If Farkas was feeling awkward about their conversation last night, he showed no signs of it. It took a full day's travel to make it to Windhelm and they spent it in easy conversation. He told her all about his job with Njada. He went on about how he would have much preferred her over Njada. The woman could fight, there was no doubt about it, but she wasn't as pleasant company. Aurelia confided her concerns for Fastred. She wondered aloud whether or not she should have gone after her. She initially reasoned that she should respect her wishes and leave her be. After all, since she valued personal freedom so much herself, she'd be a hypocrite not to respect someone else's. But now she was wondering if it was selfish not to. Farkas reassured her that although Fastred was young, she was old enough to make her own decisions. Besides, Aurelia had her own duties to worry about. She was still amazed at how easily he could set her mind at ease. Well, not completely at ease, as she still worried about Fastred, but there was nothing he could do about that. She was also beginning to feel more at ease about her feelings for him. Their relationship was perfect as it was, a romance was completely unnecessary.
It was evening when they arrived in Windhelm and Aurelia was very much looking forward to a hot meal and a cold ale. As soon as they entered Candlehearth Hall, a blonde Nord woman in a green tavern dress ran up to Farkas and threw her arms around him.
"Farkas! It's been so long since you paid a visit to Windhelm! I've missed you!"
"Um, hi Susanna." He said as he shifted awkwardly.
Aurelia's stomach lurched uncomfortably as she watched him twirl a strand of his hair with her finger.
"So what brings you to Windhelm this time? Another Companion job?" Susanna leaned in close in an attempt to be discreet, but Aurelia could hear every word "Oh, and you can share a room with me if you want, like you have in the past."
"Actually it's personal, my shield-sister here needs to go to Solsteim." Farkas said as he gently pushed her off of him.
Susanna perked an eyebrow at Aurelia "Oh, hello, I'm Susanna, a friend of Farkas."
"Pleasure. Well, I'm tired. I'm going to get my room and retire for the night. Have fun, you two." She said with a smile, but her voice was cold. She quickly walked away.
Farkas wanted to stop her and tell her it wasn't like that, but well, it was. He and Susanna had shared a bed a couple times in the past, but it was nothing serious.
"Oh, sorry Farkas, I didn't realize you had a woman now."
"It's not like that."
Susanna glanced at Aurelia as she paid for her room and hurried off. "Hm, seems like she wants to be your woman though."
Farkas' cheeks turned red "Oh, I don't know about that" and yet the sweet things she said to him in the past lurked in his mind.
"Well, she certainly didn't like me touching you. How do you feel about her?"
The redness on Farkas' cheeks spread to the rest of his face "I don't know, we're just shield-siblings. I should go catch up with her."
He turned and went after Aurelia before he could notice the amused look Susanna was giving him. He caught up with her just as she was inserting the key into her door. "So, this is our room?" he said awkwardly.
"This is my room." Aurelia said, trying to keep the discomfort from her voice.
"We're not sharing one?"
"No, that would be weird. I don't want to get changed in front of you. Besides, I think I'll enjoy a bit of privacy. I'm sure you need some time alone with Susanna too."
"But I'd rather be alone with you."
The implications of what he was saying hit both of them at once and both faces turned scarlet.
"Um, I just mean…"
"You know, it occurred to me that I've barely touched those books that my parents sent me on draugr. I'd like some quiet time to myself to read them, if you don't mind."
"If that's what you want. I'll see you tomorrow."
As soon as the door closed behind her, Aurelia threw herself on the bed and screamed into her pillow. What in Oblivion was wrong with her? She had no reason to be feeling like this. It was no business of hers who Farkas slept with. She had slept with her fair share of men herself and she had no right to judge. So why did it bother her so much? She tried to think of a million excuses, but deep down, she knew of only one thing it could be; Jealousy. When she came upon that revelation, she screamed even harder into her pillow. She had just decided that their relationship was perfect and wanting romance was pointless. Not that it mattered what she wanted, she doubted Farkas had romantic feelings towards her. Just because the man has shown more interest in her than anyone else, doesn't mean he'd fall for her. She tried to convince herself that she didn't care whether or not Farkas slept with that woman tonight, but images of the two in bed together kept popping into her head. His hard, masculine body pressed against hers, his deep rumbling voice moaning in pleasure, his long dark hair swaying with his thrusts…
Damn it, this was not helping at all! Come to think of it, she hadn't bedded a man in quite awhile. No wonder she was frustrated, she thought as she felt a familiar stirring between her legs. She clamped her thighs together as if that would somehow stop the flow of heat. Maybe all this was just pent up sexual attraction to him. Maybe she wasn't falling for him after all.
Her stomach growled. She sorely regretted going to her room before getting dinner. She opened up her pack. She still had an apple and a bit of dried meat. Since she didn't trust herself to be around Farkas at the moment, she decided to just eat that and replenish her supply in the morning. Eating was a good start, but she needed a more potent distraction. After she finished her food, she took out her books. But she found it hard to even concentrate on the books. She sighed. It was going to be a long night.
Farkas, meanwhile, had dinner by himself before retiring to his own room, all the while contemplating Susanna's question. How did he feel about Aurelia? Whatever his feelings were, they were definitely positive. He liked her almost immediately after meeting her. She had flaws, no doubt, but all things considered, she was interesting, smart, kind and a good warrior. And he couldn't deny he was attracted to her. She was a very beautiful woman. He loved her strong, yet still feminine body, her grey-green eyes that somehow reminded him of both Nirn and the sky, and her dark, bouncing curls that fell to her waist. If he was attracted to her and really liked who she was as a person, did that mean he was in love with her? It wasn't the first time the question popped up since meeting her, but lately it had become more persistent. But what if this wasn't love and just a close friend that he happened to find attractive? He liked Susanna well enough, and found her attractive. He even found Aela and Ria attractive to some degree and of course he loved them as shield-sisters. Yet he never once wondered if he was in love with any of them. He never once thought of marrying or even courting them. So what made Aurelia so different? It was all so confusing, so he decided not to make a move until he was sure of his feelings.
Morning came slowly for both of them. By the time Farkas emerged from his room, Aurelia was already at a table eating breakfast.
"Sleep well?" She said to him as he took a seat next to her.
"No, I never do." He said.
"I suppose Susanna kept you pretty busy" she said coolly.
"I got my own room."
"Oh, ok." She took a sip from her drink.
"Did you sleep well?"
"No, I never do." Aurelia said. "Have you eaten yet? We should get going soon."
"Not yet."
"I'll meet you at the docks then." She put down her fork and promptly left the table.
Gods damn it, she still couldn't face him, even though he spent the night alone. Now he probably thought she was mad at him. She'd have to think of some excuse for her odd behavior. She sure as Oblivion wasn't going to tell him exactly what was on her mind.
Between the time it took for Aurelia to refill her food supply and Farkas to finish his meal, they arrived at the docks at roughly the same time. The boat ride from Windhelm to Solsteim was shorter than the trip from Whiterun to Windhelm, but it felt longer. Instead of being filled with easy conversation, it was filled with an awkward silence that neither one of them knew how to breach. In spite of the awkwardness, Aurelia was very grateful to be sitting so close to a warm-blooded Nord the further north they went. But as always, Aurelia eventually grew tired of the silence.
"It would have been ok you know, if you wanted to sleep with that woman, it's none of my business. It's not like I've never slept with anyone before. I've slept with plenty of men. Well, I mean, not that many. I'm not diseased or anything." Gods damn it, maybe it would have been better if she had just stayed quiet instead.
Farkas looked at her. Why was she saying these things? If she didn't care who he slept with, did that mean that she wasn't interested in him? "I didn't want to."
"Would you have if I wasn't there?"
Farkas thought for a moment. "I don't know." He really didn't.
Aurelia sighed. "See? That means you did want to, and you stopped on my account."
"That's not necessarily true."
"Oh, then what does it mean?"
"I don't know."
Aurelia bit her lip and tried to think of something to say, but Farkas spoke first.
"I don't love her or anything, you know. And she doesn't love me either."
"Oh?" Aurelia hesitated before slowly speaking her next words "Have you ever been in love with anyone?"
"I don't think so. I mean, you would know if you were, right?"
Aurelia looked away "Sometimes you think you are, when you actually aren't."
"What do you mean?"
"I thought I was in love once. This was years ago, I was around nineteen or twenty. His name was Rovindel. He was an Altmer noble that I met while visiting Summerset Isle. He was as handsome as he was brilliant. We found out we were both alchemists, so we started working together on projects. By day, we worked on ways to alleviate the negative side effects of temporary infertility potions. By night, we um, tested them out. He was the first man I ever went to bed with. We did it every night since the first and I never got tired of it. After being alone most of my life, I felt like I had finally met my match. But about three month into it, his parents found out and you know how Altmer can be. The thought of their son having relations with a human repulsed them so much that they threatened to disown him and cut off his funding if he continued seeing me. He broke it off with me the next day."
"I'm so sorry." Farkas said after a pause.
Aurelia shrugged "I was a fool to believe anyone would fall for me."
Farkas was always amazed at the way Aurelia said such pitiable things without a trace of pity in her voice. "No, he was a fool to let you go."
Aurelia's breath caught at his words. She turned slowly to meet his gaze, both hopeful and afraid of what she would find there, but before they could make eye contact, Captain Gjalund's voice tore her attention away.
"We're about to land!"
Aurelia shook her thoughts away and instead turned them towards their mission. Farkas probably didn't mean anything serious by it. He probably just meant it in a friendly way. He was her dearest friend, of course he would say something encouraging like that.
Before they were even able to get off the boat, a finely dressed Dunmer approached them.
"I don't recognize you, so I'll assume this is your first visit to Raven Rock, outlander. State your intentions."
"Who are you?" Aurelia said as she gingerly stepped off the boat.
"I am Adril Arano, second councilor of Raven Rock. Don't make me ask you again!"
Aurelia rolled her eyes "I'm investigating an attack on my life. Does the name Miraak mean anything to you?"
The stern look on Adril's face softened into one of uncertainty "I… I'm not sure."
Aurelia's eyes narrowed "What do you mean you don't know? Is there anything you can tell me?"
"I don't think so… I'm not… The name has something to do with the Earth Stone I think. But I'm not sure what."
"Okay… Where can I find the Earth stone?"
"Do I look like a tour guide to you? Go see Fethis Alor, he should have a map for you."
"So you'll let me stay and investigate then?"
"Yes, yes, fine." Adril stalked off, but he still looked disturbed by their interaction.
Raven Rock was a small settlement, so it was easy to find Fethis Alor.
"So, have you heard of someone named Miraak?" Aurelia said to Fethis as she handed him some coin for a map.
"I think maybe I had a dream about someone with that name..."
"A dream?" Farkas said.
"It was very strange. Was I... building something? A shrine, down on the beach near the Earth Stone? I'm not sure."
"Hm, thank you for the information, Fethis, and thank you for the map." Aurelia said.
Aurelia immediately unfolded the map and walked a safe distance away from any eavesdroppers.
"Something really strange is going on here." She murmured to Farkas.
"Mm hm, they both mentioned the Earth Stone." Farkas pointed to a location on the map "Looks like its nearby, maybe we should check it out." Farkas said.
"I think you're right, let's go."
The Earth Stone was indeed just a short trek down the beach. It was a simple standing stone in the middle of a small pool of water and there were workers building some sort of structure around it.
"Um, excuse me, what are you building?" Aurelia said to the nearest worker.
But the worker only muttered something incoherent and kept working. So she turned to another worker.
"What is going on he-?"
"All shall bear witness…" the worker droned with a blank look on his face.
Aurelia backed away slowly.
"They… they seem to be in some sort of trance."
"Mind control. This can't be good." Farkas said.
Aurelia gulped "Well, as disturbing as this is, it doesn't really help us find out who exactly Miraak is or where to find him."
Farkas nodded. "What do you think we should do?"
Aurelia sighed "I don't know, but I'm getting hungry. Maybe full stomachs will help us think better."
In spite of its less than appealing sounding name, the Retching Netch was actually a very cozy tavern (or "corner club" as the Dark Elves would call it). When they descended the stairs to the bar area, a young Dunmer woman who was seated at a table turned sharply to them, looked disappointed and then turned away.
"Hey, Farkas, could you please order me an ale and a horker and ash yam stew?" she said as she handed him a handful of coins "I'm going to try this woman."
Farkas nodded and walked in the direction of the bar and Aurelia approached the Dunmer woman.
"Um, hello, my name is Aurelia Ventus. Do you have a moment? I need help with something."
"I'm Dreyla Alor, and I can certainly try to help."
"Do you happen to know anything about someone named Miraak?"
"Miraak, eh? I'm not sure, something about a temple? I think?"
Aurelia perked an eyebrow. A temple? She honestly wasn't expecting to get any new information. "Do you know where I might find this temple?"
"I… I don't know. It's all so…"
Dreyla turned sharply to the direction of the stairs when they heard footsteps descending. When she saw that it was just a cook, she turned back to Aurelia.
"Are you waiting for someone?" Aurelia said.
"Yes, and he's running late. I'm starting to worry."
"Hey, they said it will be about a half hour before the horker and ash yam stew is ready." Farkas said as he approached them.
"Perfect! We can go look for Dreyla's friend. Who are we looking for and where is our best chance of finding him?"
"Oh! How kind of you. He's Modyn Veleth, captain of Raven Rock's guard. Last I heard, he was patrolling east of town."
"Ok, I'll start there. Hopefully, we'll be back soon."
Though the sun was beginning its descent, there was still plenty of light.
"Do you think this man's disappearance has anything to do with Miraak?" Farkas said as they were walking east.
"The thought did cross my mind. But hey, even if it doesn't, helping the captain of the guard can only be a good thing."
Farkas nodded "Right."
The dusty landscape just outside town was mostly barren, save for a few scathecrows and trama roots. Aurelia was especially excited to see trama roots as she used them to make 'weakness to shock' poisons. For a moment, she forgot about her mission and went to collect them, but her attention was quickly taken back by the sounds impacting weapons and inhuman growling. She and Farkas rushed towards the sound with weapons drawn. Further down near an abandoned farm, they saw a Dunmer in the golden bonemold guards armor fighting a group of three… what were they exactly? Neither Farkas nor Aurelia had ever seen anything like them, but they were clearly humanoid in shape and looked like they were made of sand. And they were clearly hostile.
Aurelia lay down a frost rune "Draw them this way!"
Farkas pelted the creatures with arrows. It didn't take long for them to notice and two of them started barreling towards them. Looked like Aurelia's hunch about them being unable to use ranged attacks was correct. Both Aurelia and Farkas managed to bury a few arrows into their flesh (if they could even call it flesh) before they tripped the rune. One of them fell, but the other kept coming. Damn, these creatures were tough. Farkas drew his greatsword and stood ready. Aurelia blasted the creature with frost as it approached and it took only one swing of Farkas's sword to finish it off. It would seem that the Dunmer guard was successful in slaying the last one, because he soon approached them.
"Thanks... I wasn't sure I'd make it off this farm alive. I wish I could have said the same for my man here." He said as he sadly indicated a fallen guard.
"You must be Captain Veleth." Aurelia said.
"I don't believe we've met, how do you know me?"
"I'm Aurelia Ventus and this is Farkas. We were sent to look for you by a mutual friend." Aurelia looked at the strange creatures laying on the ground "What are these things?" Aurelia said.
"Some of the guard have taken to calling them 'ash spawn.' I don't care what they're called... all I know is they're a danger to Raven Rock and they need to be stopped."
"First Miraak, and now these ash spawn. Looks like Solsteim has as much trouble as Skyrim does." Aurelia muttered.
"Miraak?" Veleth said.
Aurelia's eyes widened "Do you recognize the name?"
"I might know someone. Or maybe not. I can't remember..."
Aurelia sighed "That's the same response we've been getting from everyone. Can you give me anything more detailed?"
"I... I can't. I just can't be sure. I think maybe he had something to do with a temple. A temple here on the island. Does that help?"
"If I showed you a map, do you think you could show me where the temple is?" Aurelia said as she rifled through her bag for the map.
"I don't know, but I guess it's worth a look."
Captain Veleth looked at the point and pointed to a location north of Raven Rock "I'm pretty sure it's here, don't ask how I know that."
"Thank you so much! So this ash spawn problem you've been having, what do you know so far?"
"I was going to search for clues that might lead me to wherever they're coming from. I know it isn't the best place to start, but we know they've been coming from this direction."
"Hey, what's this?" Farkas said as he pulled a note from an ash pile.
The three of them looked over the note.
"This is strange. The note says it's from General Falx Carius, but that's impossible."
"Impossible? How?" Aurelia said.
"Well, Carius was the Imperial garrison commander at Fort Frostmoth, but he died over 200 years ago when the Red Mountain leveled the place. There's no way he could still be alive."
"So what now?"
"If General Carius is still alive, there must be something keeping him that way. I need you to head out to Fort Frostmoth and check it out. I'm going to head back to Raven Rock and prepare the men for further assaults. Be careful, this General Carius sounds out of his mind."
"Right. But for now, let's go back to the Retching Netch, someone's waiting for you."
Veleth raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"
/
Once again, Dreyla turned sharply toward the stairs when their footsteps could be heard descending, but instead of disappointment, her expression was one of elation.
"Modyn! Thank goodness you're safe!" she said as she threw her arms around him.
"Dreyla, someone will see us!" but there was a smile in his voice as he pulled her closer.
"You look dreadful, what happened?"
The four of them sat down and shared a meal while they recalled the ash spawn incident.
"Great, another reason to hate this place." Dreyla said.
"Don't worry, Dreyla. Farkas and I are Companions. Problems like this are what we train for. But we do still have to investigate Miraak." Aurelia said.
"I must admit, the fact that all our memories are being tampered with can't be a good thing. I'll understand if you need to prioritize this." Captain Veleth said.
"I was looking at the map earlier, and it looks like Fort Frostmoth is somewhat on the way to the temple. Maybe we can stop by and take care of it before we go to the temple?" Farkas said.
"Maybe, that depends on how long it will take to get there. We had to leave our horses back in Windhelm, so we'll have to walk everywhere." Aurelia said.
"Can you ride netches?" Farkas said.
Both Dreyla and Captain Veleth laughed, but not in an insulting way.
"They do domesticate them on the mainland, but I've never seen anyone ride one." Veleth said.
"Besides, all the netches here are wild." Dreyla said.
"I would totally ride a netch if I could. I adore my horse, but can you imagine riding a netch into battle? I'd be practically unstoppable!" Aurelia said.
They all laughed. In fact, much of the rest of the evening was spent in laughter and light conversation. It was a lovely distraction from everything else that was going on. However, Aurelia found her mind taking a turn back to more serious matters when Farkas and Veleth went to the bar to get more drinks.
"Can I ask you something?" She said tentatively to Dreyla.
"What is it?"
"How do you deal with it? Knowing that someone you care for is in a dangerous line of work and never knowing if they'll come back or not."
Her face twisted "I don't really deal with it. My heart wants him and I'm not strong enough to defy it. Although sometimes I wonder if I'm doing the right thing by being with him."
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bring up a heavy subject."
Dreyla grinned at her. "It's alright. It's actually nice to have someone to talk to. My father doesn't approve, so I'd appreciate it if you didn't speak of this to him."
"Of course, your father is Fethis, right?"
"Yes. He says he doesn't approve because he thinks Modyn is only interested in my father's contacts in the East Empire Company, and that he's twice my age."
"Really?" Aurelia said as she looked over to Veleth and Farkas chatting at the bar. She was never very good at determining an elf's age. "Could have fooled me. Sorry, I interrupted you, please continue."
"That's what he says anyway, but I think it's because, well, he's never been the same since my mother died, and I don't think he ever wants me to feel the pain he suffers."
Aurelia nodded sadly. "Why must love be so hard?"
"I don't know, my friend."
"Aurelia, you have to try this sujamma!" Farkas's enthusiasm broke the heavy atmosphere as he returned to the table with a full mug.
Aurelia chuckled "Oh do I now?"
"If that's Geldis Sadri's sujamma, I'm afraid he's right. You do have to try it." Dreyla said.
Aurelia took a sip from the mug that Farkas was offering her "Ok, yeah. I've been all around Morrowind and I don't think I've ever had sujamma this good. Farkas, remind me to buy a few bottles before we head back to Skyrim."
It wasn't long after that they decided to retire for the night. Her talk with Dreyla hadn't given her the peace of mind she was hoping for. How did people live like this? Nearly everyone she had grown close to were warriors that constantly put themselves in harm's way. Even those who weren't warriors, like Klimmek and Bassianus, could find themselves snatched up by death at any moment. She promised herself and Farkas that she would accept the changes that came over her. But accepting the fact that she was now vulnerable to grief was no easy task. And yet, if she hadn't changed, she would never have been able to enjoy a night like tonight. Maybe that's how people lived like this; the good outweighed the bad. These thoughts calmed her enough to let her fall asleep.
/
The first thing she was aware of was something heavy in her hands. The second was that her arms were moving. As the sunlight slowly broke through both her clouded vision and her clouded mind, she saw that it was a pickaxe that she was swinging. The motions slowed as she became more in control of her body until she dropped the pickaxe. She blinked her eyes and looked around. She was at the Earth Stone. The realization of what had happened to her caused her to hyperventilate, which then built up to a scream. Of course, the other workers paid no mind and kept working and muttering. Where was Farkas? Did he get entranced too? When she found no trace of him at the Earth Stone, she ran back to Raven Rock, praying to every Divine that he would be there. She ran into Dreyla just outside the Retching Netch.
"Aurelia, you look terrified, what happened?"
"Where's Farkas?" she said breathlessly.
"He isn't with you?"
Before her heart could drop to her stomach, the door to the Retching Netch opened, and Farkas stepped out. Without hesitation, she crashed into him and wrapped her arms around him.
"Aurelia? What are you…?" but he returned the gesture.
She buried her face into his chest "Thank the Divines! I was so worried you'd been whisked away too!"
"Whisked away? What do you mean?"
"I just woke up at the Earth Stone with a pickaxe in my hand!"
"Ah, so that's where you were. When I woke up and you weren't there, I thought that maybe you had gotten up early to get breakfast. And when I didn't find you, I thought maybe you had left to get some supplies. I was just about to go looking for you."
Aurelia didn't speak, but only kept shaking.
Farkas spoke softly to her "Come on, let's get you inside. We'll get some breakfast and we'll figure out this Miraak business once and for all."
She nodded and followed him inside, too relieved to be embarrassed by the amused looks she was receiving.