" 'Oh, you're looking for the Dahwnguard,eh? Fancy yourself a vahmpiah huntah?' "
Quiet laughter bounced off the trees.
"And I say, 'Yah. Thinking of pohunding ah stake into thaht mahn's haht ovah theah.' So I start sneaking up on his partner at the gate, who's looking at me like I'm actually going to do it," Valindor recounted as we circumvented the city's eastern wall.
"What did he do? Arrest you?" I asked, stifling a grin.
"No, that's the thing! He played along. First Nord I've ever met with a sense of humor."
"Valindor, fearless vampire hunter. I can see it now. Though, I'm fairly certain you don't stake them in the heart to kill them."
"Oh," he replied, flushing, "No wonder they didn't take me seriously... Anyway, he told me they were located in a canyon near the border. Somewhere just off the road."
With a nod, I nudged Brelye into a light canter, who took the request very seriously and moved so smoothly and nimbly, he fairly pranced. We rode through the aspens, the wildlife generally ignoring us with the bounty of the spring so readily available. In the distance was the familiar beating of heavy wings. I froze. Meeko barked in confusion, no doubt asking why we stopped.
"Shh! Quiet!" I hissed.
"What is it? What's wrong?" Val squawked, glancing about wildly.
"Dragon," I whispered, "Stay absolutely still." A thunderous roar boomed overhead as the creature swooped low over the trees, washing them in a hot wind. I didn't want to draw the attention of the beast so close to Riften, yet it did not help that the venerable creatures had been acting strangely lately. They seemed scattered, witless, directionless; even this one possessed a panicked quality in its flight. It looked like it was desperately searching for something. What I did not know.
After several tense minutes, the dragon slowly flew away, evidently ignorant of all below its wide wings. We all released a breath.
"That was close," muttered the Bosmer, his face deathly pale. It wouldn't have been a terrible ordeal had the creature spotted us, but then I was equating Val's martial skill with Derk's. The Argonian and I could have taken on this one with relative ease. However, that was unfair for Valindor, for he had yet to meet his potential. I worried what would happen the further into my quest we delved and more opportunities for battle presented themselves.
The sun blazed high overhead, listing to the west, indicating we were well into the afternoon. Leaves crunched underfoot, and we came at last to the main road leading toward the Skyrim-Morrowind border. Here, the mountains funneled the road into a deep gorge, narrow and sparkling with thin rills of snow-melt that seeped into tiny creeks and streams. All of these followed the road as it slowly meandered downhill where the tall lands of the Nords must collide with the Dunmer's sea.
"The guard said it was somewhere here."
"I don't see anything. These walls are too sheer." Amid the boulders scattered along the base of the mountains were numerous small cracks and hollows, but none that appeared to lead anywhere deeper than a few feet. We rode all the way to the gate marking the border to Morrowing and back, traversing several leagues and watching the day fritter away. When the afternoon felt tired and stale, I worried we wouldn't make it indoors before nightfall. Valindor's constantly hopeful attitude was not helping, either.
"It has to be here somewhere. Has to be," he said for the tenth time in the last five minutes.
"Well, I haven't seen anything!" I huffed in frustration.
"We just aren't looking hard enough."
"Would you quit being so...so...optimistic. We've been up and down this road and haven't a damn thing!"
"Don't shout at me! I'm just trying to help. This was your idea to come here. I could have stayed in Whiterun for all you care."
"Then why didn't you," I spat hatefully, feeling small and mean and tired, the walls of the gorge echoing my last word back in a weak accusation. Even the birds stopped their gossip, as if the impending answer was something they all wanted to hear.
"I...well...I wanted to--" he began, but as my own curiosity peaked, my arm shook and the spriggan spirit stepped out from behind a set of boulders. She crooked her clawed fingers in a beckoning gesture. I stared at the being, wondering where she came from if I hadn't actually summoned her. Silently, she gestured to the cleft in the rock I hadn't noticed, and braziers shimmered out of the air.
"A glamour," I murmured, recalling the minor one the Altmer tailor in Solitude placed on me to hide my clan's facial mark.
"A what?"
"It's a disguise. Makes an object look like the objects surrounding it," I explained, forgetting our argument and feeling relieved that we'd finally located the entrance. The ephemeral spriggan gestured more urgently, seemingly unable to speak. Casting a doubtful glance at each other, Valindor and I headed into the cave.
"By the way, what was it you were about to say?"
'Nothing. It's not important." Be that as it may, he wouldn't meet my gaze and his face turned a unique shade of burgundy.
Through the entrance was a small, tight chamber that barely fit a child standing, much less two grown Bosmer, a dog, and a tall spirit. We emerged gasping into bright, white sunlight in a narrow crevice of dark stone. I could barely make out our guide against the light, and her mischievous smile went almost unnoticed. With a bow, she disappeared.
"I see you've befriended one of Y'ffre's concubines."
"Concubine? Y'ffre doesn't have concubines," I scoffed, amused at the idea.
"My family says he does. They turn into birds and vines to listen for him."
"I see. My father told me something different once, but I don't remember what it was anymore," I sighed, remembering how he lay frozen in the mountain passes when I last saw his face. "Listen, I'm sorry about earlier. It was rather uncalled for."
"Don't mention it," Valindor waved his hand idly before fixing me with a bright grin.
The deep roar of water cascading into a lake tumbled through the air as we stepped out of the chilly canyon into a wider area. Aspens grew pale, thin, and wild here, forgotten by the rest of the world. Icicles as thick as a Nord, who drank his weight everyday in mead, clung to the tops of the cliffs. Thick, moist clouds drifted in and out of the rocks, warming the air in spite of the dusting of snow coating the ground. Hares grazed unmolested in droves under the shade of the trees.
"I could retire here," whispered my friend in a restrained kind of glee. "We should quit this journey right now, set up camp, and stay here for the rest of the era. Just you and me. No more dragons or bandits or people with brains the size of walnuts. What'd you say?"
"Maybe after it's all said and done, Val," I grinned.
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