That evening, Kor slumped on the edge of his bed at Moorside Inn, his eyes downcast, his spirit seemingly extinguished.
Dahni knelt before him, his hand enveloping Kor's with a gentle, comforting touch.
"Kor, you've done tremendous and thorough work combing every inch you can," he spoke gently, "…but… but it's time to confront…the possibility… that Aphid might not be out there."
Tephelle sat beside Kor, wrapping a motherly arm around his little shoulders, while Dahni held his hand, his grip an anchor, bracing.
They had expected another fight, that Kor would immediately outburst and scream and yell, very likely even hit again, and demand that they keep combing over and over and over, but instead…
Kor simply sat still and quiet.
His eyes drifted further downwards and he looked a boy who had no fight left within him.
It was more heartbreaking to see than all the fights he had put them through.
So much so, that Dahni did not intend to persuade Kor into thinking this meant Aphid was gone. No, just not where they've been looking.
"There's another small village to the west," Dahni explained, "A hamlet, really. Our guard friend said it's a bit out of the way, but not impossible to stumble upon, especially if you went straight through the marshes from our lost village. I don't think it impossible that Aphid may have ventured even further out than we did, when he was looking for you, and perhaps he's gotten hurt, just as we did. These people are known for their medicinal interests, they're potion makers. I think there is a possibility that Aphid may simply be recuperating somewhere, and maybe this is that somewhere."
In truth, Dahni still suspected that "somewhere" to very likely be the grave they buried that corpse in, but he also wasn't ready to give up hope for this little boy. Not yet. They would scope all of Hjaalmarch before he will bring himself to suggest again that Kor's beloved big brother could possibly be dead.
Kor's eyes slowly lifted, his gaze meeting Dahni's.
The spark of hope rekindled…slightly, Dahni could see it, though Kor's enthusiasm, those leaps to immediate action he had once had, was tempered by the weight of his dread.
The boy simply nodded, a nod that held no expectation, though Dahni's smile offered a warm embrace, his eye shining with encouragement as he drew the boy into his arms.
"Don't give up hope just yet, little one. Let's leave the disappearing without a trace to the Dwemer."
Under the gaze of the moons, Aphid traversed onward, his senses heightened as he paralleled the road, still wary of what he had seen done to the villagers that had walked boldly on the cobble. He tread cautiously, too, next to the thickets. His eyes darting between the road and the dark wilds that flanked him, very aware the dangers that any path could hand him.
Yet, despite the dangers that lurked anywhere one could step, Aphid's heart drove him forward, fueled by a gut feeling that Morthal was still a possibility for finding Kor, despite the bandits' blockade that should have told him otherwise.
His footsteps grew lighter, his heart beating with an excitement that seemed to harmonize with the gentle breeze at his back, as if the Gods themselves were urging him forward.
But his reverie was shattered by a faint rustling in the underbrush. He froze, his senses on high alert, as he scanned the darkness for any sign of movement.
At first, there was nothing.
Then, a fleeting, eerie glint caught his eye, followed by an unsettling stillness that seemed to hold its breath in anticipation.
The silence droned on… an uncomfortable attention to it.
Before… a clicking?
A chittering?
A stream of acid suddenly shot forth from the thicket, narrowly missing Aphid as he dodged to the side. Three chaurus followed right after, bursting forth from the darkness, their twisted forms skittering towards him with an unnatural gait, their eyes glowing with an otherworldly light.
Aphid's breath came in quick gasps as he fled from the chaurus, their snapping pincers inches from his back. He dashed onto the road, but the creatures' relentless pursuit left him no space to draw his bow.
With a burst of adrenaline, he sprinted even faster across the road and into the thicket, seeking the trees' cover to launch a counterattack. But the chaurus were alarmingly swift, their multiple legs devouring the distance with terrifying speed.
Aphid narrowly dodged their deadly jaws with every step, his body shooting waves of adrenaline that gave him the push to narrowly escape their clutches each time.
But even when he managed to gain enough distance to fire an arrow, one of the monsters spat another stream of acid, forcing him to duck behind a tree to avoid the corrosive spray.
The creatures left him no option but to flee, his mind racing to devise a plan.
But worst of all, unbeknownst to him, and unbeknownst to them…
Dahni, Tephelle, and Kor, and their guard protector, rode past on their horses, only yards away, their journey to the hamlet oblivious to the chaos unfolding in the thicket.
The howling wolves hunting the marshes and singing to the moons drowned out any chance of detection, as Aphid was driven deeper into the darkness, his path once again sundered from his brother.
His fleet feet pounded the earth as he fled, his body weaving through the trees with a desperate grace. He leveraged his quick wit to outmaneuver his pursuers, leaping to grab a branch and swinging his legs up just in time to avoid the snapping pincers of one chaurus.
He brought his feet down hard onto the head of another, the impact sending a shockwave through his legs, but the creature's exoskeleton absorbed the blow, leaving it stunned but unharmed.
Undeterred, Aphid dropped down onto the disoriented chaurus, using an arrow as a makeshift sword to pierce its eye, the shaft sinking deep into its skull. Though the creature still did not die, it writhed in agony, its attacks momentarily ceasing, allowing Aphid to roll free just as the other two chaurus launched their assault.
One lunged to bite, while the other unleashed a stream of acid, but in their haste, they struck their injured companion instead, the acid spray engulfing both the injured and the biter as they thrashed in a tangled heap.
Seizing the momentary chaos, Aphid sprinted back towards the direction of the road, determined not get himself lost once again and to regain enough distance to unleash his bow.
His heart pounded in his chest, his breath burning in his lungs, but he refused to give in, no how many damn trials this world wanted to place between him and his brother. No matter what God has detemined to play with them so.
Aphid spun around, his eyes locking onto the chaurus closing in on him. But this time, he had managed to gain a precious few feet of distance, enough to release an arrow that flew straight and true, striking the creature in what constituted as its neck. The arrow pierced between the plates of the exoskeleton, hitting a precious weak spot.
The chaurus let out a deafening screech as it twisted in pain, its body contorting in a futile attempt to dislodge the arrow.
Aphid didn't hesitate, using the brief reprieve to sprint towards the road once more, his feet pounding the earth in a desperate bid for survival.
But his relief was short-lived, as a stream of that corrosive acid suddenly splattered across his arm, eating through his sleeve like a ravenous beast. He felt the searing pain as the acid burned his skin, and he swiftly tore off the entire sleeve, but even the brief exposure left his arm throbbing.
That was when he saw the newcomer that sprayed him – a chaurus reaper, its massive mandibles snapping with terrible clacks as it joined the hunt. Its large body lumbered, yet somehow nimbly, as it weaved through the trees like a thread through a needle.
Aphid's heart raced with terror as he realized the creature had seemingly appeared out of nowhere.
How many more lurked in the shadows, waiting to strike?
With a despairing growl, Aphid resumed his flight, his feet carrying him forward as his mind reeled with fear. He could hear the chaurus closing in, their skittering legs, the clicking, the chittering, and the snapping of jaws creating a terrifying consonance of deadly music.
Gods. Why? Why is he besieged by horrors at every turn? He just wants to find his brother. He just wants to be with his little brother again. To hug him. To laugh with him. Even cry with him. He just wants his baby brother.
And in a moment of sheer desperation, he yelled out into the night, his voice cracking: "KOR!"
Kor's head jerked up, his eyes wide as he straightened up from his slumped position against Tephelle's arm as she held the reins. He had been on the verge of drifting off, the gentle rhythm of the horse's trot lulling him into a state of sleep, but then he heard it – the voice he had been longing to hear since the bandits attacked the village. Aphid's voice.
"I heard him!" Kor exclaimed, his voice trembling with hope. "I heard him! I really heard him! I heard Aphid!"
He frantically scanned the surrounding area, his eyes scouring the darkness for any sign of his brother.
Tephelle's expression was skeptical, her voice gentle but doubting. "Kor, sweetie, you were nodding off just a moment ago…"
But Kor was adamant, his determination unwavering. "No, no, I'm telling you, I heard him! It was Aphid! I know it!"
"I'm sure you heard him, sweet child, but it may have been from your drea—"
"No! Shush, Miss Tephelle! Listen!"
Dahni and the guard reined in their horses, their faces alert with interest, as Tephelle hesitated, her expression softening.
Together, they listened intently, the only sounds being the heavy breathing of the horses and the distant howling of wolves and hooting of owls. They strained to hear the voice that Kor was so certain he had heard, but they heard nothing human.
However, Kor persisted still.
"We have to turn back!" he said, "He's back there!" Kor pointed back from the way they came.
"Kor…," Dahni began to speak but Kor's fight was back.
"He's back that way! I just know it!" Kor stubbornly insisted.
Dahni looked to the guard and then Tephelle. He had just promised himself earlier that he wouldn't give up yet on Kor's brother.
With a small breath, Dahni nodded.
"Alright," he said, "Let's turn 'em around."
…Aphid frantically evaded the chaurus, his arrows spent now, his quiver empty. The creatures closed in, their acid spit and snapping pincers mere inches from his flesh. Aphid knew this was it. He had nothing left. Nothing left but to run.
He sprinted the last of his energies towards the road, the moonlit cobblestones gleaming like a beacon of hope in the darkness. But just as he burst from the thicket, a stream of acid grazed his leg, sending him tumbling to the ground with a cry of pain.
As he rolled onto his back, the chaurus pod closed in, their jaws opening like skeletal fingers, like the hand of Death itself.
But suddenly…
A torch hurtled through the air, striking the creatures with a fiery burst, momentarily stunning them. Two men leapt into the fray, hacking and slashing at the chaurus with fierce determination, their blades flashing in the moonlight.
Even amongst this sudden fray, the large reaper persisted and lunged at the fallen Aphid. Its jaws were wide open like a macabre gate to Sovrngarde, but both of the rescuing men leapt onto its back, plunging a dagger into every soft spot they could with deadly precision, until it collapsed, dead.
As the scene settled, Aphid's sky-blue eyes met one of the men's gaze. The Dunmer's one eye gaze…a spark of recognition flashing between them.
"M-Mister…Dahni?" Aphid whispered, his voice dwindling, his eyes wide with disbelief.
Dahni's mouth only hung agape, his eye wide in this shared disbelief, his stare frozen on Aphid's face.
He could only manage a subtle tilt of his head, his eye flicking towards the horses on the road, as if to say, "Look, Aphid, look!"
Aphid's gaze followed Dahni's silent prompt, his eyes roving towards the horses, and then locking onto the small figure seated in front of Tephelle. Kor's eyes met his, and Aphid's world came crashing back into focus.
With a burst of energy, Aphid shot to his feet, his legs trembling beneath him, so fast he rose, he almost toppled right back over.
"K-K..." he stuttered, his voice barely audible, but Kor's reply was instantaneous, his voice trembling with emotion.
"Aphid?" Kor spoke… and then exclaimed, his eyes wide with wonder, his energy bursting to fly from his seat, "Aphid?!!!"
"Kor!!"