Winds of the Ashfall: An Elder Scrolls Tale
Greg J Miller
~O~
Chapter 10
Tirdas the 30th of Last Seed 4E71 Morning
Alaron Suvaris stirred once again in response to yet another noise interrupting his fitful sleep. At some point during the night, a noisy owl hooting somewhere off in the distance disturbed his slumber. Upon another occasion, it was the screeching sounds of bats somewhere near those trees over to the north of the crop fields. That last time it was the movement of one of the Rurvyn traders getting up.
Opening his eyes, the muted colours of the early morning light informed him that it really was most likely time to rise for the day. At his best guess, it was some time during the last hour before the dawn. A noisy crow started calling out from the small copse of birch beyond the crop fields, seemingly insistent that everybody should be up and about by that time of morning.
Though he wasn't feeling quite as well rested as he might have hoped, Suvaris resigned himself to the notion that it really was time to get up. He certainly didn't want to be the one holding up the morning's activities.
Suvaris took some water from his flask as he waited for Faryl to return from the outhouse by the side of house, then headed over to make use of it.
Returning to the grain shed, Suvaris noticed that the Rurvyn's farmer friend had already emerged from the farmhouse and was heading over to his fields. Apparently, Gils was anxious to go check that his crops hadn't been ravaged by insects.
As Bradyn busied himself with loading up the pack-guar, Suvaris dressed in his ebony armour and checked his weapons. Since he still had one more apple in his pack, he took it out to serve as a morning meal before heading off.
A short while passed as Dravyn and his son took turns to make use of the outhouse, then readied themselves and again checked over the guar to ensure they were ready for travel.
After Faryl and Dravyn had briefly spoken with Gils one last time, seemingly exchanging some farming advice, they were ready to be on their way. By that time, the sun was just starting to rise over the distant land to the east.
Leaving the village of Omayni behind, Suvaris briefly glanced to Faryl. "Did I hear discussion of growing tomatoes and carrots?"
Dravyn spoke up. "Faryl and me useta work the farm, when we was all younger."
The elder brother chimed in. "That was before we turned to the trader business."
Dravyn resumed. "Our older brother, Gralys, he still runs the farm with the family."
"That farm's back up in the north. A bit west of Cormaris." Faryl clarified the location.
Dravyn jumped back in. "Been tellin' Gils about the tomatoes and carrots back at the farm. Gralys tried 'em out over the summer. He heard it that growin' 'em side by side over the summer months was the best way."
Faryl continued. "Heard that the Imperials useta grow 'em, back when there was lots more of 'em livin' around here. Heard that tomatoes and carrots were sposeta do real well in warmer parts… an' we got plenty of that."
Dravyn resumed. "An' them crops did real well for Gralys. We're plannin' on gettin' the last harvest and gettin' it straight over to Windhelm. Figure them Nords will pay nicely for that kinda stuff."
"Be going over by the Dunmeth Pass, when that happens". Faryl added that part.
Though Suvaris had never travelled the northern pass into Skyrim, he understood that it was said to be an unfriendly journey during the colder months and that it could also be somewhat challenging even during other times of the year. He didn't doubt that the Windhelm markets would likely welcome the produce, since most goods of that kind probably needed to come north from the Riften region during the cooler months.
Bradyn suddenly called out in an alarmed tone. "Behind us."
As Suvaris and Faryl were turning their heads, Dravyn's tone of alarm reflected his son's call. "Off the road. Now. Get the guar off the side of the road."
Suvaris spotted the robed Dunmer running along the road in their direction, moving at a somewhat measured pace. A dark beard protruded from the front of his hood. It looked like his face was marked with either tattoos and painted markings. It was the long spear that he carried that raised some immediate alarm.
Faryl pressed a firm hand against Suvaris' armoured shoulder. "No weapons. Say nothin' and don't go lookin' him in the eye." He indicated the side of the road with a serious expression.
Maintaining a state of alarmed caution, Suvaris followed Faryl's lead, stepping off to the northern side of the road. He resisted drawing any weapons, but remained fully ready to act, should the need arise. Bradyn and Dravyn had already coaxed the guar off the roadside just a few paces behind them.
Drawing near, the stranger didn't seem to pay them much attention, barely passing a sideways glance. He merely maintained his steady pace, running straight past them and continuing eastward along the rough road.
Faryl waited a lengthy moment, until the robed Dunmer was well on his way and out of earshot. Some measure of anxiety remained in his voice. "Ashlander."
Suvaris had already assumed as much. Though he'd rarely seen many of those tribal warriors during his earlier days in the homeland, he knew enough to be able to recognise one.
Dravyn added his thoughts. "Probably a message runner, or the like."
Faryl agreed with his brother. "Probably. Best to just stay out their way."
"Might be headed for Mournhold." Bradyn made the suggestion.
"Might be. Not our problem. Not if it can be helped." Dravyn gestured to his son, encouraging him to get his pack-guar back onto the road.
Looking to Suvaris with a serious expression, Faryl resumed. "Probably a few more Ashlanders gettin' about since the old days, back when you was around. Since House Indoril got behind all that New Temple business happenin' over in Mournhold, them Ashlanders don't just stick to their tribal groups no more. Well, they still mostly stick to their own, but you'll see more of 'em out on the roads than back in the olden days."
Suvaris returned a thoughtful frown. "I see."
Faryl continued. "Still need ta be real careful around 'em. Even look at an Ashlander the wrong way an' ya might find yerself in trouble. Always best ta keep ya weapons outa view and just don't say nuthin'." He paused, shaking his head. "Course, them Ashlanders don't like foreigners one bit, but they pretty much see most of us regular Dunmer as n'wahs as well."
Suvaris only responded with a silent nod of acceptance.
The conversation quickly fell aside as proper attention turned toward watching the road ahead for any sign of trouble.
After that earlier moment of alarm on the road just outside of Omayni, the remainder of the morning passed fairly quietly. It seemed that no one else was out on that road on that day, or at the very least, not in the same place at the same time.
Though nothing much like those gusty winds of Sundas evening and most of Morndas, a light southerly breeze persisted throughout the first part of the day. A smattering of patchy cloud drifted high overhead in a generally north-westerly direction. It didn't look at all as if it carried the threat of rain. However, it did speak of rising moisture on the air coming up from the south. Though the day was not feeling nearly as hot as Sundas had been, it did seem just a little sweatier whenever the breeze eased.
As they travelled further eastward along the road, far fewer of those white butterflies could be seen fluttering about. By the time that midday drew near, there seemed to be none at all to be seen. It seemed most likely that the greater number of those butterflies had been swept up along the western parts of the land toward the Velothis region.
Though the day's journey began fairly near to the Inner Sea, the path of the road soon shifted further inland. Rocky outcrops of land turned the path away from the sea for some distance, seemingly headed in the general direction of Tormented Spire. Of course, the road again turned eastward long before nearing that smouldering mountain to the south. Along some short stretches, the road headed almost due north. Though it frequently twisted and turned, that road remained indirectly headed for the mouth of the River Thir.
Not so far out from Omayni, there were far fewer of those stringy pale birch trees growing, or any other clustering trees of a similar kind. About the rocky hillsides of that part of the Stonefalls region, only a few twisted and stunted mahogany and the occasional sickly oak managed to survive the more barren landscape. Some golden kanet and roobrush managed to grow near to the roadside, but none of the shrubs looked so healthy. Not even the larger mushrooms did so well, except where rocky outcrops provided some partial shade and shelter.
Traversing that bleaker landscape, there were notably far fewer birds to be seen or heard. Only upon rare occasion, a lone crow could be heard off in the distance or an occasional noisy gull somewhere to the north when the path neared the unseen sea.
After the brief alarm of that passing Ashlander, the only minor disturbance of the morning arose from spotting a couple of kwama foragers wriggling about amongst a little cluster of waist-height mushrooms growing along the southern side of the road. The agitation of the guar firstly alerted to their presence. Since they were easily avoided, the large wormlike creatures presented no immediate problem.
Faryl had casually mentioned that he was aware of a kwama egg mine located nearby, over the rocky hillside to the south. A little further along, he'd pointed out the trail that was meant to lead to where those kwama eggs were mined. He'd also mentioned the old sulphur pools located to the south of the egg mine.
Suvaris held some vague recollection of the place from many years before. He seemed to recall that there used to be a small mining village there, but he couldn't remember the name of the place.
A little further along, the winding path of the road turned northward for a bit. It again came quite close to the Inner Sea, but the barren and rocky hillside firmly separated water from road. It would have most likely required scaling the steep and rugged embankments to even catch a glimpse of the sea on the other side.
After only stopping briefly for the usual reasons a couple of times during the morning, Faryl called for a proper break about a half-hour past the mark of noon. It was still a good couple of hours out from the next small settlement along that road and they weren't even planning on going into that place.
Aside from the time of day, that location along the road seemed a good enough place to be stopping. The meagre shade of an outcrop of rock on the northern side provided a suitable place to pause for rest. At that time of day, it was only the shade about. Though the full width of the roadway between the two hillsides seemed no more than twenty paces across at the widest point, there was a reasonably clear view along the road in each direction for a fair distance.
Once Dravyn and Bradyn had coaxed the guar into the shade of the outcrop, they'd poured out some water into shallow dishes for the thirsty beasts. After each of the party had attended to immediate calls of nature, they settled into the shade to eat and drink, making the best of the opportunity for brief rest.
Given the scarcity of vegetation between the rocky hillsides bordering both sides of the road, the absence of wildlife about didn't necessarily seem quite so out of place. In that circumstance, it did seem a bit quiet right at that particular moment.
It didn't seem so out of place that there were no birds about that relatively barren location, especially at the peak of day's heat. It didn't even seem unusual that there might be no land creatures about. However, it might have been something worthy of note that the distant chirping and buzzing of insects had stopped altogether during their pause along the roadside.
Even so, neither Suvaris nor any of the others had immediately noticed just how unusually quiet it had become.
"B'vek." Dravyn's startled bark broke the silence.
Suvaris looked up to the sky just in time to see a cliff racer that had just glided by overhead and was turning about over the hillside across the road. Without considering his helmet and gauntlets sitting on the ground next his travelling pack, he quickly stood up and drew his ebony blades.
The flying reptile paused to hover above the far hillside as Dravyn also drew his blade and tried to stop the nearest guar from taking off. Bradyn nearly tripped over his own feet rushing to take hold of the second guar. At the same time, the younger Dunmer was fumbling to get a grip upon his bonemold bow.
Faryl hadn't yet looked to pulling his short-sword. As he fumbled inside his vest, he'd already dropped two scrolls onto the ground and he was shifting his attention between the hovering cliff racer and trying to see which scroll enchantment he'd manage to keep a hold of.
Keeping his back to the rocks, Suvaris stood his ground with both blades at the ready. He was waiting to see just what the cliff racer was going to do. It probably wasn't the largest one he'd ever seen, but it was certainly big enough. It had to be near to the full length of his own body across its leathery wingspan. The pointy array of teeth in its bird-like beak looked threatening enough, but he knew that the sharp spine at the end of its long tail was likely the greater threat. Though it had been years since he'd encountered one, even then only rarely, he vividly recalled just how dangerous they could be. He was also reminded to check his periphery to be sure that the cliff racer was on its own. From the ground, they often seemed silent until they were ready to strike and it wasn't unheard of for two or three to attack in a group.
Shifting position a few times, the cliff racer continued to hover near to the rocky hillside on the southern side of the road. Bradyn let loose with an arrow fired toward the creature. That first one didn't fly so close to the target. The second one didn't seem to be much better. The third shot flew closer, but the flying reptile wasn't presenting a stationary target for the missiles sailing by.
Dravyn sounded nervously angry. "Don't go wastin' all your arrows, if ya ain't gonna hit the s'wittin' thing."
His son looked irate, but didn't waste his breath in response. He instead concentrated upon looking for opportunity to loose an arrow that might actually strike home. Just as he'd decided to release another arrow, the creature shot forward with a little screech, pausing to hover above the middle of the road. Of course, the arrow missed once again.
Keeping his sword held out in front, Dravyn struggled with the panicked guar pressing up against the rock-face behind him.
The cliff racer had just come down low enough that it could possibly be within the reach of a blade, but that also meant that the reach of its tail-spike would be far more of a direct matter of concern.
Suvaris was just considering whether to shift toward taking a strike at the creature, but also hesitant of whether Bradyn had the sense to hold fire if he was moving into position.
Rather than Bradyn loosing another arrow on Suvaris' right, it was Faryl's unexpected action on his left that nearly took him by great surprise. Faryl had just decided that the cliff racer was near enough for unleashing the scroll he'd been handling. A spray of frosty particles rushed past Suvaris' left arm and clouded over the flying reptile. Suvaris knew a spell of a similar nature, but that hadn't been a priority in his mind.
The frost spell did seem to have reasonable effect. The cliff racer staggered a bit and dropped slightly lower, struggling with the rapid change in temperature. It was fair to think that those creatures didn't much like the cold at most times. The sudden blast of cold air on an otherwise warm day probably affected it a little more adversely than it might have during cooler weather.
Shifting his blades defensively, Suvaris tried to catch Bradyn's eye before he started firing off arrows again. "Hold off." He glanced sideways only very briefly to see that the younger Dunmer was paying attention.
Since it hadn't decided to fly away, Suvaris took an apprehensive step toward the hovering cliff racer. In his peripheral vision, he'd noted movement from both Faryl and Dravyn, but both seemed to be holding back, only providing additional distraction for the creature.
Suvaris knew that any successful blow to those leathery wings would likely put an end to the flier, but even if that brought it down, that wouldn't immediately diminish the threat from its bony spined tail. As if to emphasise his thoughts, the creature suddenly lashed out with its spiked tail. Suvaris dodged to the side, successfully evading the strike, if only barely. Though the beating wings continued to present as tempting targets, he didn't allow himself to be distracted.
Though coming without any obvious warning, but anticipated nonetheless, a second thrusting of the cliff racer's tail shot toward Suvaris. He'd deflected the spike with one blade and managed a well-placed blow with the second.
That caused the creature to screech in pain as it flailed and turned about mid-air. As it passed, Suvaris' strike had been even more effective than he'd hoped. He'd anticipated piercing the flesh of the tail. However, since the tail had been extended with such rigidity, his sharp blade had sliced right though, severing the spiked end completely, which dropped to the ground after falling away from a bloody stump.
Before Suvaris had opportunity to press his attacks any further, the cliff racer forcefully flapped its broad wings and made off for the far side of the road. Though it seemed immediately pointless, Bradyn fired off one more arrow, which missed the target. A moment later, the flying reptile was disappearing over the rocky hillside.
Dravyn grunted. "N'chow, that was a close one."
"Yeah, close one." Faryl echoed his brother's comment.
Suvaris glanced toward Faryl with an expression of approval. "That frost spell proved quite a good idea."
Faryl shrugged. "Was reachin' for a paralysin' spell, but I dropped the fetchin' thing in all the panic. If it worked right, figured on paralysin' bein' the best thing, so's we could get at it while it was down."
Suvaris returned a gracious nod. "Even so, that frost spell did the job. The cold slowed it down rather well, allowing for better opportunity."
Wiping the sweat from his brow, Dravyn spoke up again. "Yeah well, ya did a real good job with yer blades. Doubt I coulda done near as good."
"Me neither." Faryl released a little sigh. "Good thing you was with us."
"Yeah, you was like Saint Jiub." Dravyn let out a dry chuckle.
Suvaris inclined his head in subtle bow. "I should think that it was more of a group effort. I merely landed the final strike."
Bradyn said nothing, seemingly annoyed with himself for not managing to hit the cliff racer at all, not that it presented as any sort of easy target.
Suvaris quickly cast an eye about the visible skyline above, wary that another cliff racer might be somewhere in the immediate vicinity. As for that particular creature which attacked them, he imagined that its days would be numbered after the loss of its tail-spine, but that wasn't his concern. He would have preferred that it just flew off before such a serious wound was inflicted, but it brought all of it down upon itself.
After collecting his dropped scrolls and noticing Suvaris looking up to the skies, Faryl shared his similar concerns. "Yeah well, we best be watchin' out that one that was on its own."
Dravyn kicked the severed spike with his boot. "Ain't so unusual ta see a cliff racer stalkin' somethin' along the road in some places, but that one snuck right up on us."
"Sure did." Faryl agreed with his brother, then looked to Suvaris again. "Even seen one or two of 'em up north of Silgrad, just last year. But they didn't often come down low ta take on a group of folks like that. Lotsa other animals about there that are much easier pickin's."
Dravyn grunted again. "Ain't nuthin' else about here, but us."
"It was probably after the guar." Bradyn made the suggestion.
Suvaris nodded his accord. "That would make some sense."
The younger Dunmer returned a satisfied nod, then looked to collecting his arrows from where they fell down to the ground.
Suvaris glanced upward again. He was just thinking that there had to be a distinct shortage of easier prey in the immediate area for that creature to consider taking on a larger group like that. Since that assessment already seemed perfectly evident, he didn't feel the need to speak of it.
Dravyn also looked back up to the skies for a moment. "Reckon we oughta get ourselves outa here before we see any more of them things."
Faryl nodded to his brother. "Yeah, reckon so. Wanna be in Ebonheart before the day's done… an' wanna get there in one piece."
After each individual had addressed any thirst or otherwise attended to other matters, the pack-guar were readied and they were soon on their way along the road once again.
Though he kept his attention directed toward watching for danger, Suvaris' thoughts still drifted just a little as he assessed the balance of the current circumstances. In some fashion, fighting off wild creatures in defence of the traders was precisely what he'd agreed to, albeit without payment. Of course, travelling in a group provided for some measure of mutually improved safety. Suvaris knew that he might not have fared quite so well on his own against an aggressive cliff racer. Even between the three of them, the Rurvyn traders might not have done so well either. In any event, he was quietly hoping that the remainder of the afternoon would be rather less troublesome.
~O~