From: Sherrian Subject: Porc Tale--Aftermath I stared at Kriella, not daring to believe my ears. "You--he does? You would be willing to help me, just like that?" Kriella nodded. "You demonstrated great skill and courage in dealing with that fiend. You are deserving of our help." She smiled reassuringly. "You need not have feared I would think ill of you for having been the toy of a Daedra Lord. I could see in your eyes that you fear it." She patted my arm. "It was not of your choosing, and you are no coward for having given in. Cowardice would have been killing yourself to escape him, and leaving your lover to Emerald Vex's whims." I nodded, for there was truth in her words. "I am glad that you understand. For now, let us return to the inn. I must make ready to travel to Oblivion!" Kriella's next words put a dent in my armor, as the saying went. "Hold, friend. My husband will not return from his mission for some time. We must wait for him for he knows how to travel there, not I." I sighed deeply. "It's been this long. I suppose I can wait a little longer." "Fear not, Nyx. We will help your beloved. And if not," her mouth formed a grim line, "Emerald Vex will pay most dearly." During the two hours it took to return to the Angry Porcupine, I regaled Kriella with chatter about Zerith. "He's a mage scholar, as I said, but he knows how to fight. Zerith has always thought it important to be able to use swordplay in addition to magic." "A prudent decision," Kriella agreed. 'Is your beloved handsome? My Tenaka is, and no one can come close to him, but I would hear of your Zerith." I smiled brightly. "To me, he is, in a thoughtful, scholarly way. He's actually half dark elf, and half high elf, so he has auburn hair and dark blue eyes. He still has the dusky skin, though." I clicked the reins so the horse would pull my rented cart a bit faster. "I could open another window," Kriella suggested. "No, I'm enjoying the countryside, unless you feel a need to hurry," I told her. She shook her head, and I continued. "He's not big, like a warrior, but he has a wiry, muscular build, like a dancer, I guess you could say. And I love him very much." "You must, to go through all this for him." "I do. Look, we're almost back to town! Having someone to chat with other than myself has made this trip more than tolerable." Kriella smiled. "I'm glad we met, Nyxalinth." I grinned crookedly. "So am I, friend." I returned the cart to the stable I rented it from, and we walked the rest of the way to the Angry Porcupine. "I'll buy you a drink," I told her as we walked in the door. "Sounds good to me. But I buy the next round." "Hey, no complaints here!" Eyes followed us as we crossed the room. The admiring glances were for both of us, for different reasons: I was tall and voluptuous, while Kriella was tall and muscular. We took a seat by the fire. A barmaid took our order and departed. "I should tell you about two friends of mine," I began. "They strike me as rather odd, and I need to know if I'm on the right road with this, or if I'm just paranoid." "Go right ahead," she told me. "Well, they day after I got here, I met two adventurers, a spellsword and a ranger. Their names are Jeren and Kestral." I looked around to make sure no one was close by, then said, "I told you how Red and Blackie are stalking me in human guise?" The barmaid returned and served us our ale. When she had departed, I had a sip, then went on. "I think that Kestral and Jeren might be Red and Blackie." "What makes you say that?" Kriella asked. "I'm not doubting your claim, I just want to know what led you to that decision." "I understand. Well, most of it's plain old intuition. I knew Red and Blackie very well--too well, you could say." "Gods, I pity you." I nodded. "Yeah. Well, it might be coincidence, but Kestral has reddish-auburn hair, and Jeren has raven black hair. And Red and Blackie didn't get their nicknames because they're chess pieces." Kriella grinned, and I returned the smile. I went on. "Also, spider daedra, as you no doubt saw, have very pronounced fangs, almost like a vampire's. They're quite venomous. They have a rather nasty paralysis poison. I have a story about that, but that's for later." I sipped more ale. "Anyway, when I first met Jeren and Kestral, I noticed that both of them have rather pronounced eyeteeth. I did consider the possibility of them being vamps or loups, but it didn't add up." "I see. I don't think you're crazy. Maybe a little eccentric,"she teased. "You don't have to be crazy to be an adventurer, but it helps," I said, and we laughed. "The last of it is, right before I went on my little visit to Mr. Spider, they gave me a hug." I shuddered at the memory. "It gave me the creeps. It felt very familiar, feeling them next to me like that. Familiar in a very unpleasant way." Kriella was about to comment when a familiar voice called, "Ah, the lovely lady returns! And she has a friend." The dark elf raised a brow at me. I nodded as Kestral and Jeren joined us at the table.