By: The Orange Mask
I woke up in my bed in the College of Winterhold, refreshed and ready for another day. It had been about 3 weeks since my excursion to Labyrinthian, and although my findings were few (and only one was useful), I’d become quite the conversation starter. I figured the excitement would die down after a few more weeks, and life would go back to the way it was before.
Mostly back to normal, anyway. Claudia and Bjorn were accepted into the college, and I would work on experiments with both of them frequently. Bjorn had taken up enchanting as well as healing, and I would often teach him enchantments (including Wuunferth’s; the old man had finally said it was alright to teach a few people) in the mornings. The evenings I spent with Tolfdir most days, discussing the intricacies of certain spells and how to improve them.
Late at night, however, was my favorite time. Claudia had her own bed in the Hall of Attainment, but she preferred the Midden; that’s where she did most of her experiments (including using the Atronach Forge), that’s where she kept her thrall, and that’s where she set up a very comfortable bed. We often spent the nights talking about magic, or life, or anything that popped into our heads. Claudia had regained her color and vigor after a short trip to Dawnstar, returning with her new thrall Wulden: a strong Nord no older than thirty. He kept to himself for the most part (except for when Claudia fed), but he had started to pick up basic magic as well, resurrecting dead skeevers and keeping them as pets for a few days.
“Don’t you ever get bored of skeevers?” I asked him as I walked in one night. “Why not go kill a cave bear, or a sabre cat?”
“Skeevers are easy to keep alive,” Wulden replied. “Besides, I’d probably get killed by a cave bear, and I don’t want Mistress Claudia to go hungry.” I shrugged and shook my head, then walked over to meet Claudia in her study. She had really cleaned the Midden up; torches, carpets, etc. I looked for her, and saw her leaning on the enchanting table, grunting from frustration.
“What’s wrong?”
“This stupid enchantment, that’s what’s wrong! J’zargo gave me this spell, and I want to try to convert it into an enchantment for a weapon.” I walked over and put my hand on her shoulder, and she looked up at me. We smiled at each other.
“Let me help…” I looked at the scroll she had, and chuckled a bit.
“What is it? What’s so funny?” Claudia pouted a bit, obviously not understanding where she had gone wrong.
“Claudia, this is an Ebonyflesh spell. Do you have any idea what it does?”
“Yes, it makes flesh harder to pierce.”
“No, it creates an invisible shell of magicka around the body. You see, Alteration magic doesn’t change the nature of an object. It uses magicka to temporarily change the object’s appearance and attributes on the outside…” I went on and on, until Claudia yawned; that was when I realized she didn’t really care. I shook my head and smiled at her again.
“Claudia, it’s not going to work. And even if it does, it wouldn’t be effective or useful.” Claudia pouted again, then sighed and walked away from the table. She shut the wood doors (cut by Wulden) and hopped onto the bed.
“Well, I’m done for the night then. Now, are you going to come over here? It’s not nice to keep a lady waiting.” I began to walk over, but sat on the side of the bed rather than lay down with Claudia. I stared at the floor for a minute or so. She seemed worried, and got up to sit next to me.
“Is something worrying you?”
“Hmm?” I said, Claudia’s question breaking my reverie. I turned to look at her. “Oh, I was just thinking…”
“About what?”
“About my - our - little journey across Skyrim. It was probably the best two weeks I’ve ever had in my life.”
“So what?” Claudia stood up and turned to face me. “You’re just going to sit around and reminisce about it? We’re still young- well, you are anyway.” I had always liked the creative little jokes she made to cheer me up.
“You’re right, Claudia.” I stood up, walked over to the table and unrolled a map of Skyrim. Claudia followed me over. “So, where to first? Markarth, The Pale, Whiterun-“
“Riften.” I gave Claudia a quizzical look as she pointed at the city on the map. “I’ve always wanted to see it.”
“Claudia, this isn’t a sightseeing tour. I’d like to bring something back to the College this time.”
“Oh, fine.” Claudia pouted. “I guess I won’t take you to see a Dragon Cult stronghold…” She turned away from me.
“Wait; A Dragon Cult stronghold? I’ve never seen that marked on a map.”
“That’s because the last time people heard of it was in the First Age.” Claudia pointed at an unmarked mountain on the map, just south of Riften.
“How did you-“
“You pick up a lot of old stories and rumors in the Bannered Mare.” I smiled at Claudia as I marked the place on the map.
“Your turn.” Claudia said as she hunched over the map again.
“Hmm… how about… no…” I was puzzled; I’d always wanted to go somewhere, but now I couldn’t think of anywhere else I wanted to go.
“Perhaps Labyrinthian again?” I said tentatively.
“You were just there three weeks ago!” Claudia complained.
“Yes, but we didn’t really learn anything. We were too busy fighting off vampires.” I said, almost sarcastically.
“Oh, fine. But we’ve got to find somewhere else to go…”
“Perhaps I can help.” I jumped as Vodahmin’s voice filled my head. He’d been silent for weeks now; I hadn’t expected him to speak. Claudia, on the other hand, seemed to be expecting it.
“You must remember, young mage, that I can sense energy. And I have had long to observe those places with immense energy, such as Bromjunaar. There are other convergences of leylines in Skyrim.”
“Well, could you point out any to us?” Claudia said. Vodahmin showed us a replica of the map in our minds, and marked the leylines on it. I quickly drew them into our map, and saw many places of convergence between Riften and Labyrinthian. Claudia and I smiled.
“Thanks, Vodahmin.”
“You’re welcome, young mage. Once again, you may call for my aid any time.” Vodahmin’s presence disappeared into the dwemer pendant again, and Claudia and I returned to the task at hand.
“So do you recognize any of these locations, Claudia?”
“Hmm…” Claudia stared at the map for a moment, then pointed at a small town just west of Riften. “How about Ivarstead? My nephew owns a bar near there, and he kept sending me letters telling me the barrow nearby is haunted. Maybe we’ll find something in there.” I nodded in agreement, only half focused on the task at hand. Claudia still (excuse the pun) enthralled me nearly every time I looked at her, and this was one of those times.
“All right, we’ll go to Ivarstead, then.” I kept staring at Claudia even as I said it. I must’ve pointed at the wrong spot on the map, because she looked at me strangely. I looked in her eyes, then she smiled.
“You’re not focused on this anymore, are you?” I grinned, shook my head, and then Claudia stood up and walked over to me. “Well, then, let’s finish this in the morning…”
I stood up as Claudia took my hand and we walked over to the bed. She laid down on it, and beckoned me over.
“Come on, then…” Claudia said, smiling seductively.
I lay down on the bed next to Claudia, where we both stayed for several hours…
To be continued…
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