Okay, now we meet Teldryn as promised. :)

She made her way upstairs and took a seat in the chair across the table from the armored stranger. "So," she started. "You're a mercenary, I hear."

"Teldryn Sero, blade for hire," he said in a deep, raspy voice. He extended his arm across the table for her to shake his hand. She looked at him for a moment before taking his hand and shaking it.

That voice. He has to be Dunmer. Even though she was familiar with the rasp of most Dunmer voices, his stood out to her for some reason.

"Terah," she said before letting go of his gloved hand. "I also hear you're pretty damn good."

Sitting up straighter with his chest poked out a little, he replied, "Best swordsman in all of Morrowind. If you have the coin, I am at your service."

"Really now?" Terah asked with a brow raised inquisitively. She fumbled for her coin purse. "That's quite a claim. I'll have to see about that."

She slammed a hefty amount of gold on the table. As Teldryn reached out for it, she quickly and firmly grabbed his wrist, stopping him. "Ah, I believe you are mistaken. I am not hiring you. I am challenging you," she said as she rose from her seat with a smirk growing on her face.

He leaned back a little in his chair, folding his arms across his chest. "You want to fight me?"

"No, not fight. Duel. If you win, you get all of this gold you see here and I'll hire you. If I win. . . well, I'll probably still hire you," she said with a chuckle. "But you'll have to buy me a drink. What do you say, Teldryn Sero?"

"Well I hardly see that that's fair. Someone like me against a little Nord like you?" He had a hint of friendly taunt in his voice.

Bah. Little Nord. That takes me back. Before Terah had built up her reputation in Skyrim, everyone had referred to her as the "little Nord."

"I know, right? It isn't very fair to you that you'll have to lose in front of all these people. . ." she trailed off, shaking her head in feigned sympathy.

"Oh, I see how it's going to be," he said playfully as he rose from his seat. He was a good deal taller than her (who wasn't?), but she hardly saw that as much of a threat.

"That's the spirit," she smirked and grabbed the gold, beckoning him to follow her downstairs. She knew that all she had to do was taunt him a little for him to take the bait. As she tossed the gold on the counter, Terah called out to Geldis, "Don't worry Geldis, we won't break anything."

He looked up from cleaning some tankards, "What do you mean you won't break anything?"

This drew everyone's attention to the two. They all turned in their seats to see what was going on. Teldryn and Terah walked over to the end of the room and unsheathed their swords, stretching their muscles in preparation. Geldis easily pieced together what was going on and did not like it one bit.

"Oh, no. No, no, no, no." He started as he nearly jogged around the counter over to them. "Not in here!"

"Relax, Geldis." said Terah reassuringly. "Like I said, we won't break anything," she said while inspecting her dragonbone sword. "Besides, I just wanna see if he's as good as he claims to be."

"By Sheogorath himself. You are mad," he said, shaking his head.

"Alright, here are the rules, Teldryn," she began as she was getting into a fighting stance. "No enchantments, no magic, and no causing any damage to this fine establishment. Other than that, anything goes. Fair enough?"

"Fair enough." He mimicked her actions and got into his own fighting stance as well.

"Alright Geldis, on your mark." She had barely noticed that a crowd had gathered near them to see the action. Terah could hear murmurs of insults and bets being made, but she paid no mind to it.

"If you say so," Geldis sighed. "Three. . . Two. . . One. . . Go!"

Teldryn instantly swung his Elven sword right at her face, but she quickly leaned back and dodged it. He immediately struck again and came down from above aiming for her head, but she blocked the blow in an upward motion. Although she was smaller than him and wasn't even wearing a helmet, he most certainly didn't take care to go easy on her.

Terah noted three things that were prevalent in Teldryn's combat skills; he was quick, agressive, and simply would not let up.

She couldn't help but wonder how in Oblivion he didn't get tired; he just kept on going and would not slow down even in the slightest. After exchanging blow after blow, she finally got him where she wanted him. Terah spun around and struck him hard right in the middle of his back, making him let out a grunt as he lost some of his footing. This was the perfect chance to claim her victory. But before she could even raise her blade for another strike, he had swooped his sword under her right foot. Crying out in surprise, she fell right on her butt. In the blink of an eye, he was on top of her and had her pinned down to the floor with his Elven sword placed firmly on her neck. She had lost.

The crowd cheered for Teldryn's victory. Terah swore she could hear some profanities directed towards her, but she was too distracted by the close proximity of the mysterious man who had bested her. The crowd began to disperse, but he held his position, his face still inches away from hers.

Panting heavily, Terah couldn't help but let out a laugh. "Well butter my butt and call me a biscuit. You are pretty damn good."

Teldryn slowly got off of her and extended out his hand. She took it and he lifted her up onto her feet. "You're not too bad yourself. No hard feelings?"

"None."

He gestured towards her neck, "I didn't hurt you, did I?"

"Oh now you're concerned about my safety," she joked. "You were aiming at my head when I'm not even wearing a helmet."

He shrugged. "Just wanted to show you that fancy jewelry doesn't provide very good protection."

She reached up and touched the gold and ruby circlet that she was wearing, having forgotten that it was there. The memory of the maze she had to go through to get it flashed through her mind. "I only bother with jewelry if its enchanted. This circlet makes spells cost lest magicka to cast."

"Quite handy," he said as he walked over towards the counter, Terah following suit.

"Indeed. Well, there's your gold as promised. Oh, and heres 500 gold for your services," she said as she set even more gold on the counter.

"I don't find that necessary," he said pushing the gold back towards her. "This is more than enough to cover it."

"No, no," she said while shaking her head and sliding the gold back over to him. "I am a woman of my word."

"Well, you may have lost, but I'll still buy you a drink," he said as he sat down on a stool. "Two Sujammas, please."

"Right away," Geldis said as he grabbed a bottle, thankful that their little act didn't get ugly. "I have your drink from earlier that you didn't finish, Terah. It's still fresh if you want it."

"Sure, that'll do," she said as she took a seat next to Teldryn.

"Now how am I supposed to buy you a drink?" he asked, folding his arms across his chest.

"Maybe I don't need you to buy me a drink," she said while smiling at him. "Besides, I'm pretty tired. You should get some rest too. We've got a long day ahead of us tomorrow."

Terah stood up from her seat, Sujamma in hand, and tossed a gold piece over to Geldis. "Wake me up at sunrise, will you?"

"Sure thing, m'lady."

No one could see it under his helmet, but Teldryn was grinning from ear to ear.

What is she thinkin' challenging THE Teldryn Sero?! She be actin' a fool! :o . . . I know im bad at writing fight scenes, so bear with me lol.

And now the quest to find the infamous Miraak begins.