The next morning, after class was over, the four Destruction Adepts stayed behind in the training hall to practice what they had learned while Tolfdir had to leave them to go take care of other business. Now that he was filling the responsibilities of Destruction professor, Master Wizard, and Arch-Mage all at once, he was extremely busy. Before the students got too carried away, though, Danielle had an announcement to make.
"Arniel approached me before class this morning with another favor," she told them.
"More of his Dwemer investigations?" Brelyna asked.
"Yes," she replied. "This time he's looking for an ancient dagger called Keening. He was supposed to have it delivered from Morrowind but it had never arrived. We suspect that it might have been intercepted or perhaps that the courier bringing it in fell into some misfortune."
"And he wants you to look for it?" Brelyna questioned.
"We've helped him so far," Danielle pointed out. "He just said to spend a few days combing the eastern border and asking questions of the townsfolk to find the artifact. If it doesn't turn up after this search, then we can give it up."
"The entire eastern border?" J'zargo questioned. "That's a lot of ground to cover!"
"That's why I need your guys' help," she said. "He most likely could have stopped in one of two places- Windhelm or Riften."
"She's right," Onmund piped up, hoping to come to her defense. "We can just ask around in those two cities to see if this courier passed through. Sounds straightforward enough to me."
"All right, well…J'zargo is always ready for adventure," J'zargo declared.
"Here's the plan, then," she said. "If you guys are ready to depart now, then we should leave as soon as possible. I've already spoken with Tolfdir about this journey. Arniel's suggestion was to spread the search out, so if two of us start in Riften and the other two start in Windhelm, then we can cover as much ground as possible and meet in the middle somewhere."
"Where? There are no other inns along the eastern border," Brelyna pointed out.
"We can meet in Ivarstead," Onmund suggested. "No matter what happens, after a certain amount of days have passed, we'll meet in Ivarstead."
"I'm good with that," Danielle replied. "You guys?" She asked the other two mages.
They responded in the affirmative, so the next question from J'zargo was, "When are we going?"
"Now," Danielle answered. "Let's go now. We can talk about the details as we walk."
With that, the four Destruction students went back to their respective rooms to pack up their stuff. Then, they all met in the training hall again and departed right away. As they walked along the road, Onmund stated, "So now we've got to decide who's going to Windhelm and who's going to Riften."
"I'm not too keen on venturing into Windhelm," Brelyna said. "I think you know why, and I hope you don't take that as an offense, Onmund, being a Nord and everything."
"No," Onmund replied. "No offense taken. I know what you mean, and I'd hate to say it, but you're right. I'm not even that comfortable going there as a mage, myself, but I probably am the best person to do so. I'm not exactly anxious to go to Riften, myself."
"Okay," Brelyna said. "I'm sure you'll want Danielle with you," she added with a pointed look. "So, J'zargo, do you mind going with me to Riften?"
"J'zargo does not mind," he said. "It's probably warmer down south, anyhow."
"All right then," Onmund replied. He then turned toward his Breton girlfriend and grinned. "You're stuck with me going to Windhelm, I guess!"
"Because you want me to, or Brelyna wants me to?" Danielle teased.
"Both," he answered.
"Oh, how kind of you, Brelyna," she said to her friend. "You don't want us to be separated."
"For the record, neither does J'zargo," J'zargo piped up. "If this one ends up with Onmund, then he will have to listen to him talk about you nonstop."
Onmund blushed as Brelyna remarked, "How cute."
It was late afternoon when the Adepts reached the bridge that led into the gates of Windhelm, and Brelyna said, "All right. Good luck in there, you guys. J'zargo and I will head down to Kynesgrove and probably spend the night there. We'll then head south through Shor's Stone to Riften."
"And we'll head southwest to Ivarstead," Danielle explained.
"So see you all in Ivarstead in three days?" she asked.
"Yup, no matter what happens," Onmund replied.
"All right," she said, and the two groups parted ways.
Now alone with Danielle, Onmund turned to her and said, "I've never been inside Windhelm before. To tell you the truth, I don't know how well we'll be received as mages."
"Surely they've seen mages before," Danielle remarked. "Besides, if you are not afraid, then I'm not afraid."
He smiled down at her warmly and quipped, "All right. I won't be afraid. For you."
She smiled and threaded her arm through his and together, they entered the city.
Windhelm was the oldest city in Skyrim, and full of history. Onmund could see it, from the dark and worn stone walls and mix of new and old buildings. As they walked further in, they saw a bald, elderly man with a thick beard carrying an axe walk by. Onmund stopped him, asking, "'Scuse me, sir. Can you tell us where the inn is?"
"Candlehearth Hall is right here in front of you," the man answered in a raspy voice, pointing with his axe to the large building beside him, not far from the gate. "You come from Winterhold?"
"Uh, yes," he replied.
"Then go right on in," the man gestured to him and his female companion. "Get yourselves warm. I happen to be a cook there. Just out chopping more wood."
"Thank you, sir," Onmund said and led Danielle into the inn. So far no animosity towards me or my mage girlfriend, he thought with relief.
"Come in travelers," a voice greeted them as they removed their hoods and shook the snow out of them. It was the innkeeper standing behind the counter. "Sit down and get warm. Got some fresh-baked bread and good cheese, if you're after a bite to eat."
Onmund and Danielle gratefully sat down at the counter in front of the lady innkeeper. She introduced herself as Elda and gave them some bread and cheese at their request. "You mages from the College?" she asked them as they ate in front of her.
"Yes, ma'am," Onmund replied. "We actually came here looking for something."
"What's that?" she asked.
"Was there a courier who happened to be passing through here from Morrowind?" Danielle asked her. "He would've been heading for Winterhold."
"A courier from Morrowind?" Elda questioned, scrunching her face. "No. There have been no such travelers passing through here, I'm afraid. Someone who was from Morrowind would not come stay here, anyway, if they knew what was good for them."
Onmund had to bite his tongue to keep from saying something back. He knew that racism against dark elves was rampant in a city like this. Poor Brelyna would've been torn apart in this city. It's a good thing we didn't bring her along.
After they finished their meal, Elda asked them, "Would you like a room for the night? There're a couple of beds for rent on the ground floor."
"Sure, we'll take them," he said to her. Now that they had pretty much determined that the courier they were looking for had not passed through here, they had nothing left to do in the city. In the morning, they would head out again and head southwest.
"I'll show you to your rooms then," Elda said, coming out from behind the counter. "Right this way."
Just then, the front door flew open and a young, lanky Nord man stumbled in. "Elda!" he shouted. "Some mead!"
"All right, Rolff, just give me a minute while I show these guests to their rooms," she replied somewhat impatiently.
A look of disgust washed over the young man's face as he sauntered towards the counter. But as he walked by, he did a double-take at the two mages and then suddenly came towards them.
"Rolff, have a seat," Elda repeated. "I'll be with you shortly."
Ignoring her, Rolff walked right up to Onmund with a scowl and studied his face. "You…" he snarled. "You a magician?"
Onmund looked down at the scowling face. The man was actually shorter than him. "I'm a mage," he replied uncertainly.
"What's a Nord like you doing playing with magic?" he questioned. "That stuff's for the pointy-ears."
"Rolff, that's enough," Elda scolded. "Leave my customers alone."
Ignoring her again, Rolff spat to the side and declared, "I bet I can take you. Whaddya say, fellow Nord? One hundred septims says I can punch you back where you came from."
Onmund warily raised his hands defensively and said, "Hey, you can keep your money…" And in that instant, he felt Rolff's fist fly towards his face, landing hard across his lip.
Elda and Danielle screamed and held onto him as he reeled back from the blow. "Rolff, stop it!" he heard Elda scream.
Rolff just laughed and mocked, "Ha! Some son of Skyrim you are."
At this, Onmund became incensed. Uttering a growl from the depths of his throat, he broke out of Elda's and Danielle's hold and lunged at the man. The two women tried to intervene, but the men ignored them and went at it with each other. Even though Rolff had punched him on the lip hard, for the most part he was mostly bark than bite. He was so drunk that he kept missing most of his punches, and Onmund got a few good swings at him. Before very long, though, a tall and muscular man wearing Steel Armor jumped in and pushed Rolff out of the way, shouting, "Hey, sober up, you whelp! You scare away all the customers from this tavern and pretty soon you'll have no tavern to drink in!"
Bruised and bleeding, Rolff growled at him, but didn't dare challenge the muscly warrior. Instead, he just grumbled and sauntered back outside. The warrior turned to Onmund, whose lip was now bleeding and knuckles felt sore, and said, "Really sorry about that, brother. You all right?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," he responded, despite the pain. But in truth, he had felt much worse pain before, like when he had an ice spike driven through his leg and electrocuted by Morokei.
The man laid his large hand on his shoulder and laughed, "Hey, I'd say you showed him who's boss. Not very many mages I've seen who can throw punches like that with his bare fists." He then extended his hand out. "Name's Stenvar. I'm a travelling mercenary propping my feet up in this ancient city. I'm originally from Falkreath, though. And you?"
"I'm Onmund," he answered, shaking the guy's hand. "I'm from Falkreath, as well. Half-Moon Farm to be exact."
The man smiled and nodded. "Well met, kinsman! This your wife?"
Feeling his face grow warm, he shook his head. "Um, no. My girlfriend, Danielle."
"Nice to meet you, Danielle," he said, shaking her hand, as well.
She smiled back and said, "Nice to meet you, too. Thank you…for what you did."
"Pfft," Stenvar dismissed. "I just got rid of that nuisance. Your boyfriend here held his own just fine. But listen. You guys ever need a reliable mercenary then I'm your man. I'll even cut my price in half since I like ya."
"Thanks," Onmund replied. "We'll be leaving town tomorrow, though. I appreciate it."
"No problem," Stenvar said. "Talos guide you."
He then left them and Elda looked at the two mages in amusement. "You ready to settle in now?" she asked them.
"We're ready," Onmund replied.
"I am so sorry about that Rolff character," Elda apologized when she had brought them into their room. "He comes in everyday and all he does is get drunk and complain about the elves. His brother, Galmar, works directly for Jarl Ulfric Stormcloak, so I don't understand why he can't make better use of himself." She then inspected Onmund's lip closely and clicked her tongue in pity. "Want me to run out and get some healing potions from our alchemist for you? I won't charge you for it."
"There's no need," he said to her, and then gestured towards Danielle. "She and I know some spells offhand that can fix this right up. But thanks for the offer, though."
Elda raised her eyebrows and replied, "Well! You mages really are something else! All right, I'll leave you two alone, then. Let me know if there's anything else you need." She then smiled and left them.
Now, Onmund sat down on one of the beds and gingerly touched the cut on his lip. Danielle sat down beside him and said gently, "Let me see."
He turned towards her and she put his hands on his chin to look at the cut more closely. She then put her hand on his forehead as if to start a healing spell, but Onmund gently pushed her hand away and said, "Wait. While I'd love for you to heal me, can I try it myself, first? I need to get the hang of this spell."
Danielle slowly lowered her hands and said, "Okay. Go ahead."
Onmund raised his right hand up and channeled the Healing spell that he had learned and then put his other hand over his mouth. He spoke the incantation as he remembered it in his mind and the spell began to work. When he had finished, he took his hand away and noticed that he no longer felt any pain, either on his mouth or on his knuckles. He looked at Danielle triumphantly. "I did it! I can perform Healing correctly!"
She smiled at him. "Good job. You still have some blood on your lip, though. Hold on." She then got up and walked over to the wash basin in the corner. She dipped the towel sitting beside it into the water and brought it back to him, and he sat still as she wiped the residual blood off of his face. "I never understood why Nords have to solve everything by fighting," she quipped.
"It's the Nordic way," he said to her. "It's the way we are brought up. To die in battle is the most honorable thing that can happen to us. Most Nords even look forward to it."
"Do you?" she asked him.
"I don't look forward to dying," he said. "But if you think about it, is it such a foreign concept? To die doing what you love best? I mean, take us for instance. We're mages, so to die while using our magic for the greater good would theoretically be the best death for us."
With a sigh, she admitted, "I suppose there's a ring of truth to that. But the key is…for the greater good. Do you feel like you're using your magic for the greater good?"
This made Onmund think hard for a moment. It was a good question. He didn't necessarily join the College of Winterhold in order to fulfill some noble goal of helping others with his skills. It wasn't that he was selfish or cruel, but it just didn't cross his mind. But perhaps that was selfish in and of itself? He answered her truthfully. "No…do you think that makes me a bad person?"
"No," she shook her head and dried off his face. Not only had she wiped off the blood from his mouth, she had also wiped his face clean of all the dirt he had accumulated. It was an endearing gesture. She then looked off to the side, appearing in thought. "Sometimes, I asked myself that question when I had left the priesthood. Back when I was doing that, I was actually helping people. But like I told you before, I longed for more."
"There's nothing wrong with that," he assured her. He put his finger under her chin and lifted her head up to look at him. "Besides, we have helped people with our magic. Remember Kynesgrove?"
She smiled and slowly nodded. She then took Onmund's hand in her own and brought it to her lips, gently kissing each of his fingers. Her lips felt incredibly soft on his rough skin. He gazed at her lovingly, unable to take his eyes off her as she showered his hand with affection. His own lips were aching for hers, as well, though, so he lowered his hand and leaned forward to kiss her himself. He put both of his hands behind her head, digging his fingers into her hair as they were caught up in their passionate liplock. He felt her start to pull him forward as she leaned back towards the bed. Still with his eyes closed and kissing her, he felt her leg come up onto his lap and he placed his hand under her thigh to support her as she leaned further back to lay under him. His heart began to beat more rapidly as his need for her began to increase.
Suddenly, they heard the sound of glass breaking and some shouts coming from above them and they both sprang to a sitting position, afraid. The shouts dissolved into raucous laughter and they realized that it was the sound of the crowd on the floor above. Now well past dark, the inn had filled with drunken men and women and the noise was unbelievable. Onmund couldn't believe he hadn't noticed it until now. Music began to fill the air and soon, they could hear pounding on the floor above them as people got up and started dancing.
Danielle groaned and remarked, "We're never going to be able to sleep tonight."
"No, no, I don't think we will," he agreed.
With a sigh, she got up from the bed and made her way across the tiny room to the other bed. "I guess we have to try either way. Goodnight, Onmund."
"All right. Goodnight, Danielle." As the pounding on the floor above continued, Onmund blew out the candle beside him and lay back against his pillow, folding it over his ears to muffle the sound. He then turned over to his side and tried to sleep.
Onmund and Danielle have another romantic moment that is interrupted too soon XD
I just want to ask Arniel, "How sane is it to expect a person to find a courier delivering Keening?" Sure, the game gives you a nice map marker that pinpoints his exact location, but that's just ridiculous!
So Half-Moon Farm is completely fictional, but I'm imagining Onmund as coming from a small farming village somewhere near Half-Moon Mill, hence the name I chose.
I'm also having fun with J'zargo's character in this story, as well as Onmund's and Danielle's. It is funny that you mention "sequel" because that is EXACTLY what I have planned! Oops, did I say that? =X Well, the cat's out of the bag now! Yes, I do have a sequel planned, with at least 1 new character...but that's all I'll say for now!