Teldryn Sero: Welcome To Solstheim

Nine

Teldryn
It had been five days after the incident in Raven Rock. We had cleansed all of the stones and were now on our way back to Skaal village. We were couped up in another abandoned house. Well... Almost abandoned. We had to fight off some ash spawn and Jupiter got a few cuts in the action. She was drained and groaned as she cleaned the cuts.

"So, Hermaeus Mora wants the secrets of the Skaal... In exchange for the third word of that shout you've been using?" I peeled off my helmet.

"Yes, but I don't imagine that they are willing to give them up without a fight." She sighed and flopped down on her bed roll, "I don't even want to ask, but it could be the only thing that can help me defeat Miraak."

"How do you know Mora won't betray you?"

"I don't, and he will probably do something wretched."

"Jupiter? Do you need to use that book to get to Miraak?"

"Yeah, he's trapped in Apocrypha and the books are the only way to get there. Why do you ask?"

"Whenever you go into those books, it only takes you... If you go to fight Miraak. You'll be alone." I closed my eyes and rubbed my neck.

"Teldryn, I may go in alone, but I promise you that I will come back out. I can do this." She got up and sat behind me burying her face in my shoulder blade and wrapping her arms around my waist. I rubbed her hand and hummed.

"I know you can." Just make sure you come back to me when you're done...
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We set out as soon as dawn broke across Solstheim. Our hands were intertwined while we walked to the village in silence. The adventure is almost over, what will happen after this is done? We talked and joked, poking fun at murderous snakes and cheese-chasing morons. The walk was slow but fast in my mind.

Her hand slid from mine once we entered the village. I watched as she ran over to Freda and the Shaman. I took my time walking over to them, my eyebrows furrowed when he took the book from Jupiter.

"What are you doing? You can't!" Jupiter grabbed his shoulder.

"If it will stop Miraak and save my people, then I can." He walked into the front of town, ignoring our pleas, he opened the book as we stood around him.

A tentacle, darker than ebony, came slithering out of the book causing him to drop the book onto the ground, as if he'd be zapped by a powerful rune spell. It was still open. It happened quicker than I could blink, the tentacle wrapped around his legs and pierced through his chest. Lifting him up with a sickening squelch as more tentacles formed from the ink in which the pages were written and crawled up his body before another tentacle pushed through his forehead, slowly. He screamed as a black mass formed in front of him, a thoughtful and evil voice that hummed his satisfaction. Hermaeus Mora.

I was horrified, I've seen things worse than this. Just knowing there was nothing anyone of us could do to stop the Daedric prince of knowledge from torturing this man felt like a million daggers spinning inside my gut.

"Ah, so these are the secrets of the Skaal. You must've known that I will always find what I want. For I am knowledge." Hermaeus Mora laughed relishing in the pain he was causing to the shaman as he slowly pushed more tentacles through his body.

The shaman choked and coughed up a black and red liquid as his daughter cried in the background. Hermaeus Mora faded away from our sight, yet his laugh could still be heard clearly. Screams echoed through the town and Jupiter buried her face into my chest when the shaman was released from the Daedra's tentacles, his body landed with a thud. Cold and still. I sucked in the sharp cold air as I looked over his lifeless body.

"Jupiter, look." She was shaking while she looked at the body, covering her mouth and cutting of a small cry of pain, anger and fear. The Daedra prince had carved something into the shaman's chest. Something in Dragon tongue I'm guessing. Pain clutched at my chest when Freda kneeled down by her father.

"Kill him, make Miraak pay. I don't want his death to be in vain." Freda demanded, throwing the book at Jupiter. Jupiter caught it and rubbed the spine gently, removing some snow that had been tainted red.

"Miraak will be no more before the sun can kiss the horizon." Jupiter promised and went to open the book. I stopped her by firmly placing my hand on the cover. "Teldryn?"

"He'll be very strong, I'm worried that the armor might not hold against his power."

"Well we don't have much of a choice. I'll be fine with chitin." She nodded at me and flipped the cover. The tentacles wrapping up her arms and around her body before she faded from the world entirely.

"Good luck, Jupiter."
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Jupiter
I opened my eyes to the darkness of Apocrypha. The air was cold against my skin, like the bite of an ice wraith. Vicious, relentless and piercing. I continued forward, towards the interlaced doors that smelled like death and refused to open, no matter how much force I used.

I walked around, trapped in this room. I looked over to see an open pod with a light hanging out of it. Intriguing. I slightly touched the light and it slowly dropped down, the pod closing around it and a wet creaking sound came from behind me. The door had opened.

I wound my way through the dark maze of books, avoiding whipping tentacles and cutting down monsters. The place stunk of death, but behind that smell? The smell of old parchment paper that was bound within cracked leather. Which was sweet in my lungs and reminded me of the warm fires of my home and kept me strong as I grew closer to Miraak.