Chapter XIV
Tam had long since finished telling Valerie, and the still weary, bed ridden Rontag, the story of the Khajiit and Faldan.
She had finally returned to the college, after deciding to sleep on the new information. Now it was the next day, and much to her chagrin, her thoughts on the subject weren't any clearer.
The most amazing part of the whole thing, was how accurate Rontag had been. Somehow, he'd had actually had some kind of vision, and it had been spot-on. The very fact that he had been correct on that single matter, had also filled Valerie with a false sense of hope on what he had said regarding Magoza.
"We need to go to this Jehanna," Valerie said aloud, a sense of urgency in her voice. "If Magoza's alive, then that's where she'll be."
"What makes you say that?" Tam asked, troubled and deeply concerned by the whole situation. "And what makes you think that his dreams are even remotely real?"
Valerie looked at her husband. "He was right about that Khajiit wasn't he?" She turned her gaze over to Tam, her eyes sparkling. "Magoza is alive!"
"Unproven," Tam said, dismissing the notion.
"As I said, he was right about the Khajiit, and even the reason she was here."
"That doesn't mean anything," the Altmer refuted.
"Why doesn't it? He was right about something he couldn't possibly have known, so why not Magoza?"
Tam hated the whole situation they found themselves in. Somehow he had known the Khajiit was here, but how? Was it possible that they had arrived just before they had left to kill the sabre cats? That Rontag had seen them and simply forgotten? But how had he known the reason why they were there?
"Okay I'll give you that then," Tam conceded. "But what on Nirn gives you even the faintest idea that Magoza is in Jehanna?"
Rontag stroked his long, dirty messy beard. "The old man in my dream told me that we should go there, and that Magoza is alive. There must be some clue in what he said. Why would he tell us she is alive, but not where she is?"
"There's nothing to go on but a dream," Tam told the two of them. "For all we know, some sick Daedra could be playing games with us. There is a giant Azura shrine built into the mountain range don't you know?"
"I don't think the old man was a Daedra," Rontag said to her. "Besides, when was the last time you heard of Azura tormenting mortals?"
"How do you know?" Tam asked him. "How do you really know anything!?"
"I don't," he accepted. "But why would a Daedra want to trick us?"
"Why would some old man send you a vision?" Tam asked him right back.
"I believe him," Valerie said, in support of her husband.
"Oh, I believe him too," Tam agreed. "It's whoever spoke to him in his dream that I don't trust."
"I doesn't matter whoever, or whatever it was behind his dream, one thing is certain. We cannot stay here," Valerie said. "Not with the Thalmor chasing us."
"Us?" Tam asked. "The Thalmor are after me, not you."
"Still, we're in this together."
"But for how long?" Tam asked them.
"For as long as they pursue us."
"That'll be a very long time, if they ever stop."
Valerie turned to her husband. "well, me and Rontag have decided that we are going to Jehanna. I would like you to come with us."
Tam looked away. "Just the three of us, with the Thalmor on my tail. It's just too dangerous."
"Then we bring the Khajiit and the Wood Elf along," Rontag said.
"What!?" Tam's gaze snapped over to him, unsure if he was being serious or not. "I don't want to see that bastard's face ever again, let alone have to travel anywhere with him."
"I have to agree with Tam here," Valerie said to her husband. "She's the only one of us that's even spoken to them, and she clearly isn't too happy with the idea."
"The Khajiit, on a whim, decided not to follow through on her contract," the Altmer added. "What's stopping her from reversing her position?"
"Something about the dream, makes me believe we can trust them," Rontag said earnestly.
"A dream we don't know the source of," Tam refuted.
"I trust it."
"I don't," the Altmer told him. "You two can go to Jehanna if you want."
"What do you mean by that?" Valerie asked confused. "Aren't you coming with us?"
"I'm also wanted by the Imperials, for the false accusation of destroying a village, remember?"
"I'm wanted too," Valerie pointed out.
"But you're just an average looking Nord woman. You can disappear, I can't."
"What're you saying?" Valerie asked, sadness and disappointment clear in her voice.
"I'm not going to Jehanna with you."
"Where will you be going then?"
"I will head east, into Morrowind. Maybe there I can finally disappear."
"Morrowind?" Valerie repeated in shock.
"I cannot risk your lives."
"So is this goodbye?" The Valerie asked.
"Not right now. I'm going to give it a few days. To prepare."
Valerie put her hand on the side of the giant Altmer's arm. "I don't like the idea of you going off on your own."
"I've been on my own before. I can deal with it."
"But the Thalmor will catch you up eventually."
"Which is why I want to be far away from you."
"Where will you go in Morrowind?"
"I've always wanted to visit Blacklight. Might go there and see that. Might visit Vvardenfell as well, see what a volcanic wasteland looks like."
Valerie glanced over at her husband, before looking back at Tam. "I don't know about Rontag," she said, her voice becoming choked up. "But I'll miss you."
"I'll miss the elf too." Rontag agreed.
"Well I'm not going anywhere just yet," Tam told them. "But I'll make sure I say a proper goodbye before I do."
Rontag slowly rose up from the bed, his wife shook her head, placing her hand on him, trying to get him to sit back down.
"No, what are you doing?" she asked her husband.
He swiped her hand away softly, before pushing himself to his feet. "If Tam's leaving, then I want us all to spend the last few days at home, not stuck in here."
"You sure you're ready? The bridge back to Winterhold isn't exactly safe," Valerie said, thinking back to the half destroyed, slippery snow-covered bridge that crossed the expanse between the city and the college.
"I'm sure. Let us thank the mages that helped me before we go."
Magoza missed her Altmer father Meratur, she missed Valerie and Tam. She missed her Orc brothers and sisters back at the stronghold, who'd had their lives prematurely cut short by an out of control, raging chieftain. She missed Darovin, Llandri and even Brendarr. She wished that the Karo's had been given the chance to meet her other friends, and her father. She knew that they would have gotten along, that they would have been friends.
Right now however, she was still waiting. Waiting till the family was to be moved south. Then they would be able to attack, and she would see their faces once again. But that wouldn't be today.
The young Orsimer heard the door open. She looked around to see Licks-Many-Snouts enter with a hand, or rather claw-full of small dead animals. he closed the door shut behind him, before walking over to the table, placing his kills down.
"We eat fresh!" Snouts exclaimed happily. "Not like Dark-Elf who salt food and keep it till it taste funny. We eat not when over day old."
Magoza stared at the dead creatures for a moment. Just by looking at them, she couldn't actually tell what they were supposed to be. She couldn't even tell if they swam in the water, or moved on the land. They were kind of long and thin, with little defining features.
"You want to eat?" Snouts asked.
"Aren't you going to cook it?" she asked, worried that he was going to make her eat some raw creature he'd just found.
"Cook it, just for you."
Hides walked into the small room, and looked straight at the dead creatures on the table.
"You want food too?" Snouts asked his brother.
"Didn't you get some fruit for Magoza?" Hides questioned.
"I thought Orc like meat?" he asked. "Men and Elf call Orc beast race, like Argonian and Khajiit. Beast race like meat."
Magoza cleared her throat. "Well actually the Orsimer are Mer, but back in the stronghold, we usually only ate meat."
Hides made a strange sound, a particular noise he usually made, when she had said something he found funny. "None of the other Mer races would agree with you there, especially if you grew up in a stronghold like you said."
"We're descended from the Altmer," she told them. "Like the Dunmer, and the Bosmer."
"And like the Dark Elves, your race was changed by a Daedric Prince? Or at least that is what legend says," Hides said.
"Something like that," Magoza said back. "Only just because we have really big tusk like teeth on our lower jaw, and different eyes, some call us beasts."
"Maybe that, and the rages I've heard Orcs have," Hides added.
"Exaggerated, but not by much," Magoza told them. "I've never had one. Not to my knowledge anyway. Supposed to make you feel invincible, and also near does as well."
"I won't anger you," Snouts said. "Orc rage sound scary."
"Let's get that meat cooked for you," Hides told her, as he walked over to the table, picking it up off its wooden surface.
A half hour or so later, she was eating it. It wasn't nasty tasting, but it wasn't particularly nice either. The food in a way, accurately reflected how the last day had gone; bland and boring, just without the deep sense of dread. Deep in the pit of her stomach, she felt nervous. The young Orc was not only scared, she was terrified of what would happen when they tried to rescue her Dunmer friends. She worried that they would be killed in the attempt. In fact it could easily go badly.
All she could do for now, was to try and not dwell on it. Every time she did, she began to feel nauseous, and rather sick.
She wanted it to have been done with. She wanted them to have been rescued, and for them to be somewhere safe, far away from here. She wanted to take them to Winterhold, where they could meet Valerie, Rontag, Tam and her father Meratur.
But deep down she feared that they had moved on also, that the Karo's would all die, and that when she returned to Winterhold, that they had gone somewhere she would never find them.
Then of course there was Burag. She had no idea what had happened to him. She feared that while she had ended up in Morrowind, that he had remained, killing her friends. But something told her that he had vanished the same as she had. Whether he was still alive, or just displaced like her, she had no idea.
What she did know, was that she had to prepare her mind and body for tomorrow. While she had a crossbow, she doubted she would even use it. She had her magic, and as the Nine as her witnesses, she would save her friends from a life of slavery.
The Karo's had been fed, and once again had been 'cleaned' by having cold water thrown over them.
Darovin had been ordered to deal with their bucket full of excrement, and to then collect twelve pails of water from the well, and carry it to the house. Llandri had been told to clean the house, and Brendarr had to trim some trees back, as their branches were getting too close to the house. The work was made much harder, considering they had to keep their shackles on. Luckily the chains between the ankle cuffs they wore were quite long, giving them a bit more mobility than they would have otherwise.
Strangely though, they had not seen any other Dunmer slaves in the house as of yet. Listening to the guards spread no light on the matter, as they tended to speak in their own strange native tongue.
Darovin had soon finished fetching the water, and went to get more instructions. He was then sent down into a second basement, away from the one he and his family had been staying in. Inside, he found a large cage with two Dunmer in it. Both were male, and they appeared to be around his age. Looking by the scarce furnishings, which included two beds and a small chest of drawers, and a meagre few personal possessions, it appeared as though they had been there for a while.
The two spoke among themselves, seemingly ignoring everything that was going on outside the cage. They didn't even seem to notice he was there. If it hadn't been for the guard stood watching, Darovin would have tried to talk to them, to get to know how long they had been there. As it was however, it appeared as though he wouldn't get the chance.
As he swept the floor, he tried to listen in to their conversation. He only managed to pick up a few words, but enough to get the idea that the two were the ones that usually did all the work. He also picked up the word 'sold'. Without hearing more he couldn't tell if the two meant that they had been sold, or that he and his family had been.
Soon Darovin had finished cleaning the area, and the guard ordered him to receive new tasks. He did so, but not before taking mental notes on the layout of the house. He'd need to know as much as he could about their surroundings if he and his family were to escape.
Tam closed the front door of their small house, while Valerie helped Rontag over to the small table, that lay by the fire-place, helping him seat himself on a chair.
He looked around for a moment, before a loud, regretful sigh escaped his lips.
"What's wrong?" Valerie asked, sitting opposite him.
Rontag shook his head. "I'll miss this place y'know."
Tam locked the door before turning to them. "We've been here for only two months."
"Feels a lot longer," he said with another sigh.
Valerie placed her hand on his. "Not having second thoughts about going to High Rock are you?"
"No," he said, alleviating his wife's fears. "I had that vision for a reason."
"I hope you're right," Tam said. "I'd hate for you to be walking into danger."
"We'll be fine," Rontag told her. "We'll meet Malthar and-"
"Who's Malthar?" Valerie interrupted.
"The Breton I was told to meet," He told them. "Didn't I say?"
"Not his name, just that you were told to meet someone there," Tam clarified. "Anything else you can remember now, that you didn't before?"
"Not sure." He shrugged his shoulders. "Only that there was a big ship being built, and the old man had a Cyrodilic accent, and was clearly from there."
"What else did you see?" Valerie inquired, her interest peaked.
Tam interjected. "And what did you hear?"
"I can't recall hearing anything, but what the man told me," Rontag informed them.
"And what did you see?" Valerie asked again.
"I saw a beach, and a ship in an Imperial-style dry-dock."
"Were you in Cyrodiil?" Valerie asked him. "Anvil perhaps?"
"Didn't look like Cyrodiil," Rontag said. "Then again, I didn't see enough to know where I was."
"So you didn't notice any foliage?" Tam asked him.
"Any what?" Rontag asked, eyebrows raised in confusion.
"Flowers, plants and such," Tam clarified.
"Not that I remember."
"And you remember nothing else?" Valerie asked.
"Nothing comes to mind right now."
Tam grunted. "This is weird, and I hate weird."
Rontag rubbed his eyes, before stifling a yawn.
"You still need rest," Valerie told him. "You should go to bed and get some sleep."
"I've spent enough time sleeping," he replied. "I need to regain my strength."
"You will," Valerie said. "Just rest. For me."
Rontag nodded slowly. "Okay Val, I'll get some rest."
He slowly pushed himself to his feet, waving off any help his wife offered. "I love you Valerie," he said to her.
"I love you too," she replied.
He turned and headed into the bedroom, closing the door behind him.
Valerie looked over at Tam, before rising up herself. "I think I'll go grab some things from the general store," she said.
"I can go if you want?" Tam offered.
"Thanks, but I'll go get them," she said as she made her way over to the door.
"I'll come get you if anything comes up," Tam said.
Valerie nodded before opening the door, allowing some more of the hot air out. "See you in a little bit," she said, before closing the door behind her.
Tam shuddered. Not because of the escaped heat, but because the whole situation filled her with a sense of unease. She had no idea what to make of Rontag's so called vision. All she knew was to trust her instincts, and what the evidence told her. In this matter, her instincts told her nothing. Her brain on the other hand, told her that there was vital missing information.
While she knew that they could be walking into danger, she also knew that if she went with them, then they would be in danger. That was a fact, and it was something she could no longer allow.
Faldan lay in bed under the fur covers wide awake in the darkened candle-lit room in the inn. The room he and Rasha both shared was open to the main room, and the beds were on opposite walls.
Today had been rather uneventful. Tam hadn't returned to the inn, and he could sense that Rasha felt the whole journey up here had been a waste of time.
Just after lunch, Rasha had left the inn to go for a walk. It had been such a long walk, that he had thought she had in fact abandoned him. But as night-time fell, she had returned, simply telling him that the Sea of Ghosts looked rather tranquil with the large ice islands that dotted the coast. They had then both had some supper and sat almost in silence before going to bed.
Now the Bosmer found himself staring across the room at the Ohmes-Raht-Khajiit as she slept. She had removed the hat he had given her back in Windhelm, and slept in her tunic and leggings under the fur blanket just as he was.
Strangely he found her somewhat alluring. She could kill him in an instant, and he found that oddly exciting. Despite being of the beast race, he found her almost Mer looking face to be appealing, even though it was hidden beneath a mass of fur.
Another thing that he found enticing were her eyes. Like other khajiit, they were cat-like, giving her a most other-worldly appearance. Overall he knew he liked her more than he should. The fact that she had effectively saved his life didn't help the unacceptable feelings he felt brewing inside him.
He saw her eyes flicker open. They seemed to glow strangely in the candlelight.
"What's up?" she asked. "You're staring."
"Nothing," he told her. "Just wondering what we'll do now?"
"Move on I suppose," she told him.
"Where too though?"
"Let's not think about that," she said with a warm smile.
Faldan felt his heart begin to beat faster in his chest. He knew he was being foolish to even think she would see him more than just, well whatever it was she saw him as. Whatever it was he doubted she shared his attraction. He was just a stupid, cowardly Bosmer with no distinguishing features, other than the fact that he was an adequate healer.
"I think given the time, we'll be good friends," she told him. "I could use a healer by my side, considering what I do"
"Yes," was all he managed to say.
"Look, sorry for what I said on the road when we got into that argument."
"No, I was being an idiot," he said. "I should be apologising to you."
"Well, goodnight," she said, turning around in her bed, facing away from him.
"Goodnight," he responded sadly. It was true that she did not see him the way he saw her, and probably never would. That alone made him feel inadequate.
"It's just a stupid, adolescent crush you have on her!" he whispered hotly under his breath. He then realised much to his horror, that he'd forgotten that she had exceptional hearing. He had probably just made himself look like a fool.
He turned around in his bed, facing the wall, hoping that she hadn't heard him, that she was too tired to have heard him.
Faldan put the thought out of his mind and sought sleep. Tomorrow they would be continuing on, their destination unknown. He just hoped Rasha wouldn't get him killed.
Updated 07/04/2014
