Eye of the Wind – Ch. 1 - 1: The Elixir

• Posted by Kyrielle Atrinati August 15, 2012 - 363 views

  “And here you are.” 

  “Here I am.” 

  We sat with the pole sticking out of the ground like an antenna, unmoving.  Nary a twitch the entire morning.  The fish simply weren’t biting today.  We packed it in and went inside for lunch. 

  “Did you ever find that elixir?” 

  “No.  By the time I was able to travel again, I received a letter from the priory.” 

  I passed the letter across the small table for Derkeethus to read. 

  

  “Oh, I’m sorry,” he said, crestfallen.

  “She went quietly.  Her spirit goes to Valenwood, now.  She was never happy away from our homeland anyway.”  I smiled, untroubled.  There was a beat of silence. 

  “So…” 

  “So?” 

  “Aren’t you curious if there is such an elixir?  If it could have cured your mother, who knows what else it might do.”  I didn’t like the look in my scaly friend’s eyes.  He looked a little crazy at the best of times, but this was downright unsettling. 

  “Derk, it was probably just a scam.  It’s not worth troubling over.  I only went with my father because he looked so desperate to save mother.” 

  “Nonsense!  I have a cousin in Riften who says a man in the market has been crowing about a wondrous elixir.” 

  “And did your cousin say he thought it was real?” I asked, skeptically. 

  “Well…Madesi did have his doubts…”  Derkeethus mumbled, and then scrambling to restore his enthusiasm, “But that doesn’t matter!  We should go see for ourselves.  At the very least there’s a talented alchemist we could speak to.” 

  

  I turned around to face him, suddenly, deeply suspicious.  “Why do you want this elixir so badly anyway?” 

  “It’s the other miners, especially the little girl.  Something has been plaguing them.  The girl does not sleep enough, and when she does, she mutters dark things.”  Derkeethus shifted uncomfortably.  “She’s the only one that treats me like a person.  She doesn’t see me as a monster, or thief, or…boots.”  I looked at my friend for a long time, reading his normally immutable face.  He was being truthful. 

  “All right.  We’ll go to Riften.  But I want you to make sure Verner and Annekke double the watch.  I’ll meet you in Darkwater this evening.” 

  

  I watched as the Argonian’s slender form faded into the green afternoon.