Stories of Skyrim

Teldryn Sero

"I don't suppose you have need of a sword, sera."

She eyed up the mer across from her, his strange armour and unfamiliar accent hinting at something foreign and maybe a little dangerous. Solstheim was so far removed from anything Skyrim had to offer and this stranger seemed to sum it all up. "Do I get the mer attached to the sword as well?"

Behind his helmet, he hacked a cough and roughly cleared his throat. "For five hundred septims, you do," he said.

Valkri winced. Her coin purse wasn't exactly full, and the expense seemed a little extravagant; but she had seen the holes in the Bulwark, heard the Redoran guards talking about monsters living in- and created from- the ash. "Tel Mithryn," she said. "Do you know the way?"

"Quite well," he drawled, leaning on his elbows across the table. He seemed to sense that she was considering his offer and was eager to seal the deal. Valkri imagined it wasn't often a potential patron walked into the Retching Netch. "I assure you, I'm worth every coin."

Valkri slid a hand into her pocket. Tallying up the expense of passage over, plus the two nights of board she was paying Geldis for, and the tuition fee that Neloth was bound to ask of her; she had just enough to hire herself a guide and a guard with little to spare.

But arriving alive to see out her year was worth the coin.

"Half now, and half when I safely arrive," she offered. He remained silent until the coin purse clinked on the table between them. Valkri shifted awkwardly in her seat while he counted it. Old warnings about crooked scam artists and dishonest elves flitted through her mind before she shoved them away. A Nord's upbringing sat ill-at-ease with her blood heritage.

"Congratulations, Outlander. You just bought yourself the finest swordsman in Morrowind," the stranger lifted his head to look at her through tiny glass goggles. His face was completely obscured but Valkri thought she heard a grin in his voice. "Teldryn Sero, at your service," he said, offering his hand with a flourish.

"Valkri Fairchild, at yours," she replied, a small smile tugging her mouth. "Shall we leave in the morning?"

Teldryn took his time in adding her payment to his pocket, but he nodded at her in assent. "You're the boss," he said, his voice a low rumble. Valkri felt her stomach flip over and cursed the reaction, biting her tongue to avoid telling him not to use that tone. If he noticed the blush spreading across her cheeks he didn't comment on it.

-{-}-

" – and Master Neloth is the top mind in Enchanting, and he even creates his own staves, which isn't exactly common practice back in Winterhold. It's all too fancy I think, or at least far too expensive to have the components shipped in for a bunch of students to practice on. My Enchanting master, Sergius, was one of Neloth's apprentices about thirty years ago and he was pushing for me to come here too. He's half the reason why I volunteered for this," Valkri waved her hands wildly in the ash-scented air. She had been chattering non-stop for an hour. Teldryn walked in dutiful silence beside her, nodding when she paused for breath, his eyes scanning their surroundings for danger. The quiet sat ill inside her, forcing her to babble on to fill the silence.

"Only half the reason?" he asked her, tone hinting at teasing.

Valkri scoffed. "The other half was the adventure, I'll admit. Morrowind is outside the Empire."

Teldryn's mouth turned up in a slight smile. "There are nicer places than Tel Mithryn, Valkri."

Valkri kept her pace even with his despite the height difference between them, only a little out of breath because she couldn't stop talking. "Good for them. As for me, I'm here and I'm happy for it. It'll be nice to not have the Thalmor breathing down my neck all the time."