, the vision was gone

Talsi didn't open her eyes for a while, trying to figure out what she had just seen. It was not like any of the visions she'd ever had before. No one had ever stood beside her in the ones with monsters. She had always stood and fought alone, in a thousand places against a thousand foes. And now... now all the sudden she wasn't alone?

"Who are you really?"

-( )-

Writer's note: And so we begin to enter the tale proper. Talsi's tale is one we all know for the Dragonborn's story is not something new. But her part in Nessa's tale comes long after their first meeting. We will not see her after the next chapter for a long time... but she will be back.

And as always, I welcome any questions or comments!