Mutants Misplaced
Chapter 38
White(re)run
In High Hrothgar, the team waited patiently for Tyroth to return from his audience with the Greybeards' master, Paarthurnax. He had been gone for quite some time, and the group was starting to get restless, especially one of them in particular.
"Man, how long is he going to take? He's been gone for I don't know how long." complained Mikey.
"Relax, Mikey. Tyroth's been through a lot of strange things the last weeks, so he no doubt has a lot of questions." said Donnie.
"But I'm so bored, like, there is nothing to do here. And these monks, other than that Arngeir, the one that greeted us, they haven't said a word all the time we've been here. They haven't even sneezed or coughed, not a sound."
"They have reason for remaining quiet." said Devina. "I've heard that the training they have gone through over the years, has made their voices so powerful, that just a whisper could kill a man that hasn't strengthened his own Thu'um enough."
"Maybe just sitting here quietly, ain't such a bad idea after all." Mikey said with a gulp, not wanting to cause the monks to scold him, as there wouldn't be enough left of him to fill a teaspoon.
"Now if we only got get him to do that at home as well." said Raph.
At that point, Arngeir entered the temple from the courtyard and approached the group.
"Your wait is over." he said. "Your friend has returned." Shortly after, Tyroth too walked in from the courtyard. He looked tired, but relieved.
"How did it go, love?" Sephie asked. "Could he help you?"
"It went well, I shouldn't have any more problem with my freeloader, at least not for a good while, and by then I should be strong enough to outlast him." Tyroth answered.
"So, he's not gone, but rather… sealed away?" said Mona, and Tyroth nodded.
"And while he's locked up, I can recover my strength. After that, he should have been fully absorbed and never pose a threat again. Which means that I can finally get some sleep, you won't believe how tired I actually am."
"Take the time to take a nap then." said Leo. "You've earned it. In the meanwhile, we'll plan our next move."
Agreeing with Leo, Tyroth lay down on one of the stone benches that stood along the walls, and quickly fell asleep. It felt so good to be able to relax again, to not be afraid of possession all the time. But his sleep would still not be as peaceful as he had wanted.
Finding himself once again in a fog covered area, Tyroth immediately recognized where he was. The same area of his soul and mind where he had encountered and imprisoned Lokdrogyol's soul. He had guessed that there still was a chance of him ending up there, even after Paarthurnax had strengthened his soul, but he was not worried. Tyroth knew the secret behind Lokdrogyol's power, and he wasn't afraid anymore.
It didn't take long before Tyroth spotted the cage he had created to hold the dragon soul, and within it, Lokdrogyol was still chained to both the cage and the stone spire that had pierced his back. Parts of his body had started to fade away to nothingness and his eyes had a very tired feel to them, yet he still gave Tyroth a look that could kill.
"So, you sought out the traitor, and he aided you in keeping me chained here." the dark dragon said. "You are such a lowly creature, not being able to fight your own battles."
"If I am so lowly, what does that make you then? I did kill you after all." Tyroth's words cut deep into Lokdrogyol's pride, and the large dragon growled in annoyance.
"I might have fallen for your ruse before, but that will not happen again. Your strength has diminished just like mine, but now I will recover, and you will never take my body. You will fade away and never threaten me, or anyone else again. Now, I'm trying to get some rest, so you'd better shut up. Disturb me in any way, and I'll make your remaining existence a living hell. Got that?"
"You dare give me orders?! I will never yield to the likes of you-"
Lokdrogyol was interrupted by electricity that coursed through his body, making him yell out loudly in pain. Tyroth narrowed his eyes.
"Let me make this clear to you. Ever since I got to this world, it has been one danger after the other, then you come along and try to burn my friends, kill me and take over my body, leaving me sleepless for close to a week. I have gotten really irritable because of all that, and I won't take any bullshit from you. I may not be able to kill you, but you still feel pain, do I have to continue?"
Lokdrogyol let out a faint growl, he would not bend to anyone, but he was in no position to do anything else. Reluctantly, he lowered his head in defeat.
Tyroth didn't take any pleasure in torturing Lokdrogyol and had hoped that he would have accepted his fate and pass away relatively painless. However, that dragon needed to be put in his place.
About an hour later, Tyroth awoke from his short slumber. It might have been a relative short time, but it did wonders for him, as he felt a lot better. Yawning, he stretched a bit before standing up.
"Slept well?" Sephie asked as she walked up to him after seeing that he had woken up.
"Surprisingly well, yes. Never thought that a stone bench would be so comfortable. How are things coming along for you?"
"We're all ready, just waiting on you, but there's no real hurry. We'll head to Whiterun first, to restock our supplies, then we continue towards this Morthal, so we can deal with my… condition."
"Sounds like a good plan, should get us close to the talisman as well."
"Talisman? What do you mean?"
"Right, I forgot to tell you guys. In short, I know how to get us home again, I'll explain more on the way."
The team was almost halfway down the mountain when Tyroth had explained everything that he and Paarthurnax had talked about, as well as answered any questions he could.
"So it is a multi-dimensional, space-time gateway." said Donnie. "And if time has been distorted, it's only logical that it malfunctioned."
"Of course the Dwemer would tinker with something like that, just like with the Elder Scrolls." said Devina.
"Just what is an Elder Scroll? Paarthurnax never went into any detail about them." said Tyroth.
"They are powerful artefacts that are said to be older than time itself, and contains a complete record of all of history, past, present and future."
"That's quite something, they must be very sought after." said Leo.
"Like you wouldn't believe. But I don't think I was clear enough, they contain all history, including everything that could have happened. Every possible past that could have happened, every possible present that might be and every possible future that will happen."
"That sounds like a major headache to me." said Mikey.
"Anyone who try to read one of the scrolls will either go blind or mad, might even die. A lucky few escape with a killer headache, but still can't make out anything of the scrolls. Only a select few are capable to read them with special training, and even they go blind eventually. To make matters worse, the scrolls seem to have a will of their own and only let the reader read what the scroll wants. But the Dwemer constructed some kind of device that could copy parts of the information of an Elder Scroll, and write it down."
"Impressive, then the ruin we explored must have been of Dwemer origin as well. They must have been a very advanced civilisation. Wonder why they disappeared." said Donnie.
"No one knows. From what I've heard, they all just vanished without a trace one day, leaving their cities behind. Many of the cities are still in good shape, thanks to the constructs that the Dwemer had built. The spiders, spheres and centurions, are maintaining and defending the ruins."
"So, what do we do then?" said Raph.
"We stick to the plan, head to Whiterun first, then Morthal. After that, we'll ask around about any ruins and see what we find." answered Leo.
"I hope our funds will last, we're starting to run a bit low on gems." said Mona.
Over the course of two nights, the group made their way towards Whiterun. They travelled mostly during evening, night and early morning for Sephie and Devina's sake, as the weather had gotten warmer and the sun stronger.
On their way, they passed Valtheim Towers, or what was left of them. On the mountains across the river, you could still see the faint glow of the molten rock left by Tyroth's breath-attack, even though it had been a few days, it still hadn't cooled completely yet.
Mona couldn't help but shudder when she remembered that night, both the bandit leader's atrocities and Tyroth's power scared her, but she knew that she could trust her dragon friend. Even though he had powers that could border to god-like, he was still level-headed and humble.
Not bothering to stop, since they had already taken everything of use or value from the ruins, the group continued north, around the foot of the mountain. Walking throughout the night, dawn had come by the time that they could see the city of Whiterun. And it was a pleasant sight to behold.
It still took another hour before they arrived at the gates, and as the guards recognized them, they were let in without any hassle. Once inside the city walls, the group made a beeline for the Bannered Mare.
The innkeeper, Hulda, was happy to see the group again, and gladly treated them all to a mug of mead. The team both appreciated and accepted the drinks, and ordered some food, that they insisted on paying for.
While they were enjoying a properly cooked breakfast for the first time since Riften, Mikey looked a bit gloomy as he gently stirred his porridge.
"What's the matter, Mikey? Why the long face?" Sephie asked.
"I just realised that I haven't had a pizza in, like, forever. I want a pizza. And I want it badly."
"Withdrawal symptoms, thought he would have had them a lot sooner. They'll pass, just give it some time." said Donnie.
"Sorry, but what is a 'pizza'?" asked Hulda as she had overheard the conversation while giving them another helping of soup.
"You're gonna regret that question." Raph sighed, he knew just how big of a passion pizza was to Mikey.
"It's the food of gods. Round, flat bread with spiced tomato-sauce and a layer of shredded cheese. Then there are the toppings, ham, more cheese, pepperoni, clams, fish or pretty much anything you like. All of it baked in a stone oven in very high heat for a short while. The taste of a good pizza… it's divine."
"Divine, huh? I am not sure about that, but it does sound interesting. Tell you what, I've bought a new oven for baking my own bread not long ago, if you can teach me how to make this 'pizza', I'll treat you to it."
"Really?!" Mikey exclaimed happily.
"Calm down, Mikey." said Leo.
"But, Leo… It's a pizza. Please. I really want one. Please, please, please. Pretty please." Mikey begged.
"Fine." Leo sighed. "Just as long as you don't make a mess and promise to clean up after you."
"Hooray! To the kitchen!" Mikey cheered before leaving the table in a haste. Hulda was a bit taken aback by Mikey's sudden excitement.
"I didn't think he would be that enthusiastic. Good thing that the inn is rather quiet this early in the day." she said.
"We can look after the place for you." said Mona. "If anything happens, we'll let you know."
"Thank you."
"While you do that, I got a few errands to run." said Devina. "It might take a few hours, but I'll meet you back here when I'm done."
"Okay, see you." said Tyroth.
Once Devina had closed the door to the inn behind her, she hurried up the stairs to the higher parts of the city and towards the great hall of Jorrvaskr, home of the Companions. But rather than entering the building, she walked around it and up upon a broad cliff overlooking it.
On the top of the cliff lay Skyforge, a forge said to be older than the city, older than Jorrvaskr, and even older than men, elves and beasts. A large bed of red-hot coal lay within the stone wall with bellows and anvil around it. Towering over the forge was a mighty sculpture of a hawk-like bird, five meters tall and carved out of the mountain itself, the half opened wings forming large walls around the forge.
Working at the forge was a man with long, thin white hair and a short beard, his weathered face told that he was very old, at least fifty or more, yet his body was well built and he looked like he still could give younger warriors a run for their money in combat. Wearing a leather harness, loincloth and boots, he worked the forge without any kind of apron or gloves, his hardened skin covered in patches of soot, scars and old burn-marks as proof.
"Hello Eorlund." Devina said as she walked up to him. Turning his head slightly, Eorlund didn't stop hammering the red-hot steel in front of him.
"Hrm? Devina? Long time no see."
"Sorry that I haven't come by in the last, um… twenty years, been all over Tamriel, seen a lot of things. But you're not interested by that, and I'm willing to bet that you're still not much for conversation. I do, however, got a thing I'd like you to do."
"And what would that be?"
"A challenge." she said as she opened her bag and presented Eorlund with two dragon teeth. It wasn't easy taking them without anyone noticing, but she managed to. She didn't like it, but she knew that she had to do it.
"By Ysmir's beard! Dragon teeth! How did you acquire such things?" Eorlund said, so shocked by the teeth that he stopped working.
"Does it matter? I want you to forge these into something deadly, the need for that may soon arise."
"On my word, I shall make blades so sharp, they could cut into another realm."
In Mikey's words, Pizza Time! I just had to have that in here somewhere, got the idea from a friend of mine, if your reading this, thanks man.
Now Tyroth don't have to worry about Lokdrogyol any more, but why is Devina acting all sneaky?
Tune in next time as we see what happens, and just what kind of pizza Mikey cooks up. (: