"This is a dangerous game you're playing, Durak. How do you know these people won't turn on you at a moment's notice?" The Forsworn in our company glared at my accusation.
"Clearly, I have an advantage you don't, Elf."
"Yes, but how can you be sure? I've seen this kind of alliance happen before. It won't end well!"
"Manis, take the female to the back of the line--I'm tired of it whining in my ear. And bring Eugal forward. We have preparations to discuss." The Orc grinned nastily at me as the groping archer despondently released Valindor to drag me to the end of the line where we marched, each in our own gloom. Eugal and Durak hissed back and forth to each other in hurried whispers as we neared an ancient ruin carved into the side of a mountain like a citadel.
Valindor glanced back at me from his position several paces ahead of me, his eyes full of concern. "How will we get out of this one?" they said. Unfortunately, I didn't as of yet know.
When the Breton and Orc concluded their conversation, they led our small procession under a series of aqueducts that sent water tumbling into a deep reservoir at the base of the camp. Water dripped through the decaying blocks, worrying cracks creeping steadily into the stone like curious fingers. Eventually, the aqueducts would crumble, for the Forsworn were little better at masonry than any Bosmer I've ever met. Yet, they were so different in their disregard for animal life and obsession with poisonous, vile plants. I shuddered and clenched the fist bearing the briarheart's spiral scar.
We passed men and women at work, each dressed in a similar mixture of furs, hides, and bones, their faces painted in nauseating swirls of paint. Some looked at us curiously as we passed, while others leered in anticipation. One or two managed a surprised glance in my direction--one that quickly soured into a glower of hatred. I wonder if they're from the camp Derkeethus and I raided. Though, I couldn't recall leaving anyone alive in that place.
At the top of a one particularly long slope, Durak grumbled something to Eugal and stalked off further up the citadel levels. For several moments, the Forsworn spoke with a woman tending a nearby fire while our captors led us over to a massive waterfall roaring into a smaller reservoir. The mist billowing our way was ice cold from its source high in the mountains, and I shivered as it bit at my face in pins and needles.
Manis laughed in his jackal way and shoved Valindor to the edge of the pool. "Jump in! I want to see if Bosmer sink! Never seen one swimming before." The Breton continued to nudge and push my friend as he resisted, trying to throw the irritating man off him.
I pulled against the grip of my ward, Ancus, as I tried to get to the foolish man so I could kick him into the pool. Heat rose to my face as I watched the idiot bully and pester Val in a way that reminded me all too much of a little boy trying to get the attention of a girl he liked. My ward yanked me back by my pack when I at last squirmed free.
"Let him alone, Manis. You're making my charge agitated."
"I just want to have a little fun! I do love having prisoners, don't you, Deerheart?" Manis gazed imploringly at Eugal's pensive form.
"We'll play with them later. Let Celann have his turn, first."
"What right does he have? He just arrived in our camp and you're already kowtowing like he's our leader. Last I checked, Fasett was the Great Mother and Thetri the Great Father. Not Celann and Durak."
"Celann?" He's the one who helped us load the horses... He's one of the Forsworn? I found it suddenly very hard to imagine the strong, kindhearted Celann leading this group of misfits, but then, I hadn't known the man very long nor where he came from.
The Forsworn took us further up the winding levels of the citadel, leaving a trail of curious bystanders in their wake. At last, we reached a set of stairs leading to the summit, and here the faint gurgle of a stream mingled with the sounds of whispering feet over moss. At the top of the stair, two figures waited, their silhouettes betraying the tailored armor of the Dawnguard. We were forced onto our knees, and I heard Val bite back a hiss of pain as he collided with the stone. Our captors bowed deeply, drawing their weapons now that they allowed us to remain unrestrained.
"We bring the Elves to you, Celann, as you requested," stated Eugal. "What do you wish us to do with them?"
"Very good, Eugal. I'll see to it you and your men are well rewarded for your loyalty. For now--"
"How could you! We did as Isran asked! We found what you were looking for in the crypt; we even notified you of the largest vampire nest that's ever been sighted in Skyrim in centuries. We were bringing you the Elder Scroll! You didn't have to take it by force." I glared at the Breton standing so formally above us, noticing how he held the wrapped Elder Scroll delicately in his stubby fingers.
"Were you? You certainly didn't look like you were. My scouts heard you mention of returning home, no?"
"We also spotted you returning to the island of the coven with the girl, who had the Elder Scroll at the time. That didn't look like 'bringing us the Elder Scroll' to me," retorted Durak with a snort.
"See what I mean? Very deceptive, you Bosmer. It's a shame you couldn't keep a secret to save your lives. Both figuratively, and literally, of course." Celann fixed us with a cold smile, turning to the Forsworn to my right and speaking in a strange language I didn't understand. The man nodded and spoke to the others, and whatever he said sent Manis into another bark of high-pitched laughter. Suddenly, our arms were seized and we were half-carried up the stairs toward the Dawnguard officers. In a flash of bold fury, I spat in Celann's face as we passed.
We were hauled out along a series of narrow walkways traversing a man-made canal cut into the stone. One long arm stretched outward toward the waterfall crashing below until it hovered over the edge. The Forsworn bound us to pillars supporting a stone basin, likely meant to collect rainwater long ago. Mist from the waterfall blew around us in clouds, and the thunder of the falls was deafening. Celann shouted something to the wild men surrounding us, and their eyes lit in excitement before they parted, leaving us alone with the officers.
"That song of yours," Celann began, gazing thoughtfully at Valindor, "Eye of the Wind, I think it was called? I heard it just the other night in Markarth, and I thought to myself, 'Now who would he be writing about so passionately?'
"I realized it must be the woman who came with you to our order. When I learned of your treachery, I wondered how best I might exact justice upon you for taking what is rightfully ours." He fingered the Elder Scroll gently, as if wondering what knowledge might lie within.
"It was never yours to being with," I growled lowly.
"You think the Elder Scroll belongs to someone like you?" Durak laughed derisively. Celann nodded curtly to the Orc, who cut Valindor's bonds and dragged him along the walkway beyond my sight. The Breton came close to me and loosened the ropes holding me in place, forcibly turning my body along the pillar so that the stone rubbed my back raw in the process. I was left facing the end of the walkway, which terminated in a rickety wooden plank hanging far out over the waterfall. When I saw Valindor standing precariously at the end, Durak urging him on with prods of his axe, my stomach dropped somewhere near my feet.
"And then I thought, well, to punish the lover is rather ridiculous. It would be far more effective to break the beloved first. Well, Miss Eye of the Wind, if you'd turn your attention to the Bosmer at the end of the plank, I believe you'll be witness to the first attempt at an Elf in the realm of flight."
"Val... No! Please!" I struggled against the ropes, and blisters and burns forms on my arms and wrists.
"Durak, if you would do the honors."
