Author's note:
If the previous instalment left you with some unanswered questions, worry not: this update will give us a deeper explanation of the events from Fellglow Keep, including the weird relationship between Agda and the Serpentstone - as Contrary to Popular Belief 3 suspected, said relationship namely has nothing to do with the Stormcloaks.
As usual, I thank all my readers/followers/favoriters for their support. A special mention goes to the aforementioned Contrary to Popular Belief 3 for their kind words and to Valtieri for their interesting remarks. I actually hadn't noticed the similarities between the DB in Oblivion and Skyrim and I had to admit that your description of Sithis' family had me laugh out loud at least twice (I lost it at the "slightly unhinged member" bit). As for the Hero of Kvatch, in my head-canon they were turned into a vampire during one of their adventures. I'll probably add more to that later in the story, as it may come in handy if I ever choose to write something centered around the events of the Elder Scrolls IV. Oh, and don't worry for misspelling Shearpoint - it happens to the best of us. Also, that quote from Jon Battle-Born perfectly fitted the atmosphere of the previous chapter.
This instalment creates a connection between Fellglow Keep and Agda's future adventures. Also, it includes a cameo from two certain twins and a random encounter with a very mysterious person.
Enjoy!
The sky above Whiterun was full of stars. Nothing hinted at the horrors Adaeze and Agda had seen in Fellglow Keep, just like nothing hinted at the way the Nord had organized for the Caller to be killed by her own victims. On the contrary, that cool summer night seemed to invite every creature of Nirn to relax and forget the evils of the world. Yet, despite the calmness surrounding them, Agda and Adaeze were still thinking about what they'd discovered during their adventure.
"The dragon has luckily left", the Redguard said after reaching the courtyard of Fellglow Keep. "Let's go to the Meadery and get us some peace. But first, let's clean ourselves from the blood".
Agda accepted that suggestion with a quick nod. The young healer looked bothered by her own actions, but Adaeze didn't feel like asking her too many questions.
The two girls walked in silence until they reached the banks of the White River. At that point Adaeze shed her armor and took a quick bath, whereas Agda cast a spell to clean the blood from her body and from her robes.
"You still haven't explained me how you managed to paralyze the Caller without using magic", Adaeze said at a certain point.
The Redguard was floating on her back in the weak currents of the White River. Unlike Agda, who had kept her clothes on, she was completely naked and was enjoying the soothing touch of the water on her tired body.
After sitting on the grass, Agda shed her boots and placed her tired feet in the water. Shivering at the cold, the Nord sighed.
"Drevis, the Illusion teacher of the College, has recently started studying the Doomstones of Skyrim", she said in reply to Adaeze's question. "Shortly before I left for Fellglow Keep, he brought me and the other apprentices to a place called Serpentstone Island".
Adaeze's eyes widened in shock.
"You managed to set foot on Serpentstone Island?!"
"Adaeze, Drevis is one of the best wizards of Skyrim", Agda said in an attempt to soothe her friend's wounded pride. When the Redguard had tried to reach the island in an attempt to join the Stormcloaks, she had namely failed in a very miserable way. "He taught me a spell that allowed me to walk on the surface of the sea, that's why I didn't freeze to death while reaching our destination. Also, his presence prevented me from being killed by sabre cats or ice wraiths".
"Ulfric won't be happy to know that the College is lurking around Serpentstone Island", Adaeze pointed out.
"Drevis forced Onmund to dress as a Stormcloak and tell the aspiring soldiers that the island was temporarily closed for lack of ice wraiths", Agda shrugged. "As a consequence, Ulfric will never find out about our activities there".
Amused by Drevis' trick, Adaeze chuckled.
"But tell me, why is this Serpent Stone so important?"
"That stone is believed to grant the ability to use a paralyzing poison on nearby enemies", Agda explained. "As we saw during our meeting with the Caller, those rumours are entirely true".
"Yet you didn't know whether your trick was going to work", Adaeze frowned. "You just bluffed".
Agda nodded.
"The Caller was a much stronger mage than me - and she was much stronger than you too, Addy", the Nord explained before Adaeze could say anything. "I understood that from her attitude: she seemed definitely too confindent for a person who was about to be attacked by two warriors at once. That's why I avoided a direct fight and that's why I tried to get close to her with the excuse of a handshake. Luckily enough, my plan paid off and I could use the power of the Serpent Stone to paralyze her and have her killed".
"You sly bastard", Adaeze smirked. "The next time you say you're an innocent healer, I'll skin you with my bare hands. You are a fighter, Agda of Anvil, just like me and everyone else from your land. I'm so proud of you!"
Agda didn't say anything in reply to Adaeze's compliment: she simply hugged her knees and carefully studied the nail she'd broken in Saarthal. Noticing her distress, the Redguard approached her and started dressing.
"Is everything alright?"
"Tonight the sky is ruled by the Serpent", Agda distractedly said.
"Those born under that sign are the most blessed and the most cursed", Adaeze quoted as she put on her shirt and cast a quick look at the starry sky. "Yet, that doesn't apply to us. Me, I'm a Warrior at heart".
"Steinarius was born under the Serpent", Agda slowly murmured.
Those words caused Adaeze to roll her eyes. She was deeply irritated by the way her friend managed to mention Steinarius every time they spoke and sincerely wished that Agda could move on with her love life.
"Agda of Anvil, I'm tired of hearing that man's name on your lips", the Redguard snapped. "Forget about him, otherwise I'll find a way to relive the Caller and let her fight against you!"
"Adaeze, I can't just forget about Steinarius", Agda sighed. "I keep dreaming of him and I'm afraid something bad will soon happen to both of us. Actually, I'm afraid that bad things have already started happening".
Adaeze furrowed her brow in confusion.
"What are you rambling about?"
"You heard what the Caller said: I went from being this wimpy sweet healer to murdering people in cold-blood and leaving a person alone with four angry vampires I had resurrected myself. Perhaps I am really as bloodthirsty as a wolf".
Adaeze was silent for a second, then unexpectedly burst into laughter.
"For Talos' sake, you took that psycho seriously!", she chuckled when she noticed Agda's outraged look. "Agda, that woman was playing tricks on your mind. Also, she and her friends had what was coming to them: had we not killed them, they would have continued murdering and torturing people. We did the right thing, Agda of Anvil".
When the mage sighed, Adaeze understood that she didn't believe her. To tell the truth, the Redguard had been surprised by Agda's vengeful behavior; nonetheless, she was extremely proud of the way her friend had dispatched the Caller.
Later that night, as they finally reached Honningbrew Meadery, the two girls immediately slumped down on their beds. Adaeze soon drifted in Vaermina's realm, whereas Agda lingered awake for what felt like a lifetime. The girl thought of the Caller's words, of the people she'd killed, of the vampires who had died in Fellglow Keep. Eventually, the Nord looked at her hands and sighed. The Thalmor had broken all the five fingers of her right hand less than one year earlier, after torturing her at length in order to find out more about Steinarius and Delphine's whereabouts. Frowning, Agda realized that her behavior inside Fellglow Keep had probably been influenced by the memory of that episode. Slightly reassured by that fact, she finally fell asleep.
The journey back to Winterhold was longer than predicted. Agda was silent for most of the way, whereas Adaeze spent a lot of time boasting about how she and her friend had cleared a fort full of evil mages.
Since Vipir had already returned to Riften, the girls had to rely on a carriage driver who took them to Dawnstar. Once there, the two friends spent the night at the local inn. Thanks to Adaeze's adventurous tales, over supper she and Agda got acquainted with some miners. Later in the night the girls also had the chance to talk to a few revered members of the Companions.
Agda was taken aback by the sudden appearance of those imposing warriors. If their resemblance meant anything, two of them were probably twins; the others, a man and a woman, wore a lot of war paint and vaguely reminded deadly wolves. It didn't take Agda long to recognize the four fighters as members of the Circle and, as such, as former friends of Steinarius.
When one of the handsome twins looked towards her and smiled, Agda blushed. When Adaeze replied to that smile by asking the brothers to join them at their table, however, the young healer suddenly felt nervous - and she felt even more nervous when she realized that one of those men, Vilkas, was the very same person Steinarius had punched in the face after Eidan's death.
Despite Agda's nervousness the evening went by smoothly, as no one ever mentioned the Dragonborn and his time in Jorrvaskr. Adaeze entertained the twins with her bubbly personality, whereas the two brothers recalled some of their best adventures. Farkas, the taller of them, had a very sweet and soothing smile that managed to make Agda blush as red as a tomato every time he looked at her; Vilkas, on the other hand, had a broody and melanchonic attitude that intrigued her to no end. Thanks to the twins, the young healer finally understood why many women of Skyrim dreamed of marrying a Companion.
As the night wore on, Agda could fully appreciate the differences between the brothers. Farkas was sweet and friendly, whereas Vilkas had those piercing silver eyes that seemed to bore into the very depths of her soul. The girl wondered whether that was their original colour, or whether the man's irises had changed after he'd joined the Circle and taken the blood.
When the last customer left, Adaeze invited Farkas and Vilkas to her room. The taller of the twins eagerly accepted the offer, whereas the other one chose to remain in the main hall of the inn. Knowing what was about to happen between Adaeze and Farkas, Agda decided to keep Vilkas company.
The conversation between her and the Companion was calm and smooth: Agda asked Vilkas about his favourite hero from the Nordic legends, whereas the man seemed very interested in her love for alchemy. The mage soon realized that Vilkas was probably one of the most cultured people she'd ever met.
Despite the man's wonderful eyes and perfect features, Agda was slightly relieved when he announced that he was about to retire for the night. As Vilkas bid her goodbye, the mage namely realized that she still wasn't ready to move on with her love life: try as she might, she couldn't help comparing the men she met to Steinarius - and when compared with the Imperial's crooked smile and with his singsong accent and with his endearing clumsiness, even the hottest warrior of Tamriel looked less intriguing than a mudcrab.
Finally alone, Agda reflected once again upon the events that had occurred in Fellglow Keep. As the hours went by, her feelings of guilt grew stronger and stronger, forcing her to question her actions from the previous day. What if among her victims there were also young mages who'd got involved in something bigger than them? What if the vampires in the fort had been taken captive because they'd killed innocent people? And most of all, what if she was actually as cruel as the wizards she'd dispatched without showing any mercy?
When the last question eventually made her feel sick with herself, Agda realized that she needed to forget about Fellglow Keep; if she hadn't, she would have probably lost her mind. Trying to sway her attention from those horrible memories, the healer told herself that Adaeze was right: whoever tortured other human beings deserved to be killed without any mercy.
Relieved by that thought, Agda could finally drift in Vaermina's welcoming arms.
The following morning, a very happy Adaeze met a very grumpy Agda outside Windpeak Inn. Blowing Farkas one last kiss, the Redguard sighed and finally started her journey towards Winterhold.
"That man is a sweetheart", Adaeze said as she and her friend left Dawnstar. "He's as big as a bull and as sweet as a dove. By the way, I am disappointed with you, Agda of Anvil: Vilkas is absolutely stunning, yet you treated him as though he was some kind of ugly bumpkin. One of these days I'll teach you how to seduce a man. Also, I'll teach you how to tell a hot warrior who will make your head spin from a whiney Imperial who will only cause you troubles".
Ignoring that not-so-subtle reference to Steinarius, Agda frowned. Because of Adaeze's adventure with Farkas, the mage had been forced to spend the whole night in the main hall of the Dawnstar inn, a fact that made her feel particularly mean towards her friend. It didn't help that Agda's few hours of sleep had been marred by the usual dreams involving Steinarius, tentacles and a black globe willing to enslave them.
"I thought you were in love with Hadvar", Agda harshly pointed out. "I didn't know that your feelings for him allowed you to sleep with every other warrior that came your way".
"I do have a thing for Hadvar, but I do have some physical needs too", Adaeze shrugged. "And then, it's not my fault if half of the population of Skyrim fits into the hot warrior category ".
Smiling at the memory, Adaeze proceeded to describe every single activity she and Farkas had entertained over the previous hours. After a way too detailed description of the man's perfect body, the Redguard started singing a Bosmeri song; a second later, she took Agda by the hands and started waltzing with her in the middle of the snowy landscape of the North.
Unlike the young healer, Adaeze deemed her adventure in Fellglow Keep just a simple routine task that wasn't going to have any effect on her future, nor play any imporant role her life. Luckily enough, the guard's careless atttitude soon influenced Agda, thus helping her to forget the horrors she'd witnessed during that terrible adventure.
It was well past sunset when the two girls finally reached Winterhold. Adaeze would have liked Agda to have a drink at the tavern, but the girl turned down her offer: she was exhausted and wanted to slump down on her bed as quickly as possible.
As Agda reached the College, a heavy snowstorm had just started; as a consequence, even Faralda had already retired inside her room.
Sighing, the young Nord tiredly made her way through the courtyard of the building. She was tired and cold, therefore she couldn't wait to put on warm clothes and have a nice bubbly bath. Before Agda could reach Urag and hand him the retrieved books, however, she caught a glimpse of movement between the tall trees of the courtyard. Frowning, the young mage cast a life-detecting spell. Much to her surprise, that fact allowed her to discover that someone was hiding in the shadows of the College. Agda was taken aback by the way that mysterious person was flawlessly escaping her sight; willing to find out more about them, she readied a spell and made to approach the trees of the courtyard. Even when she was just a few feet away from her intended goal, Agda couldn't see anyone or anything. That fact sent a tingle of worry down her spine; of all the people of Skyrim, the best ones at sneaking and hiding were those who worked for the Thieves Guild or the Dark Brotherhood. As a consequence, Agda feared that she was dealing with a thief or, worse, with an assassin. Distressed by that realization, the young healer entertained the idea of alarming the other mages of the College by screaming on the top o her lungs. Nonetheless, she knew that that tactic would have probably caused the stranger to attack her - and in that moment, Agda was too tired to stand her ground in a fight.
While the girl was looking for a way out of that situation, whoever was hiding in the courtyard made their move. That person was so fast that, before she could even realize what had hit her, Agda found herself pinned to the snowy ground of the College. Her attacker was using their weight to hold her still and immediately blocked her mouth with a piece of cloth, thus preventing the girl from screaming for help. When the young healer eventually managed to focus on her opponent, she realized that they were clad in a black uniform and wore a face mask that revealed only their eyes. In the hands of the mysterious figure was a lethally sharp dagger, whereas strapped to their belt was a beautiful dwarven sword.
When the blade of her rival pointed towards her throat, Agda began trashing under their weight. At the same time, she felt the irrational urge to laugh: she'd come all the way from Fellglow Keep just to be killed a few meters away from her destination. She hoped that her attacker would at least leave the books she'd retrieved in the courtyard of the College.
Ignoring the way Agda had started squirming and whimpering behind her improvised gag, the mysterious figure used the tip of their dagger to trace a tiny cut on the soft skin of her neck. Yet, right when the girl thought that her opponent was about to kill her, the weight pinning her to the ground surprisingly disappeared.
"One wrong move and you die", a female voice with a thick Nordic accent said while stretching a hand out to Agda.
Slightly confused by the way the mysterious woman had just helped her to her feet, the young healer frowned. She felt tired and dizzy and weak and had to stifle the urge to lay down on the ground and let sleepiness overtake her. Despite that sudden exhaustion, Agda immediately tried to run away and call for help. It wasn't a smart move: the girl's legs immediately gave way under her weight, whereas her voice produced only a few croaked sounds. When Agda fell to the ground, the woman helped her to her feet once again. The mage was shocked by that kind behavior.
"Easy, little one", the stranger chuckled when confronted with Agda's clueless expression. "You don't want to hurt yourself by falling too hard on your knees. Unfortunately for you, my dagger sported a special poison that will drain your magicka and slow down your reflexes; also, it will prevent you from screaming for the next five minutes. It's nothing permanent, though, so you needn't worry about it".
Freeing her elbow from the woman's grip, Agda frowned. To create a poison like that, her opponent had to be a very skilled alchemist. The girl had to admit that there was a certain irony to being killed by someone who could compete with her innate talent for potions and poisons.
"Why would a murderer from the Dark Brotherhood simply slow down my reflexes and prevent me from screaming?", she asked while carefully eying her attacker. "Killing me when I was pinned to the ground would have been much easier".
The mysterious woman surprisingly burst into laughter. Although it was muffled by her face mask, that sound was surprisingly pleasing.
"Even if I do have the looks, I'm not an assassin", the stranger said with what felt like a smile. "To say it all, I'm a simple customer of the College".
Agda furrowed her brow.
"The College is closed to customers during the evening", she pointed out. "Also, if you're a simple client, there was no need for you to hide from me".
The mysterious stranger wasn't bothered by Agda's objections.
"My reputation here in Winterhold isn't exactly flawless, that's why I didn't want you to see me. Secent mages usually don't mix well with people like me - and the same goes for the fellows at the local inn and in the barracks of the guards".
Before Agda could ask her what she meant, the woman handed her a very heavy package.
"Be a sweetheart, girl: I came here to give Enthir a task, but the damned Bosmer seems unwilling to leave the Frozen Hearth and go back to his room. Since I can't wait up for him all night, I'd be very happy if you could take this sword to Sergius Terranius and ask him to create a similar one. I usually ask Enthir to act as a courier on my behalf, but I don't want to freeze to death in this courtyard".
Agda would have liked to ask the woman the reason behind her weird orders, but forgot about them as soon as she got hold of the heavy sword the stranger was handing her. Although the weapon was neatly wrapped in a cloth, the young healer immediately felt a wave of magic radiating from it.
"Frost damage and paralysis", Agda said after quickly analyzing the energy coming from the sword. The girl was amazed by that unusual combination of powerful enchantments.
"I see that we have an expert in magical weapons", the mysterious woman commented, the tingle of a smile well evident in her thick voice. "As you might have noticed, Chillrend is a true masterpiece; as a consequence, tell Sergius that I'll pay him an amazing amount of money if he can create a similar blade".
Those words reminded Agda of the weird favor the stranger had previously asked her.
"You can come back tomorrow and tell him that yourself", she pointed out. "Sergius is grumpy, but he always shows a lot of respect for his customers".
"I'm a busy woman, Agda of Anvil", the woman replied. "That's why I can't wait until tomorrow. Also, tell Sergius that he can give the weapon to Enthir - I'll get it from him one of those days. One last thing: if Turrianus asks for the identity of his customer, tell him that it's not his business. The Imperial is used to my ways and won't pose any further question. Oh, and don't look for my name in the list of criminals wanted by the local Jarl: you won't find anything".
Agda was surprised by the woman's indications - and she was even more surprised by the fact that the stranger already knew her name.
"How do you..."
"I have no time to explain, Agda", the mysterious stranger broke her off. "Just know that I've been keeping a close eye on you and that I'm happy you returned to Skyrim. Hopefully we'll never meet again; otherwise, to our next meeting".
Before Agda could get past the surprise caused by those words, the mysterious woman stepped towards the center of the courtyard, drank a potion and disappeared. The only things Agda noticed in that short amount of time were her perfect built, her dwarven weapons, the way her left leg was slightly limping. At last, Agda saw the flicker of a melancholic smile in two deep black eyes, which were as cold and mysterious as a starless winter night.
Whoever that woman was, she was the most enigmatic person Agda had met in her whole life.