Breton and Bosmer

Dare you venture further?

Just here for gold	14.3%	[ 1 ]
Is this about Skyrim?	14.3%	[ 1 ]
Cool RP - the characters look interesting	0.0%	[ 0 ]
I like the story!	28.6%	[ 2 ]
What happens next?	42.9%	[ 3 ]
Total Votes:			[ 7 ]

[Purplish Space Rock]

Erandur recoiled as Thessaly approached, drawing his mace and running down the steps two at a time in the opposite direction, backing up against the wall, abandoning the artifact on its pedestal.

"Thessaly, stop!" Arwen cried, following after her. She swung her bow like a club, aiming for Thessaly's hand holding the dagger. It seemed to do no good. Acting on impulse, she jumped on Thessaly's back and pushed her down by the shoulders, holding her bow across her back in an attempt to keep her subdued. "Ennis, do something!"

[E is for Enigma]

For a while, all Ennis could do was lay there trying to recall his breath. Had Thessaly chosen to use that knife he could have done nothing about it. Shock kept him from doing much of anything else until Arwen shouted at him from Thessaly's back. He watched as the Dragonborn whipped this way and that, trying to throw Arwen off as Erandur charged down from the pedestal towards them, mace drawn.

"No!" Ennis wheezed, trying to get up. His whole body ached where it had hit the ground, and the back of his skull throbbed where it had struck stone. Still, he stumbled to his feet and lurched towards them.

What was he doing? He couldn't fight Thessaly. It wasn't even a matter of morals - there wasn't any doubt in his mind that the Dragonborn could kill him if she put her mind to it. Charging into that fight was the kind of well-intentioned idiocy he'd successfully avoided all his life. He'd always taken the smarter road where he could find it. All he had to do now was find one.

Erandur and Arwen charged Thessaly, their conflict dominating the room. But Ennis knew that if he wanted to do the smart thing, he would have to stay well away. He'd have to find something else - something no one was looking for. His eyes locked on the skull looming above his companions on the pedestal, and he knew exactly what to do.

He careened around Thessaly and the others, still unstable on his feet, and made his way as quickly as he could up the steps to where Vaermina's artifact stood. Then, with only a swift backwards glance at the others, Ennis drew one of his silver-tipped steel throwing knives.

"Mara, let this work," he prayed, then plunged the dagger down on top of the skull.

[Purplish Space Rock]

Thessaly nearly got the better of Arwen, but she held on tightly, trying very hard not to hurt her. Erandur found his courage and went to her aid, mace raised over his shoulder. He stood over the two women on the floor and with a mighty cry, brought it down upon the back of Thessaly's head with a wet cracking noise, causing her to fall still and stop thrashing.

In the same instant his weapon struck her, the Skull of Corruption crackled with magical energy and faded as it was destroyed, the head of the staff glowing bright red. With a sound like thunder, it fractured and the light from it was extinguished, a plume of smoke rising from the dagger wound. Arwen blanched and sat up over Thessaly, looking between her and Erandur.

"WHAT DID YOU DO?" she shrieked in total horror.

"I'm afraid I had to," he said, hands raised defensively. She set her bow aside and shook Thessaly's body by the shoulders as Erandur backed up a step, looking less than concerned about her well-being.

[E is for Enigma]

The skull split apart in a blinding flash of red light. Ennis staggered back, blinking, trying to clear his vision when he heard Arwen scream. The sound of fighting had stopped, but it took a few more moments before he could see why.

Arwen and Erandur stood over Thessaly's motionless form, while blood pooled around her head. More dripped from Erandur's mace.

The world tilted beneath Ennis, and his mind erupted in a roar. He flew down the steps of the pedestal, whipping out a knife and slamming into the priest, bearing him back against the far wall with every ounce of furious strength he possessed. He pressed the little blade to Erandur's throat, most of him screaming to end this man who had ruined everything, and the rest wondering why he hadn't already done so.


"Why?" Ennis nearly choked on the word. "Why would you do this?! Do you have ANY idea?! Any - !"

His grip on the little blade was so tight that his fist trembled. Any closer and he would break skin. He fought the urge to twitch.

[Purplish Space Rock]

Erandur nearly dropped his mace, startled. He grabbed Ennis' wrist with one hand, the other up in defense.

"No, you don't understand!" he said hurriedly, raising his chin in an effort to put distance between himself and the blade. "That can't have been your friend! It can't have been! Look!"

Behind them, Thessaly's body developed glowing veins and began to decay, her skin losing color and taking on a grey tone. Still sitting atop it, Arwen suddenly found herself sitting in a pile of violet and grey ash. She set her bow aside and stood, looking down at her dust covered legs and hands. Erandur gently tried to push Ennis' blade away from his neck, eyes wide.

"Do you see? It can't have been your friend. She can only be back at the inn. That was only an avatar- a manifestation of Vaermina herself," he explained, swallowing rather hard. "I would never harm any of you."

[E is for Enigma]

Erandur's attempts to get Ennis to move his knife were useless against an unexpectedly steel grip. When prompted, the enraged young man seemed to have trouble even looking away from Erandur's face. When he finally did, his enraged expression calmed into something more akin to horror.

Still, it took several more words and the slow sink of realization for his arm to finally give. He backed away and put the knife back in his sleeve, looking only slightly less dour than he had at the start.

"You had better be right," was all Ennis could say to that.

Still, he glanced at Arwen, hoping her knowledge of the arcane could reassure him somewhat.

[Purplish Space Rock]

"I think he's right," said Arwen. Looking tired but relieved, she brushed as much of the ash off herself as she could, bending to pick up her bow. "Real people don't dissolve into dust when they die. I've only ever seen beings summoned from another realm die like that." Erandur straightened his robes, rubbing his throat where he'd been held.

"The sooner we return to the inn, the sooner you will be assured your friend is safe," he said, as if pleading with them to believe him. "You have my word."

"That doesn't change the fact that what you did was terrifying." She waggled a finger at him sternly. "We still have every right to be upset. That aside, I think we should get out of here and go back to the inn, right now. We've spent enough time in this wretched place for three lifetimes."

[E is for Enigma]

Ennis glared between Erandur and Arwen, still panting at his outburst, then nodded for Erandur to take the lead out of the temple. He wanted the priest where he could see him.

As the three of them mounted the steps, Ennis took a brief look back at the cavernous chamber behind them, eyes lingering on the softly glowing pile of ash.

He had better be right, Ennis vowed silently once more.

Emerging from the dark temple into the blinding midday light was enough to jar Ennis back into some semblance of himself. Being down in that darkness, surrounded by the opressive air of the temple of an angry god, had weighed heavy on Ennis' pentitent heart. As the cold, crisp mountain air filled his lungs and cleared his head, Ennis was overcome with a comforting realization.

The Dragonborn could not be dead. There was too much of her tale left to be told. Too much more she was prophecized to accomplish. The powers of a Daedric Prince were great, but not enough to overcome destiny. He clung to this belief as he followed Erandur and Arwen down the snowy slopes back into Dawnstar, until they reached the Inn once more. Inside, the main hall was just clearing of its patrons who had come for their midday meal. The trio had to wait at the door for a stream of dust-coated mining men and woman before they could enter.

Passing back into the shade of the inn, albiet warm from the hearth, Ennis found his grip on the belief that Thessaly was alright slip from his grasp. It was impossible to be purely certain that she was alright. That the priest hadn't indeed slain the champion of Skyrim. But, no. That couldn't possibly be so.

Ennis looked ahead at Erandur. Even from behind, the tall priest looked slightly dejected; slumped, though he still towered over both Ennis and Arwen. Surely this man could not have been responsible for the death of the Dragonborn?

The three gathered before Thessaly's door and, without knocking, opened the door.

There she lay, completely unmoved from where they'd left her.

Ennis put a hand to his jaw, gripping at his mouth as it trembled.

Oh, thank the nine.

[Purplish Space Rock]

The walk back to the inn was stony. Erandur seemed mostly comfortable taking the lead, though he seemed unable to stop glancing back at Ennis and Arwen as if to make sure they hadn't gone astray. Arwen was uncharacteristically silent. The time she spent in that other plane had drained her emotionally, left her feeling tired of adventure for the first time ever. Despite the horrors, she found that she did not regret begging to drink the torpor, but she could do with a long rest and a hot bath.

Once inside the inn, Erandur stepped aside to allow Ennis and Arwen to check on their friend. Seeing her lying in bed just the way they had left her was somewhat comforting, but Arwen couldn't help but think about the fact that until they verified she could move on her own, she could still be dead. Pushing past Ennis, Arwen squeezed into the room and approached the bed, sitting on the edge.

"Thessaly?" she murmured, watching. She reached out and gently shook her by the arm. "Thessaly?"

[E is for Enigma]

At first, Thessaly was alarmingly unresponsive to Arwen's call. Her skin was as pale as death, and he chapped lips were still. But the minute Arwen reached out to touch her, everything happened at once.

Thessaly sucked in a ragged breath, bloodshot eyes bulging at the ceiling before they locked on Arwen's face. Her free hand whipped over and latched around Arwen's arm, pushing her off with a bruising strength and then struggling up and away, crashing into the far wall of her room and pushing herself wildly back into the corner, still heaving, struggling to get away.

"Thessaly!" Ennis cried, trying to grab her attention. "Thessaly, calm down! You're alright - you're safe!"

[Purplish Space Rock]

Arwen gasped and let out a surprised cry, nearly falling right off the bed in Thessaly's hurry. Behind Ennis, Erandur came closer to the doorway to peer in, wringing his hands nervously.

"You're awake!" said Arwen, trying to adopt a calm, comforting tone. She was unsure of whether she could approach Thessaly; after spending three days on end trapped in a realm of deepest fears, the Bosmer had every reason to react as a cornered animal and strike out. "You're awake. You've spent the last three days dreaming. This isn't a dream- you're awake. It's just us."

[E is for Enigma]

Slowly, the wild look faded from Thessaly's eyes. The tension slowly drained away She stopped struggling and slumped against the far wall, looking tired and distraught. She looked around at each of them, then seemed to realize what was going on. She put her face in her hands and drew up her legs, hiding from them.

Ennis could see how much pain she was in. To her, three days could have been three lifetimes, depending on what Vaermina wanted from her. He didn't know what kind of horrors the Dragonborn had faced in her life, or what she could dream up, but whatever it was, Vaermina had made her live all of it.

He wanted to go forward, to offer her some kind of comfort, to show her she was safe, as he'd said, but he didn't know how well she might react to him getting anywhere near her. For all he knew, she could have seen his face in that nightmare world. The Nine knew she would have reason, after their meeting in the barrow.

Eventually he turned away to leave the room. It would be better if Arwen spoke to her, he was sure. They were close. Thessaly would have nothing to fear from the mage. But he couldn't stand this feeling of uselessness. He'd been honest with her doppleganger in that temple. He'd done barely any good since this started.

Well, he wasn't going to let that stand. If he spent any more time being useless and feeling sorry for himself he was going to scream. So he went over to the innkeeper and asked for every kind of drink the man had to offer, and whatever was left of the midday meal. When she was feeling better, Thessaly would need to eat - all of them would. They'd had a long day.

He paid for everything with his own gold - even enough for Erandur. He still wasn't sure how he felt about the priest, but the man had held his word. There was something to be said for that at least.

[Purplish Space Rock]

Arwen watched Thessaly's expression change, anxiously cracking her knuckles. When Ennis left the room, an odd feeling struck her; what was she supposed to do? Was it appropriate to approach and offer a hug? She had never been one for empathy, but after experiencing her own private hell, Arwen thought she understood how Thessaly felt.

She stood and tip-toed over to her, carefully sitting down on the floor just in front of her. She reached out and gently patted her knees, bowing her head to get a better look at her.

"I don't know what your deepest, darkest fears are, Thessa," Arwen started, hesitating. "And I don't need to know. Maybe that's private. But you're safe again. You're away from whatever Vaermina did. I went there, too. It was hard, and I can only imagine what it was like for you. It must have felt never ending. If there's anything I can do to make you feel any safer, tell me. Do you want some food or water? You haven't moved in days. Why don't you get back in bed?"

[E is for Enigma]

For a while, Thessaly just sat there, face hidden in her hands, taking breath after shuddering breath. She felt the way she often did when coming out of a nightmare, only a thousand times worse. The vivid, horrifying memories still colored how she saw what was around her, their venom slowly dripping from her heart. Arwen's words, her closeness, acted as a balm. An anchor. She tried to focus on what the mage was saying, clinging to this one thing she had to believe was real, that felt real, or she'd lose herself again.

She flinched when Arwen suggested she get back in bed.

"No," she said, unable to hide the anguish in her voice. "Can't... sleep."

She couldn't risk going back to that place. Not now. Not ever. Thessaly couldn't tell who else was in the room, but somehow that didn't matter. Without looking, Thessaly reached out and grabbed Arwen's hand. Gently this time.

"Just... stay right here, okay?"

Ennis came back in with some food and water. He looked between Arwen and Thessaly, taking stock, then carefully came over and set them both down on the nightstand closest to Thessaly. This close, he could see the hand that gripped Arwen's was still trembling. He gave Arwen a worried look, unsure what to do.

"I'll just leave these here," he decided to say. "For whenever she's up to eating something."

[Purplish Space Rock]

She felt Thessaly's hand shake and gave her fingers a reassuring squeeze, falling silent. Arwen moved to sit with her against the wall, still holding her hand tightly. When Ennis re-entered the room, she looked up, catching his expression and responding with a tight-lipped smile.

"I'll stay as long as you want me to," she said, tracing circles on the back of Thessaly's hand with her thumb. "You should stay. She needs as much support as we can offer her right now. We can hang out in your room for as long as you want our company." Arwen turned her attention back to her friend, watching her. "You've got to be really dehydrated. I think you should have something to drink, Thessa. It's been a while."