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

Chapter Twenty Two - Order

"Hey what's this?" Drelas asked, holding up a necklace he found underneath a fern.
"I don't know," Brelas said, turning to face Drelas, then approaching him. "Oh, wait, that's a Y'ffre amulet."
"Should we keep it?" Drelas asked.
"Nah," Brelas answered after thinking for a few moments. "Throw it in that water."
"Will do," Drelas said, thoughtlessly chucking the relic into the puddle.
As the relic hit the surface of the clear, colorless water, a dim green light blanketed the surface of the water and instantly, the water darkened with mud. The twins didn't see it, for they had turned around.
"I think we should slow down," Drelas suggested.
"Why?" Brelas asked, intrigued.
"Well, so everyone can catch up to us," Drelas replied.
Brelas thought about Drelas' suggestion, then reached a conclusion.
"All right," Brelas said. "But if we're just gonna sit here or walk really slow, it might get a little boring."
"I can deal with boring," Drelas nodded satisfactorily.

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"I can't deal with boring," Drelas sighed, exaggeratedly scraping his feet across the ground.
The twins had been slowly walking for half an hour, trying to stay occupied.
"Yes, you can," Brelas argued. "Do you wanna sit down or something?"
"Yes," Drelas exhaled, plopping down against a tree stump.
Drelas let out a long sigh; Brelas walked over and sat next to him. The sun's position told that it was afternoon.
"Where d'you think they are?" Drelas asked, staring straight at the horizon, which was blocked with hundreds upon hundreds of trees, which were now less tropical.
"I don't know," Brelas said, scratching his arm. "They can't be too far behind. I mean, they were-"
"Right behind you," Star interrupted, stopping in the middle of the pathway.
The group aligned beside her; the twins rose from the ground in surprise. They gave hearty wide smiles and approached us.
"Star! Veezare! Everyone!" Drelas exclaimed happily.
He quickly hugged Star, laughing the whole time. He released Star from his over-excited grasp and hugged everyone else. The whole hugging process took a minute, and I doubt anyone really wanted a hug, save Drelas. Brelas just stood in front of us, occasionally chuckling at his brother.
"I'm glad none of you are dead," Brelas spoke.
"Same here," Veezare said. "I didn't think we'd ever find you."
"Yes," Kharjo joined. "What happened?"
"Well, after Mauuel hit us with that teleport thingy-," Drelas began.
"It wasn't Mauuel, but continue," Veezare interrupted.
"Okay," Drelas said confusedly.
"Anyways," Brelas explained. "After that we were inside those damned tunnels. A little while after we were inside, we found this grate. We, erm, unscrewed it, and we saw Star, Veezare, Kharjo, and S'Drassa. I tried calling Star's name, but you were too far below. Then, we got up and a bloody Daedroth was standing behind us! It chased us through the tunnel, but we managed to escape it. You haven't seen it, have you?"
"Um, nothing comes to mind," Duvrus said.
"Phew, okay, good," Drelas said. "Cause that thing could breathe fire! Nearly burned off my hair, that thing did!"
"Your hair is in a ponytail," Lumak pointed out.
"It was really bleedin' close!" Drelas exclaimed, throwing up his arms.
"Well, did you meet a guy named Belfarta?" Star asked, concerned.
"No," Brelas responded. "We haven't seen anyone. Or anything, for that matter."
"Naught a thing," Drelas restated.
"Just us, then," Star said, her voice trailing off. "Well, let's keep going. There's a city nearby."
"I saw it," Brelas said. "It's Elden Root. Capital city of the Aldmeri Dominion."
"Wow," I said, filled with awe.
I didn't know what the Aldmeri Dominion was, but it sure did sound important.
"It's a cultural and political powerhouse," Brelas continued. "It's beautiful. I cannot wait until we arrive."
"And we shall arrive soon, then?" Kharjo asked.
"Indeed," Brelas replied. "We shall."
"Then let us go on," Star said, stepping forward. "We will travel until nightfall. Again."
"Alright," Veezare said, also stepping forward.
Everyone stepped forward, and the twins turned around to face the seemingly endless path. The group, now complete, began to walk. Slowly at first, then with gaining speed. Soon, it had almost become a march. Our footsteps sounded across the ground, like the sharp crack of thunder rhythmically pounding over and over again.
The rest of the day was spent walking down the path. No one talked much. I was sick of the path. The forest was beautiful, but I wanted to leave. I wanted to go to Elden Root. I wanted to see what the Aldmeri Dominion was.
"The city is close," Brelas said, breaking the silence that had lasted as long as I could remember.
"How close?" Lumak asked, wiping the sweat from his brow.
"Close enough," Brelas answered.
"What is it with you people and your vague answers?" Lumak muttered under a sigh.
"Vague answers give you hope," Drelas replied. "Vague answers keep you thinking, wondering, and dreaming."
"Never thought of it like that," Lumak laughed. "I guess that can be reasonable."
"It is," Drelas smiled. "It surely is."
"This is tiring," Duvrus groaned.
"What, can't you keep up? Don't you have to be tough to be a follower of Jo'Rhandu?" Star jabbed.
"Who told you?" Duvrus asked quickly, but angrily.
"A little birdie," Star smiled.
"Well, then you know I left that life," Duvrus said.
"Sure," Star scoffed.
"If I didn't leave it, why the hell do you think I snuck aboard your ship? Why do you think I haven't brutally murdered you?" Duvrus snapped.
"I guess you're telling the truth," Star said.
"I am," Duvrus said firmly, kicking a rock, sending it flying into the forest.
"What was he like?" Star inquired. "Jo'Rhandu."
"Phynaster, he was insane," Duvrus answered. "He had us kill whomever he didn't like, or whomever got in his way, or whomever he just told us to kill. Men, women, children, babies. It didn't matter. I was in it because my brother, Turel, told me that it was like the Fighters' Guild without stupid overbearing rules."
"What happened there?" Veezare asked curiously.
"Well, it was nothing like the Fighters' Guild, obviously," Duvrus continued. "More like the disturbingly insane evil twin of the Mages' Guild. They had these...experiments, if you will. They tortured children with dark magic for fun. They learned new spells no one else had learned for thousands of years. Spells from this evil book. There was something strange on the cover of the book."
"What was it?" I blurted out. "A symbol?"
"Yes," Duvrus said suspiciously. "How did you know?"
"Here," I said, pulling out my journal and flipping to the page where I had drawn the symbol down. "Did it look like this?"
"By the gods, where did you see this?" Duvrus asked, shocked by the sight of the symbol.
"Everywhere!" I yelled. "I can't stop seeing it! It was on that dead girl's corpse! It was engraved in the ship walls, but it disappeared! It was in this dream I had yesterday! I hate it!"
"That is the symbol that was on the book cover," Duvrus said deeply.
"What is going on?" Star asked.
"It's the faction," Duvrus replied. "They're messing with S'Drassa's mind!"
"Why would they do that?" Veezare queried.
"Neither the Daedra nor the Aedra know the answer to that question," Duvrus answered.
"What was in this dream?" Kharjo asked.
"Well I was in this marble black chapel sort of thing, and I saw a man sitting in a pew," I recalled. "He had these dark robes and a silver mask formed to his face. He said 'Ulchariq', whatever that means, and I-"
"Leech," Duvrus interrupted. "Ulchariq means leech."
"Yeah, he said that, but when I asked him what that meant, he said that was his order. What exactly did he mean by that?" I asked.
"He means the faction," Duvrus explained. "Jo'Randhu wasn't the leader. He was a member of the Thirteen Tribulars; a system of leaders. He was nothing compared to some of the other Tribulars. When that man said leech was his order, he meant the name of the faction."
"Which is?" Star asked.
"It's name," Duvrus replied with an edge to his voice. "Is the Order of the Silver Leech."
"Silver Leech?" Lumak asked, disgusted. "As in the bloodsucking sea worms?"
"Yes," Duvrus answered.
"These people sound like the opposite of what I'd like to be up against," Veezare opined.
"Believe me, you have no idea what you've gotten yourselves into. These people, this order; they won't leave you alone now that you've confronted a Tribular. You can't back away. If you try, they'll track you down and do worse things than kill you. Things you can't even fathom. You've gotta go through with this mission, that's why I boarded your ship," Duvrus asserted.
"We intend to," Star averred.
"Good," Duvrus said. "Because if you don't, you're dead."
"Got it," I gulped.
The group began to walk again, this time without the commanding, determined march. This time, everyone was thinking. This time, everyone was walking in fear of what was to come.
"This criminal hunt just got a whole lot more complicated," Kharjo said beside me, patting me on the back.
"I know, friend," I sighed, trudging up the path. "I know."