[X] My Assistant

[minque]

Ok my dear readers.....here starts chapter 4....hope you will enjoy it!

Chapter 3

It's not enough that we do our best; sometimes we have to do what's required

Sir Winston Churchill


I stayed another week at Arvs Drelen, being a devoted scholar of Baladas Demnevanni, who in fact was more of a father to me than Rufus Vantinius back in Cyrodiil ever had been. I learned a horde of spells suitable for, if nothing else, keeping me alive in the harsh country I was to encounter.

It was with mixed feelings I took leave of Baladas and Shulki an early Turdas-morning as I was bound eastwards to the Ahemmusa Camp. Master Demnevanni had given me a nice set of potions and scrolls; Shulki gave me a wonderful cloak made of softened netch-leather, dyed in dark green with complicated embroideries along the edges. She had spent over a year making this robe and it was originally meant for her wedding. I first refused to accept it but Shulki urged me to it, since she was convinced that I saved her life by revealing the Talos Cult plot, and she was now to move in with Master Demnevanni and devote herself to follow in his footsteps; therefore she was not going to marry anyway. I then embraced her, tears running down my face, and accepted the wonderful gift and wished her all luck. I was really sorry to leave Gnisis; Shulki and Baladas Demnevanni were the only family I had....so far.

I went by Silt Strider to Khuul, a small fishing-village on the north-west coast of Vvardenfell. The rain was pouring down as I arrived and I hurried along the road leading from the Strider port to the village itself. Luckily my cloak was impregnated with Shalk-resin so it resisted the rain very well. Nevertheless I arrived at the actual village dripping from rainwater and extremely hungry. I asked around for some services and was shown to Thongar´s trade house, a rather simple place but where I at least could buy some bread and Scrib-jelly.

I also found out that in order to get to Ahemmusa Camp the best thing to do was to take a ship to Dagon Fel and then walk from there. I wasn’t all that happy about going by boat, since the weather still showed no improvement; in addition to the pouring rain a rather hard wind had started whirling around and the sea did not look friendly at all. I can’t stand the sea and I did not fancy losing my lunch to the sea-creatures, so I decided to ask Thongar, the Nordic proprietor, if I could wait a couple of hours in his house. I was allowed to sit down in a corner and so I did.

I must have fallen asleep sitting there because suddenly I was aware of some movement just beside me and when I opened my eyes I spotted Thongar´s hands deep down my in backpack, I immediately grabbed his wrist muttering:”'M feinedd balf fferrir”, and watched him grow pale as my grip turned his arm to a frozen piece of meat. Master Demnevanni´s spells were indeed very efficient and this one, “Icy Grip” was no exception…

“So, what are you looking for?” I asked coldly and relieved my grip so the blood could circulate freely in his arm again. The incredible pain as the frozen limb started to gain normal temperature was clear in his face; sweat was dripping from his forehead and he moaned as he desperately rubbed his arm.

“N-N-nothing, nothing at all” he gasped, looking hatefully at me, “Get out of here immediately. You cursed Witch”.

I saw no reason to disobey him, so after checking that nothing was actually stolen from me I went out of the Trade house and down to the docks. The wind had eased a bit and I bought a one-way ticket to Dagon Fel. I must have been rather exhausted, because I slept most of the trip, and arrived the following morning in Dagon Fel, the biggest Nordic settlement on Vvardenfell. It was a rather nice town, a mixture between grey wooden shacks and some patchwork stone houses surrounded by a wall….partially torn down though.

A tall blonde woman greeted me as I stepped off the ship, wondering if I needed some accommodation during my stay. She told me her name was Mette and that she could recommend “The End of The World Renter Rooms” where she currently was employed, as a scout. I found the name of the accommodation rather amusing considering that I actually was at the End of Vvardenfell at the moment, so I followed her there. I was offered a rather large room, with a bed, a small table and a large drawer in it. On the table I found a book that caught my interest, not so much the title, but the author: “The True Noble’s Code” written by Serjo Athyn Sarethi. I remembered Neminda mentioning him back in Ald´Ruhn as I joined the Great House Redoran…..

I laid down on the bed and started reading the book…..getting more and more doubtful the more I read; How could I possibly fit into The Great House Redoran? A house filled with noble warriors, worshipping the Tribunal, a thing I had not even the faintest clue what it really meant…..I shrugged and put the book aside…….closing my eyes for a bit.

Until this day I can’t tell what exactly woke me up, I only know that if something had not wakened me that bright morning at The End of The World, it really would had been The End of Serene Catraso, that’s for sure!

I don’t know what happened besides that I was sound asleep one minute and standing beside the bed, sword in hand, the next. I saw nothing, but a distinct prickling of my neck told me there was something there waiting for me. I turned around once more when a dark figure seemed to materialize out of the shadows, with a shiny sword in its hand. I realized that his armour was made of a light-absorbing material. I had no time to notice anything more, as he attacked with a ferocity I had never before encountered. I was able to use the greater reach of my long sword to advantage, keeping away from many of his attacks. Still, a significant number got through, and I felt something warm and wet run down the left side of my body. I fought without thinking, the instinct of survival made me launch a series of strokes that finally pressed my opponent into a corner of the room where I could finish him off with a lethal stroke to his stomach. As he sank to the floor, severely bleeding and his intestines visible through the deep cut I had given him I myself fell to my knees, panting from exhaustion, sobbing hysterically from grief of having to kill someone.....again!

I eventually calmed down and started to investigate my own wounds. Luckily I had taken off Shulki´s beautiful cloak or it would have been completely ruined. My shirt, soaked with sweat, had a long bloody rift in the left side, showing where the attacker had hurt me the worst. The cut was about 6 inches long and rather deep, since blood still was emerging from it in a rather heavy flow. I felt dizzy for a moment but managed to put my hand on the cut and concentrate. It was hard this time; my heart was still beating heavily and the sweat made my skin slippery so I wasn’t able to heal myself as swiftly as I used to. Finally I just tied a bandage made from the sleeves of my ruined shirt around me and hoped that would be sufficient.

Then I remembered the potions I got from Master Demnevanni, and I indulged myself with a small healing-mixture. Feeling much better and invigorated I started examining the body of my attacker. He was a young skinny Dunmer with a strange tattoo on his forehead. His armour was of very high quality; in addition to its light-absorbing properties, it also was designed to dampen sound. That would explain why nobody came to my aid in this fight. The sword was made from a material I never encountered before, strong yet very light and shiny. I decided to take custody of that sword and somehow find out what it was made of. I reckoned some Armourer would have the answer to that. I thoroughly wiped the sword clean from my own blood and put it on top of the chest of drawers.

Now the problem remained; what was I supposed to do with the corpse? I had no intention whatsoever to stay at The End of The World; if there had been one attack there could very much likely be another, especially since this attacker was unable to get back to whoever employed him and report me as being dead.....I was almost certain there had to be an employer of some kind- too many strange unexplainable things had happened to me since I got to this Island; an attempted murder did not really surprise me, just made me feel very sad, mostly because I had to kill another human being, something that I had already done a couple of times even though I resented it deep in my heart.

I took the sheets from my bed and wrapped the corpse in them and shoved him in under my bed. Then I unwrapped my bandage, seeing that the wound was almost healed, just a red scar remained stretching from under my left breast to the hipbone, the scar was sore and prevented me from bending and moving freely, but didn’t really bother me that much. Obviously the sword that made that wound was extremely sharp, otherwise it wouldn’t have cut that deep.

I also realised I’d have a problem finding something to wear, that ruined shirt was my last one, as were the trousers I was wearing, dirty, stained with blood and sweat, they were at least not torn but I did not fancy wearing then anyway. It seemed as I had nothing left except a dancing dress that Shulki had given me because it was anyway too small for her. It was an extremely short black one with shoulder straps, not much to wear during a journey and definitely not anything I would think of wearing when walking around in Dagon Fel.......

[mplantinga]

Thanks for a great update. The Ahemmusa are certainly in dire straits; I'm looking forward to seeing how Serene's unique skills will help improve their plight.

[Wolfie]

Yay! My battlescene finally made it in lol. It must be about 4 months since i wrote that lol lol.

[treydog]

Nice work (by both of you). It is fascinating to watch Serene as she finds out more about Azura's plans for her. The time with the Ashlanders should be quite interesting.

Great writing.

[Adanorcil]

I have read this last chapter too, Minque. I like it.


Ashlanders and silt striders... now where have I heard that before?

[Soulseeker3.0]

wow, that was excelent.. I really want more...

[Florodine of Hlaalu]

another two entries that i missed, im ashamed, i really need to check more often. But great chapters, really good description and very interesting

[Kiln]

Very nice update to this story, I can't wait to see how her time with the ashlanders treats her.

[minque]

Yay! My battlescene finally made it in lol. It must be about 4 months since i wrote that lol lol.

Yeah yeah....I know I´m a slow writer....

Thanks all for the nice comments......I´ll really try to update soon..

[Mazuk]

Wow outstanding is all I can say. My mind spins while trying to catch up to all I have missed, but what great reading there is to explore here in the world of the fan fiction forums. Great Work Minque.. Keep up the great work.

[Burnt Sierra]

I vaguely remember (the old memory is starting to fail me now) posting a comment way back, when Jona had been the guest writer, and mentioning how impressed I'd been at your ability to integrate another perspective into your tale, without losing the style and flavour of your own. It would appear to me that it wasnt a one off. Again, the way that the battle scene is presented to us is very inventive, and seamlessly slips into the story. Perhaps the greatest compliment I could pay, is that if you hadn't mentioned that there was a guest writer in this update, I'm not sure I would have noticed. It just fits so well.

As for the rest of the update, and several of the one's before that I never managed to reply to, the plot is starting to tick along nicely now, and the reappearance of Sedrane suggests another twist in the near future. Could we see romance? I certainly hope so, as thats a genre that is all too infrequently touched upon when writing about the Morrowind universe.

Most of all though, you bring the characters not only to life, (a rare skill in itself), but make us care about them. They're fallible, scarred, hurt and emotional. Through a combination of description of the world, the foods, the aroma's, the tastes (note to writers - yes, there are more senses to play with than just sight), the believable dialogue, I worry what will happen to Serene and her companions. I read to feel connected to the story, and this is something that you never fail to awaken within me.

[mplantinga]

Kudos to burntsierra for so eloquently putting into words what I'm sure many of us have been thinking about this story. I also feel a certain emotional connection to the characters in the story, and I'm grateful that you continue to provide us with such emotionally rich characters.

[Justinj115]

where is chapter 3?

[mplantinga]

where is chapter 3?

See the link in the first post.

[minque]

Thought I´d show you how her new dress looks like....

[Scrooluse]

*smiles* Serene does the Ashlander look extremely well

[mplantinga]

Definitely a good look for her. Is this picture from the Ahemmusa camp? My instincts tell me that it is the Zainab camp; of course, I've been wrong before.

[minque]

Definitely a good look for her. Is this picture from the Ahemmusa camp? My instincts tell me that it is the Zainab camp; of course, I've been wrong before.

Well ......It is taken just outside the Ahemmusa Camp, on a bright morning..and Serene is on her way to tend to the guars....

I´m working on the next installment now..but it will probably take some time before it´ll be posted......terribly busy right now...

[mplantinga]

Well, I guess I was wrong after all. Take your time with the next installment; personally, I'd rather wait for a really good one than have you try to rush.

[Jonajosa]

Thought I´d show you how her new dress looks like....

that looks... nice I guess.

Good update. Can't wait for the next one.

[minque]

First I´m very sorry for taken so long to update! But I´ve had one of the most severe writer´s block you can think of! And if that wasn´t enough real life has interferred a lot the last month, too much fuss at work, sending my daughter to US....then my old parents are about to move from a house to a flat..so you maybe understand the situation!

But....now I´ll give you an update finally I succeeded in finishing the part I started writing so long ago.....

Enjoy!

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”But isn´t the Wise Woman a healer as well?” I looked at Sinnamu Mirpal, confused. She smiled faintly, put her arms around her knees and said:

“Some Wise Women are healers, true healers, but not all. It´s a gift from the Divine Azura, and not every Wise Woman is blessed with it. In my case I was given the ability to lead my people in combat but my ability of healing their wounds is rather poor nowadays.” Sinnamu sighed and then continued:

“We had a true healer, Marena Reladren, but she disappeared half a year ago and we assume she´s dead because nobody has seen her since.”

That night I could not sleep; I was tossing and turning on my bedroll without getting any rest, thinking about the future for this people and how my presence here could possibly affect it.

It took me another week to finish my outfit. By then the really cold weather had begun; the wind was cold and hard and we hardly had any sunshine at all, so I was very glad I had something warm to wear.

The daily life continued at the Ahemmusa camp; usually I awakened by the sun rising, then had some tea and a piece of bread before I had to go out and tend to the guars. It´s amazing how social those big clumsy animals are, they come running when they spot you, making all kind of funny noises....

One day Sinnamu told me we had to prepare for the annual shaman-meeting, which was to take place at our camp this year. It was a very important event; the Wise Women of the four Ashlander-tribes met and discussed various things...exactly what Sinnamu did not tell me; instead she said I could attend and see for myself.

I was under the impression that the four Ashlander-tribes were not always on talking terms with each other, but that was not the fact among the Wise Women apparently.

There was much to prepare for the meeting. First we had to arrange quarters for the visiting Wise Women, then there had to be a lot of food, and that could be a problem, as the Ahemmusa hadn´t had a very good hunt lately,

Sinnamu prepared three more bedrolls in our tent; it made it look really filled up, and I went to see Lanabi, the trader, to see what goods she might have. It was a miserable amount of things she had in her yurt, nothing really of use. She was indeed sad about that but explained to me that no travelling merchants were coming to Ahemmusa during the last months so there had been no chance of bartering.

Ulabael and Addamus, two of the most experienced hunters of the Ahemmusa, were preparing for a hunting-party. There had to be some meat at the table at the meeting, or the honour of the Tribe would be lost. The other three Wise-women would arrive escorted by their apprentices and at least two warriors each, so we expected about a dozen guests.

I met Sedrane outside Lanabi´s yurt, and as always when I saw him my heart started beating faster, my legs started to get shivery and I felt the heat come to my cheeks....

“Serene! There you are!” Sedrane took my hands and looked me in the eyes. I couldn’t say a word, there was this lump in my throat so I just nodded at him.

“Could I ask a favour of you?” he continued. I nodded once again, feeling almost angry with myself, this was ridiculous, he was just a young ashlander with whom I once spent one night ....that´s all, but the tension between us was very obvious....at least to me it was.

“Y..yes...of course,” I finally croaked, desperately swallowing whatever it was that was stuck in my throat. Sedrane smiled and squeezed my hands a bit harder;

“So Serene, I´d like you to accompany us on our hunting-party tomorrow morning; the men have bad feelings about going hunting due to the last time.....” he went silent and bowed his head.

***********************

When I came to this part in my story I had to stop for a while and ponder how to continue. I was about to describe an event that was the first in a chain of events that led to the conception of the little girl who at this moment was sitting in her room, probably reading a book of history, which was her favourite subject.

I was about to write down the story of her real father, my first love, but not my last, as it would come out. The story was also about the curse that lay upon the Ashlander Tribes, and my first and very brief meeting with the man who would lift that curse and who initiated a way for me to aid the Ahemmusa people, and give them a future.

But I was also about to begin writing the story of the rest of my life and how my past caught up with me- for better and worse.... This was a difficult part; the very thought of it made me shiver in pain.

As I sat there in my library, I had a divine visit of a lady in an icy-blue dress; Azura!

“Serene, Serene, you must continue your story, for the sake of your daughter and the unborn child you are bearing, but most of all for the sake of yourself, to finally put your heart at ease...”

I sat quite still, hearing the words of Azura still in my head, when the door opened and my husband entered, arms outstretched, giving me a look of love and devotion. He took me in his arms, gently rubbing my back and took me with him into our private chambers.

Then I knew how to continue my story......