"It would make the most sense to visit Peryite's shrine first, and then Dagon's," Aventus said to the group as they climbed aboard the carriage. "If we go to Morthal and then back to Markarth, we're just doubling back on ourselves. It'll take much longer than it needs to, especially since we already have to double back on ourselves to get to Windhelm for the sword."
"We heard you the first time, Aventus," said Erith, sighing as she leaned her head against Leola. "We already agreed to go to Peryite first."
"I know, but you all seem grumpy about it and I'm just trying to make you understand," Aventus said.
"We're grumpy because you won't stop trying to justify yourself," Bottar said. "We get it, we really do. You're overexplaining."
Aventus frowned, looking over at Leola. She simply giggled as the carriage started moving, reaching over and putting a hand on his arm. "It's alright, we still love you," she teased him in a gentle tone.
"Do you know what to expect from Peryite anyways?" asked Shelur's voice, and Leola glanced over at her Orc friend thoughtfully.
"No," she said. "Kesh, the Khajiit who spoke to me back in Windhelm, said that Peryite only wanted his shield back."
"Let's hope his demands haven't changed since then," said Aventus with a shake of his head.
"I doubt it," Leola said with a shrug. "I can't believe how close we are. Just three more pieces and we can go see Meridia."
"I'm still apprehensive about appealing to another of the Daedric princes for help with reforging the gem," said Bottar. "Isn't it their fault her soul is in this state to begin with?"
"She said that Meridia had already agreed to help," Ulfric said firmly. "That's what she told me…going to Meridia will guarantee that the gem is properly reforged and that her soul isn't damaged in the process."
"Her soul's been torn in sixteen pieces, I think it's damaged beyond repair already," murmured Shelur. "How do you ever fix that?"
"Meridia has a way," said Leola. "I've read about her, and I'm pretty sure her whole thing is that she believes in light and she hates the undead. I think that having a torn-up soul is close to being undead."
"She's one of the only Daedric princes that isn't inherently evil," Erith chimed in, smiling. "That's why she's going to help us, because she's basically good."
"I think this whole mess has taught me why Daedra worship is generally frowned upon," Leola said with a giggle. "Because worshipping Daedric princes ends you up in a huge mess when you die."
"I don't think your mother really worshipped them so much as she simply served them," her father murmured. "Her faith in Talos was beyond compare, but the strength these artifacts gave her - well, I suppose that also may have been beyond compare."
"How much of her strength came from the Daedric artifacts, then? Could Samuel have achieved all he was hoping for by binding her without having the artifacts to help?" asked Aventus, raising an eyebrow.
"I'm sure they only helped - her power in itself was unrivaled, and I never saw her with one of these artifacts, so I don't think she used them when she served me," said Ulfric, shaking his head. "No, she took Solitude using weapons she'd crafted herself - she was so skilled with a forge…skilled with anything she touched, actually. I don't know what there was that didn't come easily to her."
"Relationships, apparently," said Leola, and her father sighed.
"Yes, it would seem so," he replied.
They rode on for a little while longer, making only small-talk and idle chit-chat, until the carriage began to slow unexpectedly to a stop.
"Bandits ahead!" shouted the driver, and in an instant, the group had sprung into action. Bottar and Shelur all but vaulted themselves out of the carriage, while Ulfric climbed down from the front. Erith almost instantly had a ball of flames conjured in her palm, ready to throw it at whoever approached, while Aventus drew his daggers and began to sneak out the back of the cart, hoping that he would take a bandit by surprise.
There were several of them, appearing from behind the trees that lined the road. They were clad in heavy furs, with accessories made of human bones and even skulls. Leola's eyes widened at the fearsome sight of them - perhaps it was a fashion meant to evoke fear in their enemies, but it certainly worked.
"Not bandits - Forsworn!" Erith exclaimed as she flung her fireball in the direction of one of the men.
Leola carefully took her shield from her back. Was she going to be able to fight a skilled Forsworn warrior? She didn't have much choice but to find out now, and she lifted the mace and climbed carefully out the back of the cart.
Ulfric had already downed one of the men, and was now swinging his blade in the direction of another. Shelur and Bottar had each clashed with one of the scantily-clad female warriors and were hard at work fending them off. Leola couldn't find Aventus - he had probably managed to creep into the treeline and was working on eliminating them from behind.
A woman by the treeline suddenly began to blast a flame spell in Leola's direction, and with a slight squeak, Leola ducked away. She lifted her shield, and she could feel the heat as the flames hit the shield, but the blast just narrowly missed her.
"Leave her alone!" shouted Erith from the cart, and several shards of ice began to dart from her hands, striking the woman. The mage cried out before falling, but Leola's eyes were quickly averted by the whizzing of an arrow past her head. Her eyes widened, and she lifted her shield just in time to block the next one, which bounced off the tough blue metal.
The arrows were coming from an archer hidden behind a tree. He wore the entire head of some animal as a headdress, and how he could see to be so accurate was a concept beyond Leola. She was about to start in his direction, but a cry to her right had her whirling around just in time to block a sword that was coming towards her. The man who wielded it growled, and Leola lifted the mace.
"Back off!" she said, and he laughed.
"Foolish girl!" he shouted, swinging his sword again. Leola brought up the shield to deflect his sword, and as the sword was flung away, she swung her mace towards him. It made contact with his arm and she heard him shout, probably out of pain - his arm didn't look very good, perhaps she'd just broken it?
Again, he swung his sword towards her. She blocked it again, and this time she brought her mace down towards him. It hit his shoulder, the same shoulder that connected to the broken arm, and he cried out again.
He lifted his sword, and she was all set to block it, but the need never came. Instead, she heard blade puncturing flesh, and the man made a choked noise before toppling over to reveal Aventus standing behind him, blades in hand and a grin on his face.
"I've got your back," said Aventus. "Or, rather, I got his back."
"I had him!" Leola said.
"Trust me, you didn't," came Bottar's voice as he was backed up almost into Leola by the warrior he was fighting. Aventus moved towards Bottar's opponent, lifting his blades and plunging them downwards into the collarbone area of the warrior, who spluttered slightly as blood began to pour. Leola immediately looked away, cringing.
"That looks to be all of them!" shouted Ulfric from further ahead, and when Leola looked in his direction, he was surrounded by the fallen bodies of the fearsome warriors. Indeed, it seemed he was right - there had been perhaps twenty warriors, but her friends had valiantly fought and killed every last one of them. The mages and archers that Aventus had taken by surprise were in heaps between the trees while several lay on the road surrounding the carriage. And not one of those kills had been performed by Leola.
Quietly, the group began to gather themselves back into the cart. The driver, who seemed more than pleased that he was in the company of such skilled fighters, began to drive yet again, heading off in the direction of Markarth.
"You seem quiet, Leola," said Erith after a little longer driving. "Normally you have a thing or two to say - what's on your mind?"
"You all fought so well," Leola said softly. "I wasn't able to take down even one of those men."
"It takes practice," said Aventus. "Don't worry. We've all been at this for years. Your father's been a warrior since he was younger than you. I've been training to become an assassin since I was fifteen, Shelur's probably been fighting since she was a child, and Bottar was a wandering orphan who had no choice but to defend himself."
"And I'm just some pretty little thing who's never had to lift a sword in my life, aren't I?" snapped Leola, and everybody went quiet. It was uncharacteristic for Leola to snap, and they all knew it.
"Leola?" asked Aventus, but the blonde turned away slightly and didn't respond. A sigh left the assassin's lips and he exchanged a look with Erith, who simply shrugged. Neither of them knew what was wrong with their Leola.