Teldryn Sero: Welcome To Solstheim

Five

Teldryn
   I awoke to the sound of shuffling and some cursing. I looked over my shoulder to see Jupiter struggling to put her steel armor on.

   "Do you need help?" I smirked watching her continue to struggle and she groaned.

   "One of the leather straps is just caught, I can fix it just give me a moment." I heard a loud snap and she cursed again. I sat up and grabbed her sides, dragging her over to me. "Teldryn?!" She jumped and stared at me before smacking my hands away.

   "I worked at a forge, I know this stuff. I CAN fix it." I lifted the leather strap loose and tightened it back into place. "There, better?"

  "Very, thanks." She smiled and grabbed her mask, tucking the cloth into place. I wish she wouldn't wear that mask, her smile is too beautiful to be hidden. I nodded and headed out into the open hall. The smell of food filled the place, I had no idea how hungry I was until my stomach started to ache. I walked around the tables and leaned against the wall, reading my map to find the closest stone. I'll eat later. I looked down at the map on my lap. The closest stone was the wind stone only about a mile or two away.

  "What are you doing, Teldryn?" Jupiter stood next to me and looked down at the map.

   "Planning. We'll start with the wind stone, then the beast stone, then the sun, earth, and finally the water stone." I ran my finger over each location. "Should take a week or two." I said before sitting down on the floor.

   "Then let's eat and shove off." She handed me a bowl of some vegetable stew and plopped down next to me with her own bowl. I waited until she started eating and then said;

   "Yeah, you'd love to watch me eat again won't you?"

   She chocked on the spoon and I started to roar with laughter.

   "W-what?!" She coughed and wiped her mouth.

   "You're not as stealthy as you think, and I'm too clever for my own good." I tugged down the cloth covering my mouth and tried not to laugh as she glared at me, "why did you watch me anyway?"

   "I wasn't watching! I was... Looking at the features that I could see." She looked down at her bowl.

  "Ohh, so you were admiring me." I teased.

   "Oh, for the love of Mara!" She got up and left me to sit with Freda and talk with a few other Nords. I continued to eat as I studied the map.

    I've never really payed attention to the Nine Devines or the Daedric Princes, what did they have to do with anything? I get it, Hermaeus Mora is fucking insane for a prince of knowledge, but aren't all Godlike figures insane? Especially Sheogorath, that fucker is definitely missing a few wheels... Scratch that he's missing all of his wheels! Is that why he loves cheese so much?

   Why does Miraak want Jupiter dead anyway? She's just a normal lass from Skyrim, Right? I looked over at her, surround by Nords and laughing. What could something so evil want with that sweet young lady? I sighed looking at my map and folding it, tucking it away in my armor before grabbing my bowl and putting it away. I walked out of the building and determined the direction of the wind stone.

   "So, were are we heading?" Jupiter came up behind me and stared out into the distance.

   "We're not going anywhere until you get some better armor, yours has too many weak spots. It's old and no longer reliable. Wait here, I'll make you some chitin armor. It'll be strong enough to protect you until we find a better set." She gaped at me and opened her mouth to say something but quickly closed it. There's no way she's going to win a fight with me, and she knows it. I handed her the map. "Here, study it while I work."

   "Heavy or light armor?" I looked back at her.

   "Heavy, of course." She shook her head.

   I walked up to the forge and quickly set to work, tending the flames and bending the chitin plates into shape while she sat on the grindstone, watching me with mild interest. She had changed into a loose shirt and ragged pair of long trousers, not what I'm used to seeing women wear, but it still looked good. I placed the plate against her thigh to see if it would fit with her curves. It did. I set back to work and it only took a few hours. Bending the plates, making sure they fit against her body, attaching the cloth to the plates and finally having her try the armor on. It looked really good, along with her Otar mask.

  "You. Are. Amazing." She turned and rubbed the armor, "nice fit, heavy, and surprisingly comfortable."

   "I know, glad you like it." I said as I placed the hammer down on the anvil. "Now, let's head out." She quickly skipped over and punched me in the arm.

   "Finally! Let's go!" She said already walking away. For such a small lass she can hit pretty hard, I rubbed my arm and jogged to catch up with her.
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   It was a rather short walk and we quickly found the wind stone. There were more will bent creatures building a formation around it, just like the tree stone.

  "Stand back and try not to run away." Jupiter walked past me and faced the stone, removing her mask before taking a deep breath, "Gol hah dov!" I jumped back as a powerful force hit the stone and the formation crumbled and fell to the ground around the stone.

  "Jupiter?" I took a step back as the ground started to shake and something started to rise out of the pond around the stone. It was dark and huge, and very ugly. The people that were building started to attack it and we quickly rushed at it too. Within seconds the thing had killed the workers, leaving me and Jupiter.

   I charged and sliced its knee open before shoving my sword through its thigh. It roared with rage and wrapped its large hand around me, and started to squeeze, lifting me up out of the water. I couldn't breathe. It's nails digging into my armor and crushing my ribs. I could feel its nails slowly slide into my skin, I wanted to scream. The pain was unbearable. Just when I thought I was done for, it let go and smashed me against the stone, the pain shot through my body like lightning as I slid into the water... Barely able to make out the war hammer that had been shoved through its stomach before everything went black.