Teldryn Sero: Welcome To Solstheim

Six

Teldryn
   The sun was warm on my skin as I walked beside him, a tall figure with enough strength to take down a troll bare handed. He was teaching me how to hunt. It had taken hours, but we finally found something. An elk. Huge with large antlers and long cream colored fur, perfect for making a blanket or a rug for my baby sister. It would be a perfect gift for her eighth winter.

   "Now, Teldryn." He whispered in my ear his voice smooth as silk, "draw back and use your strength. Trust the arrow and it will hit its mark." He slowly backed away and I exhaled slowly. I released the string and the arrow struck the elk with a wet thud. Right in the chest.

   The beast ran away with great difficulty, and we followed. He quickly fell due to his organs shutting down and he landed on his side. My father ran up and leaned his knee on its throat before drawing his dagger. It's bellow was cut short when he plunged the knife under the arrow and into it's heart.

   "Nothing deserves to suffer, Teldryn. Torture is different then suffering. Torture has no end, whilst suffering does. Death should never be painful." He withdrew his dagger and cleaned it. "You understand?"

   "Yes, father." I walked up to him and helped him cut the beast into pieces after we skinned it. Placing the pieces in bags and slinging them over our shoulders, along with the rolled up hide and antlers, before heading home.

   "Good, and you shouldn't torture anything either. Never stoop to the levels of the lower man, less you be worst than the Daedra." He patted my back as a scream echoed through my head.

   "Nahji!" I sat up, my breathing hard and a sharp pain in my side forcing me to lay back down. It was just a dream I groaned and rubbed my head.

   "Good morning Teldryn! You've been out for a while, I was starting to worry." Jupiter poked her head into my tent and slowly sat next to me, "hold still." She whispered as she gently peeled the bandage from my side and smiled. "The wounds are gone. I was able to use some magic to heal you and get a healing potion into your system. The aches should fade soon."

   "What? What happened? How long was I out?" I sat up and hissed in pain, she placed her hand on my chest and pushed me back down.

   "Hush, and calm yourself. You were knocked out by that creature, been out for about three days. I was able to cleanse the beast stone while you were out and found this place whilst traveling to the sun stone, so I brought you here."

   "What is this place?" I groaned and rubbed my side which was numb.

   "It's just an abandoned watch tower that I reinforced a little bit. Should be safe." I sighed and listened to the loud sound of booming whips outside. Is that... Thunder?

   "Jupiter, did you take off my helmet?" I looked at her.

   "Of course not. It's your privacy and I respect it." She looked up as another crack rung through the stone walls, "There's a hole in the roof, the rain water is really pouring from it. So if you want to go get cleaned up you can." She patted my chest and backed out of the tent.

   I sat up slowly and breathed in deeply before heading out of the tent. The aches and numbness already fading. Jupiter was sitting at the fire, her back turned to me.

   I wandered for a bit until I found the room she was talking about and walked in, shutting the door behind me. The walls echoed whenever a latch clicked shut, or piece of armor fell to the ground. When I was fully relived of my armor I stepped under the falling water, which was surprisingly warm. The water felt good on my aching muscles and I exhaled deeply as I rubbed my neck. I ran my fingers through my Mohawk and watched as the water ran down my body and across my tattoos. I rubbed my chest and traced my finger across the scar I had going across my hip. Ugly.