Northbound Pilgrimage III

Chapter XII - Steam

"You keep staring at it."

Bishop noted as he followed the direction of Aeyrin's gaze for at least a hundredth time today.

It was a nice view, true. After a pleasant evening spent in Anvil at a nice inn, they decided to make their way towards Kvatch. It was still early. Today was only the twenty-fifth. Two more nights before the meeting with Ri'zhassa was scheduled. They had a plan for that, sort of. It was hard to plan when they weren't sure what to expect, but they had the upper hand in that Ri'zhassa had no idea they would be cooperating. But still, nothing should be left up to chance. So instead of going to Kvatch proper, they decided to wait the nights out in the wilderness. In case Ri'zhassa was already there and he saw them interact more or just in general pulled something unexpected. It was safer this way.

Aeyrin had been quite silent today though. And now she kept staring at the ruins ahead while they lazed about their camp. The orange light of the setting sun illuminated the Ayleid mosaics quite nicely. The complex was huge and it really looked quite inviting from afar, even if it was just a ruined city. Still, a pretty sight. Though not so pretty that one should be this preoccupied with it.

"Yeah, I know," she sighed, providing no further explanation.

"You know what this place is?" He asked. He wasn't sure – they all looked the same to him. He never really 'adventured' back in his Cyrodiil days and Ayleid ruins were just deathtraps – the worst nightmare for anyone struggling to even survive. He had no illusions about his abilities back then. It was different now, of course, but he still wondered if Aeyrin had explored this place before.

"Miscarcand. One of the largest Ayleid cities in the past. The stories say that during the Oblivion crisis, this place held some source of power that helped the Emperor and his champions defeat the cultists," Aeyrin explained. She always liked to learn about the ruins.

"You've been inside?" Bishop prodded curiously. It did look intimidatingly big.

"No. I didn't dare. I mostly explored the smaller ones," she smiled softly. Her smile faltered after a while though and she looked back at the ruins with her brows creased.

"What's wrong, love?" He nudged her a bit to get her attention. As interesting as talk of ruins was, there was clearly something else on her mind.

"I... I don't know," she groaned. "I'm getting anxious. Like something bad's going to happen. And... I keep thinking... ugh, never mind." She kept thinking about Ri'zhassa. She kept thinking about their history, about everything he had done to her and about their last encounter. It wasn't strange with the upcoming plans, of course, but still, it kept filling her with anger every time she thought about him. Like she couldn't relax and chase those thoughts away.

"What's that got to do with the ruins?" Bishop cocked his head to the side in confusion.

"Nothing. Just... nice to look at, I guess. I'm just... antsy," she shrugged. She didn't know how else to explain her mood, but much to her surprise, Bishop nodded at her in understanding.

"You need to kill something."

"What? I don't need to kill stuff. Ever," she huffed. Killing was a necessity, not a leisure activity. It was to protect people or loot stuff that was guarded. They needed money, of course. And if monsters and bandits didn't guard the treasures or attack people, there would be no need for killing.

"Pfft, yeah right," Bishop laughed. "Come on, it's fine. You need to blow off some steam. Of course you do with that shithead plotting whatever."

"And killing stuff will make me feel better?" Aeyrin scowled at him. Though that wasn't really a good question. She had been looking at those ruins and imagining delving inside – some adrenaline, some adventure, some danger. It could often take her mind off things.