Eclipse

Eclipse: Chapter 3

Eclipse: Chapter 3

by

Spottedleaf9 and Dracanoth Dereal

(Valisilwen)

     It took me all of two hours upon waking to come to the quick realization that my quarry was not in Dawnstar or the surrounding woods. Frustrated, I fetched my horse from the stables. There was nothing for me in this town. I made a list in my mind of places were the woods of Tamriel received constant snow fall.

     Markarth was the first city to come into my mind and so it became my next destination. It was the city of the dwarves and the things so old that no one in Skyrim remembered them. It seemed fitting that this threat would rear its head in the city of mystery and Forsworn conspiracies. Once I set my mind and began to journey again, it felt almost obvious. Nothing interesting ever happened in Dawnstar anymore.

     On the road to Markarth, my headaches came back with a new ferocity and I had to camp for a hour or more; unable to take the motions of the horse's powerful muscles swaying under me, smooth and rhythmical. With every step my horse took, pain shot up my spine and exploded into my head; spreading out against my forehead like the spokes of a wheel against the point where the creature had touched me with the finger of death.

     It only intensified until I could literally no longer go on. I was going to pass out if my head pulsed that hard one more time. Dismounting, I let my horse stand by a lush patch of grass and threw myself on the ground, belly up. I had felt a lot of pain in my long life as an adventurer; broken bones and magical death curses, but I had to admit that whatever was happening to me hurt even more. Going back in my head, I realized that it had only got worse during the times when I had been heading in the opposite direction from Markarth. Even now, I was taking a roundabout route trying to find more adventure on the way.

     Having noticed this correlation, I forced myself back onto my mare and gave her neck a reassuring pat. "We have to keep going. I've figured out the problem. Whoever H is...this...monster thing...put a hex on me. I can't...go against what he says. If I don't do as the letter told me and find the man he's sending here, then I'm going to be in agony. I'm too young to die. I'm only twenty." My horse knickered as if she understood me.

     Riding on, my headache made things impossibly hard and for awhile, I had to lay over my horse and cling to her mane with my hands in order not to fall off the saddle and get lost. By taking a more direct route, I was testing my theory; taking a chance. When I didn't become blinded by pain and in fact it started to fade, I smiled. I had been right. It was rather hard to be wrong about such curse when placed on oneself. My smile faded as I wondered what kind of being had that much power. Perhaps a new daedra lord had come into existence on the planes of Oblivion and had forcefully recruited me in this way. This was the only thing that made sense to me in all of my experience.

     My mare grew weary and I found another inn. I was tired too, and saw that I had been riding her at a constant pace all day. "I'm sorry." I spoke softly. Holding out an apple to her, I let her eat it out of my hand before turning to the city before me; massive golden doors and giant stone walls keeping out danger. Within I knew, the streets were arranged like mazes. It was very easy to get lost in Markarth and I suspected that I had taken so long with my detours that my contact had a decent chance of ending up waiting for me.

     Kleppr, the bar keep saw me enter the doorway of Silverblood Inn and smiled an old smile at me. I knew he had written my name in the ledger by the time I sat at the bar. "Hello, Kleppr. Wipe that grin off your face. I'm here on business." Now that I was actually in Markath, there was no pain left; leaving me with no doubts in my mind that this was where I should be.