The Falmer Under the Falls
I awoke to the blurry skies above as I lay on my back, my clothes soaked with water- but I wasn't as chilled as I should have been; turning my head to see a fire burning not far from where I lay on the smooth stone.
"Hey, you're not dead. Good for you." said a voice not far from me, I turned to face the sound and found my eyes falling on a dainty young Bosmer woman with oddly cut lavender hair. The back cut short to the nape of her neck, though her long bangs hung around her face and over her left eye slightly; the tips of her bangs skirting over her collar bone with her pointy ears just poking out from behind her bangs.
"Where am I?" I asked her, cautious of this stranger but too curious not to ask.
"The Rift, just north of Dark Water Crossing along the river. You fell off the waterfall and washed up on the shore, I watched and I think someone was trying to catch you- but he didn't wash up so I think he may be dead." She said nonchalantly, as if she cared little for what she was saying.
"What did this person look like?" I asked, hoping it wasn't Zany or Vaughan who had possibly died in an attempt to save me.
"Some Argonian guy, why? Did you know him?" she asked, beginning to realize that her words may have had more of an impact than she had obviously thought. I sighed and looked at the ground… Zany had given his life to try and save mine. It was times like this when I wonder if I am an angel of death, I bring it as an assassin and somehow it seems to follow me everywhere.
"Yes… he was a close friend- like family." I said softly, my eyes burning from the tears I fought back- I refused to let my emotions get the best of me.
"I know how that is, believe me I do. I lost someone close to me about a month ago… it's rough getting over that sort of thing. All you can do is soldier on and try not to think about it- at least, that's what I do." She advised, her words sounding a little wiser than she looked; her somewhat skimpy black and red outfit a little out of place in the cold climate of Skyrim.
"Thank you, Miss?" I asked, having yet to catch this woman's name.
"Name's Rin. And you?" she answered quickly, her lively starlight blue eyes frankly reminding me of a child's as she grinned.
"Alyce Lachance." I responded simply, not mentioning my position as Listener of the Dark Brotherhood; as I did not yet know if this woman could be trusted.
"Well Alyce, if you want you can stick with me until you feel like heading home. I have some business with a bunch of Falmer not far from here, you can come if you want or start heading home." Rin said simply, giving me the choice to assist her or leave for Winterhold. This woman had fished me out of the river before the current could carry me off again; helping her with a bunch of Falmer was hardly any trouble to repay her.
"I think helping you with these Falmer is the least I can do to thank you for your assistance." I said with a kind smile, placing my hand on my hip as I stood- glad to see my weapons were still on my person; though my knapsack was no doubt with Vaughan and Shadowmere at the top of the falls, Steelheart safely within the bag.
"That's a relief. I'm good with a bow, but Falmer- they seem to like to swarm and are faster than all hell. Not easy to line up a good shot when one's trying to bash your skull in." Rin said with a sarcastic chuckle as she placed a bow and quiver on her back, preparing to leave.
We traveled along the river, south to the small mining village of Dark Water Crossing; heading over the nearby bridge and up the path- Rin veering off as we neared the middle waterfall of the three that cascaded down from the large lake up on the high cliff.
"You ready?" she asked as she lead me off the path to a door set into the rocks, a Falmer totem sticking out of the ground beside it. I nodded as I drew my steel daggers and prepared for the worst. We entered the cavern and I was not surprised to find it nearly flooded considering how close it was to a waterfall; Rin letting me pass her without a word- I assumed it was because I was a melee fighter and she was an archer. The water reached my waist before returning to knee height, as it had been when we entered, Rin sighing as we found drier ground. I was about to ask her why the water had unnerved her- but a Falmer jumping down from a nitch on the wall silenced my question as I dodged it's strike, returning it in kind to the soft spot just under its jaw. "Damn, you must do this sort of thing often." Rin said off-handedly, though I tensed at how right she was; just how observant was this Bosmer?
"I had a friend in the Companions growing up, he insisted on teaching me how to use a blade." I said with a small chuckle, though what I said was actually not a lie… at least not completely.
"Companions, huh? They're like the Fighter's Guild in Cyrodiil, right?" she asked as she took aim at a Falmer high on a ledge as we continued through the cave, killing it with an arrow to the throat in a single shot.
"Something like that." I said with a nod, before falling silent to sneak up on a Falmer inside his hut- slitting his throat before he even knew I was there. Rin said nothing more, so I kept silent as well- simply delving deeper into the caves with her in tow.
It didn't take long for us to reach a dryer section of the cave, the water up to our ankles as we walked up a small flight of stairs into what appeared to be part of a long forgotten Nordic ruin hidden deep in the mountain.
"YOU FALMER BASTARDS BETTER WATCH YOURSELVES! WHEN I GET OUT OF HERE! I WILL SLAUGHTER YOU ALL!" raged a familiar voice, echoing through the hallway- but loud enough to be close.
"Zany!?" I said with surprise, rushing ahead of Rin and up another set of stairs into a circular room with a grate in the middle of it- looking down to see the very irate Argonian looking back up at me.
"Alyce?! Hurry up and get me out of this damn hole, you miserable Hagraven!" he growled, once again without his beloved blades; I wasn't sure what had him more upset, being unarmed or being held captive.
"Just give me a moment-" I began to say, though an arrow piercing my shoulder turned my words into a grunt of pain as I pulled the projectile out to see it of Falmer make; standing up and facing a Falmer Archer in a room just off the circular one.
"And that is why you don't run ahead. Jeez, you're almost as bad as my partner." Rin said with a small scowl as she arrived and launched an arrow at the Falmer, who ducked behind the wall to avoid being hit. I moved quickly into a nitch in the wall, taking the moment to use a small healing spell on my shoulder; closing the wound and easing the pain. I peeked out from behind the stone to narrowly escape an arrow to the face, watching it zip by and hit the wall- drawing my attention to a lever carefully hidden behind a support pillar. I pulled said lever and watched as a section of the stone wall pulled away to reveal a passage, as well as hear the klang a gate open not far away; it was possibly the door to Zany's cell.
"ABOUT SITHIS DAMNED TIME!" Zany raged as he stormed up the passage, barreling into the circular room; cutting down Falmer arrows as he went. I hoped Rin hadn't heard his mention of Sithis… but, her being a Wood Elf made this unlikely. Needless to say, Zany was not happy as he cut down the Falmer Archer in one swing off his flaming scimitar; lobbing off its head before giving it a swift kick to the ribs in anger. "Should have known you too stubborn to die falling off a waterfall." Zany grumbled as he sheathed his blades and turned to face me.
"Just goes to show I'm far more durable than most people think- GET DOWN!" I said, changing my tone as a Falmer Nightprowler fell from somewhere above Zany without a sound; raising its blade to strike him from behind. I charged forward and tackled Zany out of the way as the Falmer's blade sparked against the stone floor, Rin letting fly an arrow to stun it as I righted myself and sliced out its knees from behind it; the Falmer falling backwards in pain, dropping its blade to clutch its wounded legs. I flipped one of my daggers in my hand, driving it down into the Falmer's heart; it clung fruitlessly to life for only a few moments before its body went limp. The Falmer's lungs no longer drawing breath as the life drained from its body.
"So, your friend isn't dead?" Rin asked as she stood with her bow still at the ready, her eyes flitting to the unexplored hallway not too far from us every so often.
"Apparently not, there must have been an underwater passage beneath the falls; Zany probably fell in just the right spot for the current to take him under." I reasoned- as the entrance of the caves had been farther up the waterfall than where I had fallen, it was easy to understand how we had ended up in different locations after my fall and Zany's less than successful rescue.
"Could you two cut the chatter so we can leave?! I have had enough of this damnable place to last me a lifetime." Zany complained, grumpily folding his arms across his chest as he waited impatiently for us to get moving. I sighed and made for the passage out of the circular room, moving slowly and quietly- dropping low so Rin could fire an arrow at a Falmer at the top of a staircase ahead of us; killing him with one shot as she had the one before. Honestly, I would say she was on par with Arren, if not better with a bow than he was- though not quite at Hadranius' level of skill; I was beginning to think about recruiting her to find out how she truly compared against my current archers. I lead us up the staircase, carefully stepping over a tripwire and triggering it from the other side to release a Falmer claw trap before it could do any harm. Zany and Rin following me through the small tunnel into a cavern with a small waterfall, Rin taking down one of the three Falmer in the area as Zany jumped off the ledge into the wide stream with his blades drawn- slashing two long strikes down the torso of a second Falmer. Rin dropping the third before he could even draw his bow from the ledge at the top of the waterfall. His body falling over and bobbing along with the current before going over the far edge into the dark abyss. I looked around for signs of any other Falmer, finding none, and took the only available path through a tunnel to our left; following it upwards and coming out on the ledge where the third Falmer had once stood. We continued through a small tunnel, leaving the cave ruins behind through another ancient door; stepping out into a shallow section of a small lake farther up the waterfalls.
"Well, I have to go tell the people at Dark Water Crossing the Falmer problem has been taken care of; later guys." Rin said with a laugh, placing her bow on her back and running off- a whistle sounding and a Cyrodiil white mare galloping into view, Rin's stride never faltering as she hopped up into the saddle and rode off. Zany and I waded out of the lake and up the small hill that lead to the road in silence and I began to wonder if Shadowmere would hear my call wherever she was. I whistled for her as I always had, waiting a moment… and sure as the sun shined, she came galloping through the wilderness.
"The Un-Child wasn't kidding when she said this horse was fast as darkness itself." Zany grumbled, sounding surprised Shadowmere could have arrived so quickly without a rider. Though I had a feeling this was something she could only do without a mortal in her saddle, possibly traveling through the Void to span great distances.
"Babette has seen Shadowmere with many riders, so she would know all this grumpy mare can do." I said with a chuckle as I patted Shadowmere's mane, receiving an irritable snort from her in return.
"I'll walk. I'm not getting on that beast ever again." Zany said simply as he began to walk off down the road in the direction of Winterhold. I sighed and mounted Shadowmere's saddle, bringing her to walk alongside my grumpy Argonian companion in silence. We traveled without a word from The Rift into Eastmarch once again, making camp for the night in the woods beside the road. I tied Shadowmere's reigns to a low branch before unfastening my bedroll from her saddle, Zany simply walking off; possibly to collect wood for a camp fire. I sat down on my unrolled bedroll and waited for him to return, not needing to wait much longer than twenty minutes. Zany came back and dropped the small branches in a heap before sitting down on the ground against a nearby tree. I cast a small flame spell on the branches, setting them ablaze before the fire calmed and became a simple campfire.
We sat in silence, my arms wrapped around my legs with my head on my knees as I sat slowly drifting between sleep and consciousness. However, I was roused from my half-slumber by something small bouncing off my side. I lifted my head and looked at the ground below where I had been struck, my eyes going wide to see something I hadn't expected; an Amulet of Kynareth.
"I found that with my scimitars when I came out of the cell. I have no use for it." Zany grumbled as he looked off to the side, his cold blue eyes hidden behind his hood. I blinked as I took a moment to make sense of the gift, a broad smile growing on my face as I picked up the amulet and before Zany could even blink, I had rushed over to him and embraced him in a tight hug; his off-handed gift being more important to me than he probably knew.
"Thank you… I've actually been looking for one of these for quite some time." I said happily, surprised to feel the normally distant Argonian returning the hug with minor reluctance; though I could tell by how awkward his response was, that he wasn't exactly used to this sort of thing. I pulled out of the hug and sat on my knees as I drew the strings of the amulet around my neck, fastening it securely- the metal charm feeling warm against my skin as it sat over my collarbone, the simple sky blue gem gleaming proudly. Though when I looked up at Zany I could swear his scales looked a tad pink, my own face becoming red as I realized I was kneeling between his out stretched legs- having been basically sitting in his lap as we hugged only moments before. I stood without a word and returned to my bedroll, laying down and facing away from Zany to hide my embarrassment as I attempted to drift off to sleep. I awoke the next morning to find the fire snuffed out and Zany already leaning against the tree, ready to leave as soon as I was; though he looked a tad impatient- not that this was anything new.
"About time you got up. Let's go." he grumbled as he stood straight and turned to leave, knowing his head start would matter little once Shadowmere and I were on our way. I rushed to roll up my bedroll and fasten it to the saddle all the same, the amulet hanging around my neck reminding me of last night's embarrassing situation. I dropped my forehead to the cool leather of the saddle, Shadowmere whinnying sounding almost concerned to my ears.
"I'm fine… just, thinking." I said slowly, feeling foolish for reassuring my horse that I was fine; then again, she was a demon horse of human-like intelligence, so maybe I shouldn't have felt so foolish after all.
"ARE YOU COMING OR NOT, YOU MISERABLE HAGRAVEN?!" I heard Zany shout from down the road, and all I could do was chuckle as I jumped into the saddle and guided Shadowmere into a gallop; passing Zany with a grin.