Eldrin, the Argonian with an Elven name

Chapter 8 - 20th of Second Seed, Second Era 581

Eldrin didn't get to sleep until the early hours of the morning, he was too busy worrying about what the next day would bring. He was heading for Shadowfen and his excitement to move on from Mournhold was almost unmanageable.

He woke up about midday and rushed to meet the girls at the tavern. He walked in to see the girls sitting at a table in the corner. The damaged chairs and stools, from the night before, had been removed and the blood had been cleaned up.

The disgruntled barkeep gave Eldrin a hesitant nod of acknowledgement and he awkwardly returned the nod on his way to the girls.

"What happened to your face?" Kadriel asked when he was about to sit.

"I had it rearranged, like we talked about yesterday. Don't tell me you don't like it." Eldrin replied with no real feeling.

"Well you don't look different, just bruised." Kadriel answered.

"Shall we be off then?" Eldrin asked, shifting his eyes between both of them. They nodded.

As Kadriel stood up she prodded again, "What happened to your face really?"

"Don't worry about it! It was just a bit of fun," Eldrin's tone was both nonchalant and sarcastic. He just hoped that was enough to satisfy her because he had no desire to relive the story. The only part he considered mentioning was stabbing someone to color her opinion of him but then he'd have to give all the context with it.

"Who did it to you?" Kadriel asked.

"I don't need to discuss all the freaky shit I'm into just to get kink shamed by you, dear. Is that enough information for you?" He hoped that the lie was believable enough to buy him a pass out of this conversation.

"So what, you just spent the afternoon making out with a stranger and getting beat up?" Kadriel said plainly.

How did she already know about his evening? Maybe drinking at the tavern where they had planned to meet was not the best idea.

Eldrin was unwilling to talk about yesterday so he doubled down on his sarcasm, "I know you're obsessed with me but it's getting a bit creepy isn't it?"

He began to walk out of the tavern, smiling while Kadriel followed quickly, asking more questions. Zuryl followed idly.

~

The trio had only been walking for an hour when they came across a frantic woman clinging to the side of a large boulder. The three of them all stopped moving when the woman made eye contact with them and put a finger to her lips.

Zuryl and Kadriel began to tiptoe to the rock. The woman focused her attention on peering around the other side of the boulder like she had been when they saw her. Eldrin glared at the girls' backs.

They were quick. Quicker than him when he started to follow them.

The ground began to tremble slightly as a large Kagouti was barreling towards the party. It was double the size of a normal one. It rounded the corner with a skid into the middle of the road. When it regained its footing it began its charge towards the boulder.

The woman ran towards Eldrin as soon as it skidded. Zuryl climbed the nearest rock face with graceful ease. Kadriel was quick to draw her bow and fire a few arrows into the creatures' forehead plate as she moved away from the boulder. The beast kept running unfazed by the barrage of arrows and the Bosmer had no choice but to jump and roll out of its path.

The woman ran straight past Eldrin, stopping a few feet from his back. The Kagouti lowered its head as it drew closer to the lizard. Eldrin stared at the oncoming creature with wide eyes.