No Elves in Sovngarde, I've decided to to turn my "A day in Skyrim" adventure i Options

[Elisabeth Hollow]

Hey y'all! The "Today in Skyrim" thing made mee remember how MUCH I love writing, and how much better it is to not just write shutff and hide it. So the first post is going to be the old "chapters" combined along with the new one I just wrote. Feedback welcome, but remember, no one has seen anything I've written in over 8 years, lol

[Elisabeth Hollow]

I'm going to let you guys in on a little secret. This chapter was difficult for me to write. I'm hoping you see why.





Chapter 9: Ripped Away

A warm breeze blew the pink mountain flower bush, scattering a few petals on the dirt ground around it. The Skyrim sun bgan to set, the sun's rose-petal fingers stretching out one last time before slumbering. I watched the sky slowly darken from my spot on the small boulder outside my home, built by my and my husband's own two hands.

Another breeze wafted the smell of cooked rabbit, seasoned to a sweet scent, under my nose. My stomach growled, and I looked down at my portuding belly. The physician in Solitude said I was coming to full term very soon, and should take a trip to the city and stay there until the baby was born. She asked what I wanted. I said a healthy baby, and she had laughed.

A large hand reached from behind me and rubbed my belly. "How's our little man?" Onmund cooed at my stomach. "Has be been giving you trouble again? Are you feeling sick?"

I shook my head. "Not today. I think it's my rest day." I gave Onmund a half grin. "You know it's a girl."

"I don't know how you would know."

"I just know." I leaned back into Onmund and took a deep breath. "This is wonderful. It's everything I've ever wanted. You, a child, peace and quiet. No one to bother us. No one to answer to."

"It's perfect." He kissed the top of my head. "Dinner's ready."

We stood up and I let Onmund lead the way. The breeze felt chilly for a moment, and Onmund turned around to say something, but froze. The leaves stopped in mid-air, the trees were in mid-bend, but the sky continued to darken. I looked around wildy. Everything had stopped. Time itself had stopped, except the sun.

"You cannot have this."

I whipped my head around, searching wildly for the source of the voice. It sounded both male and female, both angry and comforting. The child in my belly flinched, and I grunted.

"It's alright, mama's okay," I soothed. "Who are you?" I demanded loudly. "What do you want?"

The leaves whipped up by the breeze gathered in front of me. Dead leaves, deep green leaves, and red, orange and yellow leaves formed a human figure in front of me. The lids opened, and the figure took a gasping breath as the leaves fell away. The figure seemed to be both male and female, neither lacking nor over-compensating in feminine and masculine qualities. The clothes it wore were both flattering and modest, and gave no hints to its gender.

"I am Meridia."

I blinked. Meridia wore a hood over its head, and no small tuft of hair escaped to allow me to see what color hair it had chosen for this form. Strong, high cheekbones adorned the face of the daedric prince, yet full, pink lips delivered the devastating verbal blow.

"You cannot have this. This is not what you were meant for."

"And why not?" I demanded, angry tears stinging my eyes. "Can't I just stay here and be happy? Haven't I earned that?"

"No." Firm, yet sorrowful. "You cannot have this. Not yet. Not here, not now."

"But when?"

"Only Time will tell."

I sobbed, and rubbed my swollen belly. The child inside was still, and a feeling of dread came over me. I felt my heart falter for a second, and sobs wrenched my body. Meridia touched my belly, a sorrowful look in the Daedric Prince's eyes.

"This one was never meant to be. I gave it life in hopes it would prevail, but its light was snuffed out."

A faint memory of pain, kicking boots and bloody knuckles... Laughter and death...

"No..." I wailed. "Please..." I fell to my knees, stroking my abdomen in hopes that the child would stir, that it was a lie, a dream...

"This IS a dream," Meridia knelt beside me. "One you must awaken from. Come." Meridia grasped my hand and pulled me to my feet. "No sense in dwelling on has happened. You have lost one thing, but if you do not steel yourself, you will lose everything."

Meridia pressed a hand to my heart.

"Return."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


My eyes flew open. The wooden beams of the dwelling I was in was the first things I saw. I blinked a few times before taking a deep breath. My chest hurt, like I had not breathed in days. I turned my head slighltly to the right and saw my nightstand. I looked to my left and saw that the bed was unmade and empty. I pushed myself up slowly, and winced when a sharp pain in my abdomen brought me back down to my bed.

I began to shake.

Did I really lose a child?

I knew I did. A breath snaked its way through my lungs, past my lips and into the air that suddenly became too hot. It became a high-pitched wail. I laid on my side and clutched my now barren womb and sobbed. My heart and body ached for the child that will never be. No gasp of air and a sudden cry. No ticklish baby feet. No lessons on how to properly pronounce "r's," nor teaching the value of a septim.

There will be no sword lessons, nor chasing off any boyfriends or girlfriends with an evil eye. No musical giggles. No bedtime stories. No one to give my love to that would love me unconditionally back. An entire lifetime of hopes, dreams, and experiences ended suddenly with a swift kick.

I wished I had died with the child. That Movarth had simply drained me and was done with it. Anything to get rid of this pain. Anything. I continued to cry out for my child, the sobs jerking my body so much that it riddled my lower half with pain. Eventually I was so exhausted that I must have fallen asleep.

A loud crash, followed by a loud curse jerked me out of my sleep. A male voice, slurred by alcohol carried up the stairs.

"Did you die yet, you filthy elf?"

Who...?

A body stumbled in, reeking of mead, wine, and vomit. When it looked up, bloodshot eyes looked back. The green color made me recognize who it was.

"Onmund?!"

"I thought you would have died by now," he slurred, laying on his belly. He rolled onto his back. "Too bad you didn't. Then I could take a wife who wouldn't kill her children." He scratched his newly formed beard. "I'd say we could always make another one, but Danica said you're ruined."

I could only lie there, my already pained heart breaking even more. Tears rolled down my cheeks as Onmund belched and continued.

"She said elves can only have maybe 1 or 2 kids. Since you killed this one, that means you may never be able to have kids again. So, thanks for wasting my time and ruining my life."

"You idiotic, milk-drinking, scamp-suckling, son of a half-septim prostitute!"

Lydia's slight, yet imposing figure silhouetted the doorway in front of a bleary-eyed Onmund. "I never would have believed it if I hadn't seen it. Are you so lost in your own selfish self-pity that you can't see that she has lost a child too?" She stepped closer. Her face read nothing but fury, her full mouth thinned in a scowl while her blue eyes shot poisoned arrows at Onmund.

"It's her fault!" Onmund protested.

With that, Lydia's armored foot kicked him in the stomach, causing him to spill its contents all over the wooden floors. Lydia continued while I gagged.

"I knew there was a reason you told me to leave. You wanted to come here and make her feel worse than she already does! What kind of man are you?" She pulled him up with one arm and pushed him against the wall. Onmund looked dazed and green, half-digested mead and wine dribbling from his mouth.

"You need to wake up. YOU let some vamp tramp coax you out of your clothes and into her bed while Kayla was SOLVING A MURDER!" Onmund shrank against the wall as much as he could.

Lydia continued, "She risks her life every time she goes out those gates and you know this! How many times has she come back half dead? How many times has she come back to YOU?" Lydia took a deep breath and exhaled.

"You are staying at the inn until further notice. Got it?"

Onmund fumed. "I don't have to take orders from you! You are under MY employ!"

Lydia cocked her arm back and quicker than I could register, she socked Onmund in the mouth, then on the cheek. Onmund slumped onto the ground, knocked out. I burst into tears.

Lydia sat on the edge of the bed and shushed me gently. I gripped her hand and bawled. I bawled for my own grief, and for my husband's. In a low voice, she sang to me. I don't remember the words as much as the tune, which was soothing and sad. When I quit crying, Lydia patted my hand and stood up.

"I'm going to take him to the Bannered Mare. The jarl pays me well enough for me to keep him there. He tried to use your savings for a nurser-" she cut herself off, then changed her wording. "He tried to use your money instead of his own. I've been paying for his room, but he's racking up quite a debt to Hulda and other townspeople."

"I'll pay it off," I said quietly. My voice was hoarse, and Lydia raised an eyebrow. "He's still my husband, and I can't have him thrown in jail for not paying off his debts." Lydia nodded, then slung one of Onmund's arms over her shoulder. She supported almost all of his weight and called over her shoulder that she would be fetching Danica on her way back. I almost didn't hear her. I simply laid there, numb.

I killed my child.

I... killed my child.

I never even had the chance to feel it move.