Teldryn nodded at a guard who was leaning on a lantern post as they walked by on their way to the training yard. Vanya walked so near to him in the dark that he felt the occasional brush of the blue shawl that was draped over her shoulders.

"Poor Modyn," she said as they ascended the temple steps. "He has enough to deal with as it is."

"He can handle it," Teldryn replied. "That is if he can keep the Second Councilor from talking the issue to Oblivion."

"That's government for you. Some things don't change between worlds," she said drily before stopping short when she saw the mass of creatures in the training yard, shrouded by the shadows cast from the few lamps dotting the stone wall of the Bulwark.

"What are they?" she breathed, her steps tentative. He realized she couldn't see them clearly so he channeled a magelight in his hand.

Her eyes shifted to his palm and widened further. "Whoa." She brought a hand up and swatted at the light, her fingers passing through it. "That feels so weird." She hovered her fingers in the ball of light, twisting them around. "It's not warm like I expected, I just feel..." She squinted as she searched for the right word. "...pressure?"

He made no reply, watching her fingers as they danced tantalizingly close to his own. He backed away as he swept his hand to the side, sending the light out into the midst of the herd and her eyes followed it.


Vanya approached the fence railing as the mesmerizing light floated through the yard, the moving reflection revealing what looked like a rolling sea of scales. She smiled. "They're not insects."

Teldryn chuckled as he leaned on his elbows on the railing next to her. "No, they're not. They're pack animals. And for meat."

They were quite large, perhaps reaching her shoulder in height. They had strong hind legs that ended with three-toed feet sporting wickedly long talons, their thick tails just long enough to dust the ground. Their small, wide-set eyes were dull even in the light as they inclined their rounded heads emitting low chattering purrs of curiosity as it hovered above them. One of them hopped and snapped at it and Vanya snickered when she saw their impotent little arms. "They look like stubby T-Rexs."

"T-Rexs," Teldryn parroted and she smiled wider at the way he drew out the sound as he evaluated the word. "Some Earth animal?" he asked as he looked at her.

"Umm, yeah kind of." She pressed a finger to her mouth as she tried to think of the best way to describe them. "They existed before my time but imagine a guar with a longer neck," she gestured with her hands as she spoke, "lots of big sharp teeth, and as tall as the Bulwark."

"Sounds like a wingless dragon."

"Hmmm..." She made a face as she considered. She didn't actually know what dragons on Nirn were like but she assumed it was a safe bet they would look as she expected. "Maybe? They're more serpentine, aren't they?"

He hummed affirmatively and gazed up at the Bulwark. "So a T-Rex is like a predatory dragon-sized guar," he concluded.

"Sounds about right."

"And you said they were before your time?" He looked back at her. "What happened to them?"

"Ahhhh..." She couldn't help but be amused at the fact that this was the most they'd ever talked about Earth and they were talking about dinosaurs. "Well, when I say 'before my time' I'm talking thousands if not millions of years, depending on who you talk to." He raised his brows as she continued, "And as for how they disappeared, that's really anyone's guess. Some say it was a meteor, some say it was a worldwide flood."


"A worldwide flood?"

He was fascinated. If he could he would step into her mind to see the world that lived in her memories, with its strange creatures and cataclysmic events that rivaled those of his own. And that was just the ancient history, what wonders existed in her time? Beyond microwaves, pizza, and trash tv?

He knew better than to pry but she'd given him the opening and he would not waste the opportunity to glean what he could, for he knew it would be fleeting.

Just as she opened her mouth to answer, as if prompted by his own thoughts, her attention was drawn away as a guar ventured near the fence. She gasped, clasping her fingers around the top of the railing.

"It's coming over," she said in hushed excitement. "Are they tame enough to pet?"

He nodded as she glanced up at him, trying to not show on his face that he was imagining turning the beast to jerky. She reached out, her hand lingering in the air as the guar tilted its head to look in their direction.

"They don't see well," he said as he shifted closer, tutting at the guar to draw it to her. The guar lowered it's head, taking a few steps but staying timidly out of her reach. She stepped up onto the lowest fence railing to reach further and when her fingers brushed the beast's jutting chin, it flinched away.

Teldryn grunted in frustration as he reached his longer arm over the fence. "He's being like this because it's dark." He tutted once more, adding under his breath, "C'mon, you little bastard." The corner of his mouth curled up when he heard her light laugh.

Once the guar finally nuzzled into his palm, he found a soft spot under it's scaled jaw causing it to purr and come closer. Her fingers brushed along its cheek, her gaze impossibly tender as the beast chattered softly under her touch.

A sort of madness came over him and he was seized with the urge to grab her hand, to bring those eyes upon himself, tell her he'd never again leave her wondering. He had not meant to hurt her, he had not known his absence would. He remained still, the shadow that had plagued him bearing down to poison the warmth that had spread in his chest.

With a great effort, he tore his eyes from her and looked back to the guar that was still nuzzling into her hand, his own hanging limply under its chin. Earlier in the tavern, he'd figured out what he would say. Something light and clever, sure to bring a pretty smirk to her lips. The words were lost to him, as if they'd never existed.

"Teldryn?"

He blinked at her as she looked up at him, the light in the yard reflecting in the nearly black pools of her eyes.

"I said- what do they eat?"

He took a breath to collect himself, uncertain that if he spoke it would be to answer her question.

"Uh.." he started lamely. What did guar eat, again?

Scathecraw, you fucking coward.

As he opened his mouth they were plunged into darkness.


The guar startled with a chirp and Vanya yanked her hand away in surprise, losing her footing on the fence railing as her momentum tumbled her backward. Instead of her back hitting the ground, her feet were planted firmly as Teldryn's arm supported her waist. The plate of his armor was uncomfortable against her chest as he held her tightly to his side. She blinked, waiting for her eyes to adjust to the darkness and she realized she was gripping parts of his armor. She relaxed her hands, her heart crashing against her ribs so hard she would not have been surprised if he could feel it, too.

In the scant light, she could make out his other hand resting on his dagger. He was looking out over the training yard and she followed his gaze, seeing what looked like a small, blue stone floating toward them.

With a huff, he relaxed his hold on her and she stepped back, her face growing warm as the areas that had been pressed to him tingled with the memory. She swallowed, rubbing her palms on the fabric of her tunic. A shrill voice got her attention.

"If you N'wahs are back here trying to feed them saltrice again I'll-" The source of the voice stopped and another ball of light appeared under the blue stone, that she now saw was attached to a staff. Vanya's eyes traveled down the staff to where she expected to see the wielder and was surprised as she dropped them further to the smallest dunmer she'd ever laid eyes on who was gazing indifferently at Teldryn. "Oh, it's you," the girl said as she shooed the wayward guar back toward the herd with the crook of her staff.

"Nathala," Teldryn said evenly. "A bit dramatic, don't you think?"

"Not when I've been up half the night keeping curious humans from giving my guar indigestion!" she spat, straightening up the staff that looked nearly twice her height. The girl spotted Vanya and uttered an accusing harumph before narrowing her eyes in scrutiny.

Vanya put her hands out to show they were empty. "We didn't feed them anything," she said, trying to mask her breathlessness. "He was just showing them to me. I've never seen guar before."

Nathala's bright red eyes crawled downward as she assessed Vanya and when they returned to her face, a smirk rose with them. "Oh, this is darling," the girl snarked as she turned to Teldryn. "Showing your little pet around, are you?"

"How dare you!" Vanya cried, the tingling on her skin moments before igniting to burning rage. "How dare you!" Her hands clenched instinctively as she advanced toward the railing glaring daggers, wishing she had one of steel to carve that smug expression from the girl's face. Vanya's throat closed as she tried to speak further, tears spilling over her cheeks as if they'd been waiting for an excuse.

Nathala's expression hardened as she recognized the threat in Vanya's eyes and she squared herself, tipping her staff in warning. Teldryn reminded Vanya of his presence with a hand on her shoulder and she recoiled as she swatted it away. She looked up through her tears at the astonished, concerned, and indescribably infuriating clueless expression on his face and forced herself to speak through her teeth, the words coming out in a quivering hiss.

"Don't touch me."

Unable to stand either dunmer for a moment longer, she whirled away and ran for the steps. She wiped her eyes with her shawl as she descended, relieved that she did not hear footsteps trailing her. As she neared the market she did not turn toward the Netch. She would go to a place she hoped that Teldryn would not think to look. A place the only person she wanted to see would.


Her words hung in the air long after she was gone, but it was the look in her eyes that rooted him where he stood.

He looked down at his hand that had by chance discovered the soft curve of her waist, the same hand that she struck away moments later at a touch to her shoulder. A touch he'd done so many times before. She'd never so much as flinched.

And her eyes. Fathomless depths that could consume his soul. Seething. Hurt.

Nathala whistled. "She's a feisty one."

"You miserable alit!" he shouted as he rounded on her, his voice disturbing the herd.

"Quiet yourself," she said as she waved her staff in an arc, a wave of green light settling over the animals to calm them. "Don't blame me for your problems, Teldryn. I just got here."

"I'm more than aware of my own problems, Nathala. I suggest you don't add to them."

"Or what," she sneered.

"Or perhaps some unforeseen calamity will befall your precious beasts," he said acidly. "A tragedy to be sure but do you really think Captain Veleth would mourn the loss?"

"Do not threaten me so," she hissed, her defiant look faltering. "I am under orders from House Redoran and my family-"

"I don't give a fuck who you are." He stepped further into the light to ensure she would grasp his sincerity. "You will never speak about her in that manner or you'll find that I care very little for the wishes of your Great House."

With her insolent expression thoroughly shattered, he turned and stalked toward the stairs. He would go to Vanya and correct his mistake. He knew the pain this world had caused her. He would not contribute. She had every right to that angry glare and he'd take his sword to any that she cast it upon.

Boethiah forsake him, he might get on his knees if she would never again cast it upon him.