Rhew
The missing snow elf
WATCH YOUR DRAGONS TONGUE
ADULT CONTENT (almost forgot)
An old fort loomed ahead. It was a tall tower with a bridge high above the ground that went into the mountain. A woman in fur armor sat in a chair outside next to the path. She stood up as we got closer. “Halt!This is a toll road you see? You’ll have to hand over…. say…. 200 gold to use this road!”
“200 gold!” I cried out. I wasn’t even sure we had that much anymore.
“Looks like we have ourselves a hero!” a gruff voice from above us called down. I glanced up at the bridge. Three other bandits watched down at us bows drawn ready to kill us if we did anything. I looked at Lydia and saw that she had her sword unsheathed half way.
“Lydia. Put away your sword.” I told her. Lydia’s hand wavered at the hilt but she didn’t move.
“I would listen to the little elf if I were you.” The bandit said. “You might be able to kill me but they will kill you so fast you won’t have time to scream.” She motioned at the three bandits on the bridge.
“Lydia.” I repeated.
“Fine,” she sighed sheathing her sword.
“You did the right thing,” the bandit said slyly, “Now then. Hand over 200 gold.”
“How about 50?” Faendal haggled.
The bandit watched each of us for a moment before shrugging. “Fine. 50 gold. You’re not worth the trouble. Just get out of here before I change my mind.” He handed her the gold and we continued past the tower. How could a group of bandits be allowed to take advantage of travellers like this?
“There’s a contract out for those bandits.” Lydia said once we were out of sight of the tower. “We could get rid of those bandits and get the reward.” She glanced at the two of us. “I have a feeling you could use the gold.” She’s right. We could use the extra gold. I could see the gleam in Faendal’s eyes at the mention of the contract. It reminded me of how he looked when we went through the ruins. I knew what Faendal would suggest and I needed to suggest something else first.
“Let’s go back and get those bandits then! I can easily pick them off.” Faendal suggested with a smile.
“I would like us to get to High Hrothgar without dying.” I said. “If they are still around when we come back we’ll do the contract then.” Faendal frowned but agreed.
We followed the path around the mountain. The river flowed to our left. Ahead a beautiful waterfall fell from the mountain side. A bridge crossed the river where the waterfall was. Faendal picked a flower that grew around the bridge and handed it to me. “Dragon’s tongue for the dragonborn.” I didn’t like being called the dragonborn but I took the orange flower and smiled. It smelled sweet like spring.
“Thank you. But I thought you couldn’t harm plants?” I asked.
He smiled. “It’s only plants in Valenwood. The plants of Skyrim are free game for all Y’ffre cares.” He leaned in towards me, “Or did you think I worked at a lumber mill in defiance of my god?” He started laughing. I had never thought of him working at a lumber mill to be strange. But now of course I did.
“Then why did you refuse to pick alchemical supplies for the mages at Winterhold?” I asked him.
“Oh that! Right, I forgot about that.” a sly smile spread across his face, “Other races don’t know anything more about the green pact outside of not eating plants and the cannibalism thing. And they usually don’t care to learn more. I used it to keep those mages from taking complete advantage of me.” He shrugged, “Also the idea of running around Winterhold picking plants didn’t sound like my idea of a fun day.”
“You’re telling me!” Lydia agreed with Faendal. She looked at me, “And you’re ok with being with a cannibal?”
I chuckled, “He’s not a cannibal,” I watched as Faendal leaned against the stone bridge watching the waterfall. “We’ve discussed this before.”
“Maybe not a cannibal but he’s definitely either a sympathizer of the Imperials or the Thalmor.” She’s the second person to mention this. Although Enthir claimed Faendal worked for one of the two, I thought. “Either way, it’s because of them that we are not allowed to worship Talos.”
I’ve heard that name and I still don’t know who it is. “Who is Talos?” I asked.
Lydia looked shocked. “You don’t know who Talos is!?”
“She didn’t even know who the Thalmor were.” Faendal stated as he stood up and stretched.
“What! Have you been living in a cave?” She exclaimed. I frowned at her. Faendal shook his head slightly. “Oh, right. You’re a Falmer. Falmer….. caves….. not a good statement. Sorry.” I didn’t understand what she meant by that. “Well, when the high-king Tiber Septim died, he became a god. Talos. But the Aldmeri Dominion doesn’t recognize him as a god so they have banned the worship of Talos.”
“Tiber Septim?”
Her eyes narrowed at me. “You’ve never heard of Tiber Septim?” I shook my head. “What about a high-king.”
I thought for a moment. “You mean like HIgh-King Herald?”
Lydia’s mouth dropped open. “How can you know who Herald is and not Tiber Septim?” She demanded. I wasn’t sure how to answer that question. That name was the one that popped into my head when I heard “HIgh-King”.
“Who was High-King Herald?” Faendal asked.
“He was the High-king who destroyed the last groups of the snow elves in Skyrim.” she explained. “That was thousands of years ago.”
I studied the flower in my hand. The red veins in the orange petals. The purple stem in the middle. The High-King that I remember was not from just a thousand years ago but thousands of years. “What if I’m not even from this era?” I questioned.
Faendal placed his arms around me and pulled me into him. “It doesn’t matter to me. But it seems highly unlikely. You’re probably from some little group of snow elves who survived long ago. They wouldn’t really know the history of Skyrim would they?” He tried to comfort me but I knew what he said wasn’t right. The small amount of memories I did remember didn’t fit with what he said.
I buried my head into his shoulder and sighed. “I think we should continue. This conversation is only confusing me.” I said softly. Faendal pulled my head to his and kissed me softly. I closed my eyes and kissed him back.
“Ok, Let’s get going then,” Lydia said annoyed, “You two acting like this isn’t getting us any closer to High Hrothgar.”
“sorry.” I blushed as we parted.
“No! What are you sorry for? It’s nice to see that two people can still find love in this day and age in Skyrim. Really.” Lydia said sarcastically. We followed the path as it slowly twisted and turned up the mountain. The sun rose high above us as we travelled up the mountain. At the top of the twists the path opened up to a beautiful birch forest. The trees were covered in orange and yellow leaves. Faendal already had his bow out and an arrow notched.
“Think of the game you could find here!” He exclaimed. Before we could say anything he took off into the trees.
“Faendal!” I called after him.
He turned towards me, “Don’t worry! I’ll find you! You’re easy to track!” And with that he disappeared into the forest. He’s hunted in every area we’ve visited, I realized.
“What did he mean by that?” I asked Lydia.
“It almost sounded like an insult.” She replied. We continued down the path through the birch tree forest. It wasn’t long before we were in the sleepy farming town of Ivarstead. The sun hung low in the sky by the time we entered the small town. I looked back at the birch forest hoping Faendal would arrive to the town soon.
A farmer stared at us as we walked by. “Might as well keep going. There isn’t anything here for travellers.” He told us. Lydia and I glanced at each other but ignored the farmer and headed for the tavern.
There were a few people inside the tavern. No bard though. That saddened me since I had become so fond of hearing “Ragnar the Red”. Maybe after a few tankards of mead I could sing the song for the tavern. I chuckled at the idea. We sat down and ordered tankards of mead and bowls of soup. I tried to enjoy my time but my eyes kept moving back to the door. I couldn’t help but think of the bandit incident. “You really do care for that old elf don’t you?” Lydia asked. She must have noticed me watching the door.
“Well, yeah. His sharp features are so handsome.” I smiled into my tankard.
“To each their own,” she said with a shrug. “It’s just strange. You seem not that much older than me. And he looks old. Even for an elf.” But he doesn’t act or sound old, I thought. I never really thought of him as older than me. In fact, for some reason I thought of him as younger. It was yet another strange thing I couldn’t explain.
“He’s been with me practically since day one,” I told her deciding not to share my thoughts on the age difference. The thoughts wouldn’t make sense to her if they didn’t make sense to me. “I would have been lost without him.”
“Well, speaking of old elves.” I followed Lydia’s gaze towards the door. Faendal entered the tavern. A new skin was rolled and attached to his satchel. I flew from the table and into his arms. I pressed my lips against his and kissed him as if we hadn’t seen each other in months.
“Woah! What was that for? I was only gone a few hours.” He said once we parted. I could feel everyone staring at us. I pulled away from him embarrassed.
“What if bandits got you again?” I asked as we made our way back to the table.
He laughed. “I was hunting deer, not bandits.” Faendal took out a small pouch full of leaves and bark. “This is for the ice wraith bite. It’ll help with the pain and swelling.” I looked at the leaves and bark skeptically. Last time he gave me something for the bite it burned! He laughed. “Don’t worry. You’ll like this medicine.” He left the table to fix the concoction. I wasn’t looking forward to trying anything made of leave and bark but if it helped heal my arm faster I would try it.
“That wound was from an ice wraith?” Lydia asked. I nodded as I nonchalantly rubbed my arm. “You’re lucky it didn’t get your neck.” My eyes widened in horror at the thought. My hand wrapped around my neck as if I was protecting it from an invisible beast.
“I really just want this wound to heal. I’m tired of not being able to use my magic.” I sighed in frustration and leaned onto the table.
“Well, until then you have my sword and shield and his bow to protect you.” She tried to comfort me. The idea only annoyed me more.
“I don’t want to be protected. I’m not some damsel in distress.”
Lydia only shrugged. “Whether you want it or not, it is my job to protect you.” She glanced at Faendal who was engrossed in fixing the potion next to the fire pit. “And I have a feeling he won’t stop protecting you regardless if you could kick his ass with your magic.” We both laughed. I couldn’t imagine a situation that would cause us to fight but the idea of Faendal running from my magic made me giggle.
Faendal returned to the table placing two mugs of amber liquid onto the table. “What’s so funny?” He asked. The both of us refused to tell him. He shrugged the laughter off. “Drink this. It has honey in it.” He said handing me one of the mugs.
“For taste?” I wondered as I looked at the liquid made from leaves and bark in disgust.
He chuckled. “Honey helps with the pain.” I sipped the liquid tentatively and found it delicious. It was a sweet earthy taste. I finished the drink in a couple of gulps.
“It’s good but this is supposed to help with the pain?” I asked skeptically. How could a cup of tea do that?
“Well, yeah. With the help of this other mug.” He said motioning for the second mug.
“I have to drink two cups?”
Faendal pushed the mug away from my hands. “No. This one isn’t for drinking.” he explained. “I’ll finish taking care of your arm in the room.”
“Oh, I know where this is headed,” Lydia stated as she stood up and stretched. “Good night, you two.” We headed into our separate rooms. Faendal and I stripped our armor once inside the privacy of the room. It was nice to be out of the armor. I wore my white tunic that covered my body midway to my thighs. I sat on the edge of the bed anticipating what the medicine would do. Faendal had other ideas though. He kneeled in front of me and rubbed his hands up my legs to under my tunic. Electricity ran up my legs and through my body from his touches. “Those legs,” he breathed and our lips connected. A deep sensual kiss.
I didn’t want to but I finally pulled away. “Faendal, my arm.” I reminded him.
“Right…. right…..” He muttered with a small frown. Neither of us wanted to stop but he left and soaked a rag with the tea. “Take the bandage off.” he requested as he sat next to me with the soaked rag in his hands. Once I had taken the bandage off he gently pressed the rag to my wound. It seemed to suck the pain from my arm. The redness and swelling were almost completely gone when he moved the rag.
“This is from plants in this forest?” I asked astonished.
He smiled. “It feels much better than the salve, doesn’t it?”
“It’s amazing,” I straddled him and wrapped my arms around his neck. HIs hands started moving up my legs again. “You’re amazing.” Our lips brushed against each other. I pulled his head to mine and eagerly kissed him. His soft lips parted mine. His arms traveled up my body slowly pushing the tunic over my hips and up my back. I moaned softly at his touches. Everything about him drove me crazy. His smell (like fallen leaves in Autumn), his soft yet strong touch, his taste. We parted long enough for him to pull my tunic off. We fell back onto the bed. He stroked my face gently with one hand while the other made its way down my body. I cried out in pleasure from his touches and eagerly pulled at his clothes. Faendal stood up to strip his clothes. I squirmed waiting for him. It was driving me crazy.
“Please hurry,” I begged. He pulled his shirt over his head and smiled as he returned to me. The feel of his skin against mine was intoxicating. My nails dug into his back as his legs pushed between mine. I could feel him. All of him and I wanted more. “Faendal,” I breathed as we became one.
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