The Argonian Maid?...Nope!

 

I woke with a scream, or I would have screamed,but not even the smallest sound came out of my throat as I bolted up.

But there was no ground to press my feet against, no possibility to bolt and nothing to see except darkness and the faces in it.



My hands could grab nothing, even when the air glided with a strange thickness through my fingers. Scenes flashing through my mind, knifelike sharpness creating hurt all over my mind and body before I fell, crashing hard into reality, on the woodenfloor under my back with a 'thunk'.



But before I could so much as groan the darkness pierced me like a lightning bolt through my sternum. The agony lasted not even the tenth of a second, but otherwise I do not think I could have endured it when it teared through my beeing.



There was nothing left, everything was normal, I was whole but still I laid there heaving and panting, shuddering from the phantom pain and the aftershocks, the scenes I saw.





I didn´t wholly understand what I had seen, but it was painful in a familiar way.

Again I had seen things normally no one wants to see..I felt things and don´t know what is worse. Living through it or feeling through it.



You want to help and at the same time stay clear of it.

How can one mind cooperate with all those things?

At least...a healthy and whole mind could surely not and I did not want to, but it seemed my mind couldn´t take any more damage.



When I got up from the floor, the fire had died down during the night, I saw that it was already more than just dawn outside.



Broad daylight..and I knew that no longer would there be strange shadows around the house, at least not for Dro.

No idea how or why but the house felt clear and light. As if I was assured by a voice in the back of my mind that everything was ok and would also stay so.

No shadows for him because their story had been told, had been given to someone who would hold onto it.





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"Your house is...right again but I guess you would prefer to stay with Gil"

No the best way to greet two friends who had been worried when I had stayen away and than I as the missing person marched through the front door, looking worse for wear and speaking to them in such a way.

"Hey, you could take care of the things I have here? Have to be somewhere else" I had the nagging feeling that I should be in Bruma, or maybe that was because that thieves guild guy told be to be there because only there I could sell stolen things and show myself worthy for the guild or some other umpa.

Or I just needed a change of scenery.



"No, it isn´t because of you two or the house ...let´s say...it is for a friend of mine and I have already wasted too much



time when I should have been at work, ok?"

They starred ankward at me, throwing a glance at each other before Gil shook his head and gave a small smile.

"You do not need a reason for whatever you have to do as long as we know you will be back"



And before I could prevent it I was hugged by both of them...tightly so I could not wind me out of the embrance.

To say it felt unomfortable ..not the right word, it felt wrong and right at the same time and for a brief moment I hugged

them back...there in the middle of the tavern..fortunately for my embarressment there were no guests and than I was out of the door and maybe I would have had a long march in front of me.



Damn it had felt too good to be held and hugged and to feel warm all over.



Was it luck, or my own curse that faith had something for me in her pocket.



So there I was on the street, ready to go with nothing more than the clothes I had with me...well and the knapsack so...in reality there was quite much I would have taken with me.

Still wishing I could just have vanished instead of having things ...friends..grounding me in reality I heard arguing, quite loud and unfriendly actually.



Dear Henantier in trouble again...unfortunately for me his mistress had seen me before I could weasle away, not that the twowould ever admit anything like that.

Beeing in a guild means mostly trouble and work for the new members...this was what I thought at that time.

That it means even more work when you have already been trained because they want to harvest what they have sowen in the ground..and you are the ground...damn guilds.



"Kyrell can bring the horse to Bruma, you can, sure?"

Not that she really did ask me. And as soon as I was forcefully pulled into the threesome, I was dragged aside and she started to whisper and argue.

Seems Henantier had ruined some arcane work and with it also a stallion in the stable of Bruma and now a courier had brought a document signed by the ubermojo of Bruma that Henantier would have to repay it somehow, otherwise with jailtime and would also be forbidden from working as a mage ever again.



Couldn´t let that happen, could we? Between you and me, could there have been a better revenge for his rulebreaking and the things I was put through, not even a rookie at that time.



But no...



I only listened with half an ear but the idea that I could ride to Bruma instead of walking and needing four times as long or longer...yeah that sounded nice.



So I stood there, thinking how nice a horse would be as companion and that it would make the journey easier. If I had been a bit more in tune with my surroundings I would have realised that the courier seemed a bit too smug and happy during the moments while none of the other two were in an argument with him.



Not that there was anything special, just an ordenary human male, a bit bigger than average, lean built, black hair in a ponytail..yeah nothing special.Except maybe the prominent nose.

Reminded me a bit of a crow when I looked at him, big beak and black feathers.



My musings were rudely intercepted by a pull on my arm and me landing in the dirt because my Guildmaster had again tried to drag me along to the stables without even a glance to me.

At least this time I was not the only one face down in the dirth. As I fought to keep my footing I had grabbed the nearest

anchor, which had been Henantiers robe.



Unfortunately for him the long legs he had did not give him a better fundament, au contrair.

The higher they are, the better they fall.



"And this dunce should be capable to bring the horse to Bruma? Sure that the lizard does not fall from a cliff? Would not be such a great loss but if the horse takes such a fall too..." haughty voice, but also..I could not shake the feeling that the courier was deeply amused by the display...maybe also because the troblemaker per se ~ Henantier~ was 'the victim'.



As if...if he had not broken the rules because his honeypie gave him levarage instead of taking the reins like with all the other underlings she had, we would not have been there.





"Depends, as long as those two will not come with me I think I can manage"

Oh that would have been an image. Those two lovebirds, bickering and than cooing  the next moment..maybe making out.

A picture I did not want to take with me, shaking it off and then I caught the unnerving look from the dark haired fellow.

No idea if people can read minds but he gave me the chills as if he could break into my head and plunder my thoughts, adverting my eyes and marching to the stables so he would stay behind me...which was not really better.

Now the chills creeped up my spine because he was in my back..but he would not attack me, or?



And no he did not..and there was the nicest white horse I had ever seen..the couriers horse.

Beautiful mare, nearly sparkling so white she was and even with me knowing that it was the horse of that creep because he went over to her and took her reins, I could not help myself and petted her side on my way to the stable.

"Maybe you are not as useless as I thought" hearing him mumble as the stableboy took a brown, young stallion out for me, already saddled.



But there the mare was already galloping away..black and white. And the masterbitch was nagging me how important it was and that the nanana guild nananana depended on me...nanana.

Why she still went on and on about the guild and everything would reflect on the guild and how proud I could be when I just wanted to mount the horse and be on my merry way, was beyond me.



Couldn´t be a woman-thing that nagging, could it?



If she really cared so much about the guild,... or only that she could keep her liason with the fickly elf going and put a fresh layer of paint on the mistakes he made, makes and will make?



Love is a strange power.



I just stood there and grinned nicely, bobbing my head until it was over, she was done...maybe eager to get back to the guild or Henantiers home and help him with his 'experiments'



By the Nine, blessed silence. I think even the horse was tired of the steady flow of noise from her gap.



Laying my head on the neck of the horse, just for a moment to savour the silence and I bet the horse did too, he held perfectly still until I climbed on his back.Not that I liked the feel of the saddle.



I had to bend my tail in an uncomfortable way, maybe there were special saddles for argonians...wouldn´t bet that I could ride for a longer time on such a construct.





But the rest was really nice. During my time in Bruma I had learned some things about horses and that especially young stallions are a bit fierce, but he was a right chap.



We did not 'fly' through the land, it was a steady fast trott, easy enough on us both to keep it for a good ammount of time.





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What a nice and sunny day, just a bit after midday as a lone rider made his way along the green road, sometimes taking a shortcut and riding through the pasture instead of following a curve when the area was plain.



The rider seemed to know where to go or it was the horse, maybe it was the ivory tower which could be seen sometimes,leading them.



Strange ruins, some plain where you could see the even stones from which they were built, others looked as if they had been carved from a single stone..no..as if they had been grown.



Elegant wells surrounded by columns, sometimes a strange menhir with glowing letters in an unknown language...which was the only thing that made the rider take a break in his journey, walking up to it and stroking the smooth surface before fingers dipped into the carving and rubbed along it.



It seemed as if it gave the rider a nice memory, maybe stones could speak and they spoke to the argonian, telling tales from a happier time long gone, or just a greeting, maybe a blessing.



The couple of houses near the Imperial city, he did not so much as spare a glance but he followed the frolicking deers for a while, letting the horse run along while the smaller animals wondered what a strange fellow deer was there with them.





It was a nice uneventful ride, even when dusk came early around this time of year. Winter was not far away and the leaves already changed their colour. Not here, here it was still warm and green but on the hills there was a display of sunny shades of red and yellow, not broken by green.



The statue standing high above the water between the ivory ruins made the rider pause again, starring with longing at it.



Dusk washed over it and it seemed as if the statue was alive, a strange chimera of men and bird, proud and untouched by time...at least now in the magical hour.

Nearly alive the wings, the rays of the sun turning the white stone colourful, giving the ilousion of movement.

All too soon the rider turned his horse again which moved on his way.



But night always brought surprises with it... lucky that it was still dusk when the rider was ambushed.





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My stallion reared up, screaming as I smelled singed hair and falling backwards down from the horse, landing on my own rear, dazed by the fall when the ride had been so peacefull until now.

Maybe the daydreaming had to do with it..night was not day. Night was dangerous, no matter if imperial land or jungle and I had forgotten that simple rule.



As I tried to gain my brain back a fiery sheen shoot over my head, aiming for the horse which galloped away in a panic and I scrambled to my feet.



Not a magician was the culprit, an ugly winged creature was it.

As I had learned in the guild it was a cobold and this one used fire ...and on my poor horse to boot.

I could not tell if those ugly little things could grin, but the teeth he showed in the slit that was a mouth could be best

described as a sadistic grin, finding delight in the panic and pain of my mount.



Oh I was angry, so angry and before my brain could catch up, I already had grabbed a stone from the road, aimed and thrown it.



With a satisfying 'thwack' it hit the creature in the head which in turn tumbled to the earth, dazed but not really hurt and now also angry. A stupid ugly thing, only there to bring hurt it seemed and finding delight in it as it screeched and gave klicking noises, throwing fire and singeing my side as I rolled over.

But neither I nor the cobold were prepared for the loyality of the horse, or anger which made it turn back with a smoking hide and trying to trample the ugly little thing.



An iron hoove made it fly through the air against it will, but did it give up and flee?

No, it still swayed in the air, aiming a fireball again for the horse which was now too near to turn and flee, impossible to get away without further harm.



Screaming, with a thick branch in my hands I charged, swinging it down on the cobold, where I got it from, the thought did not even cross my mind.





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You could not call it something other than a killing freenzy.

Again and again the wooden bat came down on the body of the creature.

First it was still angry, screeching in its gibberish but after a couple of hits it turned into panicked screams until the next hit turned it silent and a couple more into a bloody mush while the argonian foamed, hitting again with a bloodthirsty glow in his eyes.



The cobold had taken some lifes, hurt many that crossed its path because that was what it did and now it had hurt one too many. Faith did not take it kindly it seemed, nor did the argonian who breathed hard, the wood falling from his hands and rolling into the bushes, down the hill on which the way lead along.



A forked tongue flickered over the dirtied scales and feathers in his face as he bent down, poking the body with a claw

before he ripped of the wings, packing them into a much too small knapsack before he turned, looking for the horse which stood there, one hind leg elevated, not putting full weight on it.





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I hate it.



I really hate it when I have those moments.



When I do not know what came over me...but maybe it is for the best when I react instead of thinking and panicking and



loosing ....something..a friend maybe.

I could have lost the horse, to oblivion with the mages guild...the horse is...more worth(more worth, more worth...how can it be more worth and with what measurements..how is it more worth? ) and now he is hurt and I have to search for a place where we could rest safely.



Fortunately the fort where we were attacked is not too far away from the imperial city, not that I wanted to rest there....no.



But Weye is there and there is also the small tavern. The way seems longer now because we can only walk so fast as the injured behind of my companion lets us.

Do potions designed for people also work on horses?



I digged one flask out of my luggage halfway after the thought crossed my mind, pouring it on the singed hindquarters and waiting some minutes, using the time to clean myself up a bit from the mushed cobold parts.

It seemed that it made it at least easier on him to walk and we reach the Wawnet inn not to long after sundown.



Some coins and my horse could stay in the fenced garden of a nice citizen, an old fisherman. He smelled very fishy....but behind the fence the stallion could rest and I would rest in the tavern.



A couple of apples, looking and tasting as if freshly plucked are used as a snack..magic is nice and there is even some fresh



bread in the knapsack..I can not even remember when I put that stuff in it...could be..one week, two?

Me and him we shared a meal and he got the bigger share, another loaf of bread because one is just a snack for a horse as he is and than another one.



Maybe not the best food for a horse, but he seemed to like it and so I stay with him until we both have a bit more cooled down,needing reassurance from the attack, the food settled in our stomachs and I said my good night to him.



Damn, the inn is just too nice. I gave the lady some coins and just wanted to fall into the bed, but I never thought the bed would be so big, clean and soft..maybe because it is so close to the imperial city and there are enough rich gals who rest here and leave their money.



Gil would be cross with me, but this bed rivals the ones he has, not that I ever laid in 'his' .





I just smile and as  down into the soft matress, the bedding and pull the stuffed blanket over my head.



Yes I sleep in my clothes...I am much too paranoid to take them off...my that feels so nice..one of the last thoughts I had before sleep overtook me.