The Bound - A Tale Of Tamriel

14

14

i. Revna.

They had returned to Abah's Landing under the cloak of darkness, the moons of Nirn, Masser and Secunda, Jone and Jode, hidden by clouds that were rarely seen in the peninsula of Hew's Bane. Revna had hoped that this would stave off the possibility of crowds gathering, but some had still managed to see them.

She had bowed her head and forged on to Finds-Things-Not-Lost's compound and breathed a sigh of relief when the gates had closed behind them, tight and secure.

They had slept and then spent the day after preparing for the next part of their journey, filling their packs with food and water. Brushing and feeding their horses, cleaning the tack. They had eaten, themselves, and talked little. Each reviewing the events of the day before, or reading, or whittling wood and reeds.

Evening came far too slow, for Revna. She wanted done with Hew's Bane and its heat and the undeserved admiration of the crowds. Even now, the Argonian merchant was outside her gates, showing off the head of the troll and telling an ever expanding tale of the events in the mountains, while making it quite clear that she was a merchant with the very best prices, not only an ally of 'Scorpion Black reborn'.

The final meal before setting off to use the wayshrine once more was a quiet one. Food picked at and pushed around plates. The only conversation was about what they were to expect in the swamps of Black Marsh, an area known as the Blackwood Borderlands that few knew anything about.

"Are you saying that there's no wayshrine near the next tomb?" Tilly pushed her plate away and stared at Öenthir. "You said there were hundreds all over the place."

"I said there isn't one that we know of." Öenthir began to reach into her satchel, for a map or a book, Revna didn't know, but she stopped the elf with a hand on her arm and a shake of the head. Seeing it wouldn't matter to Tilly. "The closest one is just over the border from Murkmire."

"And how far from the wayshrine is the tomb?" Itagaki was sat far from Tilly. It was clear the dark elf had not yet taken Revna's advice.

"Anywhere else, it would be a week's ride." Öenthir seemed apologetic for something that was beyond her control. "But in Black Marsh, with all the swamps and who know's what else, I couldn't even begin to guess."

"A week? In a swamp!" Tilly threw her hands up in exasperation. "And there's no other way to get there?"

"Not unless we weren't on a time limit." The Bosmer's hand fell to her satchel and patted it, without thinking. "Give me a year and I might be able to conjure a portal. Might! Thanks to one of those spellbooks you found."

"But we don't have a year." Revna was the only one eating. She had found that she actually liked some of the strange Hammerfell food. Not all of it. She would never get used to those sugared worms, whatever Finds-Things called them. "So, it's the wayshrine and a long ride. We do it this way, because we must."

Itagaki nodded her assent. Tilly grumbled for a while and left the table, a sideways glance at Itagaki missed by everyone but Revna. Öenthir continued to play with the food on her plate, her mind now on something else, drawing, on occasion, something in the air with her knife and then 'rubbing away' what she had 'drawn'.

Night had drawn around again when they all gathered in the courtyard. Revna had swapped the brilliant white cloak for a thicker, black one, believing that the white one only made her more noticeable by the crowds. The Argonian merchant soon joined them.

"It would probably be for the best if my lazy servants take your horses to the Shrine of Doors." She saw the questioning looks. "Your 'wayshrine'. I will lead you through the back way to avoid the peasants."