Chapter Forty-Three:

Regroup

Shadowmere was an incredibly swift horse, and I found myself wondering why Aldren hadn't whipped the horse out of his belt sooner. Then again, she would only be able to carry two people at most, so it was understandable why he didn't. Still, she was an awesome horse, and we only had to make camp once!

It was late the next evening that Shadowmere and I finally arrived in Winterhold. The place was blanketed with snow, although that was nothing big considering that a good amount of Skyrim was covered in it. Still, Winterhold definitely had the most, from what I'd seen.

Shadowmere led me all the way to the gate to the College of Winterhold before she knelt down, signalling for me to get off. I did and gave her a good pat before she began wandering off to... wherever. Then I began the trek to the ancient college which was precariously positioned over the ice-covered Sea of Ghosts. No one was there to greet me or to stop me, which I saw as both a relief and a tad distressing. Would I even know where to look for everyone?

"Maybe if I just stand in the centre of the courtyard and yell really loudly, I'll have them find me..." I smiled when I remembered Milos had been separated from me once, and we couldn't for the life of us find each other again. It was in the castle, too (we had been commissioned for "good deeds", which basically meant the orphanage had to clean the castle top to bottom without pay). So I'd stood in the main hall and yelled for Milos until I was blue in the face. On the bright side, Milos and I were reunited! The downside was that the guards had publicly escorted us from the grounds.

After crossing the rather treacherous bridge, I found myself in the centre of the courtyard (and, might I add, I was also very tempted to start yelling). I automatically gravitated towards the large statue of a mage, my eyes widening as I took in the level of detail of it. Even the columns around the courtyard seemed intricate!

"Can I help you?" I nearly jumped out of my skin when a High Elf appeared behind me. I noticed the automatic leer her eyes gave me. I couldn't blame her though. After all, my clothes were still bloody...

"I-I'm looking for my friends," I said nervously. Gods, why am I acting like a kid?! I drew myself up. "You must've seen them come through here. The Arch-Mage was among them."

"Oh," the elf said dryly. "Well, he's up in his chambers at the moment. He's recovering from that ambush I was told about..." From the look she gave me, I figured that no one had told her much about it. She waited a few seconds to see if I'd expand upon it, but when it was clear I wasn't, she continued, "Enter the College. Head to the door on the left. That will take you upstairs to the Arch-Mage's chambers." I had hardly taken a step forward before the elf put a hand on my shoulder. "And do tell him Faralda sent you to him rather than let you scurry about the campus."

I shook her hand off and proceeded into the College, my lips curled into a frown. "Scurry"? Since when do I "scurry"? I walk! Stupid High Elf can go scurry her nose into her higher-up's backside... I paused. Oh. That's Javin. On second thought, I wouldn't want him to get diseases.

"Taryn!" I hardly had enough time to affirm it was Hiemdall running at me before I was being spun in the air. I was holding onto the big Nord for fear of being flung into a wall, and to make sure I wouldn't scream like a little girl at the sudden spinning. "Gods, I was worried! I almost came after you, but that bolt had some poison, and we only just managed to—!"

"Hiemdall!" I gasped. The Companion stopped spinning long enough for me to gasp, "Taryn can't breathe!"

"Oh. Oh! My bad." Hiemdall set me on my feet, his hands not leaving me until he made sure I was steady. He had a shy grin on his face, which, I realized, was odd to see on any sort of muscular Nord. "Sorry."

I shook my head and wrapped him in a hug. "No worries. How is everyone?"

Hiemdall returned the hug and then playfully ruffled my hair. "Well. At least, better than before. Javin got one in the stomach, and it was pretty bad for a while. He's recovering now. And we've been doing some investigating into the Elder Scroll, as well. Cha'qim's been sweet-talking that Orc for a while now. Unless she's left..."

"And everyone else?"

"Everyone else is fine. Milos basically ripped that bolt out of his side, but lost you all in the mountains." Hiemdall's face darkened. "What did the Thalmor want? What did they do to you?"

"They wanted what they usually wanted: to be evil pricks who're compensating." I shrugged. "I dunno if they'll be coming after me again. Hopefully not. But I think it's best if we avoid the roads for a while. Or, at least, I do."

Frowning, Hiemdall said, "We're not going to make you stick to the wilds. We're stronger together—."

"Oh, yeah. Most definitely. The way we were ambushed and beaten like small children is a testament to that." I began to rub my temples. "Remember Sven? We got our asses kicked. He was one Werewolf who wanted to make little puppies because some ethereal Daedric Prince thought it'd be swell."

Hiemdall's shoulders sagged. "We were caught off-guard. I wasn't around to sniff him out. Besides, you..." He gestured to me, which made me plant my hands on my hips. "Well, when you're human, you're human. You probably didn't even notice his eyes. No one really does." Hiemdall put his hands on my shoulders, his fingers squeezing gently. "Don't worry. We all have our strengths and weaknesses. We're still learning to be a cohesive team. That's all you can ask for now, aye? It's not like we're all going to meet and immediately trust each other at our backs."

"Why not?"

Hiemdall smirked. "Of our little group, there's an assassin. He's been drinking the mage's blood. The mage has occasionally slipped in supplements for our thief's bad breath. The thief has been going into my purse and counting my coins. I've been occasionally spiking the Argonian's water with wine since he's a bit of a lightweight. And, in turn, the Argonian's been deliberately exposing said assassin to the sun."

My mouth was agape. "How have I been missing this?!"

The Companion shrugged. "Bad perception? You're only human, after all. And an Imperial at that."

"Hey!"

"What?"

"Take it back!"

He smirked. "Take what back?"

"You—!"

He spun and bolted into the door to my left. I sprinted after him up the narrow spiraling steps, shouting curses that his very ancestors would have cringed at, until we reached the Arch-Mage's quarters.

And that's when I stopped dead in my tracks at the look of pure venom Aldren was showering me with.

"Greystone." His tone was annoyed, disappointed, and angry all at once.

"Aldren?" I responded.

Oh, Gods. Now what have I done?