FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

"Already leaving, Gellos?"

The Imperial mage, turning from his room, saw Falion standing near the counter of the tavern.

"I only had a small bit of business here," Gellos replied. He buckled the top of his pack, and pulled it over his shoulder. Carrying his staff in one hand, he stepped out of the room.

Failon looked at the younger mage, his light yellow eyes looking bright, and said, "Something tells me it's more than just 'small business' you were here on."

"There is, I won't deny that," Gellos replied.

"You'd rather not talk about it though," Failon nodded, "I understand. Before you go though, let me see your map."

Gellos took the map from his pack, and held it out to Failon. The redguard summoner took it, unfolded it, then ran his fingers down. "I felt you, when you stepped into town those few days ago," he glanced up at Gellos, "you've got a strong power about you, and I rememberer you told me about your _push _and _pull _abilities. I've heard of a set of supposedly magic gloves that can enhance a telekinetic users abilities," he paused, then tapped the map, and showed it to Gellos, "here. I believe a group of mages were keeping a hold of them. Not friendly mages though, so you may have to fight through them, assuming you even go to look for them."

"Great power and I seem to have a mutual understanding," Gellos said with a small smile. Taking his map back, he added, "A good friend of mine, a teacher at that, once told me that If you can't control your powers, they will control you."

"Balance is always key to power," Failon nodded.

Both mages turned for the door of the tavern now, and walked outside into the cold air. Gellos pulled up the hood of his thick shirt, his vest buckled tight around his chest. He put his staff against his back and let the strap hug around him, and Gellos pulled the wrap around his neck tighter. They walked to the edge of the town, and Gellos stopped with Failon. The redguard looked at the young boy, then said,

"I've never seem someone as young as you who has such a firm gasp on his powers. Along with the array of powers you seem to know about."

"I had a very good teacher," Gellos replied, "he only told me of the vast array of abilities and powers a mage can harness though. Learning the spells, honing them, making sure I can handle them. He left me to do that on my own."

Failon looked at Gellos, then nodded. "I hope you fare well, on whatever journey you embark on."

"Thank you," Gellos nodded, then turned. He walked past the row of homes to the left, and pulled out his map. He looked at the place that Failon had mentioned, along the white river, then looked at the circles on his map. The marked key that had been moving the other day was in Rorikstead now, and Gellos decided that someone must have been carrying it. He looked at the other circles, and looked at the one that was north of Windhelm.

Tucking away his map, Gellos closed his eyes, slowing his step, and thought of Windhelm. He had been there once before, when he was still a child, with Viarim. The altmer had promptly left Gellos there, and made the boy find his way back to the Castle, with only his staff. Gellos focused on the city, remembering the the tavern hall that was in the center of the city, then clapped his hands together once. He felt his body jerk, as if someone had pulled him into the air, but as soon as it started, it stopped.

Opening his eyes he saw, then heard, the familiar sounds of the city. He saw the tavern hall, and drew a few strange looks from people who saw the young boy appear from seemingly thin air. Gellos left up his hood as he moved through the city, going down a small set of steps to right and past the tavern hall. Guards and citizens alike roamed the city, and ahead of Gellos was the Palace of Kings, where Ulfric Stormcloak still sat in the throne. Gellos moved past the Palace though, and instead went down an ally that lead to the back way of the city. Down the ally and around a corner, Gellos went through the tall iron doors, and looked at the stretch of ice that was ahead of him. Before stepping into the snow though, the thought of _why did I ever have to leave Bruma? _quickly crossed his mind.

He shook his head as he started across the drifts of snow though. He knew he had left Bruma to go with Viarim to the Castle, to Skyrim, and train and teach himself the schools of magic. Gellos remembered where the key was on the map, somewhere within the mountains that were behind Windhelm. Gellos could see the mountains in question, the grey peaks that seemed to grow from the ground to touch the sky.

He walked up and to the left, going up a slope that would lead up and into the mountains. He walked, the stretch of the mountains to his left and a crop of rocks to his right. As he walked he left his thoughts drift, and he thought of the moment underneath Solitude where he had fought and killed the witch hunters. He remembered the first man he had ever killed as if it were still yesterday. It had been when he was still a boy, just coming to the age of twelve, and his first assignment by himself. Another mage had stolen a set of old tomes from the Castle, and Viarim had tasked Gellos to retrieve them. Niria had been more than opposed to this, mainly because Gellos was young, and the books were valuable.

"He's just a boy!" Niria had folded her arms at Viarim, her shortener height seeming somewhat inferior to Viarim's taller height.

"He can handle it," Viarim replied. Gellos stood just behind the altmer, having been living in the castle for only six months.

Niria opened her mouth again, then closed it to a thin line, and swept away in her customary blue and silver robes. Viarim had turned to Gellos, and crouched to one knee.

"Be very careful with this assignment, Gellos," he told the young boy.

"I will," Gellos nodded, his light golden eyes shinning.

He left the Castle shortly after that, pulling himself into Em's saddle. The horse, still young herself, snorted at her masters approach, and Gellos ran a hand down her mane. "Come on," he said as he flicked the mares reins.

It took him a day to reach the small camp where the mage was. Upon arriving Gellos found the mage sitting outside of his tent. He looked up, an older dark elf with a missing left eye, but only sneered at the young imperial boy who came with a staff on his back. Gellos swung down from his horse and stepped up to the camp, but stopped a few feet away from the mage.

"Have you come from the Castle?" the elf asked.

"That's none of your business," Gellos replied, his eyes narrowed at the elf. He could see a small bag that was in the mages tent.

The elf saw his gaze and glanced behind himself, and Gellos took that second to make his move. He jumped into the camp, leaving the ground for a moment, and pulled his staff from his back. He touched the ground again and jumped a second time, this time to a tree. The mage turned now, and the world seemed to slow down. Gellos touched the tree with both feet, pulling his staff into his chest, then threw himself at the mage.

The elf looked at Gellos as the young boy swung his staff, a bolt of lightning leaving his staff, and landed on the ground as the elf was throw through his tent and to the ground. The elf twitched as he drug across the ground like a doll, then laid still. Gellos held his staff in both hands, straightening up now, looking at the elf. He was, as Gellos left the dim magical hum fade, dead. He looked at the bedroll where the knapsack was, and Gellos tepped over to it. He stooped and picked up the bag, then turned without a second glance at the dead mage. For a second, he felt a pang of wether it had been right or not. But it was only for a second.

* * *

A sharp hiss made Gellos looked up, a hand coming to his staff out of habit. Just ahead of him was an ice wraith, an ice-based, snake like creature. Gellos took his staff in a hand, and the ice wraith seemed to weave through the air towards him.

Gellos stepped aside as the creature lunged for him, a spike of ice jumping out of the snowy ground. Gellos threw his staff at the wraith, a bolt of lightning coming out to strike it. The bolt made the wraith hiss, but it swung around and made another lunge for the Imperial. Gellos ducked, then backed away as the ice wraith turned to him. Gellos swung his staff at the ground, then swung it up to the sky, letting another bolt of lightning loose. This time the wraith shrieked as it shuddered when the bolt hit it, and Gellos watched it crumbled into chucks of ice that fell from the air to the ground.

The boy regarded the wraith for a moment, then turned and continued on the path. The pull and hum of the tonal key was much stronger now, and Gellos stepped up a slope that brought him to a crest on the mountainside. He looked over the sweep of ice and snow for a moment, then turned around. A smaller slope led further up the mountain, but Gellos only stepped over to the side, and crouched down. A skeleton laid there and inside its ribcage was the tonal key. He reached out and picked it up, and the hum of magical energy faded. Gellos looked at the key a moment, then reached behind him and tucked it into his pack. He put his staff to his back again and let the strap hug around his chest.

Looking over the sweep of land again, Gellos sat down. His legs and bottom grew cold as he sat in the snow, but he ignored it as he closed his eyes. He let his mind stay focused on the energy that came from the tonal keys, and used that to focus on another thing. The face of the elf, with deep gazing red eyes, and long raven-black hair. He could feel her, just barely, and quietly said,

"Elf..."

* * *

Sitting in her room in the guests tower, Asha heard it. She looked up from her hands and to the window, then stood up.

"Gellos..." she said the name quietly. She closed her eyes, then felt the gentle push of his energy in her mind.

* * *

He heard her say his name, and Gellos left his eyes closed as he let his hands rest, open palmed, and concentrated. He thought of her face, seeing her long black hair and her deep but soft red eyes. He imagined she had a slim body that would match her face. Her thought of her standing in front of him, and felt the image of her in his mind grow stronger.

Opening his eyes, Gellos saw in front of him a hazy image. It was shifting, almost pulsing, but he could see it was her. The dark elf, who could read his energy from wherever she was. The one who helped him to retrieve the tonal key in the frozen marshes. He could feel her, or her spectral presence, and focused on her. The flickering slowed down, then stopped. Gellos looked at the image, the silver lines that made up her body and her face.

"Gellos," the apparition spoke, and he saw her smile. Her face got clearer, and Gellos could see her now. A young girl, the same age as himself, with long hair and deep eyes.

"Do you see me as I see you?" he asked.

"As something like a ghost?" she asked. Her voice was clear, and Gellos nodded. "Yes," she nodded in return.

"What's your name?" he asked her.

"Asha," she replied.

"Asha," Gellos repeated. The girl's apparition nodded. "Thank you, for your help," he said, "I do appreciate it."

"Your hunt for the keys will be a long one, it seems," said the wavering girl.

"You know of my quest?" Gellos asked.

"Your master, Viarim, spoke with our Clan Mother about it," she said, "and my Clan Mother then told me to keep watch over you, and assure that you would some day reach our Fortress safely."

"Then thank you," Gellos said.

Asha's figure shook her head though, "No," she said, "thank me when you have come to the Fortress, and used whatever mask it is they speak of, to save Elder Vux."

"I will," Gellos nodded to the figure. She smiled at him, but then Gellos saw her form flicker. He closed his eyes for a second to concentrate, but as Asha said,

"No, let our connection fade," he opened his eyes and looked at her. "You still have a quest to complete," she said, "and I do not indeed to let you tarry."

Gellos looked at her, taking in her slim, robed figure and seemingly perfect face, but nodded. "I will contact you again, once I have found the next key."

"Then I will continue to be your guide, and your added strength until you do so," Asha's figure replied. She wavered again, and, with another smile, vanished like a whisky of smoke.

For a second Gellos reached out as if to touch her clasped hands, then only looked at his own outstretched hand. He pulled his hand back, feeling a quiet guilt run through him. He put his hand back to his lap, then let out a breath. Knowledge and power were things that Gellos was highly versed in. But love. That was different.

Gellos stood up and brushed off his pants, then took out his map. He had never had any sense of love for anyone before. If he had been old enough to remember his family more, he might have had some sense of it. But they were long gone, and Viarim was his teacher. Gellos could respect the high elf until the day he died, but he knew that love wasn't the word he would choose to describe what admiration he had. Opening his map and looking at it, Gellos knew he loved Asha. He had heard her voice, now seen her face, and knew that he could use that word with her.

Looking at his map though, Gellos put aside thoughts of love and admiration as he reached back to take the quill from his bag, then mark out the circle that was north of WIndhelm. He looked at the other three circles, the one in the woods of the Rift, and the other that was still around Falkreath. The third circle, however, was currently on the move again. Gellos watched it's slow crawl down the roads that lead to...

"The College of Winterhold," he said. Gellos looked up from the map, and to the main road that was just barely visible. The moving tonal key was just down the road, before it would pass Windhelm. Gellos looked at the road, then back to the map. He glared at it, then folded it up and stuffed it back into his pack. Something, a kind of foreboding, danced through his mind, and he sat down again. Whoever carried the tonal key was stronger than he was. Gellos watched the road a moment longer, then closed his eyes.

He let out a short breath, and imagined the walls of Riften, the city that used to be good for fishing and trading, but little else. Gellos let his mind relax, and he saw the walls, tall and grey. Opening his eyes he brought his hands together in a clap, and with a whoosh of grey smoke and a rustle of wind, he vanished from the crest of the mountainside.

* * *

Sirino felt it. The second tremor that, although faint, made him look up from the reins of his horse. He glanced at Dergin, but the nord only looked ahead, his small brown eyes watching the snowy road. But as a light gust of wind blew past the pair, the nord asked aloud,

"Did you feel it again?"

"Yes!" Sirino almost shouted the word, but kept his voice even. "I felt it early today, after leaving Whiterun."

"What do you think it is?" the nord asked.

"I am not sure," Sirino said, his voice picking up a distant tone, "but it is very strong. Like a source of great power is being shifted from one place to the next."

"Could it be a witch?" Dergin asked.

"It may be," Sirino nodded, looking to his bodyguard. "Has the Vigilant found anything concerning the hunters I lost the other day?"

"Yes, my Lord," Dergin nodded now, looking at Sirino. He reached to a pouch on his belt, and took out a letter. He handed it to Sirino, then added, "They got this to me just last night, when I left to examine the road for bandits. I didn't feel the need to wake you."

"Thank you, Dergin," Sirino nodded, "I hate to say it, but in this day and age, even a mage like myself can only be so powerful," and with a flick of his wrist, Sirino opened the letter. It was very short.

Lord Sirino Arudius,

We first hope this letter finds you quickly, and in good health.

Concerning your question of the men you lost, I sent two of my Vigilant's to the area in question underneath Solitude. While they did not find anything of major note, they were able to identify a memory reading spell was used on one of your late hunters. We have been able to trace the memory reading spell back to Castle Snowrock, in the Jerral mountains and will continue our investigations there.

With regards,

Keeper Carcette, Hall of Vigilant's

Sirino read the letter again, then frowned at it. Folding the letter and tucking it into his robes, he glanced at Dergin, then said,

"Remind me to write a letter to my son, once we reach Windhelm."

"Yes, my Lord," Dergin nodded. Sirino's horse snorted, and with a flick of the reins, the Imperial and the nord sent their horses down the road at fast trot.

* * *

Gellos found himself just outside the city walls, and as he turned to look at the sun, saw it was sinking low into the sky. Turning from the orange streaks that painted the clouds, he walked up the gates, where one guard of a pair asked him his business.

"Just need a bed for the night," the Imperial boy replied.

"Alright then," the guards half helmed face nodded, and as he turned to push open the doors, the other guard said,

"You might consider speaking with the Jarl. She recently had need of a mage to handle some business or another, and her current court mage is... preoccupied with things of her own. Seeing you appear out of thin air, one can only assume you know magic well."

"Well, I suppose it would be foolish to ignore possible work from the Jarl, wouldn't it?" Gellos replied. The gates were open now, and the first guard waved him inside. Gellos thanked the pair, and stepped through gateway.

Riftin was made mostly of wood. The homes, shops, market stalls. Even the railing that kept people fall slipping into the channel was wooden. The warrens and the ratway, were often called the city under the city. Gellos walked into the city, looking at the homes and shops. The long rays of sun were just coming down to touch the building windows, flickering sunlight into the cobbled streets.

Gellos crossed a small bridge with a channel underneath it, and looked a sign that was over a door. "The Bee and Barb tavern," it read, and Gellos stepped up the door and pushed it open. Inside was the dull hum of music, accompanied by a soft-voiced bard girl who stood near the lute playing nord. A wood elf stood behind the bar, and various patrons sat at tables, talking, drinking and eating. From the corner of his eye, Gellos saw a black robed man with a hood, sitting at a table. A leather and cloth wearing man sat across from the hooded figure, talking quietly. Gellos walked up to the bar though, and the keep asked him what he needed.

"Just a room," the Imperial replied.

"Sure, got one available," the female barkeep nodded, "how long do you need it for?"

"Just tonight," Gellos replied.

"Alright then," she nodded, "that's ten septims."

Gellos nodded, dropping the agreed amount onto the counter.

"Up the stairs, and its the first door on the left," the woman said.

"Thanks," Gellos nodded, and stepped away from the bar.

He glanced at the robed figure and the armored man again, and Gellos saw the hooded man hold out a sack of coin. The clothed man took it, then held out his hand. As Gellos turned to the stairs and started up them, he saw the two shake. _Probably a mercenary _the mage thought to himself. Up the stairs Gellos ran a hand over his head, then scratched his chin. The past five days had been long, and even though he had slept in Morthal, he felt exhausted.

Up the stairs Gellos found his room, and dropped his knapsack to the floor. He rested his staff against the wall, then pulled off his belt, laying it over the end of the bed. Un buckling his vest, Gellos dropped that over his belt, then dropped onto the bed. He closed his eyes, and as sleep took gradual hold on him, he hoped that this quest would be over soon.

* * *

"Get you anything else to drink, milord?"

Sirino looked up, away from the mark on his hand, and to the girl who carried a tray.

"Nothing, thank you," he said distractedly. He looked back at his lines on his hand as the girl moved away.

Sirino and Dergin both sat by the fire, the flames warming the pair. Their horses were stabled just outside the city, and now the Lord of Solitude sat with his bodyguard, looking at the mark on his hand. It was such a curious thing. Three lines of a half circle, with a fourth line that went through the three. There were three small lines that sat near the fourth line. Sirino had visited many mages, and even traveled to the Arcaneum, in the College of Winterhold; though, to no avail. In the end he settled that the witch, Veluth, had cast a kind of marking on him, when he had slain her those twenty or so years ago. He still carried the same sword, the slim silver blade with the pommel of a wolfs head. It had served him well over the last thirty years, since he had crafted it at as a young man.

Now though, just coming to the age of sixty, Sirino wondered how much longer he would carry the weapon, before it fell from his hands. As Sirio continued to look at the mark on his hand, Dergin's question of,

"My Lord?" drew him from his lull.

"Yes?" he looked up and to his nordic bodyguard.

"Are you alight Milord?"

"Yes," Sirino nodded. He leaned back into his chair, pulling his dark red and gold robes around himself, "Yes, I'm fine," he said. Pinching his nose for a moment, he said, "Only tired."