Chapter XVIII

This was it. They were headed to Dawnstar.

They had packed everything they could into leather and hide knapsacks that they could, without over-filling them. The sacks themselves they had managed to acquire either through the general store, or through purchasing them off the locals who had needed coin more than some bag they kept tucked away under their bed.

The upcoming journey wasn't without its woes, however. Valerie was worried about her husband, Rontag. It was an extremely long walk to Dawnstar, even though they were stopping at the Nightgate Inn, that lay roughly half-way. Some of that worry had been quelled however, when Tam bought a few healing and stamina potions, giving some of them to her in the event that Rontag needed them. The rest, she had given to Rasha.

Tam had also managed to excavate much from the rubble of their home, including Valerie's sword and armour, Rontag's armour, as well as the coin she had used to buy the healing potions and knapsacks. Foolishly, Valerie had told him, that he could wear his armour, if he could get it on without her help. He had managed it, and now an hour from Winterhold, and it was clear that it was him that was slowing them all down. No one complained. In fact, the Bosmer, whom Valerie couldn't recall the name of right now, had actually been quite vocal at how he liked the slow pace. Still, it meant that they would most likely not reach the Nightgate Inn, until sometime in the early hours of tomorrow morning, and that was being optimistic at this point.

Nevertheless, they were a large group. Large enough to deal with most things that had the audacity to try and attack them, and perhaps even frighten some would-be predators away.

One thing they weren't looking forward to, was going past the cave that Rontag had been injured in. There was still a way to go, but the memory was still very fresh in their minds. All except for the Khajiit and the Wood-Elf, who had as of yet, only been told that Rontag had been poisoned, but not as to how or why.

It was odd to think, that once they reached Dawnstar, that Tam would be leaving with the two strangers. It was even more odd to think, that she would most likely never see her again.

Valerie also had the feeling that Tam was right, and that going to Jehanna to find Magoza was a fool's errand. It was a long shot, but she couldn't ignore Rontag's dream. She had already put too much faith into it to simply abandon it now. Perhaps Meratur would go with them to Jehanna when they caught up with him in Solitude. Valerie hoped so, as she knew that both he and Magoza deserved to be reunited, more so than she did.

Of course, if she was wrong, then Meratur would most likely hate her, if he believed that Rontag's dream meant anything in the first place. Selling the vision her husband had seen, would be a difficult prospect. One that she hadn't really thought of till now. It was ridiculous. Rontag has some dream, and Meratur is supposed to believe it? Would he even be impressed at the fact that some of it had already come true?

Valerie felt a nudge from Rontag. She looked over at him.

"You look sour all of a sudden," he commented. "Something wrong?"

"Just wondering whether Meratur will believe us."

"If he doesn't, then we go on our own," he told her.

Valerie looked ahead, up the steady incline that lay before them. "I'm thinking that we need to stay in Solitude," she suggested. "For a week or so at least."

"Why?"

"So you can get more of your strength back."

"I'm as strong as I ever was!" he told her, completely disregarding the notion that he was in any way still recovering.

"You're nowhere near as strong as you were before you were poisoned."

"I am!" he rebuked angrily.

"No, you're not."

"I'm better. No poison is keeping me down!" he protested.

"You're still recovering, it's okay, you're bound to be still weak. It's nothing to be ashamed of," Valerie said, trying to ease her husband's sudden bad mood.

"Are You saying I'm weak?"

"I didn't mean it that way," Valerie defended.

"You're weak right now," Tam interjected. "And you know you are."

"I know no such thing!" he said heatedly.

Valerie was about say something else, but decided not to push him. He was clearly very sore about not being at his best right now, and the last thing she wanted to do was upset him any more than he already was.

Rasha cleared her throat loudly. "I don't mean to interrupt your conversation, but I think we're being followed."

"Is it the Thalmor!?" Faldan asked, his voice almost a shriek.

"I don't think so."

Tam rubbed her bare hands together in anticipation of who it might be. "Say we find out?" she asked the rest of them.

Rontag turned around, raising his fists. "I say we do!" he bellowed.

"I smell wet fur on the wind," Rasha commented, turning around also.

Everyone else had halted, waiting anxiously to see who it was that Rasha had detected.

The Ohmes-Raht strained her eyes, seeing a tail sticking out from behind a rock just over a hundred paces away.

"See something?" Valerie asked her.

"A tail."

"What kind of tail?" Rontag questioned.

"A Khajiit tail," Rasha clarified. "Know of any Khajiit in Winterhold?"

"Only that one that came with us to the cave, to deal with the sabre cats," Rontag informed her. "It's where I got injured."

"The Khajiit's name was Agro," Tam said, trying to remember what his name had been. "Or at least it was something like that."

Rontag inhaled deeply. "Who are you!?" he shouted at the top of his lungs, before he began coughing violently.

Valerie tapped him gently on the back, while Tam gripped her warhammer.

"I wish I still had my gauntlets," the Altmer said wishing she hadn't sold them, even though it was to get that healing potion for Rasha. She had tried to get them back later, but the shopkeeper had wanted a small fortune for them, and she simply hadn't been able to afford them.

"I think that whoever it is, is getting up from behind the rock," The Ohmes-Raht informed them. "And I think he might be a Suthay-Raht." The rest of them squinted as a tiny figure emerged in the distance. "He's coming this way," Rasha told them.

They all waited till he was around twenty paces distant, before the questions started flowing from the two Nords.

"Why are you following us?" Rontag asked.

"You're the Khajiit that went with us to the cave," Valerie said as Rontag finished. "What do you want?"

"Are you a spy for the Thalmor?" Rontag questioned.

The Suthay-Raht before them, looked straight at Rasha, with a rather peculiar expression on his face. "When Jo'Agro saw beautiful maiden; well, this one had to follow."

Rasha grimaced, not only at his interest in her, but his failure at speaking Cyrodilic properly. She felt someone move in close. She looked over to see Faldan was now close beside her, with a rather foul look on his face.

"Is Bosmer and Khajiit together?" Jo'Agro asked with concern.

The Ohmes-Raht clenched her fists, before the stark realization that she could only clench one hit her. A pain shot through her missing limb, causing her to wince.

Valerie wasn't impressed at all. "How dare you follow us!" she shouted at him. "We could have killed you by mistake you idiot!"

"This one apologizes," the Suthay-Raht said sincerely. "Jo'Agro did not realize that Khajiit was with Bosmer."

"We're not together," she informed him. "Not like that, anyway." Faldan made an audible sound, but everyone ignored it.

"Jo'Agro has chance then yes?"

"No," she put simply. "I don't even know who you are."

"Jo'Agro," he told her. "A great mage."

"Meaningless."

Tam pointed back down the road. "Just go back to Winterhold."

"Ahh, but Jo'Agro saw what happened to the house, and Jo'Agro has wanted to see adventure, to truly test out one's skill at magic. Adventure seems to find these ones, yes?"

Valerie started laughing. Everyone turned and stared at her in bemusement, and annoyance. The Nord woman shrugged at their odd looks. "Yeah, it does," she said with a smile. "Though I wouldn't really call it adventure. It's more like misfortune."

"Misfortune favours the bold, yes?" Jo'Agro said to them.

"The bold and the stupid," Tam added resentfully.

"Fine," Valerie said loudly. "If you can pull your own weight, then you can come with us."

Rasha didn't like the idea. Neither did Tam, and especially not Faldan. Rontag on the other hand, agreed with his wife, rather surprisingly.

"I say he can come," Rontag said, much to everyone's shock. "He did help save my life."

"Jo'Agro follows where beautiful feline maiden goes," he said, with a warm smile.

Rasha felt nauseous. "I follow where she goes," she corrected. "Learn to speak the language."

The Suthay-Raht's smile grew wider, as if her annoyance brought him joy. "Jo'Agro speaks as Jo'Agro wishes to speak."

"You two shut up, and let's go!" Tam said. "I want to get to that inn before the week is out."

"We'll be there by tonight," Rontag told her. "Don't worry."

"I do worry," the Altmer said. "Especially when we start bringing any old stray along with us."

"Hey, it was you who hired him in the first place," Rontag pointed out to Tam, "when we went to that cave."

Valerie rested her hand on her husband's shoulder. "No, it was me remember."

"Of course," Rontag said feeling foolish. "I forgot."

"Let's just go," Tam said, starting to move slowly forward.

"So, Jo'Agro is allowed to travel with these ones, yes?" the Suthay-Raht asked.

Rasha scowled. "It appears as though Jo'Agro is."


It was in the early evening when the wagon rolled up to the small village of five buildings. Four of them appeared to be homes, three of them being quite small with a much larger one closest to the road. The fifth looked like a lumber shed of some description, with large stacked logs being clearly stacked inside. The village itself lay off of a narrow dirt path off the main road. By the looks of the area, it appeared that quite a bit of logging had gone on, with stumps sticking out of the ground all around them.

As soon as the wagon came to a stop, Llandri disembarked and told her son, Brendarr to stay with the wagon, along with Magoza and Hides. The scarlet haired Dunmer widow, then slowly made her way towards the closest and largest of the buildings. She stopped by the main door, and glanced back at the wagon before knocking hard upon it.

A few moments passed, before the door opened. A black-haired Dunmer woman peered at her, her brow furrowing.

"Who are you?" she asked suspiciously.

"I'm Llandri," she told her. "Llandri Karo."

Recognition washed across the stranger's face. "Yes, my husband, and his brothers used to work for you."

"That's right."

"Hold on, I'll just go get him," the woman said, before she closed the door.

Llandri waited for several moments, before the door opened again, revealing Fevis, the eldest of the four brothers.

"Llandri," he said, clearly shocked by her sudden appearance. "When Lolinah told me you were at the door, I wasn't sure I believed it."

"Darovin's dead!" she blurted out, her eyes filling with tears. Seeing Fevis' face had brought back the weight of the past few days rushing back to her..

"What!?" he asked, taken aback. "What's happened?"

"The Argonians, they took us, they wanted to make us slaves. They killed him!"

"They came back?" Fevis asked her. "After we scared them off, all those years ago!?" he questioned.

"Yes, they came back, only a few days ago. He's dead!"

"What about Brendarr?" he asked with urgency.

"At the wagon, with Magoza and the Argonian."

"Argonian?"

"He helped save us!"

Fevis looked passed her, at the tall wagon. He clearly saw Brendarr, who was stood by the guar, but saw no one else.

"Magoza and the lizard, they saved us. But they had already killed him!"

"Where are they?"

"In the back of the wagon."

Fevis exited the house and headed towards the wagon, Llandri following closely behind. Brendarr turned to him, his face betraying his feelings.

"Out of the wagon you two in the back." Fevis said loudly. Magoza and Hides climbed out the back, and walked around to where he could see them. "An Orc and an Argonian?" Fevis asked Llandri, unsure what he made of it.

She nodded, tears still running from her eyes. "Magoza's a friend."

"And the Argonian?"

"He helped her save us," the widow said, wiping away her tears.

"Yes, you've said that."

They all looked across towards one of the smaller buildings as another Dunmer stepped out of it.

Fevis waved over to him. "Dreneth, get the other brothers. Tell 'em that the Karo's are here, and that-" he paused looking at the four in front of them. "-tell them that it's not good news."


Llandri finished telling the story, fighting back the emotions she felt as she did so.

They were all in the main room of the largest building, all except Hides, which Fevis would not allow in. The room had a large table in the centre, a fire by the far wall, and many cupboards. This was where they all usually ate their hot evening meal, after a hard day cutting the lumber, as well as other things. All together, there were eight villagers. Fevis, his wife Lolinah, Erebar, Dreneth and the woman whom he was courting Vorissa. Finally there was Niseron, his wife Tarani, who held their baby girl, Liani.

They had all listened intently at what Llandri had to say, none of them uttering a single word till she was done.

Erebar was the first to speak. "We should never have left."

Dreneth disagreed. "The farm was failing. They couldn't afford to pay us, and we couldn't afford to offer charity."

Niseron agreed with Dreneth. "Yes, and ya did try and convince Darovin to come with us, to start anew."

"We were too proud t' leave," Llandri told them. "I don't blame any of ya, it was never yer fault."

Fevis cleared his throat. "Well you can stay here for as long as you need." he offered. "There's some rooms upstairs that are free." Fevis said. "We used them before we built the other houses. We kept beds up there encase we had visitors. You can take them if you want."

"That is kind of ya." Llandri thanked him.

"What about the lizard?" Niseron asked. "It's already stinking up the place."

"We've had to deal with his stink for the last coupla days." Brendarr added.

"He saved us Brendarr!" Llandri snapped at her son. "He may be an Argonian, but if it weren't fer him, we'd be slaves in Black Marsh." She looked around at all of them. "He, is why we're here, and not in chains!"

Erebar rose his hand to get the other's attention. "I'll throw something soft down, and he can sleep over in my house."

Niseron scoffed. "It's your house," he said. "You can do whatever you want with it."

Llandri ignored him, and thanked Erebar. "You've always been the one with the biggest heart," she told him.

"Yeah, well dinner will be in two or so hours," Fevis informed them. "And, well if that N'wah outside wants to he can come and have some."

"Absolutely not!" Niseron said, flat out refusing the very notion. "The thing can eat whatever it can catch!"

"He saved us," Llandri repeated.

"It's still one of those lizards!"

Niseron's wife agreed with her husband. "I don't want it anywhere near our baby girl."

Fevis raised his hands, in acceptance of his brother's protest. "Fine, he'll eat after the rest of you have all gone home."

"I don't want him in here at all," Niseron told his brother. "He can eat outside, or off of Erebar's floor for all I care, as long as it's not in here."

"At least yer calling him a he now," Llandri said, saddened by his disposition.

Niseron scowled, before he pushed himself to his feet. "Me and the wife will be home if you need us."

With that he left with Tarani, who carried their baby with her, in her arms.

Fevis looked down at the table with a sigh. "He will be difficult."

"We're not staying long anyway." Llandri informed him.

"Where will you go?" Fevis asked looking up at her.

"I've been thinking about returning to Solstheim, the place I lived before I met-" she trailed off, not wanting to speak her husband's name.

"I thought you didn't like it there?"

"We have nowhere else to go."

"You could stay here."

"Niseron would never allow it," Llandri said.

"He would if you ditched the Argonian," Fevis pointed out.

"I couldn't, not after what he did for us."

"I could," Brendarr whispered under his breath.

Fevis began to make his way over to the door. "Come, we should get some of your things unpacked."

"Yes," Llandri agreed. "Just a few things, though."

Llandri had expected there to be some real trouble in the near future, regarding the Argonian. In fact, she had expected more sooner. So far, it had gone better than she had ever expected it to go.

In a few days however, they would be off, continuing their journey northwards. She knew that wherever they went, having an Argonian with them would cause trouble with some folks. But she felt as though he was like them, more than she would care to admit, and that had nowhere else to go.


Stepping foot back inside the Nightgate Inn was an odd experience for Tam. The last time she was here, she had seen an old comrade, Fultheim who had been nothing but a drunk. Now she found that he wasn't here. The innkeeper Hadring had even confirmed it. Apparently he had gone on a tour, in search of all the breweries in Skyrim.

In truth, the Altmer hadn't even thought about him until the inn had been in view. The memory of Fultheim drinking away his woes had struck her suddenly, and she had wondered if Albus had been through here at some point. It turned out that he hadn't been.

Right now, a few things concerned her. One was Rontag's health, the other was that once they finally reached Dawnstar, and the two Nords headed off to Solitude, it was likely she would never see the two of them ever again. She was also concerned with Rasha, and how she would deal with losing her hand, and Faldan, who still managed to make her feel slight anger whenever she looked at him. Lastly she was deeply concerned about Jo'Agro.

Why was he here with them? Was his motive simply to get under Rasha's fur, or was there another reason? He had mentioned something about wanting adventure, but that didn't feel truthful to her. If it was simply because he had taken a fancy to the Ohmes-Raht, then she was sure he would be disappointed. Rasha appeared to have absolutely no interest in him whatsoever, and to make matters more complicated, it appeared that Faldan was enamoured with her also.

Seeing Rontag with Valerie, and Rasha getting so much attention from the other two, made her feel empty inside. She couldn't remember the last time anyone had been so infatuated with her. She had thought she had been in love once, but it had been long ago, and had turned into something she would rather forget.

Tomorrow they would be arriving at Dawnstar, but really their journeys were just beginning. One group was headed to High Rock, via Solitude, and the other was heading into Morrowind.

As for Jo'Agro, she didn't want him coming with them. He had unknowingly put himself into potentially grave danger. Perhaps she could convince him to go with Valerie and Rontag to Solitude, as sort of backup in case something went awry. She doubted he would though, as Rasha appeared to be the main reason he was out here. Unless of course, there was an ulterior motive that none of them, as of yet, were aware of.

It would all have to wait till tomorrow though. Right now Tam and the others needed to rest. They would need to be up bright and early if they wanted to make Dawnstar in good time. In her case though, it would be more like miserable and early.

Soon they were all in bed, and the night drifted passed them as they all slept to the sound of the sign outside, squeaking in the wind.

Updated 09/04/2014