Two Graves - The Song of Nephiah and Brelyna

Chapter 3: Daylight

The stranger stayed low as she moved through the dark caves, her bow already drawn. As the corridor opened up she stopped, her eyes firmly locked on the Falmer on the opposite end on the room. It was busy carving the shell off a big insect like creature, the stranger held her breath. It hadn't noticed her. She carefully reached for the quiver on her back, slowly removing an arrow. As she tightened the string and took aim, she held her breath again as the world around her was reduced to the bow in her hands and the target ahead.

"Hey! Wait!", a whispered shout from behind. The stranger flinched ever so slightly as she let go of the arrow. It flew straight across the room, missing the Falmer's head by a hair and shattering on the rocky wall behind it. It turned around and growled aggressively into the direction the arrow came from. The stranger angrily looked back over her shoulder. Realizing what she had done, Brelyna put both her hands on her mouth. "Fowwy!" The Falmer grunted again and began moving into their direction.

The stranger turned back around, dropped the bow and ran out into the room. As she rushed towards the Falmer, she grabbed her sword and raised it over her head with both hands. The Falmer heard her closing in and struck out for a swing to hit when she arrived. But the stranger jumped into the air while still a couple of meters away from him and brought her sword down upon the Falmer's head, splitting it in half right down to the neck.

She stopped moving and looked towards the opposite exit as the sword fell from the lifeless Falmer that was still stuck on her blade. As the sound of metal hitting rock wore off, silence returned.

She waited a second longer before putting her foot against the Falmer's chest to remove her sword. She quickly went back to where Brelyna was still crouching with both her hands over her mouth and widely opened eyes. She wasn't scared of the Falmer as much as she dreaded the wrath of her savior. The stranger crouched as well, looked her sternly in the eyes and put an index finger over her mouth. "Shhh!" With that she grabbed her bow and left for the opposite exit.

"That doesn't mean I'm supposed to leave you alone, does it?!", Brelyna whisperingly shouted after her. The stranger didn't react, just disappeared in the shadow of the narrow tunnel ahead. "I guess not." Brelyna got up and followed.

After a few twists and turns the tunnel opened up yet again, a bigger cave this time, there was hardly any light. The stranger remained at the tunnel exit and tried to make out the dark shapes as Brelyna caught up with her. After a moment she realized that she could be of help. "Oh! OH!", she burst out excitedly. The stranger quickly turned around and looked at her with the same angry look, a split second later both her hands went up to cover her mouth again. Her right hand however left that position soon after to charge up a white glowing ball of light. The stranger's eyes were used to the dark so she shielded them with one hand as the bright orb flew past her and started to hover in the air in the middle of the cave.

As the cave was illuminated, both of them moved back into the tunnel a little to find cover. Five huts were built closely together at one end of the hall, makeshift wooden fences that looked like animal pens had been put up at the other. The stranger put an arrow into her bow, pulled the string tightly to her and slowly started to scan the room, her arrow pointing at whatever she was looking at. The inhabitants weren't there.

She relaxed her drawing arm and put the arrow back into its quiver. After quietly approaching the huts to make sure they were empty, the stranger got up from her crouching position, Brelyna did the same. As the magelight dissipated, the stranger gave Brelyna a nudge as if to say 'do that again'. Brelyna sent another bright ball of light flying to the center of the room.

A trail of blood caught the stranger's eye. They followed it from the huts to one of the animal pens. They were all void of life, yet filled with blue glowing eggs, a good lot of them. The trail led to a dead Nord in the pen, his gut slit open, his insides chewed upon. The stranger gasped audibly and rushed over the waist high wooden fence. Brelyna stayed outside as she watched her kneel down and hastily check the body for signs of life, slapping him in the face, pounding on his chest, giving off whimpers every time her fist hit the lifeless body.