Two Graves - The Song of Nephiah and Brelyna

Chapter 8: I've Put a Spell on You

"Murdering lunatic!" Brelyna had been walking on the snowy road for a while. Even though the sun was shining, it was very cold. The fur cloak helped. She had started talking to herself a while back. "Ok, let's do this rationally, let's make a list." She reached a crossroad, one path continued the road she was on, the other led into the mountains. She had been using Azura's shrine in the distance to guide her way, she took a left turn, leaving the road.

"On the one hand, she smells like a pile of old books. I like books!" The snow got deeper as she treaded up the path. "On the other hand, murdering lunatic." The wind was picking up a bit as she reached more height. "On the one hand, whenever she is close, all the chatter of doubt and uncertainty in my head is silenced. I don't know how she does it, but there it is. I mean, look at me, an hour apart and I'm back at talking to myself. STOP talking to yourself, Brelyna."

It had gotten colder, she stuck her hands under her armpits. "On the other hand, murdering lunatic! Damnit! That argument always works!" The exertion of walking uphill in snow began to be noticeable, she stopped to take a few breaths, then trotted on. "Also, what a fighter. Saved my life three times when she didn't have to. Also, great kisser. That equals all the positives combined. The calm, the safety, and yet very exciting..." She turned around and started to walk back the way she came. "Murdering lunatic!" She turned around again and continued up the path.

She reached a rock formation that formed an arc like a short tunnel through the mountain, the path led through and past it. "So this is what I'll do. I'll go back to the college and continue my studies there. They are probably already wondering where I am. I will study hard, yes. I will become a powerful mage like father wants and go back to Morrowind. And none of this is going to matter." She stopped under the naturally formed archway. Somebody had set up camp there a while ago, there was a bedroll and a small portable shrine set up. No sign of recent activity though. "But first, I will rest here a little while." She sat down and leaned against the rocky wall. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes.

Images began to pop into her mind, the first time Nephiah stepped out of the shadows, the bandage, her inquiring about her smell. She giggled. Then a picture of the corpse Nephiah decapitated in the cave. She opened her eyes and looked to the direction she just came from. Was that why she was in there? To find him? She closed her eyes again. She remembered being held by her. How easy everything was, how there didn't seem to be a worry in the world. Her exerted breathing calmed down. Their first kiss, she subconsciously moved a hand to her lips. Nephiah's foot smashing the skull of the guardsman. Her grin instantly turned to a frown. The screams of the one she set on fire, she shuddered. "I don't exist..." the words echoed in her head. "None of this is happening because I don't exist..." What made her believe that? She squeezed her eyes shut. "Stop thinking about it, Brelyna. It's over."

She re-opened her eyes, startled by the arrow that hit the ground right in front of her feet. Four bandits approached, two of them had their bows pointed at her. "Move and the next one goes into you.", one of them said. They slowly stepped closer. "We've got ourselves a college mage by the looks of it, there has got to be some coin there. See that woman with the glass bow over there?" He pointed at the bandit to his right. "She is really good with that bow. So if you want to do any magic, go right ahead. You'll be so much easier to rob once you're dead."

Brelyna froze, looking fearfully at the group. Two arrows were primed, one to her left, one to her right, both ready to fire at any moment. A big man holding a warhammer stood confidently between them, their leader walked up and squatted down close to her. He removed a couple of ropes from his fur armour and tied her hands behind her back, then her feet.