Chapter 3
The sun rose bright over the eastern horizon as the bustling sounds of the city intruded upon the morning air. The light of the morning sun now blinds me with its radiant misery. I must have fallen asleep last night. Perhaps the motion of the silt strider rocked me to sleep with its sweet lullaby. Speaking of which, we've stopped moving. Looks like the cabby has gone, too. So did the butterflies. Hmmm, I'm feeling a bit hungry. Too bad the cabby's gone. At least I have that treat the guard gave me, and it's already on a stick to boot!
Looking up from the silt strider, I notice that we have arrived at what must be Balmora. Not much of a city, actually. It looks more like a town. Buildings are lined up along a central stretch leading up to a fortress of some kind. Strange that we would have stopped so far from the town, though. Maybe the local bureaucracy won't allow silt striders near city limits. I don't blame them, either. These things stink of squashed roaches. They don't look much different, either, with there organs exposed the way they are. Hmmm, I wonder if she wouldn't mind if I…
The silt strider buckles then falls forward, throwing me to the ground ahead of it. Fooling around with the infernal creature's organs probably wasn't the best idea. Looking around, I notice that maybe my meddling wasn't completely to blame: Lying beneath the legs of the wretched beast is the body of the cabby. It would seem that maybe we were attacked along the way, or perhaps she simply had to stop and drop dead. Picking up my snack and wiping the grass from the base of his neck, I walk over to the corpse of my benefactor and inspect, only to discover the lack of any wounds. Must've had to stop and drop dead. Gnawing on the cheeks of the guard who would soon serve as a neck ornament, I walk towards the town.
"Halt!" One of the guards roaming the town perimeter runs up to me, his pike pointed towards my head. "What do you have there, Argonian?"
Argonian?! Again, how many Argonians have wings? Stupid idiot, I don't even have a tail! "He attacked me. He killed my sssilt ssstrider and my driver. Besssidesss, I have to eat, right?" Why am I so hungry anyway? Prison ship food must not be too filling. "A fitting punishment, if you asssk me."
"Nonetheless, it is not civilized to chew on another's head while in town. Besides, I don't know if what you are telling me is true. It is more likely that you attacked that strider and have eaten most of the passenger already! Murder holds a heavy price here, friend!" By this time, two more guards have shown up, each with weapons drawn. "Put the head down and relinquish your weapons. NOW!!" Somehow I get the impression that he doesn't like me very much. Maybe he's angry about something. Maybe I have his brother. I really don't have time for this.
"I didn't attack the sssilt ssstrider, nor did I kill the driver. I did, however, kill thisss poor cow here." I lift up the head, and then throw the whole ensemble to the ground. "I told you my reasssonsss. What will it take for you to let me passss?"
A guard walks up from the fallen silt strider, of which had stood back up and now waits patiently where it had fallen. "No sign of foul play there. It looks like the strider tripped on the Dunmer there and killed her." Yeah, that's what happened. Doesn't explain my breakfast, though.
"Looks like you're off the hook for the strider and its driver, but that doesn't explain the man on the ground, or what's left of him. That also doesn't explain why you lied to me about being attacked. These are very serious allegations against you, citizen. Two-hundred gold and the prompt disposal of that…corpse…will cause me to forget I ever saw this, and guarantee the silence of my compatriots here."
I reach into my sack and produce the cash box I acquired earlier. Opening it – the idiot didn't even lock the damned thing – I discover more than enough to pay the proposed fine. "Ssso be it," I tell the guard, handing him a pile of gold equaling – if not exceeding – the proposed two-hundred piece fee.
"Thank you. Pelagiad may not be the place for you right now. Since we do not have a strider port here, and judging from the direction you were probably traveling, you may have been going to Balmora or perhaps even Gnaar Mok. Balmora is the closer of the two; you merely need to continue traveling north along the main road. Beware the nix hounds along the way. Too bad your driver is dead; you'll have to walk the rest of the way – unless you know how to control one of those things, that is." No, that didn't work out very well. I nod to the man, pick up my snack, and hit the road, noting the location of this quaint little town. I have no business here now, but I do intend on returning to show those pathetic fools what murder really is.
Walking is such a mundane activity. The peaceful sounds of nature seem to scream in the back of my head, making it difficult to concentrate on the tasks before me. What was his name? Caius Cosades? I'm more interested in finding the sword I left in that wretched fortress Serpenthold of Solstheim so many years ago. I didn't have much of a choice – not with that Telvanni bounty hunter chasing after me, anyway. There was something about him; he seemed more predator than prey. If it wasn't for that blasted unicorn – what the hell was a unicorn doing all the way up there, anyway? Anywhere in Morrowind, no less? – I wouldn't have been caught. Who would think a horse with a party favor sticking out of its head would be so difficult to kill? Where the hell did those gold angels come from, anyway? Oh well, that damned horse is probably stringy anyway. Its horn would have made a good toothpick, though.
Less than an hour into my journey, I encounter what appears to be a woman. Human. She seems to be crying about something. I try to ignore her, but she seems intent on bothering me anyway. Something about being robbed while traveling along this road. Like I care. Worse still, she seems to be in love with the guy who robbed her! Filthy creature. I immediately remedy her insanity with a quick slash and stab of my blade. Hmmm…I haven't really eaten yet – that little snack earlier surely doesn't count towards a decent meal. No sense in wasting the prey…
Back on the road again, I find that walking can be rather unsettling. The sun so high above is a constant bother; not like the soft blanket of night that I am so accustomed to. Too bad I slept the night away – I'd much rather walk under moonlight than this life-draining fire-in-the-sky eyesore that cascades its filth upon the land, displaying the land's true ugliness. An hour more into my journey and I discover what must be one of those nix hounds the guards warned me about. Fortunately, the unfortunate thing hadn't noticed me yet, so naturally I pounce on it with sword drawn. I catch it by surprise, grappling its back while gliding the blade of my sword across its throat, feeding the grass with its precious blood. Another hound joins the fray, snapping its jaws around my calf with such force I nearly drop my sword. I let myself fall off the now dying nix hound and kick violently to loosen the second. The creature tightens its bite; I can feel blood pouring from my leg into its mouth. The hound starts to pull backward, as if to tear my leg from the rest of my body. Sword still in hand, I swing wildly at the beast, striking its head and almost my leg as well. The creature stumbles back, its grip on my leg now gone. I stand up, almost falling over from the painful sting of the creature's bite. The nix hound recovers and leaps at me; I duck and raise my sword, gutting the creature from its neck down. As the creature flies through the air, I feel its warm entrails blanket me. I straighten myself once more, brushing the foul creature's entrails to the ground.
Argh, now I need a bath! I take a step forward before being painfully reminded of the wound I suffered on my leg. Reaching under my breastplate, I tear a strip from my garment and tie it around my leg with hopes that the bleeding will subside. I then start to walk again, the stench of the infernal creature's organs assailing my nostrils with each step. Screw this! I jump into a nearby tree and climb to the top to look around. A lake! I immediately glide to its shore and strip myself of all but my bandage. Rinsing my armor and clothing first, I wade in the cool water, allowing the oils fluids of the nix hound to wash away. Ah, how rela…something bit me! I look into the water but find it hard to see anything there. I dive in and look around. Schools of slaughterfish swim around me, taking jabs at me with open mouths. Not wanting to be their next meal, I swim to shore and climb out, suffering only a few nicks here and there.
Hmmm…I'm not alone. While donning my clothing and armor, I cautiously look around. Someone is rustling through the flowered bushes nearby. I secure the rest of my equipment and with sword in hand, I approach the intruder.
"AH! Oh, you startled me. You-you're not going to kill me, are you? I don't have much on me, but what do have is yours. Please, don't hurt me," the intruder pleads. A young Dunmer male, frail and obviously unable to physically defend himself, is picking flowers from the bushes.
"What are you doing, prey? Why are you here?" I ask him menacingly. If I hadn't eaten already, he'd be dead by now.
"I-I'm gathering herbs for the Mage's Guild. I need these to pass my first test," he tells me, obviously frightened. A pool of yellow liquid gathers by his feet.
"Why?"
"It's a requirement of the guild for advancement. Please don't h-hurt me."
"Where isss thisss guild? Tell me quickly, prey."
"B-Balmora. I was about to return there. Th-these were the last of the specimens I n-needed. Please let me go. I'll give you everything I have if you would sp-spare me. Please!"
Considering what he had told me, I decide to take him up on his offer. I grab him by the throat and flick my wrist in such a way as to easily snap his neck. He did say everything, after all. Then I keep my end of the bargain: I let go of him. I grab his bag of herbs and flowers and leave the poor bastard there, slumped over the bush he had picked at last. I return to the road and travel northward again. Off in the distance, the sun begins its decent into the west, dusk only hours away.
