Chapter X

Valerie needed some air, she needed to get away for a few hours. Not only to clear her mind, but to get out of that room, to get away from the college. She felt trapped inside the walls, insulted by the stares. With Tam agreeing to sit by Rontag's side, she left, making her way back into the remnants of what was once a grand city.

Seeing her husband laying there unconscious was becoming too much to bear. Every second, a little more of her heart was torn away, every single moment she felt more and more desperate. He was right there, but yet he wasn't. She could touch him, yet could not actually reach him.

She sat on the corner of the porch railing, out front of their small creaky, leaky house. The cold air helped clear out the fog that had been slowly settling on her head over the last few days, but it didn't help the heavy pumping of her heart, or the sick feeling that lay in the pit of her stomach.

She held her side, where she had been impaled by a conjured Aldmeri sword all those years ago. The old wound still gave her grief every once in a while, but it hadn't lasted for more than a few minutes at a time. Now it was starting to pain, and she rubbed it through her thick leather Imperial armour.

Her mind wandered back to her husband. She felt guilty at being so angry at him before. He had been gone from her for so long, and when he had finally returned to her, she had quickly taken it for granted. Now his life hung in the balance, and she wished she'd made the most of the time that she'd actually had with him before hand.

While Valerie desperately hoped that he would wake soon, she wouldn't let it be while she wasn't there. Valerie wanted the first thing he saw to be her face looking down at him, her hand in his. Without another moment, she pushed herself off the porch, her boots disappearing into the thick snow.

So far she hadn't had the chance to get out of her armour, and even now she felt as though she didn't have the time.

She headed off back into the college. She would sit by her husband's side till he awoke, knowing that she couldn't bear to lose him. Not again, not ever again.

The young Orsimer Magoza, had purchased a map like the Argonian had suggested, and made her way promptly back to the farm, arriving sometime in the early evening.

After studying the small arrows, she used the old forge to begin manufacturing more. Satisfied with how well they had turned out, she used them to practice until nightfall, discovering she wasn't particularly good with the strange bow-like contraption in the slightest.

Feeling that she couldn't lose any more time, she decided to get a few hours rest, then head off to Narsis. Unfortunately she couldn't sleep. She simply lay there, tossing and turning in bed, her eyes wide open. Her mind kept conjuring up scenarios of what could be happening to them right at that moment, of the tortures they could be enduring while she was curled up, in a nice warm bed.

With no prospect of sleep claiming her, she got up and prepared to leave. She made sure she took as much foodstuffs with her as she could carry, and took one of the burning oil lamps off the side, to light the way.

Satisfied, the young Orsimer left the farmhouse, closing the door behind her. Then, before she left, she headed over to the guar pen and made sure the scaly animal had plenty of food.

All that done, she hit the road with the lamp in hand, following the old neglected road signs that pointed toward Narsis City.

As she made her way down the long road, she couldn't help but notice the sounds the strange animals made in the distance. The wildlife made far much more noise here in this weird and strange land, then they did in either High Rock, or indeed Skyrim. The noises also did nothing to help the fear that sat like bile in her gut.

Magoza had never attempted anything like this before, and she had no way of knowing whether the Argonian in the alleyway had even been telling the truth. But she had been led down there by some kind of phantom, the ghost of Nora, the kind Nord that had died in Rorikstead. Or at least that's what she believed. It had only been a fleeting glimpse, but it was enough to make her feel that it wasn't' a mere coincidence. It was fate, or at least an inner feeling told her it was fate.

Suddenly, there was a crack and a hiss somewhere behind her. She spun around, fireball ready in her palm. The Orsimer's eyes searched the darkness frantically to find whatever had made the sound. Unfortunately, the lack of light other than her lamp and the idle flame spell in her hand, made seeing further than a dozen paces nearly impossible.

"Who's there!?" she called out into the night. With no answer, she raised her right hand. At a moments notice she could cast a fire-bolt at whomever, or whatever was there. "Answer or I'll start blasting you with exploding bolts of fire!"

"Calm down!" a voice hissed at her in the night. "I'm not here to harm you or anything, I just kicked something."

"Show yourself, or I'll start shooting!"

A figure emerged from the shadow of night. The sight of its long scaly snout and small beady eyes caused Magoza to jump with fright. She held back the urge to cast her spell, but remained vigilant as the Argonian slowly approached.

It wasn't until she noticed the leather and steel armour he was wearing, that she realised that it was the same Argonian from the alleyway in the city. "It's you," she said. "Why are you here?"

"I've been following you," he replied simply, in his deep, hissed voice.

"Why?" she asked with suspicion. He hadn't been interested in helping her in the city, so why was he now?

"I knew you'd get yourself killed," he answered.

Magoza found the response to be less than satisfactory. In fact she didn't much like the Argonian. There was something off about him. Unfortunately, she didn't know what it was.

"I'm not dead yet, whoever you are," she said firmly.

"I shall tell you my name, if you tell me yours," he replied.

"Why should I do that?" she asked, wanting him to just leave her be.

"Because I'm going to help you."

"Why?"

He paused for a moment. "I used to," he stammered. "Well, I used to work for the one that is most likely behind the kidnapping of your friends."

While the revelation wasn't surprising, it was disheartening. Was this Argonian behind what had happened to the Karo's? Was he playing some kind of game with her, seeing how far she'd go to save them?

"And, what else?" she asked, needing him to explain further.

"I shall cut this short," he said. "I may know where they are."

"How?"

"I used to work for him. I just told you that."

"What do you mean you used to work for him?" She wanted him to explain himself, to lay it all out for her in plain language.

"I used to find Dark-Elves," he began. "Those that wouldn't be missed, and bring them to Narsis City. From there they would be made into slaves for those rich enough to pay."

"You should be ashamed!" she spat. "Slavery is wrong!"

"The Dark-Elves figured that out too late," the Argonian said simply. "Some of my people want vengeance."

"Doesn't make it right."

"What is right and what is wrong is determined by the more powerful culture. Something that is wrong now was perfectly fine a-thousand years ago."

Magoza hated what she was hearing. This Argonian had taken people from their homes, possibly taken them from their families. It was abhorrent that anyone could do that.

There was an awkward silence between them for several minutes. The sounds of the nocturnal creatures filled the night-time air.

"Hides-In-Trees," the Argonian said to her suddenly.

"What?" Magoza asked in confusion. She then began looking around, her fear rising. Was there some predator around that they needed to hide from?

"My name," he clarified. "I'm called Hides-In-Trees."

"That's not your name," she said disbelieving.

"It's the Cyrodilic translation of my name."

"Why are you called that?"

"Because it best describes me."

"You like to hide in trees?"

"I was a hunter before I was a slaver. I hid from large prey in the trees, then killed them with my bow."

"Why become a slaver?"

"The gold was good, and the benefits better. Talen-xil offered a lot."

"You're a horrible person," she said to him. "I'd never do anything like that, for any amount of coin. It's, well it's monstrous."

"Well that's easy for you to say, you've never been in that position before have you?"

"No, but-"

Hides continues, interrupting her. "I had only seen glimpses of Dark-Elves before I became a slaver. They were so different from us, so alien. It was easy to look past the fact that they were people, and had their own hopes and dreams."

"You're still a monster."

"My people have been called much worse," Hides replied. "And you still haven't told me your name."

"Why should I tell the likes of you?"

"Because I'm going to help you retrieve your friends. I need redemption from my own past, and this might give me some reprieve."

"You use a lot of big words."

"Just because I am an Argonian, it does not mean I'm stupid."

"I didn't mean it like that," she said, almost apologetically.

"How did you mean it?" Hides-in-Trees asked her, unconvinced.

"As I said it. You use a lot of big words."

He folded his arms. "I do use a lot of big words, and now may I ask you what your name is?"

The young Orsimer finally relented. "It's Magoza," she told him. "Just Magoza."

"Well then, Magoza. I think we should find somewhere to camp. I do not know why you thought it a good idea to set off in the night, but it was foolish."

"I don't have time to camp."

"Yes you do. There is an old Dark-Elf village near here, abandoned since the Argonian invasion. I suggest we stay there till sunrise, then continue onwards."

"But in the alleyway you said they might be sold, I can't wait!"

"Think for a moment!" he said to her. "We better hope they have been sold!"

"That's horrible!" she shouted in shock.

"No, you idiot!" he hissed back. "If Talen is using them as his own personal slaves, then we'll not get them out, it is as simple as that. If he has sold them, then we can strike when they are on the move."

"But how will we know?" she asked.

"Once we reach Narsis, I will ask around."

"You can do that?"

"I have some friends there," he told her. "Well, former friends actually. People who hated me when I took Talen's offer. Slavery is kind of a sore subject and isn't spoken of. It's not liked among most of my people. The An-Xileel, the ones in charge unfortunately look the other way, only acting when they believe it will benefit them."

"So you know people there?"

"Yes, though like I said before, we are not on good terms."

"If they hate you, then why would they help?"

"You are coming along, and you will tell them what happened."

"Fine."

"Now let us find that village, so we can get some shelter."

The young Dunmer was struck across the face hard by a thick scaly claw, sending him crashing to the old tiled floor.

"Pick him up!" a large Argonian hissed. "And throw him back in the cage with the other two." Two large scaly arms grabbed Brendarr under his armpits, and lifted him roughly back to his feet. He had made the mistake of talking back to the one that demanded they call master. "This one has an attitude problem, but he is young. We'll just have to beat it out of him."

Brendarr felt himself being dragged forward before being thrown back to the ground, the sound of a metal door closing echoed around him.

"Brendarr!" he heard his mother cry. "Are ya alright!?"

Brendarr sat up and looked at his parents. They were locked away inside a small cage in some larger room, all dressed in rags. The cage was roughly six-foot by six-foot, giving them some room to sit and lay down, but little of much else. Why they were in here, Brendarr didn't know, but he had a good idea who was behind it.

"I'm fine." he wheezed as he looked up at her. "But that Orc better watch out when we finally break free of here!"

"Whatcha mean?" his father asked him.

"Yes, Brendarr. Whatcha mean?" Llandri added, echoing her husband's question.

"She's behind all this, I know she is!"

"That's stupid!" Darovin said angrily.

"Is it!?"

There conversation was cut short as one of the Argonian guards struck the cage hard.

The Dunmer family looked over at him, while the lizard-like man stared at them. "Quiet!" he ordered. "You will sleep now, it late!"

"Make us!" Brendarr shouted at him.

"Don't!" Darovin whispered harshly. "You'll be beaten again!"

The Argonian simply looked away. "You have hard day ahead of you tomorrow. If you don't meet up to expectation, then you will be executed. Bad worker is no worker."

With that revelation, Brendarr and his two parents tried in vain to get some rest. But sleep didn't seem to want to come for any of them, as memories of their kidnapping replayed over and over in their minds. Of how they were woken with scaly hands over their mouths and daggers to their throats. Of how they were bound and gagged under the constant threat of death.

They had then been marched out of their home and taken along the road southwards. They hadn't stopped till they had reached Narsis City, which had been only a few hours ago.

Now they were in a cage like animals, their fates a complete unknown to them. Whatever did lay ahead would certainly not be very pleasant, for any of them.

The small fire lit up Hides-In-Trees' face, giving him a terrifying look. Magoza wondered if she'd even be able to sleep tonight. There was something about the way Argonians looked that screamed danger to her.

She looked down at the fire as Hides held some meat over it, that lay skewered on a large pointed stick.

Earlier on, he had killed some small creature that had taken residence in the village, and had sought to pull what little meat there was out of it. Now he was cooking it, and the smell was beginning to make the young Orsimer's stomach growl.

"So, how long had you been staying with the Dark-Elf family?" the Argonian asked her.

"None of your business," Magoza replied.

She still didn't trust him. His motives weren't clear to her, and she still didn't believe that he had told her his real name. He had claimed that he wanted to somehow make up for his past misdeeds, but saving one family hardly made up for enslaving others.

"I apologies, I was just making small talk."

Magoza stared at the fire. "I don't feel like talking."

"I understand."

"Good, because I wasn't about to explain why I don't want to talk to you!" she snapped.

"I see that you are already starting to place the blame of their disappearance on me."

Magoza looked over at him. "Look, I'm sorry for being a bit short with my temper, but things were starting to look up for me, and now they've." She paused, turning her attention back to the fire, tears starting to well up in her eyes. "I might never see them again. The same as those I left behind in Skyrim."

"Skyrim?" Hides questioned.

"Just forget it."

"It is forgotten."

"No it's not, you're just saying that."

"What do you want from me?" he asked her. "I am trying to be patient with you, but if you don't start showing me at least some respect, then you might find yourself on your own."

She looked over at him, feeling angered by his hollow threat. "What happened to finding redemption for your past?"

He looked away without answering.

"Did I hit a nerve?" she asked.

"I do not wish to discuss this," he told her. "I left that life behind me and I want to move on," he said regretfully.

Magoza looked into the lapping flames of the fire, feeling slightly ashamed of what she had said to him, of how she had treated him. She had been through a lot in the last few months, and she felt as though it was all starting to catch her up.

"Look, I'm sorry," she offered finally, her gaze turning from the fire to him.

"Let us eat and sleep," Hides said to her. "Then tomorrow we will continue to Narsis City."

"That sounds good," Magoza agreed. She just hoped that the Argonian's contacts were still there. If he had contacts of course, and he wasn't lying about it. Even if he was telling the truth, if his contacts were no longer there, then she knew getting her friends back would be very difficult, or even near impossible.

Magoza looked at Hides-In-Trees as he retracted the stick from over the fire, and pulled the meat from it, tearing it in two with his hands. He offered half to her.

"Thank you," she said courteously. Sinking her teeth into the cooked flesh made her realise just how hungry she was. She hadn't eaten much at all today, her mind had been far too preoccupied with the loss of the Karo's. Even now, she wanted to be off in search of the city; but knew she needed not only the food, but to get some rest and more importantly some sleep.

After consuming all of it, excluding the fatty parts, which she threw on the fire, she laid down on the dirt to get some sleep.

"We can go in one of the houses if you want?" Hides suggested to her. "Might be better than the dirt."

Magoza slowly clambered to her feet, rubbing her eyes. "Yeah, you're probably right."

Hides stood up and walked over to the small village well. He retrieved some water before extinguishing the fire with it. He then lead her to the nearest house, where they found the door unlocked.

Inside it was mostly empty with only a few things left behind, which included a bed. Unfortunately they were bare, the wooden slats were exposed, with nothing to cover them.

She walked over to some old hay in the corner and laid in it. To her surprise it was quite comfortable, if a bit smelly and spiky in places. Soon though, she was fast asleep, while Hides sat on a chair by the window, staring out into the darkness beyond.

Despite the complete darkness that surrounded him, Rontag felt as though he was spinning wildly, as if his body was hurtling through the air somehow. Whatever was happening it was starting to make him feel quite queasy.

Rontag had been in this blackness for quite sometime, and he had no idea how he had got here. Was he spiralling towards Aetherius and Sovngarde? Or was this what it felt like to be soul-trapped? Perhaps he was on his way to Oblivion?

He hoped that it wasn't the last two, but he also wasn't particularly keen on the first notion either. Not yet anyway. While he did want to one day want to go to the mead halls of Shor, he didn't feel it was yet his time, that he had not had chance to prove himself worthy.

Suddenly he squinted as he caught a glimpse of something. He couldn't quite make it out. For a moment he thought he saw the rising of the sun over a distant horizon, but it had come and gone so quickly that he couldn't be sure.

Fatigue began to wash over him. The odd sensation of spinning began to fade as his thoughts died down, and once again, his unconscious mind was at rest.

Updated 05/04/2014