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JASH
As soon as the car stopped, I stepped out and immediately changed into my actual body. I changed so quickly that before I could blink my eyes, everything looked and felt normal once again. While my human form had been altered to make it comfortable for me, there were things that I couldn't change about it.
Like the dryskin ability to drown.
While Saga and Alex got out, I took a moment to embrace how comfortable the world was. It didn't matter that the air was thick with scents that were wrong. It didn't matter that all the sounds that made Skyrim so grand were absent. All that mattered now was that I could experience this world in my own skin instead of the skin that used to be mine.
On the drive here, the two dryskins had caught me up with what they knew about this case. The person most discussed during the conversation was the bard Alan Wake. He had become famous by writing fantastical tales about Alex Casey. Which is where my love's hatred of the bard had stemmed from. A hatred that was only stoked by being dragged into the Cult of the Word in 2013.
Apparently in 2010, Alan had disappeared and no one had seen him since. Both Alex and Saga believed the bard had resurfaced due to finding manuscript pages. According to my love, the bard was able to enact his magic by the manuscript pages you found. Either because someone gave them to you or you were unlucky enough to come across them.
My love always made sure to describe the bard in the most unsavory of lights. But that might be purely due to the torment he had gone through with the Cult of the Word.
"You ready?" Alex asked and I nodded.
"Good." Saga replied and started down a path to the Witch's Ladle.
I followed them and felt familiarity in the woods. Whether it was because I had been here in previous loops or it was helping me to leave civilization behind, I didn't know.
Unlike my non-magical egg-friends, I didn't have to depend on mere physical weapons. If I used Aura Whisper Shout I could warn them ahead of time that there was danger. It was also one of the quieter Shouts I had at my disposal. Just as I opened my mouth, I shut it. The Shout only showed those creatures that were alive and whatever force was at play in Bright Falls didn't have to depend on the living.
If I had used the Aura Whisper Shout on a dead looking Agent Robert Nightingale, for instance, I wouldn't have been able to warn anyone in time.
As I continued to keep my senses on high alert, I thought again to what was talked about in the car. The Cult of the Tree had attempted a ritual to kill Nightingale. It was the fact they called themselves a cult and had tried to kill an entity that turned out to be dangerous that made me think they weren't the villains. Just like Alex and Saga, I found it strange for a cult to call themselves a cult. I was the Listener of the Dark Brotherhood and had to endure people calling the faction a death cult. We didn't call ourselves cultists unless it was in jest.
The other thing that made me think there was more to the Cult of the Tree was the fact that they had somehow been about to kill Nightingale before being interrupted by the people Saga had questioned in the diner. If they knew Nightingale was dangerous and been prepared, they must have performed the ritual before.
Which might mean they named themselves a cult merely to keep people safe.
"I'm about to start." Saga said breaking me out of my thoughts once we arrived at the Witch's Ladle.
"I'll do what I can." I said while exchanging a glance with Alex as I felt magic building in the air.
I focused on the Magelight and Elemental Bolt spells. One hand was consumed by fire and electricity while the other hand shone with a light that seemed to come from my very dark scales. The two dryskins had said that whatever Nightingale was was repelled by light. And it was very likely that whatever dark force was at play, was also repelled by light. They had their mechanical lights and I had my magical light source.
After I saw that my two egg-friends were involved with their task, I turned my attention to the area. My eyes scanned the forest around us and my ears picked up even the most insignificant sound. Nothing would get b-
"Saga!" Alex yelled and turned around quickly. "****!"
Saga was no longer standing beside him. I couldn't help but let out a low growl and looked around for anything I could attack. Though I had a little more thought than Hircine, I always felt better tearing into someone's flesh than debating someone in court.
"Get to her!" Alex yelled and I could tell he was barely holding himself together.
"I am not familiar with the magic used." I said and my hands returned to normal with not even a hint of the two spells. "If I act without knowing what I'm up against, I could make things worse. It could be that Saga dies because of my impatience."
"**** you! Anything is better than this!"
Saga was important to him and he, like me, didn't like having nothing to do. After he yelled at me there was a brief look of regret which made me forgive him. He wasn't angry at me, he was lashing out because his partner might be dead.
Or worse.
"Is it yours to trust Saga to handle herself without you?" I asked in a soothing tone.
Alex's body became slightly less tense. The hand that had begun wandering to his gun stopped. His expression softened slightly. He still wasn't happy but he was able to regain some control over himself.
"That isn't the point." Alex replied curtly.
"It is the point." I said and put a hand on his shoulder. "Because trusting your partner is the only thing we're capable of doing right now."
"Will she reappear here?"
That was a good question that I didn't know the answer to. I felt like I had just walked into the College of Winterhold for the first time. After getting rid of that feeling of inadequacy from my mind, I thought to what I knew about this foul entity.
"Everything is drawn to Cauldron Lake." I said and focused a Clairvoyance spell on the fastest way to the lake's shore. "I presume that a dark, powerful, and unknowable entity lives there. If the energy I felt when Saga performed the ritual was from the same entity, then it is possible she will be drawn there. Whenever she returns to this realm, it is likely she will be on that lake's shore."
Alex started to run on the path of the Clairvoyance spell and I kept the spell active as we rushed through the thick forest. I kept back just enough so that if something attacked us then I would be able to react in time.
We broke past the last tree onto the lake's shore. Soon enough we were greeted with the sight of Saga standing before a disheveled man. He had the expression of one who was moments before zero summing as he couldn't handle the truth of reality. His clothing and hair looked as if he had just spent two weeks drifting in the sea after a ferocious storm.
By the angry expression that held back a snarl on Alex's face, I knew that this was Alan Wake. The bard who had disappeared thirteen years ago had now resurfaced.
Alan noticed us and whimpered. The enthusiasm of the sound would have turned into an outright howl if the dryskin hadn't been so exhausted.
"You." Alex snapped curtly and Alan tried to crawl backwards.
Alan opened his mouth and slowly closed it when no sounds managed to get out. Wherever he had been must have truly been a place of terror. I prided myself on being one of the best torturers in Skyrim and even I couldn't have broken a man so fully. Not even slowly tormenting a soul over the course of thirteen years.
I felt something on the very edge of my consciousness. It was a feeling I had never felt until I had become a Daedric Prince. My role of Daedric Prince of Balance and Extremes sometimes granted me the innate ability to see if someone was out of balance. Usually this sense was extremely subtle and sometimes went unnoticed by me.
With the tormented dryskin before me things were much clearer. There was a strong sense of light and justice in Alan. Usually there was always some darkness in even the best saint, but this was different. It was almost like his inner darkness was a parasite.
Alex was brimming with hatred for his perceived enemy and Saga was just confused. If I made a mistake about Alan now, things could get out of hand. And I only had one more time to get through this loop before Alex would forever be lost to me. Maybe that would mean both of our deaths or just his.
"Na-" I said as I began the By My Soul Shout to clear my head.
Before I could even say the first word of the Shout, Alan screamed silently and clutched his head. Eventually he was able to get out another whimper.
"What was that?" Saga snapped at me.
"It is ours to be sorry." I replied and held back a shiver that went all the way down to my soul. "I'm in a strange land with a dark power that I have no knowledge of."
"You're scared."
"You didn't do that **** to calm yourself." Alex said. "You think that Alan is dangerous."
A better person would have told the man they loved the truth. But I wasn't a better person. I could see past petty morals to get the outcome I desired. In this case I was looking out for Alex much more than anyone else.
"The By My Soul Shout is designed to let me see into my soul." I said. "This bard's reaction is not one I have ever encountered before. I would like permission to say the full Shout to see whey Wake's reaction is different."
But I knew why Wake's reaction was different. His darkness had become a literal thing and was repelled by the light that the By My Soul Shout produced. In the Shout's creation the light had been there as it had been a metaphor about not giving myself any room to hide. It was a metaphor of me having to face everything I wished to flee.
My power was great as was whatever was in Alan's body. Our powers were so great that even a hint at the other was noticeable to our senses.
"We need to know for certain before taking him in." Alex suggested.
"And leave Alan unable to answer our questions." Saga countered. "No, Jash, don't do that again."
I nodded in response. I would have to keep an eye on Alan without making the others nervous.
I'm very curious to see how this will turn out! Great story. :D
ReplyDeleteThank you =D
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