Chapter 17: Inseparable Pairs
Nephiah gave off a short scream as she awoke, pushing herself into a sitting position. She was breathing heavily as she realized where she was. She made fists, lowered her head and squeezed her eyes shut.
Brelyna moved up behind her and put a hand on her shoulder. Startled by the unexpected presence, she looked at her. "Bad dream?"
She nodded.
"You have those often."
She nodded again and got up from the bed. "Every night." She put her fists down on the table and breathed deeply, trying to calm down. She was shivering.
Brelyna gave her a moment. "Sooo...", she eventually said, "I suppose you want to go kill them all now."
Nephiah looked over her shoulder, said nothing.
"I thought so." She stretched her arms out and yawned. "Can we have breakfast first?"
Nephiah gave off a short laugh before removing her fists from the table's surface and shaking off the effects of her nightmare.
Brelyna stepped up behind her and tapped her on the shoulder. She pointed at the steel plate on the chair. She placed a kiss on her cheek and left for the kitchen.
It took Nephiah a while to get into the unfamiliar set of armor. It was composed of many pieces. A chainmail first, then various steel plates that had to be strapped on in the correct order so they would form protective layers and not restrict the wearer's movements too much.
When she was finally done, she stood up and felt its weight. Moving in this would take some getting used to. She took a few steps and noticed the sound of steel brushing against steel. Moving silently was pretty much out of the question. She hopped up and down a few times to make the various pieces settle into place. It fit extremely well, it must have been custom made for her.
She picked up the swords and felt the weight of everything that would be on her in combat. She began to masterfully move both swords through the air, turned on her axis 360 degrees and upon arriving in the starting position moved the right hand sword down in a diagonal strike through the air in front of her. It all looked very graceful, like she had done this for years. Again she wondered about that.
Brelyna re-entered, carrying two plates on which pieces of snowberry costrata were placed. As her eyes fell upon Nephiah, she stopped. She had only imagined her wearing the armor. And there she stood, both her swords in hand, looking at her. She looked a little taller, a little stronger, almost noble.
Brelyna suddenly noticed the stark contrast of walking into this room with Nephiah unconscious on the bed and walking in with her standing tall, ready to go. She put on a big smile, the rising happiness at the picture made a giggle unavoidable. "My knight in shining armor...", she sighed before proceeding to the table.
She put the plates down and turned to her love.
Nephiah was motionlessly looking at her, like she was waiting to be inspected.
Brelyna tightened a few straps on the inner sides of her upper arms and then moved her hands behind her neck to pull the hair out from under the back plate. Nephiah must have forgotten about the additional length, she tied it together into a pony tail.
Nephiah just looked at her as she worked, baffled, astounded, speechless at having someone take care of her. She had been living self sufficiently for a long time, hunting, acquiring resources, tending to her own wounds. It wasn't always pretty but it was all she knew. This was alien to her, yet it felt incredibly good.
Brelyna opened the jewelry box that still rested on the chair. She pulled a black linen strip out from under the items and wrapped it around Nephiah's forehead. Then she carefully put the necklace in place, she couldn't help but notice the change in Nephiah's breathing as she did so. Finally, she placed the circlet on top of the black head band. She took a step back and looked at her creation. She put a hand over her mouth as the image took her breath away. What a noble specimen, eons away from the savage she first met in that dark Falmer cave.
She looked down at herself and back up at Nephiah. "I guess I better put something on myself."
Nephiah instantly stepped forward to close the gap between them and put her armored hands around Brelyna's naked hips.
As she was pulled close, she gasped at the sensation of cold steel against her skin. "You object, I take it?", she giggled and placed her hands on Nephiah's shoulder plates.
Nephiah moved her head forward until their noses touched. The armor covered the lower half of her neck and restricted her movement from then on, she couldn't quite reach the pair of lips she was aiming for.
Brelyna giggled again. "We just got you into that armor..." She squealed and laughed loudly as she was lifted up by the thighs.
"Hm. It will be good practice."
She nodded reaffirmingly and moved her head down, their eyes closed as their lips met.
"Oh!" She moved her head back up and tapped Nephiah on the shoulder, prompting her to put her back down on the ground. "I forgot something!" She reached into the jewelry box and took out the rings from both Nephiah's side and her own. With the exception of the enchantments on them they were identical. She put both of them in place on the hands they belonged to. She placed her palm on the back of Nephiah's hand, rings side by side. She sighed.
Nephiah looked at her, unsure of the significance of the gesture.
"I had those made at the temple of Mara in Riften. Look, they were forged as a pair! They belong together, you see?" She pointed at the identical gems crafted into both of them. "They usually only give them out in a ceremony. But after telling the priest our story, I convinced him to let me have them. Now you have one and I have one." She smiled at her, uncertain of her reaction.
Nephiah looked at their hands for a moment. "Forged as a pair...", she said faintly. She looked back up, Brelyna nodded energetically. She pulled her close again and nodded slowly.
A deep rumble shook the cave, dust and earth loosened and rained down from the ceiling. And a second time. They looked around in worry and surprise. The early warning system rattled, letting Nephiah know a trap in the corridor had been triggered.
"That priest...", she said, "...tell him where we are?"
Brelyna's eyes widened. "No?" She gasped and put a hand over her mouth. "I may have given him a general direction?"
Nephiah let go and quickly handed her the mage's robe.
"He wanted to perform the ritual here! I had to tell him something so he'd know how far it is! Damnit!"
Nephiah flipped the door switch. As it slowly opened, it revealed movement on the far end, it was too dark to see who it was. She could make out a hand reaching down, triggering a trap on purpose which then shot its wooden spikes into empty space in front of it. She rushed outside and kicked the lever there, breaking it clean off. An arrow was fired from the darkness, it shattered on her arm plating. She rushed back in and closed the door back up.
She looked at Brelyna who had already slipped into the robe and was in the process of applying her enchanted equipment. "We have to leave." "Damnit!" She rushed to the bookshelf and grabbed the two backpacks that were resting underneath it, fully packed. She slipped into one of them and handed the other to Nephiah who put hers on the ground beside her.
"Step away from the door, please.", a muffled voice sounded from the corridor.
Brelyna gasped. "Master Neloth!"
The look on Nephiah's face darkened. "There are no masters."
The door began to break, the cracks slowly widened and let through bright blue light. As it burst open, it sent its rocky debris flying through the room. Nephiah instinctively turned and stepped in front of Brelyna, shielding her from the impact of several heavy stones. They hit her back plate instead, leaving dents and scratch marks behind. Her face showed the discomfort of the shockwaves making their way through her bones.
Neloth slowly stepped through the dust cloud that had replaced the door. "You are hard to find, young Maryon."
Nephiah turned back around and faced him.
Brelyna remained silent. The cave only had the one entrance, she didn't know what to do.
"You know, your father blames ME for your disappearance. He insists I'm the one to bring you back. Now you know full well that I have important research to conduct at home." He looked at Nephiah. "And quite frankly, this is beneath me."
Two Dunmer fighters in Bonemold armor stepped in behind him. "He even sent an assault detachment to help find you. Who would have thought his losing his only child to a dirty commoner would cause such a stir."
Nephiah's eyes turned into slits, her grip on her swords tightened. His words had no affect on her, his mere presence did.
He spotted the matching rings on their hands. "Those aren't Bonds of Matrimony, are they?." He sounded amused. "You should know that young Maryon comes with certain baggage." He waved at Nephiah like he was saying hello.
She moved her left arm back to throw the sword squarely at his skull. As it reached its peak, ready to hurl the sword forward, she noticed Brelyna's hand touching her, blocking the way. She could easily finish the movement. But Brelyna's soft touch was enough to give her pause. She looked to her side, Brelyna slightly shook her head. She lowered the arm.
Neloth gave off a short condescending laugh. "Come peacefully and you won't be harmed.", he said as if required to, hoping they wouldn't comply.
The fighters behind him primed their bows.
Nephiah looked at her love. "Want to leave?"
She nodded.
Nephiah rushed to the fire chalice in the center of the room. Both arrows were fired but were deflected on her chest plate.
"You may want to aim for the head.", Neloth said annoyed.
As She reached it, Nephiah grabbed the chalice and knocked it over. A large amount of burning liquid spilled across the floor, building a wall of fire between them.
"Cute.", Neloth said as his hands began to emit a blue glow.
Nephiah rushed back to Brelyna, grabbing her hand while passing her, dragging her towards the kitchen.
Neloth's spell discharged and created a cloak of ice that swirled around him in a sphere. He moved towards the fire.
A lightning bolt shot over their heads as they reached the kitchen. Neloth had blindly fired it into their general direction.
Nephiah let go of Brelyna's hand and pointed at the other exit. "To the back!"
Brelyna left for the storage area running.
Nephiah grabbed the table and tossed it in front of the tunnel. She tore the shelves off the wall, the chair, anything to create a barrier.
"Nowhere to run, my dear."
She grabbed the butcher's knife from the floor and threw it at him.
He evaded, it hit the fighter behind him. It was implanted into his bonemold breast plate, doing no damage to the man. He pulled it out and let it drop to the floor.
Nephiah grabbed the kettle off the fireplace, turned around her own axis and hurled it towards the intruders.
Neloth evaded yet again, the kettle passed him by and hit the same soldier behind him. The solid iron kettle hit him in the head and knocked him off his feet. Upon arriving on the floor he stopped moving.
Nephiah turned around and ran out to where Brelyna would already be waiting.
An ice storm left Neloth's hands and made its way to the kitchen, knocking the blockade away like leaves in the wind.
Brelyna was waiting nervously for Nephiah to catch up with her, listening to the commotion coming from the kitchen.
Finally, she arrived.
"Now what?!", she yelled realizing they had hit a dead end.
The ice storm behind Nephiah closed in and dissipated short of leaving the tunnel. The door to the secret room was still open, Brelyna had never found a reason to close it. Nephiah grabbed her upper arm, dragged her to the entrance and shoved her in. Then she hit the button, closing the door between them
"No wait!", Brelyna yelled as the stone door separated her from her love, delivering her to Neloth in her place. "No please no!" She hammered her fists against the door that had become indistinguishable from the rocky walls that surrounded it.
Nephiah unsheathed her swords and slowly paced up and down the room as Neloth entered.
He looked around with a puzzled look on his face. "Secret room?", he asked smirking.
Nephiah stopped moving and faced him, rotating the swords on her wrists a couple of times.
"So you're her bodyguard then."
The look on her face darkened more and more, she raised an arm in front of her, pointing her sword at him.
"Very good." Without pause, he turned his palms towards her, firing lightning strikes in her direction. Prepared for it, she instantly began to run to her right, evading the impact. She ran alongside the wall of the circular cave, behind the line of shelves. He kept firing, trying to hit her, shelves shattered upon getting struck by magic projectiles, their contents scattered around the room, parts of the clothing lit on fire. The semi circle she moved in drew her closer and closer to him.
As he noticed his target was moving towards him, he stopped the rapid fire and charged a more powerful strike. As it hit the shelf she was passing, it propelled it towards her. She raised her forearm to block it, it impacted on the plated glove and was redirected over her head. It hurt but she didn't slow down, she needed the momentum.
The cave walls were dug unevenly. Occasionally spots were sticking out near the floor. One of those spots she used as a stepping stone, jumping into the air towards him, raising her right arm to strike.
Surprised by the maneuver he fired two lightning strikes at her in short succession but his aim was off.
When she descended upon him, his left jaw was struck by the combined force of her body weight and the speed at which it was traveling, her right hook and the fire inside of her that fueled it, all wrapped up in a steel plate glove.
He crashed into the floor and immediately stopped moving.
She raised both her hands, the swords pointing down. She gave off a scream of rage as she brought them down upon her motionless foe. They missed his head to the left and right by a hair. She was breathing heavily as she tried not to kill him yet again.
An arrow shattering on her back plate brought her back to the here and now. She turned, three more Telvanni soldiers had entered. The one in the middle was readying another arrow as the ones to his left and right began to charge, their swords raised.
Nephiah brought her weapons up, blocking both blows simultaneously. They hit again, she deflected. She turned around on her own axis 360 degrees and upon arriving in the starting position she brought her right hand sword down across the chest of the soldier to her right. The sharp ebony blade cut through the bonemold like butter. The sword continued its trajectory to the soldier to her left who stopped its movement with his sword at hip height.
Without hesitation Nephiah brought her left hand sword forward, impaling his chest until it exited the soldiers back. Then she quickly pulled it back, both of them dropped to the floor.
She looked at the archer, bloodlust in her eyes.
He was visibly nervous. He released another arrow.
Nephiah instantly got to her knees, making the projectile miss. As she arrived at the floor, she stuck both her weapons into the earth and picked up one of the soldier's swords instead.
As the archer tried to prime another arrow, she got back up and hurled the sword towards him. It came to a halt in his forehead, he dropped down.
Lightning struck her from below, its force threw her across the room until she crashed into a wall and fell to the ground. Blue sparks were coursing through her armor for a few seconds before they dissipated. She was lying on her stomach. She tried to push herself up but failed to raise her torso more than a few centimeters before crashing back down. Her arms had lost all their strength as they were still shaking from the shock that just ran through them.
Neloth pushed himself off the ground with a moan. He quickly shook his head to remove the blurriness from his vision, then looked around to see where his target had fallen. He spotted her on the ground, surrounded by burning bits of clothing. He stepped up to her and sighed. "Look at what you have reduced me to. A blasted bounty hunter." He moved his hands towards her and let off a continuous stream of electricity.
She clenched her teeth as the intense pain shot through her torso to her arms and legs, her throat and eventually her head. He stopped the spell after a few seconds and looked at her.
"I do appreciate the armor though. Perfect conduit for lightning magic." He released another series of shocks.
She squeezed her eyes shut, the pain made tears run out of them.
He stopped again, puzzled that she remained silent through the ordeal. "Hm. Usually this is the part where you're supposed to scream.", he said in his usual smug tone of voice. "Pain and screaming are an inseparable pair, my dear, did nobody ever tell you how this works?"
Her eyes opened, she looked up at him. The fire in her chest flared up, fueled by his words. She didn't see Neloth any longer, she saw every man that had stood over her like this to cause her pain. Her eyes reflected her desire to kill him, he hesitated as he recognized it.
She stuck her arm out and grabbed a burning piece of cloth. As she turned herself to her back, she threw it across the room, it landed on a clay jug that was standing in the back alongside many more pots and vases.
He followed its flight path with his eyes and looked back at her.
She was now lying on her back, her arms spread out, looking up at him, her rage showing on her face.
"All right?", he said confused, "Let's finish this up."
He began to charge a more powerful spell. As the charge reached its peak, the burning piece of cloth sunk into the jug, igniting the gasses on the surface of the lantern oil that resided inside. The pressure instantly made the vessel burst, sending clay shards flying across the room, Neloth raised his forearm to protect his face.
The other containers burst as well, sending a large amount of burning fluid across the floor and drops of it through the air. The ones that hit Nephiah's steel armor quickly disappeared, the ones that hit Neloth's mage robes lingered, eventually spreading their fire.
As he realized that his robe were indeed burning over an ever increasing part of its surface, he began to panic. First he tapped on the burning spots to quell the fire but since it was fueled by lamp oil it wasn't that easy. "Damn you!", he shouted as he began to release columns of ice directed at himself.
Nephiah used the distraction to get back to her feet and find the last oil jug that had remained intact.
He stopped his efforts to fight the fire, glittering snowflakes falling to the ground all around him, melting as they got close to the floor. He noticed her standing on the far wall, the jug in her raised hand. His robe had mostly stopped burning, except for a tiny flame still flickering on his shoulder.
A second of silence passed as they both realized what was going to happen next. "You missed a spot.", she said before hurling the jug across the room.
He raised his arm to deflect but the clay shattered on impact, making oil rain down on him. The little flame on his shoulder was enough to light him up like a torch. He instantly began to scream and ran for the exit. His burning shape reflected in Nephiah's rage filled eyes, her gaze locked on him for as long as he was visible.
Eventually he was out of sight, she looked around. The room was on fire, the wooden supports that held the ceiling up burned and cracked, it wouldn't be long before the cave would collapse.
She grabbed her swords, sheathed them behind her back and quickly moved to hit the button to the secret room, the door began to open.
"Azura!" Brelyna instantly lowered her hands in which she had prepared fire balls to throw at any hostile coming through the door. She rushed forward and threw her arms around Nephiah's neck, relieved it was she who opened the door. Then she scanned the room with big eyes, a burning realm of chaos that used to be a simple storage area mere minutes ago. "What..." She looked at the bodies on the floor. "Where is Neloth?!"
Nephiah shrugged.
"Did you kill him?"
Nephiah shrugged again.
"How..." Before she could finish another thought her hand was grabbed and she was pulled out of the room.
The fire in the living area had spread as well, there was no saving it. As they crossed for the exit, Nephiah picked the other backpack up from the floor. Wooden beams began to crack and fall from the ceiling, there wasn't much time. They began to cough in the atmosphere filled with dark grey smoke. Nephiah navigated the tunnel by memory, unable to see more than a meter ahead, never letting go of Brelyna's hand, the fire rumbling behind them. Stepping over rocks and wooden spikes of her traps, they eventually they reached the ladder that lead to the surface.
The hatch was flung open, a column of smoke began to rise from it into the blue sky.
Brelyna emerged first, arriving on all fours, coughing heavily.
Nephiah followed and quickly shut the hatch behind her before letting herself fall to her back, working on getting the smoke out of her lungs.
"Ready!", a voice shouted from afar.
Nephiah opened her eyes and moved her head up to see where it was coming from.
Brelyna got to her feet and turned around.
Neloth was standing in front of ten of his soldiers, a fair bit away from the shore. He was dripping wet from crossing the pond, his robes had black burn marks all over.
The soldiers were drawing their arrows.
"Aim!" He shouted, the ten primed bows aimed slightly up at the command.
Nephiah got to her feet and stepped close to Brelyna who was breathing heavily in panic, helplessly looking at her impending death. "Stay behind me."
A deep rumble began to shake the ground. It was violent enough to make the soldiers lose aim and lower their bows instead of firing. They looked around, trying to determine what was causing it. The earth broke open in a circle around them, throwing earth and dust into the air. cracks formed alongside the circle's diameter, intersecting in the middle, the ground dropped a few centimeters. They lost secure footing, trying to keep their balance.
Realizing they were standing over one of the caves, Neloth began to shout. "Move move move!" But before any of them could run any meaningful distance, the entire circle collapsed into the ground, leaving a large hole, thick clouds of black and brown color rising from it.
Brelyna looked at Nephiah in disbelief. "Our home!"
Nephiah had her usual stern look, she didn't seem to be affected by the destruction of her homestead. She was still catching her breath but looked normal otherwise as she observed the tall and wide column of dust rise up.
Eventually she turned to look at Brelyna. "You said you had a plan to get to Siegalf?"
Brelyna gave off a short laugh. She looked back at the rumbling dust cloud that used to be their refuge. "All right then."
She stuck two fingers into her mouth and whistled loudly. A horse echoed from the woods and emerged shortly after, galloping to the pond's shore. "May I introduce you?" Brelyna moved through the water to greet the horse.
Nephiah followed after a moment of confusion.
"Hey..." Brelyna lay her hands on the horses face, gently moving them up and down. As Nephiah arrived at her side, she turned around with an excited smile. "He used to be a Stormcloak, now he is my friend!"
Nephiah looked at her with skepticism. "He saved your life back then, you know. Pulled you all the way back here. I set him free afterwards, removed the saddle and all the things they strapped on him. But he always stayed close by. Came in handy too, when I needed to get to places. I guess he is part of the family now."
Nephiah looked at the horse, then back at her, still skeptical.
"I call him Sparks!"
Nephiah looked at the horse again, scanning its shape for a moment. "I'll walk."
Brelyna put a hand to the horses back, it fell to its knees, making it easier for her to get on. They seemed to have come to an understanding long ago. She extended a hand to her warrior. "Come on, scaredy pants."
Nephiah sighed and hurled herself onto the horse behind her mage. The horse stood back up and let itself be guided by gentle pushes of Brelyna's hand. It turned and began to walk away. More rumbling noises were heard behind them as more of their former home caved in. Brelyna looked back. "That's the third home I had to give up.", she said, melancholy in her voice.
Nephiah put her head on her shoulder. "Me too."
