Naya XV

Unlike their previous travels, the trip to Windhelm was light-hearted and tranquil. Well, tranquil by Nirn standards. Meaning that the weather was relatively calm, and they only got attacked by the hostile fauna and bandits three times.

"Wow. That is a big spider."

Relthreyn ducked under a disgusting ball of poison and shot Naya an irritated look.

"Then why don't you come and help me kill it?!"

Naya gave him a nonchalant look from her comfortable perch on top of her horse, holding onto the reins of his equine to keep it from running away.

"You didn't help me with those skeevers."

"That was months ago - You know what. To Oblivion with this thing. FUS RO DAH!"

The spider flew off into the horizon.

"I hate rodents, and you know it. And you just sat back and laughed at me the first time I saw one."

"Again, that was months ago, its Midyear, that happened in the beginning of First Seed!"

"I screamed. Like a child. You knew there would be skeevers there, and you didn't warn me!"

They continued down their path, jovial bickering filling the frosty air.

There was a hand shaking her shoulder, a hushed voice calling,

"Naya, wake up. I want to show you something."

She groaned, reluctant to move from her warm bedroll.

"…Relthreyn?... It's still dark out…"

"Come on, you won't regret it."

She rolled out of the comforting warmth of her sleeping are and sleepily tugged a thick coat on.

"Follow me. Be very quiet."

She blearily followed after him, barely having the presence of mind to keep silent. She could see Relthreyn's silhouette in front of her, the elf quietly leading them down a path that only he knew. They arrived at a cluster of trees, Relthreyn whispering for her to look through the snow dusted foliage.

There was a faint hissing sound through the trees, and as Naya peered through she was struck speechless.

There over a frozen pond, were two ice wraiths, glimmering in the light of the moons. They were glowing, casting shimmering blue light across the frosty landscape. They moved sinuously through the air, delicately twirling around each other in a beautiful, intricate dance.

Naya's voice emerged in an awed whisper

"What is this… they're beautiful."

"Every Midyear, the ice wraiths court each other to find a mate. An ice wraith mating dance is one of the most beautiful things in Skyrim, and its incredibly rare to see."

Naya smiled, glad that she could share this moment with him. That he had wanted to share this with her.

They leaned into each other, huddling in the snow, watching the beautiful creatures spin through the air.

A magical explosion shook the air.

Safe behind Naya's shimmering ward, Relthreyn was trying and failing to smother his laughter.

"Wow..um. Just…wow. I've never seen a spell backfire that bad before."

Naya shot the snickering Dunmer an unamused look.

"How about you stop laughing and help me."

They had been at it for hours, Relthreyn attempting to coach Naya through one of the destruction spell tomes Mirabelle had given her. She had absorbed the knowledge just fine and she was manipulating the magic correctly. In theory, she could do it, in practice….

"I'm beginning to think that you can't do destruction spells. I think Meridia made your magic so attuned to healing, that it just can't release a destruction spell without backfiring…maybe try the conjuration spell...?

The explosion that followed was the biggest and loudest one yet.

"…No conjuration, then…"

Which made sense, as conjuration was the branch that included necromancy. A thing that Meridia hated.

Glaring at the guffawing elf, Naya smirked as a thought occurred to her.

"I mean it could be worse."

"Could be what?"

"It could be worse…" Her smirk grew as she went in for the kill. "I mean it's not like I turned you green or anything."

She sashayed back to their camp, snickering to herself at the look on his face.

"We swore to never speak of that again!"

She threw her hand to the side in a dismissive gesture,

"No, you swore, I was a silent witness."

Relthreyn gaped incredulously after her, Naya breaking into outright laughter at his dramatics.

After all that had occurred recently, it was good to share these light-hearted moments with her friend.

They were in high spirits as they rode within sight of Windhelm, unaware that their actions in that city would shape the history of Tamriel.