Mutants Misplaced

Chapter 33

Left in the Dark

Raph and Mona were resting a bit in the Windhelm inn, Candlehearth Hall, but it was far from pleasant. They were treated like they had the plague or something by many of the guests and even some of the staff. At least they managed to get some food and drink, but they both agreed that they would leave as soon as possible. Seeing as Raph's leg had recovered nicely, they could hit the road again and try to find their friends and family.

However, Mona had other motives as well.

While buying supplies, she took the opportunity to ask around the more kind people about the 'bridge keep', where the bandits that were responsible for the murder of a family had their base. For the most part, she wouldn't get any useful information, but she did find out about an old ruin called the Valthiem Towers, near Whiterun on the north side of the foot of the Throat of the World.

A fire in her eyes flared up anew when she learned that. Finally a lead to those bastards. All she needed to do was to go there and she would kill every last one of those pricks, make them pay for what they did. And Raph wouldn't have to know that she knew, it was on their way either way, so hopefully he wouldn't notice until they were too close to ignore it.

Sometime in the evening, the couple left the city, feeling that it would be safer in the wild. As Raph had gotten nearly completely restored, they kept a high pace, almost jogging, so they could reach the others as soon as possible, taking only short breaks to rest and eat.

They didn't stop until late in the night, when they found a suitable place to camp for the night.

While collecting more firewood, Raph looked at Mona and wondered what would happen to her. Ever since she came back with supplies in Windhelm, she had seemed excited, and not in a good way. He wasn't an idiot, at least not all the time, he knew that she was up to something and he had a hunch about what.

'I can't let her continue like this.' he thought. 'All this… anger, I understand how she feel, and I remember how she was when we took her in, how angry I got when she told us what happened to her. I would have been just as furious as her, if I hadn't been so shocked by her behaviour back then, but this ain't good for her. But what should I do? I also want to kill those fuckers for what they did, but she is almost like possessed.'

Sighing deeply, Raph pondered on it for a moment.

'Guess I have no choice but to help her, just like I said would, but I just know that she's searching more actively than she's admitting. Either way, I'll keep her safe.'

Early the next day, before sunrise, they resumed their journey, continuing towards Whiterun. Even though Mona kept her eyes peeled for any sign of the towers, she begged that the others was on their way to Whiterun as well. Since they had to get to Morthal to help Sephie, they had to pass through Whiterun on their way there. Either they were on their way there, or they had already been there and the people would be able to tell them.

The journey was fairly event-less, with only a few travelling farmers heading to Windhelm to join the Stormcloaks on the road, and by sunset, the couple had gotten very close to the massive mountain called the Throat of the World. They had seen it all the time they were on the surface, but seeing it that up close was quite breathtaking, even though it wasn't as large as many mountains back on earth, but it wasn't any less impressive for that.

With only the stars as a source of light, they continued on the rocky road around the north side of the mountain, and Mona was extra observant. The Valthiem towers had to be somewhere nearby, they just had to be.

"Still looking for them are you, babe?" Raph said all of a sudden, snapping Mona out of her thoughts.

"What? Of course I am. Why wouldn't I? That's what we're here for, ain't it?"

"I'm not talking about Leo and the others, you know what I mean. The bandits."

Mona looked away as her lover said just what she was thinking. She was looking for the bandits, but she had hoped that he wouldn't notice.

"When did you know?" she asked.

"I've had a feeling ever since we left Windhelm, I wasn't entirely sure, but now I am."

Mona didn't say anything, she had difficulties facing Raph's gaze, guilt weighing her down.

"Did you really think that you could keep this from me? You have the same feel about you like way back. You won't stop hunting the guilty ones, and you know something new, don't you?"

"What difference does it make? You said that you would help me if we found them."

"But I never said that we should actively hunt for them! And I thought that you trusted me enough to share this kind of info with me, but clearly I was wrong."

"This isn't about if I trust you or not, because I do trust you, you know that. This is about justice, for the slaughtered family, but you don't seem to care about that."

"I do care, but I also know that we have more important stuff to do than avenging the dead."

"And what would that be?" said Mona, thinking that nothing could be more important.

"Saving those still alive. Or have you forgotten what happened to Sephie?"

The truth hit Mona like a freight train, she hadn't had a thought about Sephie and her condition. Sure, she knew that she needed help, but the thought hadn't crossed her mind for a long time.

"Look, I was an idiot when I took off with you that day, I know that. I meant well, but it all went so wrong. Don't make the same mistake I did, Mona, please."

Mona went over Raph's words in her head, and he was right. Back when he had 'protected' her from Sephie's attempt to bite Mona, she had scolded him something fierce for what he did. And now, she was acting the same way, but out of vengeance.

But before she was able to say something, a wanderer appeared from behind a corner of a cliff by the road. His sudden appearance caused the couple to stop their conversation, since it was of private nature. Despite the darkness, you could see that his clothes were tattered and dirty, and he didn't look much better himself.

"Good evening, fellow travellers." the man greeted the two mutants as he walked up to them. "Could you perhaps spare a few coins or some food for a poor man?"

'A beggar? What's a beggar doing out here? And at this time of night?' Raph wondered, and it was indeed strange, but he guessed that even they have to travel somewhere eventually.

"I'm sorry, but we don't really have that much money to spare. But, we might be able to part with some dried meat, if that is enough." said Raph.

"It is more than enough. Thank you kindly."

After being given the dried meat, the beggar gave both Raph and Mona a big hug, even if they were a bit reluctant, thanked them again and left in the same direction as he had come from.

"What a strange man." said Mona as they watched him disappear behind the cliff.

"Yeah. Why head back the way he came, when- Hey! The pouch with our gems is gone!" Raph exclaimed when he placed his hand on his belt and noticed that the missing pouch.

"What?! Did he- Oh no! My necklace is also gone!"

"Damned thief! I knew something was off with him!"

Quickly running after the culprit, once Raph and Mona passed the cliff, they saw no trail of the man. But, further down the road, Mona saw something that made her heart beat hard.

A stone bridge connecting two ruined towers, one on each side of the gorge with a river.

'This must be the place where those fiends are hiding.' she thought. 'And I'm willing to bet that that thieving fucker is one of them. I wanted to kill them from the start, but now it's personal!'

Mona might finally have found those responsible for the attack on the family, but how will she proceed now? And what will Raph do?

Find out next time. See you!