Eye of the Wind – Terminus

• Posted by Kyrielle Atrinati December 15, 2012 - 452 views

  23rd Morning Star

  Faendal,

  I'm grateful for the support you've offered a fellow Bosmer in pursuing this dream of mine.  I feel obliged to update you on the recent events that you've no doubt heard echoes of in the taverns, as well as set the record straight from the outlandish rumors circulating.

  Firstly, the strange aurora in the sky was not the result of dragons or any magic that Nords would be familiar with.  Secondly, doom has not come upon the land and the events 'in the north' were just a single event.  Ah, so what did happen?

  On the 21st of Evening Star, my beloved Gwaihen and a group of soldiers assaulted the Fort Dunstad to rescue a little girl.  You'll remember Gwaihen and her companion and the nature of their journey, I'm sure.  How we ever hauled them out of all that snow it beyond me.  It was during this attack that something strange happened, even I don't know what it was exactly.  I tried to get her to tell me, but she wouldn't utter a word.  

  Instead, I had to rely on the dubious claims of the Imperial soldiers that survived the incident, though they're no better than the townsfolk.  All I know is that some great magic was released--the magic of our kind--but was either held in check or never fully formed.  

  Yes, Faendal, Gwaihen unleashed what sounds like a Wild Hunt, survived the process, and what's more, stopped its progress.  I don't know how, but I've been attempted to research the old stories to see if anything like this has ever happened before.  If I could find out how, we could be rid of this embarrassing curse forever!

  But I tell you, it comes at a great cost.  Her eyes are so empty now.  She is like the dead.  I've seen her walking the streets of Solitude like a ghost.  People avoid her.  The children run from her and tell stories about how she'll kill you if you look at her wrong.  All of which are not true, I assure you.  

  When they brought back her companion's body, for the Argonian didn't survive the attack, they put it in the Hall of the Dead as all Nords are pone to do.  She very nearly killed the priest inside trying to drag the body back out.  I've never heard such wailing and madness.  The town guard locked her in prison until she came to her senses, but I don't think she ever did.  I visited her when I could.  She was wasting away in there.  When she was released, she was dead as far as I could tell.  

  Nothing I've done has been able to cheer her up.  My beloved only looks through me and the sadness in her expression is unbearable.

  Last week they held a celebration for the return of that company and their success.  I was called upon to act as the bard, since I was known to the glorious victor.  Several members of the Thalmor were in attendance, one in particular was a surly gent with a stick so far up his arse I could see it coming out one of his nostrils.  He was, evidently, the one instrumental in the raid's political success for the Imperial Legion has congratulated the returning officers for destroying one of their own.  It was an amusing manipulation to watch unfold.  And of course, there were the Imperial officers themselves in all their militaristic glory.

  Then there was Gwaihen.  I almost stopped playing and lost my place when she came in.  Even ghostly as she is, I can't help but follow her every movement and wish that her attentions were directed at me.

  She received the highest honors from the Imperials, including a posthumous pardon for her fallen friend.  The Thalmor likewise congratulated her, though the tall, dark, and gruesome one held her hostage in a corner for some minutes.  I don't know what they were talking about, but gratefully, she kept her distance from them the remainder of the celebration.  Actually, she kept her distance from everyone.  

  It was shortly after her arrival that I was requested to play the song written for the occasion.  That was, really, why they had invited me.  I knew this would be a surprise for Gwaihen, or at least answer her curiosity as to what I'd been writing.  I had hoped she would love it, and afterwards return my advances at last.  But no.  She only stared emptily into space as I sang.

  When the song was over, she got up and left.  I made an excuse, I don't remember what, and tried to find her.  I looked everywhere for her, and honestly, that Argonian must have taught her the art of blending in for no one in the street had marked her passage.  Not even when I asked if they'd seen the "Ghost of Solitude". I knew she was going to disappear for good this time, and I didn't want her to leave without at least acknowledging my existence once more.  

  I wanted one last chance to win her over.  Whatever she wanted, I would do it.  When I finally gave up, and decided to take one last look down the road leading away from Solitude, I found her.  She was slowly walking down the path, obvious for all to see, though everyone pretended they didn't see her.  Behind her back, the guards pressed their various amulets to their foreheads in prayer, as if she were a creature of evil.

  I caught her down at the gate.  She had her cloak and her bow, but little else though it was the dead of winter.  I called to her, and when she saw me, she managed to smile.  To smile! At me!  At last!  I had my chance.  

  I asked her where she was going.  If I could come with her.  I would have gone anywhere with her.  But she shook her head. Then she kissed me.  Me!  I tried to take her back to Solitude with me, to distract her, amuse her, keep her.  But she slipped away.

  I asked her why she left.  Was it my song?  She said it wasn't but it was.  I was confused.  Ever since she came back, she started speaking in such obscure phrases like that one.  I don't understand them most of the time, poetic as I am.  They refer to events that must have occurred in her head.  Or some such thing.  Maybe she was losing her mind.

  Instead, she just said goodbye and continued walking.  I followed her for a while, but it was as if I disappeared.  As if the whole world had disappeared.  

  Eventually, I had to stop.  I wanted to follow her forever, but I didn't have any food or weapons or even so much as a towel to ward of the coming night.  Something in the way she last looked at me said I had to let her go.  So, I did.

  That was the most foolish thing I've ever done, but it seemed like the right thing to do at the time.  I watched her go into the forest, into the evening, into the dark, until I couldn't see her anymore.

  I haven't seen or heard of her since.

  Now I sit here in the College, packing my things and writing this to you because this may be the last letter I write for some time.  I'm going to find her, my friend, and if it be the death of me, so be it.

  Regards,

  Valindor