Wow! I typed this chapter up pretty damn quick! I must be excited for something to happen later *sly smirk* Anyways! Here's a little something, another chapter, for you guys :D It's gonna get pretty exciting soon!
I wanna take this opportunity to just say thank you to those awesome people who reviewed: MissFabulous09 and lioness84! Those reviews really motivated me and put a smile on my face for a whole day :D *hugs*
Alright! Now let's get into the story!
"So tell me," Gelebor began. "When did you first come here?"
Emalia looked back, then at the tall mountain which stood at the middle of the island. "Well... I was wondering around Skyrim when some cultists came and claimed I was the fake Dragonborn, being me I shot them with my bow and felled them with a single arrow. Pathetic fools know nothing of the power which I wield!"
Gelebor was tempted to step back a bit, feeling a little intimidated by Emalia's proclaims of great power. Perhaps she wielded her emotions as a mask of the true strength she hid within her. Emalia didn't seem to notice him too much. "I found a letter saying that they were ordered to assassinate under the name of the true Dragonborn, Miraak. I soon found out that they were creating this cult of theirs on the island of Solstheim. I sent a letter back to whiterun to tell them that I would be away for quite some time. With that, I was off. I found Captain Gjalund and got a passage to Solstheim. Upon arrival, I was scorned by the Dunmer who lived there. But I eventually gained their trust at a later date, I can tell you that tale later. I explored the area, asked a few questions and came across a rather strange stone which was being... Built? I guess? And standing there, doing nothing was a Dunmer wizard!"
By Emalia's outburst of annoyance, he guessed that she didn't exactly like that wizard too much. "Carry on..." He prompt.
She sighed and continued her tale. "Anyways, the wizard pointed me to the ruins at the top of that mountain. You can see them slightly from here!"
Emalia pointed up at the mountain and traced the shape of unfinished spires which reached, like broken fingers, to the sky. "We'll have to go up there soon, but I'd rather take my time. I have some... Bad memories from that place. It's dark and under the influence of a Daedra."
Gelebor quickly understood why she wouldn't want to go up there. She knew that she had made one of the Daedric Princes mad and didn't dare to go up there and encounter one. But by the tone of her voice, he could tell that they would have to go up there. At least, go past there. "Anyways," She quickly added. "I went up there and found many people building that wretched place, amidst the monotone chanting of the brainwashed people who were building the structure, I heard the cries of a woman begging them to try and free themselves from Miraak's grasp."
"Who was that woman?"
"Her name was Frea, she was one of the Skaal people who lived close to the glacier. I'm sure we will meet her some day one our journey. Back to the story, I approached her and she was so glad that she had finally found someone who wasn't under the strong influence of Miraak. I learnt much from her about the island and Miraak, who was apparently the first Dragonborn and a Dragon Priest who turned against his masters, the dragons. Or should I say, the Dov..."
Her voice thrummed with power, like it always did when she uttered a word in the dragon tongue. Emalia felt a sliver of power slither down her spine. She shuddered and shook the feeling away. She hadn't used a shout for a long time and now her Thu'um was straining to be released from her lips. The souls of the dragons which resided in her screamed for her to release their power. She reined her power and managed to swallow down the feeling which was building up inside of her. "Frea and I delved into the temple which was being rebuilt, the first level looked all new. But the deeper we went, the more ancient and crushed the temple looked. After almost days of venturing through the vast labyrinth, we finally made it to a chamber with a single Black Book. I could feel the power of the Daedric lords flowing off of it in dark waves, but I knew that I had to do something with it. I picked it up and flipped it to the first page. As soon as I did so, I was pulled into the book by a thick, black, oily tentacle. But I was still in that room physically, a tentacle still wrapped around my neck. The screams of my soul didn't come out of my mouth, and all Frea could do was wait."
She paused for dramatic effect, and also the chill of the dark memory was haunting. She sometimes thought that she could feel the ice cold, slimy, surface coiled around her neck, squeezing her soul out of her body... "I was pulled into a dark swirling vortex. When the chaos around me disappeared, I was met by something even worse. I stood on a platform, made of some sort of unrecognizable metal, which floated into the middle of an oily black sea. I could see no end to that vast expanse of fluid. Swimming in the water were more of those black tentacles, but those ones were thicker and barbed. Much more deadly than the ones that pulled me there. There was no proper source of light, only strange bulbs which glowed an eerie green light. Standing in front of me was a man garbed in deep purple robes. He turned towards me, and his face was covered in a bronze mask. I knew at that moment that I was facing a powerful Dragon Priest, for his mask was of a unique design. Horns seemed to protrude from the back of the mask, metal and coming from the mask itself, and the design of tentacles covered his mouth."
Gelebor shuddered, imagining the dreadful world that Emalia described to him. He hoped that he wouldn't ever see such a thing like that for the rest of his extended lifetime. Emalia continued on with her tale with the same depth of description. "I was going to attack him, but he lashed out. I fell to my knees and was kept down with magical bonds. Miraak walked up to me and merely laughed. Behind him came two hideous creatures, covered in rags and made of tentacles which trailed along the floor, and swooping from the sky was a dragon like none other I had seen before. He walked up to me and glared at me through the slits of the mask. Miraak claimed that he was the strongest of all Dragonborn, and even dared to say that I, Emalia, did not slay Alduin!"
She saw confusion upon Gelebor's face and decided to explain. "A few years back, I destroyed the World-Eater–"
"No, I know who he is when I read through the many books which were stored in the grand libraries of the Chantry and by studying the books which you carelessly throw around everywhere. I believe you left a book, Great Harbingers, at the Chantry."
Emalia blushed, knowing that she was very bad at keeping all of her books in check. Which was why... She shook the thought out of her head and let Gelebor to finish what he was saying before. "Besides that, I didn't know that you were capable of..."
Emalia folded her arms over her chest crossly. "Are you doubting my strength?"
"No! I –"
"I can tear a man's limbs off, set you aflame, freeze you in ice, strip a dragon's immortality from it's body, disarm you and cause you to feel fear beyond anything you've experienced before by uttering three words. I can send one arrow through you and you'd be dead in six seconds. I can beat a man in a brawl one on one. I can wield a two handed sword meant for a man stronger and much tall than me–"
"Like the one which you carry around all the time."
It was in that instant Gelebor knew that he had hit a sensitive topic, in a flash her gaze turned fiery and furious. Her hand lashed forward and she caught his arm in an iron grip. She really wasn't lying about anything she said, for she had the strength of a woman with twice the amount of muscle as her. "Yes, and I can send it through a man's heart without hesitation if he tries to prod at topics which are better to be kept under the surface." She hissed menacingly.
Emalia released his arm, but her gaze was still threatening. She walked in silence for a while before continuing her tale. "In the end, Miraak got what was coming for him. On the highest peak of Apocrypha, after slaughtering three dragons, one of which I had befriended, I sent an arrow through his heart and the Daedric Lord Haemerous Mora speared him with a tentacle and tore the flesh from his bones. But that is the only time I had any shred of respect for the dark lord of fate and knowledge... Now all I know is hatred for him..."
For you smart people, I've been dropping various clues around ;3 I'm not saying clues of what, but soon you'll see... Oh my, I just have so many ideas for this story! I can't wait to share them to you :D Okay! Until next time!
