A Fistful of Memories

He sat alone on the bench under the gazebo watching across the river at the hunter who lived by the water edge in a tent. Seems that old gal has been hunting and fishing in those parts for years. Seemed more like forever. She was there when he traveled with Lurren and that certainly happened very long ago.

It really wasn’t that long, a few years at best but an aching heart lingers forever.

Sage Runa. What a nutcase she turned out to be. Hauling him around Skyrim in search of the Dragonborn so they could save the world while she feverishly documented the whole event. Laughable at best. They ended up in Whiterun by the order of Jarl Balgruuf the Greater. Saw an old friend from Riften while there.

Vilja and Nikolai had come to Whiterun earlier, old friends from the past. Vilja was beside herself because no one believed she was the Dragonborn. Even the Jarl was having doubts who it was but it had be one of us who was there that day.

Irileth insisted that Vilja was not who her men called Dragonborn and stormed off in anger when no one would listen to her. Sage Runa and Finthalion argued each other over how to go about determining the rightful Dragonborn. The Sage needed to follow the mythical being and record the history as it occurred. Highly respected scholar and scribe, she knew more about Tamriel’s history than the entire roomful of people surrounding her.

Finthalion was nothing to dismiss either. High official within the Empire sent with a personal message from the Emperor directly. Both individuals had been sent by the Empire to demand the Dragonborn save Skyrim, they better hope the Dragonborn supports the Imperials. He knew one person who was there that day when the dragon attacked and she was no fan of the Empire.

May the Gods watch over our battles if she is the one.

The Jarl finally got fed up with the bickering, ordered a meeting and sent word for everyone he felt should be in attendance to come immediately to Dragonsreach. She never showed. They waited over a year, guests of the Jarl but a burden as well. Once a day he ordered for a new message to be sent then once a week followed by monthly before he stopped completely. Her refusal to appear disturbed the Jarl greatly, to him it was a sign of her turning her back on him or worse, she was dead and no one knew it. He paced for several months around the map table, stopping to check his map for possible areas he missed sending word to. The woman who saved his city and helped his people without asking for anything in return disappeared as quickly as she appeared.

Thrynn picked up a small branch and tossed it toward the water. Memories of yesterday haunting him today bleeding into tomorrow while she remains hidden. It was at Dragonsreach where he met Shali.

She introduced herself and proceeded to make sure he was taken care of with plates of food, endless glasses of wine and her smile. After the Jarl dismissed everyone from his palace when he gave up and tired of waiting Shali left with Thrynn to return to Riften. They married at the temple not long after returning to the Cistern. But she was different than Lurren. He noticed it more after moving to the snug cottage, Whispering Waters. There they had hunted together for game and chased out bandits lurking around their home but it wasn’t the same.

He often felt she liked to kill, relished in seeing blood spilled like a thirst being quenched. Lurren killed as well but she never liked it really. He remembered how she cried at the letter from Severio Pelagia’s relatives about his death. How she shook her fist at Sven for trying to fight vampires and nearly getting killed. She didn’t kill simply for the act of it, she was hunted and fought for her life. Shali by all accounts seemed more like a hunter and it nagged at Thrynn’s inner being. He started to make excuses why he couldn’t join her for any hunts he felt weren’t needed. She still hunted.

Today the courier gave him a letter from Delvin.

Brynjolf needs to speak with Lurren and did Thrynn know where she was. This makes no sense at all. Why would Brynjolf want to talk to Lurren? It’s true no one had managed to help past Goldenglow Estate and each time Aringoth just repaired then rehired more mercenaries. Is Brynjolf going to ask Lurren for assistance in rebuilding the guild? Thrynn had no idea where she was. The elusive butterfly that flies freely among the skies transparent to the rest of us.

Thrynn frowned heavily as he wished he knew where to find to her. Now he can’t. Seeing her would turn his world upside again, it would only lead to more broken hearts. He stood up and headed toward the house and make preparations to leave for Riften in the morning. He had to know why and Shali needed to know why he was leaving.