Northbound Pilgrimage - Second Book Extras

Ashes to Ashes II - Reincarnation

Why wasn't she more careful?

She should have paid attention to those noises. She should have looked around. She could have hid from the beast, if only she knew it was nearby. But she was so obsessed with finishing her spell. It was not as if she couldn't stop and try again. She could try as many times as she wanted, as long as she had her notebook, the corpse and the ashes. But because she was unwilling to wait a single second, she lost everything. The corpse was singed beyond recognition, the notebook was practically burned off the face of Nirn and the ashes were scattered all over the swamp, in the water, all around her, on the ground, mixing with the burnt grass.

And now she would lose her life as well.

She writhed under the heavy statue, trying to dislodge herself from it. She knew all too well that had she been sitting just a tiny bit to the side, she would have been already dead by now. The statue was heavy. She should really be grateful that she was just trapped under it for now. Probably. Her stomach ached so much and she felt like she couldn't breathe, but she was still alive.

Not for long though. The dragon was already opening its maw again. And now a green light appeared at the back of its throat.

Brelyna let out a desperate scream as her only free hand lit up with magic again. She couldn't let this thing kill her. If she was going to die, it was not going to be because of this monster that ruined her chances to bring back J'zargo.

Another lightning shot from her hand, into the dragon's head and it did force it let out a pained roar instead of whatever magic it was going to spew at her. But it was still alive. Brelyna was no stranger to combat, even though she was just an apprentice. They trained with summoned Daedra often and she dispatched multiple giant spiders here in the swamp in her search for the perfect place and the corpse. But this was something else. Even through her biggest worries about her journey, a dragon never even came to mind. It was so easy to forget the dangers in the safety of the College. Well... usual safety.

This was supposed to be her path? Did the Augur send her to her death? Why? Why was everyone punishing her for wanting her friend back? Why was everyone just trying to deter her? How could they not understand? Why didn't anyone care about J'zargo?

She still tried so hard to push the statue away, but she was getting exhausted. She had been searching the swamp all day. She had been studying all night. And now was the time her body began to give up on her. She was shaking violently every time she tried to push on the statue, every time she tried to wiggle away. She saw the beast open its maw once more, once more with that green light forming at the back of its throat.

She raised her hand again, ready to cast, but the spell dissipated instantly. Dammit, now she couldn't concentrate enough to keep it up. She was still trying to escape her prison and all of this left her in a panic.

She was done for.

Her breaths were heavy and panicked and when her hand lit up and extinguished once more, she could think of nothing else but to close her eyes and wait for the inevitable.

Maybe it wouldn't be such a bad thing. Maybe she would see J'zargo there, wherever she was going to end up.

The strange roar it let out whenever it spewed something echoed in her ears and then she could hear the sound of something spraying around her. There was stinging, burning pain on her legs in several small spots.

But she thought it would hurt more. It wasn't that bad. Maybe she died quickly.

She couldn't help but open her eyes carefully. She wasn't sure what she would see. But she was resigned to it.