My Sweet Mother
By Jerickk
Chapter 1: My Sweet Mother (pt. 1)
Set 163 years after the death of Emperor Titus Mede II… (4E 364)
Ever wonder why some people join the brotherhood? There are those who are trained from birth in the art of murder, for these souls this is simply all they know, they know no other way of life. Then you have your lunatics and psychopaths, these people enjoy inflicting pain on others and revel in watching the light leave the eyes of those they kill while some enjoy the hunt, stalking and chasing their prey waiting for the right moment to move in for the kill. Then you have your natural borns, those just born with a talent for violence, some embracing it, others fighting it and some not sure what to make of this talent.
In the Hold of Falkreath, the province of Skyrim lived Tharic Heartrage, a Nord boy of 16 with short silver hair, blue eyes, a lean build but still tall. Living with his mother in a little hut on the outskirts of Falkreath city, Tharic found himself once again at his mother's side helping another one of Falkreath's unfortunate citizens.
"Another bandit attack mother?"
"Yes as it would seem Tharic, you work on healing the legs while I'll focus on mending the body."
Tharic's hands glowed with a golden aura, healing the cuts and wounds of the traveller, the sight of blood use to make Tharic sick but now after so many healings he had just gotten used to the sight and smells of blood.
Once the traveller was healed he left as son has he had arrived, not even some much as a farewell. Tharic was always shock by the treatment he and his mother received from the people of Falkreath city, the people made a habit of alienating Tharic and his mother for their open practice of magic but whenever one of them was attacked by an animal or bandit they would come crawling, literally, to their doorstep begging for aid.
Tharic's mother never turned anyone away and didn't even ask for coin in exchange for the service, she believed that help should be given to those that need it. Tharic tried to feel same way as his mother did but found it difficult, he didn't believe in helping those that didn't accept him simply because he could do things that other couldn't or didn't understand.
"Do you think they will ever accept us for mages Mother?"
"It is hard to accept what you are scared of Tharic, maybe someday they might accept us but that day is long and far. Go now and get some wood for the fire."
Tharic's mother always had a way of making boring chores slightly less boring as she did it with a smile and a slight laugh in her voice making it seem chores were that little more enjoyable.
Tharic's Mother was a tall thin woman of berton descent (Tharic's father a Nord no longer with them). She was in her late thirties, 36 to be exact, her hair was dark brown and flowing down to her mid back it had only just started to grey, her eyes were dark almost black. She had a slim figure, sharp facial features and a comforting aura about her.
Tharic made his way to his usually spot for collecting wood, a fallen tree which he used to snap branches off, when he got their he had found that the tree had entirely gone, the villagers of Falkreath must have cut up the tree from days ago, which left Tharic to wonder the woods in search of branches laying on the ground.
The day had grown dark and the winds started to pick up, rain and thunder roared all around Tharic he knew he had to hurry as the wood would eventually get to damp to burn. As he wondered the road looking from side to side for anything he could use, over yonder, down a small hill off the road, he found that another tree had fallen to the strong winds and that it was ripe for the plucking.
Tharic quickly raced down to the tree almost slipping due to the rain and began a long process of stripping what he could from the tree. Once he had all that he could carry, Tharic turn around to head back up the road but found himself confronted by an odd rock formation imbedded in the stone. The rock was a black as a shadow and the rain weighted heavily on Tharic's face, barely able to make out the formation. As he grew closer to the rock wall Tharic noticed that it was not in fact a wall but some type of strange door, like none he had ever seen.
The closer he came the more detail he could distinguish; the door had the engraving of a giant skull centred in the middle covering almost the entire door. As Tharic grew even closer so did his fear of the door, and then he saw etched on the forehead of the skull, a right hand which was coloured a shade of red that put Tharic even more on the edge then he was already.
"What in the name of Talos?"
The rain seemed to fall even heavier and the wind became even stronger as Tharic reached out to touch the black door, but before he could a voice whispered in Tharic's head.
"What is the music of life?"
The voice was deep and dark and sounded like that of an echo, Tharic spun around as if expecting to meet someone behind him, but there was no one. As Tharic reached for the door again he was stopped by a voice once more not that of a deep echo but that of crying child. Even amongst the rain and wind he could make out the faint cries of a child, a girl no less.
It came from the road up the small hill that concealed the door, Tharic raced up onto the road to see a small girl sitting in the middle of the road with her face buried in her hands, sobbing.
The girl had brown hair and sightly pale skin, and couldn't have been any older than ten; she wore what was considered the standard clothing of any child living in Skyrim, a long dress made out of cloth that flowed all the way down to her feet but in the colours of black and red. She also wore a belt much bigger than any other child would wear with an unusually shaped buckle that Tharic couldn't quite figure out from a distance.
"Are you alright?"
Tharic shouted at the girl concerned for her wellbeing, moving ever closer towards her. The girl looked up towards Tharic, still crying.
"I lost my mummy and daddy."
The girl rosed to her feet, still rubbing her face, trying to hide her tears that where trickling down her check, or was it the rain? Tharic couldn't tell the difference.
"It's going to be okay, I help you find your ma and pa."
"You will? Thankyou mister!"
The girls face lit up as Tharic grew closer, in among the mist of the rain Tharic extended his hand out towards the girl. Tharic focussing on reaching for her hand didn't see the change of expression on the girls face, changing from a relieving smile to a sadistic glee.
Just as Tharic's hand was about to reach the girl's a flash of lighting came down from above throwing Tharic onto his back and the girl on hers, leaving a wide berth of space between them on the road. Tharic struggled to his feet, even tho the lighting strike did not hit it him directly it still took its toll from mere shock alone. Tharic check to see if the girl was alright but she could not be found anywhere, as he scabbed to his feet he heard a familiar voice.
"THARIC!"
It was his mother, she had come running down the side of a hill from the distance and rushed to her son's side.
"What do you think you are doing? You could have been killed."
"Mother I am sorry for staying out this late but there was a girl you see and she needed my help."
"Trust me dear, you were the one who needed help."
Tharic was confused as to what his mother meant, what possible harm could a little girl bring to a mage like himself? Tharic was more than capable than handling the occasional bandit that came to close to their house.
As both mother and son turned around to head back to their home, there was the little girl standing in the road, as still as a statue and as quite as a corpse.
"Tharic head back home right now, take the long way around but hurry."
"Why mother? What's wrong? She's just a little girl."
"No she is not."
Tharic knew better than to question his mother but still couldn't believe that this girl was as big of a threat as his Mother made her out to be. But just as his Mother instructed Tharic headed back home as fast as his legs could carry him.
It was now well into the night and winds had died down while the rain had lighten to a feathery shower. The mother and child stood on the road across form one another staring each other down.
"I know what you are night spawn, keep away from my son"
"O sweety I can't do that, you see your son saw something he shouldn't have and that presents somewhat of a problem for me. You know how it is, loose ends and all"
The girl, as young as she may have looked spoke with such age and authority, far exceeding that of a 10 year old child.
"Please just leave us alone, I don't want any trouble with you or your kind. My son and I live outside of the city, the villagers don't even like us being this close, and we won't cause you any grief."
Tharic's mother pleaded with the night child, but her plea's seemed to fall on deaf ears.
"I'm sorry but my family don't do 'favours', your son is a problem and must be dealt with accordingly."
"I swear if you come anywhere near my son I will burn you and all of your night dwelling family."
Tharic's mother's hand suddenly ignited into flames but the girl chuckled at the threats made against her, as if she was joking.
"You think that's the kind of family I lead (giggles). O sweety the kind of family I lead is the kind you differently don't want coming after you, I will admit you may kill two or even three of my brothers and sisters but we send as many as it takes to get the job done. We will be coming for you, of that you can be sure."
Without a second glance the little girl had vanished from sight and with that Tharic's mother raced back home.
Tharic was quietly waiting for his mother's return and suddenly the door swung open. His mother instructed that Tharic pack everything he needed to travel and abandon the rest as they were leaving Falkreath, leaving Skyrim for good. Tharic wanted to know why but his mother explained that there was no time to argue, so Tharic packed what he could as fast as he could.
"When are we leaving mother?"
"As soon as day breaks it will be safer then but for now we must remain here as it is safer."
"But why do we need to leave? Does this have to do with that girl on the road?"
"Don't you worry about that, all you have to do is just trust me that this is best for both of us right now okay?"
Tharic tried to find comfort in his mother words but he found a hard time doing so, never had he seen his mother afraid of anything before and this was a woman who fought off a group of bandits and their pack of wild dogs, all with a lightning bolt in one hand and curse in the other.
"Before we leave I need to go into town to get some supplies, you must stay here while I am away and if anyone approaches the house, shoot fire at them."
"But you said that I am never allowed to use the destruction…"
"I KNOW WHAT I SAID! Just do what I am saying now okay?"
Tharic's mother left straight after that, not wanting to waste any more time then she already had.
Tharic sat alone in the house, staring at the door waiting for his mother to come through. Tharic sat there looking down at his hands which glowed with bright blue fire. One thing that Tharic never understood about himself is that for some reason he was able to conjure blue flames from his hands instead of the regular red that every other mage seemed to.
At first he thought that he must be doing something wrong or that there must be something wrong with him but over time he came to except that this is just a part of who he is and eventually came to like the fact the he is the only mage that he knows of that can conjure blue fire, as it made him feel special.
The next thing Tharic knew it was morning, realising that he must have fallen asleep, he looked around and saw that his mother was nowhere to be found and with that rushed out the door, not caring for the fact that the wrong type of people may be looking for him, he just wanted to know if his mother was alright. Tharic started yelling into the forest calling for his mother but was met with no answer.
He remembered that his mother was headed for Falkreath to get supplies, so without hesitation he headed straight for the hold's capital. As he approached the gates of the city Tharic saw that there was a big crowd gathering around the town square, curious as he was he headed towards the crowd. As Tharic got closer to the centre he saw that there as great wooden stake standing up right in the centre of the square and all the towns' villagers were gathering around it.
Tharic pushed and squeezed his way to the front to find that he was meet with what can only be describe as his greatest nightmare. Tharic's mother was tied to the great wooden stake which was litted with logs and sticks. The Jarl of Falkreath had made his way to the front of the crowd, he held a roll of paper, preparing to read from it.
"I Flogar, Jarl of Falkreath, here by sentence you to death for the crimes of unlawful witchcraft, necromancy and attempted murder of a child. What are you last words in your final moments?"
"I have done nothing wrong, the child was a creature of the night and I have never used necromancy or unlawful magic."
As Tharic's mother tried to plea her case in her last desperate moments, villagers from the crowd started to shout accusations.
"She lies; I saw her call down lighting from the storm that she started, she tried to kill a child in cold blood using a storm!"
"Its true I saw it too, and she was also resurrecting corpses as well!"
"Burn the witch!"
One by one more villagers joined in on the chanting, Tharic couldn't believe what was happening. The Jarl of Falkreath stepped forward with a torch in hand and prepared to ignite the stake but in a fit of rage Tharic rammed his way through the crowd and blasted the Jarl with a powerful wave of ice. The Jarl was thrown off his feet and landed far back from the stake, in the confusion Tharic raced to untie his mother but the guards had intervened grabbing the boy and binding his hands prevent him from using magic to save his mother from her fate.
Tharic watched as the Jarl regained the torch and proceed to light the stake on fire, Tharic could only watch as his mother was burned alive in front of him. She yelled and scream in pain from the flames, burst of lightning and ice came from her hands, attempts to free herself but to no success. Tharic broke down in tears as his mother continued to be engulfed in flames, her flesh crackling, hair and fingernails melting. The smell itself was enough to send Tharic mad but the sounds sent him over the edge as did the expressions on his mother face.
"I LOVE YOU"
In her last moments Tharic tried to commune with her one last time but Tharic's mother could not hear her son as her own screams deafened his voice.
For what seemed like an eternity was finally over, the flames had died and so had the rest of the crowd which just stood there in silence. The Jarl of Falkreath approached Tharic, took a hold of his jaw with his left hand and proceeded with a punch. Tharic stood silent as if unaffected by the blow.
"You dare strike a Jarl of Skyrim? I will see you dead for that boy, just like your whore of a mother."
What little restraint Tharic had disappeared with that one comment. In a burst of absolute anger a tremendous wave of energy exploded from Tharic body, releasing him from his binds and sending not only the Jarl flying 80 yards away but also every person within range of the blast which was easily 5 meters in every direction. Everyone was shocked at the display of power but no more than Tharic himself.
Once realising that he was free of his binds Tharic ran from Falkreath, the guards that were not knocked unconscious were shooting arrows at him from a distance. Using magic from the illusion school Tharic cloaked himself in a camouflage spell and ran for his house on the edges of town.
When Tharic got to his house he knew that the guards would not be far behind as where he lived was no secret but he couldn't help himself, Tharic collapsed on the floor crying for the loss of his mother. It wasn't soon after that that Tharic kept repeating the same phrase over and over again to himself, nothing more than a slight whisper.
"I will kill them all."
"I will kill them all."
"I will kill them all."
To be continued….