The Longest Road – Ch. 5 – 6: An Enthralling Presence

  • "We found your escort and carriage left to ruin," I said as we emerged from the cavern.  I heaved a deep breath of cold, clean air, and the thrumming pain that had been building in my head abated for a moment.  Something about this moth priest made my head pound and eyes ache.

    "I see, I suppose it was our...friends that captured me?"

    "Yes.  I think they need you to read an Elder Scroll, but the Dawnguard wanted me to find you first.  Seems we didn't locate you fast enough."

    "Ah, so I'm merely a tool, then.  Well, this wouldn't be the first time someone has abused a moth priest to find out information.  Our journeys to locate the Scrolls are never easy," Dexion replied with some resignation.  "In the end, my only goal is to discover the Scroll and read it so that its knowledge can be documented.  Who that knowledge effects is none of my concern.  Though, I will admit, the vampires have not been kind to me in this process and I do look forward to leaving them behind."

    "We'll find a safe passage for you back to the fort.  Don't worry."

    "You're not going with me?"

    "I'm afraid not."  I massaged my forehead as we retraced our steps back toward Dragon Bridge.  Twilight seeped behind the clouds as they at last parted, leaving shreds of mist in their wake.  Valindor eyed me suspiciously, but refrained from commenting.

    When we arrived back in town, the Bosmer took the horses up to the inn to be stabled while I maneuvered my way to the tiny market on the south side of town.  There I found a merchant, retired from the Imperial army, who recognized the moth priest for what he was.

    "I'd love to take such a venerable personage such as yourself wherever you needed to go, but financial limitations being what they are..."

    "How much?" I ground out, the pain in my head increasing every moment I spent near the priest.

    "Oh, a pittance.  Nothing you'll miss, I assure you.  A measly seven hundred septims."

    I gaped at the man.  "That's absurd!  Who--why-- There's no reason for you to charge quite that much.  No mercenary costs that amount to be hired to guard a carriage!"

    "Seven hundred.  I will not haggle with you.  Do you want to send the extraordinary specimen of scholarly pursuit on a safe journey, or do you not?"   With a growl, I extracted the appropriate amount of coin from my pack, embellished by a few gems I found in the crypt to make up for lost value, and dropped the heavy purse into the man's hand.  He jingled it lightly before locking the lot in a chest near his stand.  The grin he bore was blackened by soot and poor hygiene.  "I will see him safely to his destination.  Mark my words."

    Finally distancing myself from the moth priest, I stalked over to the lip of a ridge overlooking the canyon.  I leaned against a fragrant pine and put my face in my cool hands.  If I was honest with myself, I didn't know what to do next or where to go.  I felt torn between two sides of a political issue I had no part in--I just wanted to find Derk and bring him back.  Now, I was without anyone to read the Elder Scroll, and the Elder Scroll was either deep in the confines with a vampire stronghold or to the south in the hands of the Dawnguard, who could be just as ruthless as the very creatures they hunted.

    The only thing I was sure of was that I needed to keep away from that moth priest.  He never answered for the blood stains on his clothes, which had been recent, not old or placed as if from a beating.  Those red smudges looked more like finger and handprints from the wearer of the robe.  For all his time in captivity, he wanted no food or water, yet he looked just as any old man ever did.  Something about him was wrong, but I felt I owed the Dawnguard for taking Val and I back to Solitude.

    "Henny?"  I jumped.  "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you."  His hands rested gently on my shoulders.  "You have to be freezing.  Why don't we go to the inn for a drink."

    "You mean several drinks."

    "Perhaps."  He grinned mischievously.  "Either way, we can warm up.  Maybe talk about what happens now."

    "I don't know what happens now," I replied gloomily.

    "Sure you do.  The priest business is done, and so is the vampire and her family.  We can go home now.  There's nothing left to worry about."  In spite of the light and hopeful tone, I heard an undercurrent of suggestion relating back to my mission with the Soul Cairn.  Yet, looking at his eyes, a sudden wave of homesickness hit me hard enough to buckle my knees and press my back fully against the tree.  Part of me just wanted all of this to be over.

    When Valindor's fingers began brushing my face, I realized that I'd been weeping.  "Hey, don't do that.  Come on.  It's nothing to be sad about.  All we have to do is head south.  No hurry.  No rush.  We'd be home in no time, right?"

    I nodded shakily.  "Home sounds...good."

    "That's right.  No more vampires or mental patients or creepy old men who look like they ate somebody.  Just the trees and the deer and us.  A simple bliss."

    It was then I realized how close we were standing.  How he effectively pinned me against the tree and had no intention of backing away.  On his last uttered word, a barely audible hiss, his lips pressed to mine in a kiss softer than the one in Solitude.  We stood there for a while, enjoying our temporary "simple bliss" until a chilly gust blew strong enough to cut through our clothing, and we parted.

    The walk back to the inn was quiet, and my head felt clearer than it had before.  We would go home, I decided.  I could enjoy my friend's company, and begin to forget about this mission, which now seemed ridiculous and impossible.  My blood sang, and I even hoped we could share the same inn room out of conscious choice rather than convenience this time.  Yes, we would go home.  Though a tiny part of me seemed disappointed and angry about the idea.

    My decision lasted the rest of the walk to the inn; for when we stepped inside and divested ourselves of our damp cloaks and hoods, a familiar face sat at a table waiting for us.

    "You're here!" cried Serana.  "Come.  Sit!  Sit down.  I have much to tell you!"

    Valindor's otherwise triumphant expression crumpled and soured.  "I see your Bosmeri has improved."

    "Yes, yes!  Ronthil, court merchant, taught me much."

    "You've certainly picked up the pace quickly," I said as I pulled out a chair and sat down.  Val, on the other hand, walked toward the fire, keeping his back to us.  His glare toward the vampire was chilly.

    "My family have ways of teaching quickly.  ...Not good for teaching humans, though."

    "What are you doing here?" my friend spat.

    "Father is planning something big.  Very dangerous.  Hunters raided castle, but they no match for my family.  They...re-treat-ed.  Many die.  Both sides.  I escaped to find you.  You are only...hmm...how you say it?  Middle party?"

    "Third party, you mean.  What do we have to do with anything?"

    "I need to find my mother.  She is hiding somewhere in the castle.  We take scroll to her.  Hide the scroll where she is.  No one ever find it.  I know you won't tell anyone.  You want scroll to be safe, yes?"

    "Yes," I said after some hesitation.  Of course I didn't want anyone to do anything terrible with the Elder Scroll, but I needed it to find out where the Soul Cairn was.  I didn't exactly approve of hiding it when I needed to use it.

    "You will help take scroll to my mother, yes?"

    "I will.  But only if you provide safe passage through the castle.  I'm so very tired of fighting your...family."

    "Good!  Very good!  We start now.  Come!  Let's go!"

    In that same instant, Valindor spun around, his face beet red with rage.  "What!  No!  Absolutely not.  We are not going back there.  Gwaihen just decided we were going home.  Isn't that right, Henny."

    I took him over to a quiet corner.  "Val, please.  You promised you'd help me.  Don't you remember?"

    "But this is suicide!  We're walking right back into the lion's den!"

    "She knows that castle better than any of us, and I need that scroll.  We'll just let her lead us to wherever her mother is and find a way to make her give us the scroll to hide instead.  I promise we won't be left out in the cold again.  You have my word, Valindor."  As I began to recite an old Bosmer oath in a quiet chant, my friend threw up his hands in defeat.

    "All right.  Fine.  Since I did promise you.  There's no need to get theatrical about it--that's my job.  But we're not leaving until morning, got it?"

    "Of course," I smiled.

    And when morning dawned bright and clear, we found ourselves on our way, some of us begrudgingly, back to the Solitude docks.

Comments

1 Comment
  • Kynareth
    Kynareth   ·  July 18, 2013
    Creepy old man who just look like he ate somebody...great line...and a creepy reality that one simply has to laugh at in order to deal with it.  Lots of mysteries seem to be piling up, and I am enjoying trying to figure them out!