Chapter One ~ No Use In Hiding
Liviel had been walking for a long while now, and she hadn't found any other signs of life. No plant, no animal, no nothing. She even started wondering if the surface world had become dead and considered going back. She didn't want to, though. She then suddenly heard some growling coming from her left. Her saliva caught in her throat as she saw a rather hungry-looking white wolf. Her fingers twitched as she readied an ice spear spell, but she didn't do anything, in case the animal was friendly or something — although she highly doubted it. Its eyes shone menacingly and it started running for her, not noticing the frost dancing around one of her clenched white hands. She swiftly aimed and released the deadly spell at its speeding form, only for the predatory animal to suddenly stop, sharp ice embedded into its flesh, howling in pain as life quickly escaped it.
The lithe Snow Elf bit her lip as realization struck her; she had just taken a life. She shook her head, telling herself she had taken the poor creature out of its misery. It must have been extremely hard to live there, and looking over at the body, it was scrawny and frail-looking. She then looked around, seriously asking herself if she should just go back home if this snow desert would be all she would ever see.
No, it couldn't. Y'ffre would never let his beloved forests die; she hasn't been on the surface long enough and thus she couldn't draw such conclusions yet. With renewed determination, she continued her walk into her previously randomly chosen direction with an ice spear spell at the ready, just in case. She didn't come across any more of these odd four-legged creatures — she didn't exactly know what they were. She could then suddenly recognize smoke columns rising from somewhere far before her. Rare were her kin's fires, but she could recall seeing smoking ones once or two times in her life so far.
She walked faster towards that sign rising in the sky, hoping to see friendly civilization. It didn't take too long to reach the city, where she could see a few houses made out of wood and a few bushes bearing small, odd red fruit. She also noticed that the men and women walking around, tending to their business, had round ears. They conversed in a language she didn't know, something she had completely forgotten to take into account before she left.
Liviel hugged her cloak tighter around her, not because she was cold but because she was afraid. She couldn't understand anything, or anyone, for that matter. Then someone dressed in leather armour came to her, some sort of odd trinkets strapped to his back, and asked her something — this much had been obvious with his tone of voice. She simply cluelessly stared back at him from under her cloak's hood and embarrassedly continued walking.
One of Eradan's chestnut-coloured eyebrows slightly raised as he watched the girl he had just greeted walk away without so much of a response. He was a bit confused, but the sorry state of her clothing traded away his confusion for worry. You see, he possessed one of the most generous hearts you could ever have, but that hadn't come without its price… Anyways, he walked along the main road, the College of Winterhold his destination, but he kept a watchful eye on the stranger. He had expected her to enter the inn, but she actually walked past it and was slowly heading towards the college. Was she an aspiring Mage?
He wasn't surprised in the least when Faralda, who was standing at the bridge's gates, demanded of her to show her aptitude with magic and ignored the sate of the other's torn cloak. He understood that his hypothesis was wrong when the girl backed away into him, seemingly surprised or maybe even afraid. He had no idea that she, instead, just couldn't understand their words and was frightened because of that. When she looked back up at him — for she was about half a head shorter than he was — he caught the odd glow of her powder blue irises that briefly fixed one his pointed ears.
He looked back at Faralda, realizing that the girl was actually lost and afraid and needed some immediate attention before her state worsened. "Just let her pass," he calmly told the High Elf.
She crossed her arms as she said, slightly annoyed, "Not unless she passes the test."
"Can you not see how tired she is?" he replied, since he knew stating how poorly dressed Liviel — he didn't know her name yet, though — was against the frosty elements was useless, as obvious as it was. "Get her inside, she shall pass the test later. She isn't even wearing footwear," he added.
"Eradan, the College does not offer charity work, you fully well know that."
"Then it should make an exception this once. I will take full responsibility."
She sighed after a while and said, "Fine, fine." She then muttered something under her breath for herself.
"Because I possess a heart," he replied to whatever she had said with a smirk.
"I often forget the Bosmers' acutest hearing…" she muttered louder as she stepped aside, making the other chuckle.
"You are not the only one, trust me," he replied, amusement colouring his clear voice.
He then walked ahead of Liviel, who had half-guessed that they had been arguing about her, only to turn around with a small encouraging smile as he gestured to her to come with him. The Snow Elf didn't know what to do. She was a stranger here, and that smile of his could be a mask to hide evil wishes for all she knew. Still, his encouraging smile reminded her so much of Aegols'...
'Go ahead, you shall be safe,' that comforting voice echoed in her head once more, bringing along with it numbness to most of her wariness. She followed the tan Elf.
She looked up the translucent blue light pillars that reached the sky, and then she looked down, down below the bridge, only to see how high the cliff actually was. She wasn't afraid of heights, though she could still feel slight vertigo pulling at her heart.
"Have you been travelling for long?" Eradan suddenly asked her, genuinely curious.
She looked at him and looked away, out at the freezing sea's horizon. He frowned at her silence, but he figured she could simply be shy. They didn't know each other, and he knew that not many people would do what he had just done for a complete stranger. He got used to it, though, but it was the first time he didn't even get a nod or a hum in acknowledgement. She only tightened her grip on her cloak.
He then led her to the side once they reached the circular courtyard, and he pushed open one of the heavy doors of the apprentices' quarters, ushering her inside.
"Hey, Eradan, I have this new spell—" some apprentice Mage started, only to be caught off by said Elf.
"Sorry, but now is not the best of times," he politely dismissed them as he led Liviel to his own quarters. The Mage nodded in understanding once they saw the state of the company the other had.
The Bosmer then opened his dresser and took out some warm-looking robes. Of course, he knew they would be too large for the girl — she was about half a head shorter than he was and he was sure she was quite thin under that cloak of hers — but that was all he had. He didn't expect her to change in his company, so he pointed to her an empty corner of his own quarters.
"I shall stand over there, back turned, making sure no one comes and bothers you, alright?" he asked her.
Liviel didn't know what he had said, but she could guess his words' content with his gift and his actions, so she slowly nodded and headed towards the corner to change as he did what he had said. Cold never bothered her, for her skin grew numb against it and it wasn't dangerous for her, but she was still grateful for the robes; they could hide her skin way more easily than her current garments. Not only that, but it seemed that wearing hoods was perfectly fine where she currently found herself. She wouldn't need to hug her cloak to her body anymore, but she wasn't willing to part with it just yet.
Once she was done, she made her way back to him and tapped his shoulder to tell him it were so. That's when she noticed that he had taken off the bow and quiver that had been previously strapped to his back. Once he turned around, he gestured to her to sit on a wooden chair as he told her he would be right back with a bit to eat, and she understood he would be back since he lifted one finger in the air as to say 'give me a minute'. She nodded, and then her gaze locked onto the glowing blue light in the centre of the circular hall as he left.
A few seconds later, Eradan was back with fruits, vegetables, bread and cheese. Enough for two. He sat down at the girl's opposite, and he stayed silent as they ate; he wanted to give her a break. Liviel had been a bit suspicious of the food at first, but since he had mindlessly started to dig in, she had as well. She had just realized how hungry she was, and she smiled at the unfamiliar, but mouth-watering tastes flooding her senses. The Bosmer was glad that she helped herself, but he wondered why she still hid her face. And why was her skin so white? Was she a sickly Nord? Maybe— no, if she was, she wouldn't have made it all the way here...
He stood up, suddenly remembering the main reason why he had come back to the college. "I will be right back," he told her with a smile, still wanting her to rest a bit. What was his surprise when she stood up as well and followed him across the circular hall. "You do not wish to stay and rest?" he kindly asked her, jerking his head towards his quarters. She looked behind to see what he had gestured, but she shook her head and stared at her feet, staying put. Eradan chuckled, making her look back up at him, as he nicely patted her shoulder. "Alright, come with me."
He led her back outside, only to head to the doors leading to the Hall of Elements. She stared at the beautiful inside architecture, and he practically had to lightly tap one of her forearms so she would follow him again up to the Arcanaeum. Liviel inhaled the comforting scent of musky old books with a smile. She followed the Wood Elf up to the counter in the room's very end, and she gulped when she saw the green-skinned humanoid behind the wooden desk, wide-eyed and heart pounding in her chest in fear. He had large yellow teeth protruding from his mouth too, and she suddenly highly doubted her race was considered a threat anymore if this… this thing wasn't.
"Eradan! Back so soon?" the Orc-Mage warmly asked the Bosmer.
"Yes, well, that last book was quite easy to track," he replied with a smile. "The bandits did not stand a chance." Yeah, all that past mercenary work had somehow paid off in a different way...
He forced the thought out of his mind as he took out a book from his weathered leather messenger bag a very old-looking book. He and the other exchanged a few words, but that didn't mean that the Orsimer wasn't warily watching the Snow Elf that finally understood he would pose her no harm. He took his job very seriously, and his profound love for books only made him more cautious. Liviel's attention, though, was captivated by an other book on the counter, which was opened and had a sheet of paper with unintelligible scribbles for her resting on top of it. The runes on the old pages were in her native language. Carefully, she reached out to take the opened book and gently casted the paper aside. Tears then threatened to escape from her eyes as she read the first lines;
'And when the Snow Prince fell to ground,
The Ice Elves divided above and below.
Now vanquished and brutally bound,
One moment had shattered all they did know.'
She quietly clasped a hand over her mouth as she remembered what Aeglos had told her long, long ago; the tale of how their beloved prince had been slain. He had seen it first hand, like so many others of her clan that had fled together for refuge not too long before. This… This was a poetic account of her kind's downfall. The last lines talked about the damed deal with the Dwemer most had accepted. She didn't quite know what happened to them in the long run — this was a touchy subject a youngling like her shouldn't have been inquiring much about — but she knew that her kind dubbed them 'The Betrayed'. She knew that they had all become blind, but she had no idea of the extent of the toxins' damage.
She truly held a strong animosity towards these Deep Elves and all their damed cities.
She then looked up, catching the other two's gazes. Eradan looked over at what she had just read, to see what troubled her, but he only saw strange runes he couldn't decipher. He recognized it as Falmer text, though, since he had been to Markarth and had met with Calcemo many times with Snow Elven books of the College in need of translations. It dawned on him that... No, that wasn't possible, right?
"Are you a Falmer?" he asked her in disbelief.
The only word she understood was 'Falmer', and honestly, it was the only one she needed to know his question's content. She stared at her feet and slowly, borderline hesitantly, pulled off her hood. For all he had done for her, she trusted him and she only hoped she had done the right thing, and the Orsimer seemed to be a good friend of his. Eradan could now see the intricate designs of plaits and fishtails braided in her long and mostly loose platinum blonde — no, snow white — hair. This, her ears, her skin colour and her glowing light blue irises only further confirmed the two's knowledgeable suspicions.
Not just anyone knew about the Snow Elves' existence and history. Well, they weren't experts on the subject — no one had ever been as well— but they could both tell one when they saw one. The Wood Elf now understood why she never spoke and seemed to ignore him most of the time: she just didn't know what he had been telling her.
He gave her an understanding smile. "Eradan," he said, placing a hand over his heart. This turned out to be more complex than he had bargained for, but it didn't bother him all that much. He actually enjoyed challenges. He then pointed at the other with his palm and said, "Urag."
The green-skinned humanoid told the Elf something, seemingly irked, but the other dismissed him with a few words of his own. It didn't take long, though, for the Snow Elf to realize that he was giving her their names.
She pointed at herself and said, "Liviel," with a small smile, forcing what she had just read out of her thoughts. She also wondered if the piece of paper from earlier was the book's translation. If it was, maybe, just maybe, others of her kind had come out of hiding before she had and had shared their heritage, their language, their history. She seriously hoped so, truth be told.
"I shall go to the Arch-Mage and inquire about Liviel's situation," Eradan started, gesturing to the other Elf to follow him once more. "See you soon, Urag gro-Shub."
"Alright, farewell Eradan," he replied as he went to further examine the newest addition to his Arcanaeum.
The Elf nodded and took his leave, gesturing to the other to follow him once more. He led her up to the Arch-Mage's Quarters, but he already had a plan in mind. He would bring her to Calcelmo and his nephew all the way in Markarth, so the first could teach her everything what she would need. Even if he was engrossed in his research, he knew the High-Elf well-enough to know that, if she was willing, her own experiences would be more than enough in exchange fore his services. Besides, she would be safe there.
Yes, that was the right thing to do, and what he was going to ask of Tolfdir.
A.N. Hey, did you know 'Legolas' and 'Aragorn' are also Bosmer names? And 'Gandalf' and 'Saruman'; Altmer? I sure didn't… XD Also, for the sake of this story, I'm making up logical racial traits and such, because it just makes a story much more interesting, in my opinion. If you have an idea — or an objection— feel free to inform me of it! I'd be glad to trim/include them in my story, giving credit where it is due. Thanks for reading! :3
The part of the poem is in an actual book you can find in Skyrim, and it is in Falmer text. It's called 'The Betrayed'. You can find its entirety in the wiki~ :3