Fredas, 7:49 AM, 13th of Sun's Dawn, 4E 202
"DARE!" someone screamed. I bolted up and frantically looked around.
"Someone get this thing off me!" I got out of the bedroll and ran to the edge of my rock. On the other side of our small camp was Marcus, being devoured by a carnivorous plant! Acting quickly, I ran back to my bedroll and grabbed my dagger and ran back and down the rock to him. Veezara and Inigo were already trying to get him free by swinging their weapons at the vines of the creature to no avail. Sahvotei was just standing there, watching with her arms crossed and looking down. I ran to help, pulling on the only part of Marcus that was reachable. His leg.
"Hey! A-little help!" I asked Sahvotei. But she only shook her head. I was about to yell at her but she already intervened.
"That is a Ahkropus Slenaak, meaning Sneaky Carnivore." Her voice was laced with sorrow but otherwise monotone. "He is already dead. I am sorry."
Looking back at the leg that was now only a foot, I let go. Inigo and Veezara looked at me for a moment, but realized that this was a battle we could not win. "Dammit!" Veezara yelled as he punched the plant. Inigo only stared at his hand that once held Marcus's boot. Husk was smashing his sword to the plant, trying to behead it. Sahvotei walked away. And I only stood there thinking that this was that I just lost another companion. Our supplies are scarce, we are in a hostile unexplored environment, and we lost a man on the second day here. What else could go wrong?
"Look my brother, food!" Everyone looked at the new voice. Raspy and low. Trouble. I sighed and prepared myself. Just my luck...
"That... was the last... time... I carry you... for... ever." Sahvotei giggled as she slid off my back. I stretched to get the kink out of my back as everyone else got up the rocky hill.
"We all know that that's a lie." She teased. I mumbled some things and looked away. "Aw, the great Dragonborn is shy." Shy? Me? I gritted my teeth and turned back to her.
"Okay, I'm not shy. I assist those in need. Carrying someone... six miles up hills and through swamps with a pack of hungry Kobolds... with your warm breath traveling down my neck sense we started this trip... is not one of them." She crossed her arms and gave a toothy grin.
"I can't help myself, you're so warm. My body doesn't produce body heat like yours." I raised a brow.
"Really?" I asked. The other members of our party walked past and down the dirt path.
"Really. Our kind can shift into any race or object, but our body can't produce heat. Why do you think our goal lies in the desert? We need the heat, or we freeze and our form dissipates." I nodded in understanding. But something caught my attention.
"So why is your breath warm?" She froze. Her eyes wide and her body still.
Why did she freeze up? She looked shocked. She wasn't blinking, or anything really. It was actually starting to worry me. I went in front of her and snapped my fingers in front of her face. "Sahvotei?" She closed her slightly gaping mouth and shook her head.
"Uh-h. I-I... um..." She trailed off the more she stuttered. "What?" This whole interaction is just confusing to me now. "I... never..." Again, she trailed off.
"You're going to have to speak up, Sahvotei." For a while she said nothing. Standing there, hugging herself and looking away. "Alright. You can tell me later." I turned and took my first step when she spoke.
"I never changed forms before." I stopped mid step. Confused, yes. Intrigued, yes. Curious, mildly.
"What do you mean?" I asked, not even looking at her. There was another pause before she spoke.
"When... I was born... Tarvokus kept me in isolation with my siblings. We were never allowed to change form, never allowed to leave the small room we were given. He did this to keep our sanity. And in our first form, our internal organs remain intact. For every shift, they break down. Making us rely more and more on outside resources. At least, that's what he told us." She said.
We stood in awkward silents. "Hey! Are you guys coming? We don't have all day!" Veezara yelled from down the path, bringing us out of our stupor. I removed my gaze to the direction of the rest of our party.
"Uh, yeah! Coming!" I ran down the road to catch up with them, forgetting about Sahvotei. Once there after leaving the swampy forest, we arrived in a rocky desert. No trees, no mountains, just a somewhat flat desert. Joining up with them, I was met with strange looks from Veezara and Husk, while Inigo just smiled as we trotted across the now barren wasteland. "What?" I asked, looking between both of them. "What?" They didn't say anything as they looked ahead. "Okay then." I looked at Inigo who was still looking ahead, smiling. "Inigo... do you mind shedding some light on why everyone's smiling?" He gave me a side glance but said nothing. "Oh, not you too." His smile grew. "What is wrong with you guys!" Again, no one said anything. I sighed and walked ahead of them. Mumbling to myself.
About an hour later of peaceful walking, fast footsteps approaching from behind were heard. And we all drew our weapons. Only to find out that it was only Shvotei, out of breath. Everyone just moved along while Sahvotei and I walked at a slower pace than the others. "What kept you, hmm?" I asked with a hint of irritation.
"I was just... scared. And I froze up." I reached in my pack and grabbed an apple and gave it to her. She took it gratefully.
"Scared?" She nodded as she bit down on the apple.
"Mm hmm. I don't reveal things like that to people, I guess I was scared of what you'd think of me." I reached into my pack to grab another apple for myself.
"And why would you be scared about sharing things about yourself? This didn't seem like such a big deal to me. That's a good way to form bonds with people." She sighed.
"I know, it's just... I'm afraid I might say something that might make someone hate me or get scared of me so... so I guess... I'm just not used to this, okay. Can we move on? Please?" I nodded.
"Alright. What about when this is over? What will you do?" At that she smiled as she took another bite from her apple.
"Well... I might make the castle a safe haven for my kind. And anyone else in this place. The humans here don't trust us for a reason. And that reason is our old nature." Her smile turned into a frown. "I just want to rid the world of those memories." She took another bite. I completely forgot about my apple, dropping it a few paces back while I listened to her thoughts.
It has been two days. Two days of walking through that desert. And now we finally arrived at the castle. A big fortress, menacing, all out scary. It gave me the creeps. "Uh... so who wants to go first?" Inigo asked. We were all looking down the dark entrance of the castle. And the fact that it was midnight didn't help either. I looked to Sahvotei.
"What do you think? You know this place better than anyone." She thought for a moment.
"Well... we can go through these rooms and fight our way through." She pointed to the big door ahead. "Or we can climb up the wall and face the archers in the indoor stairwell." Inigo groaned at that.
"Oh great, so... we can go through a ton of rooms, filled with a bunch of enemy's. Or we can climb up hundreds of floors, filled with a bunch of enemy's. Or we can just give up. I say we give up." He was rewarded by a punch from Husk.
"Let's just go." He groaned and he walked in. The rest of us followed.
In the castle, we thought it was best to split up, Inigo, Husk, and I went one way, and Veezara, and Sahvotei went the other.
"I think we're going the wrong way." Inigo complained as we walked down the narrow stone hallway.
"How would you know? You have never even been here before." Husk retorted.
"You've never been here before either!" Inigo yelled back.
"Well I'm not the one telling people they're going the wrong way!" There was a pause as we turned a corner to a rather big room. We looked up into a long tunnel that should lead to every floor in the castle.
"So this is it?" Inigo asked.
"I believe so. I can't even see the top." Husk replied. I stopped in the middle of the tunnel and readied my bow. Husk then used a spell to lift me up. I was to fly all the way up to the prison just like that. But, the path is filled with guards. And it's not that I'm afraid of high places, I just don't trust my life in the hands of someone else.
"Yeah, uh. I'm suddenly having second thoughts." I was floating in mid air with a levitation spell Husk put me in.
"You had a first thought?" I nodded. "Yeah. Hey Inigo? In case I forget to say it later... ow. AAAAAAOOOOOO..." Husk suddenly flung me through the door and up the middle of the stairwell. And as soon as the first guard saw me, It was arrows galore from then on. Inigo only laughed.
"Ha Ha Ha! Yes. Finally a stupid plan where someone's going to get killed and it is not me. Damn Bandits." He mumbled. Suddenly troops went charging down the stairs to attack the duo.
"Uh... guys?" I was starting to reach the top. I think I passed the prison. I was flying everywhere. "Whatever you're doing back there, stop! You can do it later, PLEASE!" I yelled, trying not to get killed by guards.
I was still screaming and dodging arrows. "...AAAAAHHHHHHH!" Arrows and spells were whizzing by me as I went higher into the castle. "Uh... hey guys? Yeah that's too high." I kept on firing my crossbow at the guards as I ascended. I knew they couldn't hear me but it was a habit. "Guys? Too high guys! GUYS!" I started to panic. I looked up to see a stone floor. "Oh man." I mumbled. I braced although I knew it would do little. Smashing through the ceiling I was met with a big white dragon. "...GHAAAAH!" I collided with him and the dragon and I smashed through the skylight and continued into the sky for a few seconds before the spell that held me up dissipated.
"What is the meaning of this!" The dragon asked harshly as we fell back down. There is no way that a normal mortal can survive this fall, I will die here. Unless... I tilted myself downwards and put my arms to the side to gain speed. I was heading for the hole I came out of. While the dragon raised his wings to control his descent. I went through the hole not a moment later. I looked up and saw him and a few females like Sahvotei looking down as well. They stood there to make sure I was dead or alright. And after a while they started to leave. But they didn't get far when I busted through the ground as a dragon, creating an even larger hole. I landed on the edge and looked at my adversary.
"I am here for someone by the name of Tarvokus." I declared, sitting down on my hunches. The white dragon tilted his head.
"That is I. And who are you, might I ask?" He growled in irritation. But nothing more.
"I am Diinmaar. Adventurer, Ysgramor's heir, and Archmage."
At this he stopped giving me a nasty glare and sat down, looking at me with curiosity. "And adventurer, eh?" I nodded. He hummed as he examined me. He looked kind of like one of the paladins that Siigon and Lily are. He had the armor to prove it, only it was fit for a true dragon. They said they were from here so... What was it they said? Something to do with honor and... Oh that's right. I dipped my head in a short bow. I better not get on this guy's bad side. At least until I know his side of the story.
"With light and honor, paladin. Well met." I said the phrase they kept saying. I looked back up to see his reaction. I don't think he was expecting me to say that, so my deduction was correct.
"Where did you learn that phrase?" He questioned. I took no time to answer.
"From two paladins who went by the name of Siigon and Li-" He abruptly stood up and rushed to me.
"Siigon and Lily? They're alive!" He asked with hope.
"Um... uh. Yes and no." I told him. Confused as to why he acted that way. "Siigon died by a dragon, but Lily is in Tamriel with a few of my friends and companions.
Tarvokus and I sat there, talking about each other's lives when I asked about Sahvotei. He didn't look happy at hearing the name. "She is my daughter." Well I didn't see that one coming. "Or at least the real Sahvotei was." Was? What does he mean by was?
"Uh... you said it was?" He looked down in grief.
"Yes. She was killed when the infestation broke out. The paladins were called to aid the military but soon we all were killed off. Any one of those Shifters that didn't kill us on sight helped us rebuild and take back our home. The one you know as Sahvotei... is a... troubled creature. I don't know why it chose to take the form of my daughter, but it acted just like her. Sahvotei touched its cocoon then it burst open. And there laid my Sahvotei, another Sahvotei. And the ironic thing was that..." It didn't look like he wanted to say whatever he was about to say. "...that... It killed my Sahvotei. I know what you think, I know how Tamriel's dragons act. But the dragons here are not like the ones in your province. We were the main populace here, until the outbreak. We value our lives and our loved ones more than self greed and territory."
A door across the large room opened with a bang. We both quickly stood up to see who it was. Two individuals walked in with weapons drawn. Veezara and Sahvotei. "Guys?" Veezara smiled and ran up to me.
"Who's your friend?" He pointed a thumb towards Tarvokus.
"This..." My body started to glow as I started to change. I quickly ran behind a large certain to hide my nudity. Luckily I bought a pack with a spare set of light armor with me.
"What are you doing in the bathing room?" I heard Tarvokus ask.
"Changing." I said as I walked out. I'm quick at changing clothes. "This is Tarvokus. Sahvotei's father." He looked back at Sahvotei who now had her arms crossed and held her head low.
"Sahvotei?" He asked. I walked over to Veezara who was gave a quick glance to me then proceeded to stare at Sahvotei. Something's going down.
"Both of you, explain, now." I demanded, leading Veezara away so I can solve this family feud.
Sahvotei sighed and walked over and sat down on a piece of rubble left over from my previous entrance. Tarvokus stayed where he was but a death stare and a nod from me changed his mind, so he moved next to his daughter. I sat down across from them. "So, Tarvokus. Sahvotei tells me you were keeping her and a few others as slaves. And that you had forceful intercourse with them? But I never got your side." He was looking at Sahvotei in disbelief.
"How could you say something like that!" He roared, but stayed seated. "I have a mate and she's dead because of your kind! The only reason you're alive is because you became my new daughter!" He was calming down. Taking deep breaths to calm himself. "I can't kill something that looks like my own child. I kept you locked up, yes. But that's because I... I thought..." He shook his head to rid the tears. "I thought I could try again. But I guess I was wrong. You're not a Shifter, you're worse. First you run away, then you tell more lies about me." He stood up. Refusing to look at her. "Leave. Leave and let me mourn in peace." He stalked away to a room on the far side of the chamber. He shut the large wooden doors and after there was a long pause.
Looking back to Sahvotei. She was gazing at where Tarvokus once was. A mixture of confusion and sadness present on her features. I stood up and walked over to Veezara who was examining a statue of a large dragon. He noticed me coming. "So, if it's not your family problems, it's someone else that you need to fix. Humph." He said while still examining the sculpture. He turned to me and crossed his arms. "I say we hightail it outta here, YOU go make-up with your father, real or not and let's go kill ourselves some bandits. I'm done with Lyg!" He yelled. Throwing his arms in the air. "It's so... dry and everything wants to kill us! Why does everyone assume we enjoy putting ourselves in harm's way!" I sighed.
"You don't have to follow me on my adventures, you know. I'm not your boss anymore, remember." He thought for a second. Arms still crossed as he rubbed his head.
"We can disobey suicidal orders?" He asked our party members as they walked up to us. "Why wasn't I told?" He mumbled. Husk gave a light-hearted laugh.
"Don't you worry Veezara, you're not dead yet." He grumbled something I couldn't interpret.
"Hey, my friends. Can we leave here now? My fur is getting flaky." Inigo sniffed himself. "Ugh! And dirty." I nodded.
"Alright, Inigo. Let's go." Hopefully Tarvokus let his people know that we're not an enemy. Inigo, Husk, Veezara and I, all made our way out of the big room and onto the big outdoor garden. Loosening my muscles I changed forms again.
"Get on my back. I'll fly us back to Tamriel." My draconic voice boomed. I lowered my long neck to let them on. Once everyone was on, I prepared myself for flight. Raising my giant wings, I took off to the sky.
For the whole ride, all I thought about was what Veezara said. Father or not. I need to make amends and let it go. Besides, what I just went through... Tarvokus... Akatosh is probably feeling the same way. Mentally scolding myself for how stupid I've been acting, I made my mind up. I will do just that. Then I'll just kill Alduin for the hell of it. It's in my job inscription anyway.