Ignem Tristitia (An Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Prequel) [ON HOLD]

Chapter Thirteen - Truth

"Welcome," the man said with a deep, rumbling voice.

I couldn't see his face; he was turned around. He was wearing a deep black robe with swirls of purple decorating it. Gold outlined the edges of the sleeves and hood, and two golden circles formed at the edge of his hood, keeping it in place. The cloth over his shoulders jutted out a few inches past them, the center curving upwards slightly. The clothing around his legs had three golden strips at the bottom, each spaced apart equally. The same purple swirls decorated the robe, barely visible. He had dark black leather boots and gloves.

He was leaning over something at the far side of the room, a dark turquoise light casted from it. He was mumbling something in a language I didn't recognize.

"Nethdiraad, maach ladinochaziraq, enmo ghetzqairiaad," he muttered faintly, lightly hitting his hands on something in front of him. "Nethdiraad, maach gitaghijilazaqd, enmo foothrayaz!"

"Are you Mauuel?" I asked.

The man stopped chanting, and stood up. He laughed. "Your innocence is almost as hilarious as your ignorance," he paused. "S'Drassa."

"How do you know m-" I stopped as he turned around, facing us.

It was him. It was him. The man who burned down my house. I saw his piercing, demonic gaze once again. They were bright, glowing red. Like his eyes themselves were daedric. His fur was dark black, a white patch scraped down his right eye. I saw the front of his robes now; the symbol I had been seeing on the ship was in the center. A diamond with a square inside of it, with a circle inside the square, and a line going down the center of the whole symbol.

"Who are you, then?" Kharjo asked, his voice chilled.

"You have it wrong," the man said. "I am the man of which you seek."

"You're not Mauuel, he's breton!" I said, enraged at the sight of this man.

"I am him. I spread the rumor of a criminal coming here. I made up the name Mauuel Risrey to get you here with me," the man said with a smirk.

"What's your real name?" Kharjo asked.

"Jo'Randhu Xakahr," he said. His breath seemed to freeze the air in front of him.

"Wait a minute," Kharjo said, stupefied. "Ahnassi's last name is Xakahr! You're her brother!"

"Indeed, I am," he said, coldly smiling. "I know many things about you two, Kharjo."

Kharjo looked at him, horrified. I didn't know what to feel. This whole trip wasn't about a criminal. It was about me. Jo'Randhu ruined my life. What are the odds that I was on the crew looking for him? He set this up, and I have no idea what for.

"You'll find out," he said, staring me dead in the eyes.

I think he heard my thoughts.

"I did," he said.

A loud crash followed by an angry yell came from outside. It was Star and Veezare.

"Think they're in there?" I heard Veezare say.

"Definitely," Star replied.

Oh, no. They were going to come into the house.

"Alright, you two," Jo'Randhu said angrily. "Have a nice trip."

Nice trip? What did he mean 'nice trip'?

He grabbed us both by the shoulders. His fingers felt like they were frozen to my arm.

"Echladra, math et Cihlbrazquid!" he yelled, his voice reverberating around the entire house.

"Let's go," Star yelled.

It was the last thing I heard as Kharjo and I swirled deep into a turquoise portal of energy created by the chilled hands of Jo'Randhu.

-------

We were in a dark room carved from stone. It looked ancient; much older than Jo'Randhu's manor.

"Where are we," I said groggily, rigidly standing up.

"I have, ugh, no idea," Kharjo replied.

I realized there was no way back.

I ran to the wall behind me, slamming my full weight against it.

"No!" I yelled, banging the wall with my hands. "Star! Veezare!"

"There's no way out," Kharjo said.

"They're going to die!" I shouted. "That thing is still in the house and it's going to kill them!" I said, turning and yelling at Kharjo.

"No, they're not!" Kharjo yelled back. "Damn it, S'Drassa, they're alive."

"How do you know?" I said, turning back around and slumping against the wall.

"They're two of the best fighters I know," he replied. "They can kill some beast."

"Yeah," I said, sitting on the ground. "But what if Jo'Randhu kills them? Who knows how powerful he is? He's the man that ruined my life! If it weren't for him, I wouldn't have come on this stupid trip!"

"This trip isn't stupid," Kharjo said quietly.

"I didn't mean that the trip was stupid," I said. "People use 'stupid' to describe things when they're angry."

"Yeah, I know, but," he said.

I sat there against the wall, staring into the darkness of the room.

"Is there a way out of this stupid room?" I asked, stifling a sigh of anger.

"Lemme check," Kharjo said.

He threw a magelight onto the center of the ceiling.

"How'd you do that?" I asked, amazed he knew magic.

"Star taught me," he replied. "Wasn't too hard."

"There's a tunnel over there!" I said, eyeing a doorway-like opening.

"Let's go," said Kharjo, walking into the crooked dirt tunnel that led out of our entrapment.