"I cannot make up my mind whether the lack of an ambush is a good sign or a bad one." I said after we had resumed our journey west, Aric and I now at the front of the column with Kurst.
"We are a well-armed force." Kurst said. "They could never have assembled a force large enough to challenge us in so short a time and move them swiftly enough to arrive ahead of us."
"It might have been possible for them to move archers into positions in the hills above us as we passed through the dell just before we cleared the wood." Aric said, "But it would be a difficult attempt, and they would be exposed to retaliation."
"The only assassins who have knowledge of what Noxaura is capable of are in custody." Lucia said. "Anyone following us will be ignorant to the danger they place themselves in with any attack on her."
"They need not follow us, surly." I said, as Kurst once again that his mouth had come unhinged, and his teeth were on display. "They know we travel to return these children, and they know from where they came. They only need find a shorter and quicker route to any or all of our destinations and await our arrival."
Aric stopped his horse, which forced a stop for the entire column.
"I had not considered that." He said. "Of course, they know where we are going."
"They cannot possibly have sufficient force to send men to each of our destinations." Runa said.
"They have at least four men who escaped us, and sufficient resources to send two assassins on short notice." Aric said. "That argues that someone is in command nearby that received Noxaura's description and had immediate access to the men he required."
Gods. I thought. "Replacements." I said.
"Your Grace?" Kurst said.
"Replacements for the children we rescued." I said. "They have lost eight children. Will they attempt to replace them by kidnapping eight others?"
"I had not considered that." Aric said.
"You keep saying that." Runa said.
"We are woefully lacking on information." Aric said. "And I appear to be similarly lacking in intelligence. The Reverend Mother has looked much farther down this road than I have."
"Looked farther down the road." I said.
"If you continue to act in this manner, sister, we will grow quite concerned for your health." Runa said.
"Hush." Lucia said. "You know full well who guides her steps."
"Someone guides her steps?" Kurst asked.
"I can see yet further down this road." I said, before looking at Aric. "I can see all the way to the first village. I can view it from above."
It took him a moment to understand.
"You were incapacitated for two-and-a-half days." He said.
"Yes, but not from that." I answered.
"What do they discuss?" Kurst asked Runa.
"Hush, cousin." Runa said. "I begin to see my sister's plan."
It took a moment for us to dismount. I walked a short distance away from our column. Aric was by my side.
"Is it right that I use this power, this gift, in this fashion?" I asked. "Do I demean it by doing so?"
"You use it in the protection and defense of innocents and those that cannot defend themselves." Aric said. "It is the very opposite of demeaning."
I stopped and calmed my mind.
"Stand well clear, beloved." I said.
Breath out, breath in
It was one breath of energy, yet it still poured into me and consumed me.
The staff in my hand blazed into life, itself consumed by an indigo-blue swirling energy, a long-curved blade at one end.
Her image formed in my mind, as did the giant bird of prey.
"I am The Lady of the Air." I said to no one, my voice echoing in my ears.
The swirling energy from my staff coalesced and formed into the bird from my image, my mind's eye connecting to the magical eyes that took flight, circling overhead, as the faces below stared up at me, Aric's face among them.
You are beautiful he said in my mind, as our connection came alive. I sent him back a thought regarding eyelashes, and sensitive skin.
I flew west, over the road we would travel, before turning south towards the small farming village that our first two children, Gaius, and Pilus, were stolen from only days before. It consisted of only a handful of homes, each it seemed with its own plot of farmland, and a large common building that could only be for the common storage of produce and possibly livestock.
There are no bandits I said to Aric. There is no one of any sort. The village stands where it should, but there are no villagers about.
Come back Aric said.
I circled twice more, expanding my pattern each time, before drawing the energy back to me and sending it back to its source.
I took a moment before opening my eyes, and another moment to grow accustomed to my physical form.
I heard her approach from behind. She was at my feet, prostrate on the road, before I knew what was happening.
"Divine Tava." Maliyah said through her sobbing. "Bless me, Bird Goddess of all Tavans." Her hand sought the hem of my robes. "Lady of the Air, sanctify me."
"Come, Maliyah, it was an enchantment." I said, as I knelt by her. "An impressive enchantment to be sure, but no more. What warrants this display?"
It was not only Maliyah. It was more than one face that stared at me thus. Captain Kurst's mouth again stood open.
"Beloved." Aric said. "Have you a mirror in your luggage?"
"I have the polished silver disk mounted in maple wood that you gave me." I said.
"Perhaps this will suffice." He said as he drew his polished sword and handed it to me.
It was a crude reflection from the blade as I turned it to capture my reflection, but it sufficed.
"Merciful Gods." I said.
"I had only seen her in this form from a distance." Runa said. "It is more remarkable at close range."
"I saw her closer still." Lucia said. "The effect does not diminish with the repeating."
"I am in complete agreement." Jordis said.
I saw you closer still Aric said, our bond not quite faded.
Very much closer, and without the obstruction of clothing, I sent back to him just before the connection winked out of existence.
"I apologize to you all." I said, wearing the form of Tava that I had donned once before. "Her image formed in my mind as I was myself forming the raptor."
"Will it fade?" Rigel asked.
"I have no idea." I said. "Maliyah, if I must command you in Tava's name to stand, I will do so; but I would much prefer it if you would regain your feet of your own volition."
It was a short time later, when we had finally resumed our journey, when Runa turned to her cousin who rode at her side in front of us.
"Have you finally regained the power of speech, cousin?" she asked Kurst.
"Would it be considered normal in your village that there would be no one out of doors at this time of day?" Aric asked Gaius and Pilus during a brief stop.
"No milord." Gaius said, as his eyes kept returning to me. "Not unless poor weather kept everyone inside."
"Harvest time is almost upon us, milord." Pilus said. "There should be workers in the fields."
"Something keeps your kinsmen and neighbors indoors." I said. "But for the well-maintained buildings, it had the appearance of a village abandoned."
Each of them seemed hesitant to speak to me directly.
"Children and Priestesses, please attend." I said in my best imitation of Mother Pevel as I indicated a line several feel before me.
"Must I throw a tantrum, or display some other immature, petulant, inappropriate, ungodlike behavior for all of you to cease this reverential behavior?" I asked of the assembled group. "Must I bare my arm and draw my sword and produce a sufficient amount of blood so that you will be convinced that I am a woman made of flesh and bone; a woman who cannot keep control of her imagination as she taps into a power that she does not fully understand? I promise you, in the name of any Divine you chose, I am just as any of you, and you wound me with this behavior."
"It is not our intention to wound you, Reverend Mother." Said Anja, the girl who was taken from the Priory. "But it is hard to reconcile your words with what we have seen and continue to see."
"I cede you that point, Anja." I answered. "I, also, had begun to worship someone after seeing with my own eyes his abilities repeatedly demonstrated. A very wise priestess shared advice that saved me from a grave error: Do not worship him. She said. Love him, certainly, but do not worship him. He does not deserve it. It is advice I share now with you. I will accept your love right readily and return it tenfold. But I will not accept your worship. I do not deserve it. Do each of you understand me?"
A collection of heads nodded, with an occasional Yes, your Grace intermixed.
"Come then." I said as I stretched out my arms. "Embrace this mortal frame."
It took several minutes for our hugs to be concluded.
"At the pace we currently travel, it will be after midnight should we chose to ride through to their village without stopping." Kurst said.
"Not an ideal time to arrive at a village where something seems to be out of sorts." Aric said.
"A quicker force could arrive much earlier." Lucia said.
"I will not divide our force on this road." Aric said. "I am sure the Reverend Mother will agree."
"I thank you for including me in the discussion, sir." I said. "I would not reduce the protection of these children on this uncertain road. I must admit, however, that my concern for their protection grows the longer we ride. What is to stop these men from simply arriving again at some later date and taking them again?"
"It is a fair question." Aric said. "Four men are still at large and even though their ringleader is in custody, the visit you received from the two assassins shows that the threat to these, and other children, remains."
"Gods." I said. "I have just now realized that another possibility exists. What shall we do if any of these parents begs us not to return their children, thinking them safer in our custody, behind city walls? What then if an entire village begs us to remove all their children to the safety of Bruma?"
"Bruma was not so safe for you during our brief stay." Jordis said. "Assassins attacked you in the Mother House itself. These culprits are not deterred by city walls."
"We cannot house all the children of Cyrodiil in Bruma, even within the castle itself." Aric said. "The only safety we can provide them is the elimination of whatever it is that shows such an appetite for children."
"You routed out a threat to Skyrim that reached even into the Aldmeri Dominion High Council and the Imperial Senate." Rigel said. "Surely this challenge pales in comparison."
The Captain had that look upon his face that I knew preceded his mouth hanging open.
"It took us half a year from start to finish." Aric said. "How many children will be lost in that time?"
"What choice do we have?" I asked. "We must make a start where and as we can. Gaius' and Pilus' home is the logical start, it being the closest."
"As usual, the Reverend Mother sees most clearly, even with brown eyes rather than blue." Aric said.
"That brings up a point we must consider." I said. "I feel compelled to face this threat in my original form. It was a spell and a potion that transformed me back the last time I wore this visage. Can you repeat both?"
"Not the potion," Aric said. "Not in the time you would allot. But I believe the simplest route for you to don your old wrapping is in the same manner in which you doffed it."
"Let us not act in haste." Lucia said. "Her current camouflage makes her anonymous to those who seek her life. It insulates her from attack, though it robs us of bait if we wish to draw out her attackers. She could infiltrate any village where they may be and, aside from her beauty, not draw attention."
"There may be advantage in that." Kurst said. "It would require her Grace to put off her Priestesses robes and conceal her staff."
"The form of a Redguard warrior is not uncommon in Cyrodiil, surly." Runa said, "Even one of such exotic beauty."
"Not uncommon, no." Kurst said.
"Two references to my beauty in as many minutes is two too many sisters." I said. "I trust I have my fare share, but no more."
Runa rolled her eyes as Aric and Kurst smiled.
"It is a topic for another time." Lucia said.
"We will camp soon." Aric said. "And will have sufficient time to complete our plans. We would all also benefit from an hour of training. There is much tension built up in our small company."
Not all of it can be relieved through sword play. I sent to him across the ether.
I was not sure if my message was received, but I thought I detected a hint of a smile.
We were not the first to choose this particular site to place our camp. Previous residents seemed to have been of one mind in regard to the location of the fire, and the accommodation; and we saw no reason to deviate from their placement. Aric himself selected the location for the horses, talking briefly to each one, even Captain Kurst's.
"He has a remarkable affinity for horses." Kurst said to me as he watched Aric.
"He has an affinity with many creatures." I said. "Except spiders."
The wagons covers were in place, the tents erected; sufficient effort for everyone to stretch muscles that had sat idle since our departure from Bruma.
But it was even clearer, now that the journey was underway, which of the children did not wish to return to their former homes.
"Anja does not wish to return to the Priory." I said to Aric.
"The brother and sister from Rayles also do not seem the least bit happy at the prospect of returning to their community." Aric said.
"How can it be that so many of the children we rescued preferred abduction?" I asked.
"It is more likely that they preferred their treatment in the Mother House over that which they receive at home." Aric said.
"You are correct, of course." I said to him as I placed my head on his shoulder. We both sat upon a log, and I had taken the opportunity to remove my boots. "None of them would choose to be kidnapped and forced into a life that does not bear thinking of."
Lucien and Adrian had begun their sword practice, Lucien partnering with Runa while Adrian and Kurst faced off.
"They seem oblivious to the fact that they wield, and face, sharpened steel." I said as the sounds of weapons clashing filled our camp, and the other children sat and watched.
"They are young." Aric said. "But not ignorant. Their time as captives in Nels' gang showed them enough evidence what a sword can do to a man."
"It seems that Runa has detected some basic flaw in their technique." I said as the practice halted, to be replaced with a lecture.
"Yes, she sees what I see." Aric said. "Their footwork is lacking. I would hazard a guess that they spend most of their practice time facing each other, with little instruction."
"Father, a moment of your time, please." Runa said.
"A Father's work is never done." He said as he rose.
"It is a Mother's work you reference I believe." I called after him. "Anja, may I speak with you?" I called to the blond student from the Priory.
"Please sit." I said, indicating the spot recently occupied by the man who now demonstrated proper technique as his daughter spoke.
"Please forgive me if I speak bluntly." I said. "I sense that you do not wish to return to the Priory."
Anja seemed to find something of interest on her hand. It took her several seconds before she spoke.
"I am not ungrateful for them taking me in, your Grace." she said. "I was an orphan and had few choices. The kept me fed, mostly, and warm, mostly. I was content, not knowing what a true community of women could be; not until the Mother House in Bruma."
"What was so different?" I asked.
"No one was cursed in Bruma. No one was struck in Bruma." She said.
Gods I thought.
"The Mother House in Bruma cannot house all the children of Cyrodiil." I said. "But I believe that it can hold another Novice, even one almost a decade older than her cohort mates. But you have the benefit of your Priory education, which must be worth something. If you wish it, and we can convince the Prioress, you may return to Bruma with us and take up your place as a Novice of the Maetreum of Cybele. Would you like that?"
She had started crying before I had finished speaking, and her answer was no surprise.
"I would like that of all things, your Grace." She said.
"Titles are suspended for those who sit in their stocking feet, Anja." I said, which made her laugh. "My name is Noxaura."
"Thank you, Noxaura." She said.
Aric and Runa had progressed to the point that they seemed to fly through their mock battle. Lucien and Adrian had faced both Aric and me in actual combat prior to their rescue. Thankfully it had not come to an exchange of blows. Their faces now seemed to acknowledge the fate they had narrowly avoided.
A Halt was called, and Anja returned to her new formed family of abductees.
"Sister, don your boots, and we will demonstrate sword and spell." Runa said.
"Is that useful, sister?" I asked placing my boots back on my feet, "Neither of the young men have any magic."
"That is true, but any number of opponents may. You learned that yourself." She replied.
"I have several scars that remind me regularly." I said as I stood and donned my helm and drew my sword.
"That is a remarkable blade, your Grace." Kurst said.
"Thank you, Captain." I said. "It comes to me courtesy of the Archmage."
"Swords and Wards, sister." Runa said as we each cast a ward with our left hand and engaged each other's sword with our right.
It was nothing more than sword and shield drill, but with magical shields. Runa was not above bashing with her shield, and if my footwork would have been in any way lacking, I would have been knocked to the ground; but I avoided her in time, flexing my ward outward, which pushed her back, her feet sliding on the compact earth.
Runa recovered and displayed the lunge that I had heard described that ate up most of the distance between us in one bound, her sword thrusting forward like the tip of a spear. But I had already begun to retreat, and it was my ward that caught her attack.
Runa stepped back, her ward disappeared, and she sheathed her sword.
"Cousin," Runa said to Kurst, "would you stand in against the Reverend Mother?"
"I?" Kurst asked her.
"You wished to see her technique wielding two swords." Runa said.
"I said that before watching a giant raptor form and take flight." Kurst said. "I now wish only to arrive home in one piece."
"It is not necessary, Captain." I said. "You will eventually become more familiar with her sense of humor."
"I have faced you as you wielded only two practice swords, sister." Runa said. "I did not find the experience in any way humorous."
"You do not help your cause, sister." I said to her as Captain Kurst now seemed even less eager.
"Come, your Grace" Rigel said, "I will be your partner."
"Sword-sister." Jordis began to say.
"I will not harm her, sister." Rigel said to her fellow house carl. "Do not fear."
Aric smiled as he walked past me to resume his place on the log.
"Do not kill her" he whispered to me just loud enough for the Captain to hear.
We faced each other as Rigel drew her sword, holding it out at her side, away from her body.
Do not taunt your opponent I could hear Amren's voice clearly. Rigel had, apparently, had a different teacher.
I drew my twin short swords without my usual flourish.
Give nothing away to your opponent
Rigel was well armored, with years more experience that I had. Living in Markath, she must have had experience fighting Foresworn warriors, some of whom were masters of the dual weapon attack. I was surprised, therefore, when my feint and redirect took her off guard.
Her upper body reacted, turning first one direction and then the other. Her feet began to entangle as her sword came up in defense and her left arm fought to counteract her loss of balance.
For the space of two seconds, she was virtually helpless. It was not much time, but it was sufficient.
It was then a series of rapid strokes, alternating left and right, high, and low; Rigel's sword, held two handed now, moving almost too fast for the eye to follow, but always in defense, parry and block and deflect and repeat again. She was constantly forced backwards. She should have retreated to better ground, or at least to a safer distance, but she had chosen her start poorly, and there was almost no room left in retreat when Aric's voice called loudly.
"HALT!"
Sweat was streaming down my face as I stepped back six paces and sheathed my swords, first the left hand then the right.
Never sheath your dominant hand first. Not all opponents are honorable.
I removed my helm and placed it under my left arm as I walked forward with my right arm extended.
"Thank you, sister." I said, my hand still extended.
Rigel sheathed her own sword.
"I deserved that lesson, your Grace." She said as she clasped my arm, the same clasp we shared at what was now my home. "I should not have taunted you. I beg your pardon."
She was taller than me, but not as tall as Lucia.
"Come, sister." I said as I opened my arms. "We are friends."
It was a warriors embrace, what could be accomplished given the restrictions of armor.
"Cousin, your mouth hangs open again." I heard Runa say as I returned to my log to remove my boots again.
"I have informed them that if they intend to continue to bear arms they must train." Aric said to me as we lay in our tent awaiting the time when Aric must take his turn to stand watch. "Jordis and Rigel will be their instructors."
"Was Rigel angry?" I asked. "I only ever had in my mind the lessons Amren taught me. I assessed my opponent and acted accordingly."
"It was her pride that was wounded." Aric said. "She has trained with the sword for most of her life. Her lapse in judgement when facing you will never occur again."
"I was aggrieved afterwards." I said. "I pray that I have not damaged something that cannot be healed."
"She underestimated you, and she taunted you." Aric said. "She admitted as much afterwards. Jordis said plainly to her I attempted to warn you that the Reverend Mother is a Sword Dancer, but you would not heed."
"I cannot explain it, other than to say that it was clear in my mind, as if someone had painted a picture." I said. "The position of her feet. The way she distributed her weight. The tension in her shoulders. And my attack was equally clear. I knew exactly what to do, as if Amren was instructing me through every movement."
"An image also begins to form clearly in my mind." Aric said. "The talents you display have similarities. You summon the power of the Earthbones, your mind forms an image, you bend the energy to your will, and you bring the image to life. Likewise, an image formed in your mind when you faced Rigel, and you brought the image to life. But in that case, it was your body that you bent to your will. I cannot say exactly where the commonality lies, except that it lies within you."
"I did not draw upon the power against Rigel. I felt nothing of it." I said. "Would it not be a cheat of some form?"
"Nothing is a cheat when you are fighting for your life." Aric said. "But you must learn to control your imagination when you wield the power of the Earthbones. Gods only know what you will resemble when next you draw upon the power."
"Gods, if you mention spiders, sir, I will scream and never draw upon the power again." I said with a laugh.
"The word was nowhere in my mind, madam, until you brought it up." He answered, his smile disarming me.
"I take your point, however." I said. "Once I look more like myself, I must resist the urge to use the power until I am more a master of my imagination."
"On that point I have a suggestion." Aric said. "You are, at your heart, a Healer and Priestess. Therein lies your true form. That is the image you must conjure of yourself in your mind when next you draw upon the power, and you must draw upon it to heal."
"That is a very good idea, sir." I said. "You are very wise."
"It is a prerequisite for being selected Archmage." he said with a smile.