Those Whom the Gods Forsake - Chapter 2

• Posted by Accursed July 31, 2015 - 886 views

  Chapter 2: Making Acquaintances, Losing Friends 

  *Warning: Very Graphic Injuries and Some Strong Language* 

   

  I woke up early, my toes freezing. It was a mistake not getting under the furs the night prior. The draft in this room is startlingly strong. At least I was feeling less agitated today. Optimistic, even. Maybe this little adventure wouldn't be so terrible after all.
  

  I sat up and took hold of one of my boots, preparing to put it on, when I noticed something in it. A pebble perhaps? 

  It was a note, hastily scrawled on a crumpled up piece of paper. Very odd indeed. Slowly uncrumpling it, I read the messily written words. 

  “Caranthir, when the time comes, your place isn’t Alinor.”  

  I became concerned. Who wrote this, how did they know my name, and what was this supposed to mean? I put my boots on and hurried back out to the main room of the inn. 

  “Excuse me, nord, did anyone enter my room last night while I slept?” I asked the innkeeper, making sure to emphasize 'nord'. He needed to be put in his place.
  

  “Eh? Uh… no, not that I know of. Why are ya askin’?” He replied. 

  “I found this note within my boot. I am certain it wasn't there prior to my waking.”  

  The innkeeper glanced over the note, shrugged, and handed it back to me. Enraged, I stormed back into my room and gathered the rest of my belongings. I put my cloak around my neck and headed back outside. Enrollment day for the College was tomorrow, so I’d have today to explore the town. Not that there was much to see. Across from the inn was obviously the most important building. The Jarl’s Longhouse wasn't exactly awe-inspiring, but it was in much better condition than the rest of the city. There were icicles hanging from the roof’s overhangs and the tattered flags of the Hold flapped wildly in the wind like the broken wings of a bird. Next to the Longhouse was a general store. It probably caters mostly to wanderers hoping to enroll in the College. Food, weapons, armor, things like that. Just outside a couple was arguing. From what I gathered, the male was drinking away the money she was making at the store. He scoffed, turned towards the inn, and began to drunkenly stumble toward the steps. Much to my amusement, she threw a handful of snow at him.  

  “Bastard!” She yelled in her thick northern accent. I sighed. This was likely going to be the most eventful part of my  day. She stomped back into her store, being able to bear the cold no more. I decided to follow her in, after waiting a respectable time, of course. 

  “Welcome to Birna’s Oddments. Don't hesitate to buy. Gods know I could use some coin.” The woman behind the counter said, unable to hide her anger. I looked around for a while. Mostly food and traveling gear. Nothing I couldn't get for free at the College. 

  “If I may be so bold as to ask, why did you set up a store here of all places?” 

  "Wasn't by choice, I can tell you that. Options were in short supply. Ranmir and I grew up here, and nearly any money I make, he drinks away. Without the coin to pack up and leave, I decided to take to trading." 

  “Ah, I see. Is business doing well?” 

  “Very funny. I'm sure you've noticed that Winterhold isn't exactly overflowing with people. So I'll sell whatever I can. If it's worth putting a price on, you can bet I'll do it. I've been burned a few times, made a few bad deals, but mostly I come out on top." 

  “Bad deals? Such as?” 

  “Yeah, it was stupid of me. I shouldn't have believed the story and just refused the trade. But I didn't, and now I'm stuck with this worthless junk. Some line about this claw thing and Yngol Barrow. He said it was worth more than its weight in gold if I took it back there. Something about placing it back in Yngol's chamber, I don't know. What was I thinking? Even if it were true, I'm not setting foot in some ancient tomb, filled with who knows what.” 

  “Hm. I might be interested in it. How much are you asking?” 

  "I don't even care anymore. You want to check it out? Fine. I'll sell you the thing for fifty gold, and then it's your problem." 

  “Ah. Too steep for me. How about twenty?” 

  "Oh, I'd gladly sell it to you if you had the money. But you don't, do you? I'm not gonna haggle on this. If you’re not gonna buy, get out." 

  I sneered back at her, turning on my heel and exiting the store. What else was there to do? I decided to go back to the inn. Perhaps there might be some work there to keep me occupied. 

  While I had been in the shop another student-to-be had entered town. Some Breton. We said hello and exchanged names, his being Thetri. We discussed our reasons for coming and agreed to meet up tomorrow morning for enrollment.  

  “Ah, Caranthir, before we retire to our rooms, I simply must know. What school of magic do you hope to major in?” 

  I scowled. I hadn’t thought much of it. What had father said before I left? Ah yes, that my heart is always in the right place. That I like helping people. True enough.  

  After a long time of thinking I responded. 

  “Restoration. I plan to become a healer. And you?” 

  “Alteration.” 

  With slight nods to each other, he walked back into his room and I returned to the innkeeper to pay for my board tonight. 

   

  I awoke the next morning with a knock on my door. In a muffled voice I heard “Caranthir, my friend, it is me, Thetri. We should prepare to walk to the College.” I could just barely hear him over the blizzard winds blowing outside like the breath of an angry giant. “Very well” I responded. “Give me a minute to collect my belongings.” As I dressed myself I felt something in my breast pocket. Another note written in the same scrawl before and in the same hurried manner. “Your emotions are your flaw.” I glared at the paper and shredded it. Whoever was doing this was going to answer directly to me why they were doing it. 

  I exited my room and pulled my hood over my head and nodded briefly to Thetri. We walked outside together, both of us silent. The tension between us was a cloud, following us as we went. We were the first, and only, people to arrive at the beginning of the College’s bridge where a female Altmer stood to greet us. She instructed us that without her blessing, the gates to the College at the end of the bridge would not open. She asked us each what we hoped to gain from the college. 

  “I wish to unravel the mysteries of Aetherius.” Came the answer from my new friend.  I was beginning to like him. Very sophisticated for a man. Even a Breton.
  

  Now I had to answer. What was it I hoped to gain? Power? Knowledge? 

  “I don't enjoy watching those around me suffer. After thinking on it through the night, I've decided to become a healer.” I couldn’t believe what I just said. Me, the son of a Lord, second youngest in a long line of powerful mages, a healer! 

  “Both noble goals indeed. It appears that the College has what you seek. Now then, what is it you can offer the College? To answer that, you must both take a test of your magical abilities. Altmer, you must cast the spell Healing Hands on me. If you do not know it, I can teach it for thirty gold.” I handed her the septims. She taught me the spell and I practiced while Thetri took the test. He stayed behind and watched as I completed it, and then we set off across the bridge. The blizzard was picking up and the winds were blowing much harder. The female Altmer, who had now introduced herself as Faralda had us stop just before a point in which the wall had been destroyed, the chasm below promising to engulf anything that fell off the bridge. We were instructed to wait here until the winds slowed down and weakened while she went back to the beginning in case another student arrived. Thetri turned to me with a slight grin. 

  “You know Caranthir, I’ve been working on a spell for this exact problem.” 

  “Oh? What do you mean?” 

  “You see, it's like a ward, but instead of blocking magic, it blocks the wind and snow!” 

  “Sounds useful.”  

  He began to inch closer towards the gap in the wall. I watched as he struggled to cast the spell in the winds. I tried to yell him to stop, yet he couldn't hear over the roaring gusts. 

  The spell worked. But he couldn't maintain it. 

  As the ward weakened, he began to slowly walk back to the intact section. Just inches before he made it back, one final gust of wind blew him over the edge. 

   

  I watched helplessly from the side of the railing, panic rising in me as I watched him falling. His face was horrified. He screamed as though the noise would save him. His robes flapped in the wind. I suddenly found myself running back across the bridge. If by some miracle he lived, my restoration magic would be there to help him. A small, icy path led down the cliff side. I began down it, his cries for help still ringing in my head though they had stopped long ago. I had made it halfway to the bottom. 

  I nearly slipped myself a few times, but I made it down without incident, my new healing spell at the ready. Faralda had followed, still unsure of what was going on. 

  Thetri must’ve hit the ground legs-first. They had become nothing but bloody masses of tissue with fragmented bones sticking out. Multiple severe fractures in his torso, now almost unrecognizable as being his midsection if it was not for his tattered and bloody robes. His head was somehow largely untouched. Severe fractures in his skull, blood splattered on his head, but his face... 

  His face was permanently twisted in a gruesome expression of the terror that engulfed his final moments. His scream caught forever in his throat. 

  Blood didn’t bother me but this… this was too much. His face, his mangled corpse.  

  I blacked out.
  

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